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CURRENT 
HISTORY 

A    Monthly    Magazine    of 

©fj?  N?ui  fork  ®tm?3 


VOLUME  XL 

October,   1919— March,   1920 

With  Index 


PUBLISHED    BY 

THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  N.  Y. 

1920 


D 
4\0 

v.U 


\'  fi/i 


Copyright,  1920 
By  The  New  York  Times  Company 

Times  Square,  New  York  City 


INDEX  AND  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

VOLUME  XI. 
October,  1919— March,  1920 

[  Titles  of  Articles  Appear  in  Italics  ] 

I.— Indicates  pages  in  first  half  of  volume. 
II. — Refers  to  pages   in   second   half  of  volume. 


About  General  Pershing's  War  Map,  II.,  350. 
"Absent    Without   Leave/'   I.,    430. 
Activities  of  the  Peace  Conference,  I.,  38;  I., 

219. 
AGUINALDO,   Emilio,   commercial   activities 

of,    1.,    -15. 
AIRPLANE    Service    Between    London    and 

Paris,    I.,   213. 
Allcnby— Victor   of   Jerusalem,   I.,    514. 
Allied  Advance  Into  German  Land,  II.,   339. 
Alsatian   Deputies   Again   in   French   Parlia- 
'     ment,   II.,    132. 

AMENDMENTS  to  Peace  Treaty,  I.,  11. 
American  Aftermath  of  the  War,  II.,  215. 
AMERICAN  Army  of  Occupation,    I.,   53. 
American   Chair  in  British   Universities,  II., 

219. 
AMERICAN  Dead  in  France,  I.,  208. 
American  Demobilization  Completed,  I.,  230. 
American    Developments,    II.,    20. 
AMERICAN  Events,   I.,   49. 
AMERICAN  Legion,   first  convention  of,   I., 

416. 
American   War  Casualties,   II.,    405. 
Americans  in   the   St.   Mihiel   Operation,   II., 

60. 
Among  the  Nations,  I.,  57,  2G8,  431;  II.,  37, 

259,    433. 
Anarchist  Activity  in  the   United  States,  II., 

32. 
Anatole   France    on   the    Teacher's    Task,   I., 

150. 

In  English  Hill  (Poem),  II.,  133. 
Anglo-Persian  Agreement,  I.,  342. 
ARCHER,    William    J.,     "  Cruelty    on    Both 

Sides    in    Russia,"    II.,    290. 
iristocracy's  Downfall  in  Europe,  I.,  152. 
Armenia's    Struggle    for    Independence,    II., 

138. 

LRMY  supplies,  sale  of,  I.,  51. 
Austria   Facing    Starvation,   II.,    267. 
Austria's   Hunger  Crisis,   II.,    73. 
Austria's   Peace    Offer  in   1917,    II.,   519. 
Austrian   P(aec    Treaty   Signed,   I.,   21. 
AUSTRIA,    Peace  Treaty  with,   21;   text,    I., 

26. 
AZERBAIDJAN,    Republic   of,    II.,   491. 


B 

BADOGLIO  (General),  opposition  to  d'An- 
nunzio,    I.,    239. 

Bagdad   Under  British  Rule,  II.,   149. 

BAKER  (Secretary),  N.  D.,  welcomes  Gen- 
eral Pershing  to  America,  I.,  1. 

Balkans  and   Turkey,  II.,  431. 

BALKANS,    developments   in,    I.,   268. 

BALTIC    Conference,    II.,    453. 

BALTIC  States,   German  troops  in,   I.,  303. 

BANDONI,  Andre,  "  Forty-six  Months  a 
Prisoner,"     I.,     137. 

BANKS,  William,  "What  the  War  Did  for 
Canada,"    II.,    4(12. 

BARNES,  George  Nicoll,  resignation  of,  II., 
441. 

BARTHOU,  Louise,  "  Evidence  of  Ger- 
many's  Guilt,"    I.,    78. 

Basis  of  the  Extradition  Demand,  II.,  380. 

Battling   to  Break  Hindenburg  Line,  II.,   63. 

BEGBIE,  Harold,  "  Remembrance  "  (Poem), 
II.,  170. 

BELGIUM,    prohibition    in,    I.,    45. 

BELGIUM,    tension   with   Holland,    I.,   60. 

Belgium's  African  Campaign,  I.,   159. 

BENTLEY,  Fred  W.,  "  To  the  Senate  " 
(Poem),   II.,  512. 

Bcrnstorff  on  the   Witness  Stand,  II.,  518. 

Bessarabia's  Charges  Against  Rumania,  I., 
293. 

Betrayal    of    Edith    Cavcll,    II.,    121. 

BLISS,  W.  D.  P.,  "  Armenia's  Struggle  for 
Independence,"  II.,  138. 

BLISS  (Dr.),  W.  D.  P.,  "  Republic  of 
Georgia  in  the  Caucasus,"  II.,  281. 

Bolshevist  Horrors  in  Odessa,  II.  4,58. 

Bolshevism  in  Europe,  II.,  277. 

Bolshevist   World   Offensive,   II.,    302. 

BOSTON,  Mass.,  police  strike  in,  .1.,  54. 

BOTHA   (General),  Louis,  death  of,   I.,  43. 

BRAILSFORD  H.  N.,  "  Terrible  Privations 
in  Central  Europe,"  I.,  478. 

BREMEN,  commercial  German  submarine, 
fate  of  unknown,  I.,  43. 

British  Aid  for  Northwest  Russia,  I.,  505. 

British   Airships,    I.,    161. 

BRITISH-Japanese    Alliance,    II.,    508. 

BRITISH  Rule  in  Bagdad.  II.,  149. 

BUDAPEST,  defense  by  Rumania  of  mili- 
tary occupation  of,   I.,   59. 


II. 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


BUDAPEST,    evacuation   of,   I.,   270. 
BULGARIA,  peace  terms  handed  to,  I.,  40. 
BULLITT  Report  to  the  Peace  Commission. 
I.,    121. 

c 

CANADA  Deports  Radical  Agitators,  L,  209. 

CANADIAN  Housing  Problem,  II.,  466. 

Causes  of  the  Caporetto  Disaster,  I.,  549. 

CENTRALIA,  Wash.,  scene  of  I.  W.  W.  out- 
rage, I.,  430. 

CERCAY  papers,  I.,  46. 

CHALLAYE,  Felicien,  "  Inner  Aspect  of 
China's  Civil  War,"  II.,  158. 

CHILE,  controversy  with  Peru,  I.,  532. 

China  and  Japan,  I.,  526. 

CHINA,  renunciation  by  Austria  of  privi- 
leges in,  I.,  36. 

Closing  In  on  Soviet  Russia,  I.,  295. 

Coal  Miners'  Strike,  I.,  421. 

Coal  Strike  Commission  at  Work,  II.,  226. 

Colonel  Lawrence  and  the  Hedjaz,  I.,  328. 

Colonel  McCrae's  Famous  Poem  and  a  Re- 
ply, I.,  358. 

COMMUNIST  agitation  in  U.  S.,  I.,  45. 

Constitutional  Prohibition,  II.,  220. 

Constitution  of  the  German  Republic,  I.,  86. 

Contributions  from  Readers,  II.,  351. 

Converting  Soldiers  to  Bolshevism,  I.,  313. 

COST  of  living,  I.,  53. 

COURTIER-Foster,  (Rev.)  R.,  "  Bolshevist 
Horrors  in  Odessa,"  II.,  458. 

COURTS-martial  in  U.  S.  Army,  I.,  50. 

Creating  the  Russian  Communist  Army,  I., 
308. 

CRESSON,  W.  P.,  "  How  Americans  Fought 
in  Belgium,"   II.,  113. 

Critical  Situation,  March,  1918— A  Hied  Agree- 
ment, II.,  51. 

Cruelty  on  Both  Sides  in  Russia,  II.,  290. 

Current  History  in  Brief,  I.,  42,  207,  404;  II., 
39,   234,  416. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA,  new  Cabinet  of,  I., 
284. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA,  religious  problems  of, 
I..  47. 

CZECHOSLOVAK  State  as  affected  by  Aus- 
trian Peace  Treaty,  I.,  30. 

D 

DALENCOUR,  (Dr.)  Francois,  "  Haiti  and 
the  American  Occupation,"  I.,  542. 

DALMATIAN  Coast  Raided,  I.,  401. 

DANIELS,  (Secretary)  Josephus,  views  on 
naval  awards,  II.,  407. 

D'Annunzio's  Adventure  Drawing  to  an  End, 
II.,  10. 

D'Annunzio  in  Fiume,  I:,  238. 
D'ANNUNZIO  raid  on  Fiume,  I.,  39. 
D'Annunzio's  Seizure  of  Zara,  I.,  401. 
DANZIG  a  Free  City,  II.,  78. 
Dealing  with  Anarchist  Agitators,  I.,  429. 
DE  PANGE,  (Count)  Jean,  "  Winning  Free- 
dom for  Alsace-Lorraine,"  II.,  126. 
Deportation  of  Alien  Anarchists,  II.,  231. 


DEPORTATION  of  Revolutionary  Agitators, 

II.,  33. 
Depositing  the  Peace  Treaty,  I.,  100. 
Desperate  Conditions  in  Austria,  I.,  480. 
DISABLED  American  soldiers,  aid  to,  I.,  50. 
DORPAT  Conference,  II.,  293. 
DOSTOIEVSKY,    relation   of   to    Bolshevism, 

II.,  418. 
Dramatic  Return  of  Edward  Benes,  I.,  289. 
DUKES  as  Strikebreakers,  I.,  209. 
Dwindling  of  Turkish  Empire,  II.,  144. 

E 

EAST  Prussia,  plebiscite  in,  I.,  217. 
Egypt  and  the  Milncr  Mission,  II.,  489. 
EGYPT,    British   protectorate   recognized   by 

Austria,  I.,  35. 
EGYPT,  conditions  in,  II.,  263. 
Employment   of   American  Divisions,   March 

to  September,  II.,  56. 
End  of  the  Peace  Conference,  II.,  384. 
ENGLISH  Railway  Strike,  I..  278. 
Enormous  Task  of  the  Supply  Services,  II., 

341. 
ESTHONIA'S  Peace  Treaty,  II.,  453. 
Events  in  Two  New  Slavic  States,  I.,  284. 
Evidences  of  Germany's  Guilt,  I.,  78. 
Evolution  of  the  Tank,  I.,  352. 
Execution    of    Hungarian    Communists,    II., 

269. 


Failure  of  Germany's  Baltic  Raid,  II.,  82. 

FAR  East,  Bolshevism  in,  I.,  407. 

FEDERAL  Reserve  Board,  Report  of  on 
High  Prices,  I.,  232. 

Feeding  Hungry  Europe,  II.,  243. 

FERRERO,  Guglielmo,  "  Peril  of  the  Fiume 
Crisis,"    I.,   243. 

Fighting  the  High  Cost  of  Living,  II.,  229. 

Financing  Hungry  Europe,  II.,  392. 

First   Bolshevist  Republic,  II.,  94. 

FIRST  Division,  parade  of,  in  New  York,  4 ; 
in  Washington,  I.,  7. 

FIUME  Crisis,  peril  of,  I.,  243. 

FIUME,  d'Annunzio  raid  upon,  I.,  39. 

Five  Months  in  Moscow  Prisons,  I.,  127;  I., 
318. 

FOCH  (Marshal)  Ferdinand,  honored  by  Brit- 
ish King  and  people,  I.,  47. 

FOOD  Administration   closes,    I.,  46. 

Forces  Behind  Japan's  Imperialism,  II.,  165. 

FOREIGN  Relations  Committee  reports  on 
Peace  Treaty,   I.,  9. 

Forty-six  Months  a  Prisoner,  I.,  137. 

FRANCE,  debate  in  Chamber  of  Deputies  on 
German  Peace  Treaty,  I.,  61,  I.,  273;  re- 
construction in,  I.,  395;  municipal  elec- 
tions, II.,  44;  diminishing  birthrate,  II., 
419. 

Free  Finland,  II.,  104. 

FRENCH  Aviation  Losses  in  War,  I.,  212. 

FRENCH,  Burton  L. :  "  Soviet  System  and 
Ours,"  II.,  313. 

French  Dead  Since  Armistice,  II.,  234. 

French  Memorial  Diplomas,  II.,  471. 


Vol.   XI. 


INDEX  AND   TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 


in. 


FRENCH  monument  to  America,  I.,  43. 
FRENCH  Traitors  Executed,  I.,  207. 
From  Flanders  Fields,  (Poem),  II.,  391. 
FRYATT  (Captain)  Charles,  watch  of  recov- 
ered, I.,  47. 
Fulfilling  the  German  Treaty  Terms,  I.,  215. 

G 

GALICIA,  federated  with  Poland,  I.,  400. 
GARFIELD,  (Dr.)  Harry,  resignation  of,  II., 

30. 
GASSOUIN,    (General)   G. :   "  Wartime  Feats 

of  French  Railways,"  II.,  134. 
General  Ludcndorff's  Memoirs,  I.,  263. 
General  Pershing's  Final  Report,  II.,  50,  338. 
Genesis  of  the  Secret  Treaty  of  London,  I., 

249. 
GEORGIA,  republic  of,  II.,  281. 
German  ex-Crown  Prince's  Memoirs,  I.,  85. 
German  New  Guinea  as  an  Australian  Colo- 
ny, I.,  136. 
GERMAN  Opera,  suppressed  in  New  York,  I., 

404. 
German  Property  in  the  Allied  Countries,  I., 

105. 
German  Troops  in  the  Baltic  States,  I.,  303. 
Germans  in  the  Baltic  States,  I.,  483. 
Germany  Again  at  Work,  I.,  472. 
Germany   and   the   Armenian  Massacres,   I., 

337. 
GERMANY  as   a  Full-Fledged   Republic,    I., 

73. 

Germany's  Struggle  with  Radicalism,  II.,  255. 

GIBBS,  Philip:  "  Vienna's  Agony,"  II.,  70. 

GILCHR1ESE,  (Captain)  Harry  L. :  "  Man- 
aging 200,000  Coolies  in  France,"  I.,  522. 

GLASS,  Carter  T.,  appointed  U.  S.  Senator, 
I.,  412. 

GOLTZ  (Major  General  Count),  von  der: 
"  Lettish  Witches'  Caldron,"   II.,  286. 

GOMPERS,  Samuel,  attitude  on  Boston  police 
strike,    I.,   iii). 

GORDON-SMITH,  Gordon:  "Genesis  of  the 
Secret  Treaty  of  London,"  I.,  249;  "Re- 
treat of  the  Serbian  Army,"  II.,  329. 

GREECE,  view  of  on  disposition  of  Thrace, 
I.,  58. 

GREY,  (Viscount),  letter  of  on  Peace  Treaty, 
II.,  396. 

GRIBBLE,  B.  F. ;  "  Scuttling  of  Scapa 
Flow,"  I.,  167. 

H 

HAASE,  Hugo,  death  of,  I.,  476. 
Haiti  and  the  American  Occupation,  I.,  542. 
Handing  Peace  Terms  to  Bulgaria,  I.,  40. 
HATHAWAY,    Carson    C. :    "About    General 

Pershing's  War  Map,"  II.,  350. 
Holding  Germany  to  the  Terms,  I.,  390. 
HOLLAND,    controversy  with   Belgium   over 

the  Scheldt,  I.,  €0. 
HOOVER.    Herbert,    statement   on   European 

conditions,  II.,  244. 
How  Americans  Fought  in  Belgium,  II.,  113. 
How  King  Constantine  was  Deposed,  I.,  321. 
How   We   Made    the    October   Revolution,   I., 

506;  II.,  100. 


Humorous   German   Balance   Sheet  of   Gains 

and  Losses,  I.,  355. 
Huni  ary  and  the  Treaty  of     cuilly,  II.,  447. 
Hungary  in  the  Grip  of  Rumania,  I.,  108. 
HUNGARY    protests    against    Peace    Treaty 

terms,  I.,  24. 
Hungary,  Rumania  and  the  Allies,  I.,  290. 
Hungary  Under  New  Government ,  II.,  74. 
HUNGARY,  White  Terror  in,   II.,  109. 
HYLAN,     (Mayor)     J.,     officially     welcomes 

General  Pershing  to  New  York,  I.,  3. 


INDUSTRIAL  Conference,  I.,  193. 
INJUNCTION  Used  in  Coal  Strike,  I.,  423. 
Inner  Acpccts  of  China's  Civil  War,  II.,  158. 
INTERNATIONAL  Econom'c  Conference,  II., 

245. 
International  Labor  Conference,  I.,  431;  II., 

31. 
INTERNATIONAL    Rule    Not    a    Success    in 

Tangier,   I.,  323. 
Ireland  and  England,  II.,  205. 
IRELAND,  Home  Rule  bill,  II.,  44. 
Ireland  in  Revolt,  II.,  421. 
ITALIAN  Colonies  Enlarged,  II.,  482. 
Italy's  Gains  in  Africa,  II.,  482. 
ITALY'S  Rights  Across  the  Adriatic,  I.,  257. 


Japan  and  Chvna,  II.,  505. 

Japan  and  the  Peace  Settlements,  I.,  141. 

Japan  Leads  in  Birth  Rate,  I.,   419 

Japan's  Policy  in  China,  II.,  510. 

JONES,   Willis  Knapp,    "  Tacna  and  Arica," 

I..   532. 
Jutland  Casualties,  II.,  354. 

K 

Kaiser's   Letters   to   the   Czar,  II.,   525. 
Killing  of  Hostages  by  Munich  Reds,  I.,  294. 
King  Albert's   Visit  to  America,  I.,   234. 
King  of  Hedjaz  and  the  Revolt     of  the  Wa- 

habitcs,  I.,   172. 
KNIGHT   (Rear  Admiral),   Austin  M.,   views 

on   navy  awards,    II.,   408. 
KOLCHAK  (Admiral),  execution  of,  II.,  455. 
Kolrhak's   Methods  in   Siberia,   II.,   95. 
KOREA,   martial   law  in,   I.,   527. 
KRUGLOV,    Piote,    "  Converting   Soldiers   to 

Bolshevism,"    I.,    313. 


LABOR  Congress  in  Chicago,   I.,   433. 
LATIN  America,  conditions  in,  I.,  467. 
LATVIA  Against  Bolshevism,   II.,   292. 
League   of  Nations   Created,   II.,   200. 
League   of  Nations   Council  in   Session,   II., 

400. 
Lenin's   Statement  of  His  Aims,  II.,  311. 
licttish    Witches'    Caldron,   II.,    286. 
LINCOLN'S  Statue  in  Manchester,   I.,  210. 
LITTLEFIELD,    Walter,     "  Paul    Deschanel 

aa  President  of  France,"  II.,  257. 
LONGSHOREMEN,  Strike  of,  I.,  203. 
LUKEN    (A.    M.),    Otto    H.,    "  Present-Day 

Germany,  An  Inside  View,"  II.,  245. 


Vol.   XI. 


IV. 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


LUSK     Investigating     Committee,     activities 

of.    I.,    429. 
LUXEMBURG,  relations  of,  with  France,  I., 

61. 

M 

MacBEATH,  Francis  James,  "  From  Flan- 
ders Fields  "    (Poem),   II.,  391. 

McCUMBER  (Senator),  Porter  J.,  attacks 
Lodge  report  on  Peace  Treaty,   I.,   16. 

MACKENSEN  (Field  Marshal  von),  release 
of,    I.,    470. 

Managing  200,000  Coolies  in  France,  I.,  522. 

MARRIOTT,  Crittenden,  "  Absent  Without 
Leave,"   I.,  436. 

Massacres  of  Jews  in  the  Ukraine,  I.,  307. 

MASSEY,  William  F.,  Premier  of  New  Zea- 
land,  views  on   Peace  Treaty,   I.,   229. 

MAY,  I.,  "  An  English  Hill "  (Poem),  II., 
133. 

MERCIER  (Cardinal)  visits  the  United 
States,    I.,    42. 

MEXICO,   Germans  in,   I.,  412. 

MILLERAND   Cabinet,    II.,   444. 

Mineral  Wealth  of  the  Sarre  Basin,  II.,  241. 

MINORITIES  protected  in  Austrian  Peace 
Treaty,   I.,   32. 

MOROCCO,  renunciation  of  Austrian  rights 
in,    I.,   34. 

Most  Famous   German  Prisoner,  I.,  473. 

MUNICH,  Bavaria,  radical  excesses  in,  I., 
294. 

N 

Nation-wide  Steel  Strike,  I.,  200. 

NAUDEAU,  Ludovic,  "  Five  Months  in  Mos- 
cow Prisons,"    I.,    127,   318. 

NAVY,   United  States,   growth   of,   I.,  51. 

Negro  in  the  War,  I.,   ."30. 

NEUTRALS,  adhesion  to  League  of  Nations, 
II.,  402. 

New  Crisis  in  Adriatic  Problem,  II.,   389. 

New  Frontiers  in  West  Africa,  II.,  485. 

New  Postage  Stamps— Thousands  of  Them, 
IT.,   468. 

New  Republics  in  the  Caucasus,  II.,  491. 

New  Republics  in  Europe,  II.,  157. 

New  Zealand's  Premier  on  the  Treaty,  I., 
229. 

Norway  Acquires  Spitsbergen,  II. 

NORWAY,   prohibition  in,   I.,   407. 

NOSKE  (Minister),  Gustav,  attacks  on,  I., 
475. 

o 

ODESSA,  Bolshevist  outrages  in,  II.,  458. 
Ordnance  and  Other  Departments,  II.,  347. 
Origin  of  the  World  War,  I.,  455. 
Other  Phases  of  Labor  Unrest,  I.,  428. 
Other  Serious  Labor  Troubles,  I.,  203. 


PACIFIC  fleet  reviewed  by  Secretary  Dan- 
iels,   I.,    52. 
PAN-GERMAN  Tendencies,  II.,  79. 


Partition  of  Turkey,  II.,  499. 

Patriarch's    Letter    to    Lenin    and    Trotsky, 

II.,   299. 
Paul  Deschanel  as  President  of  France,  II., 

257. 
PEACE  Conference,   activities  of,   I.,  38. 
Peace  of  1811,-to,  I.,  147. 
PEACE  Treaty  debated  in  the  United  States 

Senate,  I.,  9. 
Peace  with  Germany,  II.,  191. 
PEARL  Harbor  Drydock,  I.,  52. 
Peril, of  the  Fiume  Crisis,  I.,  243. 
PERSHING  (General),  John  J.,  homecoming 

and  welcome,  I.,  1  ;  thanked  by  Congresr, 

I.   7. 
Persia  and  the  Young  Shah,  II.,  155. 
PERU,    dispute   with   Chile   over  Tacna   and 

Arica,    I.,    532. 

PINON,     Ren6,     "  Young     Turk     Policy     in 
Asia,"    I.,   331. 

Poland  and  Bolshevist  Peace,  II.,  450. 
Poland  and  the  Silesian  Conflict,  I.,   111. 
Poland's  Fight  on  Bolshevism,  II.,  279. 
Poland's   Many  Probl -.r.s,   I.,.  279. 
Poland's  Progress  Totvard  Peace,  II.,   70. 
Poland's  War  with  the  Bolsheviki,  I.,  481. 
POLICE  Strike  in  Boston,   I.,  54. 
POLK,   Frank  L.,   becomes  acting  Secretary 
of    State,    II.    413. 

Present-Day  Germany:  An  Inside  View,  II., 
245. 

President  Wilson's  Illness,  I.,  236. 
President   Wilson's  Speaking   Tour,  I.,   17. 
Prince   Carol's  Renunciation   of  the   Throne, 

I.,   291. 
Problem   of   Turkey,   II.,    270. 
PROFITEERS,  penalties  proposed  for,  I.,  53. 
Program   of  the   "  Third  International,"   II., 

308. 
Prohibition  Enforcement  Law,  I.,  233,  435. 
Prussian  Protestantism,  I.,  156. 
Punishing  War  Criminals,  II.,  373. 

R 

RAILROAD   deficit    under    Government   con- 
trol, I.,  52. 

Ratification  by  Other  Nations,  I.,  217. 
REACTIONISM  in  Hungary,  II.,  449. 
Reconstruction  Days  in  Germany,  II.,  7i. 
RED  Cross  Work,  Summary  of,  I.,  210. 
Red  Terror  in  Kiev,  I.,  488. 
RELIEF  measures  for  Europe,  II.,  243. 
Remembrance,   {poem,)   II.,  170. 
RENNER,  (Dr)  Karl,  signs  Peace  Treaty  on 

behalf  of  Austria,  I.,  21. 
Repatriating    German    War    Prisoners,    II 

403. 
Repatriation  of  War  Prisoners,  I.,  245. 
Repairing  the  Ravages  of  War,  II.,  123. 
Republic    of   Georgia   in    the    Caucasus,    II., 

281. 


Vol.   XI. 


INDEX  AND   TABLE   OF  CONTENTS 


RESERVATIONS    to    Peace    Treaty,    debate 
upon  in  U.  S.  Senate,  I.,  9,  I.,  227. 

Retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army,  II.,  329. 

at   of   the   Serbian   Army,    (poem,)    IT.- 
337. 

Return  of  Troops  to  the  United  States,  II., 
340. 

Returning  the  Railroads,  II.,  410. 

Returning  the  Railway  Lines,  II.,  222. 

RHINELAND    Occupation    Terms    Modified. 
I.,   101. 

RIGA,  German  assault  on,  I.,  305. 

ROGERS,  E.  Strachan,  "  Retreat  of  the  Ser- 
bian Army,"    (poem,)   II.,   337. 

Romain  Rolland's  Plea  for  Post-War  Unity, 
I.,  148. 

Rumania  and  Greater  Rumania,  II.,  427. 

RUMANIA,    as   affected   by   Austrian   Peace 
Treaty,  I.,  30. 

RUMANIA,  view  of  on  the  military  occupa- 
tion of  Budapest,  I;,  58. 

Rumanian  Minorities  Treaty,  II.,  531. 

Russian  Factions  in  Death  Grapple,  I.,  494. 

Russia's  Problem  for  the  Allies,  II.,  452. 

Russia,'s  Struggle  with  Bolshevism,  I.,  114. 

Russia's  War  with  Bolshevism,  II.,  87. 


Second  Industrial  Conference,  II.,  227. 

Secret  History  of  the  Tanks,  I.,  356. 

Secretary  Lansing's  Resignation,  II.,  413. 

SEIGNOBOS,  Charles,  "  Aristocracy's  Down- 
fall in  Europe,"  I.,  152. 

Senate  and  the  Peace  Treaty,  I.,  9,  II.,  395. 

Senate  Debate  on  the  Peace  Treaty,  I.,  222. 

SERB-Croat-Slovene  State  in  the  Austrian 
Peace  Treaty,  I.,  28. 

Settlement  of  the  Coal  Strike,  II.,  24. 

SAASTAMOINEN,  Armas  Herman,  "  Free 
Finland,"  II.,  104. 

ST.  CYR,  French  military  academy,  I.,  48*. 

ST.  OEUMAIN-en-Laye,  treaty  with  Austria 
signed  at,  I.,  21. 

Santo  Domingo's  Plea  for  Self -Government, 
I.,  548. 

SAPELLI,  (Captain)  Alessandro,  "  Italy's 
Rights  Across  the  Adriatic,"  I.,  257. 

Scuttling   at  Scapa  Flow,   I.,    1G7. 

SCANDINAVIA,  conditions  in,  I.,  468. 

SCHELTEMA,  (Dr.)  J.  F.,  "  Straits  of  Con- 
stantinople,"  I.,  517. 

SHANTUNG  Controversy,  I.,  526. 

Shantung  Under  General  Ma  Liang,  I.,  350. 

SIAM,  termination  of  Austrian  treaties  with, 
I.,  35. 

SILESIA,  Upper,  German  brutality  in,  I., 
282. 

SOKOLSKI,  George  E.,  "  Shantung  Under 
General  Ma  Liang,"  I.,  350. 

SOVIET  Power,   (military  gains  of,)   II.,  87. 

Soviet  Riissia's  Peace  Drive,  II.,  291. 


Soviet  System  and  Ours,  II.,  313. 
SPAIN,  labor  troubles  in,  II.,  446.  . 
SPENDER,  Harold,   "Peace  of  1814-15,"  I., 

147. 
SPITZBERGEN,    acquired   by   Norway,    II., 

422. 
Stages  of  the  German  Collapse,  I.,  106. 
STEEL  Strike,  failure  of,  I.,  428. 
STERN,    (Sir)    Albert,    "  Secret   History    of 

the  Tanks,"  I.,  356. 
Strained  Relations  with  Mexico,  II.,  36. 
Straits  of  Constantinople,  I.,  517. 
STRASBOURG  University,  work  of,  I.,  409. 
Suffering  Prisoners  in  Siberia,  II.,  98. 
SULTAN   of  Turkey,    Indian   plea   in   behalf 

of,   II..   434. 
SWEDEN,  labor  .roubles  in,  I.,  406. 
SWITZERLAND,  elections  in,  I.,  470. 
/Syria  and  the  Anglo-French  Pact,  I.,  339. 


Tacna  and  Arica,  I.,  532. 

TEMESVAR,  Banat  of,  II.,  427. 

Terrible  Privations  in  Central  Europe,  I.,  478. 

TESCHEN,   plebiscite  for,   I.,   283. 

TEXAS  Coast,  storm  on,  I.,  43. 

Text  of  the  Austrian  Treaty,  I.,  20. 

TEXT  of  the  Shantung  Treaty  of  1898,  I.,  347. 

THANKS  of  Congress  bestowed  on  General 
Pershing,  I.,  7. 

THEODOROFF,  (General),  head  of  Bulga- 
rian peace  delegation,  I.,  40. 

THOMAS,  Lowell:  "With  Allenby  in  Pal- 
estine,"  I.,  326. 

Three  Founders  of  the  Czech  Republic,  I., 
287. 

Total  Cost  of  the   War  337  Billions,   I.,  438. 

To  the  Senate,  (Poem),  II.,  512. 

Torture   of  Prisoners  in  Korea,  II.,    169. 

TREATY  of  London,  genesis  of,  I.,  249. 

TROTZKY,  Leon:  "Creating  the  Russian 
Communist  Army,"  I.,  309. 

TROTZKY,  Leon:  "  How  We  Made  the  Octo-. 
ber  Revolution,"   I.,  506. 

Turkey's  Coercion  by  Germany,  II.,  446. 

u 

Ukraine's  Fight  for  Freedom,  II.,  123. 
United  States  and  the  German  Peace  Treaty, 
II.,  203. 

V 

VATICAN  In  Italian  Politics,  I.,  471. 
VENIZELOS,  Eleutherios,  crowning  of,  46. 
Vienna's  Agony,  II.,  70. 
VISHEVICH,     K. :     "  Ukraine's     Fight     for 

Freedom,"  I.,  123. 
Visit  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  I.,  433. 

w 

WAR  Prisoners,  repatriation  of,  I.,  245. 
Wartime  Feats  of  French  Railways,  II.,  134. 
WAR.  total  cost  of,  I.,  438;  origin  of,  I.,  455. 


Vol.    XI. 


VI. 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


WEALE,   Putnam:   "Forces  Behind  Japan's 

Imperialism,"   II.,   165. 
WEISS,    Louise:    "Three    Pounders    of    the 

Czech  Republic,"  I.,  287. 

What  Bolshevism  Would  Mean  in  America  " 
II.,  324. 

What  the  War  Did  for  Canada,  II.,  462. 

White  Terror  in  Hungary,  II.,  109. 

Winning   Freedom   for  Alsace-Lorraine    II 
127. 

WILSON,   (Pres.)  Woodrow,  begins  speaking 
tour  for  ratification  of  Peace  Treaty,   I., 

WILLY-NICKY  Correspondence,  II.,  525. 
With  Allenby  in  Palestine,  I.,  326. 


WOMAN'S  Suffrage  in  Canada,  II.,  466. 
Work  of  American  Mine  Sweepers,  II.,  68. 
Work  of  the  Peace  Conference,  I.,  395. 
WORKING  Women's  Congress,  I.,  432. 
World's  Ship  Tonnage,  I.,  170. 


YAP,  island  of,  I.,  44. 
Young  Turk  Policy  in  Asia,  I.,  331. 
Yudenitch  and  Northwestern  Russia,  I.    5«J 
YUDENITCH,  offensive  of,  I.,  296. 


ZIONIST  Difficulties  in  Palestine.  I.,  324. 


Portraits 


ACHMED,  Fuad  Pasha,  II.,  394-395. 
ALBERT,    (King  of  the  Belgians),    I.,   1. 
ALEXANDER,      (Secretary     of     Commerce) 
Joshua  W.,  II.,  30-31. 

ALLENBY,   (Field  Marshal  Sir)  Edmund    I. 
515. 

ANDERSON.  (Judge)  Albert.  I.,  445. 
ANGELES,  (General)  Felipe,  II.,  30-31. 
APPONYI,  (Count)  Albert,  II.,  214-215. 
ASTOR,   (Lady)  Nancy,  II.,  30-31. 
AVALOV-BERMONDT,  (Colonel),  II.,  288 
AVEZZANA,  (Baron)  Romano,  I.,  441. 
BENES,   (Dr.)  Edward,  I.,  288. 
BENSON,   (Rear  Admiral)  W.  S.,  I.,  248-249. 
BONILLAS,  Ygnacio,  II.,  30-31. 
BORDEN.   (Sir)  Robert  L.,  II.,  394-395 
BORIS  III.,   (King),  II.,  214-215. 
BOURGEOIS,  Leon,  II.,  394-395. 
BRANDEIS.   (Justice)  Louis  D.,  II     221 
BROOKINGS,  Robert  S..  I.,  248-24g'. 
CAROL,  (Prince,)  and  wife,  I.,  292 
CA*£ifZA'     (President>     Ve'nustiano.     II 

CHADBOURNE.  Thomas  L..  I.    248-049 
COONTZ.   (Rear  Admiral)  R.  E'..  I.,  248-249 
CUMMINGS,  Homer  S..  II.,  394.395 
CUMMINS,   (Senator)  Albert  B.,  n.    214-215 
CRESSON,   (Captain)  W.  P.,  n.,  119. 
CURZON,  (Earl),  II.,  30-31.  ' 
D'ANNUNZIO,  Gabriele,  I.,  248-249 
DAWES,   Charles  G.,   I.,  24S-249. 
DE  CROY,  (Prince)  Reginald,  II.,  30-31 
DE  GOUTTE.   (General.)  II..  115. 
DENIKIN,    (General.)    I.,   443 
DESCHANEL.  (President)  Paul.  II..  394-393 

EBfi!!T2i4(Srldent)  Friedrlch-  and  fam»y- 

ELIOT.  Charles  W..  I.    248-249 
ELIZABETH.  (Queen  of  the  Belgians,)  I..  1. 


ERZBERGER,  Matthias,  II.,  394-395. 
ESCH,  (Rep.)  John  J.,  II     214-*>i5 

FAfl!S3l33lRTH'    (MaJ°r    Gen-)"   Charles    S- 
FRENCH,   (Lord,)   II.,  394-395. 
FRIEDRICH,  Stephen,  II.,  214-215. 
GARFIELD,   (Dr.)  Harry  A.,  I..  445. 
GARVAN,  Francis  P.,  I.,  445. 

GARY,   Elbert  H.,  head  'of  U.  S.   Steel  Cor- 
poration,   I.,   248-249. 
GLASS,  Carter  T.,   I.,  446. 
CLEAVES,   (Rear  Admiral)  A..  I.    248-*49 
GLEAVES,   (Rear  Admiral)  A    C  '  I     1 

G02L87Z'    <MaJ°r    Gen-    C°Unt)    ™    d'er'    "" 

GORE,  Thomas  P.,  I.,  248-249. 

GREY,  (Viscount,)  II.,  396. 

HARBORD,   (Major  Gen.)  J.  G.,  I..  447 

HAYS,  William  H.,  II.,  294-295.' 

H1NES.   (Director  Gen.)  Walker  D.,  II     214 
215.  '       *" 

HOUSTON,    (Secretary)    David  F..    H.,   394. 

JACQUES,    (General,)    II.,  H8. 
JADWIN,   (Brig.  Gen.)  Edgar.  I.,  447 
JENKINS,  William  O.,  II.,  30-31. 
JOHNSON,  Hiram  W.,  I.,  248-249. 
JOHNSTON,   (Major  Gen.)  W.  T.,  II.,  30-3i 
JOSEPH,  (Archduke,)  I.,  248-249.' 
KOLCHAK,  (Vice  Admiral,)  I.,  448. 
LAWRENCE,   (Colonel)   Thomas,  I.,  329 
LENROOT,  Irvine  L.,  I.,  248-249. 
LEMAN,   (General,)   II.,  117. 
LERSNER,  (Baron)  Kurt  von.  II.,  30-31 
LITVINOW.  Maxine,  II.,  30-31. 
LUBOMIRSKI,  (Prince)  Casimir.  I.,  440. 
MacPHERSON,  Ian,  II..  394-398. 
McANDREW,  (Major  Gen.)  J    W     I     l 
-tfcCUMBER,    Porter   J.,    I.,    248-249.  "     ' 


Vol.    XI 


INDEX  AND    TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


VII. 


McLACHLIN,  (Major  Gen.)  E.  F.,  I.,  1. 
McNAB,  Gavin,  I.,  248-249. 
McNARY,  Charles  L.,  248-249. 
MANNERHEIM,  (General)  Justas,  II.,  106. 
MARCHIENNE,  de  Cartier,  I.,  248-249. 
MARSHAL,     (Vice    President)    Thomas    R., 

and  Mrs.  Marshall,  II.,  30-31. 
MASARYK,  John  G.,  II..  30-31. 
MASARYK,  Thomas  G.,  I.,  288. 
MEREDITH,  (Secretary)  Edwin  T.,  II.,  394- 

395. 
MILLERAND,      (Premier)     Alexandre,     II., 

294,  295. 
MILNER,    (Viscount)   Alfred,   II.,  394-395. 
MORGENTHAU,    Henry    I.,    447. 
MOSES,  George,  I.,  248-249. 
NELSEN,  Knute,  I.,  248-249. 
OBREGON,   (General,)  II.,  30-31. 
PALMER,  A.  Mitchell,  I.,  445. 
PEALE,  Rembrandt,  II.,  214-215. 
PERSHING,    (General)    John   J.,    I.,   1. 
PILSUDSKI,    (General)   Joseph,   II.,  214-215. 


PORTER,   (Colonel)   Daniel  L.,  I.,  446. 

POSKA,  M.  J.,  II.,  214-215. 

ROBINSON,  Henry  M.,  II.,  214-215. 

ROGERS,  Samuel  L.,  II.,  214-215. 

ROPER,   Daniel  C,  I.,  446. 

RUSSELL,    Charles  Edward,    I.,   248-249. 

SAASTAMOINEN,   Armas,    II.,    105. 

SCIALOJA,  Vittorio,   II.,  214-215. 

SECOND  Industrial  Conference,  members  of, 

II.,   30,   31. 
SHAH  of  Persia,   II.,  30-31. 
SHIDEHARA,   Kel,    I.,   248-249. 
SIMS,   (Vice  Admiral)  W.  S.,  I.,  248-249. 
SPARGO,   John,    I.,   248,   249. 
THOMAS,    Charles   S.,   248-249. 
VALERA,  Eamon  de,  II.,  394,  395. 
VLASTIMIL,    Tuzar,    248-249. 
VOLSTEAD,    (Congressman)   A.  J.,   I.,  446. 
WASHINGTON,    (Rear  Admiral)   T.,   I.,    1. 
WHITE,  James  P.,  II.,  214-215. 
WILHELM   II.,    latest   portrait,    I.,   442. 
WOOD,    , Major  Gen.)   Leonard,   I.,  214-215. 
YUDENITCH,    (General)   Nicolai,   I.,  449. 


Illustrations 


ALBERT    (King)     addressing    Congress,    I., 

439. 
AMERICAN    Soldiers    at    Coble nz,    II.,    214- 

215. 
AMERICAN    Troops    Arriving     on     Belgian 

Soil,  II.,   113. 
ARMENIAN  Officials  Greeting  General  Har- 

bord,    II.,   214-215. 
AT  the  Bottom  of  the  "  Silo,"   I.,  140. 
BEDOUIN  Volunteers  in  Arabia,   I.,   330. 
BEHIND  the  Bars  in  a  German  Prison,  I., 

138. 
BULGARIAN  Peace  Treaty,  Signing  of,  II., 

30-31. 
CANADIAN  Pageant,  I.,  1. 
CHINESE  Musicians  on  Western   Front,  I., 

525. 
CLEMENCEAU  (Premier)  Signing  the  Peace 

Treaty,   I.,    1. 
COAL    Strike    Conference,    Members    of,    I., 

444. 
COOLIES  in  France,   I.,  523. 
DEPORTED  Radicals,  Types,  II.,  394-395. 
DOORN,  Holland,  New  Residence  of  the  Ex- 
Kaiser,    I.,    248-249. 
DORPAT  Conference,   Members  of,   II.,   214- 

215. 
FITZPATRICK,  John,  Addressing  Steel  Mill 

Strikers,  I.,  248-249. 
FIUME,    II.,    394-395. 
FRANCE'S  Tribute  to  American  Dead,   II., 

394-395. 


GERMAN  Sentry  Guarding  Prison  Encamp- 
ment,   I.,    139. 

"  GOD'S  ACRE,"  near  Chateau-Thierry, 
I.,    1. 

HELIGOLAND   Dismantled,    II.,   30-31. 

KOLCHAK'S    Prisoners,    I.,    44S. 

LAST  Great  A.  E.  F.  Parade,   I.,  248-249. 

LEAGUE  of  Nations,  First  Meeting,  II.,  394- 
395. 

LENS,   Devastated  City  of,   I.,  248-249. 

LENS,  France,  Temporary  Bulgings  in,  II., 
30-31. 

MACKENSEN  (Field  Marshal)  in  Captivity. 
I.,    443. 

MERCIER  (Cardinal),  New  York  Reception 
to,    I.,   450. 

MONUMENT  to  Allied  Dead  in  Switzerland, 
II.,  214-215. 

PROCES  Verbal,  Signed  at  Paris,  II.,  394- 
395. 

RHEIMS,  Commerce  Reviving  in,  I.,  454. 
RUSSIAN  Mother  Mourning  Slain  Sons,  II., 
214-215. 

PERONNE,  France,  Reconstruction  of,  II., 
30-31. 

PERSHING  (General)  receiving  honors  in 
the  Guildhall,  London,  I.,  1. 

PERSHING  (General)  receiving  thanks  from 
Congress,   I.,  248-249. 

PERSHING  Parade,  New  York  City,  I.,  1. 
POINCARE  (President)  at  Pointe  de  Grave, 
I.,  451. 


Vol.  XI. 


vm. 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CL  RRENT   HISTORY 


POLK.   Frank  L..  signing  Peace  Treaty,   I., 

248-249. 
PORT  AU  PRINCE.  Haiti.  I.,  543. 
POSTAGE  Stamps  of  New  Nations,  I..  248- 

249. 
PRINCE   of  Wales   at  Washington's  Tomb. 

II..  30-31. 
RENNER.   (Dr.)  Karl,  affixing  signature  to 

Peace  Treaty,  I.,  248-249. 
"  SOVIET  Ark,"  Buford,  leaving  New  York, 

II.,  214-215. 


TEXAS    Passing    Through    Panama    Canal. 

I..  1. 
TIED  to  the  Stake  in  a  German  Prison.   I., 

13S. 
TURKISH      Students      Protesting      Against 

Peace  Terms,  II.,  214-21-j. 

VERSAILLES  Treaty,  Bound  Copies  of,  II., 
394-395. 

VICTORY  Parade  in  London,  I.,  1. 
WILSON   (President)   signing  the  Treaty  at 
Versailles,  I.,  1. 


Maps 


ADRIATIC  East  Coast,  I.,  251. 

AFGHANISTAN,  n.,  262. 

AFRICA,  Italian  Gains  in,  II..  483. 

AIRSHIP  Chart,  I.,  163,  164. 

ALBANIAN  Border,  II.,  331. 

ASIA  Minor,  I..  341. 

ASIA  Minor,  n.,  501. 

AUSTRIA,  Boundaries  of,  I.,  29. 

BALTIC  States,  I.,  485. 

BELGHJM  Between  Ypres  and  the  Sea,  II., 

116. 
BULGARIA,  I.,  269. 
BULGARIA,  Territory  Lost  by,  II.,  8. 
CENTRAL  Europe,  I.,  248. 

CHATEAU-Thierry.  American  Fighting 
Near,  II,  57. 

DANZIG,  with  Internationalized  Area,  II., 
385. 

ESTHONIA,    II.,   295. 

FACSIMILE  of  Pages  in  Willy-Nicky  Let- 
ters, II.,  526,  528. 

FIUME.  I.,  259. 

FIUME  and  the  Dalmatian  Coast,  I.,  403. 

FIUME,  II.,  12. 

FORMER  Hungarian  Empire,  I.,  31. 

GEORGIA,  Republic  of.  II..  283. 

GEORGIA,  Azerbaijan  and  Armenian  Re- 
public, II.,  492. 

GERMAN  East  Africa,  I.,  160. 
HAITI  and  San  Domingo,  I.,  544. 
HUNGARY  Under  Peace  Treaty,  II.,  449. 
INDIA,  Northwestern  Frontier  of,  II.,  43. 
ISTRIA,  II.,  390. 
KURDISTAN.  II.,  49. 
LEIPZIG.    II..    387. 


LITHUANIA.    II..   83. 

MESOPOTAMIA,   II.,   lol. 

MONGOLIA.    II.,    47. 

MONTENEGRIN  and  Serbian  Frontiers.  II.. 
474. 

MOSCOW  and  Surrounding  Regions,  I.,  497. 

OTTOMAN  Empire  in  Sixteenth  Century,  II.. 

14.-1. 

PETROGRAD   Region,    I..   301. 
PORTUGUESE    East    Africa.    II.,    443. 
RUMANIA    and    Jugoslavia,    Territory    Al- 
lotted   to,    I.,    462. 

RUMANIA'S  Claim  to  Territory,   II.,  429. 

RUSSIA,  Theatre  of  Denikin's  Operations,  I., 
116. 

RUSSIA  and   Turkistan,    II.,    89. 

ST.   MIHIEL  Salient,   II.,   61. 

SARRE  Coal  Basin,   II.,   242. 

SERBIAN  Retreat,  Line  of,  II.,  335. 

SILESIA,   Upper,    I.,   2S1. 

SLESVIG,    Plebiscite   Zone,    II.,   425. 

SLESVIG-Holstein.   I.,  468. 

SOUTH   Russia,    II.,   290. 

SOUTH  Russian  Front,  I.,  297. 

SOVIET  Russia,  Gains  of,  II.,  455. 

TACNA   and   Arica,    I.,    533,    535. 

TRANSCASPIAN  Scene  of  Bolshevist  Opera- 
tions, II.,  15. 

TURKEY    as    Foreshadowed    by    the    Peace 

Conference,   II.,   148. 
TURKEY  in  Asia,   II.,  271. 
TURKEY  in  1913,   II.,   147. 
TURKISH  Empire  in  1833,   II.,   146. 
UPPER   Silesia,    II..   388. 
WEST  Africa,  New  Frontiers  in,  II.,  485,  486. 


Cartoons 

L,  173-190;  359-376;  551-566;  II.,  171-190;  351-374:  535-554. 


Vol.    XI. 


GENERAL   JOHN   J.    PERSHING 


Commander,  Who  Was  Showered  With 


vp,v  Portrait  of  the  American  _ 

H„r,o^  and  Giver  Poll  Rank  of  General  on  His  Return  Home 


KING  ALBERT  OF  BELGIUM 

32: 


*in?i°f J?*  Belgians'  Who  Led  His  Forces  in  the  Field  Throughout 
the  War,  and  Who  is  an  Honored  Guest  of  the  United  State?. 


QUEEN  OF  THE  BELGIANS 
3E 


Queen  Elizabeth  of  Belgium,  Who,  With  ^^^.^.^ 
Prince  Leopold,  Is  Making  Her  First  Visit  to  the  United  States. 


CARDINAL  MERCTER 

3z: 


Archbishop  of -Malines  and  Primate  of  Belgium,  Famous  for  His  War- 
time  Utterances.,  Who  is  Visiting  the  United  States. 


VISCOUNT  GREY  OF  FALLODON 


New  British  Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  Succeeding  Sir  Cecil 

Spring-Rice. 


(Photo    P.    S.    Rogers  A 


OFFICERS  LATELY  IN  THE  PUBLIC  EYE 


mug 


MAJ.   GEN.   J.   W.    McANDREW 
President  Army  War  College 

(©  Harris  and   Ewing.) 


MAJ.  GEN.  E.  F.  McGLACHLIN 
Commander  1st  Division 

(U.    S.    Official    Photo.) 


REAR  ADM'L  A.  C.  GLEAVES 
New  Commander  Asiatic  Squadron 

(@   Harris   and   Firing.) 


REAR  ADM'L  T.  WASHINGTON 
Chief  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Navigation 

(©  Harris   and   Ewing.) 


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(JEN.  PERSHING'S  HOMECOMING 

His  Landing  in  New  York,   With  a  Parade  of  the 
1st  Division,  the  Occasion  of  a  National  Welcome 


A  FTER  an  absence  of  two  years  and 
/\  about  one  hundred  days  General 
1  V  John  Joseph  Pershing  returned  to 
America  on  Sept.  8,  1919,  vic- 
torious and  renowned,  to  receive  two 
days  later  one  of  the  greatest  receptions 
at  the  hands  of  his  fellow-citizens  that 
any  American  had  ever  received  in  the 
military  or  civil  history  of  the  United 
States.  The  whole  city  of  New  York 
turned  out  to  see  him  riding  at  the  head 
of  his  heroic  troops  of  the  1st  Division 
down  the  whole  length  of  Fifth  Avenue, 
amid  scenes  of  unexampled  popular  en- 
thusiasm. 

General  Pershing  had  sailed  home  on 
the  former  German  steamship  Leviathan, 
which  reached  American  waters  on 
Sept.  7.  A  multitude  of  various  craft 
met  him  in  New  York  Bay,  and  amid 
the  din  of  whistle  and  artillery  salutes 
he  received  the  first  earnest  of  his  wel- 
come home.  Military  officers,  Congress- 
men, and  prominent  citizens  boarded  the 
Leviathan  bearing  greetings.  An  air- 
plane circled  over  the  big  transport  and 
dropped  a  welcoming  letter  from  Mayor 
Hylan,  in  which  was  described  the  desire 
of  the  citizens  "  to  express  in  true  Amer- 
ican fashion  the  great  love  and  admira- 
tion which  they  felt  for  the  man 
through  whose  instrumentality  the  mag- 
nificent achievements  of  our  armies  had 
been  made  possible." 

As  the  transport  swung  into  the  North 
River  those  on  board  could  see  for  the 
first  time  the  great  crowds  along  the 
ricerfront  hours  before  the  General's 
landing  was  expected.  When  at  last  the 
Leviathan  was  docked  at  army  transport 
Pier  4  in  Hoboken,  formerly  one  of  the 
Hamburg- American  piers,  only  the  news- 
paper men  and  photographers  were  al- 
lowed to  board  her;  these  raced  aboard 
the  moment  the  gangplank  was  laid,  and 
assailed  the  General  in  a  throng.  The 
returning  soldier  good-naturedly  accom- 
panied the  photographers  to  an  upper 


deck  and  allowed  them  to  take  pictures 
of  himself  and  his  staff.  To  the  news- 
paper correspondents  he  said :  "  This 
welcome  is  overwhelming.  I  accept  it 
only  in  the  name  of  those  brave  boys  of 
ours  who  went  over  there  and  fought 
and  made  our  glorious  victory  possible." 
Amid  loud  acclamation  of  the  waiting 
throngs  upon  the  dock  the  General  then 
went  ashore. 

This  debarkation  and  the  simple  cere- 
monies on  the  upper  deck  of  the  pier 
were  among  the  most  impressive  part  of 
the  General's  homecoming.  The  pier 
was  festooned  gayly  with  the  national 
colors.  The  Port  of  Embarkation  Band, 
reinforced  with  bands  from  the  1st  Di- 
vision itself,  played  inspiring  music 
from  a  boat  moored  near  by.  The  Gen- 
eral passed  through  hundreds  of  wel- 
fare workers,  while  guards  of  picked  sol- 
diers with  fixed  bayonets  stood  at  at- 
tention. The  pier  house  was  crowded  to 
its  full  capacity;  a  vast  din  arose  from 
the  escorting  craft,  from  factory 
whistles,  from  the  cheering  throats  of 
thousands  outside. 

WELCOMED  BY  SECRETARY  BAKER 

To  a  flourish  of  trumpets,  a  ruffle  of 
drums,  and  sharp  commands  from  the 
military,  General  Pershing  stepped  again 
upon  American  soil.  Informal  greetings 
with  relatives  and  friends  followed. 
General  Pershing  was  then  led  to  a  space 
on  the  upper  deck  of  the  pier,  which  had 
been  elaborately  decorated.  Here  were 
chairs  and  a  dais,  upon  which  Mr.  Baker, 
Secretary  of  War,  and  General  Pershing 
took  seats.  Amid  applause  Secretary 
Baker  said: 

General  Pershing:  About  two  and  a  half 
years  ago,  by  the  President's  direction,  I 
had  the  honor  of  designating  you  to  lead 
the  armies  of  the  United  States  in  Prance. 
Today  you  return,  your  mission  accom- 
plished, with  victory  written  on  the  ban- 
ners of  the  greatest  army  the  nation  has 
ever  had,  and  with  the  priceless  founda- 
tions of  liberty  and  freedom  saved  for  ub 


9 


THE  NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


and  for  the  world   as   the  result   of   our 
participation  in  the  world  war. 

The  task  intrusted  to  you  required  all 
the  imagination,  all  the  energy,  and  all 
the  genius  of  a  great  commander.  From 
the  first  you  had  the  complete  confidence 
of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of 
War.  This  confidence  remained  unshaken 
to  the  end. 

From  the  beginning  you  had  all  support 
the  people  of  the  United  States  could  give. 
You  and  your  great  army  embodied  for 
them  their  country  and  their  country's 
cause.  They  worked  with  devotion  and 
self-sacrifice  to  sustain  and  supply  you 
with  troops  and  equipment.  Their  hearts 
were  overseas  with  you  and  their  prayers 
for  your  welfare  and  that  of  your  men 
were  constant.  Doubtless  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  your  fellow-citizens  were 
an  inspiration  to  you  in  the  hours  of  prep- 
aration and  in  the  hours  of  battle,  as  the 
superb  exploits  of  the  army  under  your 
command  were  in  turn  an  inspiration  to 
our  national  effort. 

The  great  victories  are  now  won.  Your 
magnificent  army  has  returned.  The  sol- 
diers who  once  marched  through  the 
thickets  of  the  Argonne  are  citizens  again, 
filled  with  high  memories  of  great  deeds, 
and  carrying  into  life  the  inspiration 
which  membership  in  that  great  company 
and  sacrifice  for  that  great  cause  engen- 
dered. Your  return  closes  the  history  of 
the  American  Expeditionary  Forces.  The 
President  had  hoped  to  be  here  personally 
to  speak  on  behalf  of  the  nation  a  word  of 
welcome.  In  his  enforced  absence  he  has 
directed  me  to  speak  it. 

I  bid  you  welcome,  gratefully,  on  behalf 
of  the  country  you  have  served  and  on 
behalf  of  the  people  whose  sons  you  have 
led.  The  confidence  with  which  we  sent 
you  away  you  have  sacredly  kept. 
"Wherever  there  is  a  soldier  or  a  friend 
of  a  soldier,  wherever  there  is  a  lover  of 
liberty,  wherever  there  is  a  heart  which 
rejoices  at  the  deliverance  of  mankind 
from  its  hour  of  peril,  you  and  your  great 
army  are  remembered  and  loved.  You 
return  not  only  to  American  soil,  but  to 
the  heart  of  the  country. 

GREETING    FROM    THE    PRESIDENT 

In  the  absence  of  Vice  President  Mar- 
shall, Secretary  Baker  read  the  following 
message  of  greeting  from  President  Wil- 
son: 

My  dear  General  Pershing:  I  am  dis- 
tressed that  I  cannot  greet  you  in  person. 
It  would  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure 
to  grasp  your  hand  and  say  to  you  what 
is  in  my  heart  and  in  the  hearts  of  all 
true  Americans  as  we  hail  your  return 
to  the  home  land  you  have  served  so 
gallantly.  Notwithstanding  my  physical 
absence,  may  I  not,  as  your  Commander 
in  Chief  and  as  spokesman  of  our  fellow- 


countrymen,  bid  you  an  affectionate  and 
enthusiastic  welcome— a  welcome  warmed 
with  the  ardor  of  genuine  affection  and 
deep  admiration?  You  have  served  the 
country  with  fine  devotion  and  admirable 
efficiency,  in  a  war  forever  memorable 
as  the  world's  triumphant  protest  against 
Injustice  and  as  its  vindication  of  liberty, 
the  liberty  of  peoples  and  of  nations. 

We  are  proud  of  you  and  of  the  men 
you  commanded.  No  finer  armies  ever 
set  their  "  -domitable  strength  and  un- 
conquerable spirit  against  the  forces  of 
wrong.  Their  glory  is  the  glory  of  the 
nation,  and  it  is  with  a  thrill  of  profound 
pride  that  we  greet  you  as  their  leader 
and  commander.  You  have  just  come 
from  the  sea  and  from  the  care  of  the 
men  of  the  navy,  who  made  the  achieve- 
ments of  our  arms  on  land  possible,  and 
who  so  gallantly  assisted  to  clear  the  seas 
of  their  lurking  peril.  Our  hearts  go  out 
to  them,  too.  It  is  delightful  to  see  you 
home  again,  well  and  fit  for  the  fatigues 
you  must  endure  before  we  are  done  with 
our  welcome.  I  will  not  speak  now  of 
our  associates  on  the  other  side  of  the 
sea.  It  will  be  delightful  on  many  oc- 
casions to  speak  their  praise.  I  speak 
now  only  of  our  personal  joy  that  you 
are  home  again  and  that  we  have  the  op- 
portunity to  make  you  feel  the  warmth  of 
our  affectionate  welcome. 

DEEPLY  MOVED  BY  TRIBUTES 

During  Secretary  Baker's  greeting 
and  the  reading  of  the  President's  mes- 
sage, General  Pershing  was  visibly  af- 
fected. As  he  heard  the  President's 
words  "  You  have  served  the  country 
with  fine  devotion  and  admirable  effi- 
ciency," tears  came  into  his  eyes.  He 
seemed  much  more  moved  by  these  trib- 
utes than  when  the  War  Secretary 
handed  him  a  moment  later  the  commis- 
sion signed  by  President  Wilson  upon 
Congressional  authority,  conferring  upon 
him  the  full  rank  of  General. 

A  committee  representing  New  York 
City  and  headed  by  William  G.  McAdoo, 
former  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  then 
stepped  upon  the  platform  and  extended 
its  greeting.  A  message  from  Missouri, 
the  General's  home  State,  was  read  by  a 
special  delegate,  and  representatives  of 
the  Senate  and  House  delivered  short 
addresses.  Replying  to  all  these  greet- 
ings, General  Pershing  said: 

Fellow  soldiers  and  friends:  If  this  Is 
to  be  continued,  I  believe  that  before 
many  days  are  passed  I  shall  wish  per- 
haps that  the  war  had  continued.  To 
say  I  am  happy  to  be  back  on  American 


GENERAL   PERSHING'S   HOMECOMING 


soil  would  merely  be  to  waste  words.  I 
am  overwhelmed  with  emotion  when  I 
think   what   this   greeting   means. 

Mr.  Secretary,  you  have  been  extremely 
complimentary  in  your  references  to  my 
part  in  the  war.  The  part  of  which  you 
speak  is  only  one,  because  of  the  united 
effort  of  the  nation.  The  army  depended 
on  the  morale  of  the  people,  and  the 
morale  of  the  American  people  was  never 
shaken.  The  American  people  faced  its 
task  with  a  courage  and  enthusiasm  it 
would    be    difficult    to    describe. 

I  trust  that  those  we  left  behind  will 
receive  the  attention  of  a  grateful  people 
and  that  those  graves  we  left  over  there 
will  be  decorated  and  kept  clean  and 
eternal  in  the  minds  of  the  people  at 
home  so  that  those  places  where  they  are 
buried  will  be  a  place  to  go  and  learn 
patriotism   anew. 

I  wish  to  thank  the  President  for  his 
confidence  in  me  since  he  elected  me 
Chief  of  the  Army,  and  I  thank  you,  Mr. 
Secretary,  for  your  confidence  in  me. 
This  has  made  my  task  easier. 

AMID  MANHATTAN  THRONGS 

From  the  Hoboken  dock,  General 
Pershing  and  his  staff,  accompanied  by 
the  welcoming  officials,  were  taken  by 
water  to  the  Battery.  From  there  all 
the  way  to  the  City  Hall  great  throngs 
in  the  buildings  and  on  the  streets 
cheered  the  General's  passing.  Battery 
Park  and  Bowling  Green  were  packed. 
The  air  was  white  with  scraps  of  paper 
thrown  from  the  windows  of  tall  build- 
wigs.  Women  waved,  men  cheered  and 
doffed  their  hats,  while  cries  of  "  Persh- 
ing! "  came  from  every  side.  Flags  flut- 
tered. Two  airplanes  manoeuvred  above 
and  swooped  low  over  the  heads  of  the 
crowd. 

AT  THE  CITY  HALL 

When  the  General's  automobile  reached 
the  City  Hall  the  Governor  and  the  Mayor 
stood  waiting  on  the  steps.  City  and 
State  officials  shook  General  Pershing's 
hand,  while  the  crowd  sent  up  a  great 
cheer,  and  the  military  men  and  their 
escorts  disappeared  within.  Two  by  two 
they  ascended  to  the  Aldermanic  Cham- 
ber, where  Mayor  Hylan,  on  behalf  of 
the  city,  formally  became  host  to  Gen- 
eral Pershing  and  his  staff  during  their 
stay  in  New  York.  The  Mayor  read  an 
address  welcoming  the  General  and  other 
officers  of  the  American  Expeditionary 


Forces,  reciting  their  chief  victories  and 

continuing: 

Our  schools  will  teach  Young  America 
of  our  unselfish  participation  in  the  world 
war  and  our  armies'  magnificent  achieve- 
ments. They  will  be  told  how  the  horizon 
of  the  world  was  darkened  when  the  long 
night  set  in  of  awful  carnage  which 
drenched  Europe  in  an  ocean  of  blood  and 
threatened  civilization  with  extinction. 
They  will  be  told  how  war-ridden  and 
despairing  Europe  turned  appealing  eyes 
to  our  shores  for  aid  and  how  American 
loyalty  sprang  into  instant  life  and  from 
Alaska  to  the  West  Indies  came  shouts 
of  devotion  and  pledges  of  help.  Our 
schools  will  tell  our  children  how  America 
repaid  to  France  the  sacred  debt  for  the 
aid  of  Lafayette  in  our  early  struggles 
for  independence,  and  how  the  flags  of 
the  Allies  were  entwined  in  a  common 
cause  for  the  relief  of  the  downtrodden 
and  oppressed  of  all  lands  and  for  the 
preservation  of  liberty  and  civilization. 
They  will  tell  of  the  peerless  American 
soldier— 4he  soldier  whose  heart  beat  joy- 
ously with  the  spirit  of  freedom,  who 
tugged  impatiently  at  the  leash  to  engage 
in  fierce  encounter,  and  who  fought  with 
unsurpassed  courage  in  the  trenches,  in 
the  forests,  and  on  the  open  plains,  know- 
ing no  fear  and  appalled  by  no  danger, 
only  counting  the  hardships  of  the  war  as 
blessed  opportunities  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  America's  benevolence  and  hu- 
manity. 

They  will  tell  how  one  American  Gen- 
eral, with  wonderful  power  over  men,  by 
personal  and  moral  courage,  clearness  of 
judgment,  vigor  of  action,  and  genius  as 
great  as  the  exigencies  of  war  ever  sum- 
moned, led  the  armies  of  America  to 
triumphant  victory. 

When  these  deeds  are  recounted  the 
hearts  of  our  children  will  beat  with 
quicker  pulse,  and  in  the  innermost  re- 
cesses of  their  souls  they  will  pledge  holy 
allegiance  and  devotion  to  our  noble  coun- 
try, which  today,  in  addition  to  its  un- 
paralleled prosperity  and  dominant  posi- 
tion in  the  Old  and  New  Worlds,  possesses 
that  peerless  embodiment  of  military 
genius,  preserved  through  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  the  greatest  war  in  history,  Gen- 
eral John   J.    Pershing. 

GENERAL  PERSHING'S  RESPONSE 

In   answer   to   the    Mayor's   greeting, 
General  Pershing  said  in  part: 

The  personal  compliments  that  you  have 
paid  to  me,  Sir,  are  far  greater  than  my 
humble  services  deserve.  To  receive  at 
your  hand  the  freedom  of  this  great 
metropolis,  which  we  all  claim  as  ours 
and  which  we  love  so  well,  is  in  itself  a 
peculiar  distinction.  The  circumstances 
that  prompt  this  action  have  their  founda- 
tion on  foreign  battlefields,  where  Amer- 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ican  manhood  gloriously  fought  for  the 
principles  of  right  and  justice. 

Today  our  minds  are  filled  with  the 
thrilling  incidents  of  these  fields.  Eager 
to  serve  the  cause,  filled  with  confidence 
in  their  own  superiority,  our  young  Amer- 
ican Army  passed  out  through  your  gates 
on  their  way  to  their  mission  across  the 
seas.  Your  enthusiasm  for  them  and  the 
warm  hospitality  you  gave  them  and  your 
godspeed  as  they  sailed  away  added  new 
courage  for  their  task. 

When  they  returned  home  the  victorious 
welcome  of  your  people  has  spoken  louder 
than  words  the  gratitude  of  the  nation  for 
duty  well  done.    *    *    * 

New  York  City's  attitude  has  been  ac- 
cepted everywhere,  at  home  and  abroad, 
as  that  of  the  whole  people,  and  your  acts 
have  always  encouraged  the  Allies  and 
have  always  disheartened  Germany.  Out 
of  your  patriotism,  your  support,  and 
your  confidence  in  our  success  there  has 
grown  up  between  the  people  of  this  city 
and  our  citizen  army  a  mutual  affection 
that  makes  for  better  citizenship,  an  affec- 
tion that  will  grow  with  time  and  become 
a  lasting  souvenir  in  the  hearts  of  all 
those  that  learn  to  know  and  to  love  you. 

General  Pershing's  second  day  in  New 
York  was  crowded  with  new  events  em- 
bodying the  efforts  of  all,  young  and 
old,  to  voice  personally  the  city's  official 
hospitality.  Cheering  crowds  followed 
him  wherever  he  went;  he  received  thou- 
sands of  telegrams  inviting  him  to  at- 
tend all  kinds  of  functions  and  to  visit 
scores  of  other  cities  of  the  Union.  The 
chief  event  of  the  day  was  a  reception 
given  him  on  the  Sheep  Meadow  in  Cen- 
tral Park,  to  which  great  numbers  of 
people  thronged,  and  where  50?000  school 
children,  waving  a  small  forest  of  Amer- 
ican flags,  raised  cheers  in  childish  voices 
as  Pershing  called  them  "  the  future  de- 
fenders of  our  country."  Other  activities 
were  apportioned  between  visits  on  rela- 
tives, a  reception  by  the  Elks,  of  which 
organization  General  Pershing  is  a  mem- 
ber, and  a  visit  to  the  theatre,  where  he 
met  with  a  rousing  reception. 

THE  PARADE 

The  culminating  feature  of  the  Gen- 
eral's visit  to  New  York  was  the  great 
parade  down  Fifth  Avenue  on  Sept.  10, 
at  the  head  of  which  he  rode  on  horse- 
back. It  was  the  population's  first  op- 
portunity to  greet  General  Pershing  and 
the  men  of  the  1st  Division  personally 
and  to  show  them  that  it  remembered 


the  part  they  played  in  the  smashing 
drives  at  Toul,  at  Cantigny,  at  Soissons, 
at  St.  Mihiel,  and  at  the  Meuse  and  Ar- 
gonne.  It  was  likewise  the  first  appear- 
ance in  New  York  of  "  Pershing's  Own," 
that  regiment  of  stalwart  veterans  picked 
from  the  first  six  regular  army  divisions 
in  France,  which  paraded  as  Pershing's 
escort  in  Paris  and  London.  Altogether 
more  than  25,000  fighting  men  were  in 
line. 

By  a  special  proclamation  the  Mayor 
had  declared  the  day  a  national  holiday, 
and  the  whole  population  was  out  to  wit- 
ness the  passing  of  the  marching  hosts. 
All  along  Fifth  Avenue  from  107th  Street 
to  Washington  Square  they  stood,  many 
deep,  kept  in  place  by  7,000  policemen; 
hotels  and  private  buildings  filled  spe- 
cially constructed  stands  with  closely 
packed  spectators;  every  window  was 
crowded,  and  the  surging  throngs  early 
occupied  every  point  of  vantage.  From 
all  these  points,  as  well  as  from  the 
reviewing  stand  and  the  seats  that 
flanked  it  from  Eighty-fifth  to  Seventy- 
fourth  Street,  the  cheers  swelled  into 
wild  outbursts  of  greetings,  shoutings 
of  Pershing's  name,  the  ringing  of  bells, 
the  rattle  of  raucous  "  crickets,"  a 
formidable  body  of  sound  undertoned 
by  the  pealing  of  church  bells  and 
supplemented  visually  by  great  showers 
of  confetti,  long,  trailing  paper  stream- 
ers, and  clouds  of  paper  snow.  A  group 
of  army  airplanes  from  Mineola  flew  up 
and  down  above  the  long,  white  avenue, 
echoing  to  the  rythmical  tread  of  the  sol- 
diers, who  wore  upon  their  heads  the  flat 
trench  helmets  of  the  fighting  force 
in  France,  and  whose  closely  aligned 
bayonets  gleamed  like  silver  rain. 

The  whole  route  was  gay  and  colorful 
with  flags  and  bunting.  Most  colorful, 
most  picturesque  of  all,  was  the  way 
Pershing,  the  members  of  his  staff,  of- 
ficers and  men  of  lesser  rank,  all  the 
long  line  of  marchers,  were  pelted  with 
flowers.  At  times  Pershing  rode  over 
stretches  of  asphalt  carpeted  with  laurel. 
At  others  roses  and  simpler  flowers 
rained  about  him.  Again  some  enthusi- 
ast, high  above  him,  would  toss  a  single 
blossom,  perhaps  to  fall  almost  at  his 
feet,  perhaps  to  drop  far  behind  him. 


GENERAL   PERSHING'S   HOMECOMING 


Even  where  the  crowds  were  least 
dense,  Pershing  was  kept  at  almost  con- 
tinual salute  by  the  tributes  volleyed  at 
him  from  both  sides  of  the  avenue.  Both 
when  he  reached  the  stands  and  when  he 
was  below  Fifty-ninth  Street,  from  which 
points  the  crowds  increased,  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  acknowledge  a  tithe 
of  the  applause. 

AT  THE   REVIEWING   STAND 

From  the  stands  built  by  the  Mayor's 
Committee  of  Welcome  to  Distinguished 
Guests,  stretching  for  five  blocks  on 
either  side  of  the  main  entrance  to  the 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  where  the 
official  reviewing  stand  was  built,  Persh- 
ing was  hailed  with  the  most  impressive 
amount  of  noise.  There  sat  many  thou- 
sands of  relatives  of  men  in  the  1st 
Division,  eager  to  show  their  affection 
for  the  commander. 

In  the  official  stand  itself  Secretary 
of  War  Newton  D.  Baker,  General  Pey- 
ton C.  March,  Chief  of  Staff  of  the 
Army;  military  and  diplomatic  repre- 
sentatives of  allied  nations,  Governor 
Alfred  E.  Smith,  Mayor  John  F.  Hylan, 
and  other  well-known  men  beamed  and 
saluted,  and  women  smiled  and  waved 
and  blew  kisses  as  the  General  passed. 

Nowhere  did  the  pageant  catch  the 
popular  fancy  more  fully  than  it  did 
before  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  where  the 
General  dismounted  to  receive  a  bouquet 
of  American  Beauties  from  a  Knights  of 
Columbus  war  worker,  a  pretty  girl  whom 
he  rewarded  with  a  kiss  while  the  crowd 
cheered.  Then  he  crossed  the  avenue  to 
shake  hands  and  chat  a  moment  with 
Cardinal  Mercier  of  Belgium,  who  stood 
with  local  church  dignitaries  in  a  stand 
in  front  of  the  Cathedral. 

Perhaps  the  most  solemn  incident  of 
the  parade  was  the  passage  of  its  leading 
figure  and  the  little  cavalcade  behind 
him  through  the  Victory  Arch,  at  Twen- 
ty-third Street,  at  salute  in  memory 
of  the  dead.  The  General's  colors  were 
dipped,  and  the  band  which  followed  not 
far  behind  passed  through  with  muffled 
drums. 

Arrived  at  Washington  Square,  Gen- 
eral Pershing  and  his  staff  wheeled  into 
Washington  Square  North,  watched  for 


a  moment  the  passage  of  the  picked  es- 
cort regiment,  and  then,  dismounting, 
hurried  in  automobiles  to  the  Waldorf, 
where,  for  the  most  part  unknown  to 
the  passing  troops,  they  viewed,  rather 
than  reviewed,  the  parade. 

In  the  evening  General  Pershing  and 
his  staff  were  honor  guests  at  a  great 
dinner  given  to  them  by  the  City  of  New 
York,  at  which  Rodman  Wanamaker, 
Chairman  of  the  Mayor's  Committee, 
presided.  Speeches  were  made  by  Secre- 
tary Baker,  Mayor  Hylan,  and  the  Gen- 
eral, who  expressed  keen  appreciation  of 
the  city's  hospitality. 

Just  before  going  to  the  dinner  Gen- 
eral Pershing  left  his  hotel  and  hurried 
to  Central  Park,  where  a  great  throng 
had  assembled  on  the  Mall  to  attend  a 
concert  in  his  honor  given  by  the  New 
York  Symphony  Orchestra.  His  welcome 
there  equaled  those  which  had  character- 
ized his  every  appearance. 

AT   MADISON    SQUARE    GARDEN 

On  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  Phila- 
delphia and  Washington,  General  Persh- 
ing addressed  about  10,000  former  serv- 
ice men  and  women,  members  of  the 
American  Legion,  in  Madison  Square 
Garden.  The  message  that  he  sought  to 
impress  upon  the  assembled  Legion  mem- 
bers was  to  cherish  and  foster  the  les- 
sons of  patriotism  that  have  been 
brought  home  to  the  American  people  in 
the  last  two  years.  A  special  tribute  was 
paid  by  him  to  the  part  played  by  de- 
voted American  women,  including  "  the 
mothers  and  sisters,  who,"  he  said,  "by 
their  prayers  and  their  love  from  this 
side  gave  us  encouragement." 

The  General's  last  day  in  the  city  was 
taken  up  by  many  visits,  including  a 
motor  trip  to  Oyster  Bay  to  greet  the 
members  of  the  Roosevelt  family. 

General  Pershing  left  New  York  on 
Sept.  11,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Notwithstanding  the  early  hour,  he  was 
attended  by  great  throngs  of  men,  wom- 
en, and  children  all  the  way  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Station.  The  din  of  good- 
byes was  incessant  until  the  train  dis- 
appeared into  the  railway  tunnel  on  its 
way  to  Philadelphia. 

On  the  following  day  General  Pershing 


6 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


rode  in  an  automobile  over  several  miles 
of  Philadelphia's  chief  thoroughfares. 
Multitudes  lined  the  streets  and  crowded 
the  grand  stands.  At  Independence  Hall 
he  reverently  saluted  the  Liberty  Bell 
and  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he 
said: 

It  fills  me  with  deep  emotion  to  be  on 
this  sacred  spot.  It  seems,  however,  espe- 
cially fitting  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
war,  which  was  fought  for  the  same 
principles  declared  by  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  *  *  *  for 
here  is  the  Cradle  of  Liberty,  here  is 
where  we  come  to  drink  from  its  foun- 
tain, to.  imbibe  anew  the  lessons  of  patri- 
otism. 

IN   WASHINGTON 

The  same  day  the  General  arrived  in 
Washington.      Thousands     cheered     his 
name,  bugles  saluted  him,  children  tossed 
flowers  beneath  his  feet,  soldiers  stood 
rigid  at  salute  as  he  passed  before  them, 
and  the  Vice   President  of   the   United 
States  thanked  him  in  the  name  of  the 
nation  for  the  distinguished  services  he 
had  rendered.   Crowds  thronged  the  sta- 
tion, cavalry  horses  pawed  and  curvetted 
in  the  station  plaza,  the  red  and  white 
guidons  snapping  in  the  wind-swept  air. 
Airplane  motors  roared  and  droned  over- 
head.   The  familiar   tall   and   well-knit 
figure  descended  from  the  last  car,  and 
was  greeted -warmly  by  Secretary  Baker 
and   General   March.    Escorted   through 
cheering    crowds,    he   proceeded    to    the 
President's  Room,  where  Vice  President 
Marshall   stepped   forward   and   in    the 
name  of  the  President  and  the  nation 
paid  General  Pershing  this  tribute: 
Tou  are  not  only  welcome  to  the  capi- 
tal  city   of  your   own   Republic,    but  you 
are   welcome   back   to   the   land   of   your 
nativity.     Tour  Commander  in  Chief  bids 
me  in   his  behalf,   and   in   behalf   of  the 
American  people,   to  greet  you. 

It  is  a  glad  duty  to  be  inadequately  per- 
formed, for  human  expression  has  not  yet 
found  the  way  to  voice  in  language  the 
deeper  and  finer  sentiments  of  our 
natures.  Perhaps  you  can  gain  some 
slight  conception  of  the  real  Joy  with 
which  we  hail  your  homecoming  when  I 
tell  you  that  you  occupy  the  most  unique 
position  ever  guaranteed  to  a  man  in 
arms  in  all  the  world's  history. 

Unnumbered  and  unremembered  con- 
querors have  returned  from  foreign  lands 
bearing,  chained  to  their  chariot  wheels, 
the  writhing  human  evidence  of  conquest 


and  supremacy  over  alien  people.  To  you 
it  has  been  vouchsafed  to  lead  the  great- 
est expeditionary  force  of  all  time 
through  perils  at  sea,  perils  of  land,  and 
perils  of  air,  to  the  ultimate  accom- 
plishment of  your  country's  purpose  and 
your  heart's  desire.  Tou  come  rather  in 
meekness  and  humility  of  spirit,  saying 
to  the  great  American  people  that  as  the 
Nazarene  died  to  make  men  holy  so  their 
sons  have  died  to  make  men  free.  Tou, 
their  surviving  commander,  come  back  to 
us  with  no  evidence  of  loot  and  conquest, 
but  with  the  triumphs  of  the  soul  and 
spirit  of  liberty  and  law,  to  assure  us 
that  the  cause  in  which  they  have  died 
was  a  sacred  cause. 

In  the  name  of  my  countrymen  and  my 
President,  I  salute  you.  Hail  the  patriot, 
farewell  to  the  conqueror,  and  yet  again, 
hail. 

THE  GENERAL'S   REPLY 

It  was  evident  that  General  Pershing 
was  deeply  moved.  His  face  was  stern 
and  set  and  he  looked  straight  forward 
into  the  Vice  President's  eyes  while  Mr. 
Marshall  spoke.  Once  the  muscles  of  his 
face  twitched  and  he  choked  behind  his 
firm  lips.  When  he  replied  to  the  Vice 
President,  he  removed  his  cap,  and  held 
it  upon  his  arm. 

"My  friends,"  he   said,   "this   is   in- 
deed a  welcome  that  fills  me  with  emo- 
tion   impossible    to    express."     Turning 
directly  to  the  Vice  President,  he  said: 
I   thank  you,    Sir,   for  what   you   have 
said  as  representing  the  President,  whose 
constant    confidence    in    me    has    been    a 
strength    that    gave    me    courage    to    do 
in  the  best  way  all  I  thought  my  country 
would   have   me    do. 

I  want  to  thank  the  American  people. 
And  I  want  to  praise  especially  the 
American  women  who  have  watched  and 
prayed  that  we  might  return  in  victory 
and  to  whom  we  owe  more  perhaps  than 
any  one  else. 

I  want  to  thank  the  President,  the 
Congress,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  for 
their  splendid   support. 

Then  the  General  and  his  staff  walked 
to  where  the  automobiles  for  the  party 
were  waiting.  General  Pershing  was 
taken  to  the  Shoreham  Hotel  in  Vice 
President  Marshall's  open  touring  car,  a 
contrast  to  the  gleaming,  new,  olive  drab 
army  limousines  into  which  his  staff 
climbed.  Led  by  motor  cycle  policemen, 
the  cavalry  clattered  away,  the  Gen- 
eral's car  following  and  the  staff  com- 
ing behind.  In  the  rear  was  a  long  train 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  HOMECOMING 


of  cars  containing  members  of  the  Citi- 
zens' Committee.  Along  the  whole  route, 
which  led  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  up 
Fifteenth  Street,  and  to  the  hotel,  there 
were  cheering  crowds. 

LAST  OF  THE  WAR  PARADES 

A  great  parade,  which  was  reviewed 
from  the  White  House,  and  in  which 
General  Pershing  shared  honors  with  the 
1st  Division  and  the  composite  regiment 
known  as  "  Pershing's  Own,"  took  place 
on  Sept.  17.  It  was  the  last  public  ap- 
pearance of  the  American  Expeditionary 
Force  as  a  fighting  organization.  The 
procession  traversed  the  same  route  over 
which  the  Grand  Army  under  Grant  and 
Sherman  had  passed  in  its  final  march 
before  being  mustered  out  fifty-four 
years  before.  The  event  of  1919,  like 
that  of  1865,  was  an  inspiring  sight  and 
a  landmark  in  American  history. 

The  procession  moved  from  the  Peace 
Monument,  at  the  foot  of  Capitol  Hill, 
up  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  Fifteenth 
Street,  and  through  two  blocks  of  that 
main  highway  to  where  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  begins  again.  At  this  point  a 
great  arch  had  been  erected,  an  arch  of 
triumph,  and  through  this  the  troops 
marched  into  that  portion  of  the  avenue 
that  passes  the  Treasury  Department, 
the  White  House,  and  the  great  granite 
structures  of  the  State,  War,  and  Navy 
Departments.  At  Seventeenth  Street, 
just  beyond  the  White  House,  General 
Pershing  left  the  line  and  walked  to  the 
White  House  stand,  accompanied  by  the 
officers  of  his  staff,  to  join  the  Vice 
President  and  the  others  of  the  review- 
ing party. 

Grouped  around  the  General  and  the 
Vice  President  in  the  reviewing  stand 
were  public  officials,  diplomats,  and  sol- 
diers. On  one  side  were  Newton  D. 
Baker,  the  Secretary  of  War;  General 
Peyton  C.  March,  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff,  and  Rear  Admiral  Jones  of  the 
navy.  On  the  other  side  were  William 
Phillips,  Acting  Secretary  of  State; 
Carter  Glass,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
A.  Mitchell  Palmer,  Attorney  General, 
and  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt,  Acting  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy.  Near  them  were  M. 
Jusserand,  the  French  Ambassador,  and 


his  wife,  and  diplomatic  representatives 
of  the  allied  nations.  Groups  of  British 
and  French  officers  in  uniform  were 
seated  near. 

One  section  of  the  long  stand,  which 
covered  most  of  the  space  between 
the  two  main  entrances  to  the  White 
House  grounds,  was  filled  with  Senators 
and  Representatives  and  members  of 
their  families,  and  a  host  of  Gov- 
ernment officials  and  others  of  promi- 
nence. Behind  General  Pershing  were 
the  members  of  his  staff  and  high  rank- 
ing officers  who  had  served  with  the 
American  armies  in  Europe  during  the 
world  conflict. 

THE   THANKS   OF  CONGRESS 

General  Pershing  was  formally  re- 
ceived and  thanked  by  Congress  at  a 
joint  session  on  Sept.  18.  It  was  the 
twenty-sixth  time  that  Congress  had  be- 
stowed the  thanks  of  the  nation  upon  a 
soldier. 

When  the  General  and  his  staff  ap- 
peared in  the  House  members  of  Con- 
gress and  their  guests  on  the  floor  and 
the  filled  galleries  hailed  him  with  long 
applause.  There  was  handclapping  and 
shrill  cheering.  The  General  and  his 
staff  marched  to  the  well  of  the  Chamber, 
and  before  he  seated  himself  he  turned 
and  bowed  to  the  audience.  He  appeared 
to  be  slightly  nervous  and  his  nervous- 
ness increased  as  the  proceedings  pro- 
gressed and  the  praise  began  to  flow 
from  the  spokesmen  of  Senate  and 
House.  But  he  smiled  frequently  and 
laughed  when  the  speakers  injected  a 
touch  of  humor  into  their  remarks. 

Senator  Cummins,  as  President  pro 
tempore  of  the  Senate,  acting  in  the  ab- 
sence of  Vice  President  Marshall,  told 
the  General  what  the  nation  thought  of 
him  and  the  soldiers  and  the  war.  Then 
Speaker  Gillett  of  the  House  added  his 
appreciation.  In  doing  so  he  brought 
a  broad  smile  to  the  General's  face  when 
he  said  that  it  was  thought  proper  that 
a  "few  homely  words  should  be  said 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people." 
Then  ex-Speaker  Clark  of  Missouri  for- 
mally told  the  Commander  of  the  Ex- 
peditionary Forces  of  Congress's  action 
in  extending  its  thanks,  and  presented 


8 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


General  Pershing  to  the  assemblage  as 
"  Exhibit  A,  showing  forth  to  the  world 
what  sort  of  men  Missouri  grows  when 
in  her  most  prodigal  of  moods." 

GENERAL  PERSHING'S  SPEECH 

In  reply  the  General  delivered  the 
first  set  speech  he  had  made  since  his 
arrival.  After  acknowledging  with  emo- 
tion the  honors  bestowed  upon  himself 
and  the  men  who  had  fought  under  him, 
he  continued: 

The  might  of  America  lay  not  only  in 
her  numbers  and  in  her  wealth,  but  also 
in  the  spirit  of  her  people  and  their  de- 
termination to  succeed  at  whatever  cost. 
While  every  man  who  went  to  France 
courageously  did  his  part,  behind  him 
were  millions  of  others  eager  to  follow, 
all  supported  by  a  loyal  people  who  de- 
prived themselves  to  sustain  our  armies 
and  succor  our  allies.  Whether  billeted 
in  French,  Belgian,  or  Italian  villages  or 
in  the  camps  of  England,  our  young  men 
have  left  behind  them  a  standard  of 
frankness,  of  integrity,  of  gentleness,  and 
of  helpfulness  which  will  give  the  other 
nations  of  the*  world  a  firmer  belief  in 
the  sincerity  of  our  motives. 

The  benefits  flowing  from  the  experi- 
ence of  our  soldiers  will  be  broadly  felt. 
They  have  returned  in  the  full  vigor  of 
manhood,  strong  and  clean.  In  the  com- 
munity of  effort  men  from  all  walks  of 
life  have  learned  to  know  and  to  appre- 
ciate each  other.  Through  their  patriot- 
ism, discipline,  and  association  they  have 
become  virile,  confident,  and  broad- 
minded.  Rich  in  the  consciousness  of 
honorable  public  service,  they  will  bring 
into  the  life  of  our  country  a  deeper  love 
for  our  institutions  and  a  more  intelligent 
devotion  to  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

To  j  a,  gentlemen  of  the  Congress,  we 
owe  the  existence  and  maintenance  of 
our  armies  in  the  field.  With  a  clear 
conception  of  the  magnitude  of  the  strug- 
gle, you  adopted  the  draft  as  the  surest 
means  of  utilizing  our  man  power.  You 
promptly  enacted  wise  laws  to  develop 
and  apply  our  resources  to  the  b-st  ef- 
fect. You  appropriated  the  fabulous 
sums  required  for  military  purposes. 
Many  of  your  members  visited  the  armies 
in  the  field  and  cheered  us  by  their  in- 
terest and  sympathy.  You  made  possible 
the  organization  and  operation  by  which 
victory  was  achieved. 

Throughout  the  war  the  President  re- 
posed  in  me  his  full  confidence,  and  his 
unfailing  support  simplified  my  task. 
The  Secretary  of  War  made  repeated 
visits  to  the  front,  and  I  am  deeply 
grateful  for  his  wise  counsel.  Under  ' 
him  the  various  staffs,  bureaus,  and  de- 
partments,  with  all  their  personnel,   are 


deserving  of  especial  acknowledgment 
for  the  ability  with  which  their  prob- 
lems were  met.  The  officers  and  sol- 
diers who  served  at  home  are  entitled 
to  their  full  share  in  the  victory.  There 
existed  a  unity  of  purpose  between  our 
Government  in  all  its  branches  and  the 
command  of  the  troops  in  the  field  that 
materially  hastened  the  end. 

TRIBUTE  TO  NAVY 
Our  navy  performed  a  brilliant  part 
in  transporting  troops  and  supplies  and 
in  maintaining  our  sea  communications. 
The  army  was  convoyed  overseas  with 
the  maximum  of  safety  and  comfort  and 
with  incredibly  small  loss.  In  this  ardu- 
ous service  the  generous  assistance  of 
the  seamen  of  Great  Britain  deserves 
our  lasting   appreciation. 

A  special  tribute  is  due  to  those 
benevolent  men  and  women  who  min- 
istered to  the  needs  of  our  soldiers  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  welfare  soci- 
eties maintained  by  a  generous  public 
gave  us  invaluable  aid.  In  our  hos- 
pitals the  surgeons  and  nurses,  both  per- 
manent and  temporary,  served  with  a 
skill  and  fidelity  that  will  ever  be 
worthy  of  our  grateful   remembrance. 

Business  and  professional  men  aban- 
doned their  private  Interests  and  gave 
their  service  to  the  country.  Devoted 
men,  women,  and  even  children,  often 
in  obscure  positions,  zealously  labored 
to  increase  the  output  of  ships,  muni- 
tions, war  material,  and  food  supplies, 
while  the  press  and  the  pulpit  stimu- 
lated patriotic  enthusiasm. 

Our  admiration  goes  out  to  our  war- 
worn allies,  whose  tenacity,  after  three 
years  of  conflict,  made  possible  the  ef- 
fectiveness of  our  effort.  Through  their 
loyal  support  and  hearty  co-operation  a 
general  spirit  of  comradeship  sprang  up 
among  us,  which  should  firmly  unite  the 
peoples  as  it  did  their  armies. 

The  cheerfulness  and  fortitude  of  our 
wounded  were  an  inspiration  and  a 
stimulus  to  their  comrades.  Those  who 
are  disabled  should  become  the  affection- 
ate charge  of  our  people,  whose  care 
they  have  so  richly  earned.  Let  us,  in 
sympathy,  remember  the  widows  and  the 
mothers  who  today  mourn  the  loss  of 
their  husbands  and  sons. 

Our  hearts  are  filled  with  reverence  and 
love  for  our  triumphant  dead.  Buried 
in  hallowed  ground  which  their  courage 
redeemed,  their  graves  are  sacred  shrines 
that  the  nation  will  not  fail  to  honor. 

The  glorious  record  made  in  the  fight 
for  our  treasured  ideals  will  be  a  precious 
heritage  to  posterity.  It  has  welded  to- 
gether our  people  and  given  them  a  deeper 
sense  of  nationality.  The  solidity  of  the 
republic  and  its  institutions  in  the  test  of 
a  world  war  should  fill  with  pride  every 
man  and  woman  living  under  its  flag. 
The  great  achievements,   the  high  ideals, 


GENERAL   PERSHING'S   HOMECOMING 


I 


the  sacrifices  of  our  arrny  and  our  people 
belong  to  no  party  and  to  no  creed.  They 
are  the  republic's  legacy,  to  be  sacredly 
guarded  and  carefully  transmitted  to 
future  generations. 

After  an  informal  reception  in  the 
Speaker's  office  General  Pershing  went 
to  the  House  press  gallery,  where  he 
was  received  by  the  correspondents. 
After  being  told  by  Gus  J.  Karger, 
Chairman  of  the  Standing  Committee  of 
Correspondents,  that  he  was  in  the  hands 
of  his  friends,  he  said: 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  one's  friends  and  to  know  that  one 
may  speak  out  of  the  fullness  of  one's 
heart.  But  having  with  a  great  deal  of 
embarrassment  and  perturbation  just  said 
a  few  words  to  the  joint  session,  I  am 
sure  you  would  not  expect  me  to  say  any- 
thing  further. 

I  am,  of  course,  very  much  touched  by 
the  honor  that  the  American  people, 
through  their  representatives,  have  be- 
stowed upon  me,  but  I  feel  that  I  am 
only  the  instrument  through  which  they 


have  expressed  their  satisfaction  of  what 
our  armies  have  done,  and  in  no  way  ia 
it  to  be  accepted  as  personal. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  meet  the  real 
representatives  of  all  of  the  American 
people,  and  I  am  glad  also  to  know  that 
they  are  my  friends. 

It  was  officially  announced  later  in 
Washington  that  General  Pershing  would 
retain  the  title  and  duties  of  Commander 
in  Chief,  American  Expeditionary  Forces, 
for  the  time  being,  and  that  headquarters 
would  be  established  for  him  in  the  old 
Land  Office  Building,  famous  as  the  cen- 
tre of  the  draft  machinery  during  the 
war.  All  the  records  of  the  overseas 
forces  were  to  be  concentrated  there, 
and  General  Pershing,  with  a  small  staff 
made  up  of  the  officers  associated  with 
him  in  France,  would  be  ready  to  an- 
swer any  call  of  Congress  for  informa- 
tion. The  possibility  of  a  vacation  had 
been  waived  by  General  Pershing  him- 
self. 


The  Senate  and  the  Peace  Treaty 


Debate    Over    Amendments    and    Reservations- 
Foreign  Relations  Committee 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  20,  1919] 


-Reports    of 


THE  debate  in  the  United  States 
Senate  on  the  ratification  of  the 
German  Peace  Treaty,  which  had 
begun  in  an  informal  way  on  July 
14,  reached  its  first  definite  phase  on 
Sept.  10,  when  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  reported  the  treaty  to  the 
Senate  with  thirty-eight  amendments 
and  four  reservations,  recommended  by 
a  majority  of  the  committee.  The  report 
was  signed  by  nine  Senators,  including 
all  the  Republican  members  of  the  com- 
mittee except  Senator  McCumber  of 
North  Dakota.  On  Sept.  11  the  dissent- 
ing Democratic  minority  submitted  its 
report,  signed  by  six  Democratic  Sena- 
tors. Senator  Shields,  a  Democratic 
member  of  the  committee,  did  not  sign 
the  minority  report. 

Both  reports  were  the  outcome  of  two 
months  of  more  or  less  bitter  debate, 
with   the  lines   of  cleavage  mainly  be- 


tween the  Democratic  Administration 
supporters  and  the  Republican  opposi- 
tion members,  who  were  in  the  majority. 
During  that  preliminary  period  the 
treaty  was  the  theme  of  almost  daily 
speeches  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
speeches  marked  by  increasing  acrimony, 
and  culminating  in  an  address  by  Sena- 
tor Knox  of  Pennsylvania  on  Aug.  29, 
in  which  he  counseled  the  utter  rejection 
cf  the  Peace  Treaty,  declaring  that  it 
was  "  not  a  treaty,  but  a  truce,"  and 
would  mean  "  centuries  of  blood-letting." 

THE  MAJORITY  REPORT 

The  majority  report   of  the  Foreign 
Relations  Committee  was  as  follows: 

The  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany  was  laid 
before  the  Senate  by  the  President  on  July 
10,  1919.  Three  days  were  consumed  in  print- 
ing the  treaty,  which  was  in  two  languages 
and  filled  537  quarto  pages.  The  treaty, 
therefore,   was  not  in  the  possession  of  the 


10 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


committee  for  action  until  July  14,  1919.  The 
report  upon  the  treaty  was  ordered  by  the 
committee  on  Sept.  4.  Deducting  Sundays 
and  a  holiday,  the  treaty  has  been  before  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  for  forty- 
five  days.  The  committee  met  on  thirty- 
seven  of  those  working  days,  sitting  when- 
ever possible  both  in  the  morning  and  after- 
noon. The  eight  working  days  upon  which 
the  committee  did  not  sit  were  lost  owing  to 
unavoidable  delays  in  securing  the  presence 
of  witnesses  summoned  foy  the  committee. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  six  months  were  con- 
sumed by  the  Peace  Conference  in  making 
the  treaty,  in  addition  to  a  month  of  work 
by  the  various  delegations  before  the  assem- 
bling of  the  conference,  the  period  of  six 
weeks  consumed  by  the  committee  in  con- 
sidering it  does  not  seem  excessive. 

These  facts  are  mentioned  because  there 
has  been  more  or  less  clamor  about  delay  in 
the  committee.  This  demand  for  speed  in  the 
consideration  of  the  most  important  subject 
which  ever  came  before  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  involving  as  it  does  funda- 
mental changes  in  the  character  of  our  Gov- 
ernment and  the  future  of  our  country  for 
an  unlimited  period,  was  largely  the  work  of 
the  Administration  and  its  newspaper  organs 
and  was  so  far  wholly  artificial.  Artificial 
also  was  the  demand  for  haste  disseminated 
by  certain  great  banking  firms  which  had  a 
direct  pecuniary  interest  in  securing  an  early 
opportunity  to  reap  the  harvest  which  they 
expected  from  the  adjustment  of  the  financial 
obligations  of  the  countries  which  had  been 
engaged  in  the  war. 

The  third  element  in  the  agitation  for  haste 
was  furnished  by  the  unthinking  outcry  of 
many  excellent  people  who  desired  early 
action  and  who,  for  the  most  part,  had  never 
read  the  treaty  or  never  got  beyond  the 
words  "  League  of  Nations,"  which  they 
believed  to  mean  the  establishment  of  eternal 
peace.  To  yield  helplessly  to  this  clamor  was 
impossible  to  those  to  whom  was  intrusted 
the  performance  of  a  solemn  public  duty. 

COMMITTEE  HAMPERED 

The  responsibility  of  the  Senate  in  regard 
to  this  treaty  is  equal  to  that  of  the  Execu- 
tive, who,  although  aided  by  a  force  of  1,300 
assistants,  expert  and  otherwise,  consumed 
six  months  in  making  it,  and  the  Senate  and 
its  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  cannot 
dispose  of  this  momentous  document  with  the 
light-hearted  indifference  desired  by  those 
who  were  pressing  for  hasty  and  thoughtless 
action  upon  it.  The  committee  was  also 
hampered  by  the  impossibility  of  securing  the 
full  .information  to  which  it  was  entitled 
from  those  who  had  conducted  the  negotia- 
tions. The  committee  was  compelled  to  get 
such  imperfect  information  as  it  secured  from 
press  reports,  by  summoning  before  it  some 
of  the  accessible  experts  who  had  helped  to  . 
frame  the  complicated  financial  clauses,  and 
certain  outside  witnesses. 


As  an  illustration  in  a  small  way  of  the 
difficulties  in  securing  information,  it  may 
be  stated  that  no  provision  had  been  made 
to  supply  the  Senate  with  the  maps  accom- 
panying the  treaty,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
send  to  Paris  to  procure  them.  The  only 
documents  of  the  many  asked  for  by  the 
committee  which  were  furnished  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive were  the  American  plan  for  the 
League  of  Nations,  submitted  to  the  com- 
mission on  the  League  covenant,  and  the 
composite  draft  made  by  experts  of  that 
commission. 

The  treaties  with  Poland  and  with  France, 
as  well  as  the  Rhine  protocol,  all  integral 
parts  of  the  treaty  with  Germany,  were  ob- 
tained by  the  Senate  prior  to  their  trans- 
mission by  the  President  from  the  docu- 
ments laid  before  the  House  of  Commons 
and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  early  in  July 
by  the  Prime  Ministers  of  England  and 
France.  The  records  of  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence and  of  the  conferences  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  five  great  powers  were 
asked  for  by  the  committee  and  refused  by 
the  Executive.  The  committee  had  before 
them  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  was  one  of 
the  American  delegates,  and  a  signer  of  the 
treaty,  and  they  also  had  the  privilege  of  a 
meeting  with  the  President  at  the  White 
House,  which  they  had  themselves  requested. 
The  testimony  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and 
the  conversation  of  the  committee  with  the 
President,  published  in  the  record  of  the 
committee  hearings,  have  been  laid  before 
the  country  by  the  press,  and  it  is  not 
necessary  to  say  anything  further  in  regard 
to  them  because  the  people  themselves  know 
how  much  information  -«in  regard  to  the 
treaty  was  received  by  the  committee  upon 
those  two  occasions. 

The  character  of  the  clamor  for  speedy 
action  is  well  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  directed  solely  against  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  and  its  Committee  on  For- 
eign Relations.  The  treaty  provides  that  it 
shall  go  into  force  when  ratified  by  Ger- 
many and  by  three  of  the  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers,  which  are  the  United 
States,  France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  and 
Japan.  Great  Britain  very  naturally  rati- 
fied at  once,  but  no  one  of  the  other  four  has 
yet  acted.  Persons  afflicted  with  inquiring 
minds  have  wondered  not  a  little  that  the 
distressed  mourners  over  delays  in  the  Sen- 
ate have  not  also  aimed  their  criticism  at 
the  like  shortcomings  on  the  part  of  France, 
Italy,  and  Japan,  an  act  of  even-handed  jus- 
tice in  fault-finding  which  they  have  hither- 
to failed  to  perform. 

TRADE  WITH  GERMANY 
Perhaps  it  is  well  also  to  note  and  to  con- 
sider fpr  a  moment  one  of  the  reasons  given 
for  the  demand  for  hasty  action,  which  was 
to  the  effect  that  it  was  necessary  to  have 
prompt  ratification  in  order  to  renew  our 
trade  with  Germany,  for  even  the  most 
ardent  advocate  of  unconsidered  action  was 


THE  SENATE  AND  THE  PEACE   TREATY 


11 


unable  to  urge  that  the  channels  of  trade  to 
the  allied  countries  were  not  open.  The 
emptiness  of  this  particular  plea  for  haste, 
now  rather  faded,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
we  have  been  trading  with  Germany  ever 
since  the  armistice.  Between  that  event  and 
the  end  of  July  we  have  exported  to  Ger- 
many goods  valued  at  $11,270,624.  In  the 
month  of  June  we  exported  more  to  Germany 
than  we  did  to  Spain.  In  July,  by  orders  of 
the  War  Trade  Board,  the  provisions  of  the 
Trading  with  the  Enemy  act  were  set  aside 
by  the  authorization  of  licenses  to  trade,  and 
exports  to  Germany  for  the  month  of  July 
amounted  to  $2,436,742,  while  those  to  Aus- 
tria and  Hungary  were  $1,016,518. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  exports 
in  June  to  Germany,  before  the  relaxation  of 
the  Trading  with  the  Enemy  act,  were  much 
larger  than  after  that  relaxation,  brought 
about  by  allowing  licenses,  was  ordered,  an 
Indication  of  the  undoubted  truth  that  our 
trade  with  foreign  countries  is  not  affected 
by  the  treaty,  but  is  governed  by  the  neces- 
sarily reduced  purchasing  power  of  all  coun- 
tries in  Europe  engaged  in  the  war.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  therefore,  we  are  trading 
with  Germany,  and  it  is  a  mere  delusion  to 
say  that  we  cannot  trade  with  Germany  until 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  because  in 
order  to  do  so  we  require  a  new  treaty  of 
amity  and  commerce  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  our  consular  system  in  that  coun- 
try. The  United  States,  following  the  usual 
custom,  was  represented  in  Germany  by 
Spain  both  in  the  consular  and  in  the  diplo- 
matic service,  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
and  we  can  transact  all  the  business  we  may 
desire  through  the  good  offices  of  Spanish 
Consuls  until  a  new  consular  treaty  with 
Germany  has  been  made. 

Before  leaving  this  subject  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  remark  that  Mr.  Lloyd  George  has 
recently  made  two  important  speeches  ex- 
pressing grave  apprehensions  as  to  the  social 
and  political  unrest  and  the  economic  troubles 
now  prevalent  in  England.  He  seems  to  have 
failed  to  point  out,  however,  that  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions by  Great  Britain  had  relieved  the  situa- 
tion which  he  had  described.  He  was  appar- 
ently equally  remiss  in  omitting  to  suggest 
that  prompt  action  by  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  in  adopting  the  covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations  would  immediately  lower 
the  price  of  beef. 

JUSTIFYING  CHANGES  IN  TREATY 

In  reporting  the  treaty  for  the  Senate  for 
action  the  committee  propose  certain  amend- 
ments to  the  text  of  the  treaty  and  certain 
reservations  to  be  attached  to  the  resolution 
of  ratification  and  made  a  part  of  that  reso- 
lution when  it  is  offered. 

In  regard  to  the  amendments  generally  it 
should  be  stated  at  the  outset  that  nothing 
is  more  groundless  than  the  sedulously  culti- 
vated and  constantly  expressed  fear  that 
textual  amendments    would   require   a   sum- 


moning of  the  Peace  Conference,  and  there- 
by cause  great  delay.  There  will  be  no 
necessity  of  summoning  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, because  it  is  in  session  now  in  Paris 
with  delegates  fully  representing  all  the  sig- 
natory nations,  as  it  has  been  for  six 
months,  and  it  seems  likely  to  be  in  session 
for  six  months  more.  Textual  amendments 
if  made  by  the  Senate  can  be  considered  in 
Paris  at  once,  and  the  conference  would  be 
at  least  as  usefully  employed  in  that  consid- 
eration as  they  now  are  in  dividing  and 
sharing  Southeastern  Europe  and  Asia 
Minor,  in  handing  the  Greeks  of  Thrace  over 
to  our  enemy,  Bulgaria,  and  in  trying  to 
force  upon  the  United  States  the  control  of 
Armenia,  Anatolia,  and  Constantinople 
through  the  medium  of  a  large  American 
army. 

Still  more  unimportant  is  the  bugbear 
which  has  been  put  forward  of  the  enormous 
difficulties  which  will  be  incurred  in  secur- 
ing the  adhesion  of  Germany.  No  great 
amount  of  time  need  be  consumed  in  bring- 
ing German  representatives  to  Paris.  The 
journey  is  within  the  power  of  a  moderate 
amount  of  human  endurance,  and  it  is  also 
to  be  remembered  that  Germany  is  not  a 
member  of  the  League  and  need  not  be  con- 
sulted in  regard  to  the  terms  of  the  cov- 
enant. When  Germany  enters  the  League 
she  will  take  it  as  she  finds  it. 

NATURE  OF  AMENDMENTS 

The  first  amendment  offered  by  the  com- 
mittee relates  to  the  League.  It  is  proposed 
so  to  amend  the  text  as  to  secure  for  the 
United  States  a  vote  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
League  equal  to  that  of  any  other  power. 
Great  Britain  now  has  under  the  name  of 
the  British  Empire  one  vote  in  the  Council 
of  the  League.  She  has  four  additional 
Votes  in  the  Assembly  of  the  League  for  her 
self-governed  dominions  and  colonies,  which 
are  most  properly  members  of  the  League 
and  signatories  to  the  treaty.  She  also  has 
the  vote  of  India,  which  is  neither  a  self- 
governing  dominion  nor  a  colony,  but  merely 
a  part  of  the  empire,  and  which  apparently 
was  simply  put  in  as  a  signatory  and  mem- 
ber of  the  League  by  the  Peace  Conference 
because  Great  Britain  desired  it. 

Great  Britain  also  will  control  the  votes 
of  the  kingdom  of  Hedjaz  and  of  Persia. 
With  these  last  two  of  course  we  have  noth- 
ing to  do.  But  if  Great  Britain  has  six 
votes  in  the  League  Assembly  no  reason  has 
occurred  to  the  committee,  and  no  argument 
had  been  made  to  show  why  the  United 
States  should  not  have  an  equal  number.  If 
other  countries  like  the  present  arrangement, 
that  is  not  our  affair,  but  the  committee 
failed  to  see  why  the  United  States  should 
have  but  one  vote  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
League  when  the  British  Empire  has  six. 

Amendments  39  to  44.  inclusive,  transfer  to 
China  the  German  lease  and  rights  as  they 
exist  in  the  Chinese  province  of  Shantung, 
which  are  given  by  the  treaty  to  Japan.    The 


12 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


majority  of  the  committee  were  not  willing 
to  have  their  votes  recorded  at  any  stage  in 
the  proceedings  in  favor  of  the  consummation 
of  what  they  consider  a  great  wrong.  They 
cannot  assent  to  taking  the  property  of  a 
faithful  ally  and  handing  it  over  to  another 
ally  in  fulfillment  of  a  bargain  made  by  other 
powers  in  a  secret  treaty.  It  is  a  record 
which  they  are  not  willing  to  present  to  their 
fellow-citizens  or  leave  behind  for  the  con- 
templation of  their  children. 

Amendment  No.  2  is  simply  to  provide  that 
where  a  member  of  the  League  has  self- 
governing  dominions  and  colonies  which  are 
all  members  of  the  League  the  exclusion  of 
the  disputants  under  the  League  rules  shall 
cover  the  aggregate  vote  of  the  member  of 
the  League  and  its  self-governing  dominions 
and  parts  of  the  empire  combined,  if  any 
one  is  involved  in  the  controversy. 

The  remaining  amendments,  with  a  single 
exception,  may  be  treated  as  one,  for  the 
purpose  of  all  alike  is  to  relieve  the  United 
States  from  having  representatives  on  the 
commissions  established  by  the  League  which 
deal  with  questions  in  which  the  United 
States  has  and  can  have  no  interest,  and  in 
which  the  United  States  has  evidently  been 
inserted  by  design.  The  exception  is  Amend- 
ment No.  45,  which  provides  that  the  United 
States  shall  have  a  member  of  the  Repara- 
tions Commission,  but  that  such  Commis- 
sioner of  the  United  States  cannot,  except  in 
the  case  of  shipping,  where  the  interests  of 
the  United  States  are  directly  involved,  deal 
with  or  vote  upon  any  other  questions  before 
that  commission  except  under  instruction* 
from  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

RESERVATIONS 

The  committee  proposes  four  reservations, 
to  be  made  a  part  of  the  resolution  of  ratifi-i 
cation  when  it  is  offered.  The  committee! 
reserves,  of  course,  the  right  to  offer  othen 
reservations  if  it  shall  so  determine.  Thej 
four  reservations  now  presented  are  as  fol 
lows: 

"  1.  The  United  States  reserves  to  itself  th 
unconditional    right    to    withdraw    from    the> 
League  of  Nations  upon  the  notice  provided 
in   Article   I.    of   said   treaty   of  peace  with 
Germany." 

The  provision  in  the  League  covenant  for 
withdrawal  declares  that  any  member  may 
withdraw  provided  it  has  fulfilled  all  its 
international  obligations  and  all  its  obli 
gations  under  the  covenant.  There  has  been 
much  dispute  as  to  who  would  decide  if  the 
question  of  the  fulfillment  of  obligations  was 
raised,  and  it  is  very  generally  thought  that] 
this  question  would  be  settled  by  the  Council) 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  The  best  that  cans 
be  said  about  it  is  that  the  question  of  de- 
cision is  clouded  with  doubt.  On  such  a 
point  as  this  there  must  be  no  doubt.  The 
United  States,  which  has  never  broken  an 
international  obligation,  cannot  permit  all  its' 
existing  treaties  to  be  reviewed  and  its  con- 
duct and  honor  questioned  by  other  nations. 


The  same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  obligations  to  the  League.  It 
must  be  made  perfectly  clear  that  the  United 
States  alone  is  to  determine  as  to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  its  obligations,  and  its  right  of  with- 
drawal must  therefore  be  unconditional,  as" 
provided  in  the  reservation. 

"  2.  The  United  States  declines  to  assume, 
under  the  provisions  of  Article  X.  or  under 
any  other  article,  any  obligation  to  preserve 
the  territorial  integrity  or  political  inde- 
pendence of  any  other  country  or  to  inter- 
fere in  controversies  between  other  nations, 
members  of  the  League  or  not,  or  to  employ 
the  military  or  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States  in  such  controversies,  or  to  adopt 
economic  measures  for  the  protection  of  any 
"other  country,  whether  a  member  of  the 
League  or  not,  against  external  aggression, 
or  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  any  other 
country,  or  for  the  purpose  of  intervention 
in  the  internal  conflicts  or  other  contro- 
versies which  may  arise  in  any  other  coun- 
try, and  no  mandate  shall  be  accepted  by 
the  Untied  States  under  Article  XXII.,  Part 
2,  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany, 
except  by  action  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States." 

This  reservation  is  intended  to  meet  the 
most  vital  objection  to  the  League  covenant 
as  it  stands.  Under  no  circumstances  must 
there  be  any  legal  or  moral  obligation  upon 
the  United  States  to  enter  into  war  or  to 
send  its  army  and  navy  abroad,  or,  without 
(the  unfettered  action  of  Congress,  to  impose 
economic  boycotts  on  other  countries.  Under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the 
Congress  alone  has  the  power  to  declare  war, 
and  all  bills  to  raise  revenue  or  affecting  the 
Irevenue  in  any  way  must  originate  in  the 
'House  of  Representatives,  be  passed  by  the 
Senate,  and  receive  the  signature  of  the 
President.  These  constitutional  rights  of 
Congress  must  not  be  impaired  by  any  agree- 
ments such  as  are  presented  in  the  treaty, 
nor  can  any  opportunity  of  charging  the 
United  States  with  bad  faith  be  permitted. 
No  American  soldiers  or  sailors  must  be  sent 
to  fight  in  other  lands  at  the  bidding  of  a 
League  of  Nations.  American  lives  must  no* 
be  sacrificed,  except  by  the  will  and  com- 
mand of  the  American  people  acting  through 
their  constitutional  representatives  in  Con- 
gress. 

This  reservation  also  covers  the  subject  of 
mandates.  According  to  the  provisions  of 
the  covenant  of  the  League,  the  acceptance 
of  a  mandate  by  any  member  is  voluntary, 
but  as  to  who  shall  have  authority  to  refuse 
or  to  accept  a  mandate  for  any  country  the 
covenant  of  the  League  is  silent.  The  de- 
cision as  to  accepting  a  mandate  must  rest 
exclusively  within  the  control  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  as  the  reserva- 
tion provides,  and  must  not  be  delegated, 
even  by  inference,  to  any  personal  agent  or 
to  any  delegate  or  commissioner. 

"  3.  The  United  States  reserves  to  itself 
exclusively   the   right   to   decide   what   ques- 


THE  SENATE  AND   THE  PEACE   TREATY 


13 


tions  are  within  its  domestic  jurisdiction 
and  declares  that  all  domestic  and  political 
questions  relating  to  its  affairs,  including 
immigration,  coastwise  traffic,  the  tariff, 
commerce,  and  all  other  domestic  questions, 
are  solely  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  and  are  not  under  this  treaty 
submitted  in  any  way  either  to  arbitration 
or  to  the  consideration  of  the  Council  or  of 
the  Assembly  of  the  League  of  Nations  or  to 
the  decision  or  recommendation  of  any  other 
power." 

The  reservation  speaks  for  itself.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  follow  out  here  all  tortuous 
windings,  which  to  those  who  have  followed 
them  through  the  labyrinth  disclose  the  fact 
that  the  League  under  certain  conditions  will 
have  power  to  pass  upon  and  decide  ques- 
tions of  immigration  and  tariff,  as  well  as 
the  others  mentioned  in  the  reservation.  It 
Is  believed  by  the  committee  that  this  reser- 
vation relieves  the  United  States  from  any 
dangers  or  any  obligations  in  this  direction. 

The  fourth  and  last  reservation  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  4.  The  United  States  declines  to  submit 
for  arbitration  or  inquiry  by  the  Assembly  or 
the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  pro- 
vided for  in  said  treaty  of  peace  any  ques- 
tions which  in  the  judgment  of  the  United 
States  depend  upon  or  relate  to  its  long- 
established  policy,  commonly  known  as  the 
Monroe  Doctrine ;  said  doctrine  is  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  the  United  States  alone,  and  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  wholly  outside  the 
jurisdiction  of'  the  said  League  of  Nations 
and  entirely  unaffected  by  any  provision 
contained  in  the  said  treaty  of  peace  with 
Germany." 

The  purpose  of  this  reservation  is  clear. 
It  is  intended  to  preserve  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine from  any  interference  or  interpretation 
by  foreign  powers.  As  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
has  protected  the  United  States,  so,  it  is  be- 
lieved by  the  committee,  will  this  reserva- 
tion protect  the  Monroe  Doctrine  from  the 
destruction  with  which  it  is  threatened  by 
Article  XXI.  in  the  covenant  of  the  League 
and  leave  it,  where  it  has  always  been,  with- 
in the  sole  and  complete  control  of  the 
United  States. 

CALLS  LEAGUE  AN  ALLIANCE 

This  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations  is 
an  alliance  and  not  a  league,  as  is  amply 
shown  by  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  with 
Germany,  which  vests  all  essential  power  in 
five  great  nations.  Those  same  nations,  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers,  also 
dominate  the  League  through  the  Council. 

The  committee  believe  that  the  League  as 
it  stands  will  breed  wars  instead  of  securing 
peace.  They  also  believe  that  the  covenant 
of  the  League  demands  sacrifices  of  Amer- 
ican independence  and  sovereignty  which 
would  in  no  way  promote  the  world's  peace, 
but  which  are  fraught  with  the  gravest 
dangers  to  the  future  safety  and  well-being 
of  the  United  States.    The  amendments  and 


reservations  alike  are  governed  by  a  single 
purpose,  and  that  is  to  guard  American  rights 
and  American  sovereignty,  the  invasion  of 
which  would  stimulate  breaches  of  faith, 
encourage  conflicts,  and  generate  wars.  The 
United  States  can  serve  the  cause  of  peace 
best,  as  she  has  served  it  in  the  past,  and  do 
more  to  secure  liberty  and  civilization 
throughout  the  world  by  proceeding  along 
the  paths  she  has  always  followed  and  by 
not  permitting  herself  to  be  fettered  by  the 
dictates  of  other  nations  or  immersed  and 
entangled  in  all  the  broils  and  conflicts  of 
Europe. 

We  have  heard  it  frequently  said  that  the 
United  States  "  must  "  do  this  and  do  that 
in  regard  to  this  League  of  Nations  and  the 
terms  of  the  German  peace.  There  is  no 
"  must  "  about  it.  "  Must  "  is  not  a  word 
to  be  used  by  foreign  nations  or  domestic 
officials  to  the  American  people  or  their 
representatives.  Equally  unfitting  is  the  at- 
tempt to  frighten  the  unthinking  by  suggest- 
ing that  if  the  Senate  adopts  amendments  or 
reservations  the  United  States  may  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  League.  That  is  the  one 
thing  that  certainly  will  not  happen.  The 
other  nations  know  well  that  there  is  no 
threat  of  retaliation  possible  with  the  United 
States,  because  we  have  asked  nothing  for 
ourselves  and  have  received  nothing.  We 
seek  no  guarantees,  no  territory,  no  com- 
mercial benefits  or  advantages.  The  other 
nations  will  take  us  on  our  own  terms,  for 
^without  us  their  League  is  a  wreck,  and  all 
their  gains  from  a  victorious  peace  are  im- 
periled. We  exact  nothing  for  ourselves, 
but  we  insist  that  we  shall  be  the  judges, 
and  the  only  judges,  as  to  the  preservation 
of  our  rights,  our  sovereignty,  our  safety, 
and  our  independence. 

At  this  moment  the  United  States  is  fre* 
from  any  entanglements  or  obligations  which 
legally  or  in  the  name  of  honor  would  compel 
her  to  do  anything  contrary  to  the  dictates 
of  conscience  or  to  the  freedom  and  the  in- 
terests of  the  American  people.  This  is  the 
hour  when  we  can  say  precisely  what  we  will 
do  and  exactly  what  we  will  not  do,  and  no 
man  can  ever  question  our  good  faith  if  we 
speak  now.  When  we  are  once  caught  in  the 
meshes  of  a  treaty  of  alliance  or  a  League 
of  Nations  composed  of  twenty-six  other 
powers  our  freedom  of  action  is  gone.  To 
preserve  American  independence  and  Amer- 
ican sovereignty,  and  thereby  best  serve  the 
welfare  of  mankind,  the  committee  propose 
these  amendments  and  reservations. 
(Signed :) 

HENRY  CABOT  LODGE,  (Mass.) 
WILLIAM  E.  BORAH,   (Idaho.) 
FRANK  B.  BRANDEGEE,  (Conn.) 
ALBERT  C.  FALL,    (N.   M.) 
PHILANDER  C.  KNOX,  (Penn.) 
WARREN  G.  HARDING.  (Ohio.) 
HIRAM  JOHNSON,  (Cal.) 
HARRY  S.  NEW,  (Ind.) 
GEORGE  H.  MOSES,  (Conn.) 


14 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


THE  MINORITY  REPORT 
The  minority  report,  signed  by  six 
Democrats,  as  presented  by  Senator 
Hitchcock,  ranking  minority  member  of 
the  Foreign  Relations  Committee,  was 
as  follows: 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Foreign 
Kelations  Committee,  unite  in  urging  the 
early  ratification  of  the  pending  treaty  of 
peace  without  amendments  and  without 
reservations. 

"We  deplore  the  long  and  unnecessary  de- 
lay to  which  the  treaty  has  been  subjected, 
while  locked  up  in  the  committee  whose  ma- 
jority decisions  and  recommendations  were 
from  the  start  a  foregone  conclusion.  They 
could  have  been  made  in  July  as  well  as  In 
September,  and  would  have  been  the  same. 

The  industrial  world  is  in  ferment,  the 
financial  world  in  doubt,  and  commerce 
halts,  while  this  great  delay  in  the  peace 
settlement  has  been  caused  by  the  majority 
of  a  committee  known  to  be  out  of  harmony 
with  the  majority  of  the  Senate  and  the 
majority  of  the  people.  This  is  government 
by  obstruction  as  well  as  by  a  minority. 

Our  export  trade  already  shows  the  un- 
deniable effects  of  delay  and  doubt  in  treaty 
ratification  and  peace  settlement.  For  the 
first  seven  months  following  the  armistice 
our  exports  averaged  almost  seven  hundred 
millions  per  month,  but  in  July  they  fell  to 
five  hundred  and  seventy  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Europe  undoubtedly  wants  our  prod- 
ucts, but  can  only  take  them  in  full  quan* 
tity  if  our  financial  institutions  provide  the 
credit  to  bridge  over  the  period  necessary 
to  restore  European  industry  to  productive- 
ness. This  private  credit  can  not  and  will  not 
be  furnished  as  long  as  the  peace  settlement 
is  in  doubt.  A  public  credit  has  heretofore 
carried  this  great  v~  lance  of  trade.  Since 
the  armistice  was  signed  our  Government 
has  advanced  to  European  Governments 
nearly  two  and  one-half  billion  dollars, 
which  was  almost  enough  to  cover  the  bal- 
ance of  trade  during  the  eight  months'  pe- 
riod. 

Our  Government,  however,  has  about 
reached  the  end  of  its  authority  given  by 
Congress  and  will  advance  but  little  more. 
From  now  on,  if  we  are  to  keep  up  our  com- 
merce with  Europe,  private  enterprise  must 
furnish  the  credit  to  cover  the  trade  balance 
till  European  industries  get  started  and  are 
able  to  pay  us  with  their  goods.  Peace 
settlement  delays  and  doubts  paralyze  this 
revival.  If  uncertainty  continues,  depres- 
sion is  inevitable. 

The  claim  by  the  majority  of  this  commit  - 
mittee  that  we  have  exported  over  eleven 
million  dollars'  worth  of  goods  to  Germany 
since  the  armistice  and  without  a  peace  set- 
tlement is  no  doubt  true.  To  other  countries 
during  the  same  period  we  exported  over, 
five  thousand  million  dollars'  worth.  "What 
was  exported  to  Germany,  as  stated  by  the 
majority  report,  was  practically  nothing.     It 


is  only  14  cents'  worth  of  American  products 
for  each  person  in  Germany  in  seven  months, 
or  2  cents  per  person  per  month,  yet  the  ma- 
jority report  boasts  of  it  as  evidence  of  trade 
revival  in  spite  of  treaty  delay. 

The  same  statesmen  gravely  assure  us  that 
the  figures  prove  that  it  is  a  mere  delusion 
to  say  we  cannot  trade  with  Germany  till  a 
peace  settlement  is  made.  Two  cents  per 
month  per  capita  is  hardly  trading  with  Ger- 
many. 

AGAINST   ALL   AMENDMENTS 

Referring  to  the  action  of  the  majority  of 
the  committee,  we  unite  in  opposing  and  con- 
demning the  recommendations  both  as  to 
textual  amendments  and  as  to  proposed  res- 
ervations. As  far  as  the  proposed  textual 
amendments  are  concerned  we  see  no  reason 
to  discuss  their  character  at  length.  In  our 
opinion  they  have  no  merit,  but  whether  they 
be  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  their  adoption 
by  the  Senate  can  have  no  possible  effect 
except  to  defeat  the  participation  of  the 
United  States  in  the  treaty.  None  of  them 
could  by  any  possibility  be  accepted,  even  by 
the  great  nations  associated  with  the  United 
States  in  the  war,  and  none  of  them  could 
by  any  possibility  be  dictated  to  Germany. 
To  adopt  any  one  of  them,  therefore,  is 
equivalent  to  rejecting  the  treaty. 

The  suggestion  of  the  majority  report  that 
the  Peace  Conference  is  still  in  session  in 
Paris  and  could  consider  any  textual  amend- 
ments to  the  treaty  made  by  the  Senate,  and 
that  German  representatives  could  be  brought 
to  Paris  for  that  purpose,  indicates  a  total 
misconception  of  the  situation.  The  Peace 
Conference  has  acted  finally  upon  the  treaty. 
Great  Britain  has  ratified ;  France  is  about 
to  do  so,  and  with  the  action  of  one  other 
power  it  will  in  all  human  probability  be  in 
actual  operation  even  before  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  reaches  a  decision. 

Moreover,  the  Peace  Conference  possesses 
no  further  power  to  "  bring  German  repre- 
sentatives to  Paris."  The  power  of  com- 
pulsion has  been  exhausted.  Germany  was 
told  where  to  sign  and  when  to  sign  and 
when  to  ratify,  and  Germany  has  closed  the 
chapter  by  signing  and  by  ratifying.  Ger- 
many cannot  be  compelled  to  do  anything 
more  or  different  with  regard  to  this  treaty 
by  being  confronted  with  an  amended  treaty, 
whether  once  a  month,  day,  or  week.  There 
must  be  a  finality  to  ultimata  in  a  treaty  by 
compulsion.  If  an  amended  treaty  is  not 
signed  by  Germany,  then  it  is  in  none  of  its 
parts  binding  on  her. 

WHAT  WE  WOULD  SACRIFICE 

To  adopt  an  amendment  or  to  reject  the 
treaty  means  that  the  United  States  will 
sacrifice  all  the  concessions  secured  from 
Germany  by  a  dictated  peace.  "While  these 
concessions  are  not  as  large  as  those  which 
other  nations  associated  with  us  secure  in 
reparations,  they  are  nevertheless  of  tre- 
mendous    importance     and     could     only     be 


THE  SENATE  AND   THE  PEACE   TREATY 


15 


secured  under  a  dictated  peace.  Among  the 
concessions  which  the  United  States  would 
sacrifice  by  the  adoption  of  any  amendment 
or  the  rejection  of  the  treaty  may  be  in- 
cluded the  following: 

First— Germany's     acknowledgment     of 
responsibility  for  the  war  and  her  prom-    ! 
ise  to  make  restitution  for  damages  re- 
sulting from  it. 

Second— Germany's  promise  to  us  in  the 
treaty  that  she  will  not  impose  higher  or 
other  customs  duties  or  charges  on  our 
goods  than  those  charged  to  the  most- 
favored  nation  and  will  not  prohibit  or 
restrict  or  discriminate  against  imports 
directly  or  indirectly  from  our  country. 

Third— Germany's  promise  to  us  in  the 
treaty  that  she  will  make  no  discrimina- 
tion in  German  ports  on  shipping  bearing 
our  flag,  and  that  our  shipping  in  Ger- 
man ports  will  be  given  as  favorable 
treatment  as   German  ships  receive. 

Fourth— That  for  six  months  after  the 
treaty  goes  into  effect  no  customs  duty 
will  be  levied  against  imports  from  the 
United  States  except  the  lowest  duties 
that  were  in  force  for  the  first  six  months 
of  1914. 

Fifth— Germany's  agreement  with  us 
that  the  United  States  shall  have  the 
privilege  of  reviving  such  of  the  treaties 
with  Germany  as  were  in  existence  prior 
to  the  war  as  we  may  alone  desire. 

Sixth— Germany's  promise  to  us  to  re- 
store the  property  of  our  citizens  seized 
in  Germany  or  to  compensate  the  owners. 

Seventh— Germany's  very  important 
validating  all  acts  by  the  United  States 
and  by  the  Alien  Property  Custodian  by 
which  we  seized  and  proceeded  to  liqui- 
date" $800,000,000  worth  of  property  in  the 
United  States  belonging  to  German  citi- 
zens. 

Eighth— Germany's  agreement  that  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  these  properties 
may  be  u^ed  to  compensate  our  citizens 
in  Germany  if  Germany  fails  to  do  so,  or 
to  pay  debts  which  Germany  or  Germans 
owe  to  American  citizens,  or  to  pay 
American  pre-war  claims  against  Ger- 
many for  property  destroyed  and  lives 
taken  similar  to  the  losses  because  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Lusitania. 

Ninth— Germany's  agreement  that  she 
will  compensate  her  own  citizens  for 
property,  patents,  and  other  things  be- 
longing to  them  in  the  United  States 
seized  during  the  war  by  our  Govern- 
ment. 

Tenth — Germany's  agreement  that  no 
claim  can  be  made  against  the  United 
States  in  respect  to  the  use  or  sale  dur- 
ing the  war  by  our  Government,  or  by 
persons  acting  for  our  Government,  of 
any  rights  in  industrial,  literary,  or 
artistic  property,  including  patents. 

Eleventh— Germany's  agreement  that 
the  United  States  shall  retain  over 
500,000   tons   of   German   shipping,    seized 


in  American  ports,  which  must  more 
than  compensate  us  for  shipping  lost 
during   the   war. 

Twelfth— We  would  lose  our  member- 
ship on  the  Reparations  Commission, 
which  will  be  the  most  powerful  interna- 
tional body  ever  created  and  which  will 
have  enormous  control  over  the  trade 
and  commerce  of  Germany  with  the  rest 
of  the  world  for  years  to  come.  It  not 
only  supervises  the  use  of  German  eco- 
nomic resources  and  the  payment  of 
reparations,  but  it  can  restrict  or  expand 
Germany's  imports  and  distribute  much 
of  her  desirable  exports,  including  dyes. 
In  no  way  can  the  United  States  assure 
itself  against  discrimination  in  German 
imports  and  financial  policies,  unless  we 
have  a  member  upon  this  great  Repara- 
tions  Commission. 

AMENDMENT   SAME   AS    REJECTION 

These  are  some,  but  by  no  means  all,  of  the 
valuable  concessions  which  the  United  States 
would  inevitably  sacrifice  by  failing  to  ratify 
the  treaty.  This  failure  would  be  just  as 
complete  if  we  adopt  an  amendment  to  it  as 
if  we  rejected  the  treaty  absolutely.  In  either 
event,  we  would  find  ourselves  at  the  end  of 
the  war,  it  is  true,  but  without  any  peace  or 
terms  of  peace  with  Germany.  We  would 
have  abandoned  our  disgusted  associates  and 
we  would  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  seek- 
ing a  negotiated  peace  with  an  angry  Ger- 
many on  such  terms  as  she  would  be  willing 
to  accord. 
We  are,  therefore,  without  any  qualifica- 
tions against  amendments. 
We  are  aware  that  the*  claim  has  been  set 
up  that  one  of  the  proposed  amendments, 
which  relates  only  to  the  League  of  Nations, 
does  not  require  the  assent  of  Germany.  This 
fs  based  on  the  fact  that  Germany  is  not  yet 
a  member  of  the  League  of  Nations  and  may 
mot  be  for  several  years. 

The  answer  is,  however,  that  the  League 
covenant  is  a  part  of  the  treaty,  and  the 
(League,  which  is  mentioned  in  many  places 
in  the  treaty,  has  much  to  do  with  German 
affairs,  even  though  Germany  is  not  a  mem- 
ber. Germany,  in  agreeing  to  the  treaty,  has 
assented  to  the  provisions  of  the  covenant, 
and  one  of  the  provisions  is  that  it  can  only 
be  amended  by  the  action  of  the  League, 
which  has  not  yet  started,  ratified  by  all  the 
members  of  the  Council,  which  has  not  yet 
organized,  as  well  as  by  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  Assembly.  It  is  obvious, 
therefore,  if  it  is  to  be  amended  in  any  other 
way,  Germany's  assent  will  be  just  as  neces- 
sary as  to  any  other  article  of  the  treaty. 

RESERVATIONS 

The  reservations  proposed  by  the  majority 
of  this  committee  are  of  such  a  character  as 
at  once  betray  their  authorship.  They  are  the 
work  of  Senators  organized  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  the  League  and,  if  possible,  de- 


16 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


feating  this  treaty.  Their  phraseology  is 
such  as  makes  this  purpose  plain.  They  are 
in  no  sense  interpretative  reservations,  to  be 
used  to  make  clear  language  in  the  treaty 
that  might  be  considered  doubtful,  but  they 
are  so  framed  as  to  receive  the  support  of 
Senators  who  desire  the  defeat  of  the  treaty. 

While  masquerading  in  the  guise  of  reser- 
vations, they  are  in  fact  alterations  of  the 
treaty.  They  have  all  the  vices  of  amend- 
ments and  the  additional  vice  of  pretending 
to  be  what  they  are  not.  Presented  as  parts 
of  the  resolution  to  ratify  the  treaty,  they 
would  in  fact,  if  adopted,  result  in  its  defeat. 
All  of  them  apply  to  the  League  of  Nations 
section  of  the  treaty.  Those  who  oppose  the 
League  of  Nations  realize  that  it  is  invincible 
on  a  square  fight  and  they  hope  to  destroy  it 
by  this  indirection. 

The  League  of  Nations  has  stood  the  test 
of  worldwide  criticism  and  unlimited  attack. 
It  stands  today  as  the  only  hope  for  world 
peace.  After  all  the  assaults  of  many  months 
its  purposes  and  provisions  stand  out  clearly 
defined,  unaffected  by  criticism,  and  unyield- 
ing to  attack. 

LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

The  League  of  Nations  proposes  to  or- 
ganize the  nations  of  the  world  for  peace, 
whereas  they  have  always  heretofore  been 
organized  for  war.  It  proposes  to  establish 
the  rule  of  international  justice  in  place  of 
force. 

It  proposes  to  make  a  war  of  conquest  im- 
possible by  uniting  all  nations  against  the 
offender. 

It  is  the  first  international  arrangement 
ever  made  by  which  small  and  weak  nations 
are  given  the  organized  strength  of  the 
world  for  protection. 

It  is  a  covenant  between  many  nations  by 
which  each  agrees  not  to  do  certain  things 
which  in  the  past  have  produced  wars  and 
to  do  many  things  which  have  been  found 
to  preserve  the  peace. 

It  is  i.  working  plan  for  the  gradual  re- 
duction of  armament  by  all  members  simul- 
taneously in  proper  proportion  and  by  agree- 
ment. 

It  sets  up  arbitratiom  as  a  friendly  method 
of  adjusting  disputes  and  inquiry  when  ar- 
bitration is  not  agreed  to.  In  both  cases  it 
provides  a  cooling-off  period  ©f  nine  months, 
during  which  the  differences  may  be  ad- 
justed. 

It  preserves  the  territorial  integrity  and 
political  independence  of  each  member  and 
leaves  to  each  the  exercise  of  its  sovereign 
rights  as  a  nation. 

It  will  save  the  world  from  wars  and 
preparations  for  wars.  It  will  reduce  armies 
and  navies  and  taxes. 

It  will  help  to  remove  the  discontent  with 
Government  in  all  countries,  by  making 
Government  beneficent  and  devoting  its 
revenues  to  constructive  rather  than  to  de- 
structive purposes. 

It  is  the  only  plan  proposed  to  redeem  the 


world  from  wars,  pestilence,  and  famine,  the 
only  one  by  which  a  stricken  world  can  be 
redeemed  from  the  disasters  of  the  late  war 
and  the  dangers  of  impending  international 
chaos. 

Those  who  dally  and  delay  as  they  seek 
with  miscroscopes  to  find  some  petty  flaw  in 
its  structure  have  nothing  themselves  to  pro- 
pose. They  have  appealed  to  every  prejudice 
and  resorted  to  every  desperate  method  of 
attack  to  destroy  this  great  international 
effort  to  establish  peace,  but  they  suggest 
nothing  in  its  place. 

They  denounce  the  public  demand  for  ener- 
getic action  as  "  clamor."  They  rail  at  the 
President,  who  with  the  representatives  of 
many  other  nations  has  devoted  months  of 
hard  work  to  a  great  constructive  effort  to 
settle  the  terms  and  reorganize  the  world  for 
peace.  Finally,  unable  to  stem  the  tide  of 
public  demand  for  the  League  of  Nations, 
they  resort  to  so-called  reservations  in  the 
hope  that  they  can  destroy  by  indirection 
what  they  have  found  unassailable  by  direct 
attack. 

We  renew  our  recommendation  that  the 
work  of  the  Peace  Conference  be  confirmed, 
the  will  of  the  people  fulfilled,  and  the  peace 
of  the  world  advanced  by  the  ratification  of 
this  treaty—"  the  best  hope  of  ttie  world  "— 
even  if,  like  all  human  instrumentalities,  it 
be  not  divinely  perfect  in  every  detail. 

GILBERT  H.  HITCHCOCK,   (Neb.) 
JOHN  SHARP  WILLIAMS,    (Miss.) 
CLAUDE  A.    SWANSON,    (Va.) 
ATLEE  POMERENE,    (Ohio.) 
MARCUS  A.  SMITH,   (Ariz.) 
KEY  PITTMAN,  (Nev.) 

SENATOR  McCUMBER'S  ATTACK  ON 
LODGE  REPORT 

Senator  Porter  J.  McCumber  of  North 
Dakota,  a  Republican  member  of  the  Sen- 
ate Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  on 
Sept.  15  presented  a  minority  report,  of 
which  he  himself  was  »ole  signatory,  and 
which  embodied  a  scathing  indictment  of  the 
majority  report.  At  the  outset  of  his  pro- 
test Senator  McCumber  complained  that  the 
majority  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions had  deviated  fr©m  the  rule  of  con- 
fining a  report  to  the  objects  of  a  measure 
and  the  reasons  for  proposed  amendments. 
He    continued : 

Not  one  word  is  said,  not  a  single  al- 
lusion made,  concerning  either  the  great 
purposes  of  the  League  of  Nations  or  the 
methods  by  which  these  purposes  are  to 
be  accomplished.  Irony  and  sarcasm 
have  been  substituted  for  argument,  and 
positions  taken  by  the  press  or  indi- 
viduals outside  the  Senate  seem  to  com- 
mand more  attention  than  the  treaty 
itself.    *    *    * 

The  instrument  is  not  as  complete 
and  as  binding  as  the  Constitution  of  a 
State  or  nation.  It  still  leaves  to  each 
nation     the     right     of    withdrawal,     and 


THE  SENATE  AND   THE  PEACE   TREATY 


17 


depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  the  moral 
sentiment  of  each  nation  to  comply  with 
its  own  obligation  or  the  enforcement 
of  such  obligation  upon  a  recalcitrant 
member.  It  is  a  mighty  step  in  the  right 
direction.  Every  sentiment  of  justice  and 
morality  is  on  its  side.  Some  of  its  pro- 
visions are  yet  crude  and  uncertain  of 
application,  but  the  whole  purpose  is  most 
noble  and  worthy,  and,  as  in  our  Amer- 
ican Constitution,  we  were  compelled, 
in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union, 
to  depend  upon  the  right  of  amendment, 
so  in  this  great  world  Constitution  ex- 
perience     will     undoubtedly      necessitate 


many  changes  in  order  to  make  a  more 
perfect  instrument  that  will  work  for  the 
benefit  of  humanity.  All  of  these  noble 
and  lofty  purposes  have  been  ignored  in 
the  majority  report  or  treated  with  sar- 
castic disdain  or  jingoistic  contempt.  To 
•  my  mind  such  an  attitude  is  most  selfish, 
immoral,  and  dishonorable. 

The  final  debate  on  the  treaty  amend- 
ments was  scheduled  to  begin  Sept.  23, 
and  the  Senators  who  had  been  trailing 
President  Wilson  were  recalled  to  Wash- 
ington for  the  struggle. 


President  Wilson's  Speaking  Tour 

His  Fight  for  Ratification  of  the  Treaty  Carried  From  Coast 
to  Coast  in  More  Than  Thirty  Addresses 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  left  Wash- 
ington on  the  evening  of  Sept.  3, 
1919,  to  begin  a  nation-wide  speak- 
ing tour  in  behalf  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  and  the  League  of  Nations.  In 
the  next  twenty-seven  days  he  delivered 
more  than  thirty  speeches  along  a  pre- 
arranged itinerary  that  included  a  week 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  His  journey  was  an 
appeal  to  the  people  on  existing  issues. 
With  the  exception  of  Illinois,  the  home 
of  two  Senate  opponents  of  full  ratifi- 
cation, the  President  carried  the  con- 
test into  the  native  States  of  virtually 
all  the  members  of  the  Senate  Foreign 
Relations  Committee  in  the  West  who 
were  contending  for  reservations  and 
amendments. 

Accompanying  him  were  Mrs.  Wilson, 
Rear  Admiral  Cary  T.  Grayson,  his 
physician;  Joseph  P.  Tumulty,  his  pri- 
vate secretary;  Thomas  W.  Brahany, 
chief  clerk  at  the  White  House;  Charles 
L.  Swem,  the  President's  personal  ste- 
nographer; a  staff  of  Secret  Service 
men,  twenty  newspaper  men,  and  pho- 
tographers. The  Presidential  party 
traveled  by  special  train. 

A  number  of  United  States  Senators, 
among  them  Messrs.  Johnson,  Borah, 
Reed,  and  McCormick,  followed  a  few 
days  behind  the  President  in  the  Middle 
West  and  delivered  speeches  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  and  in 


support  of  amendments  to  the  covenant 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  They  also 
were  greeted  by  large  audiences  and 
were  bitter  in  their  criticisms  of  the 
President. 

Mr.  Wilson's  first  speech  was  deliv- 
ered at  Columbus,  Ohio,  on  Sept.  4.  He 
began  by  calling  his  tour  a  report  to 
the  people  regarding  his  stewardship  in 
connection  with  the  Peace  Conference  at 
Paris.  He  told  his  audience  that  the 
whole  world  was  waiting  for  the  United 
States  to  ratify  the  treaty,  and  that  the 
League  of  Nations  alone  could  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  such  a  catastrophe  as 
that  which  had  overwhelmed  the  world. 
In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  he  ad- 
dressed a  large  audience  at  Indianapolis 
in  defense  of  Article  X.,  the  storm  centre 
of  the  League  covenant. 

From  Indianapolis  his  itinerary  took 
the  President  to  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City, 
Des  Moines,  Omaha,  Sioux  Falls,  St. 
Paul,  Minneapolis,  Bismarck,  Billings, 
Helena,  Coeur  d'Alene,  Spokane,  Ta- 
coma,  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  San 
Diego,  Los  Angeles.  On  the  return  jour- 
ney he  went  first  to  Reno,  Nev.,  thence 
to  Salt  Lake  City,  Cheyenne,  Denver, 
Pueblo,  Wichita,  Oklahoma  City,  Little 
Rock,  Memphis,  and  Louisville,  where 
the  speaking  ended.  The  return  to 
Washington  was  scheduled  for  Sept.  30. 

At    every    city    the    President    was 


18 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


greeted  by  immense  throngs.  He  found 
sentiment  somewhat  divided  in  his  first 
audiences,  but  his  eloquence  everywhere 
produced  great  enthusiasm.  He  vigor- 
ously advocated  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  without  any  amendments  or 
reservations,  criticising  in  strong  terms 
the  Senators  who  were  opposing  unre- 
served ratification.  His  argument  at 
all  times  was  that  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  were  amply  safeguarded 
by  the  treaty,  and  that  the  opposition 
was  due  to  partisan  bias  or  personal 
rancor,  or  else  to  lack  of  knowledge. 

DEFENSE  OF  ARTICLE  X. 

Regarding  Article  X.  of  the  League 
covenant,  one  of  the  most  bitterly  con- 
tested points,  the  President  said  in  his 
Indianapolis  speech: 

Article  X.  speaks  the  conscience  of  the 
world.  Article  X.  is  the  article  which 
goes  to  the  heart  of  this  whole  bad  busi- 
ness, for  that  article  says  that  the  mem- 
bers of  this  League  (and  that  is  intended 
to  be  all  the  great  nations  of  the  world) 
engage  to  resist  and  to  preserve  against 
all  external  aggression  the  territorial  in- 
tegrity and  political  independence  of  the 
nations  concerned.  That  promise  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  prevent  this  sort  of  war 
recurring,  and  we  are  absolutely  discred- 
ited if  we  fought  this  war  and  then 
neglect  the  essential  safeguard  against  it. 
You  have  heard  it  said,  my  fellow- 
citizens,  that  we  are  robbed  of  some  de- 
gree of  our  sovereign  independence  of 
choice  by  articles  of  that  sort.  Every 
man  who  makes  a  choice  to  respect  the 
rights  of  his  neighbors  deprives  himself 
of  absolute  sovereignty,  but  he  does  it 
by  promising  never  to  do  wrong,  and  I 
cannot,  for  one,  see  anything  that  robs 
me  of  any  inherent  right  that  I  ought 
to  retain  when  I  promise  that  I  will  do 
right. 

We  engage,  in  the  first  sentence  of 
Article  X.,  to  respect  and  preserve  from 
external  aggression  the  territorial  integ- 
rity and  the  existing  political  independ- 
ence, not  only  of  the  other  member 
States,  but  of  all  States,  and  if  any 
member  of  the  League  of  Nations  dis- 
regards that  promise,  then  what  happens? 
The  Council  of  the  League  advises  what 
should  be  dene  to  enforce  the  respect 
for  that  covenant  on  the  part  of  the  na- 
tion attempting  to  violate  it.  And  there 
is  no  compulsion  upon  us  to  take  that 
advice— except  the  compulsion  of  our  good 
conscience   and   judgment. 

So  that  it  is  perfectly  evident  that 
if,  in  the  judgment  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,   the  Council  adjudged 


wrong,  and  that  this  was  not  an  occasion 
for  the  use  of  force,  there  would  be 
no  necessity  on  the  part  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  to  vote  the  use 
of  force.  But  there  could  be  no  advice 
of  the  Council  on  any  such  subject  with- 
out unanimous  vote,  and  the  unanimous 
vote  would  include  our  own.  And  if  we 
accepted  the  advice  we  would  be  accept- 
ing our  own  advice.  For  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  the  representatives  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  would  not 
vote  without  instructions  from  their  Gov- 
ernment at  home,  and  that  what  we 
united  in  advising  we  could  be  certain 
that  our  people  would  desire  to  do. 

There  is  in  that  covenant  not  one  note 
of  surrender  of  the  independent  judg- 
ment of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  but  an  expression  of  it,  because 
that  independent  judgment  would  have 
to  join  with  the  judgment  of  the  rest. 

THE  SHANTUNG  ISSUE 

In  a  speech  at  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce luncheon  in  St.  Louis,  Sept.  5,  the 
President  gave  this  explanation  of  the 
Shantung  settlement: 

Great  Britain  and  others,  as  everybody 
knows,  in  order  to  make  it  more  certain 
that  Japan  would  come  into  the  war  and 
so  assist  to  clear  the  Pacific  of  the  Ger- 
man fleets,  had  promised  that  any  rights 
that  Germany  had  in  China  should,  in 
the  case  of  the  victory  of  the  Allies,  pass 
to  Japan.  There  was  no  qualification  in 
the  promise.  She  was  to  get  exactly  what 
Germany  had.  And  so  the  only  thing 
that  was  possible  was  to  induce  Japan 
to  promise— and  I  want  to  say  in  all  fair- 
ness, for  it  wouldn't  be  fair  if  I  didn't 
say  it,  that  Japan  did  very  handsomely 
make  the  promises  which  were  requested 
of  her— that  she  wou^d  retain  in  Shan- 
tung none  of  the  sovereign  rights  which 
Germany  had  enjoyed  there,  but  would 
return  the  sovereignty  without  qualifi- 
cation to  China  and  retain  in  Shantung 
Province  only  what  other  nationalities 
had  elsewhere — economic  rights  with  re- 
gard to  development  and  administration 
of  the  railroad  and  of  certain  mines 
which  had  become  attached  to  the  rail- 
way. 

That  is  her  promise.  And,  personally, 
I  haven't  the  slightest  doubt  that  she  will 
fulfill  that  promise.  She  cannot  fulfill 
it  right  now  because  the  thing  doesn't 
come  into  operation  until  three  months 
after  the  treaty  is  ratified,  so  that  we 
must  not  be  too  impatient  about  it.  But 
she  will  fulfill  those  promises. 

And  suppose  that  we  said  we  wouldn't 
assent.  England  and  others  must  as- 
sent, and  if  we  are  going  to  get  Shan- 
tung Province  back  for  China  and  those 
gentlemen  don't  want  to  engage  in  for- 


PRESIDENT    WILSON'S   SPEAKING    TOUR 


19 


eign  wars,  how  are  they  going  to  get  it 
back? 

Their  idea  of  not  getting  into  trouble 
seems  to  be  to  stand  for  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  unworkable  propositions. 
All  very  well  to  talk  about  standing  by 
China.  But  how  are  you  standing  by 
China  when  you  withdraw  from  the  only 
arrangements  by  which  China  can  be  as- 
sisted? 

If  you  are  China's  friend,  don't  go  into 
the  council  where  you  can  act  as  China's 
friend.  If  you  are  China's  friend,  then 
put  her  in  a  position  where  these  conces- 
sions, which  have  been  made,  need  not 
be  carried  out.  If  you  are  China's  friend, 
scuttle  and  run.  That  is  not  the  kind  of 
American  I  am. 

STEP  TOWARD  DISARMAMENT 

Before  a  great  crowd  that  packed  the 
Coliseum  in  St.  Louis  that  evening  Mr. 
Wilson  pointed  out  that  if  we  did  not 
join  the  League  of  Nations  we  would 
have  to  play  a  "  lone  hand,"  which  would 
mean  that  we  must  maintain  a  great 
standing  army.  At  Kansas  City  the 
next  day,  in  addressing  15,000  persona 
in  the  Convention  Hall,  he  further  elab- 
orated this  thought  as  follows: 

We  wanted  disarmament  and  this  docu- 
ment provides  in  the  only  possible  way 
fcr  disarmament  by  common  agreement. 
Observe  that  just  now  every  great  fight- 
ing nation  in  the  world  is  a  member  of 
this  partnership  except  Germany,  and  in- 
asmuch as  Germany  has  accepted  a  limi- 
tation of  her  army  to  100,000  men,  I  don't 
think  for  the  time  being  she  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  great  fighting  nation. 

And  you  know,  my  fellow-citizens,  that 
armaments  mean  great  standing  armies 
and  great  stores  of  war  material.  They 
do  not  mean  burdensome  taxation  mere- 
ly, they  do  not  mean  merely  compulsory 
military  service,  which  saps  the  economic 
strength  of  the  nation,  but  they  mean  the 
building  up  of  a  military  class. 

At   Billings,   Mon.,  he  developed  this 

idea  further: 

To  play  a  lone  hand  now  means  that 
we  must  always  be  ready  to  play  by  our- 
selves. It  means  that  we  must  always  be 
armed,  that  we  must  always  be  ready  to 
mobilize  the  man  strength  and  the  man- 
ufacturing resources  of  the  country.  That 
means  that  we  must  continue  to  live 
under  not  diminishing  but  increasing 
taxes  and  be  strong  enough  to  beat  any 

•  nation  in  the  world,  and  absolutely  con- 
trary to  the  high  ideals  of  American  his- 
tory. If  you  are  going  to  play  a  lone 
hand,  the  hand  that  you  play  must  be 
upon  the  handle  of  the  sword. 
The  lone  hand  must  have  a  weapon  in 


it,  and  the  weapon  must  be  the  young 
men  of  the  country,  trained  to  arm*, 
and  the  business  of  the  country  must  be 
prepared  for  making  armament  and  arms 
for  the  men.  And  do  you  suppose,  my 
fellow-citizens,  that  any  nation  is  willing 
to  stand  for  that? 

OVATION  AT  SEATTLE 

On  reaching  the  Pacific  Coast  Presi- 
dent Wilson  was  received  with  the  most 
tumultuous  demonstrations  he  had  yet 
encountered,  In  the  stadium  at  Tacoma 
he  was  greeted  in  the  forenoon  of  Sept. 
13  by  a  vast  throng  of  30,000  persons, 
and  in  the  afternoon,  at  Seattle,  he  re- 
viewed the  new  Pacific  Fleet  on  the 
waterfront,  and  then  delivered  two 
speeches  in  the  evening.  The  popular 
demonstration  in  the  streets  of  Seattle 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ever 
seen  in  this  country.  As  the  President's 
automobile  passed  on  its  way,  those  who 
looked  back  could  see  the  crowd  over- 
flowing the  police  lines  and  following  in 
mass  formation  that  filled  the  streets 
and  stopped  all  traffic.  At  times  the 
police,  with  clubs,  were  able  to  check  the 
onrush  for  a  few  minutes,  but  as  soon 
as  the  police  gave  way  the  crowd  moved 
on  in  the  direction  of  the  President's  car, 
a  sea  of  faces  that  hid  all  else  from  view. 

The  outpouring  of  radicals  was  not  the 
only  thing  that  made  the  street  demon- 
stration different  from  those  witnessed 
further  east.  There  was  a  feeling  in 
the  air  difficult  to  describe — the  feeling 
of  a  great  throng  realizing  its  power. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  people  were  bent  upon 
sweeping  on  to  something  they  wished  to 
accomplish,  rather  than  out  on  holiday 
to  cheer  and  applaud.  While  the  people 
were  willing  to  see  the  League  of  Na- 
tions get  a  trial  and  desired  to  see  the 
Peace  Treaty  signed  and  out  of  the  way, 
that  was  not  the  dominant  note.  It  was 
a  popular  demonstration  given  to  a  man 
whom  the  people  accepted  as  a  leader;  a 
man  with  whom  they  might  differ  on 
many  points,  but  in  whom  many  of  their 
hopes  rested. 

ADDRESS  AT  PORTLAND 

The  crowds  that  greeted  the  President 
at  Portland  on  Sept.  15  were  almost 
equally  large,  and  after  moving  among 
them  all  day  he  delivered  an  address  in 


20 


THE  NEVV    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  evening  in  which  he  referred  in  these 
words  to  the  opponents  of  the  League  of 
Nations: 

Let  gentlemen  beware  how  they  disap- 
point the  world;  let  gentlemen  beware 
how  they  betray  the  immemorial  princi- 
ples of  the  United  States ;  let  men  not 
make  the  mistake  of  claiming  a  position 
of  privilege  for  the  United  States  which 
gives  it  all  the  advantages  of  the  League 
of  Nations  and  none  of  the  risks  and 
responsibilities. 

A  woman  came  to  the  train  the  other 
day  and  seized  my  hand  and  was  about 
to  say  something,  but  turned  away  in  a 
flood  of  tears,  and  I  asked  a  standerby 
what  was  the  matter,  and  he  said: 
"Why,  Sir,  she  lost  two  sons."  She  had 
nothing  in  her  heart  except  the  hope  that 
I  could  save  other  sons,  though  she  had 
given  hers  gladly.  And,  God  help  me,  I 
will  save  other  sons. 

Through  evil  report  and  good  report, 
through  resistance,  misrepresentation, 
and  every  other  vile  thing,  I  shall  fight 
my  way  to  that  goal.  I  call  upon  the 
men  to  whom  I  have  referred,  the  honest, 
patriotic,  intelligent  men  who  have  been 
too  particularly  concerned  in  criticising 
the  details  of  that  treaty  to  forget  the 
details ;  to  remember  the  great  enterprise ; 
to  stand  with  me  to  fulfill  the  hopes  and 
traditions    of   the   United    States. 

There  is   only  one  conquering  force   in 
the   world,    there   is   only   one   thing  you 
.  can't  kill,   and  that  is  the  spirit  of  the 
freemen. 

And  now,  let  us,  every  one  of  us,  bind 
ourselves  in  a  solemn  league  and  cov- 
enant of  our  own  that  we  will  redeem 
this  expectation  of  the  world,  that  we 
will  not  allow  any  man  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  it,  that  the  world  hereafter  shall 
believe  in  us  and  not  curse  us ;  that  the 
world  hereafter  will  follow  us  and  not 
turn  aside  from  us;  and  that  in  leading 
we  will  not  lead  along  the  paths  of  pri- 
vate advantage,  we  will  not  lead  along 
the  paths  of  national  ambition,  but  we 
will  be  proud  and  happy  to  lead  along  the 
paths  of  right,  so  that  men  shall  always 
say  that  American  soldiers  saved  Europe 
and  American  citizens  saved  the  world. 

TWO  DAYS  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 

President  Wilson  spent  Sept.  17  and 
18  in  San  Francisco,  carrying  the  fight 
for  the  treaty  into  the  heart  of  Senator 
Johnson's  State.  Regarding  Ireland,  Mr. 
Wilson  declared  that  the  League  of  Na- 
tions not  only  did  not  put  the  United 
States  in  a  position  where  it  would  have 
to  aid  England  in  the  event  that  Ireland 
sought  to  obtain  its  freedom,  but  went 
further    by    providing    a    court    of    the 


world,  before  which  Ireland  or  any  na- 
tion which  felt  that  Ireland  was  wronged 
could  seek  the  verdict  of  public  opinion. 
In  like  manner  he  contended  that 
China's  best  hope  of  full  sovereignty 
over  her  own  soil  was  offered  by  the 
League. 

In  the  Municipal  Stadium  at  San  Diego 
on  Sept.  19  President  Wilson  stood  be- 
fore an  audience  estimated  at  40,000  to 
50,000,  the  largest  he  had  yet  faced,  and 
talked  from  a  glass  cage  with  electrical 
devices  to  help  carry  his  words  to  all 
parts  of  the  g^eat  amphitheatre.  Taking 
for  his  text  a  statement  by  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  written  in  1914,  in  favor  of 
just  such  a  League  of  Nations  as  has  now 
been  embodied  in  the  Peace  Treaty,  Mr. 
Wilson  told  his  audience  that  the  treaty 
fulfilled  Republican  ideals.  He  found 
sentiment  in  Southern  California  strong- 
ly in  favor  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

"THE  SIX  VOTES  MYTH" 

At  Los  Angeles  on  Sept.  21  the  Presi- 
dent increased  this  impression  by  an  ad- 
dress in  which  he  gave  the  following  ex- 
planation of  the  process  of  voting  in  the 
League  of  Nations: 

Another  thing  that  is  giving  some  of 
our  fellow -country-men  pangs  of  some 
sort,  pangs  of  jealousy,  perhaps,  is  that, 
as  they  put  it,  Great  Britain  has  six  votes 
in  the  League  and  we  have  only  one. 
Well,  our  one  vote,  it  happens,  counts 
just  as  heavily  as  if  every  one  of  our 
States  were  represented  and  we  had  forty- 
eight  votes,  because  it  happens,  though 
these  gentlemen  have  overlooked  it,  that 
the  Assembly  is  not  an  independent  voting 
body.  Great  Britain  has  only  one  repre- 
sentative and  one  vote  in  the  council  of 
the  League  of  Nations,  which  originates 
all  action,  and  its  six  votes  are  in  the 
Assembly,  which  is  a  debating  and  not  an 
executive  body,  and  in  every  matter  on 
which  the  Assembly  can  vote  along  with 
the  council  it  is  necessary  that  all  the 
nations  represented  on  the  council  should 
concur  in  the  affirmative  vote  to  make  it 
valid ;  so  that  in  every  vote,  no  matter 
how  many  vote  for  it  in  the  Assembly, 
in  order  for  it  to  become  valid  it  is 
necessary  that  the  United  States  should 
vote  aye. 

Now,  inasmuch  as  the  Assembly  Is  a 
debating  body,  that  is  the  place  where 
this  exposure  that  I  have  talked  about 
to  the  open  air  is  to  occur;  it  would  not 
be  wise  for  anybody  to  go  into  the  As- 
sembly for  purposes  that  will  not  bear 
exposure,  because  that  is  the  great  cool- 


PRESIDENT    WILSON'S   SPEAKING    TOUR 


*1   \ 


ing  process  of  the  world,  that  is  the 
great  place  where  gases  are  to  be  burned 
off.  I  ask  you,  in  debating  the  affairs  of 
mankind,  would  it  have  been  fair  to  give 
Panama  a*  vote,  as  she  will  have,  Cuba 
a  vote,  both  of  them  very  much  under 
the  influence  of  the  United  States,  and 
not    give    a    vote    to    the    Dominion    of 


Canada,  to  that  great  eneregtic  republic 
in  South  Africa,  to  that  place  from  which 
so  many  liberal  ideas  and  liberal  actions 
have  come,  that  stout  little  Common- 
wealth of  Australia? 

From     Los     Angeles     the     President 
started  on  his  homeward  journey. 


Austrian  Peace  Treaty  Signed 

Ceremony  at  St.  Germain  That  Ended  the  War  With  Austria, 
Sept.   10,   1919— The   Final  Negotiations 


THE  treaty  of  peace  with  Austria, 
destined  to  be  known  in  history 
as  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain, 
was  signed  in  the  Paris  suburb 
of  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  Sept.  10,  1919, 
after  four  months  of  negotiation  and 
interchange  of  notes.  Dr.  Karl  Renner, 
Austrian  Chancellor,  who  had  conducted 
the  negotiations  throughout,  signed  the 
treaty  after  having  done  all  in  his  power 
to  modify  the  original  terms  laid  down 
by  the  Allies. 

The  Austrian  counterproposals  had 
been  submitted  to  the  allied  mis- 
sion on  Aug.  6,  and  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil at  Paris,  after  a  brief  vacation,  had 
set  to  work  to  draft  a  decisive  reply. 
When  the  Austrian  Chancellor  returned 
to  St.  Germain  after  a  brief  absence  in 
Vienna  he  was  informed  by  the  allied 
powers,  in  reference  to  the  term  "  Ger- 
man Austria"  in  his  recent  notes,  that 
the  new  State  must  be  called  "  The  Re- 
public of  Austria." 

On  Aug.  19  the  Supreme  Council  re- 
ceived through  Paris  representatives  of 
the  Austrian  Province  of  Vorarlberg  a 
telegram  protesting  against  the  action 
of  Austria  in  preventing  Vorarlberg 
from  laying  its  claims  before  the  con- 
ference. The  telegram  denied  the  right 
of  Austria  to  represent  Vorarlberg,  and 
announced  that  through  a  plebiscite 
taken  on  Aug.  10  the  inhabitants  of  the 
province  had  decided  overwhelmingly  in 
favor  of  union  with  Switzerland. 

The  Austrian  delegation  informed  the 
Supreme  Council  on  Aug.  20  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  take  the  com- 
pleted text  of  the  treaty  to  Vienna  and 


to  submit  it  to  the  Assembly  for  approval 
before  the  delegates  could  sign  it.  On 
the  date  mentioned  the  Supreme  Council 
appointed  a  committee  with  the  special 
duty  of  answering  the  Austrian  note 
concerning  Austrian  interests  outside 
Europe.  The  American  member  of  the 
committee  was  Mr.  Dreisel.  The  Chair- 
man was  Jean  Gout,  representing 
France. 

The  council  concluded  its  considera- 
tion of  the  treaty  on  Aug.  30,  and 
approved  the  covering  letter  to  ac- 
company it.  The  complete  revised  text 
of  the  treaty  terms  was  handed 
to  the  Austrian  plenipotentiaries  at 
St.  Germain  on  Tuesday,  Sept.  2.  Five 
days  only  were  given  for  Austria  to  ac- 
cept or  reject  the  treaty  as  it  stood, 
though  an  intimation  was  given  that  an 
extension  of  time  might  be  granted  if 
Austria  requested  it.  Chancellor  Renner 
at  once  left  for  Vienna  bearing  the  re- 
vised text   and   letter. 

DRAFT  OF  COVERING  LETTER 

The  treaty  was  presented  to  the  Aus- 
trian delegates  by  Paul  Dutasta,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Peace  Conference,  in  French, 
English,  and  Italian  texts.  He  also 
handed  them  the  allied  reply  to  the 
counterproposals,  with  the  covering  let- 
ter, which  was  in  part  as  follows : 

The  people  of  Austria,  together  with 
their  neighbors,  the  people  of  Hungary, 
bear  in  a  peculiar  degree  responsibility 
for  the  calamities  which  have  befallen 
Europe  during  the  last  five  years.  The 
war  was  precipitated  by  an  ultima- 
tum presented  to  Serbia  by  the  Govern-    j 


22 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ment  at  Vienna  and  requiring  acceptance 
within  forty-eight  hours  of  a  series  of 
demands  which  amounted  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  independence  of  a  neighboring 
sovereign  State.  The  Royal  Government 
of  Serbia  accepted  within  the  prescribed 
time  all  the  demands  except  those  which 
involved  the  virtual  surrender  of  its  inde- 
pendence. 

Yet  the  then  Austro-Hungarian  Govern- 
ment, refusing  all  offers  of  a  conference 
of  conciliation  on  the  basis  of  that  reply, 
immediately  opened  hostilities  against 
Serbia,  thereby  deliberately  setting  light 
to  a  train  which  led  directly  to  a  universal 
war. 

It  is  now  evident  that  this  ultimatum 
was  no  more  than  an  insincere  excuse  for 
beginning  a  war  for  which  the  late  auto- 
cratic Government  at  Vienna,  in  close 
association  with  the  rulers  of  Germany, 
had  long  prepared  and  for  which  it  con- 
sidered the  time  had  arrived.  The  pres- 
ence of  Austrian  guns  at  the  siege  of 
Liege  and  Namur  is  further  proof,  if 
proof  were  required,  of  the  intimate  asso- 
ciation of  the  Government  of  Vienna  with 
the  Government  of  Berlin  in  its  plot 
against  public  law  and  the  liberties  of 
Europe.    »    *    * 

In  the  opinion  *  *  *  of  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  it  is  impossible  to 
admit  the  pica  of  the  Austrian  delega- 
tion that  the  people  of  Austria  do  not 
share  the  responsibility  of  the  Govern- 
ment which  provoked  the  war,  or  that 
they  are  to  escape  the  duty  of  making 
reparation  to  the  utmost  of  their  capacity 
to  those  whom  they  and  the  Govern- 
ment they  sustained  have  so  grievously 
wronged.  The  principles  upon  which  the 
draft  treaty  is  based  must  therefore  stand. 

REAPING  AS  THEY  SOWED 

The  Austrian  delegation  have  further 
protested  against  the  arrangements  under 
the  treaty  governing  their  relations  with 
the  new  States  formed  out  of  the  late 
Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy.  The  allied 
and  associated  powers  feel  bound  to  point 
out  that  the  disabilities  from  which  Aus- 
tria will  suffer  will  rise,  not  from  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty,  but  mainly  from 
the  policy  of  ascendency  which  its  people 
have  pursued  in  the  past.  Had  the  policy 
of  Austria-Hungary  been  one  of  liberty 
and  justice  to  all  its  peoples,  the  upper 
Danube  States  might  have  remained  in 
friendly  economic  and  political  unity.  As 
it  was,  the  policy  of  ascendency  produced 
one  of  the  cruelest  tradegies  of  the  late 
war,  when  millions  of  the  subject  peoples 
of  Austria-Hungary  were  driven,  under 
pain  of  death,  to  fight  against  their  will 
in  an  army  which  was  being  used  to 
perpetuate  their  own  servitude  as  well  as 
to  compass  the  destruction  of  liberty  In 
Europe. 

Many  of  these  peoples  protested  against 


the  war,  and  for  their  protests  suffered 
confiscation,  imprisonment,  or  death. 
Many  more,  who  were  captured  or 
escaped,  joined  the  armies  of  the  Allies 
and  played  their  part  in  the  war  of 
liberation.  But  they  are  now,  one  and 
all,  determined,  and  rightly  determined, 
to  set  themselves  up  as  independent 
States.  They  will  trust  Vienna  no  more. 
The  policy  of  ascendency  has  borne  its 
inevitable  fruit  in  the  fact  of  partition, 
and  it  is  this  partition  which  lies  at  the 
root  of  Austria's  troubles  today. 

Vienna  was  made  the  economic  and 
political  centre  of  the  empire.  Every- 
thing was  artificially  concentrated  there. 
Outlying  districts  and  railways  were 
starved  in  order  that  the  capital  might 
thrive.  The  break-up  of  Austria-Hungary, 
cutting  these  centralized  economic  fila- 
ments in  two,  can  hardly  fail  to  inflict 
the  severest  blows  upon  the  State  of 
Austria  and  its  capital.  But  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monarchy  with  its  conse- 
quences is  the  direct  outcome  of  that 
fatal  policy  of  domination  for  which  the 
people  of  Austria  are  themselves  princi- 
pally  to   blame. 

The  allied  and  associated  powers,  how- 
ever, have  no  wish  to  add  to  the  hard- 
ships of  Austria's  position.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  are  anxious  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  assist  her  people  to  accommo- 
date themselves  to  their  new  position  and 
to  recover  their  prosperity,  provided  al- 
ways that  it  is  not  at  the  expense  of  the 
new  States  formed  out  of  the  late  empire. 

ECONOMIC  CONCESSIONS 
GRANTED 

The  break-up  of  the  monarchy  has  given 
rise  to  many  difficult  problems  In  the 
relations  between  the  new  States,  which, 
under  the  treaty,  are  its  heirs.  It  has 
been  recognized  as  reasonable  that  the 
relations  between  the  citizens  of  the  suc- 
ceeding States  should  be  regulated  in 
certain  respects  differently  from  the  re- 
lations between  the  citizens  of  Austria 
and  those  of  the  other  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  and,  in  view  of  the  obser- 
vations of  the  Austrian  delegation,  the 
allied  and  associated  powers,  while  adher- 
ing to  the  general  lines  of  the  treaty, 
have  made  considerable  modification  in 
its  economic  provisions.  The  property  of 
Austrian  nationals  in  territories  ceded  to 
the  allied  powers  is  to  be  restored  to  its 
owners  free  from  any  measures  of  liqui- 
dation or  bans  forbidden  since  the  armi- 
stice, and  is  guaranteed  similar  freedom 
from  seizure  or  liquidation  in  the  future. 
Contracts  between  Austrian  nationals  and 
persons  who  acquire,  under  the  treaty,  an 
allied  nationality  are  maintained  without 
option   of  cancellation. 

Provision  is  made  to  insure  Austria  sup- 
plies of  coal  from  Czechoslovakia  and 
Poland,   upon  which  she  is  dependent,   in 


AUSTRIAN   PEACE    TREATY   SIGNED 


23 


return  for  reciprocal  obligations  to  supply 
certain  raw  material.  Outstanding  ques- 
tions affecting  nationals  of  Austria  which, 
require  settlement  between  Austria  and  its 
inheriting  neighbors  are  to  be  regulated 
by  separate  conventions,  and  these  con- 
ventions are  to  be  drawn  up  by  a  con- 
ference to  which  Austria  will  be  admitted 
on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  other 
States    concerned.    *    *    * 

In  conclusion,  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  wish  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
modifications  which  they  have  now  made 
in  the  draft  treaty  are  final.  They  wish 
further  to  state  that  if  they  have  not  re- 
plied specifically  to  all  the  points  in  the 
reply  of  the  Austrian  delegation,  it  is 
not  because  they  have  not  taken  them 
into  careful  consideration,  nor  must  the 
absence  of  any  reply  be  taken  as  ac- 
quiescence or  in  approval  of  these  conten- 
tions, nor  must  the  present  reply  be  taken 
as  authoritative  interpretation  of  the  text 
of  the  treaty. 

The  text  of  the  treaty,  which  we  send 
you  today,  following  upon  that  of  July  20 
last,  which  had  already  undergone  con- 
siderable changes  since  the  original  text 
of  June  2,  must  be  accepted  or  rejected 
in  the  exact  terms  in  which  it  is  now 
drafted.  Consequently,  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers  require  from  the  Austrian 
delegation  within  a  period  of  five  days, 
counting  from  the  date  of  the  present 
communication,  a  declaration  informing 
them  that  they  are  prepared  to  sign  this 
treaty  as  it  now  stands.  So  soon  as 
their  declaration  reaches  the  allied  and 
associated  powers  arrangements  will  be 
made  for  the  immediate  signature  of  peace 
at   St.    Germain-en-Laye. 

In  default  of  such  declaration  within 
the  period  above  stipulated,  the  armistice 
concluded  on  Nov.  13,  1918,  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  having  terminated,  and  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  will  take 
such  steps  as  they  may  judge  necessary 
to  impose  their  conditions. 

ONE  TERRITORIAL  MODIFICATION 

The  allied  powers  had  studied  the 
frontiers  of  the  future  Republic  of  Aus- 
tria from  a  historical,  geographical,  eth- 
nological, economic,  and  political  point 
of  view,  and,  with  the  exception  of  one 
point,  no  modification  had  been  made  in 
regard  to  frontiers. 

In  defining  the  boundary  of  Czecho- 
slovakia they  tried  to  assure  this  State 
a  complete  system  of  communications, 
and  therefore  departed  from  the  histori- 
cal frontier  of  the  crown  of  Bohemia  to 
assure  west  and  east  communications  of 
Southern  Moravia,  and  in  the  Gmund 
region   to   give   Bohemia   a   junction   of 


the  two  large  railroad  lines  supplying 
this  province. 

With  respect  to  the  frontiers  between 
Austria  and  Hungary,  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers  desired  to  guarantee 
access  to  the  sea  for  the  Czechoslovak 
State  and  therefore  provided  that  Press- 
burg  should  have  its  access  to  the  sea 
assured  by  transit  across  Hungarian  as 
well  as  Austrian  territory. 

Concessions  were  granted  to  Austria  in 
connection  with  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State  in  so  far  that  Radkersburg  was 
given  to  the  Austrians;  also  the  basin  of 
Marburg,  in  Styria,  was  attached  to  the 
Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  as  previously 
determined.  The  period  within  which 
Austria  is  obliged  to  give  favored-nation 
treatment  in  its  commercial  relations 
with  the  allied  and  associated  powers  is 
reduced  by  the  treaty  from  five  to  three 
years. 

AUSTRIA  ACCEPTS  TREATY 

On  his  return  to  Vienna  Dr.  Renner 
presented  the  treaty  to  the  Austrian 
Assembly.  On  Sept.  6  the  Assembly,  by 
a  vote  of  97  to  23,  decided  to  accept  and 
sign  the  treaty.  It  protested,  however, 
against  "  the  violation  of  Austria's  right 
of  free  disposal  of  herself."  The  Ger- 
man nationalists  voted  against  accepting 
the  treaty,  while  some  members  of  the 
South  Tyrolese  Party  abstained  from 
voting.  The  vote  was  taken  after  adop- 
tion, without  dissent,  of  the  Govern- 
ment's resolution  of  protest,  presented 
by  the  Christian  Socialist,  Hauser,  de- 
claring that  the  territorial  clauses  of 
the  treaty  violated  grossly  the  national 
claim  to  self-determination  and  the  basis 
on  which  the  armistice  was  concluded. 
The  resolution  read: 

We  raise  once  more  our  voices  against 
a  peace  founded  on  brute  force.  As  one 
man  we  decline  the  dividing  up  of  our 
peoples  into  free  and  unfree,  as  is  done 
by  this  peace.  We  further  declare  that 
the  4,000,000  Germans  forced  under  for- 
eign rule  will  for  all  time  insist  on  self- 
determination  as  the  only  possible  basis 
on  which  the  modern  State  may  be 
founded. 

The  resolution  also  declared  that  ulti- 
mate union  with  Germany  was  an  abso- 
lute necessity  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  when  the  hatred  of  the  war  died 


24 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


down  this  union  would  be  consummated. 
It  ended  by  placing  responsibility  for 
steeping  Europe  in  revolution  and  con- 
fusion on  the  shoulders  of  the  Entente 
and  looked  to  the  League  of  Nations  to 
repair  the  wrong  done. 

Notification  that  Austria  had  ac- 
cepted the  treaty  was  made  to  the  Peace 
Conference  on  Sept.  7  in  a  letter  signed 
by  Peter  Eichoff,  one  of  the  members  of 
the  Austrian  delegation.  He  announced 
that  the  National  Assembly  had  author- 
ized Chancellor  Renner,  already  on  his 
return  trip  to  Paris,  to  sign  the  treaty 
for  Austria.  Two  documents  were  at- 
tached to  the  letter.  The  first,  dated 
Sept.  6,  said  that  the  National  Assembly 
had  declared  that  Austria  must  bow 
before  necessity.  The  second  was  a  pro- 
test to  the  Assembly  by  representatives 
of  countries  detached  by  the  treaty  from 
Austria — Bohemians,  Germans,  Tyro- 
leans, Carinthians,  and  others. 

PROTEST  FROM  HUNGARY 
A  protest  from  another  source  came 
from  Berlin  on  Sept.  6,  in  the  form  of 
a  wireless  announcing  that  Count  Sigray, 
Commissary  for  Western  Hungary,  had 
informed  the  Commissary  for  Oedenberg, 
near  the  border  of  Lower  Austria,  in 
view  of  reported  territorial  clauses  of 
the  Austrian  treaty  giving  Austria 
the  Oedenberg  region  on  ethnological 
grounds,  its  population  being  largely 
German,  that  the  Hungarian  Govern- 
ment did  not  recognize  these  clauses  as 
having  any  validity  with  regard  to  Hun- 
gary, and  that  the  Government  would 
meet  with  armed  force  any  attempt  to 
occupy  Western  Hungary.  The  strict 
closing  of  the  frontier  had  been  ordered 
to  prevent  the  Austrians  from  entering 
the  territory  involved. 

The  peace  terms  of  the  allied  powers 
were  printed  in  the  Vienna  newspapers 
on  Wednesday,  Sept.  3,  accompanied  by 
editorial  expressions  of  protest  and  de- 
spair. The  Arbeiter  Zeitung  character- 
ized the  terms  as  "bitter,  spiteful,  and 
unjust."  It  added:  "The  Entente  is 
using  its  power  in  the  most  shameful 
manner  to  ill-treat  and  outrage  a  de- 
fenseless people  with  a  peace  based  on 
might."  The  Tageblatt  said:  "  In  vain 
do  we  search  for  a  sign  of  justice,  regard 


for  our  utter  incapacity  to  fulfill,  or  con- 
sideration for  the  principles  of  self- 
determination  for  peoples."  It  added  that 
the  Reparations  Commission  must  begin 
its  work  by  constituting  itself  a  revision 
commission. 

PREPARING  FOR  THE  CEREMONY 

Hurried  arrangements,  meanwhile, 
were  being  made  in  Paris  for  the  signing 
of  the  treaty.  The  ceremony  at  St.  Ger- 
main was  deliberately  planned  to  be 
much  less  formal  than  in  the  case  of  the 
German  treaty  at  Versailles,  because  of 
the  unstable  condition  of  the  Vienna 
Government,  which  made  the  speedy 
signing  of  peace  imperative.  The  Stone 
Age  Hall,  where  the  first  draft  of  the 
treaty  with  Austria  was  presented,  was 
chosen  again  for  the  ceremony  of 
signing. 

On  Sept.  9,  the  day  before  the  date  set 
for  the  signing,  the  Rumanian  delega- 
tion to  the  Peace  Conference  announced 
officially  that  it  would  not  sign  the 
treaty.  In  answer  to  a  Rumanian  note 
stating  that  the  Rumanians  would  sign 
the  treaty  only  with  reservations,  A.  J. 
Balfour  of  the  British  delegation  had 
drawn  up  and  dispatched  a  letter  for  the 
council  declaring  that  Rumania's  signa- 
ture would  not  be  accepted  unless  given 
unreservedly.  In  reply  to  this  letter 
Nicholas  Misu,  head  of  the  Rumanian 
delegation,  handed  to  the  council  a  let- 
ter saying  that  Rumania  was  unable  to 
sign  the  treaty.  The  two  principal  rea- 
sons were:  First,  that  Article  60  of  the 
treaty  tied  Rumania's  hands  commer- 
cially and  economically  at  a  time  when 
she  required  absolute  freedom  of  action 
to  accomplish  reconstruction;  and,  sec- 
ond, that  guarantees  to  minorities  im- 
posed by  an  outside  power  would  take 
away  Rumania's  sovereignty  over  terri- 
tories newly  annexed  from  the  former 
Austrian  Empire. 

The  delegates  of  the  new  Kingdom  of 
Jugoslavia,  for  similar  reasons,  an- 
nounced that  they  would  not  sign  with- 
out receiving  special  authorization  from 
Belgrade.  Both  Rumania  and  Jugoslavia 
were  given  until  Saturday,  Sept.  13,  to 
make  known  their  definite  intentions. 

At  St.  Germain,  in  the  hall  of  the  old 
chateau  which  is  now  a  public  museum 


AUSTRIAN   PEACE    TREATY   SIGNED 


25 


filled  with  relics  of  the  Stone  Age,  the 
treaty  between  Austria  and  her  twenty- 
seven  enemies,  minus  Rumania  and  Jugo- 
slavia, was  signed  by  Chancellor  Renner 
for  Austria  and  by  the  representatives 
of  the  allied  and  associated  powers  on 
the  morning  of  Sept.  10. 

The  ceremony  was  marked  by  a  lack 
of  formality,  and  also  by  the  absence 
of  any  bitterness.  On  a  bright,  calm, 
warm  Autumn  morning  the  delegates  mo- 
tored from  Paris  to  St.  Germain,  and 
assembled  in  the  Stone  Age  Room  of  the 
chateau.  The  delegates  grouped  them- 
selves around  the  U-shaped  table.  Frank 
L.  Polk,  head  of  the  American  delegation 
since  the  departure  of  President  Wilson, 
represented  the  United  States,  with  his 
colleagues,  Henry  White  and  General 
Bliss.  Mr.  Balfour,  Mr.  Milner,  and  Mr. 
Barnes  represented  Great  Britain,  with 
a  number  of  British  colonial  delegates. 
Premier  Clemenceau  was  on  hand  to  sign 
for  France.  The  faces  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  two  of  the  signatory  nations 
were  particularly  happy,  those,  namely, 
of  the  Italian  and  the  Chinese  delegates. 
The  Italian  representatives,  Tittoni, 
Marconi,  Scialoia,  and  Ferraris,  were 
surrounded  by  huge  bouquets  sent  by  the 
Frenchwomen  of  St.  Germain,  the  only 
flowers  in  the  hall.  The  spirit  of  Ital- 
ian victory  was  in  the  air.  China,  the 
only  absentee  at  the  signing  of  the 
treaty  of  Versailles,  was  represented  by 
Lou  Tseng-Tsiang,  the  Chinese  Foreign 
Minister,  and  Cheng-Ting  Thomas  Wang, 
a  Yale  graduate  from  Southern  China. 
Both  expressed  their  satisfaction  before 
the  ceremony  in  being  able  to  put  their 
country  into  the  League  of  Nations 
without  killing  Chinese  national  pride. 

ENTRANCE  OF  THE  DELEGATES 

M.  Clemenceau  entered  the  room  at  ex- 
actly 10  o'clock,  being  saluted  by  the 
guard  of  honor.  He  took  his  place  at  the 
table  with  Frank  L.  Polk  on  his  right 
and  A.  J.  Balfour,  British  Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  on  his  left. 
Mr.  Polk  was  accompanied  by  his  wife. 
After  the  other  American  delegates  were 
seated  Ignace  Jan  Paderewski,  the  Pre- 
mier of  Poland,  entered  the  room,  his  ar- 
rival provoking  a  flurry  of  conversation. 

There  was  no  hostility  of  any  kind 


evinced  when  Dr.  Renner  smilingly  en- 
tered the  small  Stone-Age  Hall.  He 
nodded  politely  as  he  took  his  seat  at  the 
end  of  the  U-shaped  table,  about  which 
the  delegates  were  grouped.  There  was 
no  harshness  in  the  voice  of  M.  Clemen- 
ceau as  he  announced  in  a  few  words  the 
purpose  of  the  meeting,  saying : 

The  sitting  is  opened.     The  negotiations 
to    establish    an    agreement   between   the 
allied  and  associated  powers  and  Austria 
for   the   conclusion    of   peace   are   ended. 
I    have   signed    the    documents    attesting    * 
that  the  text  about  to  be  signed  conforms 
to  that  delivered  to  the  Austrian  delega-     j 
tion  in   the   name   of  the   allied   and  as- 
sociated powers.    I  invite  Chancellor  Ren-    i 
ner  to  be  so  kind  as  to  sign  the  treaty. 

AUSTRIAN  CHANCELLOR  SIGNS 

Dr.  Renner  rose  while  M.  Clemenceau's 
remarks  were  being  translated  into  Ger- 
man, and  then,  bowing  graciously,  fol- 
lowed the  master  of  ceremonies  to  the 
signing  table  in  the  centre  of  the  room, 
where  he  attached  his  signature  four 
times  to  the  treaty.  He  then  returned  to 
his  seat  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  where  he 
remained  quite  at  ease  while  representa- 
tives of  twenty-five  powers  attached 
their  signatures. 

Frank  L.  Polk,  who  succeeded  Secre- 
tary Lansing  as  head  of  the  United 
States  delegation,  signed  after  Dr.  Ren- 
ner, and  was  followed  by  Henry  White 
and  General  Bliss.  As  the  French  dele- 
gation went  to  the  signing  table  and 
passed  Dr.  Renner's  chair  the  latter  rose 
and  bowed  very  politely  to  M.  Clemen- 
ceau, who  returned  the  salutation. 
China's  signature  was  affixed  by  Lou 
Tseng-Tsiang,  head  of  her  delegation. 

To  carry  out  the  technical  arrange- 
ments under  the  treaty  Dr.  Renner  act- 
ually signed  twelve  documents,  as  fol- 
lows: 

First,  the  treaty  with  Austria ;  second, 
the  protocol  of  the  treaty;  third,  a  dec- 
laration regarding  prize  court  decisions; 
fourth,  a  declaration  regarding  the  block- 
ade of  Hungary  and  agreeing  to  furnish 
the  Allies  with  all  possible  information 
regarding  shipping  destroyed  by  the 
Austrians  during  the  war;  fifth,  a  pro- 
tocol of  signature;  sixth  the  Czechoslo- 
vak treaty  regarding  minorities;  sev- 
enth, the  Serbian  treaty  regarding  mi- 
norities;  eighth,   annex  protocol  to  the 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


arms  convention;  ninth,  annex  protocol 
to  the  liquor  convention;  tenth,  revision 
of  Berlin  and  Brussels  acts;  eleventh, 
financial  arrangement  with  Italy; 
twelfth,  financial  arrangement  with  the 
States  inheriting  parts  of  the  former 
Austro-Hungarian  monarchy. 

RENNER'S      CONCILIATORY      INTER- 
VIEW 

After  the  ceremony  of  signing,  Dr. 
Renner,  in  the  course  of  an  interview, 
said: 

If  France  lends  us  aid  the  name  of  St. 

Germain   will   soon   evoke   in   our   hearts 


feelings  which  will  alleviate  the  bitterness 
of  the  hours  we  have  just  passed.  *  *  « 
Austria  cannot  hate.  It  always  respects 
the  man  with  whom  it  has  to  fight.  We 
are  the  conquered.  Yet,  misfortune  has 
given  us  liberty ;  freed  us  from  the  yoke 
of  a  dynasty  whence  for  three  genera- 
tions no  man  of  worth  has  sprung; 
freed  us  from  bonds  with  nations  which 
were  never  in  understanding  with  us  nor 
with  themselves. 

We  are  independent,  with  an  inde- 
pendence which  cannot  be  alienated ;  yet 
we  depend  on  the  Czechs  and  Poles  for 
coal,  on  the  Banat  for  cereals,  on  Italy 
for  maritime  commerce. 
Dr.  Renner  departed  for  Vienna  the 
same  evening  at  7:20  o'clock. 


Text  of  the  Austrian  Treaty 

Under   the   Peace    of   St.    Germain   Austria    Gives    Up    Vast 
Territories   and  Renounces  All  Military  Power 


THE  complete  official  English  text  of 
the  treaty  signed  on  Sept.  10, 
1919,  by  Austria  and  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  at  St.  Ger- 
main, and  brought  to  the  United  States 
by  special  courier,  was  presented  by 
Senator  Lodge  to  the  Senate  on  Sept.  15, 
and  at  his  request  reprinted  in  The  Con- 
gressional Record  of  that  date. 

The  treaty  consists  of  381  articles, 
making  181  pages  in  The  Congressional 
Record.  In  general  terms  it  follows  the 
scheme  of  the  German  treaty.  Part  I., 
consisting  of  the  first  twenty-six  articles, 
is  the  League  of  Nations  covenant,  al- 
ready published  as  part  of  the  treaty 
with  Germany,  which  Austria  likewise 
accepts,  though  she  may  not  become  a 
member  of  the  League  until  admitted  by 
vote  of  the  other  members. 

Part  II.  lays  down  in  detail  the  new 
boundaries  of  Austria.  These  bound- 
aries, as  specified  in  the  treaty,  are  in- 
dicated in  the  map  on  Page  29.  The 
frontiers  with  Switzerland  and  Liechten- 
stein remain  unchanged.  The  treaty  con- 
tains elaborate  clauses  covering  the  ces- 
sion of  territory  to  Italy,  Poland,  Czecho- 
slovakia, and  Jugoslavia.  The  frontiers 
with  Italy,  the  Klagenfurt  area,  and 
Hungary  have  undergone  much  modifi- 


cation; that  with  Germany  remains  as 
before.  The  net  results  of  this  whole 
section  of  the  treaty  are  embodied  in  the 
two  maps  accompanying  this  summary. 
Boundary  commissions  are  to  trace  the 
various  new  lines,  to  fix  points  left  un- 
defined by  the  treaty,  and  to  revise 
portions  defined  by  administrative  bound- 
aries. The  various  States  involved  are 
pledged  to  furnish  all  possible  informa- 
tion to  these  commissions. 

One  of  the  most  vital  parts  of  the 
treaty  is  that  entitled  "  Political  Clauses 
for  Europe,"  referring  to  Austria's  rela- 
tions with  neighbor  nations.  Article  88, 
which  forbids  annexation  of  Austria  by 
Germany,  save  with  the  consent  of  the 
League  of  Nations  Council,  has  a  direct 
connection  with  Article  61  of  the  German 
Constitution,  which  foreshadowed  politi- 
cal union  between  the  two  nations,  and 
which  the  Peace  Conference  compelled 
Germany  to  modify. 

Following  ia  the  text  of  "Part  III.: 
Political  Clauses  for  Europe": 

SECTION   I.— ITALY 

Article  36.— Austria  renounces,  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  in  favor  of  Italy  all  rights 
and  title  over  the  territory  of  the  former 
/  •,.ntro-Hungarian  monarchy  situated  beyond 
the   frontier  laid  down  in  Article  27   (2)   and 


TEXT  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  TREATY 


27 


lying  between  that  frontier,  the  former  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian frontier,  the  Adriatic  Sea, 
and  the  eastern  frontier  of  Italy  as  subse- 
quently determined. 

Austria  similarly  renounces,  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned,  in  favor  of  Italy  all  rights 
and  title  over  other  territory  of  the  former 
Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  which  may  be 
recognized  as  forming  part  of  Italy  by  any 
treaties  which  may  be  concluded  for  the 
purpose  of  completing  the  present  settlement. 
A  commission  composed  of  five  members, 
one  nominated  by  Italy,  three  by  the  other 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers,  and 
one  by  Austria,  shall  be  constituted  within 
fifteen  days  from  the  coming  into  force  of 
the  present  treaty  to  trace  on  the  spot  the 
frontier  line  between  Italy  and  Austria.  The 
decisions  of  the  commission  will  be  taken 
by  a  majority  and  shall  be  binding  on  the 
parties   concerned. 

Article  37.— Notwithstanding  the  provisions 
of  Article  269  of  Part  X.,  (Economic 
Clauses,)  persons  having  their  usual  resi- 
dence in  the  territories  of  the  former  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian monarchy  transferred  to 
Italy  who,  during  the  war,  have  been  out- 
side the  territories  of  the  former  Austro- 
Hungarian  monarchy  or  have  been  impris- 
oned, interned  or  evacuated,  shall  enjoy  the 
full  benefit  of  the  provisions  of  Articles  252 
and  253   of  Part  X.,    (Economic  Clauses.) 

Article  38.— A  special  convention  will  de- 
termine the  terms  of  repayment  in  Austrian 
currency  of  the  special  war  expenditure  ad- 
vanced during  the  war  by  territory  of  the 
former  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  trans- 
ferred to  Italy  or  by  public  associations  in 
that  territory  on  account  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian monarchy  under  its  legislation,  such 
as  allowances  to  the  families  of  persons 
mobilized,  requisitions,  billeting  of  troops, 
and  relief  to  persons  who  have  been 
evacuated. 

In  fixing  the  amount  of  these  sums  Aus- 
tria shall  be  credited  with  the  amount  which 
the  territory  would  have  contributed  to  Aus- 
tria-Hungary to  meet  the  expenses  result- 
ing from  these  payments,  this  contribution 
being  calculated  according  to  the  proportion 
of  the  revenues  of  the  former*  Austro-Hun- 
garian monarchy  derived  from  the  territory 
in  1913. 

Article  39.— The  Italian  Government  will 
collect  for  its  own  account  the  taxes,  dues, 
and  charges  of  every  kind  leviable  in  the 
territories  transferred  to  Italy  and  not  col- 
lected on  Nov.  3,  1918. 

Article  40.— No  sum  shall  be  due  by  Italy 
on  the  ground  of  her  entry  into  possession 
of  the  Palazzo  Venezia  at  Rome. 

Article  41.— Subject  to  the  provisions  of 
Article  204  of  Part  IX.,  (Financial  Clauses,) 
relative  to  the  acquisition  of,  and  payment 
for,  State  property  and  possessions,  the 
Italian  Government  is  substituted  in  all  the 
rights  which  the  Austrian  State  possessed 
over  all  the  railways  in  the  territories  trans- 
ferred to  Italy  which  were  administered  by 


the  Railway  Administration  of  the  said  State 
and  which  are  actually  working  or  under 
construction. 

The  same  shall  apply  to  the  rights  of  the 
former  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  with  re- 
gard to  railway  and  tramway  concessions 
within  the  above-mentioned  territories. 

The  frontier  railway  stations  shall  be  de- 
termined  by   a   subsequent   agreement. 

Article  42.— Austria  shall  restore  to  Italy 
within  a  period  of  three  months  all  the 
wagons  belonging  to  the  Italian  railways 
which  before  the  outbreak  of  war  had  passed 
into  Austria  and  have  not  returned  to  Italy. 

Article  43.— Austria  renounces  as  from  Nov. 
3,  1918,  on  behalf  of  herself  and  her  na- 
tionals in  regard  to  territories  transferred 
to  Italy  all  rights  to  which  she  may  be  en- 
titled with  regard  to  the  products  of  the 
aforesaid  territories  under  any  agreements, 
stipulations,  or  laws  establishing  trusts, 
cartels    or    other    similar    organizations. 

Article  44.— For  a  period  of  ten  years  from 
the  coming  into  force  of  the  present  treaty 
central  electric  power  stations  situated  in 
Austrian  territory  and  formerly  furnishing 
electric  power  to  the  territories  transferred 
to  Italy  or  to  any  other  establishment  the 
exploitation  of  which  passes  to  Italy  shall 
be  required  to  continue  furnishing  this  sup- 
ply up  to  an  amount  corresponding  to  the 
undertakings  and  contracts  in  force  on  Nov. 
3,    1918. 

Austria  further  admits  the  right  of  Italy 
to  the  free  use  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Raibl 
and  its  derivative  watercourse  and  to  di- 
vert the  said  waters  to  the  basin  of  the 
Korinitza. 

Article  45.— (1)  Judgments  rendered  since 
Aug.  4,  1914,  by  the  courts  In  the  terri- 
tory transferred  to  Italy  in  civil  and  com- 
mercial cases  between  the  inhabitants  of 
such  territory  and  other  nationals  of  the 
former  Austrian  empire,  or  between  such 
inhabitants  and  the  subjects  of  the  allies 
of  the  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy,  shall 
not  be  carried  into  effect  until  after  in- 
dorsement by  the  corresponding  new  court 
in   such  territory. 

(2)  All  decisions  rendered  for  political 
crimes  or  offenses  since  Aug.  4,  1914,  by 
the  judicial  authorities  of  the  former  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian monarchy  against  Italian  na- 
tionals, including  persons  who  obtain  Italian 
nationality  under  the  present  treaty,  shall 
be  annulled. 

(3)  In  all  matters  relating  to  proceedings 
initiated  before  the  coming  into  force  of 
the  present  treaty  before  the  competent 
authorities  of  the  territory  transferred  to 
Italy,  the  Italian  and  Austrian  judicial  au- 
thorities respectively  shall  until  the  com- 
ing into  force  of  a  special  convention  on 
this  subject  be  authorized  to  correspond  with 
each  other  direct.  Requests  thus  presented 
shall  be  given  effect  to  so  far  as  the  laws 
of  a  public  character  allow  in  the  country 
to  the  authorities  of  which  the  request  Is 
addressed. 


28 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


(4)  All  appeals  to  the  higher  Austrian 
judicial  and  administrative  authorities  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  territory  transferred 
to  Italy  against  decisions  of  the  adminis- 
trative or  judicial  authorities  of  this  ter- 
ritory shall  be  suspended.  The  records  shall 
be  submitted  to  the  authorities  against  whose 
decision  the  appeal  was  entered.  They  must 
be  transmitted  to  the  competent  Italian  au- 
thorities without  delay. 

(5)  All  other  questions  as  to  jurisdiction, 
procedure,  or  the  administration  of  justice 
will  be  determined  by  a  special  convention 
between  Italy  and   Austria. 

SECTION     II.— SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE 
STATE 

Article  46.— Austria,  in  conformity  with 
the  action  already  taken  by  the  allied  and 
associated  powers,  recognizes  the  complete 
independence  of  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State. 

Article  47. — Austria  renounces,  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  in  favor  of  the  Serb- 
Croat-Slovene  State  all  rights  and  title  over 
the  territories  of  the  former  Austro-Hun- 
garian  monarchy  situated  outside  the  fron- 
tiers of  Austria  as  laid  down  in  Article  27 
of  Part  II.,  (Frontiers  of  Austria,)  and 
recognized  by  the  present  treaty,  or  by  any 
treaties  concluded  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
pleting the  present  settlement,  as  forming 
part   of   the   Serb-Croat-Slovene    State. 

Article  48.— A  commission  consisting  of 
seven  members,  five  nominated  by  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers,  one  by 
the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  and  one  by 
Austria,  shall  be  constituted  within  fifteen 
days  from  the  coming  into  force  of  the 
present  treaty  to  trace  on  the  spot  the 
frontier  line  described  in  Article  27  (4)  of 
Part  II.,    (Frontiers  of  Austria.) 

The  decisions  of  the  commission  will  be 
taken  by  a  majority  and  shall  be  binding 
on    the    parties    concerned. 

Article  49.— The  inhabitants  of  the  Klagen- 
furt  area  will  be  called  upon,  to  the  extent 
stated  below,  to  indicate  by  a  vote  the 
State  to  which  they  wish  the  territory  to 
belong. 

[The  definition  of  the  Klagenfurt  boun- 
daries, and  a  boundary  division  of  this  area 
into  two  zones  for  the  taking  of  the  plebis- 
cite, follow  here.] 

Article  50.— The  Klagenfurt  area  will  be 
placed  under  the  control  of  a  commission 
intrusted  with  the  duty  of  preparing  the 
plebiscite  in  that  area  and  assuring  the  im- 
partial administration  thereof.  This  com- 
mission will  be  composed  as  follows:  Four 
members  nominated  respectively  by  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Italy,  one  by  Austria,  one  by  the  Serb-Croat- 
Slovene  State ;  the  Austrian  member  only  tak- 
ing part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  commis- 
sion in  regard  to  the  second  zone,  and  the 
Serb-Croat-Slovene  member  only  taking  part 
therein  with  regard  to  the  first  zone.     The 


decisions    of    the    commission    will    be    taken 
by  a  majority. 

The  second  zone  will  be  occupied  by  the 
Austrian  troops  and  administered  in  accord- 
ance with  the  general  regulations  of  the  Aus- 
trian legislation. 

The  first  zone  will  be  occupied  by  the 
troops  of  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State  and 
administered  In  accordance  with  the  general 
regulations  of  the  legislation  of  that  State. 

In  both  zones  the  troops,  whether  Austrian 
or  Serb-Croat-Slovene,  shall  be  reduced  to 
the  numbers  which  the  commission  may  con- 
sider necessary  for  the# preservation  of  order, 
and  shall  carry  out  their  mission  under  the 
control  of  the  commission.  These  troops  shall 
be  replaced  as  speedily  as  possible  by  a 
police  force  recruited  on  the  spot. 

The  commission  will  foe  charged  with  the 
duty  of  arranging  for  the  vote  and  of  taking 
such  measures  as  it  may  deem  necessary  to 
insure  its  freedom,  fairness,  and  secrecy. 

In  the  first  zone  the  plebiscite  will  be  held 
within  three  months  from  the  coming  into 
force  of  the  present  treaty,  at  a  date  fixed 
by  the  commission. 

If  the  vote  is  in  favor  of  the  Serb-Croat- 
Slovene  State,  a  plebiscite  will  be  held  in 
the  second  zone  within  three  weeks  from  the 
proclamation  of  the  result  of  the  plebiscite  in 
the  first  zone,  at  a  date  to  be  fixed  by  the 
commission. 

If  on  the  other  hand  the  vote  in  the  first 
zone  is  in  favor  of  Austria,  no  plebiscite  will 
be  held  in  the  second  zone,  and  the  whole  of 
the  area  will  remain  definitely  under  Aus- 
trian sovereignty. 

The  right  of  voting  will  be  granted  to  every 
person  without  distinction  of  sex  who : 

(a)  Has  attained  the  age  of  twenty  years 
on  or  before  Jan.  1,  1919 ; 

(b)  Has  on  Jan.  1,  1919,  his  or  her  habitual 
residence  within  the  zone  subjected  to  the 
plebiscite ;  and, 

(c)  Was  born  within  the  said  zone,  or  has 
had  his  or  her  habitual  residence  or  rights  of 
citizenship  (pertinenza)  there  from  a  date 
previous  to  Jan.  1,  1912. 

The  result  of  the  vote  will  be  determined 
by  the  majority  of  votes  in  the  whole  of 
each  zone. 

On  the  conclusion  of  each  vote  the  result 
will  be  communicated  by  the  commission  to 
the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers, 
with  a  full  report  as  to  the  taking  of  the 
vote,  and  will  be  proclaimed. 

If  the  vote  is  in  favor  of  the  incorporation 
either  of  the  first  zone  or  of  both  zones  in 
the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  Austria  hereby 
renounces,  so  far  as  she  is  concerned  and  to 
the  extent  corresponding  to  the  result  of  the 
vote,  in  favor  of  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State  all  rights  and  title  over  these  terri- 
tories. 

After  agreement  with  the  commission  the 
Serb-Croat-Slovene  Government  may  defini- 
tively establish  its  authority  over  the  said 
territories. 

If  the  vote  in  the  first  or  second  zone  is 
in   favor   of  Austria,    the   Austrian    Govern- 


30 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


inent,  after  agreement  with  the  commission, 
will  be  entitled  definitively  to  re-establish  its 
authority  over  the  whole  of  the  Klagenfurt 
area,  or  in  the  second  zone,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

When  the  administration  of  the  country, 
either  by  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  or  by 
Austria,  as  the  case  may  be,  has  been  thus 
assured,  the  powers  of  the  commission  will 
terminate. 

Expenditure  by  the  commission  will  be 
borne  by  Austria  and  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State  in  equal  moieties. 

Article  51.— The  Serb-Ooat-Slovene  State 
accepts  and  agrees  to  embody  in  a  treaty 
with  the  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  such  provisions  as  may  be  deemed 
necessary  by  these  powers  to  protect  the  in- 
terests of  inhabitants  of  that  State  who  differ 
from  the  majority  of  the  population  in  race, 
language,  or  religion. 

The  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State  further  ac- 
cepts and  agrees  to  embody  in  a  treaty  with 
the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers 
such  provisions  as  these  powers  may  deem 
necessary  to  protect  freedom  of  transit  and 
equitable  treatment  of  the  commerce  of  other 
nations. 

Article  52.— The  proportion  and  nature  of 
the  financial  obligations  of  the  former  Aus- 
trian Empire  which  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State  will  have  to  assume  on  account  of  the 
territory  placed  under  its  sovereignty  will  be 
determined  in  accordance  with  Article  203  of 
Part  IX.,  (financial  clauses,)  of  the  present 
treaty. 

Subsequent  agreements  will  decide  all  ques- 
tions which  are  not  decided  by  the  present 
treaty  and  which  may  arise  in  consequence 
of  the  cession  of  the  said  territory. 

SECTION   III.— CZECHOSLOVAK 
STATE 

Article  53.— Austria,  in  conformity  with  the 
action  already  taken  by  the  allied  and  as- 
socia.i  I  powers,  recognizes  the  complete  in- 
dependence of  the  Czechoslovak  State,  which 
will  include  the  autonomous  territory  of  the 
Ruthenians  to  the  south  of  the  Carpathians. 

Article  54.— Austria  renounces  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned  in  favor  of  the  Czechoslovak 
State  all  rights  and  title  over  the  territories 
of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy 
situated  outside  the  frontiers  of  Austria  as 
laid  down  in  Article  27  of  Part  II.,  (frontiers 
of  Austria,)  and  recognized  in  accordance 
with  the  present  treaty  as  forming  part  of 
the  Czechoslovak  State. 

Article  55. — A  commission  composed  of 
seven  members,  five  nominated  by  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers,  one  by  the 
Czechoslovak  State,  and  one  by  Austria,  will 
be  appointed  fifteen  days  after  the  coming 
into  force  of  the  present  treaty  to  trace  on 
the  spot  the  frontier  line  laid  down  in  Article 
27,  (6.)  of  Part  II.,  (frontiers  of  Austria,) 
of  the  present  treaty. 


The  decisions  of  this  commission  will  be 
taken  by  a  majority  and  shall  be  binding  on 
the  parties  concerned. 

Article  56.— The  Czechoslovak  State  under- 
takes not  to  erect  any  military  works  in 
that  portion  of  its  territory  which  lies  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Danube  to  the  south 
of  Bratislava,    (Pressburg.) 

Article  57.— The  Czechoslovak  State  accepts 
and  agrees  to  embody  in  a  treaty  with  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers  such 
provisions  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  by 
these  powers  to  protect  the  interests  of  in- 
habitants of  that  State  who  differ  from  the 
majority  of  the  population  in  race,  language, 
or  religion. 

The  Czechoslovak  State  further  accepts  and 
agrees  to  embody  in  a  treaty  with  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  such  pro- 
visions as  these  powers  may  deem  necessary 
to  protect  freedom  of  transit  and  equitable 
treatment  for  the  commerce  of  other  nations. 

Article  58.— The  proportion  and  nature  of 
the  financial  obligations  of  the  former  Aus- 
trian Empire  which  the  Czechoslovak  State 
will  have  to  assume  on  account  of  the  terri- 
tory placed  under  its  sovereignty  will  be  de- 
termined in  accordance  with  Article  203  of 
Part  IX.,  (Financial  Clauses,)  of  the  present 
treaty. 

Subsequent  agreements  will  decide  all  ques- 
tions which  are  not  decided  by  the  present 
treaty  and  which  may  arise  in  consequence 
of  the  cession  of  the  said  territory. 

SECTION   IV.— RUMANIA 

Article  59.— Austria  renounces,  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  in  favor  of  Rumania  all 
rights  and  title  over  such  portion  of  the 
former  Duchy  of  Bukovina  as  lies  within  the 
frontiers  of  Rumania  which  may  ultimately 
be  fixed  by  the  principal  allied  and  associ- 
ated powers. 

Article  60.— Rumania  accepts  and  agrees  to 
embody  in  a  treaty  with  the  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers  such  provisions  as 
may  be  deemed  necessary  by  these  powers 
to  protect  the  interests  of  inhabitants  of  that 
State  who  differ  from  the  majority  of  the 
population  in  race,  language,   or  religion. 

Rumania  further  accepts  and  agrees  to  em- 
body in  a  treaty  with  the  principal  allied  and 
associated  powers  such  provisions  as  these 
powers  may  deem  necessary  to  protect  free- 
dom of  transit  and  equitable  treatment  for 
the  commerce  of  other  nations. 

Article  61.— The  proportion  and  nature  of 
the  financial  obligations  of  the  former  Aus- 
trian Empire  which  Rumania  will  have  to 
assume  on  account  of  the  territory  placed 
under  her  sovereignty  will  be  determined  in 
accordance  with  Article  203  of  Part  IX., 
(Financial  Clauses,)  of  the  present  treaty. 

Subsequent  agreements  will  decide  all  ques- 
tions which  are  not  decided  by  the  present 
treaty  and  which  may  arise  in  consequence 
of  the  cession  of  the  said  territory. 


32 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


SECTION   V.— PROTECTION  OF 
MINORITIES 

Article  62.— Austria  undertakes  that  the 
stipulations  contained  in  this  section  shall 
be  recognized  as  fundamental  laws,  and  that 
no  law,  regulation,  or  official  action  shall 
conflict  or  interfere  with  these  stipulations, 
nor  shall  any  law,  regulation,  or  official 
action  prevail  over  them. 

Article  63.— Austria  undertakes  to  assure 
full  and  complete  protection  of  life  and 
liberty  to  all  inhabitants  of  Austria,  without 
distinction  of  birth,  nationality,  language, 
race,  or  religion. 

All  inhabitants  of  Austria  shall  be  entitled 
to  the  free  exercise,  whether  public  or 
private,  of  any  creed,  religion,  or  belief, 
whose  practices  are  not  inconsistent  with 
public  order  or  public  morals. 

Article  64.— Austria  admits  and  declares  to 
be  Austrian  nationals  ipso  facto  and  without 
the  requirement  of  any  formality  all  persons 
possessing  at  the  date  of  the  coming  into 
force  of  the  present  treaty  rights  of  citizen- 
ship, (pertinenza,)  within  Austrian  territory 
who  are  not  nationals  of  any  other  State. 

Article  65.— All  persons  born  in  Austrian 
territory  who  are  not  born  nationals  of  an- 
other State  shall  ipso  facto  become  Austrian 
nationals. 

Article  66.— All  Austrian  nationals  shall  be 
equal  before  the  law  and  shall  enjoy  the 
same  civil  and  political  rights  without  dis- 
tinction as  to  race,  language,  or  religion. 

Differences  of  religion,  creed,  or  confession 
shall  not  prejudice  any  Austrian  national  in 
matters  relating  to  the  enjoyment  of  civil  or 
political  rights,  as  for  instance  admission  to 
public  employments,  functions,  and  honors, 
or  the  exercise  of  professions  and  industries. 

No  restriction  shall  be  imposed  on  the  free 
use  by  any  Austrian  national  of  any  language 
in  private  intercourse,  in  commerce,  in  re- 
ligion, in  the  press,  or  in  publications  of  any 
kind,   or  at  public  meetings. 

Notwithstanding  any  establishment  by  the 
Austrian  Government  of  an  official  language, 
adequate  facilities  shall  be  given  to  Austrian 
nationals  of  non-German  speech  for  the  use 
of  their  language,  either  orally  or  in  writing, 
before  the  courts. 

Article  67.— Austrian  nationals  who  belong 
to  racial,  religious,  or  linguistic  minorities 
shall  enjoy  the  same  treatment  and  security 
in  law  and  in  fact  as  the  other  Austrian 
nationals.  In  particular,  they  shall  have  an 
equal  right  to  establish,  manage,  and  control 
at  their  own  expense  charitable,  religious, 
and  social  institutions,  schools,  and  other 
educational  establishments,  with  the  right  to 
use  their  own  language  and  to  exercise  their 
religion  freely  therein. 

Article  68.— Austria  will  provide  in  the 
public  educational  system  in  towns  and  dis- 
tricts in  which  a  considerable  proportion  of 
Austrian  nationals  of  other  than  German 
speech  are  residents  adequate  facilities  for 
insuring  that  in  the  primary  schools  the  in- 
struction shall   be   given   to   the   children   of 


such  Austrian  nationals  through  the  medium 
of  their  own  language.  This  provision  shall 
not  prevent  the  Austrian  Government  from 
making  the  teaching  of  the  German  language 
obligatory  in  the  said  schools. 

In  towns  and  districts  where  there  is  a 
considerable  proportion  of  Austrian  nationals 
belonging  to  racial,  religious,  or  linguistic 
minorities,  these  minorities  shall  be  assured 
an  equitable  share  in  the  enjoyment  and  ap- 
plication of  the  sums  which  may  be  provided 
out  of  public  funds  under  the  State,  munic- 
ipal, or  other  budgets  for  education,  re- 
ligious,  or  charitable  purposes. 

Article  69.— Austria  agrees  that  the  stipu- 
lations in  the  foregoing  articles  of  this  sec- 
tion, so  far  as  they  affect  persons  belonging 
to  racial,  religious,  or  Unguis  ic  minorities, 
constitute  obligations  of  international  con- 
cern and  shall  be  placed  under  the  guarantee 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  They  shall  not 
be  modified  without  the  assent  of  a  majority 
of  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations.  The 
allied  and  associated  powers  represented  on 
the  council  severally  agree  not  to  withhold 
their  assent  from  any  modification  in  these 
articles  which  is  in  due  form  assented  to  by 
a  majority  of  the  Council  of  the  League  of 
Nations. 

Austria  agrees  that  any  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  shall  have 
the  right  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the 
council  any  infraction,  or  any  danger  of  in- 
fraction, of  any  of  these  obligations,  and 
that  the  council  may  thereupon  take  such 
action  and  give  such  direction  as  it  may  deem 
proper  and  effective  in  the  circumstances. 

Austria  further  agrees  that  any  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  questions  of  law  or  fact  aris- 
ing out  of  these  articles  between  the  Aus- 
trian Government  and  any  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  or  any 
other  power,  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  shall  be  held  to  be  a 
dispute  of  an  international  character  under 
Article  14  of  the  covenant  of  the  League  of 
Nations.  The  Austrian  Government  hereby 
consents  that  any  such  dispute  shall,  if  the 
other  party  thereto  demands,  be  referred  to 
the  Permanent  Court  of  International  Justice. 
The  decision  of  the  permanent  court  shall  be 
final  and  shall  have  the  same  force  and 
effect  as  an  award  under  Article  13  of  the 
covenant. 

SECTION  VI.— CAUSES  RELATING  TO 
NATIONALITY 

Article  70.— Every  person  possessing  rights 
of  citizenship  (pertinenza)  in  territory  which 
formed  part  of  the  territories  of  the  former 
Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  shall  obtain 
ipso  facto  to  the  exclusion  of  Austrian  na- 
tionality the  nationality  of  the  State  exer- 
cising sovereignty  over  such  territory. 

Article  71.— Notwithstanding  the  provisions 
of  Article  70,  Italian  nationality  shall  not, 
in  the  case  of  territory  transferred  to  Italy, 
be  acquired  ipso  facto ; 

(1)  by  persons  possessing  rights  of  citizen- 


TEXT  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  TREATY 


83 


ship    in    such    territory    who    were    not    born 
there : 

(2)  by  persons  who  acquired  their  rights 
of  citizenship  in  such  territory  after  May 
24,  1915,  or  who  acquired  them  only  by  rea- 
son of  their  official  position. 

Article  72.— The  persons  referred  to  in  Ar- 
ticle 71,  as  well  as  those  who  (a)  formerly 
possessed  rights  of  citizenship  in  the  terri- 
tories transferred  to  Italy,  or  whose  father, 
or  mother  if  the  father  is  unknown,  pos- 
sessed rights  of  citizenship  in  such  territo- 
ries, or  (b)  have  served  in  the  Italian  Army 
during  the  present  war,  and  their  descend- 
ants, may  claim  Italian  nationality  subject 
to  the  conditions  prescribed  in  Article  78 
for  the  right  of  option. 

Article  73.— The  claim  to  Italian  nationality 
by  the  persons  referred  to  in  Article  72 
may  in  individual  cases  be  refused  by  the 
competent  Italian  authority. 

Article  74.— Where  the  claim  to  Italian  na- 
tionality under  Article  72  is  not  made,  or  is 
refused,  the  persons  concerned  will  obtain 
ipso  facto  the  nationality  of  the  State  exer- 
cising sovereignty  over  the  territory  in  which 
they  possessed  rights  of  citizenship  before 
acquiring  such  rights  in  the  territory  trans- 
ferred to  Italy. 

Article  75. — Juridical  persons  established 
in  the  territories  transferred  to  Italy  shall 
be  considered  Italian  if  they  are  recognized 
as  such  either  by  the  Italian  administra- 
tive authorities  or  by  an  Italian  judicial 
decision. 

Article  76.— Notwithstanding  the  provisions 
of  Article  70,  persons  who  acquired  rights 
of  citizenship  after  Jan.  1,  1910,  in  territory 
transferred  under  the  present  treaty  to  the 
Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  or  to  the  Czecho- 
slovak State,  will  not  acquire  Serb-Croat- 
Slovene  or  Czechoslovak  nationality  without 
a  permit  from  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State 
or  the  Czechoslovak   State  respectively. 

Article  77.— If  the  permit  referred  to  In 
Article  76  is  not  applied  for,  or  is  refused, 
the  persons  concerned  will  obtain  ipso  facto 
the  nationality  of  the  State  exercising  sov- 
ereignty over  the  territory  in  which  they 
previously  possessed   rights   of  citizenship. 

Article  78. — Persons  over  18  years  of  age 
losing  their  Austrian  nationality  and  obtain- 
ing ipso  facto  a  new  nationality  under  Ar- 
ticle 70  shall  be  entitled  within  a  period  of 
one  year  from  the  coming  into  force  of  the 
present  treaty  to  opt  for  the  nationality  of 
the  State  in  which  they  possessed  rights  of 
citizenship  before  acquiring  such  rights  in 
the  territory  transferred. 

Option  by  a  husband  will  cover  his  wife 
and  option  by  parents  will  cover  their  chil- 
dren under  18  years  of  age. 

Persons  who  have  exercised  the  above 
right  to  opt  must  within  the  succeeding 
twelve  months  transfer  their  place  of  resi- 
dence to  the  State  for  which  they  have 
opted. 

They  will  be  entitled  to  retain  their  im- 
movable   property    in    the    territory    of    the 


other  State  where  they  had  their  place  of 
residence  before  exercising  their  right  to 
opt. 

They  may  carry  with  them  their  movable 
property  of  every  description.  No  export 
or  import  duties  may  be  imposed  upon  them 
in  connection  with  the  removal  of  such 
property. 

Article  79. — Persons  entitled  to  vote  In 
plebiscites  provided  for  in  the  present  treaty 
shall  within  a  period  of  six  months  after 
the  definitive  attribution  of  the  area  in 
which  the  plebisicite  has  taken  place  be  en- 
titled to  opt  for  the  nationality  of  the  State 
to  which  the  area  is  not  assigned. 

The  provisions  of  Article  78  relating  to  the 
right  of  option  shall  apply  equally  to  the 
exercise   of  the  right  under   this  article. 

Article  80. — Persons  possessing  rights  of 
citizenship  in  territory  forming  part  of  the 
former  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy,  and 
differing  in  race  and  language  from  the 
majority  of  the  population  of  such  territory, 
shall  within  six  months  of  the  coming  into 
force  of  the  present  treaty  severally  be  en- 
titled to  opt  for  Austria,  Italy,  Poland,  Ru- 
mania, the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State,  or  the 
Czechoslovak  State,  if  the  majority  of  the 
population  of  the  State  selected  is  of  the 
same  race  and  language  as  the  person  ex- 
ercising the  right  to  opt.  The  provisions  of 
Article  78  as  to  the  exercise  of  the  right  of 
option  shall  apply  %o  the  right  of  option 
given  by  this  article. 

Article  81.— The  high  contracting  parties 
undertake  to  put  no  hindrance  in  the  way 
of  the  exercise  of  the  right  which  the  per- 
sons concerned  have  under  the  present 
treaty,  or  under  treaties  concluded  by  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  with  Germany, 
Hungary  or  Russia,  or  between  any  of  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  themselves.  -  to 
choose  any  other  nationality  which  may  be 
open  to  them. 

Article  82.— For  the  purposes  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  section,  the  status  of  a  mar- 
ried woman  will  be  governed  by  that  of  her 
husband,  and  the  status  of  children  under 
18  years  of  age  by  that  of  their  parents. 

SECTION  VII.— CLAUSES  RELATING 
TO  CERTAIN  NATIONS 
[Section  "VII.  binds  Austria  to  accept  all 
allied  terms  relating  to  Belgium,  Luxem- 
burg, Schleswig,  Turkey,  Bulgaria,  and  the 
Russian  States.] 

SECTION    VIII.— GENERAL   PRO- 
VISIONS 

Article  88.— The  independence  of  Austria  is 
inalienable  otherwise  than  with  the  consent 
of  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
Consequently  Austria  undertakes  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  consent  of  the  said  Council  to 
abstain  from  any  act  which  might  directly 
or  indirectly  or  by  any  means  whatever  com- 
promise her  independence,  particularly,  and 
until   her   admission   to   membership    of   the 


34 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


League   of  Nations,   by  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  another  power. 

Article  89.— Austria  hereby  recognizes  and 
accepts  the  frontiers  of  Bulgaria,  Greece, 
Hungary,  Poland,  Rumania,  the  Serb-Croat- 
Slovene  State,  and  the  Czechoslovak  State 
as  these  frontiers  may  be  determined  by  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers. 

Article  90.— Austria  undertakes  to  recog- 
nize the  full  force  of  the  treaties  of  peace 
and  additional  conventions  which  have  been 
or  may  be  concluded  by  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers  with  the  powers  who  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy,  and  to  recognize  whatever  dis- 
positions have  been  or  may  be  maae  con- 
cerning the  territories  of  the  former  Ger- 
man Empire,  of  Hungary,  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Bulgaria  and  of  the  Ottoman  Empire, 
and  to  recognize  the  new  States  within  their 
frontiers  as  there  laid  down. 

Article  91.— Austria  renounces  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned  in  favor  of  the  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers  all  rights  and  title 
over  the  territories  which  previously  be- 
longed to  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy  and  which,  being  situated  outside 
the  new  frontiers  of  Austria  as  described 
in  Article  27  of  Part  II.,  (Frontiers  of  Aus- 
tria,) have  not  at  present  been  assigned  to 
any  State. 

Austria  undertakes  to  accept  the  settlement 
made  by  the  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  in  regard  to  these  territories,  par- 
ticularly in  so  far  as  concerns  the  nation- 
ality of  the  inhabitants. 

Article  92.— No  inhabitant  of  the  territories 
of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy 
shall  be  disturbed  or  molested  on  account 
either  of  his  political  attitude  between  July 
28,  1914,  and  the  definite  settlement  of  the 
sovereignty  over  these  territories,  or  of  the 
determination  of  his  nationality  effected  by 
the»  present  treaty. 

Article  93.— Austria  will  hand  over  with- 
but  delay  to  the  allied  and  associated  Gov- 
ernments concerned  archives,  registers, 
plans,  title-deeds,  and  documents  of  every 
kind  belonging  to  the  civil,  military,  finan- 
cial, judicial  or  other  forms  of  administra- 
tion in  the  ceded  territories.  If  any  one  of 
these  documents,  archives,  registers,  title- 
deeds  or  plans  is  missing,  it  shall  be  re- 
stored by  Austria  upon  the  demand  of  the 
allied  or  associated  Government  concerned. 
In  case  the  archives,  registers,  plans,  title- 
deeds  or  documents  referred  to  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph,  exclusive  of  those  of  a 
military  character,  concern  equally  the  ad- 
ministrations in  Austria,  and  cannot  there- 
fore be  handed  over  without  inconvenience 
to  such  administrations,  Austria  undertakes, 
subject  to  reciprocity,  to  give  access  thereto 
to  the  allied  and  associated  Governments 
concerned. 

Article  94.-Separate  conventions  between 
Austria  and  each  of  the  States  to  which  ter- 
ritory   of    the   former    Austrian    Empire    is 


transferred,  and  each  of  the  States  arising 
from  the  dismemberment  of  the  former 
Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy,  will  provide 
for  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants,  especially 
in  connection  with  their  civil  rights,  their 
commerce,  and  the  exercise  of  their  profes- 
sions. 

PART  IV.— AUSTRIAN  INTERESTS 
OUTSIDE  EUROPE 

Article  95.— In  territory  outside  her  fron- 
tiers as  fixed  by  the  present  treaty  Austria 
renounces  so  far  as  she  is  concerned  all 
rights,  titles  and  privileges  whatever  in  or 
over  territory  outside  Europe  which  belonged 
to  the  former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy, 
or  to  its  allies,  and  all  rights,  titles  and 
privileges  whatever  their  origin  which  it 
held  as  against  the  allied  and  associated 
powers. 

Austria  undertakes  immediately  to  recog- 
nize and  to  conform  to  the  measures  which 
may  be  taken  now  or  in  the  future  by-  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers,  in 
agreement  where  necessary  with  third  pow- 
ers, in  order  to  carry  the  above  stipulation 
into  effect. 

SECTION  I.— MOROCCO 

Article  96.— Austria  renounces  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned  all  rights,  titles  and  privileges 
conferred  on  her  by  the  General  Act  of 
Algeciras  of  April  7,  1906,  and  by  the 
Franco-German  agreements  of  Feb.  9,  1909, 
and  Nov.  4,  1911.  All  treaties,  agreements, 
arrangements  and  contracts  concluded  by  the 
former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy  with 
the  Sherifian  Empire  are  regarded  as  abro- 
gated as  from  Aug.  12,  1914. 

In  no  case  can  Austria  avail  herself  of 
these  acts  and  she  undertakes  not  to  in- 
tervene in  any  way  in  negotiations  relating 
to  Morocco  which  may  take  place  between 
France  and  the  other  powers. 

Article  97.— Austria  hereby  accepts  all  the 
consequences  of  the  establishment  of  the 
French  protectorate  in  Morocco,  which  had 
been  recognized  by  the  Government  of  the 
former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy,  and 
she  renounces  so  far  as  she  is  concerned  the 
rfigime  of  the  capitulations  in  Morocco. 

This  renunciation  shall  take  effect  as  from 
Aug.  12,  1914. 

Article  98.— The  Sherifian  Government  shall 
have  complete  liberty  of  action  in  regulating 
the  status  of  Austrian  nationals  in  Morocco 
and  the  conditions  in  which  they  can  estab- 
lish themselves  there. 

Austrian  protected  persons,  semsars,  and 
"  associgs  agricoles  "  shall  be  considered  to 
have  ceased,  as  from  Aug.  12,  1914,  to  enjoy 
the  privileges  attached  to  their  status  and 
shall  be  subject  to  the   ordinary  law. 

Article  99.— All  movable  and  immovable 
property  in  the  Sherifian  Empire  belonging 
to  the  former  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy 
passes  ipso  facto  to  the  Maghzen  without 
compensation. 


TEXT  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  TREATY 


35 


For  this  purpose,  the  property  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy  shall  be  deemed  to  include  all  the 
property  of  the  crown,  and  the  private  prop- 
erty of  members  of  the  former  royal  family 
of  Austria-Hungary. 

All  movable  and  immovable  property  in 
the  Sherifian  Empire  belonging  to  Austrian 
nationals  shall  be  dealt  with  in  accordance 
with  Sections  3  and  4  of  Part  X.  (Eco- 
nomic Clauses)   of  the  present  treaty. 

Mining  rights  which  may  be  recognized  as 
belonging  to  Austrian  nationals  by  the  Court 
of  Arbitration  set  up  under  the  Moroccan 
Mining  Regulations  shall  be  treated  in  the 
same  way  as  property  in  Morocco  belonging 
to  Austrian   nationalsl. 

Article  100.  —  The  Austrian  Government 
shall  insure  the  transfer  to  the  person  nom- 
inated by  the  French  Government  of  the 
shares  representing  Austria's  portion  of  the 
capital  of  the  State  Bank  of  Morocco.  This 
person  will  repay  to  the  persons  entitled 
thereto  the  value  of  these  shares,  which 
shall  be  indicated  by  the  State  Bank. 

This  transfer  will  take  place  without  prej- 
udice to  the  repayment  of  debts  which  Aus- 
trian nationals  may  have  contracted  toward 
the  State  Bank  of  Morocco. 

Article  101.— Moroccan  goods  entering  Aus- 
tria shall  enjoy  the  treatment  accorded  to 
French  goods. 

SECTION  II.— EGYPT 

*  c 

Article  102.— Austria  declares  that  she  rec- 
ognizes the  protectorate  proclaimed  over 
Egypt  by  Great  Britain  on  Dec.  18,  1914,  and 
that  she  renounces  so  far  as  she  is  con- 
cerned the  regime  of  the  capitulations  in 
Egypt. 

This  renunciation  shall  take  effect  as 
from  Aug.  12,  1914. 

Article  103.— All  treaties,  agreements,  ar- 
rangements and  contracts  Concluded  by  the 
Government  of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy  with  Egypt  are  regarded  as  ab- 
rogated as  from  Aug.  12,  1914. 

In  no  case  can  Austria  avail  herself  of 
these  instruments,  and  she  undertakes  not 
to  intervene  in  any  way  in  negotiations  re- 
lating to  Egypt  which  may  take  place  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  other  powers. 

Article  104.— Until  an  Egyptian  law  of  ju- 
dicial organization  establishing  courts  with 
universal  jurisdiction  comes  into  force,  pro- 
vision shall  be  made,  by  means  of  decrees 
issued  by  his  highness  the  Sultan,  for  the 
exercise  of  jurisdiction  over  Austrian  na- 
tionals and  property  by  the  British  Con- 
sular tribunals. 

Article  105.— The  Egyptian  Government 
shall  have  complete  liberty  of  action  in 
regulating  the  status  of  Austrian  nationals 
and  the  conditions  under  which  they  may 
establish  themselves  in  Egypt. 

Article  106.— Austria  consents  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned  to  the  abrogation  of  the  decree 
issued  by  his  highness  the  Khedive  on  Nov. 


28,  1904,  relating  to  the  Commission  of  the 
Egyptian  Public  Debt,  or  to  such  changes 
as  the  Egyptian  Government  may  think  it 
desirable  to  make  therein. 

Article  107.— Austria  consents,  in  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  to  the  transfer  to  his 
Britannic  Majesty's  Government  of  the  pow- 
ers conferred  on  his  Imperial  Majesty  the 
Sultan  by  the  convention  signed  at  Con- 
stantinople on  Oct.  29,  1888,  relating  to  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Suez  Canal. 

She  renounces  all  participation  in  the  San- 
itary, Maritime,  and  Quarantine  Board  of 
Egypt,  and  consents,  in  so  far  as  she  is 
concerned,  to  the  transfer  to  the  Egyptian 
authorities  of  the  powers  of  that  board. 

Article  108.— All  property  and  possessions  in 
Egypt  of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy  pass  to  the  Egyptian  Govern- 
ment without  payment. 

For  this  purpose,  the  property  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy  shall  be  deemed  to  include  all  the 
property  of  the  crown,  and  the  private  prop- 
erty of  members  of  the  former  royal  family 
of  Austria-Hungary. 

All  movable  and  immovable  property  in 
Egypt  belonging  to  Austrian  nationals  shall 
be  dealt  with  in  accordance  with  Sections 
III.  and  IV.  of  Part  X.,  (Economic  Clauses,) 
of  the  present  treaty. 

Article  109.— Egyptian  goods  entering  Aus- 
tria shall  enjoy  the  treatment  accorded  to 
British  goods. 

SECTION  III.— SIAM 

Article  110. — Austria  recognizes,  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  that  all  treaties,  conven- 
tions, and  agreements  between  the  former 
Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  and  Siam,  and 
all  rights,  titles,  and  privileges  derived  there- 
from, including  all  rights  of  extraterri- 
torial jurisdiction,  terminated  as  from  July 
22,  1917. 

Article  111.— Austria,  so  far  as  she  is  con- 
cerned, cedes  to  Siam  all  her  rights  over 
the  goods  and  property  in  Siam  which  be- 
longed to  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy,  with  the  exception  of  premises 
used  as  diplomatic  or  consular  residences  or 
offices,  as  well  as  the  effects  and  furniture 
which  they  contain.  These  goods  and  prop- 
erty pass  ipso  facto  and  without  compen- 
sation to  the  Siamese  Government. 

The  goods,  property,  and  private  rights  of 
Austrian  nationals  in  Siam  shall  be  dealt 
with  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
Part  X.,  (Economic  Clauses,)  of  the  present 
treaty. 

Article  112.— Austria  waives  all  claims 
against  the  Siamese  Government  on  behalf 
of  herself  or  her  nationals  arising  out  of 
the  liquidation  of  Austrian  property  or  the 
internment  of  Austrian  nationals  in  Siam. 
This  provision  shall  not  affect  the  rights 
of  the  parties  interested  in  the  proceeds  of 
any  such  liquidation,  which  shall  be  gov- 
erned by  the  provisions  of  Part  X.,  (Eco- 
nomic  Clauses.)   of  the  present  treaty. 


36 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


SECTION  IV.— CHINA 

Article  113.— Austria  renounces,  so  far  as 
she  is  concerned,  in  favor  of  China  all  bene- 
fits and  privileges  resulting  from  the  pro- 
visions of  the  final  protocol  signed  at  Peking 
on  Sept.  7,  1901,  and  from  all  annexes, 
notes,  and  documents  supplementary  thereto. 
She  likewise  renounces  in  favor  of  China 
any  claim  to  indemnities  accruing  there- 
under subsequent  to  Aug.   14,   1917. 

Article  114.— From  the  coming  into  force 
of  the  present  treaty  the  high  contracting 
parties  shall  apply,  in  so  far  as  concerns 
them   respectively : 

(1)  The  arrangement  of  Aug.  29,  1902,  re- 
garding the  new  Chinese  customs  tariff. 

(2)  The  arrangement  of  Sept.  27,  1905, 
regarding  Whang-Poo,  and  the  provisional 
supplementary  arrangement  of  April  4,  1912. 

China,  however,  will  not  be  bound  to  grant 
to  Austria  the  advantages  or  privileges 
which  she  allowed  to  the  former  Austro- 
Hungarian  monarchy  under  these  arrange- 
ments. 

Article  115.— Austria,  so  far  as  she  is  con- 
cerned, cedes  to  China  all  her  rights  over 
the  buildings,  wharves  and  pontoons,  bar- 
racks, forts,  arms  and  munitions  of  war, 
vessels  of  all  kinds,  wireless  telegraphy  in- 
stallations and  other  public  property  which 
belonged  to  the  former  Austro-Hungarian 
monarchy,  and  which  are  situated  or  may 
be  in  the  Austro-Hungarian  concession  at 
Tientsin   or  elsewhere  in  Chinese  territory. 

It  is  understood,  however,  that  premises 
used  as  diplomatic  or  consular  residences  or 
offices,  as  well  as  the  effects  and  furni- 
ture contained  therein,  are  not  included  in 
the  above  cession,  and,  furthermore,  that 
no  steps  shall  be  taken  by  the  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment to  dispose  of  the  public  and  private 
property  belonging  to  the  former  Austro- 
Hungarian  monarchy  situated  within  the  so- 
called  Legation  Quarter  at  Peking  without 
the  consent  of  the  diplomatic  representa- 
tives of  the  powers  which,  on  the  coming 
into  force  of  the  present  treaty,  remain 
parties  to  the  final  protocol  of  Sept.  7,  1901. 

Article  116.— Austria  agrees,  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned,  to  the  abrogation  of  the  leases 
from  the  Chinese  Government  under  which 
the  Austro-Hungarian  concession  at  Tientsin 
is    now    held. 

China,  restored  to  the  full  exercise  of  her 
sovereign  rights  in  the  above  area,  declares 
her  intention  of  opening  it  to  international 
residence  and  trade.  She  further  declares 
that  the  abrogation  of  the  leases  under  which 
the  said  concession  is  now  held  shall  not 
affect  the  property  rights  of  nationals  of 
allied  and  associated  powers  who  are  hold- 
ers of  lots  in  this  concession. 

Article  117.— Austria  waives  all  claims 
against  the  Chinese  Government  or  against 
any  allied  or  associated  Government  aris- 
ing out  of  the  internment  of  Austrian  na- 
tionals in  China  and  their  repatriation.  She 
equally    renounces,    so    far    as    she    is    con- 


cerned, all  claims  arising  out  of  the  cap- 
ture and  condemnation  of  Austro-Hungarian 
ships  in  China,  or  the  liquidation,  sequestra- 
tion or  control  of  Austrian  properties, 
rights  and  interests  in  that  country  since 
Aug.  14,  1917.  This  provision,  however, 
shall  not  affect  the  rights  of  the  parties 
interested  in  the  proceeds  of  any  such 
liquidation,  which  shall  be  governed  by  the 
provisions  of  Part  X.,  (Economic  Clauses,) 
of  the  present  treaty. 

MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  CLAUSES 

The  disarmament  of  Austria  is  re- 
quired in  as  great  detail  as  in  the  case 
of  Germany.  The  Austrian  Army  is 
not  to  exceed  30,000  men.  The  number 
of  guns  and  machine  guns  is  strictly 
limited,  mobilization  is  forbidden  and 
compulsory  military  service  is  abolished. 
Surplus  armament  and  munitions  must 
be  turned  over  to  the  Allies.  The  manu- 
facture of  arms  is  restricted  to  one  fac- 
tory controlled  by  the  State,  and  the  use 
of  gases  for  warfare  is  prohibited. 

The  Austrian  Navy  henceforth  will 
consist  of  three  patrol  boats  on  the 
Danube.  All  warships  and  submarines 
are  declared  finally  surrendered  to  the 
Allies  and  the  treaty  names  thirty-two 
cruisers  and  fleet  auxiliaries,  including 
the  President  Wilson,  (ex-Kaiser  Franz 
Joseph,)  which  are  to  be  disarmed  and 
treated  as  merchant  ships.  All  warships 
begun  must  be  broken  up. 

Austria  will  not  be  allowed  to  main- 
tain any  military  or  naval  air  forces  nor 
any  dirigibles,  and  all  such  equipment 
and  material  must  be  delivered  to  the 
Allies. 

The  disarmament  of  Austria  will  be 
carried  out  under  the  supervision  of  an 
interallied  commission,  on  which  the 
United  States  will  be  represented. 

The  repatriation  of  Austrian  prisoners 
of  war  and  interned  civilians  is  fully 
provided  for  under  a  joint  commission. 

Austrians  accused  of  violating  the 
laws  and  customs  of  war  are  to  be  de- 
livered to  the  Allies  for  trial  by  military 
tribunals,  together  with  all  documentary 
evidence. 

REPARATIONS 

Details  of  reparations  to  be  made  by 
Austria  are  given  in  Part  VII.,  notably 
in  the  following  articles: 
Article      177.— The     allied     and     associated 


TEXT  OF  THE  AUSTRIAN  TREATY 


37 


Governments  affirm,  and  Austria  accepts, 
the  responsibility  of  Austria  and  her  allies 
for  causing  the  loss  and  damage  to  which 
the  allied  and  associated  Governments  and 
their  nationals  have  been  subjected  as  a 
consequence  of  the  war  imposed  upon  them 
by  the  aggression  of  Austria-Hungary  and 
her  allies. 

Article  178. — The  allied  and  associated 
Governments  recognize  that  the  resources  of 
Austria  are  not  adequate,  after  taking  into 
account  the  permanent  diminutions  of  such 
resources  which  will  result  from  other  pro- 
visions of  the  present  treaty,  to  make  com- 
plete reparation  for  such  loss  and  damage. 

The  allied  and  associated  Governments, 
however,  require  and  Austria  undertakes 
that  she  will  make  compensation  as  herein- 
after determined  for  damage  done  to  the 
civilian  population  of  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers  and  to  their  property  during 
the  period  of  the  belligerency  of  each  as  an 
allied  and  associated  power  against  Austria 
by  the  said  aggression  by  land,  by  sea,  and 
from  the  air,  and  in  general  damage  as  de- 
fined in  Annex  1  hereto. 

Article  179.— The  amount  of  such  damage 
for  which  compensation  is  to  be  made  by 
Austria  shall  be  determined  by  an  inter- 
allied commission  to  be  called  the  Reparation 
Commission  and  constituted  in  the  form  and 
with  the  powers  set  forth  hereunder  and  in 
annexed  Nos.  II. -V.  inclusive  hereto.  The 
commission  is  the  same  as  that  provided 
for  under  Article  233  of  the  treaty  with 
Germany,  subject  to  any  modifications  re- 
sulting from  the  present  treaty.  The  com- 
mission shall  constitute  a  section  to  consider 
the  special  questions  raised  by  the  application 
of  the  present  treaty.  This  section  shall 
have  consultative  power  only,  except  in  cases 
in  which  the  commission  shall  delegate  to  it 
such  powers  as  may  be  deemed  convenient. 

The  Reparation  Commission  shall  consider 
the  claims  and  give  to  the  Austrian  Govern- 
ment a  just  opportunity  to  be  heard. 

The  commission  shall  concurrently  draw 
up  a  schedule  of  payments  prescribing  the 
time  and  manner  for  securing  and  discharg- 
ing by  Austria  within  thirty  years  dating 
from  May  1,  1921,  that  part  of  the  debt  which 
shall  have  been  assigned  to  her,  after  the 
commission  has  decided  whether  Germany  is 
in  a  position  to  pay  the  balance  of  the  total 
amount  of  claims  presented  by  Germany  and 
her  allies  and  approved  by  the  commission. 
If,  however,  within  the  period  mentioned 
Austria  fails  to  discharge  her  obligations, 
any  balance  remaining  unpaid  may  within 
the  discretion  of  the  commission  be  post- 
poned for  settlement  in  subsequent  years,  or 
may  be  handled  otherwise  in  such  manner  as 
the  allied  and  associated  governments  acting 
4n  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down 
in  this  part  of  the  present  treaty  shall  de- 
termine. 

MODIFICATION  POSSIBLE 

Article     180.  —  The     Reparation     Commis- 


sion shall  after  May  1,  1921,  from  time  to 
time  consider  the  resources  and  capacity  of 
Austria  and,  after  giving  her  representatives 
a  just  opportunity  to  be  heard,  shall  have 
discretion  to  extend  the  date  and  to  modify 
the  form  of  payments,  such  as  are  to  be 
provided  for  in  accordance  with  Article  179, 
but  not  to  cancel  any  part  except  with  the 
specific  authority  of  the  several  Govern- 
ments   represented   on   the   commission. 

Article  181.  —  Austria  shall  pay  in  the 
course  of  the  year  1919,  1920,  and  the  first 
four  months  of  1921  in  such  installments 
and  in  such  manner  (whether  in  gold,  com- 
modities, ships,  securities  or  otherwise)  as 
the  Reparation  Commission  may  lay  down, 
a  reasonable  sum  which  shall  be  determined 
by  the  commission. 

Out  of  this  sum  the  expenses  of  the  armies 
of  occupation  subsequent  to  the  armistice 
of  Nov.  3,  1918,  shall  first  be  met,  and  such 
supplies  of  food  and  raw  materials  as  may 
be  judged  by  the  Governments  of  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  essential 
to  enable  Austria  to  meet  her  obligations 
for  reparation  may  also,  with  the  approval 
of  said  Government,  be  paid  for  out  of  the 
above  sum.  The  balance  shall  be  reckoned 
toward  the  liquidation  of  the  amount  due 
for  reparation. 

ANNEXES 

Annex  No.  1  to  the  reparation  articles 
schedules  in  detail  the  damages  which 
may  be  claimed  of  Austria  for  injuries 
to  persons  or  property  resulting  from 
acts  of  war,  including  naval  and  military 
pensions  paid  by  the  Allies,  and  also  in- 
cluding repayment  of  levies  or  fines  on 
civilian  populations. 

Annex  No.  2  sets  forth  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Reparation  Commission,  its 
procedure  in  assessing  damage  payments 
by  Austria  and  the  financial  arrange- 
ments Austria  is  required  to  make  to 
secure  to  the  Allies  the  discharge  of  its 
obligations. 

Annex  No.  3  provides  for  the  replace- 
ment by  Austria  "  ton  for  ton  (gross 
tonnage)  and  class  for  class  of  all  mer- 
chant ships  and  fishing  boats  lost  or 
damaged  owing  to  the  war,"  and  the 
Austrian  Government  cedes  to  the  Allies 
the  property  in  all  merchant  ships  and 
fishing  boats  "  belonging  to  nationals  of 
the  former  Austrian  Empire." 

Under  Annex  No.  4  Austria  under- 
takes to  devote  her  economic  resources 
directly  to  the  physical  restoration  of 
invaded   allied  territory. 

In   partial   reparation   Austria  is   re- 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


quired  under  Annex  No.  5  to  make  an- 
nual deliveries  of  timber  and  manufac- 
tures of  iron  and  magnesite. 

Annex  No.  6  provides  for  the  renun- 
ciation to  Italy  of  all  Austrian  cables 
in  Italian  ports  and  of  other  specified 
cables  to  the  allied  powers. 

By  special  provisions  laid  down  by 
Article  191-196  (including  annex)  Aus- 
tria is  required  to  surrender  all  loot 
from  invaded  allied  territory,  particu- 
larly objects  of  art  and  historical  rec- 
ords taken  from  Italy  by  the  Hapsburgs, 
not  only  in  this  but  in  previous  wars. 
Some  of  the  loot  from  Italy  which  the 
Austrians  are  required  to  return  are  the 
Crown  jewels  of  Tuscany  and  the  private 
jewels  of  the  Princess  Electress  of  Med- 
ici and  other  Medici  heirlooms  removed 
to  Vienna  in  the  eighteenth  century; 
the  furniture  and  silver  plate  belonging 
to  the  House  of  Medici  and  the  "  jewel  of 
Aspasius  "  in  payment  of  debt  owed  by 
the  House  of  Austria  to  the  Crown  of 
Tuscany,  and  also  the  "  ancient  instru- 
ments of  astronomy  and  physics  belong- 
ing to  the  Academy  of  Cimento,  re- 
moved by  the  House  of  Lorraine  and 
sent  as  a  present  to  the  cousins  of  the 
imperial  house  of  Vienna." 

This   annex   also   specifies  the  return 


to  Italy  of  "  The  Virgin "  by  Andrea 
del  Sarto,  and  four  drawings  by  Cor- 
reggio  belonging  to  the  Pinacothek  of 
Modena  and  removed  in  1859  by  Duke 
Francis  V.;  numerous  manuscripts  and 
rare  books  and  bronzes  stolen  from 
Modena  and  "  objects  made  in  Palermo 
in  the  twelfth  century  for  the  Norman 
Kings  and  employed  in  the  coronation  of 
the  Emperors." 

Austria  also  is  required  to  restore  to 
Belgium  various  works  of  art  removed 
to  Vienna  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

To  Poland,  Austria  is  required  to  re- 
store the  gold  cup  of  King  Ladislas  IV., 
No.  1,114  of  the  Court  Museum  at 
Vienna. 

Czechoslovakia  will  get  back  many 
historical  documents  removed  by  Maria 
Theresa  and  works  of  art  taken  from 
the  Bohemian  royal  castles  by  various 
Austrian  Emperors  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

The  remainder  of  the  treaty  is  taken 
up  by  financial,  economic,  legal,  river 
and  maritime,  transport,  l&bor  and  gen- 
eral miscellaneous  clauses  subsidiary  to 
the  main  provisions  of  the  treaty  sum- 
marized or  quoted  above.  These  sections 
are  essentially  similar  to  those  in  the 
German  peace  treaty. 


Activities  of  the  Peace  Conference 

The  Dramatic  Coup  at  Fiume 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  20,  1919] 


FACED  with  the  multiple  problems 
of  boundary  determination  of 
many  conflicting  peoples  in  Cen- 
tral and  Eastern  Europe,  the  Peace 
Conference  continued  its  labors  during 
August  and  September.  The  treaty 
with  Austria  was  completed  and  signed 
at  St.  Germain.  The  treaty  with  Bul- 
garia was  at  last  definitely  shaped  and 
presented  on  Sept.  19.  Late  in  August 
the  conference  was  faced  with  the  dan- 
gerous situation  created  in  Hungary  by 
the  coup  d'etat  of  Archduke  Joseph 
and  the  military  occupation  of  Budapest 
by  the  Rumanians. 

Regarding  the  expenses  of  the  Ameri- 


can delegation  in  Paris,  President  Wil- 
son presented  to  Congress  an  estimate 
of  $1,506,776  from  Dec.  1,  1918,  to  Dec. 
31,  1919,  and  asked  that  $825,000  be 
appropriated  to  cover  probable  expenses 
up  to  the  end  of  this  year. 

IMPORTANT  MATTERS  DISCUSSED 

Early  in  September  various  issues  of 
great  importance  were  discussed.  On 
Sept.  12  the  committee  in  charge  of  the 
Teschen  controversy  between  Poland 
and  Czechoslovakia  began  to  consider 
different  plans  for  the  taking  of  the 
plebiscite  agreed  upon  between  the  dele- 
gates of  the  two  nations  in  Paris.     The 


ACTIVITIES  OF  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 


39 


Czechoslovak  delegation  had  accepted 
this  solution  as  the  best  obtainable  un- 
der the  circumstances,  and  had  indicated 
that  it  would  be  satisfied  if  the  vote 
were  taken  with  proper  guarantees  for 
its  impartiality. 

The  definite  resignation  of  Arthur  J. 
Balfour,  British  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  from  membership  in  the  Peace 
Conference  was  the  subject  of  much  dis- 
cussion on  the  date  mentioned.  David 
Lloyd  George  arrived  in  Paris  at  this 
time  for  a  conference  with  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  and  Frank  L.  Polk,  chief  represen- 
tative of  the  United  States  Government 
at  the  conference.  On  Sept.  16  David 
Lloyd  George,  just  before  leaving 
Paris  with  two  trainloads  of  attaches, 
appointed  Sir  Eyre  Crowe,  Assistant 
Under  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  as  England's  plenipotentiary 
and  sole  British  representative  in  the 
Conference. 

THE   D'ANNUNZIO  RAID 

Shortly  before  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber the  strained  situation  existing  be- 
tween the  conference  and  Italy  over  the 
cession  of  Fiume  to  the  Jugoslavs  was 
sharply  emphasized  by  an  event  which 
disturbed  the  efforts  of  Signor  Tittoni, 
the  new  Italian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  and  a  member  of  the  Italian 
Peace  delegation,  to  bring  about  a  bet- 
ter feeling. 

The  event  referred  to  was  the  sudden 
and  audacious  march  upon  Fiume  by  Ga- 
briele  d'Annunzio,  the  poet-aviator — who 
had  performed  signal  aerial  service  in 
the  war — at  the  head  of  several  thousand 
soldiers  and  with  40  motor  lorries,  and 
his  entrance  of  the  city  despite  the  pro- 
tests of  its  commander,  General  Pitta- 
luga,  who  went  forth  with  troops  and 
machine  guns  to  prevent  his  entering  the 
city.  Advices  from  Milan  recorded  the 
meeting  of  d'Annunzio  with  Pittaluga 
outside  the  city  in  a  descriptive  scene 
worthy  of  Livy: 

Pittaluga— Thus  you  will  ruin  Italy. 

D'Annunzio— Rather  will  you  ruin  Italy 
if  you  oppose  Fiume' s  destiny  and  sup- 
port the  infamous  policy. 

Pittaluga— What,    then,    do  you  wish? 

D'Annunzio — A  free  entry  into  Fiume. 

Pittaluga — I  must  obey  orders. 

D'Annunzio— I     understand     you    would 


fire  upon  your  brethren?  Fire  first  upon 
me. 

Pittaluga — I  am  happy  to  meet  you, 
brave  soldier  and  great  poet.  With  you 
I  cry,   "  Viva  Fiume  !  " 

All  forces  together,  "  Viva  Pittaluga !  " 

While  this  little  drama  was  being  en- 
acted the  allied  forces  remained  quietly 
within  their  barracks,  and  d'Annunzio 
entered  the  city  amid  great  demonstra- 
tions of  welcome. 

In  a  statement  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  on  Sept.  14  Premier  Nitti 
announced  that  the  commander  of  the 
6th  Army  Corps  had  been  ordered  to  in- 
tercept and  disarm  d'Annunzio's  troops, 
but  that  these  troops  had  refused  to 
obey  the  order.  The  Premier  declared  that 
he  was  determined  to  act  in  a  manner 
to  avoid  grave  conflicts.  He  deplored 
what  had  happened,  because  for  the  first 
time  sedition,  even  though  for  idealistic 
aims,  had  entered  the  Italian  Army. 
Signor  Nitti  expressed  strong  condem- 
nation of  what  he  termed  the  misguided 
deed  of  d'Annunzio. 

.  D'Annunzio's  troops,  described  as 
numbering  2,300,  were  still  in  Fiume, 
and  the  poet  had  installed  himself  in 
the  Army  Command  Bureau,  defying 
alike  the  Peace  Conference  and  the  Ital- 
ian Government.  The  Government, 
meanwhile,  dispatched  General  Badoglio, 
Deputy  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  Italian 
Army,  to  Fiume,  armed  with  full  pow- 
ers. Efforts  were  also  being  made  to 
intercept  and  stop  the  rebellious  por- 
tions of  the  6th  Army  Artillery  Regi- 
ment and  a  cycle  corps  from  entering 
Fiume  and  joining  the  forces  of  d'An- 
nunzio. On  the  following  day  came 
news  that  the  French  and  British  gar- 
risons in  the  town,  at  d'Annunzio's  de- 
mand, had  hauled  down  their  flags  and 
left  the  city. 

The  reaction  of  this  news  at  the  Peace 
Conference  was  intense.  Fear  was  ex- 
pressed that  the  coup  would  lead  to  fhe 
downfall  of  the  Nitti  Government.  Signor 
Tittoni  left  Paris  on  Sept.  16  and  re- 
turned to  Italy.  The  Supreme  Council, 
however,  after  earnest  discussion,  de- 
cided to  refrain  from  interference,  and 
to  allow  Italy  herself  to  deal  with  the 
situation.  A  dispatch  from  Rome  on 
Sept.  18  said  that  David  Lloyd  George, 
M.  Clemenceau,  and  Signor  Tittoni  were 


40 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  accord  over  a  definite  solution  of  the 
Fiume  question,  insuring  the  Italian 
nationality  of  the  town,  and  were  wait- 
ing only  for  President  Wilson's  decision 
on  the  subject.  Meanwhile  d'Annunzio, 
ill  with  fever,  was  issuing  fervid  procla- 
mations to  his  forces,  who  had  occupied 
the  whole  defensive  line  with  reinforce- 
ments received  from  various  sources, 
while  General  Badoglio  had  proclaimed 
a  time  limit  for  the  return  of  these  re- 
bellious troops  to  the  line  of  armistice, 
to  expire  Sept.  18.  The  Italian  Govern- 
ment had  put  into  execution  a  land  and 
sea  blockade  against  d'Annunzio,  and 
expected  by  these  means  to  starve  the 
poet  aviator's  troops  into  submission. 

No    decision    regarding    Albania    was 
officially  announced.     Repeated  protests 


of  this  country  against  the  "  imperial- 
ism "  of  her  neighbors,  Italy,  Greece,  and 
Serbia,  especially  protests  against  Greek 
advances  into  territory  awarded  Albania 
by  the  London  Conference,  had  brought 
no  response.  On  Aug.  20  the  Albanian 
delegation  to  the  Peace  Conference  sent 
an  appeal  for  protection  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  On  Sept.  14  Albanian 
refugees  arriivng  in  Paris  from  Koritzia 
brought  reports  of  the  plight  of  many 
Albanians,  fearing  massacre  before  the 
advance  of  Greek  forces.  Albania  at  this 
time  petitioned  the  Peace  Conference  to 
keep  French  officials  in  the  district  or  to 
send  a  small  American  force  there  to 
steady  the  situation,  pending  the  settle- 
ment by  the  conference  of  the  whole 
Albanian  question. 


Handing  Peace  Terms  to  Bulgaria 

Ceremony  at  the  Quai  d'Orsay 


rE  Peace  Treaty  between  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  and  Bul- 
garia was  handed  to  the  Bulgarian 
peace  delegation  on  Sept.  19,  1919,  at 
10:40  A.  M.  in  the  Clock  Room  of  the 
French  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  on 
the  Quai  d'Orsay  in  Paris.  It  was  re- 
ceived by  General  Theodoroff  and  the 
four  other  members  of  the  Bulgarian 
delegation. 

Representatives  of  each  of  the  twenty- 
seven  Governments  participating  in  the 
conference,  including  Rumania,  were 
present.  Frank  L.  Polk,  head  of  the 
United  States  delegation,  sat  on  M. 
Clemenceau's  right  and  Sir  Eyre  Crowe, 
the  new  British  plenipotentiary  to  the 
Peace  Conference,  sat  on  the  President's 
left. 

General  Theodoroff,  head  of  the  Bul- 
garian delegation;  M.  Ganeff,  M.  Sake- 
soff,  M.  Stambulivsky,  and  M.  Hartzoff 
entered  the  Foreign  Office  punctually, 
their  dark  faces  showing  no  emotion,  in 
contrast  to  the  pale,  drawn  countenances 
displayed  by  the  German  plenipoten- 
tiaries at  the  Versailles  ceremony  and 
with  Dr.  Renner's  good-humored  de- 
meanor on  the  occasion  of  the  signing 


of  the  Austrian  treaty  at  St.  Germain. 
They  were  ushered  into  the  large  dining 
room,  where  the  plenary  sessions  of  the 
Peace  Conference  formerly  were  held. 
The  allied  delegates  rose  when  the  Bul- 
garian representatives  appeared. 

Premier  Clemenceau  opened  the  pro- 
ceedings by  stating  that  the  meeting  had 
been  called  to  hand  the  Peace  Treaty  to 
the  Bulgarians  and  that  they  would  have 
twenty-five  days  to  consider  it  and  file 
objections,  after  which  the  powers  would 
fix  a  day  for  final  consideration.  Paul 
Dutasta,  Secretary  of  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, then  handed  the  bound  treaty  to 
the  Bulgarians,  after  which  General 
Theodoroff  read  a  long  statement  in 
French,  pleading  that  the  Bulgarian 
people  were  not  responsible  for  the 
war,  but  that  their  Government  had 
thrown  the  country  into  the  struggle. 
He  blamed  King  Ferdinand  and  Vasili 
Radoslavoff,  Bulgarian  Foreign  Minister 
in  1914,  for  Bulgaria's  entry  into  the 
war.  The  people,  he  declared,  did  not 
approve  of  the  German  alliance,  which 
"  came  to  them  as  a  cataclysm,"  but  they 
realized  that  they  must  accept  a  part  of 
the  blame.    Bulgaria's  desire  was  to  live 


HANDING  PEACE   TERMS    TO   BULGARIA 


41 


at  peace  with  her  Balkan  neighbors.    He 
continued  as  follows: 

We  have  committed  faults  and  we  shall 
bear  the  consequences  within  the  bounds 
of  equity,  but  there  is  a  punishment  no 
crime  can  justify,  and  that  is  servitude. 
We  are  here  not  only  to  defend  the  rights 
of  Bulgaria;  we  are  anxious  also  to  con- 
fess her  faults.  The  rights  of  nations 
are  indestructible.  With  your  high  sense 
of  equity  you  have  put  them  from  the 
start  beyond  reach  of  Injury.  This  is 
why  a  guilty  State,  and  even  a  con- 
quered one,  my  be  allowed  to  appeal  to 
them. 

General  Theodoroff's  plea  lasted  for 
fifteen  minutes.  When  it  was  over, 
Premier  Clemenceau  arose  and  an- 
nounced curtly  that  the  ceremony  was 
ended.  It  had  lasted  forty  minutes.  The 
Bulgarian  delegation  left  Paris  for 
Sofia  on  the  same  day. 

An  official  summary  of  the  treaty 
with  Bulgaria  was  made  public  by  the 
State  Department  at  Washington  on 
Sept.  18.  Many  clauses  are  identical 
with  those  of  the  German  treaty,  notably 
the  League  of  Nations  covenant,  the 
clauses  on  labor,  aerial  navigation,  pen- 
alties, prisoners  of  war  and  graves.  The 
important  changes  in  the  Bulgarian 
frontiers  are  to  the  south,  where  Bul- 
garia cedes  Western  Thrace  to  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  and 
agrees  to  accept  whatever  disposition  of 
this  territory  the  powers  ultimately  de- 
cide; but  it  is  stipulated  that  in  any 
event  Bulgaria's  western  frontier  shall 
be  modified  slightly  in  four  places  to 
Serbia's  advantage. 

The  Bulgarians  are  required  to  rec- 
ognize the  independence  of  the  Serb- 
Croat-Slovene  State,  and  provisions  are 
made  to  change  the  nationality  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  territory  formerly 
Bulgarian  and  transferred  to  other 
States.  Provisions  are  made  for  protec- 
tion of  minorities  in  race,  language, 
nationality,  and  religion.  As  special  com- 
pensation for  the  destruction  of  the  Serb- 


ian coal  mines,  Bulgaria  shall  for  five 
years  deliver  50,000  tons  of  coal  annually 
to  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State. 

The  frontier  with  Rumania  remains  the 
same  as  before  the  war,  although  it  is 
understood  the  question  of  Inducing  Ru- 
mania to  cede  to  Bulgaria  that  portion 
of  Dobrudja  which  is  wholly  Bulgarian  in 
character  will  be  taken  up  later.  The 
frontier  on  the  west  with  Serbia  is  mod- 
ified in  four  places  to  the  advantage  of 
Serbia.  The  frontier  with  Greece  remains 
the  same,  except  for  slight  rectification 
to  afford  proper  protection  to  the  Greek 
town  of  Buk. 

The  Bulgarian  Army  is  to  be  reduced 
to  20,000  men  within  three  months,  with 
universal  military  service  abolished  and 
voluntary  enlistment  substituted.  The 
number  of  gendarmes,  custom  officials 
and  other  armed  guards  shall  not  ex- 
ceed 10,000,  and  there  must  exist  only 
one  military  school.  The  manufacture  of 
war  material  will  be  confined  to  a  single 
factory,  and  the  importation  or  exporta- 
tion of  arms,  munitions  and  war  ma- 
terials of  all  kinds  is  forbidden.  All  ex- 
isting Bulgarian  warships,  Including  sub- 
marines, will  be  surrendered  to  the  Allies. 

Bulgaria  recognizes  that  by  joining  the 
war  of  aggression  which  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary  waged  against  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  she  caused  the 
latter  losses  and  sacrifices  of  all  kinds 
for  which  she  ought  to  make  adequate 
reparation.  As  it  is  recognized  that  Bul- 
garia's resources  are  not  sufficent  to 
make  adequate  reparation,  a  capital  sum 
of  2,225,000,000  francs  in  gold  [$443,000,000] 
is  agreed  upon  as  being  such  as  Bulgaria 
is  able  to  make,  to  be  paid  in  half-yearly 
payments,   beginning  Jan.   1,   1920. 

Payments  are  to  be  remitted  through 
the  Interallied  Commission  to  the  Repa- 
ration Commission  created  by  the  Ger- 
man treaty.  The  Interallied  Commission 
shall  be  established  at  Sofia  as  soon  as 
possible  after  the  coming  into  force  of 
the  treaty.  The  commission  shall  con- 
sist of  three  members  nominated  by 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy,  with 
a  right  to  withdraw  upon  six  months' 
notice.  Bulgaria  will  be  represented  by 
a  commissioner  who  may  be  invited  to 
take  part  in  the  sittings  but  have  no 
vote.  Cost  and  expenses  of  the  com- 
mission will  be  paid  by  Bulgaria  and 
will  be  a  first  charge  on  the  revenues 
payable  to  the  commission. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


[Period  Ended  Sept.  20,  1919] 


Cardinal  Mercier's  Visit 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  visitors 
whom  the  United  States  has  had 
since  the  war  is  Cardinal  Mercier,  Pri- 
mate of  Belgium,  who  stood  between  the 
people  of  his  country  and  the  German 
invaders.  The  heroic  and  beloved  prelate 
arrived  in  New  York  on  Sept.  9  on  the 
Great  Northern,  a  United  States  naval 
transport,  and  received  an  enthusiastic 
welcome  from  the  throng  of  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  civilians  waiting  at  a  Hobo- 
ken  pier  to  greet  him.  The  Collector  of 
the  Port  went  down  the  harbor  to  wel- 
come him  on  behalf  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, and  a  committee  of  prominent 
Catholics,  headed  by  Archbishop  Hayes, 
with  the  Baltimore  committee  repre- 
senting Cardinal  Gibbons,  as  well  as 
Mayor  Hylan,  saluted  him  from  a 
police  patrol  boat  which  reached  the  pier 
at  the  same  time  as  the  transport.  After 
the  transport  had  been  made  fast,  the 
Cardinal  received  these  committees  on 
the  upper  deck. 

Cardinal  Mercier  is  a  white-haired 
man  six  feet  two  inches  tall,  with  a 
benevolent  countenance  and  a  soft, 
musical  voice.  Deep  lines  in  his  thin 
face  show  the  strain  under  which  he 
labored  during  the  years  of  war.  The 
Cardinal  is  68  years  old.  At  the  home  of 
the  Archbishop  of  New  York  he  stated 
that  he  had  not  come  on  any  special  mis- 
sion for  the  Belgian  Government;  that 
love  was  his  only  mission,  and  the  desire 
to  reveal  the  grateful  heart  of  his  nation 
to  those  who  had  saved  it. 

On  the  day  following  his  arrival  Car- 
dinal Mercier  reviewed  the  Pershing 
parade  from  the  steps  of  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  and  General  Pershing  de- 
scended from  his  horse  and  went  to  the 
Cardinal  to  present  his  greetings.  Later 
that  day  the  prelate  left  for  Baltimore 
on  a  visit  to  Cardinal  Gibbons. 

As  a  guest  of  the  American  Cardinal, 
in  the  blue  room  of  the  latter's  home, 
Cardinal  Mercier  granted  an  audience, 
in  which  he  made  an  appeal  for  Ameri- 


ca's aid  to  Belgium  in  respect  to  raw 
materials  and  machinery,  of  which  his 
country  was  in  urgent  need.  The  resto- 
ration of  Belgium,  he  said,  would  take  a 
long  time.  The  University  of  Louvain 
would  be  restored,  as  well  as  his  own 
palace  at  Malines.  His  feeling  toward 
Germany  was  one  of  great  distrust;  Bel- 
gium might  forgive,  but  it  could  never 
forget.  In  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  on 
Sept.  14,  before  a  notable  audience,  he 
interpreted  American  intervention 
against  Germany  as  God's  answer  to  his 
prayers.  Before  another,  great  audience 
at  the  Lyric  Theatre  on  the  16th  the 
Belgian  Cardinal  paid  tribute  to  the 
valor  of  American  troops  and  to  Mr. 
Hoover's  gigantic  work  of  relief,  and 
again  stressed  Belgium's  great  need  for 
assistance  in  reconstruction. 

On  his  return  to  New  York  on  Sept. 
18  he  was  given  the  freedom  of  the  city 
by  Mayor  Hylan.  A  great  ovation  was 
tendered  the  Belgian  Cardinal  at  a  din- 
ner in  the  Waldorf-Astoria,  where  men 
and  women  of  many  creeds  joined  in  en- 
thusiastic tribute.  After  a  day  of  al- 
most continuous  ovation  he  stood  in  the 
grand  ballroom  of  the  Waldorf  with 
bowed  head  and  hands  clasped  as  if  in 
prayer,  his  shoulders  enfolded  in  an 
American  flag,  while  speaker  after 
speaker  lauded  his  heroic  service  in  the 
war.  In  replying  he  s^id  simply,  "  The 
praises  were  all,  I  know,  for  Belgium." 

With  Cardinal  Mercier  on  the  Great 
Northern  arrived  the  new  Belgian  Am- 
bassador, Baron  Emile  de  Cartier  Mar- 
cienne,  who  was  Minister  at  Washington 
until  he  returned  to  Belgium  five  months 
ago. 

Storm  on  the  Texas  Coast 
TN  a  hurricane  along  the  Gulf  coast  on 
-*-  Sunday,  Sept.  14,  more  than  300  peo- 
ple were  drowned  in  and  around  Corpus 
Christi,  Texas,  and  the  damage  to  prop- 
erty totaled  more  than  $10,000,000.  In- 
dustry was  brought  to  a  standstill,  and 
the  stricken  region  was  destitute  of  food. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


43 


United  States  troops  were  sent  to  guard 
the  wrecked  city  of  Corpus  Christi,  and 
the  Governors  of  many  States  issued  an 
appeal  for  funds  to  aid  the  stricken  sur- 
vivors. Galveston  was  saved  from  catas- 
trophe by  its  new  sea  wall. 

*  *     * 

Italian  Battleship  Raised 

THE  Italian  Government  on  Sept.  17 
announced  a  great  hydrostatic  feat 
in  the  raising  of  Italy's  great  super- 
dreadnought,  the  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
which  had  been  deliberately  sunk  by  the 
commander  in  order  to  save  a  neighbor- 
ing town  and  Italian  and  allied  war- 
ships nearby  from  the  effects  of  a  terri- 
ble explosion  caused  by  a  clockwork 
bomb  placed  on  the  vessel  by  some  un- 
known hand.  The  vessel  overturned  as 
it  sank,  and  the  heavy  guns  became  im- 
bedded in  the  sand  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  It  took  months  of  patient,  strenu- 
ous work  to  remove  the  cannon  and  other 
equipment,  and  to  bring  the  gigantic 
hull  to  the  surface  by  pumping  com- 
pressed air  into  it.  At  the  date  men- 
tioned the  vessel  was  ready  to  be  towed 
into  dock  and  restored  to  its  former 
value  and  efficiency. 

*  *     * 

French  Monument  to  America 
AT  Pointe  de  Grave,  France,  a  great 
■^-  French  monument  to  America  was 
begun  on  Sept.  6,  with  the  laying  of  a 
cornerstone  commemorating  the  landing 
of  the  first  contingent  of  American 
troops  in  1917.  Speeches  were  made  by 
President  Poincare  and  Ambassador  Wal- 
lace. Premier  Clemenceau,  Marshal 
Foch,  and  other  distinguished  French- 
men and  Americans  were  present. 

*  *     * 

The  Bremen's  Fate  a  Mystery 

THE  end  of  the  war  has  brought  no 
light  on  the  mysterious  vanishing 
of  the  German  commercial  submarine 
Bremen,  which  left  Kiel  for  the  United 
States  in  the  early  Summer  of  1916  with 
a  cargo  of  dyes  and  chemicals,  and  which 
was  never  heard  of  again. 

A  report  of  the  return  of  the  crew 
of  the  Bremen  to  Germany  was  cir- 
culated on  Aug.  11  by  the  Vossische  Zei- 
tung  of  Berlin,  which  declared  the  men 


had  reached  Bremen.  According  to  this 
newspaper  the  British  had  kept  the 
crew  prisoners,  completely  isolated  from 
the  world,  so  that  the  whereabouts  of 
the  missing  submersible  might  remain  a 
secret.  Several  days  later  official  de- 
nial was  made  in  Berlin  that  the  crew 
of  the  submarine  had  arrived  in  Bre- 
men. On  Aug.  26  the  British  Admi- 
ralty disavowed  all  knowledge  of  the  Bre- 
men. The  fate  of  this  underwater  craft 
apparently  will  remain  one  of  the  mys- 
teries of  the  war. 

Death  of  General  Botha 

GENERAL  LOUIS  BOTHA,  Premier 
Minister  of  Agriculture  of  the 
Union  of  South  Africa,  died  suddenly  in 
Pretoria  on  Aug.  28.  He  had  first 
gained  distinction  as  a  commander  of 
the  Boer  forces  against  the  British,  and 
later  proved  himself  a  loyal  subject  of 
the  empire  as  Premier  of  the  Union  of 
South  Africa  and  as  a  leader  of  the 
campaign  against  the  Germans  in 
Southwest  Africa.  General  Botha  was 
born  in  Grey  town,  Natal,  in  1863,  and 
was  descended  from  some  of  the  earliest 
South  African  settlers.  As  a  youth  he 
herded  sheep  on  his  father's  farm  and, 
like  all  Boers,  was  devoted  to  his  rifle. 
When  the  war  with  England  began 
he  was  merely  a  Veldt-Cornett,  but 
quickly  displayed  his  ability  and  was 
put  in  charge  of  the  Boer  Army  of  6,000 
men  which  defeated  Sir  Redvers  Buller 
with  18,000  at  the  battle  of  Colenso.  Fol- 
lowing the  death  of  General  P.  J.  Jou- 
bert  he  was  made  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Transvaal  Boers. 

After  the  fall  of  Pretoria  he  carried 
on  a  prolonged  guerrilla  warfare  till  late 
in  1901.  But  as  soon  as  peace  was  de- 
clared he  set  himself  to  the  task  of  re- 
organizing his  defeated  country  and  aid- 
ing it  to  play  its  part  in  the  British  Em- 
pire. He  was  made  first  Premier  of  the 
Transvaal,  and  on  the  formation  of  the 
Union  of  South  Africa  he  became  the 
Premier,  and  held  that  position  con- 
tinuously except  for  one  brief  interval. 
The  British  always  trusted  him. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  world  war  he 
took  command  of  the  forces  of  the  Union 
in     Southwest     Africa.     The     campaign 


44 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


that  he  conducted  was  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult sort,  over  a  nearly  waterless  coun- 
try where  the  few  wells  had  been  poi- 
soned by  the  Germans  and  the  sand- 
storms compelled  the  men  to  wear  gog- 
gles. His  success  was  complete,  the 
Germans  surrendering  in  July,  1915,  and 
thus  placing  under  the  British  flag  116,- 
670  more  miles  of  territory  than  Ger- 
many itself  contains. 

With  General  Smuts,  General  Botha 
signed  the  Peace  Treaty  at  Versailles  on 
behalf  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa. 
He  arrived  at  Cape  Town  on  July  28. 

On  Aug.  31  General  Jan  Christian 
Smuts  was  appointed  Premier  to  replace 
General  Botha,  and  charged  with  the 
duty  of  forming  a  new  Cabinet. 

*  *     * 

Cost  $81.75  Per  Soldier 

FOR  each  man  transported  overseas  in 
British  vessels  the  United  States 
Government  will  pay  Great  Britain 
$81.75  under  an  agreement  reached  be- 
tween Brig.  Gen.  Frank  T.  Hines,  Direc- 
tor of  Transportation  in  the  War  De- 
partment, and  Lord  Reading,  represent- 
ing the  British  Government.  Secretary 
Baker,  it  was  learned  on  Aug.  24,  ap- 
proved the  agreement,  which  fixes  a 
price  a  little  more  than  half  that  tenta- 
tively put  forward  by  the  British  at  the 
beginning  of  the  negotiations.  The  total 
cost  of  the  British  tonnage  used  in  troop 
transportation  is  estimated  at  $83,757,- 
250,  the  number  of  men  carried  having 
been  1,027,000.  Similar  negotiations  are 
in  progress  with  the  French  and  other 
Governments. 

*  *     * 

Feeding  400,000   Czech   Children, 

rnHROUGH  the  American  Relief  Ad- 
-*-  ministration  European  Children's 
Fund  approximately  400,000  children  in 
Czechoslovakia  are  now  being  provided 
with  one  supplementary  meal  daily,  ac- 
cording to  Earl  D.  Osborn,  American 
Relief  representative. 

The  Czechoslovak  Government  has 
added  1,000,000  kronen  to  the  5,000,000 
it  had  already  contributed  for  child-feed- 
ing work,  bringing  the  total  to  about 
$300,000.  The  Czechs  in  the  United 
Gtates  have  raised  $100,000. 

The  importance  of  the  work  is  shown 


by  the  following  telegram  sent  from 
Paris  by  Herbert  Hoover,  Chairman  of 
the  American  Relief  Administration  Eu- 
ropean Children's  Fund,  to  the  Czecho- 
slovak League  of  America: 

The  children's  food  program  for  Czecho- 
slovakia will  remain  an  urgent  need  for 
at  least  another  year.  I  urge  you  to 
concentrate  on  this  movement.  The  new 
Government  is  assisting  the  organization 
of  social  service  workers  for  the  proper 
distribution  of  funds  for  children's  relief 
coming  from  America.  This  has  enor- 
mous importance  for  the  future  of  the 
new  republic,  and  I  urge  you  to  give  it 
your  special  support. 

Carnegie  Leaves  $30,000,000 

THE  will  of  Andrew  Carnegie,  filed  in 
New  York  on  Aug.  28,  disposed  of 
an  estate  estimated  at  approximately 
$30,000,000.  The  sum  of  $10,000,000 
was  distributed  to  friends  and  philan- 
thropies; the  residue  was  set  aside  for 
public  use.  Many  annuities  were 
granted.  The  philanthropic  gifts,  in- 
cluding bequests,  totaled  over  $378,000,- 
D00. 

*     *     * 

The  Island  of  Yap 

THE  little  island  of  Yap  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean  suddenly  loomed  up  as  an 
international  question  when  it  developed 
in  a  conference  between  President  Wil- 
son and  the  Senate  Foreign  Committee 
that  this  island  was  an  important  cable 
centre  and  that  the  United  States  naval 
authorities  were  anxious  to  have  it  an- 
nexed by  the  United  States. 

Yap  is  the  centre  of  a  cable  system 
formerly  owned  by  a  German  cable 
company.  These  cables  if  taken  over 
by  the  United  States  would  be  made  to 
form  an  integral  part  of  the  American 
cable  system  already  in  the  Pacific  and 
thus  strengthen  American  trade  and 
commerce,  not  to  speak  of  the  import- 
ance of  the  island  and  its  cable  connec- 
tions from  a  strategic  standpoint. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  in  1914,  the  island  was  owned  by 
the  German  Government  and  was  the 
centre  of  a  cable  system  which  that 
Government  was  developing  in  the 
Pacific.  In  1914  it  was  seized  by  the 
Japanese  Government  and  is  being  held 
by   that   Government   pending   its   final 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


i5 


disposition  by  the  Allies,  but  it  is  under- 
stood that  Japan  is  anxious  to  hold  it 
permanently,  together  with  its  cable 
connections. 

Prohibition  in  Belgium 

THE  United  States  is  not  the  only  pro- 
hibition country,  Belgium  having  fol- 
lowed suit,  so  far  as  whisky,  gin,  and 
other  highly  alcoholic  liquors  are  con- 
cerned. Soon  after  the  armistice  was 
signed  a  law  was  passed  forbidding  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  such  beverages. 
The  making  of  alcoholic  drinks  ceased 
almost  immediately,  but  not  much  atten- 
tion was  paid  to  the  rule  so  far  as  the 
selling  of  liquor  in  the  larger  places  was 
concerned.  The  authorities  recently  con- 
fiscated big  stocks  the  bars  had  on  hand. 
*     *     * 

Red  Party  Formed  in  United  States 

THREE  HUNDRED  representatives  of 
the  Left  Wing  Faction  of  the  Na- 
tional Socialist  Party  having  withdrawn 
from  the  parent  body,  on  Sept.  2  organ- 
ized the  "  Communist  Labor  Party  of 
America "  and  adopted  the  emblem  of 
the  Soviet  Republic  of  Russia  with  the 
motto:  "Workers  of  the  World  Unite." 
The  emblem  consists  of  a  scythe  and  a 
hammer  surrounded  by  a  wreath  of 
wheat.  A  suggestion  that  a  torch  be 
added  to  the  emblem  was  voted  down. 

Delegate  Zimmerman  of  Indiana  led 
a  small  minority  who  wanted  the  new 
organization  called  the  Independent  So- 
cialist Party,  but  his  suggestion  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated.  He  said  in  its 
support: 

I  think  that  the  word  communist  will 
strike  terror  to  the  American  workman 
and  we  cannot  succeed  in  the  movement 
without  this  element.  I  will  go  as  far 
in  the  revolutionary  movement  as  any 
man  in  this  hall,  but  I  think  it  unwise 
to  adopt  this  name.  If  you  think  I  am  a 
coward,  search  the  court  records  of  In- 
diana. 

We  know  that  this  country  Is  not  yet 
ripe  for  the  revolution.  If  it  was,  the 
name  Communist  would  be  all  right. 
They  did  not  use  it  in  Russia  until  after 
the  capitalist  class  had  been  overthrown. 

The  party  announced  that  it  would 
adopt  a  constitution  which  would  be  pat- 
terned largely  after  that  of  the  Soviet 
Republic  of  Russia.  Every  mention  of 
the  Soviet  Republic  and  Bolshevism  was 


greeted  with  cheers.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  new  party  was  to  approve  a 
plan  for  a  general  strike  in  the  United 
States  on  Oct.  8  to  compel  the  release  of 
Thomas  J.  Mooney,  Eugene  V.  Debs,  and 
other  radical  agitators.  Subsequently 
the  President  of  the  new  communist 
party  was  arrested  for  violent  and  se- 
ditious public  utterances  of  a  previous 
date. 

*     *     * 

Aguinaldo  Captain  of  Industry 
"1X7  ORD  comes  from  the  Philippines 
*  »  that  Emilio  Aguinaldo,  famed  in 
his  youth  as  a  Captain  of  the  insurrectos, 
is  winning  new  fame  in  his  sedate  mid- 
dle age  as  a  captain  of  industry.  Not 
only  is  he  the  owner  of  valuable  agricul- 
tural holdings  in  the  islands,  returned 
travelers  report,  but  he  is  Vice  President 
of  two  big  cocoanut  oil  concerns  re- 
cently organized.  One-third  of  the 
world's  supply  of  cocoanut  oil  comes 
from  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  the  two 
companies  in  which  Aguinaldo  is  inter- 
ested are  important  factors  in  that  trade. 

Back  in  the  '90s,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
six,  Aguinaldo  headed  a  formidable  rev- 
olution against  the  Spanish  Government, 
then  administering  the  Philippines. 
When  the  Spanish-American  war  broke 
and  the  American  expedition  against 
those  far-away  Spanish  possessions  was 
organized  his  aid  was  sought  by  the 
American  commanders.  His  troops  co- 
operated with  the  American  forces,  but 
their  young  Captain  broke  with  the 
Americans  when  the  peace  treaty  with 
Spain  gave  over  the  islands  to  American 
control  instead  of  granting  them  inde- 
pendence. He  took  the  warpath  again, 
with  the  title  of  Provisional  President, 
and  during  the  campaign  that  followed 
his  name  was  by  way  of  being  a  house- 
hold word  in  America.  Finally,  in 
March,  1901,  he  and  his  staff  were  cap- 
tured by  an  American  force  led  by  Fun- 
ston,  and  soon  afterward  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance. 

During  the  eighteen  years  that  have 
passed  since  the  surrender  and  accept- 
ance of  American  control  in  the  Philip- 
pines both  Aguinaldo  and  the  islands 
have  prospered  probably  beyond  his  own 
expectations.  His  influence  with  his 
Filipino     countrymen     continues     very 


46 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


great,    but    his    liking    for    revolution 
seems  to  have  vanished  entirely. 

*  *     * 

Food  Administration  Closes 

THE  American  Relief  Administration 
closed  its  Paris  office  on  Aug.  23, 
formally  ending  its  work  in  Europe.  The 
offices  in  Prague,  Warsaw,  Vienna,  and 
other  cities  all  are  closed,  except  that  in 
some  of  them  bookkeepers  are  closing  ac- 
counts, work  that  probably  will  be  fin- 
ished within  two  months.  Herbert 
Hoover,  who  had  supervised  the  distri- 
bution of  supplies  valued  at  hundreds  of 
millions,  sailed  for  the  United  States 
early  in  September. 

The  feeding  of  4,000,000  underfed  chil- 
dren in  various  parts  of  Europe,  under- 
taken by  the  administration,  will  be  con- 
tinued by  a  charitable  organization 
formed  by  Mr.  Hoover,  with  its  main 
offices  in  New  York. 

The  American  Relief  Administration 
during  the  six  months  ending  May  31, 
1919,  distributed  supplies  valued  at  $836,- 
175,000  to  seventeen  countries,  according 
to  Mr.  Hoover's  reports  to  the  Supreme 
Council.  These  supplies  represented  512 
shiploads,  weighing  2,486,230  metric 
tons. 

*  *     * 

The  Cercay  Papers 
TN  the  treaty  of  peace  occurs  an  al- 
■*•  lusion  to  "  the  Cercay  papers."  The 
clause  stipulates  that  Germany  shall 
return  to  France  all  the  political  papers 
seized  by  the  German  authorities  on 
Oct.  10,  1870,  at  the  country  house  of 
Cercay,  then  the  property  of  M.  Rouher, 
sometime  Cabinet  Minister.  The  Lon- 
don Sunday  Times  explains  this  clause 
as  follows:  When,  on  Oct.  10,  1870, 
the  17th  Mecklenberg  Division  arrived 
at  Cercay,  the  soldiers  proceeded  to 
turn  Rouher's  house  upside  down.  In 
the  process  they  came  upon  some  papers 
which  they  would  have  scattered  and 
destroyed,  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  Ger- 
man officer  who,  guessing  something  of 
their  value,  reported  their  existence  and 
was  ordered  to  send  them  to  Versailles, 
where  Bismarck  then  was.  The  Chan- 
cellor examined  the  papers  himself, 
would  let  no  one  else  see  them,  and  ul- 
timately stowed  them  away  in  the  State 


archives,  where  no  one,  not  even  Treit- 
schke,  has  ever  set  eyes  on  them.  Bis- 
marck had  discovered  that  the  fortune 
of  war  had  put  in  his  possession  a  cor- 
respondence which  gave  him  the  com- 
plete mastery  over  his  enemies,  the 
recalcitrant  States  of  Southern  Germany. 
The  nature  of  the  correspondence  can  be 
gathered  from  contemporary  history;  it 
was  also  pretty  clearly  divulged  in  a 
letter  published  in  the  Kolnische  Zeitung. 
The  writer,  ".M.  von  D."  Dalwigk,  Min- 
ister of  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Hesse, 
wrote,  "  Though  Germany  does  not  actu- 
ally desire  a  French  invasion,  the  French, 
if  they  did  come,  would  be  received  with 
open  arms."  With  such  letters  in  his 
possession  Bismarck  V  Id  the  cards.  "  I 
cannot  help  thinking,"  says  a  German 
historian,  Ruville,  "that  we  have  there 
the  key  to  the  foundation  of  the  German 
Empire."  A  French  paper,  Le  Peuple 
Francais,  known  to  have  been  inspired 
by  Rouher,  declared  in  so  many  words 
that  "  the  confidential  correspondence 
exchanged  in  1865  and  1866  between  the 
French  Government  and  the  Ministers 
of  Bavaria  and  Wurttemberg  had  also 
been  left  at  Cercay  and  are  in  Prince 
Bismarck's  hands." 

*     *     * 

Greek  Premier  Crowned  as  Victor 
A  STRONG  appeal  to  the  imagination 
^"*-  is  made  by  the  crowning  of  Eleu- 
therios  Venizelos,  the  Prime  Minister  of 
Greece,  on  his  return  from  the  Peace 
Conference  bearing  triumphantly  the 
many  diplomatic  triumphs  won  by  him 
as  the  results  of  his  long  negotiations 
with  the  other  allied  powers,  as  an 
Olympian  victor,  with  the  golden  wreath 
of  wild  olive  to  which  the  whole  democ- 
racy of  Greece  has  subscribed. 

The  wild  olive  was  peculiarly  the 
Olympian  victor's  wreath,  though  the 
crowning  of  heroes  in  Greece  was  not 
for  those  who  had  performed  great  and 
valiant  deeds  in  statecraft,  or  in  defense 
of  their  country,  but  for  those  who  had 
outstripped  their  fellows  in  the  athletic 
games  which  were  the  chief  feature  of 
their  national  life.  The  Isthmian  festi- 
val, claiming  an  even  greater  antiquity 
than  the  Olympian,  crowned  its  heroes 
with  dry  celery  leaves;   in  the  cypress 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


47 


grove  of  Nemea,  a  secluded  valley  among 
the  hills  half  way  between  Philus  and 
Cleonae,  the  wreath  was  of  fresh  celery, 
though  there  at  one  time,  as  at  Olympia, 
which  it  resembled  also  in  other  ways, 
both  having  probably  come  under  Dorian 
influence,  the  prize  was  a  wreath  of 
wild  olives.  With  the  Pythians,  at 
Delphi,  the  prize  was  a  crown  of  bay 
leaves,  plucked  from  the  Vale  of  Tempe. 

Captain  Fryatt's  Watch 

WHEN  Captain  Fryatt  (the  British 
Sea  Captain  executed  by  the  Ger- 
mans for  an  attempt  to  ram  an  attack- 
ing submarine)  left  his  home  at  Dover- 
court  on  his  last  voyage  in  command 
of  the  Brussels  he  carried  with  him  a 
possession  which  proved  to  be  his  death- 
warrant.  It  was  the  gold  watch  pre- 
sented to  him  by  the  Directors  of  the 
Great  Eastern  Railway  Company  for 
faithful  service.  After  capture  he  was 
sent  with  other  prisoners  into  Germany, 
and  it  was  not  until  he  had  been  there 
some  time  that  his  identity  was  dis- 
covered through  the  watch.  With  a 
woman's  uncanny  intuition  Mrs.  Fryatt 
had  begged  him  to  leave  it  with  her, 
saying  first  that  it  would  be  safer  in 
her  keeping  and  finally  that  she  had  a 
feeling  that  it  would  bring  him  harm. 
The  Captain,  who  was  particularly  proud 
of  the  watch,  laughed  at  his  wife's  fears, 
and  took  it  away  with  him — the  first 
episode  in  the  tragedy  which  followed. 
*     *     * 

Religious  Problems  of  Czechoslovakia 

SATISFIED  on  the  whole  with  the 
results  of  their  negotiation,  the 
delegation  of  Czechoslovak  priests  who 
went  to  Rome  to  lay  before  the  Pope 
the  Czech  and  Slovak  point  of  view  in 
certain  ecclesiastical  matters  of  interest 
and  importance  to  the  new  republic,  re- 
turned to  Prague  on  July  19. 

The  subjects  brought  under  considera- 
tion were : 

1.  The  advisability  of  changes  in  cer- 
tain Bishoprics  in  conformity  with  new 
conditions. 

2.  The  establishment  of  a  de  facto 
primacy  for  the  Archbishop  of  Prague 
throughout  the  territories  of  the  re- 
public. 


3.  The  use  of  the  Slav  instead  of  the 
Latin   liturgy. 

4.  The  marriage  of  priests. 

It  had  been  an  occasion  of  grave  of- 
fense to  the  Czechs  and  Slovaks  that 
many  Bishops  of  entirely  Slav  dioceses 
were  formerly  appointed  from  the  ruling 
races,  that  is  to  say,  Germans  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Magyars  in  Slovakia,  and 
that  the  higher  prelates  were  often  dis- 
tinctly hostile  to  the  sentiments  of  the 
population. 

The  annulment  of  the  old  Slavonic 
liturgy  was  contemporary  with  the  loss 
of  all  liberties,  political  and  religious,  at 
the  battle  of  the  White  Mountain.  This 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  Czech 
clergy  are  so  tenacious  in  insisting  on  its 
restoration  now.  It  was  stated  that  there 
would  be  a  compromise,  permitting  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  liturgy  to  be  in 
Czech. 

Much  greater  difficulty  was  encoun- 
tered on  the  question  of  the  celibacy  of 
the  clergy.  A  congress  of  clergy,  held 
in  Prague  last  January,  petitioned  the 
Government  and  the  Pope  for  the  legal 
abolition  of  obligatory  celibacy.  There 
has  for  centuries  been  a  strong  feeling 
for  married  priests  in  the  country;  more- 
over, 700,000  Ruthenes  who  are  Uniate 
Catholics  with  a  married  clergy  are  now 

within  the  new  republic. 

*     *     * 

London  Honors  General  Fooh 

ON  July  29,  amid  scenes  of  great  en- 
thusiasm, the  British  King  and  the 
City  of  London  welcomed  the  victor  of 
the  Marne  and  the  Supreme  Commander 
of  the  allied  armies,  General  Foch.  The 
King  bestowed  on  the  illustrious  com- 
mander the  title  of  Field  Marshal,  the 
highest  rank  in  the  British  Army.  The 
City  of  London  made  him  a  Freeman  of 
her  liberties  and  presented  him  with  a 
sword  of  honor,  the  highest  favor  it  was 
in  her  power  to  bestow.  Among  the 
tributes  paid  him  was  one  by  Field  Mar- 
shal Haig,  who  very  warmly  and  with 
earnest  sincerity  lauded  him  for  his  mili- 
tary genius  and  his  devoted  services;  for 
his  courtesy  on  the  battlefield  and  in 
the  council  chamber,  and  for  the  in- 
spiration of  his  courage,  energy,  and  en- 
thusiasm. Crucial  moments  of  his  cam- 
paigns   against   the    Germans   were   re- 


48 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


called  by  others,  and  phrases  uttered  by 
him  and  now  become  famous,  were  re- 
called. After  the  Guildhall  ceremony 
Marshal  Foch  met  a  distinuished  com- 
pany at  luncheon  at  the  Mansion  House, 
where  he  heard  many  laudatory  ad- 
dresses, and  in  response  uttered  words 
of  gratitude  for  the  distinguished  honors 
paid  him. 

*     *     * 

The  Sacrifices  of  St.  Cyr 

ON  Aug.  9  there  occurred  a  great 
pageant  at  the  French  Military  Col- 
lege of  St.  Cyr.  The  ceremony  took 
place  in  brilliant  sunshine.  Six  different 
classes  were  represented,  and  the  gaps  in 
their  ranks  made  it  possible  to  realize  the 
terrible  price  France  had  paid  for  the 
victory  of  civilization.  When  the  war 
broke  out  in  1914  the  great  Military 
School  of  St.  Cyr  was  crowded  with  the 
youthful  military  talent  of  France.  Out 
of  every  hundred  men  belonging  to  this 
class  fifty  men  met  their  death.  Their 
predecessors,  the  class  of  1913,  had  lost 
in  killed  sixty-one  out  of  every  100,  and 
the  losses  of  the  succeeding  classes  had 
been  extreme.  This  fact  gave  a  note  of 
pain  to  the  pageant,  which  was  one  of 
the  annual  triomphes  held  by  St.  Cyr 
year  after  year  to  prove  in  this  way  the 
continuity  in  the  history  of  French  arms. 
Members  of  the  pageant  symbolized  in 
appropriate  costume  the  various  periods, 
from  the  time  of  early  Gaul  down  to  the 
epoch  of  1914.  The  ceremony  of  the 
"  baptism  of  the  classes "  was  particu- 
larly impressive.  The  military  students 
of  1914,  1915,  1916,  1917,  1918,  and  1919 
lined  up  in  the  riding  school  and  the 
selected  representative  of  the  1914  class, 
followed  by  the  representative  of  the 
1913  class,  was  dressed  as  a  splendid 
figure  of  Napoleon.  He  halted  before 
the  General  in  command  and  read  an  ad- 
dress of  the  purest  patriotism.  Normally 
the  representative  of  the  outgoing  class 
has  to  speak  to  the  untried  boys  and 
exhort  them  to  carry  on  the  great  tradi- 
tions of  the  school.  On  this  occasion  he 
addressed  men  who  had  led  their  com- 
rades through  the  worst  phases  of  war, 
whose  breasts  were  a  blaze  of  decora- 
tions, and  who  had  learned  more  of  the 


meaning  of  warfare  than  many  of  those 
who  were  their  instructors  before  the 
war. 

As  each  was  baptized — the  1914  class 
as  the  Promotion  de  la  Grande  Revanche, 
the  1915,  1916,  and  1917  as  the  Promo- 
tion des  Drapaux  et  de  l'Amitie  Ameri- 
caine,  the  1918  as  the  Promotion  de  St. 
Odile  (the  Patron  Saint  of  Alsace)  et  de 
Lafayette,  and  the  1919  as  the  Promotion 
de  la  Victoire — these  men  all  knelt.  The 
ceremony  was  much  more  than  a  mere 
form,  for  throughout  their  careers  all 
these  men  will  speak  of  themselves  under 

the  title  of  these  respective  promotions. 

*     *     * 

Armistice  Correspondence  of  Central 
Rulers 

THE  two  following  telegrams,  ex- 
changed between  Cha-les  T  and  Will- 
iam II.  on  Oct.  30,  1918,  the  day  when 
Austria  made  her  first  attempt  to  obtain 
an  armistice,  were  published  in  the 
Frankfurter  Zeitung  on  Aug.  6,  1919.  The 
Austrian  Emperor  telegraphed  to  his  ally 
as  follows: 

This  morning,  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  military  situation  has  become  unten- 
able, I  was  forced  to  propose  an  armistice 
to  the  Italians.  But  if  the  Italians  insist 
as  a  condition  that  the  roads  through 
Tyrol  and  Carinthia,  the  railways  of  Tar- 
vis,  Brenner,  and  Sidbahn  be  opened  to 
our  enemies  to  march  against  thy  ter- 
ritories, I  will  place  myself  at  the  head 
of  my  German  Austrians  to  prevent  this 
march  by  the  force  of  arms.  Thou  canst 
count  on  this  absolutely.  I  cannot  have 
the  same  confidence  in  the  troops  of  other 
nationalities.     Cordially  and  loyally, 

CHARLES. 

To  this  message  the  ex-Kaiser  replied 
as  follows: 

I  have  read  with  emotion  thy  telegram 
concerning  the  armistice  proposal.  I  am 
convinced  that  thy  German  Austrians, 
guided  by  their  Emperor,  will  rise  as  a 
single  man  against  all  shameful  condi- 
tions, and  I  thank  thee  for  assuring  me 
thereof.     Thy  faithful  friend, 

WILLIAM. 

Morocco  and  the  Peace  Treaty 

A  REPORT  on  the  clauses  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  relative  to  Morocco 
was  submitted  to  the  French  Chamber 
shortly  previous  to  Aug.  10  by  M. 
Maurice  Long,  a  Deputy.  After  having 
recalled  the  events  that  have  occurred 


!tv    ^ 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


49 


in  Morocco — the  German  interventions, 
the  various  conventions  preceding  the 
war — the  report  described  the  favorable 
results  of  French  policy  which  gave 
France  a  strong  position  in  Morocco 
when  the  European  conflagration  burst 
out,  thus  precluding  the  danger  of  an 
attack  in  Northern  Africa.  Far  from 
being  a  cause  of  weakness,  Morocco 
proved  a  source  of  strength.  Under 
the  leadership  of  its  administrators,  and 
of  the  French  soldiers  and  colonists 
established  there,  Morocco  vied  with  the 
oldest  antf  most  loyal  provinces  of  France 
in  its  contributions  to  the  common  cause. 
The  report  continued  as  follows: 

France  was  justified  in  presenting  to 
the  Peace  Conference  its  legitimate  aspi- 
rations in  Morocco.  All  of  these  have  been 
admitted.  All  the  treaties  which  Germany 
had  made  with  the  Moroccan  Empire  or 
with  France  concerning  Morocco  have 
been  abrogated ;  Germany  loses  all  the 
rights  which  she  acquired  from  those 
treaties.  All  the  possessions  of  Germany 
in  Morocco  pass  to  the  makhzen  without 
Indem  nity ;  all  those  of  German  individ- 
uals are  liquidated  and  their  value  de- 
ducted from  Germany's  debt  to  France. 
In  the  future  German  subjects  will  have 
right  of  access  to  Morocco  only  in  so  far 
and  on  the  conditions  that  the  Moroccan 
Government  may  fix  of  its  own  volition; 
the  same  will  apply  to  all  merchandise 
coming  from  Germany.  As  for  Moroccan 
products  they  will  be  admitted  to  Ger- 
many on  the  same  basis  as  French  mer- 


chandise. This  whole  system  means  that 
total  eviction  which  the  past  justifies 
and  by  which  the  future  is  guaranteed. 
France  could  not  obtain  a  satisfaction 
more  complete. 

The  pact  of  Algeciras,  the  Franco- 
German  treaties  of  1909  and  1911,  the 
protectorate  treaty  of  1912  applied  to  all 
Morocco.  The  allied  and  associated  pow- 
ers explicitly  recognized  that  the  treaty 
of  peace  should  have  the  same  scope. 
The  treaty  of  peace  with  Austria  placed 
Austria  on  the  same  basis  in  Morocco  as 
Germany.  Tangier,  which  occupies  a 
special  position,  being  administered  by  a 
Sultan  protected  by  France,  was  provided 
for  by  a  special  charter,  drawn  up  by 
France  in  1914,  accepted  by  Great  Britain 
and  presented  to  Spain,  but  not  approved 
by  her  up  to  the  year  1919.  By  the 
terms  of  this  charter  foreign  Govern- 
ments will  share  in  the  administration  of 
Tangier,  which  will  thus  have  an  inter- 
national character.  The  central  and  con- 
trolling power,  however,  will  remain  with 
France. 

The  report  of  the  French  Deputy  con- 
cluded thus: 

From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Gulf  of  Gabes 
it  is  not  a  colony  which  we  wish  to  gov- 
ern, but  an  African  France,  henceforth  a 
prolongation  of  the  mother  country- 
awakening  to  life  in  the  new  era  of  world 
expansion  opened  to  us  by  the  victory  of 
peace. 


American  Events 

Occurrences    and    Developments    in    the    United    States    of 

National    Importance 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  18,  1919] 


THE  American  armies  called  into  be- 
ing by  the  exigencies  of  war  were 
rapidly  being  absorbed  into  the 
civil  life  of  the  nation  when  the 
Summer  ended.  General  March,  the 
Chief  of  Staff,  announced  Sept.  13  that 
to  date  3,305,737  officers  and  enlisted 
men  had  been  returned  to  civil  life.  Of 
these  164,670  were  officers.  The  num- 
ber of  men  returned  from  Europe  to- 
taled 1,892,483,  of  whom  89,205  were  of- 
ficers. 


For  the  new  regular  army  there  had 
been  enlisted  since  the  armistice  113,239 
men,  of  whom  10,921  asked  service  in 
Europe  and  2,001  expressed  a  preference 
for  duty  in  Siberia. 

The  following  casualties  were  reported 
on  Sept.  12  by  the  commanding  general 
of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces: 
Killed  in  action  (including  382  at  sea), 
34,568;  died  from  wounds,  13,957;  died 
of  disease,  23,653;  died  from  accident 
and  other  causes,  5,281;  wounded  in  ac- 


50 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tion  (over  85  per  cent,  returned),  214,- 
378;  missing  in  action  (not  including 
prisoners  released  and  returned),  2;  to- 
tal to  date,  291,839.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  of  those  missing  in  action  only 
two  remained  unaccounted  for. 

AID   TO   DISABLED   SOLDIERS 

Increases  practically  doubling  the 
monthly  compensation  originally  pro- 
vided by  the  War  Risk  Insurance  act  to 
disabled  soldiers  and  sailors  and  mem- 
bers of  their  families  were  passed  unani- 
mously by  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  Sept.  13.  Under  the  new  plan  the 
compensation  for  total  temporary  disa- 
bility will  be — for  a  single  man — $80  a 
month  instead  of  $30;  for  a  married 
man  with  a  wife,  or  a  child,  $90  instead 
of  $45;  one  with  a  wife  and  one  child, 
$95  instead  of  $55,  and  the  man  with  a 
wife  and  two  children  or  more,  $100 
instead  of  $65. 

Disabilities,  it  is  provided,  shall  also 
be  rated  as  partial  and  temporary,  total 
and  permanent,  and  partial  and  perma- 
nent, for  which  the  monthly  compensa- 
tion shall  be  a  percentage  of  the  degree 
of  reduction  in  earning  capacity. 

Automatic  insurance  provisions  of  the 
law  are  extended  to  cover  all  men,  ex- 
cept those  who  actually  refused  to  apply 
for  insurance,  who  were  finally  accepted 
for  service  during  the  war.  The  per- 
mitted class  of  beneficiaries  is  enlarged 
to  include  uncles,  aunts,  nephews,  nieces, 
brothers-in-law  and  sisters-in-law,  while 
the  definition  of  parent  is  extended  to 
persons  who  stood  in  loco  parentis  to  a 
service  man. 

COURTS-MARTIAL 

In  approving  the  report  submitted  to 
him  by  Major  Gen.  Francis  J.  Kernan, 
head  of  the  special  War  Department 
Board,  on  courts-martial  and  their  pro- 
cedure, Secretary  Baker  on  Aug.  24  took 
the  official  stand  that  the  present  sys- 
tem should  not  be  changed  except  in 
minor  details. 

The  War  Department  Board's  report 
reflected  the  opinion  of  225  officers  who 
were  circularized.  More  than  half  of 
these  gave  hearty  approval  to  the  pres- 
ent system,  forty-three  condemned  it  as 


basically  wrong,  and  the  remainder,  a 
total  of  sixty-seven,  pointed  out  specific 
weaknesses  which  they  thought  should 
be  remedied. 

The  most  serious  defect  in  the  existing 
system,  the  report  asserted,  arises  from 
the  "  lack  of  competent  trial  Judge  Ad- 
vocates and  counsel,"  and  as  a  remedy 
it  was  recommended  that  defense  coun- 
sel be  appointed  for  each  general  and 
special  court-martial,  and  that  special 
inducements  be  offered  young  officers  to 
study  law  in  order  that  they  may  be 
fitted  for  these  and  other  special  duties. 

PERMANENT   RANK   FOR   PERSHING 

President  Wilson,  on  Sept.  3,  signed 
the  bill  passed  by  the  House  and  Senate 
authorizing  him  to  confer  upon  General 
Pershing  the  permanent  title  of  Gen- 
eral, which  creates  him  ranking  officer 
of  the  American  Army  as  long  as  he  re- 
mains in  active  service.  As  the  General 
is  59  years  old,  this  insures  his  reten- 
tion of  the  title  for  the  next  five  years. 
The  commission  was  presented  to  the 
General  by  Secretary  Baker  on  the 
former's  arrival  in  New  York,  Sept.  8. 

RESIGNATION  OF  OFFICERS 

Since  the  armistice  was  signed  the 
War  Department  has  accepted  the 
resignations  of  nearly  1,300  officers.  In 
July  alone  there  were  about  160 
resignations  accepted,  more  than  twice  as 
many  officers  as  resigned  in  the  entire 
ten  years  immediately  prior  to  the  coun- 
try's entry  into  the  war  in  1917. 

The  situation  created  as  a  result  of 
the  wholesale  resignation  of  officers, 
most  of  them  junior  officers — the  very 
backbone  of  the  regular  establishment 
— was  so  serious  that  General  March, 
the  Chief  of  Staff,  instructed  the 
Morale  Division  of  the  General  Staff  to 
make  a  complete  and  thorough  investi- 
gation. The  results  of  that  investigation 
were  filed  Aug.  18  with  Major  Gen. 
William  G.  Haan,  the  Chief  of  the  Plans 
Division  of  the  General  Staff,  who  im- 
mediately transmitted  the  document  to 
General  March. 

The  investigation  showed  that  the 
enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of  living 
was    in    the    main    responsible    for   the 


AMERICAN  EVENTS 


51 


great  loss  in  officer  personnel.  In  the 
great  majority  of  the  cases  of  younger 
officers  the  pay  received  was  less  than 
that  now  given  to  unskilled  laborers. 
Furthermore,  these  officers  of  the  reg- 
ular army,  practically  all  of  whom 
served  with  increased  rank  during  the 
war,  were  now  being  demoted,  and  up  to 
Aug.  18  861  had  reverted  to  their  for- 
mer grades,  with  a  corresponding  reduc- 
tion in  pay.  With  their  demotion  their 
pay  reverted  to  the  scale  of  1908. 

Opposition  to  an  army  of  576,000  of- 
ficers and  men  developed  from  both  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  sources,  when 
the  Chief  of  Staff  appeared  before  the 
House  Military  Affairs  Committee  on 
Sept.  3  to  discuss  legislation  dealing 
with  the  future  of  the  army.  The  War 
Department's  bill  would  raise  the  total 
to  576,000  as  compared  with  175,000 
under  the  National  Defense  act  of  1916. 

As  soon  as  General  March  mentioned 
these  figures  Representative  Miller  of 
Washington,  Republican,  asked  what 
world  condition  would  make  it  necessary 
to  have  a  force  of  such  size.  Represent- 
ative Dent  of  Alabama,  Democrat,  for- 
mer Chairman  of  the  committee,  and 
now  the  ranking  Democrat,  made  it 
plain  that  he  intended  to  make  a  fight 
to  keep  the  size  of  the  army  down  to 
175,000. 

SALE  OF  ARMY  SUPPLIES 

It  was  announced  by  Secretaray  Baker 
on  Aug.  28  that  an  agreement  had  been 
reached  by  which  the  French  Govern- 
ment would  pay  to  the  American  Gov- 
ernment $400,000,000  for  all  of  the 
A.  E.  F.  property  in  France,  except  that 
allotted  for  return  to  this  country  and 
for  the  use  of  remaining  troops. 

Under  the  contract  made  with  France 
that  Government  will  pay  for  these 
American  army  works,  properties,  and 
goods  in  $400,000,000  worth  of  French 
bonds,  which  are  to  be  delivered  to  the 
American  Government.  These  bonds  will 
be  dated  Aug.  1,  1919.  They  will  bear 
interest  at  the  date  of  5  per  cent,  an- 
nually. Interest  on  them  will  begin  to 
run  from  Aug.  1,  1920,  payable  in 
United  States  gold  coin,  or,  if  this  Gov- 
ernment at  any  time  elects,  the  interest 
may   be   paid    in    French   francs.      The 


principal  will  also  be  payable  in  gold 
coin. 

The  estimated  inventory  value  of  all 
of  the  property  of  the  A.  E.  F.  in 
France  on  July  8  last  was  $969,000,000, 
while  the  estimated  inventory  value  of 
the  property  available  for  sale  to  the 
French  was  $749,000,000.  The  esti- 
mated original  cost  of  all  the  property 
of  the  A.  E.  F.  still  in  France  on  July 
8  was  about  $1,700,000,000,  while  the 
estimated  original  cost  of  that  part  of 
this  property  available  for  sale  to 
France  was  about  $1,300,000,000,  ac- 
cording to  statements  obtained  from  the 
War  Department* 

Secretary  Baker  was  advised  that  if 
these  supplies  had  been  held  in  France 
to  be  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  by 
this  Government,  instead  of  through  the 
French  Government,  it  would  have  cost 
the  American  Government  considerable 
money.  He  said  that  it  would  have 
meant  the  expense,  among  other  things, 
of  maintaining  about  40,000  men  in 
France  from  six  to  eight  months,  to  dis- 
pose of  the  goods,  or  care  for  them.  If 
these  goods  were  placed  on  sale  to  in- 
dividuals in  France,  it  would  have  been 
necessary  to  pay  duties  on  them  which 
would  have  amounted  to  about  $150,- 
000,000. 

'     GROWTH  OF  NAVY 

The  United  States  Navy  Year  Book, 
recently  issued,  showed  that  the  United 
States  was  easily  the  second  naval 
power  of  the  world,  while  construction 
now  under  way  would  greatly  reduce 
the  difference  in  tonnage  between  the 
British  and  American  navies.  Great 
Britain  stands  first  in  completed  ships, 
but  the  United  States  is  far  ahead  of  all 
other  nations  as  far  as  new  construc- 
tion is  concerned. 

The  Year  Book  also  includes  what  is 
perhaps  the  most  complete  statistical 
history  yet  compiled  of  the  naval  losses 
sustained  by  all  the  belligerents  during 
the  war,  and  gives  the  name  and  the 
date  of  the  loss  of  197  German  subma- 
rines, a  total  which  exceeds  the  official 
German  report  of  submarine  losses  by 
nineteen  vessels.  Previously  the  German 
Admiralty  published  a  report  in  which 
it  was  said  that  Germany's  losses  in  un- 


52 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


dersea  craft  totaled  178  vessels.  The 
total  naval  losses  of  the  war  were  883 
ships,  and  of  these  Germany  lost  398 
and  Great  Britain  259.  France  lost  57, 
Russia  50,  Italy  31,  the  United  States 
13,  Japan  11,  and  Rumania,  Greece, 
and  Portugal  1  each.  Turkey  lost  32 
and  Austria-Hungary  29  vessels,  making 
the  total  losses  424  ships  for  the  Allies 
and  459  for  the  Central  Powers. 

The  total  submarine  losses  of  the  war 
were  299  vessels,  and  of  these  Germany 
lost  197,  England  55,  France  15,  Austria 
12,  Russia  10,  Italy  8,  and  Turkey  2, 
which  shows  an  allied  submarine  loss  of 
88  and  a  Central  Powers  loss  of  211. 

REVIEW  OF  PACIFIC  FLEET 

On  Sept.  1  the  Pacific  Fleet  was  re- 
viewed in  San  Francisco  Harbor  by  Sec- 
retary Daniels.  The  sky  was  overcast 
while  the  review  was  in  progress.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands,  who  lined  the  shores 
from  the  Golden  Gate  to  the  foot  of 
Market  Street,  were  able,  however,  to 
see  the  manoeuvres. 

Half  an  hour  before  the  first  vessel 
was  sighted  Secretary  Daniels  and  his 
party  were  piped  aboard  the  battleship 
Oregon,  while  the  guns  of  Fort  Scott 
boomed  out  the  Secretary's  salute.  By 
this  time  a  long  line  of  the  fleet — coming 
single  file — was  approaching  the  Gate, 
led  by  the  dreadnought  New  Mexico,  and 
with  the  dreadnoughts  Mississippi  and 
Idaho  following  at  intervals  of  700 
yards. 

The  long  line  of  warcraft  crept 
through  the  Golden  Gate,  past  the  Pre- 
sidio military  reservation  and  the  once 
impregnable  old  Fort  Point,  whose  thick 
brick  walls  the  engineers  of  civil  war 
days  built  to  withstand  the  solid  shot  of 
enemy  frigates;  past  the  modern  forts, 
Miley  and  Winfield  Scott,  on  the  San 
Francisco  side  of  the  harbor,  and  under 
the  long  range  guns  of  Forts  Baker 
and  Barry,  hidden  in  the  golden  brown 
hills  on  the  opposite  shore,  where  Mount 
Tamalpais  stands  sentinel  to  the  Golden 
Gate. 

Each  ship  was  "dressed"  for  the 
event.  The  Admiral  flew  his  flag — a 
field  of  blue  with  four  white  stars — from 
the  foremast,  and  the  largest  and  newest 

'merican    flags    from    mainmast    and 


stern.  The  flagship  of  the  Vice  Admiral 
bore  the  blue  flag  with  three  white  stars 
from  its  foremast  and  those  of  the  two 
Rear  Admirals,  blue  banners  with  two 
white  stars,  from  the  corresponding 
masts.  The  other  vessels  flew  the  na- 
tional ensign  at  foremast  and  mainmast 
and  stern. 

PEARL  HARBOR  DRYDOCK 

The  great  Pearl  Harbor  drydock  was 
dedicated  by  Secretary  Daniels  at  Hono- 
lulu, Hawaii,  Aug.  21.  The  dock  is  1,001 
feet  long  and  has  an  inside  width  of  138 
feet  and  an  inside  depth  of  32*4  feet. 
It  will  accommodate  any  ship  afloat  and 
represents  an  investment  of  more  than 
$5,000,000. 

The  dock  and  naval  base  have  a  set- 
ting in  what  is  considered  one  of  the 
finest  and  most  beautiful  harbors  in  the 
world.  Entirely  landlocked  in  a  rim  of 
hills,  Pearl  Harbor  could  anchor  all  the 
naval  fleets  of  the  world  out  of  view 
from  the  open  sea.  Pearl  Harbor  has  an 
area  of  approximately  ten  square  miles. 
Its  depth  is  approximately  sixty  feet. 
Entrance  to  the  harbor  has  been  made 
safe  for  all  time  by  dredging  and  other 
work  done  by  the  United  States. 

The  drydock  had  been  under  construc- 
tion since  1910.  Its  opening  had  been 
planned  to  take  place  long  before  this, 
but  various  delays  and  the  war  caused 
postponement.  The  most  serious  delay 
occurred  when  the  entire  bottom  of  the 
drydock  upheaved  suddenly,  ruining  all 
work  that  had  been  done  and  delaying 
construction  for  a  year. 

Permanent  rank  of  Admiral  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  previously  given 
only  to  three  men,  Farragut,  Porter  and 
Dewey,  was  conferred  upon  Admirals  W. 
S.  Sims  and  W.  S.  Benson  by  a  bill 
which  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives Sept.  8,  by  a  vote  of  244  to  7. 

RAILROAD  DEFICIT 

Reports  of  Class  1  railroads  of  this 
country  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  for  July  and  the  first  seven 
months  of  this  year  showed  that  the 
Railroad  Administration  must  face  an 
operating  deficit  at  the  end  of  1919.  At 
present,  the  line  of  1919  earnings  is  run- 
ning far  below  the  standard  return  guar- 


AMERICAN  EVENTS 


53 


anteed  by  the  Government  to  the  roads 
during  its  control,  and  while  July  rec- 
ords show  a  net  gain  to  the  Railroad 
Administration  of  approximately  $2,- 
000,000  for  the  month,  this  improvement 
is  not  sufficient  to  offset  the  deficit 
piled  up  in  the  first  six  months  to  ap- 
proximately $290,525,000. 

COST  OF  LIVING 

General  increases  of  about  80  per  cent, 
in  the  cost  of  living  during  the  period 
from  December,  1914,  to  June,  1919,  were 
shown  in  tables  made  public  on  Aug.  16 
by  the  Department  of  Labor.  The  tables 
were  based  on  investigations  in  various 
representative  cities.  In  every  instance 
the  greatest  increases  were  recorded  in 
the  prices  of  clothing  and  house  furnish- 
ings. Food  advances  were  of  third  im- 
portance. Figures  for  the  period,  Decem- 
ber, 1917,  to  June,  1919,  show  general 
average  increases  of  about  20  per  cent. 

Total  increases  in  the  two  items  of 
food  and  clothing,  without  considering 
other  items  in  family  budgets,  showed 
enormous  increases  from  December,  1914, 
to  June,  1919,  the  advance  in  the  case  of 
Chicago  being  157.67  per  cent.  The 
same  items  went  up  125  per  cent,  in 
Detroit,  125  per  cent,  in  Cleveland,  140 
per  cent,  in  Buffalo,  103  per  cent,  in 
Portland,  Me.,  137  per  cent,  in  Boston, 
151  per  cent,  in  New  York,  135  per  cent. 
in  Philadelphia,  128  per  cent,  in  Balti- 
more, 104  per  cent,  in  Norfolk,  146  per 
cent,  in  Savannah,  139  per  cent,  in  Jack- 
sonville, 93  per  cent,  in  Mobile,  135  per 
cent,  in  Houston,  Texas,  115  per  cent,  in 
Portland,  Ore.,  110  per  cent,  in  Seattle, 
123  per  cent,  in  Los  Angeles,  and  134 
per  cent,  in  San  Francisco  and  Oakland, 
Cal. 

Smaller  increases  in  such  things  as 
housing,  fuel  and  light  and  miscellaneous 
items  lowered  the  general  average  in- 
crease, general  percentages  being  as  fol- 
lows: Portland,  Me.,  74;  Boston,  72;  New 
York,  79;  Philadelphia,  76;  Baltimore, 
83;  Norfolk,  87;  Savannah,  79;  Jackson- 
ville, 74;  Mobile,  76;  Houston,  80;  Port- 
land, Ore.,  69;  Seattle,  74;  Los  Angeles, 
65;  San  Francisco  and  Oakland,  65; 
Chicago,  74;  Detroit,  84;  Cleveland,  77, 
and  Buffalo,  84. 

In  all  instances  the  increases  in  cloth- 


ing prices  were  greater  than  any  other 
item. 

PENALTIES  FOR  PROFITEERS 
The  proposed  amendments  to  the  Food 
Control  act  for  dealing  with  profiteers 
in  nearly  all  necessaries,  with  a  penalty 
of  $5,000  fine  or  two  years'  imprison- 
ment for  those  who  charge  exorbitant 
prices,  was  passed  by  the  House  on  Aug. 
22  without  a  roll  call.  This  action  came 
at  the  end  of  a  day  of  partisan  speech- 
making  after  the  House,  sitting  as  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole,  by  a  vote  of  79  to 
63,  had  brought  rent  profiteers  through- 
out the  country  within  the  scope  of  the 
law.  When  the  bill  was  reported  to  the 
House  this  amendment  was  eliminated 
by  a  vote  of  77  to  132,  and  a  motion  by 
Representative  Griffin  to  recommit  the 
bill  and  instruct  the  committee  to  report 
it  without  the  exemption  of  farmers  was 
lost  by  a  vote  of  24  to  200. 

Republican  leaders  who  were  respon- 
sible for  the  defeat  of  the  rent  prof- 
iteering section  held  that  the  inclusion 
of  this  subject  would  make  the  bill  too 
far-reaching  and  break  down  the  pur- 
pose of  the  proposed  law,  which  is  timed 
to  reach  profiteering  in  food  and  cloth- 
ing. They  said  that  rent  pro'* '  ->ering 
would  be  reached  later  in  a  specific  law. 
This  action  marked  the  first  legi  '',- 
tive  step  in  the  Administration's  high 
cost  of  living  campaign  and  place  in 
the  hands  of  Governmental  agencies  suf- 
ficient authority  to  proceed  against  re- 
tailers, who,  according  to  Attorney  Gen- 
eral Palmer,  are  maintaining  high  price 
levels. 

ARMY  OF  OCCUPATION 
Marshal  Foch  reached  a  decision  Sept. 
4  upon  the  extent  of  territory  in  the 
Rhineland  to  be  held  permanently  by  the 
American  force.  Its  area  will  be  twice 
as  large  as  that  which  has  been  under 
American  jurisdiction  since  the  last  com- 
bat division  left  for  home.  By  Marshal 
Foch's  decision  the  Americans  are  again 
to  take  over  all  the  Coblenz  bridgehead 
proper,  or  exactly  the  same  territory  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Rhine  as  they  have 
occupied  since  December  last.  On  the 
west  bank  American  area  has  been  ex- 
tended about  forty  kilometers,  taking  in 
the  large  towns  of  Cochem,  on  the  Mo- 


54 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


selle,  Mayen,  and  Andernach,  which  have 
been  occupied  by  the  French  since  the 
departure  of  the  3d  Division  a  month 
ago.  On  the  east  bank  of  the  Rhine  the 
Americans  will  continue  to  occupy  the 
fortress  of  Ehrenbreitstein,  Neuvied, 
and  Montabaur.  The  headquarters  of 
the  American  forces  will  remain  at  Co- 
blenz. 

General  Pershing  advised  the  War  De- 
partment on  Aug.  22  that  the  American 
force  remaining  in  Germany  after  Sept. 
30  would  consist  of  a  little  more  than 


6,000  picked  men.  The  names  of  the 
units  and  their  approximate  strength 
were  as  follows: 

Officers.  Men. 

8th  Infantry 114    3,720 

7th  Machine  Gun  Battalion 16       379 

2d  Battalion,  6th  F.  A 20       620 

35th  Field  Signal  Battalion 15       473 

1st  Supply  Train. 16       485 

1st  Mobile  Ordnance  Repair  Shop    3        45 

Company  A,  1st  Engineers 6       250 

Field   Hospital   No.    13 6        82 

Ambulance   Company  No.  26....     5       153 

Total  201    6,207 


The  Police  Strike  in  Boston 

Other  Labor  Problems 


rilHE  police  strike  in  Boston,  which  be- 
J_  gan  on  Sept.  9,  1919,  and  which 
resulted  in  the  city's  being  sub- 
jected to  a  brief  reign  of  terror  by  the 
lawless  elements,  at  once  assumed  an 
aspect  of  national  importance  by  reason 
of  the  far-reaching  principles  involved. 
Boston  policemen  to  the  number  of  1,500 
went  out  on  strike  on  the  date  men- 
tioned at  the  5:45  roll-call  as  a  long- 
threatened  and  drastic  means  of  enforc- 
ing recognition  of  their  newly  formed 
union  and  of  their  right  to  affiliate  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  The 
strike  was  precipitated  by  the  suspen- 
sion of  nineteen  patrolmen  found  guilty 
by  Police  Commissioner  Curtis  of  violat- 
ing the  department  order  against  union- 
izing. 

The  serious  consequences  of  a  strike 
of  this  nature  at  once  became  apparent. 
Gangs  of  boys  looted  shops;  hoodlums 
broke  windows;  and  rioting  mobs  in 
Roxbury,  South  Boston,  the  West  End 
and  other  sections  of  the  city  were  dis- 
persed only  at  the  point  of  the  revolver. 
Loyal  policemen  were  jeered  and  pelted 
with  mud.  Howling  mobs  roamed  the 
city  streets  committing  acts  of  violence. 
The  Provost  Guard  was  rushed  to  the 
city  from  the  navy  yard  at  midnight  to 
help  quell  the  disturbances.  Mayor 
Peters  issued  a  proclamation  calling  on 
all  law-abiding  citizens  to  help  the  au- 
thorities to  maintain  order.  Volunteers 
rere  sworn  in  by  special  officers  and 


equipped  with  badges  and  revolvers.  All 
able-bodied  retired  patrolmen  were  re- 
cruited. Banks  and  large  business 
houses  organized  guards  from  among 
their  employes,  arming  them  as  special 
policemen.  Federal  authorities  took  pre- 
cautions for  the  guarding  of  all  Govern- 
ment property. 

On  Sept.  10  the  rioting  continued. 
Cavalry  with  drawn  sabres  and  infantry 
with  fixed  bayonets  charged  to  disperse 
the  assembled  rioters.  The  city  was 
placed  completely  under  martial  law,  and 
5,000  soldiers  of  the  State  Guard  pa- 
trolled the  streets  with  orders  to  protect 
life  and  property.  Two  men  were  killed 
and  several  wounded  by  machine  gun 
and  rifle  fire  in  South  Boston,  where  the 
rioting  continued  for  hours.  Scores  of 
soldiers  and  civilians  received  injuries 
from  flying  missiles.  Sticks,  bottles, 
and  paving  stones  were  used  as  weapons 
by  the  attacking  crowds.  In  Scollay 
Square,  which  is  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
some  of  the  worst  outbreaks  occurred, 
the  crowd  growing  steadily  and  finally 
attacking  police  officers.  One  man  was 
killed  at  this  point,  and  others  were  re- 
moved badly  wounded  to  the  hospital. 
Steel-helmeted  cavalrymen  clattered 
through  the  streets  and  frequently  took 
to  the  sidewalks  to  break  up  all  gather- 
ings. Banks  and  business  offices  were 
kept  fully  lighted,  and  guards  sat  inside 
with  rifles  and  automatics  in  their  hands 
ready  for  instant  use.     Millions  of  dol- 


THE  POLICE  STRIKE  IN  BOSTON 


55 


lars'  worth  of  valuables  were  removed 
and  sent  to  Springfield  or  Worcester. 
The  windows  of  many  downtown  stores 
were  barricaded  with  lumber.  Number- 
less persons  were  robbed.  Gambling 
went  on  openly  on  the  Boston  Common. 
Unprotected  women  were  pursued  and 
assaulted  in  dark  corners.  Some  of  the 
perpetrators  of  these  crimes  were  ar- 
rested and  sentenced  to  prison,  but  many 
went  unpunished. 

POLICE  UNION'S  ATTITUDE 

President  John  Mclnnis  of  the  Police- 
men's Union  issued  a  statement  saying 
that  the  responsibility  for  the  rioting 
and  looting  rested  with  Commissioner 
Curtis.  Ample  notice  of  the  coming 
strike,  he  declared,  had  been  given,  and 
the  public  had  been  informed  that  an 
emergency  force  was  being  recruited. 
Why,  he  asked,  was  this  emergency 
force  not  in  evidence?  Mayor  Peters 
stated  that  the  Committee  of  Thirty- 
four  appointed  by  him  had  done  every- 
thing humanly  possible  to  avoid  the 
strike,  but  had  received  no  co-operation 
either  from  the  Police  Commissioner  or 
the  Governor.  A  request  made  by  him 
to  mobilize  the  State  Guard  had  been 
refused  by  the  Commissioner. 

On  Sept.  11  lawlessness  started  early 
in  the  morning  and  continued  through 
the  day.  Nineteen  more  were  wounded 
and  forty  injured  in  clashes  with  troops. 
Some  forty-four  men  were  arrested  for 
gambling  on  the  Common.  One  was 
killed.  Meanwhile  Governeor  Coolidge 
had  sent  a  telegram  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  asking  for  Federal  military  as- 
sistance to  maintain  order  if  the  5,000 
guardsmen  on  duty  in  the  city  proved 
unequal  to  the  task. 

ACTION  BY  MR.  GOMPERS 

A  new  element  was  injected  into  the 
situation  by  a  telegram,  sent  from  New 
York  on  Sept.  12  by  Samuel  Gompers, 
President  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  to  Mayor  Andrew  J.  Peters  of 
Boston,  and  repeated  to  Governor  Cool- 
idge and  to  Frank  McCarthy,  Organizer 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  in 
Boston.    It  was  an  appeal  that  the  whole 


matter  of  police  unionization  be  left  in 
statu  quo  until  after  the  conference 
called  by  President  Wilson  for  Oct.  6. 

On  the  same  day  Mr.  McCarthy  an- 
nounced that  the  Policemen's  Union 
agreed  to  accept  Mr.  Gompers's  proposal 
to  return  to  work  and  await  the  result 
of  the  President's  conference.  The  Gov- 
ernor referred  the  question  of  reinstate- 
ment of  the  striking  policemen  to  the 
Police  Commissioner.  A  conference, 
however,  was  arranged  between  Gov- 
ernor Coolidge  and  representatives  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  and  the 
Central  Labor  Union,  to  discuss  Mr. 
Gompers's  proposal  and  the  general  ques- 
tion of  the  policemen's  right  to  unionize 
and  affiliate  with  the  association. 

STRIKERS*  POSITION'S  FORFEITED 

The  next  day,  acting  on  the  legal  ad- 
vice of  the  State  Attorney  General  that 
the  police  strikers  had  forfeited  their 
positions  in  the  Police  Department,  Com- 
missioner Curtis  declared  vacant  the  po- 
sitions of  all  policemen  who  had  gone 
out  on  strike.  The  nineteen  suspended 
policemen  had  been  discharged,  and  a 
new  force  was  being  recruited. 

After  receiving  from  Governor  Cool- 
idge a  telegram  declaring  that  he  would 
support  Police  Commissioner  Curtis  in 
dismissing  the  Boston  policemen  who 
went  out  on  strike,  Samuel  Gompers  is- 
sued a  statement  making  a  further  ap- 
peal for  the  strikers  and  asserting  that 
Commissioner  Curtis  had  assumed  an 
unwarranted  and  autocratic  attitude. 

The  Bay  State  Governor,  however,  re- 
mained firm  and  on  Sept.  14  sent  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Gompers  in  which  he  said: 

Replying  to  your  telegram,  I  have  al- 
ready refused  to  remove  the  Police  Com- 
missioner of  Boston.  I  did  not  appoint 
him.  He  can  assume  no  position  which 
the  courts  would  uphold  except  what  the 
people  have  by  the  authority  of  their  law 
vested  in  him.  He  speaks  only  with  their 
voice.  The  right  of  the  police  of  Boston 
to  affiliate  has  always  been  questioned, 
never  granted,   is  now  prohibited. 

The  suggestion  of  President  Wilson  to 
"Washington  does  not  apply  to  Boston. 
There  the  police  have  remained  on  duty. 
Here  the  Policemen's  Union  left  their 
duty,  an  action  which  President  Wilson 
characterized  as  a  crime  against  civil- 
ization. 
Your   assertion   that    the    Commissioner 


56 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


was  wrong  cannot  justify  the  wrong  of 
leaving  the  city  unguarded.  That  fur- 
nished the  opportunity ;  the  criminal  ele- 
ment furnished  the  action.  There  is  no 
right  to  strike  against  the  public  safety 
by  anybody,  anywhere,  any  time. 

An  appeal  was  issued  by  the  officers 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
and  the  Central  Labor  Union  on  behalf 
of  the  policemen,  setting  forth  the  poor 
pay  and  bad  working  conditions  of  the 
force,  describing  their  ineffectual  efforts 
to  better  these  conditions  and  placing 
the  blame  for  the  outbreak  of  lawless- 
ness on  the  Police  Commissioner.  A  new 
wage  scale  was  drafted  by  Mayor  Peters 
to  apply  to  the  newly  recruited  members 
of  the  force.  The  authorities,  however, 
firmly  refused  to  reinstate  the  striking 
policemen,  and  their  places  were  filled 
by  new  men,  mostly  returned  soldiers. 

President  Wilson's  attitude  on  the  sub- 
ject of  police  unions  was  stated  in  a  tele- 
gram to  Louis  Brownlow,  President  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  in  which  he  said: 
I  am   desirous,   as  you  are,   of   dealing 
with  the  police  force  in  the  most  just  and 
generous  way,   but  I  think  that  any  as- 
sociation of  the  police -force  of  the  capital 
city,    or   of  any   great  city,   whose   object 
is   to   bring  pressure   upon  the   public    or 
the  community  such  as  will  endanger  the 
public    peace    or    embarrass    the    mainte- 
nance   of    order,    should    in    no    case    be 
countenanced  or  permitted. 

NATION  STRIKE-RIDDEN 

Strikes  in  general  were  on  the  increase 
during  the  month,  as  shown  by  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  statistics  at  Washington. 
As  far  as  bases  of  comparison  were 
available  m  regard  to  strikes  and  lock- 
outs, labor  unrest  had  reached  its  high- 
est point  since  the  armistice.  Reports 
received  from  Sept.  11  to  Sept.  18  indi- 
cated that  there  were  121  strikes  under 
way  in  the  country  and  that  53  were 
threatened.  Nineteen  strikes  were  set- 
tled before  Sept.  17.  In  these  settlements 
it  was  the  strikers  who  gained  the  ad- 
vantage. 

The  actors'  strike  was  settled  on  the 
basis  of  the  open  shop  on  Sept.  6.  De- 
mands as  to  salaries,  overtime,  and  pay 
for  rehearsals  were  mostly  granted,  and 
arbitration  was  provided  for.  On  Sept. 
7    all    New    York    theatres     reopened. 


Rivaling  this  in  public  interest  was  the 
threatened  steel  strike.  The  vote  of  the 
steel  workers  to  strike  was  taken  on 
Aug.  20.  Requests  for  conference  with 
the  steel  operators  were  denied,  and  even 
President  Wilson's  attempt  to  bring 
about  an  arbitration  failed,  Mr.  Gary, 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  remaining  un- 
moved in  his  determination  not  to  arbi- 
trate the  corporation's  right  to  continue 
the  system  of  the  open  shop.  The  steel 
unions  made  twelve  demands,  including 
collective  bargaining  and  wage  revision. 
At  least  2,000,000  persons  were  involved. 
The  strike  was  ushered  in  on  Sept.  21 
by  clashes  between  the  Pennsylvania 
State  police  and  crowds  bent  on  holding 
labor  mass  meetings  in  the  Pittsburgh 
district.  Nineteen  labor  men  were  ar- 
rested. At  this  time  some  steel  unions 
had  already  gone  out. 

Railway  strikes  on  the  Southern  Paci- 
fic, Santa  Fe,  and  Salt  Lake  roads,  which 
tied  up  all  Los  Angeles  traffic,  were 
ended  by  an  ultimatum  sent  by  Mr. 
Hines,  Director  General  of  the  Federal 
Railroad  Administration,  and  approved 
by  President  Wilson,  declaring  the  Gov- 
ernment's purpose  to  continue  the  opera- 
tion of  these  roads  with  military  force 
if  necessary.  It  was  stated  on  Sept.  21 
that  all  the  striking  shopmen  had  ac- 
cepted President  Wilson's  terms  of  an 
eight-hour  day  and  an  increase  of  4 
cents  an  hour  *for  labor  performed.  Mr. 
Gompers  won  over  the  shopmen  to  a 
ninety-day  truce  awaiting  the  results  of 
the  Administration's  drive  to  reduce  the 
cost  of  living. 

On  Sept.  2  the  President  issued  invita- 
tions to  labor  leaders,  financiers,  manu- 
facturers, and  farmers  to  attend  a  con- 
ference to  be  held  in  Washington  Oct. 
6-15,  for  consideration  of  the  problems 
of  labor  and  its  directors.  Regarding 
the  International  Labor  Conference 
scheduled  to  be  held  in  Washington  on 
Oct.  29  in  accordance  with  the  Peace 
Treaty,  Mr.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor,, 
on  Sept.  2  stated  publicly  that  no  ar- 
rangements had  been  made  for  represen- 
tation of  the  United  States  and  that  no 
such  arrangements  could  be  made  pend- 
ing the  ratification  of  the  treaty  by  the 
Senate. 


Among  the  Nations 

Survey    of    Important    Events    and    Developments    in    Both 

Hemispheres 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  15,  1919] 


THE  BALKANS 

THE  situation  in  the  Balkans,  from 
internal  to  international  affairs, 
was  rendered  confusing  by  repeat- 
ed assertions  and  denials  of  op- 
posing factions  and  Governments.  Tele- 
graphic messages,  except  Belgrade  of- 
ficial, from  the  Balkan  capitals  were 
few  and  contradictory. 

Aside  from  the  Rumanian  adventure 
at  Budapest,  with  its  political  ramifica- 
tions in  the  Balkans,  locally  the  chief 
topics  of  discussion  in  the  peninsula 
were  the  partition  of  Thrace,  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Rumanian-Serb  dispute 
over  the  Banat,  and  the  attempt  of  the 
Serbian  Government  at  Belgrade  to  in- 
augurate Jugoslavia — the  Monarchy  of 
the  Serbs,  Croats,  and  Slovenes.  The 
Jugoslav  propagandists  continued  to 
publish  documents  of  varying  authen- 
ticity and  importance  tending  to  show 
the  treason  of  King  Nicholas  toward 
Montenegro,  and  there  were  signs  that 
the  press  of  Sofia  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  Jugoslavia  against  Italy  and 
had  begun  a  new  campaign  against 
Greece  as  a  response  to  the  growing 
good-will  of  Greece  toward  Italy  and 
the  growing  accumulation  of  evidence  of 
Bulgarian  atrocities  visited  on  the  Greek 
population  of  Macedonia  and  Thrace. 

Details  of  an  uprising  of  Montene- 
grins against  the  Serbian  Army  of  oc- 
cupation came  in  a  dispatch  from  Lon- 
don, on  Aug.  28,  only  to  be  categorially 
denied  and  stigmatized  on  Sept.  2  as 
King  Nicholas's  propaganda,  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Belgrade  Government 
at  Washington.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
defeat  of  Italian  troops  by  the  Albanian 
clansmen,  reported  from  Belgrade  on 
Sept.  2,  was  formally  denied  by  the  Ital- 
ian Government  three  days  later  and  the 
assertion  made  that  the  Albanians,  both 
Christian    and    Moslem,    were    working 


hand  in  hand  with  the  Italian  Army  of 
Occupation  so  as  to  restore  order  and 
revive  industry. 

The  question  of  Thrace  reverted  to  its 
position  of  a  month  ago,  after  several 
declarations  were  made  at  Paris,  only 
to  be  later  repudiated.  On  Aug.  21  it 
was  reported  that  the  so-called  Polk 
(American)  compromise  plan  for  making 
an  international  State  of  about  half  of 
Western  Thrace,  with  Dedeagatch  as  its 
Aegean  port,  and  with  commercial  right 
of  way  for  Bulgaria,  had  been  adopted  at 
Paris  with  the  assent  of  the  Greek  Pre- 
mier, M.  Venizelos.  On  Sept.  1  the 
French  delegates  were  understood  to 
have  induced  M.  Venizelos  to  withdraw 
his  assent,  and  it  was  announced  that 
the  Polk  compromise  had  been  aban- 
doned. Meanwhile,  the  position  of  Greek 
propaganda  on  the  subject,  as  may  be  in- 
terpreted from  the  material  reaching  M. 
Venizelos  and  American  newspapers, 
stood  fi  i*mly  not  only  on  the  claim  that 
all  Thrace  should  belong  to  Greece,  but 
that  Bulgaria  should  be  shut  out  entirely 
from  the  Aegean  Sea,  and  that  no  terri- 
tory containing  Greek  nationals  should 
be  internationalized. 

BULGARIA.— The  Sofia  press  and  of- 
ficial pamphleteers  made  spirited  replies 
to  the  charges  of  Bui  gar  atrocities  in 
Eastern  Macedonia  published  in  the  Of- 
ficial Report  of  the  Interallied  Commis- 
sion by  declaring  that  many  of  the  towns 
and  villages  within  the  zones  covered 
had  been  inhabited  almost  entirely  by 
Bulgars  who  had  fallen  victims  to  the 
Greek  irregulars,  and  by  resurrecting 
the  Rockefeller  report  of  1913  containing 
charges  of  Serb  and  Greek  atrocities 
alleged  to  have  been  committed  against 
the  Bulgars.  The  Sofia  press  also 
charged  Greek  and  Italian  delegates  at 
Paris  with  bringing  about  the  with- 
drawal by  Austria  of  the  Orient  Express 


58 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES  .CURRENT   HISTORY 


on  the  line  from  Vienna  to  Constantino- 
ple, via  Belgrade,  Nish,  Sofia,  and  Adria- 
nople. 

GREECE.— The  Athens  press  reprint- 
ed with  general  approbation  the  scheme 
for  the  disposition  of  Thrace  advanced 
by  J.  Saxon  Mills  of  London,  which  cov- 
ers the  following  points: 

1.  There  is  no  Aegean  port  worthy  of 
the  name  which  can  be  ceded  to  Bulgaria. 
Hence  it  is  useless  to  present  arguments 
in  favor  of  one. 

2.  Bulgaria  already  has  two  ports  on 
the  Black  Sea  which  should  be  of  great 
value  with  the  opening  of  the  Dardanelles. 

3.  All  commercial  tendencies  of  Bul- 
garia lean  toward  Central  Europe.  As 
Friedrich  Neumann  has  said,  Bulgaria  is 
the  natural  ally  of   Germany. 

4.  Let  the  Greeks  accord  to  the  Bulgars 
at  Cavalla  commercial  facilities  similar 
to  those  accorded  to  Serbia  at  Saloniki. 
It  is  useless  to  speak  of  any  rights  in 
Thrace  other  than  those  of  Greece,  save 
in  Constantinople  and  its  neighborhood, 
where  other  considerations  demand  an- 
other disposition.  During  the  recent  wars 
the  attitude  of  Bulgaria  has  certainly 
been  such  that  no  political  or  commercial 
advantage  should  be  given  her  at  the  ex- 
pense of  Greece.  The  right  of  Greece  to 
Thrace  reposes  in  race,  tradition,  and 
present  administration,  which  is  accept- 
able to  both  the  Bulgar  and  Moslem 
minorities. 

RUMANIA.— Although  the  replies 
made  by  the  Rumanian  Government  to 
the  Peace  Conference  in  regard  to  the 
Rumanian  military  occupation  of  Buda- 
pest were  couched  in  the  approved  lan- 
guage of  diplomacy,  the  press  of  Bucha- 
rest was  more  outspoken,  and  its  argu- 
ments covered  the  following  points:  It 
was  absolutely  necessary,  both  for  Ru- 
mania and  for  the  conference  that  the 
Bela  Kun  Bolshevist  regime  in  Budapest 
should  be  ended,  hence  Rumania  should 
be  thanked  rather  than  censured  by  her 
allies;  the  delay  in  signing  the  Austrian 
peace  treaty  with  restorations,  particu- 
larly in  live  stock,  rolling  stock,  and  farm 
implements  to  be  made  to  Rumania,  has 
kept  the  latter  stagnant,  with  conse- 
quent dissatisfaction  for  the  Govern- 
ment; nothing  was  seized  in  Hungary  by 
the  Rumanian  army  of  occupation  that 
was  not  needed  for  the  maintenance  of 
that  army  or  that  had  not  been  taken 
away  from  Rumania  by  Hungarians — 
"Belgium  and  France  should  have  done 


the  same  thing  in  Prussia";  as  to  the 
shipment  of  arms  from  Hungary  to  Ru- 
mania, did  the  conference  want  Rumania 
to  be  defeated  by  the  Russian  Bolsheviki 
in  Bessarabia? 

The  press  of  Bucharest  gave  consider- 
able space  to  translations  from  the  Paris 
papers  commending  Rumania's  action  at 
Budapest,  most  of  them  adding  that  the 
Peace  Conference  needed  to  be  taught  a 
lesson.  The  case  of  Premier  Bratiano, 
who  returned  from  Paris  to  Bucharest, 
was  compared  to  that  of  Premier  Orlando 
in  Italy — both  were  obliged  to  brave 
the  Supreme  Council  at  Paris  in  order  to 
retain  power  at  home.  Vienna  reported 
on  Sept.  10  that  the  Bratiano  Ministry 
was  out  and  that  Take  Jonescu  would 
head  a  new  one. 

The  establishment  of  a  Rumanian  civil 
Government  in  Bessarabia  on  Aug.  20 
brought  about  direct  diplomatic  commu- 
nication between  Ukrainia  and  Rumania. 

According  to  the  United  States  Trade 
Commissioner  at  Bucharest,  Louis  E.  Van 
Norman,  in  a  report  published  Aug.  30: 

On  account  of  its  exceptional  economic 
position  Rumania,  in  the  opinion  of  com- 
petent observers,  seems  virtually  certain 
to  recover  its  financial  stability  sooner 
than  any  other  of  the  Balkan  nations 
and  perhaps  sooner  than  any  of  the 
nations  of  Europe,  including  the  new 
ones  which  have  grown  up  out  of 
the  war.  Rumanian  credit  has  al- 
ways been  good.  The  national  obligations 
of  the  country  have  been  secured  by  natu- 
lal  resources,  perhaps  surpassed  by  no 
other  nation  of  the  same  size.  This  is 
demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Balkan  wars  the  Rumanian 
national  debt  was  held  almost  exclusively 
by  the  Rumanian  people.  There  had  been 
practically  no  borrowing  abroad,  although 
before  these  wars  the  German  financial 
penetration  had  proceeded  very  far  in 
Rumania.  Although  there  is  no  Govern- 
ment bank  in  Rumania,  as  the  term  is 
generally  accepted  in  other  countries,  the 
National  Bank  of  Rumania  is  permitted  to 
issue  national  bank  notes  to  the  extent  of 
30  per  cent,  of  its  reserves,  and  the  Banca 
Romaneasca,  a  bank  with  some  national 
character,  is  granted  special  privileges. 
In  the  hands  of  the  banks,  of  course,  lies 
for  all  practical  purposes  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  Rumanian  finance. 

SERBIA.— On  Aug.  16  .  the  Prince 
Regent  signed  a  decree  appointing  a 
Ministry  for  the  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs, 
Croats,  and  Slovenes.   It  was  formed  by 


■ 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


59 


the  Social-Democratic  Party.  The  list 
follows.  All  are  Democrats  save  the  last 
three,  who  are  Socialists: 

M.  Liouba  Davtdovitch,  Prime  Minister. 

M.  Pavle  Marinkovitch,  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

M.   Voislav  Veltkovitch,  Finance. 

Dr.  Ante  Trumbitch,  Foreign  Affairs. 

M.   Milorad  Drachlovttch,  Communica- 
tions. 

M.  Mosta  Hymottevitch,  Justice. 

M.  Velislav  Voulovitch,  Public  Works. 

M.  Svetozar  Pribichevitch,  Interior. 

M.  Edo.  LuKiNiTCHjPost  and  Telegraphs. 

M.     Tougoman      Elabupuvitch,      Public 
Worship. 

M.  Albert  Kramer,  Commerce  and  In- 
dustry. 

M.  Franco  Poljak,  Agricultural  and 
Agrarian  Reform. 

General  Stevan  Hadjitch,  War,  (no 
party.) 

M.  Vitomer  OratcKj  Social  Policy  and 
ad  interim  Public  Health. 

M.   VILIN   ROUKSCHEG,   Food. 

M.  Anton  Kristan,  Mines  and  Forests. 

On  Aug.  23  M.  Davidovitch  made  a 
declaration  of  policy  before  the  Provi- 
sional Chamber,  which  aside  from  purely 
internal  matters— ridding  the  country  of 
Austrian  crown  notes  before  the  expor- 
tation of  the  new  crops  begins  and  the 
expropriation  of  large  landowners — was 
as  follows: 

The  conditions  we  demand  are  based  on 
the  principles  of  international  justice, 
which  should  be  applied  to  us  as  they 
have  been  applied  to  others.  We  are  ask- 
ing for  no  departure  from  those  princi- 
ples for  our  own  benefit ;  we  cannot  recon- 
cile ourselves  to  their  being  transgressed 
at  our  expense.  We  are  prepared  to  co- 
operate as  faithfully  in  the  consolidation 
of  peace  as  we  did  in  the  achievement  of 
victory.  Alone  in  Southeastern  Europe 
we  maintained  the  struggle  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  war,  and,  though 
cruelly  stricken,  never  wavered  in  the 
fight  for  the  grand  ideal  of  liberty.  Our 
co-operation  in  the  re-establishment  of 
peace  should  be  sought  for  and  welcomed, 

I  because  no  other  nation  has  had  such  long 
and  such  wide  experience  of  the  conditions 
of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  our  friends 
would  risk  missing  the  great  aim  of  the 
pacification  of  the  world  if  they  try  to 
solve  Balkan  problems  without  sufficient 
regard  to  the  claims  of  those  of  their 
allies  who  are  most  directly  concerned  in 
the  questions  of  new  frontiers,  indemni- 
ties, and  other  economic  and  political 
problems.  In  these  matters  our  delegates 
at  the  Peace  Conference  will  have  our 
utmost  support.  We  have  nothing  to 
— 


mands,  and  we  will  defend  our  rights  and 
interests  wherever  threatened. 

We  feel  keen  sympathy  for  such  of  our 
brethren  as  are  not  yet  united  to  us  and 
are  persecuted  for  their  love  of  us.  When 
peace  is  concluded  we  will  endeavor  to 
maintain  friendly  relations  with  all  our 
neighbors.  Without  ever  forgetting  our 
past  experiences,  our  policy  toward  them 
will  always  be  inspired  by  the  principle 
of  not  seeking  to  benefit  at  the  expense  of 
others. 

With  the  new  Slav  States  of  Czecho- 
slovakia and  Poland  we  will  seek  to  draw 
closer  the  bonds  of  friendship.  With 
Greece  and  Rumania,  whose  aspirations 
have  hitherto  enjoyed  greater  interna- 
tional support  than  ours,  our  State,  by 
working  for  mutual  confidence  and  inti- 
macy, will  insure  permanent  peace  in 
the  Balkans. 

It  is  our  conviction  that  until  the  solu- 
tion of  all  pending  problems  by  the  Peace 
Conference,  it  is  indispensable  that  the 
Government  of  this  country  should  be 
composed  of  representatives  of  all  politi- 
cal groups,  and  we  are  determined  to  do 
all  in  our  power  not  to  render  such  con- 
centration of  national  political  forces  im- 
possible. *  *  *  We  take  the  opportunity 
of  solemnly  denying  the  rumor,  spread 
both  abroad  and  here,  that  the  Consti- 
tuent Assembly  will  be  dispensed  with. 
*  *  *  On  the  contrary,  the  Government 
will  in  a  few  days  submit  to  the  Cham- 
ber an  electoral  bill,  whereby  the  nation 
will  be  enabled,  through  its  freely  chosen 
representatives,  to  lay  the  foundations  of 
its  future  destiny.  On  the  broad  basis  of 
liberty  that  we  aspire  to  establish  will 
arise  a  solid  resistance  to  anarchy  and 
the  abuse  of  liberty  by  any  one  section  of 
the  community  at  the  expense  of  any 
other,  those  terrible  social  fallacies  of' 
which  we  are  now  the  horrified  witnesses. 

At  Belgrade,  as  at  Bucharest,  there  is 
complaint  of  the  tardiness  of  restitution 
to  be  made  by  Hungary  and  Bulgaria. 
Rolling  stock  and  locomotives  are  needed 
for  the  newly  opened  Belgrade-Nish- 
Saloniki  main  line.  The  United  States 
Commercial  Report  of  Sept.  6  contained 
the  following  comment  on  Serbian  com- 
mercial and  industrial  conditions: 

Of  labor  in  the  wide  sense  Serbia  is 
almost  as  deficient  as  in  materials.  When 
the  army  is  freed  from  duty  there  will  be 
workers  for  the  fields  and  unskilled  labor 
for  reconstruction,  but  expert  technical 
and  professional  men  are  few  in  numbers 
and  are  not  capable,  without  foreign  as- 
sistance, of  handling  the  problems  which 
press  for  solution.  It  is  stated  that  there 
are  not  more  than  seventy  constructional 
engineers,  architects,  and  surveyors  in  the 
whole  of  Serbia.    It  is  much  less  difficult, 


60 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


however  costly  it  may  be,   to  reconstruct 
a   country   like   Belgium— before   the   war 
,     the  most  highly  organized  for  its  size  in 
1     Europe— than   to   rebuild    Serbia,    a   coun- 
try in  which  industrial  development  had 
f     scarcely  passed  the  stage  of  infancy. 

The  point  which  requires  emphasis  is 
that  Serbia  is  quite  unable,  without  skilled 
assistance  from  the  Allies,  to  re-establish 
normal  life  in  the  country.  If  that  assist- 
ance is  not  forthcoming  Serbia  must  in- 
evitably, when  peace  is  signed,  turn  for 
help  to  the  countries  which  have  been 
enemies. 

What  Serbia  needs  Serbia  is  able  to  pay 
for.  This  may  seem  strange,  but  it  is  a 
fact  that,  apart  altogther  from  indem- 
nities for  the  damage  done  during  the 
war,  the  peasant  population  and  shop- 
keepers have  plenty  o~  r^.oney— in  dinars 
and  Austrian  crowns.  The  explanation  is 
simple.  The  people  in  the  country  during 
enemy  occupation  spent  little  or  nothing 
on  luxuries,  and  all  the  while  were  re- 
ceiving high  prices  for  their  goods  and 
produce.  They  have  sold  but  not  bought, 
and  are  now  in  a  position  to  buy  largely. 

BELGIUM,    HOLLAND,    AND 
LUXEMBURG 

The  Belgian  and  Dutch  press  passed 
through  another  period  of  tension  in  re- 
gard to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Treaty 
of  1839  and  the  Belgian  claims  to  Lim- 
burg,  and  to  that  part  of  Zeeland  south 
of  the  Scheldt,  or  the  right-of-way  over 
the  Ghent-Terneuzen  Canal  —  which 
would  give  the  same  commercial  but  not 
strategic  advantage.  The  tension  was 
characterized  by  feverish  propaganda  on 
the  part  of  the  Belgian  press  and  in- 
sinuating silence  on  the  part  of  the 
Dutch,  with  the  exception  of  the  Tele- 
graaf,  which  on  Aug.  31  assured  its 
readers  that  the  Commission  of  Fourteen 
in  Paris  had  no  intention  of  changing 
their  decision  of  June  4,  which  was  to 
tha  effect  that  no  territorial  concessions 
would  be  demanded  of  Holland.  Also  at 
The  Hague  the  celebration  of  the  Queen's 
birthday  on  Sept.  1,  which  had  not  been 
publicly  observed  since  1914,  was  the 
occasion  for  a  patriotic  demonstration  in 
favor  of  the  territorial  status  quo. 

That  the  matter  was  not  regarded  as 
serious  in  official  circles,  in  spite  of  cer- 
tain alarmist  messages  sent  American 
newspapers,  was  deduced  from  the  fact 
>Nthat  although  the  Dutch  Minister  to 
\reat  Britain,  Jonkheer  van  Swinderen, 
\o  was  also  the  chief  Dutch  delegate 


at  Paris,  made  several  significant  trips 
between  there  and  The  Hague.  Foreign 
Minister  Moher  and  other  high  officials 
were-  away  on  vacation. 

Stories  repeatedly  appeared  in  the 
Belgian  and  British  press  to  the  effect 
that  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  would  guarantee  Belgium's  se- 
curity against  Germany.  There  was  no 
official  confirmation  of  these  stories,  be- 
yond emphasizing  the  fact  that  such  pro- 
tection was  implied  in  the  Franco- Anglo- 
American  convention  which  was  adopted 
on  Aug.  8,  when  the  Peace  Treaty  with 
Germany  was  ratified  by  the  Chamber. 
It  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  on  Aug.  26. 

Malmedy,  where  Belgian  troops  had 
replaced  the  British  on  Aug.  13,  was 
transferred  to  Belgian  civil  authority  on 
Aug.  25,  when  registration  of  the  popu- 
lation began  which  will  settle  their  ulti- 
mate nationality.  Similar  registration 
went  on  in  Eupen,  a  district  stretching 
north  of  Malmedy  as  far  as  Limburg. 
The  League  of  Nations  will  review  and 
determine  the  nationality  of  the  regis- 
tration— whether  Prussian  or  Belgian — 
within  six  months. 

After  four  and  a  half  years  of  work 
the  Rotterdam  headquarters  of  the 
American  Commission  for  Relief  in  Bel- 
gium and  France  closed  its  office  on 
Aug.  16.  Its  head,  since  1914,  Walter 
Brown  of  Los  Angeles,  moved  to  London 
to  take  charge  of  Mr.  Hoover's  "  child's 
welfare  "  for  feeding  the  undernourished 
children  of  Europe. 

According  to  statistics  published  by 
the  Belgian  Interior  Department,  the 
output  of  coal  in  July  reached  nearly 
87  per  cent,  of  the  monthly  output  of  the 
year  before  the  war.  Although  no  pay- 
ments had  been  received  from  Germany 
and  little  machinery  returned,  the  blast 
furnaces  in  the  Liege  district  and  the 
mills  in  Lou  vain  nearly  reached  their 
normal  production. 

Before  the  war  more  than  half  of  Bel- 
gium, or  an  area  of  nearly  6,000  square 
miles,  was  under  cultivation,  with  a  fifth 
of  forest  lands  and  only  a  fifteenth 
of  fallow  or  uncultivated.  A  measurable 
portion  of  the  latter  and  those  parts  of 
the  forest  lands  destroyed  by  the  Ger- 
mans have  been  reclaimed  and  put  under 
cultivation.      In   the  great  sand -belt   of 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


61 


Campine,  across  the  provinces  of  Ant- 
werp, Limburg,  and  Brabant,  agricul- 
tural reclamations  have  proceeded  with 
afforestation  projects  and  with  equal 
success  have  transformed  the  wastes  of 
sand  dunes  and  marshes  into  crop-pro- 
ducing and  pasturage  lands.  In  this  way 
the  great  estates  of  Baron  van  Havre 
and  Esbeek  have  quadrupled  their  ca- 
pacity. 

In  spite  of  its  small  area,  only  998 
square  miles,  and  its  population  of  300,- 
000,  the  wealth  of  Luxemburg  is  $2,400 
per  capita,  or  twice  that  of  France.  On 
Dec.  7,  1918,  the  Grand  Duchy  denounced 
its  zollverein  with  Prussia  and  ever 
since  both  France  and  Belgium  have 
been  bidding  for  preferment.  According 
to  an  unofficial  canvass  made  by  Marcel 
Noppenay  of  the  Independence  Luxem- 
bourgeoise  a  majority  of  the  population 
desired  industrial  cohesion  with  France. 

FRANCE 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies  began  its 
debate  on  the  German  Peace  Treaty  Aug. 
26.  In  the  speeches  delivered  in  the  fol- 
lowing days  frequent  references  were 
made  to  the  attitude  of  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  several  Duputies  voiced  the 
opinion  that  if  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant  were  the  cause  of  the  American 
delay  then  the  covenant  "  should  be 
amputated."  Aside  from  the  Socialist 
criticisms  of  the  treaty  along  lines  which 
have  become  familiar  everywhere,  there 
were  criticisms  from  members  of  former 
Governments  similar  to  those  heard  from 
the  Republican  side  in  the  American 
Senate,  without,  however,  any  attempt  to 
formulate  reservations. 

The  principal  expounder  of  the  treaty 
was  Captain  Andre  Tardieu  of  the  Peace 
Mission.  Louis  Barthou,  former  Premier, 
declared  that  the  treaty  was  insufficient 
and  insecure,  and  insisted  on  an  inter- 
national General  Staff  and  army  to  carry 
out  the  decrees,  when  necessary,  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  M.  Franklin-Bouillon 
criticised  the  lead  taken  by  Washington 
and  ridiculed  the  placing  of  France  on 
terms  of  equality  with  Panama  and 
Cuba.  Of  the  thirty-one  Deputies  sched- 
uled to  speak  on  the  treaty  over  one- 
third  had  withdrawn  by  Sept.  4,  when  it 


was  announced  that  there  would  probably 
be  fewer  than  100  votes  against  the 
treaty  when  the  final  vote  was  taken. 

In  the  Chamber  on  Aug.  28  M.  Lefevre 
introduced  a  bill  authorizing  the  issue  of 
a  lottery  loan  of  60,000,000,000  francs 
($12,000,000,000)  without  interest— the 
largest  project  of  its  kind  ever  proposed. 
The  lottery  would  take  the  form  of  an 
issue  of  120,000,000  bonds  of  500  francs 
($100)  each,  reimbursable  at  par  by  half- 
yearly  drawings  over  a  period  of  twenty 
years.  Thus  every  day  for  two  years  a 
number  would  be  drawn  which  would  win 
1,250,000  francs,  ($250,000,)  and  every 
week  two  numbers  winning  100,000 
francs,  ($20,000.)  After  the  first  two 
years  the  1,250,000  franc  prizes  would 
be  drawn  each  week  instead  of  each 
day. 

The  American  Liquidation  Commission 
reached  an  agreement  with  the  French 
Government  on  Aug.  20,  by  which  the 
latter  for  the  sum  of  $400,000,000  took 
over  all  the  property  in  France  of  the  A. 
E.  F.  with  the  exception  of  what  had  been 
put  aside  for  return  to  America  or  would 
be  needed  by  the  military  force  remain- 
ing in  France.  The  payment  was  made 
in  gold  bonds,  with  interest  beginning 
Aug.  1,  1920.  An  official  inventory  of 
all  the  property  of  the  A.  E.  F.  made 
last  July  showed  it  to  be  worth  nearly 
$1,000,000,000.  The  part  disposed  of  to 
France  is  estimated  to  be  worth  $749,- 
000,000.  The  original  cost  of  all  the 
property  was  $1,700,000,000,  and  of  that 
sold  to  France  $1,300,000,000. 

Reports  to  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce at  Washington,  as  well  as  articles 
and  advertisements  in  the  French  papers, 
show  that  France  needs  and  is  now  ready 
to  employ  (as  she  did  not  realize  imme- 
diately after  the  armistice)  American 
engineers,  architects,  masons,  and  con- 
structors of  all  sorts,  together  with  in- 
terchangeable structural  material  for 
dwellings  and  factories.  Statistics  show 
that  nearly  50  per  cent,  of  the  younger 
and  most  advanced  professional  men 
were  killed  or  permanently  injured  in 
the  war.  It  was  estimated  that  with  the 
speed  made,  in  the  devastated  regions  in 
the  last  ten  months  it  would  take  ten 
years  for  complete  rehabilitation  and  re- 


62 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


construction  without  outside  help  in  ex- 
pert skill  and  prepared  material. 

The  campaign  against  the  high  cost  of 
living  in  France  made  considerable  ad- 
vance. The  Commission  of  the  Food 
Ministry  and  the  Sub-Commissions  of 
the  Departements  were  reinforced  by 
Vigilant  Committees  in  the  Arrondisse- 
ments,  while  the  so-called  local  Leagues 
of  Consumers  were  transformed  into 
Leagues  of  Purchasers.  In  small  towns 
the  new  leagues  devote  a  certain  weekly 
amount  for  the  purchase  of  necessaries 
and  appoint  a  member  to  buy  the  mate- 
rial desired.  This  has  worked  out  as  the 
bid  for  estimates  works  out  in  larger 
enterprises — he  receives  bids  and  accepts 
the  cheapest.  There  is  no  chance  for  the 
sellers  to  combine  against  him,  as  the 
maximum  price  is  fixed  by  the  commis- 
sion. 

Some  of  the  Paris  papers  took  up  the 
question  of  Russian  prisoners,  who,  re- 
leased from  German  war  prisons,  have 
been  interned  at  Auch,  in  Gascony,  where 
it  was  reported  they  scandalized  the 
neighborhood.  They  are  fed,  lodged,  and 
entertained  by  the  French  Government, 
but  they  decline  to  work,  and  openly  de- 
clare that  they  desire  to  return  to  Russia 
in  order  to  join  the  forces  of  Lenin. 

The  National  Wine  Syndicate  and  In- 
ternational Wine  Committee,  two  bodies 
which  rule  the  production  and  distribu- 
tion of  European  wine,  issued  a  mani- 
festo declaring  that  there  must  be  a 
great  diversion  of  labor  from  viticulture, 
particularly  in  the  Bordeaux,  Dijon,  and 
Rheims  region.  The  German  market, 
they  say,  is  overstocked  with  stolen 
French  wines;  America  will  use  no  more, 
and  the  exportation  to  Great  Britain, 
which  was  measurably  reduced  during  the 
war,  is  still  contracting.  The  United 
States  in  the  past  imported  annually 
$7,000,000  worth  of  French  wine  alone,  or 
nearly  twice  as  much  as  she  imported 
from  Italy.  Among  other  things  the 
manifesto  says: 

It  is  a  shame,  almost  a  sacrilege.  The 
red  juice  of  Burgundy  and  Bordeaux  was 
never  brought  into  disgrace  by  tipplers. 
Why  is  it  that  because  there  are  a  small 
minority  of  people  who  do  not  know  how 
to  drink  that  those  who  do  should  be  sac- 
rificed together  with  the  most  ancient 
^N.         world   industry? 


ITALY 

According  to  Roman  papers  the  meet- 
ing which  took  place  toward  the  last 
of  August  between  Signor  Tittoni,  For- 
eign Secretary  and  head  of  the  Italian 
Peace  Delegation,  and  Premier  Lloyd 
George,  at  Deauville,  France,  put  in  form 
for  presentation  to  President  Wilson 
what  is  known  as  the  "  Tittoni  Compro- 
mise" in  regard  to  Fiume  already  agreed 
to  by  Premier  Clemenceau.  According 
to  unofficial  descriptions  of  the  meas- 
ure it  provided  for  the  Italian  posses- 
sion of  the  city  and  its  two  western  har- 
bors, while  the  waterfront  east  together 
with  a  zone  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Fiumara  or  Rjeka  shall  be  administered 
by  the  mandate  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
with  full  commercial  facilities  for  the 
districts  of  Central  Europe  which  foi'- 
merly  used  the  port,  until  such  a  time 
as  the  Monarchy  of  the  Serbs,  Croats, 
and  Slovenes  should  develop  the  natural 
ports  lying  to  the  southeast — Buccari  and 
Portore  in  the  Bay  of  Buccari,  Novi, 
Cirquenizza,  Segna,  San  Giorgio,  the 
great  historic  port  of  Croatia;  Ablana 
and  Carlopago. 

The  Interallied  Military  Commission  at 
Fiume  reported  in  favor  of  the  League's 
control  of  the  city.  On  Sept.  13  Italian 
volunteers,  under  Gabriele  D1\.nnunzio, 
took  forcible  possession  of  Fiume,  the 
Italian  Sixth  Army  Corps  refusing  to 
disarm  them  and  the  allied  troops  re- 
maining in  their  barracks. 

The  press  of  Vienna  began  reasserting 
the  Austrian  claim  to  the  Southern  Tyrol 
denied  it  in  the  Austrian  Treaty  of 
Peace.  The  Popolo  Romano  of  Rome  on 
Aug.  22  said,  after  discussing  the  three- 
fold question,  whether  the  Peace  Con- 
ference was  doing  its  best  to  satisfy  the 
national  aspirations  of  all,  or  only  of  the 
major  allied  members,  or  was  fostering 
discord  in  an  attempt  to  rehabilitate  the 
enemy: 

The  promised  Utopian  Society  of  Nations 
lacked  from  its  very  birth  harmony  among 
its  members  and  a  reciprocal  acknowledg- 
ment of  legitimate  rights.  This  amply 
justifies  our  claim  to  Southern  Tyrol 
even  against  the  principle  of  nationality. 
Our  claim  is  based  on  the  right  of  de- 
fense. The  Brenner  boundary  is  the  sole 
result  obtained  by  Italy's  sacrifice  of 
blood  and  treasure,   and  is  not  contested 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


63 


by  the  Allies,  and  it  would  be  a  crime  to 
renounce  tha  greatest  benefit  derived 
from  our  victory  by  weakening  the  de- 
fense of  the  country  to  favor  Austria. 

On  Sept.  4  the  bill  granting  Italian 
women  the  right  of  national  suffrage, 
after  receiving  support  in  an  eloquent 
address  by  Premier  Nitti,  was  passed 
by  the  Chamber  by  a  vote  of  174  to  55. 
Women,  however,  will  not  vote  in  the 
November  general  elections. 

On  Aug.  23,  five  days  before  the 
Chamber  reconvened  to  debate  the 
peace  treaties,  Signor  Nitti,  as  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  issued  a  circu  letter 
to  the  Prefects  of  the  Provinces  urging 
them  to  begin  a  campaign  for  harder 
work,  greater  production,  greater  econ- 
omy, and  the  prevention  of  strikes.  The 
Government,  he  said,  could  not  go  on 
supplying  bread  at  an  annual  loss  to  the 
State  of  $500,000,000,  particularly  when 
1,250,000  acres  had  gone  out  of  cultiva- 
tion in  three  years.  He  added:  "There 
is  a  condition  in  Italy  which  forces  us 
to  act  now  strongly  and  vigorously." 

On  Sept.  1  it  was  announced  that  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  III.  had  signified  his 
intention  of  relinquishing  all  the  vast 
domains  of  the  Crown  throughout  Italy 
for  the  benefit  of  the  peasantry  and  sol- 
diers. The  Crown  properties  of  Italy 
are  larger  than  those  of  any  other  coun- 
try, since  the  House  of  Savoy  inherited 
the  properties  of  the  rulers  of  the  eleven 
States  into  which  Italy  was  divided  be- 
fore the  kingdom  became  united. 

During  the  war  the  King  gave  over  his 
splendid  royal  palace  at  Caserta,  the 
Castel  Moscali  di  Piedmont,  for  the  use 
of  his  soldiers.  His  intention  was  that 
the  vast  lands  which  he  possesses,  vir- 
tually in  every  region  of  Italy,  should  go 
to  the  peasants  who  fought  in  the  war, 
while  his  palaces,  castles  and  other 
buildings  should  be  utilized  for  philan- 
thropic purposes.  In  addition,  the  King 
expressed  a  desire  that  his  private 
patrimony  be  taxed  like  that  of  any 
other  citizen.  Thus  the  King's  civil  list, 
amounting  to  about  $3,000,000  yearly, 
will  be  done  away  with  or  greatly  di- 
minished, as  the  monarch  used  it  almost 
entirely  to  administer  the  Crown  prop- 
erties or  for  charitable  purposes. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  United   States 


Consul  at  Venice,  John  S.  Armstrong, 
the  Pearl  of  the  Adriatic  is  certain  to  re- 
gain much  of  its  ancient  position  as  a 
commercial  clearing  house  between  the 
West  and  the  East.  In  his  report  issued 
by  the  Department  of  Commerce,  Sept. 
2,  he  writes: 

The  situation  in  which  Venice  finds 
itself  today  is  greatly  altered.  Italy 
expects  to  acquire  competing  ports  on  the 
Adriatic  with  their  railroad  connections, 
has  already  taken  possession  of  the  im- 
portant railway  artery  of  the  Trentino 
extending  200  kilometers  (124.27  miles) 
toward  Germany,  and  controls  the  west- 
ern end  of  the  railroads  in  the  Pusteria. 
Moreover,  as  a  result  of  the  collapse  of 
Germany  the  force  of  its  political  prestige 
in  the  field  of  international  economic  com- 
petition has  been  destroyed. 

Venice  is,  therefore,  presented  with  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  develop  into  an 
important  distributing  centre  for  a  largely 
extended  international  zone.  To  attain 
these  ends,  the  port  must  have  complete 
and  regular  steamship  services,  an  ef- 
ficient railroad  network  connecting  Venice 
with  its  national  serving  area,  and  suf- 
ficient dock  facilities  for  handling  incom- 
ing and  outgoing  cargo. 

Venice's  position  is  greatly  improved  by 
the  removal  of  the  pressure  of  the 
Austro-Hungarian  railways  immediately 
north  of  the  old  Italian  confines,  and 
II  Lavoro  points  out  that  the  port  should 
profit  by  the  new  state  of  affairs  by  link- 
ing itself  more  closely  to  new  serving 
areas,  such  as  the  Trentino,  the  Alto 
Adige,  eastern  and  southern  Switzerland. 
At  present  Venice  has  a  single  impor- 
tant railway  artery  completely  piercing 
the  Alpine  walls  which  can  serve  the  port 
for  international  traffic.  This  is  the 
Padua- Verona-Trento-Brennero.  However, 
the  big  curve  which  the  railway  describes 
in  the  plains  near  Verona  considerably 
prolongs  its  distance,  and  its  already  ex- 
cessive traffic  does  not  render  it  adapt- 
able to  a  more  intense  utilization  than 
at  present. 

LATIN  AMERICA 

Advices  from  Buenos  Aires  under 
date  of  Sept.  11  were  that  two  steamers 
had  arrived  on  that  date  bringing  45d 
German  immigrants  as  colonists  for  the 
scheme  of  Baron  von  dem  Bussche-Hadr 
denhausen,  mentioned  last  month.  Con- 
cerning him  and  his  scheme  a  corre- 
spondent wrote: 

Married  to  an  Argentine  lady— a  mem- 
ber of  the  important  porteno  family  of 
Martinez  de  Hoz — and  a  man  who  is  not 
only  well  versed  in  Argentine  affairs  but 


64 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


is  also,  to  give  him  his  due,  remembered 
by  all  who  came  into  contact  with  him  as 
a  capable  and  courteous  diplomat,  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that  he  will  be 
successful  in  his  mission,  whatever  form 
that  mission  may  take. 

Thus  while  in  many  quarters  one  hears 
that  Argentina  is  at  heart  wholly  pro- 
ally,  that  she  has  no  love  for  Germany 
and  the  Germans,  and  that  her  firm  de- 
sire is  to  strengthen  her  relationship  with 
the  allied  powers,  actual  facts  go  to 
prove  the  contrary,  and  official  Argentina 
loses  no  opportunity  of  showing  the  rem- 
nant of  the  imperial  party  in  Germany 
that  they  have  a  firm  friend  in  the  Gov- 
ernment of  this  republic.  The  diplo- 
matic agents  in  the  German  Legation  are 
still  fully  accredited  and  treated  with 
all  the  honors;  the  German  flag  is  still 
hoisted  on  the  official  quarters  and  on 
the  leading  German  houses  of  business, 
and  when  the  whole  city  of  Buenos  Aires 
was  bedecked  over  the  final  ratification 
of  peace  the  Germans  ostentatiously  held 
aloof,  and  in  their  local  press  refer  con- 
temptuously to  the  schandfrieden,  or 
shameful  peace,  which  they  hold  has  no 
interest  for  them. 

On  Sept.  13  the  Chilean  Ministry  re- 
signed, principally  owing  to  the  contro- 
versy in  the  House  of  Deputies  over  the 
Tacna-Arica  problem,  which  had  come 
to  the  surface  again  by  Bolivia  demand- 
ing an  outlet  to  the  sea. 

The  United  States  Government  was  in 
receipt  of  no  official  information  show- 
ing that  Nicaragua  was  involved  in  the 
expulsion  of  Federico  Tinoco  from  the 
Presidency  of  Costa  Rica  and  the  mur- 
der of  his  brother,  as  alleged  by  the  for- 
mer on  Aug.  16,  at  Kingston,  Jamaica. 

The  revolution  in  Honduras  which  be- 
gan in  July  forced  the  resignation  of 
President  Bertrand  in  the  first  week  of 
September  and  the  landing  of  American 
marines  from  the  cruiser  Cleveland  at 
Puerto  Cortez  to  protect  foreign  lives 
and  property.  The  Presidential  candi- 
date, Dr.  Nazario  Sorano,  had  the  sup- 
port of  President  Bertrand,  while  the 
revolutionary  forces  supported  Dr.  Mem- 
breno  and  Lopez  Guierrez. 

A  French  military  mission  under  Colo- 
nel Rene  Mascarel  arrived  in  Peru.  It 
was  reported  from  Lima  that  J.  Leonard 
Replogle  and  Charles  M.  Schwab  had 
purchased  the  properties  of  the  Ameri- 
van  Vanadium  Company,  thus  obtaining 
direct  control  of  98  per  cent,  of  the 
vanadium  supply  in  the  world.    The  gen- 


eral election  held  in  Peru  on  Aug.  24 
gave  the  Leguia  party  nearly  unanimous 
returns  for  their  candidates  as  well  as 
for  constitutional  reforms,  described  in 
these  columns  at  length  last  month. 

A  movement  in  favor  of  Dr.  Fernan- 
dez Henriquez,  the  exiled  President  of 
Santo  Domingo,  was  launched  in  Spain 
on  Sept.  10  by  certain  Spanish  political 
leaders  sending  a  memorial  to  the  Wash- 
ington Government  suggesting  a  with- 
drawal of  American  marines,  who  had 
been  maintaining  order  there  since  Nov. 
25,  1914.  By  the  treaty  of  1917  Santo 
Domingo  became  practically  a  protect- 
orate of  the  United  States. 

The  press  of  the  Republic  of  Colombia 
urged  the  Government  to  resent  the  ab- 
sence of  the  "  apology "  in  the  Colom- 
bian treaty  which  was  submitted  by 
President  Wilson  to  the  Foreign  Rela- 
tions Committee  of  the  Senate  on  July 
29.  La  Palabra  of  Aug.  2  stated: 

Truly  it  looks  grotesque  that  after  the 
United  States  unsheathed  the  sword  to 
fight  in  defense  of  justice  outraged  in 
the  violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Brussels, 
now  they  refuse,  in  the  New  World,  to 
make  amends  for  the  outrage  which  they 
brought  upon  a  sister  who  was  worthy, 
although  weak.  The  "  sincere  regret " 
cannot  be  blotted  out  of  the  treaty  with 
Colombia,  without  causing  the  magna- 
nimity of  the  North  American  Republic 
to  suffer  diminution.  The  whole  of  Latin 
America  should  back  Colombia  in  this 
supreme  claim  and  should  exert  an  inter- 
national and  collective  influence  to  the 
end  that  our  sister  may  obtain  the  most 
complete  satisfaction.  The  United  States 
must  not  forget  that  "  greatness  compels." 

MOROCCO 

The  Sultan  of  Morocco  on  Aug.  26 
published  a  proclamation  declaring  Rai- 
suli  a  rebel  and  ordering  the  confisca- 
tion of  his  property.  The  proceeds  of 
the  latter  will  be  divided  between  the 
victims  of  Raisuli  and  the  Government 
Treasury.  Correspondents  at  Tangier 
declared  that  Raisuli  was  plentifully 
supplied  with  German  gold,  which  en- 
abled him  to  pay  his  followers  $1  a  day, 
and  that  to  judge  from  the  debates  in 
the  Spanish  Cortes  on  the  subject  the 
seriousness  of  the  matter  was  not  under- 
stood at  Madrid.     One  wrote: 

Raisuli  has  never  been  as  strong  as  he 
ta  now.     There  is,  too,  a  spirit  of  waning 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


65 


loyalty  among  the  tribes  which  have  al- 
ready submitted  to  Spain  that  only  a  de- 
cided Spanish  success  can  cure. 

The  great  religious  sect  of  Derkaona, 
hitherto  friendly  to  Spain,  and  on  whose 
support  so  much  depends,  is  now  divided 
in  its  opinion,  and  many  of  its  devotees 
are  already  openly  on  Raisuli's  side.  The 
Spanish  authorities  here  and  in  Tetua.i 
seem  to  realize  this  and  are  taking  a  step 
to  counteract  this  action  that  can  only  be 
described  as  hazardous.  Perhaps  the 
critical  situation  warrants  it.  Both  Spam 
find  Raisuli  are  playing  for  the  support  of 
these  Derkaona,  and  my  information  is 
that  Raisuli  is  winning.  He  has  released 
certain  Derkaona  prisoners  whom  he  held 
incarcerated  and  has  received  a  Derkaona 
deputation  at  the  Fondako. 

PERSIA 

In  regard  to  the  Anglo-Persian  treaty, 
described  last  month,  the  full  text  pub- 
lished  on   Aug.    18  in  Paris  aroused   a 
wave  of  drastic  criticism  in  the  press  of 
the   capital.     The  following  passage  is 
from  an  article  in  the  Echo  de  Paris: 
If   the    above    stipulations   do   not   con- 
stitute a  most  complete  protectorate  then 
words   have   lost   their   meaning.      Doubt- 
less   nowhere    is    a    formal    protectorate 
mentioned,    and    doubtless    a    clause    an- 
nounces   the    independence    and    full    in- 
tegrity of  Persia,  but  the  substance  of  the 
agreement  will  fool  no  one. 

Le  Temps  four  days  previous  had  said: 

The  departure  of  the  Shah  of  Persia, 
who  is  proceeding  to  Europe,  appears  to 
have  been  hastened  as  a  result  of  the 
feeling  caused  in  Teheran  by  the  signature 
of  an  agreement  which  has  been  negotiated 
during  the  last  few  months  by  the  British 
Legation  there.  The  agreement  recog- 
nizes the  independence  and  integrity  of 
Persia,  but  nevertheless  contains  stipula- 
tions which  seem  to  point  to  the  fact  that 
henceforth  only  British  influence  will  be 
exerted  in  that  country. 

Only  British  subjects  will  henceforth  be 
able  to  be  engaged  as  foreign  officials 
by  the  Persian  Government.  British  ex- 
perts will  reorganize  finances  in  Persia, 
to  which  country  Britain  is  making  a 
loan.  Great  Britain  will  also  reorganize 
the  Persian  Army,  supplying  instruction 
and  modern  arms.  British  capital  will  be 
interested  in  concessions  in  Persia,  and 
Great  Britain  promises  to  help  the  Persian 
Government  to  obtain  pecuniary  and  ter- 
ritorial reparation. 

And  this  from  the  Journal  des  Debats: 

According  to  reports  from  Persia,  the 
new  agreement  has  not  been  well  received 


by  public  opinion,  which  accuses  the  Gov- 
ernment of  having  sold  the  country.  It 
can  easily  be  understood  that  the  Per- 
sians are  not  enthusiastic  over  the  con- 
tract, which  will  place  Persia  in  a  situa- 
tion analogous  to  that  of  Egypt,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  explain  why  they  should  be 
surprised  at  this  event,  as  it  is  merely  the 
last  stage  of  a  process  which  has  de- 
veloped logically.  The  fact  that  Persia 
has  been  admitted  to  the  League  of  Na- 
tions will  not  inspire  many  illusions,  as 
the  situation  in  Persia  is  exactly  what 
might  have  been  foreseen  from  the  mo- 
ment when  Russia  disappeared  from  the 
scene  of  international  politics. 

On  Aug.  18  Cecil  B.  Harmsworth, 
British  Under  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  made  a  protracted  de- 
nial of  the  foregoing  charges  in  the 
House  of  Commons. 

TURKEY  AND  ARMENIA 

The  fate  of  Armenia  overshadowed 
every  other  subject  connected  with  the 
attempt  of  the  Peace  Conference  to  ad- 
just the  affairs  of  Turkey.  While  the 
State  Department  at  Washington  put  it- 
self on  record  Aug.  28  by  declaring  that 
the  United  States  neither  desired  nor 
would  accept  a  mandate  for  Armenia, 
and  that  public  opinion  here  would  not 
support  the  necessary  military  force  to 
preserve  the  Armenian  Republic  from 
the  Turks,  prominent  Armenians  all  over 
the  world  in  petitions  and  pamphlets 
sent  to  Paris  and  Washington  urged  the 
mandatory  guardianship  of  the  United 
States  as  the  only  means  to  save  the 
survivors  of  the  Turkish  war  massacres. 
Later  it  was  explained  at  Washington 
that  the  American  Government,  which 
did  not  declare  war  on  Turkey,  was 
merely  following  its  pre-war  policy 
there,  although  this  policy  might  be  later 
modified  in  accordance  with  the  report 
expected  from  Major  Gen.  James  G. 
Harbord,  then  making  an  investigation 
in  Armenia  and  the  Transcaucasus. 

On  Sept.  14  M.  Venizelos,  the  Prime 
Minister  of  Greece,  was  quoted  as  say- 
ing in  Paris  that  the  idea  of  an  Ameri- 
can mandate  for  Armenia  would  be  pop- 
ular among  all  the  powers  concerned, 
but  that  if  the  status  of  Turkey  were 
not  settled  soon  there  would  be  no  Ar- 
menians left. 


Why  the  Saloniki  Army  Was  Powerless 

By  GORDON  GORDON-SMITH 

[Captain  op  the  Royal  Serbian  Army  and  Attache  op  the  Serbian  Legation  at  Washington] 

Acting  as  war  correspondent  for  London  and  New  York  newspapers,  Captain 
Gordon-Smith  was  with  the  Serbian  headquarters  staff  in  1915  from  the  attack  on 
Belgrade  to  the  final  retreat  through  Albania.  In  July,  1916,  at  the  request  of 
M.  Pashitch,  he  returned  to  the  Serbian  headquarters  at  Saloniki  and  was  with 
the  staff  of  three  Serbian  armies  up  to  the  fall  of  Monastir.  Toward  the  end  of 
the  war  he  became  attached  to  the  Serbian  headquarters  staff  with  the  rank  of 
Captain  of  Cavalry  and  has  since  been  sent  on  important  diplomatic  missions  to 
Paris,  London,  and  Washington.  He  has  here  written  for  Current  History  the 
inside  facts  as  to  why  Sarrail's  army  of  half  a  million  men  stood  practically  idle 
until  the  last  months  of  the  war. 


DURING  the  world  war  just  termi- 
nated, with  its  clash  of  peoples 
on  a  score  of  fronts,  it  was  dif- 
ficult for  the  public  to  follow 
the  various  phases  and  realize  their 
relative  importance.  Military  tactics  and 
strategy  were  often  divorced  from  policy, 
with  the  result  that  the  co-ordination  of 
the  effort  suffered  and  the  war,  in- 
stead of  being  waged  by  the  Allies  as  a 
whole  on  a  well-defined  plan,  was  split 
up  into  a  series  of  water-tight  compart- 
ments, each  of  which  was  regarded  by 
those  fighting  in  it  as  the  crucial  one 
for  the  decision  of  the  whole  war.  Some 
fronts  were  given  undue  prominence, 
others  excited  little  or  no  interest. 

An  example  of  the  latter  was  the 
Saloniki  front.  The  Army  of  the  Orient 
was  the  Cinderella  of  the  Allies,  as  far 
as  treatment  was  concerned.  This  front 
was,  in  certain  quarters,  regarded  as  one 
of  merely  secondary  importance.  The 
Army  of  the  Orient,  under  the  command 
of  General  Sarrail,  was  considered  to 
have  the  mission  of  holding  the  line  from 
Monastir  to  the  Aegean,  so  as  to  exercise 
pressure  on  the  German,  Austrian,  Bul- 
garian, and  Turkish  forces  defending  it, 
immobilize  them,  and  prevent  their  utili- 
zation elsewhere.  But  there  was  no  in- 
tention of  so  reinforcing  the  allied  army 
as  to  permit  of  its  undertaking  an  ener- 
getic offensive  and,  coute  que  coute, 
cutting  the  Berlin-Constantinople  rail- 
way. 

This  was,  however,  a  completely  false 
conception  of  the  mission  of  the  Army 


of  the  Orient.  The  Saloniki  front  was 
not  one  of  secondary  importance;  it  was 
a  front  of  capital  importance.  On  no 
other  front  would  such  immense  and  far- 
reaching  effects  have  resulted  from  a 
successful  offensive. 

In  stating  this  I  am  not  expressing 
a  merely  personal  opinion.  During  the 
eighteen  months  I  spent  with  the  head- 
quarters staff  of  the  Serbian  Army  I 
had  continual  opportunity  of  discussing 
with  officers  of  the  highest  rank  the  im- 
portance of  the  whole  Balkan  front,  and 
in  the  ten  months  I  passed  on  the 
Saloniki  front,  of  discussing  the  real 
mission  of  the  Army  of  the  Orient.  I 
found  them  unanimous  in  their  opinion 
as  to  the  importance  of  the  operations 
in  Macedonia. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  RAILWAY 

In  their  opinion,  the  objective  of  the 
Army  of  the  Orient  was  the  cutting  of 
the  Berlin-Constantinople  railway.  It 
was  notorious  that  Germany  drew  im- 
mense resources  from  Asia  Minor,  and 
that  Bulgaria  and  Serbia  were  also  laid 
under  contributions. 

A  swarm  of  German  officials  had  been 
sent  down  to  these  countries,  which  had 
been  cut  up  into  sections  like  a  chess 
board,  and  were  swept  clean  of  every- 
thing that  could  be  made  use  of.  All 
day  and  every  day  trains  filled  with  food 
were  rolling  up  to  Germany  from  the 
Balkan  States  and  Asia  Minor,  while 
the  trains  traveling  from  Germany  to 
Constantinople   were   filled   with    muni- 


WHY    THE  SALONIKI   ARMY    WAS   POWERLESS 


67 


tions,  without  which  the  resistance  of 
Turkey  to  the  British  and  Russian 
Armies  would  at  once  have  collapsed. 

The  possession  of  the  Berlin-Constan- 
tinople railroad  further  assured  the 
Central  Powers  the  mastery  of  the  Dar- 
danelles. As  Germany  controlled  the 
entrances  to  the  Baltic,  Russia  was  prac- 
tically isolated  from  her  allies.  The 
only  means  they  had  of  forwarding  War 
material  to  her  was  via  Vladivostok  or 
Archangel.  In  other  words  "  Mittel- 
europa "  was  realized  and  a  situation 
created  which,  if  it  could  have  been  made 
permanent,  would  have  assured  to  Ger- 
many the  domination  of  Europe,  the 
first  step  to  world  dominion. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
the  cutting  of  the  railway  would  have 
brought  about  the  immediate  collapse  of 
Turkey.  This  would  have  meant  the  re- 
opening of  the  Dardenelles,  the  repro- 
visioning  of  Russia,  then  still  in  the 
field,  with  munitions,  of  which  she  was 
sorely  in  need,  and  the  delivery  to  the 
Allies  of  the  immense  quantities  of  food- 
stuffs accumulated  in  Southern  Russia 
after  the  closing  of  the  strait.  At  the 
same  time  the  collapse  of  Turkey  as  a 
military  power  would  have  set  free  the 
British  armies  in  Egypt,  Mesopotamia, 
and  Palestine  and  the  Russian  Army  in 
the  Caucasus  for  service  elsewhere. 

BLUNDER  OF  THE  ALLIES 

The  appearance  of  the  allied  fleets  in 
the  Black  Sea  would  undoubtedly  have 
called  a  halt  to  the  intrigues  of  the  pro- 
German  court  camarille  surrounding  the 
Czar,  and  even  if  the  Russian  revolu- 
tion had  nevertheless  taken  place,  the 
Kerensky  army  on  the  Polish  front,  as 
a  "  force  in  being,"  would  have  been 
maintained,  Bolshevism  would  have  been 
nipped  in  the  bud,  and  the  whole  course 
of  the  war  might  have  been  changed. 
The  failure  to  recognize  these  elementary 
truths  constitutes  the  second  capital 
error  of  the  Allies  in  the  Balkans  and 
undoubtedly  prolonged  the  war  by  at 
least  two  years. 

Once  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  were  dis- 
posed of,  the  Army  of  the  Orient  could 
have  reoccupied  Serbia,  moved  on  the 
Danube,  and  threatened  Budapest.     The 


Hungarian  capital  would  then  have  been 
menaced  from  three  sides — from  the 
Danube,  from  the  Rumanian  front,  and 
by  the  Russian  Army  then  operating  in 
the  Bukovina.  The  country  around 
Budapest  being  one  immense  plain,  on 
which  there  are  no  fortresses  of  any  im- 
portance, the  defense  of  the  capital 
would  have  called  for  an  immense  num- 
ber of  men,  which  Austria  at  that 
moment  did  not  possess. 

The  chief  arguments  of  the  opponents 
of  the  Saloniki  front  were:  (1)  The  ex- 
cessive demands  it  made  on  tonnage,  (2) 
the  difficulties  of  communication,  and 
(3)  the  mountainous  nature  of  the  coun- 
try. 

The  excessive  demands  made  on  ton- 
nage for  the  transport  of  troops  and 
war  material  was  due  to  the  failure  of 
the  Allies  to  utilize  all  the  means  of 
transport  at  their  disposal.  For  eighteen 
long  months  they  only  made  use  of  the 
sea  route.  As  a  transport  steaming  at 
ten  knots  (the  speed  imposed  on  it  by 
the  scarcity  of  coal)  took  ten  days  to 
make  the  voyage  from  Marseilles  to 
Saloniki,  a  ship  could  only  deliver  one 
cargo  per  month.  At  the  same  time  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  Aegean  were 
swarming  with  submarines,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  transports  were  sunk. 
It  was  only  in  December,  1917,  that  some 
one  in  the  War  Office  in  London  per- 
ceived that  if  troops  and  stores  were 
forwarded  by  land  to  Taranto  in  the 
south  of  Italy  they  could  be  shipped  over 
to  Greece  in  a  single  night,  thus  avoiding 
the  submarine  danger.  One  ship  going 
backward  and  forward  between  Italy  and 
the  Greek  ports  could  therefore  do  the 
work  of  ten  running  from  Marseilles  to 
Saloniki. 

MARVELS   IN  ROAD   BUILDING 

As  soon  as  this  was  realized,  a  clause 
giving  the  Allies  the  right  to  disembark 
troops  and  stores  at  Itea,  the  Greek  rail- 
head in  the  Gulf  of  Lepanto,  whence  they 
could  be  forwarded  by  rail  to  Saloniki, 
was  inserted  in  one  of  the  many  ultimata 
sent  to  King  Constantine.  The  Italians 
also  constructed  a  "  route  carossable " 
from  Santa  Quaranta  to  Monastir,  a 
marvel  of  military  engineering,  by  which 


68 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


they  were  able  to  send  thousands  of  tons 
a  day  of  war  material  by  motor  truck. 

As  regards  the  second  difficulty — the 
means  of  communication  in  Macedonia 
itself — an  immense  improvement  had 
been  made.  When  the  expeditionary 
force  first  landed,  in  1915,  there  were 
only  three  lines  of  railway — and  those 
single  track — and  such  roads  as  had 
existed  under  the  Turkish  regime.  But 
the  300,000  men  composing  General 
Sarrail's  force,  reinforced  by  thousands 
of  Macedonian  peasants,  in  less  than  a 
year  and  a  half  constructed  thousands  of 
kilometers  of  roads  and  hundreds  of  kilo- 
meters of  light  railways. 

Mountains  on  which  a  year  before 
only  sheep  tracks  existed  were  made  ac- 
cessible to  heavy  guns.  An  immense 
amount  of  motor  transport  was  accumu- 
lated, and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pack 
animals  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  allied 
army.  The  army  of  General  Sarrail  was, 
therefore,  if  reinforced,  in  a  position  to 
undertake  a  successful  offensive.  The 
Serbian  advanced  lines  were  in  January, 
1917,  only  a  matter  of  eighty  miles  from 
Nish,  one  of  the  principal  stations  of  the 
Berlin-Constantinople  railway. 

The  third  objection — the  mountainous 
nature  of  the  country — was  greatly  exag- 
gerated. It  did  not  offer  any  insuper- 
able obstacle  to  military  operations.  The 
brilliant  campaign  of  Field  Marshal 
Misitch,  which  culminated  in  the  capture 
of  Monastir,  is  a  proof  of  this.  He  at- 
tacked, with  inferior  numbers,  an  enemy 
intrenched  in  most  formidable  mountain 
strongholds  and  drove  them  from  one 
position  after  another.  In  fact,  the 
superior  skill  of  the  Serbians  in  moun- 
tain fighting  gave  them  a  distinct  ad- 
vantage over  the  Germans  in  a  country 
like  the  Balkans.  Their  knowledge  of 
the  country  enabled  them  to  seize  ad- 
vantages to  outmanoeuvre  an  enemy  who 
was  not  accustomed  to  that  kind  of  war- 
fare. It  may  further  be  argued  that  in 
no  country  has  there  ever  been  so  much 
fighting  as  in  the  Balkans. 

The  mountainous  nature  of  the  coun- 
try did  not  prevent  the  States  composing 
the  Balkan  League  from  inflicting  in 
1912  a  crushing  defeat  on  Turkey; 
neither  did  it  prevent  the  German-Aus- 


trian-Bulgarian Armies  in  1915  from 
driving  the  Serbian  Army  into  Albania. 
On  that  occasion  250,000  Serbs  resisted 
the  invasion  of  750,000  Germans,  Aus- 
trains,  and  Bulgarians  for  over  two 
months.  The  fact  that  they  were  able 
to  do  so  is  only  attributable  to  their 
superior  skill  in  this  kind  of  warfare. 

SALONIKI'S  NAVAL  VALUE 

The  Saloniki  front  had  not  only  im- 
mense military  importance,  but  its  naval 
value  could  hardly  be  overestimated — by 
this  I  mean  its  naval  value  for  the 
enemy.  If,  by  any  chance,  the  Germans 
and  their  allies  had  driven  the  Army  of 
the  Orient  out  of  Saloniki  and  seized  the 
city  and  bay,  the  effect  would  have  been 
simply  catastrophic. 

The  Port  of  Saloniki  is  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  in  the  world;  a  land-locked 
harbor  miles  in  extent,  in  which  the 
navies  of  the  world  could  lie  at  anchor. 
If  this  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Germans  they  would  at  once  have'  formed 
it  into  a  submarine  base  of  the  most 
formidable  kind.  Then  would  have  fol- 
lowed the  invasion  of  Greece.  Once  the 
Germans  were  in  firm  possession  of  that 
country,  they  would  have  established 
other  submarine  bases  in  the  rocky  and 
indented  coast  line  of  Greece  and  in  the 
hundreds  of  islands  forming  the  Archi- 
pelago. Once  they  were  firmly  estab- 
lished there,  the  task  of  driving  them  out 
would  have  been  one  of  superhuman  dif- 
ficulty. 

The  result  would  have  been  that  hun- 
dreds of  submarines  and  submarine  mine 
layers  would  have  been  let  loose  in  the 
Aegean  and  the  Mediterranean.  It 
would  have  been  perfectly  possible  for 
them  to  stop  all  traffic  by  the  Suez 
Canal,  thereby  cutting  Great  Britain  off 
from  direct  communication  with  India, 
and  depriving  the  large  British  Army 
holding  Egypt  from  receiving  supplies 
and  munitions.  The  attack  by  the  Turks 
on  the  Suez  Canal  would  then  undoubted- 
ly have  been  resumed,  as  the  difficulty 
of  providing  the  army  defending  Egypt 
with  munitions  would  have  rendered  the 
chances  of  success  more  than  probable. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  Suez  Canal 
being  put  out  of  commission,   the  Ger- 


WHY    THE   SALONIKI    ARMY    WAS   POWERLESS 


69 


mans  would  have  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  bring  about  trouble  in  British  India. 
That  this  was  their  program  is  proved 
by  the  prosecution  of  Hindu  conspirators 
held  in  1917  in  San  Francisco.  With  the 
Suez  Canal  cut,  the  only  means  of  com- 
munication between  Great  Britain  and 
India  would  have  been  the  long  and  dif- 
ficult voyage  via  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope. 

It  was,  therefore,  for  the  Allies  a 
life-and-death  question  not  only  to  main- 
tain themselves  in  force  on  the  Saloniki 
front,  but  it  was  also  of  the  highest 
importance  that  this  front  should  be  so 
reinforced  as  to  allow  the  Army  of  the 
Orient  to  take  an  energetic  offensive 
and  cut  the  Berlin-Constantinople  line. 

There  was,  in  addition,  the  danger 
that  the  Russian  collapse  might  any  day 
set  free  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
German  troops  for  service  in  the  Bal- 
kans. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Great 
General  Staff  at  Berlin  was  thoroughly 
alive  to  the  immense  results  which  would 
follow  from  successful  operations  at 
Saloniki;  in  fact,  the  loss  of  Saloniki 
would  be  irreparable.  Once  Germany 
was  master  of  the  Aegean  and  the  Medi- 
terranean, victory  for  her  would  be  in 
sight.  That  the  Great  General  Staff 
did  not  undertake  operations  only  proves 
how  hard  pressed  it  was  on  other  fronts. 
This  renders  the  failure  of  the  Allies  to 
realize  their  opportunity  all  the  more 
inexcusable. 

ERROR  IN  BRITISH  ATTITUDE 
On  the  Saloniki  front  the  only  pos- 
sible policy  was,  therefore,  an  energetic 
offensive.  But  in  certain  British  circles 
it  was  argued  that  this  front  could  per- 
fectly well  fulfill  its  mission  by  simply 
defending  the  intrenched  camp  of  Salon- 
iki. This,  supported  by  the  guns  of  the 
fleet,  was,  they  declared,  impregnable. 

There  could  be  no  greater  error.  Any 
abandonment  of  the  line  running  from 
the  Albanian  frontier  across  the  plain 
of  Monastir  and  along  the  Moglene 
Mountain  range  to  Lake  Doiran  and  the 
Struma  Valley  would  have  been  disas- 
trous. It  would  have  permitted  the  Ger- 
man troops  and  their  allies  to  seize 
Greece  and  threaten  Saloniki  both  by 
land  and  sea.    Once  masters  of  Greece, 


Germany  would  have  had  little  difficulty 
in  rendering  the  access  to  Salokini  by 
sea  or  land  either  impossible  or  a  mat- 
ter of  extreme  difficulty. 

The  intrenched  camp  could  have  been 
closely  invested  until  such  time  as  the 
Germans  and  their  allies  had  established 
themselves  solidly  in  Greece  and  Greek 
Macedonia  and  concentrated  overwhelm- 
ingly superior  forces  for  an  attack. 
With  the  Aegean  Sea  swarming  with 
hostile  submarines,  the  position  of  the 
force  defending  the  intrenched  camp 
would  have  been  precarious  in  the  ex- 
treme. The  prize  was  too  great  for  the 
Germans  not  to  put  forward  every  effort 
to  win  it. 

Such  a  policy  would  have  cut  off  all 
communication  between  the  Italian  force 
in  Albania  and  the  Army  of  the  Orient. 
Shortly  after  the  capture  of  Monastir 
the  liaison  was  successfully  established 
between  the  Italian  army  of  occupation 
in  Albania  and  the  forces  of  General 
Sarrail,  so  that  the  fighting  line  was 
continuous  from  Valona  on  the  Adriatic 
to  the  Gulf  of  Cavalla  on  the  Aegean. 
The  successful  expulsion  of  the  Germans 
and  Bulgarians  from  Greek  Macedonia 
entailed  ten  months  of  hard  fighting  and 
cost  the  Army  of  the  Orient  40,000  men. 
Its  abandonment  would  have  meant  the 
loss  of  thousands  of  kilometers  of  roads 
and  hundreds  of  kilometers  of  light  rail- 
ways constructed  at  a  cost  of  millions  of 
dollars.  In  addition,  the  unfortunate 
population  would  have  been  delivered 
over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  ruthless 
and  cruel  enemy. 

No  more  suicidal  policy  could  there- 
fore have  been  imagined  than  any  aban- 
donment of  the  conquered  territory  by 
the  Allies,  and  the  idea  of  confining  the 
task  of  the  Army  of  the  Orient  to  the 
defense  of  the  intrenched  camp  was,  in 
the  opinion  of  all  competent  authorities 
on  the  spot  with  whom  I  discussed  the 
question,  strategically  and  tactically  un- 
sound. 

ARMY   OF   500,000  PARALYZED 

The  result  of  this  failure  of  the  Allies 
to  realize  the  importance  of  the  Saloniki 
front  (or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  cor- 
rect to  say  their  divided  opinions  in  re- 
gard to  it)  paralyzed  the  action  of  an 


70 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


army  of  500,000  men.  This  was  more 
than  was  required  for  the  mere  defense 
of  the  intrenched  camp  of  Saloniki  and 
not  sufficient  to  undertake  an  offensive. 
Every  time  the  Army  of  the  Orient 
undertook  a  successful  operation  it  was 
unable  to  follow  it  up  for  want  of  men.  * 

The  capture  of  Fiorina  by  the  French 
and  Serbs  on  Sept.  18,  1916,  was  a  case 
in  point.  The  Bulgarians  retired  with 
such  precipitation  that  little  would  have 
been  required  to  turn  their  retreat  into 
a  rout.  But  the  necessary  reserves  for 
this  were  lacking,  with  the  result  that 
instead  of  being  driven  back  in  confusion 
to  Prilep  and  Veles  the  Bulgarians  were 
able  to  reform  their  fleeing  regiments, 
"  dig  themselves  in  "  a  few  miles  further 
back  and  again  arrest  the  operations  of 
the  allied  army. 

A  few  weeks  later  came  the  second 
offensive,  the  brilliant  campaign  of  the 
army  under  the  command  of  Field  Mar- 
shal Misitch,  which  resulted  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Monastir.  But  as  before  he 
possessed  no  reserves,  he  was  unable  to 
follow  up  his  victory  with  the  result 
that  the  retreating  enemy  once  more 
were  able  to  intrench  themselves  in 
formidable  mountain  positions.  And 
during  all  this  time  the  Army  of  the 
Orient  was  melting  away  as  the  result 
of  the  ravages  of  malaria.  The  armies 
sweltering  on  the  plains  fell  victim  to 
it  by  tens  of  thousands.  At  one  time 
there  were  not  sufficient  hospital  ships 
to  repatriate  the  sick. 

FRANCE  FOR  ACTION 

When  the  position  of  the  Army  of  the 
Orient  had  thus  been  reduced  to  one 
of  stalemate  I  had,  in  the  early  months 
of  1917,  occasion  to  visit  Paris  and  Lon- 
don and  made  it  my  business  to  find  out 
the  views  of  the  French  and  British 
statesmen  regarding  the  Saloniki  front. 
In  Paris  I  had  long  conversations  with 
M.  Briand,  then  Prime  Minister;  M. 
Stephen  Pichon,  the  present  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs;  General  MaLterre,  the 
famous  French  military  writer;  M.  Hum- 
bert, member  of  the  Commission  of  the 
Senate  on  Military  Affairs;  Colonel 
Eousset,  the  eminent  military  critic  of 
the   Petit   Parisien,   and   a   score   or   so 


of  other  well-known  public  men  and  sol- 
diers. 

I  also  had  long  conversations  with  M. 
Sevastopoula,  Counselor  of  the  Russian 
Embassy,  and  Colonel  Count  Ignatieff, 
the  Russian  member  of  the  Interallied 
Military  Council.  I  found  that  they 
completely  shared  the  views  of  their 
French  allies.  The  latter  were  unani- 
mous in  favor  of  an  energetic  offensive 
on  the  Saloniki  front  and  equally  unani- 
mous in  deploring  the  shortsightedness 
of  the  British  military  authorities. 

When  I  spoke  with  M.  Briand  and 
urged  the  importance  of  the  Saloniki 
front  he  replied  to  me  "  My  dear  M. 
Gordon-Smith,  you  are  preaching  to  the 
converted.  It  was  I  who  sent  the  Army 
of  the  Orient  to  Saloniki  and  who  have 
kept  it  there.  If  you  see  Lloyd  George 
in  London  tell  him  from  me  that  M. 
Briand  is  more  convinced  than  ever  of 
the  strategical  and  political  importance 
of  the   Saloniki  front." 

BRITISH  FOR  WITHDRAWAL 

A.  week  later  I  was  in  London  and 
found  myself  face  to  face  with  a  stone 
wall.  The  public  knew  nothing  about 
Saloniki  and  cared  less.  The  Daily  Mail 
had,  on  Jan.  18,  published  an  article 
proposing  purely  and  simply  to  with- 
draw the  whole  army  from  Saloniki,  a 
repetition  of  Gallipoli.  The  impression 
made  in  Paris  by  this  article  was  disas- 
trous, so  much  so  that  the  censor  "  got 
busy  "  and  issued  a  stern  warning  to  the 
press  to  abstain  from  discussing  the 
situation  in  Saloniki. 

The  military  censorship  would  allow 
no  discussion  of  the  situation  in  the 
Balkans.  All  the  correspondents  of  Lon- 
don journals  had  been  expelled  from 
Saloniki  with  the  exception  of  Ward 
Price,  correspondent  of  the  Newspaper 
Proprietors'  Association,  (a  syndicate  of 
the  London  Journals,)  and  Mr.  Fergu- 
son of  Reuter's  Agency.  As  all  their 
dispatches  were  strictly  censored  first 
in  Saloniki  and  a  second  time  in  Lon- 
don, no  news  of  any  importance  was 
allowed  to  transpire  and  the  word 
Saloniki  had  practically  disappeared 
from  the  columns  of  the  London  press. 
It  was  openly  declared  that  it  was  on 


WHY    THE  SALONIKI   ARMY    WAS  POWERLESS 


71 


the  western  front  alone  that  the  war 
would  be  decided  and  no  discussion  of 
this  theory  was  permitted. 

The  only  public  man  who  seemed  to 
have  understood  the  importance  of  the 
Saloniki  front  was  John  Dillon,  the 
leader  of  the  Irish  Party  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  He  delivered  an  admirable 
speech  on  the  subject  in  the  House,  but 
so  rigid  was  the  "  taboo  "  on  everything 
concerning  Saloniki  that  the  only  publi- 
cation which  had  the  courage  to  publish 
it  was  The  New  Europe. 

It  was  notorious  that  General  Sir 
William  Robertson,  Chief  of  the  Imperial 
Staff,  and  all  the  men  surrounding  him 
were  out-and-out  "  westerners  "  and  re- 
fused to  listen  to  any  proposals  to  under- 
take any  offensive  elsewhere.  As  a  re- 
sult the  Army  of  the  Orient,  its  ranks 
ravaged  by  malaria  due  to  its  failure  to 
advance  out  of  the  swampy  plains  sur- 
rounding Saloniki,  was  melting  away 
uselessly  in  complete  inaction.  It  was  an 
open  secret  that  in  England  the  military 
party  had  completely  got  the  upper  hand 
and  had  seized  not  only  the  military  but 
also  the  political  conduct  of  the  war.  The 
War  Office  and  the  Foreign  Office  were 
often  in  conflict.  The  Imperial  General 
Staff  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  counsels 
which  did  not  square  with  their  par- 
ticular views. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  I  had  a 
number  of  conversations  with  Lord 
Northcliffe.  I  found  him  strongly  im- 
bued with  "  western "  ideas,  but  I  so 
far  shook  his  confidence  in  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  "western"  theory  that  he 
gave  me  permission  to  state  the  case  for 
Saloniki  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
editor  of  The  Times.  This  I  did  in  terms 
of  extreme  moderation,  but  was  informed 
a  day  or  two  later  that  it  had  been  sup- 
pressed by  the  censor  from  the  first 
line  to  the  last  and  returned  to  The 
Times  with  the  order  "Not  to  be  pub- 
lished" stamped  on  every  page. 

UNIFIED  COMMAND  WINS 
It  was  only  after  weeks  and  weeks  of 
sapping  and  mining  that  the  civil  power 
was  able  to  assert  itself  once  more. 
Lloyd  George  planned  In  secret  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Supreme  War  Council 
in  Versailles.     When  its  creation  was 


intimated  to  General  Sir  William  Robert- 
son he  at  once  in  protest  tendered  his 
resignation  as  chief  of  the  Imperial  Gen- 
eral Staff,  which,  probably  much  to  his 
surprise,  was  promptly  accepted.  Col- 
onel Rapington,  the  military  critic  of  The 
Times,  also  an  out-and-out  "  westerner  " 
to  whom  the  Saloniki  front  was 
anathema,  rushed  to  the  assistance  of 
his  chief  with  such  a  want  of  modera- 
tion of  language  that  he  was  promptly 
haled  before  the  courts  and  fined  £100 
under  the  Defen™°  of  the  Realm  act. 
Then  General  Maurice,  Director  of 
Operations,  issued  the  manifesto  which 
cost  him  his  position.  A  number  of 
subordinates,  known  to  be  out-and-out 
"  westerners,"  were  removed,  and  the 
power  of  the  Imperial  General  Staff  to 
impose  its  will  on  the  statesmen  was  at 
an  end.  Lloyd  George  triumphed  and 
General  Foch  was  intrusted  with  the 
supreme  direction  of  the  war. 

OFFENSIVE  BEGUN  AT  LAST 
The  result  was  a  complete  change  of 
policy  and  strategy  in  the  Balkans.  Gen- 
eral Sarrail  was  recalled  and  replaced 
by  General  Guillaumat,  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  commanders  from  the  western 
front.  As  soon  as  he  had  the  Army  of 
the  Orient  reorganized  and  reinforced, 
General  Frenchet  d'Esperey,  the  com- 
mander of  the  Fifth  French  Army  Group, 
was  sent  out  to  take  command  at  Saloniki 
and  an  eneregtic  offensive  was  at  once 
begun. 

As  before,  the  chief  attack  was  in- 
trusted to  the  Serbian  contingent  of  the 
Army  of  the  Orient.  It  attacked  with 
splendid  elan  the  Bulgarian  intrench- 
ments  on  the  Dobra  Polie,  drove  in  their 
centre,  and  then  rolled  the  opposing 
army  up  right  and  left.  Through  the 
breach  thus  made  poured  the  French  and 
British  contingents;  the  retreat  became 
a  rout,  and  in  five  days'  time  the  army 
of  King  Ferdinand  capitulated. 

The  Serbs  continued  their  triumphant 
advance,  the  Berlin-Constantinople  rail- 
way was  seized  and  the  Danube  front 
reached.  In  a  fortnight's  time  Turkey 
collapsed,  the  Dardanelles  were  opened 
and  the  allied  fleets  entered  the  Black 
Sea.  Austria*  saw  the  game  was  up  and 
sued  for  peace.  The  German  Empire  was 


72 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


therefore  menaced  from  the  rear.  Field 
Marshal  von  Hindenburg  saw  that  under 
these  circumstances  nothing  could  save 
the  situation  and  begged  for  an  armi- 
stice. Thus  the  war  which  began  in  the 
Balkans,  for  the  Balkans,  ended  in  the 
Balkans. 

That  this  would  be  the  inevitable  re- 
sult of  an  energetic  offensive  had  long 
been  clear  to  every  one  on  the  spot,  but 
unfortunately  the  voices  of  those  who 
advocated  it  had  long  been  the  "  voices 
of  those  crying  in  the  wilderness."  It 
is  only  when  the  historian  begins  a  de- 
tailed study  of  the  world  war  in  all  its 
phases  that  the  astonishing  errors  of  the 
Entente  in  its  Near  Eastern  policy  will 
become  apparent. 


The  consequence  of  these  terrible 
errors  was  not  only  to  prolong  the  war 
for  two  long  years,  but  it  also  caused 
unheard-of  sufferings  to  the  victims  of 
these  errors.  What  Serbia  suffered  is 
indescribable;  over  25  per  cent,  of  her 
population  succumbed,  her  territory  was 
ruthlessly  plundered,  and  she  piled  up 
a  war  debt  that  will  tax  her  economic 
resources  to  the  uttermost  for  many  a 
day  to  come.  As  she  had  to  incur  this 
debt  mainly  through  the  incredible  blun- 
ders of  the  statesmen  of  the  Entente, 
who  refused  to  listen  to  her  warnings, 
the  least  that  the  Allies  can  do  is  to  pass 
all  the  credits  with  which  they  supplied 
Serbia  to  profit  and  loss. 


American  Envoy  Received  in  Prague 


MR.  RICHARD  T.  CRANE,  the  Amer- 
can  Ambassador  to  the  new  Re- 
public of  Czechoslovakia,  and  the  first 
American  to  enter  diplomatically  the 
Czechoslovak  seat  of  Government,  pre- 
sented his  credentials  to  President 
Masaryk  and  his  Ministers  toward  the 
middle  of  last  June.  The  ceremony,  as 
described  by  a  correspondent  present  at 
the  time,  was  both  picturesque  and 
symbolic  of  Austria's  vanished  power. 
The  American  representative  was  lodged 
in  the  palace  of  the  former  Cardinal 
Archbishop, 

At  midday,  under  a  blazing  sun,  the 
ceremony  began,  with  the  appearance  of 
the  escort  of  honor.  Instead  of  soldiers, 
sokols  (men  of  the  gymnastic  societies 
that  have  played  so  important  a  part  in 
the  progress  of  many  countries)  were 
chosen  for  this.  On  their  fine  horses, 
in  their  tan  and  scarlet  costumes,  with 
black,  round  cap  and  falcon's  feather, 
but  with  no  weapons,  they  were  spendid- 
ly  picturesque.  The  sokols  of  Bohemia 
have  always  stood  for  their  independ- 
ence; hence  they  were  most  suitable  to 
greet  a  republic's  envoy. 

The  sokols  were  in  two  groups,  ad- 
vance and  rear  guards.  As  the  first 
group  appeared  at  the  great  castle  gates 
the  band  began  playing  the  American 
national    anthem,    following    with    the 


beautiful,  mysterious,  and  even  tragical 
Czech  hynm.  Following  the  sokols  came  a 
carriage  in  which  Colonel  Miles,  the 
Ambassador's  secretary,  rode  alone  in 
his  khaki  unifom.  Then  came  the  Am- 
bassador, accompanied  by  Lieut.  Col. 
Liska,  his  attache,  riding  in  an  open 
coach  drawn  by  six  superb  white  horses, 
(said  to  have  been  those  of  the  whilom 
Austrian  Emperor,)  and  on  the  coach- 
man's seat  were  two  white-haired  re- 
tainers who  appeared  to  have  been  handed 
down  from  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  arched  entrance  to  the  castle 
the  coaches  stopped,  and  an  American 
gentleman  in  simple  attire  went  up  the 
imposing  stairway  of  a  mediaeval  strong- 
hold to  meet,  in  the  name  of  the  Amer- 
ican people,  another  simple  gentleman, 
the  President  of  the  Czechoslovak  Re- 
public. He  was  met  and  accompanied 
up  the  stairs  by  dignitaries  of  the  re- 
public, Dr.  Kucera  and  Lieutenant  Seidl, 
and  at  the  top  was  greeted  by  Dr.  Jiri 
Guth,  master  of  ceremonies,  who  con- 
ducted him  to  the  President. 

With  President  Masaryk  were  the 
Czech  Ministers,  Dr.  Samal,  Svelha, 
Stepanek,  and  Dr.  Husak.  Introduced 
by  Dr.  Guth,  Mr.  Crane  presented  his 
secretary,  Colonel  Miles,  and  then  made 
a  speech,  to  which  President  Masaryk 
replied,  thus  ending  the  ceremony. 


Germany  as  a  Full-Fledged  Republic 

Oath  of  Office  as  President  Taken  With  Sim- 
ple Ceremonies  by  Friedrich  Ebert  at  Weimar 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  15,  1919] 


OUTSTANDING  events  of  the  month 
included  Friedrich  Ebert's  taking 
the  oath  as  President  of  Germany 
before  the  National  Assembly  at 
Weimar,  and  the  official  termination  of 
that  body's  existence,  to  give  place  to 
the  new  Reichstag  in  Berlin.  Revela- 
tions, accusations  and  personal  defenses 
continued  to  pour  forth  from  those,  on 
one  side  or  the  other,  involved  in  the 
great  after-the-war  controversy.  Among 
the  latest  was  Count  von  Bernstorff's 
diplomatic  apologia.  The  beginning  of 
a  widespread  emigration  of  the  middle 
classes  from  Germany  was  commented 
upon.  General  conditions  were  reported 
to  be  improved  as  regards  increasing 
productivity  and  less  turmoil,  but  the 
country  continued  to  suffer  from  a 
harassing  economic  situation. 

Friedrich  Ebert  took  the  oath  as 
President  of  the  German  Republic  in  the 
National  Theatre  at  Weimar  on  Aug.  21. 
A  large  crowd  had  gathered  in  the 
square  before  the  theatre,  where  a  guard 
of  honor  was  drawn  up  and  the  Land- 
jager  band  played  national  airs.  Herr 
Ebert  arrived  in  an  automobile  at  5  P.  M. 
and  was  received  by  the  Vice  President 
and  Secretaries.  The  organ  resounded 
as  he  was  conducted  to  the  centre  of  the 
flower-decked  hall,  where  the  President's 
tribune  was  situated.  It  was  noted  that 
the  places  reserved  for  the  German  Na- 
tional and  Independent  Socialists  were 
unoccupied.  Herr  Fehrenbach,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Assembly,  handed  Herr 
Ebert  the  document  containing  the  oath, 
the  formula  of  which  the  latter  read  with 
a  firm  voice.  Herr  Fehrenbach  then  ad- 
dressed the   German   President: 

You  came  from  the  people,  and  there- 
fore you  will  ever  be  a  faithful  friend  of 
the  working  people,  to  whom  you  have 
devoted  your  life  work.  You  will  also 
ever  be  a  shield  to  the  Fatherland,  which 
you  have  done  your  best  to  serve  and  for 
the  sake  of  which  you  have  made  a  ter- 
rible   and    most   painful    sacrifice,    seeing 


that  of  four  sons  you  sent  to  the  colors 
two  have  not  returned.  It  is  a  thorny 
office  which  in  the  hardest  times  the 
Fatherland  has  laid  upon  your  shoulders, 
but  with  an  easy  conscience  you  can 
claim  to  be  free  from  all  blame  or  re- 
sponsibility in  the  country's  wretched 
position. 

You  sought  to  attain  progress  and  free- 
dom solely  by  peaceful  development,  but 
with  defeat  the  die  was  cast  regarding 
the  old  State  form  and  the  dynasty.  Even 
those  who  preserve  their  love  for  the  old 
institutions  recognize  that  fact,  and  you 
lead  it  back  in  a  patriotic  mind  to  order 
and  to  work  and  point  the  way  to  the 
rebirth    of    the    beloved    Fatherland. 

President  Ebert  in  reply  said: 

This  must  remain  to  us  if  we  desire  to 
rebuild  the  Fatherland— deep  love  for  the 
homeland  and  the  tribe  out  of  which  each 
of  us  sprang,  and  to  this  must  be  joined 
sacred  labor  for  the  whole  and  the  plac- 
ing of  one's  self  in  the  republic's  service. 
Every  contradiction  between  the  whole 
and  the  individual  States  vanishes  there. 

The  essence  of  our  Constitution  shall 
above  all  be  freedom,  but  all  freedom 
must  have  its  law.  This  you  have  now 
established.  We  will  jointly  hold  on  to 
it.  It  will  give  us  strength  to  testify  for 
the  new  vital  principle  of  the  German 
Nation— freedom   and  right. 

After  Herr  Fehrenbach  had  bade  his 
farewell  to  the  National  Assembly,  in 
which  he  referred  to  the  task  of  that 
passing  body  as  the  effort  "  to  build  out 
of  a  heap  of  ruins  a  new  edifice,"  and 
affirmed  his  faith  in  the  German  people, 
he  conducted  President  Ebert  to  the  bal- 
cony of  the  theatre.  The  President  then 
addressed  the  crowd  as  follows: 

A  people  equal  and  with  equal  rights — 
that  is  what  this  day  shall  signify  to  all 
Germans.  I  now  renew  before  you  my 
oath  of  fealty  to  the  people  and  the  peo- 
ple's rights.  Let  us  stand  together  in  our 
people's  hard  struggle  for  life.  Join  me 
in  a  vow  of  this  indissoluble  unity,  so 
that  from  here — from  the  scene  of  imper- 
ishable deeds— it  may  ring  throughout  the 
German  Fatherland.  Long  live  our  be- 
loved German  people ! 

Thereupon  the  crowd  broke  into  deaf- 
ening   cheers,     and    the    band    played 


74 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


"  Deutschland  iiber  Alles,"  in  which  the 
people  joined  lustily. 

This  ceremony  officially  terminated 
the  German  National  Assembly,  which, 
unless  specially  convened  before  the  next 
regular  session  of  the  German  Legisla- 
ture, would  be  superseded  by  the  new 
Reichstag.  Its  labors  had  occupied  seven 
months  in  eighty-five  sessions,  unques- 
tionably of  momentous  consequence  to 
the  future  of  the  German  people.  Now 
that  Germany  had  a  democratic  Consti- 
tution, it  was  the  opinion  of  competent 
observers  that  such  reforms  as  the  grant- 
ing of  a  plebiscite  to  Upper  Silesia,  and 
the  rights  given  to  Workers'  Councils, 
though  experimental,  were  of  good  au- 
gury for  the  eventual  establishment  of  a 
democratic  republic  upon  the  traditional 
love  of  order  and  industry  heretofore  dis- 
played by  the  German  people.  On  the 
other  hand,  disclosures  of  the  shameless 
profiteering  of  industrial  magnates  dur- 
ing the  war,  and  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment's utter  incapacity  to  combat  it,  to- 
gether with  the  ignominious  flight  of  the 
ex-Kaiser  at  the  supreme  crisis,  seemed 
to  shatter  any  dream  of  a  return  to  pow- 
er by  the  reactionaries. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  National  As- 
sembly it  named  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate war  responsibility,  with  Herr  Peter- 
sen, a  Democrat,  as  President,  and  Dr. 
Peter  Spahn,  a  Centrist,  as  Vice  Presi- 
dent. The  Assembly  also  appointed  a 
new  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  of  five 
Social  Democrats,  three  Centrists,  three 
Democrats,  two  German  Nationalists, 
and  one  member  of  the  People's  Party. 
Philipp  Scheidemann  was  chosen  as  its 
President. 

PAN-GERMAN  REACTIONARIES 

On  Aug.  31  the  Pan-German  League 
held  a  general  meeting  at  Berlin,  in 
which  it  openly  threw  down  the  gauntlet 
to  the  German  Republic  and  pledged  it- 
self to  the  restoration  of  Kaiserism. 
Many  hundreds  of  delegates  shouted 
their  approval  when  their  leader,  Herr 
Glass,  denounced  the  events  of  Nov.  9, 
1918,  as  the  greatest  political  crime  ever 
recorded  in  history.  Another  leader, 
Baron  von  Schel,  demanded  "  prepara- 
tion for  a  war  of  liberation  "  and  the  re- 
turn   of    the    monarchy.      The    meeting 


closed  with  shouts  of  "  Hail  to  the  Ger- 
man Kaiser!  " 

A  different  note,  however,  was  struck 
by  young  Baron  von  Biederhann's  juve- 
nile convention  at  Potsdam  on  Sept.  1. 
Chief  Delegate  Vondervogel  of  the  Boy 
Scouts  made  a  revolutionary  speech,  fol- 
lowed by  others  who  declared  that  their 
leagues  were  "  thoroughly  revolution- 
ary "  and  unable  to  countenance  the  old 
order  of  things  that  led  to  the  disastrous 
war. 

RHINELAND  SEPARATISM 

Propaganda  to  establish  an  inde- 
pendent buffer  State  between  France  and 
Germany  was  again  active  in  the  Rhine- 
land.  Dr.  Hans  Dorten,  who  sponsored 
the  ill-fated  Rhine  Republic  last  June, 
was  reported  to  be  renewing  his  efforts 
in  the  territory  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  formerly  held  by  the  Americans. 
Another  somewhat  similar  movement 
under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Haas  at- 
tained the  stage  of  rioting  at  Ludwigs- 
hafen  on  Aug.  29.  In  an  attack  on  the 
Post  Office  two  officials  were  killed 
before  the  "  revolt "  was  suppressed 
by  the  French  authorities.  Coblenz  re- 
ported that  much  dissatisfaction  had 
been  aroused  in  the  Rhineland  owing  to 
the  indefinite  postponement  of  the  Na- 
tional Convention  of  the  Centre  Party  at 
Cologne,  at  which  the  question  of  a 
Rhineland  State  was  to  have  been  dis- 
cussed. 

A  news  dispatch  of  Sept.  14  stated 
that  the  proposed  withdrawal  of  the 
American  representative  from  the  Rhine- 
land  High  Commission  would  result  in 
a  situation  which  army  officers  at  Co- 
blenz regarded  as  pregnant  with  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  for  the  United  States. 
America,  by  withdrawing,  would  leave 
only  the  vote  of  England  as  opposed  to 
the  Rhenish  separatist  movement  against 
the  two  votes  of  France  and  Belgium, 
reported  to  be  in  its  favor.  Unless, 
therefore,  American  troops  in  the  Rhine- 
land,  holding  700  square  miles  of  Ger- 
man territory  with  a  population  of  350,- 
000,  were  withdrawn  also,  blame  in  Ger- 
many for  any  success  of  the  separatist 
movement  would  fall  equally  on  the 
United  States,  together  with  all  its  pos- 


GERMANY  AS  A  FULL-FLEDGED  REPUBLIC 


75 


sibilities  of  complications  and  entangle- 
ments. 

UNION  WITH  AUSTRIA   FORBIDDEN 

At  the  end  of  August  the  Supreme 
Council  of  the  Peace  Conference  decided 
to  send  a  forcible  note  to  the  German 
Government  pointing  out  that  Article  61 
of  the  new  German  Constitution  con- 
flicted with  the  Versailles  Treaty  in  pro- 
viding for  the  representation  of  Austria 
in  the  German  Reichstag.  The  council 
demanded  the  alteration  of  the  article  on 
pain  of  further  occupation  of  Rhineland 
territory.  Frank  I.  Polk,  the  American 
member  of  the  council,  disagreed  with 
the  hostile  tenor  of  the  note  as  originally 
drafted,  insisting  on  milder  terms.  M. 
Clemenceau's  communication  to  the  Ger- 
man Government  on  this  subject,  as 
finally  agreed  upon  and  dispatched  Sept. 
11,  ended  with  the  following  diplomatic 
formula,  which  the  German  legislative 
authorities  must  ratify  within  a  fort- 
night after  the  treaty  of  peace  comes 
into  force: 

The  undersigned,  duly  empowered  to 
act  in  the  name  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment, recognizes  and  declares  that  all 
prescriptions  of  the  German  Constitution 
which  are  in  contradiction  to  the  Ver- 
sailles Treaty  are  not  valid ;  notably,  the 
admission  of  Austrian  representatives  can 
take  place  only  if,  conformably  with  the 
treaty,  the  League  of  Nations  gives  as- 
sent to  a  modification  of  Austria's  inter- 
national situation. 

In  a  statement  issued  in  Berlin  on 
Sept.  13  Dr.  Hugo  Preuss,  who  had 
drafted  the  new  German  Constitution, 
denounced  the  Allies'  demand  that  Ger- 
many amend  the  Constitution  so  as  to 
prevent  Austrian  representation  in  Ger- 
man affairs.  This  policy,  he  asserted, 
ran  counter  to  all  the  solemn  declara- 
tions of  President  Wilson  and  the 
Entente. 

GENERAL  NOSKE'S  PLEA 

In  support  of  his  plea  that  Germany 
be  allowed  to  reduce  her  military  forces 
more  gradually  than  stipulated  by  the 
treaty,  General  Noske  said  to  a  cor- 
respondent of  the  Paris  Matin  in  Ber- 
lin: 

There  are  still  some  nests  of  Bolshe- 
vism scattered  throughout  Germany  even 
in   the   neighborhood   of   Berlin.     A  sec- 


ond revolution  in  this  country  in  the 
coming  Winter  is  entirely  possible.  The 
first  one  I  was  able  to  quell,  and  so 
saved  Central  Europe  from  barbarism. 
Now  it  is  necessary  to  leave  me  the 
means  to  do  the  same  thing  if  the  occa- 
sion arises. 

I  now  have  actually  400,000  men.  This 
is  the  absolute  total,  despite  the  Entente 
newspapers'  charges  that  I  have  innum- 
erable armies.  According  to  the  treaty, 
I  must  reduce  these  400,000  to  100,000  be- 
fore next  April.  Already  I  am  beginning 
to  reduce  the  army,  but  when  the  treaty 
becomes  effective,  probably  by  the  first 
of  October,  I  must  throw  out  immediately 
150,000  to  join  our  masses  of  unemployed. 
That  will  add  to  our  social  difficulties. 

With  only  100,000  men,  I  will  not  be 
able  to  maintain  order  in  this  country. 
After  the  shocks  which  Germany  has  sus- 
tained, and  in  the  midst  of  an  economic 
crisis,  show  me  the  man  who  in  mid- 
Winter  with  coal  and  food  lacking  will 
undertake  such  responsibilities.  I  will 
not. 

Reports  from  Coblenz  on  Aug.  23 
dwelt  on  the  organization  of  500,000 
Home  Guards,  in  reality  a  reserve  army, 
to  evade  the  Peace  Treaty  terms.  To 
carry  out  the  plan  this  force  was  placed 
technically  under  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  instead  of  the  Ministry  of  War. 
Further,  General  von  Keller,  a  Russian 
nobleman  of  German  descent,  was  said 
to  be  at  the  head  of  a  movement  to  or- 
ganize a  large  German  volunteer  corps 
in  the  Baltic  pi'ovinces,  and,  to  that  end, 
was  working  in  harmony  with  the  Ger- 
man occupation  troops. 

ERZBERGER  AND  FLAME  THROWERS 
The  reactionaries,  smarting  under 
revelations  made  by  Mathias  Erzberger, 
Minister  of  Finance,  retaliated  by  pub- 
lishing a  letter  showing  that  he  had  been 
a  patron  of  Herr  Fiedler,  inventor  of  the 
flame  thrower.  This  letter,  written  by 
Herr  Erzberger  to  General  von  Falken- 
hayn,  Minister  of  War,  read: 

Berlin,  Sept.  17,  1914. 
Tour  Excellency  will  allow  me  to  sub- 
mit herewith  a  memorandum  concerning 
a  flame  thrower  invented  by  Herr  Fied- 
ler. The  matter  is  already  known  to 
your  Excellency,  but  I  consider  the  fur- 
ther suggestion  to  make  use  of  the  new 
invention  from  airships  to  be  a  very 
happy  one.  All  considerations  of  inter- 
national law  and  humanity,  which  were 
all  very  well  in  times  of  peace  as  a  sub- 
ject for  conversation  in  the  salons  of  Ber- 


76 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


lin,  must  now,  in  my  opinion,  be  absolute- 
ly discarded.  "We  must  gain  victory  also 
over  England,  and  I  believe  this  invention 
is  eminently  calculated  to  realize  precise- 
ly this  aim. 

The  Germans  never  used  flame  throw- 
ers on  airships  because  the  plan  proved 
impracticable;  but  Erzberger's  advocacy 
of  their  use  in  Zeppelin  raids  is  not 
without  interest. 

A  Berne  message  of  Aug.  29  stated 
that  in  evidence  taken  before  United 
States  Consul  Stewart,  in  connection  with 
charges  brought  against  Dr.  Eumely  as 
purchaser  of  The  New  York  Evening 
Mail,  it  was  admitted  by  Dr.  Albert,  for- 
mer German  Under  Secretary  of  State 
and  German  agent  in  New  York,  that  he 
had  advanced  money  for  the  purchase 
of  The  Evening  Mail  from  funds  in  his 
hands — resulting  from  the  raising  of 
German  loans  in  the  United  States  and 
certain  other  sources.  Dr.  Albert  added 
that  he  had  advanced  this  money  some- 
what against  his  own  judgment,  but  his 
objection  had  been  overruled  by  Dr.  Dern- 
burg's  order.  In  cross-examination,  when 
confronted  with  photographic  facsimiles 
and  copies  of  letters,  checks,  &c,  pro- 
duced by  Bielaski  before  the  Overman 
Committee,  Dr.  Albert  admitted  that 
practically  everything  which  was  said 
about  his  endeavors  to  make  the  Amer- 
ican public  take  the  German  point  of 
view  was  substantially  correct. 

VON    BERNSTORFF'S    EXPLANATION 

What  may  be  termed  Count  von  Bern- 
storff's  diplomatic  apologia  appeared  in 
Das  Demokratische  Deutschland  toward 
the  end  of  August.  After  urging  that 
Germany  should  direct  her  policy  toward 
a  revision  of  the  Peace  Treaty  by  means 
of  the  League  of  Nations,  the  former 
German  Ambassador  at  Washington 
wrote: 

During  the  whole  war  two  minds  dwelt 
within  German  policy.  The  one  was 
naval-military  and  the  other  civilian- 
political.  All  the  utterances  of  our  Gov- 
ernment which  reached  Washington  dur- 
ing the  period  of  America's  neutrality 
were  dictated  either  by  the  one  tendency 
or  were  the  result  of  a  compromise  be- 
tween both.  Thus  one  can  more  justly 
speak  of  a  split  in  German  policy  than 
of  its  "  two-faced  "  nature.  The  one  tend- 
ency wanted  the  U-boat  war,  even  if  it 
drove  the  United  States  to  a  breach  with 


us;  the  other  wanted  to  join  in  with 
President  Wilson's  policy  and  so  come  to 
peace.  The  struggle  between  these  two 
tendencies  began  with  the  Lusitania  epi- 
sode and  ended  with  the  declaration  of 
the  unrestricted  U-boat  campaign  in  the 
defeat  of  the  civilians. 

As  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  this  strug- 
gle, I  can  offer  the  most  binding  assur- 
ance that  the  German  civil  policy  always 
kept  the  one  end  in  view.  It  did  not 
carry  on  negotiations  with  a  view  to  pre- 
paring for  the  U-boat  war  in  the  mean- 
time, as  many  Americans  still  believe. 
Nor  did  it  instigate  any  conspiracies  in 
America.  The  German  civil  administra- 
tion had  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  the 
worst  things  which  were  being  done  by 
the  naval-military  tendency  over  there, 
such,  as,  for  example,  the  Rintelen  mis- 
sion. 

The  two  chief  sins  with  which  we  are 
charged  under  the  heading  "  two-faced  " 
—the  Adlon  dinner  in  honor  of  Ambassa- 
dor Gerard  and  the  Mexican  telegram — 
were  only  committed  after  the  Berlin 
civil  administration  had  hauled  down 
their  sails  before  the  superior  force  of 
the  naval-military  party.  Like  the  as- 
trologer in  "  Faust,"  the  German  Gov- 
ernment then  only  made  such  declara- 
tions as  were  whispered  to  it  by  the 
naval-military  Mephisto.  This  moment 
was  the  climax  of  the  German  tragedy. 
The  mediatory  action  which  had  just 
then  been  begun  by  President  Wilson  was 
rendered  worthless  by  our  deed,  and  the 
war  was  lost.  All  efforts  made  at  the 
last  moment  from  Washington  to  alter 
Berlin's  decision  came  to  nought,  as  will 
be  remembered,  on  account  of  "  technical 
difficulties." 

EVENTS  OF  INTEREST 

A  dispatch  of  Aug.  28  stated  that  the 
Spartacides  had  made  a  great  coup  in 
plundering  a  large  munition  depot  and 
getting  possession  of  several  thousand 
rifles,  which  they  had  concealed  on  the 
Danish  frontier.  From  Munich  it  was  an- 
nounced that  on  Aug.  25  the  Bavarian 
Army  had  officially  ceased  to  exist  and 
had  become  part  of  the  national  defense 
army.  Considerable  public  dissatisfaction 
was  manifested.  On  Sept.  2  Government 
troops  occupied  the  principal  buildings  in 
Munich  and  patrolled  the  streets. 

A  settlement  of  claims  by  the  French 
Government  against  Germany  for  the 
murder  of  Sergeant  Paul  Mannheim  in 
Berlin  last  July  was  agreed  upon,  Ger- 
many paying  an  indemnity  of  1,000,000 
marks. 

Field    Marshal    Liman    yon    Sanders, 


GERMANY  AS  A  FULL-FLEDGED  REPUBLIC 


77 


who  had  commanded  one  of  the  Turkish 
armies,  arrived  in  Berlin  on  Sept.  1,  after 
having  been  arrested  and  imprisoned  at 
Constantinople  and  finally  repatriated 
by  order  of  the  British  Government.  He 
complained  of  his  confinement  in  a  stock- 
ade, but  admitted  he  had  been  treated 
with  every  courtesy  by  the  British  Ad- 
miralty in  transit  from  Malta  to  Venice. 
According  to  Munich  advices,  nearly 
100,000  officers  and  men  were  regarded 
as  wartime  deserters  from  the  German 
Army.  Included  in  this  number  were 
many  thousands  in  England  and  America 
who  were  prevented  from  returning  to 
Germany  at  the  outbreak  of  war.  Switz- 
erland led  the  neutral  countries  with  40,- 
000  deserters.  A  proclamation  by  the 
German  Government  offered  amnesty  to 
these  men  if  they  returned  to  Germany 
this  year. 

A  curious  trade  plot  was  uncovered  in 
Switzerland,  according  to  a  Geneva  dis- 
patch of  Sept.  2.  Of  500  poor  students  of 
Vienna  University  to  whom  Switzerland 
offered  hospitality  for  several  months 
81  per  cent,  were  officially  found  by  the 
Swiss  Minister  at  Vienna  to  be  young 
German-Austrian  commercial  travelers. 
Their  baggage  was  composed  chiefly  of 
samples,  prospectuses  and  price  lists  in 
English,  destined  for  London  and  New 
York,  and  arranged  to  appear  as  coming 
from  Switzerland.  The  Swiss  Minister 
refused  to  indorse  their  passports. 

Berlin  advices  of  Sept.  14  stated  that 
Rear  Admiral  Adolf  von  Trotha  would 
assume  charge  of  the  naval  forces  under 
the  new  Ministry  of  Defense,  becoming 
operative  on  Oct.  1.  Colonel  Reinhardt, 
the  Prussian  Minister  of  War,  would  as- 
sume command  of  the  land  forces. 

The  arrival  and  internment  at  Saloniki 
of  Field  Marshal  von  Mackensen  was  re- 
ported in  State  Department  dispatches 
from  Greece,  according  to  a  Washington 
message  of  Sept.  15. 

By  the  middle  of  September  the  food 
situation  in  Germany  had  improved  to 
the  extent  of  white  bread  reappearing  in 
the  restaurants,  without  cards,  and  the 
city  looked  cleaner  generally.  But  in 
the  homes  of  the  people  conditions  had 
improved  little.  Meat  of  the  cheapest 
sort  was  rather  more  plentiful  at  $2.25, 


but  sugar  was  still  at  almost  forty-five 
times  its  pre-war  prices.  In  a  large  de- 
partment store  a  correspondent  found 
lines  of  china,  glassware,  and  cooking 
utensils  in  greater  supply  and  at  cheaper 
prices  than  in  London.  Clothes  still  re- 
mained a  difficulty. 

EX-KAISER'S  NEW  HOME 
From  Holland  reports  indicated  that 
the  Hohenzollern  family  purposed  tak- 
ing up  permanent  residence  in  that  coun- 
try. Dispatches  stated  that  the  ex- 
Crown  Princess  Cecilie,  with  her  two 
sons,  had  arrived  at  the  island  at  Wie- 
ringen  to  visit  her  husband,  and  that  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Brunswick,  the 
former  Kaiser's  son-in-law  and  daughter, 
had  purchased  a  large  house  in  one  of 
the  best  neighborhoods  at  The  Hague. 
The  Duchess  had  already  arrived  at, 
Scheveningen,  where  she  temporarily  oc- 
cupied a  villa  which  had  been  used  by 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  headquarters  staff 
hostel  during  the  internment  of  British 
soldiers  in  Holland. 

The  announcement  was  also  made  of 
the  purchase  by  the  former  Kaiser  of, 
the  estate  and  house  of  Doom,  near 
Utrecht,  five  miles  north  of  Ameron-, 
gen,  from  the  Baroness  van  Heemstra 
de  Beaufort.  The  ex-Kaiser's  new  es- 
tate is  described  as  magnificently  wood- 
ed, and  the  mansion  as  a  beautiful,  old, 
ivy-covered,  white  house  dating  from 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  resembling 
an  English  country  residence.  Though 
rich  is  historic  association  and  imposing 
in  appearance,  it  possesses  only  twelve 
rooms  in  addition  to  small  chambers  for 
the  servants.  The  front  of  the  house  is 
approached  first  by  a  lodge,  then  by  a 
long  gravel  drive  and  a  large  round 
lawn.  Next  come  the  formal  garden, 
with  handsome  stables  to  the  right,  and 
the  gravel  square  in  front  of  the  house, 
with  tropical  trees  and  palms  in  tubs. 
The  hall  is  of  white  marble,  which  leads 
by  a  short  flight  of  marble  steps  to  a 
long  sitting  room  opposite  the  front  door 
and  occupies  almost  the  whole  width  of 
the  house.  The  place  was  said  to  have 
been  selected  originally  by  the  ex-Em- 
press, and  it  was  announced  that  the 
former  imperial  family  would  take  up 
their  residence  there  in  the  Fall,  after 


78 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


renovation  had  been  made  and  furnish- 
ings from  one  of  his  castles  in  Germany 
had  been  installed. 

Meantime  the  former  Emperor  was 
reported  as  continuing  his  tree  sawing 
exercise  with  more  zest  than  that  ex- 
perienced by  the  medical  and  other 
members  of  his  suite  invited  to  partici- 
pate. His  negotiations  with  the  German 
Government  for  a  settlement  of  claims 
"  through  forced  abdication  "  were  stat- 
ed in  a  Berlin  message  of  Sept.  5  to 
have  resulted  in  a  plan,  still  withheld 
from  the  press,  that  would  not  be  dic- 
tated "  by  pettiness  or  malice,  and  would 


not  call  forth  justified  criticism."  In- 
vestigation by  Dr.  Suedekum,  Prussian 
Minister  of  Finance,  had  failed  to  indi- 
cate that  the  former  imperial  family 
had  capital  "  planted  "  abroad,  while  the 
amount  on  the  ex-Kaiser's  person  wh  n 
he  fled  to  Holland  was  not  more  than 
$160,000. 

A  message  from  The  Hague  of  Sept. 
10  stated  that  fifty-one  Berlin  furniture 
vans  were  counted  moving  along  the  road 
between  the  railway  station  at  Zeist  and 
the  village  of  Doom  transporting  the 
ex-Kaiser's  household  effects  to  his  new 
residence. 


The   Evidences    of    Germany's    Guilt 

Masterly    Report    Summarizing    the    Proofs    of    the 
Berlin    Government's    Responsibility    for    the    War 

By  LOUIS  BARTHOU 

[Former  Premier  of  France] 

The  Peace  Committee  of  the  French  Chamber  on  Aug.  7,  1919,  devoted  the  whole 
of  an  afternoon  session  to  the  reading  of  the  report  of  Louis  Barthou,  Chairman  of 
the  committee  on  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany.  Mr.  Barthou's  report  was 
listened  to  with  the  closest  attention,  and  was  afterward  characterized  as  a  masterly 
document,  "  the  clearest  and  most  cogent  summary  of  the  origin  and  prosecution  of 
the  war  by  Germany  that  has  yet  appeared."  Its  most  important  passages  are  here 
translated  in  full: 


THE  special  committee  to  which  you 
referred  the  Peace  Treaty  signed 
on  June  28,  1919,  at  Versailles,  be- 
tween the  allied  and  associated 
powers,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  German 
Empire  and  its  component  States,  on  the 
other,  recommends,  by  a  majority  report, 
the  ratification  of  that  treaty.  It  would 
neither  have  understood  nor  fulfilled  the 
task  assigned  to  it  had  it  confined  itself  to 
a  mere  act  of  registration  under  the  pre- 
text that  it  could  propose  to  you,  exclud- 
ing all  amendment,  only  approval  or  re- 
jection of  the  treaty.  When  an  inter- 
national convention  so  long,  so  ramified, 
and  so  complex  pledges  for  an  indefinite 
time  the  prosperity  and  the  security  of 
France,  the  country's  representatives 
would  fail  to  do  their  duty  if  they  made 
no  effort  to   determine   its   general  in- 


spiration, its  conditions,  and  its  conse- 
quences. France  has  the  right  to  know 
the  situation  in  which  a  glorious  and 
costly  victory  has  left  her,  and  within 
what  bounds  her  future  will  develop.  *  *  * 
There  is  no  initial  and  capital  point 
from  which  the  whole  derives  and  which 
the  negotiations  have  placed  beyond 
question.  By  fixing  the  responsibilities 
incurred  by  Germany  in  her  declaration 
and  conduct  of  the  war,  the  conference, 
both  morally  and  legally,  has  laid  the 
strongest  possible  basis  for  the  con- 
ditions of  peace  which  it  has  dictated  to 
her.  Although  it  applies  only  to  repara- 
tions, Article  231  of  the  treaty  lays  down 
a  general  principle,  around  which  all  its 
provisions  are  harmoniously  grouped.  It 
says  that  "  the  aggression  of  Germany 
and  her  allies  has  imposed  war  on  the 


THE  EVIDENCES  OF  GERMANY'S   GUILT 


79 


allied  and  associated  Governments." 
After  having  striven  to  deny  this  charge, 
the  German  Government  has  been  obliged 
to  recognize  it.  Vainly  did  its  partisans, 
its  press,  and  the  orators  of  its  Assembly 
insist  that  all  authority  should  be  with- 
held from  this  judgment  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  subscribed  to  under  compul- 
sion. Vainly  is  it  still  publishing  or  hav- 
ing published  documents  tending  to  pal- 
liate the  greatest  responsibilities.  The 
guilt  of  Germany,  her  premeditated  will 
to  war,  and  the  support  of  her  whole 
people  in  a  war  criminally  unchained  by 
a  subservient  accomplice  are  truths  now 
historically  established. 

GERMANY'S  OWN  WITNESSES 

Public  opinion  everywhere  has  given 
its  judgment.  To  the  many  irrefutable 
documents  which  the  diplomatic  archives 
of  the  belligerent  countries  have  yielded 
to  debate,  and  of  which  the  German 
White  Book,  cynically  abridged,  is  not 
the  least  convincing,  witnesses  have  ad- 
ded new  and  decisive  facts.  When  these 
witnesses  rise  up  upon  her  own  soil,  how 
may  Germany  deny  the  terrible  proofs 
with  whose  utterance  those  witnesses 
have  purged  their  consciences?  The 
memoir  of  Prince  Lichnowsky,  the  report 
of  Dr.  Muhlon,  and  the  documents  re- 
vealed by  Kurt  Eisner  contain  crushing 
charges.  Their  origin  and  their  exactness 
can  leave  no  doubt  of  the  perfidy  with 
which  Germany  seized  on  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  at  Sera- 
jevo  as  a  pretext  to  declare  the  war 
which  she  had  been  preparing  for  so 
many  years.  The  opportunity  was  a 
good  one  "  to  make  an  end  of  it,"  as 
General  von  Moltke  said  to  the  King  of 
Belgium  in  1913.  The  German  General 
Staff  had  unceasingly  exercised  on  public 
opinion  that  indirect  and  continuous 
pressure  whose  use  Colonel  von  Luden- 
dorff,  then  battalion  commander,  had 
recommended  in  order  "  to  strengthen 
and  extend  Deutschtum  throughout  the 
whole  world."   He  added: 

"We  must  drill  into  the  people  the  idea 
that  our  armaments  are  a  response  to  the 
armaments  and  policy  of  France.  We 
must  accustom  them  to  thinking  that  an 
offensive  war  by  us  is  necessary  to  com- 
bat  the   provocations    of   our   adversary. 


We  must  act  prudently  so  as  to  excite  no 
suspicions  and  avoid  all  crises  that  might 
injure  our  economic  life.  We  must  so  guide 
events  that  under  the  heavy  pressure  of 
powerful  armaments,  of  considerable  sac- 
rifices, and  of  a  strained  political  situa- 
tion, a  declaration  of  war  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  deliverance,  with  the  pros- 
pect that  it  will  be  followed  by  decades 
of  peace  and  prosperity,  as  after  1870. 

PRETEXT   OF    DEFENSE 

These  tactics  succeeded.  The  measures 
of  defense  taken  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment were  denounced  in  the  German 
press  as  a  provocation,  and,  following  the 
assassination  at  Serajevo,  the  situation 
was  "  strained "  enough  to  permit  the 
German  General  Staff  and  the  German 
Government  to  call  the  people,  by  no 
means  averse,  to  a  pretended  policy  of 
deliverance.  Whatever  may  be  urged  by 
his  belated  defenders  and,  above  all,  by 
his  accomplices,  made  uneasy  by  his  rev- 
elations and  threatened  with  his  fate, 
Emperor  William  II.,  from  whom  one 
word,  a  single  word,  would  have  sufficed 
to  prevent  the  conflict,  refused  to  take 
every  step  which  would  have  held  back 
Austria  on  the  brink  of  the  fatal  preci- 
pice. His  letter  of  July  28  to  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Empire,  von  Bethmann 
Hollweg,  declared,  it  is  true,  that  the 
"  capitulation  of  Serbia  removed  every 
motive  for  making  war."  But  did  he 
not,  at  the  same  time,  make  that  war 
inevitable  by  exacting  that  the  promises 
of  Serbia,  to  be  more  than  a  scrap  of 
paper,  should  be  followed  by  the  occupa- 
tion of  Belgrade,  considered  as  a  neces- 
sary pledge? 

Moreover,  the  imperial  letter  is  in 
flagrant  contradiction  with  the  memoir 
submitted  to  the  Reichstag  on  Aug.  3, 
1914,  by  von  Bethmann  Hollweg.  It  was 
formally  stated  in  this  letter  that,  though 
the  reply  of  Serbia  yielded — how  could  it 
be  denied? — some  satisfaction  to  the  de- 
sires of  Austria-Hungary,  it  was,  after 
all,  only  a  source  of  delay,  which  the 
Dual  Monarchy  was  right  in  ending  by  a 
declaration  of  war.  This  declaration  of 
war  was  equivalent  to  the  irrevocable 
casting  of  the  dice.  The  memoir  of  von 
Bethmann  Hollweg  admits  it,  saying: 

With  all  our  heart  we  could  say  to  our 
ally  that  we  shared  her  view,  and  could   , 


80 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


assure  her  that  the  action  which  she 
judged  necessary  to  put  an  end  in  Serbia 
to  the  agitation  directed  acainst  the 
existence  of  the  monarchy  would  have 
all  our  sympathies.  We  realized  that 
eventual  acts  of  hostility  committed  by 
Austria-Hungary  against  Serbia  might 
involve  Russia  and  lead  us  into  war,  to- 
gether with  our  ally ;  but  we  could  not, 
knowing  that  the  vital  interests  of 
Austria-Hungary  were  at  stake,  either 
advise  our  ally  to  show  an  indulgence 
incompatible  with  her  dignity  or  refuse 
to  her  our  support  in  that  difficult 
moment.  "We  had  the  less  reason  for 
doing  so  in  that  our  own  interests  were 
threatened  to  the  highest  degree  by  the 
continual  underhand  procedure  of  Serbia. 

This  avowal,  imposed  by  the  evidence 
deriving  from  the  combined  facts  and 
also  from  the  documents  published,  was 
renewed  during  the  negotiations  at  Ver- 
sailles by  the  German  delegation :  "  If, 
immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  Ser- 
bian answer  of  the  27th,  the  Vienna 
Cabinet  had  been  prevented  from  taking 
irrevocable  measures,  the  result  might 
have  been  decisive." 

The  delegation's  note  added  that  the 
Berlin  Cabinet  "  lacked  decision."  The 
truth  is  that  it  profited  by  the  circum- 
stances to  precipitate  war.  None  of  the 
steps  taken  by  the  powers  to  prevent 
it — the  request  made  by  M.  Sazonov 
for  extension  of  the  time  granted  Serbia ; 
the  proposal  of  mediation  in  a  group  of 
four  formulated  by  Sir  Edward  Grey; 
the  suggestion  expressed  by  the  Czar  and 
which  the  German  White  Book  passed 
over  in  silence,  to  submit  the  Austro- 
Serbian  conflict  to  The  Hague  tribunal; 
the  last  hour  and  supreme  appeal  ad- 
dressed by  Czar  Nicholas  to  William  II. 
to  abstain,  as  he  bound  himself  to  do 
upon  his  honor,  from  every  aggressive 
act  during  the  negotiations — had  its 
support.  On  the  contrary,  at  the  moment 
when  Austria-Hungary  on  July  31 
seemed  disposed  to  open  discussion  with 
the  Russian  Ambassador,  Germany  made 
this  impossible  by  charging  her  Ambas- 
sador at  St.  Petersburg  with  an  ulti- 
matum which  she  knew  would  inevitably 
lead  to  war.  As  Prince  Lichnowsky  ex- 
pressed it:  "We  went  into  war  with 
whip  and  spur." 

History  has  already  declared  that  Ger- 
many wanted  war,  and  documents  dated 
from  Berlin,  Austrian  or  German,  prove 


it.  We  must  record  these  evidences. 
On  July  25,  1914,  Count  Szoegeny,  the 
Ambassador  of  Austria-Hungary  at  Ber- 
lin, telegraphed  to  the  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs  at  Vienna: 

It  is  generally  admitted  here  that,  in 
case  of  a  possible  refusal  by«  Serbia,  our 
immediate  declaration  of  war  will  coin- 
cide with  the  military  operations.  A  de- 
lay in  the  initiation  of  military  operations 
is  considered  here  as  a  great  danger  be- 
cause of  the  intervention  of  other  powers. 
We  are  urgently  advised  to  begin  imme~ 
diately  and  to  confront  the  world  with  an 
ACCOMPLISHED   FACT. 

Two  days  later,  when  Serbia  had  re- 
plied by  what  Emperor  William  called 
a  "  capitulation,"  the  same  agent  sent 
this  message  to  his  Government: 

The  Secretary  of  State  informs  me  in  a 
very  clear  and  confidential  statement  that 
in  the  near  future  possible  proposals  of 
mediation  on  the  part  of  England  may  be 
sent  to  your  Excellency  by  the  German 
Government.  The  German  Government 
binds  itself  in  the  most  solemn  way  not 
to  associate  itself  in  any  way  with  these 
proposals;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  absolutely 
opposed  to  their  examination  and  will 
transmit  them  only  to  comply  with  Eng- 
land's request. 

The  German  delegation  felt  the  ac- 
cusatory power  of  these  two  telegrams, 
as  issuing  from  an  allied  Ambassador 
and  revealing  directly  the  perfidy  of  the 
Berlin  Government,  alarmed  lest,  either 
through  the  weakness  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary or  by  the  calling  in  of  Serbia,  the 
opportunity  which  it  was  watching  with 
criminal  eagerness  might  escape  it.  Con- 
sulted by  the  delegation,  von  Bethmann 
Hollweg  and  von  Jagow,  both  called  by 
the  German  delegates  "  men  worthy  of 
confidence,"  opposed  a  weak  and  belated 
contradiction  to  the  statements  of  Count 
Szoegeny,  transmitted  in  the  very  midst 
of  the  negotiations.  Something  else  was 
necessary:  the  German  delegation,  in 
order  to  nullify  the  effect  of  the  evi- 
dence by  the  charge  of  mental  weakness, 
simply  and  coldly  added  that  "  the 
Austro- Hungarian  Ambassador  was  older 
than  his  age." 

BAVARIAN  MINISTER'S  REVELATION 
Unfortunately  for  Germany,  other  wit- 
nesses against  the  Berlin  Government 
have  arisen  since  1914  who,  without 
knowing  the  view  imparted  to  Count 
Szoegeny,  expressed  the  same  sentiment 


THE  EVIDENCES   OF   GERMANY'S   GUILT 


81 


with  equal  force.  On  July  18  the  Bava- 
rian Minister,  not  as  an  ally,  but  as  a 
German,  informed  the  Munich  Govern- 
ment of  the  state  of  mind  of  Berlin, 
after  a  conversation  with  Herr  Zimmer- 
mann,  then  Under  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  affairs.    He  said: 

The  step  which  the  Vienna  Cabinet  has 
decided  to  take  at  Belgrade,  and  which 
will  consist  in  the  transmission  of  a  note, 
will  occur  on  the  25th  of  the  present 
month.  The  deferring  of  this  action  until 
that  time  is  based  on  the  desire  to  await 
the  departure  of  MM.  Poincare  and 
Viviani  from  St.  Petersburg  in  order  to 
make  an  agreement  between  the  Dual 
Alliance  Powers  (Prance  and  Russia)  for 
counteraction  more  difficult.  Until  that 
time  the  appearance  of  pacific  intentions 
will  be  feigned  in  Vienna  by  the  simul- 
taneous granting  of  leave  of  absence  to 
the  Minister  of  War  and  the  head  of  the 
General  Staff.  The  press  and  the  Stock 
Exchange  have  also  been  influenced.  It 
is  recognized  here  that  in  these  respects 
the  Vienna  Cabinet  has  acted  skillfully, 
and  it  is  only  regretted  that  Count  Tisza, 
who  at  first  was  opposed  to  energetic 
action,  raised  the  veil  of  secrecy  some- 
what by  his  statement  before  the  Chamber 
of   Deputies. 

According  to  what  was  told  me  by  Herr 
Zimmermann,  the  note  will  contain  the 
following  demands: 

"  1.  Publication  by  the  King  cf  Serbia 
of  a  proclamation  declaring  that  the  Ser- 
bian Government  has  kept  itself  entirely 
aloof  from  the  Pan-Serbian  movement, 
and  does   not  approve  of  it. 

"  2.  Opening  of  an  investigation  con- 
cerning the  accomplices  in  the  murder  at 
Serajevo  and  participation  in  this  in- 
vestigation by   an  Austrian   official. 

"  3.  Official  action  against  all  those  who 
have  taken  part  in  the  Pan-Serb  move- 
ment." 

For  the  acceptance  of  these  demands, 
a  period  of  forty-eight  hours  will  be  fixed. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  Serbia  cannot 
accept  these  demands,  which  are  incom- 
patible with  her  dignity  as  an  independ- 
ent State.  War  will  consequently  result. 
There  is  complete  agreement  here  that 
Austria  should  profit  by  this  favorable 
moment,  even  at  the  risk  of  later  com- 
plications. It  is  believed  therefore  that 
this  is  Austria's  hour  of  destiny,  and  it 
was  in  this  belief  that  without  hesitation 
the  reply  was  sent  to  Vienna  that  Ger- 
many approved  any  action  decided  on 
there,  even  at  the  risk  of  war  with 
Russia. 

The  origin,  the  date,  and  the  specific 
nature  of  this  telegram  make  it  a  docu- 
ment of  capital  importance.  It  is  suf- 
ficient to  establish  the  responsibility  of 


the'  Berlin  Government;  its  premedita- 
tion, hypocritically  concealed  by  exterior 
precautions;  its  approval  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  ultimatum,  which  it  knew  to 
be  incompatible  with  the  dignity  and 
independence  of  Serbia;  its  fear  of  los- 
ing the  opportunity  for  a  war  coolly  de- 
termined on;  its  pressure  on  the  Vienna 
Cabinet  to  hasten  what  Count  Szoegeny 
called  "  the  accomplished  fact." 

The  German  delegation  asserted  that 
the  "  so-called  revelations  of  Kurt 
Eisner  added  nothing  new,  granting  that 
they  contained  nothing  erroneous,"  but, 
with  the  exception  of  two  alleged  errors 
of  detail,  it  prudently  refrained  from 
discussing  a  document  whose  crushing 
truthfulness  has  been  confirmed  by  the 
events  themselves,  as  they  developed, 
and  whose  author,  Kurt  Eisner,  paid  for 
its  publication  with  his  life. 

In  declaring  war  on  France,  Germany 
on  Aug.  3  abandoned  the  game  which 
she  had  so  cleverly  played  forty-four 
years  before.  In  1870  she  succeeded,  by 
the  fraudulent  alteration  of  a  dispatch, 
in  giving  to  France,  at  least  apparently, 
the  role  of  an  aggressor.  On  Aug.  3, 
1914,  she  assumed  before  the  world  and 
before  history  the  responsibility  for  ag- 
gression. Innocent  of  the  declaration  of 
war,  France  has  no  self-reproaches  to 
make  for  the  events  that  led  to  the 
bloody  conflict.  Her  Government,  her 
diplomacy,  and  her  military  command 
pushed  prudence  and  patience  to  the  ex- 
treme. France,  who  had  counseled  Ser- 
bia to  make  all  concessions  compatible 
with  the  sovereignty  of  an  independent 
State,  rejected  no  attempt  at  conciliation 
or  mediation.  Slje  escaped  all  the  traps 
laid  for  her  by  Germany.  Questioned  by 
Herr  von  Schoen  on  the  attitude  that 
France  would  take  in  case  of  a  conflict 
between  Germany  and  Russia,  M. 
Viviani  did  not  make  an  "  unsatisfactory 
and  ambiguous  answer,"  as  von  Beth- 
mann  Hollweg  characterized  it;  he  made 
the  sober  and  dignified  reply  that  France 
would  be  guided  by  her  own  interests. 
The  withdrawal  of  French  troops  to  a 
point  ten  kilometers  from  the  German 
frontier,  as  ordered  by  the  Government, 
proved  to  the  world  the  peaceful  inten- 
tions of  our  country,  and  at  the  same 
time  made  impossible  the  incidents  from 


82 


THE  NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


which  Germany  beyond  doubt  sought  to 
draw  advantage.  Against  such  wise  and 
prudent  procedure  only  a  pretext  based 
upon  falsehood  could  prevail.  Germany 
had  recourse  to  both. 

FALSE   PRETEXTS   EXPOSED 

Concerning  the  declaration  of  war  on 
Aug.  3,  Herr  von  Schoen  said: 

The  administrative  and  military  authori- 
ties of  Germany  have  recorded  a  certain 
number  of  hostile  acts  committed  on  Ger- 
man territory  by  French  military  avia- 
tors. Several  of  these  manifestly  violated 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium  by  flying  over 
the  territory  of  that  country ;  one  of  them 
tried  to  destroy  constructions  near  Wesel ; 
others  were  perceived  over  the  Eiffel 
region ;  another  threw  bombs  on  the  rail- 
way  near  Carlsruhe  and  Nuremburg. 

None  of  these  assertions  was  proved, 
none  was  true.  In  contradicting  these 
alleged  "aggressions"  the  head  of  the 
French  Government  anticipated  the  con- 
tradictions of  the  Germans  themselves. 
On  April  3,  1916,  the  municipal  authori- 
ties of  Nuremburg  published  a  decisive 
statement : 

The  temporary  commander  of  the  3d 
Bavarian  Army  Corps,  stationed  here,  has 
no  knowledge  that  before  or  after  the 
declaration  of  war  any  bombs  were 
thrown  by  enemy  aviators  on  the  lines  of 
Nuremburg-Kissingen  or  Nuremburg- 
Ansbach.  All  allegations  and  dispatches 
of  newspapers  to  this  effect  are  manifest- 
ly  false. 

This  denial,  coming  from  German 
military  authorities,  has  such  evidential 
force  that  the  German  delegation,  far 
from  repeating  the  pretext  inscribed  in 
the  declaration  of  war,  was  itself  com- 
pelled to  recognize  its  falseness: 

It  is  regrettable  that  iTr  the  declaration 
of  war  on  France  use  should  have  been 
made  without  due  consideration  of  certain 
information  concerning  attacks  by  French 
aviators,  which  the  Government  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  verify. 

History,  severe  as  it  is,  .will  deliver  no 
judgment  more  terrible  than  this  Ger- 
man phrase  of  comment  on  the  German 
lie  that  served  as  pretext,  as  sole  pre- 
text, for  the  declaration  of  war  on 
France  by  Germany.  It  is  true  that  the 
delegation  tried  indirectly  to  modify  its 
avowal  by  imputing  to  France  on  Aug. 
2,  in  a  note  referred  to  the  addenda,  "  at 
least  fifty  violations  of  the  frontier"; 


and  on  Aug.  3  "  to  the  beginning  of  the 
state  of  war  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
sixteen  further  violations  of  the  frontier 
established  certainly,  four  probable,  and 
one  possible."  To  support  these  belated 
charges,  no  specific  evidence,  no  fact,  no 
proof.  When  France  in  1914  accused 
the  German  soldiers  or  aviators  of  hav- 
ing passed  the  frontier  or  flown  over 
French  territory  it  cited  the  places 
where  these  violations  of  international 
rights  had  occurred.  The  Yellow  Book 
need  only  be  opened  to  find  them.  The 
German  White  Book  is  silent,  and  it  is 
thereby  evident  how  vague  are  the  allega- 
tions of  the  German  delegation. 

France  had  the  war  forced  on  her, 
she  did  not  wish  it.  Germany  wished  the 
war,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  the  Ger- 
man Republic,  which  continued  up  to  the 
last  moment  to  evade  the  fundamental 
tenor  of  Article  31  of  the  treaty,  this 
article  enunciates  a  decisive  and  irre- 
futable truth  in  affirming  that  the  ag- 
gression by  Germany  and  her  allies 
forced  war  on  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments.  No  country  better  than 
France  can  testify  to  the  truth  of  this 
historic  fact. 

TWO  TREATIES  VIOLATED 
There  is  another  truth,  accepted  also 
by  history,  and  based  on  Article  227,  in 
which  William  Hohenzollern  II.  is  in- 
dicted "  for  supreme  offense  against 
international  authority  and  the  sacred- 
ness  of  treaties."  Germany  deliberately 
violated  two  treaties  in  which  she  was 
the  contracting  party.  A  guarantor  by 
the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  London  of 
May  11,  1867,  assuring  the  neutrality  of 
Luxemburg,  Germany  on  the  morning  of 
Aug.  2  sent  troops  and  armored  trains 
over  that  neutral  territory  on  the  pre- 
text of  protecting,  without  resort  to  vio- 
lence, the  railways  which  were  under 
German  administration.  Against  the 
protest  of  the  Minister  of  State  of  the 
Grand  Duchy,  the  Berlin  Government 
alleges  that  "  reliable  information  "  had 
announced  the  march  of  French  troops 
on  Luxemburg.     This  was  a  lie. 

The  same  lie  and  the  same  formula 
were  to  serve  her  as  a  pretext  to  justify 
the  invasion  by  German  troops  on  Aug.  4 
of  the  territory  of  Belgium,  whose  neu- 


THE  EVIDENCES   OF   GERMANY'S   GUILT 


83 


trality  Prussia  had  guaranteed  by  the 
Treaty  of  London  of  April  19,  1839.  The 
German  Government,  after  vainly  trying 
to  intimidate  or  bribe  the  Belgian  Gov- 
ernment, alleged  that  "  reliable  informa- 
tion "  had  removed  all  doubt  of  France's 
intention  to  occupy  the  Belgian  terri- 
tory. A  pretext  was  necessary;  German 
imagination  had  little  trouble  in  finding 
it,  but  German  premeditation  had  long 
been  brewing,  and  it  is  German  docu- 
ments, again,  that  prove  it.  In  his  re- 
port of  1913  Colonel  Ludendorff  wrote 
on  behalf  of  the  Berlin  Headquarters: 

In  the  next  European  war  the  small 
States  will  be  compelled  to  join  us  or  be 
conquered.  Under  certain  conditions  their 
armies  and  fortresses  can  be  rapidly  con- 
quered or  neutralized.  This  would  prob- 
ably be  the  case  for  Belgium  and  Hol- 
land, and  thereby  a  territory  could  be  put 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  enemy  in  the 
west  which  could  serve  as  a  base  of  opera- 
tions  against  our  flank. 

After  having  spoken  of  the  certainty 
of  Swiss  neutrality  and  of  Germany's 
safety  in  the  south,  the  report  added : 
We  cannot  apply  the  same  criterion  to 
the  situation  presented  by  the  small  States 
of  our  northwestern  frontier.  A  vital 
problem  will  confront  us  there,  and  the 
object  which  we  must  pursue  is  to  take 
the  offensive  with  great  superiority  of 
numbers  from  the  first  days.  To  this  end 
we  must  concentrate  a  great  army,  fol- 
lowed by  strong  formations  of  Landwehr, 
which  will  impel  the  armies  of  the  small 
States  to  follow  us,  or  at  least  to  remain 
inactive  in  the  field  of  operations,  and 
which  would  crush  them  in  case  of  armed 
resistance. 

The  execution  of  the  plan  of  invasion 
of  Belgium  was  pursued  in  August,  1914, 
by  the  Prussian  staff,  as  appears  from 
a  report  of  the  Bavarian  Legation  in 
Berlin  published  by  Kurt  Eisner: 

Germany  cannot  respect  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium.  The  head  of  the  General 
Staff  has  declared  that  even  the  neutral- 
ity of  England  would  be  too  great  a  price 
to  pay  for  respecting  Belgian  neutrality, 
for  an  offensive  war  against  France  is 
possible  only  along  the  line  of  Belgium. 

BETHMANN'S   CONFESSION 

To  these  documents  may  be  added  the 
notorious  confession  made  before  the 
Reichstag  by  the  Imperial  Chancellor, 
the  "  scrap  of  paper  "  man : 

Gentlemen,  we  have  been  compelled  to 
defend  ourselves,  and  necessity  knows  no 


law.  Our  troops  have  occupied  Luxem- 
burg, and  already,  perhaps,  are  treading 
Belgian  soil.  Gentlemen,  this  is  contrary 
to  the  decrees  o£  international  law.  We 
have  been  obliged  to  ignore  the  justified 
protests  of  Belgium  and  Luxemburg.  This 
injustice — I  say  it  candidly — we  will  make 
good  as  soon  as  our  military  objective 
has  been  attained.  When  a  nation  is  In- 
volved as  we  are,  and  is  struggling  for  a 
momentous  gage,  it  must  think  only  of 
triumphing  as  best  it  can. 

These  confessions  decide  the  question. 
After  the  discovery  in  Brussels  of  cer- 
tain documents  relating  to  negotiations 
between  England  and  Belgium,  the  Ger- 
man Government,  after  deliberately  per- 
verting their  spirit,  tried  to  find  therein 
a  justification  of  the  crime  which  it  had 
committed  to  the  perjury  of  its  pledged 
word  and  in  transgression  of  the  law  of 
nations.  But  the  German  delegation  took 
from  it  even  this  resource: 

As  for  the  violation  of  Belgian  and 
Luxemburg  territory,  the  undersigned 
share  completely  the  point  of  view  de- 
fended by  the  Imperial  Chancellor  of  Ger- 
many on  Aug.  4,  1914,  amid  the  applause 
of  the  Reichstag,  when  he  declared  that 
there  was  "  an  injustice  to  be  made 
good."  They  deplore  the  fact  that  this 
view  was  momentarily  abandoned  during 
the  war,  and  that  an  attempt  was  made 
subsequently  to  justify  the  German  in- 
vasion. 

INTELLECTUALS  DISCREDITED 
We  should  show  ourselves  ignorant  of 
the  true  character  of  Germany,  to  which 
country  as  a  whole  Prussia  has  trans- 
mitted its  policy  and  its  traditions,  if 
we  were  not  sure  that,  had  she  been 
victorious,  she  would  have  taken  up 
again  and  emphasized  that  justifica- 
tion. Frederick  II.  began  "  by  taking," 
and  when  his  troops  had  fulfilled  his 
orders  he  left  to  the  scholars  of  the 
nation  the  task  of  demonstrating  the 
legality  of  his  action.  The  German 
scholars  did  not  fail  the  successor  of 
Frederick  II.  The  manifesto  of  the 
ninty-three  intellectuals  said: 

It  is  not  true  that  we  have  criminally 
violated  the  neutrality  of  Belgium.  We 
have  irrefutable,  proof  that  France  and 
England,  sure  of  the  connivance  of  Bel- 
gium, had  resolved  to  violate  that  aeu- 
trality  themselves.  It  would  have  been 
sucide  for  our  country  not  to  anticipate 
them. 

The  German  delegation,  composed,  ^o» 


84 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cording  to  Count  Brockdorff-Rantzau,  of 
independent  men,  gave  the  lie  to  this 
audacious  statement  v/Jnen  it  accepted 
without  protest  Article  232  of  the  treaty, 
which  imposes  on  Germany,  held  to  com- 
plete restoration  and  restitution,  the 
costs  of  the  unjust  war  of  aggression 
waged  on  Belgium. 

"  It  is  not  true,"  said  again  the  mani- 
festo of  the  intellectuals,  "  that  we  wage 
war  in  contempt  of  international  law. 
Our  soldiers  commit  neither  acts  of  in- 
discipline nor  cruelties."  The  German 
delegation  did  not  dare  to  take  upon 
itself  the  denial  of  a  fact  whose  truth 
the  whole  world  knows  today.  It  has 
even  made  confession.  Count  Brock- 
dorff-Rantzau said  at  Versailles  on 
May  7: 

In  all  enemy  countries  public  opinion 
resounds  with  crimes  which  Germany  is 
charged  with  having  committed  during  the 
war.  On  this  point,  also,  we  are  ready  to 
confess  the  injustices  which  we  have 
wrought.  We  have  not  come  here  to 
palliate  the  responsibility  of  the  men  who 
have  conducted  the  war  politically  and 
economically,  nor  to  deny  the  crimes  com- 
mitted   against   the   laws   of   nations. 

In  this  confession  there  would  be  an 
undeniable  element  of  pride  if  the  head 
plenipotentiary  had  not  immediately 
sought  to  nullify  its  effect  by  imputing 
to  Germany's  adversaries  deeds  and 
transgressions  similar  to  those  whose  re- 
sponsibility he  accepted  for  the  armies 
of  his  country.  This  position,  perhaps, 
is  cleverly  taken;  it  is,  from  any  legal 
or  factitive  standpoint,  unacceptable. 
No  comparison  is  possible,  and  less  s.ill 
any  compensation,  between  isolated,  indi- 
vidual, accidental  acts  and  a  systemati- 
cally barbarous  waging  of  war.  The  Ger- 
mans have  erected  cruelty  into  a  system. 
Faithful  to  the  doctrines  of  Clausewitz, 
von  Hartmann,  von  Bernhardi,  von  Haes- 
eler,  they  oppose  to  the  law  of  nations 
the  unlimited  use  of  brute  force.  Herr 
Erzberger  has  declared  that  "war,  a 
harsh,  rough  instrument,  must  be  as 
pitiless  as  possible."  And  we  know 
whether  the  German  armies  have  been 
accessible  to  pity! 

The  Peace  Conference  has  drawn  up 
under  thirty-two  heads  the  summary  of 
the  crimes  against  the  laws  and  customs 


of  war  and  against  the  laws  of  humanity 
with  which  Germany  and  her  allies  may 
be  charged: 

1.  Murders  and  massacres,  systematic  ter- 
rorism. 

2.  Putting  to  death  of  hostages. 

3.  Tortures  inflicted  on  civilians. 

4.  Starvation   of   civilians. 

5.  Violations  of  women. 

6.  Seduction  of  young  women  to  force  them 
into  prostitution. 

7.  Deportation  of  civilians. 

8.  Internment  of  civilians  under  barbarous 
conditions. 

9.  Forced  labor  of  civilians  compelled  to  do 
work  connected  with  military  operations. 

10.  Usurpation  of  sovereign  rights  of  the 
State  during  military  occupation. 

11.  Compulsory  enrollment  of  soldiers  taken 
from  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  occupied 
countries. 

12.  Attempts  made  to  denationalize  the 
inhabitants  of  the  occupied  territories. 

13.  Pillage. 

14.  Confiscation  of  property. 

15.  Illegal  or  exorbitant  taxes  and  requisi- 
tions. 

16.  Depreciation  of  the  monetary  system 
and  emission  of  false  money. 

17.  Impositions  of  collective  penalties. 

18.  Devastation  and  destruction  of  property 
without  cause. 

19.  Intentional  bombardments  of  unfortified 
places. 

20.  Destruction,  without  cause,  of  monu- 
ments and  religious,  charitable,  educational, 
and  historical  edifices. 

21.  Destruction  of  merchant  ships  and  pas- 
senger chips  without  warning  or  the  taking 
of  measures  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  crews 
and   passengers. 

22.  Destruction  of  fishing  boats  and  food 
trains. 

23.  Intentional   bombardment   of  hospitals. 

24.  Attacks  on  and  destruction  of  hospital 
ships. 

25.  Infractions  of  the  regulations  of  the 
Geneva  Cross. 

26.  Use  of  noxious  and  asphyxiating  gases. 

27.  Use  of  explosive  and  expanding  bul- 
lets and   other  inhuman  weapons. 

28.  Order  to  give  no   quarter. 

29.  Bad  treatment  inflicted  on  wounded 
and  prisoners  of  war. 

30.  Use  of  prisoners  of  war  on  unjustified 
labor. 

31.  Abuse  of  the  white  flag. 

32.  Poisoning  of  wells. 

This  list,  long  and  precise  as  it  is,  is 
not  complete;  it  would  be  possible  to 
add  new  transgressions  to  the  terrible 
list  of  crimes  committed  by  the  Germans. 
This  list,  based  on  innumerable  facts, 
justifies  only  too  well  the  condemnation 
expressed   by  the  allied   and  associated 


THE  EVIDENCES   OF   GERMANY'S   GUILT 


85 


powers  in  their  letter  of  June  16,  1919, 
for  "  the  savage  and  inhuman  manner  " 
in  which  Germany  had  conducted  the 
war.  The  allied  and  associated  powers 
were  right  in  saying  that  "  the  conduct 
of  Germany  is  almost  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  the  human  race." 

DEPORTATIONS  NOT  FORGOTTEN 

If  France  has  not  been  the  victim  of 
all  the  violations  of  right,  accidental  or 
systematic,  which   the   summary   drawn 
Up   by  the   conference   contains,   it  has 
perhaps   known   those   which  most   vio- 
lently conflict  with  the  laws  of  nations 
and  with  the  most  sacred  sentiments  of 
humanity.    Though   it   is   impossible   to 
examine  them  one  by  one,  it  is  also  im- 
possible to  pass  over  the  wholesale  ab- 
duction, in  April,  1916,  and  the  deporta- 
tion of   25,000   women,   young  girls,   or 
men  of  Lille,  Roubaix,  and  Turcoing.  *  *  * 
Our  colleagues  MM.  Delory  and  Raghe- 
boom  narrated  to  us  in  the  session  of 
Oct.   22,    1918,   amid   almost   unanimous 
emotion,  the  brutality  of  the  mode  of  ex- 
ecution of  this  order,  which  aggravated  a 
measure  more  than  odious  in  itself.    M. 
Delory  concluded  by  protesting  against 
a  peace  without  reparations.     He  said: 
It  is  impossible  to  pass  the  sponge  over 
such    acts.      Not   to   demand    a   peace    of 
justice  would  be  a  crime  against  France, 
a  crime  against  humanity. 

These   words    expressed   the   national 


sentiment.  Germany  deliberately  sought 
to  assassinate  France,  to  destroy  her 
industry,  her  land,  her  race.  Paul 
Deschanel  has  said :  "  To  forget  would 
be  treachery  and  supreme  peril."  The 
whole  Chamber  applauded  these  words. 
But  it  is  insufficient  not  to  forget;  the 
criminals  must  expiate  their  crimes.  The 
German  delegation  itself  has  recognized 
the  necessity  of  "  giving  satisfaction  to 
the  legitimate  claims  of  moral  justice 
where  an  injustice  has  really  been  com- 
mitted." It  would  be  impossible,  alas!  to 
repair  all  the  injustices  from  which  the 
moral  conscience  has  suffered.  But 
justice,  to  be  efficacious,  cannot  content 
itself  with  a  mere  condemnation  which, 
despite  all  its  solemnity,  would  be  de- 
risive.   *     *     * 

[The  report  of  M.  Barthou  concluded 
with  a  chapter  on  the  restoration  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine.  When  the  reading 
was  completed,  M.  Viviani,  on  behalf  of 
the  Chamber,  thanked  M.  Barthou  for 
the  important  work  which  he  had  ac- 
complished, especially  for  having  brought 
out  into  strong  relief  the  advantages 
secured  by  the  treaty,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  for  having  underlined  some  of  its 
imperfections.  He  added:  "This  is  the 
first  time  that  a  complete  study  of  the 
treaty  has  issued  from  any  Parliament. 
The  committee  had  high  expectations  of 
your  talents  and  authority;  it  has  not 
been  disappointed."] 


German  ex-Crown  Prince's  Memoirs 


LATE  in  July  the  ex-Crown  Prince 
wrote  a  letter  to  Captain  Kurt 
Anker,  formerly  an  intelligence  officer 
in  the  Crown  Prince's  Army  Group,  in 
which  he  said  that  he  has  refused  all 
invitations  from  publishers  to  print 
his  memoirs,  as  it  was  repugnant  to  him 
to  assert  his  claim  for  justice  too  hastily. 
The  letter  continued  as  follows: 

In  the  war  I  endeavored,  according  to 
my  knowledge  and  my  ability,  to  do  my 
duty.  I  tried  to  spare  the  blood  of  the 
German  soldiers  committed  to  my  care, 
where  I  could,  and  to  make  life  better  for 
them  so  far  as  lay  in  my  extremely 
limited  power.  Today  most  will  disown 
me.     I  bear  them  no  grudge  for  that,  but 


thousands  of  my  brave  fellows,  whose 
hands  I  have  shaken,  will  in  their  hearts 
recognize  the  truth  that  I  finally  left  the 
scene  of  my  activities  when  my  person 
might  cause  further  confusion  for  our 
poor  and  severely  tried  Fatherland. 
"Whether  I  acted  rightly,  who  will  today 
decide? 

Events  have  taken  their  course,  and  we 
must  now  concentrate  our  thoughts  on 
raising  again  our  shattered  German 
Nation  and  restoring  to  outward  and  in- 
ward health  our  Fatherland,  which  is 
bleeding  from  a  thousand  wounds.  I  per- 
sonally am  by  no  means  in  a  state  of 
deep  despair  or  indifferent  apathy.  Under 
the  entirely  changed  conditions,  I  shall 
build  up  a  new  life  for  myself  and  my 
family. 


Constitution  of  the  German  Republic 

Full  Text  of  New  Basic  Law  of  the  Nation, 
Adopted  by  the  National  Assembly  at  Weimar 


r  ■  tHE  National  Constituent  Assembly 
of  Germany,  elected  on  Jan.  19, 
P  1919,  after  many  months  of  de- 
liberation adopted  the  following 
Constitution  for  the  new  republic  on  July 
31,  and  it  became  effective  on  Aug.  13. 
During  this  whole  period  the  Constituent 
Assembly  fulfilled  the  functions  of  the 
Reichstag.  Under  the  Constitution  the 
Reichstag,  elected  in  accordance  with  the 
new  basic  law,  will  resume  its  functions. 
The  National  Council  forms  a  sort  of 
upper  house,  corresponding  largely  to 
the  Federal  Council  of  the  Empire.  The 
revision  of  Article  61,  which  provides  for 
the  admission  of  Austrian  delegates  to 
the  National  Council,  has  been  formally 
demanded  by  the  Peace  Conference  at 
Paris.  The  text  of  the  Constitution  is  as 
follows : 

?&tt fttttfalt*- 'rhe  German  people,  united  in 
all  its  branches  and  with  the 
determination  to  build  up  and  strengthen  its 
domain  in  liberty  and  justice,  to  preserve 
peace,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  to 
foster  social  progress,  has  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing- Constitution: 

COMPOSITION    AND    FUNCTIONS    OF 
THE  GOVERNMENT 

ARTICLE  1.— The  German  National  State  is 
a  Republic.  The  power  of  the  State  is  de- 
rived from  the  people. 

ARTICLE  2.— The  territory  of  the  nation 
consists  of  the  territories  of  the  German 
States.  Other  territories  may  be  taken  into 
the  Government  by  national  law,  when  their 
inhabitants,  by  a  vote  of  self-determination, 
express  such  a  desire. 

ARTICLE  8.— The  national  colors  are 
black-red-gold.  The  trade  flag-  is  black- 
white-red,  with  the  national  colors  on  the 
upper  inside  corner. 

ARTICLE  4.— The  universally  recognized 
principles  of  the  laws  of  nations  are  accepted 
as  binding  elements  of  the  laws  of  the  Ger- 
man Nation. 

ARTICLE  5.— The  power  of  the  National 
State  shall  be  exercised  through  the  agen- 
cies of  the  Government  on  the  basis  of  the 
Constitution  in  all  matters  affecting  the  na- 
tion, and  in  all  matters  affecting  the  respec- 
tive   States    through    the    agencies    of    such 


States  on  the  basis  of  their  respective  Con- 
stitutions. 

ARTICLE  6.— The  Government  has  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  legislation  over: 

1.  Foreign  relations. 

2.  Colonial   matters. 

3.  State  property,  right  of  changing  resi- 
dence, immigration  and  emigration,  and  ex- 
tradition. 

4.  Military  organization. 

5.  Coinage. 

6.  Customs,  including  the  unification  of 
customs  and  trade  districts  and  the  free  cir- 
culation of  wares. 

7.  Posts,  telegraphs,  and  telephones. 

ARTICLE  7.— The  Government  has  right 
of    legislation    over : 

1.  Civil  law. 

2.  Criminal  law. 

3.  Judicial  proceedings,  including  the  exe- 
cution of  penalties  and  co-operation  be- 
tween  departments. 

4.  Passports  and  police  for  aliens. 

5.  Poor   laws   and   vagrancy. 

6.  Press,  associations,   and  assemblies. 

7.  Population  policy;  provisions  affecting 
maternity,  nurslings,  young  children  and 
adolescents. 

8.  National  health,  veterinaries,  protec- 
tion of  plants  from  disease  and  pests. 

9.  Labor  law,  insurance,  and  protection  of 
workmen  and  employes  and  employment 
agencies. 

10.  The  organization  of  trade  representa- 
tion in  the  nation. 

11.  P-rovision  for  war  veterans  and  their 
survivors. 

12.  The  right  of  alienation   of  property. 

13.  The  socialization  of  natural  treasures 
and  economic  undertakings,  as  well  as  the 
production,  organization,  distribution,  and 
evaluation  of  economic  goods  for  the  com- 
munity. 

14.  Trade,  weights  and  measures,  issue  of 
paper  money,  banks  and  stock  exchanges. 

15.  Traffic  in  food  articles  and  luxuries, 
as  well  as  objects   of  daily  need. 

16.  Industrial   pursuits   and   mining. 

17.  Insurance. 

18.  Navigation,  fishing  on  the  high  sea  and 
along  the  coasts. 

19.  Railways,  internal  navigation,  commu- 
nication by  vehicles  propelled  by  power  on 
land,  on  sea,  and  in  the  air,  construction 
of  highways,  in  so  far  as  general  commu- 
nications and  national  defense  are  con- 
cerned. 

20.  Theatres  and  cinematographs. 
ARTICLE  8.— The  Government  further  pos- 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE   GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


87 


sesses  legislative  power  over  taxes  and  oth- 
er sources  of  income,  in  so  far  as  they  may 
be  claimed  in  whole  or  in  part  for  its  pur- 
poses. In  the  event  that  the  Government 
claims  taxes  or  other  forms  of  income 
Which  formerly  belonged  to  its  confederated 
States,  it  will  be  bound  to  consider  the 
maintenance  of  such  States'  vital  means  of 
support. 

ARTICLE  9.— Whenever  a  need  for  cen- 
tralized control  occurs  the  Government  has 
a  right  of  legislation  over: 

1.  Community  welfare. 

2.  Protection  of  public  order  and  security. 
ARTICLE   10.— The  Government  in  respect 

to  legislation  may  lay  down  principles  for: 

1.  The  rights  and  duties  of  religious  asso- 
ciations. 

2.  Schools,  high  schools,  and  scientific  pub- 
lications. 

3.  The  official  rights  of  all  public  bodies. 

4.  Land  rights,  land  divisions,  settlements 
and  homesteads,  title  or  landed  property, 
habitations,   and  distribution   of  inhabitants. 

5.  Interments. 

ARTICLE  11.— The  Government  in  respect 
to  legislation  may  lay  down  principles  for 
the  permissibility  and  mode  of  collection  of 
taxes,  in  order  to  prevent: 

1.  Injury  to  income  or  to  trade  relations 
of  the  nation. 

2.  Double   taxation. 

3.  Excessive  and  burdensome  taxes  on  the 
use  of  public  ways  of  communication  which 
hinder  traffic,  and  of  tollways. 

4.  Tax  disadvantages  of  imported  wares  as 
compared  with  domestic  products  in  trade 
between  the  various  States  and  State  dis- 
tricts, or, 

5.  To  exclude  or  to  conserve  important 
communal  interests. 

ARTICLE  12.— So  long  and  in  so  far  as 
the  Government  makes  no  use  of  its  right  of 
legislation,  the  confederated  States  possess 
the  right  of  legislation.  This  does  not  apply 
to  the  exclusive  legislation  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  Government  has  the  right,  wherever 
the  welfare  of  the  community  is  involved,  to 
veto  laws  of  confederated  States  related  to 
the  objects  of  Article  7,  Section  13. 

ARTICLE  13.— Government  law  transcends 
States'  law.  In  case  there  should  arise  doubt 
or  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  State 
legislation  is  in  harmony  with  Government 
legislation,  the  proper  officials  of  the  Gov- 
ernment or  the  central  State  officials,  ac- 
cording to  the  specific  prescription  of  a 
Government  law,  may  resort  to  the  deci- 
sion   of   a   highest   national    court. 

ARTICLE  14.— The  laws  of  the  Govern- 
ment will  be  exercised  through  the  State 
officials,  unless  the  national  laws  provide 
otherwise. 

ARTICLE  15.— The  Government  adminis- 
tration exercises  supervision  in  matters 
over  which  the  nation  has  the  right  of  legis- 
lation. 


In  so  far  as  the  laws  of  the  Government 
are  to  be  exercised  by  State  officials,  the 
Government  Administration  may  issue  gen- 
eral directions.  It  has  the  power  to  send 
commissioners  to  the  central  State  authori- 
'ties,  and,  with  their  approval,  also  to  subor- 
dinate officials,  to  supervise  the  fulfillment 
of  tha  Government  laws. 

The  State  Administrations  are  charged,  at 
the  request  of  the  Government  Administra- 
tion, to  eliminate  defects  in  the  execution 
of  the  national  laws.  In  case  of  differences 
of  opinion,  the  Government  Administration, 
as  well  as  the  State  Administration,  may  re- 
sort to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
in  case  another  court  is  not  prescribed  by 
Government   law. 

ARTICLE  16.— Those  officials  charged  with 
the  direct  administration  of  Government  in 
the  different  States  shall,  as  a  rule,  be  ap- 
pointed from  citizens  of  the  given  State. 
The  officials,  employes,  and  workmen  of 
the  Government  Administration  will,  when 
desired,  be  employed  in  their  home  districts 
as  far  as  proves  possible,  and  whenever  con- 
sideration of  their  training  or  of  the  de- 
mands of  the  service  present  no  objection. 

ARTICLE  17.— Every  State  must  have  a 
republican  Constitution.  The  people's  repre- 
sentatives must  be  chosen  in  universal,  equal, 
direct  and  secret  vote  cast  by  all  German 
men  and  women  citizens  on  the  basis  of  pro- 
portional representation.  The  State  Adminis- 
tration shall  require  the  confidence  of  the 
people's  representatives. 

The  election  basis  for  popular  representa- 
tion applies  also  for  the  community  elec- 
tions. Through  State  law,  however,  the  right 
to  vote  may  be  made  to  depend  on  the  length 
of  residence  in  the  community  to  the  extent 
of  one  year. 

ARTICLE  18.— The  division  of  the  Govern- 
ment into  States  shall  serve  the  highest  eco- 
nomic and  cultural  interests  of  the  people 
after  most  thorough  consideration  of  the  will 
of  the  population  involved.  Changes  in  State 
boundaries  and  the  reconstruction  of  States 
within  the  nation  may  occur  on  the  passing 
of  a  national  law  changing  the  Constitution. 

If  the  States  directly  involved  agree,  a 
simple   Government  law  will   suffice. 

A  simple  Government  law  will  be  sufficient, 
further,  if  one  of  the  States  involved  does 
not  agree  but  the  territorial  change  or  re- 
construction is  demanded  by  the  will  of  the 
population  and  a  predominating  national  in- 
terest requires  it. 

The  will  of  the  population  is  to  be  deter- 
mined by  referendum.  The  National  Ad- 
ministration will  sanction  such  a  vote  when 
a  third  of  the  inhabitants  qualified  to  vote 
for  the  Reichstag,  and  who  belong  to  the 
territory  whose  separation  is  opposed,  de- 
mand  it. 

To  determine  a  territorial  change  or  recon- 
struction three-fifths  of  the  votes  cast,  or  at 
least  a  majority  of  votes  cast  by  qualified 
voters,      shall     be    required.      Even    when    a 


88 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


separation  of  only  a  part  of  a  Prussian  ad- 
ministrative district,  a  Bavarian  circle,  or, 
in  other  States,  a  corresponding'  adminis- 
trative district,  is  involved,  the  will  of  the 
population  of  the  whole  district  under  con- 
sideration must  be  determined.  If  a  con- 
siderable dependence  of  the  district  to  be 
separated  on  the  whole  region  does  not  exist, 
the  will  of  the  population  of  the  district  to 
be  separated  may  be  pronounced  sufficient 
on  the  basis  of  a  special  Government  law. 

After  the  consent  of  the  population  has 
been  manifested  by  vote,  the  Government  Ad- 
ministration must  lay  before  the  Reichstag  a 
corresponding  law  for  enactment. 

In  case  dispute  arises  over  financial  or 
property  details  when  such  union  or  sep- 
aration is  accomplished,  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Germany,  if  charged  therewith  by  one  of 
the  parties,  may  give  a  decision. 

ARTICEE  19.— In  the  case  of  constitu- 
tional disputes  within  a  State  in  which  no 
court  exists  that  may  resolve  them,  as  well 
as  in  the  case  of  disputes  of  a  non-private 
nature  between  different  States  or  between 
the  Government  and  a  State,  the  National 
Supreme  Court,  at  the  request  of  one  of  the 
parties  in  dispute,  shall  decide,  in  case 
another  court  of  the  Government  does  not 
have  jurisdiction. 

The  National  President  executes  the  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court. 

THE   REICHSTAG 

ARTICEE  20.— The  Reichstag  shall  consist 
of  the  deputies  of  the  German  people. 

ARTICL.E  21.— The  delegates  are  represen- 
tatives of  the  whole  people.  They  are  subject 
only  to  their  own  conscience  and  shall  not  be 
bound  by  any  orders. 

ARTICIiE  22.— The  delegates  shall  be 
chosen  on  the  basis  of  universal,  equal,  di- 
rect and  secret  vote  by  all  men  and  women 
over  the  age  of  20,  in  accordance  with  the 
principles  of  proportional  representation.  The 
day  for  elections  must  be  a  Sunday  or  a 
public  day  of  rest. 

Other  details  will  be  determined  by  the 
Government  election  law. 

ARTICIiE  23.— The  Reichstag  will  be 
elected  for  four  years.  New  elections  must 
occur  at  latest  after  the  expiration  of  sixty 
days  following  its  expiration. 

The  Reichstag  will  convene  at  latest  on  the 
thirtieth    day   after   election. 

ARTICIiE  24.— The  Reichstag  will  meet 
each  year  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  Novem- 
ber at  the  seat  of  the  National  Government. 
The  President  of  the  Reichstag  must  call  it 
earlier,  if  the  President  of  the  Republic,  or 
at  least  a  third  of  the  members  of  the 
Reichstag  demand  it. 

The  Reichstag  shall  determine  the  close  of 
session  and  the  day  of  reconvention. 

ARTICIiE  25.— The  President  of  the  Re- 
public may  dissolve  the  Reichstag,  but  only 
once  for  the  same  cause. 


New  elections  shall  occur  at  latest  on  the 
sixtieth  day  after  such  dissolution. 

ARTICEE  26.— The  Reichstag  shall  choose 
its  President,  as  well  as  his  representative, 
and  its  secretary.  It  shall  determine  its  own 
order  of  business. 

ARTICIiE  27.— Between  two  adjournments 
or  election  periods  the  President  and  his  rep- 
resentative of  the  last  session  shall  continue 
all  necessary  business. 

ARTICEE -28.— The  President  shall  exercise 
the  power  of  law  and  police  duty  in  the 
Reichstag  building.  The  management  of  the 
House  is  subject  to  him;  he  shall  have  power 
over  the  incomes  and  disbursements  of  the 
House,  in  accordance  with  the  standard  of 
Government  economy,  and  shall  represent  the 
Government  in  all  legal  business  and  litiga- 
tion arising  in  his  administration. 

ARTICLE  29.— The  Reichstag's  proceedings 
will  be  public.  At  the  request  of  fifty  mem- 
bers the  public  may  be  excluded  on  a  two- 
thirds  majority  vote. 

ARTICIiE  30.— Truthful  reports  of  the  pro- 
ceedings in  open  sessions  of  the  Reichstag,  of 
a  Provincial  Parliament  or  of  their  commit- 
tees shall  carry  no  responsibility. 

ARTICEE  81.— A  Court  of  Election  Control 
shall  be  formed  in  the  Reichstag.  This  court 
shall  decide  the  question  whether  a  delegate 
shall  lose  membership  or  not. 

This  Court  of  Election  Control  shall  con- 
sist of  members  of  the  Reichstag,  which  the 
latter  chooses  for  the  election  period,  and 
of  members  of  the  Government  Court  of 
Administration,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
President    of    this    court. 

This  Court  of  Election  Control  shall  form 
its  decisions  on  the  basis  of  public  oral  dis- 
cussions conducted  by  three  members  of  the 
Reichstag  and  two  judicial  members. 

Besides  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  of 
Election  Control,  other  proceedings  will  be 
instituted  by  a  Government  Commissioner 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Republic. 
These  proceedings,  however,  shall  be  regu- 
lated by  the  Court  of  Election  Control. 

ARTICEE  32.— To  make  any  decision  of  the 
Reichstag  valid,  a  simple  majority  vote  shall 
be  required,  in  so  far  as  the  Constitution 
does  not  prescribe  a  different  ratio  of  voting. 
For  elections  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Reichs- 
tag the  Committee  on  Rules  may  admit 
exceptions. 

The  determination  of  a  decision  will  be 
regulated  by  the  Committee  on  Rules. 

ARTICEE  33.— The  Reichstag  and  its  com- 
mittee may  demand  the  presence  of  the 
National  Chancellor  and  of  any  other  Gov- 
ernment Minister. 

The  Chancellor,  the  Government  Ministers, 
and  their  duly  appointed  representatives 
shall  have  access  to  the  sessions  of  the 
Reichstag  and  of  its  committees.  The  con- 
federated States  shall  possess  the  right  to 
send  their  plenipotentiaries   to  th»se   .«<'f=.siong 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


89 


to  interpret  the  views  of  their  State  Gov- 
ernments regarding  the  object  of  discussion. 

At  their  request  the  representatives  of  the 
b'tate  Government  must  receive  a  hearing 
during  the  discussion,  and  the  representa- 
tives of  the  National  Government  must  he 
heard  also  outside  the  order  of  the  day. 

They  shall,  however,  be  subject  to.  the  con- 
trol of  the  Chairman  in  matters  of  order. 

ARTICLE  34.— The  Reichstag  has  the  right 
and,  at  the  request  of  one-fifth  of  its  mem- 
bers, the  duty  of  appointing  committees 
of  investigation.  These  committees  in  open 
session  shall  bring  to  light  the  evidence 
which  they,  or  the  members  proffering  the 
request,  shall  consider  required.  Publicity 
may  be  excluded  by  the  committee  of  in- 
vestigation by  a  two-thirds  majority  vote. 
The  Committee  on  Rules  shall  regulate  the 
proceedings  of  the  committee  and  determine 
the  number  of  its  members. 

The  judicial  and  administrative  officials 
shall  comply  with  requests  made  by  these 
committees  for  information  evidence,  and  the 
records  of  these  officials  shall  on  request  be 
laid  before  them.  The  prescriptions  of  the 
penal  code  shall  have  application  to  the  in- 
vestigations of  these  committees  and  of  the 
officials  by  them  petitioned,  but  the  secrecy 
of  letter  and  parcel  post,  telegraph,  and 
telephone   services    shall    be   undisturbed. 

ARTICLE  85.— The  Reichstag  shall  appoint 
a  standing  committee  for  outside  matters, 
whose  activity  shall  exist  also  outside  the 
session  and  after  the  close  of  the  election 
period  until  the  reconvention  of  the  new 
Reichstag.  The  sittings  of  this  committee 
shall  not  be  public,  unless  the  committee  by 
a  two-thirds  majority  vote  decides  for  pub- 
licity. 

The  Reichstag  further  shall  appoint  a 
standing  committee  to  maintain  the  rights 
of  the  popular  representatives  as  against 
the  Government  Administration  outside  of 
session  and  after  the  close  of  the  election 
period. 

These  committees  shall  have  the  rights  of 
investigating  committees. 

ARTICLE  36.— No  member  of  the  Reichstag 
or  of  a  Provincial  Parliament  shall  at  any 
time,  because  of  his  vote  or  because  of  any 
opinions  expressed  in  the  fulfillment  of  his 
duty,  be  judicially  or  officially  prosecuted 
or  in  any  way  be  held  for  responsibility  out- 
side the  Assembly. 

ARTICLE  37.— No  member  of  the  Reichstag 
or  of  a  Provincial  Parliament  shall,  without 
approval  of  the  house  to  which  the  delegate 
belongs,  be  subjected  to  investigation  or  ar- 
rest during  the  session  on  account  of  any 
action  involving  penalty,  unless  the  member 
is  arrested  in  the  act,  or,  at  latest,  on  the 
following  day. 

The  same  approval  is  required  in  the  case 
of  every  other  limitation  of  personal  free- 
dom which  hinders  the  fulfillment  of  the 
delegate's   legislative   duties. 

Every  criminal  proceeding  against  a  mem- 


ber of  the  Reichstag  or  of  a  Provincial  Par- 
liament and  every  arrest  or  other  limitation 
of  his  personal  freedom  shall,  at  the  demand 
of  the  house  to  which  the  delegate  belongs, 
be  revoked  for  the  period  of  the  session. 

ARTICLE  38.— The  members  of  the  Reichs- 
tag and  the  Provincial  Parliaments  are 
empowered  to  refuse  evidence  concerning 
persons  who  have  given  them  information 
in  their  capacity  as  delegates,  or  to  whom, 
in  the  fulfillment  of  their  duties  as  dele- 
gates, they  have  given  such  information,  as 
well  as  to  testify  concerning  such  informa- 
tion. In  regard  also  to  the  seizure  of  docu- 
ments their  position  shall  oe  the  same  as 
that  of  all  persons  who  by  law  are  given 
the  right  of  refusal  of  evidence. 

A  search  or  seizure  may  be  undertaken  in 
the  precincts  of  the  Reichstag  or  of  a 
Provincial  Parliament  only  with  the  consent 
of   the   President. 

ARTICLE  39.— Officials  and  members  of 
the  army  need  no  leave  to  fulfill  their  of- 
fice as  members  of  the  Reichstag  or  of  a 
Provincial  Parliament. 

If  they  become  candidates  for  a  seat  in 
these  bodies  the  necessary  leave  shall  be 
granted  them  to  prepare  for  their  election. 

ARTICLE  40.— The  members  of  the  Reichs- 
tag shall  have  the  right  of  free  transport 
over  all  German  railway  lines,  and  also  com- 
pensation as  prescribed  by  a  national  law. 

THE   NATIONAL  PRESIDENT  AND 
THE  GOVERNMENT 

ARTICLE  41.— The  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic shall  be  chosen  by  the  whole  German 
people.  Every  German  who  has  completed 
his  thirty-fifth  year  is  qualified  for  election. 
Further  details  are  determined  by  a  national 
law. 

ARTICLE  42.— The  National  President,  on 
assuming  his  office  before  the  Reichstag, 
shall  take  the  following  oath: 

I  swear  to  consecrate  all  my  energy  to 
the  welfare  of  the  German  people,  to  in- 
crease its  advantages,  to  avert  its  injury, 
to  preserve  the  Constitution  and  the  laws 
of  the  nation,  to  fulfill  my  duties  consci- 
entiously, and  to  deal  justly  with  all. 
The  addition  of  a  religious  declaration  shall 
be  permissible. 

ARTICLE  43.— The  duration  of  the  Presi- 
dent's tenure  of  office  shall  be  seven  years. 
Re-election  shall  be  permissible. 

Before  the  expiration  of  his  term  the  Pres- 
ident may  be  deposed  by  a  referendum,  at 
the  request  of  the  Reichstag.  The  decision 
of  the  Reichstag  shall  require  a  two-thirds 
majority  vote.  Through  such  decision  the 
President  shall  be  prohibited  from  further 
exercise  of  his  office.  Rejection  of  his  depo- 
sition by  a  referendum  shall  count  as  a  new 
election  and  entail  the  dissolution  of  the 
Reichstag. 

The  National  President  shall  not  be  subject 


90 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


to   prosecution    without    the    sanction    of   the 
Reichstag. 

ARTICLE  44.— The  President  may  not  at 
the  same  time  be  a  member  of  the  Reichstag. 

ARTICLE  45.— The  President  shall  repre- 
sent the  nation  in  matters  of  international 
law.  He  shall  in  the  nation's  name  conclude 
alliances  and  other  treaties  with  foreign 
powers.  He  shall  accredit  and  receive  Am- 
bassadors. 

Declaration  of  war  and  conclusion  of  peace 
shall  be  subject  to  national  law. 

Alliances  and  treaties  with  foreign  States, 
related  to  subjects  covered  by  national  law, 
shall  require  the  approval  of  the  Reichstag. 

ARTICLE  46.— The  President  shall  appoint 
and  dismiss  Government  officials  and  mil- 
itary officers,  if  not  otherwise  provided  by 
law.  He  can  exercise  this  right  of  appoint- 
ment or  dismissal  through  other  officials. 

ARTICLE  47. — The  President  has  supreme 
command  over  all  the  military  forces  of  the 
nation. 

ARTICLE  48.— If  any  State  shall  not  ful- 
fill the  duties  prescribed  for  it  by  the  Con- 
stitution or  by  Government  laws  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  may  hold  it  to  such 
fulfillment  with   the   aid  of  armed  power. 

The  President,  in  the  event  that  public  se- 
curity and  order  in  the  German  Nation  should 
be  considerably  disturbed  or  endangered, 
may  take  all  necessary  measures  to  re-estab- 
lish such  public  security  and  order,  and,  if 
required,  to  intervene  with  the  aid  of  armed 
power.  To  this  end  he  may  provisionally 
abrogate,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  funda- 
mental laws  established  in  Articles  114,  115, 
117,  118,   123,  124,  and  153. 

The  President  must  immediately  inform  the 
Reichstag  of  all  measures  provided  for  by 
Paragraphs  1  or  2  of  this  article.  These 
measures  may  be  revoked  at  the  demand  of 
the  Reichstag. 

In  fase  of  danger  from  delay  the  Pro- 
vincial Government  may  take  provisional 
measures  of  the  kind  mentioned  in  Paragraph 
2  for  its  own  territory.  These  measures 
may  be  revoked  at  the  demand  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic  or  of  the  Reichstag. 
Details  are  provided  by  a  Government  law. 

ARTICLE  49.— The  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic shall  exercise  for  the  Government  the 
right  of  pardon.  Government  amnesties  re- 
quire a  national  law. 

ARTICLE  50.— All  arrangements  and  dis- 
positions of  the  President  of  the  Republic,  in- 
cluding those  concerning  the  army,  to  become 
valid  must  be  countersigned  by  the  Prime 
Minister  or  by  duly  qualified  Government 
Ministers.  Responsibility  shall  ensue  upon 
this  countersigning. 

ARTICLE  51.— The  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic, in  case  he  is  incapicated,  shall  be  repre-; 
sented  by  the  National  Chancellor.  If  such 
incapacity  last  for  any  considerable  time, 
this  representation  shall  be  regulated  by  a 
Government  law.     The  same  provision  shall 


apply  in  case  of  a  premature  vacancy  of  the 
Presidency  until  the  new  elections  are  com- 
pleted. 

ARTICLE  52.— The  administration  of  the 
Government  shall  consist  of  the  Rational 
Chancellor  and  the  Government  Ministers. 

ARTICLE  53.— The  Chancellor,  and  at  his 
suggestion  the  Ministers  of  the  Government, 
shall  be  appointed  and  dismissed  by  the 
President  of  the  republic. 

ARTICLE  54.— The  Chancellor  and  the 
Government  Ministers  shall  require  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Reichstag  for  the  fulfillment 
of  their  office.  Any  of  them  must  withdraw 
in  the  event  that  the  Reichstag  by  explicit 
resolution  withholds  its  confidence. 

ARTICLE  55.— The  Chancellor  shall  pre- 
side in  the  Government  Administration  and 
shall  conduct  its  affairs  in  accordance  with 
an  order  of  business,  which  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Administration  and  approved 
\jjf  the  President  of  the  Republic. 

ARTICLE  56.— The  Prime  Minister  shall 
determine  the  line  of  policy  and  shall  assume 
responsibility  therefor  to  the  Reichstag. 
Within  this  line  each  and  every  Government 
Minister  shall  conduct  independently  the  field 
of  activity  allotted  to  him,  assuming  his 
own  responsibility  to  the  Reichstag. 

ARTICLE  57.— The  Ministers  of  Govern- 
ment are  charged  to  lay  before  the  Govern- 
ment Administration  for  discussion  and  de- 
cision all  drafts  of  law,  all  matters  so  pre- 
scribed by  Constitution  or  law,  and  all  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  over  various  questions 
which  concern  the  functions  of  several  Gov- 
ernment Ministers. 

ARTICLE  58.— The  Government  Adminis- 
tration shall  ratify  its  decisions  on  the  basis 
of  majority  vote.  In  case  of  a  tie  the  vote 
of  the  presiding  officer  shall  be  decisive. 

ARTICLE  59.— The  Reichstag  is  empowered 
to  enter  a  complaint  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  German  Nation  against  the 
President  of  the  Republic,  the  Prime  Minis- 
ter and  the  Government  Ministers,  on  the 
ground  of  their  having  violated  the  Consti- 
tution or  a  Government  law.  The  proposal 
to  initiate  this  complaint  must  be  signed  by 
at  least  100  members  of  the  Reichstag  and 
requires  the  approval  of  the  majority  pre- 
scribed for  alteration  of  the  Constitution. 
Other  details  will  be  regulated  by  the  Gov- 
ernment law  applying  to  the  National  Su- 
preme Court. 

THE  NATIONAL  COUNCIL 

ARTICLE  60.— A  National  Council  [Reichs- 
rat]  shall  be  formed  for  representation  of 
-the  German  States  in  national  legislation  and 
administration. 

ARTICLE  61.— In  the  National  Council 
every  State  shall  have  at  least  one  vote.  In 
the  case  of  the  larger  States  one  vote  will 
be  accorded  to  every  million  inhabitants.  Any 
excess  equal  at  least  to  the  population  of  the 


CONSTITUTION  OF   THE   GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


91 


smallest  State  will  be  estimated  as  equal  to 
a  full  million.  No  State  shall  be  represented 
by  more  than  two-fifths  of  all  votes. 

German-Austria,  after  its  union  with  the 
German  Nation,  shall  receive  the  right  of 
participation  in  the  National  Council  with 
the  number  of  votes  corresponding  to  its 
population.  Until  that  time  the  representa- 
tives of  German- Austria  shall  have  a  deliber- 
ative voice. 

The  number  of  votes  shall  be  newly  de- 
termined through  the  National  Council  after 
every  general  census. 

article  62.— In  committees  formed  by 
the  National  Council  from  its  own  members, 
no  State  shall  have  more  than  one  voice. 

ARTICLE  63.— The  States  shall  be  repre- 
sented in  the  National  Council  through  mem- 
bers of  their  respective  Governments.  But 
half  of  the  Prussian  votes  will  be  disposed  of 
according  to  a  State  law,  by  the  Prussian 
Provincial  Administrations. 

The  States  shall  have  the  right  to  send  as 
many  representatives  to  the  National  Council 
as  they  have  votes. 

ARTICLE  64.— The  Government  Admin- 
istration shall  be  bound  to  summon  the  Na- 
tional Council  at  the  demand  of  one-third 
of  its  members. 

ARTICLE  65.— The  Presidency  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  and  of  its  committees  shall  be 
filled  by  a  member  of  the  Government  Ad- 
ministration. The  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment Administration  shall  have  the  right, 
and,  on  demand,  the  duty,  to  participate  in 
the  dealings  of  the  National  Council  and  its 
committees.  During  its  sittings  they  shall, 
if  they  so  desire,  be  given  a  hearing  at  any 
time. 

ARTICLE  66.— The  Government  Admin- 
istration, as  well  as  every  member  of  the 
State  Council,  are  authorized  to  make  pro- 
posals in  the  National  Council.  The  National 
Council  shall  regulate  the  conduct  of  its  pro- 
ceedings through  an  order  of  business.  The 
plenary  sessions  of  the  National  Council  shall 
be  public.  According  to  the  order  of  busi- 
ness, the  public  may  be  excluded  for  special 
objects  of  discussion.  A  simple  majority  of 
the  voters  shall  be  decisive  in  voting. 

ARTICLE  67.— The  National  Council  shall 
be  kept  informed  by  the  National  Ministries 
of  the  conduct  of  national  business.  The 
proper  committees  of  the  National  Council 
shall  be  summoned  by  the  National  Min- 
istries for  deliberations  over  important  sub- 
jects. 

NATIONAL  LEGISLATION 

ARTICLE  68.— Projects  of  legislation  shall 
be  introduced  by  the  Government  or  from 
the  body  of  the  Reichstag.  The  laws  of  the 
nation  shall  be  determined  by  the  Reichstag. 

ARTICLE  69.— The  introduction  of  legis- 
lative projects  by  the  Government  Adminis- 
tration shall  require  the  assent  of  the  Na- 
tional Council.     In  the  event  that  the  Gov- 


ernment Administration  and  the  National 
Council  shall  not  agree,  the  Government  Ad- 
ministration may  nevertheless  introduce  the 
project,  but  shall  be  bound  to  record  the 
dissent  of  the  National  Council. 

In  case  the  National  Council  approve  a 
project  of  legislation  and  the  Government 
Administration  disapprove  it,  the  latter  shall 
introduce  the  project  in  the  Reichstag  with 
•an  exposition  of  its  own  standpoint. 

ARTICLE  70.— The  National  President 
shall  make  a  compilation  of  all  laws  created 
according  to  the  Constitution  and  within  one 
month  publish  it  in  the  Government  Legis- 
lative Record. 

ARTICLE  71.— All  Government  laws  shall 
come  into  force,  unless  otherwise  specified, 
on  the  fourteenth  day  following  the  date  of 
the  issue  of  the  Government  Legislative  Rec- 
ord in  the  nation's  capital. 

ARTICLE  72.— The  publication  of  a  Gov- 
ernment law  may  be  deferred  for  two 
months,  if  so  demanded  by  one-third  of  the 
Reichstag.  Laws  which  the  Reichstag  and 
the  National  Council  declare  as  urgent  may 
be  published  by  the  President  of  the  repub- 
lic without  regard  to  such  demand. 

ARTICLE  73.— A  law  approved  by  the 
Reichstag  must  be  referred  to  the  people 
befcre  its  publication  if  th£  President  of  the 
Republic  so  decrees  within  a  month.  A  law 
whose  publication  is  deferred  at  the  demand 
of  at  least  one-third  of  the  Reichstag  must 
be  laid  before  the  people  for  decision,  if 
one-twentieth  of  qualified  voters  make  such 
proposal. 

A  referendum  shall  further  be  resorted  to 
if  one-tenth  of  qualified  voters  express  the 
desire  that  a  project  of  law  shall  be  pro- 
posed. A  fully  elaborated  project  of  law 
must  be  the  basis  of  such  desire.  The  Gov- 
ernment must  lay  this  project  of  law  before 
the  Reichstag  and  explain  its  own  stand  re- 
garding it.  The  referendum  shall  not  occur 
if  the  desired  project  of  law  is  accepted  by 
ths  Reichstag  without  alteration.  Only  the 
President  of  the  Republic  may  call  a  refer- 
endum for  matters  concerning  the  budget, 
tax  laws,  and  salary  payments.  A  national 
law  shall  regulate  the  procedure  to  be  fol- 
lowed in  a  referendum  or  a  project  of  law 
desired  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  74.— The  National  Council  shall 
have,  the  right  of  veto  against  laws  approved 
by  the  Reichstag.  This  veto  must  be  en- 
tered before  the  Reichstag  by  the  Govern- 
ment within  two  weeks  after  ratification,  and 
within  two  further  weeks  at  the  latest  must 
be   circumstantiated. 

la  the  event  of  such  veto  the  law  shall  be 
laid  before  the  Reichstag  for  a  second  de- 
cision. If  the  Reichstag  and  the  National 
Council  do  not  agree,  the  President  of  the 
Republic  may  within  three  months  refer  the 
subject  of  dispute  to  a  referendum.  In  case 
the  President  does  not  avail  himself  of  this 
right,  the  law  will  be  considered  not  to  have 
been  passed.     If  the  Reichstag   rejects   the 


92 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


protest  of  the  National  Council  on  the  basis 
of  a  two-thirds  majority  vote,  the  President 
shall  publish  the  law  in  the  form  accepted 
by  the  Reichstag  within  three  months,  or 
else   decree   a  referendum, 

ARTICLE  75.— Through  a  referendum  a 
Reichstag  decision  may  be  nullified  only 
when  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  par- 
ticipate in  the  voting. 

ARTICLE  76.— In  respect  to  legislation  the 
Constitution  may  be  altered.  But  decisions  of 
the  Reichstag  on  alteration  of  the  Constitu- 
tion shall  be  valid  only  when  two-thirds  of 
the  lawful  membership  are  present,  and  at 
least  two-thirds  of  those  present  give  their 
assent.  Decisions  of  the  National  Council  on 
alteration  shall  also  require  a  two-thirds 
majority  of  all  votes  cast.  In  case  a  change 
of  Constitution  is  determined  by  popular 
desire  through  a  referendum,  the  assent  of  a 
majority  of  qualified  voters  shall  be  required. 

In  the  event  that  the  Reichstag  determine 
on  an  alteration  of  the  Constitution  against 
the  protest  of  the  National  Council,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  need  not  publish  this 
law,  if  the  National  Council  demand  a  refer- 
endum within  two  weeks. 

ARTICLE  77.— The  Government  shall  issue 
the  general  administrative  decrees  required 
for  the  execution*  of  the  national  laws  where 
no  other  provision  is  made  by  law.  The 
assent  of  the  National  Council  is  necessary 
when  the  execution  of  the  laws  is  incumbent 
on  State  officials. 

NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

ARTICLE  78.— Relations  with  foreign 
States  concern  the  nation  exclusively. 

In  matters  regulated  by  provincial  law  the 
confederated  States  may  conclude  treaties 
with  foreign  States.  These  treaties  require 
the  consent  of  the  nation. 

Agreements  with  foreign  States  regarding 
change  of  national  boundaries  may  be  con- 
cluded by  the  nation  on  consent  of  the  State 
involved.  Alterations  of  the  boundaries  may 
occur  only  on  the  basis  of  a  Government  law, 
except  in  cases  where  mere  correction  of  the 
boundaries  of  uninhabited  districts  is  in 
question. 

To  assure  the  representation  of  interests 
arising  for  special  States  through  their  spe- 
cial economic  relations  or  their  proximity  to 
foreign  countries,  the  Government  shall  de- 
cide on  the  measures  and  arrangements  re- 
quired in  concert  with  the   States  involved. 

ARTICLE  79.— The  defense  of  the  nation 
concerns  the  nation.  The  military  organiza- 
tion of  the  German  people  shall  be  placed 
under  unified  control  by  a  Government  law 
in  which  the  special  provincial  institutions 
shall  be  given  due  consideration. 

ARTICLE  80.— Colonial  administration  con- 
cerns   the    nation    exclusively. 

ARTICLE  81.— All  German  merchant  ships 
shall  constitute  a  unified  trade  fleet. 
ARTICLE   82.— Germany  forms   a  customs 


and  trade  territory  surrounded  by  a  common 
customs  boundary.  This  customs  boundary 
shall  be  identical  with  the  frontier  boundary. 
On  the  coast  the  shore  line  of  the  mainland 
and  of  the  islands  belonging  to  the  national 
territory  constitute  the  customs  boundary. 
Exceptions  may  be  determined  for  the  cus- 
toms line  running  along  the  seacoast  and 
other  waters.  Foreign  territories  or  parts 
of  territories  may  be  annexed  to  the  cus- 
toms territory  by  national  treaties  or  agree- 
ments. 

Parts  of  the  customs  territory  may  be  ex- 
cluded on  special  request.  In  the  case  of 
free  ports  this  exclusion  may  occur  only 
through  a  law  altering  the  Constitution. 
Customs  districts  excluded  may  be  annexed 
to  a  foreign  customs  district  through  na- 
tional  treaties   or  agreements. 

All  natural  products,  as  well  as  arts  and 
crafts  products,  may  n  the  free  intercourse 
of  the  nation  be  transported  into,  out  of, 
or  across  the  boundaries  of  the  various 
States  and  communities.  Exceptions  may  be 
permitted  by  a  Government  law. 

ARTICLE  83.— Customs  and  excise  of  ar- 
ticles of  consumption  shall  be  administered 
through  Government  officials.  Measures 
shall  be  provided  for  the  administration  of 
Government  taxes  through  Government  of- 
ficials which  shall  enable  the  confederated 
States  to  maintain  special  State  interests 
in  the  spheres  of  agriculture,  trade,  crafts, 
and    industry. 

ARTICLE  84.— The  Government  shall  pro- 
vide by  law  for: 

1.  The  organization  of  the  administration 
of  taxes  in  the  different  States  so  far  as 
shall  be  required  for  the  unified  and  regular 
fulfillment  of  the  national  tax  laws. 

2.  The  organization  and  functions  of  the 
officials  charged  with  supervision  of  the 
execution  of  the  national  tax  laws. 

3.  Balance  accounts  with  the  confederated 
States. 

4.  The  reimbursement  of  the  costs  of  ad- 
ministration in  the  execution  of  the  national 
tax  laws. 

ARTICLE  85.— All  revenues  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  nation  must  be  computed  for 
every  fiscal  year  and  entered  in  the  budget. 
The  budget  shall  be  confirmed  before  the 
beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  t>y  law.  The 
expenses  shall  regularly  be  appropriated  for 
one  year;  in  special  cases  they  may  be  ap- 
proved for  a  longer  period.  In  other  cases 
provision  in  the  budget  law  extending  be- 
yond the  fiscal  year  or  not  relating  to  the 
revenues  and  expenses  of  the  nation  or  its 
administration  shall  be  prohibited. 

The  Reichstag,  in  the  drawing  up  of  the 
budget,  may  not  increase  or  add  new  ex- 
penses without  the  consent  of  the  National 
Council.  The  consent  of  the  National  Coun- 
cil may  be  replaced  according  to  the  pro- 
visions of  Article  74. 

ARTICLE  86.— For  the  employment  of  all 
national    revenue    the    Minister    of    Finance 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   GERMAN   REPUBLIC 


93 


shall  in  the  following  fiscal  year,  to  cover 
the  responsibility  of  the  administration,  sub- 
mit an  account  of  reckoning  to  the  National 
Council  and  to  the  Reichstag.  The  auditing 
of  this  account  shall  be  regulated  by  national 
law. 

ARTICLE  87.— In  the  matter  of  credit, 
moneys  shall  be  procured  only  in  case  of  ex- 
traordinary need  and  regularly  only  for  ex- 
penses connected  with  promotion.  Such  pro- 
curing of  moneys,  as  well  as  the  assumption 
by  the  Government  of  a  security  obligation, 
may  occur  on  the  strength  of  a  Government 
law. 

ARTICLE  88.— The  post  and  telegraph  serv- 
ices, together  with  the  telephone  service,  con- 
cern the  nation  exclusively.  The  postage 
stamp  symbols  shall  be  the  same  for  the 
whole  nation. 

The  Government  Administration  shall,  with 
the  consent  of  the  National  Council,  issue  de- 
crees laying  down  principles  and  duties  in 
the  use  of  means  of  communication.  With 
the  consent  of  the  National  Council  it  may 
extend  this  authority  to  the  Postmaster 
General. 

The  Government  Administration,  with  the 
consent  of  the  State  Council,  shall  appoint  a 
supplementary  council  for  advisory  co-opera- 
tion in  postal,  telegraph,  telephone  communi- 
cations,  and  the  regulation  of  prices. 

Only  the  Government  shall  conclude  trea- 
ties dealing  with  communications  with  for- 
eign countries. 

ARTICLE  89.— It  is  the  nation's  duty  to 
take  over  railroads  serving  general  traffic, 
with  all  their  property,  and  to  manage  them 
as  a  unified  system  of  communication. 

ARTICLE  90.— With  the  taking  over  of  the 
railroads  the  Government  shall  also  take 
over  the  right  of  property  alienation  and  the 
supreme  State  rights  relating  to  railway  or- 
ganization. The  National  Supreme  Court 
shall  decide  the  scope  of  such  rights  in  case 
of  disputes. 

ARTlCIiE  91.— The  Government  Adminis- 
tration, with  the  consent  of  the  State  Council, 
shall  issue  decrees  regulating  the  construc- 
tion, the  management,  and  the  traffic  of  rail- 
ways. With  the  consent  of  the  National 
Council  it  may  extend  this  authority  to  the 
proper  Government  Minister. 

ARTICLE  93.— The  Government  railways, 
irrespective  of  their  budget  and  their  ac- 
counts in  the  general  budget  and  general  ac- 
counts of  the  nation,  shall  be  administered  as 
an  independent  economic  undertaking,  which 
shall  defray  its  own  expenses,  including  in- 
terest and  cancellation  of  the  railway  debt, 
and  shall  set  aside  a  railway  sinking  fund. 
The  amount  of  the  cancellation  and  of  the 
sinking  fund,  as  well  as  the  objects  for  which 
money  shall  be  applied,  shall  be  regulated  by 
special  laws. 

ARTICLE  98.— Acting  for  the  Government 
railways,  with  the  consent  of  the  National 
Council,  the  Government  Administration 
shall  appoint  supplementary  councils  for  ad- 


visory   co-operation    in    matters    of    railway 
traffic  and  transportation  charges. 

ARTICLE  94.— In  the  event  that  the  Gov- 
ernment has  taken  over  into  its  administra- 
tion the  railways  of  a  certain  district  which 
serve  general  transport  needs,  within  that 
district  new  railways  serving  puch  general 
transportation  needs  may  be  built  only  by 
the  Government  or  by  its  consent.  In  case 
such  construction  of  new  railways,  or  alter- 
ations of  existing  railway  organizations, 
concern  the  sphere  of  authority  of  the  State 
police,  the  Railway  Administration,  before 
decision,  must  grant  a  hearing  to  the  State 
officials. 

In  case  the  Government  has  not  yet  taken 
over  the  railways,  it  may  administer  on  its 
own  account  railways  considered  essential 
for  general  transportation,  or  for  national 
defense,  by  virtue  of  Government  laws  and 
despite  the  opposition  of  the  States  which 
they  traverse,  yet  without  infringing  sov- 
ereign State  rights,  or  it  may  give  over  con- 
struction rights  to  another,  if  necessary, 
also  according,  right  of  alienation. 

Every  Railway  Administration  must  con- 
sent to  connection  with  other  railway  lines 
at  the  latter' s  expense. 

ARTICLE  95.— Railways  for  general  traf- 
fic not  administered  by  the  Government  are 
subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  railways  thus  subjected  to  Government 
supervision  are  to  be  controlled  and  equipped 
according  to  the  same  principles,  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  Government.  They  shall 
be  maintained  in  safe  condition  and  to  be  ex- 
tended as  necessity  demands.  Transportation 
of  persons  and  goods  shall,  as  need  arises, 
be  provided   for   and   equipment  furnished. 

In  the  supervision  of  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation, the  supervisors  shall  work  toward 
a  uniform  and  a  low  railway  rate. 

ARTICLE  96.— All  railways,  including  those 
not  serving  general  traffic  needs,  must  com- 
ply with  the  demands  of  the  Government  for 
use  of  the  railways  for  the  purpose  of 
national  defense. 

ARTICLE  97.— It  is  the  duty  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  take  over  for  administration  all 
waterways  serving  general  communications. 
After  such  taking  over,  such  waterways  serv- 
ing general  communications  may  be  applied 
or  extended  only  by  the  Government  or  with 
its  consent.  In  administering,  extending,  or 
reconstructing  such  waterways  the  needs  of 
agriculture  and  irrigation  shall  be  preserved 
in  co-operation  with  the  States  affected.  The 
claims  of  the  latter  shall  also  be  regarded. 

Every  administration  of  waterways  must 
agree  to  amalgamation  with  other  inner 
waterways  at  the  cost  of  the  undertakers. 
The  same  obligation  exists  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  connecting  way  between  inner 
waterways  and  railways. 

In  taking  over  the  waterways  the  Govern- 
ment shall  assume  the  right  of  alienation  and 


94 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


authority  over  transportation  cost  and  the 
policing   of   waters   and   navigation. 

The  task  of  building  water  communications 
in  connection  with  the  extension  of  natural 
waterways  in  the  Rhine,  Weser,  and  Elbe 
regions  is  to  be  undertaken  by  the  Govern-« 
ment. 

ARTICLE  98.— Supplementary  councils  shall 
be  formed  with  the  consent  of  the  National 
Council  by  specific  decree  of  the  Government 
Administration  for  co-operation  in  matters 
affecting  waterways  and  national  water- 
ways. 

ARTICLE  99.— Expenses  on  natural  water- 
ways shall  be  incurred  only  for  such  works, 
establishments,  and  other  institutions  as  are 
destined  to  facilitate  communication.  In  the 
case  of  State  and  community  institutions 
they  must  not  exceed  the  expenses  required 
for  repair  and  maintenance.  The  costs  of 
repair  and  maintenance  for  institutions  not 
intended  exclusively  to  facilitate  communica- 
tion, but  also  to  further  other  purposes,  may 
be  increased  by  navigation  expenses  only  to 
a  relative  degree.  Sums  paid  for  interest 
and  debt  cancellation  shall  be  included  in 
costs   for   maintenance. 

The  provisions  of  the  preceding  clause 
apply  to  the  disbursements  incurred  for  ar- 
tificial waterways  as  well  as  for  con- 
structions on  such  and  in  harbors. 

The  total  costs  of  a  waterway,  a  river  dis- 
trict, or  a  system  of  waterways  may  be 
reckoned  as  fundamental  in  matters  of  inner 
navigation  for  the  estimation  of  navigation 
expenses. 

These  provisions  apply  also  to  timber  float- 
ing on  navigable  waterways. 

Only  the  Government  may  impose  other  or 
higher  taxes  on  foreign  ships  and  their  car- 
goes than  on  German  ships  and  their  cargoes. 

For  the  procuring  of  means  for  the  main- 
tenance and  equipment  of  the  German  sys- 
tem of  waterways  the  Government  may  call 
on  the  participators  in  navigation  for  con- 
tributions in  other  ways. 

ARTICLE  100.— To  cover  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance and  construction  of  inner  navigation 
routes  any  person  who  in  any  other  way  than 
through  navigation  derives  profit  from  the 
construction  of  dams  that  shut  off  valleys 
may  also  be  called  upon  for  contribution, 
whenever  several  States  are  involved,  or  the 
Government  bears  the  cost  of  the  outlay. 

ARTICLE  101.— It  is  the  duty  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  take  over  as  its  own  property 
and  into  its  own  administration  all  sea  sig- 
nals, especially  lighthouses,  lightships,  buoys, 
floats,  and  beacons.  After  such  taking  over 
sea  signals  may  be  repaired  or  improved  only 
by  the  Government  or  with  its  consent. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE 
ARTICLE  102.— Judges  shall  be  independent 
and  subject  only  to   the  law. 

ARTICLE  103.— Regular  justice  shall  be  ad- 
ministered through  the  national  courts  and 
through  the  State  courts. 


ARTICLE  104.— Judges  administering  regu- 
lar justice  shall  be  appointed  for  life.  They 
may  be  permanently  or  temporarily  removed 
from  office,  or  transferred  to  another  office, 
or  retired  against  their  will,  only  by  virtue 
of  judicial  decision  and  for  the  grounds  and 
in  the  forms  provided  by  law.  The  law  code 
may  fix  age  limitations,  on  reaching  which 
Judges  may  be  retired.  The  temporary  re- 
lief from  office  consequent  on  law  is  not 
affected  by  this  article. 

In  case  of  a  change  in  the  organization 
of  the  courts  or  their  jurisdiction  districts 
the  administration  of  justice  in  the  provinces 
may  decree  transfer  against  desire  to  an- 
other court  or  removals  from  office,  but  only 
under  allowances  of  full  salary. 

These  provisions  have  no  application  to 
commercial  Judges,  rural  Justices,  and  jury- 
men. 

ARTICLE  105.— Extraordinary  courts  are 
illegal.  No  one  shall  be  removed  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  his  legal  Judge.  Provisions 
made  by  law  for  martial  courts  and  military 
courts  are  not  affected  hereby.  Military 
courts  of  honor  are  suspended. 

ARTICLE  106.— Military  justice  is  to  be 
suspended,  except  in  time  of  war  or  on  board 
warships.  Further  details  are  regulated  by 
national*  law. 

ARTICLE  107.— Administrative  courts  both 
of  the  nation  and  the  States  must,  according 
to  law,  protect  the  individual  against  dis- 
positions and  provisions  of  administrative 
officials. 

ARTICLE  108.— According  to  national  law 
a  National  Supreme  Court  is  established  for 
the  German  Nation. 

FUNDAMENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES 

OF   THE  GERMANS— THE 

INDIVIDUAL 

ARTICLE  109.— All  Germans  are  equal  be- 
fore the  law.  Men  and  women  have  funda- 
mentally the  same  civil  rights  and  duties. 
Public  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  birth 
or  rank  are  to  be  suspended.  Titles  of 
nobility  shall  be  accepted  only  as  part  of  a 
name  and  may  not  be  conferred  any  longer. 
Titles  may  be  conferred  only  when  they 
designate  an  office  or  a  profession;  academic 
degrees  are  not  affected  by  this  provision. 
Orders  and  insignias  of  orders  may  not  be 
conferred  by  the  State.  No  German  may 
accept  a  title  or  order  from  a  foreign  Gov- 
ernment. 

ARTICLE  110.— Citizenship  in  the  nation 
and  the  States  may  be  acquired  or  lost,  ac- 
cording to  the  provisions  of  national  law. 
Every  citizen  of  a  State  is  at  the  same  time 
a  citizen  of  the  nation.  Every  German  in 
every  State  of  the  nation  has  the  same  rights 
and  duties  as  the  citizens  of  the  State  itself. 

ARTICLE  111.— All  Germans  enjoy  the 
right  of  free  travel  throughout  the  whole 
nation.  Every  one  has  the  right  of  sojourn 
and  settlement  in  any  place  within  the  na- 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


95 


tion,  the  right  to  acquire  real  estate 
and  to  pursue  every  means  of  livelihood. 
Limitations  require  the  issuance  of  a  Gov- 
ernment decree. 

ARTICLE  112.— Every  German  has  the 
right  to  emigrate  to  countries  outside  Ger- 
many. Emigration  may  be  limited  only  by 
national  law.  All  citizens  of  the  nation  have 
right  of  protection  by  the  Government  both 
within  and  without  the  national  boundaries 
as  against  foreign  countries.  No  German 
may  be  delivered  over  to  a  foreign  Govern- 
ment for  prosecution  or  punishment. 

ARTICLE  113.— Those  elements  of  the  na- 
tion speaking  a  foreign  language  may  not  be 
impaired  judicially  or  administratively  in 
their  free  and  popular  development,  especial- 
ly in  the  use  of  their  mother  tongue  for  in- 
struction, or  in  matters  of  internal  adminis- 
tration and  the  administration  of  justice. 

ARTICLE  114.— Freedom  of  the  person  can- 
not be  impaired.  An  impairment  or  with- 
drawal of  personal  liberty  through  public 
power  is  admissible  only  as  prescribed  by 
law.  Persons,  whose  freedom  is  taken  from 
them,  are  to  be  informed  at  latest  on  the 
following  day  by  what  official  and  on  what 
grounds  their  liberty  was  taken  from  them, 
and  they  shall  immediately  receive  an  oppor- 
tunity to  present  objections  against  this  loss 
of  freedom. 

ARTICLE  115.— The  home  of  every  German 
is  his  place  of  refuge  and  cannot  be  violated. 
Exceptions  are  admissible  only  as  prescribed 
by  law. 

ARTICLE  116.— No  action  can  be  penalized, 
if  penalty  is  provided  by  law,  before  the 
action  has  been  committed. 

ARTICLE  117.— Secrecy  of  letters  and  of 
postal,  telegraph  and  telephone  services  can- 
not be  impaired.  Exceptions  may  be  ad- 
missible only  as  prescribed  by  national  law. 

ARTICLE  118.— Every  German  has  the 
right  within  the  limits  of  the  general  laws 
to  express  his  opinion  by  word,  in  writing, 
printing,  by  picture,  or  in  any  other  way. 
No  connection  with  his  labor  or  employment 
shall  hinder  him  in  the  exercise  of  this  right, 
and  no  one  may  injure  him  if  he  makes  use 
of  this  right. 

No  censorship  exists,  though  different  pro- 
visions may  be  passed  by  law  in  the  case 
of  moving  pictures.  Legal  measures  are  also 
permissible  for  combating  obscene  and  inde- 
cent literature,  as  well  as  for  the  protection 
of  youth  at  public  plays  and  spectacles. 

THE  SOCIAL  LIFE 

ARTICLE  119.— Marriage,  as  the  founda- 
tion of  family  life  and  of  the  maintenance 
and  increasing  of  the  nation,  is  under  the 
particular  protection  of  the  Constitution.  It 
is  based  upon  the  equal  rights  of  both  sexes. 
The  maintaining  of  the  purity,  the  health, 
and  the  social  advancement  of  the  family  is 
the  task  of  the  State  and  the  communities. 
Families    with    numerous    children    have    a 


claim  for  compensating  care.  Motherhood 
has  a  claim  upon  the  protection  and  care  of 
the  State. 

ARTICLE  120.— The  education  of  offspring 
to  physical,  mental,  and  social  efficiency  is 
the  highest  duty  and  natural  right  of 
parents,  whose  activities  are  watched  over 
by  the  political  community. 

ARTICLE  121.— Illegitimate  children  are  to 
be  provided  by  legislation  with  the  same  con- 
ditions for  their  physical,  mental,  and  social 
development  as  those  of  legitimate  children. 

ARTICLE  122.— Youth  is  to  be  protected 
against  exploitation,  as  well  as  against  a  lack 
of  moral,  mental,  or  physical  guarantees. 
The  State  and  the  communities  are  to  take 
the  necessary  steps  to  this  end.  Compulsory 
measures  for  welfare  can  be  ordered  only  on 
the  basis  of  the  law. 

ARTICLE  123.— All  Germans  have  the  right 
to  gather  in  meetings  peaceably  and  unarmed 
without  announcement  or  particular  permis- 
sion. Meetings  in  the  open  may  be  made 
liable  to  previous  announcement  by  a  na- 
tional law  and,  in  the  presence  of  immediate 
danger  to  the  public  order,  may  be  forbidden. 

ARTICLE  124.— AH  Germans  have  the  right 
to  form  societies  or  associations  for  pur- 
poses not  contrary  to  the  penal  law.  This 
right  cannot  be  limited  through  preventive 
measures.  The  same  provisions  apply  to 
religious   societies   and    unions. 

Every  association  has  the  right  to  acquire 
legal  character  in  accordance  with  the  civil 
law.  No  society  may  be  refused  this  right 
because  it  pursues  a  political,  social-political, 
or  religious  object. 

ARTICLE  125.— Liberty  of  the  suffrage  and 
its  secrecy  are  guaranteed.  Details  will  be 
laid  down  by  the  election  laws. 

ARTICLE  126.— Every  German  has  the 
right  to  appeal  to  the  competent  authori- 
ties or  to  the  representatives  of  the  people 
with  written  requests  or  grievances.  This 
right  may  be  exercised  by  individuals  as 
well  as  by  several  persons  together. 

ARTICLE  127.— Communities  and  commu- 
nity associations  have  the  right  of  self-ad- 
ministration within  the  limits  of  the  law. 

ARTICLE  128.— All  citizens  of  the  State, 
without  distinction,  are  to  be  admitted  to 
public  office  according  to  the  provisions  of 
the  law  and  their  abilities.  All  exceptional 
regulations  against  female  officials  and  em- 
ployes are  set  aside.  The  principles  of  of- 
ficial relations  are  to  be  regulated  by  a  na- 
tional   law. 

ARTICLE  129.— The  employment  of  State 
officials  is  for  life,  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  pro- 
vided differently  by  law.  Pension -salaries 
and  pensions  for  relatives  and  dependents 
are  regulated  by  law.  The  legally  acquired 
rights  of  the  officials  are  inviolable.  The 
legal  way  is  open  to  officials  for  their  prop- 
erty- claims.  The  officials  can  be  suspended, 
either    temporarily    or    definitely,    or    trans- 


96 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


f erred  to  another  position  with  smaller  salary, 
only   under  legal   provisions. 

Against  every  demand  for  punishment  in 
the  service  a  form  of  appeal  and  the  possi- 
bility for  a  reopening  of  the  trial  are  to  be 
provided.  In  the  investigation  of  the  person 
of  an  official,  facts  against  the  official  are 
to  be  recorded  only  when  the  official  has 
had  the  opportunity  to  express  himself  as  to 
the  complaint.  The  official  is  to  be  permit- 
ted to  inspect  the  complaint. 

The  inviolability  of  the  acquired  rights  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  legal  way  for  prop- 
erty complaints  are  especially  assured  to 
the  professional  soldier.  For  the  rest,  their 
position  is  regulated  by  national  law. 

ARTICLE  130.— The  officials  are  servants 
of  the  whole  community,  not  of  a  party.  To 
all  officials  freedom  of  their  political  beliefs 
and  right  of  association  is  assured.  The  of- 
ficials receive,  according  to  special  provisions 
in  the  national  law,  special  representation  as 
officials. 

ARTICLE  131.— In  case  an  official  during 
the  exercise  of  his  public  duties  violates  the 
duties  which  he  owes  to  a  third  person,  the 
responsibility  comes  upon  the  State  or  the 
authority  in  whose  services  the  official  is. 
The  right  to  take  counteraction  against  the 
official  is  reserved  by  the  State.  The  regular 
lawful  way  shall  not  be  excluded.  The  de- 
tail regulation  comes  under  the  apportion- 
ing legislation. 

ARTICLE  132.— Every  German,  according 
to  the  provision  of  the  law,  has  the  duty  to 
accept  honorary  offices. 

ARTICI/E  133.— All  citizens  are  obliged,  ac- 
cording to  law,  to  perform  personal  service 
for  the-  State  and  the  community.  The  duty 
of  military  service  is  regulated  according  to 
the  National  Army  law.  This  determines 
also  how  far  certain  fundamental  provisions 
are  to  be  restricted  for  the  members  of  the 
army  in  order  that  they  may  fulfill  their 
duties  and  that  military  discipline  may  be 
preserved. 

ARTICLE  134.— All  citizens,  without  any 
distinction,  shall  contribute  according  to 
their  means  to  carrying  all  public  burdens, 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  law. 

RELIGION  AND  RELIGIOUS  SOCIETIES 

ARTICLE  135.— All  inhabitants  of  the  na- 
tion shall  enjoy  complete  liberty  of  worship 
and  conscience.  Undisturbed  enjoyment  of 
religious  liberties  is  assured  by  the  Con- 
stitution and  is  under  national  protection. 
This  provision  leaves  the  general  national 
laws  untouched. 

ARTICLE  136.— Civic  rights,  State  rights 
and  duties  are  neither  conditioned  nor  lim- 
ited by  the  enjoyment  of  religious  liberties. 
The  enjoyment  of  civic  and  State  rights 
as  well  as  admission  to  public  office  are  in- 
dependent of  religious  beliefs.  No  one  is 
bound  to  reveal  his  religious  belief.  The 
authorities    have    the    right    to    ask    for    the 


affiliation  to  a  religious  society  in  so  far  as 
rights  and  duties  depend  thereon,  or  in  case 
a  lawfully  organized  census  demands  such 
information. 

No  one  is  to  be  forced  to  participate  in 
church  duties  or  church  festivities,  or  to 
take  part  in  religious  exercises,  or  be  com- 
pelled to  give  a  religious  oath. 

ARTICLE  137.— No  State  Church  is  recog- 
nized. Freedom  of  organization  for  religious 
purposes  is  assured.  The  union  of  religious 
societies  within  the  nation  is  not  restricted. 
Every  religious  society  regulates  and  admin- 
isters its  affairs  independently  within  the 
limits  of  the  law.  It  appoints  its  officers 
without  the  co-operation  of  the  State  or  the 
municipality.  Religious  societies  acquire  le- 
gality according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the 
civic  laws.  The  religious  societies  remain 
organizations  of  public  law,  in  so  far  as  they 
were  such  before.  To  other  religious  socie- 
ties at  their  request  tne  same  rights  are  to 
be  accorded,  if  by  their  constitution  and  the 
number  of  their  members  they  give  the  guar- 
antee of  permanency.  An  amalgamation  into 
a  federation  of  a  number  of  such  public  re- 
ligious societies  makes  of  such  federation 
a  public  corporation. 

Religious  societies,  which  are  recognized 
public  corporations,  are  entitled,  on  the 
basis  of  the  civic  tax  lists,  to  raise  taxes 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  respective 
State  laws. 

Societies  which  have  as  their  aim  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  world  conception  of  life  are 
put  on  an  equal  footing  with  religious  so- 
cieties. 

In  so  far  as  the  carrying  out  of  this  pro- 
vision requires  a  further  regulation,  it  comes 
under  the  respective  State  laws. 

ARTICLE  138.— State  contributions  to  re- 
ligious societies  based  on  public  law,  con- 
tract or  special  legal  titles  are  abrogated 
by  State  legislation.  The  fundamental  laws 
pertaining  to  this  come  under  national  laws. 

The  right  of  property  and  other  rights  of 
public  religious  societies  and  religious  as- 
semblies in  connection  with  institutions  de- 
voted to  purposes  of  worship,  teaching  and 
charity  purpose,  as  well  as  religious  foun- 
dations and  other  forms  of  property,  are 
guaranteed. 

ARTICLE  139.— Sunday  and  national  holi- 
days remain  lawfully  protected  as  days  of 
rest  and  spiritual  elevation. 

ARTICLE  140.— To  the  members  of  the 
army  is  given  the  necessary  time  for  the 
fulfilling  of  their  religious  duties. 

ARTICLE  141.— In  so  far  as  the  need  of 
worship  and  spiritual  advice  exists  in  hos- 
pitals, Houses  of  Correction,  or  other  public 
institutions,  religious  societies  are  permitted 
to  hold  religious  meetings.  No  compulsion 
shall  obtain. 

EDUCATION  AND  SCHOOLS 
ARTICLE     142.— Art,     science,     and     their 
teachings  are  free.      The  State  accords  them 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


97 


protection  and  takes  part  in  their  promo- 
tion. 

AKTICLE  143.— The  education  of  the  young 
is  to  be  provided  for  through  public  institu- 
tions. In  their  establishment  the  nation, 
States,   and  communities  work  together. 

The  instruction  of  teachers  is  to  be  regu- 
lated on  a  uniform  basis  for  the  nation  ac- 
cording to  the  generally  recognized  prin- 
ciples of  higher  education. 

The  teachers  in  the  public  schools  have  the 
rights  and  duties  of  State  officials. 

ARTICLE  144.— The  entire  school  system  is 
under  the  supervision  of  the  State;  it  can 
accord  participation  therein  to  the  communi- 
ties. The  school  supervision  will  be  exer- 
cised by  technically  trained  central  officials. 

ARTICLE  145.— There  shall  be  general  com- 
pulsory attendance  at  school.  This  duty  will  be 
principally  attended  to  by  the  popular  school 
with  at  least  eight  years  of  instruction,  and 
the  following  continuation  schools  up  to  the 
completion  of  the  eighteenth  year.  Instruc- 
tion books  and  other  apparatus  in  the  popu- 
lar and  continuation  schools  are  free. 

ARTICLE  146.— The  public  school  system  is 
to  be  organically  constructed.  Upon  a  basic 
school  for  every  one  is  erected  the  intermedi- 
ate and  high  school  system.  For  this  super- 
structure the  rule  for  guidance  is  the  multi- 
plicity of  life's  callings,  and  the  acceptance 
of  a  child  in  a  particular  school  depends  upon 
his  qualifications  and  inclinations,  not  upon 
the  economic  and  social  position  or  the  re- 
ligion of  his  parents. 

Nevertheless,  within  the  communities,  upon 
the  proposal  of  those  entitled  to  instruction, 
there  shall  be  erected  popular  schools  of 
their  faith  or  view  of  the  universe,  in  so  far 
as  this  does  not  interfere  with  a  regulated 
conduct  of  the  schools  in  the  sense  of  Para- 
graph 1.  Details  will  be  laid  down  in  the 
State  legislation,  according  to  the  principles 
of  a  national  law. 

For  the  attendance  of  those  in  poor  circum- 
stances at  the  intermediate  and  higher 
schools,  public  means  are  to  be  supplied  by 
the  nation,  States,  and  communities,  with 
especial  assistance  to  the  parents  of  children 
regarded  as  adapted  for  education  in  the  in- 
termediate and  higher  schools,  until  the  in- 
struction period  is  ended. 

ARTICLE  147.— Private  schools  as  a  substi- 
tute for  public  schools  require  the  approval 
of  the  State  and  are  subject  to  the  provincial 
laws.  Approval  is  to  be  given  if  the  private 
schools  are  not  inferior  to  the  public  schools 
in  their  objects,  their  equipment,  and  the  sci- 
entific competency  of  their  teaching  staffs; 
and  when  a  division  of  the  pupils  according 
to  the  amount  of  property  possessed  by  their 
parents  is  not  demanded.  Approval  is  to  be 
withheld  when  the  economic  and  legal  status 
of  the  teachers  is  not  sufficiently  guaran- 
teed. 

Private  popular  schools  are  to  be  allowed 
only  when,  for  a  minority  entitled  to  instruc- 
tion,   whose   desires   must   be   considered  ac- 


cording to  Article  146,  Paragraph  2,  there  ex- 
ists in  a  community  no  public  school  of  a 
given  faith  or  world  conception ;  or  when  the 
educational  administration  recognizes  a  par- 
ticular pedagogical  interest.  Private  prepara- 
tory schools  are  to  be  abolished.  The  exist- 
ing law  for  private  schools  that  do  not  serve 
as  substitutes  for  the  public  schools  remains 
in  force. 

ARTICLE  148.— Moral  education,  civic  sen- 
timent, and  personal  and  professional  ability 
in  the  spirit  of  popular  Germanism  and  of 
international  reconciliation  are  to  be  striven 
for  in  all  the  schools.  In  giving  instruction 
in  public  schools  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
hurt  the  feelings  of  those  who  think  differ- 
ently. Civics  and  labor  instruction  are 
branches  of  instruction  in  the  schools.  Every 
pupil  will  receive  a  copy  of  the  Constitution 
upon  completing  his  school  duties.  The  sys- 
tem of  popular  education,  inclusive  of  the 
popular  high  schools,  is  to  be  promoted  by 
nation,   States,  and  communities. 

ARTICLE  149.— Religious  instruction  is  a 
regular  branch  of  school  instruction,  except 
in  the  case  of  schools  acknowledging  no 
creed,  or  worldly  schools.  The  imparting  of 
religious  instruction  will  be  regulated  by 
school  legislation.  It  will  be  given  in  accord 
with  the  principles  of  the  religious  societies 
concerned,  without  prejudice  to  the  State's 
right  of  supervision. 

The  imparting  of  religious  instruction  and 
the  using  of  church  forms  are  left  to 
the  desire  of  the  teachers,  and  the  participa- 
tion of  the  pupils  in  religious  studies  and  in 
church  solemnities  and  acts  is  left  to  those 
who  have  the  right  of  determining  the  child's 
religious  education. 

The  theological  Faculties  of  the  colleges 
are  maintained. 

ARTICLE  150.— The  monuments  of  art,  his- 
tory, and  nature,  as  well  as  the  landscape, 
enjoy  the  protection  and  care  of  the  State. 
It  is  the  affair  of  the  nation  to  prevent  the 
removal  of  German  art  possessions  to  foreign 
lands. 

ECONOMIC  LIFE 

ARTICLE  151.— The  regulation  of  economic 
life  must  correspond  to  the  principles  of  jus- 
tice, with  the  object  of  assuring  to  all  a  life 
worth  living.  Within  these  bounds  the  eco- 
nomic liberty  of  the  individual  is  to  be  as- 
sured. 

Legal  compulsion  is  admissible  only  for  the 
safeguarding  of  threatened  rights  or  in  the 
service  of  predominant  demands  of  the  public 
good. 

The  freedom  of  trade  and  industry  is  safe- 
guarded according  to  the  national  laws. 

ARTICLE  152.— There  is  freedom  of  contract 
in  economic  relations  within  the  limits  of  the 
law.  Usury  is  forbidden.  Legal  arrange- 
ments that  are  in  conflict  with  decent  cus- 
toms are  null  and  void. 

ARTICLE  153.— Property  is  safeguarded  bjj 


08 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  Constitution.  Its  composition  and  limits 
are  defined  by  the  laws. 

Confiscation  can  be  carried  out  only  for  the 
benefit  of  the  community  as  a  whole  and 
with  due  process  of  law.  There  will  be  ap- 
propriate compensation,  as  far  as  a  national 
law  may  not  otherwise  prescribe.  In  the 
case  of  dispute  as  to  the  amount  of  the  com- 
pensation the  ordinary  courts  may  be  ap- 
pealed to  in  so  far  as  national  laws  do  not 
provide  otherwise.  Confiscation  by  the  na- 
tion from  States,  communities,  and  societies 
organized  for  the  public  welfare  may  be  ef- 
fected only  with  compensation.  Property 
implies  a  duty.  Its  use  should  at  the  same 
time  be  a  service  to  the  general  welfare. 

ARTICLE  154.— The  right  of  inheritance  is 
safeguarded  according  to  the  civil  law. 

The  State's  part  in  the  inheritance  will  be 
provided  for  by  law. 

ARTICLE  155.— The  division  and  use  of  the 
land  will  be  watched  over  by  the  State  in 
such  a  way  as  to  prevent  its  misuse  and  to 
promote  the  object  of  insuring  to  every  Ger- 
man a  healthful  dwelling  and  to  all  German 
families,  especially  those  with  numerous 
children,  a  dwelling  and  economic  homestead 
corresponding  to  their  needs.  War  veterans 
are  to  be  specially  considered  in  the  home- 
stead law  to  be  created. 

Real  estate,  the  acquisition  of  which  is 
necessary  to  meet  housing  needs,  to  encour- 
age settling  and  bringing  of  land  under  cul- 
tivation, or  to  promote  agriculture,  may  be 
expropriated.  Entailments  are  to  be  dis- 
solved. 

The  working  and  exploitation  of  the  land 
is  a  duty  of  the  land  owner  toward  the  com- 
munity. An  increase  of  value  of  land  arising 
without  the  applying  of  labor  or  capital  to 
the  property  is  to  be  made  to  serve  the  com- 
munity as  a  whole. 

All  mineral  treasures  and  all  economically 
useful  forces  of  nature  are  under  the  control 
of  the  State.  Private  rights  are  to  be  turned 
over  to  the  State  through  legislation. 

ARTICLE  156.— The  nation  may  through 
law,  without  detriment  to  compensation,  and 
with  a  proper  application  of  the  regulations 
covering  expropriation,  transfer  to  public 
ownership  private  economic  enterprises 
adapted  for  socialization.  The  nation  may 
itself  take  part  in  the  administration  of  eco- 
nomic undertakings  and  societies,  or  transfer 
such  right  to  States  or  communities,  or  insure 
itself  a  dominating  influence  in  some  other 
way. 

Furthermore,  the  nation,  in  case  of  press- 
ing necessity  for  the  purpose  of  public  busi- 
ness, may  combine  through  law  economic  en- 
terprises and  societies  on  the  basis  of  self- 
administration,  with  the  object  of  insuring 
the  co-operation  of  all  the  working  sections 
of  the  people,  of  allowing  employers  and  em- 
ployes to  participate  in  the  administration, 
and  of  regulating  the  production,  prepara- 
tion, distribution,  use  and  prices,  as  well  as 
the  import  and  export  of  economic  goods,  ac- 
cording to  general  economic  principles. 


The  co-operatives  of  industry  and  hus- 
bandry and  their  associations,  upon  their  re- 
quest and  with  consideration  for  their  com- 
position and  peculiarities,  may  be  embodied 
in  the  common  system  of  economics. 

ARTICLE  157.— Labor  power  is  under  the 
special  protection  of  the  nation.  The  nation 
will  create  uniform  labor  laws. 

ARTICLE  158.— Intellectual  labor,  the  rights 
of  the  discoverer,  the  inventor  and  the  ar- 
tist, enjoy  the  protection  and  care  of  the 
nation. 

The  creations  of  German  science,  art  and 
technique  are  to  be  protected  and  promoted 
abroad  through  international  agreement. 

ARTICLE  159.— The  right  of  combination 
for  the  defense  and  promotion  of  labor  and 
economic  conditions  is  guaranteed  to  every- 
body and  to  all  professions.  All  agreements 
and  measures  which  attempt  to  limit  or  im- 
pede this  liberty  are  illegal. 

ARTICLE  160.— Any  one  employed  as  an 
office  employe  or  a  worker  has  the  right  to 
the  time  off  necessary  to  exercise  his  civic 
rights  and,  so  far  as  it  does  not  materially 
injure  the  business,  to  fill  public  honorary 
offices  conferred  upon  him.  The  law  will 
define  how  far  he  may  demand  compensa- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  161.— For  the  purpose  of  con- 
serving health  and  the  ability  to  work,  of 
protecting  motherhood  and  of  guarding 
against  the  economic  effects  of  age,  debili- 
ties and  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  the  nation 
will  create  a  comprehensive 'system  of  insur- 
ance, with  the  authoritative  co-operation  of 
the  insured. 

ARTICLE  162.— The  nation  favors  an  inter- 
national regulation  of  the  legal  status  of  the 
workers  that  strives  for  a  general  minimum 
measure  of  social  rights  for  the  whole  work- 
ing class  of  the  world. 

ARTICLE  163.— It  is  the  moral  duty  of 
every  German,  without  prejudice  to  his  per- 
sonal liberty,  so  to  use  his  intellectual  and 
physical  powers  as  is  demanded  by  the  wel- 
fare of  the  community. 

Every  German  shall  receive  the  possibility 
•  of  earning  his  living  through  economic  labor. 
In  so  far  as  the  appropriate  opportunity  to 
work  cannot  be  given  to  him  his  necessary 
maintenance  will  be  looked  after.  Details 
will  be  arranged  through  special  national 
laws. 

ARTICLE  164.— The  independent  middle 
class  in  agriculture,  industry,  and  trade  is  to 
be  favored  in  legislation  and  administration, 
and  is  to  be  protected  against  being  overbur- 
dened and  made  victims  of  extortion. 

ARTICLE  165.— The  workers  and  office  em- 
ployes are  qualified  to  take  part  with  equal 
rights  and  in  co-operation  with  the  employ- 
ers in  the  regulation  of  wage  and  labor  con- 
ditions, as  well  as  in  the  entire  economic 
development  of  the  productive  forces.  The 
organizations  on  both  sides  and  their  unions 
are  recognized. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  GERMAN  REPUBLIC 


99 


The  workers  and  office  employes  receive 
legal  representation  in  the  Factory  Workers' 
Councils,  as  well  as  in  the  District  Workers' 
Councils  grouped  according  to  economic  dis- 
tricts, and  in  a  National  Workers'  Council, 
for  the  purpose  of  looking  after  their  social 
and  economic  interests. 

The  District  Workers'  Councils  and  the 
National  Workers'  Council  meet  together 
with  the  representatives  of  the  employers 
and  of  other  interested  circles  of  people  in 
District  Economic  Councils  and  a  National 
Economic  Council  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing out  the  joint  economic  tasks  and  for  co- 
operating in  the  putting  into  effect  of  the 
laws  of  socialization.  The  District  Economic 
Councils  and  the  National  Economic  Council 
are  to  be  formed  so  as  to  provide  for  the 
proper  representation  therein  of  all  the  im- 
portant trade  groups  according  to  their  eco- 
nomic and  social  importance. 

Social  political  and  economic  political 
drafts  of  laws  of  fundamental  importance 
are  to  be  submitted  by  the  National  Govern- 
ment to  the  National  Economic  Council  for 
its  opinion  before  presentation.  The  Nation- 
al Economic  Council  has  the  right  itself  to 
propose  such  plans  of  laws.  If  the  National 
Government  does  not  agree  with  it,  it  has 
the  right,  nevertheless,  to  present  the  pro- 
posal to  the  Reichstag  with  an  exposition  of 
its  standpoint.  The  National  Economic 
Council  may  have  its  proposal  represented 
by  one  of  its  members  before  the  Reichstag. 

The  Workers'  and  Economic  Councils  may 
have  conferred  upon  them  the  powers  of 
control  and  administration  in  the  fields 
turned  over  to  them. 

The  building  up  of  the  Workers'  and  Eco- 
nomic Councils  and  the  defining  of  their  du- 
ties, as  well  as  their  relations  to  other  social 
self-administrative  bodies,  are  exclusively 
matters  of  the  nation. 

TRANSITORY   AND    FINAL    REGULA- 
TIONS 

ARTICLE  166.— Until  the  establishment  of 
the  National  Administrative  Court  the  Na- 
tional Court  will  take  its  place  in  forming 
the  Court  for  Examining  Elections. 

ARTICLE  167.— The  regulations  of  Article 
18,  Paragraphs  3  to  6,  become  effective  two 
years  after  the  announcement  that  the  Con- 
stitution has  gone  into  force. 

ARTICLE  168.— Until  the  promulgation  of 
the  State  law  provided  for  in  Article  63,  but 
at  the  most  for  only  one  year,  all  the  Prus- 
sian votes  in  the  National  Council  may  be 
cast  by  members  of  the  Government. 

ARTICLE  169.— The  National  Government 
will  determine  when  the  regulation  laid  down 
in  Article  83,  Paragraph  1,  is  to  become 
effective. 

ARTICLE  170.— The  Postal  and  Telegraph 
Administrations  of  Bavaria  and  Wiirttemberg 
will  be  taken  over  by  the  nation  not  later 
than  April  1,  1921. 

If  no  understanding  has  been  reached  over 


the  terms  of  their  taking  over  by  Oct.  1, 
1920,  the  matter  will  be  decided  by  the  Su- 
preme Court. 

The  former  rights  and  duties  of  Bavaria 
and  Wiirttemberg  remain  in  force  until  the 
act  of  taking  over.  Nevertheless,  the  postal 
and  telegraph  traffic  with  neighboring  for- 
eign countries  will  be  regulated  exclusively 
by  the  nation. 

ARTICLE  171.— The  State  railroads,  water- 
ways, and  ocean  signal  systems  are  to  be 
taken  over  by  the  nation  not  later  than 
April  1.  1921. 

If  no  understanding  has  been  reached  over 
the  terms  of  their  taking  over  by  Oct.  1,  1920, 
the  matter  will  be  decided  by  the  Supreme 
Court. 

ARTICLE  172.— Until  the  national  law  re- 
garding the  Supreme  Court  becomes  effective 
its  powers  will  be  exercised  by  a  Senate  of 
seven  members,  four  of  whom  are  to  be 
elected  from  among  its  members  by  the 
Reichstag  and  three  by  the  National  High 
Court.  This  Senate  will  arrange  its  own 
methods  of  procedure. 

ARTICLE  173.— Until  the  enactment  of  a 
national  law  according  to  Article  138,  the 
existing  State  contributions  to  the  religious 
societies  based  upon  law,  agreement,  or 
special  legal  titles  will  continue. 

ARTICLE  174.— Until  the  enactment  of  the 
national  law  provided  for  in  Article  146, 
Paragraph  2,  the  legal  status  existing  will 
continue.  The  law  will  pay  special  attention 
to  districts  of  the  nation  where  a  system 
of  schools  not  separated  according  to  faiths 
legally  exists. 

ARTICLE  175.— The  regulations  of  Article 
109  do  not  apply  to.  orders  and  decorations 
conferred  for  services  in  the  war  years  of 
1914-1919. 

ARTICLE  176.— All  public  officials  and 
members  of  the  army  are  to  be  sworn  upon 
this  Constitution.  The  details  will  be  fixed 
by  an  order  of  the  national  President. 

ARTICLE  177.— Where  in  the  existing  laws 
it  is  provided  that  the  oath  be  taken  in  con- 
nection with  a  religious  form,  the  taking  of 
the  oath  can  be  made  legal  by  having  the 
swearer  say,  leaving  out  the  religious  form, 
"  I  swear."  For  the  rest  the  contents  of  the 
oath  provided  for  in  the  laws  remains  un- 
disturbed. 

ARTICLE  178.— The  Constitution  of  the 
German  Empire  of  April  16,  1871,  and  the 
law  covering  the  temporary  exercise  of  the 
national  authority  of  Feb.  10,  1919,  are  an- 
nulled. 

The  other  laws  and  regulations  of  the  na- 
tion remain  in  force,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
not  in  contradiction  with  this  Constitution. 
The  arrangements  contained  in  the  Peace 
Treaty  signed  on  June  28,  1919,  at  "Versailles, 
are  not  affected  by  the  Constitution. 

Ordinances  of  the  authorities  legally  issued 
on  the  strength  of  previously  existing  laws 
retain  their  power  until  annulled  through 
other  ordinances  or  legislation. 


100 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ARTICLE  179.— In  so  far  as  reference  Is 
made  in  laws  or  ordinances  to  regulations 
and  institutions  which  are  abolished  by  this 
Constitution  their  places  will  be  taken  by  the 
corresponding  regulations  and  institutions  of 
this  Constitution.  In  particular  the  place 
of  the  National  Assembly  will  be  taken  by 
the  Reichstag,  that  of  the  Committee  of 
States  by  the  National  Council,  and  the  place 
of  national  President  elected  on  the  strength 
of  the  law  covering  the  temporary  exercise 
of  the  national  authority,  by  the  national 
President  elected  under  the  authority  of  this 
Constitution. 

The  power  to  issue  ordinances  conferred 
upon  the  Committee  of  States  through  the 
former  provisions  is   transferred   to   the   na- 


tional Government;  the  Government  in  issu- 
ing ordinances  requires  the  approval  of  the 
National  Council  as  laid  down  in  this  Consti- 
tution. 

ARTICLE  180.— Until  the  convening  of  the 
first  Reichstag  the  National  Assembly  will 
function  as  the  Reichstag.  Until  the  install- 
ing of  the  first  national  President  his  office 
will  be  filled  by  the  national  President 
elected  on  the  strength  of  the  law  covering 
the  temporary  exercise  of  the  national  au- 
thority. 

ARTICLE  181.— The  German  people  have 
adopted  and  decreed  this  Constitution 
through  its  National  Assembly.  It  goes  into 
effect  upon  the  day  of  its  publication. 

Weimar,  July  31,  1919. 


Depositing  the  Peace  Treaty 

Solemn    Ceremony  in  Which  Premier  Clemenceau   Placed  the 
Original  Document    in  the  French  Archives 


IN  an  impressive  ceremony,  Premier 
Clemenceau,  soon  after  the  signing 
of  peace  with  Germany,  deposited 
the  momentous  Treaty  of  Versailles  in 
the  archives  of  the  French  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  The  Chamber  was  crowded, 
many  persons  being  unable  even  to  find 
standing  room.  M.  Clemenceau,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Peace  Conference,  sat  on 
the  ministerial  bench,  surrounded  by  his 
colleagues.  Before  him  lay  the  thick 
volume  of  the  Peace  Treaty.  At  3 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  main  actors 
in  this  historic  ceremony  had  arrived, 
followed  by  M.  Pichon  bearing  the  treaty. 
On  entering,  the  French  Premier  was  im- 
mediately surrounded  by  a  throng  of 
Deputies  seeking  to  shake  his  hand.  At 
ten  minutes  after  the  hour  M.  Paul 
Deschanel,  President  of  the  French 
Chamber,  opened  the  sitting.  In  a  few 
sentences  he  proclaimed  the  act  which 
had  been  accomplished  in  the  Galerie 
des  Glaces  at  Versailles,  where  "  Bis- 
marck, forty  years  before,  had  con- 
summated his  crime." 

The  Deputies  rose  three  times  in  ap- 
proval of  his  words  when  he  declared 
that  the  thoughts  of  all  in  that  mem- 
orable moment  went  forth  toward  Al- 
sace and  Lorraine,  "  our  dear  provinces, 
which  have  suffered  so  much,"  *  *  * 
to  "our  fallen"  *  *  and  to  the 
soldiers,     "the     greatest     in     history." 


As  President  of  the  Chamber  he  then  an- 
nounced that  "  Conformably  with  the 
last  will  of  Jules  Grosjean,  who,  on  Feb. 
28,  1871,  brought  to  the  tribune  of  the 
National  Assembly  the  protest  of  the 
Deputies  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  I  deposit 
in  the  archives  of  the  Chamber  the  orig- 
inal text  of  this  immortal  document.  And 
in  your  name  I  address  to  his  daughter, 
who  has  transmitted  it  to  us,  the  homage 
of  our  gratitude." 

M.  Clemenceau  then  entered  the  tri- 
bune; he  drew  a  few  sheets  of  paper 
from  his  pocket.  Meantime  the  usher 
had  placed  the  volume  of  the  treaty 
before  him  and  M.  Clemenceau  then 
read  the  following  statement: 

I  have  the  honor  of  placing  on  the 
bureau  of  the  Chamber  for  ratification 
the  treaty  which  on  the  28th  of  June  in 
Versailles  received  the  signatures  of  the 
allied  Governments  and  associates  after 
those  of  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire.  I  add  to  these  the  Anglo- 
French  and  Franco-American  conven- 
tions. 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  M.  Clemen- 
ceau was  very  much  moved.  He  said 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  anticipate  the 
discussion  of  the  treaty,  but  that  at 
the  "  hour  when  the  greatest  drama  of 
history  was  closing,  when  we  are  still 
quivering  from  the  strain  of  supreme 
duties  magnificently  accomplished,  the 
first  outburst  of  our  feelings  must  be 


DEPOSITING  THE  PEACE  TREATY 


101 


toward  French  as  toward  humanitarian 
hope."     He  continued  as  follows: 

What  unlimited  joy  it  is  that  this 
definitive  declaration  can  be  made  from 
this  tribune !  The  work  of  salvation  which 
placed  the  world  in  such  danger  has  been 
accomplished  by  France  and  her  allies. 
Only  on  the  condition  that  we  remain  con- 
scious of  our  duty  can  the  old  spirit  of 
warlike  dominion  be  forever  overcome. 
The  day  has  come  when  force  and  right, 
which  were  terribly  separated,  must  be 
reunited  for  the  peace  of  the  peoples  and 
for  work.  May  humanity  rise  to  live  its 
full  life. 

These  words  were  greeted  with  long  con- 
tinued applause  by  the  whole  Chamber. 
M.  Clemenceau  went  on  to  say  that 
this  peace  would  be  achieved  with  a  will 
which  could  never  be  made  to  flinch,  as 
the  war  had  been  pursued  without  weak- 
ness or  theatrical  pride,  but  with  the 
infrangible  resolution  to  carry  ever 
higher  that  France  which  was  the  very 
frontier  of  liberty. 


"  We  have  given  our  all,"  cried  M. 
Clemenceau,  with  a  gesture  which  thrilled 
the  whole  assembly,  "  and  now  right  is 
standing  again  triumphant,  and  the 
peace  of  right  is  setting  out  on  its 
course." 

The  conclusion  of  the  Premier's  ad- 
dress was  as  follows: 

And  now,  let  all  get  to  work  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  duties  of  tomor- 
row, and  of  today,  above  all  for  the 
necessary  reparations.  Social  union,  no 
less  indispensable  in  peace  than  in  war, 
remains  the  very  foundation  of  the  coun- 
try. On  one  side  there  must  be  conces- 
sions in  the  organization  of  modern  labor. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  must  be  learned 
the  lesson  of  moderation,  of  self-govern- 
ment. There  must  be  mutual  sacrifices 
springing  from  a  better  comprehension. 

The  Government  must  set  the  example. 
They  must  not  be  asked  for  any  coups 
de  theatre.  A  people  could  not  pass  sud- 
denly, without  any  transition  period,  from 
the  upheavals  of  a  defense  to  the  orderly 
life  for   which   they   all  longed. 


Rhineland  Occupation  Terms  Modified 

Details  of   High  Commission's  Powers 


AS  the  result  of  two  formal  protests 
/\  by  the  German  Government 
1  \  against  some  of  the  provisions 
for  the  administration  of  the 
Rhine  Provinces  to  be  occupied  by 
allied  troops  during  the  fifteen  years 
expected  to  elapse  before  Germany 
shall  have  made  her  last  indem- 
nity payment,  the  Paris  Council  sent 
a  reply  apparently  intended  to  be 
the  last  word  in  the  controversy,  and 
containing  slight  modifications  of  the 
terms  of  occupation  as  printed  in  the 
September  issue  of  Current  History. 
The  answer,  as  given  in  the  Berliner 
Tageblatt  of  Aug.  2,  reads  as  follows : 

1  and  2.  Introductory  remarks :  The  allied 
and  associated  Governments  have  always 
had  the  intention  so  to  shape  the  occupation 
as  to  make  it  the  least  oppressive  possible  for 
the  population  of  the  district  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rhine  under  the  proviso  that 
Germany  will  closely  observe  the  conditions 
of  peace. 

3.  Articles  3  and  5  of  the  agreement.  The 
application  of  German  laws:  In  the  agree- 
ment the  German  Government  declared  its 
acceptance  of  the  condition  providing  that 
the  High  Commission  should  have  the  right 


to  issue  regulations  having  legal  force  for 
the  purpose  of  assuring  the  support,  the  se- 
curity, and  the  supplying  of  the  needs  of  the 
military  forces  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers. 

It  is  agreed  that,  under  this  reservation, 
the  present  and  future  laws  enacted  by  the 
German  Nation  and  the  Federal  States,  in- 
clusive of  those  enacted  since  the  German 
revolution,  are  to  be  effective  in  the  occu- 
pied territory.  It  will  be  the  task  of  the 
High  Commission  to  examine  these  laws  in 
each  individual  case  in  order  to  see  to  what 
degree  they  may  be  detrimental  to  the  se- 
curity and  needs  of  the  military  forces  of 
the  allied  and  associated  powers. 

4.  Exercise  of  the  legislative  power  of  the 
High  Commission :  It  can  be  unhesitatingly 
recognized  that,  with  the  above  reservation, 
the  population  will  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of 
its  personal  and  civic  rights,  religious  lib- 
erty, freedom  of  the  press,  elections  and 
meetings,  and  that  the  political,  legal,  ad- 
ministrative, and  economic  relations  of  the 
occupied  districts  with  unoccupied  Germany 
will  not  be  hampered  nor  will  freedom  of 
traffic  between  occupied  and  unoccupied  Ger- 
many. 

Nevertheless,  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  cannot  undertake  the  obligation  of 
making  the  issuing  of  regulations  dependent 
upon  a  previous  agreement  between  the  High 
Commission   and   the  representative  of  Ger- 


102 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


many.  The  latter  will  be  able  to  be  heard, 
if  it  is  a  matter  falling  within  his  jurisdic- 
tion, except  in  urgent  cases. 

5.  Establishment  of  a  national  commission: 
(a)  The  establishment  of  a  civilian  national 
commission,  representing  the  national  au- 
thority, can  be  admitted  by  the  allied  and 
associated  Governments. 

(b)  Nevertheless,  it  must  be  observed  that 
this  body  is  not  provided  for  in  the  text  of 
the  agreement  and  that  the  person  named 
needs  the  previous  and  revokable  approval 
of  the  allied  and  associated  Governments. 

(c)  The  competence  of  the  National  Com- 
missioner will  only  extend  to  those  matters 
which,  under  the  provisions  of  the  German 
Constitution,  are  national  affairs. 

In  fact,  the  allied  and  associated  Govern- 
ments cannot  accept  in  the  text  a  provision 
that  the  National  Commissioner  is,  under  all 
circumstances,  the  representative  of  the 
States,  republics  or  provinces,  because  their 
internal  legislation,  which  is  subject  to 
changes  and  alterations,  must  be  respected. 

If,  however,  the  competent  authorities  of 
the  different  Federal  States  agree  to  appoint 
one  and  the  same  Commissioner,  the  allied 
and  associated  Governments  will  raise  no 
objection;  nevertheless,  the  High  Commis- 
sion will  always  reserve  the  right  to  enter 
into  relations  with  all  the  local  authorities, 
in  so  far  as  matters  within  their  jurisdiction 
are  concerned. 

6.  Number  of  the  troops  of  occupation:  The 
allied  and  associated  Governments  reserve 
the  right  to  give  information  as  to  the  effec- 
tive strength  of  the  troops  that  they  main- 
tain in  the  occupied  territory. 

7.  Strength  of  the  police  troops:  There  is 
nothing  in  the  way  of  the  High  Commission 
taking  counsel  with  the  German  authorities 
concerned,  but  it  has  the  right  of  regulating 
the  organization  of  the  police  troops. 

8.  The  drawing  up  of  the  commission's  reg- 
ulations: The  High  Commission  can  with 
profit,  except  in  pressing  cases,  previously 
obtain  the  opinion  of  the  National  Commis- 
sioner, or  of  the  competent  German  authori- 
ties, but  without  the  existence  of  any  obliga- 
tion to  do  so.  No  such  obligation  is  pro- 
vided for  in  the  agreement. 

9.  The  conferring  of  a  privileged  legal  sta- 
tus by  the  army  commanders:  It  is  true 
that  the  conditions  under  which  this  status 
is  to  be  conferred  can  be  still  more  closely 
described.  It  is  recognized,  in  principle,  that 
the  privilege  is  not  to  be  granted  to  German 
citizens. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  allied  and  associ- 
ated Governments,  which  do  not  wish  to  see 
disturbances  brought  into  the  occupied  dis- 
tricts, cannot  allow  the  competent  German 
authorities  to  institute  legal  actions  on  ac- 
count of  political  or  industrial  acts  occurring 
during  the  armistice  period,  if  these  acts 
have  not  already  given  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated Governments  occasion  for  legal  meas- 
ures. 

10.  Privileges,  administration  of  civilian 
affairs:    The  text  of  the  agreement  expressly 


provides  that  military  persons,  or  persons 
accredited  by  the  military  commanders,  are 
to  be  subject  exclusively  to  the  military  jus- 
tice of  the  allied  and  associated  powers,  in 
civil  as  well  as  criminal  cases. 

So  far  as  the  private  contracts  concluded 
by  military  persons  or  their  families  are 
concerned,  it  may  be  allowed,  as  demanded 
in  the  memorandum,  that  these  affairs  be 
brought  before  the  German  courts.  The 
High  Commission  will,  nevertheless,  retain 
the  right  of  countermanding  in  case  of 
abuse.  This  observation  does  not  apply  in 
the  case  provided  for  in  Article  3  (b)  of  the 
agreement.  All  cases  having  both  a  crim- 
inal and  a  civil  character  must  be  tried  by 
the  military  courts. 

11.  Penal  law :  The  German  courts  will 
apply  the  German  penal  code  in  the  cases 
falling  within  their  jurisdiction;  but,  in  ac- 
cord with  the  principles  of  international  law, 
the  military  courts  of  the  Allies  and  asso- 
ciates can  only  apply  the  laws  that  have 
been  enacted  in  their  native  States. 

12.  Extradition  of  accused  persons:  The 
proposal  in  the  German  memorandum  is  not 
acceptable.  The  text  of  the  agreement  is 
exact  and  logical.  It  demands  that  accused 
persons  charged  with  crimes  or  offenses 
against  the  person  or  property  of  the  allied 
and  associated  military  forces  must  be 
handed  over  to  the  allied  and  associated  au- 
thorities, even  if  the  accused  persons  have 
sought  refuge  in  unoccupied  territory.  Be- 
sides, it  is  not  a  matter  of  extraditions  in  a 
legal  sense,  as  the  occupied  districts  are 
parts  of  German  territory. 

13.  Administrative  districts  and  political 
districts:  The  memorandum  of  the  German 
Government  is  anxious  to  know  if  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  commission  will  alter  the  ad- 
ministrative districts  and  the  political  dis- 
tricts for  the  needs  of  occupation.  The 
agreement  provides  for  nothing  of  the  kind. 
It  has  not  been  the  intention  of  the  asso- 
ciated and  allied  Governments  to  enable  the 
commission  to  alter  the  political  and  admin- 
istrative boundaries. 

14.  Finances:  It  is  agreed  that  the  civil 
administration  also  includes  the  administra- 
tion of  the  finances  and  that  the  revenues  of 
the  nation  and  of  the  Federal  States  in  the 
occupied  districts  may-  be  received  and  ad- 
ministered by  the  competent  German  au- 
thorities. 

15.  Right  of  recall  of  officials:  The  Ger- 
man memorandum's  request  would  signify 
an  alteration  of  the  text  of  the  agreement. 
Nevertheless,  it  may  be  understood  that  the 
work  of  recalling  officials  upon  the  orders 
of  the  High  Commission  without  delay  is 
promised  to  the  National  Commissioner,  or 
to  the  competent  German  authorities,  except 
in  urgent  cases.  In  all  circumstances  the 
High  Commission  reserves  the  right  to  re- 
call officials  itself  in  case  of  necessity. 

16.  Payment  for  requisitions:  The  allied 
and  associated  Governments  intend  to  retain 
the  right  given  to  them  by  Article  6  of  the 


RHINELAND  OCCUPATION   TERMS  MODIFIED 


103 


agreement,  but  they  do  not  decline  to  con- 
sult with  the  competent  German  authorities 
over  a  ruling  for  its  application. 

17.  Quartering  of  the  troops  and  officials : 
This  is  a  question  of  fact  that  can  only  be 
arranged  through  the  examining  of  concrete 
cases,  and  the  Allies  and  associates  will 
carry  on  this  examination  in  a  spirit  of 
reconciliation  in  order  to  satisfy  the  legiti- 
mate needs  of  the  public  administrations. 

18.  Tax  exemption :  It  is  understood  that 
the  tax  exemptions  cannot  be  extended  to 
cover  national  taxes  originating  through 
private  business  or  deals  and  having  no  con- 
nection with  the  service.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  recognized  that  the  High  Allied  Commis- 
sion must  institute  a  method  of  keeping  check 
on  the  exercise  of  the  privileges  and  tax  ex- 
emptions granted  to  the  troops  of  occupation 
and  its  civilian  and  military  personnel  by 
Article  9. 

19.  Customs  regulations :  At  the  present 
time  the  allied  and  associated  Governments 
do  not  believe  that  they  ought  to  make  use 
of  the  provisions  of  Article  270 ;  but  they 
expressly  reserve  for  the  future  their  decis- 
ion as  to  the  seasonableness  of  the  applica- 
tion of  this  article. 

[Paragraph  20  missing  from  text  in  Berliner 
Tageblatt.] 

21.  Postal  and  telegraph  service :  It  is  pos- 
sible, as  suggested  by  the  German  memoran- 
dum, to  alter  the  present  regulations.  This 
will  be  effected  through  an  ordinance  of  the 
High  Commission.  The  freedom  of  communi- 
cation by  letters,  telegrams,  and  telephones 
between  the  occupied  and  unoccupied  dis- 
tricts will  be  restored  under  a  general  reser- 
vation of  the  rights  of  the  High  Commission, 
or  of  the  consequences  of  the  state  of  siege, 
if  this  should  be  proclaimed. 

22.  As  the  state  of  siege  is  a  function  di- 
rectly concerning  the  security  of  the  army, 
the  obligation  of  consulting  with  the  Na- 
tional Commissioner  in  all  cases,  and  espe- 
cially in  urgent  cases,  cannot  be  assumed. 
It  is  a  matter  of  course  that  the  allied  and 
associated  Governments,  which  count  upon 
the  loyal  co-operation  of  the  German  au- 
thorities, will  not  fail  to  consult  them  in 
every  case,  when  the  circumstances  permit 
it. 

[Paragraph  23  missing.] 

24.  Ordinances  of  the  different  military 
offices:  As  a  matter  of  principle  and  in  ac- 
cord with  the  request  expressed  in  the  Ger- 
man memorandum,  it  is  the  intention  of  the 
allied  and  associated  authorities  to  annul 
the  various  ordinances  issued  by  the  military 
offices  of  the  occupying  forces  for  the  pe- 
riod of  the  armistice  after  the  treaty  of  peace 
shall  have  become  effective;  nevertheless,  it 
is  the  exclusive  task  of  the  High  Commission 
to  arrange  the  necessary  transitional  regula- 
tions. The  High  Commission  will  announce 
the  abolition  or  modification  of  these  regula- 
tions through  an  ordinance.  This  ordinance 
will  be  issued  as  soon  as  possible  after  the 
treaty  has  gone  into  effect. 

23.  Expulsions :    The  orders  forbidding  resi- 


dence in  the  occupied  territory  have  been 
issued  for  reasons  involving  the  mainte- 
nance of  public  security  and  for  the  purpose 
of  making  the  regulations  legally  laid  down 
during  the  armistice  by  the  military  outhori- 
ties  of  the  allied  and  associated  Governments 
respected.  It  cannot  be  admitted  that  the 
expelled  persons  may  return  to  their  homes 
merely  because  of  the  fact  that  the  Peace 
Treaty  has  gone  into  effect..  Those  who  wish 
to  return  will  have  to  apply  to  the  High 
Commission,  which  will  examine  each  indi- 
vidual case  in  a  spirit  of  reconciliation. 

26.  Jurisdiction :  Reference  is  made  to  the 
observations  above  to  Paragraphs  9,  10,  and 
11  of  the  German  memorandum. 

27.  Administrative  districts :  The  agree- 
ment provides  that  the  local  German  admin- 
istrations, as  well  as  the  administrations  of 
the  districts  and  provinces,  shall  retain  their 
legal  competence. 

28.  Sovereignty  of  the  Federal  State  Gov- 
ernments: It  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
agree  with  the  proposal  contained  in  this 
paragraph,  i.  e.,  that  the  expression  "under 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Central  German  Gov- 
ernment "  be  explained  to  mean  "  under  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Central  German  Govern- 
ment and  of  the  Governments  of  the  German 
Federal  States." 

Article  3  of  the  agreement,  which  forms 
an  annex  to  the  Peace  Treaty,  leaves  no  room 
for  a  more  far-reaching  interpretation.  Of 
course  the  legal  division  of  authority  will  be 
respected,  but  it  is  impossible  for  the  allied 
and  associated  Governments,  which  have 
concluded  peace  with  the  Central  German 
Government,  and  which  have  no  intention 
of  meddling  with  the  internal  organization 
of  Germany,  to  sustain  by  force  the  organiza- 
tion of  States  whose  possible  alterations  are 
provided  for  by  the  Constitution  itself.  So, 
as  has  been  said  above  in  connection  with 
paragraph  5  regarding  the  "  establishment 
of  a  national  commission,"  the  allied  and 
associated  Governments  cannot,  without  vio- 
lating international  law,  embody  anything  in 
the  text  obligating  themselves  to  maintain  the 
internal  organization  and  legislation  which 
the  German  population  might  see  themselves 
induced   to  change. 

29.  Officials:  As  is  observed  in  the  Ger- 
man memorandum,  after  the  Peace  Treaty 
becomes  effective  there  will  be  no  more 
agents  charged  with  the  supervision  of  the 
German  authorities  in  the  circles,  &c.  But 
the  High  Commission  has  the  power,  in  the 
interest  of  the  population,  to  maintain  per- 
manent representatives,  charged  with  the 
work  of  establishing  connections  between  the 
local  German  administrations,  the  local  mili- 
tary authorities,  and  the  High  Commission 
itself.  Regarding  the  officials,  the  German 
memorandum  recognizes  the  l'ight  of  the 
High  Commission  to  recall  them.  Hence  it 
follows  that  the  High  Commission  has  the 
option  of  not  agreeing  to  the  appointment  of 
officials  whose  presence  might  cause  dis- 
turbances. 


104 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


30.  Instruction :  The  public  instruction  con- 
stitutes, as  is  noted  in  the  German  memo- 
randum, a  constituent  part  of  the  German 
civic  administration  and  will  be  guided  by 
German  laws.  Therefore,  the  German  Gov- 
ernment has  no  occasion  to  fear  that  instruc- 
tion in  foreign  languages  will  be  introduced 
by  order  of   the  occupying  powers. 

31.  Legislation:  This  question  has  been 
handled  above  in  connection  with  Paragraph 
3  of  the  German  memorandum. 

32.  Collections:  The  German  Government 
requests  that  the  exercise  of  the  right  of 
making  forced  collections  (Beitreibung)  be 
restricted  as  much  as  possible.  The  allied 
and  associated  Governments  are  fully  in  ac- 
cord with  the  German  Government  in  the 
opinion  that  collections  are  rarely  to  be  made 
and  are  to  be  justified  by  special  circum- 
stances. In  this  connection  the  High  Com- 
mission will  be  able  to  listen  to  all  observa- 
tions made  to  it,  and  it  will  issue  a  regula- 
tion in  the  spirit  of  fairness  and  reconcili- 
ation. Nevertheless,  it  is  not  possible  to 
accede  to  the  request  presented  in  the  Ger- 
man memorandum  at  the  end  of  this  para- 
graph, i.  e.,  that  the  collection  is  only  to 
be  made  through  the  National  Commissioner. 

33.  Distribution  of  troops  and  quartering: 
The  distribution  of  the  troops  and  the  ex- 
amination of  the  questions  relating  to  the 
quartering  of  the  officers  and  their  families 
will  be  made  the  object  of  a  thorough  ex- 
amination by  the  commission.  The  result 
will  be  communicated  shortly. 

All  the  previous  observations  are  composed 
under  reservation  of  the  rights  given  to  the 
High  Commission,  of  the  possibility  of  de- 
claring a  state  of  siege,  and  of  the  exact 
carrying  out  of  the  terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
by  Germany. 

PASSPORT  REGULATIONS 
Following  a  conference  of  the  Inter- 
allied Commissioners  at  Wiesbaden,  defi- 
nite regulations  for  governing  the  move- 
ment of  Germans  and  others  between 
occupied  and  unoccupied  Germany  were 
made  public  in  Berlin.  As  found  in  the 
Koelnische  Zeitung  of  Aug.  20,  these 
regulations  are  as  follows: 


1.  Germans,  or  other  former  enemies, 
and  neutrals  living  in  unoccupied  Ger- 
many, will  be  permitted  to  enter  the 
occupied  territory  upon  presentation  of 
a  German  passport  provided  with  a  vise 
by  the  allied  military  authorities  of  the 
Army  of  Occupation. 

2.  Citizens  of  the  allied  powers  may 
enter  occupied  Germany  with  a  permit 
issued  by  the  military  authorities  of  the 
Allies  at  the  point  where  they  enter, 
and,  with  a  vis6,  by  the  German  civil 
authorities. 

3.  Germans,  or  other  foreign  enemies, 
and  neutrals  who  wish  to  go  from  occu- 
pied into  unoccupied  Germany  need  noth- 
ing but  a  permit  from  the  military  au- 
thorities of  the  Army  of  Occupation. 

4.  Passport  bureaus  are  to  be  estab- 
lished on  both  sides  of  the  frontier.  They 
will  be  under  the  military  control  of  the 
allied  array  in  occupied  Germany  and 
under  civilian  control  in  the  unoccupied 
districts.  It  is  planned  to  set  up  such 
bureaus  in  the  following  cities:  In  occu- 
pied Germany  at  Neuss  in  the  Belgian 
zone,  at  Cologne  in  the  British  zone,  at 
Coblenz  in  the  American  zone,  and  at 
Ludwigshafen,  Mayen  and  Landau  in  the 
French  zone;  in  unoccupied  Germany  at 
Diisseldorf  for  the  Belgian  and  British 
zones;  at  Limburg  for  the  American  zone, 
and  at  Karlsruhe,  Frankfort  and  Mann- 
heim for  the  French  zone. 

5.  For  the  purpose  of  delivering  pass- 
ports an  automobile  service  will  be  estab- 
lished between  the  corresponding  bureaus 
in   occupied  and   unoccupied  Germany. 

6.  Members  of  the  German  army  in 
active  service  must  wear  civilian  clothing 
when    entering    occupied    Germany. 

7.  Personal  permits  good  for  three 
months  will  be  issued  to  deputies  from 
the  occupied  districts.  Temporary  special 
permits  are  to  be  issued  to  German  civil- 
ian officials  who  enter  occupied  Germany 
in  the  exercise  of  their  functions.  Through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  Armistice  Com- 
mission steps  will  be  taken  at  once  to 
announce  the  date  for  the  establishment 
of  the  civilian  pass  bureaus  in  unoccupied 
Germany. 


V-v  /^pf?. 


\. 


German  Property  in  the  Allied  Countries 

Berlin  to  Reimburse  Its  Own  Nationals 


ACCORDING  to  the  terms  of  the  Peace 
L  Treaty,  the  method  of  dealing  with 
property  belonging  to  German  na- 
tionals in  allied  countries  and  debts  in- 
curred between  allied  and  German  na- 
tionals was  defined  as  follows: 

Two  Clearing  Houses  are  to  be  estab- 
lished in  either  country  for  the  settle- 
ment of  debts,  to  be  known  respectively 
as  the  Creditor  Clearing  House  and  the 
Debtor  Clearing  House,  provided  that 
within  one  month  after  the  deposit  of 
ratification  of  the  treaty  Great  Britain 
(or  another  allied  country)  give  Ger- 
many notice  of  its  intention  to  adopt 
this  scheme. 

The  Creditor  Clearing  House  will 
ascertain  and  give  notice  to  the  Debtor 
Clearing  House  of  all  debts  claimed 
by  the  respective  nationals,  and  in 
common  with  this  supplementary  or- 
ganization reach  an  agreement  on  the 
exact  amount  due.  Dispute  is  to  be  set- 
tled by  (a)  arbitration,  (b)  the  decision 
of  a  mixed  tribunal,  composed  of  a  rep- 
resentative of  each  Government  and  a 
third  member  selected  by  agreement  who 
is  to  act  as  President;  in  case  of  dis- 
agreement this  third  member  is  to  be 
selected  by  the  President  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation;  (c)  at  the  instance  of 
the  Creditor  Clearing  Office  the  dispute 
may  be  referred  to  the  courts  of  the 
place  of  domicile  of  the  debtor;  thus,  if 
the  British  Creditor  Office  claims  a 
sum  as  being  due  from  a  German  na- 
tional in  the  German  Debtor  Clearing 
Office,  the  amount  due  will  be  determined 
by  the  German  courts.  Conversely,  if 
the  German  Creditor  Clearing  Office 
claims  on  behalf  of  a  German  national  a 
sum  due  from  an  allied  national  through 
the  allied  Debtor  Clearing  Office,  then 
the  question  of  the  amount  due  will  be 
determined  by  the  allied  courts.  Where 
the  respective  nationals  were  solvent  at 
the  date  when  the  debts  were  incurred, 
the  Governments  of  the  allied  national 
and  Germany  respectively  undertake  to 
see  that  such  debts  are  duly  paid  and 


they  are  vested  with  the  right  of  ob- 
taining the  amount  due  from  their  re- 
spective nationals. 

Where  this  scheme  is  adopted  there  is 
no  other  method  by  which  creditors  can 
obtain  payment  of  their  debts  except 
through  the  Clearing  Office  scheme. 
Each  month  a  balance  is  to  be  struck, 
and  where  the  balance  is  in  favor  of  the 
allied  national  the  Germans  must  pay 
over  through  their  Clearing  Office  the 
amount  shown  due  to  such  creditors. 
Where,  however,  the  balance  is  shown 
due  to  German  nationals,  then  the 
amount  of  such  balance  is  to  be  retained 
by  the  allied  Clearing  Office  until  com- 
plete payment  has  been  effected  of  the 
sums  due  to  that  country  and  its  nation- 
als on  account  of  the  war. 

Germany  undertakes  to  compensate  its 
nationals  in  respect  of  the  sale  or  reten- 
tion of  their  property  rights  or  interest 
in  allied  States,  and  in  that  way  the 
doctrine  of  the  inviolability  of  private 
property  is  preserved. 

The  effect  of  the  treaty  is  to  appro- 
priate toward  the  indemnification  of 
allied  subjects  all  property  rights  and 
interest  and  all  debts  owing  to  Germans 
by  allied  subjects,  and  that  in  so  far  as 
there  is  any  balance  over,  such  balance 
will  be  applied  in  satisfying  pro  tanto 
the  indebtedness  of  Germany  to  the  re- 
spective allied  country  on  account  of 
claims  of  its  nationals  for  reparation. 

These  principles  will  be  applied 
through  all  British  colonies  and  through- 
out the  territories  of  every  allied  and 
associated  power.  German  nationals  will, 
as  a  consequence,  be  stripped  of  all  their 
wealth,  whether  in  the  shape  of  property 
rights  or  interests,  or  of  debts  due  to 
them,  and  their  only  remedy  will  be 
against  their  Government,  from  whom 
they  can  claim  compensation  for  property 
rights  and  interests,  and  probably  also 
for  debts.  Such  property  can  only  be 
restored  to  its  rightful  owners  by  the 
German  Government  taxing  its  subjects 
generally — that  is  to  say,  by  making  all 


106 


THE  NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


its  subjects  contribute  on  an  equitable 
basis  to  the  loss  sustained  by  the  par- 
ticular subjects  whose  property  has  been 
appropriated  by  the  Allies. 

Valuable  privileges  are  also  conferred 
on  the  Allies  in  connection  with  trade 
marks  and  secret  processes.  Where  such 
were  used  in  connection  with  a  sub- 
sidiary company  operating  in  an  allied 


country,  although  the  product  of  German 
brains,  the  subsidiary  company,  which 
will  have  expelled  all  German  interests, 
is  to  have  the  exclusive  use  of  such 
trade  marks  and  processes  in  all  coun- 
tries other  than  Germany  itself,  and  the 
right  of  Germany  to  make  use  of  such 
inventions  outside  its  own  territory  is 
expressly  prohibited. 


Stages  of  the  German  Collapse 

History   of   the  Peace  Offer 


r[E  German  White  Book  published 
at  Weimar  on  July  31,  1919,  contains 
all  official  documents  relating  to  the 
period  from  Aug.  13  to  Nov.  11,  1918, 
in  so  far  as  they  refer  to  the  peace  offer 
of  Oct.  3  and  the  armistice  agreement 
of  Nov.  11.  The  German  Government 
says  in  the  preface  that  it  has  decided 
on  the  publication  of  all  the  material 
because  the  people  wanted  to  know  the 
truth. 

The  council  of  Aug.  14,  under  the 
Presidency  of  the  Kaiser,  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  peace  action.  Whereas 
in  the  middle  of  July  General  Luden- 
dorff  had  maintained  that  the  enemy 
would  be  definitely  and  decisively  de- 
feated in  the  offensive  then  proceeding, 
it  was  now  assumed  to  be  impossible  to 
win  the  war  militarily.  But  the  Kaiser 
decided  to  await  an  opportune  moment 
to  try  to  come  to  an  understanding  with 
the  enemy  through  neutral  mediation, 
which  moment,  in  the  Chancellor's 
words,  would  be  the  moment  of  the  next 
German  success  in  the  west. 

On  Sept.  3  Count  Hertling,  in  the 
Prussian  Cabinet,  rejected  the  idea  of 
an  immediate  peace  offer,  and  when 
Austria,  notwithstanding  Germany's  op- 
position, issued  a  direct  appeal  to  the 
belligerents,  Germany  decided  still  to 
adhere  to  neutral  mediation,  which,  how- 
ever, failed  in  its  purpose. 

Then  came  Bulgaria's  collapse,  and  on 
Sept.  21  the  idea  of  a  direct  appeal  to 
America  appears  in  the  documents  for 
the  first  time.  A  few  days  later  the 
Foreign  Office  was  ordered  to  communi- 


cate this  proposal  to  Turkey,  and  if  Tur- 
key agreed  the  new  Government  which 
was  being  formed  in  Germany  was  to 
dispatch  a  peace  offer  to  President  Wil- 
son, "  so  that  the  proposal  would 
emanate  from  a  new  Government." 

Admiral  von  Hintze's  communication 
adds:  The  peace  action  then  entered 
upon  a  new  phase.  Changing  its  atti- 
tude, the  Supreme  Army  Command  re- 
quested the  urgent  dispatch  of  the  peace 
offer  owing  to  the  acute  danger  of  the 
military  situation.  Quite  a  number  of 
telegrams  and  telephone  messages  from 
Main  Army  Headquarters  reached  Ber- 
lin on  Oct.  1  to  the  effect  that  a  break- 
through might  occur  at  any  moment.  In 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  General 
Ludendorff  declared  that  the  army 
could  not  wait  another  forty-eight 
hours.  Prince  Max  of  Baden,  however, 
offered  energetic  objections  to  such 
peace  action  being  taken  at  a  moment 
of  military  distress,  and  he  records  this 
in  his  report  of  Oct.  11,  in  which  he  re- 
marks incidentally,  "  The  Chancellorship 
was  offered  to  me  on  the  evening  of 
Oct.  3  along  with  a  request  that  I  should 
immediately  ask  President  Wilson  for 
his  peace  mediation." 

On  the  evening  of  Oct.  2  General 
Ludendorff  telephoned  to  Berlin  the 
draft  of  a  note  to  America,  which  in  its 
main  features  accorded  with  the  note 
subsequently  dispatched.  On  Oct.  3 
Prince  Max  asked  Main  Army  Head- 
quarters whether  they  were  aware  that 
a  peace  action  under  pressure  of  mili- 
tary  distress   involved   the  loss   of  the 


STAGES  OF  THE  GERMAN  COLLAPSE 


107 


German  colonies  and  German  territory, 
especially  Alsace-Lorraine  and  parts  of 
Poland.  Marshal  von  Hindenburg  re- 
plied that  the  Army  Command  insisted 
on  its  demand  for  an  immediate  offer  of 
peace.  Under  this  pressure,  the  White 
Book  says,  the  note  to  America  was  dis- 
patched on  the  night  of  Oct.  3.  On  Oct. 
6  Prince  Max  declared  that  he  considered 
the  dispatch  of  the  note  premature,  and 
added,  "  We  must  now  find  out  how 
things  are  at  the  front." 

The  idea  of  Prince  Max  and  the  Secre- 
taries of  State  obviously  was  that  Gen- 
eral Ludendorff,  owing  to  his  nervous 
breakdown,  had  come  to  an  exaggerated 
conclusion  as  regards  the  situation  at  the 
front.  The  result  was  a  conflict  with 
the  Supreme  Army  Command  which  ran 
right  through  all  the  negotiations  till 
Oct.  26.  Dr.  Rathenau's  plan  of  a  levee 
en  masse  was  discussed,  but  rejected. 

Following  President  Wilson's  reply  on 
Oct.  5,  General  Ludendorff  at  a  confer- 
ence held  on  Oct.  9  represented  that 
Germany  was  not  obliged  to  accept  all 
the  demands,  but  he  gave  only  vague 
replies  to  the  question  of  how  long  the 
army  could  hold  out.  On  President  Wil- 
son's second  reply,  on  Oct.  15,  opposition 
broke  forth  on  all  sides  in  the  army. 
The  Supreme  Command  wanted  to  break 
off  the  peace  attempts. 

The  rejection  of  the  armistice,  the 
White  Book  adds,  was  impossible.  Since 
the  Allies  had  agreed  to  President  Wil- 
son's Fourteen  Points  as  the  basis  of 
peace,  the  German  people  considered  the 
war  as  terminated.  Wherever  an  at- 
tempt to  delay  the  conclusion  of  the 
armistice  was  suspected  the  troops  rose 
up  against  it.  All  differences  with  the 
Supreme  Army  Command  were  dropped. 
On  Nov.  11  the  armistice  came  into 
force. 


COUNT  CZERNIN'S  PREMONITIONS 

The  Austro-Hungarian  Premier,  Count 
Czernin,  had  forecast  the  coming  collapse 
of  the  Central  Powers  many  months  be- 
fore Ludendorff  and  the  German  mili- 
tary leaders  had  admitted  its  possibility. 
Among  the  numerous  revelations  pub- 
lished in  the  German  press  in  August, 
1919,  was  a  confidential  report  made  by 
Count  Czernin  to  Emperor  Charles  on 
April  12,  1917,  in  which  he  said: 

It  is  perfectly  clear  that  our  military 
strength  is  approaching  its  end.  *  *  * 
I  need  only  point  to  the  decline  in  raw 
material  for  the  production  of  munitions, 
to  the  completely  exhausted  human  mate- 
rial, and,  above  all,  to  the  dull  despair, 
mainly  due  to  underfeeding,  that  has 
overpowered  all  classes  of  people  and  ren- 
ders it  impossible  for  them  to  bear  the 
sufferings  of  war  much  longer. 

Although  I  hope  that  we  shall  succeed 
in  holding  out  during  the  next  few  months 
and  pursue  a  successful  defensive,  I  am 
perfectly  clear  that  another  Winter  cam- 
paign is  entirely  out  of  the  question— in 
other  words,  that  an  end  must  be  made  at 
all  costs  in  the  late  Summer  or  in  the  Au- 
tumn. It  is  certainly  most  important 
that  peace  negotiations  should  begin  at  a 
moment  when  our  fading  strength  has  not 
become  apparent  to  the  enemy.    *    *    * 

Painful  as  it  is  to  me,  I  cannot  ignore 
the  theme  that  gives  force  to  my  entire 
argument.  It  is  the  revolutionary  dan- 
ger that  is  rising  on  the  horizon  of  all 
Europe.  *  *  *  The  astonishing  ease 
with  which  the  most  powerful  monarchy 
has  just  been  overthrown  may  help  to 
produce  serious  reflection.  Let  no  one 
reply  that  things  are  different  in  Ger- 
many or  Austria-Hungary.  Let  no  one 
reply  that  the  firm  roots  of  the  monarch- 
ical idea  in  Berlin  or  Vienna  exclude  such 
an  event.  This  war  has  begun  a  new  era 
in  the  history  of  the  world ;  *  *  *  the 
world  is  not  the  same  as  it  was  three 
years  ago.  The  statesman  who  is  not 
blind  or  deaf  must  surely  realize  the  dull 
anger     that     rages     among     the     broad 


Hungary   in    the    Grip    of    Rumania 

Conflict  Between  the  Peace  Conference   and  the  Ru- 
manian Army  of  Occupation — Fall  of  Archduke  Joseph 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  15,  1919] 


THE  disputed  question  as  to  who 
was  responsible  for  the  setting  up 
of  the  Government  of  Archduke 
Joseph  in  Budapest  was  clarified 
to  some  extent  by  an  official  British 
statement  issued  in  Paris  on  Aug.  22, 
which  declared  not  only  that  the  Arch- 
duke, on  exposing  his  plan  of  effecting 
a  coup  d'etat  to  the  British  military  rep- 
resentative, General  Gordon,  received  no 
sanction  of  this  project,  but  that  Gen- 
eral Gordon  and  Colonel  Causey,  the 
American  representative,  went  to  the 
Rumanian  commander,  General  Holban, 
and  obtained  from  him  a  guarantee  that 
the  Peidll  Cabinet  would  be  protected. 
The  inference  from  the  ensuing  forcible 
expulsion  of  this  Cabinet — that  the  Aus- 
trian Archduke  effected  his  coup  d'etat 
with  the  approval  of  the  Rumanian  Army 
—was  confirmed  by  statements  made  by 
Herbert  Hoover  on  his  return  to  Paris 
from  Budapest,  in  which  he  categorically 
charged  that  the  arrest  of  the  Peidll 
Cabinet  while  in  session  was  supported 
by  Rumanian  guns  trained  on  the  win- 
dows of  the  Ministry  in  Parliament 
Square. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Archduke's  dictatorship  it  was  reported 
from  Budapest  that  7,000  men  and  wom- 
en, including  former  Ministers  Garbai 
and  Janosek,  had  been  arrested  as  a 
result  of  anti-Bolshevist  raids  made  by 
the  Rumanians,  assisted  by  the  new  Hun- 
garian police  force.  Many  aristocrats 
personally  aided  in  ferreting  out  the 
Bolsheviki.  The  reciprocal  exchange  be- 
tween Rumania  and  Hungary  of  all  hos- 
tages up  to  the  age  of  14  recommended 
by  the  Swiss  Red  Cross  was  agreed 
upon.  Austria,  in  reply  to  a  request  for 
extradition  of  refugee  Hungarian  Com- 
munists, had  declared  that  these  men 
were  being  carefully  watched,  and  that 
extradition  was  not  necessary.  The  body 
of   Tibor    Szamuely,    a  member   of   the 


former  governing  triumvirate  in  Buda- 
pest, had  been  exhumed  at  the  frontier, 
and  the  head  sent  to  the  capital  to  de- 
termine whether  Szamuely  had  been 
murdered  or  had  committed  suicide.  The 
President  of  the  Interallied  Danube 
Commission  had  arrived  to  organize 
transportation  on  the  Danube  and  to 
free  the  river  of  mines  laid  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Bela  Kun.  Several  British 
monitors  and  two  patrol  boats  arrived 
on  Aug.  13  to  guard  Danube  shipping, 
and  their  crews  received  a  joyful  wel- 
come from  the  Hungarian  populace. 

A  "  DILEMMA"  CABINET 

The  new  Cabinet  appointed  by  Arch- 
duke Joseph  on  Aug.  16  included  Stephen 
Friedrich  as  Premier,  Martin  Lovassy 
as  Foreign  Minister,  and  Baron  Sigis- 
mund  Perenyi  as  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior. Three  portfolios  were  reserved  for 
Socialists;  the  latter,  however,  headed 
by  Paul  Garami,  announced  that  they 
would  refuse  to  enter  the  Government  of 
Herr  Friedrich  unless  Archduke  Joseph 
abandoned  the  regency.  The  latter's  atti- 
tude was  voiced  by  Herr  Friedrich  on 
announcing  the  formation  of  the  new 
Cabinet  in  the  following  words :  "  Arch- 
duke Joseph  makes  no  promises  now,  as 
his  withdrawal  would  lead  to  civil  war." 

Vienna  dispatches  to  Berlin  news- 
papers on  Aug.  16  characterized  the  new 
Government  as  a  "  dilemma  makeshift." 
In  Paris  on  the  same  date  there  was  not 
the  slightest  intimation  that  the  Supreme 
Council  would  reply  to  the  Archduke's 
message  announcing  that  he  was  head  of 
the  new  Hungarian  Government,  and 
hope  was  semi-officially  expressed  that 
the  Archduke's  Government  would  fall 
of  its  own  weakness.  Efforts  made  by 
Austrian  dignitaries  to  induce  the  former 
Austrian  Emperor  to  take  a  more  active 
part  in  Austrian  affairs  had  failed,  but 
the  publication  of  a  letter  purporting  to 


HUNGARY  IN  THE  GRIP  OF  RUMANIA 


109 


have  been  written  by  Charles  to  the 
Archduke,  deputing  the  latter  to  hold 
power  in  Hungary  pending  the  former's 
return,  had  made  the  position  of  the 
Archduke  more  precarious. 

MR.  HOOVER  TAKES  A  HAND 

The  last  of  the  families  housed  in  the 
Archducal  palace  on  Castle  Hill  by  the 
Communists  moved  out  on  Aug.  16.  In 
a  desk  in  the  palace  the  Archduke  found 
50,000,000  crowns  abandoned  by  the 
Communists  in  their  hurried  flight  from 
Budapest.  At  this  date  the  Archduke 
agreed  to  resign  as  temporary  dictator 
because  of  the  Socialists'  objection  to 
him,  but  consented  to  remain  as  Governor 
of  Hungary  temporarily  under  pressure 
of  certain  peasant  and  reactionary  lead- 
ers. The  Rumanians  had  begun  to  co- 
operate with  the  Hungarians  to  re-estab- 
lish transportation  facilities,  in  order 
that  Budapest  might  be  adequately  fed. 
The  food  situation  showed  some  improve- 
ment. The  arbitrary  actions  of  the  Ru- 
manian commanders  occupying  Buda- 
pest, however,  especially  in  the  matter 
of  requisitioning  food  and  other  supplies, 
continued,  and  were  bitterly  denounced 
by  Herbert  Hoover  on  his  return  to  Paris 
on  Aug.  21. 

Mr.  Hoover  stated  both  to  the  Supreme 
Council  and  to  American  correspondents 
that  decisive  diplomatic  action  should  be 
taken  at  once  to  displace  Archduke 
Joseph  as  head  of  the  Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment, and  to  give  Hungary  a  chance 
to  establish  a  popular  Government.  The 
new  countries  of  Central  Europe,  he  de- 
clared, were  being  terrorized  by  the 
tolerance  shown  toward  the  setting  up  of 
a  Hapsburg  Government  in  Hungary. 
He  intimated  that  the  Archduke's  Gov- 
ernment could  be  forced  to  resign  within 
five  days  by  the  taking  of  a  firm  stand. 
The  Rumanians,  he  declared,  were  still 
requisitioning  Hungarian  food.  On  Aug. 
21  the  Rumanians,  under  the  eyes  of 
American  officers,  had  seized  eight 
truckloads  of  medical  supplies  and  food 
destined  for  the  children's  hospitals  of 
Budapest,  in  defiance  of  the  warnings 
of  the  Supreme  Council,  necessitating  the 
performance  of  operations  without  anas- 
thetics;  the  cutting  off  of  milk  supplies 
had  caused  the  death  of  eighteen  babies 


in  a  single  day.  Filled  with  wrath  over 
this  situation,  Mr.  Hoover  called  for  im- 
mediate and  decisive  action. 

ALLIES  FORCE  RESIGNATION 

Partly  as  a  consequence  of  the  convinced 
and  aggressive  attitude  of  Mr.  Hoover 
and  of  the  revelations  made  by  him,  the 
Supreme  Council  drew  up  and  dispatched 
an  ultimatum  to  Archduke  Joseph,  de- 
manding that  he  resign.  This  ultimatum 
was  delivered  by  the  allied  Military  Mis- 
sion in  Budapest  on  Aug.  20,  together 
with  a  letter  announcing  that  the  mission 
would  give  the  Archduke  two  hours  to 
take  this  action.  Otherwise,  he  was  noti- 
fied, the  mission  would  publish  the  coun- 
cil's telegram  broadcast.  At  8  o'clock 
Saturday  night,  Aug.  20,  Premier 
Friedrich  notified  the  mission  that 
Archduke  Joseph  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Government  under  him  had 
resigned. 

Premier  Friedrich,  after  receiving  a 
request  from  the  mission  to  manage  af- 
fairs until  a  new  Cabinet  could  be 
formed,  declared  that  a  new  Ministry 
would  be  formed  within  three  days,  and 
that  three  seats  in  the  new  Government 
would  be  given  to  Socialists.  Premier 
Friedrich  then  bade  farewell  to  Arch- 
duke Joseph,  thanking  him  for  the  serv- 
ices he  had  rendered.  Deeply  moved, 
the  Archduke  replied  that  his  activities 
deserved  no  thanks;  he  was  proud  that 
he  could  be  of  some  help  to  his  beloved 
country.  He  retired,  he  said,  with  a 
serene  conscience  and  the  conviction  that 
he  had  done  his  duty  to  his  country. 

The  Allies  had  thus  triumphed  in  the 
matter  of  the  reactionary  Government 
of  the  Hungarian  Archduke.  But  the 
vexed  question  of  the  Rumanian  occu- 
pation still  remained  to  perplex  the 
council.  On  Aug.  23  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil approved  the  note  drafted  by  the 
Reparations  Committee,  warning  the  Ru- 
manian Government  that  retaliatory 
action  would  be  taken  if  the  Rumanian 
army  in  Budapest  continued  to  make 
requisitions.  The  note  was  signed  by 
Premier  Clemenceau  and  forwarded  to 
Bucharest.  Referring  to  reliable  infor- 
mation that  large  supplies  of  foodstuffs, 
farming  machinery  and  other  materials 
were  being  sent  into  Rumania,  the  note 


110 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


stated  that  all  goods  taken  in  Hungary 
would  be  deducted  from  the  indemnity 
accruing  to  Rumania. 

Premier  Clemenceau  on  Aug.  29  moved 
that  a  peremptory  order  be  dispatched 
to  the  Rumanian  Government  forbidding 
it  to  continue  the  removal  of  material 
from  Hungary.  The  Italian  Foreign 
Minister,  Tittoni,  however,  reminded  the 
conference  that  its  previous  message  to 
the  Rumanians  had  only  reached  Bu- 
charest the  day  before,  and  that  the 
Rumanian  Government  had  had  no  time 
to  examine  and  reply  to  it.  Further 
action,  consequently,  was  held  in  abey- 
ance. 

FRIEDRICH    CABINET   RESIGNS 

Meanwhile  intimations  were  received 
that  considerable  hostility  to  the  tem- 
porary power  of  Premier  Friedrich  had 
developed  in  Budapest,  on  the  ground 
that  he  was  more  reactionary  than  the 
Archduke,  and  that  a  new  Cabinet  had 
been  formed  in  opposition,  headed  by 
Franz  Heinrich,  a  wholesale  hardware 
dealer  and  business  man  of  Budapest. 
Friedrich  showed  an  obstinate  deter- 
mination to  retain  power,  but  the  oppo- 
sition pressure  increased,  and  on  Sept.  1 
the  Government  of  Herr  Friedrich  re- 
signed en  bloc.  It  was  stated  at  this 
time  that  it  would  be  succeeded  by  the 
Ministry  formed  by  Heinrich,  which  in- 
cluded Jules  Peidll,  the  former  Premier; 
Paul  Garami,  Minister  of  Justice  in  the 
Peidll  Cabinet;  Karl  Payer,  former 
Minister  of  Home  Affairs;  Martin  Lo- 
vassy,  Foreign  Minister  in  the  first 
Friedrich  Cabinet,  and  Stephen  Szabo, 
Minister  of  Small  Farmers  in  the  exist- 
ing Friedrich  Ministry. 

Certain  conditions  were  attached  to 
the  resignation  of  the  Friedrich  Cabinet. 
The  Entente,  it  was  declared,  must 
recognize  and  negotiate  with  the  new 
Government  as  representing  the  consti- 
tuted authority  of  Hungary,  and  permit 
it  to  organize  a  new  army  and  police 
force.  It  was  likewise  stipulated  that  the 
Rumanians  should  gradually  leave  the 
country,  and  should  discontinue,  mean- 
while, such  acts  as  disarming  Hungarian 
officers  and  requisitioning  supplies. 

Ten  days  after  the  dispatch  of  the 
allied  note  to  the  Rumanians  demanding 


that  such  requisitions  cease,  the  lootings 
complained  of  were  still  continuing,  and 
all  the  notes  and  radio-telegrams  sent 
by  the  Supreme  Council  had  been  utterly 
ignored.  Time  limits,  conceded  because  of 
the  report  that  telegraph  wires  had  been 
blown  down,  and  that  the  difficulties  of 
communication  were  admittedly  great, 
had  passed  all  reasonable  bounds.  The 
council  was  also  disturbed  by  reports  of 
a  possibility  that  Rumania,  defying  and 
ignoring  the  council,  might  seek  to  con- 
clude a  separate  peace  with  Hungary. 
On  Sept.  3,  in  view  of  these  and  other 
considerations,  the  Supreme  Council  de- 
cided to  send  an  ultimatum  to  the  Ru- 
manian Government  regarding  its  acts 
in  Hungary.  The  envoy  chosen  to  bring 
the  message  to  Bucharest  was  Sir 
George  R.  Clerk  of  the  British  Foreign 
Office.  Couched  in  firm  but  cordial 
language,  the  allied  note  recalled  to  the 
Rumanian  Cabinet  the  engagements  it 
had  entered  into,  and  set  forth  the  ne- 
cessity of  their  being  kept.  The  text  of 
the  communication  was  not  officially 
given  out.  On  his  departure  from  Paris 
on  Sept.  7  this  envoy  bore  with  him 
seventy-five  radiograms  which  had  been 
sent  from  Paris  by  the  council,  but  which 
the  Rumanian  Government  declared  had 
never  been  received. 

RUMANIAN   PROBLEM   ACUTE 

On  Sept.  5,  however,  J.  J.  C.  Bratiano, 
Rumanian  Premier,  advised  Nicholas 
Misu,  Rumanian  representative  in  Paris, 
of  the  receipt  of  the  latter's  dispatch  ad- 
vising him  that  the  Supreme  Council  had 
prohibited  shipment  of  arms  and  war  ma- 
terial from  Hungary  to  Rumania.  M. 
Bratiano's  telegram  declared  that  notes 
sent  to  Bucharest  by  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil had  not  been  received,  and  asked  M. 
Misu  especially  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  Supreme  Council  to  "  the  dangerous 
and  pernicious  character  of  the  policy  it 
has  adopted  toward  Rumania,"  The  tele- 
gram continued  as  follows: 

The  Rumanian  Government  is  absolutely- 
convinced  that  in  destroying  Bolshevism 
in  Hungary  it  has  rendered  eminent  serv- 
ice to  the  allied  cause.  As  a  consequence 
of  the  conditions  imposed  upon  Rumania, 
without  taking  account  of  her  sacrifices 
of  men  and  materials,  the  Rumanian  Gov- 
ernment  may  be   obliged  to   consider  the 


HUNGARY  IN  THE  GRIP  OF  RUMANIA 


111 


advantages  of  withdrawing  her  troops 
across  the  Dvina,  in  Southern  Russia,  and 
declining  all  responsibility  for  the  chaos 
to  which  that  part  of  Europe  may  be  re- 
duced by  the  dissensions  of  the  Bolsheviki, 
Royalists,  and  Reactionaries. 

GOODS  SEIZED  BY  RUMANIANS 
Later  news  from  Budapest  stated  that 
the  Szolnok  Bridge  across  the  Tisza  had 
been  repaired,  and  that  6,000  Hungarian 
freight  cars  laden  with  material  seized 
by  the  Rumanians  had  already  crossed 
this  bridge  and  were  en  route  to  Ru- 
mania. General  Mardaresco,  commanding 
the  Rumanian  troops  occupying  Buda- 
pest, was  reported  to  have  received  orders 
to  evacuate  the  Hungarian  capital  and  to 
withdraw  behind  the  Tisza  River.  It  was 
stated  at  this  time  that  most  of  the 
Rumanian  troops  which  had  been  occupy- 
ing Hungary  would  be  rushed  to  the 
Banat  of  Temesvar,  in  which  region  hos- 


tilities between  the  Serbs  and  Rumanians 
were  imminent.  The  British  Admiral 
Trowbridge,  meanwhile,  with  ships  at 
Budapest,  was  prepared  if  necessary  to 
take  naval  action  against  the  Rumanians. 
The  Rumanian  Bureau  at  Berne  stated 
on  Sept.  6  that  the  Rumanian  troops, 
after  their  entry  into  Budapest,  discov- 
ered 270  bodies  of  victims  of  the  Com- 
munists under  the  Parliament  Building. 
Among  champagne  bottles  in  a  factory 
sixty  more  bodies  were  discovered,  while 
in  a  Catholic  monastery  eighty  priests 
were  found  who  had  been  imprisoned  and 
starved  to  death.  The  worst  case  of 
Bolshevist  brutality,  said  this  report,  was 
that  of  a  Magyar  priest  and  orator 
named  Hoch,  who  was  found  crucified 
before  his  church.  All  these  crimes 
were  committed  on  written  orders  of  the 
notorious  Tibor  Szamuely. 


Poland  and  the  Silesian  Conflict 

Germans  and  Poles  at  War  in  Disputed  Province 

lPeriod  Ended  Sept.  15,  1919] 


rIE  outstanding  feature  of  the  events 
in  Poland  during  the  month  was 
the  armed  clash  between  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  Poles  in  Upper  Silesia, 
which  began  on  Aug.  18  and  continued 
into  September.  In  the  Silesian  dis- 
trict, whose  essential  industry  is  coal 
mining  and  where  the  mine-owning  class 
is  made  up  almost  wholly  of  Germans, 
the  Polish  element  representing  the 
miners,  a  lockout  in  a  single  mine  pre- 
cipitated a  general  mining  strike  which 
had  been  brewing  for  some  months.  The 
workers  in  other  mines  were  at  once 
called  out,  and  numerous  armed  con- 
flicts occurred  between  the  Germans 
and  Poles,  intensified  by  mutual  hatred, 
due  to  the  possibilities  of  the  coming 
plebiscite  decreed  by  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles. 

The  German  method  of  repression,  ac- 
cording to  dispatches,  was  ruthless; 
many  Poles  were  arrested  and  executed, 
others  badly  beaten;  the  wounded  were 
allowed  to  die  in  preference  to  calling  in 
doctors,    who,    by    examination,    would 


learn  of  what  had  occurred;  wives  and 
families  of  Polish  "  insurrectionists " 
who  had  fled  across  the  frontier  were 
deported  in  gangs.  Meanwhile  some 
100,000  Polish  nationals  massed  at  the 
frontier  could  with  difficulty  be  re- 
strained from  crossing  the  boundary  line 
and  going,  arms  in  hand,  to  the  aid  of 
their  mistreated  compatriots  in  Silesia. 
To  complicate  the  situation,  the  Polish 
delegates  negotiating  with  the  Germans 
in  Berlin  over  the  boundaries  of  the  dis- 
puted territory  broke  off  all  discussions 
quite  unexpectedly,  on  the  ground  of  a 
state  of  civil  war  in  Silesia.  The  next 
day,  however,  (Aug.  21,)  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted  at  a  conference 
of  the  German  and  Polish  Commissioners 
attended  by  Herr  Noske,  Minister  of  De- 
fense, and  the  French  representative 
General  Dupont: 

1.  The  Germans  will  refrain  from  further 
executions. 

2.  The    interallied    mission    shall    start 
for  Upper  Silesia  on  Aug.  22. 

3.  The    Polish    mission    now    in    Berlin 
will  go  to  Warsaw  and  remain  there  un- 


112 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


til    the    interallied    mission    has    made    a 
report  on  the  situation  in  Upper  Silesia. 

ALLIED    COMMISSION    DISPATCHED 

On  the  same  date  the  Allied  Council, 
alarmed  by  the  ominous  trend  of  events 
in  Silesia,  one  of  the  great  coaling  pur- 
veyors of  Central  Europe,  and  by  the 
possibility  that  the  Central  European 
railway  systems  vould  be  tied  up  be- 
cause of  lack  of  coal,  decided  to  send  the 
Interallied  Commission  referred  to  in  the 
resolution  cited  above,  with  members 
from  at  least  four  powers,  to  study  and 
control  the  dangerous  situation  in  Silesia 
pending  the  taking  of  the  popular  vote. 
The  possibility  that  eash  of  the  main 
allied  powers  might  send  troops  to  main- 
tain order  in  the  disaffected  province 
until  after  the  plebiscite  was  seriously 
considered. 

On  Aug.  25  Germany  officially  de- 
clined such  intervention  until  the  expira- 
tion of  the  fifteen  days  following  the 
plebiscite  prescribed  by  the  terms  of  the 
Peace  Treaty.  Allied  occupation,  how- 
ever, was  foreshadowed  by  General  Du- 
pont,  representing  France,  on  Sept.  9. 
Protest  was  made  in  the  United  States 
Senate  on  Aug.  27  against  American  par- 
ticipation in  such  a  policing  project. 
Fighting  at  this  time  was  still  continuing 
in  Silesia.  In  food  riots  that  occurred 
on  Sept.  10  some  ten  persons  were  killed 
by  machine  guns  turned  by  the  German 
authorities  on  the  protesting  populace. 

The  dispute  between  Poland  and 
Czechoslovakia  over  possession  of  the 
Teschen  coal  mine  district,  a  quarrel 
that  had  long  vexed  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, and  which  the  Czechs  and  Poles 
seemed  to  be  unable  to  settle  for  them- 
selves, despite  negotiations  lasting 
through  many  months,  was  brought  one 
step  nearer  solution  by  the  agreement 
reached  in  Paris  on  Sept.  11  between 
the  Polish  and  Czechoslovak  delegates  to 
refer  the  disputed  territory  to  a  plebi- 
scite. This  decision  was  taken  to  mean 
in  Paris  that  the  district  would  go  to 
Poland,  inasmuch  as  the  majority  of  the 
people  in  this  region  are  Polish. 

Food  conditions  in  Poland  continued 
to  be  deplorable.  The  country  was  over- 
run with  homeless  refugees,  moving 
about  in  freight  cars  and  subsisting  on 


charity.  The  city  of  Minsk  was  cap- 
tured from  the  Bolsheviki  early  in  Au- 
gust, and  was  thus  saved  from  starva- 
tion, as  the  Bolsheviki  had  been  about 
to  requisition  the  crops  of  that  region. 
Herbert  Hoover  ended  his  investigations 
in  Warsaw  on  Aug.  14.  On  that  date 
men  and  women  representing  the  Social- 
ist Party  in  Poland,  accompanied  by  the 
Minister  of  Labor,  called  upon  Mr. 
Hoover  and  presented  him  with  a  memo- 
rial expressing  Poland's  gratitude  to 
America  for  her  aid  in  sending  food  and 
supplies.  Before  his  departure  Mr. 
Hoover  reviewed  a  parade  of  5,000  Pol- 
ish children,  representative  of  the  mil- 
lion fed  by  the  American  Relief  Ad- 
ministration. 

MR.  HOOVER  ON  POLAND 

The  whole  situation  in  Poland  was 
graphically  described  by  Mr.  Hoover 
when  he  returned  to  the  United  States 
on  Sept.  13.  Urging  the  necessity  of 
immediate  ratification  of  the  Peace 
Treaty,  he  said: 

Consider  one  single  instance  out  of  the 
eighteen  countries  that  could  be  cited  in 
Europe— the  instance  of  Poland.  Here  is 
a  Government,  spread  over  35,000,000 
people,  now  only  six  months  old,  a  coun- 
try devastated  by  famine  and  destruction. 
A  third  of  their  land  is  out  of  cultivation 
because  their  agricultural  implements 
have  been  destroyed.  Their  people  are 
cold   and   underclad. 

These  people  have  been  under  repression 
for  a  century  to  the  extent  that  there  is 
scarcely  a  living  Pole  with  experience  in 
government.  Tet  these  people  have  put 
down  Bolshevism.  They  have  restored 
order.  They  have  established  all  the  nor- 
mal functions  of  democratic  government. 
They  have  an  organized  and  disciplined 
army. 

We  have  taken  the  lead  in  all  the  world 
in  demanding  the  restoration  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  Poland  and  we  have  some 
moral  responsibility  in  this  matter. 
What  do  we  find  this  new  Government 
struggling  against?  First,  they  are  hold- 
ing a  line  1,500  miles  long  against  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki.  In  this  service  they 
are  the  outposts  of  civilization.  It  is  a 
service  they  must  perform  for  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

They  have  even  greater  burdens.  The 
German  Army  is  gradually  pulling  itself 
together  in  discipline  and  reorganization. 
It  has  certainly  an  effective  body  of 
400,000  men  under  arms  with  large  equip- 
ment It  has  a  large  number  of  troops 
massed  in  Silesia.    These  troops  are  per- 


POLAND   AND    THE   SILESIAN   CONFLICT 


113 


secuting  the  Poles  to  influence  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  plebiscite  is  to 
be  taken  that  will  determine  whether  their 
territory  goes  to  Poland.  Nothing  can  be 
done  until  peace  is  complete.  *  *  *  When 
I  left  Europe  the  Germans  were  busy 
hauling  the  entire  harvest  out  of  this  sec- 
tion into  Germany,  and  there  is  no  pos- 
sibility of  intervention  until  peace. 

REHABILITATION  MARKING  TIME 

The  boundary  lines  between  Poland  and 
Czechoslovakia  and  Poland  and  Lithuania 
are  not  to  be  determined  until  after  peace 
is  ratified.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  fric- 
tion along  these  lines  and  this  has  de- 
moralized coal  production  in  that  area 
until  railway  services  are  being  suspended 
for  lack  of  fuel. 

Again,  the  Peace  Treaty  calls  for  the 
division  of  the  railway  rolling  stock  and 
the  river  craft  in  Europe.  This  cannot 
take  place  until  after  the  ratification. 
In  the  meantime,  every  State  is  holding 
its  material  with  the  hope  of  keeping 
it.  The  result  is  that  traffic  between 
States  is  fearfully  impeded. 

Again,  until  peace,  Poland  has  no  out- 
let to  the  sea  except  through  German 
territory,  and  the  Germans  do  not  facili- 
tate traffic.  The  treaty  provides  that 
Danzig  is  to  become  a  free  port  under 
the  League  of  Nations.  The  Germans  are 
refusing  to  feed  Danzig  because  they  do 
not  wish  to  exhaust  their  foodstuffs  on 
a  city  that  will  become  non-German. 
The  only  way  Danzig  is  being  fed  is  by 
draining  the  slender  food  resources  of 
Poland. 

With  all  these  pressures,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  Poland  to  arrange  foreign  loans. 
She  is  unable  to  provide  raw  material ; 
her  textile  mills  are  idle  and  her  people 
are  in  rags.  There  can  be  no  hope  of 
rehabilitating  economic  life  and  of  assur- 
ing the  political  independence  or  stability 
of  these  people  until  peace  is  completed. 
This  is  typical  of  fifteen  other  States  in 
Europe.  The  whole  economic  and  politi- 
cal life  is  in  a  state  of  suspension  that 
in  many  particulars  is  even  more  disas- 
trous than  war. 

Charges  that  the  Germans,  in  their 
evacuation  of  Lithuania,  were  sacking 
the  country,  stripping  the  towns,  houses, 
farms,  removing  metal  door  knobs,  win- 
dow glass,  furniture,  bedding,  beds, 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,  knives,  forks, 
machinery,  sawed  lumber,  motors,  wires, 
fruits,  grains,  and  that  they  were  even 
desecrating  the  coffins  of  the  dead  near 
Kovno,  were  made  by  Thomas  Nareuche- 
vitch,  a  well-known  engineer  and  member 
of  the  Lithuanian  delegation  to  the  Peace 


Conference,  who  returned  from  a  tour  of 
Lithuania  on  Aug.  19. 

The  Polish  Diet  sitting  in  Warsaw  on 
Aug.  5  voted  unanimously  the  breaking 
up  of  all  landed  estates  exceeding  from 
750  to  1,000  acres  of  land. 

Under  the  agreement  concluded  be- 
tween the  Petlura  Government  of 
Ukraine  and  Poland,  according  to  a  Mos- 
cow wireless  of  Aug.  29,  the  former  re- 
nounced all  claims  to  Eastern  Galicia, 
'and  Poland  undertook  not  to  enter  terri- 
tory occupied  by  the  Petlura  troops :  both 
Governments  were  to  combine  military 
operations  against  the  Bolsheviki. 

An  official  announcement  was  made 
by  the  Polish  Consulate  in  New  York 
on  Aug.  29  to  the  effect  that  Prince 
Casimir  Lubomirski,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  the  State  Council  in  Poland  during 
the  German  regime,  was  on  his  way  to 
Washington  with  a  legation  to  take  up 
his  duties  as  Polish  Ambassador  to  the 
United  States.  In  the  official  party  was 
Francis  Pulaski,  a  grandson  of  General 
Pulaski  of  American  Revolutionary 
fame,  who  is  to  set  as  First  Secretary 
for  the  legation. 

Paderewski,  who  stands  as  the  symbol 
of  all  that  Poland  has  fought  for,  will 
be  the  commanding  figure  in  the  monu- 
ment which  the  natives  of  Poland  in  this 
country  are  to  erect  in  Warsaw  to  com- 
memorate the  rebirth  of  the  Polish  Na- 
.tion.  Gutzon  Borglum,  the  sculptor,  is 
now  working  on  the  sketches.  The  fig- 
ures for  the  monument  will  be  taken 
from  life  and  will  include  those  promi- 
nent here  and  abroad  in.  obtaining  Po- 
land's freedom.     Mr.  Borglum  said: 

The  statue  is  to  embody  all  the  hero- 
ism and  ideals  of  Paderewski,  the  truly 
great  figure  of  the  great  war,  and  it  is 
to  be  made  the  commanding  object  of  the 
new  Warsaw.  All  the  other  figures,  im- 
portant as  they  may  be,  will  give  place 
to  this  towering  personality,  whose  im- 
pulse has  been  the  cleanest  in  the  world. 

Paderewski  is  the  one  man  of  the  pres- 
ent time  who  has  not  been  governed  by 
the  military  class,  the  capitalist,  or  any- 
thing sordid.  Today  he  stands  trium- 
phant— the  symbol  of  the  practical  accom- 
plishment of  ideals.  He  is  as  near  the 
Utopian  figure  as  you  can  get  and 
stands  unswervingly  for  principle  and 
justice.  *  *  *  During  the  Winter  I  will 
go  to  Warsaw  to  complete  the  plans  for 
the  monument. 


Russia's    Struggle    With    Bolshevism 

Withdrawal  of  British  Forces  From  Archangel 
and  Increasing  Gains  by  the  Soviet  Government 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  15,  1919] 


THE  fluctuation  in  the  struggle  of 
anti-Bolshevist  Russia  against  the 
Soviet  Government  continued 
throughout  August  and  Septem- 
ber, with  a  general  trend  in  favor  of  the 
Reds.  A  new  Government  was  formed 
at  Reval  on  Aug.  10,  at  which  General 
Marsh,  on  behalf  of  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  convened  a  meeting  of 
Russian  political  notabilities  of  all  par- 
ties, pointing  out  that  the  position  of 
the  Russian  Army  was  critical,  and  that 
it  was  essential  that  the  Russians  should 
form  a  democratic  Government  capable 
of  undertaking  the  administration  of  the 
northwestern  provinces  when  freed,  and 
restoring  general  confidence  in  the  demo- 
cratic intentions  of  the  Russian  leaders. 
He  especially  recommended  recognition 
of  the  independence  of  Esthcnia,  as  with- 
out that  recognition  the  Esthonians  re- 
fused to  move  on  Petrograd. 

The  outcome  of  this  meeting  was  that 
a  new  northwest  Government  was  or- 
ganized, including  Pskov,  Novgorod,  and 
Petrograd  Provinces,  under  General 
Judenitch  and  Premier  Lianozov.  The 
new  Government  at  once  began  to  print 
350,000,000  rubles  in  banknotes  bearing 
the  signature  of  General  Judenitch  to 
replace  interim  notes.  Large  quantities 
of  munitions  and  supplies  were  sent  to 
Reval  by  the  British  Government;  Brit- 
ish warships  were  active  in  the  Baltic, 
and  a  powerful  British  fleet  was  re- 
ported on  its  way,  foreshadowing  a  com- 
ing offensive  on  Petrograd  in  combina- 
tion with  the  Russian  and  Esthonian 
Armies. 

In  the  south,  meanwhile,  the  victories 
of  Denikin  and  Petlura  on  the  west  con- 
tinued; through  Denikin's  loss  of  Kamy- 
shin, however,  the  possibility  of  his  link- 
ing forces  with  Kolchak's  western  army 
was  destroyed,  and  the  Bolshevist  ad- 
vance  into   Siberia  continued.     Reports 


that  Kolchak  had  been  ousted  from 
Omsk  proved  false,  but  on  Sept.  12  a 
Bolshevist  wireless  announced  the  cap- 
ture of  45,000  of  Kolchak's  men,  prac- 
tically the  whole  of  his  southern  army 
in  the  region  of  Aktiubinsk. 

Meanwhile  Ambassador  Roland  S. 
Morris,  after  a  thorough  investigation 
of  the  conditions  prevailing  under  the 
Kolchak  regime,  reported  favorably  on 
recognition  and  aid  by  the  United  States, 
and  a  large  loan  was  being  negotiated 
in  London.  An  interview  given  by  Lenin 
to  a  representative  of  The  Associated 
Press  depicted  life  in  Soviet  Russia  in 
roseate  colors,  but  reports  brought  by 
Norwegian  and  American  investigators 
developed  a  very  different  picture.  A 
war  council  held  in  Stockholm  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  new  anti-Bolshevistic 
North  Russian  Government  was  joined 
by  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  former 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Russian 
Armies  of  the  Czar  against  the  Germans, 
who,  after  two  years'  disappearance, 
had  returned  as  from  the  dead. 

THE  NORTHERN  FRONT 

The  North  Russian  allied  army  won 
brilliant  successes  under  General  Iron- 
sides on  Aug.  5  at  Lake  Onega.  The 
first  news  from  the  Archangel  front 
after  Aug.  11,  when  the  municipality  of 
Archangel  and  the  Zemstvos  of  Arch- 
angel Province  issued  an  earnest  appeal 
to  the  allied  nations  not  to  withdraw 
their  troops,  came  in  the  form  of  an  of- 
ficial dispatch  to  the  British  War  Office 
from  General  Ironsides,  who  announced 
the  recapture  by  Russian  and  Australian 
troops  of  the  town  of  Emptsa,  south  of 
Obozerskaya,  on  the  Archangel -Volga 
front,  in  which  ten  guns  and  500  prison- 
ers were  taken. 

On  the  Petrograd  and  western  front 
an  advance  on  Petrograd  by  Russian  vol- 


RUSSIA'S  STRUGGLE   WITH  BOLSHEVISM 


115 


unteer  forces  under  General  Judenitch, 
supported  by  Esthonians,  was  officially- 
announced  on  Aug.  15.  The  Bolsheviki 
suffered  some  reverses  along  the  south 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  were 
driven  back  to  the  Luga  River.  Several 
battalions  of  Soviet  troops  were  annihi- 
lated, and  large  quantities  of  supplies 
captured.  Other  local  engagements  of 
minor  importance  occurred  in  this  region 
and  east  of  Pskov. 

Naval  engagements  in  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land on  Aug.  18  resulted  in  the  sinking 
of  the  Bolshevist  battle  cruiser  Petro- 
pavlovsk  and  a  Bolshevist  destroyer  by 
British  naval  forces.  This  naval  battle 
was  connected  with  the  offensive  by  Gen- 
eral Judenitch  referred  to  above,  and  co- 
incided with  the  arrival  at  Reval,  where 
the  new  Government  for  Northwest  Rus- 
sia was  being  formed,  of  a  large  number 
of  British  tanks  and  quantities  of  muni- 
tions. Following  the  defeat  of  the  Red 
squadron  and  the  sinking  of  the  Bolshe- 
vist submarine,  depot  ship  Viatka,  the 
British  warships  bombarded  Kronstadt, 
the  naval  port  of  Petrograd.  The  Bol- 
shevist battle  cruisers  were  sunk  by 
coastal  motor  boats,  the  smallest  and 
speediest  units  in  the  British  Navy.  The 
Bolsheviki  still  possessed  three  dread- 
noughts and  other  craft  in  the  Baltic. 
Another  bombardment  of  Kronstadt  oc- 
curred on  Aug.  27.  On  Aug.  30  the  British 
destroyer  Victoria  was  torpedoed  and 
sunk.  A  large  British  squadron  passed 
Konigsberg,  East  Prussia,  bound  east- 
ward in  the  direction  of  Libau,  Riga,  and 
the  Gulf  of  Finland  on  Aug.  31.  On 
Sept.  3  the  British  destroyer  S-19  struck 
a  Russian  mine  and  sank.  The  Captain 
and  90  men  were  saved. 

BOLSHEVIKI   CAPTURE   PSKOV 

Pskov,  the  most  important  city  on  the 
Baltic  front,  was  captured  by  the  Bolshe- 
viki on  Aug.  27,  after  several  days  of 
heavy  bombardment.  The  Russian  White 
Guard  was  pushed  back  15  versts.  The 
combined  Russian  and  Esthonian  troops 
showed  signs  of  demoralization,  the  sol- 
diers declaring  that  their  officers  were 
betraying  them  to  the  Bolsheviki.  A 
few  days  previously  Colonel  Stojakin, 
Chief  of  Staff  to  General  Belakhovitch 


at  Pskov,  was  found  guilty  by  court-mar- 
tial of  accepting  a  bribe  of  1,000,000 
rubles  from  the  Bolsheviki  to  turn  over 
a  part  of  his  line  to  the  Reds.  Other  of- 
ficers had  deserted  to  the  Bolsheviki. 
Official  reports  by  the  staff  of  both  the 
Russian  and  Esthonian  armies  charged 
the  Bolsheviki  with  atrocities  in  the 
fighting  before  Pskov.  The  fall  of  Pskov 
was  said  to  have  been  due  to  the  lack  of 
harmony  in  the  anti-Bolshevist  troops,  as 
well  as  to  German  intrigues.  Peace  ne- 
gotiations between  the  Esthonian  and 
Bolshevist  Governments  began  in  Pskov 
on  Sept.  10.  The  Bolshevist  envoys  at 
Reval  had  offered  to  recognize  Esthonian 
independence  under  certain  conditions. 

BRITISH  WITHDRAWAL 

The  British  troops  in  North  Russia 
were  being  gradually  withdrawn  during 
the  first  half  of  September,  and  it  was 
conceded  that  the  experiment  in  that 
region  had  proved  a  failure.  Major  Gen. 
Sir  Frederick  B.  Maurice,  a  London  mili- 
tary expert,  summed  up  the  case  in  these 
words  on  Sept.  11: 

The  prime  object  of  the  Archangel  ad- 
venture was  to  form  a  nucleus  round 
which  the  anti-Bolshevist  elements  in 
North  Russia  would  rally.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  British  had  in  the  Spring 
of  this  year  an  ambitious  program  and 
that  it  was  hoped  to  organize  an  army 
largely  composed  of  Russian  troops, 
which  would  be  able  to  advance  toward 
Petrograd  from  the  north  along  and  to 
the  east  of  the  Vologda  Railway,  effect 
a  junction  with  Kolchak's  right,  and  es- 
tablish a  sure  barrier  against  Bolshe- 
vism in  the  north.  It  was  hoped  also  to 
organize  a  combined  advance  against 
Petrograd  from  the  west  by  uniting  the 
Finns,  Letts,  and  Esthonians  and  fur- 
nishing them  with  British  money  and  ma- 
terial. 

All  these  plans  have  broken  down  from 
one  and  the  same  cause — the  incompe- 
tence of  the  various  anti-Bolshevist 
forces  which  have  been  supported  and 
the  impossibility  of  organizing  any  ef- 
fective military  forces  from  the  elements 
which  the  British  have  tried  to  rally 
around  them.  The  policy  of  attempting 
to  set  them  on  their  legs  has  broken 
down,  and  as  regards  Archangel  the  only 
result  of  allied  interference  is  likely  to  be 
that  the  last  state  of  that  part  of  Russia 
will  be  worse  than  the  first. 

A  statement  published  on  Sept.  12  by 
order  of  Winston  Churchill,  British  War 


116 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


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SCENE  OF  THE   CHIEF  OPERATIONS   OF  GENERAL  DENIKIN  AND   OTHER  ANTI-BOLSHEVIST 

LEADERS  IN  RUSSIA 

Secretary,    said    concerning    the    with- 
drawal : 

General  Lord  Rawllnson  Has  been 
placed  in  supreme  command  of  the  Brit- 
ish forces  both  in  the  Archangel  and  the 
Murmansk  regions,  has  been  supplied 
with  everything  he  has  asked  for,  and 
has  been  accorded  the  fullest  discretion- 
ary power  as  to  the  time  and  method  of 
evacuation.  There  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose he  will  not  succeed  in  his  task  at  an 
early  date.  At  the  same  time  the  pecul- 
iar difficulty  of  the  operation  of  with- 
drawal must  be  realized. 

The  Russian  national  forces  both  at 
Archangel  and  Murmansk  are  much  more 
numerous  than  the  British.  The  forces 
of  the  enemy  on  those  fronts  may  well  be 
equal  to  the  British  and  National  Rus- 
sians combined.  The  attitude  of  the 
National  Russians  as  well  as  that  of  the 
civil  population  must  inevitably  be  af- 
fected by  the  impending  British  with- 
drawal and  by  the  fact  that  after  we  are 
gone  they  will  be  left  to  continue  the 
struggle  alone.  Thus  the  task  of  extri- 
cating the  British  troops,  while  doing  the 
least  possible  injury  to  the  chances  of  the 
Russian  National  forces,  is  one  of  great 
complexity. 

Further,  his  Majesty's  Government  have 
considered  it  their  duty  to  offer  means  of 
refuge  to  all  those  Russians  who,  having 
compromised  themselves  by  helping  us 
since  we  landed  in  North  Russia,  might 
now,  otherwise,  find  themselves  exposed 
to  Bolshevist  vengeance.  Considerable 
numbers  of  persons,  including  women  and 
children,  in  addition  to  the  British  troops, 
have  therefore  to  be  evacuated  by  sea. 
Yet  all  the  time  the  front  has  to  be  main- 
tained  largely  by  Russian  troops  against 


an  enemy  who  is  well  informed  of  all  that 
is  taking  place. 

Mr.  Churchill  added  that  the  decision 
to  evacuate  Archangel  and  Murmansk 
had  been  reached  last  February  on  the 
advice  of  the  General  Staff,  but  when 
Admiral  Kolchak's  advance  offered  new 
hope  of  success  General  William  E.  Iron- 
sides had  been  instructed,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Cabinet,  to  prepare  a  plan 
for  the  junction  of  the  British  and  Kol- 
chak  forces.  But  by  September  the  Kol- 
chak  armies  had  been  driven  so  far  back 
that  all  hope  of  such  a  junction  was 
abandoned,  and  the  British  Government 
was  compelled  to  return  to  "  the  difficult 
and  painful  alternative  "  of  evacuation. 

GERMAN-BALTIC  SITUATION 

A  complication  in  the  Baltic  provinces 
was  the  continued  presence  of  the  Ger- 
man troops  of  General  von  der  Goltz, 
who  had  refused  to  evacuate.  Various 
German  papers  extenuated  the  refusal  of 
these  German  Baltic  troops  to  leave  Rus- 
sia, but  Vorwarts,  which  is  a  Govern- 
ment organ,  declared  that  the  German 
Baltic  policy  showed  political  intrigue 
and  was  "  all  wrong."  The  initial  mis- 
take was  made,  it  asserted,  when  the 
Baltic  junkers  were  allowed  to  raise  a 
volunteer  army  for  the  defense  of  the 
Baltic  provinces.  This  army  was  recruit- 
ed   simultaneously    with    the    imperial 


RUSSIA'S   STRUGGLE    WITH   BOLSHEVISM 


117 


army,  and  the  junkers  were  using  their 
troops  for  purposes  which  did  not  har- 
monize with  the  interests  of  the  German 
Government.  The  advantage  of  retain- 
ing possession  of  the  Baltic  lands  was 
openly  admitted  by  the  German  press, 
the  Berliner  Tageblatt  advising  the  evac- 
uation only  because  of  the  possibility  of 
civil  war.  A  secret  army  order  issued 
by  von  der  Goltz  on  July  31  and  pub- 
lished in  Freiheit  had  advocated  combi- 
nation with  the  Russian  counter-revolu- 
tionary armies  operating  in  the  Baltic 
region.  All  sections  of  the  German  press 
appreciated  the  dangerous  situation  en- 
gendered by  von  der  Goltz's  schemings, 
and  some  inveighed  against  him. 

On  Aug.  28  reports  reaching  Paris 
from  Lithuanian  sources  said  that  a  Ger- 
man army  of  40,000  well-equipped  troops 
was  concentrating  in  Lithuania,  nomi- 
nally under  command  of  the  Russian 
General  Bergman,  but  in  reality  subject 
to  the  supreme  control  of  von  der  Goltz 
himself.  This  large  force,  made  up  of 
37,000  Germans  and  3,000  Russians,  all 
in  German  uniforms,  claimed  allegiance 
to  the  All-Russian  Government  of  Admi- 
ral Kolchak,  thus  exempting  themselves 
from  orders  issued  by  Marshal  Foch  or 
the  Interallied  Council.  Numerous  Rus- 
sian prisoners  were  being  sent  from  Ger- 
many to  join  this  army  at  Shavli,  while 
in  the  way  of  equipment  the  Germans 
had  brought  680  airplanes,  100  automo- 
biles, and  one  armored  train  into  the  ter- 
ritory. Although  the  Lithuanian  Govern- 
ment at  Kovno  had  sent  many  notes  to 
the  Germans  demanding  their  withdraw- 
al, and  although  the  allied  officials  had 
ordered  them  out,  they  had  paid  no  at- 
tention to  these  demands. 

General  von  der  Goltz  himself,  on  his 
return  to  Mitau  from  Berlin  on  Aug.  29, 
declared  to  allied  representatives  that 
the  evacuation  would  be  carried  out,  but 
could  not  be  completed  before  Sept.  1. 
Meanwhile  high-handed  proceedings  by 
his  troops  continued;  Lettish  headquar- 
ters in  Mitau  were  attacked  by  them,  and 
50,000  rubles  seized;  three  members  of 
the  British  Mission  to  Lithuania  in  Mitau 
were  arrested  by  them,  but  subsequently 
released.  It  was  alleged  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  also  conducting  intrigues  with 


the  Bolsheviki,  who  have  overrun  all  ter- 
ritory abandoned  by  the  Germans  in  the 
southern  part  of  Lettland. 

GERMAN   OFFICIAL  ATTITUDE 

The  official  attitude  of  the  German 
Government  to  all  these  proceedings  was 
explicitly  stated  on  Sept.  7  in  a  note  ad- 
dressed by  it  to  the  Entente  powers. 
This  note  expressed  regret  that  the  evac- 
uation ordered  by  the  Peace  Conference 
was  impossible,  owing  to  the  insubordi- 
nation of  the  German  troops  still  in 
Courland.  The  note  continued  as  fol- 
lows: 

In  consequence  of  the  restrictions  im- 
posed by  the  allied  Governments  Ger- 
many is  not  in  a  position  to  compel  the 
obedience  of  its  troops  by  military 
means.  There  is  nothing-  the  German 
Government  can  do  but  try  by  persua- 
sion to  bring  the  troops  to  reason.  As  a 
result  of  the  extremely  excited  feeling 
among  the  men  it  is  impossible  now  to 
prepare  a  plan  of  evacuation  and  return 
the  troops  to  the  sea. 

On  the  Lithuanian  and  Polish  fronts 
some  successes  against  the  Bolsheviki 
were  gained.  On  Sept.  2  the  Reds  as- 
serted that  they  had  captured  the  outer 
fortifications  of  Dvinsk,  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Dvina,  where  it  was  crossed 
by  the  railway  from  Petrograd  to  War- 
saw; the  Lithuanians,  however,  de- 
clared that  the  Bolshevist  force  on  that 
front  had  been  surrounded  and  had  made 
overtures  of  peace.  An  American 
brigade  for  service  in  the  Lithuanian 
Army  had  been  formed  of  demobilized 
American  officers  and  discharged  en- 
listed men.  The  Lithuanian  Govern- 
ment had  taken  steps  to  protect  these 
men,  and  to  insure  them  along  the  lines 
followed  by  the  American  Army's  War 
Insurance  Bureau.  The  American  Red 
Cross  had  cabled  for  permission  to  form 
a  medical  and  welfare  unit  to  serve  with 
this  brigade.  Meanwhile  Lettish  and 
Lithuanian  troops  drove  the  Bolsheviki 
from  Novoalexandrovsk,  fifteen  miles 
southwest  of  Dvinsk,  pursuing  successes 
won  on  Aug.  15,  capturing  large  num- 
bers of  prisoners  and  guns;  on  Sept.  1 
the  Poles  took  the  fortified  town  of 
Bobruisk,  eighty-five  miles  southeast  of 
Minsk,  capturing  500  prisoners,  with  the 


118 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


aid  of  tanks,  the  first  they  had  used  in 
their  campaign. 

THE  SOUTHERN  FRONT 

According  to  the  observations  of  Gen- 
eral Holman  of  the  British  Army,  the 
anti-Bolshevist  forces  of  General  Deni- 
kin  were  in  great  need  of  equipment, 
clothing,  medical  supplies.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  Don  district  was  also  in 
great  need,  especially  of  British  manu- 
factured goods.  Poltava,  recaptured 
from  the  Bolsheviki  by  Denikin,  showed 
scenes  of  desolation  and  ruin.  The 
population  had  been  compelled  to  do 
forced  labor,  as  in  the  times  of  serfdom; 
miserable  and  half  starved,  they  wel- 
comed the  forces  of  Denikin  joyously, 
and  prepared  a  great  celebration,  includ- 
ing a  church  parade  in  the  cathedral 
square  of  all  troops  in  the  garrison. 

On  Aug.  18  the  Bolsheviki  were  driven 
from  Odessa,  the  most  important  port  on 
the  Black  Sea.  At  this  time  the  non- 
Bolshevist  Ukrainians  were  inviting  the 
Poles  to  help  them  capture  Kiev,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  delivery  to  the  latter  of 
crops  which  otherwise  the  Bolsheviki 
would  seize. 

Stories  of  atrocities  inflicted  by  the 
Bolsheviki  on  the  population  of  the  Up- 
per Don  were  received  by  London  on 
Aug.  21.  Continuing  their  victorious  ad- 
vance, Denikin 's  forces  took  Kherson  and 
Nikolaiev,  and  marched  on  Kiev.  East 
of  Kiev  they  occupied  all  the  important 
railway  centres  as  far  as  the  Volga,  a 
distance  of  650  miles.  Along  the  Volga 
they  were  moving  north  toward  Saratov. 
Denikin  thus  gained  control  of  a  great 
section  of  European  Russia,  and  held  the 
sources  of  the  chief  coal  and  oil  supplies. 
On  Aug.  24  it  was  reported  that  Petlura 
had  taken  the  whole  of  Podolia,  large 
parts  of  Volhynia,  and  the  Government 
of  Kiev,  and  that  the  Ukrainian  armies 
were  approaching  the  Dnieper  River 
along  the  entire  line.  The  peasants  were 
everywhere  rising  in  support  of  the 
Ukiainian  anti-Bolshevist  forces.  By  ar- 
rangement the  Poles  had  handed  over  to 
Petlura  the  recaptured  town  of  Bovno 
and  two  other  cities. 

Three  days  later  the  Bolsheviki  gained 
successes  on  the  Volga  in  General  Deni- 
kin's   territory.    On   Aug.   27  they  con- 


firmed their  reported  capture  of  Kamy- 
shin, 120  miles  southwest  of  Saratov;  at 
this  time  their  forces  were  advancing 
toward  Tsaritsin,  100  miles  further  south 
on  the  Volga.  They  admitted,  however, 
that  Cossack  forces  under  General  Ka- 
mentov  had  broken  through  their  front, 
and  a  message  from  that  leader  himself 
stated  on  Aug.  28  that  13,000  Bolshevist 
soldiers  had  been  captured,  and  that  a 
Red  regiment  had  joined  his  forces, 
which  were  marching  northward  of  Tam- 
bov. 

At  this  date  General  Denikin  was  ad- 
vancing rapidly  and  had  reached  a  point 
within  ten  miles  of  Kiev  and  twelve 
miles  from  Petlura's  forces.  Denikin's 
cavalry  and  armored  trains  were  leading 
an  advance  to  the  northeast.  On  Sept.  4 
the  occupation  of  Kiev,  after  two  days 
of  heavy  fighting,  was  officially  con- 
firmed. This  capture  not  only  threw 
open  the  600-mile  road  between  Lemberg 
and  Kharkov,  but  also  uncovered  the 
most  promising  base  from  which  opera- 
tions could  be  made  against  Moscow,  the 
Bolshevist  capital. 

KOLCHAK'S  REVERSES 
The  reverses  of  the  southern  army, 
however,  continued,  and  on  Sept.  11  a 
Bolshevist  wireless  dispatch  announced 
the  capture  of  12,000  prisoners  from 
Kolchak's  forces  in  the  region  of  Akti- 
ubinsk  and  Orsk.  The  next  day  the  cap- 
ture of  the  remainder  of  that  army  was 
claimed  by  the  Reds,  who  declared  that 
they  had  taken  a  total  of  45,000  men 
from  the  Kolchak  forces  within  a  week. 

The  Admiral  continued  to  press  his 
offensive,  however,  and  an  official  dis- 
patch of  Sept.  15  stated  that  he  had 
broken  the  Bolshevist  front  in  three 
places  and  was  threatening  to  outflank 
the  Red  forces  advancing  from  Tobolsk. 
The  continuance  of  American  forces 
in  Siberia  elicited  strong  protests  before 
the  Senate  Foreign  Relations  Committee 
on  Aug.  23.  After  listening  to  a  delega- 
tion of  nine  Chicagoans,  parents  of  sol- 
diers on  service  in  Siberia,  who  urged 
President  Wilson  to  recall  the  drafted 
men  at  once,  the  committee  decided  to 
summon  Secretary  of  State  Lansing  and 
Secretary  of  War  Baker  before  it  to 
elicit  information  on   the   Government's 


RUSSIA'S  STRUGGLE   WITH   BOLSHEVISM 


119 


plans  for  withdrawal.  In  Washington, 
two  days  later,  Secretary  Baker,  in  an 
interview,  stated  that  the  6,500  Amer- 
ican troops  in  Siberia  would  be  recalled 
befcre  Winter;  the  next  day  President 
Wilson,  in  a  letter  made  public  on  that 
date,  gave  assurance  that  the  drafted 
men  would  be  brought  home  as  soon  as 
possible;  volunteers,  however,  would  take 
their  place,  as  the  Government  had  no 
intention  of  withdrawing  American 
forces  at  this  time. 

IN  SOVIET  RUSSIA 

Under  the  Bolshevist  Government  the 
policy  of  repression  of  labor  continued 
through  July  and  August.  On  Aug.  11  a 
report  of  the  execution  of  150  strike 
leaders  by  the  Bolshevist  authorities  was 
received  in  Copenhagen.  From  a  report 
made  to  the  Norwegian  Socialists  by  Mr. 
Puntervold  and  Mr.  Stang,  who  had  in- 
vestigated conditions  in  Soviet  Russia, 
confirmation  was  received  of  accounts  of 
bloody  conflicts  developing  out  of  the 
insistence  of  Lenin  and  Trotzky  upon  in- 
creased production  of  the  civilian  and 
military  supplies  so  sorely  needed  by 
their  followers.  As  a  logical  consequence 
of  this  attitude  strikes  were  forbidden 
by  v  decree  reading  in  part  as  follows: 
"  The  system  of  production  is  no  longer 
a  matter  of  indifference  to  the  prole- 
tariat, and  must  no  longer  be  disturbed 
by  means  of  strikes."  Puntervold,  how- 
ever, noted  that  strikes  had  occurred  de- 
spite this  decree,  while  measures  taken 
against  them  had  become  more  and  more 
drastic.  Nevertheless,  production  had  in- 
creased, but  so  had  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion. Efforts  were  being  made  to  apply 
the  highest  technical  and  business  knowl- 
edge to  the  task  of  simplifying  produc- 
tion, and  avoiding  useless  transportation 
and  labor.  All  the  capitalistic  incentive 
measures,  including  piecework  and 
bonuses,  were  being  used  to  increase  pro- 
duction. 

Living  conditions  in  Petrograd  were 
depicted  as  extremely  bad  by  David  S. 
Aronson,  an  engineer  in  the  Russian 
Army  in  the  early  days  of  the  war,  on 
his  arrival  in  New  York  toward  the  end 
of  August.  Mr.  Aronson  left  Petrograd 
on  July  14.  At  that  time  the  former 
capital's  population,  from  two  and  a  half 


million,  had  been  reduced  to  a  million. 
Finland  and  Sweden  swarmed  with  refu- 
gees. The  railroad  system  was  badly 
disorganized.  The  food  shortage  was 
severe,  and  horse  meat  was  being  pub- 
licly sold.  Illegitimate  traffic  in  food 
at  high  prices  continued.  Garbage  rotted 
in  the  grass-grown  streets.  The  sewer 
system  was  disorganized  and  pestilence 
raged;  there  was  neither  food  nor  medi- 
cine available  in  the  hospitals.  Few 
physicians  remained.  There  occurred  an 
average  of  600  executions  daily  for  all 
sorts  of  offenses,  many  relating  to  the 
illegal  handling  of  food.  Clothing  was 
worn  threadbare.  A  concluding  state- 
ment intimated  that  the  influence  of 
Trotzky  had  grown  immensely  during 
the  last  few  months;  that  Trotzky  had 
virtually  become  sole  dictator,  and  that 
Lenin  was  rarely  seen  in  public. 

Colonel  John  Ward,  M.  P.,  of  the 
British  Army,  who  returned  to  London 
on  Sept.  4  after  three  years'  sojourn  in 
Siberia,  declared  that  the  horrors  of  the 
Bolshevist  rule  had  been  in  no  wise  ex- 
aggerated. The  Red  Army,  he  declared, 
had  munitions  enough  to  last  for  years. 
Every  one  was  in  fear  of  denunciation. 
The  Bolsheviki  dominated  the  richest 
manufacturing  districts.  Anti-Bolshe- 
vist attacks  had  to  be  made  from  sparse- 
ly populated  agricultural  districts.  The 
importance  of  sending  munitions  and 
supplies  to  the  armies  of  Denikin  and 
Kolchak,  he  stated,  could  not  be  over- 
estimated. 

BOLSHEVIST  PROPAGANDA 
The  triumphant  onward  march  of  the 
Red  Army  in  August  was  described  in  a 
manifesto  sent  by  the  Soviet  Government 
to  China.    It  read  in  part  as  follows: 

The  People's  Commissaries  address 
fraternal  words  to  all  the  peoples  of 
China  on  the  day  when  the  Soviet 
troops,  having  crushed  the  counter-revo- 
lutionary despot  Kolchak,  victoriously 
enter  Siberia.  Soviet  Russia's  Red 
Army,  after  two  years  of  struggle  and 
incredible  strain,  is  marching  onward  to 
the  east  across  the  Urals.  Not  in  order 
to  enforce  their  will  on  other  nationals, 
not  to  enslave  them  nor  conquer  them — 
we  are  bringing  freedom  to  the  people, 
liberation  from  foreign  bayonets  and 
from  the  yoke  of  foreign  gold,  which  is 
throttling  the  enslaved  peoples  of  the 
East,  particularly  the  great  Chinese  na- 


120 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


tion.  We  are  bringing  help  not  only  to 
our  own  working  masses,  but  to  the  Chi- 
nese. 

General  Denikin  had  sent  a  commercial 
attache  to  Stockholm  to  aid  the  Russian 
Legation  in  stimulating  trade  between 
Sweden  and  the  section  of  Southern  Rus- 
sia controlled  by  the  Denikin  forces, 
where  farming  equipment  was  urgently 
needed.  The  extent  of  British  aid  to 
Denikin  as  published  in  the  British  White 
Paper  was  estimated  at  £69,000,000.  The 
London  Chronicle  pointed  out  that  this 
value  of  stores  and  other  equipment  sent 
to  Denikin  was  three  times  that  sent  to 
Admiral  Kolchak,  and  that  with  their  aid 
Denikin  had  won  brilliant  successes. 
The  Daily  News,  however,  declared  that 
"  never  within  living  memory  have  the 
British  people  been  required  to  foot  a 
bill  involving  responsibility  so  obscure 
or  an  adventure  more  deplorable  than 
this  immense  expenditure,  already  ap- 
proaching half  the  cost  of  the  South 
African  war." 

THE  SIBERIAN  FRONT 

Early  in  August  the  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment at  Omsk  was  still  engaged  in  re- 
organizing its  armies  in  the  field.  Large 
quantities  of  supplies  were  sent  by  it  to 
Archangel  and  to  the  army  of  General 
Judenitch  in  the  west,  including  nearly 
10,000  tons  of  wheat. 

The  Carpathian  Russians  in  Siberia 
had  formed  a  volunteer  corps  and  joined 
the  Siberian  Army.  Many  Czechoslovaks 
likewise  had  joined  the  volunteer  forces 
and  had  asked  to  be  dispatched  imme- 
diately to  the  front. 

More  than  200  delegates  attended  the 
fifth  extraordinary  congress  of  the  Si- 
berian Cossacks.  The  congress  approved 
the  mobilization  of  the  Cossacks  up  to 
the  age  of  55  years,  and  expressed  its 
readiness  to  make  all  sacrifices  necessary 
for  final  victory  over  Bolshevism.  It 
adopted  the  following  declaration  unani- 
mously : 

In  this  time  of  great  trial  for  our  native 
country  we,  the  Siberian  Cossacks,  are 
placing  all  our  strength  at  the  disposal  of 
Admiral  Kolchak,  who  is  leading  the  Rus- 
sian armies  against  the  enemies  of  the 
Russian  people  and  under  whose  leader- 
ship the  Russian  armies  are  fighting  for 


the  regeneration  of  a  united,    great    and 
democratic   Russia. 

Admiral  Kolchak,  the  head  of  the 
Omsk  Government,  appeared  before  the 
congress  and  in  an  address  thanked  the 
representatives  of  the  Siberian  Cossacks 
for  their  display  of  patriotism. 

Refugees  who  arrived  from  Turkestan, 
on  which  the  Soviet  offensive  had  con- 
centrated, declared  that  the  country  had 
been  thoroughly  devastated  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki.  They  reported  the  cotton  plan- 
tations destroyed  and  the  population  im- 
poverished. 

Answering  the  protest  of  the  allied 
Governments  against  the  interference  of 
General  Semenov  with  the  operation  of 
the  railways  in  the  trans-Baikal  region, 
the  Omsk  Government  stopped  all  sup- 
plies to  the  recalcitrant  Cossack  General 
and  expressed  a  desire  to  co-operate  with 
the  allied  attempts  at  reorganization  of 
the  railroads,  even  waiving  the  Russian 
laws  interfering  with  the  allied  program. 
The  General  Staff  of  the  Siberian  Army 
on  Aug.  15  issued  a  proclamation  to  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  army  and  to  the 
Siberian  population  expressing  cordial 
support  of  Admiral  Kolchak's  regime 
and  the  fixed  determination  to  fight  to 
victory  against  the  Bolsheviki.  The 
Russ,  the  organ  of  the  Agricultural  Co- 
operative Societies,  declared  that  in  this 
critical  period  of  the  Siberian  struggle 
new  evidences  of  patriotism  were  mul- 
tiplied upon  all  hands;  volunteers  were 
flocking  to  the  Kolchak  standard,  and 
parties  were  uniting  to  support  the  army 
in  its  fight  for  the  regeneration  of  Rus- 
sia. 

RECOGNITION  DELAYED 

On  Aug.  18  Roland  S.  Morris,  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  to  Japan,  concluded  his 
investigation  of  the  Omsk  Government 
after  a  long  conference  with  Admiral 
Kolchak.  It  was  announced  from  Wash- 
ington on  Aug.  25  that  he  had  recom- 
mended favorable  action  by  the  United 
States  in  the  matter  of  recognition  and 
immediate  tangible  aid  to  the  Kolchak 
Government.  In  the  conferences  held  at 
Omsk  the  British,  French,  Japanese,  and 
American  Governments  had  been  repre- 
sented. A  far-reaching  and  comprehen- 
sive plan  was  drawn  up  covering  all  the 
features  of  the  situation,  including  pro- 


RUSSIA'S  STRUGGLE    WITH  BOLSHEVISM 


121 


vision  for  operation  of  railroads,  eco- 
nomic assistance,  supplies  for  the  anti- 
Bolshevist  armies,  financial  aid,  Red 
Cross  relief  and  other  matters.  In  fol- 
lowing cables  Mr.  Morris  recommended 
immediate  recognition  to  save  the  sit- 
uation, on  the  ground  of  the  great  moral 
effect  the  announcement  would  have  on 
the  soldiers  and  population  of  Siberia. 
Admiral  Kolchak's  armies  by  that  time, 
however,  had  suffered  such  serious  re- 
verses that  recognition  of  his  Govern- 
ment was  postponed  indefinitely. 

The  Red  Army  had  been  pushing  its 
successes  vigorously.  The  anti-Bolshe- 
viki  were  forced  to  abandon  Tiumen,  east 
of  the  Siberian  border,  and  the  Bolshe- 
viki  captured  lletsk,  forty  miles  south- 
west of  Orenburg,  after  fierce  fighting. 
Petrograd  reports  stated  that  the  Bol- 
sheviki,  determined  to  follow  up  their 
successes  closely,  had  even  sent  cadet 
school  reserves  againt  the  Kolchak 
forces.  An  explosion  of  the  main  am- 
munition dump  of  the  Kolchak  army  at 
Nizhny-Novgorod  was  said  to  have  been 
instigated  by  the  Bolshevik*  A  dis- 
patch from  Omsk  on  Sept.  3  said  that  the 
leader  of  the  All-Russian  Government 
had  issued  a  stirring  appeal  to  all  Rus- 
sians capable  of  bearing  arms  to  join 
the  ranks,  and  declared  that  the  destiny 
of  Russia  was  at  stake. 

The  official  organ  of  the  Bolsheviki, 
the  Pravda  (Truth)  of  Moscow,  edited 
by  N.  Bukharin,  has  taken  an  attitude 
of  violent  opposition   to  the  League  of 


Nations.  The  League  is  represented  as 
a  great  capitalistic  scheme  to  strangle 
the  proletariat  revolution,  to  establish 
an  international  "  White  Guard,"  and  to 
exploit  the  colonies  and  weaker  coun- 
tries. A  virulent  attack  was  made  by 
this  publication  on  President  Wilson  and 
Americans  in  general. 

It  was  stated  on  Aug.  27  that  the  So- 
viet Government  had  nationalized  the 
estate  of  the  late  Count  Tolstoy  at  Yas- 
naya  Polyana,  in  order  to  preserve  the 
great  writer's  memory.  The  Govern- 
ment had  invited  the  members  of  the  Tol- 
stoy family  to  enter  the  service  of  the 
administration  and  manage  a  projected 
institution  for  the  enlightenment  of  the 
people. 

Like  a  ghost  from  the  grave  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  Nicolaievitch,  uncle  of 
the  late  Czar,  arrived  in  Stockholm  from 
London  on  Aug.  20.  The  Grand  Duke, 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  figures  of 
the  first  three  years  of  the  war,  was 
sent  to  the  Crimea  by  the  Bolsheviki 
after  their  accession  to  power.  For  the 
last  two  years  he  has  been  in  hiding  and 
has  repeatedly  been  reported  killed. 
Gathered  with  the  Grand  Duke  at  Stock- 
holm were  General  Judenitch,  Premier 
Lianozov  of  the  new  anti-Bolshevist  Gov- 
ernment of  Northwest  Russia,  and  Gen- 
eral Skoropadsky,  former  Hetman  of  the 
Ukraine.  The  watchword  of  these  mem- 
bers of  the  War  Council  at  Stockholm 
was  reported  to  be  "Down  Lenin  first; 
let  the  future  take  care  of  itself." 


Mr.  Bullitt's  Report  to  the  Peace  Commission 


WILLIAM  C.  BULLITT,  who,  as 
an  attache  of  the  American 
Peace  Commission  at  Paris,  sub- 
mitted a  report  to  President  Wilson 
upon  conditions  in  Russia  studied  by 
him  during  a  brief  trip  to  that  country 
in  company  with  Lincoln  Steffens,  in- 
formed the  Senate  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  on  Sept.  12  that  the  Presi- 
dent had  never  acted  on  this  report,  and 
laid  the  document  before  the  committee, 
together  with  reports  and  records  of 
conversations  held  by  him  with  the 
President,  Mr.  Lansing  and  other  promi- 


nent members  of  the  American  Commis- 
sion. 

In  his  report  Mr.  Bullitt  said  that 
only  a  Socialist  Government  could  "  save 
Russia."  The  element  of  the  Commun- 
ist Party,  headed  by  Lenin,  he  declared, 
was  as  "  moderate  as  any  Socialist  Gov- 
ernment that  can  govern  that  country." 
He  advocated  accepting  the  proposal  of 
the  Lenin  Soviets  to  make  peace.  Along 
with  his  report,  Mr.  Bullitt  submitted 
to  the  President  a  proposal  for  peace  be- 
tween the  Soviet  Government  and  the 
allied  and  associated  powers,  which,  he 


122 


THE  NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


said,  represented  the  minimum  terms 
that  Lenin  and  his  followers  would  ac- 
cept. 

Embraced  in  the  proposed  terms  of 
peace  were  provisions  that  the  existing 
de  facto  Governments  of  the  territories 
of  Russia  and  Finland  were  to  remain 
in  control,  and  to  hold  those  territories, 
excepting  such  as  might  otherwise  be 
disposed  of  by  the  peace  conferees.  The 
Soviet  Government  would  have  control 
of  all  railroad  lines,  and  all  economic 
blockades  would  be  lifted.  Amnesty- 
would  be  granted  to  all  political  pris- 
oners. 

Mr.  Bullitt  pictured  Lenin  as  having 
"  gained  on  the  imagination  of  the  Rus- 
sian people,"  making  his  position  almost 
that  of  a  dictator.  The  Russians,  he 
said,  had  confidence  in  him  and  a  peace 
made  with  the  Lenin  element  would  be 
a  tangible  one.  Dwelling  on  the  ad- 
visability of  making  peace  with  this 
element,  Mr.  Bullitt,  in  summing  up  his 
conclusions,  wrote: 

1.  No  Government  save  a  Socialist  Gov- 
ernment can  be  set  up  in  Russia  today, 
except  by  foreign  bayonets,  and»any  Gov- 
ernment so  set  up  will  fall  the  moment 
such  support  is  withdrawn.  The  Lenin 
wing  of  the  Communist  Party  is  today  as 
moderate  as  any  Socialist  Government 
which  can  control  Russia. 

2.  No  real  peace  can  be  established  in 
Europe  or  the  world  until  peace  is  made 
with  the  revolution.  This  proposal  of 
the  Soviet  Government  presents  an  op- 
portunity to  make  peace  with  the  revolu- 
tion on  a  just  and  reasonable  basis— per- 
haps a  unique  opportunity. 

3.  If  the  blockade  is  lifted  and  supplies 
begin  to  be  delivered  regularly  to  Soviet 
Russia,  a  more  powerful  hold  over  the 
Russian  people  will  be  established  than 
that  given  by  the  blockade  itself— the  hold 
given  by  fear  that  this  delivery  of  sup- 
plies may  be  stopped.  Furthermore,  the 
parties  which  oppose  the  Communists  in 
principle,  but  are  supporting  them  at 
present,  will  be  able  to  begin  to  fight 
against  them. 

4.  It  is,  therefore,  respectfully  recom- 
mended   that    a    proposal    following    the 


general  lines  of  the  suggestions  of  the 
Soviet  Government  should  be  made  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Going  into  general  conditions  of  Rus- 
sia in  his  report,  Mr.  Bullitt  wrote  that 
the  country  was  in  a  state  of  "  acute 
economic  distress."  The  blockade  by 
land  and  sea,  he  said,  together  with  the 
lack  of  essentials  for  transportation, 
was  the  cause.  As  a  result  of  the  hin- 
drance to  transportation,  it  was  possible 
to  bring  from  the  grain  centres  to  Mos- 
cow only  twenty-five  carloads  of  food  a 
day,  instead  of  the  100  that  were  needed, 
while  Petrograd  was  cut  down  from  the 
customary  fifty  carloads  to  fifteen. 

The  energy  of  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, he  said,  was  being  brought  to  bear 
upon  constructive  work,  the  destructive 
phase  of  the  revolution  being  over.  He 
wrote  further  as  follows: 

Good  order  has  been  established.  The 
streets  are  safe.  Shooting  has  ceased. 
There  are  few  robberies.  Prostitution 
has  disappeared  from  sight.  Family  life 
has  been  unchanged  by  the  revolution. 
The  theatres,  opera,  and  ballet  are  per- 
forming as  in  peace.  Thousands  of  new 
schools  have  been  opened  in  all  parts  of 
Russia.  The  Soviet  Government  seems 
to  have  done  more  for  the  education  of 
the  Russian  people  in  a  year  and  a  half 
than  Czardom  did  in  fifty  years. 

All  efforts  to  induce  President  Wilson 
to  act  on  this  report  and  open  negotia- 
tions with  the  Soviet  Government  were 
unavailing,  and  Mr.  Bullitt  later  re- 
signed from  the  minor  position  which 
he  held  with  the  American  Commission. 

The  most  sensational  feature  of  Mr. 
Bullitt's  testimony  before  the  Senate 
Committee  was  his  reve^tion  of  conver- 
sations held  with  Mr.  Lansing  in  Paris, 
in  which  the  latter  was  said  to  have  de- 
clared himself  opposed  both  to  the  treaty 
with  Germany  and  to  the  League  of  Na- 
tions. Mr.  Lansing  declined  to  comment 
on  Mr.  Bullitt's  disclosures  of  his  atti- 
tude. The  Russian  Soviet  bureau  in  New 
York  confirmed  the  making  of  the  pro- 
posals by  the  Soviet  Government  em- 
bodied in  Mr.  Bullitt's  report. 


Ukraine's  Fight  for  Freedom 

By  K.  VISHEVICH 

The  follotving  article,  rewritten  from  the  Russian  and  vouched  for  by  the 
Ukrainian  National  Committee  of  the  United  States,  makes  clear  the  Ukrainian 
nationalists'  attitude  toward  Russia,  Bolshevism,  Germany,  the  Poles  of  Galicia, 
and  the  Entente.  Ukraine,  with  General  Petlura  as  its  military  leader,  is  fighting 
Soviet  Russia  for  independence.  Regarded  as  a  separate  nation,  it  is  the  largest 
new  State  created  by  the  war,  the  second  largest  country  in  Europe,  in  population 
the  fifth,  and  in  national  resources  one  of  the  richest. 


NONE  of  the  peoples  ground  down 
by  the  iron  heel  of  the  Imperial 
Russian  Government  suffered 
more  than  did  the  Ukrainians. 
From  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great  they 
had  been  marked  out  for  extinction,  and 
a  determined,  continuous  effort  was 
made  to  convert  them  into  Muscovite 
serfs.  Their  culture  was  destroyed; 
their  schools  were  abolished;  books  in 
their  native  language  were  forbidden. 
Especially  severe  was  the  persecution  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Intellectuals  who  spoke  in  Ukrainian 
were  exiled  to  Siberia  as  criminals.  Only 
the  peasants  were  allowed  to  use  the 
Ukrainian  language,  and  that  was  be- 
cause  they  knew  no   other. 

To  some  degree  the  efforts  of  the 
Muscovite  oppressors  were  successful. 
The  landed  gentry,  the  Government  offi- 
cials, and  the  priests  became  Russified. 
The  peasantry,  rendered  stubborn  by 
oppression,  began  raising  a  new  Ukrain- 
ian intelligentsia.  The  Government  perse- 
cuted these  intellectuals,  jailed  them, 
exiled  them  en  masse  to  Siberia,  but  al- 
ways the  gaps  in  the  ranks  were  filled 
by  more  and  more  devotees  of  Ukrain- 
ian culture.  Ukrainian  literature,  its 
growth  stifled  in  Russia,  began  to  flower 
in  Galicia,  the  Austrian  part  of  Ukraine, 
from  where  books  and  periodicals  were 
smuggled  to  the  eager  Ukrainian  masses 
in  Russia. 

The  revolution  of  1905  gave  only 
temporary  relief.  The  uprising,  con- 
ducted under  the  shibboleth  of  political 
freedom,  at  once  acquired  in  Ukraine  a 
purely  national  character.  Newspapers 
in  the  Ukrainian  language  appeared,  and 
demands  were  made  for  Ukrainian 
schools.      But    the    Russian    Duma    was 


obdurate.  The  Ukrainian  intelligentsia, 
clashing  with  the  Russian  intelligentsia, 
saw  that  not  alone  the  imperialists,  but 
the  Russians  of  all  parties,  were  opposed 
to  the  growth  of  Ukrainian  culture. 

Soon  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press  began  to  be  stifled  anew.  With 
all  its  might  the  Government  strove  to 
deprive  the  Ukrainians  of  the  few  small 
privileges  they  had  gained  by  the  revolu- 
tion. Heavy  fines  were  imposed  upon 
the  newspapers  for  every  word  about 
which  there  could  be  the  slightest  ques- 
tion. Ukrainian  schools  were  closed  upon 
the  flimsiest  pretexts.  Government  offi- 
cials who  spoke  to  the  people  in  Ukrain- 
ian were  removed  from  Ukraine.  The 
complete  edition  of  "  Kobsar,"  by  Shev- 
chenko,  the  greatest  poet  of  Ukraine,  was 
confiscated,  new  books  were  rigorously 
censored,  and  the  importation  of  Ukrain- 
ian books  from  Galicia  was  taxed  pro- 
hibitively. Educational  societies  were 
disbanded. 

CLIMAX  OF  RUSSIAN  OPPRESSION 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  world  war  the 
oppression  reached  its  height,  for  it  was 
realized  that  the  Ukrainians,  conscious 
of  their  nationality,  could  have  no  desire 
for  victory  to  the  arms  of  Russian  impe- 
rialism. Victorious  Russia  would  acquire 
Galicia  and  stamp  out  the  sole  remaining 
centre  of  Ukrainian  culture.  As  soon  as 
war  was  declared  Ukrainian  newspapers 
were  suppressed  and  all  the  leading 
Ukrainian  patriots,  including  Professor 
Hrushevsky,  the  eminent  historian,  were 
arrested  and  exiled  far  into  the  interior 
of  Russia. 

Soon  the  Russian  armies  occupied  Ga- 
licia and  began  their  repressive  measures 
there.     More  than  100,000  Ukrainian  in- 


124 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tellectuals,  unable  to  escape,  were 
hanged,  shot  or  exiled  to  Siberia.  The 
fifteen  Ukrainian  gymnasiums  and  the 
500  lower  grade  schools  were  closed.  The 
Ukrainian  libraries  and  book  stores  were 
pillaged.  The  Uniate  clergy  were  sup- 
planted by  Russian  Orthodox  priests,  who 
were  paid  enormous  salaries  by  the  Rus- 
sian Government  to  Russify  the  people. 
The  Ukrainian  national  spirit  seemed 
crushed  forever. 

With  the  first  gust  of  freedom  af- 
forded by  the  Russian  revolution  of  1917 
the  spirit  of  the  Ukrainian  people  flamed 
up  again.  The  Ukrainians  were  the  first 
to  declare  themselves  a  separate  people 
with  full  rights  to  self-determination. 
Unaided  by  capitalists  or  outside  Govern- 
ments, they  raised  a  national  fund.  The 
first  Ukrainian  National  Convention, 
meeting  in  Kiev,  elected  a  Central  Rada, 
or  Parliament. 

From  neither  the  Coalition  Government 
of  Prince  Lvoff  nor  the  Socialist  Gov- 
ernment of  Kerensky  was  any  encourage- 
ment received.  Unable  to  control  the 
powerful  national  movement  in  Ukraine, 
they  strove  to  hinder  jt.  The  Provisional 
Government  opposed  the  nationalization 
of  a  Ukrainian  army.  For  several  months 
it  delayed  recognition  of  the  General 
Secretariat  the  Ukrainians  had  organized 
as  an  executive  governmental  organ,  and 
even  then  stripped  the  Secretariat  of 
practically  all  its  functions.  All  the  old 
Russian  institutions  were  retained  and 
were  kept  wholly  independent  of  the 
Secretariat.  Permission  was  granted  for 
the  teaching  of  the  Ukrainian  language 
in  the  public  schools,  but  in  the  first 
year  only. 

FIRM  AGAINST  BOLSHEVISM 
To  the  vigorous  protests  made  by  the 
Ukrainians  the  invariable  reply  of  the 
Provisional  Government  was  that  the 
final  decision  on  all  questions  could  be 
made  only  by  the  Constituent  Assembly. 
The  Assembly,  however,  opposed  and  at- 
tempted to  discredit  the  Ukrainians  at 
every  step.  Here  was  one  more  instance 
where  the  great  Russian  people,  no  mat- 
ter what  their  Government,  were  de- 
termined to  stifle  every  Ukrainian  na- 
tional aspiration. 

When  Bolshevism  swept  over  Russia  in 


October,  1917,  and  plunged  the  country 
into  anarchy,  Ukraine  alone  stood 
firm.  This  was  to  be  expected,  for  the 
Ukrainian  people  are  and  always  have 
been  thoroughly  nationalistic.  Their  age- 
long traditions  are  such  that  the  radical 
principles  of  socialism  and  international- 
ism can  never  find  a  foothold  among 
them.  Such  evidences  of  Bolshevism  as 
may  appear  in  Ukraine  are  confined  to 
the  newcomers  in  the  large  cities.  The 
vast  majority  of  the  Ukrainians  are  farm 
workers,  among  whom  the  mob  spirit 
never  has  been  aroused  by  the  emissaries 
of  organized  lawlessness. 

When  nearly  the  whole  of  Russia  was 
covered  with  the  Soviets  of  workers'  and 
soldiers'  delegates  Ukraine  remained 
aloof.  Face  to  face  with  anarchy,  she 
unhesitatingly  chose  independence  and 
orderly  government.  Even  the  most  con- 
firmed federalists  abandoned  their  idea 
of  a  federation  with  Russia. 

UKRAINIAN   STATE   ORGANIZED 

Difficulties  in  organizing  the  Ukrain- 
ian Government  were  many.  Few  of  the 
intellectuals  had  escaped  exile  by  the 
Russian  Government,  and  there  were  not 
leaders  enough  to  fight  the  people's  bat- 
tles or  fill  the  necessary  State  offices. 
Great  Russian  intellectuals  and  Russified 
Ukrainian  renegades  insidiously  opposed 
the  Government  at  every  step.  They 
gave  unexpected  support  to  the  Bolshe- 
viki,  who  began  to  carry  on  a  vigorous 
campaign  of  propaganda  among  the 
masses  of  the  cities  not  racially  Ukrain- 
ian, and  among  the  soldiery. 

In  spite  of  the  Bolshevist  propaganda, 
the  Government  established  order  and  re- 
ceived recognition  from  France  and  from 
England,  both  of  whom  sent  diplomatic 
representatives   to   Kiev. 

Then  came  news  that  Bolshevist  Rus- 
sia had  made  peace  with  Germany.  The 
Ukrainian  people  were  war  weary;  the 
Bolshevist  propaganda  had  been  of  some 
effect  among  the  soldiers;  they  realized 
that  the  German  armies,  withdrawn  from 
the  Russian  front,  would  soon  annihilate 
them.  The  Central  Rada  was  faced  with 
the  choice  of  negotiating  peace  with  Ger- 
many or  delivering  the  country  into  the 
hands  of  the  Bolsheviki. 

Hardly    had    the    peace    negotiations 


UKRAINE'S  FIGHT  FOR   FREEDOM 


125 


begun  when  the  Soviet  armies  invaded 
Ukraine.  The  Kiev  Bolsheviki,  composed 
of  men  not  racially  Ukrainian,  revolted 
and  pledged  their  allegiance  to  the  in- 
vaders. This  revolt  was  quelled  in  five 
days  by  200  Galician  volunteers. 

The  main  body  of  the  Ukrainian 
troops,  under  their  great  leader,  Petlura, 
advanced  to  meet  the  Soviet  armies. 
Against  his  few  hundred  men  and  scanty 
light  artillery  were  tens  of  thousands  of 
Bolsheviki  with  heavy  siege  guns.  The 
Ukrainians  were  gradually  forced  back 
to  Kiev  with  severe  losses.  In  Kiev 
Petlura  held  out  for  nine  days  against 
heavy  bombardment.  Then  the  Central 
Rada,  unwilling  to  sacrifice  the  Il\cz  and 
property  of  the  peaceful  citizens,  re- 
moved to  Zhitomir  with  the  troops. 

Now  began  a  record  of  Bolshevist  rule 
written  in  innocent  blood.  Every  intel- 
ligent man  and  woman  who  uttered  a 
word  in  Ukrainian  was  shot;  everything 
Ukrainian  was  destroyed.  In  the  three 
days  the  Bolsheviki  remained  in  Kiev 
about  5,000  persons  perished.  For  three 
weeks  the  Bolsheviki  ruled  in  Kiev  and 
their  sway  was  a  continuous  mockery  of 
the  rights  of  humanity.  The  railroads 
were  filled  with  freight  cars  bound  for 
Russia  and  carrying  millions  of  pounds 
of  flour  requisitioned  by  force  of  arms, 
but  the  population  of  Kiev  was  near 
starvation. 

THE  BREST-LITOVSK  PEACE 
Peace  negotiations  having  been  com- 
pleted at  Brest-Litovsk,  the  German  and 
Austrian  troops  undertook,  in  return  for 
food  supplies,  to  assist  in  ejecting  the 
Bolsheviki.  The  campaign  was  success- 
ful, and  it  was  only  a  short  time  before 
the  Bolshevist  forces  were  driven  back 
in  disorder.  The  Bolshevist  Government 
at  Kiev  fled  to  Kharkov  and  then  to 
Great  Russia  as  victorious  Petlura 
pressed  forward  and  entered  Kiev. 

But  the  radical  element  of  the  popula- 
tion had  been  growing  and  it  was  only 
a  short  time  before  the  moderate  Govern- 
ment was  overthrown  and  the  Social 
Revolutionaries  took  command.  Holu- 
bovich  was  placed  at  their  head.  The 
task  of  reconstruction,  however,  proved 
too  much  for  these  radicals  and  the  Ger- 
mans began  to  take  advantage  of  them. 


It  was  not  long  before  the  German  troops 
began  to  requisition  food. 

Discontent  grew  fast.  A  new  Land- 
owners' Party  was  organized.  The 
ancient  Ukrainian  title  of  Hetman  was 
revived  and  given  to  Skoropadsky,  a 
wealthy  land  owner  and  a  former  Gen- 
eral in  the  Russian  Imperial  Army.  The 
Russian  and  Polish  land  owners  joined 
with  the  Germans  in  supporting  him,  for 
it  was  felt  that  his  rule  alone  would  pre- 
serve the  big  estates  intact  and  would  in- 
sure a  supply  of  food  to  the  Germans. 
Russian  officers,  supported  by  German 
soldiers,  arrested  members  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, dispersed  the  Central  Rada,  and 
placed  Hetman  Skoropadsky  in  power. 

Skoropadsky  failed  in  his  efforts  to 
organize  a  combined  Russian  Ukrainian 
Government.  Patriotic  Ukrainians  re- 
fused to  accept  the  positions  he  offered 
them,  or  to  work  with  the  Russians  he 
placed  in  the  most  important  offices,  or 
with  the  Germans  who  were  supporting 
him.  Only  one  real  Ukrainian,  Doro- 
schenko,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  de- 
partment, and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his 
party  in  order  to  accept  the  post. 

Soon  the  Ukrainian  employes  were  dis- 
charged from  practically  all  the  Govern- 
ment departments.  Ukrainian  news- 
papers were  censored.  Ukrainians  were 
imprisoned  in  great  numbers  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  Socialists.  The 
Russians  declared  the  arrests  were  due 
to  the  Germans,  while  the  Germans  as- 
serted they  were  merely  performing 
guard  duty  and  that  the  Hetman's  Gov- 
ernment was  doing  the  arresting. 

NATIONAL  UKRAINIAN   UNION 

To  oppose  the  oppressive  tactics  of 
Skoropadsky's  regime,  the  Ukrainian 
political  parties  formed  the  Ukrainian 
National  Union.  Nikovsky,  a  Socialist- 
Federalist  editor,  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  this  union.  When  illness  forced  him 
to  resign  he  was  succeeded  by  Vinni- 
chenko,  a  well-known  writer  and  member 
of  the  Social  Democratic  Party. 

As  the  discontent  grew  and  Skoro- 
padsky saw  that  his  Government  was 
doomed  to  fall  as  soon  as  the  supporting 
German  bayonets  should  leave  him,  he 
began  to  make  overtures  to  the  Ukrain- 
ian National  Union,  promising  to  con- 


126 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


voke  a  Diet  as  soon  as  possible.  The 
union  called  for  a  national  conference  to 
decide  what  kind  of  co-operation,  if  any, 
there  should  be. 

Then  came  the  revolution  in  Germany. 
Victory  for  the  Entente  was  assured  and 
the  Russians  and  Russophiles  began  to 
denounce  their  former  German  friends. 
Skoropadsky,  believing  the  Entente  stood 
for  a  single  undivided  Russia  which 
should  include  Ukraine,  forbade  the  con- 
vocation of  the  national  conference.  The 
Government  offices  were  filled  only  by 
Great  Russians — no  Ukrainian  was  toler- 
ated. A  fictitious  federation  of  Ukraine 
with  Russia  was  declared,  and  a  new  so- 
called  South  Volunteer  Army  of  Russian 
officers  was  formed  to  renew  oppression 
on  everything  Ukrainian. 

That  the  National  Union  should  gain 
in  strength  by  such  oppression  was 
natural.  It  elected  a  Directorate,  organ- 
ized a  People's  Army  of  60,000  men,  and 
declared  war  on  the  Hetman's  Govern- 
ment. Skoropadsky  was  overthrown  and 
the  National  Union  became  master  of 
Ukraine. 

QUESTION  OF  RECOGNITION 

Russian  agitation  alone  is  responsible 
for  the  failure  of  the  Entente  to  recog- 
nize the  Ukrainian  Government.  These 
Russians,  whose  chief  desire  is  to  incor- 
porate Ukraine  as  a  part  of  Great  Rus- 
sia, are  endeavoring  through  every  con- 
ceivable kind  of  propaganda  to  make  it 
appear  that  the  Ukrainian  National 
Union  is  Bolshevist,  that  Petlura's 
armies  are  bands  of  robbers,  and  that 


the  bands  of  Russian  officers  make  up 
a  liberating  volunteer  army. 

No  one  who  has  seen  these  officers' 
detachments  in  Kiev  could  think  of  them 
as  liberators.  These  officers  are  ad- 
venturers whose  aim  is  to  live  without 
work.  They  fight  the  Bolsheviki  be- 
cause the  Bolsheviki  robbed  them  of 
their  privileges  and  easy  livelihood.  They 
fight  the  Ukrainians,  Finns,  and  other 
nationalities  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire  with  even  greater  ardor,  for  they 
know  that  Russia,  shorn  of  these  rich 
territories,  will  have  far  too  few  sine- 
cures with  which  to  reward  her  adher- 
ents. They  can  make  but  little  impres- 
sion against  the  Bolsheviki.  Knowing 
this,  they  are  vainly  relying  upon  the 
Entente  to  free  them  from  the  Bolshe- 
viki, to  restore  Ukraine  and  the  other 
"  lost  provinces  "  to  an  undivided  Rus- 
sian Empire,  and  to  place  a  new  Nicholas 
upon  the  throne. 

Ukraine  is  fighting  for  her  national 
life.  The  true  Ukrainian  patriots  are 
standing  solidly  behind  Petlura.  On  one 
side  they  are  fighting  the  Bolsheviki  to 
secure  the  moderate  orderly  Government 
they  have  set  up.  On  the  other  they  are 
fighting  the  Poles  to  keep  their  land  and 
their  people  from  the  domination  of  a 
foreign  flag.  And  always  there  are  the 
insidious  attacks  of  the  Russian  monar- 
chists. 

Ukraine  has  declared  for  liberty,  de- 
mocracy, and  independence.  For  those 
ideals  he  will  continue  to  fight  until  the 
last  drop  of  true  Ukrainian  blood  has 
been  shed. 


Five  Months  in  Moscow  Prisons 


By  LUDOVIC  NAUDEAU 

[Correspondent  of  the  Paris  Temps] 


WE  were  writing  in  the  office  of 
the  Journal  de  Russie  in  Mos- 
cow, at  about  10  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  Tuesday,  July  30, 
1918,  when  the  echo  of  heavy  boots  re- 
sounded in  the  antechamber.  Immediate- 
ly there  appeared  a  young  officer  of  the 
Red  Army  and  a  soldier  of  colossal 
stature.  The  officer  was  obviously  of  a 
race  which  Russia  has  persecuted.  The 
soldier  was  a  Lett,  with  a  yellow  mus- 
tache; bristling  with  arms,  he  looked  like 
a  Redskin  who  had  dug  up  his  battle  axe. 
The  officer  greeted  no  one,  sat  down 
without  waiting  for  an  invitation,  and 
exhibited  a  document  which  I  did  not 
read;  it  was  only  too  easy  for  me  to 
divine  its  content.  He  then  declared 
that  by  order  of  the  Extraordinary  Com- 
mission the  Journal  de  Russie  was  sup- 
pressed because  of  its  counter-revolution- 
ary propaganda;  our  officers  were  to  be 
searched,  and  as  for  the  manuscripts 
which  I  had  just  finished  before  his  ar- 
rival, he  insisted  that  they  be  handed 
over  to  him  forthwith. 

"  Very  good,"  said  I ;  "  and  now  all  we 
have  to  do  is  to  go  home." 

"  That  depends,"  rejoined  the  youth- 
ful Maccabeus ;  "  you  are,  I  believe,  the 
chief  and  responsible  editor  of  this  paper. 
You  will  therefore  not  go  home,  but  will 
come  with  me.  This  document  is  an 
order  of  the  Extraordinary  Commission, 
by  virtue  of  which  I  am  to  place  you 
under  arrest." 

"The  devil!"  I  thought;  "this  is 
going  rather  far!  " 

Nevertheless,  I  tried  to  show  no  signs 
of  emotion.  The  suppression  of  the 
Journal  de  Russie  had  neither  astonished 
nor  displeased  me.  I  saw  therein  a  for- 
tunate opportunity  to  put  an  end  to  a 
campaign  which  had  become  useless,  and 
this  without  the  necessity  of  taking  my 
own  decision.  To  close  up  shop  and  re- 
turn to  France  would  have  seemed  to  me 
most  desirable;  the  idea  that  I  must  go 
to   prison,   on   the   contrary,   was   most 


unpleasant.  I  had,  of  course,  manjr 
times  foreseen  during  the  year  1918  that 
I  might  end  by  being  arrested,  yet  I  had 
inclined  to  believe  that  this  would  not 
happen,  or  at  least  that  I  would  be 
warned  in  time  and  would  have  an  op- 
portunity to  disappear.  Henceforth, 
however,  it  was  impossible  to  turn  back, 
and  useless  to  cherish  vain  regrets.  I 
was  caught! 

Walking  between  the  young  officer 
and  the  athletic  Lett,  I  got  into  a  very 
correct  automobile;  they  followed  me, 
and  the  car  left  immediately  for  Bolshaia 
Liubianka  Street,  where  the  fear-inspir- 
ing Extraordinary  Commission  had  its 
headquarters.  Thus  my  captivity  in 
Moscow  began,  a  melancholy  period; 
yes,  truly  the  most  sombre  period  of  my 
whole  life,  which,  I  must  confess,  had 
been  quite  fertile  in  adventures.     *     *     * 

CAUSE   OF   ARREST 

What  had  been  my  crime?  I^3iad  been 
set  forth,  in  full  detail,  on  Sunday,  July 
28,  two  days  before  my  arrest,  in  an 
article  in  the  Pravda  signed  "  Niourine," 
a  pseudonym  behind  which  was  concealed 
a  high  functionary  of  the  Commissariat 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  M.  Niourine  himself 
was  not  a  Russian.  If  I  do  not  say  what 
he  was,  it  is  because  I  do  not  wish  to 
give  the  impression  of  condemning  genei*- 
ally  a  race  for  crimes  whose  responsibil- 
ity the  individuals  themselves  should 
bear.  Although  the  Journal  de  Russie 
had  appeared  since  February,  1918,  in 
Moscow,  after  having  been  published  for 
several  months  in  Petrograd,  and  had 
been  frequently  quoted  by  the  Russian 
press,  the  article  of  M.  Niourine  was  in 
reality  the  first  that  contained  accusa- 
tions and  violent  expressions  against  me. 

In  language  singularly  filled  with 
hatred  I  was  denounced  on  July  28  as 
a  counter-revolutionary  agitator  and  as 
an  agent  of  the  French  bank.  Construct- 
ing against  me,  not  a  polemical  article, 
but  a  police  document,  a  veritable  indict- 


128 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


ment,  the  contemptible  editor  of  the 
Pravda  had  accumulated,  to  vilify  me,  a 
mass  of  fragmentary  quotations,  treach- 
erously chosen  from  the  principal  articles 
in  which,  for  some  time,  I  had  defended 
views  which  no  Frenchman  living  in  Rus- 
sia could  have  helped  supporting.  It 
was  obvious  that  this  sly  rascal,  for 
months  at  a  time,  had  silently  drawn 
up  a  dossier,  with  the  intention  of  pro- 
ducing it  at  a  favorable  moment.  Note- 
worthy the  fact  that  this  J  avert,  dis- 
guised as  a  journalist,  though  admitting 
in  his  article  that  my  controversy  in  the 
Journal  de  Russie  had  always  been 
moderate,  and  restrained,  heaped  the 
most  violent  reproaches  on  my  head  for 
my  articles  published  in  the  Temps, 
which  he  denounced  as  venomous  and  in- 
famous. The  long  diatribe  ended  with 
this  exclamation,  printed  in  French, 
"  Fermez  votre  crachoire!  "  (Shut  your 
mouth.) 

It  has  never  before  happened,  I  sup- 
pose, at  any  time  or  in  any  country,  that 
vehement  invectives  printed  in  a  news- 
paper have  been  equivalent  to  a  kind  of 
writ  or  warrant  issued  by  a  police 
Judge.  If  I  had  seen  in  M.  Niourine 
what  he  really  was,  a  police  agent,  the 
most  elementary  prudence  would  have 
led  me  to  consider  myself  sufficiently 
warned,  and  to  cease  immediately  the 
publication  of  my  French  paper  and  take 
flight.  But  I  was  so  simple  as  to  think 
that  I  ought  to  reply,  with  the  pen,  to 
one  who  had  attacked  me  with  the  pen. 
It  was  precisely  at  the  moment  when  I 
was  drawing  up  this  reply  that  M. 
Nourine's  acolytes  came  to  take  posses- 
sion of  my  person.     *     *     * 

SUDDEN  OFFICIAL  CHANGE 

The  Journal  de  Russie  had  never  had 
a  clandestine  character.  They  had  al- 
ways granted  me  permission  to  issue  it. 
And  as  it  was  important  to  avoid  the 
suppression  of  our  sheet,  we  did  not 
fear  to  adopt  the  most  democratic,  even 
the  most  socialistic  policy.  *  *  * 
Several  French  people  of  our  colony  con- 
sidered that  our  paper  was  too  "  red." 
*  *  *  Some  weeks  before  my  arrest 
I  had  had  a  long  conversation  with 
Tchitcherin,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
who  was   very  courteous   and  gave  me 


no  intimation  that  I  was  in  danger.  On 
July  18,  having  dined  at  the  French 
Military  Mission,  I  met  there  one  Cap- 
tain Sadoul,  whom  I  had  known  since 
my  arrival  in  Russia,  and  in  whom  I  saw 
a  kind  of  habitual  intermediary  between 
the  French  authorities  and  the  Bolshe- 
viki.  Sadoul  had  asked  Leon  Trotszky 
himself  if,  in  case  of  allied  intervention, 
he  would  expel  the  French  or  persecute 
them,  and  Trotzky  had  returned  an  em- 
phatic negative.  If  Sadoul  had  believed 
there  was  danger,  I  am  certain  he  would 
loyally  have  warned  me.     *     *     * 

The  assassination  of  Count  von  Mir- 
bach,  the  German  Ambassador,  and  the 
uprising  of  the  Revolutionary  Socialists 
of  the  Left  which  followed  it  led  to  the 
issuing  of  a  decree  that  all  newspapers 
except  those  edited  directly  by  the  Soviets 
should  cease  publication.  I  obeyed  this 
decree.  *  *  *  Three  days  later  a 
new  authorization  was  delivered  to  me 
in  good  and  due  form,  and  we  began  to 
print  our  sheet  again.  But  the  Com- 
missariat, after  having  again  authorized 
all  the  suspended  papers  to  resume  pub- 
lication, had  suddenly  revoked  this  new 
decision;  its  emissaries  had  ordered  the 
printers  to  cease  their  work  definitively. 
Our  relative  insignificance,  however,  as 
foreigners  had  caused  us  to  be  forgotten 
in  the  general  proscription.  During  the 
last  five  days  of  July  the  Journal  de 
Russie  was  the  only  non-Soviet  organ 
that  continued  to  be  sold  side  by  side 
with  the  Pravda  and  the  Izvestia.  Glory 
was  in  our  grasp!  But  on  July  28  the 
indictment  of  the  Pravda  came  like  a 
cannon  shot,  and  on  the  30th  I  was  ar- 
rested and  suddenly  thrown  into  prison, 
without  definite  knowledge  of  what  the 
police  agents  of  the  Soviet  accused  me  of. 

PLACE  OF  CONFINEMENT 

I  arrived  at  the  den  of  the  famous 
Extraordinary  Commission,  whose  very 
name  filled  Moscow  with  terror.  The 
huge  quadrangular  building  in  which 
it  was  located  had  previously  housed  the 
central  branch  of  an  insurance  company 
in  the  time  of  Nicholas.  Thereafter  it 
became  a  place  of  terror,  before  which 
the  passerby,  with  furtive  glance,  walked 
hastily  and  fearsomely.  The  auto- 
mobile which  bore  me  stopped  in  an  in- 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


129 


terior  court  incumbered  with  vehicles 
piled  together,  with  shrapnel  guns,  with 
pieces  of  cannon  and  soup  caldrons. 
Sailors  whose  chests  were  exposed  al- 
most to  their  waists,  soldiers  whose  hair 
fell  in  ringlets  almost  over  their  eyes, 
marched  back  and  forth;  all  the  issues 
were  guarded  by  watchful  sentries.  Evi- 
dently it  was  much  easier  to  get  into  this 
retreat  than  to  escape  from  it. 

Through  dusty  corridors  I  was  brought 
to  a  kind  of  antechamber,  where  a  boy 
less  than  twenty  years  old,  a  sly,  sus- 
picious, blonde  little  chap,  took  from  me 
the  papers  and  documents  I  carried  on 
my  person,  seized  my  cane  and  my  knife, 
and  absent-mindedly  began  to  question 
me,  while  two  or  three  low-browed  sail- 
ors watched  me  with  sneering  smiles. 
There  was  no  trouble  about  my  age  and 
profession,  but  a  misunderstanding  arose 
when  my  questioner  insisted  on  knowing 
to  what  political  party  I  belonged  in  my 
own  country.  "  I  am  a  republican  citi- 
zen," I  said.  "Write  down  '  Republican 
Party.'  "  "  Republican  Party?  "  repeated 
the  young  terrorist,  staring  at  me. 
Slowly  he  wrote  "  Respoublikanetz."  The 
sailors  began  a  discussion  among  them- 
selves, evidently  somewhat  disconcerted. 
''  Well,"  said  the  blonde  fellow,  "  you 
are  a  counter-revolutionary,  and  that's 
enough." 

He  made  a  sign.  Some  soldiers  took 
me  away,  and  soon,  after  a  door  had 
closed  behind  me,  I  found  myself 
definitely  separated  from  the  world  of 
reason.  I  remembered  that  I  went  down 
a  corridor,  flanked  to  right  and  left  by 
a  row  of  improvised  cells,  whose  pine 
doors  were  new  and  unpainted.  In  the 
middle  of  each  door  was  cut  out  a 
rectangle,  just  big  enough  to  frame  a 
human  face.  Two  rows  of  prisoners 
gazed  at  me  with  feverish  eyes  while  my 
feet  brought  me  on  to  the  unknown,  and 
I  noted  the  pallor  of  handsome,  pensive 
faces.  Most  of  them  seemed  to  belong  to 
young  naval  officers.     *     *     * 

WRETCHED  FELLOW-PRISONERS 
A  door  opened.  What  I  first  beheld 
was  a  throng  of  what  seemed  to  be 
lunatics  crowded  together  within  the  four 
walls  of  a  large  square  room.  It  was 
like  the  waiting  room  of  some  fantastic 


station,  whence  all  traffic  had  been  with- 
drawn and  by  which  no  trains  ever 
passed;  a  waiting  room  whose  ceiling 
was  supported  by  iron  columns,  and 
whose  wide  windows  were  grated  with 
iron  bars.  How  many  there  were  here! 
Why  were  there  so  many?  Here  were 
people  of  the  middle  class  wearing  dirty 
linen,  yet  who  still  preserved  a  sem- 
blance of  respectability.  There  were 
soldiers  here,  workmen,  long-haired 
priests,  bewildered  old  ladies,  young 
men,  old  men  with  shaking  heads.  What 
were  all  these  nondescript  people  doing 
here?  And  what  fate  awaited  me?  Why 
was  I  joined  to  this  throng  of  lunatics? 
I  found  out  why  a  little  later. 

I  was  startled  suddenly  by  wild  cries. 
An  old  man,  attacked  by  some  mystical 
madness,  was  improvising  hymns  in 
honor  of  the  saints,  or  else  composing 
satires,  vaguely  rhymed,  in  which  he 
revealed  the  vices  of  the  members  of 
the  Soviet.  The  other  prisoner;  shrank  in 
terror  from  the"  dangerous  old  man; 
every  one  feared  the  consequences  of  his 
heedless  audacities,  but  he  continued 
howling  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  Jailers 
appeared  and  ordered  him  to  be  silent, 
threatening  to  shut  him  up  in  a  cell; 
but  suddenly  they  withdrew,  disconcerted 
by  the  inspired  fury  which  took  from 
him  all  fear  and  evoked  it  in  others.  A 
terror-stricken  woman  sobbed  in  a  corner, 
and  beside  her  a  group  of  men,  gravely 
united  in  a  circle,  discussed  calmly  the 
news  of  the  day.     *     *     * 

NAUSEATING  PRISON  FOOD 

In  a  corner  of  the  room  a  hairy  young 
man,  who  seemed  to  be  a  fluent  talker, 
was  seated  before  a  table,  moving  about 
record  books,  taking  notes,  drawing  up 
lists,  a  whole  complicated  bookkeeping. 
He  also  asked  me  my  name,  my  age, 
and  the  reason  for  my  arrest.  *  *  * 
I  soon  learned  that  he  was  a  prisoner 
like  myself  who  fulfilled  in  the  room, 
despite  his  youth,  the  functions  of 
starche,  that  is  to  say,  dean  or  monitor. 

The  starche,  with  a  very  important 
air,  gave  me  a  rustic  wooden  spoon,  and 
•I  saw  that  all  the  other  prisoners  were 
getting  out  a  similar  instrument.  *  *  * 
Buckets  were  brought;  each  of  these 
receptacles     contained     food     for     eight 


130 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


people.  In  turn,  we  plunged  our  spoons 
into  an  insipid  liquid  where  cabbage 
leaves  and  shreds  of  smoked  fish  were 
floating;  almost  all  who  surrounded  me 
devoured  this  concoction  greedily.  Hun- 
gry prisoners  tried  to  scoop  up  more 
substantial  spoonfuls,  containing,  above 
all,  solid  substances.  The  fish  bones  and 
shreds  of  cabbage,  after  having  been 
sucked,  were  ejected  upon  the  table  or 
on  the  floor,  where  they  soon  accumu- 
lated in  a  sticky  mass. 

Thus,  in  a  few  hours,  I  had  passed  from 
civilized  life  to  an  atmosphere  of  deg- 
radation. On  the  morning  of  July  30 
I  was  still  a  man  possessed  with  the 
sentiment  of  human  dignity;  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day  I  was  nothing 
but  a  human  beast,  condemned  to  dis- 
pute in  a  trough  with  other  human  beasts 
shreds  of  nauseating  food.  A  little 
kasha,  or  barley  gruel,  ended  our  miser- 
able repast,  but  certain  prisoners,  who 
had  received  some  provisions  from  out- 
side, offered  me  a  glass  of  tea.  The 
mystical  madman,  despite  the  exhorta- 
tions of  his  neighbors,  continued  his  sin- 
ister psalms.  Frightened,  they  warned 
him  that  he  would  get  himself  shot;  he 
would  stop  a  moment,  but  immediately 
again  his  piercing  voice  would  be  up- 
raised. 

DESPAIRING   PRISONERS 

Sobs  were  heard  every  moment;  some 
unfortunate  wretches  gave  way  to  fits 
of  despair;  a  woman  beside  me  lamented, 
telling  the  circumstances  of  her  arrest 
in  a  station  when  she  arrived  in  Moscow 
with  her  old  father  and  her  children. 
What  would  become  of  these  poor  people, 
who  were  without  resources?  And  when 
liberated,  how  could  she  find  them  again 
in  the  big  city?  In  contrast  with  these 
depressed  beings,  others  astonished  one 
by  their  calm.  Some  prisoners  who  had 
made  themselves  coffee  sipped  it  quietly 
around  a  case  transformed  into  a  table; 
others,  stretched  on  their  pallets,  seemed 
to  be  sleeping  quietly.  About  5  o'clock 
some  brutal-looking  soldiers  in  the  court- 
yard approached  the  bars  of  our  win- 
dows, and  found  it  amusing  to  point 
their  guns  at  us,  but  withdrew  without 
shooting  any  of  us  down.  A  fat  little 
man  who  was  very  shabby  and  on  whose 


chin  an  eight  days'  beard  made  a  brown 
smudge  slipped  up  to  me  and  said: 

"  You  see  the  Russian  revolution,  Sir. 
It's  splendid,  isn't  it?  What  is  going  on 
here  is  madness,  pure  madness,  a  mon- 
strous nightmare.  All  honest,  well- 
educated,  repectable  men  are  in  prison, 
while  malefactors  reign.     *     *     *     " 

Sometimes,  while  we  were  talking  to- 
gether, some  improvised  police  agent  ap- 
peared, reading  with  difficulty  some 
document  while  all  were  silent.  He 
would  call  out  a  family  name,  followed 
by  a  Christian  name,  and,  according  to 
Russian  custom,  the  father's  name.  Usu- 
ally it  meant  a  summons  to  one  of  those 
examinations,  both  terrible  and  bur- 
lesque, so  many  of  whose  incidents  had 
been  commented  on  all  over  Moscow. 
Some  unhappy  wretch  would  then  rise 
and  depart,  with  pale  face  and  bent 
head. 

The  sinister  vagabonds,  the  ignorant 
heroes  who  had  accepted  the  post  of  in- 
quisitors, the  very  Judge  of  the  com- 
mission, were  mostly  men  of  limited  in- 
telligence and  of  evil  temper.  Strangers 
to  the  most  elementary  principle  of 
justice,  almost  always  incapable  of  un- 
derstanding the  very  questions  which 
they  were  charged  to  clarify,  they  over- 
whelmed the  prisoner  with  shouts  and 
insults,  and  it  was  sometimes  at  the 
point  of  a  revolver  that  they  ordered 
him  to  confess  and  to  reveal  his  ac- 
complices. What  was  the  destination 
of  the  prisoner  thus  summoned  by  one 
of  them?  Death,  perhaps.  How  many 
had  already  departed  after  such  a  sum- 
mons, and  had  never  again  been  seen? 
But  sometimes,  also — Oh,  very  rarely! — 
resounded,  after  the  utterance  of  a  name, 
the  phrase:  Na  svobodu.  (In  liberty.) 
And  then  there  were  explosions  of  joy; 
handclasps  and  warm  congratulations  sa- 
luted him  whose  chance  had  come  to 
escape  from  this  filthy  place. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  TCHITCHERIN 
Toward  6  o'clock  in  the  evening  my 
own  name  was  suddenly  called  by  one 
of  the  jailers.  *  *  *  But  they  only 
gave  me  a  package  of  preserves,  a  pillow- 
case, and  a  coverlet  which  had  been  sent 
me  by  my  collaborators  on  the  Journal 
de    Russie.      Disillusion!      But   an   idea 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


131 


came  to  me.  Why  had  I  not  thought  of 
it  sooner?  I  would  write  to  Tchitcherin, 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs;  he  knew 
me;  he  had  even  had  a  conversation  with 
me  a  few  days  before,  and  he  knew  that 
I  had  always  conducted  my  journalistic 
campaign  openly.  When  this  member  of 
the  Bolshevist  Government  learned  what 
had  happened  to  me,  I  thought  he  would 
have  me  released.  So  I  drew  up  a  letter 
carefully,  and  handed  it  to  the  starche, 
who,  every  evening,  collected  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  prisoners  with  the 
warning  that  he  could  accept  it  only  if 
it  was  left  unsealed.  My  letter  went 
and  evidently  reached  its  address,  but 
M.  Tchitcherin  refrained  from  helping 
me,  or,  rather,  did  not  wish  to  do  so. 

A  WRETCHED  NIGHT 

Evening  came,  bringing  a  hideous 
vision  of  famished  beings  who,  like  wild 
Indians,  sat  grouped  in  a  circle,  crouched 
over  soup  pots,  from  which,  with  all 
kinds  of  loud  noises,  smacking  s,  indraw- 
ings,  gurglings,  they  lapped  up  a  liquid 
covered  with  fish  grease.  Ah,  not  for 
me!  I  did  not  even  have  the  energy  to 
open  a  can  of  preserves;  I  munched  a 
biscuit  and  stretched  myself  out  on  a 
corner  of  the  pallet  between  a  female 
soldier,  who  squinted  and  wore  spec- 
tacles, and  an  old  priest.  The  latter, 
snoring  reverberantly,  slept  untroubled 
by  the  lice  and  bedbugs  which  kept  us 
awake  all  night.  I  think  it  must  have 
been  about  midnight  when  armed  sailors 
appeared  at  the  door  and  imperiously 
called  a  name.  Many  heads  were  raised, 
many  faces  bore  an  anxious  expression. 
One  unhappy  wretch  rose  like  a  ghost 
with  a  livid  face.  With  a  trembling 
voice  he  asked  if  he  should  take  with 
him  the  different  articles  that  he  pos- 
sessed. "  You  will  not  need  your  things 
where  you  are  to  be  sent,"  replied  a 
mocking,  sinister  voice ;  "  leave  all  that 
here."  The  jailers  divided  his  posses- 
sions among  themselves. 

On  the  morning  of  July  31,  what  a 
gloomy  awakening  in  that  menagerie  all 
saturated  with  the  exhalations  of  sleep- 
ing humanity!  That  whole  day  I  passed 
hovering  between  hope  and  prescience  of 
misfortune.  *  *  *  Toward  4  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  rumor  spread  that 


many  of  us  were  to  be  sent  to  the  of- 
ficial prisons.  This  report  proved  to  be 
true.  The  roll  was  called,  and  soon  I 
found  myself  in  a  lir.e  marching  to  the 
courtyard,  where  a  kind  of  "  Black 
Maria "  awaited  our  trembling  band. 
Again,  before  piling  us  into  this  vehicle, 
our  names  were  verified.  A  young  sol- 
dier of  the  Soviet  Army,  a  rosy  youth 
with  a  blonde  tuft  of  hair,  and  who 
seemed  to  play  an  active  part  in  all  the 
institution,  noticed  among  us  a  man  from 
the  Caucasus,  with  a'  face  of  the  color 
and  apparent  consistency  of  ginger- 
bread, and  with  burning  eyes.  "Ah,  you 
are  the  fellow  who  shot  against  us  the 
second  day  of  the  battle  of  Jaroslav," 
he  said  to  him.  "Your  account  will  be 
settled!  "  Then  fixing  on  me  his  small 
blue  eyes  gleaming  with  a  species  of 
malevolent  stupidity,  and  pointing  his 
finger  at  me,  he  said,  his  voice  filled 
with  hatred :  "  That  Frenchman  will  be 
shot  in  two  or  three  days." 

They  pressed  us  in,  they  packed  us 
together  standing  in  that  dark  unventi- 
lated  vehicle,  which  had  borne  so  many 
victims  to  their  death.  Standing  face  to 
face,  our  breath  and  perspiration  met 
and  mingled.  Our  limbs,  dovetailed  to- 
gether, could  not  be  moved,  but  tensed 
at  every  jolt,  seeking  instinctively  some 
point  of  support.  Under  my  left  arm, 
extended  horizontally,  a  young  boy  was 
weeping  bitterly,  so  lamentably  that  I 
suffered  from  his  suffering.  *  *  *  In- 
terminably the  vehicle  jolted  on.  Some 
of  those  near  the  wall  next  to  the 
driver's  seat  peered  between  some 
cracks.  "  Tagannka!  They  are  taking  us 
to  Tagannka!  "  they  cried.  "Tagannka!" 
commented  others ;  "  we  are  lucky. 
That  prison  is  much  more  comfortable 
than  Butirky.     We're  in  luck!  " 

IN    TAGANNKA   PRISON 

Violent  shocks  and  joltings;  we  divined 
that  the  prison  van  was  swiftly  turning. 
We  heard  heavy  doors  swing  back.  Then 
our  vehicle  opened,  and  like  a  load 
dumped  from  a  tipcart  we  poured  forth 
upon  the  stones  of  a  courtyard  encom- 
passed on  all  sides  by  red  brick  build- 
ings, whose  windows  were  barred.  *  *  * 
Verification  of  names  again,  new  search- 
ings.     The  jailers  of  Tagannka  Prison 


132 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


were  very  different  from  those  of  the 
Extraordinary  Commission.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  we  were  in  a  prison  destined 
for  thieves  and  assassins.  With  four 
others,  under  the  guidance  of  a  jailer,  I 
was  brought  to  Room  5,  to  which  I  had 
been  assigned.  Iron  doors  grated  and 
closed  again ;  we  traversed  a  vast  rectan- 
gular gallery,  where  to  right  and  left, 
with  geometrical  symmetry,  three  floors 
of  cells  were  built,  one  above  the  other; 
their  small  white  doors  opened  uniformly 
upon  a  kind  of  long  balcony,  patrolled 
by  jailers. 

We  went  down  a  stairway,  passing  by 
many  embrasures,  where,  behind  iron 
bars,  the  pale,  curious  faces  of  prisoners 
recognizable  from  their  long  white  cas- 
socks as  common  law  convicts  watched 
us  go  by.  Bewildered  we  passed  in  front 
of  four  gratings,  higher  and  wider  than 
any  we  had  seen  before,  inclosing  a  large 
room  where  I  saw  a  crowd  pressed 
against  the  bars  and  evidently  seeking 
to  identify  the  new  arrivals.  A  throng. 
It  is  incredible  how  many  men  a  prison 
can  contain!  Thirty  or  forty  steps  more 
and.  we  reached  Room  5.  The  door  had 
just  been  bolted  behind  us,  and  I 
had  scarcely  taken  a  few  steps  in  the 
dim  light  of  this  cell,  inhabited  by  about 
twenty  captives,  when  a  young  man  with 
a  black  beard  came  to  me  and  held  out 
his  hand.  "  Ah,  here  you  are !  "  he  said. 
"  We  heard  you  had  been  arrested,  and 
we  knew  you  were  at  the  Extraordinary 
Commission.  Welcome!  I  am  the  starche 
of  this  cell,  and  we  will  do  all  we  can  to 
make  your  stay  here  as  comfortable  as 
possible.  But  I  see  you  do  not  remember 
me.  My  beard  puts  you  off  the  track. 
I  am  Vininkin,  the  orderly  of  General 
Gurko,  at  the  northern  front,  at  Dvinsk." 

EXECUTING  THE  ABLEST  MEN 

The  appearance  of  Vininkin  aroused 
in  me  a  throng  of  memories.  His  aspect 
recalled  to  me  pre-revolutionary  Russia 
during  the  war.  I  remembered  my  ad- 
ventures at  the  northern  front.  I  saw 
again  the  moving  departure  of  Russian 
troops  to  the  French  front,  and  also  I 
thought  of  the  brilliant  horse  races  at 
Dvinsk,  in  whose  organization  Vininkin 
had  taken   an  active  part.     Who  could 


have    foreseen    that — *     *     *     But   the 
Captain  continued: 

Six  of  our  comrades  who  lived  in  this 
cell  until  today  have  just  been  taken 
away.  The  same  prison  van  which 
brought  you  here  came  for  them  at  3 
o'clock  and  will  take  them  to  a  barrack, 
where  they  will  probably  be  shot  tomor- 
row morning.  Six  splendid  young  offi- 
cers, the  best  of  what  remained  of  the 
Russian  Army  !  One  of  them  fought  on 
the  French  front.  Besides  the  Cross  of 
St.  George  he  received  the  Legion  of 
Honor,  the  French  War  Cross,  and  the 
English  Military  Medal.  Brave  of  the 
brave !  That  is  the  way  they  massacre 
the  energetic  elements  who  under  more 
favorable  circumstances  might  have  tried 
to  save  Russia.  Fifteen  of  us  in  this 
cell  were  members  of  the  old  "  League 
for  the  Defense  of  the  Russian  Father- 
land." Only  three,  myself  included,  are 
left.  The  others  have  all  been  shot,  or 
soon    will    be. 

If  they  are  going  to  kill  us  all,  why 
don't  they  do  it  all  at  once?  What's  the 
use  of  inflicting  this  perpetual  anguish 
upon  us?  Every  time  a  jailer  approaches 
each  of  us  wonders  if  he  has  not  been 
sent  to  bring  us  to  the  place  of  execution. 
Every  name  called  makes  us  tremble.  If 
at  least  we  were  sure  of  meeting  a  quick 
and  decent  death,  that  would  be  some 
consolation.  Some  unhappy  wretches, 
wounded  only  in  the  legs  or  in  the 
stomach,  have  lain  groaning  on  the 
ground  for  hours  before  any  one  thought 
of  dispatching  them  with  a  revolver  shot. 
All  this  certainly  isn't  gay.  But  in  spite 
of  everything  we  are  philosophical.  It  is 
probably  our  life  at  the  front  that 
enables  us  to  endure  without  too  much 
depression  this  vegetative  existence  in 
this  sombre  room  in  a  space  so  narrow 
we  can  scai'cely  move  about,  in  this 
sinister  antechamber  to  the  cemetery. 
You  will  see  that  we  are  not  degenerat- 
ing. 

This  was  true,  for  I  saw  a  group  of 
seven  or  eight  officers,  young  men  of 
fine  physical  development,  performing 
with  great  precision  movements  of 
Swedish  gymnastics.  Most  of  them 
before  long  would  lie  beneath  the  earth. 
They  knew  this,  but  they  acted  as  though 
they  did  not  know  it,  and  the  smile  never 
vanished  from  their  lips.     *     *     * 

WITH    NEW    COMPANIONS 

Soon  afterward  I  was  transferred  to 
Room  1.  A  warm  reception  greeted  me 
there.  Besides  two  Frenchmen,  Adju- 
tant Guillon  ■  and  a  chauffeur  named 
Dubuis,    this   room,   the   largest   of   the 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


133 


whole  prison,  contained  twenty  Czechs 
and  forty  Poles  arrested  at  the  same 
time  with  them  at  the  railway  station. 
The  room  also  contained  about  twenty 
Russians.  A  man  was  pointed  out  to  me, 
short  and  obese,  bald,  with  a  keen  and 
yet  also  furtive  gaze.  He  walked  up 
and  down  with  long  strides,  frowning 
and  preoccupied.  This  was  a  Bolshevist 
Commissary  charged  with  dishonesty  in 
office.  The  other  prisoners  lowered 
their  voices  when  this  ambiguous  person 
approached;  they  feared  that  he  might 
seek  to  rehabilitate  himself  by  spying 
and  informing.  There  were  also  among 
us  some  members  of  Russian  Socialist 
parties  independent  of  that  to  which  the 
Bolshevist  usurpers  belonged.  There 
were  many  interesting  personalities 
which  the  police  of  the  Czar's  regime  had 
often  tracked  down,  judging  their  ideas 
subversive.  And  yet  these  men  excited 
suspicion  in  the  Extraordinary  Commis- 
sion, which  accused  them  of  counter- 
revolutionary activities. 

Room  1,  like  all  those  which  formed 
part  of  the  prison,  was  contiguous  to  the 
long  corridor  through  which  I  had  been 
brought  on  July  31.  This  passage  was  a 
gallery,  whose  barred  windows,  above 
inner  courts  and  encompassing  walls, 
opened  like  a  row  of  sinister  eyes  fixed 
from  above  far  out  over  a  suburb  of 
Moscow.  Four  monumental  windows 
with  pointed  arches,  fortified  by  iron 
bars  before  which  the  most  formidable 
,  wild  beasts  would  have  felt  their  im- 
potence, premitted  us  to  look  out  upon 
this  corridor,  through  whose  openings 
we  could  see  gardens  in  which  worked 
cultivators  and  carters;  woodsheds,  scat- 
tered houses,  empty  land,  and  among 
green  foliage  the  polychrome  hues  of  an 
ancient  monastery  with  golden  bulbs  and 
high  turrets,  from  which  came  the  sound 
of  tolling  bells.  The  contrast  between 
that  sunlit  horizon,  where  the  radiant 
Summer  light  played,  and  the  hideous 
cage  in  which  we  were  imprisoned  was 
poignant.  We  were  in  a  room  that  was 
gray  and  dusty,  with  a  macadamized 
floor.  In  long,  close  alignment  stood 
some  90  or  100  beds  provided  only  with 
a  vermin-infested  mattress.  The  pro- 
miscuity and  uncleanliness  inflicted  on 
the  prisoners  were  most  lamentable. 


ATTACKS  OF  ENEMIES 
In  the  idleness  of  those  hours,  which 
passed  heavily,  the  reading  of  papers 
was  our  main  diversion.  The  two  of- 
ficial organs  of  the  Bolsheviki,  the  Iz- 
vestia  and  the  Pravda,  were  impatiently 
awaited  every  morning.  From  the  day 
of  my  arrival  these  papers  often  spoke 
of  me,  and  in  such  a  tone  that  it  began 
to  get  upon  my  nerves.  One  day  an 
article  of  the  Pravda  represented  me  as 
a  man  of  shameful  crimes,  an  agent  of 
the  monarchy;  the  next  day  the  Pravda 
jesuitically  attacked  me  as  though  I 
were  still  a  free  agent.  When  I  was 
already  imprisoned  in  my  cage  at  Ta- 
gannka  the  Pravda  quoted  fragments  of 
my  old  articles  deliberately  to  create 
the  impression  that  their  publication  was 
quite  recent.  And  the  Pravda  ended  its 
long  malediction  with  this  ominous 
phrase:  "  But  is  not  something  disa- 
greeable going  to  happen  to  you,  Mon- 
sieur Naudeau?  Take  care!  take  care!  " 
This  fact  that  I  was  the  personal  object 
of  the  violence  of  the  Bolshevist  press 
won  for  me  among  my  companions  a 
consideration  which  I  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  do  without.  This  flood  of  out- 
rage at  a  moment  when  I  could  neither 
answer  nor  discuss  had  a  singularly  de- 
pressing effect  upon  my  nerves.  More 
than  once  I  remained  prostrated  on  my 
pallet,  with  scarcely  strength  enough  to 
take  my  food. 

On.  Aug.  7  I  was  suddenly  called  to 
the  prison  office,  and  recognized  the 
French  Vice  Consul,  M.  Labonne,  accom- 
panied by  a  big  man,  M.  Morel,  who  had 
been  the  bookkeeper  of  the  Journal  de 
Russie  and  also  Secretary  of  the  Consu- 
late. I  uttered  a  cry  of  joy.  A  represen- 
tative of  the  Extraordinary  Commission 
accompanied  them.  He  told  us  that  if 
we  spoke  any  other  language  than  Rus- 
sian for  a  single  moment  he  would  im- 
mediately interrupt  our  conversation.  M. 
Labonne  and  I  thereupon  began  to  talk 
in  Russian.  He  tried  to  console  me  with 
words  from  which  I  saw  with  extreme 
sadness  that  he  could  not  do  much  for 
me,  but  I  learned  from  him  for  the  first 
time  with  deep  joy  that  events  on  the 
French  front  seemed  to  be  entering  up- 
on a  new  phase,  and  that  a  great  victory 
was  in  sight.     *     *     * 


134 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


FRENCH  MISSION  FOOD 

My  transfer  to  Room  1  had  the  advan- 
tage of  enabling  me  to  share  in  the  pro- 
visions distributed  three  times  a  week 
by  the  French  Mission  to  the  French, 
Czech,  and  Polish  soldiers.  On  other 
days  we  had  to  get  along  on  the  prison 
diet,  which  was  a  myth,  an  odor  rather 
than  a  substance,  consisting  mainly  of 
a  piece  of  black  bread,  cabbage  soup 
at  noon,  and  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening 
another  soup  of  the  same  kind. 

Under  pretext  that  I  had  not  yet 
been  examined,  I  was  kept  absolutely 
isolated  from  the  outer  world.  But  as 
it  was  indispensable  that  the  heavy  pots 
should  be  brought  to  us  from  the  prison 
office,  a  group  of  prisoners  from  our 
room  was  called  on  for  this  task.  I 
always  managed  to  be  one  of  this  group. 
Interviews  which  it  would  have  been  im- 
possible for  me  to  obtain  in  my  own 
person  I  secured  as  a  humble  porter. 
Once  in  the  prison  office  I  met  four  or 
five  of  the  young  Russian  officers  whose 
comrade  I.  had  been  for  two  days  in  the 
sinister  Room  1.  They  were  hand- 
some, strongly  built  young  men,  cour- 
teous and  frank.  Two  of  them,  with 
that  impulsive  heedlessness  characteris- 
tic of  Russians  when  they  are  in  love, 
held  their  fiancees  closely  embraced  in 
their  arms,  and  I  learned  that  one  of 
these  young  girls,  whose  charm  had 
struck  me  especially,  was  the  Prin- 
cess Turkestana.  These  love-intoxicated 
couples,  exalted  by  hope  born  of  de- 
spair, tried  in  the  brief  period  of  one  of 
these  meetings  to  realize  the  whole  eter- 
nity of  a  dreamed-of  happiness.     *     *     * 

We  lived  at  Tagannka  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  piety  not  without  its  charm. 
Weekly  masses  in  the  prison  chapel  af- 
forded us  the  enjoyment  of  beautiful 
music  and  the  fragrance  of  incense,  while 
the  Patriarch  of  Moscow,  who  was  one 
of  our  fellow-prisoners,  blessed  and  em- 
braced us.  Often,  outside  the  regular 
services,  the  church  bells  began  to  toll. 
A  panikhida,  or  mass  for  the  dead,  was 
to  be  solemnized.  A  group  of  us  took 
up  a  collection  for  the  celebration  of  a 
requiem  for  the  soul  of  some  friend  exe- 
cuted  the  day   before. 

[Life   flowed  by,    sad   and   monotonous,   In 


the  prison  at  Tagannka.  The  day's  exercise, 
the  mechanical  task  of  eating,  long  hours  of 
despairing,  brooding.  The  main  jailer  often 
appeared  in  the  evening  with  a  bit  of  paper ; 
he  would  call  out  a  name ;  the  one  called 
rose,  pale  and  trembling,  departed,  and  was 
never  seen  again.  Newcomers  took  their 
places.  An  American  Major  of  the  Inter- 
national Red  Cross  visited  the  prison  to 
study  conditions ;  in  a  brief  interview  with 
M.  Naudeau  he  held  out  no  hope  of  release, 
and  counseled  patience.  Hopes  of  allied 
intervention,  of  an  advance  from  the  east 
by  Czechoslovaks  or  Japanese  were  not  ful- 
filled. The  Red  Terror  of  Moscow  con- 
tinued ;  the  prisoners  daily  yielded  their  quota 
of  victims  to  the  executioner.  The  Extraor- 
dinary Commission  sent  Dzherzhinsky,  its 
President,  to  Tagannka,  to  expedite  the  con- 
demnations. Thin,  dark,  with  drooping  mus- 
tache, with  feverish,  bloodshot  eyes,  he  ap- 
peared and  examined  many  of  the  prisoners, 
one  by  one,  very  calmly ;  many  of  those 
questioned  by  him  were  shortly  afterward 
taken  out  and  shot,  among  them  M.  Nau- 
deau's  friend,  Captain  Vininkin,  after  inde- 
scribable moral  torture.  Every  time  a  file 
of  these  condemned  prisoners  departed 
through  the  gallery  on  their  way  to  execu- 
tion the  inmates  of  Room  1  gave  way  to 
despair.  A  sudden  perquisition  took  from 
the  prisoners,  especially  those  who  lived  in 
the  cells,  every  bit  of  food  or  means  of  com- 
fort which  they  had  managed  to  secure. 
On  Aug.  31  the  prisoners  learned  from  the 
Bolshevist  papers  that  in  Moscow  on  the  day 
before  the  life  of  Lenin  had  been  attempted, 
and  that  in  Petrograd  on  the  same  day 
TJritzky,  Commissary  of  Internal  Affairs  of 
the  Northern  Commune,  had  been  killed.  The 
Izvestia  and  the  Pravda  were  filled  with 
sombre  fury,  and  devoted  whole  pages  to 
horrible  threats  and  projects  of  reprisal.  The 
anxiety  of  the  political  prisoners  increased". 
The  inmates  of  Room  1  soo*i  learned  that 
they  were  to  be  withdrawn  from  Tagannka 
and  removed  to  the  prison  of  Butirky,  which 
had  a  sinister  reputation.  Before  they  left, 
one  of  their  number,  who  was  too  sick  to  rise 
from  his  bed,  was  taken  out  and  shot;  a 
Polish  officer,  severely  attacked  by  pneu- 
monia, was  allowed  to  die  without  medical 
attention.  The  narrative  of  M.  Naudeau  con- 
tinues] : 

IN    BUTIRKY    PRISON 

Horrible  was  our  state  when  we  finally 
arrived  in  the  courtyard  of  the  prison 
of  Butirky.  I  thought  I  had  already 
been  very  unhappy  during  the  preceding 
two  months.  I  was  soon  to  learn  that  a 
still  more  miserable  fate  awaited  me,  in 
comparison  with  which  the  memory  of 
Tagannka  would  leave  me  with  the 
greatest  regrets.  Man  is  a  wolf  for 
man. 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


135 


When  we  reached  the  prison  of 
Butirky,  bowed  under  the  weight  of  our 
cumbrous,  shapeless  packs,  the  jailers 
ordered  us  to  stand  in  rows  of  twos,  and 
we  waited  thus  for  a  long  time  in  the 
dark  hall  of  the  ground  floor.  *  *  * 
Thieves  and  assassins  poured  out  for 
nearly  two  hours.  These  wretched  beings, 
like  those  of  Tagannka,  were  clothed  in 
long  gray  cassocks;  the  jailers  pushed 
and  pulled  them  about  like  inanimate  ob- 
jects; we  saw  that  the  habit  of  con- 
trolling criminals  had  transformed  these 
State  agents  into  brutes  with  human 
faces.  As  soon  as  we  appeared  they  also 
addressed  us  roughly  and  pushed  us 
about.  *  *  *  The  hall  in  which  we 
were  waiting  was  dilapidated;  its 
cracked  plaster  hung  in  greenish  crusts, 
oozing  with  dank  moisture.  All  that  we 
saw  was  impregnated  with  wretchedness 
and  filth.  Butirky,  decidedly,  deserved 
its  sinister  reputation.  The  ugolovni, 
(common-law  criminals,)  flabby,  sallow 
beings,  dressed  like  so  many  Pierrots, 
sneered  as  they  passed  us,  seeing  so 
many  honest  men  waiting  to  take  their 
places.     *     *     * 

Finally  the  jailers  drove  us  up  three 
flights  of* stairs,  through  long  corridors; 
some  twenty-five  of  us  at  hazard  were 
forced  into  a  room  which  we  filled,  and 
the  door  was  locked  behind  us.  It  was 
a  small  room  with  a  vaulted  ceiling, 
where  we  could  scarcely  move  about 
without  colliding.  The  beds,  raised  ver- 
tically against  the  wall  during  the  day, 
almost  touched,  and  when  they  were 
taken  down  at  night  they  occupied  three- 
quarters  of  the  room's  area.  The  cement 
floor  was  covered  with  a  slime  which  we 
could  not  remove.  The  room  was  vilely 
malodorous.  The  Bolshevist  creators  of 
a  new  world  thus  precipitated  us,  un- 
judged  and  uncondemned,  into  a  dungeon 
where,  a  short  time  before,  twenty-five 
criminals  had  been  living.  Without  disin- 
fection, without  cleaning,  we  were  in- 
stalled in  slime,  in  sweat,  in  all  the  ac- 
cumulated filth  of  these  wretches,  and 
their  parasites  were  already  pumping 
our  blood. 

All  the  criminals  had  not  been  re- 
moved; we  met  them  three  times  a  day 
in  the  toilet  rooms,  where  we  were  all 


mingled  together.  Those  of  us  assigned 
to  do  manual  labor  and  whose  duty  it 
was  to  descend  to  the  kitchens  to  bring 
the  enormous  caldrons  of  soup  had  to 
mix  with  dense  throngs  of  these  bandits, 
and  actually  come  to  blows  with  them. 
The  same  jailers  watched  over  us  both; 
they  used  the  same  language  when  they 
had  orders  to  give.  Nothing  was  more 
painful  than  to  hear  the  incessant  clam- 
ors of  these  rough  jailers  and  the  bursts 
of  devilish  laughter  of  the  criminals  in 
the  long  corridors  which  re-echoed  them. 

STRANGE    BEDFELLOWS 

In  our  cell  at  Butirky  chance  had 
united  some  very  curious  types  of  our 
Russian  world.  I  slept  between  a  Colonel, 
veteran  of  many  great  battles,  and  the 
manager  of  a  metallurgical  factory. 
Among  us  were  one  of  the  most  eminent 
lawyers  of  Petrograd,  a  young  sailor  of 
the  Socialist  Revolutionary  Party  of  the 
Left  accused  of  being  one  of  the  assas- 
sins of  Mirbach,  and  a  Captain  whom  I 
did  not  at  first  recognize,  but  who  turned 
out  to  be  one  of  my  friends  in  Man- 
churia. We  had  with  us  also  two  rural 
landlords  who  had  been  possessed  of 
large  estates,  a  priest,  a  former  brewer 
of  Petrograd,  and  some  peasants. 

But,  above  all,  our  company  was  note- 
worthy for  the  number  of  Socialists  of 
all  parties  that  it  contained.  *  *  * 
Subtle  controversies  were  engaged  in. 
These  militant  Socialists  were  theoreti- 
cally as  hostile  to  capitalism  as  the  party 
in  power.  And  during  these  prolonged 
debates,  the  rural  proprietors  nodded 
their  heads,  very  bewildered  and  su- 
premely afraid  of  giving  offense;  dis- 
concerted, they  made  big  eyes  or  lowered 
their  gaze  modestly,  to  hide  their  disap- 
proval, thinking  that  decidedly  they  had 
fallen  into  queer  company.  Sometimes 
they  exchanged  a  furtive  glance,  which 
said :  "  The  main  point  these  people  are 
discussing  is  our  own  death." 

When  the  fine  days  of  Autumn  came 
to  an  end,  a  new  affliction  came  upon 
us,  that  of  bad  odors.  From  October 
on,  with  the  first  frosts,  the  Polish  sol- 
diers, like  Russians  in  this,  began  to 
manifest  great  fear  of  air.  They  had 
attributed  the  death  of  their  officer  at 


136 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Tagannka  to  a  draft,  and  they  remained 
impressed  by  this.  Crouched,  shivering 
at  the  foot  of  their  beds,  these  haters  of 
air  began  to  shake  as  soon  as  we  tried 
to  freshen  the  fetid  atmosphere  of  our 
prison.  But,  as  they  were  in  the  major- 
ity, we  had  to  resign  ourselves.  Man, 
that  evil-tempered  animal,  is  also  a  malo- 
dorous animal.  The  communism  of  bad 
smells  is  that  form  of  communism  most 
easily  realizable. 

Also  we  had  to  resolve,  we  who  did 
not  eat,  to  allow  ourselves  to  be  eaten 
by  myriads  of  insects  who  had  lived  on 
the  flesh  of  criminals.  And  to  think,  I 
reflected,  one  feverish  night,  when  nau- 
seated by  the  exhalation  of  breaths  and 
other  odors,  harassed  by  the  resistless 
attack  of  innumerable  and  indestructible 
insects,  I  tossed  on  my  bed,  that  it  is 
with  the  object  of  making  humanity 
finer  and  happier  that  the  Bolshevist 
fanatics    pack    together    thousands     of 


intelligent  beings  to  rot  away  in  prison! 
One  day,  about  Oct.  10,  the  jailer  ap- 
peared, and  through  the  door  held  ajar 
hailed  my  friend  Guillon,  and  told  him  to 
take  all  his  baggage  and  leave  the  room. 
What  was  his  destination?  We  did  not 
know.  I  learned  a  little  later  that  he, 
as  well  as  Dubuis,  had  been  liberated. 
About  an  hour  after  my  compatriot  had 
left  I  was  also  called  by  the  jailer  and 
ordered  to  take  my  things  and  leave  the 
room.  The  Poles  pressed  around  me, 
overwhelming  me  with  congratulations, 
but  some  presentiment  kept  me  from  re- 
joicing. The  jailer  took  me  through 
long  corridors.  I  went  down  a  flight  of 
stairs  and  through  gratings,  and  reached 
a  part  of  the  prison  which  I  did  not 
know;  a  door  was  opened,  and  I  found 
myself,  not  in  the  street,  but  alone  in  a 
narrow  cell,  whose  bolts,  as  they  were 
pushed,  reverberated  behind  me. 
[T"o  be  Continued] 


German  New  Guinea  as  an  Australian  Colony 


THE  German  New  Guinea  territory, 
handed  over  by  allied  mandate  to 
Australia,  is  very  nearly  twice  the  size 
of  the  British  Isles.  It  includes  German 
New  Guinea,  (the  northern  part  of  the 
mainland  of  New  Guinea,)  New  Britain, 
New  Ireland,  several  small  adjacsnt 
islands,  the  Admiralty  and  Hermit 
groups,  and  Buka  and  Bdugainville  of 
the  German  Solomons.  The  white  popu- 
lation, mostly  Germans,  is  about  4,000, 
the  native  population  about  750,000. 
This  territory  is  one  of  the  most  fertile 
in  the  South  Pacific,  and  has  been  well 
developed  by  the  German  settlers.  Ger- 
many loses  an  excellent  territory,  which, 
besides  its  political  and  strategic  im- 
portance to  the  British  Empire,  has 
wonderful  commercial  possibilities.  Un- 
der wise  and  progressive  administration, 
in  ten  years'  time  it  might  vie  with  the 
Dutch  colony  of  Java.  It  possesses 
splendid  harbors  and  rivers,  and  as  a 
naval  base  (Germany's  intention)  the 
whole  possession  offered  ideal  conditions. 
The  capital,  Rabaul,  is  the  best  planned 
town  in  the  South  Pacific  islands. 
Blanche  Bay,  its  harbor,  can  carry  the 
deepest    of    oversea    steamers;    German 


men-of-war  were  able  to  tie  up  to  the 
fine  jetty  within  the  small  inner  harbor, 
directly  in  front  of  the  town.  Every 
street  is  laid  out  with  uniform  care  and 
regularity,  and  is  shaded  by  beautiful 
tropical  trees.  The  botanical  gardens, 
laid  out  and  managed  by  a  gardener 
from  the  ex-Kaiser's  own  Berlin  gar- 
dens, is  without  doubt  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  whole  Southern  Hemisphere. 
There  are  huge  business  warehouses, 
ornate  public  buildings,  and  elegant  and 
comfortable  private  bungalows.  Every- 
thing has  been  done  for  color  and  ef- 
fect. 

It  was  in  September,  1914,  that  an 
Australian  naval  contingent  landed  at 
Herbertshohe  to  seize  the  German  ter- 
ritory and  to  silence  the  powerful  wire- 
less station  up  in  the  hills  about  three 
miles  away.  The  Germans  promised  no 
opposition,  but  no  sooner  had  the  Aus- 
tralians landed  than  mines  were  ex- 
ploded, and  from  secure  trenches  Ger- 
man soldiers  fired  upon  them.  The 
march  of  the  Australians  on  to  the  wire- 
less station  through  almost  impenetrable 
jungle  was  accounted  one  of  the  fine 
deeds  of  the  war. 


Forty-six  Months  a  Prisoner 

By  ANDRE  BANDONI 

[Illustrated  With   Drawings  vy  the  Author] 

The  author  of  this  article,  a  French  soldier  and  artist,  was  captured  by  the 
Germans  in  the  very  first  fighting  in  Alsace — after  all  the  other  men  in  his  squad 
had  fallen — and  remained  a  prisoner  until  the  signing  of  the  armistice.  He  is  a 
brother  of  Lieutenant  Georges  Rodger  Bandoni,  who  ivas  sent  to  the  United  States 
as  a  member  of  the  French  Advisory  Mission,  and  who  spent  a  whole  year  in  Camps 
Sheridan,  Jackson,  and  Doniphan  as  instructor  of  artillery.  When  Andre  Bandoni 
was  released  at  the  close  of  hostilities  he  prepared  for  the  French  Ministry  of  War 
a  brief  account  of  what  he  had  seen  and  endured,  and  this  document,  translated  by 
his  brother,  is  here  presented  in  substance,  with  pen-and-ink  drawings  by  the  author. 


FORTY-SIX  months  have  passed  since 
that  fatal  day  in  the  Vosges  Moun- 
tains when  the  first  wave  of  the  bar- 
barians swept  over  the  line  of  dead 
Frenchmen  and  made  prisoners  of  the 
few  unfortunates  still  left  alive.  Years 
of  tortured  waiting  have  intervened,  and 
many  of  my  comrades  of  those  years 
•now  sleep  in  the  graves  of  exiles. 

So  brutal  was  the  treatment  inflicted 
upon  us  that  many  clashes  occurred  be- 
tween our  captors  and  us  until  hunger 
and  weakness  drove  us  to  surly  submis- 
sion. After  we  had  been  thoroughly 
searched  and  robbed  of  money,  jewelry, 
and  even  the  pictures  and  letters  of  our 
loved  ones,  we  were  driven  to  work  at 
the  point  of  the  pistol  or  bayonet.  Our 
first  work  was  grave-digging.  The  bury- 
ing of  the  vast  masses  of  German  dead 
gave  us  a  grim  satisfaction,  while  sor- 
row wrung  our  hearts  over  our  own  be- 
loved heroes. 

Finally,  we  were  carried  further  from 
the  front  and  the  noise  of  the  guns  grew 
fainter  and  fainter.  We  listened  eagerly 
for  news.  Had  the  French  sunk  under 
the  blows  of  the  tei'rible  engine  of  mili- 
tarism? Our  captors  delighted  to  keep 
us  in  ignorance.  We  knew  not  even 
when  the  hour  of  Joffre,  the  hour  of  the 
Marne,  came.  Weary  months  passed  be- 
fore that  news  sifted  in  to  us. 

Whenever  we  were  transferred  by 
rail  from  one  point  to  another,  we  were 
huddled  together,  the  sick,  the  wounded, 
the  well,  into  cattle  cars  and  sent  on 
long,  long  journeys.  We  were  greeted 
at  the  various  stations  by  German  men 


and  women  waving  flags  and  singing 
"  Deutschland  iiber  alles,"  and  taunting 
us.  Endless-seeming  days  at  last  termi- 
nated in  various  camps;  some  had  bar- 
racks, some  only  canvas  tents,  while  at 
other  places  the  French  were  herded  in 
the  open,  like  cattle;  they  had  to  con- 
struct their  own  dugouts,  or  else  perish 
in  the  rain  and  cold.  An  officer  visited 
each  camp  to  read  orders,  explain  court- 
martial,  and  enumerate  the  hundreds  of 
things  that  were  "  verboten." 

Very  soon  after  our  arrival  we  were 
organized  into  squads  for  various  kinds 
of  work;  some  went  to  the  quarries, 
some  to  the  mines,  some  to  the  roads 
and  railways,  but  all  were  subjected  to 
a  life  of  slavery  and  inhuman  depriva- 
tion of  food. 

For  months  we  were  not  allowed  to 
send  news  of  our  whereabouts  to  our 
families.  Imagine  the  agony  of  suspense 
on  either  side!  At  last  came  the  first 
letters  and  packages — through  the  Red 
Cross.  The  letters  filled  our  starving 
hearts,  while  the  money  orders  and 
packages  revived  our  starving  bodies. 
The  rigors  of  prison  life  were  some- 
what relaxed,  and  we  were  allowed  to 
amuse  ourselves  with  drawing,  painting, 
woodcarving,  and  music.  Yes,  we  sang! 
And  then  we  arranged  concerts  and 
theatricals — anything  to  take  our  minds 
off  our  misery  and  cheer  the  fainting 
hearts  of  many  comrades. 

The  prisons  were  becoming  crowded, 
for  now  to  our  numbers  were  added 
Belgians,  Russians,  Serbians,  Italians, 
and  Rumanians.    Strange  dialogues  took 


138 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


place,  in  which  gesture  and  facial  ex- 
pression had  more  weight  than  words. 
Necessity  overcame  the  barriers  of  un- 
known speech.  I  hope  the  Russian 
prisoners  will  never  forget  the  cordial 
welcome  we  French  gave  them  in  Novem- 
ber, 1914,  at  the  Bavarian  camp  of  Lech- 


T 


Ik  ^ 

»  -n  n  ipsji 


TIED  TO  THE  STAKE  IN  A  GERMAN  PRISON 

field.  But  this  fraternizing  of  the  allied 
prisoners  did  not  suit  the  Germans. 
They  sought  to  sow  dissension  and  dis- 
trust among  us — and  succeeded  in  only 
a  few  instances. 

Some  of  the  neutral  nations  sent  com- 
mittees into  the  prison  camps  to  "  inves- 
tigate conditions."  What  could  they  see 
or  learn  except  what  the  Germans  de- 
sired? They  had  the  stage  set  for  the 
visits,  and  exploited  the  concerts,  theat- 
rioals,  and  their  activities.  Then  when 
the  visitors  had  departed,  we  were 
"punished."  The  allied  nationalities 
were  separated  into  barb-wired  camps, 
while  armed  sentries  paced  between  to 
prevent  communication.  The  French 
were  also  isolated  into  "  blocks  "  behind 
barbed  wire,  being  scattered  thus  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  the  most  "un- 
ruly." Yet  all  this  did  not  prevent  es- 
capes over  or  under  the  wire,  and  visit- 


ing went  on  between  the  allies,  thus 
keeping  up  our  spirits.  Also,  many 
practical  jokes  were  played  upon  our 
stupid  jailers,  who  could  only  reply  with 
brutality. 

So  we  came  to  know  all  the  horrors  of 
the  various  modes  of  punishment.  In 
some  camps  "  the  stake "  was  used;  to 
this  the  prisonor  was  chained  and  left, 
according  to  season,  either  in  the  burn- 
ing sun  until  fainting  or  in  the  snow  or 


SQUAT    BEHIND    THE    IRON    BARS    OF 

THE    CAGE " 


icy  rain  until  so  frozen  that  only  a  rem- 
nant of  life  was  left — often  death  re- 
leased him.  In  other  camps  "  the  silo  " 
was  used.  This  was  a  horrible  hole  in  the 
ground,  with  no  covering  overhead;  and 
filthy  stuff,  given  the  name  of  food,  was 
thrown  to  him  just  often  enough  to  keep 
him  from  dying.  But  worst  of  all  was 
"the  cage";  this  instrument  of  torture 
was  of  iron  bars;  it  was  too  small  for  a 
man  either  to  lie  down  in  and  stretch 
out,  or  to  stand  erect;  his  limbs  were 
necessarily  bent  and  cramped  all  the 
time. 

Another  "  exquisite  joke  "  of  the  Huns 
was  to  interrogate  the  prisoners,  learn 
their  former  occupation  and  reverse  vio- 


FORTY-SIX  MONTHS  A  PRISONER 


139 


GERMAN    SENTRY   GUARDING   THE    BARBED   WIRE    FENCE    OF    A    PRISON    ENCAMPMENT 


lently  all  their  former  modes  of  life. 
Hence,  the  professional  men  were  sent 
to  quarries,  mines,  roads,  or  into  the 
swamps  or  the  turf -pits. 

We  welcomed  being  sent  to  the 
country  to  harvest  the  crops.  Here  we 
studied  the  peasants  and  learned  their 
triple  form  of  slavery  under  the  vicar, 
the  schoolmaster,  and  the  Mayor,  who 
all  taught  that  the  Kaiser  was  supreme. 
We  French  took  delight  in  introducing 
ideas  of  liberty  and  democracy,  and  dealt 
some  terrific  blows  to  the  passive  habit 
of  implicit  obedience  which  had  en- 
slaved the  German  Nation. 

These  various  experiences  were  a 
school  for  us,  for  we  allied  prisoners 
grew  more  to  cherish  the  ideals  for 
which  we  had  fought  and  were  now  be- 
ing tortured.  Not  even  death  could  take 
from  us  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  mili- 
tarism. So  thousands  perished,  not  only 
through  plain  murder  but  through 
tortures  such  as  I  have  described;  and 
to  these  was  often  added  the  horror  of 
epidemics  of  typhus  and  cholera.    In  the 


latter  case  allied  doctors  were  permitted 
to  come,  but  with  empty  hands,  and  the 
little  they  could  do  in  the  circumstances 
was  bravely  performed.  In  rare  in- 
stances a  few  German  doctors  remained 
at  their  posts  of  duty,  and  some  thus 
gave  their  lives;  but  the  majority  fled 
with  the  other  officials  from  the  doomed 
camps.  As  our  weaker  comrades  thus 
yielded  to  disease,  torture,  hope  deferred, 
we  reverently  regarded  them.  They  were 
unsung  heroes  who  went  down  under  in- 
human odds.  They  fill  hallowed  graves, 
the  graves  of  heroes;  yet  they  live  in 
our  memories,  in  our  heart  of  hearts. 
They  are  the  heroes  of  that  awful  list 
marked  officially  "  missing." 

Thus  the  weary  years  dragged  on. 
Our  struggle  was  to  keep  our  faith,  our 
cheerfulness,  and  to  uphold  the  faint- 
hearted. Daily  we  climbed  our  gloomy 
calvary. 

Now  a  steady  stream  of  new  prisoners 
came  to  bring  despair.  The  battle  lines, 
east  and  west,  were  raging;  brothers 
and    friends    were    falling.     Dark,    dark 


140 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


was  the  cloud,  indeed!  But  we  steadfastly 
believed  that  Joffre,  Petain,  and  Foch 
would  yet  turn  that  cloud  into  silver. 
By  no  means  should  the  enemy  break 
our  spirit  or  our  faith!  They  could  place 
us  once  more  on  French  soil,  and  at  the 
point  of  pistol  or  bayonet  force  us,  as 
unarmed  men,  to  dig  and  serve,  but  only 
a  small  amount  of  labor  could  they  wring 
from  us,  for  many  gave  their  lives 
rather  than  serve  the  enemies  of  France, 
while  others  fell  victims  to  the  shells 
and  bullets  of  their  own  comrades  just 
across  No  Man's  Land. 

At  last,  in  May  of  1917,  there  came 
a  glorous  light  from  the  west;  a  light 
that  had  its  origin  beyond  the  ocean! 
And  to  the  shout  that  had  greeted  it 
from  London  to  Paris  and  on  to  Rome 
was  added  the  open  rejoicing  of  prisoners 
who  refused  to  remain  silent.  America 
had  entered  the  war! 

The  Germans  looked  on  us  and  smiled. 
The  newspapers  made  haste  to  reassure 
the  anxious  population.  "  The  American 
army  does  not  exist,"  they  said.  "  Such 
forces  as  the  Americans  have  are  com- 
posed of  idealists  and  business  men,  who 
would  never  dream  of  drawing  sword 
against  the  Kaiser's  cohorts;  and  even 
if  they  tried  it,  their  ships  would  meet 
the  fate  of  the  Lusitania." 

We  waited  feverishly.  Then  came  the 
news  of  the  formidable  army  landed  on 
our  beloved  shores  and  eagerly  training 
for  battle!  At  last  the  Germans  seemed 
suddenly  to  awaken  to  their  danger. 
While  there  was  yet  time  they  must 
make    a    supreme    effort- — before    those 


Americans  were  ready.  So  the  line  of 
battle  swayed  to  and  fro,  while  we 
watched  Foch  with  bated  breath.  The 
wall  of  steel  was  holding  now,  for, 
marching,  marching,  came  Pershing,  and 


AT    THE    BOTTOM    OP    THE    "  SILO " 

the  Star-Spangled  Banner  floated  beside 
our  Tricolor  in  the  storm  of  shot  and 
shell  and  the  haze  of  posionous  gas. 
American  blood,  noble  and  generous,  and 
faithful  to  the  memory  of  Lafayette  and 
Rochambeau,  flowed  upon  the  martyred 
soil  of  France!  The  day  of  the  Hun  was 
over.  The  hour  of  victory  for  human 
liberty  had  struck. 


Japan  and  the  Peace  Settlements 

Resentment    of    China    Over    the    Shantung    Award — Bitter 
Debate  in  United  States  Senate 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  10,  1919] 


THOSE  portions  of  the  German 
Peace  Treaty  (Articles  156-158) 
which  transfer  to  Japan  the 
former  German  rights  in  Shan- 
tung Peninsula  have  become  the  sub- 
ject of  fierce  dispute,  first,  between  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  themselves,  and, 
secondly,  in  the  United  States,  particu- 
larly in  the  Senate,  where  certain  Re- 
publican Senators  have  attacked  the 
treaty  especially  upon  this  ground.  That 
these  articles  were  formulated  under  the 
combined  pressure  of  the  Italian  with- 
drawal from  the  conference  because 
of  Fiume,  the  discontent-  of  Belgium 
threatening  a  similar  secession,  and  the 
imminent  possiblity  that  Japan,  disap- 
pointed and  incensed  at  the  failure  of 
her  efforts  to  have  a  clause  of  racial 
equality  inserted,  would  refuse  to  sign 
the  treaty  and  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant  if  she  were  refused  her  de- 
mands in  the  matter  of  Shantung,  was 
repeatedly  set  forth  by  Paris  correspond- 
ents in  close  touch  with  the  proceedings 
of  the  Peace  Conference.  The  further 
complication  of  the  secret  agreements 
made  by  Japan  with  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Italy  in  1917,  by  which 
these  nations,  at  a  peculiarly  difficult 
moment  of  the  war,  pledged  themselves 
to  support  Japan's  Shantung  claims,  and 
even  of  an  agreement  signed  by  China 
herself  that  the  Shantung  rights  should 
be  taken  over  by  Japan  from  Germany, 
was  likewise  pointed  out. 

President  Wilson  has  stated  that  the 
Shantung  settlement  was  decided  on 
only  after  emphatic  assurances  from 
the  Japanese  that  the  territory  in  ques- 
tion would  be  returned  within  a  reason- 
able time;  but  the  Chinese  and  their 
friends  declare  that  these  are  idle 
promises,  and  insist  that  Japan  should 
officially  put  itself  on  record  in  the 
matter.      That    this    would    be    done   by 


Japan  was  prophesied  by  President  Wil- 
son; in  the  event  that  it  were  not  done, 
he  intimated,  he  himself  would  issue  a 
statement  on  the  understanding  reached 
at  the  Peace  Conference. 

The  prediction  of  the  President  was 
fulfilled  with  the  official  statement  of 
Viscount  Uchida  in  Tokio  on  Aug.  3, 
reiterating  Japan's  intention  "  to  hand 
back  Shantung  in  full  sovereignty  to 
China,  retaining  only  economic  privi- 
leges," and  intimating  that  an  interna- 
tional and  not  a  purely  Japanese  com- 
munity would  be  established  at  Tsing- 
tao.  A  reference  to  the  Japanese- 
Chinese  secret  treaty  of  1915  evoked 
from  President  Wilson  a  statement  that 
at  Paris  he  had  explicitly  repudiated  any 
form  of  acquiescence  in  that  treaty. 
Shortly  afterward  various  patriotic  Chi- 
nese societies  organized  in  the  United 
States  made  from  Washington  a  formal 
reply  to  Viscount  Uchida,  in  which  it 
was  pointed  out,  on  the  basis  of  Japan's 
own  action  in  the  past,  that  a  return  of 
sovereignty  without  the  return  of  eco- 
nomic rights  was  meaningless,  and  that 
a  full  and  unconditional  restoration  of 
the  territory  involved  must  be  demanded. 
Similar  views  were  publicly  expressed  by 
persons  of  prominence  friendly  to  China, 
notably  by  Dr.  E.  T.  Williams,  technical 
adviser  on  Far  Eastern  matters  at  the 
Peace  Conference,  in  testimony  given  on 
Aug.  22  before  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

SHANTUNG  QUESTION  IN  PARIS 

Dr.  Williams  stated  that  the  President, 
in  discussing  the  disposition  of  German- 
leased  rights  in  Kiao-Chau  Bay  and 
Tsing-tao,  had  told  him  in  Paris  last 
April  that  "  the  war  appears  to  have 
been  fought  to  establish  the  sanctity  of 
treaties;  and  though  some  of  them  are 
unconscionable,  they  must  be  kept."   His 


142 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


own  view  of  the   Shantung  award  was 

expressed  as  follows: 

My  opinion  is  that  the  decision  was 
most  unfortunate.  I  believe  the  Kiao- 
Chau  territory  and  the  railroads  run- 
ning from  Tsing-tao  through  Shantung 
Province  ought  to  have  gone  automati- 
cally to  China  at  the  Peace  Conference. 
They  were  taken  from  China  by  a  Ger- 
man act  of  piracy,  and  the  fact  that 
Japan  got  them  from  China  afterward 
did  not  alter  the  fact  that  they  should 
have  reverted  to  China,  the  sovereign 
nation. 

Reviewing  the  negotiations  at  Paris, 
Dr.  Williams  threw  new  light  on  the 
psychology  of  President  Wilson  in  form- 
ing the  ultimate  decision.  Dr.  Williams, 
following  the  receipt  by  the  American 
delegation  of  a  protest  from  the  legisla- 
tive assembly  of  Shantung  Province 
against  awarding  Kiao-Chau  to  Japan, 
had  pointed  out  to  the  conference  that, 
under  the  treaty  with  China  in  1858,  the 
United  States  was  bound  to  protect 
China  in  this  contingency.  Instructed  to 
put  in  writing  his  suggestion  that  a 
clause  be  inserted  in  the  treaty  provid- 
ing for  the  return  of  Kiao-Chau  to  China, 
he  did  this;  subsequently  he  was  asked 
by  the  President  to  confer  with  the  Far 
Eastern  experts  of  Great  Britain  and 
France,  and  to  file  a  report  stating 
whether  it  would  be  better  for  China  if 
the  German  rights  in  Shantung  were 
transferred  directly  and  unqualifiedly  to 
Japan,  or  whether  the  Japanese-Chinese 
treaty  of  May  25,  1915,  should  be  carried 
out.  (This  treaty  included  a  promise  by 
Japan  to  return  to  China  all  of  Shan- 
tung on  four  conditions,  involving  per- 
petual and  exclusive  control  by  Japan  of 
the  port  of  Tsing-tao.) 

On  April  24  President  Wilson  told  him 
that  Great  Britain  and  France  were 
bound  to  fulfill  their  secret  treaties  with 
Japan.  Dr.  Williams  then  suggested  that 
the  award  be  made  on  condition  of  re- 
version to  China  within  a  year,  and,  at 
the  President's  request,  put  this  in  writ- 
ing. On  April  24  the  combined  report 
of  the  Far  Eastern  experts  was  sent.  It 
expressed  the  view  that  it  would  be 
better  for  China  to  have  the  Shantung 
territory  awarded  to  Japan  outright 
rather  than  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  1915.  Dr.  Williams  and  the 
British  expert  subsequently  filed  an  inde- 


pendent memorandum  insisting  that 
neither  of  these  things  be  done,  but  that 
a  blanket  return  to  China  be  provided 
for. 

In  the  memorandum  submitted  by  Dr. 
Williams  to  President  Wilson  the  former 
said  that  the  treaty  of  1915  was  obtained 
from  China  by  force  and  duress;  that 
Japan  at  the  time  had  two  divisions  of 
crack  troops  in  China  and  sent  two 
more;  and  that  she  gave  China  only 
fifty-one  hours  to  comply  with  an 
ultimatum.  Regarding  the  President's 
Fourteen  Points,  which  Mr.  Wilson  had 
told  him  previously  did  not,  unfortunate- 
ly, cover  China's  case,  Dr.  Williams  in 
his  memorandum  pointed  out  that  the 
President  had  broadened  the  scope  of 
these  principles  in  his  address  at  Wash- 
ington's tomb  on  July  4,  and  that  he 
believed  this  portion  of  the  President's 
peace  program  did  cover  the  Shantung 
case;  on  this  ground  he  urged  abroga- 
tion of  the  secret  treaties  and  a  settle- 
ment of  the  Shantung  question  on  its 
merits. 

On  April  30,  however,  he  received 
word  that  the  decision,  in  the  form  em- 
bodied in  the  Peace  Treaty,  had  been  ar- 
rived at. 

In  his  further  testimony  Dr.  Williams 
said  that  Chinese  resentment  over  the 
award  to  Japan  involved  danger  of  fur- 
ther war,  and  that  American  prestige  in 
China  had  been  appreciably  lowered, 
inasmuch  as  the  United  States  had  in- 
vited China  to  enter  the  war,  and  that 
China  had  thus  expected  the  United 
States  to  stand  by  her  at  the  Peace  Con- 
ference. 

MINISTER  REINSCH  RESIGNS 

As  a  direct  result,  it  was  stated,  of 
the  Shantung  award  and  the  failure  of 
the  United  States  to  support  China's 
claims  against  those  of  Japan,  Dr.  Paul 
S.  Reinsch,  American  Minister  to  China 
since  the  early  days  of  the  Wilson  Ad- 
ministration, tendered  his  resignation, 
which  was  received  at  Washington  on 
Aug.  26.  It  was  the  opinion  of  those  in 
close  touch  with  the  Chinese  situation, 
and  with  Mr.  Reinsch's  work  at  Peking, 
that  his  position  with  the  Peking  Gov- 
ernment had  become  untenable  as  the 
result  of  his  having  given  that  Govern- 


JAPAN  AND   THE  PEACE  SETTLEMENTS 


143 


ment  assurance  that  China's  interests 
would  be  supported  by  America  at  the 
Peace  Conference,  thus  inducing  China 
to  declare  war  on  Germany. 

Meanwhile  China's  situation,  after  the 
refusal  of  her  instructed  delegates  to 
sign  the  Peace  Treaty  with  Germany, 
remained  anomalous.  On  Aug.  17  it 
was  announced  from  Peking  that  the 
edict  declaring  the  war  with  Germany 
at  an  end  would  not  be  issued  until  the 
treaty  with  Austria  was  signed.  The 
Chinese  Government  was  then  consider- 
ing what  measures  would  be  taken  when 
the  mandate  was  issued,  including  the 
right  of  Germans  to  extraterritoriality. 
It  still  maintained  unaltered  its  de- 
termination not  to  negotiate  with  Japan 
regarding  the  Shantung  provisions  of 
the  Peace  Treaty. 

An  important  development  in  the 
Chinese- Japanese  situation  was  the  sign- 
ing of  the  Austrian  Peace  Treaty  on 
Sept.  10  at  St.  Germain  by  the  Chinese 
delegates,  whereby  China  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  League  of  Nations.  This  step, 
when  the  League  of  Nations  begins  to 
function,  will  enable  China  to  present 
her  case  with  respect  to  Shantung  and 
the  1915  treaties  before  the  League. 

KOREAN  POLICY  INDICTED 
The  defenders  of  China's  attitude  are 
numerous.  One  of  these  is  Professor 
Homer  B.  Hulbert,  for  twenty-three 
years  a  resident  of  Korea  and  former 
official  adviser  of  the  Korean  Emperor, 
who  on  Aug.  16  filed  a  statement  with 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions in  which  he  said  that  the  Japanese 
had  ruled  Korea  against  the  will  of  the 
people  with  an  iron  hand,  and  in  many 
ways  had  proved  the  hardest  kind  of 
taskmasters. 

With  the  statement  he  filed  copies  of 
letters  written  by  the  Korean  Emperor 
fourteen  years  ago  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States  and  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, protesting  against  the  act  of  Japan 
in  assuming  a  protectorate  over  his  coun- 
try. In  his  letter  to  President  Roose- 
velt the  Emperor  declared  that  "  the  so- 
called  treaty  of  protectorate  recently 
concluded  between  Korea  and  Japan 
was  extorted  at  the  point  of  the  sword 
and  under  duress,"  and  that  he,  as  the 


head  of  the  Korean  Government,  had 
never  consented  to  the  negotiation  of  the 
treaty.  In  the  letter  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land he  sought  aid  in  bringing  the  dis- 
pute before  The  Hague  tribunal  for  ad- 
judication. 

In  his  statement  Mr.  Hulbert  said: 
The  time  has  come  when  it  seems  neces- 
sary to  lay  before  the  American  people 
some  facts  bearing  upon  the  request  of 
the  Korean  people  that  they  be  freed 
from  the  tyranny  of  Japan.  This  request 
was  made  by  millions  of  that  nation  in 
a  perfectly  peaceful  way  on  March  1, 
1919,  and  was  met  by  a  perfect  orgy  of 
abuse  and  persecution  on  the  part  of 
the  military  authorities  there.  Thousands 
of  people  were  beaten,  tortured,  and  even 
killed,  and  women  were  treated  with  ob- 
scene   brutality. 

PROTRACTED  HOSTILITY 
Professor  Hulbert  traced  the  history 
of  Japanese-Korean  relations  from  600 
B.  C.  to  the  present  time,  and  said  that 
there  never  was  a  time  in  all  these  cen- 
turies "when  Japan  did  not  exhibit  a 
hostile  and  aggressive  spirit  toward  the 
Korean  people  and  Government."  After 
describing  the  assassinations  and  in- 
trigues of  1884  he  continued: 

The  people  of  America  have  read  in 
all  the  papers  indescribable  atrocities  of 
which  Japan  has  been  guilty  during  the 
last  few  months.  And  now  Japan, 
whipped  to  it  by  public  opinion,  says  that 
the  military  party  has  gone  too  far  and 
reforms  will  be  instituted.  The  apologists 
of  Japan  have  been  saying  that  the  civil 
party  will  change  all  that.  Well,  I  ask 
the  American  public  to  note  that  the  fol- 
lowing things  were  common  occurrences 
in  Korea  when  the  civil  party  was  domi- 
nant there  and  Prince  Ito  was  the  Gover- 
nor General : 

Because  three  Koreans,  maddened  by 
the  fact  that  all  their  land  had  been 
taken  by  the  Japanese  for  railroad  pur- 
poses, without  a  cent  of  immediate  or 
prospective  payment,  went  out  one  night 
and  tore  up  a  few  feet  of  a  construction 
track,  they  were  taken  out  and  crucified 
and  then  shot  to  pieces.  There  are  hun- 
dreds  of   photographs   of   this   event. 

When  a  telegraph  line  was  cut  near 
a  country  village  by  parties  unknown  but 
presumably  by  Korean  guerrilla  fighters, 
the  Japanese  came  and  burned  down  ten 
villages  and  left  the  people  to  freeze  and 
starve  during  the  Winter.  One  old  man 
over  eighty  years  old,  on  his  knees, 
begged  them  to  spare  his  home.  The 
Japanese  ran  him  through  with  their 
swords  and  threw  his  body  into  the 
burning  rafters  of  his  own  home. 


144 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Within  a  stone's  throw  of  my  own 
house  in  Seoul  a  Korean  lived  who  re- 
fused to  sell  his  house  to  the  Japanese 
for  one-quarter  of  its  value.  One  night 
six  Japanese,  stripped  stark  naked,  broke 
into  the  house  and  shocked  the  inmates 
so  that  they  deserted  the  house  and  fled 
to  the  country,  and  the  Japanese  got  the 
place  for  nothing. 

A  Presbyterian  hospital  had  forty  cases 
in  one  month  of  Koreans  who  came  beg- 
ging to  be  cured  of  the  morphine  habit 
which  the  Japanese  had  taught  them, 
and  although  Americans  caught  Japanese 
red-handed  in  the  act  of  selling  morphine 
to  Koreans  and  notified  the  authorities, 
not  a  thing  was  done  to  stop  the  damnable 
traffic. 

For  a  score  of  other  reasons  I  affirm 
that  Japan's  proposal  to  effect  reforms 
in  Korea  by  establishing  there  a  mixed 
civil  and  military  regime  is  ludicrous.  The 
very  fact  that  they  include  the  military 
shows  that  they  propose  to  govern  Korea 
by  intimidation,  whatever  be  the  name 
under   which    it    is    carried    out. 

There  is  no  right  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion except  the  restoration  of  the  com- 
plete independence  of  the  Korean  people. 
They  have  always  been  so  abused  and 
insulted  by  the  Japanese  that  the  con- 
tinuation of  any  Japanese  control  is 
simply  unbearable.  The  Koreans  will  not 
consent  to  it,  and  either  they  must  be 
made  free  or  else  the  world  must  look  on 
and  see  the  rapid  extinction  of  a  nation 
of  10,000,000  people  who  are  intrinsically 
far  more  "  civilized  "  than  are  the  Japa- 
nese   themselves. 

Japan,  as  at  present  conducted,  is  an 
anachronism.  There  is  no  room  for 
brutal  autocracy  in  this  world  from  now 
on  to  the  crack  of  doom.  The  sooner  the 
Japanese  people  come  to  realize  this  and 
determine  to  take  things  in  hand  and 
oust  the  bureaucrats,  the  better  for  them 
and  the  better  for  the  whole  world.  The 
question  will  never  be  settled  without  a 
complete  revolution  in  Japan.  The  sooner 
it  comes  the  better. 

Japan's  policy  in  Korea  was  also  at- 
tacked by  Kiusic  Kimm,  a  Korean  edu- 
cated in  the  United  States  and  head  of 
the  Korean  delegation  in  Paris,  on  his 
arrival  in  New  York  on  Aug.  21.  In 
giving  out  the  petitions  submitted  "to  the 
Peace  Conference  in  May,  Mr.  Kimm 
declared  that  the  "  suffering  of  Korea 
under  Japanese  rule  was  worse  than 
that  of  Belgium  under  the  Germans," 
and  that  the  independence  movement 
leaders  believed  that  the  Japanese  mili- 
tary class  had  the  definite  aim  of  de- 
nationalizing the  race.  He  declared  that 
the  Japanese  had  about  150,000  soldiers 


in  the  country,  but  that  the  desire 
for  independence  was  universal  among 
10,000,000  Koreans. 

Japanese  control  had  fastened  itself 
upon  the  life  of  the  people  in  many  ways, 
the  delegate  added.  Estates  and  property 
of  Koreans  are  supervised  by  the  Japa- 
nese, the  educational  system  is  controlled, 
and  none  of  the  students  is  allowed  to 
study  in  foreign  countries.  Spreading  of 
the  Christian  religion  is  opposed,  and 
the  selling  of  opium  and  the  formation 
of  vicious  habits  are  encouraged. 

Intimations  that  Japan  was  aiming  at 
complete  Asiatic  dominance  through  use 
of  China's  man  power  and  economic  re- 
sources were  embodied  by  the  Korean 
delegates  in  a  letter  written  to  Lloyd 
George. 

Similarly  Thomas  F.  Millard,  for 
twenty  years  a  traveler  and  student  in 
the  Orient  and  editor  of  a  Far  East 
magazine,  told  the  Senate  Foreign  Rela- 
tions Committee  on  Aug.  18  that  all  the 
American  experts  on  Oriental  affairs  at 
the  Peace  Conference  had  agreed  that 
the  Shantung  decision  would  breed  war. 
He  emphasized  America's  unpleasant 
position  in  view  of  her  official  promises, 
given  by  the  Ambassador  to  China,  Mr. 
Reinsch,  after  the  United  States  had 
invited  China  to  enter  the  war,  to  sup- 
port China's  claims  at  the  Peace  Con- 
ference. France  and  England,  said  Mr. 
Millard,  had  given  rather  colorless 
pledges  of  this  import,  and  Dr.  Reinsch, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  cables  to  the 
United  States  were  not  working,  as- 
sumed the  responsibility  of  making  simi- 
lar pledges  for  his  own  country.  State- 
ments of  the  same  trend  were  made 
before  the  committee  by  Dr.  John  O. 
Ferguson,  official  adviser  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chinese  Republic,  on  Aug.  20. 

JAPANESE  STATEMENTS 

In  contrast  with  the  protests  of  China 
and  her  friends,  the  utterances  of  Japa- 
nese diplomats  in  July  and  August  were 
optimistic  in  the  extreme.  On  July  17 
Viscount  Ishii,  Japanese  Ambassador  to 
Washington,  on  his  arrival  at  Tokio 
stated  publicly  that  there  was  no  col- 
lision of  vital  interests  between  Japan 
and  the  United  States :  the  latter  country 


JAPAN  AND  THE  PEACE  SETTLEMENTS 


145 


looked  mainly  to  Europe  and  Latin 
America  for  her  markets,  and,  contented 
with  the  strict  observance  by  the  powers 
of  the  open-door  policy  in  China,  had  no 
thought  of  an  economic  monopoly  of  the 
Chinese  market.  The  thinking  people  of 
America,  he  declared,  were  as  a  whole 
quite  satisfied  with  the  situation  in  the 
Far  East.  Talk  of  a  possible  eventual 
war  between  the  United  States  and 
Japan,  he  intimated,  was  the  work  of 
propagandists. 

A  sterner  and  less  conciliatory  tone 
was  adopted  by  Viscount  Kato,  who  was 
the  Minister  responsible  for  the  treaty 
of  Japan  with  China  in  1915,  in  a  speech 
delivered  in  Tokio  on  Aug.  18.  The  im- 
port of  this  address  was  that  Japan 
would  back  her  Korean  claims  strongly, 
and  would  maintain  her  special  position 
in  China  with  all  her  power,  though  ad- 
mitting the  right  of  other  nations  to  de- 
velop their  own  interests  within  proper 
limits.  Viscount  Kato  characterized  the 
attitude  of  the  Chinese  peace  delegates 
as  treachery  toward  Japan,  in  view  of 
the  agreement  signed  by  China  in  1915 
that  the  rights  in  Tsing-tao  should  be 
taken  over  by  Japan,  and  expressed 
great  satisfaction,  as  prime  mover  of 
the  1915  treaty,  that  the  Japanese  claims 
had  been  accorded  by  the  conference. 
The  disturbances  in  China  endangering 
the  life  and  property  of  Japanese  sub- 
jects were  referred  to  by  Viscount  Kato, 
and  it  was  intimated  that,  though  Japan 
should  seek  friendly  relations  with  China, 
the  Japanese  Government  should  pre- 
serve a  "  stern  and  dignified  attitude." 

On  Aug.  27,  in  addressing  a  meeting 
of  the  Government  party  at  Morioka, 
Japan,  Premier  Hara  declared  that  the 
Chinese  situation  was  caused  by  China's 
misunderstanding  of  Japan's  sincere  in- 
tentions.    He  said  in  part: 

Japan  has  no  ambitious  designs  against 
China.  On  the  contrary,  the  Ministry 
is  urgently  advocating  the  importance  of 
closer  friendly  relations.  The  day  will 
come  when  China  will  realize  the  sin- 
cerity of  Japan. 

The  attitude  of  the  Japanese  press 
during  this  period  was  of  pronounced 
hostility  to  the  United  States  Senators 
who  had  espoused  the  Chinese  viewpoint 
on  Shantung.     Public   statements  made 


by  Senator  Borah  regarding  war  with 
Japan  were  denounced  as  "  wanton  "  by* 
the  Hochi,  which  declared  that,  despite 
the  opinions  of  America,  Japan  would 
never  hesitate  to  carry  out  her  rights 
guaranteed  by  the  Peace  Treaty.  Amer- 
ican race  riots  were  referred  to  in  a 
significant  tone.  The  Chinese  question, 
by  other  papers,  was  placed  on  a  par 
with  the  Mexican  problem  in  the  United 
States.  America's  attitude  of  encourage- 
ment to  China's  aspirations  was  de- 
clared by  the  J.iji  to  be  dangerous  in  the 
possibilities  it  opened  of  widespread  dis- 
turbances and  incidents  similar  to  those 
that  happened  in  the  Boxer  war. 

NEW  PROMISES  OF  REFORM 
As  for  abuses  committed  by  the  Japa- 
nese administration  in  Korea,  the  Japa- 
nese Embassy  at  Washington  on  Aug.  20 
made  public  the  text  of  an  imperial  re- 
script and  a  statement  by  Premier  Hara 
issued  in  Tokio  the  preceding  day,  an- 
nouncing the  abolition  of  military  rule 
in  Korea  and  the  introduction  of  a  civil- 
ian regime.  Both  documents  announced, 
further,  that  all  distinctions  between 
Koreans  and  other  Japanese  subjects, 
and  between  Korean  and  Japanese  ad- 
ministration, would  be  abolished,  and 
that  a  regulation  police  force  under  con- 
trol of  the  local  Governors  would  take 
the  place  of  the  present  military  gen- 
darmerie. Only  the  riots  in  March,  it 
was  declared,  had  delayed  the  introduc- 
tion of  these  reforms  before.  Two  civil- 
ians, Admiral  Baron  Saito  and  Mr.  Mid- 
zuno,  had  been  appointed,  respectively, 
Governor  General  and  Director  General 
of  Administration.  Mr.  Midzuno  would 
be  charged  with  the  actual  administra- 
tive work,  and  had  had  training  for  this 
post  throughout  twenty  years'  service 
in  the  Home  Office  and  as  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  in  the  Terauchi  Ministry. 
He  had  been  a  frequent  visitor  to  Europe, 
and  was  noted  for  his  democratic  ideas. 

On  Aug.  31  Baron  Saito,  just  before 
his  departure  for  Korea,  sketched  an  ex- 
tremely favorable  program  and  an- 
nounced that  he  would  adopt  a  liberal 
policy  and  fair  treatment  to  all.  Ko- 
reans, he  said,  would  be  allowed  to  hold 
office.  Korean  traditions  would  be  re- 
spected.   There  would  be  vo  ruling  by 


146 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


the  sword  or  intimidation  by  the  mili- 
tary. Shortly  before  this  Dr.  Syngman 
Rhee,  "  President  of  the  Korean  Repub- 
lic," had  characterized  the  appointment 
of  a  civil  Governor  in  Korea  as  a  mere 
"  face-saving  "  diplomatic  expedient,  in- 
asmuch as  the  military  administration 
would  remain.  Even  if  reforms  were 
instituted,  he  declared,  the  growing 
spirit  of  independence  in  Korea  would 
not  be  diminished. 

Baron  Saito  arrived  at  Seoul  on  Sept. 
2.  As  he  and  his  wife  were  leaving  the 
railway  station,  a  bomb  was  exploded 
beneath  his  carriage.  No  one  was 
killed,  but  several  persons  were  wounded, 
including  William  Harrison,  brother  of 
former  Mayor  Carter  Harrison  of  Chi- 
cago, and  his  wife,  who  were  slightly 
injured. 

On  Aug.  26  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Seoul,  which  had^  heard  the  appeal  of  the 
Rev.  Eli  Miller  Mowry  of  Mansfield, 
Ohio,  a  Presbyterian  Minister,  from  con- 
viction on  a  charge  of  having  sheltered 
Korean  agitators,  quashed  the  original 
judgment  and  remanded  the  missionary 
before  the  Court  of  Appeals.  Mr.  Mowry 
had  been  sentenced  to  six  months'  im- 
prisonment at  hard  labor. 

In  a  proclamation  addressed  to  "  the 
people  of  the  world  "  the  "  Republic  of 
Korea"  was  proclaimed  in  Washington 
on  Aug.  31.  The  proclamation  was  signed 
by  Dr.  Syngman  Rhee  as  "  President  of 
the  Republic  of  Korea,"  and  by  J.  Kiusic 
S.  Kimm,  Chairman  of  the  Korean  Com- 
mission to  the  Peace  Conference.  In  the 
proclamation  the  sovereignty  of  Japan 
over  Korea  was  repudiated,  and  the 
world  was  asked  to  accept  Korea  as  an 
independent  Government,  founded  on  the 
principles  expressed  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  in  the  utterances  of 
President  Wilson. 

LOAN  CONSORTIUM 

The  loan  consortium  determined  on  by 
representatives  of  Great  Britain,  France, 
Belgium,  the  United  States,  and  Japan 
last  May  jvas  still  in  the  balance  in 
Sepfember.  On  Aug.  22  it  had  been  said 
that  the  Japanese  militarists  had  won 
a  victory  in  inducing  the  Japanese  Cabi- 
net to  exclude  Mongolia  and  Manchuria, 


where  Japanese  interests  were  firmly 
intrenched,  from  the  scope  of  this  con- 
sortium. It  was  stated  that  this  decision 
had  been  opposed  by  Viscount  Uchida, 
and  that  the  action  was  contrary  to 
Washington's  view  of  the  best  Chinese 
financial  policy.  On  Aug.  29  Yuko 
Hamaguchi,  President  of  a  prominent 
Japanese  bank,  made  a  statement  in 
which  he  laid  down  the  following  princi- 
ples, advocated  by  the  Kenseikei  Party, 
of  which  he  was  an  influential  member: 

Economic  loans  should  be  excluded 
from  the  scope  of  the  consortium.  Man- 
churia, Mongolia,  and  Shantung  should 
also  be  excluded.  Existing  loans  should 
be  recognized  if  desired.  The  economic 
loans  of  the  new  group  should  be  re- 
stricted to  large  enterprises. 

Fear  was  expressed  by  Hamaguchi 
that  the  international  consortium  proj- 
ect, devised  to  overthrow  the  spheres  of 
influence  and  to  contribute  through  the 
influx  of  capital  to  the  development  of 
China,  might  endanger  the  freedom  of 
that  country  by  substituting  the  great 
collective  influence  of  the  powers  asso- 
ciated in  the  loan.  His  own  opinion  was 
that  the  system  of  free  loans  was  pref- 
erable to  that  of  joint  ones.  It  was  not, 
he  thought,  advisable  for  Japan  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  joint  loans  at  the  cost  of 
her  rights  of  priority  already  acquired 
in  China.  Because  of  his  authoritative 
financial  position  the  statement  of  Mr. 
Hamaguchi  was  received  in  Washington 
with  the  greatest  interest. 

NEW   JAPANESE   AMBASSADOR 

A  dispatch  from  Tokio  Sept.  5  an- 
nounced the  forthcoming  appointment  of 
Kijuro  Shidehara  as  Ambassador  to  the 
United  States  to  succeed  Viscount  Kiku- 
jiro  Ishii.  The  new  appointee  is  one  of 
the  youngest  Japanese  to  receive  an  Am- 
bassadorial post,  being  only  47  years  old. 
His  diplomatic  experience,  however,  has 
been  extensive.  He  has  been  Consul  at 
London  and  Antwerp  and  has  served  as 
Counselor  of  the  Japanese  Embassy  at 
Washington.  He  became  Minister  to  the 
Netherlands  in  July,  1914,  but  was  re- 
called soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  to  the  post  he  has  been  holding,  that 
of  Vice  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


The  Peace   of   1814-15 

By  HAROLD  SPENDER 

[Of  the  London  Chronicle] 


THE  statesmen  of  1814  patched  up  a 
peace  with  France  far  more  rapidly 
than  the  Great  Ten  or  Four  have 
patched  up  a  peace  with  Germany  today. 
There  was  actually  a  peace  with  France 
within  six  weeks  of  Napoleon's  first  ab- 
dication. But  the  story  only  begins  there ; 
and  there  was  soon  the  end  of  that  be- 
ginning. For  that  peace  was  torn  up  into 
small  fragments  by  the  campaign  of  the 
Hundred  Days,  and  the  whole  thing  had 
to  be  done  over  again  with  infinite  repe- 
tition of  toil  and  labor.  Even  then,  the 
second  peace  was  only  another  beginning ; 
for  the  complete  resettlement  of  Europe 
after  the  wars  of  Napoleon  may  be  said 
to  have  occupied  two-thirds  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

Those  tremendous  events  are  still 
worth  recalling.  The  first  abdication  of 
Napoleon — at  the  end  of  that  extraordi- 
nary fight  which  he  put  up,  even  after 
Leipsic,  the  Battle  of  the  Nations — 
took  place  on  April  11,  1814.  The  first 
treaty  was  signed  on  May  30.  Except  in 
one  respect,  it  was  a  peace  of  clemency. 
No  indemnities  were  exacted  in  that  first 
peace — not  even  after  twenty  years  of 
European  war!  The  French  colonies 
were  almost  all  restored.  France  was 
deprived  of  her  imperial  conquests;  but 
she  was  allowed  to  retain  some  of  her 
revolutionary  winnings,  and  she  retained 
the  boundaries  of  Nov.  1,  1792 — the  third 
year  of  the  revolution.  But  the  one  ex- 
ception was  fatal.  Louis  XVIII. — that 
old  tired  Bourbon  exile  who  had  "  learned 
nothing  and  forgot  nothing "  —  was 
propped  on  the  throne.  He  threatened 
the  peasant  proprietors  with  the  loss  of 
their  land;  he  brought  back  the  decayed 
nobles;  above  all,  he  abolished  the  Tri- 
color, the  flag  of  a  hundred  battles  and 
the  symbol  of  a  thousand  liberties.  He 
paved  all  roads  for  the  return  of  Na- 
poleon. 

Meanwhile,  the  Allies  had  been  helping 
him.  The  Congress  of  Vienna — the  real 
parallel  to  the  conference  of  Paris — was 
even   slower   at  starting  than   its   illus- 


trious successor  of  today.  France  had 
handed  over  all  her  conquests  to  be  dealt 
with  by  the  conquering  Allies,  and  in  re- 
turn she  had  a  place  in  the  congress. 
Five  months  passed  before  the  congress 
assembled — at  Vienna  on  Nov.  3,  1814. 
It  sat  for  three  months.  Its  proceedings 
exhibited  the  most  amazing  resemblances 
to  the  present  conference.  There  were 
secret  treaties  to  cumber  the  ground — 
stocks  of  them,  contracted  in  the  heat  of 
struggle  with  Napoleon.  There  was  the 
same  difference  of  opinion  about  Poland. 
It  was  even  worse.  So  fiercely  did  those 
precious  allies  differ — so  dearly  did  they 
love  one  another — so  subtly  did  Talley- 
rand intrigue  for  France — that  their 
armies  were  actually  in  motion  against 
one  another  when  the  sudden  whisper  of 
"  Boney "  sent  them  scuttling  back  to 
their  barracks.  But  it  was  too  late.  On 
March  4,  1815,  Napoleon  landed  near 
Cannes,  enthralled  his  old  soldiery,  ad- 
vanced to  Paris,  and  the  "  Hundred 
Days  "  began. 

Waterloo  was  a  "  near  thing,"  accord- 
ing to  Wellington;  and  he  had  every 
reason  to  know.  But  it  served.  Europe 
was  allowed  a  second  chance;  and  Na- 
poleon this  time  was  sent  too  far  away 
to  be  dangerous.  On  July  8  Louis  XVIII. 
— poor  France! — was  shuffled  back  on 
his  throne,  this  time  a  little  sobered  by 
destiny.  Again  the  statesmen  set  them- 
selves to  fashion  peace.  This  time  it 
took  a  great  deal  longer.  The  second 
treaty  with  France  was  not  achieved  till 
Nov.  20,  1815.  It  was  a  harsher  docu- 
ment. 

The  boundaries  of  France  were  thrown 
back  to  the  limits  of  1790 — a  fact 
of  which  Paris  is  very  much  aware  to- 
day. The  Allies  now  imposed  an  indem- 
nity of  $140,000,000— a  small  figure  in 
our  present  lights,  but  a  heavy  burden 
for  the  impoverished  France  of  1815. 
Paris  was  compelled  to  disgorge  all  the 
art  treasures  "  conveyed  "  by  Napoleon 
from  foreign  capitals.  An  allied  Army 
of  Occupation  was  planted  in  the  north- 


148 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


eastern  fortresses  of  France  for  five 
years. 

But  these  terms  were  a  featherweight 
compared  to  what  Prussia  desired.  It  is 
worth  while  for  Frenchmen  to  remember 
today  that  it  was  British  fair  play  which 
saved  her  from  dismemberment  in  1815. 
Prussia  wanted  Alsace  and  Lorraine  in 
1815  just  as  she  afterward  secured  them 
in  1871.  It  was  Wellington  and  Castle- 
reagh  who  postponed  that  crime  for 
nearly  two  generations. 

Then  the  victors  went  back  to  their 
congress — but  with  a  difference.  This 
time  the  conquering  alliance — Great 
Britain,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia — 
claimed  to  call  the  tune.  France  was  ex- 
cluded. The  minor  powers  were  left  on 
the  doorstep.  Then  was  formed  that 
great  "Quadruple  Alliance" — the  "Great 
Four  "  of  those  days — which  was  not  so 
entirely  different  from  the  Covenanted 
League  of  today  as  some  people  suppose. 
True,  it  came  to  be  called  "  Holy,"  and 
no  one  as  yet  has  applied  that  term  to 
the  League  of  Nations.  But  that  was 
due  to  the  quaint  religiosity  of  the  Czar 
Alexander,  who  imposed  on  his  reluctant 
allies    a   series   of   Crusading   Christian 


vows  which  played  little  part  in  their 
subsequent  proceedings. 

People  talk  as  if  the  Holy  Alliance 
passed  away  like  a  Summer  cloud.  Noth- 
ing could  be  further  from  the  truth.  For 
ten  years  it  bestrode  Europe  like  a 
Colossus.  It  was  a  very  effective  League 
of  Nations.  It  guaranteed  the  bounda- 
ries delimited  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna. 
It  went  further — and  here  was  its  vital 
error.  It  guaranteed  the  forms  of  gov- 
ernment imposed  within  those  boundaries. 

It  was  the  British  revolt  against  that 
doctrine  that  brought  that  great  alliance 
to  an  end.  But  four  Congresses  sat 
before  the  end  came.  In  1821,  at  the 
Congress  of  Laibach,  Castlereagh  only 
protested  when  the  Austrian  armies 
marched  against  the  Italians.  In  1822, 
at  Verona,  Canning  first  threw  out  the 
idea  of  self-determination  as  a  right 
when  the  French  proposed  to  restore 
Ferdinand  and  the  Inquisition  to  the 
throne  of  Spain.  It  was  not  until  the 
French  troops  actually  crossed  the 
Pyrenees  that  England  withdrew  from 
the  congress,  and,  in  the  Old  World  and 
the  New,  asserted  the  right  of  nations 
to  decide  their  own  destinies. 


Romain  Holland's  Plea  for  Post-War  Unity 

A  Manifesto    and  a  Reply 

During  the  war  the  attitude  of  Romain  Rolland,  the  author  of  "  Jean-Chris- 
tophe,"  was  a  source  of  irritation  to  patriotic  Frenchmen,  and  his  "  internationalist  " 
point  of  view  was  severely  condemned.  The  following  plea  for  post-war  unity, 
written  by  M.  Rolland  and  signed  by  a  number  of  internationally  known  writers 
and  publicists,  was  reproduced  in  a  recent  number  of  the  French  publication, 
L'Humaniie: 


WORKERS  in  the  realms  of  thought, 
companions  dispersed  to  the  four 
corners  of  the  globe,  separated  for 
five  years  by  armies,  by  the  censor,  and 
the  hatred  of  nations  at  war,  we  address 
to  you,  at  this  hour  which  sees  barriers 
fall  and  the  reopening  of  frontiers,  an 
appeal  that  our  brotherly  union  may  be 
reformed — may  rise  again,  a  new  union 
established  on  a  more  solid,  safer  basis 
than  that  which  previously  existed. 

"  War  has  scattered  our  ranks.    Most 
intellectuals   have  put  their  knowledge, 


their  art,  their  reason  at  the  service  of 
Governments.  We  do  not  wish  to  accuse 
any  one,  to  reproach  any  one.  We  know 
the  weakness  of  individual  characters  and 
the  elementary  force  of  strong  collective 
currents.  The  latter  overthrew  the  for- 
mer immediately,  for  nothing  had  been 
foreseen,  and  there  was  no  possibility  of 
resistance.  Let  us  at  least  make  use  of 
the  experience  we  have  gained  in  pre- 
paring for  the  future. 

"  First  let  us  consider  the  disasters  to 
which  the  almost  total  abdication  of  the 


ROMAIN  ROLLAND'S  PLEA   FOR   POST-WAR    UNITY 


149 


world's  intelligence  and  its  voluntary  en- 
slavement to  uncontrolled  forces  have  led 
it.  The  thinkers,  the  artists,  have  added 
to  the  scourge  which  is  filling  Europe, 
body  and  soul,  with  an  incalculable  flow 
of  the  poison  of  hate.  They  have  sought 
in  the  arsenal  of  their  knowledge,  of 
their  memory  and  their  imagination  the 
reasons,  both  new  and  old,  historic,  scien- 
tific, and  poetic,  for  hate;  they  have 
worked  that  the  concept  of  love  might  be 
destroyed  among  men.  And  by  thus 
doing  they  have  robbed  thought  of 
beauty,  they  have  lowered  and  degraded 
it;  they  who  were  the  representatives  of 
thought.  They  have  made  of  thought  an 
instrument  of  the  passions  and  (without 
being  aware  of  it,  perhaps)  of  the  selfish 
interests  of  a  political  or  social  clan,  of 
a  State,  of  a  country,  of  a  class,.  And  now 
from  this  savage  melee,  from  which  the 
warring  nations,  conquerors  and  con- 
quered, are  emerging  broken  and  im- 
proverished  and,  at  the  bottom  of  their 
hearts — though  they  do  not  own  it — 
ashamed  and  humiliated  by  their  sudden 
madness,  comes  thought,  having  lost  her 
diadem,  compromised  in  the  nations' 
struggle. 

"  Arise!  Let  us  free  thought  from  its 
compromising  alliances,  from  its  humili- 
ating connections,  from  its  hidden  servi- 
tudes! Thought  is  no  one's  servant.  We 
are  the  servants  of  thought.  We  have  no 
other  master.  We  are  here  to  carry  its 
torch,  to  defend  its  light,  to  rally  be- 
guiled men  around  its  beacon.  Our  part, 
our  duty,  is  to  maintain  one  stable  centre, 
to  point  to  the  north  star,  in  the  midst 
of  the  rush  of  passion  and  of  night. 
Among  these  passions  of  pride  and 
mutual  destruction  we  make  no  choice; 
we  reject  them  all.  We  honor  truth  alone, 
free,  without  frontiers,  without  limits, 
without  racial  or  caste  prejudices.  We 
certainly  do  not  lose  interest  in  hu- 
manity. It  is  for  her  we  work,  but  for 
her  universally.  We  do  not  know  peoples. 
We  only  know  the  people — unique,  uni- 
versal, the  suffering,  struggling  people, 
suffering,  falling,  and  rising  again,  ad- 
vancing always  on  the  stony  path 
drenched  with  its  tears — the  people  which 
all  men  recognize,  all  equally  our  broth- 
ers.   And  it  is  to  enable  them,  like  us. 


to  become  conscious  of  this  fraternity 
that  we  uplift  above  their  bund  wars, 
the  Arch  of  Alliance — free  thought,  one, 
multiple,  and  eternal." 

This  declaration  was  adopted  on  June 
23,  1919,  and  bore  the  following  sig- 
natures: 

Jane  Addams,  United  States;  Rene 
Arcos,  France ;  Henri  Barbusse,  Leon 
Bazalgette,  France;  Jean  Richard  Bloch, 
France ;  Roberto  Bracco,  Italy ;  Dr.  L.  E. 
J.  Brouwer,  Holland;  A.  de  Chateau- 
briant,  France ;  Georges  Duhamel,  France ; 
Professor  Einstein,  Germany;  Dr.  Fred- 
erick van  Eeden,  Holland;  George  Eek- 
houd,  Belgium;  Professor  Forel,  Switzer- 
land; Verner  von  Heidenstam,  Sweden; 
Selma  Lagerlbf ,  Sweden ;  Professor  Max 
Lehmann,  Germany;  Carl  Lindhagen, 
Sweden  ;  Mr.  Lopez-Pico,  Catalonia  ;  Hein- 
rich  Mann,  Germany ;  Marcel  Martinet, 
France;  Franz  Masereel,  Belgium;  Emile 
Masson,  France;  Jacques  Mesnil,  Bel- 
gium; Sophus  Michaeli,  Denmark;  Ma- 
thias  Morhardt,  France ;  Professor  George 
Fr.  Nicolai,  Germany;  Eugenio  d'Ors, 
Catalonia;  Professor  A.  Prenant,  France; 
Paul  Signac,  France;  Jules  Romains, 
France;  G.  Thiesson,  France;  Henry 
Vandervelde,  Belgium ;  Charles  Valdrac, 
Fiance ;  Leon  Werth,  France ;  Israel 
Zangwill,  Bertrand  Russell,  England; 
Romain  Rolland,  France;  Han  Ryner, 
France;  Stefan  Zweig,  Austria. 

The  Paris  Temps  in  its  comment 
on  M.  Rolland's  appeal  said  that  the 
author's  intentions  might  be  perfectly 
honest,  but,  even  so,  the  text  of  the  ap- 
peal was  not  satisfactory.  Certain  gen- 
eral and  opportune  formulas  could  be 
subscribed  to.  M.  Romain  Rolland's 
phrases  were  more  or  less  happily  com- 
posed. The  Temps  continued  as  follows: 

The  difficulty  begins  with  the  applica- 
tion which  M.  Romain  Rolland  gives 
them.  The  outcome  of  the  whole  appeal 
is  this,  that  it  puts  Germany  in  the  same 
rank  as  the  Entente,  the  Governments 
of  the  Central  Empires  with  those  of  the 
allied  powers,  all  intellectuals,  and  all 
nations.  "  "We  do  not  wish  to  accuse 
any  one,  we  reproach  nobody."  Such  an 
excess  of  gentleness  toward  some  results 
in  a  lack  of  justice  to  others.  Equity  does 
not  permit  that  the  balance  shall  be  held 
equal  between  the  guilty  and  the  innocent, 
the  murderer  and  his  victim.  "  We  know 
the  weakness  of  individual  characters 
and  the  elementary  force  of  collective 
currents.  *  *  *  "  That  is  very  well  ex- 
pressed, but  no  strong  current  would  have 
prevented  plenty  of  Frenchmen  from  pro- 
testing if  it  had  been  their  Government 
which  had  violated  Belgium,  burned  li- 
braries,   and   bombarded   cathedrals.     Be- 


150 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


sides,  Prance  was  incapable  of  having  a 
Government  which  could  make  itself 
guilty  of  such  atrocities.  *  *  *  It  r 
possible  to  understand  that  retrogradf 
parties  in  neutral  countries  should  have 
been  Germanophile ;  it  is  even  possible  to 
understand  the  point  of  view  of  the  French- 
man of  the  extreme  right  before  the  war, 
blinded  enough  by  social  preoccupations 
to  regard  the  Berlin  headquarters  staff  as 
a  rampart  of  civilization.  But  what  is 
beyond  comprehension  is  that  democrats 
like  M.  Romain  Rolland  and  his  com- 
panions should  have  indulgences  for  the 
home  of  Kaiserism  and  militarism.  Judg- 
ing this-  war  quite  apart  from  the  point  of 
view  of  patriotic  sentiment,  and  solely 
from  that  of  intellectual  evolution,  the 
victory  of  Germany  would  have  been  a 
disaster,  while  that  of  France  has  been 
the  salvation  of  all  those  ideas  for  which 
M.  Romain  Rolland  is  supposed  to  stand. 


The  situation  must  be  made  perfectly 
clear.  *  *  *  French  and  allied  intellect- 
uals cannot  clear  Germany  of  this  great 
crime  toward  humanity.  Those  German 
intellectuals  who  took  part  in  it  or  who 
did  not  raise  their  voices  loudly  against 
Its  perpetration  will  always  be  unworthy 
of  any  personal  relations  with  us.  Doubt- 
less art  and  knowledge  have  superior  and 
irrefragable  rights.  A  beautiful  German 
work  of  art  preserves  its  aesthetic  value; 
a  German  discovery  cannot  be  ignored. 
It  is  ridiculous  to  wage  war  against  phi- 
losophers or  against  musicians  who  de- 
parted this  planet  thirty  to  one  hundred 
years  before  the  mobilization  and  who 
were  being  extolled  to  the  skies  five  years 
ago.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  bow  before 
what  is  beautiful  and  true,  whatever  their 
provenance;  it  is  quite  another  to  hold 
out  the  hand  to  contemporaries  disquali 
fied  both  morally  and  humanly. 


Anatole  France  on  the  Teacher's  Task 

Banishing  Hatred  and  War  Ideas 


ANATOLE  FRANCE,  the  famous 
r\  French  novelist,  delivered  the  open- 
ing address  before  the  Congress 
of  the  Trade  Unions  of  French  Elemen- 
tary School  Teachers,  held  at  Tours  in 
the  second  week  of  August,  and  the  key- 
note of  his  speech  was  sounded  in  this 
sentence :  "  The  war  has  sufficiently 
demonstrated  that  the  popular  education 
of  tomorrow  must  be  altogether  differ- 
ent from  that  of  former  days."  It  was, 
M.  France  said,  with  mingled  feelings 
of  anxiety  and  hope  that  he  addressed 
the  teachers,  for  the  future  was  in  their 
hands,  and  in  great  measure  it  would  be 
made  by  their  intelligences  and  their 
pains. 

What  a  task  was  theirs  at  this  moment, 
when  the  old  social  systems  were  crumb- 
ling under  the  weight  of  errors,  and  vic- 
tors and  vanquished,  exchanging  looks  of 
hatred,  were  falling  into  a  common  abyss 
of  misery.  In  the  social  and  moral  dis- 
order produced  by  the  war  and  perpet- 
uated by  the  peace  which  had  followed 
it,  they  had  everything  to  make  and  to 
remake.  They  must  create  a  new  hu- 
manity, awaken  new  intelligence,  if  they 
did  not  wish  Europe  to  fall  into  imbecil- 
ity and  barbarism. 

In  the  first  place,  they  must  banish 


from  the  school  everything  that  could 
make  children  like  war  and  its  crimes, 
and  that  alone  would  demand  long  and 
constant  effort,  unless  indeed  all  the 
panoplies  were,  in  the  near  future,  swept 
away  by  the  blast  of  universal  revolu- 
tion. 

In  the  French  bourgeoisie  great  and 
small,  and  even  in  the  proletariat,  the 
destructive  instincts  with  which  the 
Germans  had  been  justly  reproached 
were  sedulously  cultivated.  Only  a  few 
days  before  M.  de  la  Fouchardiere  had 
asked  at  a  bookseller's  for  books  suitable 
for  a  little  girl,  and  had  been  offered 
nothing  but  accounts  and  pictures  of 
slaughter,  massacres,  and  extermina- 
tions. Next  mid-Lent  they  would  see  in 
Paris,  in  the  Champs  Elysees  and  on  the 
boulevards,  thousands  and  thousands  of 
little  boys  dressed  by  their  inept  mothers 
as  Generals  and  Field  Marshals.  Motion 
pictures  would  show  children  the  beau- 
ties of  war  and  thus  prepare  them  for 
the  military  career,  and  so  long  as  there 
were  soldiers  there  would  be  wars.  The 
diplomatists  of  the  Allies  had  allowed 
Germany  still  to  have  soldiers  in  order 
to  be  able  to  keep  them  themselves.  Chil- 
dren were  going  to  be  brought  up  to  be 
soldiers  from  the  cradle. 


ANATOLE  FRANCE  ON  THE  TEACHER'S  TASK 


151 


It  was  for  the  teachers  to  break  with 
these  dangerous  practices.  They  must 
make  the  children  love  peace  and  the 
works  of  peace.  They  must  teach  them 
to  hate  war.  They  must  banish  from 
their  teaching  everything  that  excited 
hatred  of  the  foreigner,  even  of  our 
enemies  of  yesterday.  Not  that  one  ought 
to  be  indulgent  to  crime  and  absolve  all 
the  guilty,  but  because  every  people,  no 
matter  what,  at  any  time  whatever,  in- 
cluded more  victims  than  criminals,  be- 
cause innocent  generations  must  not  be 
punished  for  the  guilty,  and,  above  all, 
because  all  the  peoples  had  much  to  for- 
give one  another. 

M.  France  went  on  to  recommend  his 
hearers  to  read  a  recent  book  by  Michel 
Corday,  "  Les  Mains  Prop  res,"  ("  Clean 
Hands,")  and  quoted  from  it  the  sen- 
tence, "  I  hate  him  who  debases  man  to 
the  level  of  the  beast  by  inciting  him  to 
attack  anybody  that  does  not  resemble 
him."  "  From  the  bottom  of  my  heart," 
said  M.  France,  "  I  invoke  the  disappear- 
ance of  that  kind  of  person  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  I  hate  nothing  ex- 
cept hatred." 

The  most  necessary  and  most  simple 
task  of  the  teacher,  he  continued,  was  to 
make  hatred  hated.  The  state  to  which 
a  devastating  war  had  reduced  France 
and  the  world  imposed  upon  the  teach- 
ers duties  of  exceptional  complexity  and 
difficulty.  Without  hope  of  obtaining 
help  or  support,  or  even  consent,  they 
had  te  change  elementary  education 
from  top  to  bottom  in  order  to  train 
workers. 

There  was  no  room  in  the  society 
of  today  for  any  but  workers;  the 
others  would  be  swept  away  by  the  hur- 
ricane. And  they  must  train  intelligent 
workers  instructed  in  the  crafts  that 
they  practiced,  knowing  what  were  their 


duties  to  the  national  comn.unity  and  to 
the  human  community. 

"Burn,"  said  M.  France,  "burn  all 
the  books  that  teach  hatred!  Extol  labor 
and  love.  Train  for  us  men  capable  of 
trampling  under  foot  the  vain  splendors 
of  barbaric  glory  and  of  resisting  the  san- 
guinary ambitions  of  the  nationalisms 
and  imperialisms  that  have  annihilated 
their  fathers.  No  more  industrial  rival- 
ries! No  more  wars!  Only  labor  and 
peace!  Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  the 
time  has  come  when  we  must  either 
become  citizens  of  the  world  or  see  the 
whole  of  civilization  perish." 

M.  France  suggested  that  there  should 
be  attached  to  the  International  of  the 
workers  a  delegation  of  the  teachers  of 
all  nations  to  formulate  in  common  a 
universal  system  of  instruction  and  con- 
sider the  means  to  be  taken  to  implant 
in  young  minds  the  ideas  from  which 
would  spring  the  peace  of  the  world  and 
the  union  of  the  peoples. 

He  concluded  as  follows:  "Reason, 
wisdom,  intelligence,  forces  of  the  mind 
and  heart,  you  that  have  always  piously 
invoked,  come  to  me,  aid  me,  strengthen 
my  feeble  voice,  carry  it,  if  that  be  pos- 
sible, to  all  the  peoples  of  the  world,  and 
diffuse  it  everywhere  where  men  of  goodT 
will  are  found,  to  listen  to  the  beneficent 
truth!  A  new  order  of  things  is  born! 
The  powers  of  evil  are  dying,  poisoned 
by  their  crime.  The  covetous  and  the 
cruel,  the  devourers  of  the  peoples,  are 
perishing  of  a  surfeit  of  blood.  Sorely 
smitten  by  the  fault  of  their  blind  or 
villainous  masters,  mutilated,  decimated, 
the  proletariats  yet  stand  erect.  They 
are  going  to  unite  in  order  to  form  but 
a  single  universal  proletariat,  and  we 
shall  see  the  fulfillment  of  the  great 
Socialist  prophecy — •  the  union  of  the 
workers  will  bring  peace  to  the  world.' " 


Aristocracy's  Downfall  in  Europe 

Triumph  of  the  Small  Landowner 

By  CHARLES  SEIGNOBOS  * 


THE  three  great  military  monarchies 
which  have  lately  fallen  to  pieces 
— Russian,  Austro-Hungarian,  and 
German — were  all  based  upon  an 
aristocracy  of  large  landed  properties, 
whereas  the  other  European  countries 
had  become  parliamentary  and  demo- 
cratic States.  Europe  was  thus  divided 
between  two  political  orders,  founded  on 
two  social  orders — in  fact,  into  two  dif- 
ferent worlds  between  which  the  Elbe 
was  approximately  the  boundary. 

Western  Europe,  with  its  ancient 
civilization,  its  great  cities,  its  big  in- 
dustries, its  intensive  agriculture  and 
dense  population,  where  the  land  is 
divided  up  into  small  or  medium-sized 
properties,  and  where  private  fortunes 
made  in  industry,  in  commerce,  and  in 
banking  form  a  large  proportion  of  the 
total  wealth  of  the  country,  has  evolved 
a  type  of  democratic  society  consisting 
mainly  of  bourgeois,  of  artisans,  work- 
ingmen,  and  peasant  proprietors.  There 
remain  certainly  some  fragments  of  the 
old  manorial  system — in  Spain,  the  great 
landed  nobles  of  Andalusia;  in  England 
and  Ireland,  the  properties  of  the  land- 
lords; in  Italy,  the  latifundia  of  the 
southern  provinces  and  of  Lombardy — 
but  these  survivals,  if  they  confer  upon 
certain  privileged  families  pre-eminence 
in  the  world  of  society,  no  longer  carry 
with  them  political  power.  The  direc- 
tion of  public  affairs  rests  with  the  mid- 
dle classes  and  with  the  elected  repre- 
sentatives of  the  peasants  and  working 
classes,  and  it  is  from  among  the  bour- 
geoisie, above  all,  that  Ministers  and 
party  leaders  are  drawn. 

Eastern  Europe,  with  a  scattered 
population,  a  recent  civilization,  a  back- 
ward agriculture,  very  little  industry 
and  a  quiet  rudimentary  economic  life, 
where  the  soil  constitutes  almost  the 
only  wealth  of  the  country,  has  remained 
under  the  mediaeval  manorial  system; 
the  land  is  divided  up  into  large  proper- 


ties belonging  to  the  noble  families,  on 
which  the  great  majority  of  the  peasants 
are  either  tenants  or  laborers.  The 
castle  dominates  the  village;  the  feudal 
lord,  surrounded  from  childhood  by 
swarms  of  servants  and  accustomed  to 
being  respected  and  obeyed,  keeps  the 
peasant  in  a  state  of  fear  and  de- 
pendence. This  social  power,  not  being 
kept  in  check  by  the  wealth  or  intel- 
lectual competition  of  a  large  bourgeoisie, 
renders  the  nobles  supreme  in  the  politi- 
cal sphere  also;  it  is  they  who  form  the 
Court,  the  general  staff,  the  Government, 
who  hold  the  high  command  in  the  army, 
and  fill  the  chief  administrative  posts. 
Raised  by  the  favor  of  the  ruling  Prince 
above  the  masses  of  his  subjects,  they 
have  upheld  the  monarchy  by  force  of 
arms;  the  middle  classes,  few  in  number 
and  kept  in  subjection,  have  had  to  rest 
content  with  junior  posts  and  some 
measure  of  material  profit.  Such  has 
been,  with  some  variations,  due  mainly 
to  the  larger  or  smaller  proportion  of 
Jews,  the  agrarian  and  social  order  in 
Europe  east  of  the  Elbe. 

EIGHT   LANDED   ARISTOCRACIES 

In  this  immense  tract  of  country,  where 
the  manorial  system  held  sway,  one  can 
count  eight  landed  aristocracies:  (1)  in 
Russia,  in  the  districts  inhabited  by 
Great  Russians  and  in  the  Ukraine  east 
of  the  Dnieper,  the  pomieshchiks,  big 
landed  proprietors  whom  the  Czars,  in 
superficial  imitation  of  Germany,  digni- 
fied with  the  title  of  noble;  (2)  in  the 
Baltic  provinces  the  "  Baltic  Barons,"  a 
stock  of  nobles  of  German  origin  super- 
imposed upon  the  agrarian  population  of 
Esthonians  and  Letts;  (3)  in  Rumania, 
the  indigenous  stock  of  Boyars,  who  re- 
mained in  possession  of  their  estates 
during  the  Turkish  domination  and  inter- 
married with  the  Phanariot  nobles  sent 
into  the  country  to  exploit  it  in  the  name 

*  In    "  New   Europe,"    July  14,   1919. 


ARISTOCRACY'S  DOWNFALL   IN   EUROPE 


153 


of  the  Sultan;  (4)  in  Hungary,  the 
Magyar  magnates  and  "  gentry,"  who 
have  overflowed  from  the  Magyar  dis- 
tricts into  those  inhabited  by  Slovak  and 
Rumanian  peasants;  (5)  in  Austria,  the 
aristocrats  of  the  Court  of  Vienna,  who 
possess  large  domains  in  the  German 
Alpine  provinces  and  in  the  Czech  lands 
of  the  Bohemian  Crown;  (6)  in  Prussia, 
the  aristocracy  of  the  eastern  provinces, 
(Brandenburg,  Pomerania,  Prussia,)  the 
Junkers,  the  "  Rittergut "  proprietors, 
who  form  the  entourage  of  the  King  and 
the  officers'  corps;  (7)  in  Poland,  the 
slachta,  the  old  fighting  stock,  which  has 
become  an  aristocracy  to  which  the 
greater  part  of  the  land  still  belongs, 
although  the  Russian  Government,  to 
weaken  the  national  resistance  of  which 
the  nobility  was  the  soul,  forcibly  trans- 
ferred part  of  the  land  to  the  peasants; 
(8)  in  the  countries  bordering  on  Poland, 
the  former  dependencies  of  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Lithuania  (Lithuania,  White 
Russia,  Western  Ukraine)  and  Galicia, 
the  noble  families  descended  from  Polish 
imimgrants  or  from  the  indigenous  but 
Polonized  big  landowners,  who  today 
form  an  aristocracy  of  Polish  language 
and  manners,  superimposed  upon  the  in- 
digenous agrarian  population,  (Lithua- 
nians, White  Russians,  Little  Russians, 
Ruthenes,)  which  has  remained  faithful 
to  its  own  language,  and — where  it  is 
of  Russian  origin — to  the  Orthodox 
Church  (in  Ukrainia)  or  the  Catholic- 
Uniate  Church,  (in  White  Russia  and  in 
Ruthenia.)  Of  these  eight  aristocracies 
the  Russian,  the  Rumanian,  the  Magyar, 
the  Polish,  and  the  Prussian,  being  of  the 
same  race  as  their  peasantry,  played  the 
part  of  national  leaders;  the  others, 
Baltic  Barons,  Austrian  aristocrats,  and 
Polonized  nobles  of  Lithuania,  White 
Russia,  and  Ukrainia,  are  foreign 
aristocracies  in  national  opposition  to 
their  peasantry. 

The  war  proved  a  decisive  test  of  the 
stability  of  the  two  social  orders;  the 
democratic  States  went  through  it  with- 
out flinching,  the  monarchies  which  had 
engendered  the  war  in  the  hope  of 
strengthening  their  position  have  gone 
under;  from  their  defeat  has  sprung  the 
revolution,  which  is  overthrowing  all 
aristocracies.      One    after    the   other    is 


threatened  or  abolished  by  its  subjects 
in  revolt;  and  the  political  revolution  is 
being  completed  by  an  agrarian  revolu- 
tion. 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  REVOLT 
This  revolt  began  at  the  least  civilized 
extremity  of  Europe — in  the  Russian 
Empire;  the  Bolsheviki,  who  attained  to 
power  by  promising  peace  and  the  land, 
disorganized  the  armed  force  which 
alone,  in  that  country  of  agrarian  com- 
munism, maintained  the  class  of  large 
proprietors;  the  peasants,  accustomed  to 
feel  themselves  the  legitimate  possessors 
of  their  village  lands,  seized  them  by 
force  from  the  nobles  and  proprietors. 
The  new  order  is  not  yet  stabilized;  the 
land  of  which  the  large  landowners  have 
been  robbed  has  not  yet  been  divided 
among  the  peasants.  But  the  counter- 
revolutionaries have  been  forced  to  re- 
linquish all  idea  of  re-establishing  the 
old  order,  and  to  limit  their  hopes  to  an 
indemnity;  the  allied  Governments  them- 
selves demand  that  the  Generals  should 
pledge  themselves  not  to  question  the 
agrarian  revolution. 

In  the  Baltic  countries,  the  Baltic 
Barons,  supported  by  a  German  army  of 
occupation,  struggled  for  a  long  time  to 
keep  their  political  domination  and  their 
large  estates;  when  driven  out  by  the 
national  revolt  of  the  Esthonians  and 
Letts,  first  from  Esthonia  and  then  from 
Livonia,  they  clung  to  Courland,  where 
the  ignorance  and  vacillation  of  the 
Allies  had  left  a  German  army  corps, 
which,  on  the  pretext  of  policing  the 
country  against  the  Bolsheviki,  in  reality 
aimed  at  terrorizing  the  inhabitants  to 
the  advantage  of  the  Baltic  Germans. 
But  now  the  order  has  at  last  come  to 
evacuate  Courland,  and  the  Revue  Bal- 
tique,  the  organ  of  the  oppressed  nation- 
alities, writes  as  follows :  "  We  had 
dreamed  of  peace  between  the  Baltic 
peoples  and  the  Baltic  Barons.  There 
is  an  end  of  that  dream.  Let  the  race 
of  '  Baits  '  quit  our  soil,  or  we  shall  know 
how  to  tear  it  out  ourselves."  The  end 
of  the  large  domains  is  therefore  near; 
the  agrarian  revolution  is  going  to  take 
place  in  the  Baltic  countries  also.  The 
peasant  "  have-nots "  are  going  to  re- 
ceive their  share  of  the  native  soil. 


154 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


IN  AUSTRIA  AND  HUNGARY 
The  crisis  is  more  complicated  in  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire,  where  the 
two  aristocracies  which  have  hitherto 
held  the  political  power,  together  with 
large  tracts  of  land — the  German  nobil- 
ity in  Austria  and  the  Magyar  nobility 
in  Hungary — are  national  in  those  parts 
of  their  domains  where  the  peasants  are 
German  or  Magyar  and  foreign  in  those 
inhabited  by  Czechs,  Jugoslavs,  Slovaks, 
and  Rumanians.  The  Austrian  aristoc- 
racy, whose  title  does  not  yet  appear  to 
have  been  disputed  in  German  Austria, 
has  already  been  virtually  abolished  in 
the  new  Czech  republic  of  Bohemia  and 
Moravia,  where  a  law  has  been  passed 
fixing  the  maximum  amount  of  land 
which  may  be  held  by  one  proprietor  at 
190  hectares.  The  large  properties, 
which  have  been  estimated  at  about  a 
quarter  of  the  total  acreage  of  the  coun- 
try, are  to  be  divided  up  among  the 
peasants.  Here  the  agrarian  revolution 
is  being  carried  out  in  a  legal  and  peace- 
ful manner,  by  gradual  steps,  and  with 
an  indemnity  for  expropriation.  The 
same  thing  will  be  done  with  regard  to 
the  large  domains  of  the  Magyar  nobles 
in  Slovakia,  where  expropriation  and  the 
distribution  of  the  meadows  to  the 
peasants  has  begun  in  an  amicable  man- 
ner. 

The  Magyar  aristocracy  is  threatened 
with  a  more  violent  overthrow  in  its  own 
country,  for  the  communists  of  Buda- 
pest— with  whom  it  at  first  allied  itself 
in  an  excess  of  nationalist  fury  against 
the  Allies,  and  in  the  hope  of  retaining 
its  domination  over  the  Slovak  and  Ru- 
manian peasantry — seem  now  disposed 
to  bring  about  a  social  revolution  of  the 
Bolshevist  order  in  Hungary,  with  a 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.*  This 
doctrine,  preached  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts where  the  peasants  are  already 
excited  by  the  promise  of  the  land,  would 
very  rapidly  lead  to  forcible  exportation 
of  the  big  landowners  and  the  dividing 


•Since  this  article  was  written  the  Com- 
munist Government  of  Budapest  has  fallen 
and  been  superseded  in  turn  by  the  Peidll 
Cabinet  and  the  Government  of  the  Archduke 
Joseph,  who  resigned  at  the  behest  of  the 
allied  council. 


up  of  their  estates  among  the  rural 
working  classes — in  short,  to  agrarian 
revolution  on  the  Russian  model. 

RUMANIA   AND    POLAND 

A  similar  campaign  against  the 
Magyar  nobility  has  been  entered  upon 
by  the  Rumanian  peasants  in  Transyl- 
vania and  in  the  neighboring  countries 
where  the  Rumanian  population  forms 
the  majority,  and  which  have  lately 
broken  away  from  Hungary  in  order  to 
unite  with  the  Kingdom  of  Rumania.  It 
is  proceeding  at  the  same  time  in  the 
old  Rumanian  principalities  of  Wallachia 
and  Moldavia,  on  the  initiative  of  the 
Government  -under  pressure  of  public 
opinion.  It  began  on  the  entry  of  Ru- 
mania into  the  war,  when,  in  order  to 
arouse  the  peasantry  in  the  national 
cause,  it  was  necessary  to  promise  them 
ownership  of  the  land.  This  promise, 
which  was  held  up  by  the  Rumanian  de- 
feat and  the  coming  into  power  of  a 
Germanophil  Government,  has  at  last 
been  redeemed  by  a  law  which,  on 
similar  lines  to  that  passed  by  the  Czech 
Republic,  fixes  a  maximum  of  land  to  be 
held  by  any  one  proprietor  and  insti- 
tutes a  system  of  expropriation  and  in- 
demnification; the  land  thus  rendered 
available  is  to  be  distributed  among  the 
peasants  whose  property  is  insufficient 
for  their  needs. 

In  Poland,  where  the  landlords  in 
alliance  with  the  clergy  led  the  opposi- 
tion against  all  foreign  government,  the 
landed  aristocracy,  by  their  champion- 
ship of  nationality,  acquired  an  influence 
over  the  people  which  they  are  using  to- 
day in  order  to  defend  their  social  pre- 
eminence and  their  large  estates  against 
all  revolutionary  tendencies.  The  neces- 
sity for  provisionally  maintaining  na- 
tional unity  against  enemies  from  out- 
side conceals  the  latent  conflict  in  the 
Diet  between  the  peasant  parties,  who 
demand  the  partition  of  the  big  estates, 
and  the  conservative  parties,  who  wish 
to  save  the  large  landowners.  In  no 
country  except  Prussia  does  the  agrarian 
revolution  meet  with  such  determined  op- 
position. Galicia  and  Posnania,  where 
the  big  Polish  landowners,  spared  or  even 
favored  by  the  Austrian  or  German 
courts  and  imperial  administrations,  had 


ARISTOCRACY'S   DOWNFALL   IN   EUROPE 


155 


become  political  leaders,  remain  the  two 
great  strongholds  of  landed  aristocracy 
in  Eastern  Europe. 

STRUGGLE  ON  RUSSIAN  BORDERS 
In  order  to  divert  the  cupidity  of  the 
Polish  peasants  from  their  own  large 
estates  the  Polish  landlords  are  trying  to 
extend  their  political  domination  over 
neighboring  countries,  where  they  hope 
to  find  land  for  colonization.  This  is  the 
personal,  economic  motive  which  under- 
lies the  patriotic  agitation  for  the  an- 
nexation of  all  the  provinces  which  were 
formerly  dependencies  of  the  grand 
duchy  of  Lithuania,  and  where  the  no- 
bility have  remained  Polonized — Lithu- 
ania, White  Russia,  Western  Ukrainia, 
(Podolia,  Volhynia,)  to  which  one  must 
add  the  Ruthene  districts  of  Galicia. 
Even  in  Paris  a  campaign  of  nationalist 
propaganda  is  being  conducted  to  justify 
this  policy  of  invasion  in  the  name  of 
peace  and  civilization.  We  are  told  that 
France,  in  order  to  keep  Germany  in 
check,  requires  #  strong  Poland,  and  that 
Poland,  in  order  to  be  strong,  requires  a 
vast  extent  of  territory  into  which  she 
can  pour  the  surplus  of  her  rural  popu- 
lation, and  which  must  be  rich  in  propor- 
tion to  her  size  and  economic  needs; 
therefore  "  Poland's  capital "  must  be 
preserved,  (it  is  thus  that  these  gentle- 
men have  christened  the  landed  property 
of  the  Polish  nobility  in  districts  whose 
peasantry  are  of  non-Polish  race;)  these 
territories,  sparsely  populated  by  half- 
savage  races,  would  be  colonized  by  the 
rural  proletariat  of  Poland,  which,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Polish  aristoracy, 
would  introduce  a  higher  civilization,  and 
at  the  same  time  avert  the  crisis  of  over- 
population which  at  present  prevails  in 
Poland  and  the  agrarian  revolution  with 
which  the  big  landlords  are  threatened. 
This  policy  involves  military  operations 
on  all  the  eastern  frontiers  in  order  to 
subdue  the  recalcitrant  natives,  and 
these  wars  cannot  be  waged  by  the  new 
State,  save  with  the  aid  or"  the  connivance 
of  Western  Europe.  Will  the  Allies  lend 
themselves  to  this  game?  Will  their 
diplomats  and  soldiers  continue  to  allow 
their  policy  to  be  dictated  by  the  Polish 
aristocrats  and  emigres?  The  peoples  of 
Lithuania,      White     Russia,      and     the 


Ukraine,  which  have  already  formed  na- 
tional governments,  represented  by  dele- 
gations, threaten  to  meet  this  Polish 
"  colonization "  by  armed  force.  The 
Ukrainians  have  already  begun  war.  The 
news  which  reaches  us  from  these  coun- 
tries where  social  upheaval  is  at  its 
height  must  be  received  with  caution,  and 
we  do  not  know  exactly  what  is  happen- 
ing. But  we  know  enough  to  be  afraid 
lest  the  war  may  be  accompanied  by  a 
general  extermination  of  the  Polish  nobil- 
ity. It  appears  that  the  peasants  of  the 
Orthodox  Ukraine  have  in  many  places 
liquidated  the  big  Polish  estates  by  the 
same  methods  as  in  Russia.  The  Catholic 
peasants  of  Lithuania,  the  Uniate  peas- 
ants of  White  Russia,  employ  milder 
methods,  more  in  keeping  with  their 
more  peaceful  or  civilized  character.  But 
in  all  these  frontier  districts  the  agrarian 
revolution  would  seem  to  be  henceforth 
inevitable. 

THE    PRUSSIAN   ARISTOCRACY 

There  remains  the  most  powerful  of 
these  aristocracies,  the  most  redoubtable 
for  the  peace  of  the  world,  but  also  the 
most  modern — the  Prussian  aristocracy. 
This  has  succeeded  in  making  itself,  if 
not  loved,  at  least  respected,  by  the  work- 
ers whom  it  employs,  because  it  does  not 
limit  itself,  like  almost  all  the  others,  to 
consuming  its  revenues  in  castle  life  or 
to  trusting  to  land  agents  the  manage- 
ment of  its  estates.  The  Prussian  Junker 
is  not  an  idler;  he  directs  in  person  the 
management  of  his  land,  and  very  often 
conducts  an  industrial  enterprise  as  well, 
such  as  a  distillery  or  brewery.  The 
peasants  on  his  domain  are  not  tenants; 
they  are  agricultural  laborers,  working 
under  the  proprietor's  direction.  The 
revolution  which  has  overthrown  the 
Hohenzollern  has  not  yet  touched  the 
Prussian  nobility.  It  seems  difficult  to 
understand  that  this  nobility  should  be 
able  to  survive  alone  in  Europe  amid  the 
universal  collapse  of  landed  aristocra- 
cies. And  yet  is  it  not  strange  that  the 
"  Socialist "  Government  of  the  new 
"  Reich-Republik,"  which  has  announced 
its  intention  of  socializing  coal  and 
potash,  should  not  yet  have  proposed 
any  measure  for  the  expropriation  of 
the  Junkers  or  the  assignment  of  their 


156 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


vast  lands  to  the  laboring  class?  There 
is,  as  yet,  no  sign  whatever  of  an 
agrarian  revolution  in  Prussia;  and  we 
may  suppose  that  the  region  lying  be- 
tween Elbe  and  Oder  will  be  the  last 
battlefield  of  aristocracy  in  Europe. 

SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  CHANGE 

This  general  movement  of  agrarian 
revolution  will  have  the  effect  of  estab- 
lishing throughout  the  vast  territories 
of  Eastern  Europe  a  new  democratic 
world  of  peasant  proprietors.  Can  the 
peoples  of  Western  Europe  look  on  with 
indifference,  as  at  some  movement  of 
internal  politics  which  does  not  concern 
them?  It  is  more  or  less  the  tendency 
of  the  Governments  to  look  with  disdain 
on  the  affairs  of  the  peasantry,  especially 
of  foreign  peasantries.  But  whoever 
takes  the  trouble  to  inquire  into  real  and 
fundamental  forces,  will  see  that  this 
social  transformation  of  whole  country- 
sides involves,  in  the  foreign  policy  of 
the  East  European  States,  a  radical  revo- 


lution which  is  of  direct  interest  to  the 
world's  peace  and  which  guarantees  it 
in  three  directions: 

1.  We  seek  a  barrier  to  protect  the 
west  against  the  barbaric  communism  of 
the  Bolsheviki;  and  there  is  no  barrier 
more  solid  than  a  democracy  of  peasant 
proprietors. 

2.  We  seek  guarantees  against  a  return 
of  the  war  spirit;  and  there  is  no  regime 
more  pacific  than  a  democracy  of 
peasant  proprietors.  Since  the  world 
began,  no  such  community  has  ever  de- 
sired or  prepared  or  commenced  a  war. 

3.  We  seek  insurance  against  imperial- 
ist intrigue  and  designs  of  annexation; 
and  nothing  is  less  imperialistic,  less  de- 
sirous of  foreign  aggrandizement,  than 
Federal  republics  resting  on  peasant 
proprietorship. 

The  agrarian  revolution  which  is  in 
process  or  in  preparation  throughout 
Eastern  Europe,  for  the  partition  of 
large  estates  among  the  peasantry,  will 
be  the  most  solid  guarantee  of  peace. 


Prussian  Protestantism 

Separation   of   Church   and   State — The   Huguenot 
Community  of  Berlin 

By    a    Correspondent    of    the    Paris    Temps 


THE  French  Revolution  recognized 
for  its  god  the  god  of  the  philoso- 
phers, and  celebrated  with  great 
pomp  at  Notre  Dame  the  cult  of 
the  Goddess  Reason.  The  German  rev- 
olutionists, in  contrast,  enthusiastic  for 
everything  that  concerns  the  ameliora- 
tion of  their  material  existence,  have 
shown  themselves  absolutely  indifferent 
regarding  the  quest  of  any  new  spiritual 
principle.  The  important  question  of  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  brought 
up  by  the  Independent  Socialists  aroused 
in  the  Weimar  theatre  none  of  those 
spontaneous  and  vibrant  speeches  which 
such  themes  evoked  in  other  revolution- 
ary periods.  Although  a  large  majority 
pronounced  against  separation,  this 
measure  will  prevail  in  principle,  in  the 
sense  that  there  will  no  longer  be  a 
Church  of  official  character;  that  is  to 


say,  a  Church  of  State  such  as  was  the 
Protestant  Church  of  Prussia.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  old  financial  subsidies 
made  by  the  State  will  be  continued;  it 
will,  for  instance,  go  on  paying  the 
salaries  of  the  ministers  and  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Faculties  of  Theology,  both 
Protestant  and  Catholic.  The  new 
regime  thus  created  by  this  compromise 
implies  that  the  State  will  henceforth  be 
completely  dissociated  from  the  destinies 
of  the  Church  and  will  show  itself  neu- 
tral from  the  religious  point  of  view.  It 
must  be  emphasized  that  this  modifica- 
tion of  the  old  relations  between  the  civil 
and  religious  authorities  entails  the  most 
momentous  consequences.  For  until  the 
revolution  the  Church  has  been,  beyond 
the  Rhine,  a  precious  means  of  support 
for  the  State  and  the  monarchy. 

For    instance,    the   high    and    exalted 


PRUSSIAN  PROTESTANTISM 


157 


Bishop,  the  summus  episcopus  of  the 
Prussian  Protestant  Church,  was  no 
other  than  the  Emperor,  William  II.,  who 
(oh,  irony!)  bore  likewise  the  title  of 
"  oberster  Kriegsherr,"  supreme  War 
Lord.  Thus  one  justified  and  blessed 
the  other.  Moreover,  like  all  the  in- 
tellectuals, the  pastors  acted  like  royal 
functionaries,  and  thronged  into  the 
ranks  of  the  champions  of  official  truth. 
This  situation  of  the  Church  in  the  State 
explains  why,  until  the  revolution,  the 
national  sentiment  fused  with  religious 
and  moral  faith,  and  also  explains  how 
that  amazing  doctrine  of  a  chosen  people 
fighting  for  their  King  and  for  their 
God  could  so  easily  arise.  Hence  came 
those  patriotic  sermons  pronounced  at 
the  order  of  lay  authority  and  which 
eulogized  violence  according  to  the 
Prussian  method.  Hence,  also,  that  al- 
most pathological  cult  destined  to  exalt 
the  warlike  spirit  of  the  German  peo- 
ple; hence  that  warlike  psychosis,  that 
perversion  of  religious  sentiments,  which 
led  some  pastors  so  far  as  to  excuse  the 
violation  of  Belgian  territory,  and  to 
exult  in  the  very  pulpit  over  the  effects 
of  the  heavy  cannon  bombarding  Paris. 

SEPARATING  CHURCH  AND  STATE 

By  breaking  this  traditional  bond  be- 
tween the  throne  and  the  altar,  in  Ger- 
many, the  revolution  has  taken  the  first 
step  of  the  new  republic  toward  the 
modern  solution  of  the  separation  of  the 
temporal  and  the  spiritual.  The  com- 
promise voted  by  the  National  Assembly 
follows  the  same  path.  Already  its  first 
consequences  have  been  shown:  formerly 
each  functionary  had  to  belong  to  a  rec- 
ognized denomination  and  fulfill  his 
religious  duties;  atheists  or  free-thinkers 
could  not  aspire  to  serve  the  State.  The 
ironical  nomination  of  such  an  impeni- 
tent rationalist  as  Herr  Ad.  Hoffman  to 
the  position  of  Minister  of  Religion  in 
Prussia  broke  abruptly,  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  revolution,  with  that  secular 
custom. 

The  Catholic  Church,  by  reason  of  the 
conservative  or  democratic,  aristocratic 
or  popular  character  which  it  has  the 
^acuity  of  assuming  in  turn,  has  been 
in  no  wise  weakened  by  the  revolution 
and  will  be  in  no  way  affected  by  the 


new  order  of  things.  It  will  be  different 
with  the  Protestant  Church,  which,  as  a 
consequence  of  the  overthrow  of  the  em- 
pire, has  lost  its  summus  episcopus,  now 
replaced  by  a  triumvirate  of  pastors,  as 
well  as  its  privileged  position  as  a  State 
institution.  Every  Sunday  from  their 
pulpits  the  German  pastors  speak  with 
sobs  in  their  voices  of  the  "  poor  exile  " 
of  Amerongen,  and  they  become  his 
ardent  advocates  in  the  numerous 
religious  sheets  which  they  edit  and  in- 
spire. And,  naturally,  in  these  times  of 
troubles  and  riots  which  in  no  way  recall 
the  security  of  the  imperial  regime,  the 
great  mass  of  the  faithful  listen  with 
favorable  ears  to  their  spiritual  guides. 
Hence  the  inspiration  of  that  appeal  re- 
cently addressed  to  M.  Poincare  by  the 
descendants  of  those  Huguenots  who 
emigrated  to  Germany  after  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  who  ask, 
in  the  name  of  the  hospitality  offered 
them  in  former  days  by  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns,  the  pardon  of  William  II.  The 
French  public  must  have  felt  a  certain 
amazement  on  reading  it.  What  will  it 
say  when  confronted  with  the  following 
facts? 

PROTESTANTS'  IN    BERLIN 

The  Protestant  Community  of  the 
Refuge  of  Berlin  counts  at  present 
nearly  10,000  Huguenots  who  possess 
their  own  church,  presided  over,  according 
to  tradition,  by  a  French-Swiss  pastor. 
Now  during  the  war  there  were  no  more 
bitter  adversaries  of  the  Allies,  ani- 
mated with  such  a  violent  hatred  of 
France,  than  the  parishioners  of  this 
church.  Thus  in  1914,  immediately  after 
the  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality,  the 
synod  of  the  church  asked  Pastor  Nicole 
to  replace  his  religious  sermons  by 
"  patriotic  sermons."  Courageously  the 
pastor  refused,  objecting  to  his  excited 
flock  on  the  ground  of  his  Swiss  na- 
tionality and  hence  enforced  neutrality. 
Accused  thereupon  of  high  treason  by  the 
community  he  was  brought  before  the 
royal  consistory  of  the  Prussian  Church 
who,  less  excitable  than  the  descendants 
of  our  far-off  compatriots,  acquitted  him 
on  the  ground  of  his  nationality.  This 
result  seems  to  have  redoubled  the 
fanatic  ardor  of  the  community,  which 


158 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


immediately  returned  to  the  attack  and 
demanded  the  suppression  of  the  cults 
carried  on  in  French  which  a  pious  tradi- 
tion had  maintained  until  that  time, 
despite  the  Napoleonic  period,  despite 
1870  itself.  Pastor  Nicole  preached 
nevertheless  the  following  Sunday  in 
French.  His  parishioners  threatened  to 
break  the  windows  of  the  temple  if  this 
was  repeated.  The  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities, on  being  consulted,  in  view  of 
the  uncompromising  attitude  of  the  mem- 
bers, were  obliged  to  order  the  suspension 
of  all  sermons  in  French  during  the  war. 
Their  complete  suppression  was  decided 
shortly  afterward  by  the  Community  of 
Refuge. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  those 
descendants  of  Huguenots  who  made  a 
name  for  themselves  during  the  war  were 
all  grouped  on  the  side  of  the  Pan-Ger- 
manists  and  the  Military  Party.  Ad- 
miral Capelle,  Minister  of  the  Navy,  was 
the  alter  ego  of  von  Tirpitz,  whom  he 
supported  actively  in  the  submarine  war. 
Souchon  Pasha,  chief  instructor  of  the 
Ottoman  fleet,  directed  the  defense  of  the 
Dardanelles  against  which  the  efforts  of 
the  Allies  came  to  nought.  The  sub- 
marine commander,  Arnaud  de  la  Per- 
riere,  for  many  long  months  held  the  rec- 
ord for  the  number  of  allied  vessels 
sunk.  General  de  la  Chevallerie  com- 
manded a  battalion  on  the  French  front. 
The  fierce  hatred  and  spirit  of  vengeance 
which  animated  against  us  in  1870  the 
Prussian  General  Verdy  de  Vernois  were 
inherited  in  toto.  Such  are  the  senti- 
ments which  have  remained  as  a  tradi- 
tion in  the  Community  of  Refuge  of 
Berlin. 

REPLY  TO  GERMAN  HUGUENOTS 
The  letter  of  the  German  Protestants 
to  M.  Poincare  referred  to  above  was 
analyzed  and  commented  upon  toward 
the  end  of  July  by  John  Vienot,  Pro- 
fessor of  History  in  the  Theological 
Faculty  of  Paris,  in  Le  Temps  at  the 
date  mentioned.  The  text  of  this  reply 
is  in  part  as  follows: 

The     President     of    the     Federation     of   - 
Protestant  Churches  of  France  has  made 
to    the    letter    which    the    Community    of 
Refuge   of  Berlin   addressed   to   M.    Poin- 
care'  a  suitable  reply. 

But  in  addressing  itself  to  the  President 
of  the  French  Republic  with  the  object  of 


obtaining  favorable  treatment  for  the  man 
who  was  responsible  for  the  war,  the 
Community  of  Refuge  of  Berlin,  organ  of 
service  for  German  propaganda,  went  far 
beyond  the  French  Protestant  minority. 
It  thought  of  the  millions  of  Protestants 
of  America,  of  England,  of  Holland,  and 
Switzerland,  and  sought  to  arouse  in  them 
some  sympathy  for  William  II.,  wretched 
and  proscribed  descendant  of  those  Hohen- 
zollerns  who  long  before  had  so  gener- 
ously received  the  French  Huguenots.  It 
knows  that  the  name  of  Huguenot  al- 
ways awakens  an  echo  of  sympathy  in 
those  circles,  and  it  was  with  this  be- 
loved and  respected  name  that  it  covered 
itself  to  increase  the  influence  of  its  in- 
tercession. It  is  therefore  a  matter  of 
general  interest  to  know  more  exactly 
who  it  is  that  speaks  to  us  from  Berlin, 
what  they  wish  to  tell  us,  and  the  object 
that  they  pursue. 

The  senders  of  the  letter  are  descendants 
of  the  Huguenots  expelled  by  the  re- 
vocation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Yes, 
but  in  fact,  these  descendants  of  our 
fathers  are  today  Prussians.  Some  years 
ago  I  was  in  Berlin,  at  an  international 
historical  congress.  After  a  colossal 
dinner  offered  us  at  the  City  Hall,  I 
found  myself  face  to  face  with  a  keeper 
of  archives,  a  sturdily  built  man  with 
black  moustachios,  who,  filling  his  glass, 
raised  it  in  my  direction,  saying:  "I 
drink  to  you.  My  name  is  Granier.  I  am 
proud  of  having  Huguenot  blood  in  my 
veins,  but  I  am  a  Prussian."  I  bowed, 
without  replying.  I  remembered  that  Ch. 
Weiss,  the  historian  of  the  Refuge,  wrote 
as  early  as  1853 :  "The  new  generation 
is  German  in  heart,  as  it  is  in  language, 
and  it  may  be  affirmed  that  no  tie  binds 
them  now  to  the  motherland  of  their 
ancestors." 

Our  interlocutors  are  Prussians ;  nothing 
more.  What  do  they  say  to  us?  "  Pity 
for  William  II.,  in  memory  of  that  Grand 
Elector  who,  thanks  to  his  tolerance,  of- 
fered us  in  this  land  a  second  home." 

When  everybody  at  the  Court  of  Berlin 
spoke  French,  the  Protestant  refugees 
were  able  to  live  in  a  Protestant  country 
and  to  speak  the  language  which  the 
Prince  and  his  Court  used  exclusively. 
Was  there  anything  surprising  in  that? 
Can  they  do  so  now?  How  many  French 
cults  are  there  now  in  Berlin  and  Branden- 
burg? All  the  churches  issued  from  the 
Refuge  were  long  ago   Germanized. 

The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  the 
Great  Elector  understood  the  mistake 
committed  by  Louis  XIV.  when  he  heed- 
lessly expelled  600,000  Huguenots  from 
their  country.  He  understood  the  ad- 
vantage he  could  draw  from  this,  and  he 
adopted  a  broad  and  intelligent  policy. 
He  needed  men  to  populate  his  deserts, 
needed  officers  and  soldiers,  needed 
manufacturers,  agriculturists,  and  ar- 
tists.    The  Huguenots  provided  him  with 


PRUSSIAN  PROTESTANTISM 


159 


all  this,  and  with  a  French  Academy  in 
the  bargain.  It  is  not  without  a  pang 
that  one  reads  this  phrase  of  Ancillon 
expelled  from  Metz:  "There  have  come 
into  this  State  (Prussia)  workmen  of  all 
trades,  so  that  all  kinds  of  labor  are  now 
being  carried  on  here.  None  are  pursued 
in  France  that  are  not  pursued  in  this 
country.    *    *    *" 

It  was  French  officers  who  organized 
the  Prussian  Army,  through  the  fault  of 
Louis  XIV.  ;  it  was  French  engineers  who 
initiated  Prussia  in  the  art  of  engineering 
and  modern  fortification  *  *  *  "  France," 
asks  the  Berlin  document,  "  has  she  re- 
paired the  wrongs  which  she  committed 
toward  us  Huguenots?  "     Yes,  gentlemen. 


France,  democratic  "as  well  as  imperial 
France,  has  done  all  she  could  to  make 
good  the  injustices  which  she  herself  did 
not  commit.  The  law  of  Dec.  15,  1790, 
restored  their  French  nationality  to  all 
the  descendants  of  the  refugees,  and  Ar- 
ticle XII.  of  that  law  ordered  restitution 
to  these  families  of  all  property  con- 
fiscated, and  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
State.  Napoleon  I.,  subsequently,  ceded 
to  the  Protestants  several  conventual 
chvirches  as  a  partial  reparation  for  the 
unjust  destruction  of  our  churches.  We 
hope  that  your  Government  will  find  it- 
self enabled  to  manifest  in  the  future 
that  same  solicitude  for  necessary  repa- 
rations with  which  you  seem  so  animated. 


Belgium's  African  Campaign 

The  Part    Played    by  Belgian    Troops    in  Protecting    Frontiers 
Threatened    by    Germans 


THE    part    played    by    the    military 
forces  of  Belgium  in  Africa  in  hold- 
ing back  the  Germans  has  been  offi- 
cially described  in  a  narrative  issued  by 
the  Belgian  Press  Bureau.     The  essen- 
tial facts  are  as  follows: 

At  the  period  when  it  was  essential  that 
in  Africa,  as  in  Europe,  there  should  be 
unity  in  the  efforts  of  the  Allies  to  re- 
pulse German  aggression,  Belgium  did 
not  hesitate  to  send  her  soldiers  to  the 
threatened  frontiers. 

In  the  Kameruns,  in  September,  1914, 
the  Congolese  troops  stabilized  a  situation 
recognized  as  precarious  at  a  certain 
moment.  They  then  took  part  in  the 
struggle  which  ended  in  the  conquest  of 
this  colony.  Soon  after  they  were  to  act 
efficaciously  in  preventing  German  access 
to  Uganda  and  Rhodesia,  British  colonies. 

From  the  beginning  of  1915  to  April, 
1916,  the  Belgians  defended  200  kilometers 
of  the  Uganda  frontiers  which  were  being 
continuously  attacked  by  the  Germans 
and  the  native  populations  of  Ruanda. 
Finally,  in  1916,  after  having  created  an 
army  in  toto  in  Central  Africa,  the  Bel- 
gians were  able  to  assume  the  offensive 
and  capture  in  German  East  Africa,  by 
force  of  arms,  the  Provinces  of  Ruanda 
with  Kigali  and  Nyansa ;  of  Urundi  with 
Kitega;  the  larger  part  of  the  Province 
of  Bukoba  with  Biaramulo  and  the  south- 
western coasts  of  Lake  Victoria ;  the  dis- 
trict of  Ujiji  with  the  port  of  Kigoma  on 
Lake  Tanganyika. 

The  Karema  territories,  with  the  ancient 
post  of  that  name  established  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  lake  by  the  Belgian, 
Captain  Cambier,  in  1879,  saw  the  Belgian 


flag  hoisted  soon  after,  while  the  Congo 
regiments,  concentrating  their  efforts,  car- 
ried Tabora,  the  war  capital  of  the  Ger- 
man colony,  after  costly  efforts.  The 
roads  which  lead  to  Tabora  witnessed 
the  sacrifice  of  many  Belgian  soldiers' 
lives. 

At  the  beginning  of  1917  Belgium  ac- 
ceded to  a  disinterested  act  in  favor  of 
Great  Britain,  an  act  which  tried  the 
pride  of  the  victorious  Belgian  regiments: 
Tabora  was  handed  over  to  Belgium's 
great    British    ally. 

The  Germans  thrown  back  into  the 
valley  of  the  Rufigi  River  had  been  able 
to  reorganize  themselves  during  the  rainy 
season.  In  April,  1917,  by  a  sudden  re- 
action, they  managed  to  break  the  en- 
circling cordon  of  British  forces  and 
throw  detachments  to  the  north  and  the 
southeast. 

The  Belgians  were  then  called  upon  to 
collaborate  in  continuing  the  struggle  and 
in  completing  the  conquest  of  the  last 
enemy   colony. 

At  the  end  of  May  Belgian  battalions 
were  able  to  cover  Tabora,  which  was 
threatened  by  a  German  column.  The 
enemy  was  pursued  relentlessly  to  the 
north  and  many  detached  units  were  cap- 
tured without  having  been  able  to  achieve 
anything. 

In  August  the  great  mass  of  the  Bel- 
gian forces  was  concentrated  at  Dodoma 
and  Kilosa,  south  of  the  railway  line  from 
Tabora   to   Dar-es-Salaam. 

After  having  cleared  the  country  of  Ger- 
man detachments  which  were  raiding  it, 
after  having  crossed  rivers  several  hun- 
dred yards  wide  under  enemy  fire,  after 
having  given  battle  for  ten  days  in  the 
mountains,  after  having  fought  ceaseless- 


160 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ly  for  two  months,  on  Oct.  9  the  troops 
under  Colonel  Huyghe,  who  had  become 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Belgian  forces 
in  1917,  captured  Mahenge,  the  last  dis- 
trict headquarters  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Germans.     The  pursuit  then  began  imme- 


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MAP    OF    GERMAN    EAST    AFRICA    SHOWING 

PORTION    CONQUERED     BY    BELGIAN 

TROOPS    (HORIZONTAL   SHADING) 


diately.  A  detachment  disembarked  at 
Kilwa  and  marched  toward  Liwale  to  cut 
the  enemy's  retreat.  The  German  columns, 
beating  a  hasty  retreat  from  Mahenge, 
were  pursued  by  the  Belgians,  and  at  the 
end  of  November  were  forced  to  surrender 
to  the  British  troops  which  intercepted 
them  at  Nevala.  Almost  at  the  same 
moment  the  last  troops  of  General  von 
Lettow  abandoned  German  East  African 
territory  and  passed  into  Mozambique, 
Portuguese  colony.  The  task  of  finally 
dealing  with  these  scattered  .sharp-shoot- 
ers fell  to  the  British  and  Portuguese 
forces ;  the  Belgian  troops'  task  was 
ended.  General  van  de  Venter,  after  Gen- 
eral Smuts,  has  officially  declared  on 
several  occasions  that  Belgian  aid  during 
this  campaign  had  been  "  loyal,  unre- 
stricted,  and  of  the  highest  value." 

Belgium  then  applied  herself  to 
practical  organization  of  the  administra- 
tion of  those  territories  of  German  East 
Africa  submitted  to  her  jurisdiction,  and 
to  stanching  the  wounds  which  the  war 
had   inflicted   on   the   country. 

First,  in  1917,  the  Belgian  administra- 
tion had  to  face  the  danger  of  famine 
which  was  threatening  the  inhabitants 
of  Ruanda  and  Urundi.  Thanks  to  the 
wise  measures  taken,  the  catastrophe  was 
prevented  and  Belgium  earned  the  grati- 
tude of  the  natives.  Soon  life  became 
normal  once  more,  as  much  in  the  com- 
mercial and  industrial  region  of  Kigoma- 
Ujiji  as  in  the  pastoral  and  agricultural 
countries   of   Ruanda   and   Urundi. 

Schools  have  been  founded  in  Ruanda. 
The  King  of  the  province,  Musinga,   con- 


sented, under  the  influence  of  the  Belgian 
administrators,  to  renounce  the  supreme 
right  over  the  lives  of  his  people.  In- 
ternal strife  ceased  in  Ruanda  and  an 
indigent  fund  was  established  by  Musinga, 
who  invariably  carried  on  his  Government 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  Belgian  Resi- 
dent. It  was  a  rule  in  this  country  that 
a  white  man  should  never  behold  the 
Queen  Mother,  who  shares  the  royal  au- 
thority with  her  son,  and  is  perhaps  even 
more  powerful  than  the  King  himself. 
The  Watuzi  used  to  say  in  support  of  a 
declaration:  "It  is  as  true  as  that  a 
white  man  will  never  see  Musinga's 
mother."  Yet  in  June,  1917,  the  Belgian 
Resident  at  Ruanda  was  presented  to  the 
Queen  Mother  by  Musinga  himself.  The 
Belgians  thus  obtained  a  testimony  of 
confidence  and  of  attachment  which  the 
Germans  were  not  able  to  call  forth  dur- 
ing the  seventeen  years  of  their  occupa- 
tion  of  the   territory. 

In  Urundi,  in  1916,  the  natives  still  fled 
at  the  approach  of  Europeans.  It  is 
enough  to  read  the  account  of  the  fetes 
given  at  the  close  of  1918,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  visit  to  Kitega  of  General  Malfeyt, 
the  Belgian  Royal  Commissary,  in  order 
to  realize  the  progress  effected  under  the 
present  direction.  In  1916  the  port  of 
Kigoma  had  just  come  into  existence. 
Thanks  to  the  activity  of  Belgian  en- 
gineers, officers,  and  administrators, 
Kigoma,  which  is  in  reality  the  point  of 
juncture  of  the  communications  which 
connect  the  Atlantic  with  the  Indian 
Ocean,    is    today   perfectly    organized. 

Neither  the  difficulties  nor  the  unavoid- 
able expenses  have  prevented  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  task  which  meant 
to  this  country  intrusted  to  Belgium's 
care  the  establishment  of  better  condi- 
tions of  life  based  on  progress  and  free- 
dom. 

Nearly  all  the  Ruanda  and  Urundi  chiefs 
have  solemnly  declared — and  their  testi- 
mony has  either  been  written  by  them- 
selves or  registered  by  witnesses  worthy 
of  confidence— that  they  desired  to  con- 
tinue to  work  in  the  future  under  the  pro- 
tection   of    Belgium. 

When  the  Royal  Commissioner  Malfeyt 
visited  Urundi  and  Ruanda  at  the  close 
of  1918,  thousands  of  natives  covered  dis- 
tances often  necessitating  several  days' 
journey  in  order  to  express  to  the  rep- 
'  resentative  of  Belgium  their  gratitude, 
their  attachment,  their  devotion,  and 
their  sincere  desire  to  become  Belgians. 

It  is,  besides,  a  fact  that  the  popula- 
tions of  Ruanda  and  Urundi  are  of  the 
same  race  as  those  which  inhabit  the  Bel- 
gian shore  of  Lake  Kivu,  and  it  is  of 
material  importance  that  they  should  no 
longer  be  separated.  Belgium,  by  right 
of  conquest,  possesses  Ruanda  and 
Urundi.  She  desires  to  preserve  these 
provinces  which  have  witnessed  the  sacri- 
fice  of   so   many   of  her   sons. 


British  Airships 


The  Progress  Made  During  the  War — Evolution  From  Tiny 

Beta  to  R-34 


By  a  Writer  in  The  London  Times 


ON  Aug.  4,  1914,  the  British  Navy 
nominally  possessed  several  air- 
ships, most  of  which  were,  how- 
ever, of  an  obsolete  or  semi-obso- 
lete type.  Pride  of  place  should  perhaps 
be  given  to  the  old  Beta,  which,  with 
Gamma,  Delta,  and  Eta,  had  been  hand- 
ed over  from  the  army  on  Jan.  1,  1914. 
This  little  airship  had  teen  in  existence 
in  one  form  or  another  since  early  in 
1910,  and  was  in  reality  even  older  than 
that,  as  her  original  envelope  had  formed 
part  of  the  Baby,  the  second  British 
Army  airship,  built  in  1909.  Beta  had, 
of  course,  undergone  many  changes  since 
those  days,  although  she  still  clung  to 
the  old  tradition  of  an  envelope  made  of 
gold-beater's  skin,  which  was  at  the  out- 
break of  war  in  process  of  being  rigged 
to  a  brand-new  car  with  a  50  horse 
power  engine.  Gamma  was  also  an  old 
ship,  being  built  late  in  1910,  but  had 
never  quite  taken  the  same  place  in  the 
affections  of  the  Airship  Service  as  Beta, 
in  whom  most  of  them  had  cut  their  aerial 
wisdom  teeth.  Gamma  was  by  this  date 
practically  worn  out,  and  was  only  used 
for  experimental  work  of  a  varied  na- 
ture. It  was  from  her  envelope  that  the 
first  known  experiments  in  firing  a  gun 
from  the  top  surface  of  a  non-rigid  air- 
ship were  carried  out.  Delta  was  not 
used  during  the  war,  while  Eta  was 
wrecked  near  Redhill  in  November,  1914, 
after  making  a  forced  landing  on  her 
way  to  a  temporary  base  established  at 
Firminy,  near  Dunkirk. 

The  remaining  airships  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Admiralty  were  No.  2,  a  small 
training  airship;  No.  3,  a  French-built 
Astra-Torres,  and  No.  4,  a  Parseval 
bought  from  Germany.  In  addition  to 
these,  a  contract  had  been  signed  with 
Messrs.  Vickers  (Limited)  in  March  for 
the  building  of  a  rigid  airship  (No.  9) 
of  about  twenty-seven  tons  gross  lift, 
while  the  same  firm  had  orders  for  three 
Parsevals,  which  were  subsequently  de- 


livered and  used  for  training  work.  A 
Forlanini  type  semi-rigid  was  also  on 
order  from  Italy,  but  this  was  taken 
over  by  the  Italian  Government  when 
completed. 

The  airship  personnel  totaled  198  of 
all  ranks,  of  whom  a  certain  number, 
both  officers  and  men,  were  military. 
These,  under  the  leadership  of  Lieut.  Col. 
(now  Brig.  Gen.,  R.  A.  F.)  E.  M.  Mait- 
land,  elected  to  be  seconded  to  the  navy 
rather  than  give  up  their  connection  with 
airships  when  a  transfer  took  place. 
There  was  only  one  aiuhip  station,  com- 
prising two  sheds  in  close  juxtaposition 
to  the  Royal  Aircraft  factory  at  Farn- 
borough,  actually  completed. 

EARLY  DAYS 

It  appears  that  the  airship  branch  of 
what  was  later  to  be  known  as  the  Royal 
Naval  Air  Service  was  the  first  portion 
of  the  air  forces  of  the  country  to  carry 
out  any  war  operation,  although  no  ac- 
tive results  were  achieved.  At  7  o'clock 
in  the  evening  of  Aug.  5,  exactly  nine- 
teen hours  after  the  declaration  of  war, 
Parseval  No.  4  set  out  from  Kingsnorth 
on  a  night  reconnoissance  of  the  Thames 
estuary  on  the  lookout  for  any  hostile  de- 
stroyers or  submarines  which  might  be 
attempting  a  raid.  The  airship  returned 
safely  to  her  base  at  5:30  the  following 
morning,  after  a  flight  of  ten  and  a  half 
hours,  without  sighting  anything  other 
than  our  own  patrol  craft. 

After  this  inaugural  war  flight,  the 
same  airship,  with  the  assistance  of 
Astra-Torres  No.  3,  maintained  a  regu- 
lar patrol  of  the  Channel,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Thames  down  to  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  Included  in  their  work  was  the 
duty  of  convoying  the  first  units  of  the 
British  Expeditionary  Force  to  France 
on  Aug.  14. 

There  were  few  events  of  outstanding 
importance  during  1914,  though  an  in- 
teresting incident  was  No.   3's  visit  to 


162 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Ostend  in  September,  when  she  was 
moored  out  in  the  open  for  three  days 
ready  to  assist  in  the  hasty  prepara- 
tions, which  were  subsequently  aban- 
doned, made  to  defend  that  town  by  Sir 
George  Aston,  in  command  of  a  mixed 
force  of  marines  and  troops.  After  the 
evacuation  a  somewhat  daring  recon- 
noissance  of  Ostend  was  made  by  the 
same  airship  in  broad  daylight  to  as- 
certain whether  the  Germans  had  yet 
occupied   the  place. 

Two  months  later  a  party  under 
Colonel  Maitland  established  an  airship 
base  in  a  disused  factory  at  Firminy. 
Eta  was  destined  for  this  work,  but  was 
wrecked  on  the  way  over,  her  place 
being  taken  by  Beta,  which  did  a  certain 
amount  of  reconnoissance  work  and  ar- 
tillery control  for  the  Belgian  heavy 
guns  in  the  neighborhood.  This  party 
saw  a  Belgian  kite  balloon  in  operation 
and  were  so  impressed  with  its  value 
that  a  strong  recommendation  was  for- 
warded to  the  Admiralty  recommending 
the  adoption  of  similar  measures — with 
results  which  are  now  history.  This 
force  was  recalled  toward  the  end  of  the 
year. 

PROGRESS    IN    1915 

The  year  1915  opened  inauspiciously 
for  airships  by  the  issue  early  in  Feb- 
ruary of  instructions  to  Messrs.  Vickers 
to  cease  all  work  on  the  construction  of 
the  rigid  airship  No.  9.  This  resulted 
immediately  in  the  dispersal  of  a  large 
number  of  skilled  workmen  and  caused 
the  loss  of  much  valuable  time  before 
experience  could  be  gained  in  the.  man- 
agement and  uses  of  large  airships. 
Fortunately,  the  policy  was  reversed  and 
recommencement  of  work  ordered  in  the 
following  August,  but,  largely  owing  to 
this  delay,  this  first  rigid  airship  did  not 
take  the  air  until  late  in  the  following 
year. 

The  same  month,  however,  saw  a  de- 
velopment which  was  destined  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  all  the  future  successes  of  Brit- 
ish airships.  On  the  last  day  of  Febru- 
ary Lord  Fisher,  who  had  lately  become 
First  Sea  Lord,  in  view  of  the  threaten- 
ing submarine  menace,  gave  instructions 
for  the  production  of  a  small  airship  to 


act  as  a  submarine  scout.  Then  followed 
a  fortnight  of  feverish  activity  on  the 
part  of  the  Airship  Service,  which  at  last 
saw  signs  of  interest  in  high  quarters. 
The  following  day  the  envelope  of  the 
little  Willows  training  airship  was  dis- 
patched from  Farnborough  to  Kings- 
north  and  preparations  were  made  to 
sling  below  it  the  fuselage  of  a 
war-scarred  BE-2-C  airplane.  Precisely 
fifteen  days  later  SS-1  took  the  air 
and  successfully  passed  her  trials,  with 
the  result  that  a  further  twelve  subma- 
rine scouts  were  ordered  the  same  eve- 
ning. To  accommodate  these,  work  was 
commenced  immediately  on  a  number  of 
stations  around  the  coast,  and  during  the 
ensuing  Summer  patrols  were  started 
from  Folkestone,  Polegate  near  East- 
bourne, Marquise  on  the  French  coast 
near  Boulogne,  Luce  Bay  near  Stranraer, 
and  Anglesey;  Folkestone  being  the  first 
of  these  stations  to  w  commission,"  on 
May  8.  The  earlier  SS  airships  were 
constructed  at  Kingsnorth,  while  Barrow 
and  Wormwood  Scrubs  were  both  subse- 
quently employed  on  this  work. 

CREATING  A  NEW  INDUSTRY 

It  was  necessary  to  build  up  what 
was  practically  a  new  industry  to  pre- 
pare fabric  with  rubber  proofing  to  ren- 
der it  gas-tight  for  airship  envelopes. 
The  various  water-proofing  companies 
were  called  upon  for  this  work,  and  re- 
sponded with  such  enthusiasm  that  by 
the  end  of  the  war  there  were  about  half 
a  dozen  firms  which  had  specialized  in 
the  making  of  airship  envelopes  with  ex- 
tremely good  results.  The  SS  airships 
proved  so  satisfactory  that  it  was  de- 
cided in  July  to  recommence  work  on 
rigid  No.  9,  and  also  to  start  on  the  pro- 
duction of  a  larger  type  of  non-rigid 
which  subsequently  became  known  as  the 
"  coastal  "  class,  they  being  intended  for 
anti-submarine  patrols  up  to  a  distance 
of  150  miles  from  shore.  To  house  these 
airships  the  building  of  new  stations  was 
commenced  in  the  Autumn  at  Longside 
near  Aberdeen,  East  Forturie  on  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  Howden  on  the  Humber, 
Pulham  in  Norfolk,  Mullion  in  South 
Cornwall,  and  Pembroke  in  South  Wales. 
These,  with  the  SS  airship  stations  al- 


BRITISH  AIRSHIPS 


163 


ready  commissioned,  provided  a  chain  of 
bases  all  around  the  coast,  distant  in  the 
majority  of  cases  only  some  100  miles 
apart.  The  greatest  possible  credit  is 
due  to  Brig.  Gen.  Masterman,  who  was 
personally  responsible  for  the  location  of 
these  stations,  which,  although  at  that 
time  the  methods  of  employing  airships 
in  anti-submarine  .operations  were  all  a 
matter  of  pure  conjecture,  proved  later 
on  to  be  without  exception  admirably 
placed  for  dealing  with  the  very  extend- 
ed activities  of  German  submarines  as 
these  were  developed  in  1917  and  1918. 

Before  passing  to  the  year  1916  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  toward  the  end  of  the 
Summer  an  airship  expeditionary  force 
was  sent  to  the  Dardanelles,  a  base 
being  established  on  the  Island  of  Im- 
bros  to  co-operate  with  the  surface  craft 
in  attempting  to  locate  enemy  subma- 
rines in  those  waters.  Owing  to  its  ex- 
posed nature,  this  camp,  for  it  was  little 
more,  was .  subsequently  removed  to  Mu- 
dros.  Only  one  SS  airship  could  be 
kept  inflated  at  a  time,  as  only  a  single 
shed  was  sent  out,  which  probably  ac- 
counts for  the  comparatively  poor  results 
obtained. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  sug- 
gestion with  regard  to  kite  balloons  bore 
fruit  to  the  extent  that  by  the  end  of 
1915  there  were  on  active  service  five  sea 
and  five  land  kite  balloon  sections,  of 
which  the  latter  were  working  with  the 
army  in  France,  all  manned  by  R.  N.  A. 
S.  personnel,  besides  others  in  process  of 
formation  at  Upper  Grove  House,  Roe- 
hampton,  which  had  been  established  as 
a  training  station  and  depot. 

Although  the  practical  results  of  air- 
ship work  during  this  year  may  have 
been  to  some  extent  negative,  neverthe- 
less the  groundwork  had  been  done  from 
which  an  important  service  was  destined 
to  develop.  The  number  of  airship  sta- 
tions had  risen  from  two  to  eight,  in  ad- 
dition to  six  more  under  construction, 
while  there  were  now  twenty-two  air- 
ships in  active  operation,  besides  a  con- 
siderable number  (including  four  more 
of  the  rigid  type)  on  order.  The  number 
of  personnel  had  risen  from  198  to  the 
respectable  total  of  1,732.  On  the  last 
day  of  the  year  the  station  at  Marquise 


was  handed  over  to  the  French  Govern- 
ment. 

1916 

The  next  year  was  mainly  one  of  co- 
ordination and  general  settlement  of 
ideas.  The  full  program  of  SS  airships, 
to  the  number  of  fifty,  was  completed 


COMPARISON  OF  LENGTH,  GAS  CAPACITY 
&  DISPOSABLE  LfFT  OF  AIRSHIPS. 

4g£gi0ispoaable  Lift  ^GrosaVFt- 

(shown  sou  d  slack)  minus  lyrist  ofStnceun. 

ss-z-  cSasr 


seaooo 

Cu-S? 


RIGID. 
R.23. 


R.3*. 


,  5  Tons 


-SJ  zaoooo 


Co.F£ 


S?3  Ft 
tmM  6  Tons 


c 


535  /=-.« 


~<n    34-2.000 

^3    c*" 


29  Tons 


I.  IOO  Feet 


during  the  year,  as  was  that  of  the 
thirty-two  "  coastal  "  type  ordered  during 
1915.  Sheds  capable  of  housing  rigid 
airships  were  commenced  at  Longside, 
East  Fortune,  Howden,  C  ran  well,  (the 
R.  N.  A.  S.  training  station,)  and  Pul- 
ham,  the  coastal  airship  sheds  at  all 
these  stations,  as  well  as  at  Mullion  and 
Pembroke,  being  completed.  The  year 
saw  the  completion  of  the  first  of  the 
"  North  Sea  "  type  of  non-rigid  airships 
which  proved  capable  of  carrying  a  crew 
of  ten  for  a  period  of  twenty  hours  at 
full  speed.  Another  innovation  fraught 
with  great  promise  for  the  future  was 
the  production  by  the  station  personnel 
at  Folkestone  of  a  new  form  of  submarine 
scout  airship  known  as  the  SS-Zero. 
This  ship  had  a  specially  designed  car  ca- 
pable of  floating  on  the  water  and  built 
to  withstand  the  strain  of  towing  from 


164 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


\NON  RIGUA 


\MGID. 


S.S.Z. 

Lengtn  H3ff      Disposable  Lin  0-8  Tons 

No.  9. 


R.23 


N.S  12. 


Length  262  ft 
Disposable  lift  4  Tons 


Length  523  Ft 
«  Disposable  Lift  5  Tons 


,<"OJ       Length  535  Ft 
sapr     Disposable  Lift  6  Tons. 

NOU:. 

Disposable  Lift. 
5/-OJ*  Z//1  minus  weight 
of  Structure. 


R.34 


Compared  with  Length  oF 
later  Dreadnoughts  (650  F?) 


TEN  MILLION 


Length  1,100  ft 
Disposable  Lift  200  Tons. 


DIAGRAMS  SHOWING  PROGRESS  OP  AIRSHIP  CONSTRUCTION  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN. 
NOTE  THAT  WHILE  THE  R-34,  THE  LARGEST  YET  CONSTRUCTED,  CAN  LIFT  TWENTY- 
NINE  TONS.  A  DIRIGIBLE  ONLY  TWICE  AS  LONG  COULD  CARRY  SEVEN  TIMES  AS 
GREAT  A  LOAD. 


a  ship.  It  had  begun  to  be  realized  that 
an  airship  which  could  be  towed  by  a 
surface  vessel  would  have  many  very 
valuable  uses,  and  experiments  were 
commenced  with  this  object  in  view. 

The  outstanding  feature  of  the  year 
was,  perhaps,  the  long-delayed  comple- 
tion of  the  first  rigid  airship,  No.  9 — 
three  years  and  eight  months  after  the 
original  date  of  ordering.  Owing  to  the 
time  which  had  elapsed  since  her  design 
was  prepared,  she  was  naturally  out  of 
date,   but   none   the   less  her   successful 


trial  flight  in  November,  1916,  marked 
an  epoch  in  airship  circles,  as  it  was  the 
first  step  toward  the  proper  recognition 
of  this  type  of  aircraft  in  Great  Britain. 
During  1916  an  interesting  experiment 
was  also  tried  in  sending  out  an  SS 
airship  for  work  of  a  secret  nature  with 
the  British  Expeditionary  Force  in 
France.  This  ship  proved  that  it  was 
possible  to  render  an  airship  so  incon- 
spicuous and  silent  that  on  four  oc- 
casions she  was  able  to  cross  the  lines 
and  return,  without  being  detected,  at  a 


BRITISH  AIRSHIPS 


165 


height  of  about  4,000  feet.  In  the  light 
of  later  developments,  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  longest  flight  to  that 
date,  of  eighteen  hours  thirty-five  min- 
utes, was  made  by  a  coastal  airship.  In 
this  year  a  number  of  non-rigid  airships 
of  the  coastal  and  SS  types  were  sold 
to  France,  Italy,  and  Russia — a  recog- 
nition of  the  results  of  their  labors  of 
which  the  Airship  Service  were  not  un- 
naturally proud.  A  staff  was  collected 
together  to  experiment  in  the  design  and 
fitting  of  parachutes  for  airships,  and 
a  large  amount  of  valuable  pioneer  work 
was  done  in  this  direction.  During  this 
year  airships  flew  for  a  total  of  8,296 
hours,  the  number  in  commission  having 
risen  to  fifty-eight,  while  the  personnel 
had  by  the  end  of  the  year  reached  a 
total  of  4,462  officers  and  men. 

An  occurrence  destined  to  have  far- 
reaching  results  was  the  forced  landing 
of  the  German  Zeppelin  L-33  in  a  com- 
paratively undamaged  condition  near 
Colchester  in  September. 

1917 
The  following  year  will  always  be 
looked  upon  by  the  Airship  Service  as 
the  one  in  which  they  thoroughly  made 
good  their  oft-reiterated  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered a  valuable  part  of  the  naval 
forces  of  the  country.  The  year  was 
essentially  a  vindication  of  the  small 
non-rigid  airship  of  the  SS  type,  which 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  work.  It  also  saw 
the  recognition  of  airships  by  naval  offi- 
cers, who  had  previously  eyed  them 
somewhat  askance.  It  was  the  first  year 
during  which  all  the  stations  became 
fully  equipped  with  airships,  thus  afford- 
ing an  opportunity  for  the  organization 
of  systematic  schemes  for  patrols  and 
proper  co-operation  between  neighboring 
stations.  In  consequence  of  the  large 
amount  of  flying  carried  out,  to  a  large 
extent  owing  to  the  success  of  the  new 
SS-Z  type  of  airships,  the  personnel 
generally  became  more  experienced  and 
gained  in  all-round  efficiency,  while  no 
small  factor  in  the  improved  situation 
was  the  entire  reorganization  of  and  in- 
crease in  the  headquarters  staff  during 
this  period. 

For  the  first  time  comparatively  fre- 
quent   reports    of    submarine    sightings 


and  attacks  began  to  come  in,  and  there 
was  an  all-round  increase  in  activity 
which  was  most  noticeable.  The  number 
of  hours  flying  during  the  year  rose  to 
22,389,  although  the  actual  number  of 
airships  in  commission  had  only  in- 
creased by  five,  to  a  total  of  sixty-three 
requiring  a  total  of  5,818  officers  and 
men. 

Three  more  rigid  airships  were  com- 
pleted, in  addition  to  No.  9,  all  of  which 
were  allocated  to  training  work  pending 
the  completion  of  later  types  which  were 
considered  likely  to  prove  really  useful 
for  war  purposes.  It  was  deemed  wiser 
not  to  risk  losing  prestige  by  allowing 
these  ships  to  be  used  for  operational 
work  for  which  they  were  not  fully 
suited.  It  must  be  remembered  that  up 
to  this  time  our  rigid  airships  were 
scarcely  more  than  equal  to  the  German 
ships  in  use  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war — so  far  behind  were  we  in  this 
branch  of  airship  design. 

During  the  year  1917  an  improved  type 
of  coastal  airship  was  produced,  giving 
greater  all-round  efficiency,  while  six 
of  the  new  North  Sea  type  were  com- 
pleted, one  of  them  carrying  out  a  flight 
lasting  slightly  more  than  two  days. 

1918 

At  the  end  of  1917  an  experiment  was 
tried  which  was  destined  to  have  a  great 
effect  on  the  policy  of  the  following  year. 
It  had  been  found  that  the  convoy  sys- 
tem necessitated  airships  being  out  regu- 
larly for  fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  at  a 
time,  and  the  distance  apart  of  the  main 
stations  rendered  it  difficult  to  carry  out 
such  long  flig.:i:s  with  the  small  SS-Z 
airships  which  had  proved  so  valuable 
and  economical  in  use.  The  bold  policy 
was  therefore  adopted  of,  to  a  consider- 
able extent,  dispensing  with  sheds.  A 
number  of  small  spinneys,  or  in  some 
cases  merely  belts  of  trees,  were  found 
all  round  the  coasts,  and  small  airships 
were  moored  out  in  the  open  in  clearings 
with  no  shelter  other  than  that  afforded 
by  the  trees.  This  policy,  though  to  some 
extent  open  to  criticism  on  the  score  of 
the  expense  resulting  from  the  short- 
ened life  of  airship  envelopes,  was  amply 
justified. 

A  convoy  of  merchant  ships  approach- 


166 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ing  this  country  from,  for  example,  the 
Atlantic  would,  if  the  weather  were 
anything  approaching  reasonable,  be  met 
some  150  miles  out  at  sea  by  an  airship, 
and  from  that  time  forward  would  never 
be  left  unattended  by  an  airship  escort 
until  it  reached  port — whether  it  were 
Bristol,  Liverpool,  or  some  town  on  the 
east  coast.  In  this  way  it  has  been  esti- 
mated that  some  2,000  escorts  were  car- 
ried out  during  the  ten  months  from  Jan- 
uary, 1918,  to  the  signing  of  the  armi- 
stice. During  the  same  period  over  56,- 
000  hours  were  spent  on  patrol  and 
1,000,000  miles  covered. 

On  Nov.  11,  1918,  there  were  103  air- 
ships in  commission,  (of  which  five  were 
rigids  and  fifty-three  the  ubiquitous 
SS-Zero,)  necessitating  the  employment 
of  7,114  officers  and  men. 

SUMMARY 

Altogether  airships  have  a  record  of 
88,717  hours  flying  during  the  whole  pe- 
riod of  the  war,  which  is  equivalent  to  a 
period  of  ten  years;  during  which  2,245,- 
000  miles  were  covered,  equaling  ninety 
complete  circuits  of  the  earth.  Including 
all  training  and  experimental  flying,  in 
addition  to  all  deaths  resulting  from 
enemy  action,  only  48  lives  were  lost, 
which  gives  an  average  of  46,787  miles 
per  fatality,  or,  to  put  the  same  fact  in 
another  way,  0.54  deaths  for  every  1,000 
hours  flown.  Now  that  all  our  thoughts 
are  turning  to  the  peaceful  development 
of  aircraft,  the  following  records  may  be 
not  uninteresting:  Coastal  Airship  No.  2 
was  in  commission  durinn-  1916,  1917,  and 
1918  for  2  years  75  days,  during  which 
she  covered  66,201  miles,  or  an  average 


of  3  hours  6  minutes  flying  on  each  day 
of  her  whole  life.  Coastal  No.  2  covered 
38,303  miles  in  one  year,  1918,  in  1,414 
hours  14  minutes — an  average  of  104.9 
miles  per  day,  while  SS-Z-51  during  a 
period  of  five  months  did  even  better 
than  this  by  averaging  113.3  miles  per 
day. 

The  work  of  airships  during  the  war 
was  not  spectacular,  and  little  was  di- 
vulged concerning  it,  but  there  is  ample 
evidence  that  it  was  useful,  and  that  they 
fully  justified  their  existence,  particu- 
larly after  the  development  which  com- 
menced in  the  early  Summer  of  1917.  As 
soon  as  it  was  realized  that,  for  convoy 
duties  especially,  high  speed  is  not  essen- 
tial, but  that  the  mere  ability  to  stay  out 
for  long  periods  at  a  time  is  a  valuable 
feature  in  aircraft,  airships  began  to 
come  into  their  own.  Their  salient  char- 
acteristics are  the  capacity  for  cruising 
at  any  desired  speed  from  zero  up  to  the 
maximum  of  the  type,  and,  compared 
with  airplanes,  an  enormous  endurance. 
Flights  of  fourteen  and  fifteen  hours 
were  an  everyday  occurrence  even  with 
the  little  SS-Z  type  of  no  more  than  two 
tons  gross  lift,  while  it  is  common 
knowledge  that  since  the  armistice  NS-11 
— with  a  gross  lift  of  about  10  tons — 
carried  out  a  flight  lasting  101  hours, 
or  slightly  more  than  four  days.  R-34. 
which  successfully  crossed  the  Atlantic 
twice,  with  the  extra  petrol  tanks,  spe 
cially  fitted  for  the  Atlantic  flight,  al- 
though her  full  speed  is  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  60  miles  per  hour,  could  at  a  re- 
duced speed — resulting  in  saving  of  pe- 
trol consumption — stay  in  the  air  for 
nearly  ten  days,  during  which  she  would 
cover  slightly  over  7,700  miles. 


The  Scuttling  at  Scapa  Flow 

.Vivid  Story  of  an  Artist  Who  Witnessed  the  Whole   Scene 
From  a  British  Patrol  Boat 

By  B.  F.  GRIBBLE 

Mr.  Gribble,  a  marine  artist,  was  with  the  British  Fleet,  engaged  in  making 
drawings  of  the  interned  German  vessels  at  Scapa  Flow  on  June  21,  1919,  at  the 
historic  moment  when  almost  the  whole  High  Seas  Fleet  was  scuttled  and  sunk  by 
order  of  the  German  Admiral,  von  Renter.  He  gave  the  following  personal  narra- 
tive, the  most  vivid  and  picturesque  thus  far  obtained  from  any  source: 


I  HAD  accepted  an  invitation  from 
Vice  Admiral  Sir  Sidney  Fremantle 
to  proceed  to  sea  with  the  British 
Fleet  on  Saturday  morning,  [June 
21,]  but  at  the  last  moment  resolved  to 
remain  at  Scapa  and  carry  on  with  my 
task  of  making  drawings  of  the  interned 
vessels.  The  original  intention  had  been 
that  the  fleet  should  go  out  on  Friday 
morning  for  torpedo  practice,  but  the 
weather  prevented  this.  On  Saturday 
morning  the  British  Fleet  proceeded  to 
sea,  and  I  decided  to  go  on  a  cruise 
around  the  German  vessels  on  board  the 
trawler  Sochosin,  a  captured  German 
vessel,  in  order  to  complete  my  work. 
I  thus  had  the  good  fortune  to  witness 
a  most  wonderful  sight,  one  which  I 
would  not  have  missed  for  worlds. 

The  Sochosin  was  doing  patrol  work 
under  the  command  of  Sub-Lieutenant 
Leeth,  and  we  were  simply  cruising 
round,  and  as  it  happened  I  was  only  just 
in  time  to  get  the  drawings  I  wanted. 
About  11:45  I  noticed  German  sailors 
on  board  the  Friedrich  der  Grosse 
throwing  baggage  into  boats  which  were 
already  alongside  the  vessel.  I  remarked 
to  the  Lieutenant,  "  Do  you  allow  them 
to  go  for  joy  rows?"  He  replied,  "  No, 
but,  by  Jove,  it  looks  as  if  they  were." 
Then,  after  a  moment's  hesitation,  the 
Lieutenant  exclaimed,  "  My  word,  I  have 
got  it.  I  believe  they  are  scuttling  their 
ships  and  are  abandoning  them."  By 
this  time  the  Germans  were  throwing 
their  baggage  into  the  boats  at  great 
speed  and  simultaneously  we  observed 
that  the  same  thing  was  happening  on 
board  the  Frankfurt,  which  was  on  our 
right  at  that  moment. 


We  made  straight  for  the  nearest  ves- 
sel, which  happened  to  be  the  Frankfurt, 
and  the  Lieutenant  ordered  his  men  to 
get  their  cutlasses  and  rifles  ready.  He 
then  shouted  an  order  to  the  Germans, 
who  were  now  in  their  boats,  to  return 
to  the  ships  at  once.  The  German  sail- 
ors apparently  had  thrown  their  oars 
away  and  they  shouted  back,  "  We  have 
no  oars."  A  British  sailor  then  shouted 
to  them,  "  Here  you  are,  you  swine ; 
here  you  are,"  and  he  threw  a  number 
of  oars  into  the  water.  There  were  two 
boats  approaching  us  and  the  German 
officers  were  extremely  impudent. 
Standing  on  the  bows  of  their  boats, 
they  shouted,  "  Can't  you  take  us  on 
board  into  safety?"  Lieutenant  Leeth 
replied,  "  No,  return  to  your  ships  at 
once;  if  you  do  not  I  will  fire  on  you." 

It  then  became  necessary  to  open  fire, 
and  the  Germans  were  seen  to  wave 
white  flags.  One  German  officer  shouted, 
"  You  have  killed  four  of  my  men,  and 
we  have  no  arms.  I  want  to  look  after 
the  men."  Our  officer  shouted  to  them, 
"  You  look  after  them  by  getting  them 
back  to  the  ships."  The  officer  said, 
"  We  can't  go  back,  they  are  sinking." 
Lieutenant  Leeth:  "You  must  go  back 
and  prevent  them  from  sinking."  The 
Germans  replied,  "It  is  not  our  fault; 
we  are  carrying  out  our  orders." 

By  this  time  the  Friedrich  der  Grosse 
had  listed  right  over  to  port,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  went  down.  Her  crew  had 
succeeded  in  getting  round  into  the  open, 
and  we  managed  to  get  three  boats  into 
tow.  Meanwhile  signals  were  being  sent 
up  to  our  battleships  to  return,  and  mes- 
sages were  signaled  to  the  coastguards, 


168 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


requesting  them  to  marconi  to  the  fleet. 
It  took  about  two  hours,  however,  before 
the  first  of  the  destroyers  arrived.  The 
Germans  in  their  boats  were  very  daring, 
and  endeavored  to  come  alongside  our 
vessel.  One  of  the  crew,  however,  kept 
them  off  by  threatening  them  with  a 
revolver. 

CHEERS  FROM  THE  GERMANS 

By  this  time  the  Brummer,  a  cruiser 
of  the  Emden  class,  had  begun  to  turn 
over  and  sink,  and  the  first  destroyer 
of  the  British  Fleet  arrived  just  in  time 
to  see  her  go  down.  The  German  crews, 
who  were  out  in  the  open  sea,  cheered 
as  they  saw  their  ships  go  down.  One 
of  the  German  battle  cruisers,  I  think  it 
was  the  Hindenburg,  hoisted  the  Ger- 
man ensign,  and  I  noticed  that  all  the 
German  vessels  had  been  flying  two  code 
flags  at  the  peak.  The  upper  flag  was 
a  white  ball  on  a  blue  pennant,  and  the 
lower  was  a  yellow  and  blue  pennant.  I 
had  noticed  on  the  previous  day  that 
the  same  signals  were  flying.  They 
were  flown  by  the  Emden,  and  apparent- 
ly answered  by  all  the  German  vessels. 

As  we  turned  toward  the  Seydlitz,  we 
saw  her  turn  right  over,  but  she  did  not 
sink  altogether,  and  she  was  still  visible 
above  the  surface.  We  kept  on  signal- 
ing and  using  the  hooters  in  order  to 
get  other  guard  ships  to  come  round,  and 
we  had  to  keep  passing  over  the  sur- 
face where  vessels  had  gone  down.  We 
passed  several  abandoned  German  steam 
pinnaces  from  the  different  battleships, 
but  there  was  no  one  on  board,  and  we 
concluded  that  several  of  the  Germans 
had  been  drowned,  as  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  lifebelts  floating  about. 

We  then  observed  that  the  Emden  was 
in  trouble,  and  H.  M.  S.  Shakespeare, 
one  of  our  destroyers,  ran  alongside  her 
to  endeavor  to  take  her  in  tow.  We  re- 
turned to  the  Ramillies  and  trans- 
ferred to  her  a  number  of  the  wounded 
Germans  whom  we  had  removed  from  the 
German  boats.  Returning  to  the  scene, 
we  picked  up  a  few  more,  including  their 
baggage,  and  put  them  on  board  our 
flagship.  We  next  proceeded  to  the 
Emden,  and  at  this  time  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  confusion.  Our  vessel  ran 
into  the  Emden,  smashing  her  gangways, 


but  we  ultimately  managed  to  beach  her. 
I  noticed  that  Admiral  von  Reuter's  flag- 
ship was  flying  his  flag,  which  is  a  black 
cross  resembling  a  Maltese  cross  on 
a  white  ground,  with  two  black  balls. 
When  we  got  alongside  the  Emden  1 
peeped  into  her  forecabin,  and  I  noticed 
it  was  gayly  decorated  with  flags  and 
bunting,  and  there  was  a  distinct  odor 
of  tobacco  and  spirits.  Evidently  the 
Germans  had  indulged  in  an  orgy  the 
night  before.  It  appears  that  the  whole 
thing  was  carefully  arranged  and  timed 
to  a  minute. 

One  thing  I  noticed  was  that,  notwith- 
standing the  thrilling  and  dangerous 
character  of  the  proceedings,  the  German 
officers  were  wearing  yellow  kid  gloves 
and  smoking  cigars.  Although  the  Ger- 
mans declared  they  had  no  arms,  I  have 
good  reason  to  believe  that  automatic 
pistols  were  found  in  the  possession  of 
some  of  the  officers.  While  our  rifle 
fire  was  proceeding  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  cross  fire,  which  lasted  for,  I 
should  think,  three-quarters  of  an  hour, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  the 
Germans  actually  did  use  firearms,  but 
probably  some  shots  came  from  the  Ger- 
mans. Their  intention  evidently  was  to 
keep  out  to  sea  as  long  as  they  could  in 
order  to  give  their  vessels  time  to  sink. 

On  Saturday  evening  I  had  a  long  chat 
with  the  different  officers,  and  they  all 
expressed  great  regret  at  not  being  pres- 
ent from  the  beginning  of  the  incident. 
Admiral  von  Reuter  and  his  staff  and 
the  whole  of  the  crews,  numbering  alto- 
gether about  400,  were  placed  on  board 
the  Revenge  for  the  night,  and  arrange- 
ments were  made  to  take  them  to  Inver- 
gordon  on  the  following  day. 

GERMAN   OFFICERS   PARADED 

I  think  the  most  interesting  and  im- 
pressive part  of  the  whole  proceedings 
took  place  on  Sunday  afternoon  on  board 
the  Revenge,  when  Admiral  Fremantle 
had  the  whole  of  the  German  officers 
and  men  paraded  on  the  quarterdeck 
and  addressed  Admiral  von  Reuter  and 
his  staff.  This  ceremony  took  place  at 
2:30.  The  Germans  were  lined  up  under 
a  military  escort  of  marines  with  fixed 
bayonets,  and  Admiral  von  Reuter  was 
ordered  to  stand  in  front  of  his  staff. 


THE  SCUTTLING  AT  SCAPA  FLOW 


169 


Admiral  F  reman  tie  then  delivered  a 
short  address,  which  was  translated  by 
a  Captain  of  the  Marines.  Admiral  Fre- 
mantle,  addressing  the  German  Admiral, 
said : 

"  Before  I  send  you  ashore  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war,  I  would  like  to  express  to 
you  my  indignation  at  the  deed  which 
you  have  perpetrated  and  which  was  that 
of  a  traitor  violating  the  action  of  the 
arrangements  entered  into  by  the  Allies. 
The  German  Fleet'was,  in  a  sense,  more 
interned  than  actually  imprisoned.  The 
vessels  were  resting  here  as  a  sort  of 
good-will  from  the  German  Government 
until  peace  had  been  signed.  It  is  not 
the  first  occasion  on  which  the  Germans 
have  violated  all  the  decent  laws  and 
rules  of  the  seas.  We  have  had  on  many 
occasions  to  regret  the  fact  of  having  to 
fight  a  nation  which  takes  no  notice  of 
civilized  laws  on  the  high  seas." 

VON    REUTER'S    REPLY 

After  this  address  Admiral  von  Reuter 
made  a  short  speech,  in  which  he  said: 

"  I  take  entire  responsibility  for  what 
has  been  done.  It  was  done  at  my  insti- 
gation, and  I  feel  that  I  was  perfectly 
justified  in  doing  it,  and  I  feel  sure  that 
in  similar  ch'cumstances  every  English 
sailor  would  have  done  the  same." 

'The  ceremony  was  very  impressive, 
and  appeared  to  touch  all  our  sailors  who 
witnessed  it.  The  German  officers  were 
then  ordered  to  get  their  baggage,  and 
they  were  transferred  to  a  boat.  Ad- 
miral Fremantle  ordered  Admiral  von 
Reuter  and  his  staff  to  be  taken  on  a 
launch  to  a  place  near  Invergordon.  The 
other  officers  and  men  were  landed  at 
Invergordon.  One  thing  that  struck  me 
about  the  German  sailors  was  that  they 
appeared  to  be  very  poor  specimens  of 
the  German  type,  and  they  seemed  to  be 
devoid  of  discipline.  During  the  cere- 
mony of  the  quarterdeck  they  did  not 
salute  nor  stand  at  attention  until  or- 
dered to  do  so.  The  German  officers, 
however,  were  a  more  healthy-looking 
type  of  men.  Everything  possible  was 
done  for  the  wounded  men.  I  think  one 
man  died  on  the  Ramillies. 

It  was  most  surprising  to  observe  how 
swiftly  the  vessels  sank.     Most  of  them 


turned  over  to  starboard  and  then  dis- 
appeared. I  do  not  think  the  dramatic 
spectacle  could  have  been  witnessed  very 
clearly  from  the  shore.  There  has  been 
mention  of  the  hoisting  of  the  red  flag, 
but  I  do  not  think  that  is  correct.  I  saw 
no  red  flag.  There  were  only  the  Ger- 
man Admiral's  flag  and  the  signal  pen- 
nants. It  seems  clear  that  the  whole  in- 
cident was  carefully  prearranged,  and 
that  the  Germans  had  known  exactly 
when  our  fleet  would  be  at  sea.  It  is 
also  rather  suggestive  that  quite  recently 
Admiral  von  Reuter  removed  2,000  of  his 
men  from  the  ships  and  sent  them  home. 
I  can  quite  understand  that  the  Ger- 
mans may  have  been  feeling  the  monoto- 
ny' of  their  existence  at  Scapa  Flow. 
There  is  very  little  comfort  on  board 
a  German  warship.  The  German  Navy 
was  apparently  built  solely  from  the 
fighting  point  of  view,  and  there  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  much  considera- 
tion given  to  the  comfort  of  the  crews. 
All  available  space  on  board  is  taken  up 
with  working  plant  and  guns,  and  the 
feature  of  the  vessels  is  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  heavily  armor  plated. 

I  think  the  whole  incident  created  a 
curious  feeling  of  surprise  among  our 
sailors,  who  appeared  to  be  unable  to 
realize  that  a  fleet  of  magnificently  con- 
structed vessels  could  be  got  rid  of  so 
simply  without  even  showing  fight.  I 
noticed  that  Admiral  von  Reuter  and  his 
staff  wore  Iron  Crosses.  I  think  Ad- 
miral von  Reuter's  decoration  was  an 
Iron  Cross  of  the  first  degree.  The 
scene  was  certainly  an  extraordinary 
one,  and  I  shall  never  forget  it. 


EDITORIAL  NOTE.— Admiral  Fremantle 
reported  on  June  24  that  the  Baden  was 
afloat,  the  Emden  beached  and  little  dam- 
aged, the  Frankfurt  beached,  with  upper 
deck  awash  at  high  water ;  the  Niirnberg 
beached  broadside  on,  with  little  damage. 
Two  destroyers  were  afloat  and  eighteen 
beached.  He  said  there  was  no  prospect  of 
salving  any  of  the  other  ships  without  elab- 
orate operations.  A  month  later,  on  July 
30,  Walter  Hume  Long,  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  announced  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons that  one  German  battleship,  three  light 
cruisers,  and  fifteen  destroyers  had  been 
salvaged  and  that  work  was  proceeding  on 
three  other  destroyers.  He  added  that  there 
was  no  intention  of  holding  a  court  of  in- 
quiry in  regard  to  the  sinking. 


The  World's  Ship  Tonnage 

Balancing  Accounts  With  the  U-Boats — America's  Increased 
Share  in  the  World's  New  Merchant  Marine 

[Period  Ended  Sept.  10,  1919] 


THE  losses  of  the  allied  and  neutral 
nations  caused  by  Germany's  sub- 
marine war,  though  undeniably 
great,  were  counterbalanced  in 
part  by  an  increase  of  shipbuilding 
activity  in  Great  Britain,  Japan,  and  the 
United  States.  A  report  issued  by 
Edward  N.  Hurley,  Chairman  of  the 
United  States  Shipping  Board,  showed 
that  the  allied  and  neutral  nations  suf- 
fered a  total  loss  by  enemy  action, 
marine  risk,  and  capture  of  over  15,000,- 
000  gross  tons.  Great  Britain  lost  18  per 
cent,  of  her  entire  tonnage.  The  Cunard 
Company  alone  lost  forty-five  ships.  Nor- 
way lost  considerably  more  than  1,000,- 
000  tons,  France  about  1,000,000,  Italy 
about  850,000,  Greece  about  337,000, 
Denmark  239,000,  and  Sweden  201,000. 
Danish  claims  against  the  belligerent 
powers  amounting  to  more  than  100,000,- 
000  kroner  (approximately  $25,000,000) 
were  lodged  with  the  Danish  Minister  of 
Commerce. 

A  number  of  Dutch  ships  requisitioned 
by  the  United  States  were  subsequently 
returned  to  Holland  with  compensation. 
Compensation  to  Norway  for  twenty- 
seven  ships  contracted  for  with  Amer- 
ican shipyards  and  requisitioned  was 
fixed  early  in  June  after  eighteen 
months'  negotiations. 

The  disposition  of  the  interned  Ger- 
man ships  was  one  of  the  difficult  prob- 
lems with  which  the  Peace  Conference 
had  to  deal.  Before  the  question  was 
settled,  the  Germans  in  command  of  the 
surrendered  German  warships  at  Scapa 
Flow  scuttled  almost  the  whole  fleet. 
The  British  at  once  began  salvage  opera- 
tions, and  it  was  stated  on  July  30  that 
a  considerable  number  of  vessels  would 
be  raised  and  salvaged.  A  method  of 
raising  merchant  vessels  sunk  by  Ger- 
man U-boats  was  also  devised  by  the 
British  Admiralty  by  the  creation  of  a 
type  of  so-called  "  mystery  "  ships,  built 


with  a  series  of  towers  made  of  hollow 
blocks  of  concrete  inclosed  by  water- 
tight doors  by  which  the  blocks  could  be 
filled  with  water.  After  sinking  two  of 
these  salvage  ships,  one  on  each  side, 
and  attaching  them  to  the  ship  to  be  sal- 
vaged, the  water  could  be  pumped  out 
and  replaced  by  air,  causing  the  three 
vessels  to  rise  together  to  the  surface. 

DISTRIBUTING  GERMAN  SHIPS 

It  was  stated  in  official  circles  in 
Washington  on  June-  16  that  an  inter- 
national agreement  had  been  reached  re- 
garding German  merchant  ships,  and  that 
Great  Britain  would  get  most  of  the  ton- 
nage in  German  ports  when  the  armistice 
was  signed.  France  was  to  take  over  from 
300,000  to  400,000  tons.  On  June  22 
France  sent  crews  to  Spain  to  take  over 
three  German  vessels  interned  in  Span- 
ish ports  during  the  war.  By  this  agree- 
ment, also,  Italy  was  to  get  surrendered 
Austrian  tonnage.  The  United  States 
was  to  retain  possession  of  the  700,000 
tons  of  German  shipping  interned  in  the 
United  States  and  at  certain  South 
American  ports  when  America  entered 
the  war. 
An  official  of  the  British  Ministry  of 
Shipping  stated  on  Sept.  10  that  Great 
Britain  intended  to  insist  on  having 
2,250,000  tons  of  the  3,000,000  tons  of 
German  shipping  to  be  divided  among 
the  Allies  by  the  Reparations  Commis- 
sion after  the  ratification  of  peace.  He 
added  that  the  situation  was  delicate  and 
complicated,  and  that  intricate  interna- 
tional negotiations  were  yet  to  be  com- 
pleted. Nevertheless,  he  was  confident 
that  Great  Britain  ultimately  would 
obtain  approximately  what  she  demanded. 
Even  then  her  loss  in  shipping  during 
the  war  would  exceed  5,000,000  tons. 

A  part  of  the  total  allied  loss  in 
shipping  was  further  compensated  for 
by  the  acquisition  of  new  ships  and  by 


THE  WORLD'S  SHIP  TONNAGE 


171 


the  salvage  of.  vessels  sunk  or  scuttled. 
A  larger  compensation  lay  in  the  greatly 
increased  activity  in  shipbuilding  by  the 
allied  nations.  Among  these  Japan  and 
the  United  States  were  in  the  fore, 
Japan  showing  a  net  gain  of  25  per 
cent.,  while  the  United  States  came  far 
in  the  lead  with  a  net  gain  of  125  per 
cent.  In  August,  1914,  the  United  States 
possessed  1,494  seagoing  merchant  ships 
of  almost  3,000,000  gross  tons;  in  No- 
vember, 1918,  we  had  over  2,000  sea- 
going merchant  vessels  of  about  5,500,000 
tons.  A  total  of  875  vessels  had  been 
added  and  thirty-one  other  vessels  had 
been  acquired  by  diversion  of  Great  Lakes 
steamers  and  from  other  sources.  The 
Allies  and  neutrals  gained  by  new  con- 
struction and  seizure  of  enemy  ships 
over  14,000,000  gross  tons,  leaving  a  net 
loss  of  about  970,000  gross  tons. 

After  the  signing  of  the  armistice 
contracts  for  the  construction  of  550  ves- 
sels of  an  estimated  cost  of  $400,000,000 
were  canceled  by  the  United  States  Ship- 
ping Board.  Sale  of  the  war-built  mer- 
chant fleet  was  begun  on  April  17,  and 
ninety-five  wooden  ships  and  barge  hulls 
were  listed  for  sale  soon  thereafter. 
Many  of  the  ships  so  canceled,  both 
steel  and  wood,  were  not  deliverable  until 
1920,  and  were  not  of  a  size  or  type 
commercially  or  economically  advanta- 
geous in  time  of  peace.  On  July  31  the 
sale  of  100  steel  ships  of  a  total  value 
of  $80,000,000  was  announced  by  the 
Shipping  Board. 

AMERICA'S    SHIPPING    FUTURE 

In  Chairman  Hurley's  report,  already 
cited,  the  future  possibilities  of  Amer- 
ica's mercantile  marine  were  strongly 
emphasized.  He  intimated  that  American 
ships  had  come  back  upon  the  ocean  to 
stay.  The  war,  he  said,  had  brought 
America  into  a  high  place  as  a  maritime 
power.  In  an  address  delivered  at  Hog 
Island  on  May  30,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
launching  of  five  7,800-ton  ships,  Secre- 
tary Daniels  spoke  even  more  strongly; 
never  again,  he  said,  would  the  United 
States  be  guilty  of  the  folly  of  trusting 
its  foreign  commerce  to  foreign  bottoms. 
America  would  not  quit  the  shipbuilding 
industry,  but  would  put  it  on  a  solid 
basis.     One  of  the  chief  compensations 


of  the  burden  of  the  great  struggle,  he 
declared,  was  the  restoration,  or,  rather, 
the  rebirth  of  the  American  merchant 
marine;  America  had  been  building  on 
a  scale  that  was  undreamed  of  even  in 
the  early  days  when  the  American  flag 
and  American  commerce  were  seen  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  In  spite  of  all  mis- 
takes due  to  haste  and  the  high  cost 
under  war  conditions  a  great  and  lasting 
gocd  had  come  from  the  revival  of  ship- 
building in  the  war. 

The  great  increase  in  ship  construction 
was  evidenced  by  various  reports  of 
ships  delivered  and  launched  through 
the  Summer.  The  delivery  of  thirty 
vessels  to  the  Shipping  Board  during  the 
week  ended  Aug.  9  brought  the  total 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  1,227, 
of  4,542,278  gross  tons.  Of  these  vessels 
870  were  steel  and  357  were  wood  and 
composite. 

On  June  12  the  United  States  Ship- 
ping Board  sent  to  both  branches  of  Con- 
gress its  recommendations  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  merchant  marine,  advo- 
cating private  ownership  and  operation 
under  Federal  charter.  The  report  pro- 
posed the  establishment  of  a  develop- 
ment fund  from  which  the  President  of 
the  United  States  would  be  authorized 
to  assist  interests  engaged  in  building 
up  new  trade  routes.  The  sale  of  steel 
ships  on  a  basis  of  25  per  cent,  payment 
and  ten  years'  time  was  also  advocated 
for  legislation.  An  investigation  along 
the  lines  of  the  report  was  ordered  by 
the  House  Committee  on  Merchant 
Marine. 

Figures  made  public  by  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board  showed  that  the 
American  merchant  marine  comprised  46 
per  cent,  of  all  ships  plying  between 
America  and  foreign  shores.  On  Jan.  31 
there  were  752  vessels  employed  in  over- 
seas service  under  the  American  flag. 
The  Shipping  Board  had  opened  a  new 
route  from  New  York  to  China;  various 
steamers  plied  between  the  United  States 
and  Australia,  New  Zealand,  India, 
Greece,  and  the  West  Coast  of  Africa; 
weekly  departures  were  made  for  Danzig, 
Saloniki,  and  Turkey,  with  relief  supplies; 
other  ships  served  the  Dutch  East 
Indies,     England,     Belgium,     and     other 


172 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ports.  Trade  with  Turkey,  Bulgaria, 
Rumania,  and  the  Black  Sea  ports  was 
resumed  by  the  action  of  the  Supreme 
Economic  Council  on  Feb.  15  in  opening 
the  Dardanelles. 

SOUTH    AMERICAN    TRADE 

Through  our  acquisition  of  the  Ger~ 
man  interned  ships,  eighty-nine  in  num- 
ber, and  the  increase  in  ship  construc- 
tion, the  extension  of  United  States 
trade  with  South  America  was  stimu- 
lated to  an  unprecedented  degree.  South 
American  trade  had  been  fostered  by.  the 
construction  of  twenty-two  ships,  com- 
bined cargo  and  passenger  carriers,  of 
12,000  tons  each,  to  be  used  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  regular  schedule  between 
United  States  and  South  American  ports, 
one  result  of  which  would  be  to  interest 
American  investors  in  South  American 
fields  not  previously  developed. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  visit  to  the 
United  States  of  Senor  Epitacio  Pessoa, 
President  of  Brazil,  toward  the  end  of 
June,  William  G.  McAdoo,  former  Secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  Treasury,  spoke 
of  the  great  opportunities  for  trade  ex- 
tension with  South  America,  and  advo- 
cated an  adequate  transport  service. 
Shortly  before,  Chairman  Hurley  of 
the  Shipping  Board  aroused  enthusiasm 
at  the  Second  Pan-American  Commer- 
cial Conference  held  in  Washington  by 
asserting  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the 


United  States  Government  to  furnish 
shipping  for  travel  and  trade  with  Latin- 
American  countries  on  a  scale  that  would 
bring  about  the  closest  and  most  favor- 
able trade  relations.  Mr.  Hurley  went 
at  length  into  the  plans  of  the  Shipping 
Board,  which  covered  service  to  the  West 
Indies,  Valparaiso,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and 
other  ports.  Included  in  the  fleet 
which  would  ply  between  North  and 
South  America,  he  said,  would  be  three 
of  the  large  German  ships  retained  in 
the  possession  of  the  United  States.  The 
importance  of  the  fast  passenger  and 
mail  service  planned,  he  pointed  out,  was 
made  evident  by  the  enormous  growth 
of  trade  values  between  the  two  conti- 
nents of  nearly  $1,000,000,000,  which 
made  our  Latin- American  trade  greater 
than  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
combined. 

The  resignation  of  Chairman  Hurley 
as  head  of  the  Shipping  Board  to  take 
effect  on  Aug.  1  was  accepted  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  on  July  10,  when  all  control 
over  ocean  freight  rates  was  relinquished 
by  the  Shipping  Board.  In  his  letter  of 
acceptance  the  President  praised  Mr. 
Hurley  highly  for  his  vigorous  and 
patriotic  activities  during  the  war. 

The  first  ship  to  sail  under  the  Ger- 
man flag  after  the  war  left  Hamburg 
for  America  on  Sept.  9.  The  ship  had 
on  her  lading  bill  2,000.  tons  of  ballast, 
but  was  to  return  to  Hamburg  with 
machinery  and  oil. 


The  King  of  Hedjaz  and  the  Revolt  of  the  Wahabites 


THE  Lebanon  Syrian  Committee  in  the 
second  week  of  August  addressed  to 
the  Central  Syrian  Committee  located  in 
Paris  the  following  telegram: 

The  Arabian  military  authorities  at 
Damascus  are  continuing  their  arbitrary 
recruiting.  They  have  just  decided  to 
send  an  army  of  Syrians  to-  the  Hedjaz, 
on  a  payment  of  three  Egyptian  pounds 
per  man,  probably  to  fight  against  the 
Wahabites.  They  are  thus  treating  Syria 
as  a  country  conquered  by  the  Hedjaz, 
and  are  misapplying  the  subsidies  fur- 
nished   by   the   Allies. 

The  Mussulman  sect  of  the  Wahabites 
is  at  war  with  Hussein,  King  of  Arabia. 
The  causes  that  led  to  these  hostilities 
were  briefly  as  follows:    When  the  Otto- 


man Empire  joined  the  European  war  the 
Hedjaz  and  the  other  Emirates  of  Arabia 
joined  the  Allies,  who  created  Hussein 
King  of  Arabia.  Hussein  played  a  promi- 
nent part  from  this  time  on.  He  only 
was  represented  at  the  Peace  Conference. 
His  son,  Faical,  became  a  candidate  for 
the  throne  of  Hedjaz  under  the  aegis  of 
England.  Hussein's  proclamation  of  him- 
self as  khalif,  or  great  religious  leader 
of  Islam,  gave  offense  to  the  Wahabites 
among  other  sects.  His  subsequent  pro- 
posal to  unite  Hedjaz  with  Nedj,  where 
the  Wahabites  are  mainly  centred, 
brought  on  a  crisis,  and  the  conflict  was 
declared  by  the  Wahabite  leader. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
OF    THE  WAR 


[Italian  Cartoon] 


The  First  Victim  of  the  Peace  Treaty 


—From  II  ifiO,  Florence 


173 


[American  Cartoon] 


While  the  "Cook"  Entertains  Her  "Steady 


*)1 


—Central  Press  Association,  Cleveland 


^ 


174 


[American  Cartoon] 


Operating  Under  Difficulties 


—From   The  New   York   Tribune 


175 


-    -    '■'  ---••• 


i  tt  I  m  • 


- 


[American  Cartoon] 


All  Together 


<Pc£.?y^rU/' 


—From  The  San  Francisco  Chronicle 


= 


176 


[American  Cartoon] 


Switzerland,  the  Asylum  of  Kings 


—From   The   Chicago   Tribune 
[Copyright,    1919,    John   T.   McCutcheon] 


177 


[Spanish  Cartoon] 

A  Sensational  Case 


View  of  the  trial 


—From  Campana  de  Gracia,  Barcelona 
Will  this  be  the  result? 


178 


[American  Cartoon] 


"No  Foreign  Entanglements 


?5 


179 


[German   Cartoon] 


The  War  as  I  Saw  It 


— From  Simplicissimus,-  Munich 


180 


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183 


[Austrian   Cartoon] 


Hell  on  Earth 


—From  Die  Muskeie,   Vienna 
The  fate  of  the  middle-class  man  under  Bolshevism 


184 


11,11  Wl     I     II i.i.i.iM.    .  , 


[Swedish   Cartoon] 


Milking  Day  for  the  Allies 


—From  Sondags  Nisse,  Stockholm 


185 


[American  Cartoons] 

The  Consumer  on  the  Rack      Nearing  the  Inevitable  End 


—New   York  Herald 


Enthusiastic  Support  of  Our 

Bandit  Chasers  by  Don 

Whiskeranza 


Patience ! 


j&* 


•Neio   York   Herald 


—Memphis    Commercial    Appeal 


^ 


186 


T 


XAmerican  Cartoon] 

The  Optimist  Sees  the  Dough- 
nut and  the  Pessimist 
Sees  the  Hole 


[Italian    Cartoon] 

A  Photograph  of  Peace 


— -^-r-9 


-Detroit  News 


—IJAsino 


[American  Cartoon] 


Throwing  Away  the  Match 


' 


187 


[American  Cartoons] 


Spiting  Himself 


Impossible 


—George  Matthew  Adams  Service 


—Newspaper  Enterprise  Association 


[English  Cartoons] 

Sam:    "Say,    John,    There's 
Some  Dirt  on  Your  Face"        Peace  and  the  Irish  Problem 


_ 

The  World.  London 


—World,  London 


"  Oo-er ! 


[American  Cartoons] 

"Amending  "  It  U.  S.— "Just  Where  Do  I  Get 


Off?" 


DOflT  TOOL 


*m- 


-New    York   World 


—New   York  Herald 


How  Long  Is  Temporary? 


*  ooe.  OCCUPATION    OF 
EGYPT    YVILU   8E  ONLY 
TEMPORARY  * 


'  OoR  OCCUPATION  C*\ 

SHANTUNG  WILL  BE  0NL1 

TEMPORARY  * 


Copyright,   1919,  John  T.   McCutcheon 
England  in  Egypt— 1882 


—From  The  Chicago  Tribune 
Japan  in  Shantung — 1919 


189 


[American  Cartoons] 

Prohibition's  Greatest  Can  Eliza  Save  the  Child? 

Martyr 


- 


" 


—Sioux   City   Tribune 

Looking  for  a  New  Nest 


—Grand  ForTcs  Herald 

"Do  We  Want  to  Raise 
Another  Kid?" 


190 


{This  issue  of  CURRENT  History  Magazine  was  delayed  by  a  controversy  be: 
'hi    International  Pressmen's   Union   and  certain   local  unions,  a  quarrel  in  which 
Hi  is  magazine  had  no  part.   The  present  issue  teas  printed  on  the  rotogravure  presses 
of  The  New  York  Times  and  was  handled  entirely  in  union  offices  by  union  labor"] 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   CONFERENCE 

How  Representatives  of  Capital,  Labor,  and  the 
Public    Sought    a    Solution   of   Wage    Problems 


THE  Industrial  Conference  called  by 
President  Wilson  to  find  a  solu- 
tion of  the  nation's  increasing  la- 
bor troubles  held  its  first  session 
in  the  Pan-American  Building  at  Wash- 
ington on  Oct.  6,  1919.  President  Wilson, 
on  account  of  illness,  was  unable  to  be 
present,  but  was  represented  by  Cabinet 
members.  The  body  of  delegates  which 
he  had  called  together  in  this  unique 
convention  was  notable  for  the  absence 
of  extremists  on  both  sides  of  the  labor 
issue.  Three  main  groups  were  repre- 
sented-^the  employers,  the  employes,  and 
the  public. 

The  program,  so  far  as  it  had  been 
arranged,  was  intended  to  consider  "fun^ 
damental  means  of  bettering  the  whole 
relationship  of  labor  and  capital,"  in- 
cluding the  discussion  of  the  public's  in- 
terests in  strikes  and  lockouts,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  closed  or  open  shop,  and  la- 
bor's right  of  collective  bargaining.  The 
last  two  subjects  touched  directly  upon 
the  great  steel  strike  then  in  progress, 
and  they  soon  forced  themselves  into  the 
foreground  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others, 
becoming  at  length  the  rock  upon  which 
the  conference  itself  went  to  pieces.  In 
the  interim,  however,  an  important  chap- 
ter in  industrial  history  had  been  writ- 
ten.. 

Men  and  women  whose  names  loom 
large  in  their  special  fields  gathered  in 
the  Hall  of  the  Americans  of  the  Pan- 
American  Building.  There  was  an  at- 
mosphere of  tension  from  the  beginning. 
The  representatives  of  labor  sat  to  the 
right  of  the  temporary  Chairman,  Sec- 
retary Wilson.  On  the  left  of  the  Secre- 
tary were  the  representatives  of  the  em- 
ployers. Between  these  groups  sat  the 
men  and  women  representing  the  public. 


LIST  OF   DELEGATES 

The  official  list  of  delegates,  as  finally 
irranged,  was  as  follows: 

For  the  public:  Bernard  M.  Baruch, 
New  York;  Robert  S.  Brookings,  St. 
Louis;  John  1).  Rockefeller.  Jr.,  New 
York ;  Judge  Elbert  H.  Gary,  New  York ; 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  Cambridge,  Mass.  ; 
John  Spargo,  New  York;  O.  E.  Brad- 
fute,  Xenia,  Ohio ;  Ward  M.  Burgess, 
Omaha,  Neb.  ;  Fuller  R.  Galloway,  La 
Grange,  Ga. ;  Thomas  L.  Chadbourne,  New 
York ;  H.  B.  Endicott,  Dedham,  Mass. ; 
Paul  L.  Feiss,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Henry  S. 
Dennison.  Framingham,  Mass.  ;  George 
R.  James,  Memphis,  Tenn.  ;  Thomas  D. 
Jones,  Chicago ;  A.  A.  London,  Buffalo ; 
E.  T.  Meredith,  Des  Moines;  Gavin  Mc- 
Nab,  San  Francisco ;  L.  D.  Swett,  Car- 
bondale,  Col.;  Louis  Titus,  San  Fian- 
cisco ;  Charles  Edward  Russell,  New 
York ;  Bert  M.  Jewell,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Lillian  Wald,  New  York;  Gertrude  Bar- 
num,  Berkeley,  Cal.,  and  Ida  M.  Tarbell, 
New  York. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States :  Henry  A.  Wheeler,  Chicago ;  Er- 
nest T.  Trigg,  Philadelphia;  Herbert  F. 
Perkins,  Chicago;  John  J.  Raskob,  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  and  Homer  L.  Ferguson, 
Newport  News,  Va. 

Farmers'  organizations:  J.  N.  Titte- 
more,  Omro,  Wis.  ;  T.  C.  Atketson,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  C.  S.  Barrett,  Union 
City,   Ga. 

Investment  Bankers'  Association  of 
America:  Edgar  L.  Marston,  New  York. 
and   Howard   W.    Fen  ton,   Chicago. 

Organized  labor :  For  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor— Samuel  Gompers 
and  Frank  Morrison,  Washington,  D.  C.  ; 
Daniel  J.  Tobin,  Indianapolis;  Joseph  F. 
Valentine,  Cincinnati ;  W.  D.  Mahon,  De- 
troit.; T.  A.  Rickert,  Chicago;  Jacob 
Fischer,  Indianapolis :  Matthew  Woll, 
Washington,  D.  C.  ;  Mrs.  Sara  Conboy, 
New  York  City;  William  H.  Johnston, 
Washington,  D.  C. ;  Paul  Scharrenberg, 
San  Francisco ;  John  H.  Donlin,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  M.  F.  Tighe,  Pitts- 
burgh. For  the  railroad  brotherhoods— 
W.   E.  Sheppard,   conductors;  W.   G.   Lee, 


194 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


trainmen ;    Timothy    Shea,    firemen,    ami 

H.    E.   Wills,    engineers. 

National  Industr  ial  Conference :  Fred- 
erick P.  Fish,  Boston;  J.  W.  O'Leary, 
Chicago:  S.  Pemberton  Hutchinson, 
Philadelphia :  Edwin  Farnham  oreen, 
Boston,  and  L.   F.  L.oree,  New  York. 

Besides  the  official  delegates  from 
the  three  groups,  many  spectators  and 
perhaps  100  newspaper  men  were  pres- 
ent, as  well  as  Secretaries  Daniels,  Hous- 
ton, Baker,  and  Burleson.  Others  were 
Ray  Baker,  Director  of  the  Mint;  Gros- 
venor  Clarkson,  Secretary  of  the  Council 
of  National  Defense;  Joseph  P.  Tumulty, 
the  President's  Secretary;  John  C.  Koons, 
First  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  and 
William  Z.  Foster,  Secretary-Treasurer 
of  the  organization  committee  of  the 
steel  workers. 

OPENING  THE  CONFERENCE 

In  opening  the  conference  Secretary 
Wilson  introduced  John  Barrett,  Director 
General  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  who 
made  a  short  speech  of  welcome.  Row- 
land B.  Mahany,  former  Minister  to  Ec- 
uador, acted  as  temporary  Secretary.  The 
Secretary  of  Labor  made  a  prepared  ad- 
dress in  which,  after  dwelling  upon  the 
problems  facing  the  world  as  the  result 
of  the  wastage  of  war  and  upon  the  fi- 
nancial inflation  in  all  commercial  coun- 
tries which  had  played  havoc  with  the 
relative  values  of  money,  wages,  and 
commodities,  he  continued: 

The  effect  of  these  things  has  been 
reflected  in  the  high  cost  of  living,  and 
the  consequent  demand  for  higher  wage 
rates  to  meet  the  increasing  burden  of 
the  family  budget.  Yet  increases  in 
the  wage  rate  do  not  always  give  relief. 
The  more  productive  we  are  the  sooner 
we  will  repij.ce  the  wastage  of  war,  re- 
turn to  normal  price  levels,  and  abolish 
the  opportunity  for  profiteering. 

For  that  reason  we  are  all  interested 
in  the  maintenance  of  industrial  peace, 
but  there  can  be  no  permanent  indus- 
trial peace  that  is  not  based  upon  in- 
dustrial justice.  Surely  human  intelli- 
gence can  devise  some  acceptable 
method  of  adjusting  the  relationship  be- 
tween   employer    and    employe. 

Upon  your  shoulders  rests  a  splendid 
responsibility.  Before  you  the  doors  of 
opportunity  are  open.  If  you,  in  the 
abundance  of  your  combined  wisdom^ 
and  experience,  can  produce  an  accepta- 
ble document  of  tnis  character,  the  re- 
sults of  your  work  will  find  a  place  in 
tli';     hearts     of     men     like     the     Magna 


Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  me  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Emancipa- 
tion   Proclamation. 

Arrangements  were  then  made  for  the 
appointment  of  committees.  The  groups 
returned  during  a  recess,  and  then  an- 
nounced the  memberships  of  these  com- 
mittees. 

SECOND    DAY'S   SESSION 

At  the  session  of  Oct.  7  little  was  ac- 
complished beyond  the  determination  of 
rules  to  govern  the  discussion.  It  was 
decided  that  no  member  of  any  one  of 
the  three  groups  might  present  a  subject 
to  the  conference  without  the  consent  of 
his  group.  Voting  was  determined  by 
groups,  the  effect  of  which  would  be 
unanimous,  or  a  two-to-one  result.  If 
the  three  groups  could  reach  no  agree- 
ment, the  result  would  be  nullified.  One- 
thii'd  of  any  group  might  make  a  minor- 
ity report.  A  general  Committee  of  Fif- 
teen was  further  selected  to  pass  upon 
all  suggestions  before  they  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  floor.  Various  attempts  to 
amend  the  rules  thus  constituted  were 
voted  down.  Franklin  K.  Lane,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  finally  was  chosen 
as  permanent  Chairman  of  the  confer- 
ence. 

By  unanimous  vote  the  conference 
passed  a  resolution  of  regret  that  the 
President  was  not  present,  and  ex- 
pressed the  hope  for  his  speedy  recovery. 
Samuel  Gompers  spoke,  lauding  Mr. 
Lane,  who  then  made  a  stirring  address, 
sounding  the  note  that  "  ignorance  and 
arrogance,"  which  constituted  the  "  force 
of  destruction  "  during  the  war,  should 
have  ho  place  in  this  country  "  in  any 
matter  political,  industrial,  or  social." 
The  address  of  Secretary  Lane  was  in 
part  as  follows: 

I  look  upon  this  conference  as  the 
greatest  and  most  important  extra-legal 
body  that  has  been  called  in  this  coun- 
try, certainly  in  our  time.  There  are 
some  here  who  have  doubted  its  success. 
Why,  gentlemen,  this  conference  is 
bound  to  be  a  success.  Its  extent  is 
not  to  be  measured  by  resolutions  that 
come  from  it,  by  platforms  or  by  pro- 
grams or  by  bits  of  machinery  that  it 
may  invent  or  reveal.  The  spirit  of 
this   conference   is   its  justification. 

We    will    draft    here    a    declaration    of 


THE  lSDlSTRlAL  CONFERENCE 


195 


>!••].'■  !    Independence ;  a  dec- 

1:.  ration    thai  me     with 

another  that  we  live  in  one  anoth< 
breath,  and  that  we  '.annul  live  in  isola- 
tion: mat  wo  must  join  hands  together, 
n«>t  for  our  own  sak<  atone!  but  for  the 
Ltei  sake  of  our  country  and  of  the 
world. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  named  to 
recommend  for  or  against  all  resolutions 
introduced  was  made  up  as  follows: 

Representing  the  public:  Thomas  L. 
Ohadboiirne,  A.  A.  Landon,  H.  B.  Endi- 
i*»tt,  Charles  Edward  Russell,  and  Miss 
Lillian   Wald. 

Representing  capital :  S.  Pemberton 
Hutchinson,  John  W.  O'Leary,  John  J. 
Raskob,  Herbert  F.  Perkins,  and  J.  N. 
Tittemore. 

Representing  organized  labor :  Samuel 
Gompers,  Frank  M.  Morrison,  Matthew 
Woll,  W.  D.  Mahon,  and  L.  L..  Sheppard. 

The  three  groups  on  Oct.  8  occupied 
themselves  with  framing  suggestions  to 
be  presented  the  following  day  to  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen. 

MANY  PROPOSALS  MADE 
The  session  of  Oct.  9  was  marked  by 
proposals  made  by  A.  A.  Landon  of 
Buffalo,  a  delegate  for  the  public,  to  de- 
clare an  industrial  truce  for  three 
months;  by  Samuel  Gompers  to  suspend 
the  steel  strike  pending  arbitration;  by 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  allowing  each 
plant  or  corporation  to  determine  with 
its  employes  the  method  of  improving 
conditions,  and  by  Gavin  McNab  of  San 
Francisco  for  a  national  board  of  con- 
ciliation and  arbitration.  These,  with 
many  other  suggestions,  were  automati- 
cally i-eferred  to  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen. 

An  outline  of  a  plan  for  adjustment  of 
labor  disputes  was  also  suggested  by 
Secretary  Wilson.  This  plan  provided 
for  joint  boards  of  employers  and  em- 
ployes in  each  industry  to  act  in  case  of 
imminent  strikes  and  lockouts,  a  general 
board  appointed  by  the  President  to  pass 
upon  appeals,  and  an  umpire  to  be  drawn 
by  lot  if  the  general  board  failed  to 
agree. 

In  addition  to  the  resolution  asking 
a  suspension  of  the  steel  strike  pending 
an  investigation,  the  labor  bloc  put  in 
another  resolution  embodying  eleven 
proposals,  including  the  right  of  work- 
ers to  organize  in  trade  unions ;  the  right 


of  collective  bargaining;  of  wage  earners 
to  be  represented  by  representatives  of 
their  own  choosing;  of  freedom  of  speech 
press  and  assemblage;  of  the  eight-hour 
day;  of  the  "  living  wage  as  that  is  un- 
derstood in  this  time  and  country  " ;  that 
women  should  receive  the  same  pay  as 
men  for  equal  work;  that  the  service  of 
any  child  under  16  years  of  age  for 
"  private  gain  "  should  be  prohibited ; 
that  a  national  conference  board  for  the 
settlement  of  industrial  disputes  be 
created;  and  that  all  immigration  for  a 
period  of  two  years  after  the  ratification 
of  the  Peace  Treaty  be  prohibited,  and 
thereafter  regulated  with  due  regard  to 
the  employment  situation. 

DR.  ELIOT'S  WARNING 

Already  at  this  session  the  indications 
of  a  coming  conflict  were  pointed  out  by 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  former  President 
of  Harvard  University,  who  said: 

I  think  we  already  see  that  this  con- 
ference can  be  brought  to  no  successful 
issue  if  its  business  is  to  be  conducted 
by  groups  and  its  opinions  are  to  be  re- 
corded by  groups.  The  speech  just  made 
by  Mr.  Gompers  shows  that  labor  is  here 
to  contend  for  what  are  called  its  rights. 
There  have  occurred  many  indications 
already,  not  in  public  but  in  private 
meetings,  that  a  large  group  of  em- 
ployers here  are  prepared  to  resist  the 
methods  of  approach  to  the  business 
which  we  heard  proposed  this  morning 
by   the   labor   group. 

There  is  a  conflict  on  already :  and 
among  all  the  propositions  that  have 
been  submitted  to  this  conference  this 
morning  there  ai-fe  several  which  relate, 
not  to  new  relations  between  capital  and 
labor,  but  to  the  old,  to  the  former 
conditions  of  things  in  this  country,  in 
regard  to  industrial  strikes,  to  the 
strengthening  of  the  modes/  of  combat 
with  which  our  whole  community  has 
now  become  familiar.  We  should  make 
a  new  start  if  it  is  to  bring  to  pass  any 
substantial  results  in  creating  new  rela- 
tions between  capital  and  labor. 

1  distrust  the  group  method  because 
it  obviously  promotes,  at  any  rate,  com- 
bat over  old  conditions  and  over  the 
present  conditions.  For  example,  one  of 
the  propositions  just  submitted  in  the 
name  of  the  labor  group  here  relates 
to  an  industrial  controversy  now  going 
on.  Can  we  hope  fully  to  go  into  such  a 
question  as  that  in  this  conference?  W< 
are  all,  we  must  assume,  clearly  desir- 
ous of  finding  new  and  better  telations 
between    capital    and    labor.       Should    we 


194 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


trainmen ;    Timothy    Shea,    firemen,    and 

H.   E.   Wills,   engineers. 

National  Industrial  Conference :  Fred- 
erick P.  Fish,  Boston;  J.  W.  O'Leary, 
Chicago :  S.  Pemberton  Hutchinson, 
Philadelphia ;  Edwin  Farnham  liieen, 
Boston,  and  L.   F.   Loree,  New  York. 

Besides  the  official  delegates  from 
the  three  groups,  many  spectators  and 
perhaps  100  newspaper  men  were  pres- 
ent, as  well  as  Secretaries  Daniels,  Hous- 
ton, Baker,  and  Burleson.  Others  were 
Ray  Baker,  Director  of  the  Mint;  Gros- 
venor  Clarkson,  Secretary  of  the  Council 
of  National  Defense;  Joseph  P.  Tumulty, 
the  President's  Secretary;  John  C.  Koons, 
First  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  and 
William  Z.  Foster,  Secretary-Treasurer 
of  the  organization  committee  of  the 
steel  workers. 

OPENING  THE  CONFERENCE 

In  opening  the  conference  Secretary 
Wilson  introduced  John  Barrett,  Director 
General  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  who 
made  a  short  speech  of  welcome.  Row- 
land B.  Mahany,  former  Minister  to  Ec- 
uador, acted  as  temporary  Secretary.  The 
Secretary  of  Labor  made  a  prepared  ad- 
dress in  which,  after  dwelling  upon  the 
problems  facing  the  world  as  the  result 
of  the  wastage  of  war  and  upon  the  fi- 
nancial inflation  in  all  commercial  coun- 
tries which  had  played  havoc  with  the 
relative  values  of  money,  wages,  and 
commodities,  he  continued: 

The  effect  of  these  things  has  been 
reflected  in  the  high  cost  of  living,  and 
the  consequent  demand  for  higher  wage 
rates  to  meet  the  increasing  burden  of 
the  family  budget.  Yet;  increases  in 
the  wage  rate  do  not  always  give  relief. 
The  more  productive  we  are  the  sooner 
we  will  replace  the  wastage  of  war,  re- 
turn to  normal  price  levels,  and  abolish 
the  opportunity  for  profiteering. 

For  that  reason  we  are  all  interested 
in  the  maintenance  of  industrial  peace, 
but  there  can  be  no  permanent  indus- 
trial peace  that  is  not  based  upon  in- 
dustrial justice.  Surely  human  intelli- 
gence can  devise  some  acceptable 
method  of  adjusting  the  relationship  be- 
tween   employer    and    employe.. 

Upon  your  shoulders  rests  a  splendid 
responsibility.  Before  you  the  doors  of 
opportunity  are  open.  If  you,  in  the 
abundance  of  your  combined  wisdom^ 
and  ^xpcjrience,  can  produce  an  accepta- 
ble document  of  tins  character,  the  re- 
sults of  your  work  will  find  a  place  in 
th';     hearts     of     men     like     the     Magna 


Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  me  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  Emancipa- 
tion  Proclamation. 

Arrangements  were  then  made  for  the 
appointment  of  committees.  The  groups 
returned  during  a  recess,  and  then  an- 
nounced the  memberships  of  these  com- 
mittees. 

SECOND    DAY'S   SESSION 

At  the  session  of  Oct.  7  little  was  ac- 
complished beyond  the  determination  of 
rules  to  govern  the  discussion.  It  was 
decided  that  no  member  of  any  one  of 
the  three  groups  might  present  a  subject 
to  the  conference  without  the  consent  of 
his  group.  Voting  was  determined  by 
groups,  the  effect  of  which  would  be 
unanimous,  or  a  two-to-one  result.  If 
the  three  groups  could  reach  no  agree- 
ment, the  result  would  be  nullified.  One- 
third  of  any  group  might  make  a  minor- 
ity report.  A  general  Committee  of  Fif- 
teen was  further  selected  to  pass  upon 
all  suggestions  before  they  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  floor.  Various  attempts  to 
amend  the  rules  thus  constituted  were 
voted  down.  Franklin  K.  Lane,  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  finally  was  chosen 
as  permanent  Chairman  of  the  confer- 
ence. 

By  unanimous  vote  the  conference 
passed  a  resolution  of  regret  that  the 
President  was  not  present,  and  ex- 
pressed the  hope  for  his  speedy  recovery. 
Samuel  Gompers  spoke,  lauding  Mr. 
Lane,  who  then  made  a  stirring  address, 
sounding  the  note  that  "  ignorance  and 
arrogance,"  which  constituted  the  "  force 
of  destruction  "  during  the  war,  should 
have  ho  place  in  this  country  "  in  any 
matter  political,  industrial,  or  social." 
The  address  of  Secretary  Lane  was  in 
part  as  follows: 

I  look  upon  this  conference  as  the 
greatest  and  most  important  extra-legal 
body  that  has  been  called  in  this  coun- 
try, certainly  in  our  time.  There  are 
some  here  who  have  doubted  its  success. 
Why,  gentlemen,  this  conference  is 
bound  to  be  a  success.  Its  extent  is 
not  to  be  measured  by  resolutions  that 
come  from  it,  by  platforms  or  by  pro- 
grams or  by  bits  of  machinery  that  it 
may  invent  or  reveal.  The  spirit  of 
this   conference  is   its  justification. 

We    will    draft    here    a    declaration    of 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  CONFERENCE 


19.5 


dependence    not  of  Independence ;  a   dec- 
ision   that    we    are     united     one    with 
another,    that    we    live    in    one    another' n 

breath,  and  that  we  cannot  live  in  isola- 
tion: mat  we  must  join  hands  together, 
not  for  our  own  sake  alone,  but  for  the 
grji&tei  sake  of  our  country  and  of  the 
world. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  named  to 
recommend  for  or  against  all  resolutions 
introduced  was  made  up  as  follows: 

Representing  the  public:  Thomas  L.. 
Chadbourne,  A.  A.  JLandon,  H.  B.  Endi- 
.-ntt,  Charles  Edward  Russell,  and  Miss 
Lillian   Wald. 

Representing  capital :  S.  Pemberton 
Hutchinson,  John  W.  O'Leary,  John  J. 
Raskob,  Herbert  F.  Perkins,  and  J.  N. 
Tittemore. 

Representing  organized  labor :  Samuel 
Gompers,  Frank  M.  Morrison,  Matthew 
Woll,  W.  D.  Mahon,  and  L.  L.  Sheppard. 

The  three  groups  on  Oct.  8  occupied 
themselves  with  framing  suggestions  to 
be  presented  the  following  day  to  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen. 

MANY  PROPOSALS  MADE 
The  session  of  Oct.  9  was  marked  by 
proposals  made  by  A.  A.  Landon  of 
Buffalo,  a  delegate  for  the  public,  to  de- 
clare an  industrial  truce  for  three 
months;  by  Samuel  Gompers  to  suspend 
the  steel  strike  pending  arbitration;  by 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  allowing  each 
plant  or  corporation  to  determine  with 
its  employes  the  method  of  improving 
conditions,  and  by  Gavin  McNab  of  San 
Francisco  for  a  national  board  of  con- 
ciliation and  arbitration.  These,  with 
many  other  suggestions,  were  automati- 
cally referred  to  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen. 

An  outline  of  a  plan  for  adjustment  of 
labor  disputes  was  also  suggested  by 
Secretary  Wilson.  This  plan  provided 
for  joint  boards  of  employers  and  em- 
ployes in  each  industry  to  act  in  case  of 
imminent  strikes  and  lockouts,  a  general 
board  appointed  by  the  President  to  pass 
upon  appeals,  and  an  umpire  to  be  drawn 
by  lot  if  the  general  board  failed  to 
agree. 

In  addition  to  the  resolution  asking 
a  suspension  of  the  steel  strike  pending 
an  investigation,  the  labor  bloc  put  in 
another  resolution  embodying  eleven 
proposals,  including  the  right  of  work- 
ers to  organize  in  trade  unions ;  the  right 


of  collective  bargaining;  of  wage  earners: 
to  be  represented  by  representatives  of 
their  own  choosing;  of  freedom  of  speech 
press  and  assemblage;  of  the  eight-hour 
day;  of  the  "  living  wage  as  that  is  un- 
derstood in  this  time  and  country  ";  that 
women  should  receive  the  same  pay  as 
men  for  equal  work;  that  the  service  of 
any  child  under  16  years  of  age  for 
"  private  gain "  should  be  prohibited ; 
that  a  national  conference  board  for  the 
settlement  of  industrial  disputes  be 
created;  and  that  all  immigration  for  a 
period  of  two  years  after  the  ratification 
of  the  Peace  Treaty  be  prohibited,  and 
thereafter  regulated  with  due  regard  to 
the  employment  situation. 

DR.  ELIOT'S  WARNING 

Already  at  this  session  the  indications 
of  a  coming  conflict  were  pointed  out  by 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  former  President 
of  Harvard  University,  who  said: 

I  think  we  already  see  that  this  con- 
ference can  be  brought  to  no  successful 
issue  if  its  business  is  to  be  conducted 
by  groups  and  its  opinions  are  to  be  re- 
corded by  groups.  The  speech  just  made 
by  Mr.  Gompers  shows  that  labor  is  here 
to  contend  for  what  are  called  its  rights. 
There  have  occurred  many  indications 
already,  not  in  public  but  in  private 
meetings,  that  a  large  group  of  em- 
ployers here  are  prepared  to  resist  the 
methods  of  approach  to  the  business 
which  we  heard  proposed  this  morning 
by   the   labor  group. 

There  is  a  conflict  on  already :  and 
among  all  the  propositions  that  have 
been  submitted  to  this  conference  this 
morning  there  are  several  which  relate, 
not  to  new  relations  between  capital  and 
labor,  but  to  the  old,  to  the  former 
conditions  of  things  in  this  country,  in 
regard  to  industrial  strikes,  to  the 
strengthening  of  the  modes  >  of  combat 
with  which  our  whole  community  has 
now  become  familiar.  We  should  make 
a  new  start  if  it  is  to  bring  to  pass  any 
substantial  results  in  creating  new  rela- 
tions between  capital  and  labor. 

I  distrust  the  group  method  because 
it  obviously  promotes,  at  any  rate,  com- 
bat over  old  conditions  and  over  the 
present  conditions.  For  example,  one  of 
the  propositions  just  submitted  in  the 
name  of  the  labor  group  here  relates 
to  an  industrial  controversy  now.  going 
on.  Can  we  hope  fully  to  go  into  such  ji 
question  as  that  in  this  conference?  We 
are  all,  we  must  assume,  clearly  desir- 
ous of  finding  new  and  better  relations 
between    capital    and    labor.      Should    we 


196 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


discuss  here  either  the  old  or  the  present 
strikes? 

Both  Mr.  Wheeler  of  the  employers' 
group  and  Mr.  Sheppard  of  the  labor 
group  objected  to  Dr.  Eliot's  statements. 

THE  OPEN -SHOP  ISSUE 
The  rift  of  dissension  between  the  em- 
ployer and  labor  groups  was  widened  on 
Oct.  10,  when  the  employers,  insisting  on 
the  open  shop  and  the  right  of  the  em- 
ployer to  deal  only  with  his  employes 
without  reference  to  outsiders,  presented 
their  recommendations.  The  statement 
of  the  employers  on  the  open  shop  was 
as  follows: 

There  should  be  no  denial  of  the  right 
of  an  employer  and  his  workers  voluntarily 
to  agree  that  their  relation  shall  be  that 
of  the  "closed  union  shop  "  or  of  the 
••  closed  nonunion  shop."  But  the  right 
of  the  employer  and  his  men  to  continue 
their  relations  on  the  principle  of  the 
"  open  shop  "  should  not  be  denied  or 
questioned.  No  ernployer  should  be  re- 
quired to  deal  with  men  or  groups  of 
men  who  are  not  his  employes  or  chosen 
by  and  from  among  them. 

These  propositions  were  submitted  by 
the  employers'  delegates  and  were  part 
of  a  statement  of  twelve  principles  which 
were  briefly  as  follows: 

1.  The  joint  obligation  of  capital  and 
labor  to  increase  and  improve  production. 

2.  The  "  establishment  "  as  a  productive 
unit,  rather  than  the  industry  as  a  whole. 

3.  Safety  and  stability  of  labor  condi- 
tions. 

4.  The  adjustment  of  wages  according 
to  demand  and  supply,  the  efficiency  of 
tllfl  woikers.  the  wage  standard  obtain- 
ing in  the  establishment's  locality,  the 
maximum  incentive  compatible  with 
health  and  well-being,  the  high  cost  of 
living,  and  the  value  and  length  of 
service.  Bonus  payments,  profit  sharing, 
and  stock  ownership  to  be  studied  and 
worked  out  if  possible.  No  difference  in 
wages  to  be  made  between  women  and 
men  working  under  the  same  conditions 
and  of  equal  quality. 

5.  The  fixing  of  hours  of  labor  accord- 
ing to  necessities  of  health  and  leisure, 
the  week  to  be  the  standard  of  labor. 
Overtime  work  to  be  avoided  wherever 
possible.  One  day  of  rest  to  be  provided 
out  of  seven. 

6.  The  settlement  of  disputes  in  each 
establishment  by  discussion  without  limi- 
tation of  management's  function  of  judg- 

.    me-nt  and  direction. 

7.  Right  of  free  association  for  collec- 
tive action,  but  with  no  compulsion  over 


those   who   remain   outside   such   associa- 
tion. 

8.  The  responsibility  of  all  such  asso- 
ciations, whether  of  employers  or  em- 
ployes, to  public  and  legal  authority. 

9.  The  right  of  all  individuals  to  enter 
into  lawful  contract,  as  employers  or 
employes. 

10.  Noninterference  with  the  open  shop. 
Coercion  in  this  respect  not  to  be  tol- 
erated. No  employer  to  be  required  to 
deal  with  men  or  groups  of  men  who  are 
not  his  employes  or  chosen  by  and  from 
among  them. 

11.  Regarding  the  right  to  strike  or  lock- 
out, a  sharp  distinction  to  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  employment  relations  in  the 
field  (a)  of  the  private  industry,  (b)  of 
the  public  utility  service,  (c)  of  Govern- 
ment employment,  Federal,  State,  or 
municipal,  the  two  latter  entailing  special 
rights  and  obligations.  In  private  indus- 
try, the  right  of  strike  or  lockout,  though 
deplored,  must  not  be  denied,  as  an  ulti- 
mate recourse  after  all  possible  means  of 
adjustment  are  exhausted.  Sympathetic 
strikes-  and  lockouts,  blacklists,  and  boy- 
cotts all  to  be  condemned.  Public  utility 
and  Government  service  must  be  made 
continuous,  independent  of  any  private 
associations,  subject  to  State  or  Govern- 
ment means  for  redress  of  grievances. 

12.  Practical  plans  to  be  inaugurated  in 
Industry  and  outside  of  it  for  the  training 
and  upgrading  of  industrial  workers, 
vocational  education,  and  apprenticeship. 

THE  GOMPERS  RESOLUTION 
The  session  of  Oct.  14  was  a  strenuous 
one,  in  the  course  of  which  a  conflict  de- 
veloped over  the  resolution  previously 
offered  by  Samuel  Gompers  to  suspend 
the  steel  strike  while  arbitration  by  the 
conference  proceeded.  One  faction, 
headed  by  Gavin  McNab,  favored  defer- 
ring consideration  of  the  measure  for 
several  days,  but  W.  E.  Sheppard  in- 
sisted that  the  solution  offered  by  the 
labor  group  should  not  be  shelved  unless 
an  alternative  was  offered.  Speeches 
were  made  by  Mr.  Gompers  and  William 
H.  Johnson  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  in  favor 
of  the  resolution.  The  employer  group 
voted  solidly  against  it. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot  of  the  public 
group  renewed  his  fight  against  allowing 
the  conference  to  take  up  the  strike 
question.  He  insisted  that  the  subject 
was  not  germane,  as  the  conference  had 
been  asked  by  the  President  to  consider 
"  new "  and  not  existing  relations  be- 
tween capital  and  labor.  The  public 
group  presented  the  Gompers  resolution 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   CONFERENCE 


Vj7 


without  recommendation,  owing  to  the 
certainty  of  its  defeat.  A  substitute  was 
offered  by  Mr.  Chadbourne,  providing  a 
return  to  work  on  the  basis  of  election 
of  employes'  committees  in  each  plant  to 
deal  with  employers,  unadjusted  differ- 
ences to  be  left  to  a  special  committee 
from  the  conference.  This  amendment 
would  have  covered  not  only  the  steel 
strike,  but  the  walkout  of  the  longshore- 
men, of  the  pi^essmen,  and  other  strikes 
then  in  existence.  When  it  came  to  the 
vote,,  the  amendment  was  rejected  by  all 
three  groups. 

SPEECH  BY  MR.  GOMPERS 
In  his  speech  before  the  conference, 
Mr.  Gompers  warned  the  delegates  of  the 
gravity  of  the  steel  strike,  and  pleaded  to 
have  the  struggle  arbitrated.  He  said 
in  part: 

You  may  vote,  and  no  doubt  will  vote, 
as  you  please,  but  I  think  that  you  should 
hesitate  to  negative  the  resolution  pro- 
posed by  this  labor  group.  You  may  not 
know  the  character  of  our  work  and  re- 
sponsibilities and  the  effort  we  try  to 
make  to  maintain  the  best  possible  re- 
lations between  employers  and  employes. 
But  let  me  impress  upon  you  that  this 
whole  world  of  ours  is  in  a  state  of 
unrest,  and  out  of  this  war  from  which 
we  have  so  triumphantly  emerged  the 
men  and  women  of  America  are  de- 
termined that  we  shall  never  again  go 
back  to  pre-war  conditions  and  concepts ; 
that  there  must  toe  established  a  new 
understanding  of  the  relations  of  man  to 
man  in  the  life  of  our  nation  and  in  in- 
dustry. 

We  demand  a  voice  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  conditions  under  which  we 
will  give  service ;  we  demand  a  voice  in 
determining  those  things  which  make  life 
either  fair  and  worth  living  or  not;  we 
demand  that  the  workers  shall  not  only 
have  that  voice  as  supplicants,  but  by 
t  right.    ♦    ♦    * 

J  We  have  never  made  an  assault — and 
\  it  is  furthest  from  our  thoughts— upon  the 
rights  of  property  or  the  rights  of  man- 
agement. You  may  win  this  steel  strike 
If  you  consent  that  it  shall  be  adjusted 
after  the  fashion  that  wo  have  so  liberally 
proposed.  But  if  you  reject  that  method, 
and  the  steel  strike  goes  on  and  lasts  a 
month  or  two  or  three  months  and  drags 
out  and  you  have  won,  and  these  men 
are  going  about  the  country  and  preach- 
ing the  doctrine  of  their  unbearable  con- 
ditions and  the  tyranny  which  they  ex- 
perience and  the  injustices  which  have 
been  meted  out  to  them,  then,  whatever 
betide,  you  have  sown  the  seed  and  will 
bear  the  consequence. 


Just  as  a  vote  on  the  Gompers  resolu- 
tion was  to  be  taken,  it  was  found  that 
the  conference  had  been  in  session  twenty 
minutes  over  the  allotted  time,  and  the 
meeting- was  adjourned.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  the  resolution  met  a  similar  fate, 
one  factor  in  the  new  delay  being  the 
illness  of  Mr.  Gompers  himself.  Another 
consideration  was  the  hope  that  some 
substitute  resolution  might  be  devised  to 
satisfy  all  three  groups  participating  in 
the  conference. 

COLLECTIVE    BARGAINING 

At  the  session  of  Oct.  17  a  resolution 
was  presented  by  the  Committee  of  Fif- 
teen declaring  the  right  of  wage  earners 
to  collective  bargaining,  and  to  be  repre- 
sented in  their  dealings  with  their  em^ 
ployers  by  representatives  of  their  own 
choosing.  As  the  result  of  this,  the  con- 
ference faced  a  crisis,  the  employers' 
group,  despite  earnest  pleas  from  the 
othor  groups,  remaining  firm  in  its  oppo- 
sition, and  the  labor  group  declaring  that 
if  the  resolution  should  be  recommitted 
the  labor  representatives  would  withdraw 
from  the  conference.  Adjournment  came 
after  three  hours'  debate  on  the  resolu- 
tion without  a  vote. 

At  the  session  of  Oct.  18,  however,  the 
employers'  group  made  a  movement  to- 
ward compromise  by  offering  a  substi- 
tute resolution  for  the  one  offered  at  the 
preceding  session.  Both  resolutions  were 
then  recommitted  to  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen,  and  the  conference  was  ad- 
journed until  Monday,  Oct.  20.  The  reso- 
lution offered  by  the  employers'  group 
was  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That,  without  in  any  way 
limiting  the  right  of  a  wage  earner 
to  refrain  from  joining  any  associa- 
tion or  to  deal  directly  with  his  em- 
ployer, as  he  chooses,  the  right  of 
wage  earners  in  private  as  distin- 
guished from  Government  employment 
to  organize  in  trade  and  labor  unions, 
in  shop  industrial  councils,  or  other 
lawful  form  of  association,  to  bargain 
collectively,  to  be  represented  by  rep- 
resentatives of  their  own  choosing  in 
negotiations  and  adjustments  with  em- 
ployers in  respect  to  wages,  hours  of 
labor,  and  other  conditions  of  employ- 
ment, is  recognized,  and  the  right  of 
the  employer  to  deal  or  not  to  deal 
with  men  or  groups  of  men  who  are 
not    his    employes    and     chosen     by    and 


198 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


from  among  them  is  recognized,  and 
no  denial  is  intended  of  the  right  of 
an  employer  and  his  workers  volunta- 
rily to  agree  upon  the  form  of  their 
representative   relations. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  on  Oct.  18 
announced,  after  working  all  day,  that 
it  believed  it  had  solved  the  problem  that 
had  divided  the  labor  and  employer 
groups  in  the  conference. 

At  the  session  of  Oct.  20  Judge  Gary 
urged  upon  the  conference  to  take  no 
action  on  the  resolution  offered  by  Mr. 
Gompers.  In  a  brief  but  categorical 
statement,  he  laid  down  the  principles 
which  he  accepted  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  open  shop  and  the  protection  of 
unorganized  labor.  He  was  answered  by 
Mr.  Gompers,  who  expressed  "  keen  dis- 
appointment "  over  the  character  of  Mr. 
Gary's  statement,  and  attacked  the  ultra- 
conservative  and  unbending  attitude  of 
the  representatives  of  the  Steel  Corpora- 
tion. 

DEADLOCK  REACHED 

All  proposals  for  recognition  of  the 
right  of  collective  bargaining  and  the 
Gompers  plan  for  arbitration  of  the  steel 
strike  were  defeated  by  decisive  votes  on 
Oct.  21.  Five  votes  were  taken,  four  on 
the  issue  of  collective  bargaining,  and 
in  each  instance  the  record  stood  2  to  1 
against  adoption  of  any  of  the  plans  ad- 
vanced. Normally*  this  result  would 
have  produced  a  deadlock  in  the  confer- 
ence, but  President  Wilson  had  been  ad- 
vised of  the  crisis,  and  exerted  his  in- 
fluence from  his  bed  of  illness  by  writ- 
ing to  Secretary  Lane,  Chairman  of  the 
conference,  a  600-word  letter,  which 
was  to  be  read  to  the  conference  in  case 
any  of  the  members  or  groups  threat- 
ened to  withdraw.  News  of  the  Presi- 
dent's letter  spread,  and  vigorous  efforts 
were  made  by  the  different  groups  at 
an1  agreement,  but  none  was  reached. 

President  Wilson's  letter  urging  the 
conference  not  to  dissolve  without  the 
formation  of  a  constructive  program  was 
read  at  the  session  of  Oct.  22.  After* 
the  delegates  had  given  the  President  a 
rising  vote  of  thanks,  a  resolution  was 
offered  by  John  Spargo  pledging  the 
conference  to  leave  no  stone  unturned 
to  agree  on  a  program  before  adjourn- 


ing. Samuel  Gompers  then  rose,  and 
after  expressing  his  and  his  associates' 
concurrence  in  those  parts  of  the  Spargo 
motion  which  "  expressed  deep  sympathy 
for  the  President,  as  well  as  the  hopes 
for  his  recovery,"  stated  that  he  could 
not,  without  cor.sulting  his  colleagues, 
undertake  to  vo',e  for  the  assurance  and 
pledge  which  the  motion  contained.  At 
the  suggestion  of  Chairman  Lane,  the 
labor  group  then  withdrew  for  consulta- 
tion. 

LABOR  GROUP'S  RESOLUTION 
When  the  afternoon  session  opened,  Mr. 
Gompers  stated  that  his  group  had  dis- 
cussed the  situation  in  almost  every  par- 
ticular. He  then  read  a  resolution  ap- 
proved by  the  entire  labor  group,  the 
text  of  which  was  as  follows: 

The  right  of  wage  earners  to  organize 
without  discrimination,  to  bargain  collec- 
tively, to  be  represented  by  representa- 
tives of  their  own  choosing  in  negotia- 
tions and  adjustments  with  employers 
in  respect  to  wages,  hours  of  labor,  and 
relations  and  conditions  of  employment  is 
recognized. 

On  his  motion  this  resolution  was 
taken  up  for  immediate  decision  without 
reference  to  the  Committee  of  Fifteen. 

Frederick  P.  Fish  of  Boston,  a  member 
of  the  employers'  group,  then  advanced 
views  which  forecast  the  adverse  action 
later  taken  by  that  group,  attacking  the 
resolution  on  the  ground  that  as  it  was 
interpreted  by  the  labor  group  it  meant 
collective  bargaining  only  through  men 
not  employes  of  a  given  establishment,  a 
principle  which  the  employers  had  al- 
ready repudiated,  and  on  which  they 
would  not  yield.  A  heated  debate  arose 
over  this  issue,  in  which  A.  A.  Landon  of 
Buffa1©,  Louis  Titus  of  San  Francisco, 
Charles  Edward  Russell,  Dr.  Charles  W. 
Eliot,  and  H.  B.  Endicott,  all  of  the  pub- 
lic group,  argued  for  the  resolution,  and 
Herbert  F.  Perkins  of  the  International 
Harvester  Company,  L.  F.  Loree,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  Railroad, 
and  J.  W.  O'Leary,  all  of  the  employers 
group,  argued  against  it.  John  Spargo 
asked  Mr.  Gompers  whether,  if  the  reso- 
lution was  adopted,  the  labor  group 
would  understand  it  to  mean  that  the 
principle  of  collective  bargaining  would 
then  be  rationally  and  carefully  worked 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  CONFERENCE 


199 


out  by  the  conference.    Mr.  Gompers  re- 
plied that  this  was  his  understanding. 

The  public  group,  after  deliberation, 
indorsed  the  resolution,  and  Bernard  M. 
Baruch  cast  its  vote.  The  labor  group 
voted  aye.  The  employer  group  voted 
no,  by  a  small  majority. 

WITHDRAWAL  OF  LABOR 

Mr.    Gompers    immediately    rose    and 

said: 

Gentlemen,  I  have  sung  my  swan  song 
In  this  conference.  You  have,  by  your 
action,  the  action  of  the  employers'  group, 
legislated  us  out  of  this  conference.  We 
have  nothing  further  to  submit  and  we 
feel  great  regret  that  we  are  not  enabled 
with  a  clear  conscience  to  remain  here 
longer.  We  have  responsibilities  to  the 
millions  of  workers  and  those  dependent 
upon  them.  We  must  fulfill  these  obliga- 
tions. Our  regret  is  that  the  rejection  of 
anything  like  a  fair  proposition  on  our 
part  has  occurred.  It  has  been  done  and 
the  die  is  cast';  and  we  were  endeavoring 
by  all  means  within  our  power  to  comply 
with  the  request  made  by  that  great 
man,  now  stricken  on  a  bed  of  illness,  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  for  whom 
we  have  an  admiration  and  a  love  inex- 
pressible. 

Mr.    Chairman    and    gentlemen,    for    the 
courtesy  which,  you  have  extended  to  us 
we  are  profoundly  grateful,  but  we  can- 
not longer  remain  with  you. 

As  he  ended  Mr.  Gompers  walked  from 
the  room,  followed  by  Frank  Morrison, 
Michael  F.  Tighe,  and  the  other  repre- 
sentatives of  the  American  Federation 
Df  Labor.  The  representatives  of  the 
railway  brotherhoods  left  the  hall  a  lit- 
tle later,  after  L.  E.  Sheppard  of  the 
conductors  and  W.  G.  Lee  of  the  railway 
trainmen  had  expressed  their  sympathy 
with  the  stand  taken  by  Mr.  Gompers 
and  his  federation  colleagues. 

Members  of  the  employers'  group  dis- 
claimed responsibility  for  the  withdrawal 
of  the  labor  group.  John  Spargo  then 
offered  a  resolution  for  the  continuance 
of  the  conference,  advocating  an  attempt 
to  persuade  the  labor  group  to  return. 
On  the  following  day,  Oct.  23,  both  the 
public  group  and  the  employers'  group 
were  in  their  seats  when  the  conference 
was  reopened.  Secretary  Lane,  voicing 
President  Wilson's  desire,  at  once  an- 
nounced that  the  presence  of  the  employ- 
ers in  future  conferences  would  be  un- 
necessary, and  that  with  the  labor  group 


they  ceased  to  be  members.  The  public 
group  then  went  into  executive  session. 
An  attempt  to  continue  the  work  was 
made  the  next  day  by  the  public  group, 
but  it  soon  desisted  and  adjourned  sine 
die,  after  sending  a  letter  to  President 
Wilson  recommending  the  calling  of  a 
new  conference. 

SOME  NET  RESULTS 

A  statement  issued  by  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  employers'  group  pointed 
out  three  definite  advantages  which,  in 
its  opinion,  the  industrial  conference  had 
gained:  (1)  Realization  that  failure  was 
inevitable  without  preliminary  organiza- 
tion and  an  orderly  and  comprehensive 
program.  (2)  Certainty  that  the  ques- 
tion of  collective  bargaining  had  been 
brought  before  the  country  more  promi- 
nently, and  would  stimulate  innumer- 
able manufacturers  to  find  an  accepta- 
ble solution.  (3)  Conviction  that  col- 
lective bargaining  must  be  defined,  and 
could  not  be  accepted  in  an  indiscrimi- 
nate and  unrelated  sense.  The  statement 
then  asserted  that  the  labor  group,  which 
formulated  the  Gompers  resolution,  gave 
to  this  policy  a  special  interpretation, 
(opposition  to  the  open  shop  and  bar- 
gaining through  outside  representatives) 
which  the  employers  were  bound  to  re- 
sist to  the  end.  The  statement  insisted 
that  the  employers,  by  their  rejection 
of  the  Gompers  resolution,  did  not  deny 
the  right  of  organization  and  collective 
bargaining,  and  asserted  that  this  group 
was  leaving  upon  the  record  a  declara- 
tion of  *  true  American  principles." 

A  statement  by  Mr.  Gompers  was  in 
part  as  follows: 

The  representatives  of  the  public 
group,  made  up  largely  of  employers 
and  people  who  have  been  antagonistic 
to  the  labor  cause,  voted  in  favor  of 
our   declaration. 

Information  has  come  to  me  that 
the  employers  group  in  their  confer- 
ence voted  against  the  declaration  by 
a  majority  of  one.  I  am  quite  con- 
vinced that  those  employers  in  that 
group  who  voted  against  the  declaration 
are  unrepresentative  of  the  intelligent, 
fair-minded   employers   of  the  country. 

Bernard  M.  Baruch  gave  out  a  state- 
ment in  which  he  thus  summed  up  the 
results  attained: 


s!00 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  Industrial  Conference,  at*  orig- 
inally constituted,  accomplished  far  more 
than  appears  on  the  surface  before  it 
finally    was    dissolved. 

First— It  brought  the  issues  involved 
home  to  the  entire  nation. 

Second— It  demonstrated  the  great 
difficulties   of  a   solution. 

Third— Its  discussions  have  had  the 
effect  of  setting  the  entire  people  think- 
ing, and  from  this  thought  will  come 
the   solution. 

Fourth— There    was    brought    home    to 


all     participants     the    intimat. 

that   exist  between   the  farming  interest* 

and    all    industrial   questions. 

Fifth— What  was  not  brought  out 
clearly  was  that  both  capital  and  labor 
owe  to  society— which  is  inclusive  of 
capital  and  labor— a  dnty  to  produce  in 
quantity  at  the  lowest  possible  cost  com- 
mensurate with  the  protection  of  both 
capital  and  labor,  all  of  the  "  things  " 
that  are  necessary  to  keep  up  the  proper, 
just,  and  humane  standards  of  modern 
life. 


Nation- Wide  Steel  Strike 


Contest  of  Endurance  Between  Manufacturers  and  Workers — 
Armed  Conflicts  and  Martial  Law 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  24,  1919] 


SINCE  the  close  of  the  war  the  num- 
ber and  frequency  of  strikes  in  the 
United  States  have  been  constant- 
ly on  the  increase.  Discontent- 
ment of  the  workers  with  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  their  wage  to  cover  the  ad- 
vanced cost  of  living  underlay  most  of 
these  demonstrations,  but  in  some  cases, 
as  in  the  steel  strike,  the  principles  of 
collective  bargaining  and  the  open  shop 
were  involved. 

The  strike  of  the  steel  workers,  which 
soon  resolved  itself  into  an  uncompro- 
mising contest  of  endurance,  began  in 
Pittsburgh  on  Sept.  21  with  clashes  be- 
tween troops  and  strikers,  in  which  nine- 
teen of  the  latter,  including  two  labor 
union  organizers,  were  arrested.  Elbert 
H.  Gary,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors of  the  United  States  Steel  Cor- 
poration, and  James  A.  Farrell,  Presi- 
dent of  the  corporation,  refused  to  make 
any  statement,  and  it  was  said  that  the 
only  general  order  issued  was  to  the 
heads  of  the  various  subsidiary  compa- 
nies directing  them  not  to  yield  on  the 
principle  of  the  "  open  shop."  The  strike 
affected  268,710  steel  employes  scattered 
through  various  States  where  plants 
were  located,  but  the  percentage  of  these 
that  would  quit  work  was  still  uncer-' 
tain. 

The  strike  did  not  begin  officially  until 
Sept.  22  at  midnight.    Soon  afterward  it 


was  reported  that  hundreds  had  failed 
to  report  for  work  in  the  Chicago  dis- 
trict, following  large  mass  meetings  of 
strikers.  Three  mills  shut  down  in 
Youngstown  and  sixteen  in  Cleveland, 
and  others  were  badly  crippled.  In  the 
Chicago  district,  on  Sept.  23,  80,000  quit 
work,  and  the  steel  mills  in  Gary,  Ind. ; 
in  Joliet,  111.,  and  Indian  Harbor  were 
closed  down.  In  Gary  the  strikers  dam- 
aged the  blast  furnaces  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  company  estimated  a  neces- 
sitated repair  expense  of  $1,000,000  or 
more. 

At  this  time  the  Steel  Corporation  an- 
nounced that  it  was  holding  its  working 
forces  almost  intact  against  the  strike  in 
its  four  great  Pennsylvania  plants  at 
Homestead,  McKeesport,  Duquesne,  and 
Braddock. 

The  strikers  showed  increasing 
strength  in  the  Pittsburgh  section  by 
closing  down  a  number  of  large  inde- 
pendent steel  mills  there,  as  well  as  in 
Buffalo  and  Cleveland. 

One  radical  leader  was  arrested  in 
Chicago  and  held  in  $10,000  bail  on  a 
charge  of  urging  a  revolution  through 
which  the  workers  would  win  control 
of  the  mills  and  of  the  Government.  All 
Chicago  plants  were  practically  at  a 
standstill,  but  the  corporation  as- 
serted that  the  strikers  were  intimidated. 
At  Farrell,  Penn.,  serious  rioting  resulted 


NATION-WIDE  STEEL  STRIKE 


in  the  killing  of  one  man  and  the  injuring 
of  six  men  and  one  woman. 

GOVERNOR  SPROUL'S  WARNING 
William  Z.  Foster,  leader  of  the  steel 
strike  in  the  Pittsburgh  district,  on  Sept. 
24  received  and  made  public  a  letter  from 
Governor  Sproul,  which  declared  that 
Pennsylvania  would  keep  order,  and  gave 
warning  to  all  propagandists  and  preach- 
ers of  riot  to  cease  their  activities.  This 
letter  was  sent  in  answer  to  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Foster,  complaining  of  the  action  of 
the  State  in  dispersing  a  crowd  at  North 
Clairton.  The  Governor  stated  that  he 
expected  the  co-operation  of  Foster  and 
his  organization  in  maintaining  public 
order. 

ARBITRATION  PROPOSED 
Sept.  25  was  marked  by  the  reiterated 
refusal  of  the  Steel  Corporation  to  treat 
with  the  strikers  and  by  the  first  session 
of  the  Steel  Strike  Investigation  Com- 
mittee of  the  Senate.  John  Fitzpatrick, 
Chairman  of  the  National  Committee  of 
organized  steel  workers,  after  accusing 
the  Steel  Corporation  of  brutality  and 
unfairness — charges  supported  by  Sam- 
uel Gompers  before  the  committee  on 
Sept.  26 — in  answer  to  a  question  by 
Chairman  Kenyon  of  Iowa  announced 
that  the  strikers  would  be  willing  to  leave 
the  settlement  of  their  controversy  to  any 
arbitration  board  that  might  be  selected 
by  President  Wilson.  He  further  stated 
that  if  the  Steel  Corpoi-ation  would  agree 
to  such  arbitration,  the  strikers  would 
return  to  work  and  would  abide  by  the 
decision  reached  by  the  President  and  his 
arbitrators. 

Informed  in  New  York  the  same  even- 
ing of  Mr.  Fitzpatrick's  proposal,  Mr. 
Gary  declared  that  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors was  bound  to  preserve  the  in- 
terests of  its  stockholders  and  also  of  its 
employes,  the  majority  of  whom,  he  said, 
were  not  union  members;  he  also  said 
that  "  questions  of  moral  principle  can- 
,  not  be  arbitrated  or  compromised." 

Meanwhile  some  of  the  mills  in  the 
Chicago  section  were  again  becoming 
active,  while  a  break  in  the  strikers' 
ranks  became  perceptible;  non-union 
members  were  becoming  restless  and  be- 
ginning to  return  to  work.  This  weaken- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  strikers  became 


more  and  more  visible  in  the  succeeding 
days,  especially  in  Pittsburgh  and  Chi- 
cago. The  union  men  still  denied  losses, 
but  Mr.  Foster  expressed  disappointment 
because  organized  labor  refrained  from 
declaring  a  sympathetic  strike. 

The  end  of  the  first  week  of  the  strike 
saw  the  development  of  an  obvious  trend 
in  favor  of  the  employers.  Mayor  Hodges 
of  Gary  issued  a  proclamation  advising 
workers  that  they  might  return  to  their 
jobs  at  the  steel  mills  under  full  police 
protection.  The  employers  at  this  time 
expected  30,000  men  to  return  to  work. 

A  new  strike  began  at  the  Bethlehem 
steel  plant  on  Sept.  28,  and  at  Lebanon, 
Reading,  Steelton,  Penn.,  and  Sparrows 
Point,  Md.  After  eighteen  hours,  how- 
ever, the  employers  said  that  barely 
15  per  cent,  of  the  workers  had  walked 
out.  The  attitude  of  the  Bethlehem 
workers  was  apathetic  to  the  strike  or- 
der, and  the  mills  were  operating  at 
nearly  normal.  This  strike  was  prac- 
tically over  on  Oct.  1,  though  some  800 
men  were  still  absent.  On  Sept.  30  the 
Pittsburgh  mills  claimed  more  gains, 
while  the  unions  contended  that  375,000 
men  were  out. 

On  Oct.  3  the  Pittsburgh  plants  de- 
clared that  operation  was  almost  normal, 
and  that  the  steady  return  of  the  strik- 
ers had  restored  the  output  to  nearly  full 
capacity.  The  police  meanwhile  held 
alien  agitators,  arrested  for  the  Federal 
authorities,  and  a  plan  of  deportation 
was  under  discussion. 

GENERAL  WOOD  IN  CHARGE. 

In  Gary  on  Oct.  4  a  serious  conflict 
developed  which  filled  the  steel  town's 
hospitals  with  wounded  and  the  city  jail 
with  strikers  and  strike  sympathizers. 
This  was  the  first  grave  disorder  in  the 
district.  Incomplete  reports  stated  that 
forty  or  fifty  had  been  injured,  but 
none  fatally.  In  this  clash  more  than 
5,000  strikers  charged  the  police,  Deputy 
Sheriffs,  and  firemen  with  stones, 
bricks,  and  clubs  when  the  guards  at- 
tempted to  frustrate  an  attack  upon 
forty  strikebreakers,  many  of  them 
negroes,  who  were  riding  in  a  street  car. 

On  Oct.  5  attacks  were  made  on 
the  mill  gates,  and  one  plant  "  boss  " 
was  shot  at  his  own  door.     Militia  were 


iOi 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


rushed  to  the  scene  and  on  Ocfr  6  had 
full  control  of  the  situation.  General 
Leonard  Wood,  commander  of  the  Cen- 
tral Department  of  the  United  States 
Army,  on  this  date  took  charge  of  the 
Indiana  steel  cities  of  Gary,  Indiana 
Harbor,  and  East  Chicago,  with  1,000 
overseas  veterans  of  the  4th  Division, 
armed  with  cannon,  machine  guns,  and 
rifles.  He  declared  martial  law  in  Gary, 
while  Adjutant  Smith,  with  1,000  State 
troops,  declared  martial  law  in  the  other 
two  steel  centres. 

The  taking  of  these  measures  followed 
the  holding  of  a  mass  meeting  by  2,000 
strikers  of  Gary  and  a  parade  without 
permit,  led  by  a  large  number  of  former 
soldiers  in  uniform.  At  the  mass  meet- 
ing the  release  of  arrested  strikers  and 
the  withdrawal  of  troops  sent  by  the 
Governor  of  Indiana  at  the  request  of 
the  city  authorities  were  demanded. 
Troops  paraded  in  steel  hats,  armed 
with  rifle  and  bayonet,  machine 
guns,  and  hand  grenades,  and  can- 
non were  mounted  in  the  streets 
and  parks  and  pointing  down  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares.  The  mills  were 
opened  and  thousands  of  workers  en- 
tered and  left  the  gates  without  fear. 
Crowds  were  kept  moving,  but  picketing 
was  not  prevented.  General  Wood  de- 
clared that  the  worst  influence  among 
the  strikers  came  from  certain  "  Red " 
agitators,  whose  only  desire  was  to 
foment  trouble,  and  that  the  best  labor 
element  stood  for. law  and  order.  Five 
hundred  strikers  in  Indiana  Harbor  took 
advantage  of  the  presence  of  the  troops 
to  go  back  to  work. 

A  new  riot  occurred  at  Donora  on  Oct. 
9,  when  negroes  returning  to  work  were 
attacked  by  strikers  and  opened  fire  in 
self-defense.  Two  men  were  killed  and 
several  wounded.  Neither  of  the  two 
could  speak  English.  On  this  date  5,000 
men  returned  to  work  at  Warren,  near 
Youngstown. 

RESUMING  OPERATIONS 
The  strike  entered  its  fourth  week  with 
the  mills  making  big  gains;  two  districts 
had  resumed  operations  and  others  had 
increased  their  output  within  the  preced- 
ing week.  On  Oct.  14  more  plants  in  the 
Pittsburgh  section  were  opened,  and  the 


companies  reported  that  the  movement 
back  to  work  was  continuing.  It  was 
charged  by  the  Strikers'  Organizing 
Committee  that  the  mills  were  being 
aided  by  the  State,  the  ground  for  this 
charge  being  that  a  permit  to  hold  a 
meeting  at  Coraopolis  had  been  revoked 
by  request  of  the  State  authorities  at 
Harrisburg.  On  the  same  day  a  pitched 
battle  occurred  at  Youngstown,  Ohio,  be- 
tween Carnegie  steel  strikers  and  the  lo- 
cal police,  in  which  one  striker  was  killed 
and  several  others  badly  wounded,  after 
the  city  had  taken  steps  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  stoning  of  men  working  at  the  mills. 

On  Oct  24  at  practically  the  end  of 
the  fifth  week,  the  strike  appeared  to  be 
over  in  the  Gary  mills.  There  were  still 
several  thousand  men  out,  but,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  unskilled  laborers,  the 
mills  were  said  to  have  all  the  men  they 
would  need  in  the  next  six  months.  The 
commercial  mills  were  producing  1,800 
tons  of  steel  bars  daily,  and  twenty-seven 
of  the  forty-two  open  hearth  furnaces 
were  in  operation,  while  eight  blast  fur- 
naces were  about  to  be  started  and  the 
rest  were  to  be  running  within  a  few 
days.  At  that  time  the  total  pay  roll 
of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation 
in  Gary  was  above  the  7,000  mark,  or 
about  75  per  cent,  of  the  maximum 
force,  and  the  mills  were  producing  50 
per  cent,  of  their  capacity.  The  Indiana 
Steel  Company  reported  a  similar  degree 
of  progress.  In  the  Pittsburgh  district 
the  production  was  beginning  to  ap- 
proach normal  figures.  In  general  the 
strike  was  regarded  as  having  been  lost 
by  the  unions;  though  this  was  not  con- 
ceded by  their  leaders. 

It  was  estimated  that  the  steel  output 
had  been  reduced  40  per  cent,  during  the 
weeks  of  conflict,  and  that  the  strike  had 
deprived  the  country  of  2,000,000  tons  of 
necessary  steel  products. 

.      SENATE    INVESTIGATION 

The  sessions  of  the  Senate  Committee 
appointed  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the 
steel  strike  began  on  Sept.  25,  when  an 
offer  to  arbitrate  through  the  medium  of 
President  Wilson  was  made  by  John 
Fitzpatrick,  who  drew  before  the  com- 
mittee a  picture  of  the  despotism  and 
unfairness  of  the  steel  employers  which 


NATION-WIDE  STEEL  STRIKE 


ios 


was  subsequently  confirmed  by  Samuel 
Gompers  before  the  same  committee. 
Another  witness  was  William  Z.  Foster, 
who  was  '  questioned  at  considerable 
length  regarding  his  previous  experiences 
as  a  professional  agitator.  The  extreme 
radical  nature  of  some  of  his  past  utter- 
ances was  explained  away  by  Foster  with 
the  intimation  that  he  had  undergone  a 
change  of  mind. 

Elbert  H.  Gary,  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, was  heard  on  Oct.  1.  Mr.  Gary  told 
of  mill  conditions  and  called  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  open  shop  the  crux  of  the 
whole  issue.  He  asserted  that  he  would 
deal  with  the  workers,  but  never  with 
union  leaders.  Charges  made  by  Gompers 
and  Fitzpatrick  of  murder  and  brutality 
he  said  were  based  on  false  premises. 

The  Senate  also  heard  twenty  work- 
men from  the  mills,  whose  testimony  in 
favor  of  mill  conditions  was  as  positive 
as  that  of  Mr.  Gary  himself.  One  of 
these  witnesses  told  the  committee  on 
Oct.  4  of  the  Soviet  agitation  going  on  at 
the  mills,  largely  conducted  by  foreign- 
ers. The  whole  strike,  he  declared,  was- 
practically  the  work  of  aliens.  Of  1,000 
who  struck  at  New  Castle,  he  said,  60 
per  cent,  were  not  Americans.  The  Amer- 
ican-born workmen  were  given  no  oppor- 
tunity to  vote  on  the  declaring  of  the 
strike. 

With  the  discovery  in  Gary  on  Oct.  14 
of  a  plot  to  destroy  Governnment  prop- 
erty and  to  inaugurate  a  general  upris- 
ing of  "  Reds  "  from  West  Virginia  to 
Colorado,  a  drive  on  radicals  in  the 
United  States  was  started  by  agents  of 
the  Department  of  Justice  and  by  the 
military  under  General  Wood.  Connec- 
tions between  the  Gary  Reds  and  the  at- 


tempts on  the  lives  of  Attorney  General 
Palmer  and  Judge  Charles  C.  Knott  in 
May  and  June,  1919,  had  already  been 
traced.  One  of  those  implicated  in  a 
similar  attempt  had  been  arrested;  two 
others  were  sought.  It  was  stated  from 
Washington  that  the  Federal  authorities 
were  in  possession  of  evidence  showing 
that  the  I.  W.  W.  and  other  Bolshevist 
organizations  in  the  United  States  were 
openly  agitating  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  and 
the  substitution  of  a  Soviet  form  of  gov- 
ernment. The  gist  of  this  evidence  was 
embodied  in  a  resolution  offered  by 
Senator  Poindexter  in  the  Senate  at  the 
date  mentioned,  which  read  as  follows: 

The  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States  is  requested  to  advise  and  inform 
the  Senate  of  the  reason  for  the  failure 
of  the  Department  of  Justice  to  take  legal 
proceedings  for  the  arrest,  punishment, 
and  deportation  of  the  various  persons 
within  the  United  States  who,  during  re- 
cent days  and  weeks,  and  for  a  consider- 
able time  continuously  previous  thereto, 
have  attempted  to  bring  about  rhc  forci- 
ble overthrow  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  who  have  preached  an- 
archy and  sedition,  who  have  advised  the 
defiance  of  law  and  authority,  both  by 
the  printing  and  circulation  of  printed 
newspapers,  books,  pamphlets,  circulars, 
stickers,  and  dodgers,  and  also  by  spoken 
word ;  and  who  in  like  manner  have  ad- 
vised and  openly  advocated  the  unlawful 
destruction  of  industry  and  the  unlawful 
and  violent  destruction  of  property,  in 
pursuance  of  a  deliberate  plan  and  pur- 
pose to  destroy  existing  property  rights 
and  to  impede  and  obstruct  the  conduct 
of  business  essential  to  the  prosperity 
and   life  of  the  community. 

Also  the  Attorney  General  is  requested 
to  advise  and  inform  the  Senate  why  the 
Department  of  Justice  has  failed  to  take 
legal  proceedings  for  the  arrest  and  de- 
portation of  aliens  who  have,  within  the 
United  States,  committed  the  acts  afore- 
said. 


Other  Serious  Labor  Troubles 


The  Longshoremen's  Strike 


BETWEEN  4,000  and  5,000  longshore- 
men employed  on  North  River  piers 
in    New    York    City    went    out    on 
strike  at  the  dinner  hour  Oct.  7  without 
warning  and  against  the  orders  of  their 


leaders.  They  demanded  $1  an  hour  and 
$2  for  overtime,  as  against  the  existing 
rates  of  65  cents  and  $1.  They  also 
asked  a  brief  halt  between  3  and  4 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  for  tea.     By  the 


-2(H 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


declaring  of  this  strike,  the  sailing  of 
the  Carmania,  with  1,200  passengers,  was 
held  up  for  twenty-four  hours.  By  Oct. 
9  some  25,000  men  were  out,  and  the  dis- 
affection was  spreading  to  all  pai'ts  of 
the  port.  Shipping  was  badly  tied  up. 
Some  800  checkers  had  also  struck.  Po- 
lice protection  was  asked  for  those  who 
remained  at  work.  One  union  agent  was 
badly  beaten  for  urging  the  men  to  keep 
their  agreement. 

Subsequently  the  number  of  those  on 
strike  increased  to  70,000,  and  their  idle- 
ness was  keeping  80,000  other  men  from 
working.  Tons  of  food  were  spoiling  on 
the  piers.  On  Oct.  11  the  strike  was 
spreading  all  along  the  coast;  Baltimore, 
Boston  and  Norfolk  were  threatened.  The 
Port  of  New  York  was  completely  para- 
lyzed. 

At  this  time  Secretary  of  Labor  Wil- 
son issued  an  official  statement  from 
Washington  charging  the  strikers  with 
bad  faith,  as  the  previous  rates  had  been 
determined  on  by  a  special  Federal 
award  and  the  strikers  had  promised  to 
abide  by  it.  On  Oct.  10  the  crews  of 
nearly  all  the  railroad  ferry  boats  on  the 
North  River  walked  out,  on  the  ground 
that  a  demand  for  a  25  per  cent,  increase 
and  a  six-day  week  had  met  with  long 
delay  in  action.  The  suspension  of  the 
ferryboat  service  caused  great  public 
inconvenience  and  crippled  the  delivery 
of  the  milk  supply.  Mayor  Hylan  in- 
tervened ineffectively  to  bring  about  a 
conciliation. 

On  Oct.  15  the  longshoremen  accepted 
an  offer  of  a  9  per  cent,  increase,  and 
voted  to  return  to  work.  On'y  5,000 
actually  went  back,  however,  and  the 
trouble  continued.  At  this  date  the  ferry 
service  was  resumed. 

Oct.  17  was  marked  by  violence.  Radi- 
cal longshoremen  shot  and  stabbed  pier- 
men  who  had  returned  to  work.  Six  foi'- 
eigners  were  arrested,  one  of  whom  had 
an  I.  W.  W.  card.  The  steamship  em- 
ployers asked  the  Mayor  for  police  pro- 
tection. The  great  mass  of  piermen, 
meantime,  continued  the  strike,  and 
tightened  their  grip  on  shipping.  Man- 
hattan piei's  were  practically  inactive. 
On  Oct.  18  a  conciliation  commission  of 
three  was  named,  consisting  of  Mayor 
Hylan,  F.  Paul  Vaccarrelli  of  New  York, 


and  James  L.  Hughes,  Immigration 
Commissioner,  of  Philadelphia.  T.  V. 
O'Connor,  President  of  the  International 
Longshoi'emen's  Association,  however, 
declared  there  was  nothing  to  mediate. 
On  Oct.  20  this  commission  met  and 
heard  the  strikers'  side  of  the  contro- 
versy. 

Mr.  Vaccarrelli,  a  former  member 
of  the  Longshoremen's  Association, 
whose  appointment  had  been  protested 
by  the  strikers,  was  absent  from  the 
meeting.  At  this  hearing  the  strikers 
attacked  the  Federal  wage  award.  On 
the  following  day  the  strike  Chairman 
and  half  of  the  strikers  withdrew  from 
another  hearing  because  of  the  presence 
of  Vaccarrelli.  At  this  date  500  regular 
troops  were  landed  to  do  guard  duty  and 
unload  the  ships  tied  up  in  the  port.  The 
shipowners  announced  that  they  would 
try  to  move  the  vessels  at  once,  and  mat- 
ters came  to  a  crisis. 

With  a  coal  shortage  already  serious, 
495  vessels  tied  up,  $1,000,000  worth  of 
fruit  and  other  food  rotting  in  steam- 
ship holds  or  on  the  piers,  active  steps 
were  taken  by  the  Federal  Shipping- 
Board  on  Oct.  21  to  break  the  strike  so 
far  as  its  vessels  were  concerned. 
Preparations  were  made  to  house  sev- 
eral thousand  longshoremen,  loyal  to 
their  international  officers,  who  were  to 
begin  work  at  once  on  the  piers.  The 
strikers  meantime  were  given  until  5 
o'clock  of  the  same  day  to  return  to 
work.  Federal  troops  were  held  in  re- 
serve to  deal  with  all  eventualities. 

On  Oct.  22  the  strikers  held  two  meet- 
ings. Some  1,000  men  voted  to  return 
to  work  at  the  request  of  their  President 
and  Vice  President.  At  the  second  meet- 
ing 3,000  voted  their  determination  to 
stay  out.  A  meeting  the  same  night  in 
Hoboken  led  to  violence;  revolvers 
flashed  when  Mr.  O'Connor  tried  to 
speak,  two  shots  were  fired,  and  a  gen- 
eral fight  followed.  Arrests  were  made, 
including  that,  of  the  Vice  President,  for 
felonious  assault.  Mr.  O'Connor  was 
rescued  from  the  mob  and  detained  at 
Police  Headquarters.  The  strike  was  still 
at  its  height  when  this  article  was  writ- 
ten,  (Oct.  25.) 

Ten  thousand  pressroom  men  were 
locked   out   on    Oct.    1    by    250   printing 


OTHER  SERIOUS  LABOR  TROUBLES 


205 


firms  in  New  York  City,  after  the  local 
unions  to  which  they  belonged  had  been 
outlawed  by  their  international  unions 
for  refusal  to  abide  by  their  contracts. 
The  local  unions  demanded  a  forty-four- 
hour  week  and  a  wage  /increase  of  $14 
a  week.  All  the  printing  plants  men- 
tioned closed  at  this  date  indefinitely. 
Many  New  York  publications,  including 
prominent  magazines,  were  affected. 
The  book  publishers  joined  the  lockout.- 
On  Oct.  4  nearly  1,000  members  of  the 
"Big  Six"  Typographical  Union  joined 
in  the  strike.  More  than  150  magazines 
and  bOO  trade  papers  were  tied  up. 

On  Oct.  13  the  pressmen  still  held  out 
for  a  forty-four-hour  week;  they  an- 
nounced that  they  were  willing  to  arbi- 
trate all  other  demands  but  this.  The 
following  day  the  international  officers 
of  the  pressmen's,  typographers'  and 
stereotypers  and  electrotypers'  unions 
sent  an  appoal  to  President  Gompers  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  ask- 
ing that  the  Central  Federated  Union  of 
Now  York  be  compelled  to  rescind  its 
resolution  of  sympathy  with  the  seced- 
ing unions  of  New  York,  on  penalty  of 
the  revocation  of  its  charter.  The  em- 
ployers, meantime,  announced  that  they 
were  ready  to  meet  the  compositors  in 
an  effort  to  settle  the  controversy,  in 
some  respects  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able in  the  strike  history  of  the  United 
Scates.  Despite  the  tie-up,  many  maga- 
zines appeared;  some  were  printed  in 
New  England,  some  in  New  York  State, 
while  others  went  as  far  as  Mary  and  to 
find  available  presses.  The  Current 
History  Magazine  succeeded  in  making 
its  appearance  by  being  printed  on  the 
rotogravure  presses  of  The  New  York 
Times. 

THE  COAL  STRIKE 

A  clash  between  the  anthracite  mine 
workers  and  operators  was  averted  by  a 
decision  made  at  a  conference  in  Phila- 
delphia between  the  Presidents  of  the 
throe  anthracite  districts  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America  and  the  Com- 
mittee of  Anthracite  Operators  on  Sept. 
29.  By  this  decision  the  existing  con- 
tract, including  a  supplemental  agree- 
ment for  the  payment  of  bonuses,  was 


to    continue    in    force    until    March    31, 
1920. 

The  soft  coal  operators,  however,  dur- 
ing the  preceding  week  had  formulated 
demands  for  a  60  per  cent,  increase  in 
all  mine  wages,  a  limit  of  six  hours  a 
day -for  labor  underground,  a  five-day 
week,  with  time-and-a-half  for  ovei'timo 
and  double  time  for  work  on  Sunday,  as 
well  as  improvements  in  conditions  of 
labor.  On  Sept.  27  the  operators  as- 
sailed these  demands  publicly,  asserting 
that  the  $1,000,000,000  increase  in  wages 
demanded  would  have  to  be  borne  by  the 
public  and  expressing  fear  of  a  shortage 
of  coal  from  the  contemplated  attempt 
to  cut  down  the  hours  of  production. 

The  soft  coal  operators  and  miners 
clashed  over  the  issue  at  the  wage  con- 
ference held  at  Buffalo  on  Sept.  29,  when 
the  owners  characterized  the  demands  of 
the  minors  as  "  extravagant  and  impos- 
sible of  acceptation  "  and  questioned  the 
authority  of  the  miners'  delegates  to 
enter  into  any  agreement  for  them. 
Further  negotiation  failed  to  break  the 
deadlock  of  the  contesting  parties.  A 
joint  committee  was  named.  John  L. 
Lewis,  Acting  President  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers,  urged  speed,  as  the  time 
limit  set  for  the  declaring  of  the  strike 
approached. 

Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  sent  invi- 
tations to  Mr.  Lewis  and  Thomas  F. 
Brewster,  President  of  the  National 
Coal  Operators'  Association,  to  meet  him 
in  Washington  on  Oct.  17.  In  his  com- 
munication to  Mr.  i-iewis,  Secretary  Wil- 
son urged  him  to  issue  no  call  for  a 
strike  until  the  proposed  conference  had 
taken  place.  Reports  reached  Washing- 
ton soon  thereafter  that  the  strike  call 
had  already  been  sent  out  for  nation- 
wide action  on  Nov.  1.  Only  agreement 
between  the  miners  and  operators  before 
that  date,  said  Mr.  Lewis,  could  avert 
the  strike,  which  the  strike  order  char- 
acterized as  "  the  greatest  enterprise 
ever  undertaken  in  the  history  of  the 
trade  union  movement." 

President  Wilson  from  his  sickbed 
issued  a  strong  letter  of  protest  to  the 
miners  on  Oct.  25,  but  the  catastrophe 
was  still  impending  when  these  pages 
went  to  press. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


[Period  Ended  Oct.  25,  1919] 


Arrival  of  Lord  Grey 

SIR  EDWARD  GREY,  as  the  world 
called  him  in  the  fateful  first  days 
of  the  war,  now  Viscount  Grey,  K.  G., 
of  Fallodon,  Northumberlandshire,  Great 
Britain's  special  Ambassador  to  the 
United  States  pending  the  appointment 
of  a  permanent  diplomatic  representa- 
tive, arrived  in  New  York  on  Sept.  25, 
together  with  his  staff.  On  landing  he 
gave  out  a  statement  in  which  he  empha- 
sized the  necessity  for  rebuilding  the 
Old  World,  and  declared  that  without 
good  understanding  and  friendship  with 
America  international  progress  was  im- 
possible, and  even  international  security 
doubtful.  He  had  come,  he  intimated, 
only  to  foster  such  good  understanding 
and  cordial  feelings,  and  was  charged 
with  no,  duty  of  making  treaties  of  any 
kind.  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  he  said,  spoke  the  same  language 
and  had  many  ties  in  common;  real  mis- 
understandings, due  to  old  historical 
memories  and  present-day  British  politi- 
cal problems,  must  not  be  denied,  but 
eliminated.  Viscount  Grey  expressed 
high  admiration  of  the  part  America  had 
played  in  the  war,  and  declared  that  he 
intended,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  pro- 
mote good-will  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  believing  that 
this  would  bring  the  strongest  element 
of  security  for  the  future  and  would  be 
a  step  toward  doing  away  with  war 
foreven  The  Ambassador  left  for  Wash- 
ington the  same  night. 
*     *     * 

New  Japanese  Ambassador 
TV/T1JURO  SHIDEHARA,  formerly  Vice 
*-H  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the 
Japanese  Cabinet,  succeeding  Viscount 
lshii  as  Ambassador  to  the  United  States, 
is  47  years  old.  He  entered  the  Govern- 
ment service  on  his  graduation  from  the 
law  college  of  the  Tokio  Imperial  Univer- 
sity in  1895,  and  has  been  in  offices  of 
various  kinds  ever  since.  He  served  first 
with  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  but 
entered  the  Foreign  Office  a  few  months 


later.  In  1899  he  was  named  Consul 
Eleve  at  Chemulpo,  in  the  same  year  be- 
ing transferred  to  London  with  the  same 
rank.  In  the  capacity  of  full  Consul  he 
served  at  Antwerp  and  Fusan,  whence  he 
was  recalled  to  the  home  office  and  made 
its  Secretary  in  1905. 

In  1911  the  post  of  Director  of  Legal 
Affairs  of  the  Foreign  Office  was  given 
him,  and  after  he  had  served  in  this  ca- 
pacity for  a  year  he  was  sent  to  the 
Japanese  Embassy  in  Washington  as 
Councilor  to  the  Embassy,  being  two 
years  later  transferred  in  the  same  ca- 
pacity to  the  Embassy  in  London.  In 
July,  1914,  he  became  Minister  to  the 
Netherlands,  being  recalled  shortly  after 
the  outbreak  of  the  wai*. 

*  *     * 

New  Italian  Ambassador 
"DARON  ROMANO  AVEZZANO  was 
•J-*  selected  as  Italian  Ambassador  to 
the  United  States  to  relieve  Count 
Macchi  di  Cellere  in  October.  A  few 
days  after  the  announcement  Count 
di  Cellere  died  suddenly  at  Washington, 
(Oct.  20,)  after  an  operation,  due  to  a 
blood  clot  of  the  mesenteric  passages. 
He  was  ill  but  three  days. 

*  *     * 

Honoring  Cardinal  Mercier 

CARDINAL  MERCIER  received  ex- 
traordinary honors  from  the  people 
of  the  United  States  during  his  stay. 
Harvard  University,  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, New  York  University,  and  other 
American  colleges  conferred  on  him  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  At 
New  York,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Washing- 
ton, and  other  cities  he  was  enter- 
tained at  formal  receptions  and  greeted 
with  the  warmest  popular  demonstra- 
tions of  respect.  On  Oct.  8  he  was  the 
guest  of  the  Merchants'  Association  of 
New  York,  and  2,500  members  united  in 
paying  tribute  to  him.  The  visit  of  the 
Cardinal  resulted  in  a  definite  movement 
to  raise  a  fund  of  $500,000*  for  the 
restoration  of  the  University  of  Louvain. 
In    his    address    before    the    Merchants' 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


207 


Association  he  told  how  his  famous  pas- 
toral  letter   urging   patriotism   and   en- 
durance, in  defiance  of  the  German  in- 
vaders, was  issued  on  Christmas,  1914. 
He  stated  that,  notwithstanding  threats, 
every  priest  who  received  it.  read  it  in 
the   parish   church,   and   that   many   of 
them  were  imprisoned  and  fined  in  con- 
sequence.   The  letter  was  sent  to  France 
and    England    by    being    placed    among 
soiled    papers    in    empty    cheese    boxes 
which  were  being  returned  to  Holland, 
and  thus  it  reached  the  outside  world. 
*     *     * 
Race  Riot  in  Omaha 
Q1ERIOUS    race   riots    between   whites 
^     and  blacks  occurred  at  Omaha,  Neb., 
Sept.  19,  and  at  Elaine,  Ark.,  Oct.  1.   At 
Omaha  the  riot  was  caused  by  the  efforts 
of  a  mob  to  lynch  Well  Brown,  a  negro, 
who  was  confined  in  the  Douglas  County 
Court  House  charged  with  criminal  as- 
sault on  a  white  girl  named  Lobeck.  The 
mob  stormed  the  Court  House  and  was  re- 
sisted by  the  police.    Mayor  E.  P.  Smith 
of  Omaha   attempted   to   quell   the  dis- 
turbance by  appealing  to  the  rioters;  in 
the  midst  of  his  address  he  was  seized, 
a  rope  was  placed  around  his  neck,  and 
he  was  strung  up  twice  and  so  seriously 
injured  that  he  long  lay  at  the  point  of 
death;  after  two  weeks  in  the  hospital, 
however,   he   recovered.     After   the   as- 
sault on  the  Mayor,  the  rioters  set  fire 
to  the  $1,000,000  Court  House;  the  flames 
spread   rapidly,   and   when   the  inmates 
of  the  prison  on  the  top  floor,  as  well 
as  the  officers  guarding  them,  were  in 
danger  of  being  burned  alive,  the  negro 
was  surrendered  to  the  mob.     He  was 
immediately     hanged,     and     his     body 
burned  to  a  crisp.    The  Court  House  was 
practically  destroyed. 

Fifteen  hundred  Federal  troops  were 
called  for  and  sent  from  Fort  Crook  and 
Fort  Omaha.  On  Sept.  30,  General 
Wood,  Commander  of  the  Central  De- 
partment, arrived  at  Omaha  and  took 
charge  of  the  situation.  The  presence 
of  the  troops  restored  order;  within  a 
few  days  150  of  the  rioters,  who  were 
identified  from  photographs  taken  dur- 
ing the  disturbance,  were  in  jail  charged 
with  murder;  among  them  was  Leonaid 
Webster,    an   advertising   designer,    who 


was  identified  as  having  struck  the 
Mayor  and  having  assisted  in  lynching 
the  negro.  It  was  stated  that  the  murder 
cases  would  be  vigoi'ously  prosecuted. 

The  trouble  at  Elaine  resulted  in  six- 
teen deaths.  Evidence  was  obtained  that 
a  propaganda  had  been  organized  by  a 
white  lawyer  from  Little  Rock  inciting 
the  colored  population  to  demand  social 
equality  by  force  of  arms.  For  several 
days  there  was  serious  fighting  between 
the  races  throughout  Phillips  County,  in 
which  Elaine  is  situated.  The  trouble 
was  finally  subdued  by  Regular  Army 
troops,  500  of  whom  were  sent  from 
Camp  Pike,  Ark.  A  number  of  the  ring- 
leaders were  arrested. 
*     *     * 

French  Traitors  Executed 
HHHE  execution  of  Pierre  Lenoir,  who 
•*-  was  tried  with  Senator  Humbert 
and  others  on  a  charge  of  communicating 
French  military  intelligence  to  the 
enemy,  and  sentenced  to  death  on  May 
8,  1919,  was  set.  for  Sept.  19.  The 
neighborhood  of  Vincennes  woods,  where 
the  execution  was  to  occur,  was  put 
under  a  strong  guard  of  soldiers  at 
half -past  5  in  the  morning;  the  Com- 
mander of  Fort  Vincennes  and  the  Pre- 
fect of  Police  arrived,  and  a  firing  squad 
of  chasseurs  took  up  their  positions.  At 
6:45  A.  M.,  however,  news  came  that 
Lenoir's  execution  had  been  delayed.. 

On  Oct.  20  the  Commission  of  Re- 
vision, to  which  was  referred  the  appeal 
for  a  new  trial  of  Lenoir,  reported  that 
it  found  no  ground  for  a  rehearing  of 
the  case,  and  on  Oct.  24  Lenoir  was 
executed  at  La  Sante  Prison  at  7  A.  M. 
He  had  for  some  time  been  suffering 
from  paralysis  of  both  legs,  and  had  to 
be  carried  to  the  place  of  execution. 
Lenoir  was  the  third  person  to  be  ex- 
ecuted on  charges  arising  out  of  attempts 
made  by  German  agents  to  conduct  a 
"  defeatist "  campaign  in  France  in  1915 
and  1916.  The  others  who  met  death  on 
this  charge  were  Bolo  Pacha,  executed 
on  April  17,  1918,  and  M.  Duval  on 
July  17,  1918. 

On  Oct.  19  the  trial  of  various  persons 
who  contributed  to  the  Gazette  des  Ar- 
dennes, published  during  the  war  by  the 
German  Staff  in  the  French  language, 


JOS 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


came  to  a  conclusion.  Second  Lieutenant 
Roger  Herve,  Louis  Laverne,  and  Henri 
Crookel  were  sentenced  to  death.  Seven 
other  defendants  received  sentences 
ranging  from  5  to  17  years. 
*     *     * 

Air  Race  Across  Continent 
rpHE  greatest  endurance  tests  ever  at- 
-*-  tempted  by  military  airplanes  be- 
gan Oct.  8,  1919,  when  transcontinental 
flights  by  United  States  Army  aviators 
were  started  simultaneously  from  New 
York  and  San  Francisco  by  sixty-three 
planes.  The  rules  of  the  race  laid  down 
three  objectives:  1.  The  shortest  air- 
line time  across  the  country.  2.  Actual 
flying  time.  3.  Fastest  flying  time.  Con- 
trol stations  were  established  in  cities 
forming  a  chain  across  the  country. 
The  distance  to  be  covered  was  5,400 
miles.  Each  machine,  by  actual  test,  was 
capable  of  attaining  a  minimum  speed 
of  100  miles  an  hour. 

The  start  occurred  on  schedule  time, 
forty-eight  contestants  taking  the  air  at 
Mineola,  L.  I.,  and  fifteen  from  the  West. 
The  start  was  marred  by  three  accidents, 
in  which  three  of  the  aviators  were 
killed  and  one  injured.  At  sundown  of 
the  first  day  Lieutenant  B.  W.  Maynard, 
a  former  Baptist  minister,  was  in  the 
lead.  Various  mishaps  occurred  to  the 
two  groups  of  planes  flying  respectively 
west  and  east,  and  other  deaths  occurred. 
After  twenty-five  hours'  flying  at  an 
average  of  107  miles  an  hour  Lieutenant 
Maynard  maintained  his  early  lead  and 
landed  on  the  Pacific  Coast  on  Oct.  11 
at  1:12  o'clock.  Two  easterly  flying 
aviators,  Major  Carl  Spatz  and  Lieuten- 
ant C.  E.  Kiel,  landed  at  Mineola  on  the 
same  day  at  6  P.  M.,  within  thirty-one 
seconds  of  each  other.  In  this  first  half 
of  the  race  Lieutenant  Maynard  won 
first  place,  and  Major  Spatz  the  second. 

Maynard  started  his  return  race  on 
Oct.  14,  and  other  aviators  followed. 
New  deaths  occurred,  bringing  the  death 
list  to  nine.  Maynard  was  brought  down 
by  a  broken  crankshaft  on  Oct.  16,  but 
by  completing  repairs  in  eighteen  hours 
he  was  able  to  resume  his  flight,  and 
eventually  landed  again  at  Mineola  on 
Oct.  19,  to  the  cheers  of  enthusiastic 
crowds. 


The  actual  result  of  the  transconti- 
nental flight  was  still  in  doubt  when 
these  pages  went  to  press.  The  four 
closest  contestants  were  Lieutenant  May- 
nard, Lieutenant  Alexander  Pearson, 
Jr.,  Captain  J.  O.  Donaldson,  and  Cap- 
tain L.  H.  Smith.  The  time  record  for 
these  aviators  as  given  out  by  the  War 
Department  on  Oct.  23,  and  from  which, 
in  actual  flying  time,  Lieutenant  Pearson 
appears  to  be  the  winner  of  the  trans- 
continental air  race,  was  as  follows: 

LIEUTENANT  PEARSON— New  York 
to  San  Francisco,  26  hours  45  minutes  52 
seconds;  San  Francisco  to  New  York,  21 
hours  51  minutes  24  seconds.  Total  time, 
48  hours  37  minutes  16  seconds. 

LIEUTENANT  DONALDSON  —  New 
York  to  San  Francisco,  31  hours  37  min- 
utes 19  seconds ;  San  Francisco  to  New 
York,  25  hours  56  minutes  38  seconds. 
Total  time,  57  hours  33  minutes  57 
seconds. 

CAPTAIN  SMITH— New  York  to  San 
Francisco,  26  hours  13  minutes  28  sec- 
onds ;  San  Francisco  to  New  Yorfc,  31 
hours  37  minutes  19  seconds.  Total  time, 
57  hours  50  minutes  47  seconds. 

LILUTENANT  MAYNARD— New  York 
to  San  Francisco,  25  hours  11  minutes  8% 
seconds ;  San  Francisco  to  New  York,  41 
hours  2  minutes  32  seconds.  Total  time, 
revised,  66  hours  13  minutes  48%  seconds. 

These  figures  were  taken  from  tele- 
grams received  by  the  Air  Service,  and 
it  was  explained  that  they  would  have 
to  be  revised  on  figures  of  the  control 
stop  commanders  before  the  final  award 
was  definitely  announced. 
*     *     * 

American  Dead  in  France 
A  LTHOUGH  the  french  Chamber, 
-**•  basing  its  action  on  sanitary  and 
economic  grounds,  had  voted  against  the 
removal  of  the  American  dead  from 
France  until  some  later  period,  the 
United  States  War  Department  an- 
nounced on  Sept.  22  that  diplomatic  ef- 
forts were  being  made  to  obtain  some 
modification  of  this  decision.  The  War 
Department  statement  was  in  part  as 
follows : 

The  number  of  American  cemeteries  in 
Europe  has  recently  been  reduced  from 
nearly  2,400  to  about  700.  A  large  reduc- 
tion in  this  number  will  probably  be  made 
during  the  process  of  concentration  in 
which  the  military  forces  of  England, 
France,  and  the  United  States  are  neces- 
sarily  engaged. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


-209 


The  Graves  Registration  Service  has 
placed  most  of  these  cemeteries  in  excel- 
lent condition  and  is  now  actively  engaged 
in  an  effort  to  perfect  the  appearance  of 
every  one. 

The  matter  of  placing  stone  markers  on 
the  graves  of  our  dead  in  Europe  is  en- 
gaging the  attention  of  the  Quartermaster 
General,  and  the  advice  of  the  National 
Fine  Arts  Commission  is  being  sought 
with  reference  to  fitting  designs  and  ma- 
terials. 

Further  progress  in  the  matter  was 
announced  on  Oct.  3  by  Secretary  Baker 
when  he  stated  that  the  bodies  of  all 
American  soldiers  interred  in  Gu. .«ny, 
Belgium,  Italy,  Great  Britain,  Luxem- 
burg, and  Northern  Russia  would  be  re- 
turned to  the  United  States  as  soon  as 
the  necessary  transportation  could  be  ar- 
ranged. The  task  had  been  intrusted  to 
the  traffic  division  of  the  General  Staff, 
which  had  been  instructed  to  hasten  the 
work  as  much  as  possible.  This  action, 
Mr.  Baker  said,  did  not  indicate  any 
change  in  the  department's  attitude  to- 
ward the  return  of  the  soldier  dead  in 
France.  It  was  hoped  that  the  great 
majority  of  American  parents  would 
decide  to  let  them  remain  there,  but  the 
wishes  of  relatives  desiring  bodies  re- 
turned would  be  carried  out. 


"  The  Trench  of  the  Rifles  " 

AT  Douaumont,  France,  Cardinal 
Dubois,  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and 
former  Bishop  of  Verdun,  blessed  the 
historic  Tranchee  des  Fusils,  the  "  Trench 
of  the  Rifles,"  on  Sept.  14.  The  cere- 
mony occurred  in  the  presence  of  Gen- 
eral Valentin,  commander  of  the  forts 
and  heights  of  the  Meuse;  of  M.  Robin, 
Mayor  of  Verdun,  and  a  delegation  of 
the  137th  Regiment.  The  Trench  of  the 
Rifles  lies  behind  a  humble  wooden  cross 
erected  on  a  small  placard  near  Douau- 
mont, from  which  the  spectator,  looking 
down  upon  the  village,  sees  only  a  shape- 
less mass  of  splintered  rock,  of  barbed 
wire  writhing  as  if  in  torment,  of  name- 
less litter,  through  which  poppy  and 
bramble  tried  to  thrust  upward  during 
the  Summer.  This  cross  overlooks  the 
bloodiest  battlefield  of  the  war.  It  was 
erected  by  men  of  the  137th  Regiment, 
because  close  by  their  dead  comrades  are 
still     mounting     guard — thei*e     in     the 


Tranchee  des  Fusils.  It  was  a  small 
episode  amid  a  cataclysm,  and  soon 
over.  In  Indian  file  the  men  of  the  137th 
had  crept  forth  to  mount  guard,  rifle  on 
shoulder,  bayonets  fixed;  there  came  a 
sudden,  thunderous  boom;  the  earth 
shuddered  and  cracked  open,  closed 
again,  and  swallowed  up  all.  Thrusting 
above  the  ground,  aligned  as  on  that  last 
march  down  the  narrow  trench  that  led 
to  death,  the  bayonets  of  the  section  rise 
a  bare  six  inches.  It  was  this  Trench  of 
the  Rifles,  and  the  dead  heroes,  still 
mounting  guard  below,  that  the  Cardinal 

blessed. 

*     *     * 

Dukes  as  Strikebreakers 

THE  railroad  strike  demolished  all  so- 
cial lines  in  London.  On  its  fifth 
day,  Oct.  2,  a  Duke  drove  a  motor  lorry 
and  an  Earl  was  in  the  chauffeur's  seat 
in  the.  motor  heading  a  convoy  of  fish 
from  Billingsgate.  The  sixth  Earl  of 
Portarlington  was  among  those  who  were 
unloading  perishable  goods  and  milk  and 
churns  from  a  train,  while  at  the  Pad- 
dington  Station  Earl  and  Lady  Drogheda 
were  workers.  Frederick  Henry  Smith, 
son  and  heir  of  the  first  Baron  of  Col- 
wyn,  was  fireman  on  the  Liverpool-Lon- 
don express  when  it  rolled  into  London 
that  day.  A  call  for  volunteers  brought 
out  members  of  the  cavalry,  the  guards, 
and  the  Air  Force  Clubs  and  Colonels, 
Majors,  barristers,  and  civil  engineers. 
Men  from  these  walks  of  life  stood  at  the 
fire  doors  in  big  electrical  power  houses. 
Horse  racing  was  suspended,  food  ration- 
ing voluntarily  accepted,  the  driving  of 
automobiles  for  pleasure  was  discontin- 
ued and  the  owners  by  thousands  offered 
them  for  transportation  purposes. 
*     *     * 

Deporting  Radical  Agitators 

THE  Canadian  Immigration  Board,  sit- 
ting at  Vancouver,  ordered  the  de- 
portation of  a  number  of  Russians  who 
were  proved  to  have  attempted  to  arouse 
revolutionary  sentiments  among  working- 
men.  Seven  radicals  were  arrested  by  the 
United  States  authorities  at  Gary,  Ind., 
Oct.  19,  charged  with  "  participating  in 
a  movement  to  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,"  and  were  or- 
dered deported.    Their  activities  were  di- 


$10  THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 

rected  among  union  and  non-union  steel  out  the  island.     The  Attorney  General's 

workers.    Early  in  October  it  was  an-  report  says: 

nounced  that  1,745  aliens,  who  had  with-  From  a  careful  study  of  the  criminal 
drawn  their  declarations  of  intent  to  be-  statistics  of  Porto  Rico  for  the  year  end- 
come  citizens  in  order  to  avoid  military  ed  June  30>  m9-  comparing  them  with 
service  during  the  war,  wou.d  be  deport-  ~  l&££.*2i22  £"i£ 
ed.  Of  this  number  736  were  Swedes  and  from  the  day  on  which  prohibition  went 
444  Norwegians.  On  Oct.  17  it  Was  an-  in*o  force  in  Porto  Rico.  The  number  of 
nounced  that  the  State  Department  had  trials  for  homlcide  ha»  decreased  from 

A«„iJ*A    ™*    *-    a™^    4-u~\      v            v  66  ln   lsm   to  46  in  1918  and  41   in   1919. 

decided  not  to  deport  these  aliens,  be-  The  total  number  of  trials  by  jurv  hag  de_ 

cause  of  treaty  obligations  that  exempt  creased  from  154  in  1917  and  143  in  1918  to 

foreigners  from  compulsory  service.   The  81  in  the  year  1919.    The  total  number  "of 

deportation    of    alien    seditionists,    how-  cases  of  felonies  brought  to  the  district 

^„„                       t_   i  j      /-,                           ~   ,     H~  courts   of   the   island   has   decreased   from 

ever,  was  upheld.    Congress  on  Oct.  15  329  ln  1917  and  299  |n  1})18  to  254  in  191J) 

passed  a  bill  extending  the  wartime  con- 
trol of  passports  for  one  year  after  the  .    Mlsdemeanors  show  a  similar  decrease, 
proclamation  of  peace,  its  object  being  to  but  the  aSgregate  shows  a  total  of  1,838 

keep  out  agitators  and  dangerous  aliens.  ^lTnfl  cases  in  1917'  2'239  in  1918  and 

#  *     +  1,831  m  1919,  only  seven  less  than  in 

Cm,„lov  _  „_  _          _,  1917,  but  408  less  than  in  1918.     Con- 

SUMMARY  OF   RED   CROSS   WORK  „;„4.;^„  „i        j                  ,.        ,        ,,, 

victions  also  decreased  m  about  the  same 
HPHE  Red  Cross  War  Council  submitted  ratio  as  accusations. 
■*•     a  report  on  Oct.  18  accounting  for  *     *     * 
the  moneys  handled  from  May  10,  1917,  LlNCQLN  gTATUE  IN  Manchester 
to  Feb.  28,  1919.    During  those  twenty  _„„  „           ,                 M   A,     . 
months  the  Red  Cross  received  in  round  T        1Barnard  statue  of  Abraham  Lift- 
figures  $400,000,000.    In  that  period  the  7     coin   Presented  to  the  City  of  Man- 
number  of  chapters  increased  from  562  S*jR,  ^^2  th™t  th*  Sulgrove 
to  3,724  and  the  membership  from  486,-  52*^5.  ^  Mr!  ™d  MrS'  Charles  P' 
194  adults  to  20,000,000  adults  and  11,-  T^  of  Cincinnatl>      m  commemoration 
000  000  iuniors  Lancashire's  friendship  to  the  cause 

Here  are  a  few  round  figures  that  in-  £?r  which  Lincoln  lived  and  died'  and  of 

dicate   the   size   of   the   undertaking  di-  the  ,Century    f  ,peace   among    English" 

rected  by  the  War  Council:  speaking  peoples,    was  unveiled  on  Sept. 

...  ~                •                                  „,„„  15.    Ambassador  Davis  and  Judge  Altdn 

Itod    Cross   workers 8,100,000  ,,     ,            „  XT         ,r     ,      ,   ..            .      * 

Articles    produoed     by    volunteer  Parker  of  New  York  delivered  addresses. 

workers 371,577,000  The  Lord  Mayor  received  the  statue  on 

IVimilie.s  of  soldiers  aided 500,000  behalf  of  the  city. 

Knitted    articles    given    to    soldiers  *      *      * 

and  sailors  in  United  States 10,900,000 

Tons  of  supplies  shipped  overseas.        101,000  A     BRITISH     SOCIETY'S     ANSWER    TO     AN 

Foreign    countries    in    which    Red  AUSTRIAN    SOCIETY 

PaUent  Tyf*?n   Red '  Cross'  'hoa-             *  A  LETTER   sent  by  the   President  of 

pitais  in  France , 1,155,000  ■*■•*-  the    Vienna    Society    of    Engineers 

French  hospitals  given  material  aid          3,780  and  Architects  to  the  President  of  the 

splints  supplied  American  soldiers.      294,000  Royal  institute  of  British  Architects  on 

Men  served  by  Red  Cross  canteens  ,    ,      iC                                  ,  .,  .                   .    J# 

in   France                                      15  376  ooo  y       was  accomPanled  by  a  resolution 

Refugees  aided  in  France 1,'t26,000  appealing  for  confraternal  aid  in  efforts 

*  *     *  to  secure  a  "  softening  "  of  the  terms  of 
Prohibition    Reduces    Crime   in   Porto  Peace-     On  Aug.  8  the  British  society 

"Rico  sent  the  following  reply: 

PORTO    RICO    established    prohibition  The  President  of  the  Society  of  Engineers 

„                   .-      ,     .          .     ,      r  and    Architects   in   Vienna : 

tour  months  before  it  became  effec-  sir:   I   have  the  honor  to  acknowledge 

tive  in  the  United  States,  the  law  having  the  receipt  of  your  letter  date<»  July   15, 

gone   into   effect   there   March   2     1918  together   with   a  copy   of   the   resolution 

Special    reports    by    District    Attorneys  ^ecte  In'viennf  °f  Wrwcrs  and 

showed  large  decrease  in  crime  through-  while   sensible   of  the  just   severity   of 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF  211 

the  conditions  in  the  treaty  of  peace  to  sustained   by  the  German    Navy  during 

which  the  resolution  refers,  the  Royal   In-  the  waf       The  figures  gjven  were  as  f0i_ 

Btitute-Of  British   Architects  would  attach 

greater   weight   to   their  appeal   had    your  lows. 

society  taken  any  steps  during  the  war  to  Battleship    1 

prevent,  or  to  publicly  protest  against,  the  Large   cruisers    7 

infamous    destruction    by    their    country's  Small    cruisers    17 

allies  of  those  works  of  architecture  whose  Auxiliary    cruisers    " 9 

immense   value   to   the   world   your  society  Destroyers     40 

was   very   competent   to   appreciate.  Large    torpedo   boats 21 

Nevertheless,    the    Royal    Institute    ven-  Small    torpedo    boats 41 

tur.-s  to  hope  that  the  terms  imposed  upon  •'"  fecial  ship   1 

your   country   may    prove   less    disastrous      ^^WFunboats    7 

than    the    resolution    suggests;    and    that,  Submarines     li>9 

after  the  treaty  has  been  signed,  they  may  River  gunboats  or  survey  boats 6 

be    able    to    resume    relations    with    your  Minesweepers     28 

society    in   mutual   effort   to   advance   the  Fishing  vessels   100 

art   of  architecture.     I  have  the  honor  to  Other   auxiliary    vessels 22 

be.  Sir,  vour  very  obedient  servant,  A,    .           ,,                       ,      ,   .                  ~.    ,, 

John  w.   SIMPSON,  0f  tnese  there  were  lost  in  open  fight: 

President  of  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  One   battleship,   7   large  cruisers  and   17 

Architects.  small  cruisers,  1  special  ship,  111  torpedo 

boats,   (of  which  49  were  destroyers,  21 

War  Effort  of  the  Jugoslavs  iarge    and    41    small    boats,)    178    sub- 

OFFICIAL  figures  made  available  in  marines,   namely,  82   in   the   North   Sea 

England  show  the  magnitude  of  the  and  Atlantic,  8  in  the  Baltic,  72  off  the 

military  effort  of  the  Jugoslavs  during  Flanders  coast,  and  16  in  the  Mediter- 

the   world   war.     In   July,    1914,    Serbia  ranean. 

mobilized  489,500  men.  In  September,  Seven  gunboats,  21  submarines  (10  in 
1914,  she  had  under  her  flag  532,710,  the  Mediterranean,  4  off  Flanders,  and  7 
and  in  August,  1915,  572,121.  She  in  neutral  ports)  were  blown  up  or  other- 
mobilized  in  all  during  the  war,  from  wise  destroyed  by  the  crews  in  order  to 
July  1  to  Oct.  1,  1915,  a  total  of  707,343  prevent  them  from  falling  into  the  hands 
men,  or  24  per  cent,  of  her  whole  popula-  of  the  enemy.  Six  river  gunboats  or 
tion  and  40  per  cent,  of  her  male  popula-  survey  boats  were  interned,  disarmed,  or 
tion.  If  one  adds  all  the  Jugoslav  volun-  sunk.  The  navy  lost  also  28  mine- 
teers  from  Austria-Hungary  who  formed  sweepers,  9  auxiliary  cruisers,  100  fish- 
special  units  fighting  on  the  Russian,  ing  boats  and  luggers,  and  22  other 
Saloniki,  and   Rumanian  fronts,  as  well  auxiliary  vessels. 

as  those  who  fought  in   small  units  or  There  were  lost  with  these  vessels,  Die 

individually    in    the    American,    French,  Flotte  states,  946  officers,  5,222  warrant 

and    Italian    armies,    the    total    is    still  and  petty  officers,  and  12,686  men. 

further  increased.     A  division  of  40,000  *     *     * 

men  was  formed  of  Jugoslav  volunteers  Foch  and  Young  France 

by  Serbia.    After  the  Rumanian  disaster  rr0WARD  the  beginning  of  September 

15,000    Jugoslavs    were    transferred    to  ^    an  interesting  statement  of  his  view 

Saloniki    and    covered    themselves  with  regarding   the   defeat   of   Germany   was 

glory  during  the  offensive  of  1918.  Some  given  by  Marshal  Foch  while  soj0urning 

10,000    others    from    America,    France,  at  his  home  in  Brittany.   During  his  stay 

Italy,   and    Russia   also   fought   on   this  he  visited  the  holiday  gchool  at  KerlouiS) 

front.      In    all    some    100,000    Jugoslav  aM   talked   with   the   boyg   individually> 

volunteers  fought  with  the  Allies  against  encouraging  them  to  ask  him  questions. 

the  common  foe.    The  total  Jugoslav  loss,  Qne  of  them>  who  was  preparing  for  the 

according    to    the    official    figures,    was  Ecole  polytechnique,  addressed  to  him  a 

enormous,  amounting  to  292,342  dead.  question  in  which  the  whole  world  was 

interested.     "  M.  le  Marechale,"  he  said, 

German  Naval  Losses  "will  you  allow  us  to  ask  you  whether 

DIE  FLOTTE,  the  official  organ  of  the  "Germany  is  thoroughly  crushed;  is  she 

German    Navy   League,   on   Aug.    18  "  absolutely   beaten? "     With   a   striking 

published    the    total    losses    of    warships  gesture  Marshal  Foch  pointed  to  one  of 


*1* 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  Celtic  crucifixes  and'  said :  "  Sup- 
"  pose  some  stormy  night  lightning  shat- 
"  tered  that  crucifix ;  how  would  one  set 
"  about  its  restoration?  Would  one  begin 
"  by  scuplturing  the  fingers  and  the  hair 
"  of  Christ?  On  the  contrary,  it  would 
"be  necessary  first  of  all  to  rebuild  the 
"  pedestal  and  repair  the  granite  base  of 
"  the  Cross.  Well,  it  is  exactly  the  same 
"  with  the  Germany  that  has  collapsed. 
"  A  new  base  and  new  balance  will  have 
"  ro  be  found  for  the  whole  of  the  coun- 
"  try.  Yes,  Germany  is  beaten,  and  it 
"  is  for  you  to  guard,  by  your  prudence 
"  and  by  your  work,  the  precious  victory 
"  that  your  seniors  have  gained  by  pain 
"  and  sacrifice." 

Marshal  Foch  emphasized  his  remarks 
by  gestures  with  a  stick  that  he  carried. 
The  boys  wanted  to  know  about  this 
stick,  and  their  curiosity  was  rewarded 
by  an  item  of  secret  history  that  had  re- 
mained unrecorded.  "  That  is  my  week- 
day stick,"  said  the  Marshal ;  "  the  Sun- 
day one  is  kept  in  its  case  at  headquar- 
ters." The  boys  laughed,  and  the  Mar- 
shal said :  "As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is 
"  a  trench  stick  that  was  given  to  me 
"  by  one  of  my  poilus.  Look  how  well  it 
"  has  been  carved ;  look  at  it  closely.  It 
"  is  the  stick  that  drew  out  in  gravel  at 
"  Doulens  the  plan  of  the  supreme  of- 
"  fensive."  This  time  there  was  no 
laughter. 

*     *     * 

The  French  Airmen 

OFFICIAL  statistics  of  the  losses  of 
the  French  Flying  Corps  were  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time  in  August.  From 
Aug.  4,  1914,  to  Nov.  11,  1918,  the  losses 
in  the  army  zones  were  1,945  pilots  and 
observers  killed;  1,461  missing,  whose 
death  may  be  regarded  as  certain,  and 
2,922  wounded.  Outside  the  army  zones 
1,927  pilots  and  observers  were  killed, 
bringing  the  total  losses  in  killed  and 
wounded  up  to  7,757,  the  greatest  pro- 
portion of  losses  in  any  arm  of  any  of 
the  allied  armies. 

To  commemorate  these  losses  a  solemn 
service  was  celebrated  on  the  morning  of 
Aug.  15  in  the  Chapel  of  Notre  Dame  du 
Platin,  the  patron  saint  of  French  avia- 
tors, at  Saint  Palais-sur-Mer,  near 
Roy  an.     The  chapel,  which  stands  over- 


looking the  sea  in  a  clump  of  pine  trees 
at  the  foot  of  the  lighthouse,  was  erected 
some  years  ago  through  the  combined 
efforts  of  Bleriot,  the  famous  airman, 
the  Abbe  Chanal,  the  cure  of  Saint 
Palais,  who  figured  brilliantly  during 
the  war,  and  a  well-known  Paris  jeweler. 
Its  principal  features  are  a  beautiful 
statue  representing  the  patron  saint  of 
airmen  (reproductions  of  which  are  in 
the  possession  of  hundreds  of  French 
aviators)  and  a  large  number  of  pen- 
ciled inscriptions  which  have  been  writ- 
ten on  its  walls  by  airmen  who  have 
visited  it. 

In  an  address,  delivered  after  the  cele- 
bration of  mass,  the  Abbe  Chanal,  in 
speaking  of  the  devotion  shown  by  air- 
men during  the  war,  stated  that  not  less 
than  70  per  cent,  of  those  who  had  been 
engaged  had  lost  their  lives  while  on 
duty.  The  festival  concluded  with  a  pro- 
cession, at  the  head  of  which  marched  a 
party  of  officers  carrying  a  statue  of 
Notre  Dame  du  Platin. 

*  *     * 

Repatriating  Americans  Who  Fought 

Under  Foreign  Flags 
TT  was  announced  early  in  July  that 
■*■  steps  had  been  taken  by  the  Bureau 
of  Naturalization  and  the  Department  of 
Labor  to  restore  the  rights  of  citizenship 
to  those  young  Americans  whose  ardor 
to  get  into  the  European  war  had  led 
them  to  enlist  under  the  flag  of  Canada 
or  of  some  other  allied  nation.  It  was 
estimated  that  fully  9,000  such  Ameri- 
cans had  become,  by  such  enrollment, 
Canadians.  After  the  armistice  many 
protests  and  petitions  were  received  for 
reinstatement,  and  finally  Congress 
amended  the  law  so  that  it  was  made 
possible  for  such  soldiers  enrolled  under 
alien  flags  to  regain  their  citizenship  by 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
United    States    Government    before    the 

proper  authorities. 

*  *     * 

Historic  Pens 

THE  majority  of  treaties  have  been 
signed  with  goose  quills  instead  of 
pens.  Among  the  treasures  of  the  late 
Empress  Eugenie  was  the  pen  used  to 
draw  up  the  Treaty  of  Paris  in  1856;  it 
was  made  from  a  feather  pulled  from 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


<i:J 


the  tail  of  an  eagle  in  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes.  As  for  the  Peace  Treaty  of 
1919,  a  group  of  young  girls  offered 
David  Lloyd  George  a  gold  pen,  which 
the  British  Minister  promised  to  use  in 
signing  some  one  of  the  peace  docu- 
ments; he  had  previously  promised  to 
use  another  pen  to  sign  the  Peace  Treaty 
itself.  The  pens  and  penholders  sent  to 
President  Wilson  after  the  beginning  of 
the  labors  of  the  Peace  Conference  were 
innumerable.  Clemenceau  also  was  the 
recipient  of  many  similar  gifts. 

An  item  of  interest  in  this  connection 
is  the  fact  that  at  Versailles,  the  day 
after  the  signing  of  the  peace  with  Ger- 
many, all  blotters,  ashtrays,  penholders, 
and  pencils  had  disappeared  at  though  by 
magic.  If  the  pens  of  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens  were  valued  in  1825  at  6,250 
francs,  what  value  will  the  historic  pens 

of  June,  1919,  possess? 

*  *     * 

London  to  Paris  by  Am 

ON  Aug.  25  three  airplanes  starting 
from  Hounslow  inaugurated  the 
London-Paris  Air  Service,  which  was 
intended  to  run  daily,  barring  accidents 
and  prohibitive  weather.  Of  these  three 
planes,  one,  an  Airco  4,  completed  the 
return  journey  in  schedule  time;  another 
reached  Paris  on  time;  the  third,  a 
Handley-Page,  speeding  seventy  miles  an 
hour,  reached  Paris  duly,  but  deferred 
its  departure  to  the  following  day.  The 
fare  charged  for  this  trip  was  £15  15s. 
The  route  generally  to  be  followed  was 
Maidstone-Boulogne-Beauvais-Paris.  On 
the  inaugural  trips  as  many  as  eleven 
passengers  and  full  loads,  including  many 
daily  newspapers  and  consignments  of 
leather  and  other  merchandise,  were  car- 
ried. Shortly  before  this  event,  a  twin- 
engined  Handley-Page  machine,  piloted 
by  Captain  Shakespear,  successfully 
completed  a  flight  to  Brussels  and  back. 
On  his  return  journey  Captain  Shakes- 
pear  breakfasted  at  Amsterdam,  had 
luncheon  at  Brussels,  and  dined  in  Lon- 
don. 

*  *     * 

Marshal  Foch  Thanks  Lloyd  George 

THE  following  letter  was  sent  by  Mar- 
shal Foch  to  Premier  Lloyd  George 
toward  the  end  of  August: 

The  French  Ambassador  In  London  has 


sent  me  the  text  of  the  words  which  you 
were  kind  enough  to  speak  on  my  account 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  as  well  as  the 
substance  of  those  which  Loru  Curzon  pro- 
nounced in  the  House  of  Lords ;  he  also 
informed  me  of  the  reception  given  to 
these   speeches   by   the   two   houses. 

I  do  not  forget,  however,  that  if  I  was 
appointed  V  be  Chief  of  the  allied  armies 
it  was  c  your  initiative,  and  thanks  to 
your  confidence.  If  I  was  able  equally  to 
bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  conclusion,  it 
was  thanks  to  the  sustained  determination 
of  the  British  Government  to  reinforce 
and  to  keep  up,  in  1918,  sufficient  ef- 
fectives for  its  armies  in  France,  and  also 
to  give  powerful  assistance  in  the  trans- 
port of  American  divisions  to  Europe. 

In  the  face  of  such  confidence  and  such 
serious  efforts,  I  employed  on  my  part  all 
the  activity  I  w.as  capable  of  in  order  to 
achieve  victory,  while  making  the  best  use 
of  the  means  which  had  been  completely 
assured  to  me. 

Today  it  is  an  honor  and  a  highly 
appreciated  recompense  to  see  my  services 
recognized  in  such  flattering  terms,  under 
particularly  important  circumstances,  by 
the  Government  and  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  and  I  am  profoundly  grateful  to 
you.  the  Prime  Minister,  for  having  taken 
th<  initiative  in  this  token  of  satisfaction 
on  their  part,  and  I  ask  you  to  receive 
thi-  assurance  of  my  respectful  devotion. 


British  Museum  in  War 

THE  annual  report  of  the  British 
Museum  was  issued  on  Aug.  31,  1919. 
Some  of  the  features  of  this  report  deal- 
ing with  measures  necessitated  by  Ger- 
man aerial  bombardments  are  summar- 
ized below: 

Warning  was  received  toward  the  close 
of  1917  that  air  raids  in  greater  force, 
and  with  much  heavier  bombs,  might  be 
expected  in  the  Spring.  It  was  then  de- 
cided to  remove  the  most  valuable  ob- 
jects in  the  collections  to  positions  of 
safety.  The  portable  objects  of  the 
Departments  of  Antiquities,  including 
the  Frieze  of  the  Parthenon,  the  best 
of  the  Greek  vases  and  bronzes,  the  chief 
Assyrian  bas-reliefs,  the  Rosetta  Stone, 
and  the  finest  examples  of  mediaeval 
art,  together  with  practically  the  whole 
collection  of  coins  and  medals,  were 
transferred  to  a  station  on  the  newly 
completed  Postal  Tube  Railway,  some 
fifty  feet  below  the  surface  of  Holborn. 
Special  provision  was  made  for  protec- 
tion against  damp  and  for  guarding. 
Some    fifteen    vanloads    of    the     riu.n 


■214 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


precious  literary  and  artistic  treasures 
were  transferred  to  the  National  Library 
of  Wales.  A  certain  number  of  exception- 
ally valuable  books  were  housed  near 
Malvern.  Objects  next  in  importance 
were  hidden  in  the  strong  rooms  of  the 
museum  basement.  Heavy  sculptures  and 
mummies  were  protected  by  sandbags. 
The  Assyrian  bulls,  the  larger  Egyptian 
sculptures,  and  the  Parthenon  metopes 
were  protected  in  situ  by  sandbags. 

The  restoration  of  the  museum  began 
at  once  on  the  signing  of  the  armistice, 
and  the  work  of  bringing  back  the  col- 
lections to  their  old  positions  continued 
into  the  present  year. 

*  *     * 

The  Island  of  Nauru 

NAURU  ISLAND  is  a  tiny  speck  of 
land  in  the  Central  Pacific  Ocean, 
thirty-three  miles  south  of  the  equator 
and  about  equidistant  from  Australia, 
America,  and  Japan,  that  is,  about  3,000 
miles.  It  has  a  circumference  of  twelve 
miles  and  an  area  of  5,000  acres.  This 
small  but  valuable  territory  passed  some 
years  ago  into  the  possession  of  Ger- 
many, and  was  attached  for  administra- 
tion to  the  Marshall  Islands,  which  are 
300  miles  away  and  are  now  under  the 
Japanese.  The  island,  with  its  millions 
of  tons  of  phosphate  of  lime,  the  best  soil 
fertilizer  known,  was  a  veritable 
treasure-trove  for  the  overworked  agri- 
cultural lands  of  the  German  Fatherland, 
and  thousands  of  tons  of  the  precious 
product  were  annually  taken  to  Ger- 
many, though  the  phosphate  mines, 
curiously  enough,  were  worked  by  British 
enterprise.  The  German  treatment  of 
the  natives  is  said  to  have  been  barba- 
rous. Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  the 
island  has  been  under  a  British  regime, 
and  the  natives  have  recently  petitioned 
King  George,  who  visited  the  island  as 
a  midshipman,  to  take  them  permanently 
undef*his  protection. 

*  *     * 

The   Italian   Crown   Renounces  Vast 

Domains 
TT  was  announced  in  Milan  at  the  be- 
-L  ginning  of  September  that  King  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel,  after  handing  y  over  six 
of  his  finest  palaces,  villas,  and  parks  for 
the   permanent   use   of  disabled    soldiers 


and  sailors  and  orphans  of  those  killed 
in  battle,  had  formally  declared  to  Prime 
Minister  Nitti  his  intention  of  relinquish- 
ing all  the  vast  domains  of  the  Crown 
throughout  Italy  for  the  benefit  of  the 
peasantry  and  of  combatants  for  Italian 
unity.  Possession  of  buildings  attached 
to  such  lands  would  also  be  relinquished 
in  favor  of  those  institutions  and  charity 
organizations  whose  aim  it  was  to  miti- 
gate the  sufferings  of  wai\  The  King 
had  also  resolved  to  offer  his  own 
patrimony  for  taxation,  an  action  which 
would  bring  about  a  large  reduction  in 
the  civil  list.  The  annual  sum  of  $400,- 
000  would  be  dispensed  to  poor  and  needy 
subjects  in  the  future  as  in  the  past. 
*     *     * 

Salvaged  From  the  Sea 

THE  British  Admiralty  Salvage  De- 
partment, which  came  into  existence 
in  the  Autumn  of  1915,  and  which  com- 
pleted its  last  contract  at  the  end  of 
August,  1919,  salvaged,  in  all  its  opera- 
tions at  home  and  in  foreign  waters,  440 
vessels  and  recovered  property  valued  at 
$200,000,000.  The  brilliant  record  of  its 
achievements  is  attributed  to  Commodore 
F.  W.  Young,  R.  N.  R.,  already  famous 
for  his  successful  efforts  to  clear  the 
harbors  of  Ostend  and  Zeebrugge.  Cargo 
steamers  were  lifted  off  rocky  ledges 
and  dragged  up  from  the  depths  of  the 
sea  pierced  and  battered.  Whole  car- 
goes of  gold  have  been  rescued,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Laurentic,  from  which  bullion 
valued  at  $4,500,000  was  brought  up  by 
divers  working  at  a  depth  of  23  fathoms, 
after  the  strong  rooms  in  which  the 
bullion  was  kept  had  been  blown  up  by 
high  explosives  and  the  debris  removed. 
A  collier  weighing  2,700  tons  (a  weight 
which,  before  the  creation  of  the  Salvage 
Department,  would  have  been  regarded 
as  prohibitive)  was  raised  and  put  into 
commission  again  within  three  months. 
A  troop  ship  in  Folkestone  which  had 
caught  fire  and  been  scuttled  was  raised 
by  four  locomotives  straining  on  the  dock. 
A  U-boat  of  a  displacement  of  700  tons, 
which  had  sunk  thirty-five  miles  off  the 
Tyne,  was  raised  with  wires  and  brought 
to  port.  Gathering  of  intelligence  from 
sunken  U-boats  was  a  recognized  func- 
tion of  the  Salvage  Department. 


Fulfilling  the  German  Treaty  Terms 

•  Progress    Toward    Reparation 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  15,  1919] 


AS  early  as  July  5  Germany  indicated 
her  desire  to  begin  immediately  her 
compliance  with  the  terms  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  regarding  reparations.  Her 
request  for  oral  conferences  of  economic 
experts  was  granted.  Pending  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  permanent  Reparations 
Commission,  the  provisional  commission 
created  to  name  various  conference  com- 
missions was  authorized  to  act  in  the 
German  negotiations.  As  to  the  amount 
of  reparations  due,  an  official  report 
made  to  the  Parliamentary  Committee  of 
Peace  in  Paris  estimated  the  material 
damage  done  in  the  invaded  provinces  of 
France  at  $40,000,000,000.  This  amount 
had  been  verified  by  a  committee  of 
technical  experts.  The  damage  done  to 
agriculture  alone  was  computed  at 
$7,400,000,000. 

Belgium  showed  dissatisfaction  toward 
the  middle  of  July  over  the  slowness  of 
reparation  payments.  She  had  received 
no  money  from  Germany,  and  little  of 
her  stolen  machinery  had  been  returned. 
Her  ruined  towns  were  being  rebuilt; 
Ypres  and  Nieuport  were  stated  to  be 
beyond  hope,  but  Louvain  and  Liege  were 
being  largely  restored. 

With  regard  to  money  reparations, 
Mathias  Erzberger,  German  Minister  of 
Finance,  had  completed  a  detailed  pro- 
gram for  raising  nearly  $6,000,000,000, 
of  which  $5,000,000,000  was  to  be  handed 
to  the  allied  Governments  before  May, 
1920.  Imperial  income  taxes  and  the 
searching  out  of  hidden  gold  stores,  it 
was  stated,  would  help  to  raise  the  sum 
required,  some  of  which  was  already 
credited  to  Germany  on  various  accounts. 

The  first  full  meeting  of  the  Repara- 
tions Commission  provided  for  by  the 
Peace  Treaty  was  held  on  Aug.  1  at  the 
Trianon  Palace  Hotel  in  Versailles.  The 
German  commissions  charged  with  de- 
tails of  the  delivery  to  France  and  Bel- 
gium of  the  stock  called  for  by  the 
Peace  Treaty,  and  with  the  transfer  of 
the  coal  mines  of  the  Sarre  Valley,  ar- 


rived at  Versailles  on  this  date.  Testi- 
fying before  the  Foreign  Relations  Com- 
mittee of  the  United  States  Senate  on 
Aug.  2,  Bernard  Baruch,  economic  ad- 
viser of  the  American  peace  delegation 
in  Paris,  showed  how  the  Reparations 
Commission,  through  the  plenary  powers 
conferred  upon  it,  would  have  complete 
control  of  Germany's  trade  and  finance. 
All  imports  were  to  be  curbed,  and  even 
production  and  foreign  sales  were  to  be 
subject  to  the  commission's  scrutiny. 

One  of  the  first  questions  before  the 
commission  was  the  recovery  of  goods 
stolen  by  Germany.  Offices  set  up  in 
Brussels  and  Wiesbaden  had  effected  the 
recovery  of  about  a  million  tons  of  ma- 
terials, according  to  a  report  presented 
to  the  French  Chamber  on  July  24.  It 
was  stated,  however,  that  this  was  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  total  loss.  As 
an  example  of  this,  only  8,000  head  of 
cattle  had  Deen  restored  out  of  850,000 
head  driven  away. 

COAL   REPARATION 

As  regards  coal,  M.  Loucheur,  Min- 
ister of  Industrial  Reconstruction,  speak- 
ing before  the  French  Chamber  on  Sept. 
12,  defined  the  conditions  of  reparation 
to  which  Germany  is  held;  these  con- 
ditions were  as  follows:  During  the  period 
of  reconstruction  Germany  was  to  deliver 
for  the  coal  mines  of  the  north  and  the 
Pas  de  Calais  the  20,000,000  tons  repre- 
senting the  pre-war  product  for  a  five- 
year  period,  with  a  reduction  to  8,000,000 
tons  for  the  ensuing  five  years.  The 
surplus  of  coal  production  by  the  Sarre 
Basin  was  just  equal  to  the  coal  deficit  in 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  but  the  output  of 
these  mines  was  sure  to  be  increased 
within  a  few  years.  For  the  transition 
period  measures  had  been  taken  to  assure 
rail  transportation  to  the  east,  centre, 
and  north  of  over  1,000,000  tons  monthly. 

In  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  it  appeared 
from  the  report  of  the  special  commis- 
sion, the  coal  situation  was  serious.    Not 


■21(5 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


only  to  supply  Fiance,  but  other  coun- 
tries suffering  from  the  dearth  of  coal, 
the  Economic  Council  on  Aug,  2  was  con- 
sidering means  to  increase  the  production 
of  the  German  mines;  in  this  project 
Herr  Bauer,  the  German  Premier,  was 
co-operating.  On  Aug.  19  the  delivery  of 
coal  to  France  from  the  Ruhr  district 
'  had  begun.  It  was  expected  that  about 
1,000,000  tons  would  be  shipped  the  first 
month.  On  Sept.  2  it  was  announced  that 
as  the  result  of  negotiations  at  Versailles 
Germany  should  deliver  20,000,000  tons 
of  coal  to  France  within  the  next  six 
months,  as  against  the  43,000,000  tons 
provided  by  the  terms  of  the  Peace 
Treaty.  Of  the  present  production  of 
128,000,000  tons,  60  per  cent,  of  any 
excess  was  to  be  delivered  to  the  Entente 
up  to  128,000,000  tons,  and  50  per  cent, 
of  any  further  excess  until  the  terms  of 
the  Peace  Treaty  were  satisfied. 

RETURNING  ART  TREASURES 
A  restitution  of  a  different  kind  was 
that  of  the  stolen  art  treasures  of  Bel- 
gium and  Northern  France,  mo.st  of 
which  have  already  been  returned.  Since 
February  convoys  had  been  ceaselessly 
carrying  deported  works  of  art  back  to 
the  museums  from  which  they  had  been 
taken. 

By  the  terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty  a 
certain  number  of  German  vessels  were 
to  be  delivered  to  the  Allies.  On  July  18 
some  300  German  vessels  whose  home 
port  was  Hamburg  were  turned  over.  Of 
these  31  were  owned  by  the  Hamburg- 
American  Line.  In  addition  to  these,  12 
American-owned  steamships,  valued  at 
more  than  $10,000,000,  the  property  of  a 
German  subsidiary  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  were  ordered  from  German 
ports  to  the  Firth  of  Forth  for  allocation 
among  the  allied  and  associated  powers. 
This  allocation  was  made  by  the  Allied 
Naval  Armistice  Commission  in  contra- 
vention of  the  ruling. of  the  Allied  Com- 
mission at  Brussels  in  March  that  the 
ships  were  American  property  and  could 
not  be  seized.  . 

Criticism  of  the  delay  in  returning  Ger- 
man prisoners  of  war  was  answered  by 
the  German  Government  on  July  21  in  a 
statement     throwing     the    responsibility 
■""oTIfm  the  Allies.    .Members  of  the  German 


commission  at  Versailles,  the  statement 
declared,  had  been  waiting  vainly  for 
weeks  for  the  Entente  to  name  Commis- 
sioners, as  the  terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty, 
though  demanding  prompt  reparation, 
made  this  subject  to  the  control  of  a 
joint  allied  and  German  commission. 

TRIAL    FOR   ATROCITIES 

England,  France,  and  Belgium  sub- 
mitted to  the  Peace  Conference  on  Oct.  6 
their  final  lists  of  German  military  offi- 
cials to  be  delivered  up  by  Germany 
in  accordance  with  the  responsibilities 
clause  of  the  Peace  Treaty.  No  list  was 
submitted  by  the  United  States,  but  it 
was  stated  that  the  latter  country  would 
participate  in  the  action  taken  against 
officials  proved  guilty.  These  lists  were 
then  practically  completed.  The  name  of 
the  German  Kaiser  was  absent,  as  he 
was  to  be  dealt  with  separately.  The 
court-martial  authorities  of  Lille  on  Oct. 
7  demanded  the  extradition  of  Count  von 
Bismarck,  grandson  of  the  famous  Ger- 
man Chancellor,  for  having  had  fourteen 
inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Vicoigne 
shot  "  as  an  example  "  and  for  burning 
several  houses  there.  Similar  charges 
were  made  against  eight  other  officers, 
whose  extradition  was  also  demanded. 

On  Sept.  5  the  allied  powers  sent  an 
official  note  to  the  German  Government 
demanding  that  Article  61  of  the  new 
German  Constitution,  stipulating  for  the 
admission  of  Austria  to  the  German 
Reichsrat,  be  declared  null  and  void  as  a 
violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles.  The 
German  Government  answered  this  de- 
mand with  a  note  admitting  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  Entente,  but  stating  that 
the  elimination  of  the  article  in  question 
was  unnecessaiy  pending  the  alteration 
by  the  council  of  the  League  of  Nations 
of  the  constitutional  position  of  German 
Austria.  This  reply  was  deemed  evasive 
by  the  Peace  Conference,  which  insisted 
on  a  written  declaration  that  the  article 
was  not  to  be  considered  as  transcending 
the  treaty  section  forbidding  German 
participation  in  Austrian  affairs.  On 
Sept.  21  Baron  Kurt  von  Lersner,  Presi- 
dent of  the  German  peace  delegation,  ar- 
rived at  Versailles  to  sign  the  demanded 
protocol.   The  signing,  which  occured  the 


FULFILLING    THE  GERMAN   TREATY   TERMS 


217 


following  day,  was  private;  the  only 
allied  representative  present  was  Jules 
Canibon  of  the  French  Peace  Mission. 

INTERALLIED   COMMISSIONS 

Fifty-one  interallied  commissions  were 
created  by  the  Peace  Treaty.  One  of  the 
most  important  was  the  Rhineland  Com- 
mission. By  Sept.  5  many  of  the  staffs 
composing  this  had  arrived  at  Coblenz. 
The  personnel  of  the  American  group 
numbered  9,  the  Belgian  group  4,  the 
British  and  French  about  140  each.  An 
entire  house  was  taken  over  for  use  of 
the  staff  of  the  last-named  powers.  The 
German  National  Commission  had  also 
opened  offices  in  Coblenz.  Communities 
and  districts  were  to  be  heard  on  all 
questions  affecting  them. 

On  Oct.  18  the  Supreme  Council  passed 
a  resolution  declaring  that  membership 
on  all  commissions  created  by  the  treaty 
was  a  privilege  rather  than  an  obligation, 
and  that  delegates  might  sit  on  the  com- 
missions regardless  of  the  question  of 
ratification.  By  this  action  the  Allies 
invited  the  United  States  to  take  part  in 
the  interallied  commissions  pending  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  by  the  Senate. 
On  Oct.  20,  however,  the  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  ruled  that  Ameri- 
can diplomatic  and  military  participation 
in  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the 
treaty  must  wait  for  the  Senate  ratifi- 
cation. 

The  task  of  dismantling  the  twelve 
ancient  forts  which  surrounded  Mainz 
had  begun  on  Oct.  4.  According  to  the 
terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty  all  German 
Rhine  fortresses  must  be  demolished. 
Much  blasting  was  required,  and  it  was 
stated  that  the  process  would  be  long. 

Addressing  the  National  Assembly  on 


Oct.  7  Chancellor  Bauer  said  that  two 
months  after  ratification  of  the  treaty 
the  German  Army  would  v  reduced  to 
200,000  men.  All  plans  for  maintaining 
a  large  force  under  disguise  were  em- 
phatically repudiated  by  Herr  Bauer. 

On  Oct.  16  the  Germans  had  begun  the 
evacuation  of  the  first  and  second  zones 
in  Schleswig,  in  accordance  with  tree  con- 
ditions laid  down  by  the  Peace  Treaty. 
The  International  Commission  was  pre- 
paring the  arrangements  for  the  ple- 
biscite to  decide  whether  the  districts 
involved  should  remain  German  or  join 
Denmark,  and  was  making  plans  for  the 
administration  of  the  region.  Warning 
had  been  given  Germany  as  early  as 
July  30  against  the  sale  of  national  prop- 
erties in  Schleswig  which  were  held  as 
possible  security  for  the  payment  of  Ger- 
many's indemnity. 

Another  expected  plebiscite  was  in 
East  Prussia.  On  Oct.  5  more  than  100,- 
000  natives  of  the  eastern  province 
eligible  to  vote  in  the  coming  plebiscite 
had  registered  at  the  Election  Bureau  in 
Thorn,  West  Prussia.  Branch  offices  had 
been  opened  in  Westphalia  and  the 
Rhine  provinces,  and  persons  unable  to 
pay  their  railroad  fare  to  this  district 
were  being  given  free  transportation. 

On  Aug.  27  the  Japanese  authorities 
were  taking  over  German  and  Austrian 
properties  at  Tsing-tao  as  an  installment 
on  the  German  indemnity. 

A  United  States  destroyer  arrived  at 
New  York  on  Oct.  7  and  landed  $5,125,- 
000  in  German  gold.  This  represented  the 
first  shipment  of  gold  from  the  German 
Government  in  part  payment  of  the  $158,- 
000,000  of  food  and  other  supplies  ar- 
ranged for  by  Food  Administrator  Hoover 
in  Berlin. 


Ratification  by  Other  Nations 

Waiting  for  the  United  States 


THE  Treaty  of  Versailles  cannot  be- 
come effective  until,  in  addition  to 
Germany,  at  least  three  of  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  have 
ratified  it.     Great  Britain  ratified  it  on 
July  31  and  Belgium  on  Aug.  8,  but  Bel- 


gium is  not  a  great  power.  France  com- 
pleted the  formal  ratification  on  Oct.  13. 
Meanwhile  Italy's  King  had  signed  a 
ratification  decree  on  Oct.  7,  and  the  de- 
cree was  filed  in  Paris  eight  days  later. 
Technically  this  completed  the  three  rati- 


818 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


fications  required  for  putting  the  Peace 
Treaty  in  force  and  starting  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  various  executive  commis- 
sions for  which  it  provides.  As  the  Ital- 
ian ratification,  however,  still  required 
the  approval  of  the  Parliament  at  Rome 
to  become  a  law  of  the  realm,  it  could, 
if  the  Peace  Conference  so  ruled,  be  re- 
garded a*  still  incomplete  for  purposes 
of  putting  the  treaty  into  force.  England 
and  France  had  shown  a  marked  desire 
from  the  outset  that  the  United  States 
should  be  one  of  the  three  powers  to  con- 
firm the  treaty  and  take  the  lead  in  ex- 
ecuting its  many  provisions.  The  Su- 
preme Council,  therefore,  hesitated  to 
name  the  date  for  putting  the  treaty  into 
force,  waiting'  day  after  day  for  some 
change  in  the  Senate  situation  at  Wash- 
ington. 

Marshal  Foch  also  asked  for  more 
time,  as  his  military  plans  had  been  dis- 
organized by  America's  refusal  to  send 
soldiers  for  policing  the  plebiscite  dis- 
tricts in  Silesia  and  Schleswig.  He  had 
counted  on  having  5,000  American  troops 
at  his  disposal,  but  a  message  from  Sec- 
retary Baker  had  informed  him  that  our 
men  could  not  be  used  for  that  purpose, 
though  the  required  number  of  volun- 
teers were  already  on  their  way  across 
to  Europe.  Therefore,  Marshal  Foch 
had  to  change  his  schedule  and  call  on 
the  English  and  French  staffs  for  more 
soldiers. 

On  Oct.  26  the  Supreme  Council  was 
still  waiting,  reluctant  to  act  and  inti- 
mating that  it  was  willing  to  postpone 
the  treaty  date  even  to  the  middle  of 
November  if  by  so  doing  it  could  gain  the 
immediate  assistance  of  the  United  States 
in  enforcing  the  treaty.  Thus  the  matter 
stood  when  these  pages  went  to  press. 

The  French  Chamber  began  its  ratifi- 
cation debate  on  Aug.  26,  and  continued 
it  through  several  lively  sessions;  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  hostile  comment, 
through  which  the  Ministers  sat  in  si- 
lence. A  crisis  occurred  on  the  29th, 
when,  after  a  stirring  speech  by  Maurice 
Barres,  who  criticised  the  failure  to  make 
a  Rhine  frontier,  and  another  by  Albert 
Thomas,  who  advocated  the  neutraliza- 
tion of  the  Rhine  Valley,  more  than 
twenty    Deputies    announced    that    they 


would  take  no  part  in  the  debate.  All 
the  Government's  supporters  rallied  to 
the  defense  of  Premier  Clemenceau.  On 
Sept.  3  Franklin  Bouillon,  the  fourteenth 
speaker,  declared  that  he  would  vote 
against  ratification,  attacked  America 
and  ,the  League  of  Nations,  and  dweU  on 
France's  enormous  war  debt.  Premier 
Clemenceau,  on  Sept.  19,  urged  imme- 
diate ratification,  regardless  of  all  other 
questions.  Finally,  on  Oct.  2,  the  Cham- 
ber voted  for  ratification,  372  to  53,  with 
73  members  abstaining  from  voting.  At 
the  same  time  it  approved  the  protective 
treaties  with  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain. 

In  the  French  Senate,  on  Oct.  7,  Leon 
Bourgeois,  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee on  the  Treaty,  delivered  his  re- 
port, which  culled  for  immediate  ratifica- 
tion. The  repoit  ui'ged  that  the  treaty 
be  regarded  chiefly  from  the  viewpoint 
of  it*  safeguards  to  France.  Confidence 
was  expressed  that  measures  limiting 
armaments,  though  not  embodied  in  the 
treaty,  would  ultimately  be  incorporated 
within  it  in  the  form  of  amendments.  An 
argument  was  further  made  for  the 
bringing  to  trial  of  the  German  Em- 
peror, as  the  author  of  acts  contrary  to 
The  Hague  convention.  The  report  ended 
with  an  expression  of  satisfaction  over 
the  restitution  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
and  of  hope  that  the  solidarity  of  the 
Allies  would  continue  during  the  period 
of  peace.  After  some  debate  the  Senate, 
on  Oct.  11,  ratified  the  treaty,  and  also 
the  Franco-American  and  Franco-British 
defense  treaties.  The  vote  stood  217  for 
ratification,  and  none  against  it.  One 
member  abstained  from  voting.  None  of 
the  bitterness  that  marked  the  debate  in 
the  Chamber  was  visible  in  the  Senate. 

With  the  formal  action  of  the  French 
Executive,  on  Oct.  11  and  Oct.  13,  the 
treaty  with  Germany  passed  its  third 
ratification  by  the  principal  nations  sig- 
natory to  the  pact.  In  France  it  went 
into  immediate  effect;  the  state  of  war 
was  declared  at  an  end  in  France  and 
Algeria,  and  the  censorship  was  lifted. 
All  war  restrictions  were  similarly  re- 
moved. 

King  Victor  Emmanuel,  acting  for 
Italy,  had  issued  a  royal  decree  of  ratifica- 


RATIFICATION  BY  OTHER  NATIONS 


219 


tion  on  Oct.  7;  this  instrument  itself 
stated,  however,  that  it  would  become 
law  only  on  being  presented  to  the  Ital- 
ian Parliament.  That  body  would  not  re- 
assemble until  December.  Both  the  Ital- 
ian and  the  British  copies  of  the  treaty 
were  deposited  with  the  Secretariat  of 
the  Peace  Conference  on  Oct.  15. 

Ratification  by  Canada,  as  ah  autono- 
mous part  of  the  British  Empire,  was  the 
chief  subject  of  discussion  at  a  special 
session  of  the  Canadian  Parliament,  on 
Sept.  1.  The  urgency  of  proceeding  im- 
mediately to  the  consideration  of  the 
treaty,  the  Governor  General  said,  com- 
pelled him  to  summon  the  legislators  to 
renewed  labors,  which,  he  hoped,  would 
not  be  of  long  duration.  He  had  been 
advised,  he  declared,  that  the  document 
should  not  be  ratified  on  behalf  of  Can- 
ada without  the  approval  of  Parliament. 
In  addition,  Parliament  would  be  asked, 
he  explained,  to  make  such  financial  pro- 
vision as  may  be  required  "  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Peace  Treaty  and  for  other 
purposes." 

Both  houses  at  Ottawa  ratified  the 
treaty  with  Germany  on  Sept.  14  after 
four  days'  debate.  Only  one  amendment 
was  offered.  It  came  from  W.  S.  Field- 
ing, formerly  Minister  of  Finance  in  the 
Laurier  Government,  who  sought  to  mod- 
ify the  Government  motion  by  adding 
that  in  giving  approval  the  House  in  no 
way  assented  to  an  impairment  of  the 
existing  autonomous  authority  of  the 
Dominion  in  respect  to  Canada's  poten- 


tial participation  in  any  future  war.  The 
amendment  was  defeated  by  102  votes  to 
70.  One  Liberal  speaker  criticised  the 
Shantung  agreement,  and  spoke  in  favor 
of  Ireland.  One  reservation  was  urged, 
similar  in  tenor  to  the  Fielding  amend- 
ment. None  of  these  motions  prevailed, 
however,  and  the  treaty  was  ratified. 

China,  though  unable  to  ratify  the 
treaty,  because  of  her  refusal  to  sign  at 
Versailles,  formally  declared  her  adher- 
ence, on  Sept.  24,  to  all  the  provisions  of 
that  treaty  exclusive  of  the  agreement 
with  Japan  concerning  Shantung,  and  de- 
clared the  state  of  war  with  Germany  at 
an  end. 

Japanese  chauvinists,  on  Aug.  26, 
made  a  hostile  demonstration  against 
Marquis  Saionji  and  the  other  peace  dele- 
gates on  their  return  to  Japan,  on  the 
ground,  as  explained  later  in  a  manifesto 
published  at  Kobe,  that  the  provision  of 
racial  equality  had  not  been  put  through, 
and  that  Japan,  through  the  blundering 
policy  of  the  Japanese  peace  delegation, 
had  been  placed  in  a  position  of  isolation 
internationally.  According  to  Peace  Con- 
ference information,  Parliamentary  ac- 
tion on  ratification  was  not  required  by 
the  Constitution  of  Japan,  signature  by 
the  Emperor  being  sufficient.  The  royal 
signature,  however,  had  not  been  affixed 
when  the  present  pages  went  to  press. 

The  State  Department  at  Washington 
was  informed  that  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly of  Guatemala  had  ratified  the 
treaty  with  Germany  on  Oct.  2. 


Activities  of  the  Peace  Conference 

The    League    of   Nations 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  20,  1919] 


THE  activities  of  the  Peace  Conference 
at  Paris  continued  through  Septem- 
ber and  October.  On  Oct.  10  the 
Supreme  Council  decided  to  grant  to 
the  Bulgarian  plenipotentiaries  an  ex- 
tension of  ten  days  in  which  to  return 
their  observations  on  the  draft  of  the 
treaty  submitted  to  them  on  Sept.  19, 
the  additional  period  to  expire  on  Oct. 
24.     On   Oct.    14    a    new    Cabinet     was 


formed  by  M.  Stambulowsky  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ratifying  the  Peace  Treaty. 

The  council  further  approved  the  plan 
proposed  by  the  Reparations  Commission, 
providing  for  the  dispatch  to  Budapest 
of  an  interallied  commission,  including 
one  Rumanian  delegate,  to  take  an  in- 
ventory of  the  objects  and  materials 
which  had  been  seized  by  the  Rumanian 
military   authorities   in    Hungary.     This 


220 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


approval  followed  the  hearing  of  the  re- 
port of  Sir  George  Clerk,  who  had  been 
sent  to  Hungary  and  Rumania  to  study 
the  situation  for  the  council,  and  who 
had  returned  the  previous  week  from 
Bucharest. 

Another  action  taken  by  the  Supreme 
Council  was  the  acceptance  on  Oct.  11 
of  the  demand  presented  on  behalf  of 
Admiral  Kolchak  and  General  Denikin, 
asking  that  Russian  war  material  cap- 
tured by  the  German  Army  be  turned 
over  to  them  for  the  use  of  their  armies. 
It  was  decided  that  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission of  Control  should  supervise  the 
execution  of  the  measure.  Other  meas- 
ures approved  by  the  council  at  this 
time  were:  The  acceptance  of  a  re- 
port regarding  the  formation  of  an  in- 
ternational commission,  sitting  at  Berlin, 
which  should  have  charge  of  the  inter- 
ests of  Russian  prisoners  still  in  Ger- 
many; and  the  sending  to  the  Drafting 
Committee  of  a  proposal  introduced  by 
the  Italian  delegation  asking  that  a 
clause  should  be  written  into  the  treaty 
with  Hungary,  stipulating  that  Hungary 
should  renounce  in  favor  of  Italy  all 
right  and  title  to  territories  of  the  for- 
mer Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy  given 
by  the  treaty  of  Saint  Germain  to  Italy. 

The  main  problem  still  confronting  the 
conference  was  that  of  the  peace  with 
Turkey.  At  various  times  since  last  De- 
cember the  conference  had  discussed  the 
question  in  three  phases :  The  dismember- 
ment of  Turkey,  the  possibility  of  her 
return  to  her  pre-war  status,  and  the  re- 
taining or  dismissal  of  the  Sultan.  Inci- 
dents like  the  landing  of  Greek  troops  in 
Smyrna  and  of  Italians  at  Adalia,  the 
continuance  of  Armenian  massacres  by 
the  Young  Turk  party  in  Asiatic  Turkey, 
and  the  setting  up  of  a  new  Government 
by  Mustapha  Pasha  in  Anatolia,  had  oc- 
cupied the  conference  at  various  sessions. 
The  vexed  question  of  mandates  still 
remained  unsettled.  The  French  dele- 
gates favored  the  retention  of  the  Turk- 
ish Empire  in  Europe  as  the  solution 
most  likely  to  be  satisfactory  to  all  con- 
cerned. 

As  reflecting  the  attitude  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  a  speech  made  by  Premier 
Lloyd  George  at  Sheffield,  England,  on 
Oct.  17  had  significance.     In  this  speech 


Mr.  Lloyd  George  said  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  settle  the  destiny  of  Europe 
without  knowing  whether  the  United 
States  was  going  to  share  the  burdens 
of  civilization.  Speaking  to  the  Amer- 
ican Ambassador,  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  emphasized  this  point,  and 
added: 

The  people  of  Turkey  have  been  living 
in  the  shadow  of  a  great  tyranny  for 
centuries.  They  are  appealing  to  America 
for  help.  I  hope  that  the  appeal  wHl  not 
be  in  vain.  Such  a  remark  might  sound 
impertinent  from  a  British  Minister,  but 
we  are  undertaking  similar  responsibilities 
ourselves  and  find  that  we  are  --coming 
to  the  limit  of  our  strength  and  that  it 
is  unwise  for  us  to  go  further. 

A  similar  appeal  from  an  American 
source  was  made  by  Henry  Morgen- 
thau,  former  Ambassador  to  Turkey,  o"n 
his  return  to  the  United  States  from  Po- 
land, where,  as  head  of  the  American 
Commission  to  investigate  the  treatment 
of  Jews  in  that  country,  he  had  passed 
seven  months.  He  arrived  in  New  York 
on  Oct.  18,  where  he  at  once  published 
an  appeal  for  the  acceptance  by  the 
United  States  of  a  mandate  for  Constan- 
tinople, Armenia,  and  Anatolia.  His  idea 
involved  the  upbuilding  of  a  great  Amer- 
ican centre  in  Constantinople  as  a  living 
example  of  democracy  in  the  Near  East. 

Colonel  House,  the  confidential  adviser 
to  President  Wilson  at  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, returned  to  the  United  States 
early  in  October  to  recuperate  after  a 
long  illness  in  Paris  and  the  strain  of  un- 
remitting labors  on  the  Peace  Treaty. 

LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS 

Plans  for  bringing  the  League  of  Na- 
tions covenant  into  force  with  the  simul- 
taneous publication  in  Paris  of  the  rati- 
fication decrees  of  three  of  the  main 
allied  and  associated  powers  were  an- 
nounced in  Washington  soon  after  the 
ratification  by  Italy.  A  nation-wide  cam- 
paign in  favor  of  the  League  was  opened 
at  the  Mansion  House  in  London  on  Oct. 
13  under  the  Presidency  of  the  Lord 
Mayor.  Messages  were  read  from  King 
George  and  David  Lloyd  George,  and  elo- 
quent addresses  were  delivered  by  ex- 
Premier  Asquith,  Lord  Robert  Cecil,  Pre- 
mier Venizelos,  Lord  Reading,  and  others. 
All  the  foreign  Ambassadors  and  diplo- 


ACTIVITIES  OF  THE -PEACE  CONFERENCE 


•£21 


mats,  and  men  prominent  in  various 
walks  of  civil  life,  churchmen,  laborites, 
industrialists,  scientists,  and  lawyers,  at- 
tended. The  message  of  King  George 
was  as  follows: 

We  have  won  the  war.  That  is  a  great 
achievement.  But  it  is  not  enough.  We 
fought  to  gain  a  lasting  peace,  and  it  is 
our  supreme  duty  to  take  every  measure 
to  secure  it. 

For  that  nothing  is  more  essential  than 
a  strong  and  enduring  League  of  Nations. 
Every  day  makes  this  clearer.  The  cove- 
nant of  Paris  is  a  good  foundation.  The 
nature  and  the  strength  of  the  structure 
we  buitd  upon  this  must  depend  on  the 
earnestness  and  sincerity  of  popular  sup- 
port. 

Millions  of  British  men  and  women, 
poignantly  conscious  of  the  ruin  and  suf- 
fering caused  by  the  brutal  havoc  of  war, 
stand  ready  to  help  if  only  they  are 
shown  the  way.  In  the  knowledge  of 
what  already  has  been  done,  apprecia- 
tion of  the  difficulties  which  lie  before 
us,  and  a  determination  to  overcome  them, 
we  must  spare  no  efforts. 

I  commend  this  cause  to  all  citizens  of 
the  empire,  so  that,  with  the  help  of  all 
other  men  of  good-will,  a  buttress  and  a 
sure  defense  of  peace,  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  lasting  fame  of  our  age  and 
our  country,  may  be  established. 
The  message  of  Lloyd  George  was  as 
follows : 

Civilization  cannot  longer  afford  to 
squander  its  time  and  treasure  on  the  de- 
struction of"  its  own  handiwork.  The 
allied  Governments  are  pledged  to  the 
League's  noble  ideals.  I  appeal  to  my 
fellow-countrymen  to  support  internation- 
al order  and  good-will. 

Mr.  Asquith  declared  that  the  military 
and  naval  armaments  of  nations  were 
being  continued  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  actual  requirements  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  order,  and  said  he  hoped  the 
members  of  the  League  would  fulfill 
their  pledges  under  the  covenant  purely 
as  a  duty.  Mr.  Asquith  added  that  with 
the  people  alone  lay  the  initiative  and 
ultimate  responsibility.  The  alternatives 
before  them  were  to  relapse  into  the  old 
insane  hostilities  or  the  provision  and 
defense  of  a  way  for  the  free  spirit  of 
mankind. 


The  attitude  of  the  smaller  nations, 
especially  Denmark  and  Norway,  was 
brought  out  early  in  October.  In  an  au- 
thorized interview  the  Danish  Minister 
of  Defense,  Mr.  Munch,  denied  emphati- 
cally the  charge  made  several  times  in 
the  Peace  Treaty  discussion  in  America 
that  Denmark'  was  afraid  of  the  League 
of  Nations.  The  Danish  people,  he  said, 
had  watched  President  Wilson's  efforts 
to  create  the  League  of  Nations  with 
the  greatest  sympathy.  In  Denmark,  he 
added,  all  political  parties  were  agreed 
that  the  country  must  join  the  League  of 
Nations  as,  soon  as  it  was  formed,  to 
contribute  to  this  great  and  daring  ex- 
periment to  abolish  international  wars. 
In  Norway  on  the  same  date  the  Par- 
liamentary committee  appointed  to  dis- 
cuss the  entrance  of  Norway  into  the 
League  reported  unanimously  in  favor 
of  adherence. 

Leon  Bourgeois,  former  Premier  and 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  French 
member  of  the  League  of  Nations  Com- 
mission of  the  Peace  Conference,  was 
appointed  representative  of  France  on 
the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  on 
Oct.  14.  This  was  the  first  formal  ap- 
pointment to  the  League  of  Nations; 
France,  as  the  first  of  the  principal  al- 
lied and  associated  powers  to  complete 
the  formal  ratification,  had  won  the 
honor  of  nominating  the  first  represen- 
tative. 

The  original  American  draft  of  the 
League  of  Nations  covenant,  as  sub- 
mitted to  the  Peace  Conference,  was  sent 
to  the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  of 
the  United  States  Senate  by  President 
Wilson,  in  response  to  a  request  made 
by  the  committee  on  Aug.  11.  The 
American  plan  covered  the  provisions 
now  embraced  in  Article  X.,  and  also 
embodied  the  clauses  relating  to  the 
freedom  of  the  seas;  but  the  articles  re- 
lating to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the 
direct  reservations  on  domestic  questions 
were  not  included. 


Senate  Debate  on  the  Peace  Treaty 

Prolonged   Contest   Over   Proposed   Amendments   to 
Accompany  Ratification — Text  of  New  Reservations 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  23,  1919] 


THE  United  States  continued  the  long 
debate  over  ratification  of  the  Ger- 
man Peace  Treaty  throughout  the 
period  under  review.  At  every  ses- 
sion there  were  speeches  for,  or  against 
the  amendments  and  reservations  offered 
by  the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  in 
the  preceding  month.  Continuous  efforts 
were  made  by  the  Republican  leaders  to 
reach  a  unanimous  agreement.  The 
Chairman  of  the  Foreign  Relations  Com- 
mittee, Senator  H.  C.  Lodge  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  Republican  leader,  strongly 
'  supported  direct  amendment  of  the 
treaty,  and  this  position  was  sustained 
by  thirty-six  Republican  Senators  and 
two  Democratic  Senators,  the  latter  be- 
ing Senator  Reed  of  Missouri  and  Sen- 
ator Gore  of  Oklahoma.  Another  group, 
comprising  twelve  Republicans  and 
three  Democrats,  opposed,  direct  amend- 
ments, but  favored  specific  and  effective 
qualifying  reservations.  A  third  group, 
numbering  forty,  headed  by  Senator 
Hitchcock  of  Nebraska,  the  former 
Chairman  of  the  Foreign  Relations  Com- 
mittee, all  known  as  "  Administration 
Democrats,"  opposed  any  amendments  to 
the  text  of  the  treaty,  and  the  greater 
number  strongly  opposed  any  qualifying 
reservations  whatsoever.  Nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  Senate  participated  in 
the  debate,  which  at  times  grew  acri- 
monious. 

THE  GORE  AMENDMENTS 

The  first  specific  issue  voted  on  was 
that  of  thirty-five  textual  amendments 
to  the  treaty  offered  by  Senator  Fall, 
Republican,  of  New  Mexico,  intended  to 
eliminate  American  participation  on  the 
commissions  established  under  the  treaty, 
excepting  the  Reparations  Commission. 
The  vote  on  these  amendments  was 
taken  on  Oct.  2  and  resulted  in  their  de- 
feat by  a  decisive  majority. 


On  the  first  test  between  the  oppos- 
ing sides,  which  came  on  the  amendment 
to  take  the  United  States  out  of  the 
Commission  to  fix  the  Belgian  bounda- 
ries, the  vote  was  30  in  favor  of  to  58 
against.  All  the  middle-ground  Senators 
except  Mr.  McLean  of  Connecticut  voted 
against  the  amendment. 

MIDDLE-GROUNDERS   IN  CONTROL 

On  three  other  roll  calls  taken  on  the 
amendments  there  were  slight  changes 
in  the  attitude  of  the  middle-ground  Sen- 
ators influenced  by  the  points  involved. 
On  two  roll  calls,  one  to  eliminate  the 
United  States  from  participation  in  the 
Sarre  Valley  Commission  and  the  other 
pertaining  to  the  commission  to  govern 
Upper  Silesia,  where  a  plebescite  as  to 
future  government  is  to  be  held,  the  op- 
position mustered  31  votes,  that  being 
their  maximum  strength. 

The  alignment  found  Senator  Gore  of 
Oklahoma  voting  with  the  Republicans 
on  all  amendments,  while  Senator 
Thomas  of  Colorado  joined  them  in  two 
roll  calls.  Senator  Jones,  Republican, 
of  Washington,  voted  with  the  Demo- 
crats on  two  amendments,  and  later 
switched  to  the  opposition. 

The  voting  gave  evidence  that  the 
middle-ground  Senators  controlled  the 
situation,  both  as  to  amendments  and 
reservations.  From  speeches  made  by 
five  of  this  group,  Capper,  Hale,  Cum- 
mins, Lenroot,  and  Smoot,  it  seemed  evi- 
dent that,  although  opposed  to  textual 
amendments,  they  would  vote  against 
the  treaty  unless  reservations  were 
adopted  with  its  ratification. 

The  vote  on  the  amendment  to  elimi- 
nate the  United  States  from  participa- 
tion in  the  Commission  to  Establish  the 
Boundary  Lines  of  Belgium,  the  first 
vote  taken,  follows: 


SENATE  DEBATE  ON  THE  PEACE  TREATY 


223 


FOR  THE  AMENDMENT— 80. 

Republicans— 20. 


Ball,  (Del.) 
Borah,  (Idaho.) 
Brandegee,   (Conn.) 
Calder,   (N.  T.) 
Curtis,   (Kan.) 
Dillingham,  (Vt.) 
Elkins,  (W.  Va.) 
Fall,   (N.  M.) 
Fernald,   (Me.) 
France,  (Md.) 
Frelinghuysen,  (N.  . 
Gronna,  (N.  D.) 
Harding,   (Ohio.) 
Knox,   (Penn.) 
La  Follette,   (Wis.) 


Lodge,  (Mass.) 
McCormick,   (III.) 
McLean,   (Conn.) 
Moses,  (N.  H.) 
New,  (Ind.) 
Newberry,  (Mich.) 
Norris,   (Neb.) 
Penrose,  •  (Penn.) 
Phipps,  (Col.) 
Poindexter,  (Wash.) 
Sherman,  (111.) 
Wadsworth,   (N.  Y.) 
Warren,  (Wyo.) 
Watson,  (Ind.) 


Democrat— 1. 

Gore,  Oklahoma. 

AGAINST   THE   AMENDMENT— 58. 

Republicans — 17. 


Capper,  (Kan.) 
Colt,  (R.  I.) 
dummins,   (Iowa.) 
Edge,   (N.  J.) 
Hale,   (Me.) 
Jones,   (Wash.) 
Kellogg,    (Minn.) 
Lenroot,   (Wis.) 


McCumber,  (N.  D.) 
McNary,    (Ore.) 
.  Nelson,  (Minn.)        • 
Smoot,  (Utah.) 
Spencer,   (Mo.) 
Sterling,   (S.  D.) 
Tuvvnscnd,   (Mich.) 


Democrats— 41. 


Ashurst,   (Ariz.) 
Bankhead,   (Ala.) 
Beckham,   (Ky.)       . 
Chamberlain,    (Ore.) 
Culberson,  (Texas.) 
Dial,   (S.  C.) 
Fletcher,  (Fla.) 
Gay,   (La.) 
Gerry,  (R.  I.) 
Harris.   (Ga.) 
Harrison,   (Miss.) 
Henderson,   (Nev;) 
Hitchcock,   (Neb.) 
Jones,  (N.  M.) 
Kendrick,   (Wyo.) 
Kirby,  (Ark.) 
McKellar,   (Tenn.) 
Myers,   (Mon.) 
Nugent,  (Idaho.) 
Overman,  (N.  C.) 
Owen,  (Okla.) 

Pairs 

Senator  Johnson,  California,  for,  with 
Senator  Martin,  Virginia,  against. 

Senator  Page,  Vermont,  for,  with  Sen- 
ator Johnson,  South  Dakota,   against. 

Senator  Reed,  Missouri,  for,  with  'Sen- 
ator King,  Utah,  against. 

Senator  Sutherland,  West  Virginia,  for, 
with  Senator  Smith,  South  Carolina, 
against. 

Total— 8. 

Had  all  of  the  Senators,  paired  and 
unable  to  vote,  been  able  to  cast  their 
votes,  the  vote  on  the  Belgian  amend- 


Phelan,  (Cal.) 
Pittman,   (Nev.) 
Pomerene,   (Ohio.) 
Ransdell,  (La.) 
Robinson,   (Ark.) 
Sheppard,   (Texas.) 
Shields,   (Tenn.) 
Simmons,  (N.  C.) 
Smith,   (Ariz.) 
Smith,  (Ga.) 
Smith,   (Md.) 
Stanley,   (Ky.) 
Swanson,  (Va.) 
Thomas,   (Col.) 
Trammell,  (Fla.) 
Underwood,    (Ala.) 
Walsh,   (Mass.) 
Walsh,   (Mon.) 
Williams,  (Miss.) 
Wolcott,   (Del.) 


ment  would  have  been:  For,  34;  against, 
60. 

The  Senate  took  eight  votes  on  the 
Fall  amendments,  four  by  roll  call  and 
the  remainder  viva  voce.  Besides  that,  on 
the  first  amendment,  relating  to  the  Bel- 
gian boundaries,  the  votes  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Two  amendments  relating  to  commis- 
sions to  fix  boundaries  of  the  Grand 
Duchy  of  Luxembourg,  defeated  by  viva 
voce  vote. 

An  amendment  on  the  Sarre  Valley 
Basin,  defeated  31  for  and  56  against. 

Twenty-six  amendments,  en  bloc,  on 
commissions  on  boundaries  relating  to 
Poland,  Czechoslovakia,  Upper  Silesia, 
the  Rhineland,  Bast  Prussia,  and  Dan- 
zig,  defeated  viva  voce. 

An  amendment  barring  the  United 
States  from  participation  in  treaties  with 
Czechoslovakia,  by  which  the  latter  guar- 
antees religious  freedom  to  its  subjects, 
defeated  28  to  53. 

Two  amendments  pertaining  to  a 
plebiscite  for  Upper  Silesia  and  provid- 
ing that  the  United  States  send  soldiers 
to  that  territory,  defeated  31  to  46. 

An  amendment  relating  to  the  religious 
freedom  of  Poland,  defeated  viva  voce. 

An  amendment  touching  on  a  plebiscite 
for  East  Prussia,  defeated  vica  voce. 

The  vote  on  the  amendment  against 
the  United  States  participating  in  the 
commission  on  the  plebiscite  for  Upper 
Silesia,  found  Senators  Sterling,  Ken- 
yon,  and  Cummins,  who  had  not  voted 
with  the  Republicans  before,  aligned 
with  them.  The  aggregate  of  thirty-one 
votes  in  favor  of  this  amendment  would 
have  been  swelled  to  forty  had  all  the 
Senators  who  had  voted  before  with  the 
Republicans  or  were  absent  answered 
the  roll  call. 

THE  SHANTUNG  AMENDMENT 

The  second  test  on  textually  amending 
the  treaty  took  place  on  Oct.  16.  By  a 
vote  of  55  to  35,  the  six  Lodge  amend- 
ments to  the  Peace  Treaty,  providing 
for  restoring  the  economic  privileges  on 
the  Shantung  Peninsula  to  China  rather 
than  to  give  them  to  Japan,  as  the  treaty 
provides,  were  defeated.  The  amend- 
ments were  voted  upon  en  bloc.  Imme- 
diately after  the  vote  was  announced, 
Senator  Lodge  told  the  Senate  that,  "  at 
the  proper  time,"  he  would  move  to 
strike  the  entire  Shantung  section  from 
the  treaty. 


224 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


The   vote    on    the    Shantung    amend- 
ments was: 

FOR  THE  AMENDMENTS— 35. 


Republicans— 82. 

Ball, 

Lodge, 

Borah, 

McCormick, 

Brandegee, 

McLean, 

Calder, 

Moses, 

Capper, 

New, 

Curtis, 

Newberry, 

Dillingham, 

Norris, 

Fall,         i 

Page, 

France, 

Penrose, 

Frelinghuysen,                 Phipps, 

Gronna, 

Poindexter, 

Harding', 

Sherman, 

Johnson, 

Sutherland, 

Jones,    (Wash.,)              Wadsworth, 

Knox, 

Warren, 

La  Follette, 

Watson. 

Democrats — 3. 

Gore, 

Walsh,  (Mass.) 

Reed, 

AGAINST 

THE     AMENDMENTS— 5 

Republicans — 14. 

Colt, 

McCumber, 

Cummins, 

McNary, 

Hale, 

Nelson, 

Kellogg, 

Smoot, 

Kenyon, 

Spencer, 

Keyes, 

Sterling, 

Lenroot, 

Townsend. 

Democrats — 41. 

Ashurst, 

Owen, 

Bankhead, 

Phelan, 

Beckham, 

Pittman, 

Chamberlain,                   Pomerene, 

Culberson, 

Ransdell, 

Dail, 

Robinson, 

Fletcher, 

Sheppard, 

Gay, 

Shields, 

Gerry, 

Simmons, 

Harris, 

Smith,  (Ariz.,) 

Harrison, 

Smith.  (Ga.,) 

Henderson, 

Smith,   (Md.,) 

Hitchcock, 

Stanley, 

*Jones,   (N.  ] 

M.,)               Swanson, 

Kendrick, 

Thomas, 

King, 

Trammell, 

Kirby, 

Underwood, 

McKellar, 

Walsh.   (Mon.,) 

Myers, 

Williams, 

Nugent, 

Wolcott. 

Overman, 

Of  those  not  voting,  Senators  Edge, 
Republican,  of  New  Jersey;  Martin, 
Democrat,  of  Virginia;  Smith,  Demo- 
crat, of  South  Carolina,  and  Johnson, 
Democrat,  of  South  Dakota,  were  paired 
against  the  amendments.  Senators 
Elkins,  Republican,  of  West  Virginia, 
and  Fernald,  Republican,  of  Maine,  were 
paired  for  them. 


GLIMPSES  OF  THE  DEBATE 

The  debate  on  the  Lodge  amendments 
ran  from  11  o'clock  until  5:30,  when  the 
vote  was  taken.  The  Republican  leaders 
exerted  every  effort  to  save  the  amend- 
ments from  defeat,  although  knowing, 
in  advance  of  the  vote,  that  they  were 
beaten. 

Senator  Johnson  of  California  de- 
nounced the  Shantung  award  as  "  in- 
famous, detestable,  and  abominable."  He 
told  Republican  Senators  who,  during 
the  debate,  had  said  that  they  would 
favor  a  reservation  rather  than  an 
amendment,  that  the  way  to  "cut 
Shantung  out  of  the  treaty  is  to  reject 
it  outright."  Although  assured  by  the 
Republican  leaders  that  the  prospects 
were  favorable  for  the  adoption  of  a 
reservation  on  Shantung,  Mr.  Johnson 
insisted  that  the  amendment  route  was 
the  safer  one. 

In  the  speeches  of  nearly  all  the  Re- 
publicans who  voted  against  the  amend- 
ments the  preference  for  a  reservation 
was  emphasized.  They  indicated  that 
they  would  be  willing  to  support  a 
reservation  that  would  assert  the  privi- 
lege of  the  United  States  to  refuse  to 
be  bound  by  any  action  of  the  League 
of  Nations  in  any  dispute  relating  to 
the  Shantung  Peninsula. 

In  his  speech  in  advocacy  of  the  Lodge 
amendments,  Senator  Johnson  said: 

All  Senators  seem  to  feel  a  sense  of 
disapproval  over  the  wrong  done  in  the 
Shantung  award  under  the  treaty,  but 
those  who  would  retain  it  in  the  treaty 
argue  that  it  was  a  decision,  by  the  Peace 
Conference,  that  was  dictated  by  expe- 
diency and  that  it  is  too  late  to  do  any- 
thing. That  is  a  weak,  a  timid  attitude 
to  take. 

If  the  United  States  condones  this 
wrong  to  China,  it  will  be  the  first  time 
we  have  ever  been  a  party  to  the  de- 
spoiling of  that  nation.  I  insist  that  we 
ought  not  be  bluffed  into  failing  to  do 
what  is  our  plain  duty.  The  decision  of 
the  Senate  in  this  matter  ought  to  be 
made  upon  the  moral  principle  involved. 
If  it  is.  the  Senate  will  vote  to  cut  out 
this   infamy   from   the  treaty. 

OPPOSITION    TO   AMENDMENTS 

Before  Senator  Johnson  spoke,  Sena- 
tors Kellogg,  Hale,  Townsend,  Sterling, 
and   Smoot  announced  in   speeches  that 


SENATE  DEBATE  ON  THE  PEACE  TREATY 


225 


they  would  vote  for  a  reservation  on  the 
Shantung  award,  but  that,  as  an  amend- 
ment would  involve  sending  the  treaty 
back  to  the  principal  signatory  powers, 
they  could  not  support  it. 

Senator  Hale,  in  telling  the  Senate 
why  he  would  vote  against  the  amend- 
ment, said  that  while  he  disapproved  the 
Shantung  provisions  in  the  treaty,  he  felt 
that  the  "  wisest  "  policy  was  to  express 
disapproval  through  a  reservation  in 
which  the  United  States  could  affirm  its' 
refusal  to  be  held  to  any  judgment  of  the 
League  relating  to  the  Shantung  rights. 
That,  he  said,  would  leave  the  Shantung 
award  in  the  treaty  but  relieve  the  Uni- 
ted States  from  any  obligation  respecting 
it  in  the  future.  Mr.  Hale  went  on: 

Unless  reservations  are  made  to  this 
treaty  that  will  make  the  position  of  the 
United  States  clear,  both  as  to  Shantung 
and  the  inequality  of  vote  in  the  League 
assembly,  I  shall  cast  my  vote  against 
the  treaty. 

Senator  Sterling  said  he  felt  that  the 
Senate  would  be  "  wasting  time  "  trying 
to  eliminate  the  Shantung  provision 
through  amendment,  since  the  treaty  was 
practically  in  force  now  and  to  make 
textual  changes  would  necessitate  recon- 
vening the  Peace  Conference. 

"  So  far  as  the  treaty  is  concerned, 
the  Shantung  provision  is  in  force,"  said 
Mr.  Sterling.  "  All  the  United  States  can 
do  now  is  to  decline,  through  a  reserva- 
tion, to  become  a  party  to  it.  With  the 
United  States  in  the  League  of  Nations 
we  can  accomplish  much  to  rectify  the 
injustice  done  to  China." 

Senator  Smith,  Democrat,  of  Georgia, 
argued  that  a  reservation  would  better 
accomplish  what  the  Senate  sought  to  do. 

SENATOR  PHELAN'S  VIEW 
Senator  Phelan,  Democrat,  of  Califor- 
nia, while  announcing  that  he  was  op- 
posed to  any  amendments  or  drastic  res- 
ervations, indicated  that  he  would  vote 
for  an  interpretative  reservation  to  as- 
sure the  United  States  full  determina- 
tion of  her  domestic  questions,  if  it  was 
thought  necessary.  While  concerned 
over  what  he  called  Japanese  encroach- 
ment on  the  Pacific  Coast,  he  said  he 
was  not  sure  that,  under  the  treaty, 
Japan  would  be  enabled  to  extend  her 
influence  there. 


I  do  not  see  how  the  question  of  Jap- 
anese immigration  is  involved  in  this 
treaty,  [said  Senator  Phelan.]  We  will 
never  consent  to  race  equality,  which  in- 
volves immigration,  naturalization,  elec- 
tive franchise,  and  ownership  and  inter- 
marriage. It  was  rejected  at  Paris. 
These  are  domestic  questions  in  which 
the   League   of   Nations    has    no   concern. 

Lest  there  be  doubt  under  Article  XI. 
as  to  the  power  of  the  League  to  have 
jurisdiction  in  these  matters,  I  would 
favor  an  explicit  interpretative  reserva- 
tion on  the  matter. 

Senator  La  Follette  finished  the  de- 
bate on  the  Shantung  amendment,  de- 
nouncing it  as  a  "  burglary,"  in  which, 
he  said,  the  United  States  was  asked  to 
participate. 

This  award  to  Japan  rests  on  force, 
[said  Senator  La  Follette.]  It  involves 
robbery  so  barefaced  that  they  won't  dare 
go  through  with  it  if  the  United  States 
refuses  to  become  a  party  to  it. 

On  Oct.  17  the  Senate,  without  a  roll 
call,  defeated  the  two  amendments  pro- 
posed by  Senator  Fall  of  New  Mexico 
designed  to  limit  American  representa- 
tion on  the  Reparations  Commission.  In 
the  debate  preceding  this  vote  there  was 
sharp  criticism  of  the  sending  of  5,000 
American  troops  on  Oct.  16  from  New 
York  to  Europe,  where  they  were  to  police 
Silesia  during  the  plebiscite  ordered  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty. 

SENDING  TROOPS  ABROAD 

,  Senator  Brandegee  of  Connecticut 
stated  that  he  had  received  many  letters 
asking  that  something  be  done  to  protect 
the  Armenian  people  from  slaughter 
when  British  troops  are  withdrawn.  He 
said: 

Of  course,  we  know,  or  have  been  in- 
formed through  the  press,  that  the  British 
are  withdrawing  rapidly  their  forces  from 
Armenia  and  the  Caucasus  and  have  re- 
quested this  country  to  send  from  100,000 
to  200,000  men  over  there  to  take  the  place 
of  the  withdrawn  British  troops. 

Senator  Borah  interrupted  with  the 
question :  "  There  are  not  any  unde- 
veloped oil  fields  in  Armenia  or  Turkey, 
then?  "     Senator  Brandegee  replied: 

The  article  states  that  the  President  is 
very  anxious  that  we  should  accept  the 
mandate  for  Armenia,  and,  therefore  I 
assume  that  there  is  no  oil  or  anything 
else  of  use  to  this  country   there.    *    *    * 

I  hope  that  somebody  will  introduce  a 
resolution  to  find  out  what  the  proposi- 
tion is  in  Armenia,  how  far  we  have  been 


226 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


committed,  if  at  all,  by  the  President,  who 
has  the  authority  to  initiate  agreements, 
and  I  hope  that  some  information  con- 
cerning the  dispatch  of  our  army  to  va- 
rious parts  of  the  world  will  be  forth- 
coming. 

Senator  Wadsworth  of  New  York, 
Chairman  of  the  Senate  Military  Affairs 
Committee,  informed  the  Senate  that  he 
had  made  inquiries  about  the  Silesian 
plan  from  Chief  of  Staff  March.  He 
continued : 

I  learned  that  the  expedition  consists  in 
the  aggregate  of  about  5,000  men,  the  5th 
and  15th  Regiments  of  Infantry,  and  suit- 
able detachments.  It  is  bound  in  the  first 
instance  for  Coblenz,  to  be  held  there 
pending  the  time  when  directions  shall  be 
given  it  by  some  higher  authority  to  pro- 
ceed to  Silesia,  and  there  participate  in 
the  policing  of  a  plebiscite. 

This  American  force,  I  was  given  to  un- 
derstand, was  to  form  part  of  a  force  con- 
tributed by  at  least  two  other  nations,  the 
aggregate  of  the  allied  force  to  consist  of 
something  like  18,000  men. 

I  was  given  to  understand  that  the  dis- 
patch of  this  force  was  due  to  some  ar- 
rangements made  by  the  American  Peace 
Commission  in  Paris,  or  some  agreement 
made  by  them  with  the  representatives  of 
other  powers,  to  the  effect  that  America 
would  join  with  the  other  powers  in  po- 
licing this  far-away  country  while  a  pleb- 
iscite is  being  held.  It  was  intimated  also 
that  the  power  for  sending  this  force 
springs  from  the  fact  that  we  are  still 
technically   at   war   with   Germany. 

Complete  information  as  to  the  con- 
templated use  of  American  troops  abroad 
should  be  given  to  the  Congressional  com- 
mittees, Senator  Wadsworth  said,  so  that 
a  military  policy  could  be  framed  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  plan. 

A  PASSAGE  AT  ARMS 

Just  before  the  vote  was  taken  Sena- 
tor Fall  made  a  bitter  reply  to  Senator 
Hitchcock's  warning  that  if  action  on 
the  treaty  was  delayed  the  President 
could  accomplish  his  objects  by  the  con- 
tinued use  of  war  powers.  Senator  Fall 
declared: 

There  is  a  way  reserved  in  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  in  which  war  pow- 
ers can  be  taken  away  without  the  rati- 
fication of  this  treaty.  God  deliver  us 
from  the  necessity  of  appealing  to  the 
ultimate  powers  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  to  change  forcibly  their 
form  of  government.  We  have  declared 
ourselves,  in  violation  of  the  terms  of 
the  armistice,  justified  in  occupying  por- 


tions of   Germany   which   were   not   pro- 
vided to  be  occupied  in  the  armiatice. 

Senator  Hitchcock  interrupted  to  say 
that  the  President  made  the  armistice 
and  had  the  power  to  change  it,  the 
armistice  being  a  purely  military  pro- 
ceeding. 

Now  there  is  another  astounding  propo- 
sition,   [Senator   Fall   resumed.] 

Any  Senator  who  holds  such  ideas  as 
those  just  expressed  has  an  absolute  con- 
tempt for  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  an  absolute  contempt  for  the  form 
of  government  adopted  by  our  fathers  and 
so  far  preserved  by  the  sword  of  our  peo- 
ple, or  else  has  no  conception  whatever 
of  what  the  form  of  government  is,  with 
its  three  co-ordinate  branches  of  govern- 
ment. He  has  no  conception,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  of  international  law  or  of  the 
rules  among  civilized  nations. 

The  Senator  does  not  realize  for  a 
moment  that  the  armistice  takes  the 
place  of  the  treaty  of  peace  for  the  time 
being  when  it  is  in  effect,  and  that  a 
violation  of  it  by  us  would  be  as  much 
to  be  condemned  as  a  violation  of  its 
terms  by  Germany. 

To  Mr.  Hitchcock's  remark,  "  The  Sen- 
ator has  shown  no  violation  of  it,"  Sen- 
ator Fall  replied: 

But  the  Senator  himself  is  suggesting 
that  the  President  has  the  right  to  vio- 
late it.  So  long  as  we  have  not  entered 
into  a  treaty  of  peace  with  t.ie  last  por- 
tion of  the  former  Austrian  Empire  the 
dictatorship  in  this  country  and  through- 
out the  world  will  continue.  Inat  is  the 
only  logical  deduction  which  can  be  made 
from  the  war  powers  of  the  President 
as  construed  by  his  representatives  here. 

Therefore,  if  we  can  just  hold  off  peace 
with  any  other  country,  the  President 
can  continue  to  exercise  his  war  powers 
abroad,  and  under  his  war  powers,  being 
a  military  dictator,  he  can  use  the  armed 
forces  of  the  country  anywhere  he  pleases 
and  not  be  subject  to  punishment  by  im- 
peachment through  the  Congress.  I  deny 
any  such  construction. 

DEMOCRATS  CONFER 

On  Oct.  21  fifteen  Democratic  Sena- 
tors conferred  as  to  a  policy  regarding 
reservations  projected  by  the  Republican 
majority,  but  no  definite  agreement  was 
reached.  It  developed  at  this  conference 
that  the  Democrats  were  not  united  in 
their  position  respecting  reservations. 
Senator  Hitchcock  announced  that  no 
compromise  would  be  made  regarding 
qualifications  of  the  treaty.  The  same 
day  Senator  McCumber  of  North  Dakota, 


SENATE  DEBATE  ON  THE  PEACE  TREATY 


227 


,who  was  the  leader  of  the  Republican 
group  opposing  textual  amendments,  re- 
ported seven  reservations  which  were  re- 
garded as  quite  as  effective  qualifications 
of  the  treaty  as  any  that  had  been  agreed 
upon  by  Senator  Lodge  and  the  group 
favoring  amendments.  This  action  fore- 
shadowed an  agreement  among  the  Re- 
publicans; it  indicated  that  they  would 
unanimously  support  the  reservation 
program,  which  insured  its  adoption  by 
the  Senate. 

REVISED  RESERVATIONS  REPORTED 

The  Foreign  Relations  Committee  on 
Oct.  22  decided  to  report  a  series  of  re- 
vised reservations  as  substitutes  for 
those  of  Sept.  10.  The  most  important 
addition  was  a  preamble  specifying  that 
all  the  reservations  must  be  accepted  by 
three  of  the  four  principal  allied  powers 
before  they  become  effective.  A  signifi- 
cant feature  of  the  meeting  was  the  fact 
that  Senator  McCumber,  the  Republican 
leader  of  the  group  opposing  amend- 
ments, voted  for  all  the  reservations,  but 
cast  his  vote  against  the  preamble  on 
the  ground  that  it  wa^  tantamount  to  an 
amendment.  Senator  Shields,  Democrat 
of  Tennessee,  voted  for  all  the  reserva- 
tions and  the  preamble. 

In  all,  the  regular  Republicans  of  the 
Foreign  Relations  Committee  had  thir- 
teen reservations  to  be  acted  upon  as 
part  of  the  -reservation  program,  but 
three  were  passed  over  until  a  later 
time. 

Of  the  ten  reservations  accepted  five 
touched  upon  points  already  covered  in 
the  four  original  reservations  adopted 
by  the  committee  six  weeks  ago.  These 
pertained  to  withdrawal;  Article  X., 
concerning  the  guarantee  of  territorial 
integrity  and  political  independence  of 
members  of  the  League;  the  mandate 
over  weak  nations,  which  was  formerly 
part  of  the  reservation  on  Article  X. ;  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  and  domestic  questions, 
such  as  the  tariff  and  immigration. 

The  reservation  on  Article  X.  was  al- 
most identical  in  phrasing  with  that 
which  President  Wilson  denounced  in 
his  Salt  Lake  City  speech  as  being  a 
dagger  thrust  at  the  heart  of  the  treaty. 
This  reservation  alone,  if  adopted,  Sen- 
ator Hitchcock  said,  would  be  enough  to 


impel  the  Administration  forces  to  reject 
the  treaty.  In  effect,  he  said,  it  con- 
stituted an  amendment.  Nearly  all  the 
other  reservations,  he  also  said,  fell  into 
the  same  category. 

The  Shantung  reservation  was  fought 
out  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  com- 
mittee. As  originally  drawn,  it  provided 
that  the  United  States  should  decline  to 
recognize  the  validity  of  any  titles  which 
Germany  assumed  to  have  on  the  Shan- 
tung Peninsula,  which,  under  the  treaty, 
were  turned  over  to  Japan.  This  was 
struck  out  when  Senator  Lodge  became 
convinced  that  it  might  not  muster  the 
support  of  the  majority  of  the  Senate. 

Nine  of  the  ten  reservations  were 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  11  to  6.  On  the 
preamble  the  vote  was  10  to.  7,  with  Sen- 
ator McCumber  switching  his  vote.  The 
vote  on  the  resolution  providing' that  the 
United  States  shall  ac«ept  no  mandate 
except  by  consent  of  Congress  was  12 
to  2,  Senators  Shields  and  Williams  vot- 
ing in  favor  of  it  and  Senators  Smith 
and  Pittman  voting  against  it.  Senators 
Hitchcock  and  Swanson  did  not  vote. 

TEXT  OF  RESERVATIONS 

The  preamble  and  reservations  adopted 
by  the  committee  read: 

PREAMBLE.— The  committee  also  re- 
ports the  following'  reservations  and  un- 
derstandings to  be  made  a  part  and  a  con- 
dition of  the  resolution  of  ratification, 
which  ratification  is  not  to  take  effect  or 
bind  the  United  States  until  the  said  fol- 
lowing reservations  and  understandings 
have  been  accepted  as  a  part  and  a  con- 
dition of  said  instrument  of  ratification 
by  at  least  three  of  the  four  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers,  to  wit, 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan: 

Reservation  No.  1.— The  United  States 
understands  and  construes  Article  I.  that 
in  case  of  notice  of  withdrawal  from  the 
League  of  Nations,  as  provided  in  said 
article,  the  United  States  shall  be  the 
sole  judge  as  to  whether  all  its  interna- 
tional obligations  and  all  its  obligations 
under  the  said  covenant  have  been  ful- 
filled, and  notice  of  withdrawal  by  the 
United  States  may  be  given  by  a  concur- 
rent resolution  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

Reservation  No.  2.— The  United  States 
assumes  no  obligation  to  preserve  the 
territorial  integrity  or  political  indepen- 
dence of  any  other  country  or  to  inter- 
fere in  controversies  between  nations— 
whether  members  of  the  League  or  not — 
under  the  provisions  of  Article  X.,  or  to 


228 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


employ  the  military  or  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States  under  any  article  of  the 
treaty  for  any  purpose,  unless  in  any 
particular  case  the  Congress,  which,  un- 
der the  Constitution,  has  the  sole  power 
to  declare  war  or  to  authorize  the  em- 
ployment of  the  military  or  naval  forces 
of  the  United  States,  shall,  by  act  or  joint 
resolution,  so  provide. 

Reservation  No.  S. — No  mandate  shall 
be  accepted  by  the  United  States  under 
Article  XXII.,  Part  1,  or  any  other  pro- 
vision of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Ger- 
many, except  by  action  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States. 

Reservation  No,  4.— The  United  States 
reserves  to  itself  exclusively  the  right  to 
decide  what  questions  are  within  its  do- 
mestic Jurisdiction,  and  declares  that  all 
.domestic  and  political  questions  relating 
wholly  or- in  part  to  Its  internal  affairs, 
including  immigration,  labor,  coastwise 
traffic,  the  tariff,  commerce,  and  all 
other  domestic  questions,  are  solely  with- 
in the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
and  are  not  under  this  treaty  to  be  sub- 
mitted in  any  -vway.  either  to  arbitration  or 
to  the  consideration  of  the  Council  or  As- 
sembly of  the  League  of  Nations  or  any 
agency  thereof,  or  to  the  decision  or  rec- 
ommendation of  any  other  power. 

Reservation  No.  5.— The  United  States 
will  not  submit  to  arbitration  by  the  as- 
sembly or  the  council  of  the  League  of 
Nations  (provided  for  in  said  treaty  of 
peace)  any  questions  which  in  the  Judg- 
ment of  the  United  States  depend  on  or 
relate  to  its  long-established  policy,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine; 
said  doctrine  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the 
United  States  alone,  and  is '  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  wholly  outside  the  jtirisdic- 
tion  of  said  League  of  Nations  and  en- 
tirely unaffected  by  any  provision  con- 
tained in  the  said  treaty  of  peace  with 
Germany. 

Reservation  No.  6.— The  United  States 
withholds  its  assent  to  Articles  156,  157. 
and  158,  and  reserves  full  liberty  of  action 
with  respect  to  any  controversy  which 
may  arise  under  said  articles  between  the 
Republic  of  China  and  the  Empire  of 
Japan. 

Reservation  No.  8.— The  United  States 
understands  that  the  Reparations  Com- 
mission will  regulate  or  interfere  with  ex- 
ports from  the  United  States  to  Germany, 
or  from  Germany  to  the  United  States, 
only  when  the  United  States  by  its  Con- 
gress approves  such  regulation  or  inter- 
ference. 

Reservation  No.  9.—  The  United  States 
shall  not  be  obligated  to  contribute  to  any 
expenses  of  the  League  of  Nations  or  sec- 
retariat or  any  commission,  committee, 
or  conference  or  other  agency,  organized 
under  the  League  of  Nations,  or  under  the 
treaty,  or  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out 
the  treaty  provisions,  unless  and  until  an 
appropriation  of  funds  available  for  such 


expenses  shall  have  been  made  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Reservation  No.  10.— It  the  United 
States  shall  at  any  time  adopt  any  plan 
for  the  limitation  of  armaments  proposed 
by  the  council  of  the  League  of  Nations 
under  the  provisions  of  Article  VIII.,  it 
reserves  the  right  to  increase  such  arma- 
ment without  the  consent  of  the  council 
whenever  the  United  States  is  threatened 
with  invasion  or  engaged  In  war. 

Reservation  No.  12.—  The  United  States 
reserves  the  right  to  permit,  in  its  discre- 
tion, the  nationals  of  a  covenant-breaking 
State,  as  defined  in  Article  XVI.  of  the 
covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations,  to 
continue  their  commercial,  financial,  and 
personal  relations  with  the  nationals  of 
the  United  States. 

The  three  reservations  passed  over  by 
the  committee  were: 

Reservation  No.  7.— The  Congress  of  the 
United  States  by  law  will  provide  for  the 
appointment  of  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States  in  the  assembly  and  the 
council  of  the  League  of  Nations,  and 
may  in  its  discretion  provide  for  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  United  States  in  any 
commission,  committee,  tribunal,  court, 
council,  of  conference,  or  in  the  selection 
of  any  members  thereof  and  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  members  of  said  commis- 
sion, committee,  court,  council,  or  con- 
ference, or  any  other  representatives  un- 
der the  treaty  of  peace,  or  in  carrying 
out  its  provisions  and  until  such  partici- 
pation and  appointment  have  been  so  pro- 
vided for,  and  the  powers  and  duties  of 
such  representative  so  defined,  no  person 
shall  represent  the  United  States  under 
either  such  said  League  of  Nations  or 
the  treaty,  or  be  authorized  to  perform 
any  act  for  or  on  behalf  of  the  United 
States  thereunder,  and  no  citizen  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  elected  or  appointed 
as  a  member  of  said  commissions,  com- 
mittees, courts,  councils,  or  conferences 
except  with  the  approval  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United   States. 

Reservation  No.  11.—  The  United  States 
construes  sub-division  "  C  "  of  Article 
XXIII.  to  mean  that  the  League  shall 
refuse  to  recognize  agreements  with  re- 
gard to  the  traffic  in  women  and  chil- 
dren and  that  the  League  shall  use  every 
means  possible  to  abolish  and  do  away 
with  such  practice. 

Reservation  No.  13.— Nothing  in  Articles 
296,  297,  or  in  any  of  the  annexes  thereto, 
or  in  any  other  article,  provision,  sec- 
tion or  annex  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
Germany  shall,  as  against  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  be  taken  to  mean  any  con- 
firmation, ratification  or  approval  of  any 
act  otherwise  illegal  or  in  contravention  of 
the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

(This  pertains  to  the  provisions  of  .tin- 
sections  dealing  with  alien  property.) 


SENATE  DEBATE  ON  THE  PEACE  TREATY 


229 


The  Senate  Foreign  Relations  Commit- 
tee on  Oct.  23  adopted  four  more  reserva- 
tions to  the  treaty,  making  fourteen  in 
all.  Included  in  these  four  was  Reserva- 
tion No.  7,  as  it  is  printed  herewith,  ex- 
cept that  commissions,  if  any,  are  to  be 
chosen  by  "  The  Senate  "  instead  of  by 
"  The  Congress."  No.  12,  as  it  appears 
above,  was  also  adopted.  The  following 
new  Reservation  No.  13,  offered  by 
Senator  Shields,  Democrat,  of  Tennessee, 
was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  10  to  7,  one 
Republican  member,  Senator  McCumber, 
voting  No: 

The  United  States  declines  to  accept  any 
interest  as  trustee,  or  in  her  own  right,  or 
to  accept  any  responsibility,  for  the  govern- 
ment or  disposition  of  the  overseas  posses- 
sions of  Germany  to  which  Germany  re- 
nounces her  right  and  titles  to  the  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers  under  Articles 
119  to  127,   inclusive. 

In  putting  the  original  Reservation 
No.  2  into  No.  4,  which  provides  that 
the  United  States  reserves  the  right  to 
determine  what  questions  are  within  its 
domestic  jurisdiction,  the  committee 
voted  to  add  to  the  latter  reservation 
the  phrase :  "  And  the  suppression  of 
the  traffic  in  women  and  children,  and 
in  opium  and  other  dangerous  drugs." 


Senator  Shields  also  moved  that  the 
Chairman  be  instructed  to  draw  a  res- 
ervation covering  the  "  national  honor 
and  vital  interests  "  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  the  language  of  the  Root  treaties 
of  1908,  and  was  suggested  by  Senator 
Reed  of  Missouri,  a  Democrat,  but  not  a 
member  of  the  committee.  This  motion 
was  passed,  10  to  5,  and  the  wording  of 
the  reservation  was  left  to  Senator 
Lodge,  who  offered  the  following  on 
Oct.  24  as  Reservation  No.  14: 

The  United  States  reserves  to  itself  ex- 
clusively the  right  to  decide  what  ques- 
tions affect  its  honor  or  its  vital  interests 
and  declares  that  such  questions  are  not 
under  this  treaty  to  be  submitted  in  any 
way  either  to  arbitration  or  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Council  or  the  Assembly 
of  the  League  of  Nations  or  any  agency 
thereof,  or  to  the  decision  or  recommenda- 
tion of  any   other  power. 

At  the  time  of  going  to  press  the 
Senate  had  before  it  the  amendment  of 
Senator  Johnson  of  California  to  equalize 
the  voting  strength  of  the  United  States 
with  the  six  votes  of  Great  Britain  and 
its  dominions.  It  was  believed  this 
amendment  would  be  defeated,  and,  it 
was  agreed  that,  if  so,  it  would  be  re- 
ported as  the  fifteenth  reservation. 


New  Zealand's  Premier  on  the  Treaty 


THE  Prime  Minister  of  New  Zealand, 
William  F.  Massey,  who  had  repre- 
sented his  dominion  (with  Sir  Joseph 
Ward)  at  the  Peace  Conference  in  Paris, 
gave  an  account  of  his  stewardship  to  a 
large  audience  at  Wanganui,  New  Zea- 
land, on  Sept.  6,  1919.  He  said  the 
Paris  Conference  was  the  most  important 
the  British  dominions  had  ever  taken 
part  in,  and  they  had  been  admitted  on 
terms  of  equality  with  the  empire  and 
the  allied  nations. 

When  war  broke  out,  Germany  held 
two  important  strategical  islands  in  the 
Pacific.  New  Zealand  now  held  one — 
Samoa — and  Australia  the  other — Ra- 
baul. 

Coming  to  the  question  of  Nauru  Isl- 
and, Mr.  Massey  explained  that  it  was 


the  most  important  phosphates  bearing 
island  in  the  Pacific.  It  was  in  Ger- 
many's hands  when  war  broke  out,  and 
a  company  of  Germans  and  British  were 
working  the  deposits.  New  Zealanders 
had  had  their  eyes  on  the  island  for 
many  years,  and  when  it  was  seen  that 
Germany  was  going  to  lose  the  island, 
some  New  Zealanders,  of  whom  Mr. 
Massey  was  one,  thought  New  Zealand 
should  get  it.  Australian  and  New  Zea- 
land delegates  did  not  agree  as  to  who 
should  have  the  mandate  over  the  island, 
so  it  was  eventually  decided,  on  Mr. 
Massey's  proposal,  that  Great  Britain 
should  take  the  mandate. 

So  far  as  the  New  Hebrides  was  con- 
cerned, Mr.  Massey  hoped  the  Condomin- 
ium would  be  ended  as  soon  as  possible. 


American  Demobilization   Completed 

Political  and  Economic  Developments  in  the 
Transition    From    War    to    Peace    Activities 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  20,  1919] 


THE  armed  forces  raised  and 
equipped  so  rapidly  under  the 
exigencies  of  war  have  been  to  a 
great  extent  absorbed  in  the  gen- 
eral life  of  the  nation.  By  Oct.  14  the 
American  Army  had  been  virtually  de- 
mobilized. The  strength  of  the  army 
had  been  reduced  to  less  than  300,000 
men,  and,  so  far  as  wartime  prohibition 
was  concerned,  the  ban  could  have  been 
lifted  at  once  by  the  President,  provided 
the  Peace  Treaty  had  been  ratified  and 
his  proclamation  of  peace  were  issued. 

The  estimated  strength  of  the  army 
on  Oct.  14  was  290,447.  Of  this  number, 
26,753  were  in  Europe,  5,672  en  route 
from  Europe,  and  224,498  in  the  United 
States.  From  Nov.  11,  1918,  to  Oct.  16, 
1919,  a  total  of  3,403,796  troops  were 
reported  discharged. 

The  cost  of  the  war  to  the  United 
States  1n  man  power  was  estimated  offi- 
cially on  Sept.  23  as  116,492  dead  and 
205,590  wounded,  a  total  of  322,182. 
These  figures  include  losses  to  army  and 
marine  units  on  all  fronts  to  Sept.  1. 

Those  killed  in  action  totaled  35,585, 
or  11  per  cent,  of  the  entire  list;  died  of 
wounds,  14,742;  died  of  disease,  58,073; 
died  of  accident  and  other  causes,  8,092. 
Under  the  head  of  "  missing,"  the  an- 
nouncement records  a  zero,  with  the 
notation  "  all  corrected." 

The  War  Department  announced  on 
Oct.  6  that  33.8  per  cent,  of  our  men 
wounded  in  the  war  were  gas  casualties. 
The  number  wounded  in  action  was  220,- 
403,  of  which  74,573  represented  gas 
casualties.  The  number  of  fatal  gas 
casualties  was  1,194,  or  1.6  per  cent.  The 
number  of  wounded  from  other  causes 
who  died  was  13,519,  or  6.7  per  cent. 

Those  gassed  and  admitted  to  hos- 
pitals, by  type  of  gas,  were  as  follows: 


Kind  of  Gas.           Officers.  Men.  Total. 

Not    specified 1,201  31.812  26,013 

Mustard     822  27,046  27,868 

-Phosgene     415  6,698  7,113 

Chlorine    32  1,890  1,922 

Yperite    '. 30  901  931 

Arsine     30  569  599 

Asphyxiating   3  124  127 

Total    2,533      72,040      74,573 

Deaths  in  hospitals.        26        1,168        1,194 

1,700  OFFICERS  QUIT  ARMY 

It  was  stated  on  Oct.  4  that  the  resig- 
nation of  more  than  300  officers  from 
the  regular  army  had  been  accepted  by 
the  President  within  the  six  weeks  pre- 
ceding, and  that  more  were  being  filed 
and  accepted  daily.  The  last  War  De- 
partment report  shows  that  1,622  offi- 
cers have  resigned  since  the  armistice, 
and  if  resignations  accepted  since  the 
report  was  issued  are  added,  the  num- 
ber, it  is  stated,  will  exceed  1,700.  The 
high  cost  of  living  and  the  inability  of 
officers,  especially  the  younger  officers 
in  the  lower  grades,  to  make  both  ends 
meet  continues  to  be  the  principal  cause 
of  the  resignations.  In  a  few  months 
more  officers  have  resigned  than  re- 
signed in  all  the  years  from  the  close  of 
the  civil  war  up  to  the  time  this  coun- 
try declared  war  on  Germany  in  April, 
1917.  Within  a  few  weeks  all  the  offi- 
cers now  holding  advanced  or  emergency 
ranking  in  the  regular  army  will  have 
been  demoted  to  their  original  grades  in 
the  service,  which  means  that  their  pay 
will  revert  to  the  scale  of  1908,  when  the 
last  army  pay  legislation  was  enacted. 
The  last  War  Department  report  re- 
corded 1,565  such  demotions  since  the 
armistice,  and  several  hundred  have  been 
added  since  the  report  was  issued. 

To  meet  the  emergency  thus  created 
the  War  Department  on  Oct.  22  asked 
Congress  to  increase  the  pay  of  army 


AMERICAN  DEMOBILIZATION  COMPLETED 


<31 


officers  30  per  cent,  and  that  of  enlisted 
men  50  per  cent.,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  cope  with  the  increased  cost  of 
living. 

AIR   SERVICE   UNITS 

Plans  of  the  War  Department  for  the 
organization  and  location  of  air  service 
units  on  the  basis  of  the  temporary  allot- 
ment of  12,088  officers  and  men  to  that 
branch  of  the  army  were  announced  on 
Oct.  9.  The  force  to  be  maintained  tem- 
porarily at  Hazelhurst  Field,  Long 
Island,  will  comprise  39  officers  and  284 
men.  The  Hazelhurst  Field  force  will 
consist  of  the  5th  Observation  Squadron 
of  19  officers  and  132  men  and  the  14th 
Photographic  Section  of  1  officer  and 
20  men,  which  is  to  be  newly  organized. 

The  force  to  be  maintained  in  the  Phil- 
ippines will  be  the  1st  Observation  Group 
Headquarters  of  8  officers  and  50  men, 
the  2d  Observation  Squadron  of  19 
officers  and  132  men,  the  3d  Observation 
Squadron  of  19  officers  and  132  men, 
and  the  6th  Photographic  Section  of  1 
officer  and  20  men. 

A  force  of  equal  size  has  boen  as- 
signed to  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  consist- 
ing of  the  2d  Observation  Group  Head- 
quarters of  8  officers  and  50  men,  the 
4th  Observation  Squadron  of  19  officers 
and  132  men,  the  6th  Observation  Squad- 
ron of  19  officers  and  132  men,  and  the 
11th  Photographic  Section  of  1  officer 
and  20  men. 

For  the  Canal  Zone  the  force  is  to 
comprise  28  officers  and  202  men,  in- 
cluding the  3d  Observation  Group  Head- 
quarters of  8  officers  and  50  men,  the 
7th  Observation  Squadron  of  19  officers 
and  132  men,  and  the  12th  Photographic 
Section  of  1  officer  and  20  men. 

PROMOTION  OF  GENERAL  CROWDER 

The  Senate  on  Oct.  7,  by  a  vote  of  49 
to  11,  passed  the  bill  which,  if  concurred 
in  by  the  lower  house,  will  retire  Major 
Gen.  Enoch  H.  Crowder,  the  Judge  Advo- 
cate General  of  the  Army,  as  a  Lieuten- 
ant General  of  the  regular  establishment. 
Senator  Chamberlain's  amendment  to 
make  Major  Gens.  Hunter  Liggett,  Rob- 
ert Lee  Bullard,  Leonard  Wood,  Henry 
P.  McCain,  Charles  P.  Summerall,  Ernest 
Hinds,    Harry    F.    Rogers,    William    C. 


Langfitt,  George  W.  Goethals,  Surgeon 
Gen.  Merritte  W.  Ireland,  and  Colonel 
William  L.  Kenley  Lieutenant  Generals 
was  defeated  by  a  viva  voce  vote. 

Ten  Democratic  Senators  voted  against 
promoting  General  Crowder:  Senators 
Bankhead  of  Alabama,  Dial  of  South 
Carolina,  Gay  of  Louisiana,  Gerry  of 
Rhode  Island,  Harrison  of  Mississippi, 
Owen  of  Oklahoma,  Shields  of  Tennessee, 
Trammell  of  Florida,  Williams  of  Mis- 
sissippi, and  Chamberlain  of  Oregon.  The 
only  Republican  voting  against  the  pro- 
motion was  Senator  La  Follette  of  Wis- 
consin. 

INCREASED  NAVY  PAY 

Additional  increases  in  navy  pay  suf- 
ficient to  make  the  present  rates  80  per 
cent,  greater  than  the  standards  of  1914, 
to  conform  to  the  increase  in  the  cost  of 
living,  were  recommended  to  the  House 
Naval  Committee  on  Oct.  15  by  Rear 
Admiral  Samuel  McGowan,  Chief  of  the 
Navy  Bureau  of  Supplies  and  Accounts. 
Adoption  of  this  recommendation,  he 
said,  would  involve  an  additional  ex- 
penditure of  $131,000,000  a  year. 

Thereafter,  he  told  the  committee,  the 
pay  schedules  should  be  frequently  ad- 
justed to  meet  changes  in  the  cost  of 
living.  This  could  be  done,  the  Admiral 
said,  through  a  system  of  index  num- 
bers, such  as  are  now  in  use  by  the 
Department  of  Labor. 

Increased  allowances  for  midshipmen 
at  Annapolis  also  were  urged  by  Ad- 
miral McGowan.  Concurring  in  this  rec- 
ommendation, Representative  Hicks,  Re- 
publican of  New  York,  pointed  out  that 
officers  at  sea  have  bedding,  toilet  ar- 
ticles, and  other  equipment  furnished 
them,  while  the  midshipmen  must  pay 
for  all  of  this  out  of  their  pay. 

Secretary  Daniels,  in  conference,  Oct. 
13,  with  Chairman  Page  of  the  Senate 
Naval  Committee,  was  said  to  have  ac- 
quiesced in  the  Senate  proposal  to  give 
the  retirement  rank  of  Vice  Admiral  to 
Rear  Admirals  Sims,  Benson,  and  Mayo, 
instead  of  the  rank  of  Admiral,  which 
was  proposed  for  the  first  two  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson.  The  nomination  of  Admiral 
Coontz  to  be  Chief  of  Naval  Operations, 
also  was  discussed  at  the  conference. 
This  nomination  had  not  yet  been  con- 


232 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


firmed  at  that  date,  owing  to  some  op- 
position on  political  grounds. 

FEDERAL  RESERVE  BOARD  REPORT 
ON  HIGH  PRICES 

The  bulletin  of  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board  for  October  pointed  out  that  there 
was  no  hope  of  a  real  reduction  in  prices 
until  the  purchasing  power  of  the  dollar 
was  restored  and  production  increased. 
Discussing  the  high  cost  of  living  prob- 
lem, this  comment  was  made: 

That  the  'high  price  levels  which  have 
been  attained  in  the  United  States  present 
a  grave  situation  is  clear  from  the  atten- 
tion which  current  discussion  of  the 
causes  of  industrial  unrest  is  directing 
to  the  cost  of  living  problem.  It  presents 
the  most  urgent  and  immediate  phase  of 
the  problem  of  post-war  business  and 
industrial  readjustment.  It  promises  to 
remain  a  persistent  phase  of  post-war 
conditions  unless  its  na.ure  and  cause 
are  understood  and  a  rational  economic 
attitude  toward  it  is  developed. 

So  far  as  the  profiteering  practices 
*  *  *  are  responsible  for  the  price  ag- 
gravations which  have  been  experienced 
In  recent  months,  some  considerable  miti- 
gation of  the  cost  of  living  situation  may 
be  expected.  *  *  *  The  problem  of  re- 
ducing the  cost  of  living  is,  however, 
mainly  that  of  restoring  the  purchasing 
power  of  the  dollar.  The  dollar  has  lost 
purchasing  power  because  expansion  of 
credit,  under  the  necessities  of  war 
financing,  proceeded  at  a  rate  more  rapid 
than  the  production  and  the  saving  of 
goods.  The  return  to  a  sound  economic 
condition  and  one  which  will  involve  as 
little  further  disturbance  of  normal  eco- 
nomic relationships  as  possible  will  be  a 
reversal  of  the  process  which  has  brought 
the  country  to  its  present  pass.  In  other 
words,  the  way  in  must  be  the  way  out. 
As  the  way  in  was  expansion  of  credit 
at  a  rate  more  rapid  than  expansion  of 
production  and  saving,  so  the  way  out 
must  be  an  increase  in  production  and 
in  saving.  The  effect  of  increased  pro- 
duction will  be  to  place  a  larger  volume 
of  goods  against  the  greatly  enlarged 
volume  of  our  purchasing  media  and  thus 
to  reduce  prices.  The  effect  of  increased 
saving  will  be  a  reduction  in  the  volume 
of  purchasing  media  in  use  and,  by  con- 
sequence,   a   reduction   of   prices   also. 

The  cost  of  living  problem  on  its  finan- 
cial side  is  misconceived  unless  it  is  con- 
ceived as  the  problem  of  restoring  the 
value  of  the  dollar.  To  accept  the  de- 
preciation worked  in  the  dollar  by  war 
conditions  and  to  standardize  the  dollar 
of  the  future  on  this  basis  would  be  to 
ratify  the  inflation  wrought  by  the  war 
and  the  injustice  it   produced.     No   arti- 


ficial solution  for  an  economic  situation 
of  this  kind  is  likely  to  commend  itself 
to  the  better  judgment  and  the  sense  of 
equity  of  the  country,  even  could  some 
artificial  method  of  dealing  witn  the 
question  of  monetary  depreciation  be  de- 
vised which  would  not  bring  in  its  train 
a  crop  of  new  difficulties  and  problems. 

TO  CUT  LIVING  COST 
The  United  States  Council  of  National 
Defense  on  Oct.  5  issued  the  following 
statement  to  the  public  defining  the  rea- 
sons of  the  high  cost  of  living  and  the 
remedies: 

The  United  States  Council  of  National 
Defense,  composed  of  the  Secretaries  of 
War,  Navy,  Interior,  Agriculture,  Com- 
merce, and  Labor,  has  made  a  careful 
investigation  of  the  high  cost  of  living 
problem,  and  finds: 

That  the  nation's  productive  powers 
have  not  been  fully  utilized  since  the 
armistice. 

That  too  few  goods,  notably  the  neces- 
sities of  life,  have  been  produced,  and 
that  even  some  of  these  goods  have  been 
withheld  from  the  market,  and  therefore 
from  the  people. 

That  the  high  cost  of  living  is  due  in 
part  to  unavoidable  war  waste  and  in- 
crease of  money  and  credit. 

That  there  has  been  and  is  considerable 
profiteering,  intentional  and  uninten- 
tional. 

•The  council  believes  that  the  remedies 
for  the  situation  are: 

To  produce  more  goods,  and  to  produce 
them  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  the 
people. 

To  stamp  out  profiteering  and  stop  un- 
necessary hoarding. 

To  enforce  vigorously  present  laws  and 
promptly  to  enact  such  further  laws  as 
are  necessary  to  prevent  and  punish 
profiteering  and  needless  hoarding. 

To  bring  about  better  co-operation  and 
method  in  distributing  and  marketing 
goods. 

To  keep  both  producer  and  consumer 
fully  informed  as  to  what  goods  are 
needed  and  as  to  what  supplies  are  avail- 
able, so  that  production  may  anticipate 
the  country's  demands. 

Goods  and  not  money  are  the  means  of 
life.  Better  standards  of  living  are  im- 
possible without  producing  more  goods. 
Man  cannot  consume  what  has  not  been 
produced. 

At  the  war's  end  our  allies  had  des- 
perate need  of  the  essentials  of  life.  We 
have  had  to  share  our  resources  with 
them,  but  this  drain  will  gradually  lessen. 
In  so  far  as  our  shortage  of  goods  is  due 
to  this  cause,  we  can  well  afford  to  be 
patient. 

It  is  just  as  essential  that  we  have 
patience  with  the  economic  situation  here 
at  home.  The  process  of  production  re- 
quires time.  If  production  is  rapidly  in- 
creased, vastly  improved  conditions  will 
prevail  in  America  when  the  results  of 
present  and  future  labor  begin  to  appear. 

Team-work  is  imperative.     It  is  just  as 


AMERICAN  DEMOBILIZATION  COMPLETED 


■I):', 


essential  between  retailer,  wholesaler,  and 
producer  as  it  is  between  employer  and 
employe.  One  group  of  producers  cannot 
wait  on  another  group.  The  manufac- 
turer, the  farmer,  the  distributer  must 
each  immediately  assume  his  part  of  the 
burden  and  enter  upon  his  task.  The 
nation  cannot  afford  curtailment  of  goods 
vital  to  the  people.   . 

On  American  business  rests  a  grave  re- 
sponsibility for  efficient  co-operation  in 
bringing  about  full  and  preportionate 
production.  On  American  labor  rests  an 
equally  grave  responsibility  to  attain 
maximum  unit  production  and  maintain 
uninterrupted  distribution  of  goods,  if 
labor  itself  is  not  to  suffer  from  further 
rises  in  the  cost  of  living. 

The  entire  nation— producer,  distributer, 
and  consumer  alike— should  return  to  the 
unity  that  won  the  war.  Group  interest 
and  undue  personal  gain  must  give  way 
to  the  good  of  the  whole  nation  if  the 
situation  is  to  be  squarely  met. 


Our  common  duty  now,  fully  as  much 
as  in  the  war,  is  to  work  and  to  save. 
In  the  words  of  the  President  in  his  ad- 
dress to  the  country  on  Aug.  25,  1910, 
only  "  by  increasing  production,  and  by 
rigid  economy  and  saving  on  the  part  of 
the  people,  can  we  hope  for  large  de- 
creases in  the  burdensome  cost  of  living 
which  now  weighs  us  down." 

Work,  save,  co-operate,  produce. 
NEWTON  D.  BAKER,  Secretary  of  War 

and  Chairman  of  the  Council. 
JOSEFHUS  DANIELS,   Secretary  of  the 

Navy. 
FRANKLIN  K.   LANE,   Secretary  of  the 

Interior. 
DAVID  P.  HOUSTON,  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture. 
WILLIAM   C.    REDPIEDD,    Secretary   of 

Commerce. 
WILLIAM     B.     WILSON,     Secretary     of 

Labor. 
GROSVENOR    B.    CLARKSON,    Director 

of  the  Council. 


Prohibition  Enforcement  Law 

Summary    of    Its    Provisions 


ENACTMENT  of  the  Prohibition 
Enforcement  bill  was  completed 
Oct.  10,  1919,  when  the  United 
States  House  of  Representatives  adopted 
the  conference  report  already  agreed  to 
by  the  Senate  and  sent  the  measure  to 
the  President  for  approval.  Before  the 
approval  of  the  report  by  a  vote  of  321 
to  70,  a  vain  effort  had  been  made  to 
send  it  back  to  conference,  with  instruc- 
tions to  eliminate  a  section  permitting 
State  authorities  to  issue  search  war- 
rants. 

Complete  Congressional  approval  of 
the  bill  meant  that  the  days  of  2.75  per 
cent,  beer  were  numbered.  The  bill 
would  become  effective  automatically  by 
Oct.  29  if  the  President's  illness  pre- 
vented his  signing  it.  The  wartime  en- 
forcement section,  as  well  as  the  consti- 
tutional enforcement  portion,  prohibits 
manufacture  or  sale  of  any  liquor  con- 
taining more  than  one-half  of  1  per  cent, 
of  alcohol. 

Anti-prohibition  members  of  the  House 
made  their  last  fight  on  the  motion  of 
Representative  Igoe,  (Dem.,  Mo.,)  who 
protested  against  "  State  officers  en- 
forcing   a    Federal    law    through    their 


authority  to  issue  search  warrants,"  and, 
complained  that  a  similar  provision  had 
been  defeated  in  the  House.  Representa- 
tive Webb  of  North  Carolina  said  that 
the  House  disapproval  of  the  provision 
was  due  to  the  false  impression  that 
State  officials  would  have  the  power  of 
arrest  as  well  as  search.  The  House 
voted  down  the  Igoe  motion,  215  to  83. 

The  chief  contention  between  the 
House  and  the  Senate,  involving  the 
question  whether  the  burden  of  proof 
that  liquor  held  in  a  dwelling  was  law- 
fully acquired  should  rest  upon  the  pos- 
sessor or  the  Government,  was  settled 
by  leaving  the  burden  of  proof  upon  the 
possessor.  Howevei',  the  possession  of 
liquor  itself  in  a  dwelling  is  made  legal 
and  the  owner  is  allowed  to  serve  it  to 
bona  fide  guests. 

Under  the  agreement  the  manufacture 
of  light  wines,  cider,  and  fruit  juices  is 
allowed  in  the  home,  and  such  cider  and 
fruit  juices  may  be  sold  to  persons  hav- 
ing permits  to  manufacture  vinegar. 
The  sale  of  preserved  sweet  cider  is  also 
allowed. 

All  liquors  containing  more  than  one- 
half  of  1  per  cent,  of  alcohol  are  classed 


•m 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


as  intoxicating.     That  part  of  the  con- 
ference report  reads  as  follows: 

The  words  "  beer,  wine,  or  other  in- 
toxicating malt  or  vinous  liquors  "  in  the 
war  prohibition  act  shall  be  hereafter 
•  onstrued  to  mean  any  such  beverage 
which  contains  one-half  of  1  percentum 
or  more  of  alcohol  by  volume,  provided 
that  tVie  foregoing  definition  shall  not 
extend  to  dealcoholized  wine  nor  to  any 
beverage  or  liquid  produced  by  the  process 
by  which  beer,  ale,  porter,  or  wine  is 
produced,  if  it  contains  less  than  one-half 
of  1  percentum  of  alcohol  by  volume  and 
is  made  as  prescribed  in  this  act,  and  is 
otherwise  denominated  than  as  beer,  ale, 
or  porter  and  is  contained  and  sold  in  or 
from  such  sealed  and  labeled  bottles, 
casks,  or  containers  as  the  Commissioner 
of  Internal  Revenue  may  by  regulation 
prescribe. 

The  section  of  the  report  dealing  with 
the  use  of  liquor  in  one's  home  reads: 

It  shall  not  be  unlawful  to  possess 
liquors  in  one's  private  dwelling  while  the 
same  is  occupied  and  used  by  him  as  his 
dwelling  only,  and  such  liquor  need  not 
be  reported,  provided  such  liquors  are  for 
use  only  for  the  personal  consumption  of 
the  owner  thereof  and  his  family  residing 
in    such    dwelling,    and    of   his    bona   fide 

„  guests  when  entertained  by  him  therein; 
ancj  the  burden  of  proof  shall  be  upon  the 
possessor  in  any  action  concerning  the 
same  to  prove  that  such  liquor  was  law- 
fully acquired,  possessed,  and  used. 
The  conferees  made  a  change  in  the 

section   regulating    manufacture    in   the 

dome,  the  section  now  reading: 

The  penalties  provided  in  this  act 
against  the  manufacture  of  liquor  with- 
out a  permit  shall  not  apply  to  a  person 

,  for  manufacturing  non-intoxicating  cider 
and  fruit  juices  exclusively  for  use  in  his 
home,    but    such    cider    and    fruit    Juices 


may  be  sold  to  persons  having  permits  to 
manufacture  vinegar. 

The  manufacture  of  near-beer  was 
provided  for  by  making  it  liable  to  regu- 
lations to  be  issued  by  the  Internal  Reve- 
nue Collector  and  sold  in  "  sealed  and 
labeled  bottles,  casks,  or  containers," 
which  the  Collector  will  prescribe.  The 
House  bill  placed  upon  the  seller  of  bev- 
erages the  burden  of  proof  to  show  that 
the  beverage  was  non-intoxicating,  but 
the  conferees  changed  this  to  rest  the 
burden  of  proof  upon  the  manufacturer. 

While  the  original  bill  provided  an 
appropriation  of  $3,500,000  for  the  At- 
torney General  and  the  Collector  of  In- 
ternal Revenue  for  enforcement  pur- 
poses, the  agreement  reduces  this  to 
$2,500,000  for  the  Collector,  and  gives 
$100,000  to  the  Attorney  General  for 
organization  purposes. 

Express  authorization  is  made  in  the 
law  for  the  manufacture  of  non-intoxi- 
cating alcoholic  wine,  and  this  may  be 
sold  in  the  same  way  as  is  near-beer. 
However,  it  must  be  limited  to  one-half 
of  1  per  cent.,  unless  made  in  the  home. 
In  the  home  the  only  limitation  is  that 
the  beverage  must  not  be  intoxicating. 

The  penalty  provision  of  the  act  as 
agreed  upon  by  the  conferees  reads: 

Any  person  who  manufactures  or  sells 
liquor  in  violation  of  this  act  shall,  for 
a  first  offense,  be  fined  not  more  than 
$1,000  or  imprisoned  not  exceeding  six 
months,  and  for  a  second  or  subsequent 
offense  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  $200 
nor  more  than  $2,000  and  be  imprisoned 
not  less  than  one  month  nor  more  than 
five  years. 


King  Albert's  Visit  to  America 

Honors    for   Royal    Guests 


ALBERT,KING  OF  THE  BELGIANS, 
accompanied  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  Prince  Leopold,  the  heir-ap- 
parent to  the  throne,  arrived  at  New 
York  Oct.  1,  1919,  on  the  transport 
George  Washington.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  a  reigning  sovereign  had  ever 
visited  the  Unite'd  States.  The  royal 
party  was  greeted  at  the  pier  by  Vice 
President   Marshall.     Before  his  formal 


welcome  had  begun  the  King  issued  the 
following  message  to  the  American  peo- 
ple: 

At  the  moment  of  setting  foot  on  Amer- 
ican soil  the  King  of  the  Belgians  desires 
to  express  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  the  great  pleasure  with  which  the 
Queen  and  himself  are  coming  to  its 
shores  at  the  invitation  of  President  Wil- 
son. The  King  brings  to  this  nation  of 
friends    the    testimony    of    the    profound 


KING  ALBERT'S  VISIT  TO  AMERICA 


2:35 


.stf.itimi  in  hi!  gratitude  of  his  country- 
men for  the  powerful  aid.  moral  and  ma- 
terial, which  America  gave  them  in  the 
course  of  the  war.  The  name  of  the  Com- 
mission for  the  Relief  of  Belgium  will  live 
eternally  in  the  memory  of  the  Belgians. 

The  King:  rejoices  "at  the  prospect  of 
visiting  the  cities  whose  hearts  fought 
with  the  cities  of  Belgium,  and  whose 
continual  sacrifices  knew  no  measure.  He 
happily  will  be  able  to  meet  the  eminent 
citizens  who,  animated  by  the  highest 
thoughts,  placed  themselves  at  the  head 
of  organizations  for  relieving  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  war.  The  American  people, 
their  splendid  army,  and  their  courageous 
navy  powerfully  served  a  great  ideal. 

The  King  and  Queen  were  formally 
greeted  at  the  pier  by  the  following  per- 
sons: Vice  President  and  Mrs.  Marshall, 
Secretary  of  War  Baker,  the  Secretary 
of  State  and  Mrs.  Robert  Lansing,  Brand 
Whitlock,  Ambassador  to  Belgium,  and 
Mrs.  Whitlock;  General  Peyton  C.  March, 
Chief  of  Staff;  Major  Gen.  David  C. 
Shanks,  Brig.  Gen.  Peter  C.  Davison, 
Prince  de  Croy,  Pierre  Mali,  Belgian 
Consul  General;  Breckinridge  Long, 
Third  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  in 
charge  of  the  reception,  and  G.  Cornell 
Tarler,  Secretary  of  Embassies  in  the 
State  Department,  who  directed  the  tour 
of  the  King  and  Queen. 

The  welcoming  party  was  arranged  in 
a  semicircle  at  the  foot  of  the  gangplank, 
with  Vice  President  Marshall,  designated 
to  represent  President  Wilson  as  spokes- 
man for  the  nation,  nearest  the  ship. 
Preceding  the  Queen,  who  was  followed 
by  Prince  Leopold,  King  Albert  came 
down  the  right-hand  gangplank,  while 
the  Baron  de  Cartier  de  Marchienne,  se- 
lected to  present  officially  the  welcomers 
to  the  King  and  Queen,  descended  the 
other  one. 

As  the  royal  family  reached  the  pier 
the  band  of  the  George  Washington  be- 
gan "  La  Brabanconne,"  the  Belgian  na- 
tional air,  the  infantrymen  brought  their 
bayonet-tipped  rifles  to  port,  all  civilian 
heads  were  uncovered,  and  the.  King 
brought  his  hand  stiffly  to  the  brim  of 
his  hat. 

King  Albert  wore  the  uniform  of  a 
Lieutenant  General  of  the  Belgian  Army, 
the  uniform  he  wore  during  four  years 
as  Commander  in  Chief  of  his  army.  It 
is  of  the  shade  of  the  Marine  Corps  uni- 
form and  devoid  of  colorful  touches  ex- 


cept for  two  triangular  bits  of  red  velvet 
on  each  lapel  of  the  collar,  these  serving 
to  bring  out  the  gold  of  two  bars,  each 
an  inch  long.  He  wore  brown  kid  gloves 
and  carried  a  stout  cane. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  standing  beside  her 
tall  husband,  seemed  diminutive — almost 
a  schoolgirl  in  her  severely  plain  cos- 
tume of  white.  She  wore  a  white  serge 
tailored  suit,  a  small,  round  white  tur- 
ban of  white  feathers,  and  a  heavy  veil, 
also  of  white.  A  small  ermine  collar 
was  about  her  neck,  contrasting  with  her 
black  hair  and  eyes.  Slung  over  her 
shoulder  was  her  hard-working  camera, 
ready  for  action. 

Prince  Leopold,  who  is  18  years  of  ag"e, 
wore  his  uniform  of  a  private — steel 
gray,  edged  with  red  tape — and  his  over- 
seas cap  was  cocked  very  decidedly. 
Neither  he  nor  his  father  wore  a  decora- 
tion of  any  sort. 

When  the  national  anthem  was  ended 
King  Albert  stepped  directly  up  to  the 
Vice  President  and  warmly  shook  hands 
with  him.  Then,  keeping  to  the  program, 
he  stepped  back  a  few  paces  so  that  the 
official  address  of  welcome  of  the  Gov- 
ernment might  be  delivered  to  him. 

Vice  President  Marshall  spoke  as  fol- 
lows: 

Your  Majesty :  The  head  of  this  Govern- 
ment, worn  in  body,  is  unable  to  meet 
and  welcome  you  on  behalf  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  and  himself.  He  has  delegated 
this  pleasing  duty  to  my  less  competent 
hands. 

This  continent,  poetically  speaking,  first 
welcomed  to  its  shores  a  great  pathfinder 
in  Columbus,  who  sailed  on  and  over  un- 
known wastes  of  water  and  uncharted 
seas,  seeking  and  finding  new  worlds  for 
Crown  and  Church.  Since  then  it  h'  s  been 
the  goal  of  many  and  other  pathfinders 
striving  to  walk  in  ways  both  good  and 
evil.  Had  we  but  thought,  many  would 
have  been  unwelcomed.  But  today  there 
is  no  man  in  this  broad  land  who  loves 
liberty,  fidelity,  justice,  and  courage  who 
does  not  gladly  meet  you,  a  King  without 
a  King's  cunning,  a  man  with  a  man's 
high  sense  of  honor,  who  trod  the  Via 
Dolorosa  and  the  Via  Sacra  of  triumph, 
so  by  the  treading  of  that  way  the  world 
might  find  that  treaties  are  not  scraps  of 
paper,  that  above  crown  and  kingdom 
faith  and  courage  must  stand,-  else  the 
banner  of  a  people  becomes  the  much-be- 
spattered badge  of  infamy. 

If  one  who  believes  in  the  right  and  the 
duty  of  the  people  to  rule  themselves  may 
be  bold  without  offense,  I  welcome  yow  to 


236 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  Republic,  somewhat  as  King  of  the 
bravest  people  since  time  began,  but  more 
as  a  man  whose  conduct  will  be  a  mighty 
force  in  steadying  the  world  to  law  and 
order,  to  friendship,  faith,  and  freedom. 

Speaking  so  low  that  his  words  almost 
failed  to  reach  even  those  within  a  few 
feet  of  him,  King  Albert  told  how  great 
was  his  regret  over  the  unsatisfactory 
state  of  President  Wilson's  health,  and 
said  that  he  sincerely  hoped  for  his 
speedy  recovery,  adding  that  the  health 
of  President  Wilson  was  "  precious." 
He  said  that  both  he  and  Queen  Eliza- 
beth considered  their  trip  to  the  United 
States  a  distinct  epoch  ini  their  lives, 
both  being  very  glad  of  the  opportunity 
to  express  their  gratitude  and  the  grati- 
tude of  their  people  to  the  people  of 
America.  King  Albert  said  that  he 
hoped  to  learn  many  lessons  "  from  your 
great  race." 

After  the  formalities  were  ended  the 
royal  party  was  escorted  to  the  Waldorf- 
Astoria,  meeting  with  an  enthusiastic 
demonstration  from  the  people  who  lined 
the  streets. 

On  Oct.  3  the  royal  guests  were  of- 
ficially received  by  the  Mayor,  who  pre- 
sented the  King  with  the  freedom  of  the 
city.  In  the  morning  the  guests  took  a 
cruise  through  New  York  Harbor  and 
at  noon  were  formally  received  by  the 
Mayor  at  the  City  Hall  in  the  presence 
of  20,000  citizens.  In  the  afternoon 
30,000   school   children  greeted  the   vis- 


itors at  Central  Park,  where  the  King 
planted  a  tree. 

King  Albert  was  escorted  over  the  city 
on  Oct.  5,  after  having  made  a  flight 
above  it  in  a  naval  hydroplane  early  in 
the  morning.  The  important  historic 
and  commercial  centres  of  New  York 
were  visited.  Everywhere  the  party 
was  warmly  greeted. 

From  New  York  the  royal  guests  pro- 
ceeded to  Boston,  where  they  received 
another  fervent  welcome.  Cardinal 
Mercier,  who  was  visiting  this  country  at 
the  same  time,  met  the  party  at  Boston 
and  both  Cardinal  and  King  worshipped 
at  Holy  Cross  Cathedral.  The  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  on  King 
Albert  at  Harvard  University.  From 
Boston  the  party  proceeded  to  Niagara 
Falls,  and  thence  westward  to  the  Pacific 
Coast;  at  various  cities  along  the  route 
formal  receptions  were  tendered,  and 
everywhere  there  was  warmth  and 
cordiality  in  the  greetings.  Several  times 
on  this  journey  the  King  climbed  into  the 
engineer's  cab  and  ran  the  locomotive  for 
a  While.  The  illness  of  President  Wilson 
was  often  referred  to  by  the  King  in  his 
addresses  with  deep  regret.  The  royal 
party  expected  to  reach  Washington  on 
Oct.  27,  where  they  had  planned  to  re- 
main until  the  30th  as  guests  of  Vice 
President  Marshall.  The  residence  of  the 
Third  Assistant  Secretary  of,  State  had 
been  assigned  to  their  use  while  in  Wash- 
ington. 


President  Wilson's  Illness 

Abrupt  End  of  His  Tour 


THE  speech-hiaking  tour  of  President 
Wilson  in  advocacy  of  the  League 
of  Nations  covenant,  which  he  had 
begun  on  Sept.  3,  1919,  came  to  an  abrupt 
end  at  Wichita,  Kan.,  on  Sept.  26,  on  . 
account  of  illness.  For  more  than  three, 
weeks  he  had  been  addressing  vast 
crowds  daily  in  large  cities  from  coast 
to  coast.  On  his  homeward  route  he  had 
spoken  at  Sacramento,  Reno,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Cheyenne,  Denver,  and  Peublo,  each 
time  giving  evidence  that  he  was  still  in 


fighting  mood;  but  when  he  reached 
Wichita  he  was  forced  to  abandon  the 
remaining  five  engagements  that  would 
have  completed  his  original  plans.  He 
was  completely  worn  out  by  the  tremen- 
dous mental  and  physical  strain  to  which 
he  had  subjected  himself,  not  only  on  this 
tour,  but  in  his  long  labors  at  Paris,  and, 
indeed,  ever  since  his  election  in  1912. 

Admiral  Gary  T.  Grayson,  the  Presi- 
dent's physician,  in  a  formal  statement 
announced  that  Mr.  Wilson  was  suffering 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  ILLNESS 


M7 


from  "  nervous  exhaustion,"  and  that 
while  his  condition  was  "  not  alarming  " 
he  would  be  obliged  to  rest  for  "  a  con- 
siderable time."  All  the  President's  en- 
gagements for  the  immediate  future  were 
canceled  by  Mr.  Tumulty  on  the  advice 
of  Dr.  Grayson,  who  insisted  that  orders 
for  rest  should  be  carried  out  to  the 
letter. 

President  Wilson  arrived  in  Washing- 
ton at  11  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sept. 
28.  He  walked  unsupported  through  the 
station  to  his  automobile,  and  went  im- 
mediately to  the  White  House,  where 
the  doors  were  closed  to  all  visitors  ex- 
cept members  of  his  family.  When  he 
had  stepped  from  the  train  his  face  was 
drawn  and  there  were  other  evidences 
of  his  extreme  nervous  condition.  The 
first  to  greet  the  President  was  his 
daughter,  Miss  Margaret  Wilson,  who 
came  running  down  the  trainshed  when 
the  special  pulled  in.  The  President 
passed  through  the  station  with  Mrs. 
Wilson,  his  daughter,  Admiral  Grayson, 
and  the  bodyguard  of  Secret  Service  men. 
A  crowd  of  perhaps  1,000  men  and 
women  had  collected  in  the  station. 
Cheering  was  started  when  the  President 
appeared,  and  he  raised  his  hat  several 
times  in  response.  There  was  a  group 
of  wounded  soldiers  on  a  bench  in  the 
Red  Cross  canteen,  and  when  they  ap- 
plauded him,  the  President  smiled  and 
nodded. 

Word  had  gone  out  that  no  one  should 
attempt  to  arrange  for  an  engagement 
with  the  President  or  bring  to  his  atten- 
tion in  any  manner  whatsoever  the  ques- 
tion of  the  contest  over  the  Peace  Treaty 
or  other  problems  which  were  holding1 
the  stage.  This  order,  issued  by  Admiral 
Grayson,  extended  even  to  Senator  Hitch- 
cock, leader  of  the  Administration  forces 
in  the  Senate. 

In  the  weeks  that  ensued  the  Presi- 
dent was  compelled  to  abandon  his  public 
duties  absolutely.  He  was  attended  by 
six  physicians,  most  of  them  specialists. 
Besides  Dr.  Grayson,  who  has  charge  of 
the  case,  Drs.  Ruffin  and  Stitt  of  Wash- 
ington were  for  a  time  in  daily  consulta- 
tion on  the  case.  Dr.  de  Schweinitz,  an 
eye  specialist,  was  summoned  to  the 
White  House  to  make  an  examination  of 
the    President's    eyes.      Dr.    Dercum    of 


Philadelphia,  a  neurologist  with  an  inter- 
national reputation,  was  also  summoned, 
and  twice  visited  the  President  at  the 
White  House.  Dr. '  Stitt,  besides  being 
head  of  the  Naval  Medical  School,  is  an 
expert  on  the  blood.  The  sixth  physician 
was  added  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Fowler, 
who  was  called  in  to  alleviate  a  swollen 
gland. 

Dr.  Grayson  may  be  considered  a  spe- 
cialist on  the  President's  health,  having 
attended  him  ever  since  he  first  came  to 
the  White  House.  He  and  the  other  phy- 
sicians united  in  declaring  that  the 
President  should  undertake  nothing  but 
the  most  important  or  pressing  work, 
that  he  should  refrain  from  any  work 
as  long  as  possible,  that  he  must  continue 
to  have  absolute  rest  for  an  extended 
period. 

In  Washington  there  were  pessimistic 
and  persistent  rumors  as  to  the  serious- 
ness of  the  President's  case.  On  Oct.  11 
these  were  embodied  in  a  private  letter 
— which  became  public — by  Senator 
Moses  of  New  Hampshire,  who  stated 
that  the  President  had  suffered  "  some 
kind  of  a  cerebral  lesion,  either  during 
his  speech  at  Pueblo  or  immediately 
thereafter,  and  one  of  the  readily  dis- 
cernible results  is  a  slight  facial 
paralysis."  Dr.  Graysojfc  checked  the 
further  embellishment  of  this  version  on 
Oct.  13  by  declaring  that  the  President's 
mind  was  "  as  clear  as  a  bell,"  and  that 
if  necessary  he  could  sign  important 
measures  or'do  other  official  acts,  though 
it  was  best  that  he  should  have  absolute 
rest  as  long  as  possible.  This  put  an  end 
to  the  gossip,  then  current,  regarding  his 
"  abdication  "  in  favor  of  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent. The  public,  however,  still  received 
no  word  directly  from  the  President  until 
his  letter  to  the  industrial  conference 
was  made  public  on  Oct.  23.  Though  he 
remained  seriously  ill,  this  clear  and 
characteristic  utterance  was  welcomed 
by  his  friends  as  an  assurance  of  his, 
ultimate  recovery. 

The  illness  of  the  President  called 
forth  letters  and  telegrams  of  sympathy 
and  concern  from  statesmen  and  sover- 
eigns in  all  parts  of  the  world,  both  for 
his  own  sake  and  on  account  of  a  pos- 
sible bearing  on  the  fate  of  the  Peace 
Treaty. 


D'Annunzio  in  Fiume 

His  Occupation  of  the  Adriatic  City  in  Defiance  of  the  Peace 
Conference  and  the  Italian  Government 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  20,  1919] 


GABRIELE  D'ANNUNZIO,  Italy's 
.  poet-soldier,  after  his  dramatic 
entrance  into  the  City  of  Fiume 
on  Sept.  17  at  the  head  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  troops,  took  up  his 
headquarters  in  the  palace,  issued  procla- 
mations right  and  left,  distributed  his 
forces  to  protect  all  strategic  points,  and 
settled  down  to  defy  the  focd  and  mili- 
tary blockace  which  his  own  Govern- 
ment had  instituted  against  him.  After 
two  days  of  demonstrations  by  the  sol- 
diers and  populace,  the  city  grew  calmer, 
and  d'Annunzio  remained  in  undisputed 
control.  On  Sept.  20  a  ileet  of  airplanes 
flew  from  one  of  the  Italian  aviation 
camps,  landing  near  Fiume,  and  placed 
itself  at  the  disposition  of  d'Annunzio. 
A  brigade  of  Lombardy  troops,  on  the 
other  hand,  which  arrived  at  Fiume  to 
join  the  insurgent  forces,  was  sent  back 
to  its  garrison,  mainly  because  of  food 
difficulties.  Another  force  of  5,000 
volunteers  which  had  embarked  tor 
Fiume  on  the  steamer  Prince  Hohenlohe 
was  captured  and  turned  back.  D'An- 
nunzio's  forces  were  estimated  at  9,000. 
The  blockade  by  sea  and  land  was  stated 
at  this  time  to  be  completed,  the  desire 
of  the  Italian  Government  being  to  apply 
economic  pressure,  and  to  avoid  armed 
conflict.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  block- 
ade was  lax  in  the  extreme,  and  food 
supplies  reached  d'Annunzio  throughout 
September  and  October. 

In  answer  to  a  stern  intimation  sent 
him  by  Colonel  Rondaglia,  head  of  the 
staff  in  the  armistice  zone,  that  all  offi- 
cers who  persisted  in  remaining  in  Fiume 
would  be  considered  as  having  passed 
over  to  the  enemy,  Captain  d'Annunzio 
sent  the  following  reply: 

]  have  received  your  communication, 
which  says  that  all  officers  who  remain 
and  defend  in  Fiume  the  honor  of  Italy 
and  the  army  before  the  cowardly,  vile 
world  will  be  considered  as  passed  over 
to  the  enemy.  This  infamous  word  has 
been  uttered  by  you,  Colonel.  It  is  worthy 


of  you  10  ignore  the  Government  whereof 
you  are  a  servant  and  accomplice.  It 
does  not  touch  me  nor  my  companions. 
We  are  mostly  wounded  and  mutilated, 
decorated  several  times  for  valor,  proud 
of  having  dedicated  to  our  country  our 
indefatigable  devotion  from  the  first  day 
of  the  war  until  this  undertaking,  which 
we  consider  the  highest  and  purest  of  all. 
But  if  you  do  not  withdraw  your  in- 
famous word  I  will  brand  you  as  you 
deserve  before  the  nation  and  before  the 
world.  This  I  promise  you.  Take  your 
warning.  Italy  is  with  me ;  with  us,  the 
true,  eternal  Italy.  The  enemy  is  around 
BMume,  which  L  will  defend  to  the  last 
breath  with  every  means.  Here  is  truth, 
falsehood   is  around  us. 

DEFYING    THE   GOVERNMENT 

The  Italian  Government's  second  ulti- 
matum ordering  d'Annunzio  to  return  to 
Rome  with  his  troops  expired  at  mid- 
night on  Sept.  21..  D'Annunzio  flatly 
refused  to  obey  it,  and  began  to  expel  all 
foreigners  from  the  city.  Some  920 
prisoners,  mostly  Jugoslavs,  were  im- 
prisoned. Many  others  left  the  city. 
Foodstuffs  were  commandeered.  D'An- 
nunzio spent  his  leisure  hours  flying 
above  the  Italian  fleet  and  dropping 
pamphlets  across  the  demarkation  line. 
In  all  his  proclamations  he  reiterated  his 
intention  never  to  return  to  Rome  until 
Fiume  became  "  Citta  Italianissima,"  (a 
most  Italian  city.)  In  a  proclamation 
issued  to  the  Italian  people  d'Annunzic 
saiu: 

The  spirit  has  conquered  arrogance, 
insults,  and  darkness.  The  Italians  of 
Garibaldi  have  hearkened  to  the  despair- 
ing cries  of  Fiume.  They  are  in  Fiume 
and    strong   in   Fiume. 

Fiume's  people  are  not  sheep  for  sale 
nor  is  the  city  to  be  disposed  of  by 
auction.  Who  shall  dare  to  separate 
brother  from  brother?  The  world  today 
has  nothing  pure  except  this  breath  of 
Italian  fervor,  this  bronze-enduring  will 
of  Italy.  Italians  against  all  and  every- 
thing !  Remember  the  pyre  Is  lighted 
at  Fiume  and  two  words  only  are  heard. 
"  Flume  or  death."  Brothers,  from 
Fiume    we    stretch    out    our    hands.     We 


D'ANNUNZIO  IN  FIUME 


239 


bid  you  spread  our  fidelity  throughout 
the  land.  Flume's  defenders  have  the 
right  to  know  that  Italy  of  the  victory  of 
Vtneto  Vittorio  is  with  them. 

God  is  with  us  and  so  all  will  turn 
out  as  sworn  by  us.  Have  faith,  pray 
in  your  churches,  your  homes,  in  public 
places.  Lei  every  place  be  a  temple. 
Pray  for  the  whole  victory  on  behalf  of 
the  dead,  for  these  brethren  are  now  re- 
joicing that  Flume  rules  itself.  Help 
us,  Italians !  One  wish  among  us  all 
unites  our  minds  in  one  only  thought: 
Flume   today   Is  Italy's. 

.     A  TYPICAL  ADDRESS 

D'Annunzio  was  very  indignant  be- 
cause General  Badoglio,  whom  the  Gov- 
ernment had  transferred  to  the  armis- 
tice zone  to  replace  the  unpopular  Col- 
onel Robilant,  sent  an  airplane  over 
Fiume  which  dropped  leaflets  inviting 
the  soldiers  to  return  to  duty  not  later 
than  Sept.  18.  Calling  his  officers  and 
soldiers  together,  d'Annunzio  addressed 
them  as  follows: 

I  will  answer  for  you  with  my  head, 
my  spirit,  my  whole  self.  You  are  ac- 
complishing a  work  of  regeneration.  The 
deserters  are  those  who  abandon  our 
Fiume,  those  who  repudiate  her,  repel 
her,  calumniate  her,  committing  the 
basest  crime  against  patriotism  ever  per- 
petrated on  earth.  They  are  no  less  vile 
than  the  fugitives  at  Caporetto,  who  today 
are  rewarded  by  amnesty.  I  repeat,  I 
take  upon  myself  every  accusation,  all 
the  blame  and  the  glory  therein,  and  I 
answer   for  your  immunity. 

The  true  Italian  Army  is  here,  formed 
by  you,  combatants  without  fear  and 
without  reproach.  To  have  participated 
in  this  most  audacious  enterprise  will  be 
the  purest  title  to  glory.  All  your  names 
will  be  included  by  history,  carved  there 
as  in  heroic  marble,  and  rewarded  by 
the  gratitude  of  the  people.  Meanwhile, 
on  Sept.  20,  the  anniversary  of  the  taking 
of  Rome,  I  will  distribute  to  you  all  a 
commemorative   bronze   medal. 

Be  faithful  to  Fiume,  be  true  to  Italy, 
nobody  can  move  us  from  here.  For  my- 
self, I  shall  not  leave  here  alive,  nor  shall 
I  leave  here  when  I  am  dead,  as  I  shall  be 
buried  here,  to  become  one  with  this 
sacred  soil.  Every  day  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  the  warmest  messages  rain  upon 
you.  Even  American  citizens  ask  to  come 
here  to  perform  the  humblest  service. 
The  beauty  of  our  case  touches  all  hearts. 
I  trust  that  each  one  of  you,  firmly 
planted  on  solid  feet,  will  repeat,  with 
head  uplifted,  the  Roman  saying,  the 
motto  of  the  Legionaries,  "  Here  I  re- 
main  Irremovable." 

In  view  of  the  sentiment  of  the  people, 


enthusiastic  for  d'Annunzio's  undertak- 
ing, the  Italian  Government  on  Sept.  22 
sent  an  appeal  to  the  powers  to  dispatch 
an  allied  force,  exclusive  of  Italians,  to 
handle  the  situation.  D'Annunzio,  on  his 
part,  announced  that  he  was  preparing 
appeals  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  King  of  England,  and  the 
President  of  France  for  support.  He 
added : 

My  men  here  are  ready  to  die  for  our 
cause,  while  I  will  not  leave  Fiume  either 
alive  or  dead.  I  have  already  chosen  in 
a  fine  cemetery,  dark  with  cypresses,  a 
small  hill  looking  toward  the  sea,  covered 
with  laurel,  where  I  wish  to  be  buried. 
I  do  not  believe  the  Allies  will  do  any- 
thing against  me,  as  I  will  do  nothing 
against  them.  I  consider  the  blockade, 
however,  contrary  to  the  rights  of  man, 
no  one  having  the  right  to  attempt  to 
starve  the  30.000  inhabitants  of  Fiume 
simply  because  they  wish  to  remain  Ital- 
ians forever.  No  conflict  is  possible  with 
the  Italian  troops,  as  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  single  soldier  who  would  fire 
against  my  men. 

SENTIMENT  IN  ROME 

The  postponement  of  the  reopening  of 
the  Italian  Parliament  from  Sept.  24  to 
Sept.  27  was  considered  an  indication  of 
the  gravity  of  the  situation  as  judged  by 
the  Government.  The  Tribuna  on  Sept. 
23,  commenting  on  the  conference  of 
political  leaders  and  statesmen  with 
King  Victor  Emmanuel  called  for  the 
following  day,  said: 

We  are  facing  a  crisis  of  a  national 
character  involving  the  highest  perma- 
nent interests  of  the  entire  country,  which 
cannot  be  solved  from  a  personal  point 
of  view,  even  by  one  party,  but  must 
have  behind  its  solution  the  whole  na- 
tional opinion.  Italy  must  be  united 
with  a  firm  internal  discipline,  with  a 
view  of  obtaining  the  complete  satisfac- 
tion  of  her  aspirations. 

Leonida  Bissolati,  leader  of  the  Re- 
form Socialists  and  former  Minister  of 
Military  Aid  and  War  Pensions,  in  an 
address  before  the  Congress  of  Italian 
Socialists,  favored  d'Annunzio's  act  in 
seizing  Fiume  for  Italy,  though  disap- 
proving his  further  project  of  annexing 
Dalmatia. 

Great  uneasiness  meanwhile  was  grow- 
ing in  Peace  Conference  circles  in  Paris 
regarding  the  situation  in  Fiume.  It  was 
feared    that    the    movement   started    by 


■no 


THE    NEW    YOUK    TIMES    CVRREST   HISTORY 


d'Annunzio  might  spread  to  other  parts 
of  the  Dalmatian  Coast  and  result  in  the 
occupation  of  Zara,  Cattaro,  and  other 
towns  with  large  Italian  populations 
located  in  districts  where  the  majority  of 
the  inhabitants  were  Jugoslavs.  The 
Jugoslav  delegation  in  Paris  feared  an 
armed  conflict.  That  these  fears  were 
not  groundless  was  shown  in  the  inci- 
dent of  Sept.  24  at  Trau  (Toguire),  Dal- 
matia,  about  150  miles  southeast  of 
Fiume,  when  an  Italian  detachment  with 
several  armored  motor  cars  crossed  the 
line  of  demarkation  and  penetrated  the 
town  after  overcoming  the  resistance  of 
a  few  Jugoslav  soldiers.  The  raiders, 
who  acted  on  their  own  initiative,  were 
fired  on  by  the  inhabitants,  and  left 
hurriedly  after  the  landing  of  some  100 
American  marines,  who  debarked  at  the 
request  of  the  Italian  authorities.  Offi- 
cial reports  sent  by  Admiral  Knapp  to 
Washington  subsequently  emphasized 
this  request,  and  declared  that  the 
American  officers  had  persuaded  the 
Jugoslav  forces  about  to  attack  the  in- 
vaders to  forbear  on  the  assurance  that 
the  Italians  were  withdrawing. 

At  this  time  there  was  a  rumor  that 
a  plan  to  make  Fiume  an  Italian  city 
with  an  internationalized  port  had  been 
rejected  by  President  Wilson.  This  made 
the  situation  in  Italy  more  acute.  Ele- 
ments of  revolution  appeared,  with  the 
Italian  Army  divided  in  allegiance,  the 
Socialists  hostile  to  the  Government,  and 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  enthusiasti- 
cally supporting  d'Annunzio.  The  Jugo- 
slavs showed  restraint,  and  their  dele- 
gates in  Paris  issued  a  statement  deny- 
ing that  their  armies  were  mobilizing  for 
a  march  on  d'Annunzio's  forces  at 
Fiume. 

POETS   AMBITIONS  GROW 

D'Annunzio  meanwhile  made  his  posi- 
tion in  Fiume  strategically  stronger  by 
extending  his  cordon  of  guards  beyond 
the  town  to  the  high  land  surrounding 
it,  including  the  Jugoslav  settlement  of 
Sussak,  the  hills  of  which  overlooked 
Fiume.  A  significant  change  of  tone 
was  observed  in  his  proclamations, 
which  were  addressed  not  only  to  the 
populations  of  Fiume  and  Italy,  but  also 
to  Dalmatia.     An  extract  from  a  mes- 


sage sent  by  d'Annunzio  to  the  Dalma- 
tians is  given  herewith: 

A  sharp  thorn  pricks  my  trusting  heart. 
Jt  was  with  regret  and  owing  to  the  fact 
that  I  had  not  sufficient  forces  that  I  was 
unable  to  spread  the  sacred  fire  as  far 
as  Spalato  on  that  day  of  Fiume,  and 
further  still.  The  passion  of  Dalmatia 
never  tortured  me  so  much  as  during  my 
march  to  Fiume.  What  will  Zara  say 
and  do  when  it  receives  the  news  of  the 
enterprise?  What  will  Sebenico,  Trau, 
Spalato,  and  other  sister  cities  say?  This 
anxiety  never  abandoned  me  even  in  the 
height  of  action.  Mingled  with  the  tri- 
umphal cries  of  Fiume  I  seemed  to  dis- 
tinguish  your   distant,    despairing   voice. 

Brothers  of  Dalmatia,  we  have  not  for- 
gotten you,  we  cannot  forget  you.  The 
victorious  army  reorganizing  itself  around 
heroic  Fiume  becomes  every  day  more 
numerous,  more  powerful,  more  disci- 
plined. In  me  you  see  a  servant  of  your 
cause,  O  brothers  of  Dalmatia !  Confide 
in  the  fraternal  victorious  army. 

CROWN   COUNCIL   SESSION 

The  gravity  of  the  situation  as  viewed 
by  the  Government  was  indicated  by  its 
calling  of  the  Crown  Council,  a  step 
rarely  taken  except  for  discussions  of 
the  most  momentous  consequence.  This 
council,  held  on-  Sept.  25,  was  opened  by 
King  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  explained 
the  reasons  for  the  calling  of  the  extra- 
ordinary meeting.  It  was  desired,  he 
said,  to  obtain  the  views  of  the  most 
eminent  men  in  Parliament  on  the  grave 
situation.  The  discussion  would  be  only 
of  a  consultative  character,  as  no  de- 
cision was  to  be  taken  by  the  council, 
this  being  reserved  for  the  Cabinet, 
which  alone  was  responsible  to  the  Parr 
liament  and  to  the  country. 

Premier  Nitti  made  a  detailed  report 
setting  forth  the  grave  consequences 
which  might  ensue  for  Italy,  both  at 
home  and  in  her  international  relations, 
the  latter  having  not  only  political  but 
financial  and  economic  bearings.  Tom- 
maso  Tittoni,  Foreign  Minister,  declared 
that  the  Peace  Conference  would  not 
permit  Italy  to  annex  Fiume,  because 
such  action  would  authorize  the  Czecho- 
slovaks to  occupy  Teschen;  the  Jugoslavs 
to  move  forces  into  Klagenfurt;  the 
Greeks  to  claim  Thrace  and  the  Ruma- 
nians to  annex  Banat.  Giovanni  Giolitti, 
a  former  Premier,  suggested  that  the 
only  remedy  was  to  have  speedy  general 


D'ANNUNZIO  IN  FIUME 


241 


elections,  so  that  the  country  might  pro- 
nounce on  pending  questions,  and  on  the 
attitude  of  the  Government.  Antonio 
Salandra,  also  a  former  Premier,  opposed 
this  proposal,  pointing  out  the  danger 
connected  with  an  appeal  to  the  country 
at  a  time  when,  he  said,  the  Government 
was  not  sure  of  its  control  of  the  army 
for  the  maintenance  of  public  order. 

The  afternoon  session,  which  lasted 
two  hours  and  a  half,  was  mostly  taken 
up  by  a  speech  of  Leonida  Bissolati,  So- 
cialist, who  reiterated  his  program  pro- 
viding that  Italy  must  have  Fiume  in 
exchange  for  Dalmatia.  Premier  Nitti 
ended  the  session.  After  summing  up 
the  discussion,  he  declared  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  take  the  opinions  ex- 
pressed into  consideration  when  making 
its  decisions. 

.  When  the  members  of  the  council  left 
the  Quirinal  the  crowds  gathered  out- 
side shouted  "  Long  live  the  army!  "  and 
"  Long  live  Italian  Fiume !  " 

In  a  session  of  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties marked  by  great  tumult,  and  even 
by  personal  encounters,  the  Italian 
Prime  Minister,  Signor  Nitti,  was  given 
a  vote  of  confidence  on  Sept.  27,  the 
Government  receiving  208  votes  to  148. 
Foreign  Minister  Tittoni  spoke  on  the 
situation  and  insisted  that  Italy  must 
remain  in  unity  with  her  allies.  He 
threw  the  responsibility  for  the  disastrous 
delay  in  settling  the  Fiume  question  on 
President  Wilson,  who,  he  said,  had 
become  the  dictator  of  the  council  by 
reason  of  America's  part  in  the  ultimate 
winning  of  the  war  and  her  resources  in 
supplying  Europe  with  food  and  fuel 
supplies.  President  Wilson's  uncom- 
promising attitude  toward  Italy's  claims 
and  the  support  given  him  by  Great 
Britain  and  France  made  compromise  on 
the  part  of  Italy  necessary.  The  Foreign 
Minister  said  that  he  had  suffered  daily 
anguish  over  the  delay,  and  that  he  had 
thought  the  departure  of  President 
Wilson  would  facilitate  the  task  of 
the  Italian  delegates.  On  the  contrary, 
it  had  been  made  more  complicated,  as 
the  American  peace  delegation  had  to 
communicate  with  the  President  by 
cable,  which  made  even  greater  delays 
inevitable.     Signor  Tittoni  continued: 


I  should  be  a  traitor  if  I  did  not  recom- 
mend the  avoidance  of  a  course  which 
would  put  Italy  in  open  opposition  to  the 
Peace  Conference,  which  would  mean 
Italy's  abandonment  of  the  conference, 
with  the  loss  of  all  the  advantages  coming 
from  the  peace  treaties,  with  our  complete 
isolation,  with  the  renunciation  of  our 
position  as  a  great  power— the  committing 
of  a  folly  of  which  we  would  soon  repent. 

If  any  one  will  rise  in  the  Chamber  who 
is  confident  he  could  attain  better  condi- 
tions, I  am  ready  to  cede  my  place  im- 
mediately in  the  interests  of  the  country, 
thanking  him  for  the  relief  from  the  heavy 
burden. 

It  is  indispensable  that  Italy  be  united 
in  an  accord  with  her  allies.  The  alliance 
formeu  for  the  war  must  necessarily  con- 
tinue during  the  peace. 

It  appeared,  however,  on  Sept.  29  that 
the  Italian  Nation  would  have  to  decide 
the  Fiume  question,  when  the  Italian 
Parliament  was  dissolved  until  Dec. 
1,  and  elections  were  announced  for 
Nov.  16. 

D'Annunzio  on  Sept.  30  stated  that  he 
considered  himself  in  a  state  of  war  with 
Jugoslavia.  This  announcement  was 
made  in  answer  to  a  request  from  the 
head  of  the  French  Mission  to  restore 
telegraphic  communication  with  Agram, 
the  Croatian  capital,  which  d'Annunzio 
had  interrupted.  The  latter  also  said 
that  measures  had  been  adopted  to  meet 
any  attack  from  the  enemy.  Troops  had 
been  sent  to  the  first  line  of  reserves, 
ready  to  answer  any  need.  The  food 
blockade  had  become  more  severe.  Fiume, 
however,  at  this  time,  had  enough  sup- 
plies to  feed  the  population  for  three 
months.  The  French  troops  had  all  left 
the  city.  Some  of  d'Annunzio's  volun- 
teers were  collaborating  with  the  regular 
Italian  troops  to  hold  the  armistice  line 
after  the  closing  of  the  Jugoslav  frontier. 
A  further  statement  attributed  to  d'An- 
nunzio at  this  time  was  to  the  effect 
that  he  expected  war  within  two  weeks' 
time.  D'Annunzio's  staff  was  in  the 
palace,  where  his  headquarters  were 
situated,  overlooking  the  bay,  engaged 
in  working  out  a  plan  of  campaign. 
Rumors  of  armed  conflict  with  Jugoslavs 
were  rife. 

STATEMENT  BY  DR.  VESNITCH 

As  for  the  official  attitude  of  the  Jugo- 
slavs,  Dr.   Milenko  R.   Vesnitch,  one  of 


242 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  delegates  to  the  Peace  Conference, 
ridiculed      d'Annunzio's      announcement 
that  he  considered  himself  in  a  state  of 
war  with  Jugoslavia,  characterizing  it  as 
"  only   a   continuation  of   his   cinemato- 
graphic procedure."  Dr.  Vesnitch  added : 
As    far   as    the    Kingdom    of    the    Serbs, 
Croatians,    and    Slovenes    is   concerned,    it 
does   not  know   Captain   d'Annunzio,   and 
consequently  has  no  reason  to  take  notice 
of  his  declaration. 

The  National  Council  of  Fiume  on 
Oct.  3  sent  a  message  to  Foreign  Minis- 
ter Tittoni  protesting  against  the  block- 
ake  of  Fiume,  declaring  that  it  was 
bringing  about  starvation  in  the  city. 
The  following  day  orders  were  issued  by 
the  Italian  Government  that  the  block- 
ade be  lifted,  and  Italian  authori- 
ties in  the  vicinity  of  Fiume  received 
directions  to  allow  mail  and  foodstuff* 
to  pass  into  the  city.  The  military  block- 
ade, however,  continued  to  be  enforced. 

News  that  Premier  Nitti  had  received 
a  vote  of  confidence  aroused  hostile 
demonstrations  in  Fiume  among  the 
populace,  who  cried :  "  Down  with  Nitti ! 
Down  with  Wilson!  Down  with  Jugo- 
slavia! .  Down  with  Serbia!  "  Gabriele 
d'Annunzio  then  appeared  and  made  a 
speech,  in  which  he  said: 

Nitti,  who,  out  of  fear,  is  bowing  his 
head  to  the  Allies,  has  once  more  proved 
that  he  is  the  avowed  enemy  of  Italy. 
The  same  is  true  of  all  those  who  shouted 
in  the  Chamber,  "  We  want  annexation  !  " 
and  who  have  given  a  vote  of  confidence 
in  Nitti' s  Cabinet. 

On  this  and  other  occasions  d'Annun- 
zio presented  a  haggard  and  ill  appear- 
ance; at  the  end  of  each  day  he  was 
completely  exhausted.  On  Oct.  5  he 
issued  a  message  to  the  Croats,  written 
in  their  language  and  embodying  a 
skillful  appeal  against  allied  interference 
with  Adriatic  questions;  it  assured  Jugo- 
slavia of  free  access  to  the  sea  under 
Italian  control. 

Negotiations  meanwhile  were  proceed- 
ing in  Paris.  Rome  was  again  excited 
on  Oct.  8  by  the  reported  receipt  of  warn- 
ings from  Great  Britain  with  regard  to 
the  Fiume  situation,  intimating  that  if 
it  continued,  Italy  might  be  put  out  of 
the  alliance.  This  warning  was  expressed 
in  'a  note  read  to  the  Italian  Ambassador 
to  England  by  Baron  Hardinge,  Under 


Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
In  a  violent  article  the  Tribuna  said: 
"  Even  calumniated  Germany  never 
showed  less  regard  for  her  enemies  than 
England  shows  today  for  her  ally,  Italy." 
Later  this  interpretation  of  Baron  Har- 
dinge's  note  was  officially  denied  by  the 
British  Government, 

Washington  advices  of  Oct.  10  indi- 
cated that  the  Italian  Government  was 
endeavoring  to  end  the  crisis  amicably, 
and  that  it  "was  willing  to  effect  a  set- 
tlement, to  let  Fiume  become  a  buffer 
State,  in  connection  with  the  adjacent 
coastal  territory.  D'Annunzio's  view  of 
this  plan  had  been  already  given  on 
Sept.  27,  when  he  said  that,  supported 
by  the  whole  army,  he  would  oppose  such 
a  solution.  It  was  stated  in  Rome  on 
Oct.  11,  however,  that  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  Fiume  had  approved  the  scheme, 
and,  in  the  event  that  it  went  through, 
would  invite  Captain  d'Annunzio  to  leave 
the  city.  Foreign  Minister  Tittoni,  who 
left  Rome  on  Oct.  13  for  a  conference 
with  King  Victor  Emmanuel  at  the  royal 
shooting  lodge  at  San  Ros^ore,  expressed 
confidence  before  his  departure  that  his 
new  proposal  for  the  settlement  of  the 
Fiume  and  Dalmatian  problem  would  be 
received  with  favor,  because  it  virtually 
accepted  the  proposal  of  President  Wil- 
son in  regard  to  Fiume.  Specifically  the 
new  solution  embodied  the  annexation  of 
the  District  of  Volosa,  lying  between 
Fiume  and  Trieste,  to  Italy  in  order  to 
establish  a  joint  boundary  between  the 
enlarged  Kingdom  of  Italy  and  the  pro- 
posed buffer  State  of  Fiume. 

It  was  repeatedly  indicated  that  there 
was  a  current  of  opposition  to  d'Annun- 
zio in  Fiume  itself.  On  Oct.  5  Ruggero 
Gothardi,  claiming  to  represent  two- 
thirds  of  the  voters  of  Fiume  directly, 
laid  appeals  for  prompt  action  "  to  save 
Fiume  from  ruin  "  before  the  Peace  Con- 
ference in  Paris.  Gothardi  styled  him- 
self President  of  the  Democratic  Autono- 
mist Party  of  Fiume.  On  Oct.  11  d'An- 
nunzio came  to  an  open  rupture  with 
Professor  Zanella,  leader  of  the  Italian 
population  of  Fiume  opposed  to  the  an- 
nexation of  the  city  to  Italy,  but  in  favor 
of  an  Italian  protectorate  over  it.  In  a 
stormy  interview  Zanelia  told  d'Annunzio 


D'ANNUNZIO  IN  FIUME 


243 


that  his  presence  was  perilous  to  the 
interests  of  Fiume.  D'Annunzio  then 
ordered  him  to  leave  the  palace. 

At  this  same  date  the  steamer  Persia, 
bound  from  Genoa  for  the  Far  East  with 
a  cargo  of  30,000  rifles,  10,000,000  car- 
tridges, twenty  batteries  of  mountain 
guns,  and  two  heavy  guns  for  the  troops 
operating  under  Admiral  Kolchak  against 
the  Bolsheviki,  arrived  at  Fiume,  after  a 
mutiny  of  the  crew  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, who  forced  the  Captain  to  take 
the  ship  into  Fiume.  This  was  the 
second  "  pirate  "  ship  which  had  reached 
d'Annunzio  within  a  week. 

In  an  interview  given  by  d'Annunzio 
on  Oct.  15,  the  poet  declared  that  if  no 
one  would  attack  him  in  Fiume,  he  would 
march  on  Rome.  He  and  his  men,  he 
said,  wanted  to  offer  themselves  in  sacri- 
fice, adding :  "  We  want  to  light  a 
fire  that  will  burn  high.  It  will  awake 
in  a  portentous  flame  the  deceived  hopes 
of  oppressed  peoples,  and  no  power  of 
arms  or  money  will  be  able  to  put  it  out." 
On  Oct.  16  he  sent  a  message  to  Premier 
Clemenceau  asking  that  the  French 
Premier  take  the  initiative  in  securing  a 
declaration  from  the  allied  Governments 


making  Fiume  a  free  port.  In  this  mes- 
sage d'Annunzio  said  that  he  had  drafted 
a  new  manifesto  inviting  Serbians  and 
Italians  to  recognize  mutual  national 
rights.  This  manifesto,  which  would  be 
delivered  by  airplanes,  would  call  upon 
the  two  nations  to  "  maintain  the  bonds 
of  brotherhood  which  have  been  sealed 
by  blood." 

A  press  dispatch  from  Fiume  on  Oct. 
20  indicated  that  the  city  was  growing 
very  weary  of  its  adventure.  D'Annun-~\ 
zio  was  having  financial  difficulties  and 
had  forced  a  large  tax  levy  upon  the 
business  men  of  Fiume,  as  the  people  of 
Italy  had  not  furnished  sufficient  funds 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  army.  Their 
contributions  up  to  that  time  had  just 
passed  the  figure  of  1,000,000  lire.  The 
pay  of  d'Annunzio's  men  was  at  the  rate 
of  5  lire  daily,  and  there  were  9,000  of 
them,  which  meant  a  total  of  45,000  lire 
a  day,  aside  from  the  pay  of  the  officers. 
Also  thtere  was  the  expense  of  food  and 
the  necessary  cost  of  maintaining  the 
Government,  creating  a  large  deficit,  all 
of  which  had  been  met  through  "  gifts  " 
of  citizens.  Thus  the  situation  stood  at 
the  time  these  pages  went  to  press. 


The  Peril  of  the  Fiume  Crisis 

By  GUGLIELMO  FERRERO 

[Italy's   Foremost   Living   Historian] 

Universal  Service,  Paris,  Oct.   Ik,  1919 

[Copyrighted] 


THE  Fiume  adventure  of  the  fearless 
d'Annunzio  has  been  dubbed  "  Gari- 
baldian "  and  as  such  glorified. 
Judging  by  superficial  appearances,  in 
fact,  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  the 
famous  expedition  of  1860.  But  the  like- 
ness goes  no  further  than  mere  appear- 
ances. Heroes,  saints,  geniuses,  never 
come  to  life  again  even  if  the  ignorant 
and  credulous  crowd  kneel  before  their 
tombs  praying  and  waiting  for  the 
miracle.  The  supposed  reincarnations 
are  only  anachronisms,  almost  invariably 
sterile  and  often  dangerous.  If  we  com- 
pare d'Annunzio's  expedition  with  Gari- 
baldi's we  soon  discover  a  capital  differ- 
ence between  them. 


The  one  of  1860  was  prepared  and  ac- 
complished by  a  handful  of  private  citi- 
zens free  of  military  duty  and  "  with  the 
approval  of  the  Government."  The  Fiume 
expedition  has  been  conceived  and  car- 
ried out  by  fragments  of  the  regular 
army,  which  refused  obedience  to  the  law, 
and  it  was  against  the  wish  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  outside  world,  I  know,  will 
not  believe  the  bona-fide  sincerity  of  the 
present  Italian  Government.  But  this 
will  pi-ove  nothing  more  than  that  out- 
side publie  opinion  is  at  present  misin- 
formed. The  Government  was  endeavor- 
ing to  solve  the  question  with  other 
means,  and  the  Fiume  "  coup  "  upset  all 
its  plans.     This  is  the  truth. 


244 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


It  is  not  necessary  to  be  a  great  politi- 
cian to  understand  how  greatly  the  two 
adventures  differ.  The  heroic  self- 
abnegation  of  the  great  Garibaldi  con- 
sisted chiefly  in  the  fact  that  he  assumed 
all  risks  and  left  no  responsibility  what- 
ever to  the  Government.  Had  he  failed 
he  would  have  been  disavowed,  while  in 
case  of  success  he  was  embarrassing 
greatly  the  two  powers  which  opposed 
the  idea  of  Italy's  unity,  because  they 
would  have  been  obliged  to  start  a  war 
in  the  south  of  Italy  in  order  to  vanquish 
the  conqueror  and  re-establish  the  Bour- 
bons on  their  throne. 

The  Fiume  expedition,  instead,  is  such 
that,  whether  it  fails  or  succeeds,  it  will 
get  into  further  trouble  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment and  not  the  Allies.  And  when 
you  say  "  Italian  Government,"  you  say 
"Italy"  as  a  nation.  The  experience  of 
a  few  days  shows  this  clearly.  If  my 
information  is  correct,  one  among  the 
Allies  and  associated  powers  wanted  to 
meet  the  expedition  with  guns  and  high 
explosives.  Let  us  suppose  that  this 
ferocious  suggestion  had  been  accepted 
and  that  the  expedition  had  been  de- 
feated by  superior  forces.  Could  the 
Italian  Government  have  disavowed  it 
and  washed  its  hands  of  the  whole 
affair?  It  would  be  idle  to  even  imagine 
such  a  course. 

The  Italian  Government  would  have 
been  placed  in  the  dilemma  of  either  ac- 
cepting humbly  an  action  which  would 
have  offended  the  whole  country  like  a 
bloody  and  atrocious  humiliation,  or  of 
declaring  war  upon  the  entire  universe. 

It  seems,  instead — always  if  my  infor- 
mation is  correct — that  one  of  the  Allies, 
the  one  nearer  Italy  geographically  and 
historically,  intervened  and  used  pressure 
upon  the  impatient  members  of  the  world 
entente. 

The  d'Annunzio  expedition  has  been 
able  to  reach  and  take  Fiume.  But  what 
about  Italy?  The  Allies  have  withdrawn 
without  a  fuss,  and,  smiling  the  while, 
have  said  to  the  Italian  Government: 
"  You  are  a  loyal  ally  and  we  do«  not 
wish  in  any  way  to  harm  any  of  your 
men.  We  believe  you  when  you  say  this 
expedition  is  none  of  your  fault.  But 
those  men  now  in  Fiume  are  soldiers  of 
your  army  and  therefore  you  have  power 


over  them.  Use  it.  We  shall  wait  for 
you  to  persuade  them  to  leave  the  place 
and  to  make  room  for  us  and  our  rights. 
It  is  for  you  to  act." 

This,  in  my  mind,  is  the  most  terrible 
problem  of  the  Government.  It  cannot 
persuade  the  thousand  or  ten  thousand 
Italians  who  are  in  Fiume.  It  has  no 
strength  to  force  them  to  its  will.  Yet 
it  must  honor  its  word  to  the  Allies. 

The  difficulty  is  a  terrible  one,  and  I 
do  not  think  I  am  exaggerating  it.  If 
the  Italian  Government  does  not  succeed 
quickly  in  giving  satisfaction  to  the  na- 
tional sentiment  and  to  the  Allies  at  the 
same  time,  we  Italians,  and  with  us  the 
whole  of  Europe,  might  face  a  great 
catastrophe.  It  would  be  even  more  ter- 
rible if  some  one  among  the  allied  and 
associated  Governments  should  try  to 
settle  the  Fiume  question  before  satisfy- 
ing Italy's  just  demands.  In  such  a  case 
no  crown  council  would  have  any  power 
in  Italy. 

It  is  human  and  understandable  that 
Poland,  Bohemia,  Rumania,  and  other 
small  States,  old  and  new,  which  in 
Paris  are  the  judged  and  not  the  judges, 
have  tried  rebellion  against  some  judg- 
ments of  the  Peace  Congress.  But  Italy, 
which,  at  the  Peace  Conference,  is,  like 
Great  Britain,  France,  America,  and 
Japan,  judge  and  at  the  same  time 
judged,  cannot  possibly  disavow  this  very 
tribunal  whereof  she  is  part  and  parcel 
by  attacking  one  of  its  verdicts  simply 
because  it  is  iniquitious  and  against  her. 
Such  action  would  be  tantamount  to  abdi- 
cating her  position  as  a  great  power. 
It  would  light  another  torch  of  anarchy 
in  the  heart  of  Europe. 

Italy  is  the  first  among  the  victors  of 
the  war  to  find  herself  between  two 
fires :  The  Red  revolution  and  the  White 
revolution.  There  is  unquestionably  some 
one  openly  working  to  transform  the 
army  into  a  means  to  provoke  civil  war, 
Taken  as  a  symptom  of  the  disorder  and 
anarchy  blossoming  forth  all  over  the 
world,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  looks 
serious. 

Western  European  civilization  finds 
itself  today  in  a  terrible  crisis.  The 
world's  war  has  disorganized  it.  Every 
Government  is  threatened  by  an  incur- 
able  disorder.      And    with   it    industry, 


THE  PERIL  OF  THE  FIUME  CRISIS 


245 


commerce,  agriculture,  administration, 
the  State,  spiritual  culture,  are  all  inse- 
cure. 

No  country  can  return  to  its  old  condi- 
tion of  peace  and  security  without  the 
help  of  a  firm  Government.  But  every- 
where Governments  have  been  weakened 
and  reduced  to  almost  powerlessness  by 
the  war,  and  at  this  very  moment,  when 
the  most  intelligent,  vigorous  action  is 
necessary  by  those  in  authority  to  govern 


with  wisdom,  justice,  and  power.  The 
world's  war  has  not  been  won  on 
the  Piave,  nor  on  the  Meuse,  nor  in 
Champagne,  nor  in  Belgium,  because  it 
is  not  yet  won  anywhere!  It  will  be 
definitely  won  by  that  people  or  tho^e 
peoples  who  succeed  in  saving  from  uni- 
versal anarchy  an  authoritative  Govern- 
ment. Those  peoples  will  be ,  tomorrow 
the  arbiters  and  perhaps  the  masters  of 
Europe. 


Repatriation  of  War  Prisoners 

How  Thousands   of   Captured  Soldiers   and   Interned   Aliens 
Were  Sent  Home — Problem  of  Russian  Prisoners 


ONE  of  the  most  important  problems 
after  the  signing  of  the  armistice 
was  that  of  the  repatriation  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  war 
prisoners,  as  well  as  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  interned  aliens.  The  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  the  whole  undertaking  was 
the  repatriating  of  the  more  than  250,000 
Russian  prisoners  in  Germany.  After 
signing  the  armistice  Germany  released 
her  Russian  prisoners  just  as  she  re- 
leased French,  English,  and  American 
prisoners.  They  were  all  turned  out  to 
get  home  as  best  they  could.  The  French, 
British,  and  Americans  made  their  way 
through  the  allied  lines,  but  the  Rus- 
sians could  not  pass  the  Bolshevist  fight- 
ing lines,  which  barred  them  from  their 
homes,  and  theysoori  became  a  problem  for- 
Germany.  So  seinous  did  the  situation  be- 
come that  the  Allies  took  cognizance  of 
it,  and  the  American  and  British  Gov- 
ernments, with  the  Red  Cross,  decided 
to  get  them  home.  To  facilitate  this  a 
quarter  of  a  million  Russians  that  could 
be  corralled  were  placed  in  forty  camps, 
containing  from  3,000  to  40,000  men  each, 
scattered  in  East  Prussia.  Twenty  were 
placed  under  American  protection  and 
twenty  under  British  protection. 

The  American  Mission,  with  a  detach- 
ment of  several  hundred  unarmed  sol- 
diers, left  Coblenz  Feb.  14,  and  took  up 
the  task  of  guarding^  camps  three  days 
later.    Each  camp  was  in  charge  of  a 


field  officer  and  his  staff,  with  twenty- 
five  enlisted  men.  The  work  of  feeding 
and  clothing  the  men  began  at  once. 
Then  they  were  also  entertained  in  their 
own  language,  and  an  effort  was  made 
to  raise  their  morale  from  the  low  state 
into  which  it  had  sunk.  The  Americans 
had  found  the  prisoners  in  a  wretched 
condition,  with  many  cases  of  typhus. 
American  dentists  went  to  care  for  their 
teeth.  Plentiful  supplies  were  furnished, 
and  the  physical  condition  of  the  Rus- 
sians improved  materially. 

MASSACRED  BY  BOLSHEVIKI 

In  the  meantime  General  Harries  and 
his  co-workers  in  Berlin  were  trying  to 
arrange  the  movement  homeward.  The 
Germans  appeared  perfectly  willing  to 
get  rid  of  the  Russians.  No  statement 
could  be  got  from  Russian  leaders.  How- 
ever, early  in  April  several  trainloads  of 
troops,  mostly  officers,  started  through  U 
to  the  East  Prussian  border.  Bolshevist  j 
troops  stopped  the  trains,  and  offered  the 
Russians  the  choice  of  joining  them  or 
being  killed.  The  officers  of  the  old  re- 
gime, who  numbered  about  600,  refused, 
and  most  of  them  were  shot.  The  Ger- 
mans tried  to  send  other  prisoners  by 
this  same  route,  but  General  Harries,  in 
the  name  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  forbade  this  as  inhumane.  An  ef- 
fort was  then  made  to  get  the  prisoners 
home  through  Austria,  but  the  Red  lead- 


246 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ers  there,  on  request  of  Trotzky,  balked 
the  movement. 

Discussing  the  difficulties  still  stand- 
ing in  the  way  of  sending  the  Russian 
prisoners  home,  Vorwarts  toward  the  end 
of  April  published  the  following  com- 
ment: 

Despite  the  greatest  good-will,  the  re- 
patriation of  the  Russian  prisoners  of 
war  can  be  accomplished  only'  very 
slowly,  especially  because  there  are  great 
transportation  difficulties  on  the  rail- 
roads. Furthermore,  the  Russians  can  be 
sent  through  at  only  one  point  on  the 
Russinn  front,  and  recently  the  delivery 
of  the  captured  Russians  has  been  held 
up  because  fighting  is  going  on  Just  at 
that  point.  The  negotiations  being  car- 
ried on  with  the  Polish  Government 
through  the  Entente's  mediation  looking 
toward  the  returning  of  the  Russian  pris- 
oners of  war  to  their  homes  via  Poland 
have  not  yet  been  concluded.  The  sea 
route  over  the  Baltic  cannot  be  used  until 
the  middle  of  May.  We  lack  ship  ton- 
nage for  the  purpose  of  using  the  other 
sea  routes,  such  as  via  the  Black  Sea. 
The  difficulties  are  also  made  greater  by 
the  fact  that  we  always  try  to  send  the 
Russians  back  to  their  real  homes.  For 
instance,  we  don't  send  South  Russians  to 
North  Russia.  And,  then,  all  the  camps 
are  treated  alike  in  the  matter  of  repa- 
triation. And  it  must  also  be  pointed  out 
that,  because  of  the  unreliability  of  the 
Russians,  large  groups  cannot  be  sent 
home  together,  especially  not  through  the 
fighting  district  in  the   east. 

Early  in  May  the  repatriation  of  Rus- 
sians was  virtually  abandoned.  How- 
ever, some  15,000  Letts  and  Lithuanians, 
whose  territories  on  the  Baltic  Coast 
were  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Reds,  were 
safely  landed.  The  last  lot  of  1,500  were 
moved  this  way  about  the  middle  of 
August. 

ACTION  OF   SUPREME  COUNCIL 

This  question  of  l-epatriation  of  Rus- 
sian prisoners  in  Germany  gave  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Peace  Conference 
much  concern,  and  the  problem  was  dis- 
cussed at  many  sessions.  On  July  18  it 
was  pointed  out  during  discussion  that 
many  of  these  prisoners  were  infected 
with  Bolshevist  theories,  and  that  their 
repatriation  would  mean  that  they  would 
join  the  Bolshevist  forces.  If  they  did 
not,  indeed,  they  would  be  executed,  as 
experience  had  shown. 

On. Aug.  2  Marshal  Foch  appeared  be- 


fore the  Supreme  Council  in  connection 
with  this  problem,  and  the  council  de- 
cided to  inform  Germany  that  all  restric- 
tions on  the  movements  of  Russian  pris- 
oners held  in  Germany  had  been  lifted. 
Germany  was  given  permission  to  re- 
lease all  such  prisoners  and  would  there- 
after be  responsible  for  their  mainte- 
nance. In  view  of  Poland's  representa- 
tions against  releasing  them  on  account 
of  the  additional  strength  they  would 
give  the  Bolshevist  forces,  the  council 
decided  to  consult  its  military  advisers. 

On  the  same  date  it  was  officially  an- 
nounced in  Berlin  that  50,000  prisoners 
whose  homes  were  in  the  Caucasus  and 
Transcaucasus  were  to  leave  shortly 
from  Hamburg  by  water  for  the  Black 
Sea.  This  long  voyage,  which  would  take 
four  weeks,  was  made  necessary  because 
of  Poland's  refusal  to  allow  their  passage 
over  her  territory,  on  the  ground  already 
stated.  The  200,000  prisoners  remaining 
faced  the  prospect  of  spending  another 
Winter  in  German  camps. 

Early  in  August  the  American  Mission 
in  Berlin  received  an  order  to  withdraw 
its  men,  wind  up  its  affairs,  and  leave 
Germany.  The  mission  turned  over  its 
twenty  camps  to  the  Germans,  leaving 
instructions  regarding  the  care  of  the 
prisoners,  and  orders  that  they  be  sent 
home  as  soon  as  possible.  American  of- 
ficers who  saw  the  conditions  on  arriv- 
ing regretted  the  necessity  of  giving  the 
Russians  back  into  German  hands.  These 
officers  said  that  considerable  stores  of 
provisions  and  other  supplies  had  been 
left  at  the  camps,  but  expressed  the  fear 
that  the  Germans,  and  not  the  Russian 
prisoners,  would  consume  those  supplies, 
pointing  out  that  during  the  time  the 
Americans  were  in  charge  of  the  camps 
the  German  population  resented  the  fact 
that  the  Russian  war  prisoners  were  fed 
much  better  than  the  natives. 

On  Oct.  11  the  Supreme  Council  de- 
cided that  the  Allies  would  try  again  to 
get  the  unfortunate  Russian  prisoners 
home.  The  first  attempt,  which  had  en- 
countered failure,  was  made  through 
purely  humanitarian  motives;  this  new 
attempt,  it  was  stated  in  Paris,  would 
be  dictated  both  by  humanitarian  motives 
and  by  the  allied  desire  to  secure  rein- 


REPATRIATION   OF    WAR   PRISONERS 


24; 


forcements  for  the  anti-Bolshevist  armies 
of  General  Denikin  and  Admiral  Kolchak. 
At  that  time  about  150,000  of  the  Rus- 
sians could  still  be  located.  The  Allied 
Mission  was  authorized  to  co-operate 
with  the  German  Mission  in  sending 
these  men  to  the  anti-Bolshevist. armies. 
Thus  the  solution  of  the  whole  problem 
seemed  near  when  the  present  pages 
were  going  to  press. 

RELEASING  GERMAN  PRISONERS 

On  the  reverse  side  of  the  problem  it 
was  reported  in  the  Kolnische  Zeitung  of 
April  19  that  the  repatriation  of  the 
German  prisoners  of  war  in  Bolshevist 
Russia  could  be  regarded  as  practically 
finished.  Only  a  few  thousand  persons, 
some  of  whom  had  entered  the  Red 
Guard  or  the  international  regiments, 
had  voluntarily  remained  in  Russia.  On 
May  15  a  Paris  cablegram  said  that  the 
Council  of  Foreign  Ministers  had  decided 
that  the  prisoners  of  war  held  by  the 
Russians  in  Siberia,  the  Baltic  Prov- 
inces, and  the  Caucasus  might  be  sent 
home  at  once  and  that  those  in  Soviet 
Russia  would  be  repatriated  later. 

The  release  of  British  captives  in  Ger- 
many was  effected  soon  after  the  armis- 
tice of  Nov.  11,  1918.  According  to  Ber- 
lin information,  on  Dec.  29  the  British 
war  prisoners  in  Germany  still  numbered 
24,900,  of  whom  5,000  were  in  trains  pro- 
ceeding to  Holland,  and  8,000  more  were 
soon  to  be  sent  there.  British  prisoners 
to  the  number  of  7,000  were  being  re- 
patriated by  way  of  Baltic  ports.  Since 
the  armistice  6,814  officers,  126,729  of 
other  ranks,  and  4,483  civilians  had  been 
repatriated. 

The  return  of  German  prisoners  of 
war  from  Great  Britain,  which  began 
after  Germany  had  ratified  the  Peace 
Treaty,  was  contemplated  with  a  certain 
amount  of  anxiety.  The  Pan-Germans 
had  asserted  that  German  soldiers  and 
civilians  had  been  harshly  treated  in  Eng-. 
land.  The  Elberfeld  correspondent  of 
the  Lokal-Anzeiger  telegraphed  on  Sept. 
2,  1919,  that  the  first  group  of  un- 
wounded  German  prisoners  had  arrived 
in  Cologne,  and  that  the  men  looked 
well-nourished  and  were  provided  with 
good  clothing.  The  Logal-Anzeiger  as- 
serted that  this  was  due  to   a   sudden 


change  of  treatment  when  the  pros- 
pect of  sending  the  men  home,  arose. 
The  German  prisoners,  as  they  passed 
through  Cologne,  were  given  an  ovation 
by  the  populace,  and  there  were  scenes 
of  '  great  enthusiasm,  particularly  on 
Sept.  3,  when  trams  and  ambulances 
came  through  the  main  streets  of  the 
city  packed  with  prisoners  waving  hand- 
kerchiefs and  cheering  loudly.  Women 
threw  them  gifts,  and  many  wept. 
Crowds  surrounded  the  trams,  and  the 
prisoners  were  questioned  about  their 
treatment  while  in  England.  The  in- 
habitants were  heard  commenting  on 
their  good  appearance. 

PRESIDENT  EBERTS  ADDRESS 

Every  returning  German  prisoner  of 
war  received  a  copy  of  the  following  wel- 
come-home address  by  President  Ebert: 

I  bid  you  a  warm  welcome  to  your  na- 
tive soil.  You  have  bitter  days  behind 
you,  du>s  of  hardships,  of  mental  depres- 
sion, and  of  unsatisfied  longings  for 
home  and  family.  Through  numerous 
reports  I  have  seen  how  you,  the  defense- 
less ones,  have  had  to  feel  the?  hatred  of 
our  enemies.  I,  together  with  the  entire 
German  people,  know  how  to  appreciate 
fully  your  position  and  your  feelings. 

You  are  returning  at  a  time  when  our 
Fatherland  is  being  shaken  to  its  very 
base  by  our  enemies'  will  to  destruction, 
and  by  the  transition.il  pains  of  a  new 
order.  Return  to  your  homes  as  good 
Germans,  determined  to  co-operate  with 
all  your  powers  in  the  restoration  of  the 
new  republican  fatherland,  for  only  level- 
headedness, unity,  and  work  can  save  us 
from  the  collapse  aimed  at  by  our 
enemies. 

The  Government,  in  so  fat  as  it  lies  in 
its  power,  will  do  everything  to  meet 
your  wishes  and  relieve  your  troubles. 

May  you  find  your  relatives  in  good 
health,  and  may  you  soon  recover,  both 
mentally  and  physically,  from  the  suffer- 
ings you  have  endured.  This  is  my 
honest   desire !  EBERT, 

National    President. 

As  the  result  of  a  conference  with  the 
British  representatives  at  Cologne,  which 
opened  on  Sept.  6,  the  Imperial  Central 
Bureau  for  War  and  Civil  Prisoners  an- 
nounced that  the  British  Government 
would  supply  the  means  of  transport  and 
hand  over  3,000  prisoners  daily  in  Co- 
logne until  further  notice,  and  would 
send  3,000  additional  prisoners  to  Rot- 
terdam weekly  in  its  own  ships.     This 


248 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


delivery  of  prisoners  at  Cologne  was  still 
in  progress  when  the  present  issue  of 
Current  History  went  to  press  in  Octo- 
ber. ' 

INTERNED    IN   HOLLAND 

The  work  of  the  Red  Cross  for  the 
interned  British  prisoners  in  Holland  was 
of  the  greatest  value.  The  British  Com- 
missioner for  Holland  was  Mr.  Francis 
Voules,  who  supervised  and  directed  the 
whole  work  of  relief.  When  the  interned 
men  were  first  expected  in  Holland,  to- 
ward the  end  of  1917,  the  reaction  of  war 
conditions  on  Holland  imposed  many 
obstacles  to  the  work  of  the  commission. 
The  attitude  of  the  Dutch  labor  unions 
was  hostile.  The  labor  market  was  over- 
stocked, and  the  first  condition  laid  down 
was  that  no  prisoner  should  be  provided 
with  employment  unless  it  was  clear  that 
Dutch  workmen  were  unavailable.  A 
carpenter  shop  was  started,  however, 
which  paid  its  way  and  trained  a  large 
body  of  skilled  men.  The  tailors'  and 
bootmakers'  shops  at  The  Hague  received 
the  uniforms  and  army  boots  from  Eng- 
land intended  for  the  use  of  the  prison- 
ers themselves,  and  it  was  their  duty  to 
fit  and  repair  them.  They  carried  out 
the  whole  of  this  work  for  the  5,000  or 
more  men  interned  in  Holland  up  to  the 
date  of  the  armistice.  As  the  scheme 
developed,  many  other  trades  were  in- 
cluded. Besides  these  trade  activities, 
many  purely  educational  courses  gave  in- 
struction in  various  languages  and  com- 
mercial subjects. 

During  1919  the  commission  also  dis- 
tributed available  supplies  among  the 
famishing  Russians  near  the  Dutch  fron- 
tier. In  a  short  time  the  commission 
was  providing  for  the  wants  of  45,000. 
Of  the  effectiveness  of  this  humane 
work  it  is  "sufficient  to  say  that  the 
monthly  death  rate,  which  in  January 
was  272,  fell  from  the  moment  that  the 
Red  Cross  assumed  control  to  twenty- 
nine  for  the  month  of  May.. 


As  for  the  7,000  German  deserters  who 
arrived  in  Holland  during  the  war  and 
were  interned,  The  Hague  paper  Vader- 
land  on  Aug.  8  announced  that  they 
would  all  soon  be  compelled  to  leave  the 
country. 

Two  reasons  were  assigned  for  this 
decision:  First,  that  Dutch  laws  pro- 
vided that  foreigners  could  be  admitted 
only  on  foreign  passports,  and  the  de- 
serters had  no  passports,  and,  secondly, 
that  these  deserters  had  enjoyed  the 
right  ,of  asylum  during  the  war,  when 
deportation  would  have  meant  death,  but 
that  Germany  had  now  granted  amnesty 
to  all  deserters. 

INTERNED   IN  AMERICA 

Some  1,200  German  sailors  and  civil- 
ians interned  in  the  United  States  left 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  on  Sept.  23  under  guard  of 
200  American  soldiers  on  a  special  train 
which  included  nine  cars  of  baggage. 
Nearly  150  of  the  German  seamen  had 
made  application  to  become  naturalized 
American  citizens,  but  only  seventy- 
three  of  the  applications  were  granted, 
and  these  provided  only  for  probationary 
citizenship.  Many  dogs,  much  American- 
bought  clothing,  and  many  supplies  ac- 
companied the  departing  Germans,  who 
had  considerable  money.  Some  100 
enemy  aliens  from  Ellis  Island  were  sent 
to  the  transport  to  take  the  Germans 
home,  and  a  number  of  interned  German 
soldiers  arrived  from  Fort  Douglas, 
Utah,  and  other  camps.  The  Germans, 
numbering  about  1,600  in  all,  departed 
on  Sept.  26  on  the  steamship  Pocahontas 
under  a  military  guard.  The  men  all 
seemed  glad  to  be  returning  to  Germany, 
and  chatted,  laughed,  played  cards,  and 
sang. 

The  Chilean  Government  on  Aug.  9  set 
free  the  crews  of  the  German  cruiser 
Dresden  and  the  German  raider  Seeadler, 
the  members  of  which  had  been  interned 
in  Chile  for  a  long  period,  the  men  of  the 
Dresden  since  1915. 


LAST  GREAT  A.  E.  F.  PARADE 


■■■■■dE 


Airplane  view  of  1st  Division  and  "  Pershing's  Own  "  passing  down 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Washington,  Sept.  17,  1919 

(©    Wide    World   Photos) 


SIGNING  OF  AUSTRIAN  PEACE  TREATY 


EBB 


■■■■■ g 


Frank  L.  Polk,  American  delegate,  signing  treaty  Sept.  10,  1919 


Dr.    Karl    Renner,    Austrian    Chancellor,    affixing    signature   at    St. 
Germain-en-Laye,   France 


3i 


JOHN  FITZPATRICK 


"""^■■■■» 


Chairman  of  National  Committee  for  organizing  steel  strike,  address- 
ing steel  mill  strikers  at  Chicago 


'■■■■^"" 


(©    International  Film   Service) 


ELBERT  H.  GARY 


Head  of  United  States  Steel  Corporation  and  leader  of  contest  against 
demands  of  unions 


LABOR  CONFERENCE  APPOINTEES 


LABOR  CONFERENCE  APPOINTEES 


E55E 


J*"*** 


CHARLES  EDWARD  RUSSELL 
New  York 


CHARLES  G.  DAWES 
Chicago 


GAVIN  McNAB 
San  Francisco 


JOHN  SPARGO 

Vermont 


3;i»«*""i 


ADMIRALS   FIGURING   IN   RECENT  CHANGES 


^■■i 


VICE  ADMIRAL  W.  S.  SIMS 
Honored  by  Representatives 

(©    Western  Newspaper  Union) 


REAR  ADMIRAL  W.  S.  BENSON 
Retired  after  forty  years'  service 


REAR  ADMIRAL  A.  GLEAVES 
Commander  of  Asiatic  Fleet 


REAR  ADMIRAL  R.  E.  COONTZ 

Nominated  as  Chief  of  Naval 

Operations 


FIGURES  OF  INTERNATIONAL  INTEREST 


1  *fr  ■■■D= 


■ ■■■ ■■^ 


CARTIER  DE  MARCHIENNE 

First  Belgian  Ambassador  to 

United  States 

(©    Underwood  &   Underwood) 


VLASTIMIL  TUZAR 
New  Premier  of  Czechoslovakia 


KEI  SHIDEHARA 

New  Japanese  Ambassador  to 

United  States 


ARCHDUKE  JOSEPH 

For  a  brief  space  Dictator  of 

Hungary 


p«...^«""- 


3SE 


SENATE  OPPONENTS  OF  LEAGUE  COVENANT 

i-  ■*■  *"M,fl 


GEORGE  MOSES 
Republican,  New  Hampshire 


THOMAS  P.  GORE 
Democrat,  Oklahoma 


CHARLES   S.  THOMAS 
Democrat,  Colorado 


HIRAM  W.  JOHNSON 
Progressive  Republican,  California 


■  ■■-  ■»■■■"= 


1  V  ■  ■  MJ- 


SENATORS  FAVORING  TREATY  RESERVATIONS 


POSTAGE  STAMPS  OF  NEW  NATIONS 


POSTA 


>KQ.;SJ 


%MRSm 


First  stamp,  upper  row,  Jugoslavia;  next  two,  same  row,  Czecho- 
slovakia; next  five,  stamps  of  new  Republic  of  Poland;  bottom  row, 
first  two,  Ukraine;  last  one,  Bolshevist  Russia. 


n  —  ■  J" 


Vi 


GABRIELE  D'ANNUNZIO 


^V#  f    ©PRSS*  u 

I 


Italy's   famous   poet,   novelist,   orator,   aviator,   and   adventurer   at 
Fiume,  making  an  address  to  his  countrymen 


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3iE 


■   ■■!■■  ^ 


Genesis  of  the  Secret  Treaty  of  London 

By  GORDON  GORDON-SMITH 

[Captain  of  thk  Royal  Serbian  Army  and  Attach*:  op  the  Serbian   Legation  at  Washington] 


THE  factor  in  post-bellum  politics 
which  has  done  most  to  threaten 
the  good  understanding  of  the 
Allies  has  been  the  situation 
created  by  the  secret  treaty  of  London 
entered  into  bv  Great  Britain,  France, 
Russia,  and  Italy  on  April  26,  1915.  This 
document  has  been  referred  to  in  the 
harshest  terms  by  many  students  of 
international  politics.  It  has  been 
characterized  as  "  infamous  "  and  "  in- 
iquitous "  by  men  of  "  light  and  leading  " 
in  the  world's  affairs.  It  is,  therefore, 
of  interest  to  study  the  genesis  of  this 
much-discussed  document  and  see  if  an 
explanation,  if  not  a  justification,  can 
be  found  for  the  act  of  four  statesmen 
of  the  eminence  of  Viscount  Grey,  M. 
Paul  Cambon,  the  Marchese  Imperiali, 
and  Count  Benckendorff  in  signing  a 
document  of  which  all  right-thinking 
men  are  today  heartily  ashamed. 

The  excuses  for  it  on  the  part  of  two 
of  them,  Viscount  Grey  and  M.  Cambon, 
were  ignorance  and  dire  necessity.  In 
the  case  of  the  Marchese  Imperiali  there 
was  no  ignorance,  (no  one  knew  the 
scope  and  extent  of  the  advantages  for 
Italy  contained  in  the  treaty  better  than 
the  Italian  Cabinet  whose  mandatary  he 
was,)  but  there  was,  in  1915,  a  compre- 
hension of  Italian  interests  which  ex- 
plains, if  it  does  not  excuse,  the  drawing 
up  of  what  is  now  seen  to  be  an  in- 
iquitous pact  and  one  which  Great 
Britain  and  France  would  today  be  only 
too  glad  to  repudiate  if  they  could  do  so 
without  breach  of  their  plighted  word. 
In  the  case  of  the  Russian  plenipoten- 
tiary there  was,  perhaps,  less  ignorance 
of  the  interests  at  stake,  but  there  was 
undoubtedly  the  same  constraint  of  dire 
necessity  which  forced  the  hands  of  his 
British  and  French  colleagues. 

The  principal  role  <in  the  negotiation 
and  conclusion  of  the  secret  treaty  was 
that  played  by  Italy.  At  the  moment  of 
the  outbreak  of  the  world  war  Italy  was 


still  a  member  of  the  Triple  Alliance. 
The  Consulta,  however,  did  not  regard 
the  cause  of  the  conflict  put  forward  by 
the  Central  Powers  as  a  casus  foederis 
provided  for  in  Italy's  treaty  with  them. 
The  Italian  Government,  therefore,  in- 
formed its  German  and  Austrian  allies 
that  it  intended  to  remain  neutral  during 
the  conflict.  This  the  Rome  Cabinet  de- 
clared to  both  groups  of  belligerents,  but 
without  furnishing  either  with  any  abso- 
lute guarantee  as  to  how  long  and  under 
what  circumstances  this  neutrality  would 
be  maintained. 

BOTH  SIDES  COURTED  ITALY 

This  uncertainty  was  a  cause  of  deep 
anxiety  and  embarrassment,  both  to  the 
Central  Powers  and  to  the  Powers,  of  the 
Entente.  Their  anxiety  was  further  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that  there  were  in 
Italy  two  powei-ful  parties,  (minorities, 
it  is  true,  but  such  as  had  to  be  reckoned 
with) — the  pro-German  party  under 
Signor  Giolitti,  and  the  war  party  headed 
by  the  Independent  Socialists  under  Si- 
gnor Mussolini  and  the  advanced  wing  of 
the  Liberal  Party,  which  were  each  try- 
ing to  influence  the  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  favor  of  its  views. 

As  a  consequence  it  became  almost  a 
matter  of  life  or  death  for  each  of  the 
belligerent  groups  to  get  Italy  to  "  come 
off  the  fence  "  for  good  and  come  down 
on  its  side  of  the  barricade. 

Germany  knew  that  it  was  hopeless  to 
expect  Italy  to  take  up  arms  on  the 
side  of  the  Central  Powers.  But  she 
hoped  to  obtain  from  her  a  cast-iron 
treaty  of  neutrality  such  as  would  relieve 
the  Wilhelmstrasse  and  Ballplatz  of  all 
anxiety  and  allow  them  to  shape  their 
policies  with  the  Italian  danger  elimi- 
nated. Prince  .Billow,  the  German  Am- 
bassador to  the  Quirinal,  therefore  com- 
menced a  series  of  negotiations  with  this 
object  in  view.  Then  began  an  era  of 
sordid  huckstering  which  forms  one  of 
the  most  unlovely  episodes  of  the  recent 


2o(T 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


world  conflict.  The  negotiations  between 
Berlin  and  Rome  Were  carried  on  for 
weeks.  They  were  the  more  long-drawn- 
out  as  it  became  increasingly  difficult 
for  Prince  Bulow  to  get  the  Vienna  Gov- 
ernment to  entertain  the  proposals  of 
the  Rome  Cabinet.  Finally,  however,  in 
April,  1915,  the  Wilhelmstrasse  and  the 
Consulta  reached  an  agreement,  and  the 
terms  on  which  Italy  agreed  to  guaran- 
tee her  neutrality  to  the  Central  Powers 
were  committed  to  paper  by  Baron  Son- 
nino,  and  on  April  8  were  formally  sub- 
mitted to  the  Central  Powers. 

WHAT  GERMANY  OFFERED 

This  document  ran  as  follows: 
ARTICLE     1.  —  Austria-Hungary     cedes 

the  Trentino   to  Italy,   with  the  frontiers 

which  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  had  in  1811. 

that  is  to  •  say,  after  the  Treaty  of  Paris 

of  Feb.  28.  1810. 

Note  to  Article  1.— The  new  frontier  sep- 
arates itself  from  the  present  frontier  at 
Mount  Cevedale :  it  follows  for  an  instant 
the  rising  ground  between  Val  Venosta 
and  Val  de  Noce,  then  descends  on~the 
Adige  to  Gargazone,  between  Meran  and 
Botzen,  follows  the  plateau  on  the  left 
bank,  cuts  the  Sarentina  Valley  in  halves 
from  the  Isarco  to  the  Chiusa,  and  re- 
joins the  present  frontier  by  the  Dolomite 
territory  of  the  right  bank  of  the  Avisio, 
not  including  the  Gardona  and  Badia 
Valleys,  but  including  the  Ampezzan  Val- 
ley. 

ARTICLE  2.— A  revision,  in  favor  of 
Italy,  will  be  made  of  her  eastern  fron- 
tier, •  by  including  in  the  territory  ceded 
the  towns  of  Gradisca  and  Goritzia.  The 
new  frontier  separates  from  the  present 
one  at  Troghofel,  running  toward  the 
east  to  Osternig,  whence  it  descends  the 
Carnic  Alps,  to  Saifniz.  Then,  by  the 
rising  ground  between  Seisera  and 
Schliza,  it  remounts  to  the  Wirsehberg, 
then  again  follows  the  present  frontier  to 
the  Nevea  Pass,  and  then  descends  the 
sides  of  the  Rombone  to  Isonzo,  passing 
to  the  east  of  Plazzo.  It  then  follows  the 
line  of  the  Isonzo  to  Tolmino,  where  it 
leaves  the  Isonzo  to  follow  a  line  more  to 
the  east,  a  line  passing  to  the  east  of  the 
Pregona-Planina  plateau  and  following 
the  hollow  of  the  Chiappovano,  descends 
to  the  east  of  Goritzia,  and,  across  the 
Carso  de  Comen,  runs  to  the  sea  between 
Monfalcone  and  Trieste,  near  Nalresina. 

ARTICLE  3.— The  toWn  of  Trieste,  with 
its  territory,  which  will  be  extended  to 
the  north  to  Nalresina  (inclusive)  so  as 
to  touch  the  new  Italian  frontier,  (Art. 
2,)  and  to  the  south  in  such  a  way  as  to 
include  the  present  judiciary  districts  of 
Capo  d'Istria  and  Pirano,  will  be  consti- 
tuted as  an  autonomous  and  independent 
State,    as    far   as    concerns    international, 


military,  legislative,  financial,  and  ad- 
ministrative affairs,  Austria-Hungary  re- 
nouncing all  sovereignty  over  it.  It  shall 
remain  a  free  port.  Neither  Austro-Hun- 
garian  nor  Italian  militia  shall  enter  it. 
It  will  take  over  its  quota  of  the  Aus- 
trian public  debt,  in  proportion  to  its 
population. 

ARTICLE  4.— Austria-Hungary  cedes  to 
Italy  the  group  of  the  Curse  la  Islands, 
including  Lissa  (with  the  adjacent  islets 
of  S.  Andrea  and  Busi)  and  Lesina,  (with 
the  Spalmadores  and  the  Torcola,)  Cui- 
zola,  Lagosta,  (with  the  adjacent  islets 
and  reefs,)  Cazza,  and  Meleda,  and,  in 
addition,    Pelagosa. 

ARTICLE  5.— Italy  will  occupy  the 
ceded  territories  (Arts,  t,  2,  and  4)  imme- 
diately. Trieste  and  its  territories  will 
be  immediately  evacuated  by  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  authorities  and  militia.  All 
the  soldiers  and  sailors  from  the  towns 
and  territories  serving  in  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Army  will  be  at  once  mustered 
out. 

ARTICLE  6.— Austria-Hungary  recog- 
nizes the  full  sovereignty  of  Italy  over 
the  town  and  Bay  of  Valona,  including 
Sasseno,  with,  in  the  hinterland,  the  part 
of  territory  necessary   to  their  defense. 

ARTICLE  7.  —  Austria-Hungary  will 
cease  completely  to  take  any  interest  in 
Albania,  comprised  within  the  limits  as- 
signed to  it  by  the  conference  of  London. 

ARTICLE  8.  —  Austria-Hungary  will 
grant  a  complete  amnesty  and  will  im- 
mediately liberate  all  persons  sentenced 
for  military  or  political  offenses,  who  be- 
long to  the  territory  ceded  (Arts.  1,  2,  and 
4)  or  evacuated,  (Art.  'A.) 

ARTICLE  9.— Italy,  for  the  liberation  of 
the  territories  ceded,  (Arts.  1.  2,  and  4,)  of 
the  quota  of  the  Austrian  or  Austro- 
Hungarian  public  debt  and  for  the  pen- 
sions payable  to  former  imperial  and 
royal  functionaries  and  in  exchange  for 
the  complete  and  immediate  transfer  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Italy  of  all  real  and  mov- 
able property,  excepting  arms,  on  the 
territories  and  in  compensation  for  all  the 
rights  of  the  State  on  the  said  territories, 
for  the  present  and  the  future,  without 
any  exception,  will  pay  to  Austria-Hun- 
gary a  capital  sum  of  200,000,0>)0  Italian 
lire  in  gold. 

ARTICLE  10.— Italy  undertakes  to  ob- 
serve complete  neutrality  during  the  pres- 
ent war  as  far  as  Austria-Hungary  and 
Germany  are  concerned. 

ARTICLE  11.— During  the  whole  dura- 
tion of  the  present  war,  Italy  renounces 
her  right  to  invoke  later  in  her  favor  the 
dispositions  contained  in  Article  8  of  the 
treaty  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  and  Aus- 
tria-Hungary makes  the  same  renuncia- 
tion for  the  Italian  occupation  of  the 
Dodecanesus. 

(Signed)  SONNINO. 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SECRET  TREATY  OF  LONDON 


251 


MAP    SHOWING    CHIEF    POINTS    ON    THE    ADRIATIC    EAST    COAST    CLAIMED     BY    BOTH 

ITALY     AND    THE     SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE    STATE,     INCLUDING     FIUME     AND     VARIOUS 

ISLANDS    NAMED    IX   THE   TREATY    OF   LONDON 


AUSTRIAS  OBJECTION 

Prince  Biilow  and  his  Government 
thought  that  they  would  be  able  to  bring 
such  pressure  to  bear  on  their  Austrian 
ally  that  the  Vienna  Government  would 
agree  to  these  terms.  But  there  was  one 
point  on  which  the  Ballplatz  remained 
adamant,  and  that  was  the  immediate 
carrying  out  of  the  terms  asked  by  Ital>. 
Austria  was  willing  to  subscribe  to  them, 
but  on  condition  that  their  execution  be 
postponed  till  after  the  war.  The  point 
on  which  the  long  and  painful  negotia- 
tions met  shipwreck  was  Italy's  demand 
for  the  immediate  military  occupation  of 
the  territory  ceded  to  her  and  the 
immediate  evacuation  by  Austrian  troops 
of  the  territory  to  be  erected  into  the 
autonomous  and  independent  State  of 
Trieste. 

To  this  the  Vienna  Government  abso- 
lutely refused  to  consent,  while  Baron 
Sonnino,  on  his  side,  declared  it  was  a 


conditio  sine  qua  non  of  Italy's  signature 
of  a  treaty  of  neutrality.  All  further 
negotiations  were  therefore  broken  off. 

This  was  the  opportunity  of  the 
Entente  Powers.  London,  Paris,  and 
Petrograd  approached  the  Consulta  and 
asked  what  it  would  demand  as  the  price 
of  coming  into  the  war  on  the  side  of  the 
Entente.  In  view  of  the  offer  Italy  had 
just  turned  down  it  was  clear  that  the 
price  would  be  high.  The  Entente  states- 
men were,  however,  not  a  little  horrified 
when  the  Rome  Government  disclosed  its 
conditions  in  all  their  nakedness.  But 
the  situation  of  the  Allies  was  such  that 
they  were  forced  to  pay  almost  any  price 
to  assure  themselves  of  Italian  support. 
As  long  as  Italy  was  "  on  the  fence " 
France  had  to  keep  at  least  500,000  men 
to  guard  her  southern  frontier,  and  this 
at  a  moment  when  every  soldier  was 
worth  his  weight  in  gold. 

As  the  Entente  Powers  regarded  it  as 


25  « 


ri/s  n#w  yoK/ic  times  current  history 


a  life-and-death  matter  to  get  Italy  into 
the  war  on  their  side,  they  signed  on 
April  26,  1915,  the  following  secret 
treaty : * 

The  Marquis  Imperiali,  acting  on  the 
instructions  of  his  {the  Italian]  Govern- 
ment, has  the  honor  to  communicate  the 
following  memorandum  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Sir  Edward 
Grey;  the  Ambassador  of  France,  M. 
Cambon,  and  the  Ambassador  of  Russia, 
Count  Benckendorff: 

ARTICLE  1.— A  military  convention  is 
to  be  concluded  without  delay  between 
the  General  Staffs  of  France.  Great  Brit- 
ain, Russia,  and  Italy  to  determine  the 
minimum  number  of  troops  which  Russia 
would  have  to  throw  against  Austria- 
Hungary  if  the  latter  should  want  to  con- 
"centrate  all  her  forces  against  Italy.  Rus- 
sia should  decide  mainly  to  attack  Ger- 
many. Similarly  the  said  convention  is  to 
requlate  the  questions  relating  to  armi- 
stices, in  so  far  as  such  armistices  form 
an  essential  part  of  the  competence  of  the 
Supreme  Army  Command. 

ARTICLE  2.— On  her  part  Italy  under- 
takes by  all  means  at  her  disposal  to 
conduct  the  campaign  in  union  with 
France,  Great  Britain,  and  Russia 
against  all  the  powers  at  war  with  them. 
ARTICLE  8.— The  naval  forces  of 
France  and  Great  Britain  are  to  render 
uninterrupted  and  active  assistance  to 
Italy  until  such  time  as  the  navy  of  Aus- 
tria has  been  destroyed  or  peace  has  been 
concluded.  A  naval  convention  is  to  be 
concluded  without  delay  between  France, 
Great  Britain,  and  Italy. 

ARTICLE  4.— By  the  future  treaty  of 
peace,  Italy  is  to  receive  the  district  of 
Trentino;  the  entire  Southern  Tyrol  up  to 
its  natural  geographical  frontier,  which 
is  the  Brenner  Pass;  the  city  and  district 
of  Trieste;  the  County  of  Gorizia  and 
Gradisca:  the  entire  Istria  up  to  the 
Quarnero,  including  Voloscoe  and  the  1s- 
trian  islands  of  Cherso  and  Lussina,  as 
well  as  the  smaller  Islands  of  Plavinika, 
Unia,  Canidoli,  Palazzuoli,  S.  Petro  del 
Nembi,  Asinello,  and  Gruica,  with  the 
neighboring  islets. 

Note  1.— Here  follow  the  details  of  the 
frontier  delimitations:  In  execution  of  the 
conditions  of  Article  4  the  frontier  line 
should  run  as  follows:  From  the  summit 
of  the  Umbrile  northward  as  far  as  Stel- 
vio,  thence  along  the  watershed  of  the 
Rhetian  Alps  as  far  as  the  sources  of  the 
Adige  and  the  Eisach ;  after  which  it  will 
cross  the  heights  of  the  Reschon  and  the 
Brenner  and  those  of  the  Etz  and  the  Til- 
ler. The  frontier  will  then  turn  south- 
ward, passing  round  Mount  Tobloch  in 
order  to  reach  the  real  frontier  of  Carni- 
ola,  which  is  near  to  the  Alps.     Passing 

•This  treaty  was  published  in  Current  His- 
tory, March,  1918,  soon  after  the  Bolshevist 
Government  at  Petrograd  had  made  it  public ; 
but  it  is  given  again  here  to  complete  the  au- 
thor's .statement.— Editor. 


along  this  frontier,  the  line  will  reach 
Mount  Tarvi3  and  follow  the  watershed  of 
the  Julian  Alps  beyond  the  crests  of  the 
Predil,  the  Mangart,  and  the  Tricorne, 
(Triglav,)  and  the  defiles  of  Podberdo, 
Poldansko,  and  Idria.  Thence  it  will 
turn  in  a  southeasterly  direction  toward 
the  Schneeberg,  in  such  a  way  as  to  ex- 
clude the  basin  of  the  Save  and  its  tribu- 
taries from  Italian  territory.  From  the 
Schneeberg  the  frontier  will  descend  to- 
ward the  seacoast— Castua,  Matuglia,  and 
Volosca  being  considered  as  Italian  dis- 
tricts. 

ARTICLE  5.— Italy  will  likewise  receive 
the  Province  of  Dalmatia  in  its  present 
frontiers,  including  Lisserica  and  Tre- 
bigne,  (Trebanje,)  in  the  north,  and  all 
the  country  in  the  south  up  to  a  line 
drawn  from  the  coast,  at  the  promontory 
of  Planka,  eastward  along  the  watershed 
in  such- a  way  as  to  include  in  the  Italian 
possessions  all  the  valleys  of  the  rivers 
flowing  into  the  Sebenico— viz.,  Cikola, 
Kerka,  and  Buotisnica— with  all  their  af- 
fluents. Italy  will  likewise  obtain  all  the 
islands  situated  to  the  north  and  west  of 
the  coasts  of  Dalmatia,  beginning  with 
Premuda,  Selve,  Ulbo,  Skerda,  Maob 
Pago,  and  Puntadura,  and  further  north, 
and  down  to  Melada  in  the  south,  with 
the  inclusion  of  the  Islands  of  St.  An- 
drea, Busi,  Lissa,  Lesina,  Torcola,  Cur- 
zola,  Cazza,  and  Lagosta,  with  all  the 
adjacent  rocks  and  islets,  as  well  as  Pe- 
lagosa,  but  without  the  Islands  of  Zirona 
Grande  and  Zirona  Piccola,  Bua,  Solta, 
and  Brazza. 

The  following  are  to  be  neutralized :  ( 1 ) 
the  entire  coasts  from  Planka,  in  the 
north,  to  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
Sabbioncello  peninsula,  including  this 
last-named  peninsula  in  its  entirety;  (2) 
the  part  of  the  littoral  from  a  point  ten 
versts  south  of  the  promontory  of  Ragusa 
Vecchia  to  the  Viosa  (Vojuzza)  River,  so 
as  to  include  in  the  neutralized  zone  the 
entire  Gulf  of  Cattaro,  with  its  ports  of 
Antivari,  Dulcigno,  San  Giovanni  di  Med- 
ua,  and  Durazzo;  the  rights  of  Monte- 
negro, arising  from  the  declarations  ex- 
changed by  the  two  contracting  parties  as 
far  back  as  April  and  May,  1909,  remain- 
ing intact.  Nevertheless,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  those  rights  were  guaranteed  to 
Montenegro  within  her  present  frontiers, 
they  are  not  to  be  extended  to  those  terri- 
ritories  and  ports  which  may  eventually 
be  given  to  Montenegro.  Thus,  none  of 
the  ports  of  the  littoral  now  belonging  to 
Montenegro  is  to  be  neutralized  at  any 
future  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  dis- 
qualifications affecting  Antivari,  to  which 
Montenegro  herself  agi-eed  in  1909,  are  to 
remain  in  force;  (3)  lastly,  all  the  islands 
which  are  not  annexed  to  Italy. 

Note  2.— The  following  territories  on  the 
Adriatic  will  be  included  by  the  powers  of 
the  Quadruple  Entente  in  Croatia,  Serbia, 
and  Montenegro:  In  the  north  of  the 
Adriatic,  the  entire  coast  from  Volosca 
Bay,  on  the  border  of  Istria,  to  the  north- 
ern frontier  of  Dalmatia,  including  the 
entire   coast   now   belonging   to  Hungary , 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SECRET  TREATY  OF  LONDON 


4.53 


and  the  entire  coast  of  Croatia,  the  port 
of  Fiume,  and  the  small  ports  of  Novi  and 
Carlopago,  and  also  the  Islands  of  Veglia. 
Perviccio,  Gregorio,  Coli,  and  Arbe ;  and 
in  the  south  of  the  Adriatic,  where  Serbia 
and  Montenegro  have  interests,  the  entire 
coast  from  Planka  up  to  the  River  Drin, 
with  the  chief  ports  of  Spalato,  Ragusa, 
Cattaro,  Antivari,  Dulcigno,  and  San  Gio- 
vanni di  Medua,  with  the  Islands  of  Ziro- 
na  Grande,  Zirona  Piccola,  Bua,  Solta, 
Brazza,   Jakllan,    and  Calamotta. 

The  port  of  Durazzo  may  be  given  to  the 
independent  Mohammedan  State  of  Alba- 
nia. 

ARTICLE  6.— Italy  will  receive  in  abso- 
lute property  Valona,  the  Islands  of  Sas- 
seno,  and  as  much  territory  as  would  be 
required*  to  secure  their  military  safety— 
approximately  between  the  River  Voy- 
azza  in^the  north  and  in  the  east  down 
to  the  borders  of  the  Chimara  district  in 
the  south. 

ARTICLE  1.— Italy,  having  received 
Trentino  and  Istria  in  accordance  with 
Article  4,  and  Dalmatia  and  the  Adriatic 
islands  in  accordance  with  Article  5,  and 
the  Gulf  of  Valona,  is  not,  in  case  of  the 
creation  of  a  small  autonomous  and  neu- 
tralized State  in  Albania,  to  resist  the 
possible  desire  of  France,  Great  Britain, 
and"  Russia  t<%  distribute  among  Monte- 
negro, Serbia,  and  Greece  the  northern 
and  southern  parts  of  Albania.  The  lat- 
ter's  southern  littoral  from  the  frontier 
of  the  Italian  district  of  Valona  to  Capo 
Stylos  is  to  be  neutralized.  Italy  is  to 
have  the  right  to  conduct  foreign  rela- 
tions with  Albania ;  at  any  rate,  Italy  is 
to  agree  to  the  inclusion  in  Albania  of  a 
territory  large  enough  to  allow  her  fron- 
tiers to  touch  those  of  Greece  and  Serbia, 
west  of  Ochrida  Liake. 

ARTICLE  8.— Italy  will  obtain  all  the 
twelve  islands  (Dodecanese)  now  occupied 
by  her,   in  full  possession. 

ARTICLE  9.— France,  Great  Britain, 
and  Russia  admit  in  principle  the  fact  of 
Italy's  interest  in  the  maintenance  of  the 
political  balance  of  power  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  her  rights,  in  case  of  a  par- 
tition of  Turkey,  to  a  share,  equal  to 
theirs,  in  the  basin  of  the  Mediterranean 
—viz.,  in  that  part  of  it  which  adjoins  the 
Province  of  Adalia,  in  which  Italy  has 
already  acquired  special  rights  and  inter- 
ests defined  in  the  Italo-British  Conven- 
tion. The  zone  which  is  to  be  made 
Italy's  property  is  to  be  more  precisely 
defined  in  due  course  in  conformity  with 
the  vital  interests  of  France  and  Great 
Britain.  Italy's  interests  will  likewise  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  case  the  pow- 
ers should  also  maintain  territorial  integ- 
rity of  Asiatic  Turkey  for  some  future 
period  of  time,  and  if  they  should  only 
proceed  to  establish  among  themselves 
spheres  of  Influence.  In  case  France, 
Great  Britain,  and  Russia  should,  in  the 
course  of  the  present  war,  occupy  any 
districts  of  Asiatic  Turkey,  the  entire 
territory   adjacent   to  Adalia   and   defined 


more  precisely  below  (?)  is  to  be  left  to 
Italy,  who  reserves  her  right  to  occupy  it. 

ARTICLE  10.— In  Libya.  Italy  is  to  en- 
Joy  all  those  rights  and  privileges  which 
now  belong  to  the  Sultan  in  virtue  of  the 
Treaty  of  Lausanne. 

ARTICLE  11.— Italy  is  to  get  a  share  in 
the  war  indemnity  corresponding  to  the 
magnitude  of  her  sacrifices  and  efforts. 

ARTICLE  12.— Italy  adheres  to  the  dec- 
laration made  by  France,  England,  and 
Russia  about  leaving  Arabia  and  the  holy 
Moslem  places  in  the  hands  of  an  inde- 
pendent Moslem  power. 

ARTICLE  13.— Should  France  and  Great 
Britain  extend  their  colonial  possessions 
in  Africa  at  the  exepense  of  Germany, 
they  will  admit  in  principle  Italy's  right 
to  demand  certain  compensation  by  way 
of  an  extension  of  her  possessions  in  Bry- 
thraea,  Somaliland,  and  Libya,  and  the 
colonial  areas  adjoining  French  and  Brit- 
ish colonies. 

ARTICLE  14.— Great  Britain  undertakes 
to  facilitate  for  Italy  the  immediate  flo- 
tation on  the  London  market  of  a  loan  on 
advantageous  terms  to  the  amount  of  not 
less  than  £50,000,000. 

ARTICLE  15.— France,  Great  Britain, 
and  Russia  pledge  themselves  to  support 
Italy  In  not  allowing  the  representatives 
of  the  Holy  See  to  undertake  any  diplo- 
matic steps  having  for  their  object  the 
conclusion  of  peace  or  the  settlement  of 
questions  connected  with  the  present  war. 

ARTICLE  16.— The  present  treaty  is  to 
be  kept  secret.  As  regards  Italy's  adhe- 
sion to  the  Declaration  of  Sept.  5,  1915, 
this  declaration  alone  will  be  published 
immediately  on  the  declaration  of  war  by 
or  against  Italy. 

Having  taken  into  consideration  the 
present  memorandum,  the  representatives 
of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  Russia,  be- 
ing authorized  thereto,  agreed  with  the 
representatives  of  Italy,  likewise  author- 
ized thereto,   as  follows: 

France,  Great  Britain,  and  Russia  ex- 
press their  complete  agreement  with  the 
present  memorandum  submitted  to  them 
by  the  Italian  Government.  In  respect  of 
Articles  1,  2,  and  3  of  the  present  memo- 
randum, regarding  the  co-ordination  of 
the  military  and  naval  operations  of  all 
the  four  powers,  Italy  declares  that  she 
will  actively  intervene  at  an  earliest  pos- 
sible date,  and,  at  any  rate,  not  later 
than  one  month  after  the  signature  of  the 
present  document  by  the  contracting  par- 
ties. 

The     undersigned     have     confirmed     by 
hand  and  seal   the  present  instrument  in 
London  in  four  copies.     April  20,  19V>. 
(Signed)  GREY. 

CAMBON. 

IMPERIALI, 

BENCKENDORFF. 

In  the  light  of  subsequent  events  this 
treaty  seems  a  flagrant  betrayal  of  one 


254 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


of  the  bravest  and  most  loyal  allies  of 
the  Entente,  the  Kingdom  of  Serbia.  The 
carrying  out  of  the  secret  treaty  would 
indeed  have  been  a  terrible  blow  to  the 
aspirations  of  Serbia  and  the  Southern 
Slavs  for  unity,  as,  by  its  terms,  nearly 
a  million  of  them  would,  without  their 
consent  being  asked,  have  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  yoke  of  Austria  to  that 
of  Italy. 

What  arguments  can  be  advanced  in 
palliation  of  this  apparent  betrayal?  As 
concerns  Great  Britain  and  France  the 
chief  cause  was  probably,  as  I  have 
stated  above,  ignorance  and  dire  neces- 
sity. The  world  war  had  opened  up  so 
many  and  such  vast  problems  that  the 
statesmen  of  the  Entente  were  not  able 
to  grasp  them  all.  One  of  these  was  the 
aspiration  for  unity  on  the  part  of  the 
various  sections  of  the  Serbo-Croatian 
race,  that  is  to  say,  Serbia,  Montenegro, 
and  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  Provinces  of 
the  Austrian  Empire,  (Bosnia,  Herze- 
govina, Istria,  Dalmatia,  Slavonia,  Car- 
niola,  Croatia,  the  Banat,  and  the 
Batchka.) 

Of  all  the  international  questions  raised 
by  the  war  the  Jugoslav  one  was  prob- 
ably the  furthest  removed  from  the 
beaten  tracks  followed  by  European 
statesmen.  The  Polish  question,  Italia 
Irredenta,  the  Danish  duchies,  the  future 
of  Constantinople,  and  similar  problems 
were  more  or  less  familiar  and  within 
the  range  of  practical  politics.  But  the 
study  of  the  Jugoslav  question  had  been 
confined  to  a  few  experts  like  Dr.  Seton- 
Watson,  Mr.  Wickham  Steed,  and  Sir 
Arthur  Evans  in  England,  and  Professor 
Denis,  M.  Andre  Choradame,  and  M. 
August  Gauvin  in  France.  But  they 
were  experts,  and  it  is  notorious  that 
during  the  recent  world  conflict  the  men 
in  power  showed  a  curious  disregard  of 
expert  advice  and  preferred  to  follow 
rule-of-thumb  methods  imposed  on  them 
from  day  to  day  by  the  march  of  events. 

OLD  IDEALS  STILL  PREVAILED 

Another  point  which  contributed  to 
their  shortsighted  policy  was  -  their 
curious  skepticism  as  to  the  ultimate  and 
complete  break-up  of  the  Austrian 
Empire.  The  statesmen  in  Vienna  had 
balanced  successfully  on  the  tight  rope 


for  so  long  that  they  were  credited  with 
being  able  to  continue  the  performance 
indefinitely.  The  idea  that  the  Poles, 
the  Czechoslovaks,  the  Rumanians,  the 
Italians,  and  the  Southern  Slavs  could 
break  away  completely  from  the  Austrian 
yoke,  either  forming  new  States  or  join- 
ing others  already  in  existence,  was  not 
realized  by  the  statesmen  of  the  Entente 
Powers  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  war. 
And  if  they  knew  little,  the  peoples  at 
large  knew  still  less.  The  result  was 
that  there  was  no  force  of  public  opinion 
to  check  the  arbitrary  course  of  the  men 
in  power.  These  nearly  all  belonged  to 
the  old  school  of  diplomacy,  which  was 
accustomed  to  assembling  around  a  board 
of  green  cloth  and  to  shuffling  the 
smaller  and  subject  races  about,  without 
consulting  them  in  any  way,  as  the 
pawns  on  the  European  chessboard. 
The  Southern  Slavs  were  subjects  of 
Austria,  an  autocratic  and  reactionary 
empire;  Italy  was  a  free  and  enlightened 
democracy;  therefore,  the  transfer  of 
the  Southern  Slavs  from  the  Emperor 
Franz  Josef  to  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
was,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Entente,  all 
to  their  advantage.  Any  protest  on  their 
part  would  be  base  ingratitude.  In  1915 
President  Wilson  had  not  yet  enunciated 
the  freedom-giving  principle  of  the  self- 
determination  of  peoples. 

THE   ENTENTE  VIEW 

The  argument  of  the  British,  French, 
and  Russian  statesmen  was  therefore: 
"  If  we  cannot  bring  Italy  in  on  our 
side  we  may  lose  the  war.  If  we  lose 
the  war  the  Southern  Slavs  will  remain 
forever  under  the  yoke  of  their  Austrian 
masters.  If  we,  by  granting  Italy's  de- 
mands, win  the  war,  the  Southern  Slavs 
will  be  incorporated  in  a  free  and  demo- 
cratic state  like  Italy.  It  is  true  they 
might,  and  doubtless  would,  prefer  to 
join  with  their  brothers-in-race  of  Serbia 
and  Montenegro  and  form  an  independ- 
ent Jugoslav  State,  but  this  is  at  present 
a  Utopia,  and  the  times  are  too  critical 
for  us  to  waste  time  on  dreams  that  can- 
not be  realized.  They  must  understand 
that  a  '  half-loaf  is  better  than  no  bread,' 
and  let  us,  the  Great  Powers,  in  our  wis- 
dom, settle  their  destiny." 

Of  course,  this  was  a  purely  unjusti- 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SECRET  TREATY  OF  LONDON 


25: 


fied  conception  of  the  problem  of  the 
Austrian  Empire.  A  little  study  would 
soon  have  convinced  the  Entente  states- 
men of  their  complete  error.  They  would 
have  found  that  the  Jugoslav  and  Czecho- 
slovak aspirations  were  a  tremendous 
force,  and  one  with  which  the  whole 
world  would  have  to  reckon.  They  did 
not  realize  that,  as  Joseph  )e  Maitre 
declared,  "  une  aspiration  Slave  fera 
sauter  une  forteresse,"  and  that  when 
twenty-odd  million  Austrian  Slavs  had 
declared  for  independence  no  questions 
of  policy  or  opportunity  put  forward  by 
the  so-called  great  powers  would  make 
them  consent  to  become  subject  to  any 
power  against  their  will.  Britain,  France, 
and  Russia  could  not  plead  entire  igno- 
rance of  Jugoslav  aspirations,  for  these,  a 
few  days  before  the  signing  of  the 
secret  treaty,  were  voiced  with  no  un- 
certain sound  in  the  Serbian  Parliament 
by  M.  Pashitch,  the  Prime  Minister. 

In  spite  of  the  secrecy  of  the  negotia- 
tions regarding  the  secret  treaty,  rumors 
had  begun  to  circulate  and  had  caused 
a  certain  amount  of  anxiety  in  Serbia. 
On  April  15,  eleven  days  before  it  was 
signed,  M.  Drogoliub  Pavlovitch,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Skupchtina,  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing question  to  the  Government: 
In    the   foreign    press    and    in    our   own, 
rumors  are  obstinately  in  circulation  con- 
cerning  an    early    action    on    the    part    of 
Italy.     This  action  is  to  be  determined  by 
certain   compensations.      These    are   again 
to  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  Serbian, 
■Croatian,  and  Slovene  peoples.     I  ask  the 
Minister     of     Foreign     Affairs     and     the 
Prime    Minister    if    these    rumors    corre- 
spond to  the  truth. 

STATEMENT    OF    M.     PASHITCH 

In  reply  to  this  interpellation  M.  Pas- 
hitch,  the  Prime  Minister,  made  the  fol- 
lowing declaration : 

All  I  can  say  for  the  present  in  reply  to 
the  question  of  M.  Pavlovitch  is  the  fol- 
lowing: It  is  true  that  rumors  have 
reached  us  from  various  sides  of  pourpar- 
lers that  have  been  begun  between  Italy 
and  the  powers  of  the  Triple  Entente  for 
the  participation  of  the.  former  alongside 
the  latter  in  the  solution  of  the  various 
questions.  As  before,  rumors  have  been 
current  that  pourparlers  have  also  been 
begun  between  Italy  and  Germany  and 
Austria  regarding  the  concessions  which 
Italy  could  obtain  by  remaining  neutral 
and    associated    with    (iermany    and    Aus- 


tria. These  rumors  are  not  confirmed  of- 
ficially. This  is  why  we  cannot  know 
whether  or  not  they  correspond  to  the 
truth.  For  it  often  happens  that  false 
rumors  are  spread  with  a  view  of  bring- 
ing about  declarations  and  of  sounding 
the  opinions  and  sentiments  in  certain 
quarters. 

For  the  moment  I  cannot  put  faith  in 
these  rumors  or  believe  that  they  conform 
with  th>  truth,  for  I  believe  that  Italy 
will  not  violate  the  principles  in  the  name 
of  which  she  realized  her  own  unity.  I 
do  not  think  she  will  abandon  this  just 
principle  at  the  time  when  we  are  seek- 
ing the  solution  of  the  problem  of  nation- 
alities. 

Italy  realized  her  unity  on  the  basis  of 
the  principle  of  nationalities.  All  her  ju- 
ridical science  leads  up  to  the  inviolable 
postulate  that  the  State  must  maintain 
and  respect  the  principle  on  which  it  is 
founded.  If  it  abandons  it,  it  shakes  its 
own  foundations.  This  is  why  I  think 
that  Italy,  in  ranging  herself  alongside 
the  Triple  Entente,  will  be  guided  by  th(j 
principle  of  nationalities  and  that  she  will 
be  able  to  arrange  her  interests  in  the 
Adriatic  in  such  a  way  that  there  will  be 
no  regrettable  consequences  either  for- her 
or  for  us.  and  that  there  will  not  be  a 
disaccord  between  the  Serbs,  Croats,  and 
Slovenes  and  the  Italians.  For  it  is  only 
an  accord  between  these  two  peoples  that 
would  furnish  the  surest  guarantee 
against  the  "  push  "  of  Germ  iny  toward 
the  Mediterranean. 

In  Italy  .there  are  great  political  men 
whose  wisdom  is  able  to  appreciate  the 
importance  of  an  accord  between  the 
Serb-Croat-Slovene  people  find  Italy,  an 
accord  which  alone  can  assure  the  pros- 
perity of  the  two  peoples  by  increasing 
their  mutual  friendship  and  by  assuring 
the  communications  between  them  for  the 
development  of  their  commerce.  This  is 
why,  gentlemen,  I  think  that  the  Italian 
statesmen  will  not  be  guided  by  the  idea 
of  obtaining  a  town  or  an  island  more  or 
less.  They  must  know  in  advance  that 
Italy's  force  does  not  He  in  this  or  that 
town  or  island,  but  in  the  friendly  rela- 
tions between  her  and  the  Serb-Croat- 
Slovene  people. 

These  friendly  and  statesmanlike  utter- 
ances of  M.  Pashitch  found,  however,  no 
echo  in  Rome  nor  in  the  capitals  of  the 
Entente  Powers,  and  did  not  prevent  the 
signing  of  a  treaty  which  bartered  away 
the  freedom  of  nearly  a  million  Jugo- 
slavs. 

ITALY'S   VIEWPOINT 

If  want  of  knowledge  cannot  be  in- 
voked on  the  part  of  Italian  statesmen, 
what  arguments,  it  will  be  asked,  can  be 
put  forward  by  them  in  justification  of 


*56 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  terms  of  the  secret  treaty?  The 
answer  is:  Reasons  of  strategy,  and  the 
necessity  of  assuring  the  safety  of  Italy 
in  the  future.  In  1915  Italy  had  to  con- 
sider two  possibilities  regarding  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war.  One  was  that  it 
would  end  in  a  drawn  battle,  a  kind  of 
stalemate,  as  the  result  of  which  Ger- 
many and  Austria  would  still  remain  in 
being  as  great  powers,  and  still  be  a 
future  menace  for  Italy.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances it  was  to  Italy's  interest,  and 
it  was  even  her  duty,  to  assure  herself 
of  every  possible  strategic  advantage,  so 
that  if  she  had  ever  to  renew  the  strug- 
gle against  Austria  she  would  do  so  with 
as  many  trump  cards  in  hand  as  possible. 
If  the  Austrian  Empire  still  continued  to 
exist,  no  free  and  independent  Jugoslavia 
could  come  into  being,  so  that  Italy's 
annexations  could  not  harm  a  State  that 
was  nonexistent. 

The  second  hypothesis  was  that  Aus- 
tria should  be  defeated  and  dismembered, 
but  that  Russia  should  still  exist  as  the 
greatest  military  and  autocratic  power 
in  Europe.  She  would  naturally  estab- 
lish herself  as  the  protector  of  all  the 
smaller  Slav  nations.  Poland,  Czecho- 
slovakia, and  Jugoslavia  would  therefore 
only  be  outposts  of  the  Russian  Empire, 
and  the  menace  of  Pan- Slavism  would 
replace  the  menace  of  Pan-Germanism 
on  the  Adriatic  and  elsewhere.  By  the 
secret  treaty  entered  into  by  France, 
Britain,  and  Russia  before  the  war,  the 
latter  power  was  assured  the  possession 
of  Constantinople  and  the  Dardanelles, 
so  that,  as  the  Black  Sea  fleet  could 
enter  the  Aegean  at  any  time,  Russia 
might  become  a  formidable  rival  to  Italy 
in  the  Mediterranean.  Through  Jugo- 
slavia she  could  challenge  Italy's  mastery 
of  the  Adriatic  and  from  the  Croatian 
and  Dalmatian  ports  could  threaten 
Italy's  Adriatic  coast  line. 

THE  CHANGED  SITUATION 

Such  a  danger  might  be  an  excuse,  if 
not  a  reason,  for  Italy's  claim  to  Istria, 
Dalmatia,  and  the  islands.  In  1915  the 
realization  of  either  of  these  hypotheses 
was  possible  and  could  be  pleaded  in 
justification  of  the  terms  of  the  secret- 
treaty. 

But  in  1919  no  such  reason  can  be  in- 


voked. The  Austrian  Empire  has  ceased 
to  exist,  and  Russia,  as  a  military  and 
autocratic  power,  has  disappeared  for- 
ever from  the  political  stage.  The  new 
State  of  Jugoslavia  has  come  into  exist- 
ence, but  cannot  threaten  Italy  or  chal- 
lenge her  supremacy  in  the  Adriatic.  The 
new  kingdom  possesses  no  navy,  and  the 
great  powers  can  make  it  a  condition  of 
its  existence  that  it  shall  not  create  one. 
A  country  may  raise  an  army  in  secret, 
but  can  never  create  a  fleet  without  its 
being  known.  With  the  possession  by 
Italy  of  Brindisi  and  Valona,  Trieste  and 
Venice,  the  Adriatic,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  naval  strategy,  becomes  an  Ital- 
ian lake. 

There  is  now  no  reason  whatever  why 
Italy  should  insist  on  receiving  the 
strategic  guarantees  contained  in  the 
secret  treaty.  Gx-eat  Britain  and  France 
both  realize  today  the  bitter  injustice 
they  did  their  gallant  ally,  Serbia,  the 
"  Piedmont "  of  the  new  Jugoslavia,  by- 
signing  the  secret  treaty ;  but  they  do 
not,  as  long  as  Italy  insists  on  her 
pound  of  flesh,  know  any  way  to  escape 
from  the  dilemma  in  which  they  have 
placed  themselves.  The  only  solution 
would  be  that  Italy  should  voluntarily 
renounce  the  terms  of  the  secret  treaty 
and  thus  set  them  free. 

But  this  Italy  shows  no  signs  of  doing. 
On  the  contrary,  she  even  went  beyond 
that  document  and  claimed  Fiume,  to 
which  in  the  treaty  she  renounced  all 
claim,  categorically  admitting  that  it  was 
a  Croatian  port. 

ITALIAN    IMPERIALISM 

*  This  is  a  fresh  proof  of  the  truth  of 
the  French  proverb  that  I'appetit  vient 
en  mangecmt.  The  concluding  of  the 
secret  treaty  has  been  the  starting  point 
of  a  wave  of  imperialism  which  has 
swept  over  the  whole  Italian  peninsula. 
In  addition  to  Jugoslav  territory  the 
secret  treaty  also  assured  to  Italy  the 
permanent  possession  of  the  Dodecanese, 
the  twelve  Greek  islands  she  seized  dur- 
ing the  war  with  Turkey,  and  which,  in 
spite  of  her  written  promise  to  evacuate 
them  made  in  the  Treaty  of  Lausanne, 
she  still  holds.  She  further  disputes 
Greek  claims  to  Northern  Epirus,  has 
proclaimed  an   Italian  protectorate  over 


GENESIS  OF  THE  SECRET  TREATY  OF  LOKIHJX 


*.">7 


Albania,   and   demands  large   territories 
on  the  Turkish  mainland. 

We  are  thus  brought  face  to  face 
with  a  new  Eastern  question.  With  the 
possession  of  the  Eastern  Adriatic  ports 
of  Trieste  and  Fiume  Italy  would  com- 
plete her  control  of  the  Mediterranean 
traffic  to  and  from  Switzerland,  South 
Germany,  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Jugo- 
slavia, and  thus  arm  herself  with  an 
economic  weapon  of  the  first  importance. 
Trieste  has  long  been  a  centre  of  trade 
with  the  Levant.  Its  shipping  and  bank- 
ing facilities  will  now  fall  into  Italian 
hands  and  provide  a  powerful  agency  of 
peaceful  penetration.  The  possession  of 
the  islands  of  the  Dodecanese  is  a  step- 


ping-stone to  the  domination  of  a  section 
of  the  Turkish  Empire.  But  the  realiza- 
tion of  such  vaulting  ambitions  can  only 
be  achieved  by  making  tabula  rasa  of 
ail  the  principles  for  which  the  United 
States  and  the  Allies  fought  the  war, 
and  would  simply  be  the  substitution  of 
Italian  imperialism  on  a  small  scale  for 
German  imperialism  on  a  grand. 

Every  real  friend  of  Italy  regards 
with  anxiety  the  line  of  policy  on  which 
Baron  Sonnino  and  Signor  Orlando  em- 
barked, and  is  hoping  that  Signor  Nitti 
and  Signor  Tittoni  will  renounce  the 
grandiose  visions  of  their  predecessors 
and  adopt  a  more  sane  and  moderate 
policy. 


[A  Reply  to  the  Preceding  A  rticle] 

Italy's  Rights  Across  the  Adriatic 

Italian    Official     Review     in     Justification     of     the     Treaty 
of  London  and  Italy's  Claims 

By  CAPTAIN  ALESSANDRO  SAPELLI 

i  Former    Governor   of   Benadir,    East    Africa;    Director   ok    Italian    Bureau    of    l nformation, 

New  York] 

Current  History  Magazine,  in  accordance  with  its  non-partisan  policy,  sub- 
mitted Captain  Gordon -Smith's  article  on  the  Treaty  of  London,  with  his  knowledge 
and  approval,  to  Italian  official  representatives  in  America  for  a  reply.  The  Italian 
view  of  the  subject  is  given  below. 


T 


I  HERE  has  been  growing  up  in 
certain  quarters  a  curious  predi- 
lection to  visit  many  of  the  ills  of 
the  Peace  Conference  on  the 
Treaty  of  London — to  hold  up  that  docu- 
ment, amid  all  the  covert  diplomacy  of 
the  war,  as  the  most  iniquitous  example, 
compared  with  the  impiety  of  which  the 
contracts  of  England  and  France  to  be- 
stow Constantinople  on  Russia,  Shantung 
on  Japan,  and  to  divide  Asiatic  Turkish 
vilayets  between  them,  and  even  Eng- 
land's recent  treaty  with  Persia,  which 
renders  the  League  of  Nations  still-born, 
loom  almost  in  the  light  of  sanctified 
covenants.  Many  censors  of  this  sup- 
posed nefarious  document  cheerfully  ad- 
mit that  it  would  not  gleam  with  quite 
such  an  unholy  light  if  only  Italy  would 


do  what  England  and  France,  however, 
reveal  little  intention  of  doing  in  regard 
to  their  own  advantageous  private  en- 
gagements, and  denounce  the  Treaty  of 
London  as  a  "  scrap  of  paper." 

The  methods  employed,  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  on  Italy  in  order  to  have 
her  Government  consummate  "  il  gran 
rifiuto,"  are  quite  familiar.  They  are 
not  particularly  praiseworthy,  but  that 
may  be  due  to  the  character  of  the  result 
they  are  feverishly  striving  to  reach. 
And  now  the  moral  aspects  of  these 
methods  and  this  pressure,  which  could 
hardly  be  attractively  sustained  by  the 
British  desire  to  perpetuate  the  Cunard 
concessions  in  the  Adriatic  and  the 
French  jealousy  of  Italian  expansion  in 
the  Mediterranean,  are  receiving  a  con- 


258 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES'   CURRENT   HISTORY 


stantly  increasing  ethical  impetus  from 
the  attractively  advertised  claims  of  the 
Jugoslavs. 

It  is  quite  natural,  therefore,  that 
Captain  Gordon-Smith,  in  the  light  of 
his  titles  and  his  office,  should  ignore 
all  less  popular  considerations  and  base 
his  argument  for  the  denouncement  of 
the  treaty  chiefly  upon  this  ground.  His 
method,  if  allowed  to  go  unanalyzed,  his 
conclusions,  if  left  unanswered,  would 
be  singularly  appealing.  It  is  my  pur- 
pose to  analyze  his  method  and  to  answer 
his  conclusions.  I  shall  try  to  do  so  as 
politely  as  possible  by  showing  the  same 
consideration  for  the  contentions  and 
claims  of  Jugoslavia  that  he  does  for  the 
contentions  and  claims  of  Italy. 

In   the   first   place   he   is   to   be   con- 
gratulated   on   his   method.      Singularly 
impressed  by  his  opening  denunciations, 
the    gentle    reader    glides    smoothly    on 
from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete,  from 
the   general   to   the   specific   with   intel- 
lectual,  even   emotional   satisfaction,   so 
that  the  final   apostrophe   arrives  with 
peculiar  clearness,  force,  and  beauty: 
Every  real  friend  of  Italy  regards  with 
anxiety  the  line  of  policy  on  which  Baron 
Sonnino    and    Signor    Orlando    embarked, 
and  is  hoping  that  Signor  Nitti  and  Signor 
Tittoni  will  renounce  the  grandiose  visions 
of   their   predecessors   and    adopt   a   more 
sane   and    moderate   policy. 

I  have  heard  that  there  are  some  be- 
nighted persons  who  consider  themselves 
"  real  friends  of  Italy  "  who  might  resent 
this  imputation,  and,  while  criticising  the 
statesmanship  of  Sonnino  and  Orlando, 
would  deny  that  their  policy  embraced 
"  grandiose  visions,"  or  that  what  are 
called  grandiose  visions  must  be  re- 
nounced by  Nitti  and  Tittoni  for  the  rea- 
sons so  cleverly  set  forth  by  Captain 
Gordon-Smith. 

THE  DOCUMENTS  INVOLVED 

His  argument,  chiefly  concerned  with 
Italy's  iniquity,  with  the  former  gullibil- 
ity but  present  contrition  of  England 
and  France,  and  with  the  worthy  ambi- 
tions of  the  Jugoslavs,  is  based  upon 
three  documents.  In  such  cases  it  is 
customary  to  employ  authentic  docu- 
ments, or,  failing  these,  candidly  to  ad- 
mit their  shortcomings.  Captain  Gordon- 
Smith  does  not  employ  authentic  docu- 


ments, yet  he  has  nothing  to  say  about 
the  untrusi;worthiness  of  those  he  does 
employ.  It  would  be  quite  unnecessary 
to  dwell  upon  this  fact  were  it  not  for 
the  advantage  he  takes  of  it. 

His  documents  are  (1)  a  perverted 
translation  of  a  fragment  of  a  dispatch 
sent  by  Baron  Sonnino  to  the  Duke  of 
Avarna,  the  Italian  Ambassador  at 
Vienna,  on  April  8,  1915,  and  his  desig- 
nation of  this  fragment  that  it  repre- 
sents a  German-Italian  agreement  is 
quite  gratuitous;  (2)  the  version  of  the 
Treaty  of  London  contained  in  F.  Sey- 
mour Cocks's  book,  "  The  Secret  Trea- 
ties," (London:  The  Union  of  Democratic 
Control,)  which  is  open  to  serious  objec- 
tions, as  will  presently  be  seen;  (3)  a 
garbled  translation  of  a  speech  made  by 
M.  Pashitch,  the  Serbian  Prime  Minister, 
which,  however,  might  be  ignored  except 
for  the  fact  that  it  makes  the  speaker 
presuppose  an  expanded  Serbian  unity 
which  at  the  time  had  no  existence. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  Italian  Green 
Book  to  show  that  von  Billow  had  a  hand 
in  framing  the  Italian  proposals  of  April 
8;  there  is  much  in  the  Austrian  Red 
Book  to  show  that  he  did  not  see  them 
until  after  they  had  been  sent.  For 
example,  the  dispatch  Baron  Macchio,  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Ambassador  at  Rome, 
sent  Baron  Burian,  the  Austro-Hunga- 
rian Foreign  Minister,  on  April  14,  reads 
in  part: 

Prince  Bulow  has  given  me  the  follow- 
ing information  on  a  conversation  he  had 
yesterday    with    Baron    Sonnino: 

The  two  gentlemen  went  over  each  indi- 
vidual article  of  the  latest  Italian  de- 
mands together.  In  the  matter  of  the 
Trentino.  Baron  Sonnino  admitted  that 
he  had  included  purely  German  districts, 
but  endeavored  to  excuse  this  by  saying 
that  you  in  your  proposal  had  retained 
purely  Italian  districts  for  the  Dual 
Monarchy.  Prince  Bulow  gained  the  im- 
pression that  the  Italians  would  be  open 
to  negotiations  as  to  the  extent  of  terri- 
tory to  be  ceded  as  well  as  on  the  question 
of  the  Isonzo  border. 

Prince  Bulow  considered  the  stipulations 
about  Trieste  to  be  entirely  too  obscure 
in  their  disclosures  of  Baron  Sonnino's 
real  aspirations.  When  Baron  Sonnino 
explained  that  he  had  in  mind  a  status 
similar  to  that  of  Hamburg,  Prince  Biilow 
retorted  that  Germany  was  a  confedera- 
tion of  States  and  that  therefore  an 
anology  between  the  two  situations  could 
hardly   be  established.      Moreover,   he   re- 


ITALY'S   RIGHTS  ACROSS   THE   ADRIATIC 


339 


capitulated  with  all  his  available  energy 
all  the  reasons  why  Austria-Hungary 
could    not    renounce'    Trieste.     *    •    * 

The  chief  elements  which  dominate  the 
Italian  Government  still  remain  the  same: 
Fear  of  England,  fear  of  revolution— and 
at  court  resolution  seems  to  be  feared 
even  more  than  war— and  on  the  other- 
hand  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  relative 
power  of  the   two  camps. 

It  certainly  does  not  look  as  though 
the  proposals  sent  on  April  8  were  the 
result  of  an  agreement  between  Wilhelm- 
strasse  and  the  Consulate,  as  Captain 
Gordon-Smith  affirms.  Even  the  preface 
to  the  Sonnino  dispatch  would  have  en- 
lightened him.  Was  its  avoidance  inno- 
cent or  calculated?  An  oversight  that 
is  certainly  innocent  is  to  be  noticed  in 
the  last  paragraph  of  the  proposals, 
where  he  mentions  Article  8  of  the  Triple 
Alliance  Treaty,  when,  of  course,  7  is 
intended. 

TREATY  OF  LONDON  TEXT 

The  authentic  text  of  the  Treaty  of 
London  should,  without  transgressing 
one  of  its  stipulations,  be  known  only  to 
the  Governments  of  the  signatories.  That 
President  Wilson  in  his  "  Memorandum 
concerning  the  question  of  Italian  claims 
on  the  Adriatic  "  presented  to  the  Italian 
delegation  at  Paris,  on  April  14,  1919, 
and  in  his  statement  to  the  Italian  people 
on  the  same  subject  nine  days  later, 
should  have  shown  a  singular  knowledge 
of  the  details  of  the  treaty  is  beside  the 
point.  That  mystery  may  be  cleared  up 
some  day.  All  published  versions  are 
based  on  a  Russian  translation  made 
from  the  French  original  in  the  Russian 
imperial  archives  and  published  in  the 
Izvestia  of  Petrograd  by  orders  of  the 
Lenin  Government  in  December,  1917. 
The  New  Europe  of  London  published 
an  English  version  of  the  Russian  text, 
and  from  it  an  Italian  translation  was 
made  which  was  read  in  the  Rome  Cham- 
ber by  Deputy  Bevione,  and  its  accuracy 
challenged,  but  naturally  without  cor- 
rective specifications.  The  origin  of  the 
Cocks  text  employed  by  Captain  Gordon- 
Smith  is  quite  unknown,  but  its  sub- 
stance shows  that  it  is  even  further  re- 
mote from  the  original  than  the  Bolshe- 
vist publication  obviously  is.  At  least 
its  careless  construction  is  revealed  in 
the  last  sentence  of  Article  L,  where,  the 


context  plainly  shows  that  between  the 
words  "  such  armistices  "  and  "  form  "  a 
negative  should  have  been  inserted. 

In  the  Izvestia  version  the  geographical 
designations  are  shown  to  be  so  inexact 


FIFME    AND    DISPUTED    POINTS    ON    THE 
NEIGHBORING    COAST 


that  they  could  hardly  have  been  that 
way  in  the  authentic  text.  This  is  proved 
when  they  are  compared  with  those  por- 
tions of  the  treaty  incorporated  in  the 
armistice  of  Nov.  4,  1918.  The  conces- 
sions to  Croatia  are  lightly  passed  over. 
The  insignificant  ports  of  Novi  and 
Carlopago  are  mentioned,  but  the  larger 
ports  of  Buccari,  Segna,  and  Cirquenizza 
are  omitted. 

As  to  the  Pashitch  speech,  according 
to  the  official  English  version  sent  out 
by  the  Serbian  Press  Bureau  at  Nish 
the  last  sentence  should  read: 

I  believe  that  Italian  statesmen  will  not 
fix  their  aim  on  the  acquisition  of  a  town 
more  or  less  or  any  particular  island,  be- 
cause they  know  that  the  strength  of 
Italy  will  lie,  not  in  any  such  .town  or 
island,  but  in  harmonious  relations  with 
the  Serbo-Croatian  and  Slovene  peoples. 

INACCURATE  CONCLUSIONS 

It  will  be  admitted,  I  think,  that  the 
further  any  documents  depart  from  their 
authentic  sense,  form,  and  setting,  the 
greater  become  the  opportunities  for 
casuistry.  The  opportunities  thus  pre- 
sented in  the  present  instance  are  not 
shunned  by  Captain  Gordon-Smith.  From 
his  gratuitous  assumption  that  the  pro- 
posals of  April  8  are  of  German-Italian 
origin,  it  is  but  a  step  to  designate  them 
as  German,  and  so  to  pass  nonchalantly 


260 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


on  from  what  he  calls  the  "  era  of  sordid 
huckstering  "  to  that  other  era  in  which 
he  represents  the  Entente  statesmen  as 
"  not  a  little  horrified  when  the  Rome 
Government  disclosed  its  conditions  in 
all  their  nakedness." 

And  so  in  making  this  approach  he  is 
able  to  impart  the  important  information 
that  while  "  Germany  knew  it  was .  quite 
hopeless  to  expect  Italy  to  take  up  arms 
on  the  side  of  the  Central  Powers,"  this 
was  all  artfully  concealed  from  the  En- 
tente statesmen,  who  "  were  forced  to 
pay  almost  any  price  to  assure  them- 
selves of  Italian  support,"  for,  writes 
Captain  Gordon-Smith:  "As  long  as 
Italy  was  '  on  the  fence  '  France  had  to 
keep  at  least  500,000  men  to  guard  her 
southern  frontier,  and  this  at  a  moment 
when  every  soldier  was  worth  his  weight 
in  gold." 

Is  it  possible  that  he  does  not  know 
that  because  of  the  assurance  given 
France  by  Italy  in  early  August,  1914, 
a  measurable  majority  of  these  troops 
were  removed  and  incorporated  in  Foch's 
Ninth  Army,  where  they  played  an  im- 
portant, possibly  a  decisive,  role  in  the 
battle  of  the  Marne? 

In  a  similar  manner  Captain  Gordon- 
Smith's  special  text  of  the  Treaty  of 
London,  ignoring  as  it  does  the  conces- 
sions made  to  Croatia  and  disparaging 
those  made  to  Serbia  and  Montenegro, 
enables  him  to  state  with  unblushing  as- 
surance that  the  document  "  seems  a 
flagrant  betrayal  of  one  of  the  bravest 
and  most  loyal  allies  of  the  Entente,  the 
Kingdom  of  Serbia,"  and  that  its  carry- 
ing out  "  would  indeed  have  been  a  ter- 
rible blow  to  the  aspirations  of  Serbia 
and  the  Southern  Slavs  for  unity." 

And  although  later  he  speciously  ad- 
mits Italy's  justification  on  two  hypo- 
theses, it  is  not  before  he  has  attempted 
to  annihilate  their  moral  value  by  mak- 
ing the  most  of  M.  Pashitch's  righteous 
objections  uttered  at  about  the  time  the 
treaty  was  being  negotiated. 

BASIS   OF   ITALY'S  CLAIMS 

Now,  the  negotiation  of  the  Treaty  of 
London  was  much  more  complicated,  the 
tentative  proposals  advanced  by  the 
various  parties  much  more  complex,  than 
Captain  Gordon-Smith  probably  has  any 


idea  of.  The  boundaries  put  forward  by 
Italy  were  purely  defensive.  For  cen- 
turies she  had  been  invaded,  because  she 
lacked  them,  by  German,  Magyar,  and 
Slav,  and  unless  she  now  secures  these 
defensive  ramparts  her  future  will  still 
be  menaced  by  the  same  races.  The  laws 
of  racial  migration  are  immutable  and 
their  execution  can  only  be  prevented  by 
force. 

Italy's  claims  as  represented  in  the 
Treaty  of  London  do  not  therefore  con- 
stitute, in  so  far  as  the  Adriatic  is  con- 
cerned, her  maximum  demands,  but 
rather  her  minimum  postulates.  They 
were  the  result  of  a  compromise  adjusted, 
I  believe,  from  the  following  formulae, 
the  first  presented  by  Italy,  the  second 
by  Russia: 

1.  Istria,  (including  Trieste;)'  Pola,  as 
a  military  and  naval  base ;  and  Fiume. 

2.  The  Croatian  coast,  from  Fiume 
southward  to  the  neighborhood  of  Zara. 

3.  The  Dalmatian  mainland  from  Zara 
to  the  Montenegrin  frontier,  with  the 
naval  bases  of  Sebenico  and  Cattaro. 

4.  The  Dalmatian  Archipelago,  which 
constitutes  a  formidable  maritime  posi- 
tion. 

1.  A  part  of  Istria,  including  Pola  as 
well  as  Trieste,  to  belong  to  Italy. 

2.  A  part  of  Istria,  with  Fiume,  to  be- 
long to  a  future  independent  Croatia,  to- 
gether with  the  present  Croatian  coast 
and  with  Dalmatia  as  far  as  the  river 
Narenta.  ' 

3.  Dalmatia,  from  the  Narenta  south- 
ward, to  belong  to  Serbia. 

4.  The  greater  part  of  the  Dalmatian 
Archipelago  to  belong  to  the  future  Serbo- 
Croatia. 

When  the  treaty  was  negotiated  the 
national  attitude  of  Greece,  with  dynastic 
proclivities  toward  the  Central  Powers, 
was  problematical.  Italy  had  taken  the 
Dodecanese  from  Turkey,  not  from 
Greece.  According  to  the  Treaty  of 
Lausanne  these  islands  were  to  be  re- 
turned to  Turkey  when  the  last  Turkish 
officer  had  been  removed  from  Libya 
Italiana.  At  what  period  of  the  war 
would  Captain  Gordon-Smith  suggest 
that  Italy  should  have  returned  them? 
And  has  he  so  carelessly  followed  the 
diplomacy  of  M.  Venizelos  as  not  to  know 
where  Greece  stands  in  the  ultimate  re- 
adjustment? 


ITALY'S  RIGHTS  ACROSS   THE  ADRIATIC 


2H1 


THE  ALBANIAN  PROTECTORATE 
Italy  proclaimed  a  protectorate  over 
Albania — whose  students  for  centuries 
have  been  educated  in  the  universities  of 
the  Peninsula — much  less  selfishly  than 
England  did  over  Egypt,  and  to  off- 
set the  claims  of  Austria-Hungary,  which 
had  already  proclaimed  a  protectorate 
there.  The  Italian  proclamation  delivered 
on  June  3,  1917,  at  Argyrocastro,  by 
General  Ferrero,  reads  in  part: 

By  this  act,  Albanians,  you  will  have 
free  institutions,  troops,  law  courts,  and 
schools  directed  by  Albanian  citizens ;  you 
will  be  able  to  manage  your  properties 
and  the  product  of  your  labor  to  your  own 
advantage,  and  for  the  ever-increasing 
well-being  of  your  country. 

As  the  Treaty  of  London  provides  for 
Italian  concessions  in  Asiatic  Turkey  de- 
pendent on  British  and  French  acquisi- 
tions there,  and  as  further  Franco-Brit- 
ish acquisitions  are  provided  for  in  a 
treaty  concluded  behind  the  back  of  Italy 
in  1916,  quite  out  of  order  with  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  London  covenant,  it 
seems  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  men- 
tion Captain  Gordon-Smith's  statement 
that  Italy  now  "  demands  large  territo- 
ries on  the  Turkish  mainland,"  and  to 
add  that  such  demands  exist  nowhere  ex- 
cept in  the  Captain's  imagination. 

"  Ignorance,"  it  has  been  seen,  is 
hardly  the  word  to  apply  to  the  British 
and  French  negotiators  of  the  Treaty 
of  London.  "  Dire  necessity  "  was  theirs, 
but  it  was  hardly  Italy's  fault,  for  she, 
aside  from  making  it  safe  for  the  with- 
drawal of  French  garrisons  in  the  south, 
had  forced  Austria-Hungary  to  keep  half 
a  million  men  inactive  on  the  Italian 
frontier. 

SERBIA'S    ASPIRATIONS 

But  let  us  return  to  the  burden  of 
Captain  Gordon-Smith's  remarks — his 
solicitude  for  Greater  Serbia,  for  the 
monarchy  of  the  Serbs,  Croats,  and 
Slovenes,  for  Jugoslavia.  He  will  prob- 
ably not  deny  that  during  the  negotia- 
tion of  the  Treaty  of  London  M.  Bos- 
karich  was  made  conversant  with  the 
Serbian  provisions  in  the  document  and 
approved  of  them.  M.  Boskarich  was 
the  Serbian  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James's.  At  any  rate  a- note  was  sent 
to  the  press  stating  that  Serbia  had  re\ 


ceived  "  her  little  window  on  the  sea." 
Nor  is  he  likely  to  deny  that  Italian 
ships  rescued  the  survivors  of  the  Ser- 
bian Army  from  Montenegro  and  Al- 
bania, and  conveyed  them  to  Corfu.  And 
Serbia,  betrayed  by  her  great  allies  in 
the  Autumn  of  1915,  as  Captain  Gordon- 
Smith  has  already  shown  in  the  Septem- 
ber number  of  Current  History,  is  still 
worthy  of  special  consideration.  Unfor- 
tunately, since  her  rescue  and  rehabilita- 
tion her  condition  has  become  somewhat 
complicated  by  her  assumption  of  larger 
powers,  of  greater  responsibilities.  Pru- 
dence does  not  always  go  hand  in  hand 
with  valor,  and  Serbian  aspirations  are 
now  arousing  considerable  apprehension 
among  her  former  admirers. 

Her  expansion  into  Jugoslavia  was 
achieved  by  three  events:  The  Declara- 
tion of  Corfu,  July  20,  1917,  which  placed 
the  Monarchy  of  the  Serbs,  Croats,  and 
Slovenes  on  paper;  the  Pact  of  Rome, 
April  10,  1918,  which  gave  Croats  and 
Slovenes  and  the  subject  Serbs  the 
n>oral  support  of  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated nations,  just  as  it  did  the  subject 
Poles,  Rumanians,  and  Czechoslovaks,  in 
their  projected  revolt  against  the  Haps-, 
burgs — an  advantage  of  which  the  sub- 
ject Poles,  Rumanians,  and  Czechoslovaks 
quickly  availed  themselves,  and  the 
Croats,  Slovenes,  and  Serbs  did  not — 
and,  finally,  the  recognition  by  the 
United  States  of  the  Greater  Monarchy, 
Feb.  7,  1919,  which  raised  the  mandate 
of  the  Serbian  delegates  at  the  Peace 
Conference  so  that  they  were  able  to 
plead  the  cause  of  the  Croats  and 
Slovenes,  as  friendly  peoples,  and  dis- 
pute the  claims  of  Italy  based  on  the 
Treaty  of  London. 

Really  this  distinction  bestowed  on  the 
Croats  and  Slovenes  was  hardly  deserved. 
Their  revolt  against  the  Hapsburgs  never 
occurred.  Even  the  prisoners  among 
them  in  Italy  declined  to  fight  for  free- 
dom, and  showed  their  contempt  for  the 
Czechoslovaks,  who  eagerly  embraced  the 
opportunity  to  do  so.  They  transgressed 
the  spirit  of  the  Pact  of  Rome  by  con- 
ducting an  anti-Italian  propaganda  in 
France,  England,  and  the  United  States, 
until  those  Italians  who  had  generously 
labored  to  make  the  Rome  Convention  a 
success  revolted  at  their  ingratitude.  The 


£62 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Austro-Hungarian  divisions  in  which 
Serbo-Croats  and  Slovenes  predominated 
fought  cruelly  at  Caporetto,  committed 
unspeakable  atrocities  in  Veneto,  and 
fought  to  the  last  at  the  Piave  for  the 
Dual  Monarchy  of  the  Hapsburgs.  Their 
numbers  are  upon  record:  The  28th, 
31st,  36th,  42d,  58th,  44th,  52d,  55th,  60th, 
32d,  49th,  50th,  57th,  and  70th,  and  the 
53d  Regiment  of  Zagabria  with  95  per 
cent.  Croats,  the  79th  Regiment  of  Otto- 
ciaz  with  100  per  cent.  Croats,  and  the 
37th  Regiment  of  Gravosa  with  95  per 
cent.  Serbo-Croats.  A  Slav  General  com- 
manded the  enemy's  armies  on  the  Isonzo. 
To  a  Croatian  regiment  was  promised 
the  privilege  of  being  the  first  to  enter 
Venice  and  to  loot  the  Pearl  of  the 
Adriatic.  Some  of  the  attaches  of  the 
Jugoslav  delegates  at  Paris  are  said  to 
be  under  indictment  in  Italy  for  having 
committed  atrocities  in  Veneto. 

THE  CASE  OF  FIUME 

And  yet  it  disturbs  some  persons  that 
Italy  does  not  surrender  Fiume  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  these  people — Fiume, 
whose  deputy,  Andrea  Ossoina,  on  Oct. 
18,  1918,  defied  the  Hapsburgs  in  the 
Parliament  of  Budapest  by  declaring 
that  his  city  was  and  would  always  re- 
main Italian;  Fiume,  whose  people  a 
week  before  the  armistice  elected  a  Na- 
tional Council  to  proclaim  its  union  to 
Italy;  Fiume,  whose  people  resented 
President  Wilson's  advice,  given  last 
April  to  the  Italian  people,  to  surrender 
their  city  to  the  Croats,  in  the  following 
language: 

The  population  of  Fiume,  assembled 
under  the  Italian  flag,  in  the  presence  of 
representatives  of  the  glorious  American 
Army,  replies  to  your  proclamation  by 
conferring  full  power  over  the  city  upon 
the  representatives  of  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment. 

In  the  name  of  our  dead  on  the  Piave 
and  Isonzo,  we  express  to  you  our  great- 
est gratitude  for  provoking  by  your  atti- 
tude the  highest  and  most  solemn  mani- 
festation in  favor  of  Italian  sentiment, 
which  this  city  could  make  before  the 
whole  world. 

We  inform  you  that  Flume's  union  with 
Italy   is  an  accomplished   fact. 

And  yet  Captain  Gordon-Smith  ap- 
pears  to   be   grieved    that    Italy   should 


have  gone  beyond  the  Treaty  of  London 
"  and  claimed  Fiume,  to  which  in  the 
treaty  she  renounced  all  claim,  categoric- 
ally admitting  that  it  was  a  Croatian 
port." 

Well,  we  have  seen  why  it  was  not 
claimed  by  Italy  in  the  treaty;  also,  we 
may  at  length  have  some  idea  why  the 
treaty  "  is  now  seen  to  be  an  iniquitous 
pact  and  one  which  Great  Britain  and 
France  would  today  be  only  too  glad  to 
repudiate  if  they  could  do  so  without 
breach  of  their  plighted  word  " ;  of  the 
"  ignorance  and  dire  necessity  "  of  their 
plenipotentiaries  "  in  signing  a  document 
of  which  all  right-thinking  men  are  to- 
day heartily  ashamed,"  of  gross  neglect 
of  the  said  plenipotentiaries  to  realize 
the  fact  that  "  the  study  of  the  Jugoslav 
question  had  been  confined  to  a  few  ex- 
perts like  Dr.  Seton-Watson,  H.  Wick- 
ham  Steed,  and  Sir  Arthur  Evans  in 
England,  and  Professor  Denis,  M.  Andre 
Cheradame,  and  August  Gavrin  in 
France,"  so  that  they  seemed  to  rely  on 
such  ignoramuses  as  Richard  Bagot,  G.  T. 
Plunkett,  Julius'  M.  Price,  and  Thomas 
G.  Jackson  in  England,  and  Adolph 
Landry,  Gabriel  Hanotaux,  Jules  Destree, 
and  Robert  Lambel  in  France,  and  thus 
"  bartered  away  the  freedom  of  nearly 
a  million  Jugoslavs." 

Now,  as  I  understand  it,  while  the 
maxim,  "  self-determination  of  nationali- 
ties," was  an  inspiring  phrase  for  mar- 
tial sentiment  its  practice  was  never  in- 
tended to  be  paramount  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  national  defense,  or  even  to  large 
national  interests.  I  may  be  wrong,  but 
the  remaking  of  the  maps  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa,  as  far  as  it  has  pro- 
ceeded,  does  not  prove  me  so. 

And  there  is  one  word  more:  If  Ser- 
bia had  defeated  the  Central  Powers  un- 
aided she  could  scarcely  dictate  more  ar- 
rogantly to  Europe  than  she  does  today 
with  the  self-assumed  mandate  of  Jugo- 
slavia; if  Italy  had  been  indifferent  to 
the  "  dire  necessity  "  of  the  Entente  and 
had  let  them  fight  the  Germans  without 
her  she  could  scarcely  receive  less  con- 
sideration than  she  does  today  through 
the  disloyalty,  injustice,  and  contempt  of 
her  allies. 


General  Ludendorff  s  Memoirs 

Many  Interesting  Points  of  Inside  History  Told  in  the  German 
Commander's    Narrative   of   the    War 


GENERAL  ERICH  VON  LUDEN- 
DORFF'S  book,  "My  War  Me- 
moirs," published  late  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1919,  throws  new  light  on 
many  points  in  the  progress  of  the  war 
as  conducted  on  the  German  side.  It  re- 
peals the  author's  personality  as  possess- 
ing a  stern  fidelity  to  military  discipline 
and  a  profound  devotion  to  the  Hohen- 
zollem  dynasty.  With  this  goes  a  con- 
viction "  of  the  greatness  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  peaceful  services  rendered 
by  the  Fatherland  to  civilization  and 
mankind."  His  book  is  written  in  the  im- 
personal vein  characteristic  of  a  soldier, 
and  discloses  a  straightforward  honesty 
of  purpose.  Throughout,  he  makes  plain 
his  distrust  of  those  whom  he  terms  the 
"  politicals." 

•  General  Ludendorff  was  with  the  first 
German  column  to  enter  Belgium.  He 
attributes  the  plan  to  invade  France  by 
way  of  Belgium  to  "  one  of  the  greatest 
soldiers  that  ever  lived,"  General  Count 
von  Schlieffen.  He  sums  up  his  part  irt 
the  attack  on  Liege  as  "a  bold  stroke 
in  which  I  was  able  to  fight  just  like  any 
soldier  of  the  rank  and  file  who  proves 
his  worth  in,  battle." 

On  Aug.  22  he  was  summoned  from 
headquarters  of  the  2d  Army  between 
Wavre  and  Namur  to  General  Headquar- 
ters at  ColiVnz  to  take  the  position  of 
Chief  of  Sts«  (i  of  the  8th  Army  in  East 
Prussia.  En  route  to  the  east  front  he 
reported  to  the  Kaiser,  who  bestowed 
upon  him  the  Order  Pour  le  Merite  for 
his  services  at  Liege.  Referring  to  that 
occasion,  Ludendorff  remarks :  "  All  my 
life  this  will  be  a  proud  if  sad  memory." 
At  Hanover  he  picked  up  General  von 
Hindenburg,  and  wishes  it  understood 
that  this  was  positively  the  first  time  he 
had  met  his  titular  superior  in  that  close 
relationship  which  was  to  last  until  the 
end  of  the  war.  Though  General  Luden- 
dorff does  not  state  as  much  precisely, 
yet  it  presently  becomes  clear  that  his 


was  the  directing  hand  thereafter,  thus 
upsetting  much  that  was  written  at  the 
time  regarding  Hindenburg's  strategy 
based  upon  foreknowledge. 

A  MILITARY  OPPORTUNIST 

In  approaching  the  decisive  victory 
over  the  Russians  at  the  battle  of  Tan- 
nenberg,  Ludendorff  states  that  there 
had  been  no  previously  settled  plan  of 
action.  He  practically  admits  being 
somewhat  of  a  military  opportunist,  if 
the  later  charge  of  "  gambler "  made 
against  him  can  hardly  be  sustained. 
"  The  civilian,"  writes  Ludendorff,  "  is 
too  inclined  to  think  that  war  is  only 
like  the  making  out  of  an  arithmetical 
problem.  On  both  sides  it  is  a  case  of 
wrestling  with  powerful,  unknown  physi- 
cal and  psychological  forces,  a  struggle 
which  inferiority  in  numbers'  makes  all 
the  more  difficult.  .  It  means  working 
with  men  of  varying  force  of  character 
and  with  their  own  views.  The  only 
quantity  that  is  known  and  constant  is 
the  will  of  the  leader."  From  this  time 
forth  Ludendorff  figured  as  a  bold 
though  not  reckless  watcher  for  any 
promising  weakness  in  the  enemy's 
strategy.  His  victory  at  Tannenberg 
shows  that  where  the  enemy's  morale 
was  undeniably  weaker  than  that  of  the 
German  Army,  tremendous  wOl-to-con- 
quer  blows,  combined  with  fortuitous 
circumstances,  bade  fair  to  be  success- 
ful, but  in  the  west,  where  both  resist- 
ance and  resilience  were  as  great,  if  not 
greater,  than  his  own,  his  theory  proved 
disastrous. 

Following  Tannenberg,  a  very  large 
part  of  Ludendorff's  book  is  taken  up 
with  events  in  the  east.  Tannenberg 
merely  served  to  open  his  eyes  to  the 
precarious  situation  with  which  he  had 
to  deal.  This  was  specially  manifested 
in  the  weakness  of  Germany's  allies. 
From  both  the  military  and  the  political 
point  of  view  he  had  only  contempt  for 


-2(54 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Austria-Hungary.  While  admitting  the 
complaint  of  Austria  that  Germany  had 
failed  in  France  in  the  Autumn  of 
1914,  and  that  she  was  left  without  as- 
sistance to  fight  the  Russian  hordes,  he 
argues :  "  In  any  case,  it  was  fatal  for 
us  that  we  allied  with  decaying  States 
like  Austria-Hungary  and  Turkey.  A 
Jew  in  Radom  once  said  to  me  that  he 
could  not  understand  why  so  strong  and 
vital  a  body  as  Germany  had  allied  her- 
self with  a  corpse.  He  was  right." 
After  Mackensen's  victory  at  Gorlice, 
Ludendorff  proclaimed  him  "  a  brilliant 
soldier  whose  deeds  will  live  in  history 
for  all  time."  He  also  praises  his  ad- 
versary, the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  as  a 
really  great  strategist. 

WORKING    WITH    HINDENBURG 

One  of  Ludendorff's  most  illuminating 
chapters  deals  with  the   military  crisis 
of  1916,  after  the  disastrous  six  months' 
attempt  to  capture  Verdun,  and  upon  the 
eve  of  Rumania's  entry  into  the  war  on 
the  side  of  the  Entente.     On   Aug.   28 
Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  received  or- 
ders  to   proceed  to   General   Headquar- 
ters   at    Pless.       There     General'  von 
Falkenhayn,    Chief    of    Staff,    was    dis- 
missed,   and    Hindenburg    appointed    in 
his    place.     Explanation    is     given    of 
the  somewhat  curious  military  position 
of  First  Quartermaster  General  assigned 
to  Ludendorff.    The  title  of  Second  Chief 
of  the  General  Staff  had  been  intended 
for  him,  but  at  Ludendorff's  request  the 
other  was  granted  him.     He  confesses  a 
deeper  personal  anxiety  over  the  task  be- 
fore him  .than  was  known  at  the  time. 
"  I  realized  only  too  fully  that  my  post 
was  thankless,"  he  writes.     "  I  entered 
it  with  the  solemn  resolve  that  my  deeds 
and  actions  should  have  no  other  motive 
than  to  lead  the  war  to  a  victorious  end. 
For  that  alone  had  the   General   Field 
Marshal    and    I    been    summoned.     The 
work  was  stupendous.    I  never  felt  free 
from   a  heavy  weight  of  responsibility. 
The  sphere  of  effort  was  in  many  re- 
spects new  to  me  and  was  multifarious; 
the  mere  extent  of  the  duties  was  more 
than  I  was  accustomed  to.     Never  did 
fate  lay  so  suddenly  so  heavy  a  burden 
on  a  mortal." 

Rumania's  entry  into  the  war  first  oc- 


cupied the  dual  German  High  Com- 
mand. Falkenhayn's  plan  for  Macken- 
sen  to  cross  the  Danube  and  march  on 
Bucharest  was  rejected  as  leading  to 
certain  disaster,  and  the  march  into  the 
Dobrudja  was  substituted.  Its  ultimate 
success  was  praised  by  enemy  military 
critics  as  a  great  strategic  movement, 
the  credit  for  which,  at  the  time,  mainly 
went  to  Mackensen. 

Turning  to  the  west,  Ludendorff  was 
profoundly  concerned  with  the  gravity 
of  the  situation.  Nothing  but  heavy 
losses  had  resulted  from  the  Verdun 
failure.  The  Somme  battle  progressed 
without  satisfactory  promise.  The 
fear  of  a  breakdown  on  the  western 
front  carried  with  it  a  threatening  prob- 
ability of  the  loss  of  all  their  efforts  in 
Russia.  Ludendorff's  mind  was  occu- 
pied with  tactics  of  defense.  Marshal 
Hindenburg  agreed  with  him  that  the 
German  infantry  could  not  be  utilized 
to  the  best  advantage  by  merely  doggedly 
clinging  to  their  lines;  that  the  deep  dug- 
outs and  cellars  too  often  became  man- 
traps, and  that  the  rifle  had  been  for- 
gotten in  the  use  of  the  hand  grenade. 
All  this  must  be  changed. 

GERMANY'S   PEACE  OFFER 

The  move  of  Chancellor  von  Bethmann 
Hollweg  to  induce  President  Wilson  to 
act  as  peace  mediator  was  attractive  to 
Ludendorff.  He  agreed  to  a  direct  pro- 
posal, but  stipulated  that  it  should  not 
be  made  until  after  the  fall  of  Bucharest. 
That  event  took  place  on  Dec.  6,  1916. 
It  was  followed  by  the  offer  on  the  12th. 
Its  reception  by  the  Entente  press  and 
the  reply  of  Jan.  30  convinced  Luden- 
dorff that  an  acceptable  arrangement 
was  impossible,  that  the  Entente  were 
bound  by  secret  treaties  to  destroy  the 
Central  Powers.  Henceforth,  therefore, 
the  watchword  must  be  "  Victory  or 
Downfall !  "  The  later  draft  of  a  pro- 
posed basis  for  President  Wilson's  inter- 
vention, dispatched  to  Ambassador 
Bernstorff  on  Jan.  29,  1917,  contained, 
in  Ludendorff's  words,  "  the  only  terms 
of  peace  which  ever  reached  the  enemy 
from  our  side  with  my  co-operation." 
They  read  as  follows: 

Return    of    the    part    of    Upper    Alsace 

occupied    by   the    French.      Establishment 


GENERAL  LUDENDORFF'S  MEMOIRS 


*>:> 


of     a     frontier     securing     Germany     and 
Poland     strategically     and     economically 

against    Russia. 

Restitution  of  the  colonies  in  form  of  an 
agreement  securing  to  Germany  colonial 
•i'lmains  in  proportion  to  her  population 
and  economic  interests.  Return  uf  French 
t'-i-ritoiy  occupied  by  Germany,  with  pro- 
vision for  strategic  and  economic  rectifi- 
cation of  frontiers  and  financial  compen- 
sate n. 

Restoration  of  Belgium,  with  definite 
guarantees  fur  the  security  of  Germany, 
these  to  be  arranged  by  direct  negotia- 
tion  with   the   Belgian   Government. 

A  commercial  and  financial  agreement 
on  the  basis  of  the  exchange  of  tt  rritory 
captured  by  either  side  and  to  be  returned 
when   peace   was  concluded. 

Compensation  to  German  undertakings 
and  private  persons  injured   by  the  war. 

Repudiation  of  all  arrangements  and 
regulations  which  might  interfere  with 
normal  trade  and  commerce  after  the 
peace,  by  the  abrogation  of  the  treaties 
concerned. 

Establishment  of  freedom  of  the  seas. 

General  Ludendorff  devotes  consider- 
able space  to  his  conflict  with  the  Civil 
Government.  His  chief  accusation  is 
that  it  was  insufficiently  "  national."  It 
failed  to  work  out  a  strong  and  con- 
sistent peace  policy.  It  expressed  itself 
clumsily,  and  laid  itself  open  to  attacks 
of  clever  enemy  propaganda.  The  author 
complains  of  the  difficulty  of  persuad- 
ing the  Government  to  adopt  the  army 
command's  demand  for  the  better  organ- 
ization of  Germany's  man  power.  When 
the  Government  was  pressed  to  this 
course,  it  presented  a  changeling.  Mani- 
fest injustices  appeared  in  the  bill  laid 
before  the  Reichstag.  To  Ludendorff's 
mind  a  glaring  instance  among  these 
was  that  troops  withdrawn  after  heavy 
battles  saw  in  the  military  stations  the 
new  auxiliary  helpers,  male  and  female, 
receiving  for  peaceful  labor  much  higher 
pay  than  that  of  the  soldier. 

THE  SUBMARINE  CAMPAIGN 

Coming  to  the  unrestricted  submarine 
campaign,  both  Hindenburg  and  Luden- 
dorff were  somewhat  slow  to  assent,  not 
so  much  on  principle  as  on  questions  of 
policy.  Ludendorff  was  for  waiting  until 
the  end  of  the  Rumanian  campaign  in 
Order  to  bring  troops  from  the  east;  then 
he  thought  it  advisable  to  defer  action 
until  the  peace  proposals  terminated.  Its 
effect  on  America  was  considered. 


The  General  continues: 

The  Government  *  *  *  thought  it  very 
probable  the  United  States  would  join  in 
the  war  against  us.  The  Supreme  Army 
Command  had  to  take  into  account,  in 
dealing  with  the  military  situation,  the 
views  thus  expressed  in  responsible  quar- 
ters, it  would  involve  an  addition  to  the 
armed  forces  of  the  Entente  of  five  or  six 
divisions  in  the  first  year  after  America 
entered  the  war,  and  later  on.  if  the 
submarine  war  did  not  have  a  decisive 
effect,  a  serious,  indeed,  a  vital,  increase 
in  the  strength  of  tho  enemy.  Jt  could 
not  be  doubted  that  America,  if  she-  came 
into  the  war,  would  aim  herself  in  th< 
same  way  that  England  had  done,  and 
that  the;  Entente  would  lead  the  United 
States  from  one  energetic  step  to  ane>ther. 
I  had,  however,  no  serious  fear  as  to  any 
increased  output  of  munitions  in  the 
States,  as  they  were  already  working 
with  all   their   might  for   the   Entente 

General  Ludendoi-ff  goes  on  to  quote 
the  Chief  of  the  Naval  Staff,  a  friend 
of  the  Chancellor  and  a  warm  partisan 
of  unrestricted  submarine  war — pre- 
sumably Admiral  von  Tirpitz — as  being 
confident  that  the  campaign  would  pro- 
duce decisive  results  within  six  months, 
that  in  the  loss  of  freight  space  and  the 
reduction  of  oversea  imports  England 
would  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  war. 
It  would  also  make  it  impossible  for 
America  to  transport  large  forces  over- 
seas. While  Ludendorff  was  doubtful 
of  these  promises,  being  mindful  of  the 
American  Navy,  he  finally  arrived  at 
the  conclusion  that,  given  twelve  months 
of  unrestricted  submarine  warfare,  a  de- 
cisive result  would  be  reached  before 
America  could  throw  formidable  armies 
into  the  conflict.  The  actual  decision 
was  made  on  Jan.  9,  1917,  but  Luden- 
dorff adds  that  had  a  hint  of  the  forth- 
coming Russian  collapse  reached  the 
High  Command  at  that  moment  it  would 
"  have  altered  the  whole  situation,  and 
would  have  had  the  greatest  weight  in 
the  formation  of  our  opinions." 

It  will  be  recalled  that  at  this  period 
Ludendorff  was  freely  spoken  of  in  the 
Entente  press  as  the  dictator  of  Ger- 
many. From  his  own  narrative  it  ap- 
pears the  position  was  within  his  grasp. 
At  the  crisis  reached  with  the  resigna- 
tion of  Bethmann  Hollweg  in  July,  1917, 
the  "Dictatorship  of  Berlin  "  was  offered 
or  proposed  to  him.  After  much  anxious 
consideration  he  refused  it.  In  the  Spring 


266 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


of  that  year  had  come  the  Russian  revo- 
lution and  the  break  with  the  United 
States.  Ludendorff  enters  into  the  prob- 
able effect  of  these  events  at  length.  In 
the  meantime  he  was  occupied  in  shorten- 
ing his  line  in  accordance  with  his  new 
plan  of  defensive  warfare.  Hence  the 
construction  of  the  Hindenburg  and 
Siegfried  lines,  and  the  devastation  of 
the  vacated  Somme  districts,  which  he 
seeks  to  explain. 

THE  LAST  GERMAN  DRIVE 

The  motives  which  prompted  him  to 
decide  on  the  last  and  greatest  battle  of 
the  war  may  be  summed  up  in  a  now-or- 
never  chance.  He  regarded  the  military 
situation  as  more  auspicious  for  Ger- 
many than  he  had  ever  anticipated.  True, 
the  submarine  war  had  not  produced 
the  results  forecast  by  the  Naval  Staff, 
and  American  formations  had  to  be 
reckoned  on  as  arriving  in  the  Spring  of 
1918;  but,  at  the  beginning  of  that  year, 
due  to  the  Russian  collapse,  Germany 
was  numerically  in  greater  strength  than 
she  had  ever  been  relative  to  that  of  the 
Entente,  As  the  year  drew  beyond  mid- 
summer this  advantage  would  decrease 
with  the  pouring  in  of  American  legions. 

In  Ludendorff's  reckoning  this  was  an 
incontestable  argument  for  a  great 
Spring  offensive,  though  there  were 
many  other  contributing  factors.  Of 
these  he  enumerates  the  following: 

The  Quadruple  Alliance  was  only  held 
together  by  the  hope  of  a  German  vic- 
tory. 

In  Germany  the  national  spirit  ap- 
peared to  be  better  than  with  our  allies: 
nevertheless,  it  had  sunk  very  low.  I 
must  admit  1  formed  too  favorable  an 
estimate  of  our  energy. 

The  army  had  come  victoriously  through 
lltl",  but  it  had  become  apparent  that 
the  holding  of  the  west  front  purely  by 
a  defensive  could  no  longer  be  counted 
on,  in  view  of  the  enormous  quantity  of 
material  of  all  kinds  which  the  Entente 
had  now  at  their  disposal. 

The  troops  no  longer  displayed  their 
old  stubbornness  in  defense,  they  thought 
with  horror  of  fresh  defensive  battles : 
they  longed  for  the  war  of  movement. 
Skulkers    were    already   numerous. 

In  defense  the  army  was  bound  gradually 
to  succumb  to  the  ever-increasing  hostile 
superiority  in  men  and  material.  This 
feeling  was  shared  by  everybody. 

All  that  had  gone  before  was  merely  a 


means  to  the  one  end  of  creating  a 
situation  that  would  make  it  a  feasible 
operation.  Until  now  the  situation  had 
not  arisen. 

While  the  final  decision  rested  with 
Ludendorff,  opposition  developed  which 
postponed  it.  "  The  American  danger 
rendered  it  desirable  to  strike  as  early 
as  possible."  Ludendorff's  impatience 
grew,  until  on  Jan.  23,  1918,  he  practi- 
cally forced  a  settlement. 

PREPARING  FOR  THE  BLOW 

Ludendorff  enters  into  the  prepara- 
tions for  his  great  offensive.  This  part 
provides  an  interesting  illumination  of 
its  many  phases,  of  especial  value  to  the 
military  student.  It  comes  with  some- 
what of  a  surprise  to  read  a  criticism  of 
the  use  of  mass  attacks,  a  method  pre- 
viously in  high  favor  with  the  German 
command,  and  Ludendorff's  profession 
of  faith  in  extended  order  "to  be 
grounded  afresh "  in  his  army.  "  On 
the  attack,"  he  writes,  "  just  as  had  been 
the  case  during  the  defensive,  the  main 
thing  was  to  loosen  formations  and 
sharpen  up  the  shooting  group  tactics  of 
the  infantry."  Of  the  light  machine  gun 
he  had  formed  a  very  favorable  opinion, 
but  was  not  much  impressed  with  the 
value  of  tanks.  Nerve  discipline  and 
fearlessness  were  the  best  weapons 
against  the  tanks.  He  gives  several  in- 
stances of  how  readily  they  were  put  out 
of  action  at  close  range.  "  It  was  only 
as  discipline  declined  and  the  fighting 
strength  of  our  infantry  weakened  that 
the  tank  in  mass  formation  and  in  com- 
bination with  artificial  fog  secured  a 
disastrous  influence  upon  the  course  of 
events  in  the  field." 

Turning  to  his  artillery,  Ludendorff's 
plan  included  "  twenty  or  thirty  batter- 
ies, or  about  10Q  guns,  to  every  1,000 
yards  of  the  front  of  attack.  These  were 
figures  such  as  no  man  had  thought  pos- 
sible, still  less  had  there  ever  been  any 
idea  of  the  quantities  of  ammunition 
these  guns  discharged  against  the  enemy. 
These  were  indeed  massed  attacks."  In 
the  discussions  relative  to  the  area  of 
attack,  the  centre  at  St.  Quentin  was 
finally  chosen.  At  that  point  the  enemy 
line  was  found  to  be  weakest.  The  plan 
was  to  drive  in  between  the  French  and 


GENERAL   I.'  'DENDORFF'S  MEMOIRS 


40" 


British  Armies,  and  crowd  the  British 
Army  back  to  the  sea.  This  was  the 
stupendous  task  undertaken  by  First 
Quartermaster  General  Ludendorff.  He 
marshaled  his  armies  as  follows: 

6th    Army,    Armentfere»< 

17th  Army,    (von   lit  low,)    Arras. 

•id    Army,    Mociivrcs    to    Omignon    Brook. 

18th   Army,    (von    Hutler,)    St.    yuentin. 

7th    Army,    La    Fere. 

THE  RESULTS  DISAPPOINTING 

He  frankly  confesses  that  the  battle, 
beginning  on  March  21  and  continuing 
until  April  4,  was  a  disappointment.  He 
states  that  in  the  failure  of  the  17th 
Army  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  onsweep- 
ing  barrage  lay  the  key  to  the  whole 
situation.  Also,  in  fighting  in  too  close 
formation  it  lost  heavily  on  the  22d,  and 
by  the  25th  was  exhausted.  The  2d  and 
18th  Armies  did  better,  but  failed  to  pass 
beyond  Albert.  Ludendorff  holds  that 
the  battle  was  a  brilliant  feat  "  in  ac- 
complishing what  the  English  and  French 
had  not  succeeded  in  doing,"  but  adds, 
"  strategically  we  had  not  achieved  what 
the  events  of  the  23d,  24th,  and  25th  had 
encouraged  us  to  hope  for,"  especially 
the  capture  of  Amiens.  He  expresses  the 
belief  that  the  German  failure  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  men  were  still  fight- 
ing in  too  close  formation  and  were  not 
in  all  cases  under  the  firm  control  of 
their  officers.  They  were  checked  by 
finding  provisions,  and  valuable  time 
was  thus  lost.  He  regarded  the  strateg- 
ical situation  as  now  by  no  means 
favorable.  In  this  battle  Ludendorff 
tost  his  youngest  son,  later  identifying 
the  grave  by  the  English  inscription, 
"  Here  rest  two  German  flying  officers." 
He  adds  feelingly,  "  The  war  has  spared 
me  nothing." 

FACING  AMERICAN  TROOPS 
The  offensive  of  the  Lys  Valley  was 
even  more  disappointing  to  Ludendorff. 
Again  the  17th  Army,  "  which  fought 
under  an  unlucky  star,"  failed  in  its 
attacks.  At  this  period  he  refers  to  the 
American  troops.  He  observes:  "The 
individual  American  soldier  fought  well, 
though  our  success  had  been  easy."  He 
adds  that  by  June  20  sufficient  Amer- 
ican divisions  had   landed   in   France  to 


equalize  the  German  superiority  of 
March.  That  was  decisive.  At  the  same 
time  a  mental  "  disease "  infecting  the 
German  people  was  transmitted  to  the 
army.  Disintegration  was  one  of  its 
manifest  symptoms.  "  Time  and  again," 
he  writes,  "  I  communicated  my  anxieties 
to  the  gentlemen  who,  together  with  me, 
were  appointed  to  effect  a  cure  and  to 
ascertain  the  origin  of  the  disease.  I 
did  not  find  a  ready  hearing.  The  Ger- 
man people,  itself,  not  altogether  blame- 
less in  the  matter,  is  now  paying  for  this 
with  its  life." 

The  Entente  offensive  which  now  com- 
menced is  somewhat  ramblingly  treated 
by  Ludendorff.  He  wanders  from  the 
field  of  action  to  dwell  upon  subjects 
remote  from  the  last  scene  of  the  great 
military  drama.  The  defeat  of  the  Bul- 
garian Army  in  the  east  and  the  events 
of  Aug.  8  on  the  west  front,  however, 
stand  out  in  his  narrative  as  leaving 
Germany  without  a  shadow  of  hope  to 
continue  the  conflict.  He  writes  that 
Aug.  8  was  "  the  black  day  of  the  Ger- 
man Army  in  this  war."  He  graphically 
describes  the  breach  made  in  the  German 
line  between  the  Somme  and  the  Luce, 
resulting  in  an  "  uncommonly  serious 
situation."  It  grew  daily  more  so  in  the 
face  of  German  losses,  diminishing  re- 
serves, and  demoralization  sweeping 
through  the  German  Army.  Of  the  lat- 
ter he  instances  a  division  going  up  gal- 
lantly to  the  attack  and  being  assailed 
with  German  shouts  of  "  Blacklegs !  " 
and  "  War-prolongers!  "  He  thus  con- 
cludes: 

Everything  that  I  had  apprehended  and 
against  which  I  had  uttered  such  count- 
less warnings  had  come  to  pass  at  a 
single  spot.  Our  fighting  weapon  was 
no  longer,  full  weight.  *  *  *  Aug.  N 
marked  the  decline  of  our  fighting  power, 
and  the  man  power  situation  heing  what 
it  was,  it  robbed  me  of  the  hope  of  dis- 
covering some  strategic  expedient  that 
might  once  more  stabilize  the  position  in 
our  favor.  •  •  *  The  war  would  h 
to  be  ended. 

Defeat  of  the  German  Army  Luden- 
dorff does  not  concede,  but  rather  a  stern 
chastening  by  Providence  of  those  he 
holds  guilty  for  the  degeneration  of  Ger- 
man  morale. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


Survey    of    Important    Events    and    Developments    in    Both 

Hemispheres 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  18,  1919] 


THE  BALKANS 

THE  publication  of  the  Bulgarian 
treaty  of  •  peace,  including  the 
taking  away  of  a  part  of  Thrace , 
given  to  Bulgaria  by  the  Treaty 
of  Bucharest  in  1913  and  the  partial 
withdrawal  of  the  Rumanian  troops  from 
Budapest,  somewhat  modified  the  situa- 
tion in  the  Balkans,  although  lack  of 
comprehensive  communication  from  the 
States  concerning  their  policies  since 
these  events  has  made  it  impossible  to 
say  to  what  extent. 

BULGARIA.— The  day  after  receiving 
the  treaty,  General  Theodoroff  and  the 
Bulgar  delegates  departed  from  Paris 
for  Sofia.  This  was  on  Sept.  20.  The 
text  of  .the  document  was  published  in 
the  press  of  Sofia  in  the  first  week  in 
October.  On  the  8th  La  Epocha  in- 
augurated a  movement,  alleged  in  Vienna 
to  be  supported  by  the  Government,  to 
prevent  the  signing  of  the  treaty  and 
the  carrying  out  of  its  terms  by  force 
of  arms,  if  necessary.  The  features  of 
the  document  particularly  resented  were 
the  demand  for  the  payment  of  $445,- 
000,000,  the  loss  of  Thrace,  and  the 
rectification  of  the  western  frontier  in 
favor  of  Greece  and  Serbia,  the  cutting 
of  the  army  to  20,000  men,  the  surrender 
of  the  movable  spoils  of  war,  and  the 
exigency  of  being  obliged  to  deliver  250,- 
000  tons  of  coal  to  Serbia. 

In  the  midst  of  the  agitation  the  in- 
transigeant  ministry  went  out  of  office 
and  M.  Stambuliwsky,  on  Oct.  14,  was 
reported  to  have  succeeded  in  forming  a 
new  one  for  the  express  purpose  of 
signing  the  treaty.  M.  Kaloff  took  the 
portfolio  of  War,  M.  Dimitreff  that  of 
Interior,  and  M.  Maggiaroff  that  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  All  were  members  of 
the  political  faction  which  did  its  best 
to  prevent  Eulgaria  from  going  over  to 
Germany  in  the  Autumn  of  1915. 


Bulgarian  propaganda  instituted  for 
the  purpose  of  confuting  the  charges  of 
atrocities  made  against  the  Bulgars  by 
the  Interallied  Commission  investigating 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference received  renewed  impetus.  Hith- 
erto this  counter  propaganda  had  con- 
cerned itself  chiefly  with  denying  the 
charges  of  the  commission,  or  refuting 
its  evidence,  and,  by  copious  extracts 
from  the  Rockefeller  report  of  1913,  seek- 
ing to  show  that  Bulgarians  had  also 
been  victims  of  savage  Serbs  and  Greeks. 
Its  new  phase  finds  expression  in  four 
publications,  issued  from  the  headquar- 
ters of  Bulgar  propaganda  in  Switzer- 
land, of  a  series  known  as  "  The  Library 
of  the  Balkan  Peoples."  The  first  is  a 
volume  of  216  pages  with  material  ar- 
ranged after  the  fashion  of  the  commis- 
sion's report;  in  a  similar  manner  it 
deals  with  the  alleged  atrocities  of  the 
Serbs,  arranging  the  evidence  in  a  like 
manner.  It  copiously  cites  the  documents 
of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  and  the 
stories  of  newspaper  correspondents.  Its 
material  is  just  as  horrible.  The  com- 
piler is  M.  D.  Skopiansky,  former  editor 
of  the  Macedonian  Fatherland.  The  other 
publications  in  the  series  are  "  A  Ma- 
ligned People,"  by-B.  Velianoff,  "The 
Detractors  of  the  Bulgarian  People,  with 
Special  Reference  to  Leon  Savadjian,"  by 
Georges  Maritzine,  and  "  Bulgars  and 
Greeks  Before  Swiss  Public  Opinion,"  by 
J.  Ivanoff  of  the  University  of  Sofia,  all 
issued  at  Lausanne  in  French. 

GREECE.— The  provisions  of  the  Bul- 
garian reace  Treaty,  while  they  deprived 
Bulgaria  of  Thrace,  did.  not  assign  that 
territory  elsewhere.  On  Oct.  20  the 
Peace  Conference  was  still  seeking  a 
solution  of  the  problem.  Meanwhile, 
Greek  refugees  in  Thrace  addressed  an 
appeal  to  the  American  people  and  press, 
and  a  petition  to  President  Wilson  was 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


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FORMER  BULGARIAN   FRONTIER  !■>■  NEW  FRONTIER  OF  BUL6ftR|ft 


BULGARIAN  TREATY,  PART  II.,  SECTION  S.— THRACE.— Bulgaria  renounces  in  favor 
of  the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers  all  rights  and  title  over  the  territories  of 
Thrace  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Bulgarian  Monarchy,  and  which,  being  situated  out- 
side the  new  frontiers  of  Bulgaria,  have  not  at  present  been  assigned  to  any  State.  Bulgaria 
undertakes  to  accept  wluitever  settlement  may  be  made  by  the  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  in  regard  to  these  territories  and  the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers  under- 
take, on  the  other  hand,  to^insure  economic  outlets  for  Bulgaria  to  the  Aegean  Sea  under 
the   conditions   which   will   be   fixed   at   a   later  date.  ' 


being  signed  throughout  the  disputed 
territory  (on  Oct.  4  it  had  87,380  signa- 
tures from  the  Saloniki  region  alone) 
asking  him  to  give  his  approval  to  the 
union  of  Thrace  and  Greece.  The  appeal, 
after  expressing  surprise  that  the  Amer- 
ican peace  delegation  should  have 
ignored  or  violated  "  the  very  principles 
for  which  President  Wilson  and  the 
American  people  stand,  viz.,  the  right  of 
self-determination  and  the  condemnation 
of  the  old  diplomacy  whereby  countries 
and  populations  were  disposed  of  without 
being  consulted,"  continues: 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  of  the 
population  of  Bulgarian  Thrace  and  Turk- 
ish Thrace  the  Turks  and  Greeks  together 
form  85  per  cent,  and  the  Bulgarians 
only  6  per  cent.,  and  the  latter  are  no- 
where in  compact  groups.  *  *  *  The 
artificial  and  unjust  solutions  proposed 
by  the  American  delegation  will  only 
create  immediate  trouble  and  future  wars. 

Before  this  appeal  reached  the  United 


States,  however,  it  had  been  deprived  of 
its  impetus  by  the  terms  of  the  Bulgarian 
treaty,  which,  naturally,  gave  relief  to 
the  90,000  Greek  refugees  of  West 
Thrace,  who  had  been  living  for  the  last 
five  years  in  Greece,  and  who  began  to 
look  forward  to  a  speedy  return  to  their 
homes,  freed  henceforth  from  the  incubus 
of  Bulgar  rule.  So  their  aspirations  took 
a  new  form  which  found  expression  in 
the  Greek  press  in  terms  such  as  the 
following: 

In  the  first  place  the  conference  must 
at  once  take  effective  measures  to  secure 
the  peaceful,  evacuation  of  Western 
Thrace  by  the  Bulgars.  Besides  the  Bul- 
garian troops  there  were  some  thirty 
Comitadjis  or  irregulars,  armed  by  the 
Government  and  officered  by  regulars,, 
scattered  over  the  country.  In  the  second 
place,  an  immediate  settlement  of  the 
political  status  of  Thrace  was  urgently 


270 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


demanded.  To  send  an  allied  commission 
there  would,  it  was  said,  be  like  putting 
the  cart  before  the  horse,  because  there 
were  in  Greece  alone  nearly  200,000 
Greek  Thracians  from  Bulgarian  and 
Turkish  Thrace,  who  had  been  driven 
mercilessly  from  their  homes  and  prop- 
erty in  1913,  1914,  and  1915,  and  who 
had  since  been  living  in  Greece  at  the 
expense  of  the  Government.  Thousands 
had  also  in  those  years  fled  to  America. 
What  was  needed,  therefore,  according  to 
the  Hellenic  press,  was  a  large  allied 
repatriation  commission  to  reinstate 
these  exiles  in  their  homes  and  lands  and 
expel  therefrom  the  Bulgarian  and  Turk- 
ish squatters,  who  had  since  taken  pos- 
session. "  Only  after  these  preliminaries 
have  been  completed,"  it  was  added, 
f  can  the  question  even  be  discussed  as 
to  what  portion,  if  any,  of  Thrace 
should  be  annexed  to  the  proposed  Inter- 
national State  of  Constantinople." 

RUMANIA.— The  evacuation  of  Buda- 
pest was  begun  in  the  third  week  of  Sep- 
tember and  then  discontinued  on  the  dis- 
covery of  an  alleged  plot  on  the  part  of 
Premier  Stephan  Friedrich  to  restore 
King  Charles,  and  the  subsequent  publi- 
cation of  the  Bulgarian  Peace  Treaty 
forecasting  the  probable  surrender  to 
Bulgaria  of  the  Bulgar  portion  of 
Dobrudja.  The  effect  of  these  develop- 
ments revealed  in  Rumania  a  national 
spirit  satisfied  with  work  well  done  and 
a  consciousness  of  self-reliance  as  to 
the  future.  The  people,  therefore,  to 
judge  from  the  unified  opinion  of  the 
press,  awaited  the  terms  of  the  Hun- 
garian Treaty  with  no  misgivings. 
This  treaty,  which  would,  it  was  ex- 
pected, settle  the  northwestern  frontier, 
had  long  ago  been  drafted  by  the  Paris 
Conference  and  was  waiting  for  some 
representative  of  a  responsible  Gov- 
ernment at  Budapest  to  come  and  get 
it. 

On  the  receipt  of  what  Bucharest 
considered  an  ultimatum  from  the  Con- 
ference, the  troops,  it  was  said,  simply 
began  the  evacuation  of  the  dual  city 
on  the  Danube  without  leaving  any  con- 
stituted, responsible  authorities  in 
charge. 

"  Let  the  Conference  attend  to  that," 


was  the  opinion  of  the  Bucharest  press. 
"  We  ousted  Bela  Kun,  for  which  we  re- 
ceived small  thanks.  But  let  us  advise 
the  Conference  to  lift  the  blockade  from 
Hungary,  otherwise  the  country  of  the 
Magyars  is  doomed." 

The  whole  tenor  of  opinion  was  neither 
that  of  -resignation  nor  of  defiance,  but 
of  unbounded  faith  in  people  capable  of 
great  social  and  political  idealism,  and 
in  the  country's  resources,  which  were 
described,  as  far  as  food  and  clothing 
were  concerned,  as  being  self-sustaining. 
It  was  admitted,  however,  that  a  for- 
eign combination  bent  on  preventing 
Rumania  from  reaching  her  rightful 
destiny  as  the  pre-eminent  State  in  the 
Balkans  might  debase  her  currency  and, 
for  a  time,  arrest  her  industrial  develop- 
ment by  preventing  her  from  receiving 
the  necessary  tools  and  machinery  on 
which  her  immediate  reconstruction  de- 
pended. 

The  resignation  of  Prince  Carol  as  heir 
to  the  throne  was  accepted  by  the  King 
at  a  council  of  Ministers. 

Prince  Nicholas,  whose  position  as 
hereditary  Prince  was  recognized,  is  the 
second  son  of  King  Ferdinand,  and  was 
16  years  old  on  Aug.  18.  When  his 
mother,  Queen  Mary,  visited  France  and 
England  last  Spring,  she  placed  him  at 
Eton.  Accounts  received  in  Budapest 
represented  him  as  a  boarder  at  Herbert 
Brinton's  house  and  as  entering  with 
great  spirit  into  the  sports  of  the  famous 
school  among  the  pupils  of  which  he  was 
a  great  favorite.  It  was  reported  from 
Bucharest  that  orders  had  been  issued 
in  Bessarabia  for  the  male  population  of 
military  age  to  be  prepared  to  accept 
conscription  in  the  Rumanian  Army. 
Bessarabia  was  a  Russian  province,  lying 
to  the  northeast  of  Rumania,  from  which 
it  was  separated  by  the  Danube  and  the 
Pruth.  Its  area  is  18,000  square  miles. 
It  has  a  population  of  2,000,000,  half  of 
whom  are  Rumanians  and  the  other  half 
Russians,  various  Slavs,  Jews,  (190,000,) 
Tartars,  gypsies,  Greeks,  Armenians,  and 
Germans.  The  Rumanian  troops  were 
authorized  by  the  Central  Powers  in 
January,  1918,  to  enter  Bessarabia, 
ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  restoring 
order.  They  remained  there  after  the 
collapse'  of  the   Central    Powers  on   ac- 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


271 


count  of  the  danger  of  Bolshevism  re- 
ported at  the  Paris  Conference.  On 
Sept.  23,  Bessarabian  delegates  at  Paris 
transmitted  a  memorandum  to  President 
Wilson  protesting  that  Rumania  had  es- 
tablished a  complete  civil  service  in 
Bessarabia. 

SERBIA.— The  Davidovitch  Govern- 
ment, which  came  in  on  Aug.  16,  and  reg- 
istered its  policy  on  the  23d,  went  out  of 
office  in  the  first  week  in  October.  Then 
the  predecessors  of  M.  Davidovitch, 
Stoyan  Protitch,  who  had  resigned  be- 
cause of  his  inability  to  get  along  with 
his  colleagues,  was  asked  by  the  Prince 
Regent  to  return,  but  meeting  with  less 
than  the  requisite  support  he  gave  way 
to  M.  Trikovitch,  who  tried  in  his  turn 
to  form  a  radical  Government,  but  was 
equally  unsuccessful.  Failing  to  con- 
ciliate the  Serb  and  Croat  elements  he, 
on  Oct.  7,  gave  way  to  M.  Pavlovitch, 
who,  it  was  reported  from  Belgrade, 
could  rely  upon  the  full  support  of  the 
Prince  Regent  and  a  majority  of  the  Pro- 
visional Assembly.  The  Government  of 
M.  Davidovitch,  it  will  be  recalled,  con- 
sisted of  thirteen  Democrats,  mostly 
Serbs,  and  three  Socialists,  all  Croats. 
In  his  letter  to  the  Prince  Regent  M. 
Davidovitch  told  why  it  resigned: 

The  Government  and  our  delegation 
have  in  vain  made  every  endeavor  to  ob- 
tain the  suppression,  or  at  least  the  miti- 
gation, of  the  stipulations  contained  in 
the  treaty  of  peace  with  Austria  and  in 
the  political  treaty  relating  to  the  protec- 
tion of  minorities.  These  stipulations 
.  constitute  an  infringement  of  the  sover- 
eignty of  our  State  and  our  nation,  and 
show  disregard  for  our  peaceful  develop- 
ment in  the  future.  The  Government 
neither  can  nor  will  accept  on  behalf  of 
the  country  stipulations  with  restrictions 
on  our  sovereignty,  and,  taking  into  ac- 
count the  state  of  feeling  in  the  nation, 
it  therefore  tenders  its  resignation  to 
your  Royal  Highness. 

Behind  the  intransigeance  of  the  situa- 
tion, according  to  advices  from  Belgrade, 
was  a  duel  for  supremacy  between  the 
veteran  M.  Protitch,  leader  of  the  Old 
Serbian  Radical  Party  of  M.  Pashitch, 
and  M.  Pribitchevitch,  the  founder  and 
leader  of  the  Democratic  Union,  whose 
lieutenant  is  M.  Davidovitch.  The  'Old 
Radicals  represent  a  purely  Serbian  con- 
stituency, but  are  accused  by  the  Demo- 


crats of  trifling  with  the  sacred  ideal  of 
national  union  between  the  Serbs,  Croats, 
and  Slovenes,  and  even  of  regarding  it  as 
a  temporary  expedient  to  be  set  aside  in 
favor  of  a  Greater  Serbia  when  the  in- 
ternational question  becomes  settled.  The 
Old  Radicals  hotly  deny  this,  but  declare 
that  the  occasion  calls  for  deliberation, 
both  nationally  and  internationally. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Democratic 
Party,  otherwise  known  as  the  Serbo- 
Croat  Union,  principally  made  up  of  the 
opposition  in  the  old  Skupshtina,  aspires 
to  carry  out  vast  schemes  of  social  re- 
form which  shall  provide  national  bonds 
for  all  Jugoslavia  in  the  shortest  pos- 
sible time.  Its  advance  tendencies  were 
indicated  when  it  favored  three  Social- 
ists, out  of  eleven  members  of  the  Pro- 
visional Assembly,  with  important  port- 
folios in  the  late  Davidovitch  Govern- 
ment, and  when  six  of  its  Croatian  mem- 
bers, led  by  M.  Medacovitch,  formerly 
President  of  the  Croatian  Diet,  voted 
against  their  own  party  on  the  motion  to 
accept  the  Davidovitch  program.  On  the 
question  of  agrarian  reform  the  Demo- 
crats are  for  the  most  drastic  measures; 
the  Old  Radicals  would  proceed  with 
caution  and  moderation,  which  policy 
particularly  appeals  to  the  big  Croatian 
and  Bosnian  land  owners. 

The  balance  of  power,  until  the  election 
of  the  promised  Constituent  Assembly,  is 
held  in  the  Provisional  Assembly  by  the 
Catholic  Clerical  Party  of  nineteen  Slo- 
venes led  by  M.  Koroshetz,  and  the  Na- 
tional Club,  or  Party  of  the  Right,  with 
twenty-nine  Croats  under  M.  Lazinya, 
which  stands  for  the  economic  autonomy 
of  Croatia  within  the  kingdom. 

BELGIUM,  HOLLAND,  LUXEMBURG. 

The  Belgian-Dutch  dispute  reached  an 
acute  stage,  but  ended  on  Oct.  14  by  the 
Brussels  press  declaring  and  The  Hague 
press  intimating  that  an  alliance  was 
about  to  be  formed  by  which,  for  con- 
cessions ranging  anywhere,  it  was  sur- 
mised, from  the  surrender  of  a  Dutch 
province  to  the  freedom  of  the  Scheldt 
and  the  Ghent-Terneuzen  Canal,  Belgium 
would  give  Holland  military  guarantees. 

The  trouble  began  as  follows:  The 
Belgian  delegate,  M.  Segers,  had  just 
finished  his  plea  for  freedom  to  the  sea 


«7« 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


before  the  Dutch-Belgian  Commission  in 
Paris,  and  had  ended  with  the  words, 
"  It  is,  therefore,  through  the  appre- 
hension that  Germany  may  eventually 
be  able  to  exercise  pressure  on  Holland 
that  we  demand  bolts  for  our  door," 
when  the  Dutch  press  printed  a  secret 
note,  issued  from  the  Belgian  Foreign 
Office  on  May  29,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  quotation: 

At  this  moment  all  Belgian  agents  in 
Dutch  Limburg  must  to  the  limit  of  their 
cai  aelty  assist  in  the  preparation  of  the 
return  of  this  province  to  .  the  mother 
country. 

Thereupon  the  Dutch  Government  sent 
a  formal  letter  of  protest  to  the  Belgian 
Government,  and  excitement  ran  high  in 
each  country,  even  after  it  was  pointed 
out  that  the  note  was  issued  before  the 
Paris  Conference  had  put  aside  the  ques- 
tion of  any  change  of  sovereignty  in 
Dutch  Limburg,  and  no  longer  repre- 
sented the  policy  of  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment. In  his  note  of  protest  the  Dutch 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  said: 

The  Government  of  her  Majesty  the 
Queen  has  instructed  me  to  inform  you 
•  [the  Belgian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs] 
of  the  exceedingly  painful  impression  made 
upon  their  minds  by  the  perusal  of  the 
original  document,  from  which  It  appears 
that  the  Belgian  Government  has  thought 
fit  to  permit  Itself  to  organize  a  political 
propaganda  in  Dutch  Limburg  with  the 
object  of  severing  that  province  from  Hol- 
land and  to  prepare  for  its  annexation  to 
Belgium.    *    *    * 

In  replying  to  the  Dutch  protest  the 
Belgian  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
after  disposing  of  the  current  value  of 
the  note,  seized  the  opportunity  to  set 
before  the  public  the  whole  case  of  Bel- 
gium in  a  manner  which  was  highly 
praised  by  diplomats  all  over  the  world 
for  its  cleverness.    He  proceeded: 

The  observations  of  the  Dutch  Govern- 
ment and  the  protest  which  it  formulated 
can  only  be  explained  by  fundamental  dif- 
ferences in  the  manner  of  regarding  the 
situation.  The  Belgian  Government, 
without  ever  having  raised  any  formal 
claims  upon  any  portion  of  Dutch  ter- 
ritory, did  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  Supreme  Interallied  Council,  in  ap- 
proving on  March  8  the  report  of  the 
Commission  on  Belgian  Affairs,  had  pro- 
claimed : 

(1)  That  the  treaties  of  183$)  had  been  so 
attacked  that  their  revision  was  essential 
in  the  interest  of  general  peace. 


(21  That  all  the  clauses  formed  a  com- 
plete  whole. 

(3)  That  the  territorial  ami  waterways 
clauses  of  the  treaties  were  seriousl> 
prejudicial  to  Belgium. 

In  view  of  this  decision  the  Belgian 
Government  considered  that  a  solution 
of  the  problems  thus  brought  forward 
could  include  modifications  in  the  alloca- 
tion laid  down  in  the  treaties  of  1889 
between  Belgium  and  Holland  of  terri- 
tories reunited  in  1815  to  tne  Netherlands, 

If  since  then  Belgium  had  consented  to 
seek  by  means  of  an  international  com- 
mission a  solution  which  would  not  admit 
of  any  transference  of  sovereignty,  it  was 
in  the  firm  hope  that  the  procedure 
adopted  on  June  4  would  not  deny  Bel- 
gium sufficient  acceptable  guarantees  for 
the  security  of  the  free  development  of 
ner  economic  relations.  Until  May  20 
no  limit  had  been  set  to  the  search  for 
new  formulae  to  replace  the  articles  of 
the  treaties  of  1830,  the  revision  of  which 
was    necessary- 

Therefore,  the  Dutch  Government  is 
wrong  in  considering  that  the  preoccupa- 
tion of  the  Belgian  Government  t*>  which 
the  official  note  of  April  20  bears  wit- 
ness, is  incompatible  with  the  sentiments 
of  friendship  and  good  understanding 
which  exist  between  the  two  countries. 
The  very  terms  of  the  note  show  that  re- 
spect for  established  authority  was  the 
dominant  principle  of  the  instructions 
contained  therein.  It  was  in  no  way  a 
question  of  striking  a  secret  blow  at  the 
rights  of  Holland,  which  in  Limburg  arise 
from  the  treaties  now  submitted  to  re- 
vision. It  was  a  question  in  particular  of 
creating  a  reaction  within  permissible 
limits  against  the  effects  of  German 
propaganda,  hostile  to  Belgian  interests, 
the  development  of  which  had  been  re- 
ported   to  us. 

Queen  Wilhelmina  made  a  veiled  ref- 
erence to  the  matter  in  her  speech  from 
the  throne  on  Sept.  16,  and  she  said 
nothing  in  favor  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, merely  remarking  that  the  ques- 
tion would  in  due  time  be  submitted  to 
the  States  General.  Meanwhile  the  con- 
troversy, omitting  of  course  the  scandal 
over  Limburg,  had  been  submitted  to  the 
experts  appointed  by  the  joint  commis- 
sion. They  delivered  their  report  on  Oct. 
6.  The  report  was  based  upon  the  fol- 
lowing claims  of  Belgium,  offset  by  a 
definite  refusal  of  Holland  to  grant  them, 
save  in  a  few  concessions  made  in  regard 
to  the  navigation  of  the  Ghent-Terneuzen 
and  Muse  Canals. 

Economic  claims:  (1)  The  right  to  con- 
trol   the    Dutch    waterway    (the    Scheldt) 


AMONG   THE   NATIONS 


"27:$ 


ami  to  execute  all  works  of  repair  and 
Improvement  considered  necessary  for  the 
prosperity  of  Antwerp;  (2)  the  cession 
of  the  Glunt-Terneuzen  canal  and  rail- 
way, with  the  execution  thereon  of  any 
work  tending  to  improve  the  prosperity  of 
Ghent;  (3)  the  suppression  of  the  com- 
mercial barrier  created  by  the  Maestrieht 
enclave,  giving  Belgium  the  control  of  the 
communications  by  wafer  between  Ant- 
werp and  Liege;  (4)  the  right  to  build 
through  Dutch  Dimburg  the  Rhine-Mouse 
canal  referred   to  in  the  Peace  Treaty. 

Military  provisions:  (1)  A  military  ar- 
rangement with  Holland  for  the  common 
defense  of  the  line  of  the  Meuae,  (Dim- 
burg;  (2)  the  free  use  of  the  Scheldt  in 
time  of  peace  or  war  by  Belgium  and  her 
allies  for  the  relief  of  the  country  at- 
tacked. 

In  spite  of  the  French  and  Bi'itish  sup- 
port of  the  military  provisions,  the  report 
of  the  experts,  while  acknowledging  that 
it  was  to  the  interest  of  Belgium  to  use 
the  Scheldt  in  wartime,  pointed  out  that 
it  was  impossible  to  reconcile  this*  interest 
with  Dutch  neutrality;  the  same  argu- 
ment was  used  in  regard  to  the  Meuse 
line.  Finally  the  report  submitted  this 
formula  for  Belgian  and  Dutch  agree- 
ment: 

(1)  An  arrangement  on  economic  ques- 
tions where  agreement  is  possible;  (2)  a 
Dutch  declaration  considering  the  viola- 
tion of  Dutch  neutrality  late  in  October, 
101  s,  when  German  soldiers  retreating 
from  Belgium  crossed  Dutch  territory : 
(8)  a  declaration  in  which  Holland  under- 
takes to  ask  for  immediate  admission  to 
the    League   of   Nations. 

As  a  vehicle  through  which  Belgian 
loans  might  be  placed  in  the  United 
States,  and  as  an  assistance  to  the  Bel- 
gian Treasury  in  other  matters,  Premier 
Delacroix  announced  on  Sept.  16  an 
agreement  with  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.  and 
the  Guaranty  Trust  Company  of  New 
York. 

According  to  a  report  made  to  the  De- 
partment of  Commerce  at  Washington 
by  Harry  T.  Collins,  United  States  Trade 
Commissioner  at  Brussels,  Belgian  rail- 
roads were  working  with  60  per  cent,  of 
pre-war  efficiency;  but  the  figures  he 
gave  should  not  indicate  equivalent 
traffic  of  either  passenger  or  freight,  as 
fares  have  increased  from  40  to  50  per 
cent,  and  freight  rates  40  per  cent. 

In  anticipation  of  the  Peace  Treaty's 
going  into  effect.   Holland  hastened   all 


transactions  with  Germany,  the  Batavia 
Petroleum  Company  exporting  large 
quantities  of  oil  fuel  to  Germany  and 
receiving  machinery.  In  the  first  week 
of  October  Dr.  Erzberger,  the  German 
Minister  of  Finance,  announced  that 
Holland  had  made  Germany  a  credit  of 
1,200,000,000  marks;  advices  from  The 
Hague  on  Oct.  7  were  that  a  Dutch 
forced  loan  of  450,000,000  guilders,  or 
$180,000,000,  might  be  expected  soon. 

The  long-awaited  Luxemburg  plebis- 
citum,  in  which  women  also  had  a  vote, 
took  place  on  Sept.  28.  It  resulted  in 
a  majority,  in  proportion  of  3  to  1,  in 
favor  of  the  two  principal  questions: 
The  retention  of  Grand  Duchess  Char- 
lotte as  ruler  and  the  institution  of  an 
economic  alliance  with  France  instead  of 
Belgium.  Alternatives  of  the  first  were 
the  selection  of  another  ruler  of  the 
same  family  as  Charlotte,  substitution  of 
another  dynasty,  or  the  establishment  of 
a  republic. 

FRANCE 

M.  Clemenceau,  assisted  by  his  able 
lieutenants  inside  and  outside  the  Min- 
istry, continued  his  campaign  for  the 
ratification  of  the  German  Peace  Treaty. 
He  was  particularly  eloquent  in  the 
Chamber  on  Sept.  25,  when,  at  the  end 
of  a  long  speech  advocating  the  solidar- 
ity of  the  United  States  and  associated 
nations  in  peace  as  it  had  been  in  war, 
he  suddenly  ended  with* 

After  the  elections  I  will  retire  with  the 
great  reward  that  comes  from  the  satis- 
faction of  having  done"  one's  duty  and 
with  the  friendship  of  my  dear  poilus,  of 
whom   1   shall   think   always. 

The  Chamber,  which  had  begun  its  de- 
bate on  the  document  on  Aug.  26,  rati- 
fied it  on  Oct.  2  by  a  vote  of  372  to  53, 
73  members  abstaining  from  voting,  and 
gave  a  unanimous  vote  for  the  American 
and  British  military  agreements.  Those 
abstaining  from  voting  were  made  up 
principally  of  Socialists  and  Nationalists, 
the  former  deeming  the  treaty  "  impe- 
rialistic," and  the  latter  because  the 
Rhine  boundary  had  not  been  secured. 

On  Oct.  7  Leon  Bourgeois,  Chairman 
of  the  Peace  Commission  of  the  Senate, 
and  who  was  subsequently  to  be  ap- 
pointed    the     first     Councilor     to     the 


274 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


League  of  Nations,  introduced  the  docu- 
ments in  the  Senate,  which  ratified  the 
treaty  by  the  vote  of  217  on  Oct.  11, 
only  one  Senator,  M.  Delahaye,  abstain- 
ing from  voting,  and  even  he  voted  for 
the  military  agreements,  making  the  vote 
a  unanimous  218.  On  Oct.  13  President 
Poincare  attached  his  signature  to  the 
documents,  thereby  promulgating  them. 

The  effect  was  instantaneous  in  all  de- 
partments of  State.  Decrees  were  pub- 
lished putting  interior  affairs  on  a  peace 
basis,  ending  the  state  of  siege,  lifting 
the  censorship,  transferring  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  police  from  the  army  to  the 
prefectures,  and  ordering  general  de- 
mobilization. 

Although  the  votes  of  both  Chamber 
and  Senate  gave  M.  Clemenceau  an  ap- 
probation he  had  never  before  received, 
there  were,  besides,  two  special  votes  of 
confidence  received  from  the  Chamber — 
one  during  the  debate  on  Sept.  30,  in 
which  he  was  sustained  by  262  to  188, 
and  one  on  Oct.  15,  after  the  ratification, 
324  to  132. 

The  latter  was  when  the  Chamber 
adopted  the  Government's  policy  on  the 
chronological  order  of  the  elections,  plac- 
ing the  elections  for  the  Chamber  first, 
on  Nov. ,  16,  to  be .  followed  respectively 
by  the  Senatorial  and  the  municipal.  The 
"  Tiger  "  thus  emerged  victoriously  from 
one  of  the  most  bitter  and  best  organized 
assaults  which  a  Government  of  the 
Third  Republic  has  ever  faced. 

The  strongest  party  in  the'  war  and 
emerging  from  it  -as  such  was  the  Radi- 
cal Socialist,  whose  character  as  being 
neither  radical  nor  socialist,  but  rational, 
was  recently  described  in  these  columns. 
The  Unified  Socialists,  who  first  tended 
toward  Germany  and  defeatism,  and  then 
toward  Bolshevism,  and  were  never  able 
to  summon  more  than  thirty  votes,  lost 
two  prominent  members,  Jean  Erlich  of 
the  Notre  Dame  constituency  of  Paris, 
and  M.  Nectoux,  one  of  the  Deputies  for 
the  Seine.  M.  Erlich's  letter  of  resigna- 
tion explained  the  defection  of  both. 
After  declaring  that  he  was  still  a  So- 
cialist, he  accused  his  party  of  being 
pure  Bolshevist,  and  then  proceeded: 

You  will  perhaps  now  understand  my 
painful  and  indignant  astonishment  at 
finding  on   my   return   to   France  the  Uni- 


fied Socialist  press  plainly  treating  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki  as  comrades  and 
friends.  In  economic  and  social  matters 
Bolshevism  has  resulted  in  a  tremendous 
catastrophe  and  general  ruin.  The  so- 
called  methods  of  Bolshevist  dictatorship 
leave  far  in  the  background  tho  worst 
horrors    of    the    Inquisition    and    Czarism. 

*  *  *  I  refuse  to  follow  it  on  this  road. 
As  a  Socialist  and  a  democrat  1  will  have 
nothing    to    do    with      any     dictatorship. 

*  *  *  I  am  convinced,  moreover,  that 
all  Socialists  who  have  done  their  duty 
during  the  war  will  agree  with  me,  and 
that  they  will  not  permit  the  sabotage  of 
a  victory  which  has  been  won  at  the  cost 
of  so  great  sacrifice. 

The  coming  election,  which  will  be 
under  the  new  law  already  described  in 
Current  History,  showed  no  signs  in  the 
political  campaign  of  old  Royalist  propa- 
ganda, or  of  anti-Clerical,  or,  among  the 
Clericals,  of  a  return  to  the  concordat 
propaganda.  The  incorporation  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  will  add  twenty-eight 
Deputies  to  the  602,  and  four  Senators 
to  the  300. 

The  termination  of  the  military  con- 
trol of  the  railways  marked  the  inaugu- 
ration of  an  interesting  experiment  on 
Oct.  15 — the  collaboration  of  delegates 
from  all  the  different  classes  of  railway 
workers  with  heads  of  departments  and 
the  Board  of  Directors  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  roads. 

In  accordance  with  a  bill  passed  in 
August  providing  for  the  extension  of 
the  commercial  attache  service,  the 
Minister  of  Commerce  began  to  appoint 
commercial  agents  to  the  principal  coun- 
tries. These  agents  were  placed  under 
the  control  of  the  diplomatic  representa- 
tive and  in  a  position  similar  to  that  oc- 
cupied by  military  and  naval  attaches, 
while  over  them  were  the  commercial 
attaches  proper,  of  whom  there  were 
only  four,  but  whose  number  will  be  in- 
creased as  the  occasion  demands. 

ITALY 

While  the  crowds  in  the  streets  were 
expressing  their  enthusiasm  over  the 
d'Annunzio  coup  at  Fiume,  the  King  and 
Signor  Nitti,  President  of  the  Council 
and  Minister  of  the  Interior,  were  doing 
their  best  to  maintain  the  proper  rela- 
tons  between  the  Consulta  and  the  Chan- 
celleries of  London,  Paris,  and  Washing- 
ton, and  to  prevent  the  populace,  army, 


AMONG    THE   NATIONS 


275 


and  political  parties  from  committing 
some  overt  act  which  might  prejudice 
those  relations,  if  it  did  not,  indeed,  pro- 
duce a  revolution. 

After  Signor  Tittoni,  Foreign  Minister 
and  head  of  the  Italian  Peace  Delegation, 
had  outlined  his  policy  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  on  the  night  of  Sept.  27,  and 
the  Chamber  in  closing  its  session  had 
given  the  Government  a  vote  of  confi- 
dence amounting  to  208  to  140,  the  Min- 
ister, in  communication  with  the  asso- 
ciated Chancelleries,  began  to  seek  for 
a  formula  which  should  end  the  Fiume 
impasse.  A  measure  which  had  greatly 
tended  toward  strengthening  the  vote  of 
the  Government  was  the  calling  of  the 
Crown  Council  by  the  King  on  Sept.  25 
at  the.  Quirinal  Palace — an  extraordinary 
procedure  which  had  not  been  resorted  to 
since  the  days  of  the  Resorgimento.  The 
council  consisted  of  the  national,  civil, 
political,  and  military  leaders  and  ex- 
Premiers,  supposed  to  represent  every 
ramification  of  the  body  politic. 

Then,  with  Parliament  inoperative 
until  the  elections  of  Nov.  16  should 
provide  a  new  Chamber  to  meet  in 
December,  and  with  a  policy  supposed  to 
be  based  upon  the  advice  received  from 
the  Crown  Council,  the  Nitti  Government 
began  operations  on  its  own  responsi- 
bility, and  on  Oct.  6,  as  an  expression  of 
good-will  toward  the  associated  Chancel- 
leries and  the  Peace  Conference,  the 
King  issued  a  decree  approving  the 
German  and  Austrian  treaties,  thus 
practically  ratifying  those  documents 
and  leaving  to  the  new  Parliament  the 
sole  duty  of  acting  on  the  decree.  This 
decree,  which  per  se  re-established  peace 
between  Italy  and  the  Teutons,  contained 
two  articles,  the  first  authorizing  the 
Government  to  execute  the  treaties  fully 
and  the  second  requiring  that  the  decree 
be  presented  to  Parliament  for  conver- 
sion into  law.  Only  once  has  Parliament 
declined  to  ratify  such  a  decree.  That 
was  in  1860,  when  the  Chamber  rejected 
the  treaty  of  Villafranca,  which  had 
been  negotiated  by  France  and  Austria 
behind  the  back  of  Cavour. 

The  foregoing  measures  restored  the 
tranquillity  of  the  crowds  in  the  principal 
cities,  and  the  Deputies,  almost  in  a  body, 


left  Rome  to  consult  the  local  Prefects 
and  to  prepare  their  constituencies  for 
the  coming  election.  In  this  election  for 
the  first  time  an  organized  Catholic 
party  will  take  part,  voting  for  Catholic 
candidates.  The  decree  of  Pius  IX.  in 
1870,  strictly  enforced  by  his  successor, 
Leo  XIII.,  prohibiting  Catholics  from 
being  either  electors  or  the  elected,  was 
modified  under  Pius  X.  so  that  Catholics 
were  allowed  to  vote  for  non-Catholic 
candidates  who  pledged  themselves  to  re- 
frain from  legislation  condemned  by  the 
Vatican.  Last  January  Pope  Benedict 
XV.  removed  the  entire  inhibition,  and  a 
political  party  was  formed  under  the 
name  of  the  Partito  Populare  Italiani,  or 
the  Italian  Popular  Party. 

Like  the  Socialist  Party,  this  new  or- 
ganization depends  upon  recruits  from 
the  masses — the  former  among  the  work- 
ers of  the  towns  and  the  latter  among 
the  peasants.  Each  of  these  parties  has 
a  well-defined  program,  with  common 
aspirations  on  certain  points  '  which 
Signor  Nitti  has  attempted  to  consoli- 
date. Aside  from  these  two  parties,  which 
hold  the  balance  of  suffrage,  if  not  of 
legislation,  there  are  the  factions  of  the 
various  political  leaders  calling  them- 
selves Democrats,  Liberals,  Conserva- 
tives, or  Radicals,  but  differing  in  the 
main  as  they  support  or  oppose  the  pres- 
ent Government.  Then  there  is  the  Re- 
publican Party,  which,  like  the  Socialists 
and  the  Catholics,  also  has  a  well-defined 
national  program.  It  preserves  the  tra- 
ditions of  Garibaldi,  Mazzini,  and  Min- 
ghetti,  and  its  best  known  member  is 
the  former  Minister  Barzilai.  In  the 
recently  dissolved  Chamber,  however,  it 
had  only  sixteen  members  out  of  a  total 
of  513. 

Owing  to  the  political  crisis  few  com- 
prehensive measures  were  taken  to  miti- 
gate the  economic.  A  scheme  for  a  forced 
loan  touching  everybody  who  possessed 
capital  exceeding  $4,000  calculated  at  par 
was  prepared  by  a  special  commission 
of  financiers,  bankers,  and  Senators,  but 
its  execution  was  indefinitely  postponed 
on  account  of  opposition,  not  from  the 
people  but  from  certain  big  financial  in- 
terests. The  nation's  war  debt  was  offi- 
cially  announced    to   be   $20,000,000,000, 


276 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


which  was  over  200  times  the  pre-war 
public  debt. 

Both  grain  and  coal  were  being  sold 
by  the  Government  at  below  their  real 
cost.  The  slow  recovery  of  Italian  in- 
dustries for  export,  partly  due  to  labor 
troubles  and  partly  to  the  shutting  off 
of  certain  foreign  markets  which  had 
learned  to  subsist  without  Italian  com- 
modities during  the  war,  kept  up  the  ad- 
verse rate  of  exchange,  which  continued 
to  show  a  depreciation  of  93  per  cent, 
in  the  case  of  the  dollar  as  compared 
with  the  rates  before  the  war,  and  60  per 
cent,  in  the  case  of  the  pound  sterling. 
The  price  of  bread  rose  from  75  to  85 
centimes  per  kilo. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  bill  passed  in 
August  for  the  immediate  electrification 
of  the  railways  throughout  Italy  was 
rapidly  put  into  execution.  The  conver- 
sion of  Italy's  water  energy — harnessing 
the  white  horse,  as  it  is  called — will  give 
the  country  over  5,000,000  electrical  horse 
power,  an  energy  equal  to  working  all 
the  railways  and  all  the  industries  of  the 
peninsula. 

The  attempt  to  attract  foreign 
capital  was  continued  by  the  princi- 
pal banking  companies  extending  their 
institutions  to  North  and  South  America. 
The  Banca  Italiana  Disconto  established 
the  Banca  Italo  Caucasica  Disconto  with 
a  capital  of  40,000,000  lire  with  its  main 
office  in  Rome  and  projected  agencies 
for  the  Near  East. 

Indeed,  Italy  began  to  look  toward  the 
East  more  than  toward  the  West — to 
secure  the  coal  output  of  the  Heraclea 
region  in  Asia  Minor,  which  formerly 
netted  1,150,000  tons  annually  to  the  Ger- 
man concessionaires,  and  the  oil  from  the 
Caucasus. 

On  Oct.  10  and  13  a  rising  of  peasants 
was  reported  in  Rome  from  Caltanisetta, 
the  central  province  of  Sicily.  Four  thou- 
sand people  were  involved  and  thirty 
deaths  were  recorded  before  the  troops 
managed  to  secure  order.  The  uprising 
was  an  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  the 
historic  sulphur  mines  near  Riesi  and 
was  otherwise  due  to  the  objection  of  the 
populace  to  having  their  district  policed 
by  the  military  from  the  Italian  penin- 
sula. 


LATIN  AMERICA 

The  Brazilian  Director  of  Immigra- 
tion has  sent  to  the  representatives  of 
those  Governments  likely  to  be  most  af- 
fected a  well-printed  copy  of  the  immi- 
gration laws  now  in  operation.  Trans- 
portation within  the  country  is  offered 
free  to  points  of  destination;  also  com- 
plete provision  for  the  immigrant  for  a 
limited  period  after  his  or  her  arrival 
there.  According  to  the  report  made  on 
the  subject  by  J.  E.  Philippi,  the  Ameri- 
can Commercial  Attache  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  issued  at  Washington  Oct.  16: 

The  amount  of  land  assigned  to  each 
settler  is  25  hectares  (about  62  acres), 
and  is  sold  at  the  price  of  8  to  30  milreis 
per  hectare.  There  are  farms  with 
houses  and  without  houses,  these  being: 
sold  for  the  cost  of  improvements.  The 
Immigration  Service  will  provide  tempo- 
rary quarters'  for  those  settlers  who  wish 
to  erect  a  dwelling  for  their  own  account. 
Amortization  on  the  debt  of  the  colony 
must  be  begun  at  the  end  of  the  third 
year,  and  in  annual  payments  thereafter 
for  a  period  of  from  five  to  eight  years. 
After  the  land  is  paid  for,  the  legal  title 
will  be  transferred  to  the  immigrant.  The 
Government  will  refund  to  the  immigrants 
located  in  the  Federal  colonies  the 
amount  of  their  passage  from  the  coun- 
try of  emigration  to  Brazil,  by  credit- 
ing it  to  their  account. 

On  the  same  day  the  report  was  is- 
sued 406  German  veterans  arrived  at 
Rio  on  board  the  Dutch  liner  Hollandia, 
the  majority  of  them,  however,  bound  for 
Argentina.  On  Sept.  23  formal  negotia- 
tions were  opened  by  Germany  for  a  loan 
of  $100,000,000  from  Argentina  in  order 
to  facilitate,  it  was  said,  the  purchase  of 
raw  materials  from  Argentina.  To  en- 
courage German  emigration  to  Paraguay 
the  Land  and  Colonial  Office,  on  Oct.  8, 
offered  eleven  acres  each  to  agricultural 
immigrants. 

President  Agusto  Leguia  was  pro- 
claimed Constitutional  President  at 
Lima,  Peru,  on  Oct.  12  for  a  period  of 
five  years.  His  inauguration  was  under 
the  new  Constitution,  already  described  in 
these  columns. 

In  the  third  week  in  September  a  Cab- 
inet crisis  was  caused  in  Chile  by  a  Rad- 
ical convention  at  Concepcion  demanding 
that  members  of  its  party  withdraw 
from  the  coalition.     So,  on   Sept  23,  a 


AMONG   THE   NATIONS 


ill 


new  Ministry  was  formed,  whose  per- 
sonnel showed  it  to  be  made  up  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Liberal  Party  reunited  with 
Liberal  Democrats  and  Nationalists.  The 
slate  is  as  follows: 

Minister  of  the  Interior— ENRIQUE 
BERMUDEZ,  Minister  of  War  in  the  rer 
cent  Cabinet. 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs— LUIS  BAR- 
ROS-BORGOVO. 

Minister  of  Finance— JULES  PHIL- 
LIPPI. 

Minister  of  Justice— JULES  PRADO- 
AMOR. 

Minister  of  War— ANIBAL  RODRI- 
GUEZ, a  former  holder  of  this  porfolio. 
Minister  of  Industries— MALQU  IAS 
CONCHA,  who  had  previously  occupied 
this  post  and  was  Minister  of  Public 
Works  and  Railways  in  the  recent  Min- 
istry. 

SCANDINAVIA 

The  great  war  interrupted  the  inter- 
national conference  at  Copenhagen  which 
was  to  have  decided  the  national  status 
of  the  Spitzbergen  archipelago  in  the 
Arctic  Ocean  north  of  Scandinavia. 
Over  these  -islands,  which  had  been  dis- 
covered by  the  Dutch  navigator  Barents 
in  1596  and  claimed  by  the  British  on 
account  of  Hudson's  subsequent  visits, 
British  sovereignty  practically  ceased  in 
1670.  During  the  war  it  was  revived, 
and  since  the  armistice  period  the  Lon- 
don press  has  been  extensively  adver- 
tising the  resources  of  the  islands  said 
to  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  British 
companies.  On  Sept.  25  the  Spitzbergen 
Commission  handed  in  a  report,  which 
was  approved  by  the  Council  of  Five  at 
Paris,  giving  the  sovereignty  to  Norway. 

On  Oct.  10  the  German  authorities  be- 
gan the  evacuation  of  the  first  and  sec- 
ond zones  in  Schleswig,  in  accordance 
with  the  Peace  Treaty  conditions,  and  the 
International  Commission  began  to  pre- 
pare arrangements  for  the  plebiscitum 
to  decide  whether  the  regions  involved 
shall  remain  German  or  become  Danish. 
The  treaty,  it  will  be  recalled,  divided 
the  neck  of  land  between  Denmark  and 
Holstein  into  three  zones,  with  the  in- 
tention that  each  zone,  the  pure  Danish, 
the  mixed,  and  the  German-speaking, 
should  decide  its  own  nationality.  At 
the  request  of  Denmark  it  was  ultimately 
decided  that  no  plebiscitum  should  be 
held  in  the  third  or  German  zone. 


TURKEY  AND  THE  NEAR  EAST 

The  situation  in  Asiatic  Turkey  was 
measurably  complicated  for  the  Peace 
Conference  by  the  following  events: 
The  Turkish  National  movement  under 
Mustapha  Kemal,  resulting  in  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Nationalist  troops  to  within 
fifty-seven  miles  of  Constantinople  and 
the  deflection  to  their  side  of  the  Persian 
Province  of  Azerbaidjan;  the  landing  of 
more  Greek  and  Italian  troops  at,  re- 
spectively, Smyrna  and  Adalia,  and 
finally,  in  the  first  week  in  October,  the 
fall  of  the  pro-Entente  Ministry  of 
Damad  Ferid  Pasha,  and  the  inaugura- 
tion of  what  turned  out  to  be  a  Na- 
tionalist Cabinet  under  the  Grand  Vizier, 
General  Ali  Riza  Pasha,  which  at  once 
began  to  work  to  hold  elections  for  a  new 
Parliament  based  on  the  general  pro- 
gram of  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the 
Empire  in  both  Europe  and  Asia.  The 
Cabinet,  which  contained  several  names 
proscribed  by  the  Interallied  Commission, 
was  as  follows: 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs— MUS- 
TAPHA RECHID   PASHA. 

Minister  of  War— DJEMAL  PASHA. 

Minister  of  the  Interior— DAMAD 
SHERIF  PASHA. 

Minister   of   Justice— MUSTAPHA   BEY. 

Minister  of  Public  Works— HAMED 
ABOUK  PASHA. 

Minister  of  Agriculture— HADI  PASHA. 

Minister  of  Instruction— SAID  BEY. 

Colonel  Haskell,  High  Commissioner 
in  Armenia,  on  his  arrival  at  Privau, 
made  the  following  statement  to  the 
Armenian  Parliament,  later  to  be  elabo- 
rated by  his  full-  report  to  the  Peace 
Conference: 

The  most  important  question  at  the 
present  time  is  to  decide  upon  the  nature 
of  the  support  which  the  Allies  can  offer 
to  the  Armenian  people,  who  have  suf- 
fered so  terribly  during  the  war.  Mili- 
tary support  is  only  for  the  defense  of  the 
frontiers  of  Armenia.  These  forces  will 
in  every  case  protect  the  frontiers  as  they 
are  at  present  fixed. 

After  careful  study  of  the  present  posi- 
tion, I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  military  assistance  is  indispensable 
for  Armenia,  and  that  the  British  troops 
should  not  evacuate  Transcaucasia  until 
they  are  relieved  by  other  allied  forces. 

It  is  proved  that  Azerbaidjan  has  vio- 
lated the  frontiers  which  were  assigned  to 
it  by  the  British  Government. 

This  compels  me  to  return  immediately 


278 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


to  Tiflis  and  to  Baku  to  warn  the  Govern- 
ment of  Azerbaidjan  that  if  prompt  meas- 
ures are  not  taken  to  remedy  this  state  of 
things,  and  if  they  do  not  soon  conclude 
the  military  operations  they  have  begun, 
grave  consequences  will  ensue.  If  my 
communications  are  not  valued  at  their 
real  importance  at  Paris,  I  shall  return 
there  in  person  to  obtain  from  the  Peace 
Conference  the  dispatch  of  speedy  help 
for  Armenia. 

As  regards  frontiers,  the  occupation  of 
a  few  square  kilometers  by  one  State  or 
another  cannot  h;>ve  any  decisive  impor-' 
tance.  At  the  present  time  the  Armenian 
people  must  accept  the  co-operation  which 
will  be  offered  them,  leaving  the  rest 
to  the  future,  for  once  fundamental  ques- 
tions have  been  decided  secondary  matters 
will  settle  themselves. 

On  Sept.  17  an  agreement  was  reached 
by  Messrs.  Lloyd  George  and  Clemenceau 
in  Paris  which  definitely  disposed  of  the 
Syrian  problem.  The  documents  pre- 
sented on  the  British  side  tended  to  es- 
tablish the  fact  that  there  was  no  con- 
tradistinction between  the  promises  made 
by  the  British  Government  to  the  She- 
reef  of  Mecca  and  the  Anglo-French 
Agreement  of  1916,  in  spite  of  the 
charges  of  the  popular  press  of  Paris. 
[The  general  lines  of  the  new  Anglo- 
French  agreement  are  given  on  pages 
239-241.] 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM 

On  Sept.  27  the  great  strike  of  the 
United  Kingdom's  railway  employes  be- 
gan, directly  involving  over  600,000 
workers  and  blocking  traffic  all  over 
the  island.  Emergency  measures  care- 
fully prepared  in  wartime  were  put  in 
force  by 'the  Government  in  order  to  kepp 
food  moving  to  the  centres  of  popu- 
lation. The  strike  lasted  until  Oct.  6, 
when  the  National  Union  of  Railway- 
men  agreed  to  call  it  off,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment consented  to  a  renewal  of  the 
negotiations,  the  continuance  of  the 
existing  wage  scale  for  another  year  in- 
stead of  six  months,  as  previously  of- 
fered, and  the  establishment  of  a  mini- 
mum wage  of  51  shillings  ($12.75)  while 
the  cost  of  living  is  110  per  cent,  above 
the  pre-war  level.  The  following  were 
the  terms  as  officially  stated: 

First—Work  shall  be  resumed  immedi- 
ately. 

Second — Negotiations  will  be  resumed 
on  the  understanding  that  they  shall  be 
completed    before    the    end    of    the   year. 


Third-Wages  will  be  stabilized  at  the 
present  level  until  Sept.  30,  1920,  and  at 
any  time  after  Aug.  1  they  may  be  re- 
sumed in  the  light  of  circumstances  then 
existing. 

Fourth— No  adult  railwayman  in  Great 
Britain  shall  receive  less  than  51  shill- 
ings (.$12.75)  per  week  while  the  cost  of 
living  is  110  per  cent,  above  pre-war 
level. 

Fifth— The  Railway  Union  agree  that 
their  men  will  work  harmoniously  with 
the  men  who  returned  to  work  or  who 
remained  at  work  during  the  strike.  Not 
shall  there  be  any  victimization  of 
strikers. 

Sixth— Arrears  of  wages  will  be  paid 
on    resumption    of    work. 

The  ultimatum  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  N.  U.  R.  was  delivered  on 
the  very  day  that  the  powers  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  over  the  railways  were 
being  transferred  to  the  new  Minister  of 
Transportation.  The  last  act  of  the 
board,  however,  was  an  attempt  to  meet 
the  situation  by  the  following  offer, 
which  the  Minister  of  Transportation  will 
try  to  negotiate: 

1.  The  Government  offer,  as  submitted 
by  the  Board  of  Trade,  gives  to  the  grades 
in  question  as  a  permanent  wage  an  av-, 
erage  advance  of  100  per  cent,  on  pre- 
war wages,  even  If  the  cost  of  living  falls 
to  pre-war  level. 

2.  The  pre-war  wage,  with  an  additional 
war  wage  of  33s.,  will  be  continued  so 
long  as  the  cost  of  living  is  110  per  cent, 
above   pre-war   prices. 

3.  The  present  wages  were  fixed  at  33s. 
above  pre-war  wages  in  accordance  with  a 
sliding  scale  agreed  upon  in  November 
last  between  the  Board  of  Trade  and  the 
National  Union  of  Rallwaymen  at  the 
time  when  the  cost  of  living  was  125  per 
cent,   above  pre-war  prices. 

4.  No    reduction    will    take    place    until 
the  cost  of  living  has  been  brought  down 
below   110  per  cent,   above  pre-war  prices  . 
and    has   remained   so   for   at  least   three 
months. 

5.  No  reduction  in  present  wages  can 
take    place    this    year    at    all,    as    it    was 

agreed  in  Mar'ch  that  present  wages  should 
be  stabilized  until  Dec.  31,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  offer  in  Paragraph  4  any 
reduction  is  practically  impossible  before 
next   April. 

6.  Should  there  be  a  reduction  in  the 
cost  of  living  below  100  per  cent.,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Paragraph  4,  any  change 
in  wages  will  be  determined  either  by 
using  the  sliding  scale  agreed  to  by  the 
railwaymen  in  November  last,  or  by  such 
other  methods  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  Government  and  the  Railway  Unions 
after  discussion. 


Poland's  Many  Problems 

Young    Republic's    Struggles    Against    Bolshevism,    German 
Militarism,   and  Adverse  Industrial   Conditions 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  15,  1919] 


POLAND'S  new  army  continued  its 
successes  against  the  Bolsheviki 
during  September  and  October. 
Authorized  by  Marshal  Foch  to 
occupy  the  Vilna-Dvinsk  railway  as  far 
as  Dukshty,  a  place  about  twenty-five 
miles  south  of  Dvinsk,  the  Poles  had  sub- 
sequently advanced  to  the  River  Beresina, 
and,  in  order  to  use  the  Dvina  to  protect 
their  left  flank,  had  pushed  forward  al- 
most as  far  as  Dvinsk  and  occupied  the 
railway  some  twenty  miles  beyond 
Dukshty.  This  advance  brought  the 
Polish  troops  into  conflict  with  the  Lithu- 
anians, who  held  that  the  Poles  had  no 
right  to  be  on  the  northern  sector  of  the 
railway. 

The  Poles,  however,  developed  un- 
deterred their  prearranged  campaign 
against  the  Bolsheviki.  News  of  the  cap- 
ture by  assault  of  the  fortresses  of  Bory- 
sov  and  Bobruisk,  defending  the  passages 
of  the  Beresina,  arrived  on  Sept.  3.  The 
Poles  crossed  the  river  and  continued 
their  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  Bolsheviki 
until  stopped  by  order  of  the  High  Com- 
mand; then  they  withdrew  behind  forti- 
fications on  the  site  of  the  old  trenches 
erected  by  Napoleon  in  1812.  The  Polish 
press,  commenting  on  the'  motives  of  this 
sudden  halt,  mentioned  the  occupation  of 
Courland  by  the  army  of  General  von  der 
Goltz  and  the  concentration  of  Lithuania 
of  the  volunteer  forces  under  Prince  Lie- 
ven.  This  mysterious  army  corps  was 
very  near  the  demarkation  line  between 
Poland  and  Lithuania,  which  passes  with- 
in ten  kilometers  of  the  principal  rail- 
way line  and  the  City  of  Vilna. 

In  the  direction  of  the  Dvina,  however, 
the  Poles  cleared  the  whole  lake  region 
south  of  Dvinsk  (Dunaberg)  of  Bolshe- 
vist bands.  Polish  official  reports  of 
Sept.  16  indicated  that  heavy  fighting 
was  in  progress  on  the  Lithuanian  front, 
with  Bolshevist  reinforcements  attacking 
strongly  in  the  neighborhood  of  Koplau, 


east  of  Dvinsk.  Two  days  later  the  Poles 
had  driven  the  Bolsheviki  to  the  northern 
bank  of  the  Dvina  as  far  as  Disna,  and 
had  advanced  northward  approximately 
100  miles  from  Borysov,  which  is  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Beresina,  fifty  miles 
northeast  of  Minsk. 

On  the  eastern  front,  the  Poles  had 
succeeded  in  cutting  railway  communica- 
tion between  Kiev  and  Petrograd,  and 
were  making  important  progress  toward 
the  Dnieper,  Mohilev,  and  Orsza.  On 
Sept.  25  the  Bolsheviki  were  abandoning 
in  haste  the  region  surrounding  Vitebsk 
and  Mohilev,  taking  Polish  notables  re- 
siding in  these  districts  away  with  them 
as  hostages. 

HALTING  THE  POLISH  ADVANCE 

It  was  stated  in  Paris  on  Sept.  18  that 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference was  considering  action  to  urge 
Poland  to  halt  decisively  her  invasion  of 
Russian  Bolshevist  territory.  The  con- 
ference held  that  Poland's  advance,  which 
had  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  200  miles, 
had  gone  far  enough  for  purposes  of 
self-defense,  and  that  the  Allies  had  no 
disposition  to  encourage  Poland  to  wage 
a  war  of  mere  conquest  of  territory;  the 
yqung  republic's  main  need  was  for  re- 
construction, which  could  not  be  accom- 
plished while  a  war  of  aggression  was 
going  on,  and  the  financial  aid  required 
for  this  work  could  not  be  obtained  until 
Poland  ceased  hostilities. 

Polish  statesmen  in  Paris,  on  the  other 
hand,  reported  that  with  the  approach  of 
Winter  Poland's  Army  of  more  than  half 
a  million  men  was  in  bad  plight,  and  it 
was  uncertain  if  her  military  problems 
could  be  resolved.  Polish  troops,  it  was 
declared,  were  successfully  opposing  Rus- 
sian Bolshevism  along  an  irregular  front 
of  more  than  400  miles,  extending  from 
Dvinsk  in  the  north  to  a  point  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  Dnieper  River,  about 


280 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


fifty  miles  south  of  Gomel.  The  forces 
on  this  long  front  were  without  Winter 
clothing,  and  many  of  them  lacked  even 
shoes.  Prime  Minister  Paderewski  and 
other  Polish  leaders  stated  that  though 
the  Poles  had  willingly  acceded  to  the 
request  of  the  Peace  Conference  to  push 
back  the  Bolsheviki  and  protect  Europe 
against  their  inroads,  they  were  now 
facing  problems  of  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty. The  Bolshevist  Government  at 
Moscow  was  constantly  attempting  to 
make  peace  with  the  Poles,  and  the  army, 
in  its  destitute  condition,  was  much 
tempted  by  these  overtures,  and  by  the 
possibility  of  returning  home,  especially 
in  view  of  reported  negotiations  opened 
by  Esthonia,  Letvia,  and  Lithuania  with 
the  Soviet  Government. 

PADEREWSKPS  STATEMENT 

The  situation  in  Poland,  especially  in 
relation  to  Germany,  was  summed  up  by 
M.  Paderewski,  who  appeared  before  the 
Supreme  Council  in  Paris  on  Sept.  5,  in 
an  interview  in  which  "he  said: 

The  Germans,  defeated  on  the  west, 
have  now  turned  eastward,  where  they 
are  waging  a  battle  in  the  hope  of  achiev- 
ing a  victory  they  were  unable  to  win  on 
the  other  front.  In  Upper  Silesia,  East 
Prussia,  Lithuania,  along  the  Bolshevist 
front,  near  Minsk,  along  the  Ukrainian 
front,  the  Polish  armies  are  forced  to  ta.ce 
armed  enemies. 

Where  these  enemies  were  not  Ger- 
mans, said  M.  Paderewski,  they  were 
aided  by  Germans,  who  were  pushing 
Bolshevism  forward  in  every  possible 
way  to  .embarrass  Poland.  "  Our  new 
Government,"  he  continued,  "  with  lim- 
ited supplies  and  little  clothing  for  the 
army,  finds  the  situation  desperate.'' 
Germany,  he  intimated,  intended  to 
crush  Poland,  and  might  succeed,  unless 
the  latter  country  obtained  speedy  suc- 
cor. Regarding  the  situation  in  Silesia, 
where  the  Germans  had  put  down  a 
Polish  revolt  with  an  iron  hand,  and 
whence  vast  numbers  of  Polish  refugees 
had  fled  across  the  border,  the  Polish 
Premier  said: 

Until  the  German  treaty  is  ratified  we 
cannot  get  the  foreign  troops  neces?ary 
to  steady  the  situation.  The  Poles  are 
eager  to  rush  into  Silesia  to  avenge  the 
wrongs  inflicted  on  our  countrymen.  It 
is   difficult   to    restrain    them,   as   they   art- 


daily  stirred  by  blood-curdling  stories  told 
by  refugees  of  German  atrocities.  In  the 
Baltic  States  of  Russia  the  Germans  are 
fomenting  disorder  and  lending  the  Bol- 
sheviki assistance.  On  all  sides  we  are 
forced  to  face  the  new  war  Germany  is 
waging  against  the  allied  cause  She  is 
determined  to  conquer  Russia  at  any  cost, 
and  is  making  every  effort  to  hamper  up 
in  our  battle  against  disorder.  There  is 
a  studied  effort  to  ruin  our  reputation 
throughout  the  world  and  prevent  out 
acquiring  the  international  standing  w* 
merit.  We  are  unable  to  defend  our- 
selves against  all  these  calumnies;  we  are 
too  busy  fighting  the  enemy  with  guns. 
We  hope  for  a  speedy  ratification  of  the 
treaty  and  pray  for  the  steadying  in- 
fluence of  allied  troops  in  the  harassed 
districts. 

POLAND'S  HOPE  IN  LEAGUE 

On   his    return    to    Poland,    M.    Pade- 
rewski, on   Sept.   18,  issued  a  statement 
in   which   he   dwelt   upon   the   desperate 
nature  of  the  situation  with  which  Po- 
land had   to  deal   and   on   the  necessity 
of  her  possessing  the  strong  moral  and 
material  support  that  would  be  afforded 
her  by  the  existence  of  the   League  of 
Nations.    This  statement  was  as  follows: 
From   a    Polish    point   of  view,   our   one 
hope  of  future  security  as  a  State  lies  in 
the  League   of  Nations.     Upon   it,    and    1 
fear  upon  it  alone,   depend  the  liberty  of 
the.   Polish   people  and   the  successful   de- 
velopment of  democratic  and   liberal   gov- 
ernment in  Poland.     Standing,  as  we  are, 
between   Germany   on    one  side  and   Rus- 
sia on  the  other,  w»  cannot  hope  to  main- 
tain    our    integrity    during    these    years. 
while    we    build    up    the    strength    of    out 
people,    unless   we    have   the   protection    of 
the  League. 

Poland  at  the  present  moment  has 
oOO.OOO  men  under  arms.  Our  people  are 
short  of  food  supplies,  short  of  clothing, 
short  of  many  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
We  are  compelled  to  make  every  sacrifice 
to  sustain  the  army,  and  this,  .with  our 
population  needing  its  resources  for  the 
upbuilding  of  the  nation,  in  order  that 
we  may  protect  ourselves  from  encroach- 
ment. 

Today  we  are  defending  1,500  miles  of 
front  against  Bolshevist  forces,  and.  in 
so  doing,  we  stand  as  the  front  line  in 
Europe  against  Bolshevist  invasion  from 
the  east. 

We  are  endeavoring  to  maintain  this 
front  line  and  at  the  same  time  to  achieve 
an  economic  stability,  to  recuperate  our 
people  from  the  effects  of  repeated  in- 
vasions of  German  and  Russian  armies. 
The  task  is  a  terrible  one.  The  tax  upon 
our  strength  will  be  too  great  unless  we 
can  have  the  assurance  that   there  will    be 


POLAND'S  MANY  PROBLEMS 


*8I 


["      |  OVERaS%P0tlSH  POCUtATIi 
S0-"70%      ' 


MAP     IP     FPPER     SILESIA    WITH     SHADING     TO     INDICATE     THE     PROPOR- 
TIONS  OF    THE    DIFFERENT    NATIONALITIES 


a  body  In  the  world  to  whom  we  can  ap- 
peal for  aid  in  the  righting  of  our 
wongs. 

Poland  has  set  up  a  democracy  under 
the  inspiration  of  the  American  people. 
Had  it  not  been  for  American  interven- 
tion in  Europe  we  might  possibly  have 
had  some  semblance  of  independent  Gov- 
ernment under  an  autocratic  overrule,  but 
with  American  intervention  and  American 
help  we  have  sought  to  establish  not  only 
the  independence  of  the  State,  but  also 
the  internal  liberty  of  our  people,  through 
the  difficult  road  of  democracy. 

The  pressure  is  upon  us  on  all  sides 
through  military  action  and  through 
Bolshevist  propaganda  and  an  intense 
propaganda  from  Germany.  Unless  we 
have  a  protective  power  In  the  world, 
under  whose  strength  we  can  secure  an 
opportunity  for  peaceful  development  and 
the  solution  of  our  internal  problems, 
free  from  distracting  and  antagonistic  in- 
fluences, I  fear  for  the  safety  of  our  de- 
mocracy.   *    •    * 

The  great  power  and  the  support  which 
it  may  furnish  need  not  be  military,  its 
moral  and  economic  force  is  all  that  we 
a.«k,  and  that  power  is  the  League  of  Na- 
tions. 

ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS 

The  portions  of  Poland  recently  recov 


ered  from  the  Bolsheviki  were  visited  by 
Herbert  Hoover  and  found  to  be  in  a 
state  of  complete  economic  demoraliza- 
tion. The  population  consists  in  large 
majority  of  Ruthenian  peasants  and 
large  Polish  landholders,  the  peasants 
cultivating  their  own  lands  and  in  normal 
times  hiring  themselves  to  the  great  land 
owners.  In  addition  there  is  the  town 
population,  consisting  half  of  Poles  and 
half  of  Jews.  All  alike  are  now  suffer- 
ing from  the  paralysis  of  business.  Mr. 
Hoover  said  on  Aug.  19: 

As  a  result  of  seven  invasions  by  differ- 
ent armies  the  country  has  largely  been 
denuded  of  buildings.  The  estates  of  the 
larger  landowners  have  been  destroyed, 
and  while  the  peasants  are  cultivating  ap- 
proximately enough  foodstuffs  for  their 
own  supplies,  these  regions,  which  in  nor- 
mal times  export  large  quantities  of  food, 
mostly  from  the  large  estates,  are  four- 
fifths  uncultivated. 

In  normal  times  the  town  populations 
exist  by  exchanging  manufactured  goods 
to  the  peasants  and  landowners  for  food. 
There  has  been  virtually  no  import  of 
manufactured  goods  for  years,  and  the 
supplies  of  foodstuffs  having  vanished, 
the    town    populations    are    left    entirely 


28S 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


■  without  support  or  employment.  As  there 
have  been  no  manufactured  goods  to  ex- 
change, and  as  the  currency  no  longer  has 
any  purchasing  value  In  goods  and  the 
peasants  do  not  care  to  exchange  food- 
stuffs for  It,  there  has  been  a  total  break- 
down of  the  economic  cycle. 

In  addition  to  the  destruction  and  rob- 
bery which  accompanied  the  repeated  in- 
vasion of  rival  armies,  these  areas  have 
been,  of  course,  through  a  caldron  of  Bol- 
shevist revolution  and  the  Intellectual 
classes  either  fled  from  the  country  or  to 
a  considerable  extent  were  imprisoned. 
Some  were  executed.  The  Ruthenian 
peasants  have  been  stirred  up  against  the 
great  landowners,  which  accounts  for  the 
destruction  of  the  equipment  of  the  large 
landed  properties.  It  appears  to  us  that 
it  will  require  years  for  this  region  to  re- 
cover, for  animals  must  be  provided,  ag- 
ricultural implements  imported  and  the 
whole  agricultural  production  restarted. 

In  an  effort  to  solve  the  unemployment 
problem  a  contract  has  been  made  with 
France  whereby  Poland  is  sending  100,- 
000  men  to  work  in  the  devastated  re- 
gions of  France.  As  for  the  food  crisis, 
the  Polish  Government,  frankly  alarmed 
by  the  perils  of  social  unrest  created  by 
the  prolongation  of  the  miners'  strike  in 
Upper  Silesia,  had  begun  early  in  Sep- 
tember to  give  more  careful  attention 
than  ever  to  the  problem,  and  had  taken 
steps  to  limit  consumption  and  to  put 
into  operation  a  more  effective  system 
of  distribution. 

Warsaw  dispatches  of  Sept.  19  re- 
vealed the  organization  of  a  Polish  Navy, 
to  become  operative  with  the  ratification 
of  the  Peace  Treaty.  This  organization 
was  proceeding  rapidly  at  the  date  men- 
tioned. The  fleet  was  to  consist  of  four 
armored  cruisers  and  twelve  large  tor- 
pedo boats.  It  was  to  have  a  personnel 
of  3,500,  including  150  officers. 

CONDITIONS  IN  UPPER  SILESIA 

It  was  officially  announced  in  Warsaw 
on  Sept.  5  that  the  Polish  Government 
had  decided  to  issue  a  "  Black  Book " 
dealing  with  atrocities  committed  in  Up- 
per Silesia  by  the  Germans  in  suppress- 
ing the  insurrection  of  the  Polish  portion 
of  the  population.  A  considerable  staff 
was  examining  the  facts.  There  were  in 
hand  already  more  than  1,500  cases  of 
outrage  and  brutal  treatment  of  Poles 
by  German  soldiers.  No  evidence  other 
than  first-hand  testimony  had  been  ac- 


cepted. Much  of  the  data  was  being  sup- 
plied by  a  Polish  bureau,  which,  under 
the  protection  of  the  Allied  Commission, 
had  begun  activity  at  Katowitz;  much 
evidence  was  also  being  gathered  from 
the  thousands  of  refugees  who  had 
crossed  the  Polish-German  frontier.  The 
Germans  themselves  officially  admitted 
thirty -nine  executions,  but  pleaded  great 
provocation  from  Poland's  arming  of  the 
Polish  inhabitants,  and  from  the  irrup- 
tions of  armed  Polish  bands.  The  whole 
trouble,  according  to  the  German  author- 
ities investigating  the  occurrences,  was 
caused  by  the  secret  plottings  of  the 
Poles  to  secure  the  province  for  their 
own  country.  The  Poles,  on  the  other 
hand,  charged  that  Berlin  was  strenu- 
ously colonizing  Upper  Silesia  from  all 
parts  of  Germany  with  a  view  to  winning 
the  plebiscite  called  for  by  the  Peace 
Treaty.  This  popular  vote  was  to  be 
taken  three  weeks  after  the  treaty  came 
into  force.  It  was  provided  that  allied 
troops  under  Marshal  Foch's  orders 
should  be  on  hand  to  see  that  the  ballot- 
ing was  free  and  fair.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  Supreme  Council  in  Paris  on  Oct.  13 
the  United  States  was  asked  whether  it 
would  furnish  its  quota  of  troops  for  this 
work,  but  as  Washington  had  not  yet 
ratified  the  treaty  it  was  unable  to  give 
an  immediate  answer.  In  order  to  avoid 
trouble  the  Polish  Government  mean- 
while had  withdrawn  its  troops  a  kilo- 
meter from  the  border  of  the  disputed 
province. 

The  coal  problem  remained  critical.. 
The  Germans,  alarmed  by  the  gravity  of 
the  situation,  had  begun  to  take  energetic 
measures  to  secure  a  full  resumption  of 
work.  By  enforcing  an  order  of  State 
Commissary  Hoersing  that  any  idle 
workman  was  liable  to  arrest,  by  bring- 
ing pressure  upon  such  strikers  as  re- 
mained in  Upper  Silesia,  and  by  direct 
threats  to  the  German  portion  of  the 
mining  population  they  had  managed  to 
get  a  majority  of  the  Silesian  mines  into 
operation.  Even  so,  the  mines  had  only 
50  per  cent,  of  their  usual  quota,  and  the 
Polish  miners  who  had  returned  to  work, 
it  was  declared,  were  not  endeavoring  to 
attain  maximum  production.  The  Upper 
Silesian    mines,    in    consequence,    which 


POLAND'S  MAXY   PROBLEMS 


*im 


normally  produced  40,000,000  tons  of  coal 
in  a  year,  but  which  before  the  strike 
were  producing  at  the  rate  of  only  20,- 
000,000  tons  a  year,  had  been  reduced  in 
product  to  about  10,000,000  tons. 

A   PLEBISCITE   FOR  TESCHEN 

Regarding  the  final  disposition  of  the 
mining  district  of  Teschen,  situated  in 
Middle  Silesia,  in  the  angle  between  Po- 
land, Czechoslovakia,  and  German  Aus- 
tria, and  claimed  by  all  three  countries, 
but  especially  the  object  of  the  rival 
claims  of  Czechoslovakia  and  Poland,  the 
Czechoslovak  and  Polish  delegates  in 
Paris  agreed  on  Sept.  11  to  refer  the  ul- 
timate decision  to  a  plebiscite,  which  was 
taken  to  mean  that  the  district  would  go 
to  Poland,  as  the  population  was  pre- 
ponderantly Polish.  On  this  fact  and  on 
Poland's  vital  dependence  on  Teschen 
for  coal  supplies  the  Polish  claim  was 
based.  The  Czechoslovak  claim  as  pre- 
sented to  the  Supreme  Council  on  Sept. 
4  was  based  economically  on  the  absolute 
dependence- of  Czechoslovak  industry  on 
the  Teschen  coal  mines,  and  politically 
on  the  necessity  of  the  new  republic's 
being  independent  of  the  political  cur- 
rents or  crises  of  the  neighboring  coun- 
try of  Poland. 

It  was  announced  in  Warsaw  on  Sept. 
4  that  a  British  commission  to  investi- 
gate the  Jewish  question  in  Poland  had 
started  on  its  way.  Simultaneously  it 
was  stated  that  the  commission  sent  by 
President  Wilson  to  make  a  similar  in- 
quiry was  winding  up  its  work  prepara- 
tory to  leaving  for  Paris.  This  commis- 
sion, cor -nosed  of  Mr.  Morgenthau,  Gen- 
eral .Tad  n  of  the  United  States  Army, 
and  Homer  Johnson  of  the  American 
Liquidation  Board  in  France,  had  trav- 
eled through  a  large  section  of  Poland, 
and  visited  all  such  important  Jewish 
centres  as  Cracow,  Lemberg,  Pinsk,  and 
Posen.  It  was  intimated  by  the  commis- 
sion that  its  report  would  be  constructive 
rather  than  controversial  in  character, 
though  many  exaggerated  stories  of  Jew- 
ish pogroms  in  Poland  would  be  denied. 

GERMAN  PLOTTING 
Evidence  in  support  of  the  charge  that 
the  Gorman  authorities  in  Upper  Silesia 


deliberately  provoked  outbreaks  by  the 
Poles  and  Spartacists  in  order  to  get  an 
excuse  for  suppressing  the  activities  of 
the  former  and  driving  them  out  of  the 
district  before  the  day  of  the  plebiscite 
was  furnished  by  the  publication  in  the 
Leipziger  Volkszeitung,  a  leading. organ 
of  the  Independent  Socialists,  of  a  secret 
report  made  on  April  24  to  the  German 
Genera!  Command  at  Breslau  by  Captain 
Gall,  head  German  staff  officer  at  Glei- 
witz.  This  report  read  in  part  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  Polos  are  quiet.  Nevertheless, 
thero  ore  Indications  that  they,  too,  will 
stal't  something  in  the  near  future.  But 
they  are  carrying:  on  their  work  cau- 
tiously and  In  secret,  so  that  an  open 
intervention  from  our  side  is  hardly  pos- 
sible. Therefore.  It  is  a  question  of 
brihgftift  the  Poles  to  a  point  where  there 
will  be  a  premature  uprising-  on  their 
part,  and  then  our  measures  will  be  en- 
tirely sufficient  to  master  tl  ^movement. 
We  shall  not  fall  to  try  everything  to 
bring  it  to   this  point. 

Captain.  Gall,  according  to  the  German 
papers,  was  the  officer  whose  latest  task 
was  to  help  the  Entente  commission  of 
investigation  in  Upper  Silesia. 

More  light  was  shed  on  the  character 
of  the  German  propaganda  by  the  publi- 
cation in  the  Breslau  Independent  Social- 
ist newspaper  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  "Free  Association  for  the  Protection 
of  Upper  Silesia"  by  William  Burghard, 
an  ex-army  officer  and  present  leader  of 
the  Majority  Socialists  in  Cosel,  gener- 
ally known  as  one  of  the  right-hand  men 
of  Otto  Hoersing,  High  Commissioner 
for  Upper  Silesia.  The  important  part 
of  this  letter  rea'd: 

l  ha\»-  engager!  ten  men  at  an  expense 
of  sixteen  marks  each  per  day  to  carry  on 
n  quiet  propaganda  by  traveling  back  and 
forth.  1  hope  to  obtain  greater  success 
that  way  than  through  holding  meetings 
and  distributing  leaflets.  This  is  aside 
from  the  fact  that  the  latter  would  prob- 
ably be  forbidden  during  the  expected  oc- 
cupation by  American  troops.  Five  of 
these  men,  whom  I  shall  turn  over  to  you, 
I  shall  want  to  use  for  a  courier  service 
to  be  established  later.  As  1  need  more 
money  for  these  men,  as  well  as  for  the 
demonstration  next  Sunday,  I  ask  you  to 
send  me  10,000  marks  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. An  accounting  for  the  last  5,000 
marks  r<  vill  reach  you  directly. 


Events  in  Two  New  Slavic  States 


Jugoslavia's  Boundary  Dispute  With  Rumania  in  an  Acute 
Stage — Czechoslovakia's   New   Cabinet 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  15,  1919] 


THE  Cabinet  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Jugoslavia  under  M.  Stoyan  Pro- 
titch,  the  veteran  leader  of  the  Old 
Radical  Party,  resigned  in  August, 
owing  to  the  inability  of  the  Premier  to 
agree  with  the  rest  of  his  official  fam- 
ily. A  new  Cabinet  was  formed  on 
Aug.  16  by  Liuba  Davidovitch,  who  on 
Aug.  23  read  a  declaration  of  policy  to 
the  Provisional  Chamber  of  Deputies  at 
Belgrade.  Inferring  to  the  Peace  Treaty 
and  the  decisions  of  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence regarding  the  new  State  of  Jugo- 
slavia, as  well  as  to  the  coming  reorgan- 
ization of  the  Balkans,  M.  Davidovitch 
declared  that  the  Government  would  de- 
fend its  rights  and  interests  wherever 
threatened.  The  Government,  he  said, 
would  provide  for  the  representation  of 
all  political  groups.  An  electoral  bill 
would  insure  the  election  of  a  Con- 
stituent Assembly.  The  country  would 
be  freed  of  the  vast  sums  of  Austrian 
crown  notes  with  which  it  was  flooded. 
The  expropriation  of  large  land  owners 
would  be  pushed,  and  the  question 
of  indemnification  would  be  consid- 
ered. A  committee  would  be  appointed 
to  draft  a  new  constitutional  law,  and 
a  national  defense  force  would  be  created. 
Demobilization  would  be  completed  by 
Autumn.  Labor  legislation  would  in- 
clude provision  for  an  eight-hour  day. 
[For  further  details  of  Cabinet  changes 
in  Serbia  see  Page  270.] 

THE  BANAT  OF  TEMESVAR 

Besides  political  troubles,  Jugoslavia 
also  had  the  vexed  questions  of  the 
Banat  of  Temesvar  and  of  the  Italian- 
Croat  city  of  Fiume  on  her  hands.  A 
vehement  protest  against  the  attitude  ol 
the  Rumanians  in  the  Banat  was  made 
in  Paris  by  Foreign  Minister  Trumbitch 
on  Aug.  28.    He  said  in  part: 


I  want  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the 
Jugoslavs  are  in  no  wise  animated  by  a 
Jingo  spirit  in  this  matter.  Since  the 
termination  of  hostilities  we  have  been 
and  still  are  determined  to  abide  by  the 
decisions  of  the  Peace  Conference  even 
should  they  be  contrary  to  our  desires. 
We  have  scrupulously  observed  the 
boundaries  fixed  by  Paris,  and  when  in 
the  Banat  the  portion  of  territory  we 
claimed  was  assigned  to  Rumania  we 
promptly  withdrew,  our  forces  behind  the 
line  of  demarkation.  •  We  have  done  our 
utmost  to  restrain  our  soldiers  from  any 
aggressiveness  in  attitude,  talk,  or  action 
that  might  lead  to  undesirable  incidents, 
and  have  enjoined  a  spirit  of  moderation 
on  the  press  and  public  at  home. 

The  result  seems  to  have  been  that  the 
Rumanians  have  been  merely  emboldened. 
They  have  concentrated  very  large  forces 
in  the  Banat  and  seem  to  be  making  evi- 
dent preparation  for  an  attempt  to  occupy 
the  whole  of  it.  They  have  withheld 
rolling  stock,  barges,  and  other  material 
belonging  to  us,  and  the  behavior  of  their 
troops  in  the  Banat,  where  they  almost 
encircle  our  forces,  is  frankly  insulting. 
Bratiano  lays  claim  to  the  Banat,  and  the 
Rumanians  talk  openly  of  seizing  by 
arms  what  the  conference  refused  them. 
.  *  *  *  We  want  to  live  at  peace  with  our 
neighbors  and  do  not  want  war,  but  we 
shall  not  hesitate  to  fight  if  the  Ru- 
manians try  to  wrest  from  us  our  ter- 
ritory.   •;•'.• 

Like  the  Italians,  Bratiano  bases  his  un- 
justified claims  on  an  obsolete  secret 
treaty.  When  Rumania  entered  the  war 
in  1916  the  Banat  of  Temesvar  was  as- 
signed her  by  France,  England,  and  Italy 
as  part  price  of  her  collaboration.  The 
,  Rumanian  Premier  had  the  audacity  to 
advance  this  agreement  as  the  basis  of 
Rumania's  right  to  the  whole  region. 

He  was  promptly  told  that  the  sepa- 
rate peace  treaty  Rumania  made  with 
the  victorious  enemy  at  Bucharest  nulli- 
fied the  former  agreement  and  that  the' 
Banat  would  be  divided  according  to  the 
just  principles  of  nationalities.  But,  like 
the  Italian  Ministers,  Bratiano  was  com- 
pelled to  pursue  a  policy  that  was  ever 
more  aggressive  to  maintain  his  own  po- 
sition. The  national  appetite  Has  been 
whetted  by  the  defeat  and  plunder  of  the 


EVENTS  IN  TWO  NEW  SLAVIC  STATES 


28.5 


Hungarians.  Now,  it  would  seem,  it  can- 
not be  satisfied  save  by  the  Jugoslav  part 
of  the  Banat.  If  that  be  so  the  Ru- 
manians will  find  a  very  different  enemy 
from  the  undisciplined  rabble  of  Bela 
Kim. 

The  Rumanians  at  this  time  were  said 
to  have  fifteen  divisions  concentrated  on 
the  L-shaped  boundary  line  between  their 
territory  and  that  of  the  Jugoslavs  in 
the  Banat,  so  that  they  were  in  a  posi- 
tion to  menace  the  latter,  whose  forces, 
consisting  of  only  three  or  four  divisions, 
were  on  two  sides  of  the  L.  To  avoid  con- 
flict the  Jugoslavs  asked  that  French  or 
allied  troops  should  occupy  the  boundary 
line,  but  no  such  troops  were  available. 
The  Jugoslavs  then  stopped  their  demo- 
bilization, and  even  called  up  some 
classes  that  had  already  been  released. 

The  dramatic  seizure  of  the  City  of 
Fiume  by  Gabriele  d'Annunzio  had  in- 
tense repercussion  in  Jugoslavia.  The 
clashes  between  the  Italian  and  the  Ju- 
goslavs in  the  Fiume  hinterland  and  on 
the  Dalmatian  coast  are  treated  else- 
where in  these  pages.  While  Fiume  was 
isolated  and  held  by  d'Annunzio's  troops, 
the  British  and  French  troops  haying 
embarked  to  avoid  complications,  a  new 
problem  arose  for  the  allied  powers  at 
Radkersburg,  in  Styria,  some  scores  of 
miles  inland  from  Fiume.  Radkersburg, 
after  long  debate,  had  been  awarded  by 
the  Peace  Conference  to  Austria,  but  the 
Jugoslavs,  who  held  it,  refused  to  evac- 
uate; they  concentrated  troops  and  bar- 
ricaded the  bridges  across  the  Mur,  as 
well  as  the  roads  leading  into  the  city. 
Germans  in  Radkersburg  were  expelled. 
The  supplying  of  food  to  Germans  was 
suspended,  and  the  sending  of  all  food 
from  the  German  hinterland  was  pre- 
vented. In  view  of  this  situation  the 
population  of  Radkersburg  sent  an  ur- 
gent appeal  for  the  occupation  of  the 
city  by  Entente  troops  in  order  to  en- 
force the  provisions  of  the  Austrian 
peace  treaty. 

PRIBICEVITCH'S  STATEMENT 
Colonel  Milan  Pribicevitch,  who  for 
more  than  a  year  lived  in  the  United 
States  as  chief  of  the  Serbian  War  Mis- 
sion, but  who,  shortly  after  the  signing 
of  the  armistice,  retired  from  the  army 
and  went  home  to   found  and  organize 


the  Jugoslav  Democratic  Party,  made  an 
important  statement  of  conditions  among 
the  Croats  and  Serbs.  This  statement, 
which  was  transmitted  t'.  the  United 
States  through  a  personal  friend,  was 
published  on  Oct.  12. 

Colonel  Pribicevitch  especially  deplored 
the  reports  of  disorders  in  Jugoslavia, 
asserting  that  conditions  were  more  near- 
ly normal  there  than  anywhere  else  in 
Europe.  He  emphasized  the  value  of  the 
agrarian  reform  for  which  the  Demo- 
cratic Party,  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
was  fighting;  it  consists  in  giving  to  the 
peasant  the  ownership  of  the  land  which 
he  cultivates,  volunteers  who  fought  for 
independence  to  receive  it  outright,  and 
others  to  be  allowed  to  buy  it  on  easy 
terms  of  payment.  He  expected  to  see 
the  political  situation  cleared  up  by  the 
coming  elections,  looked  for  Fiume  to  be 
turned  over  to  his  country,  and  hoped 
for  American  help  in  the  development  of 
Jugoslav  industry  and  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  agriculture  on  a  modern  basis. 

CONFLICTING  ELEMENTS 

With  reference  to  reports  he  had  read 
in  the  American  papers  of  revolts  and 
conflicts  in  Jugoslavia  between  the 
Croats  and  the  Serbs,  Colonel  Pribice- 
vitch asserted  that  they  were  absolutely 
without  foundation.  His  statement  con- 
tinued, as  follows : 

Our  fights  are  political,  not  against  the 
State,  but  for  social  and  cultural  reforms, 
and  such  fights  are  a  necessity  and  are 
not  confined  to  Jugoslavia,  but  are  tak- 
ing place  In  the  United  States,  Great 
Britain,  and  France. 

It  is  true  that  we  are  passing  through 
a  political  crisis,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  State  is  newly  born,  that 
the  Jugoslavs  of  Serbia  and  those  of  for- 
mer Austria-Hungary  have  only  now,  aft- 
er centuries  of  separation,  been  brought 
together,  and  that  the  whole  nation  has 
suffered  severely  during  the  war.  We  are 
seeking  to  construct  and  organize  our  life 
In  a  modern  way. 

Politically  we  have  on  the  one  side  the 
radical  Serbs  and  the  radical  Croats, 
who  have  not  yet  been  able  to  adapt 
themselves  to  the  changed  circumstances 
and  continue  to  think  as  in  the  old  days. 
Opposed  to  these  are  the  democratic  ele- 
ments of  the  Serbs  and  Croats  who  are 
really  representative  of  the  ideal  of  tne 
,  new  State.  The  Serb  Radical  Party  is 
composed  solely  of  Serbs,  the  Croat  Radi- 
cal   Party    solely   of    Croats,    the    Slovene 


«8G 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRT^NT   HISTORY 


Clerical  Party  of  Catholics.  The  Demo- 
cratic Party  embraces  Serbs,  Croats,  and 
Slovenes  of  all  religions'  of  the  country. 
The  former  parties  differ  from  the  Demo- 
cratic Party  in  another  respect,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  rather  conservative  in  regard 
to  social  politics,  whereas  the  Democratic 
Party  is  liberal. 

Our  idea  is  to  build  up  a  modern  Jugo- 
slavia, to  reorganize  our  country  life,  to 
give  the  peasant  the  ownership  of  the 
land,  to  make  him  a  happy  and  a  useful 
citizen.  We  intend  to  give  the  volunteers 
who  fought  for  the  independence  of  the 
country,  a nd  the  invalids,  free  grants  of 
land.  All  other  peasants  will  purchase 
the  land,  the  payment  for  which  will  be 
extended  over  a  long  period.  The  large 
properties  will  be  purchased  from  the 
owners  by  the  State,  so  that  the  land  will 
be  purchased  indirectly  by  the  peasants 
from  the  landlords,  the  price  being  con- 
trolled by  the  State. 

Apart  from  the  interior  situation,  we  are 
much  occupied  about  the  foreign  situation 
of  our  State,  especially  as  regards  the 
Adriatic  coast  and  the  Italians  in  Fiume. 
Our  State  cannot  exist  without  our  entire 
Adriatic  coast,  where  at  present  Fiume 
is  the  only  modern  port  with  a  good  rail- 
road line  connecting  it  with  the  interior 
of  our  country.  There  are  only  a  few 
thousand  Italians  living  in  Dalmatia, 
namely,  at  Zara  and  several  other  coast 
towns.  The  rest  of  the  population  is 
Jugoslav.  Even  in  Fiume  the  Italians  are 
not  in  the  majority.  In  our  country  we 
cannot  understand  how  it  is  possible  that 
this  unjust  and  unhappy  situation  has  not 
been  settled  and  that  we  must  fight  for 
our  rights,  which  must  be  obvious  to  the 
big  democratic  nations  united  at  the 
Peace  Conference  in  Paris. 

I  personally  hope  for  American  help  in 
this  direction,  as  also  in  the  development 
of  our  industry,  in  the  organization  of  our 
agriculture  on  a  modern  basis,  in  com- 
pleting our  railroad  system,  in  organizing 
our  shipbuilding,  in  developing  our  min- 
eral resources,  in  converting  our  water- 
power  into  electric  power,  in  Improving 
our  sawmills—  in  fact,  in  every  branch  of 
industry  which  would  render  our  country 
prosperous  and  happy  and  enable  us  to  do 
our  duty  to  our  friends  in  the  west. 

General  Franchet  d'Esperey,  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  allied  army  in  the 
Near  East,  left  Belgrade  with  his  staff 
on  Sept,  6.  -  A  dinner  in  his  honor  was 
given  by  the  Serbian  Government,  at 
which  Premier  Davidovitch  delivered  an 
address  in  praise  of  the  French  Army 
and  of  the  work  accomplished  by  Gen- 
eral d'Esperey  in  Central  Europe. 

On  Sept.  24  King  Peter  arrived  at  Bel- 
grade from  Arandje'ovatz,  Serbia,  to  re- 


sume residence  in  the  capital  after  an  ab- 
sence of  five  years.  Since  July  17  the 
aged  sovereign  had  lived  at  Arandjelo- 
vatz,  where  he  went  after  his  exile  in 
Greece.  At  the  request  of  the  King  him- 
self there  were  no  public  ceremonies  in 
connection  with  his  arrival. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S    NEW    CABINET 

In  Czechoslovakia  the  Kramarcz  Cabi- 
net was  succeeded  in  July  .by  a  new  Min- 
istry made  up  largely  of  Social  Demo- 
crats and  Agrarian  Socialists.  Its  com- 
position is  as  follows: 

VLASTIMIL  TUSAR,  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil. 

EDWARD  BENES,  Minister  of. Foreign  Af- 
fairs. 

ANTOINE  HAMPT,    Minister   of   Labor. 

LEON  VINTER,  Minister  of  Public  Welfare. 

GUSTAVE  HABERMANN,  Minister  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction. 

ANTOINE  SVEKLA,  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior. 

M.   STANEK,  Post  Office  General. 

CHARLES  PRACEK,  Minister  of  Agri- 
'   culture. 

M.   HOKACEK.  Minister  of  Finance. 

GEORGE  STRIERNY,  Minister  of  Railways. 

GUSTAVE  HEIDLER,  Minister  of  Com- 
merce. 

M.   KLOFAC.   Minister  of  National  Defense. 

FRANCIS  VESELY,   Minister  of  Justice. 

M.  SROBAR,  Minister  of  Public  Health. 

M.  HOUDEK,   Minister  of  Food. 

The  policy  which  this  new  Cabinet  has 
pursued  since  its  formation  has  been 
especially  to  maintain  close  relations 
with  the  great  Western  powers,  the  suc- 
cessful fulfillment  of  which  object  the 
name  of  Dr.  Benes  guaranteed.  During 
September  and  October  the  Czech  Repub- 
lic continued  quietly  building  up  its  free 
institutions  without  internal  disorder. 

The  question  of  Teschen  was  debated 
by  the  Czechoslovak  delegates  in  the 
Peace  Conference  in  opposition  to  the 
claims  of  Poland,  which  they  held  to  be 
untenable. 

The  Bohemians  of  Czechoslovakia,  still 
incensed  by  the  prospect  of  being  sepa- 
rated from  German  Austria,  on  Sept. 
3  sent  a  cablegram  to  Senators  Lodge 
and  Knox,  asking  them  to  defend  the 
cause  of  self-determination  of  3,500-000 
Germans  in  Bohemia  and  the  Silesian 
marches.  This  message  was  sent  by  the 
Government  of  the  German  Bohemians, 


EVENTS  IN  TWO  NEW  SLAVIC  STATES 


287 


which  further  asked  that  a  hearing  be 
insured  for  the  Germans  prior  to  the 
ratification  of  the  Peace  .Treaty  by  the 
United  States. 

On  the  same  date  Czechoslovakia's  side 
of  her  quarrel  with  the  Magyars  of  Hun- 


gary was  given  to  the  Foreign  Relations 
Committee  of  the  United  States  Senate 
The  Czech  spokesmen  attacked  the  Hun- 
garians for  rejecting  the  Czechoslovak 
demand  for  the  portions  of  Northern 
Hungary  inhabited  by  Slovaks. 


Three  Founders  of  the  Czech  Republic 

By  LOUISE  WEISS 

Revue  de  Paris 
[Translated  and  Edited  for  Current  History] 


TiHE  Czechoslovak  Republic  reunites 
the  former  Austro-Hungarian  prov- 
inces of  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Silesia, 
and  Slovakia.  Its  independence  was  ac- 
quired not  only  by  the  statesmen  who 
remained  at  Prague  and  Vienna,  but  also 
by  the  emigrants  who  took  refuge  in  the 
Entente  countries.  The  work  of  the  last- 
mentioned  group  is  described  in  this 
article. 

During  the  year  1915  three  men  met  in 
Paris;,  the  professor  and  deputy,  Thomas 
Garrigue  Masaryk,  who  had  left  his 
country  at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of 
war;  the  political  refugee,-  Edward 
Benes,  and  Second  Lieutenant  Milan 
Ratislav  Stefanik,  a  Slovak,  who  had 
taken  French  citizenship.  They  were  all 
friends.  The  two  younger  members  of 
the  group  loved  Masaryk  as  a  father. 
They  resolved  to  associate  the  fate  of 
their  country  with  that  of  the  Entente 
and  to  revive  the  former  State  of  Bohemia 
— an  imposing,  program. 

MASARYK 

Masaryk  in  1914  already  bore  a  Euro- 
pean reputation.  Endowed  with  a  keenly 
critical  mind,  with  a  sense  of  political 
realities,  and  an  ardent  love  of  truth  and 
justice,  he  had  from  his  hard  and  labori- 
ous youth  (he  had  plied  the  trade  of 
blacksmith)  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
weak  and  persecuted.  He  had  defended 
the  Jews  of  Bohemia  against  criminal 
accusations  brought  against  them  with- 
out foundation.  Subsequently,  in  1909, 
at  the  Agram  trial,  he  had  intervened  in 
the  Reichsrat  in  favor  of  the  Serbo- 
Croats.     At   the   Friedjung   trial   a   few 


months  later  he  revealed  the  rascalities 
of  Count  Aerenthal  and  Count  Forbach. 
His  main  work,  "  Russia  and  Europe," 
his  speeches,  and  his  numerous  writings 
on  the  international  significance  of  the 
Czech  problem  established  his  authority 
in  the  Slavic  world.  His  whole  career 
designed  him  as  one  of  those  who  would 
free  his  country  from  the  imperial  yoke. 

He  performed  his  task  magnificently. 
In  spite  of  his  advanced  years  he  traveled 
for  four  years  through  Europe,  Asia,  and 
America,  always  master  of  his  actions, 
leaving  on  all  those  who  approached  him 
the  strongest  impression  of  a  man  of 
thought.  In  1915  he  was  in  Switzerland, 
in  France,  in  England,  in  Italy.  The  years 
1916  and  1917  found  him  in  Russia  and 
Siberia,  where  he  witnessed  the  fall  of 
the  old  regime  and  the  development  of 
the  revolutionary  movement,  and  where 
he  started  the  Czechoslovaks  on  their 
epic  march  to  Vladivistok.  In  1918  he 
resided  in  America,  in  close  contact  with 
President  Wilson,  whom,  as  apostle  and 
jurist,  he  won  over  to  his  ideas.  Presi- 
dent of  the  National  Council  of  Czech 
countries,  founded  at  Paris  with  Benes 
and  Stefanik,  he  won  the  approval  of  all 
his  compatriots  (over  two  millions  and  a 
half  in  number)  who  had  emigrated  to 
the  allied  countries,  and  as  the  whole  of 
Bohemia  was  behind  him  and  as  he  could 
write  and  speak  freely,  he  was  the  true 
director  from  abroad  of  the  destinies  of 
the  Czech  province  before  that  province, 
having  acquired  its  independence,  chose 
him  as  its  President. 

Stefanik  before  the  war  had  not  con- 
cerned himself  with  politics.    After  en- 


*8H 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


cyclopedic  studies  at  the  University  of 
Prague,  in  which  science,  law,  and 
medicine  had  a  large  part,  he  traveled  to 
Thibet,  the  Antillers,  and  Cape  Horn,  and 
then  established  himself  in  Paris  as  an 
attache  of  the  Observatory.    His  mathe- 


cles,  perhaps  also  of  the  thousands  of 
Czechs  who  considered  it  impossible  to 
overcome  the  ignorance  and  indifference 
of  Western  Europe  in  their  regard. 
Stefanik,  however,  was  resolved  to  re- 
main  in   the   French    Army,   and   in  thf 


THOMAS    G.    MASARYK 

President  of  Czechoslovakia 

(©    Harris    d-    E  tiring) 


Dr.     EDWARD     BBN'ES 

Czechoslovak    Foreign    Minister 

(©    Harris    A     En- hip) 


matical  works,  his  researches  in  wireless 
telegraphy,  his  astronomical  notes  had 
begun  to  bring  him  to  the  notice  of  the 
scientific  world  when  the  European  con- 
flict broke  out.  In  spite  of  his  weak 
constitution,  he  enlisted  and  went  to  the 
front.  Marshal  Foch,  then  General, 
offered  him  an  important  post  in  the 
Meteorological  Service  of  the  army.  He 
preferred  to  go  on  fighting.  But  the 
thought  of  his  native  country,  impov- 
erished and  torn,  tormented  him.  While 
staying  in  Paris  he  met  Benes,  who  had 
just  come  from  Bohemia,  and  who  was 
convinced  that  Austria-Hungary  would 
not  survive  the  war;  if  she  was  victorious 
she  would  become  the  vassal  of  Germany; 
if  defeated  she  would  fall  to  pieces. 

Between  them  they  elaborated  a  plan 
which  they  submitted  to  Masaryk,  and 
then  set  themselves  to  their  task,  despite 
the  skepticism  of  competent  French  cir- 


sky-blue  uniform  he  accomplished  his  na- 
tional mission.  Victim  of  the  dramatic 
retreat  from  Serbia  and  just  out  of  the 
hospital,  he  undertook  his  work  of  prop- 
aganda in  the  military  and  diplomatic 
circles  of  the  large  allied  capitals.  From 
the  camps  of  Austrian  prisoners  he 
raised  a  Czech  army  in  the  service  of 
the  Entente.  In  Paris  he  won  over  the 
Quai  d'Orsay  to  his  views.  In  Italy  he 
worked  together  with  Generals  Pone 
and  Diaz,  and  with  Messrs.  Orlando  and 
Sonnino. 

In  Russia  and  Rumania  he  won 
the  regard  of  Generals  Berthelot  and 
Janin,  and  obtained  from  General  Alex- 
eiev  the  measures  necessary  for  the  cre- 
ation of  national  legions.  In  America  he 
inspired  with  new  life  the  important 
Czech  and  Slovak  Leagues  of  New  York 
and  Chicago.  In  March  he  was  in  Vlad- 
ivostok as  General   in  the  P'rench  Army 


THREE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  CZECH   REPUBLIC 


wit 


and  War  Minister  of  his  Government. 
This  weak  and  sickly  man,  whose  hag- 
gard face  is  lighted  up  by  clear,  bright 
eyes,  is  a  diplomat  and  a  conqueror.  His 
will  is  as  strong  and  as  swift  as  a  sword. 
He  judges  men  in  full  knowledge  of  their 
secret  motives.  His  manner  has  some- 
thing surprising  in  it,  and  yet  also  some- 
thing genial.  His  charm,  his  mind, 
mathematically  clear  and  subtle,  his 
artistic  tastes,  have  everywhere  won  for 
his  country  friends  of  superior  worth, 
friends  whose  fidelity  and  patience  have 
never  been  wearied  by  the  extremes  of 
his  ardent  and  impulsive  character. 

A  different  personality  is  that  of 
Benes.  Son  of  a  small  peasant,  Professor 
of  Sociology  in  the  University  of  Prague, 
his  character  is  one  of  rare  intellectual 
honesty  and  modesty  combined;  once  his 
friendship  is  won  it  can  never  be  shaken. 
He  was  the  hard-working  man  of  the  war 
which  the  National  Council,  whose  secre- 
tary he  was,  waged  on  Austria.  All  those 
who  for  four  years  came  from  London, 
Rome,  New  York,  Moscow,  and  Par  3 
itself  to  gain  information  at  the  seat  of 
the  council  on  the  Czech  countries,  their 


situation,  their  resources,  their  claims, 
found  him  always  at  work,  ready  to  re- 
peat an  explanation,  to  draw  up  docu- 
ments, to  praise  the  acts  of  Masaryk  and 
Stefanik,  to  speak  with  love  and  respect 
of  his  country.  As  logical  as  his  friend 
Stefanik  is  intuitive,  as  simple  as  the 
other  is  complex  and  mysterious,  with  a 
shade  of  austerity  which  brings  him 
closer  to  Masaryk,  he  has  fulfilled  his 
role  as  administrator  (Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs  of  the  new  republic)  with  a 
courage  and  a  competency  which  have 
compelled  the  admiration  of  the  states- 
men of  the  Entente,  today  his  colleagues, 
notably  Lord  Robert  Cecil,  Minister  Bal- 
four, and  Messrs.  Pichon  and  Berthelot. 
Admitted  to  the  Interallied  Conference 
which  preceded  the  signature  of  the 
armistice,  on  more  than  one  point  he  won 
consent  for  his  views,  which  he  knew  to 
be  in  harmony,  despite  the  distance  and 
the  difficulty  of  communications,  with 
<  hose  of  Masaryk  and  Kramarcz. 

Thus  three  exiles  have  resuscitated  a 
State.  The  success  of  Masaryk,  Stefanik, 
and  Benes  in  the  Entente  countries  was 
the  origin  of  Austria's  downfall. 


The    Dramatic  Return  of  Edward  Benes 


Edward  Benes,  who  four  years  ago 
left  Austria-Hungary  as  a  fugitive,  re- 
turned to  Prague  on  Sept.  24,  1019,  as 
Foreign  Minister  of  Czechoslovakia. 
Benes,  who  is  only  31  years  old,  was  a 
pupil  of  Masaryk  and  later  Professor. 
There  was  a  tremendous  popular  greet- 
ing prepared  for  the  young  man,  who 
was  one  of  the  three  founders  of  the 
republic,  and  the  streets  were  lined  with 
nearly  half  a  million  persons. 

The  dramatic  moment  of  Benes's  ar- 
rival was  when  he  was  greeted  by 
Masaryk  in  the  former  reception  room  at 
the  WTilson  station  at  Prague.  Waiting 
to  greet  Benes  were  President  Masaryk, 
the  new  Prime  Minister;  Mr.  Tusar  and 
members  of  his  Cabinet;  T.  Tomashek, 
President  of  the  Assembly;  officials  of 
Prague,  and  representatives  of  the 
various  foreign  Governments,  among 
whom  was  the  American  Minister,  Rich- 
ard Crane. 


As  the  young  Minister  entered  the 
room,  Masaryk,  who  had  been  unable  to 
conceal  his  impatience,  moved  toward 
iijm.  Neither  seemed  able  to  speak.  Before 
they  were  close  enough  to  grasp  each 
other's  hands  the  strains  of  the  Czech 
national  air  were  heard.  Every  one  stood 
rigid  and  tense  with  emotion.  It  was 
the  first  time  in  four  years  that  Benes 
had  heard  it  on  his  native  soil,  and  as 
it  finished  tears  streamed  down  his  face. 

Masaryk  caught  him  in  his  arms  and 
hid  him  in  an  embrace  that  was  fatherly 
in  its  affection,  and  kissed  Benes  twice 
on  each  cheek.  Silence  was  unbroken 
except  by  the  audible  weeping  of  the 
wives  of  officials.  Everybody  present  wa* 
visibly  affected.  Three  times  the  Prime 
Minister  attempted  to  begin  his  formal 
speech  before  he  was  able  to  proceed,; 
but  Benes  was  too  overcome  to  reply. 

When  the  reception  was  concluded  in, 
the  station,  Benes  was  escorted  to  an  au- 


290 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tomobile  and  sat  by  the  side  of  Masaryk 
for  a  ride  through  the  streets  to  the 
palace  which  is  the  Czechslovak  White 
House.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a  million 
persons  dined  in  the  streets  of  Prague, 
and  many  thousands  of  girls  and  women 
were  attired  in  the  wonderful  national 
costumes  of  Bohemia,  Moravia,  and 
Slovakia. 

Prague   has   a  population   of  800,000. 
The  crowd  was  admirable  in  its  behavior. 


Many  of  those  keeping  order  were  wom- 
en, and  the  lines  were  absolutely  straight. 
Not  a  single  person  moved  out  of  line. 
While  the  crowd  was  enthusiastic,  it  was 
not  noisy,  the  greetings  being  cries  of 
"  Nazda,"  meaning  "  Success  to  you,"  ac- 
companied by  waving  of  handkerchiefs. 
That  evening  at  a  dinner  the  American 
Minister,  Mr.  Crane,  said :  "  No  other 
new  nation  and  few  old  ones  have  such  a 
future  as  has  Czechoslovakia." 


Hungary,  Rumania,  and  the  Allies 

Rumanians  Linger  in  Budapest 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  15,  1919] 


IT  was  announced  from  Paris  on  Sept. 
17  that  the  Peace  Treaty  with 
Hungary  had  been  completed  and 
was  ready  for  presentation,  but  there 
was  no  responsible  Hungarian  Govern- 
ment to  receive  it.  Reports  reaching 
Paris  on  the  date  mentioned  stated  that 
the  Friedrich  Cabinet,  which  continued 
functioning  after  the  fall  of  Archduke 
Joseph,  had  resigned,  and  that  a  new 
Cabinet  was  being  formed.  It  was  stated 
semi -officially  that  any  Hungarian  Cab- 
inet which  appeared  to  be  fairly  repre- 
sentative would  be  recognized  and  de- 
clared competent  to  receive  the  treaty. 

Reports  of  Sept.  16  that  the  Rumanian 
Army  had  begun  to  withdraw  from  Buda- 
pest were  not  confirmed.  A  week  later, 
(Sept.  24,)  the  substance  of  the  reply  of 
the  Rumanian  Government  to  the  allied 
note  delivered  by  Sir  George  Russell 
Clerk,  Special  Envoy  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference to  Rumania,  was  published  in 
Paris.  In  this  answer,  delivered  through 
Premier  Bratiano,  Rumania  offered  to 
give  the  Allies  all  the  satisfaction  in  her 
power  in  connection  with  her  occupation 
of  Hungarian  territory.  Rumania,  the 
answer  declared,  was  ready  to  evacuate 
Budapest,  or  to  co-operate  there  with 
the  Allies  in  maintaining  order,  and  was 
prepared  to  deliver  to  the  Allies  a  list  of 
the  war  materials  and  rolling,  stock 
seized  in  Hungary.  The  reply,  however, 
expressed  the  hope  that  as  Rumania  had 
recovered  only  what  was  due  her  from 


Hungary,  the  Allies  would  not  dispossess 
her  of  these  acquisitions.  One  point  upon 
which  she  insisted,  according  to  this  ver- 
sion, was  the  lifting  of  the  Hungarian 
blockade. 

Together  with  the  Rumanian  reply  to 
the  allied  note,  Sir  George  Russell  Clerk 
submitted  a  report  covering  the  Ruma- 
nian situation  in  the  light  of  his  visit  to 
Bucharest.  This  report  was  not  given 
out  for  publication  by  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, but,  it  was  intimated,  it  showed 
that  Rumania  was  not  fully  complying 
with  the  orders  of  the  conference.  In 
the  light  of  this  report,  the  conference 
decided  to  send  Rumania  a  new  note,  and 
in  view  of  Rumania's  complaint  that  she 
had  not  received  several  of  the  allied 
notes  it  was  stated  that  this  latest  com- 
munication would  be  sent  in  duplicate  to 
the  representatives  of  England,  France, 
Italy,  and.  the  United  States  at  Bucha- 
rest, with  a  request  to  each  that  he  de- 
liver his  copy  to  the  Bucharest  Govern- 
ment, thus  insuring  its  receipt. 

This  note  was  moderate  in  tone  and 
conciliatory  in  its  review  of  the  points  on 
which  differences  existed.  Reasons  were 
given  explaining  why  the  clause  relating 
to  minorities — the  main  cause  of  Ru- 
mania's refusal  to  sign — had  been  in- 
serted in  the  Austrian  peace  treaty;  and 
the  difficulties  caused  by  Rumania's  fail- 
ure to  become  a  signatory  were  pointed 
out.  The  note  further  said  that  the  ques- 
tion   of    Rumanian    requisition   on    Hun- 


HUNGARY,    RUMANIA,    AND    THE    ALLIES 


<?!il 


gary  would  be  submitted  to  a  special 
commission,  and  declared  that  the  Allies 
did  not  regard  the  Friedrich  Government 
in  Hungary  as  representing  the  will  of 
the  Hungarian  Nation. 

Regarding  conditions  in  Budapest, 
Jules  Sauerwein,  the  foreign  editor  of 
Le  Matin,  on  Oct.  5  drew  a  deplorable 
picture  of  life  in  the  Hungarian  capital. 
Pillaged  by  the  Rumanians,  without  coal, 
almost  without  food,  with  pumpkins  and 
watermelons  the  only  nourishment  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  could  pro- 
cure, the  once  haughty  and  prosperous 
Magyars  bowed  their  heads  in  misery 
before  Czechs,  Croats,  Poles,  and  Ru- 
manians. In  Budapest  900,000  persons 
were  out  of  work.  Scarcely  any  money 
was  in  circulation,  .except  Communist 
paper,  which  was  particularly  worthless; 
while  clothes  and  the  common  necessaries 


of  life  were  almost  unprocurable  at  any 
price.  M.  Sauerwein  said  that  Budapest, 
where  life  was  comparatively  comfort- 
able during  the  war,  had  been  reduced  by 
Communism  to  a  condition  of  wretched- 
ness and  desolation  far  surpassing  that 
of  the  Austrian  capital,  which  had 
shared  the  common  defeat.  He  attrib- 
uted this  condition  chiefly  to  the  hostility 
of  the  peasants  to  the  Bela  Kun  regime, 
in  consequence  of  which  they  had  refused 
to  exchange  food  either  for  money  or  for 
goods,  so  that  Budapest  had  been  sub- 
jected virtually  to  a  starvation  blockade. 
The  arrival  of  1,800  British  soldiers, 
forming  part  of  the  international  detach- 
ment to  take  over  the  police  service  at 
Budapest  after  the  expected  departure  of 
the  Rumanian  forces  there,  was  reported 
on  Oct.  8,  and  2,000  Italian  soldiers  were 
on  their  way. 


Prince  Carol's  Renunciation  of  the  Throne 

Sequel  to  a  Romantic  Marriage 


THE  story  of  the  morganatic  marriage 
of  Crown  Prince  Carol  of  Rumania, 
and  of  the  Prince's  final  renuncia- 
tion of  the  throne  in  preference  to  de- 
serting his  bride,  was  told  in  consider- 
able detail  by  M.  Mihail  Mircea  on  Aug. 
20,  1919,  in  the  French  newspaper,  Ex- 
celsior. The  writer  stated  that  on  Aug. 
27,  1918,  the  Crown  Prince  and  Mile. 
Jeanne  Larnbrino,  daughter  of  a  well- 
known  Rumanian  General,  left  Bucharest 
secretly  by  motor  car,  and  crossed  the 
frontier  to  Odessa,  where  they  were  mar- 
ried in  legal  form.  In  the  marriage  cer- 
tificate, of  which  the  Excelsior  printed 
a  facsimile,  the  age  of  the  Prince  was 
given  as  25,  and  that  of  the  bride,  de- 
scribed as  single  and  of  noble  family, 
as  22. 

Shortly  after  the  marriage  several 
officers  and  agents  of  the  Rumanian 
Secret  Service,  who  had  1  een  sent  to 
Odessa  in  search  of  the  Prince,  discov- 
ered him  in  a  restaurant,  and  insisted  on 
his  accompanying  them  back  to  Bucha- 
rest. On  arrival  in  the  capita)  he  was 
sentenced,   by   the   order   of   his    father, 


King  Ferdinand,  to  six  weeks'  arrest  for 
having,  without  notification,  left  the 
regiment  of  which  he  was  Colonel.  At 
the  time  the  marriage  took  place  Ru- 
mania was  in  the  throes  of  complicated 
negotiations  between  her  pro-German 
Premier,  M.  Marghiloman,  and  the  Cen- 
tral Empires,  and  the  question  of  Ru- 
mania's further  attitude  toward  the 
Entente  was  by  no  means  settled.  The 
whole  position  was  critical. 

A  meeting  of  the  Crown  Council  was  | 
called  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
situation  set  up  by  the  Prince's  marriage,  j 
All  the  Ministers  present,  with  the  ex-  J 
ception  of  M.  Marghiloman,  agreed  thai  n 
the    marriage    in    no   way    affected    th«( 
Prince's    status    as   heir   to    the   throne  i 
M.    Marghiloman    alone    urged    that    h«  y 
should     be     replaced     by     his     younge:! 
brother,    Nicholas,    then    a    boy   of    151 
Laigely,  it  is  understood,  through  the  in  J 
fluence  of  the  Queen,  the  views  of  th.j 
majority   of   the   council   prevailed,    an< 
the  matter  was  allowed  to  remain  wher- 
it  was.    Her  Majesty,  it  was  understood 
hoped  that  in  time  the  Prince  would  be 


292 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


come  more  inclined  to  bow  to  the  wishes 
of  his  family  and  consent  that  his  mar- 
riage be  annulled  as  a  mere  youthful 
escapade. 

Both   the   Prince  and  his  wife,  how- 
ever,   proved    unexpectedly    firm,    and 


PRINCE      CAROL     AND     THE     WOMAN     FOR 
WHOM    HE    GAVE    UP    THE    THRONE 

eventually,  on  Dec.  17,  by  order  of  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  proceedings  were 
initiated  with  a  view  to  annulling  the 
marriage  on  the  ground  of  informalities 
in  connection  with  the  publication  of 
legal  notices  required  under  the  code.  A 
decree  annulling  the  marriage  was 
eventually  issued  by  the  court,  but  it  was 
ignored  by  the  Prince.  Toward  the  end 
of  July,  1919,  with  a  view  to  bringing 
matters  to  a  final  settlement,  the  Ru- 
manian War  Minister,  General  Vaitoiano, 
accompanied  by  Colonel  Boyle,  an  Amer- 
ican officer,  who  has  several  times  acted 
on  behalf  of  Queen  Marie  in  connection 
with  the  Crown  Prince's  marriage,  called 
at   Cotroceni   Palace,   where  the  Prince 


was  living,  and  pleaded  with  him  to  ac- 
cede to  the  wishes  of  his  family. 

Finally,  as  the  Prince  remained  ob- 
durate, General  Vaitoiano  gave  him  the 
alternative  of  accepting  the  annulment 
of  his  marriage  or  immediately  resuming 
his  command  at  'the  front.  The  Piunce, 
it  is  alleged,  replied:  "I  will  remain  a 
soldier,  but  I  will  keep  my  word."  He 
asked  for  a  delay  of  four  days,  however, 
to  consider  the  matter;  but  before  that 
period  had  exph'ed  the  Prince,  on  Aug. 
1,  at  3  in  the  morning,  wrote  the  follow- 
ing renunciation,  addressed  to  his  father : 

Sire:  In  virtue  of  a  natural  right  im- 
plicitly recognized  by  Article  83,  Para- 
graph 2,  of  the  Constitution,  I  declare 
that  I  renounce  my  status  as  Crown 
Prince  of  Rumania,  both  for  myself  and 
my  heirs,  together  with  all  the  advan- 
tages that  are  recognized  as  due  to  me 
as  heir  to  the  throne.  I  remain  the  de- 
voted servant  of  my  country,  and  in 
placing  my  sword  at  its  service  I  beg 
your  Majesty  to  give  me  a  place  among 
the  soldiers  who  are  at  present  at  the 
front.  CAROL, 

Prince  of  Rumania. 

Bucharest,  Aug.   1,   1919. 

The  Prince  sent  copies  of  this  letter 
of  renunciation  to  MM.  Bratiano,  Take 
Jonescu,  Marghiloman,  and  General 
Averesco,  the  leaders  of  the  four  Ru- 
manian political  parties.  A  fifth  copy 
was  sent  to  Thomas  Dragu,  with  a  re- 
quest that  it  be  handed  to  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Socialist  Party,  and 
the  sixth  he  sent  to  Nicolas  Iorga,  his 
former  tutor.  Later  the  same  day  the 
Crown  Prince  left  Bucharest  to  rejoin 
his  regiment  at  the  front. 

On  Aug.  25  it  was  announced  that  the 
Rumanian  Council  of  Ministers,  after  de- 
liberation on  the  renunciation  of  throne 
rights  by  Prince  Carol,  had'  recognized 
the  younger  Prince,  Nicholas,  as  heir  to 
the  Rumanian  throne.  Prince  Nicholas, 
a  student  at  Eton,  left  England  at  once 
to  travel  to  Bucharest  by  the  Orient 
Express. 


Bessarabia's  Charges  Against  Rumania 

Appeal  of  Peace  Delegates 


THE  Bessarabian  delegates  to  the 
Peace  Conference  at  Paris  trans- 
mitted to  President  Wilson  on  Sept. 
23,  1919,  the  following  -noteworthy  ap- 
peal for  relief  from  the  tyrannous 
methods  employed  by  Rumania  in  the 
effort  to  obtain  permanent  possession  of 
Bessarabia,  formerly  a  Russian  province: 

The  Bessarabian  delegates  to  the  Peace 
Conference  implore  you  to  exercise  your 
great  influence  to  compel  the  Rumanian  Gov- 
ernment to  cease  the  hideous  reign  of  terror 
now  prevailing  in  Bessarabia,  owing  to  the 
unjustifiable  and  atrocious  conduct  of  the 
Rumanian    authorities    there. 

Freedom  of  the  press  has  ceased  to  exist 
in  Bessarabia,  and  all  real  expression  of 
opinion  is  rendered  impossible.  Therefore 
we  are  compelled  to  make  a  direct  appeal  to 
you. 

The  Rumanian  troops  were  authorized  by 
the  Central  Powers  in  January,  1918,  to  enter 
Bessarabia,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
storing order.  The  Rumanian  Government 
subsequently  pleaded  that  there  was  great 
danger  from  Bolshevism  in  Bessarabia.  This 
reason  was  entirely  unfounded,  as  there 
never  was  such  danger  owing  to  the  free  and 
prosp  rous  conditions  prevailing.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Entente  also  was  induced  to  allow 
the  Rumanians  to  enter  the  country. 

The  Rumanian  Government,  without  the 
least  foundation  in  fact,  interpreted  this  as 
equivalent  to  permission  to  annex  Bes- 
sarabia and  has  acted  ever  since  as  supreme 
master  of  the  country.  Since  January,  1918, 
the  Rumanian  Government  has  followed  a 
policy  of  ruthless  imperialism  in  Bessarabia 
and  has  made  every  effort  to  Rumanianize  it 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  whole  civiliza- 
tion and  sympathies  of  the  country  are  Rus- 
sian and  anti-Rumanian. 

The  worst  features  of  Magyar  persecutions 
from  which  the  Rumanians  in  Transylvania 
suffered  before  their  liberation  are  being 
thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  atrocities  today 
perpetrated  in  Bessarabia  by  the  Bucharest 
Government.  The  situation  there  throws  a 
startling  light  on  the  reasons  why  Rumania 
refused  to  sign  the  clauses  in  the  Peace 
Treaty  designed  for  the  protection  of  minori- 
ties. The  whole  of  the  autonomous  rights  en- 
joyed by  Bessarabia  under  Russian  suzer- 
ainty have  been  swept  away.  Local  zemstvos 
and  other  organisms  which  were  purely  Rus- 
sian in  character  and  had  stood  the  test  of 
centuries  have  either  been  suppressed  or 
fatally  modified.  Rumanian  gendarmes  and 
other  officials  have  replaced  the  eld  autono- 
mous    organisms     and     are     practicing     the 


are 


bribery    and    extortion    for    which    they 
notorious   in    Eastern   Europe. 

The  old  Bessarabian  courts  have  been 
abolished  and  replaced  by  Rumanian  tribu- 
nals, which  the  Bessarabians  refuse  to  recog- 
nize, as  Rumanian  officials  now  admit.  Out 
of  250  Bessarabian  Judges  and  Magistrates 
over  240  have  been  dismissed  because  they 
refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  King  of  Rumania,  and  Rumanians  have 
been  put  in  their  places.  Bessarabian  land- 
owners have  been  given  formal  notice  that 
unless  they  take  the  oath  to  the  Rumanian 
King  within  a  fortnight  their  estates  will  be 
confiscated. 

The  use  of  the  Russian  language,  which  is 
universally  spoken  in  Bessarabia,  has  been 
prohibited  in  the  schools  and  replaced  by 
Rumanian,  which  the  pupils  refuse  to  learn. 
Hundreds  of  schoolmasters  and  priests  have 
been  flogged,  imprisoned,  or  deported— 
sometimes  all  three-^while  many  others  have 
been  shot  down  in  cold   blood. 

Foodstuffs  sent  to  Bessarabia  from  America 
and  elsewhere  for  the  relief  of  the  popu- 
lation have  been  appropriated  by  the  Ru- 
manian authorities  for  their  own  people,  and 
an  absurdly  small  quantity  has  been  allotted 
Bessarabia.  A  large  number  of  people 
starved  to  death  in  Kishineff  as  the  result 
of  this  barbarous  policy  of  Rumania. 

We  have  now  received  from  absolutely 
reliable  sources  in  Bessarabia  the  informa- 
tion that  Rumanian  police  there  are  employ- 
ing methods  of  physical  torture  in  vogue  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  We  are  in  possession  of 
evidence  that  Bessarabians  belonging  to  the 
intellectual  classes  who  are  suspected  of 
Russophile  tendencies  are  being  put  to  actual 
torture  by  Rumanian  executioners.  The 
methods  adopted  include  tearing  out  finger- 
nails and  crushing  finger-ends  in  door- 
hinges.  Others  are  being  flogged  with 
India-rubber  rods.  Others  have  had  their 
heads  and  feet  tied  together  and  their 
hands  bound  behind  their  backs  and  havs 
been  left  in  this  condition  a  whole  day,  or 
until  they  have  consented  to  give  information 
concerning  men  and  women  who  have  become 
obnoxious  to  the  Rumanian  authorities. 

Full  confirmation  of  many  atrocities  of  this 
kind  has  been  given  us  by  a  British  officer 
Just  returned  from  Rumania.  Furthermore, 
officers  belonging  to  the  French  military 
mission  who  have  been  in  South  Bessarabia 
since  February,  1919,  have  sent  reports  to  j 
their  Government  in  which  they  mention  a 
quantity  of  facts,  testifying  to  Rumanian 
misrule  and  atrocities  in  Bessarabia  and  con- 
firming our  statements. 

Now  that  the  Rumanian  elections  are  ap-  i 
proaching,     the     Rumanian     Government     is 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


nominating  throughout  Bessarabia  candidates 
for  the  Rumanian  Parliament  and  using 
every  possible  coercive  method  to  make  Beas- 
arabians   promise   to   vote   for   them.     A  de- 

.,  has  been  promulgated  ordering  every 
Bessarabian  to  participate  in  the  Rumanian 
Parliamentary  elections,  which  are  entirely 
alien  to  them,  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of 
$200. 

We  protest  against  these  atrocious  and  un- 
heard-of methods,  and  appeal  most  earnestly 
to  you  for  aid.  Rumania  has  no  shadow  of 
right  to  impose  her  will  on  a  single  Bessara- 
bian.  The  Peace  Conference  has  so  far  re- 
fused every  appeal  made  by  Rumania  fin- 
permission  to  annex  our  country.  We  beg 
that  our  people  be  allowed  to  determine  their 
own  future  by  a  plebiscite  taken  under  con- 


trol    of    the    great     powers     and    guai    i 
against  interference  by  Rumanian  agents    We 
are    content    to    stand     or    fall    by     thi- 
alone. 

In  the  immediatt  present  we  beg  and  pray 
you  to  intervene  and  save  out  helpless  people 
from  the  intolerable  persecution  and  abomin- 
able atrocities  from  which  they  are  hourly 
suffering  through  the  direct  agency  of  Ru- 
manian imperialism  and  greed,  operating  in 
defiance  of  all  laws  of  civilization  aril 
studiously  concealed  from  the  eyes  of  every 
other  nation. 

A.  N.  DRUPENSKY.  former  President  of 

the   Bessarabian  Provincial  Zemstvo. 
A.  C.  SCHMIDT,  former  Mayor  of  Kishi- 
nev,   and    Bessarabian    delegate    to    the 
Peace  Conference  in  Paris. 


The  Killing  of  Hostages  by  Munich  Reds 


The  Munich  Radicals  who  murdered 
innocent  hostages  during  the  Communist 
regime  in  the  Bavarian  capital  were 
placed  on  trial  in  Berlin,  and  six  of 
them,  being  convicted  and  sentenced  on 
Sept.  19,  1919,  were  executed  at  4 
o'clock  the  same  afternoon.  Those  sen- 
tenced to  pay.  the  death  penalty  were 
Fritz  Seidl  and  five  of  his  followers — 
Josef  Seidl,  Schicklhofer,  Widl,  Pureel, 
and  Fehmer.  Seven  others  were  sen- 
tenced to  fifteen  years'  penal  servitude. 
The  brutal  nature  of  their  crimes  under 
the  so-called  Soviet  Republic  was  re- 
vealed in  the  court  proceedings  of  Sept. 
10,  as  summarized  by  a  London  Times 
correspondent: 

The  testimony  showed  that  the  last 
hostage  shot  was  the  Prince  of  Thurn 
and  Taxis,  who  declared  that  he  had 
been  expelled  by  the  reigning  family  in 
Regensburg  in  1912  because  of  hts  revo- 
lutionary views.  Two  Red  Guards  who 
accompanied  him  when  he  made  his  last 
appeal  to  their  chiefs  said:  "He  seems 
innocent,  and  we  do  not  shoot  innocent 
persons,"  but  Haussmann  exclaimed, 
,."  Oh,  don't  make  so  much  talk  about 
it  !  He  is  one  of  the  '  big  heads  '—one  of 
the  upper  ten,"  whereupon  the  Prince 
was  again  dragged  to  the  courtyard  and 
put   against  the  wall. 

A  waiter  named  Debutt,  who  first  pro- 
fessed not  to  have  taken  part  in  the 
proceedings,  was  accused  by  one  of  the 
prisoners,  who  said  that  he  had  been  in 
the  courtyard.  After  a  long  pause  he 
ronfessed  this  was  true  and  gave  details 
of    the    shooting,     and    admitted    having 


taken  pocketbooks  and  valuables  from 
the .  hostages.  He  was  arrested  and  re- 
moved from  the  court  in  custody  on  sus- 
picion of  being  concerned  in  the  murders. 

Another  witness  named  Zak  described 
how  Haussmann  said:  "  I  can  show  no 
mercy.  1  have  Seidl's  strictest  order  to 
shoot  the  people."  Haussmann  stormed 
into  the  gymnasium  and  fetched  a  num- 
ber of  soldiers  out,  who  placed  various 
people  against  the  wall.  Every  time 
three  hostages  had  betn  shot  he  motioned 
with  his  hand  to  Schicklhofer  to  proceed. 

When  the  Countess  Hella  von  Weatarp 
was  brought  forward,  Schicklhofer  said  : 
"  She  must  be  shot.  We  can  have  no 
mercy.  She  must  die.  Besides,  the 
'  swells  '  have  not  treated  our  heroes  out 
there  any  differently."  This  witness  saw 
eight  hostages  shot.  The  soldiers  in  the 
courtyard  showed  great  joy  at  the  shoot- 
ing of  the  hostages  and  made  coarse  re- 
marks as  each  victim  sank  down. 

Professor  Berger  was  forced  forward 
by  a  blow  from  a  fist  in  the  neck.  A 
bullet  splashed  his  brains  against  the  wall, 
whereupon  one  soldier  cried,  amid  gen- 
eral laughter:  "There's?  baked  brains  to- 
day." One  of  those  shot  down  moved  a 
little,  whereupon  a  soldier  went  to  him 
and  split  his  skull  with  a  rifle  butt,  say- 
ing: "  It  is  all  the  same  whether  he  dies 
this  way  or  that." 

A  small  Saxon  soldier,  who  obviously 
found  Countess  Westarp  too  long  in  writ- 
ing her  farewell  letter,  caught  hold  of 
her,  dragged  her  to  the  wall,  and  fired 
with  others  on  her.  "  As  she  sank  down 
I  heard  a  cry:  'Take  care,  Mark,  that 
you  have  settled  her.'  '  The  witness 
described,  to  the  horror  of  those  present, 
how  one  of  the  accused  treated  the 
Countess's  dead  body.  The  corpses  were 
buried  late  at   night  by  Seidl's  orders. 


Closing  In  on  Soviet  Russia 

While  Denikin  and  Mamontov  Threaten  Moscow,  the  Forces 
of  Yudenitch  Advance  Upon  Petrograd 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  18,  1919] 


DEVELOPMENTS  in  Russia  during 
September  and  October  pointed 
to  the  ultimate  downfall  of  the 
Lenin-Trotzky  regime.  On  every 
side  the  anti-Bolshevist  armies  were 
closing  in  upon  the  Soviet  Government, 
and  British  warships  riding  in  the  Gulf 
of  Finland  were  preventing  the  passage 
of  all  food  supplies.  The  most  sensa- 
tional advance  was  that  of  General 
Yudenitch,  which  began  about  Oct.  10, 
and  by  Oct.  18  had  entered  the  suburbs 
of  Petrograd.  The  phenomenal  successes 
of  Denikin,  meanwhile,  had  continued  in 
the  south;  Voronezh  and  Kursk  were 
captured.  Tambov  and  Kozlov  in  the 
rear  of  the  Bolshevist  lines  were  taken 
by  the  Cossack  General,  Mamontov,  who 
was  then  about  175  miles  from  Moscow. 
Kolchak,  aided  by  these  victories,  carried 
out  a  successful  offensive  with  his  three 
Siberian  armies  in  September. 

Soviet  Russia  showed  alarm  over  the 
menace  of  Denikin's  successes,  and  Mos- 
cow was  placed  in  a  state  of  siege.  The 
burning  of  hidden  fires  of  revolt  against 
the  Soviet  regime  was  revealed  by  the 
discovery  of  a  widespread  plot,  sixty- 
seven  participators'  in  which,  including 
many  learned  and  prominent  men,  were 
executed,  and  by  a  bomb  explosion  at 
the  Kremlin,  in  which  thirteen  Bolshe- 
vist commissaries,  including  the  notori- 
ous public  executioner,  Jacob  Peters, 
were  killed.  Russian  securities  on  the 
Paris  Bourse  rose  constantly  in  value, 
owing  to  a  belief  that  the  Soviet  regime 
was- destined,  at  no  distant  period,  to  be 
overthrown  from  within. 

THE  NORTHERN   FRONT 

The  evacuation  of  the  Archangel  front 
by  the  British  was  proceeding  on  Sept. 
16  as,  smoothly  as  could  be  expected,  in 
view  of  the  formidable  difficulties  at- 
tending the  operation,  including  a  short- 
age of   shipping  and   river  boats.     The 


difficulties  had  been  increased  also  by 
the  fact  that,  in  addition  to  the  soldiers, 
thousands  of  civilians  were  being  re- 
moved. Small  raids  against  the  Bol- 
shevik! were  being  continued  for  the  pur- 
pose of  screening  the  movements  of  the 
troops. 

The  Russian  forces  meanwhile  carried 
out  a  successful  offensive  in  the  railway 
sector.  Russian  volunteer  troops  had  re- 
occupied  Onega,  taken  by  the  Bolsheviki 
in  one  of  their  northern  raids.  With  this 
recapture  communication  had  been  re- 
established between  the  Allies  on  the 
Archangel  and  Murmansk  coast,  fronts. 
On  Oct.  13,  after  the  withdrawal  of  the 
British  troops,  positions  on  the  Emptsa 
River  were  taken  by  the  Russian  troops. 
Interviewed  regarding  the  situation,  a 
representative  of  the  North  Russian  Gov- 
ernment said: 

The  Russian  Army  is  now  demonstrat- 
ing  determination,  despite  the  demands 
placed  upon  it  by  the  withdrawal  of  Brit- 
ish troops.  Our  forces,  which  they  con- 
sidered incapable  of  holding  the  front  and 
doomed  to  disorganization,  are  scoring  a 
series  of  successes  such  as  have  not  been 
seen  during  the  last  year. 

ON   THE  PETROGRAD   FRONT 

On  the  Petrograd  front  the  food 
blockade  by  the  British  squadron,  in 
conjunction  with  the  French,  continued; 
"  the  United  States,  however,  had  declinec 
to  join  the  blockade,  though  it  refusec 
clearance  to  vessels  bound  for  Sovie'J 
Russia.  The  effect  of  the  British  and 
French  blockade  was  to  prevent  the  ship 
ment  of  supplies  to  Soviet  Russia  fron 
Holland,  Denmark,  and  Sweden.  Ship; 
of  those  nationalities  bound  for  Russn; 
had  been  turned  back  by  the  Britis 
squadron  in  the  latter  half  of  Septem 
ber. 

On  Oct.  1  a  Copenhagen  dispatc 
stated  that  General  Belakovitch,  who? 
forces  were  co-operating  with  those  4 


29  (5 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Yudenitch,  had  broken  the  Bolshevist 
lines  at  Bulata,  and  that  whole  divisions 
of  the  Bolsheviki  had  surrendered. 

THE    YUDENITCH    OFFENSIVE 

The  frequently  reported  intention  of 
General  Yudenitch,  in  command  of  Fin- 
nish and  Russian  forces,  to  advance  on 
Petrograd  was  fulfilled  with  a  swift  and 
successful  offensive  begun  shortly  before 
Oct.  10  on  a  front  of  100  miles.  Two 
days  later  a  detachment  of  this  North 
Russian  Army  had  captured  Yamburg, 
about  seventy-five  miles  southwest  of 
Petrograd.  On  Oct.  14  Yudenitch  was 
approaching  Gatschina,  thirty-five  miles 
south  of  Petrograd,  and  the  White 
Scouts  in  advance  of  General  Rod- 
zianko's  army  had  reached  Kikerino, 
eighteen  miles  west  of  Gatschina.  Gen- 
eral Rodzianko  reported  the  capture  of 
the  Bolshevist  armored  train  named 
Lenin,  which  was  abandoned  so  hurriedly 
that  the  Bolsheviki  had  no  time  to  blow 
it  up.  The  Bolsheviki  were  falling  back 
in  disorder  on  Petrograd.  Over  2,000 
prisoners  and  many  guns  were  captured. 
British  tanks  manned  by  English  offi- 
cers were  co-operating  effectively. 

Pskov  was  retaken  from  the  Bolsheviki 
on  Oct.  15.  Reports  of  the  continuous 
successes  of  Yudenitch  followed.  On 
Oct.  15  M.  Margulies,  the  Minister  of 
Commerce  of  the  North  Russian  Govern- 
ment, arrived  at  Helsingfors  to  negotiate 
with  the  Finnish  Government  for  the 
transportation  of  Finnish  merchandise 
for  Petrograd  when  it  should  fall.  Re- 
ports from  Swedish  and  Russian  sources 
on  Oct.  18  declared  that  Kronstadt  had 
fallen,  and  that  the  cavalry  of  General 
Yudenitch  were  in  the  suburbs  of  Petro- 
grad. The  occupation  of  Kronstadt  by 
the  anti-Bolshevist  forces  was  reported 
officially  by  the  General  Staff  of  the 
Finnish  Army  at  Viborg  on  Sunday, 
Oct.  10. 

THE  BALTIC  REPUBLICS 
Regarding  the  Baltic  republics,  it  be- 
came apparent  in  September  that  the 
Letts  and  Lithuanians,  alarmed  by  the 
departure  of  the  allied  forces,  had  begun 
to  consider  seriously  the  situation  in 
which  this  departure  would  leave  them  in 
relation  to  the  Bolsheviki.     On  Sept.  16 


it  was  reported  that  an  important  con- 
ference had  been  in  session  at  Riga,  con- 
sidering the  formation  of  a  Baltic  fed- 
eration. This  idea  had  crystallized  to  the 
extent  that  an  agreement  had  been  reach- 
ed for  a  common  currency  and  customs 
union  for  Letvia,  Esthonia,  and  Lith- 
uania. The  seat  of  deliberations  had 
been  transferred  to  Reval,  the  seat  of  the 
new  Northwestern  Government,  where  it 
was  to  be  joined  by  representatives  of 
Finland  and  of  the  Northwestern  Gov- 
ernment. It  was  also  stated  that  peace 
would  be  discussed  in  close  touch  with 
Entente  representatives,  the  Baltic 
States  favoring  peace  with  Soviet  Rus- 
sia on  the  basis  of  Soviet  recognition  of 
the  three  Baltic  republics  in  the  absence 
of  effective  assistance  from  the  Entente. 

On  Sept.  19  the  Lithuanian  delegation 
at  Paris  denied  that  Lithuania  had 
agreed  to  share  in  peace  negotiations 
with  the  Soviet  republic.  The  Lettish 
Foreign  Minister  on  Oct.  9  issued  a  state- 
ment indicating  that  the  project  was 
progressing  and  that  the  peace  offer 
made  by  the  Bolshevist  authorities  was 
to  be  examined  by  a  special  commission 
at  Riga  on  Oct.  16.  The  successful  of- 
fensive of  General  Yudenitch  and  the 
capture  of  Petrograd  brought  the  peace 
negotiations  to  a  sudden  close. 

[For  the  unexpected  assault  on  Riga 
by  combined  German  and  Russian  forces 
see  the  article  that  follows  this  one.] 

THE  SOUTHERN  FRONT 
The  successes-  of  General  Denikin  in 
South  Russia  continued.  On  Sept.  8 
Denikin's  authority  extended  not  only 
over  the  Cossack  region,  but  over  a 
wide  stretch  of  territory  between  the 
Volga  and  the  Dnieper.  He  command- 
ed the  Black  Sea  coast  between  Georgia 
and  Bessarabia,  and  had  under  his  con- 
trol such  important'  cities  as  Kharkov, 
Kiev  and  Odessa.  His  staff  occupied 
the  quiet  town  of  Taganrog,  while  his 
political  council  had  made  its  quarters 
in  the  busy  city  of  Rostov. 

Important  military  operations  along 
the  eastern  half  of  the  front  were  der 
scribed  by  Harold  Williams  on  Sept. 
10.  Dramatic  victories  had  been  won 
by  Denikin  in  an  offensive  begun  the 
week   before.     Trotzky   and    his    skilled 


CLOSISG  I.\   OA  S0VIE1   Rl 


HEAVY  BLACK  LINK  INDICATES  FRONT  STILL  HELD  BY  TROTZKY'S  RED  ARMIES  OX 
SErT.  K»,  mm.  DOTTED  LINE  SHOWS  THE  SITUATION  IN  JUNE,  AND  THEiSPACE  between 
MEASURES  DENIKIN'S  GAINS  IN  THE  SOUTHWEST  AND  KOLCHAK'S  LOSSES  IN  THE 
NORTHEAST.  VORONEZH  AND  OREL.  TO  THE  NORTHEAST  AND  NORTH  OF  KIRSK  WERE 
TAKEN    BY    DENIK1N    IN    OCTOBER*    AFTER    THIS    MAP    HAD    BEEN    MADE 


military  advisers  had  conceived  a  dar- 
ing plan  of  campaign,  which  had  re- 
coiled upon  their  own  heads.  With  a 
heavy  concentration  of  Soviet  forces, 
including  several  strong  divisions  from 
the  Siberian  front,  they  had  aimed  a.% 
catching,  as  in  a  pair  of  pincers,  Deni- 
kin's  centre,  held  by  the  Don  Army.  On 
the  one  hand  they  counted  on  driving 
a  wedge  between  the  Don  army  and  the 
volunteer  army  west  of  Kharkov,  and 
forcing  a  way  through  the  Donetz  basin 
to  the  Sea  of  Azov,  while  on  the  eastern 
flank  they  hoped  to  overrun  General 
Wrangel's  small  Caucasian  army  and  to 
force  a  way  through  Tsaritsin  down  the 
Volga  to  the  Caspian. 

The  drive  on  the  western  flank 
brought  the  Reds  to  the  important 
junction  of  Kupiansk,  southeast  of 
Kharkov.  Here  the  Bolsheviki  were 
caught  in  the  wedge-shaped  salient 
they  themselves  had  created.  General 
Shkuko  attacked  them  with  his  Ku- 
ban cavalry  in  the  rear,  and  thousands 
surrendered   or   deserted;    the    rest  fled 


northward  in  disorder.  General  Ma- 
montov,  the  Cossack  leader,  who  in 
August  had  broken  through  the  Soviet 
army  by  an  impetuous  raid,  reappeaied 
$fter  days  of  absence,  and  announced 
the  capture  of  Tambov  and  Kozlov,  in 
the  rear  of  the  Bolshevist  armies.  Ma- 
montov,  with  18,000  men,  had  captured 
large  stores  and  munitions,  freed  and 
sent  home  20,000  Bolshevist  conscripts, 
and  taken  into  his  army  thousands  of 
volunteers. 

On  heai-ing  the  news  that  the  Bolshe- 
viki were  pressing  hard  on  Denikin's 
forces  on  the  Don  front,  Mamontov 
turned,  and  at  the  time  in  question  had 
reached  a  point  within  striking  distance 
or  Voronezh,  the  most  important  base 
in  the  immediate  rear  of  the  Bolshe- 
vist lines.  The  situation  of  General 
Wrangel  at  Tsaritsin,  on  the  contrary, 
was  precarious,  but  this  General  had 
inflicted  a  smashing  defeat  on  the  Bol- 
shevist forces  when  they  attempted  to 
enter  the  city.  In  this  and  other  bat- 
tles over  9,000  prisoners  were  captured. 


298 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


On  Oct.  13  a  wireless  from  General 
Denikin  stated  that  the  Bolshevist  offen- 
sive had  been  beaten  back  with  severe 
losses  to  the  attackers. 

CLOSING  IN  TOWARD  MOSCOW 

General  Denikin's  capture  of  Voronezh 
and  Grafskia,  with  15,000  prisoners,  was 
admitted  on  Oct.  8  by  a  Moscow  wire- 
less message.  Denikin's  cavalry  was  ad- 
vancing" on  Usman,  forty  miles  north  of 
Voronezh.  Meanwhile  the  activities  of 
General  Mamontov  behind  the  Bolshevist 
rear  caused  the  Soviet  Government  con- 
siderable alarm.  The  State  Department 
at  Washington  on  Sept.  22  received  the 
report  of  a  great  uprising  in  European 
Russia  in  the  region  of  Tambov  and 
Kozlov;  Mamontov  himself  had  swept  to 
about  150  miles  westward  of  Tambov  and 
so  threatened  the  enemy  lines  of  com- 
munication that  his  operations  had  caused 
a  precipitate  retreat  of  a  portion  of  the 
Soviet  forces  and  opened  the  way  for  the 
rapid  advance  to  Kursk  of  other  troops  of 
Denikin's  army  that  had  been  based  on 
Kharkov. 

The  capture  of  Kursk  by  Denikin  was 
subsequently  admitted  by  a  Moscow  wire- 
less. The  steady  advance  of  Denikin,  and 
especially  the  activities  of  General  Ma- 
montov behind  the  Bolshevist  front,  dis- 
quieted the  Soviet  Government  to  such 
an  extent  that  on  Sept.  19  Moscow  was 
placed  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  the  serious 
nature  of  the  military  situation  confront- 
ing the  Government  by  the  menacing  ap- 
proach toward  Moscow  was  depicted  in  a 
proclamation  calling  upon  the  people  to 
do  their  utmost  to  bring  about  Denikin's 
and  Mamontov's  defeat.  Tambov,  cap- 
tured by  Mamontov,  is  250  miles  south- 
east of  Moscow;  Kursk  290  miles  to  the 
southwest.  Mamontov's  operations  west 
of  Tambov  would  bring  him -within  175 
miles  of  Moscow.  Both  General  Ma- 
montov and  his  Cossack  colleague,  Gen- 
eral Shkuko,  were  reported  on  Sept.  30 
to  be  suffering  from  shell  shock,  caused 
by  the  explosion  of  shells  in  a  Bolshevist 
bombardment  of  their  headquarters  on 
the  Don. 

Further  victories  were  announced  by 
General  Denikin  on  Oct.  13  in  the  direc- 
tion  of    Kiev,    Tchernigov,    and    Orel. 


Enormous  quantities  of  booty  and  large 
numbers  of  prisoners  were  captured  in 
the  occupation  of  Tchernigov,  on  the  left 
wing  of  General  Denikin's  army  north  of 
Kiev.  Two  hundred  hostages  who  had 
been  condemned  to  be  shot  by  the  Bolshe- 
viki  were  rescued.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant victories  won  by  General  Deni- 
kin at  this  time  was  the  capture  of  Orel, 
a  strategic  centre  238  miles  south  of 
Moscow,  together  with  thousands  of  pris- 
oners and  large  quantities  of  material. 
General  Denikin's  communique  reported 
this  capture  as  follows: 

Orel  was  entered  after  many  days  of 
fierce  fighting  in  which  several  Red  divi- 
sions were  defeated.  The  townspeople 
welcomed  the  troops,  falling  on  their 
knees  and  calling  out,  "  Christ  is  risen!  " 
East  of  Orel  our  troops  debouched  on  the 
line  Prechrazhenskoe-Turemeff. 

IN  WESTERN  UKRAINIA 
About  the  middle  of  September  mat- 
ters in  Western  Ukrainia  were  in  a  state 
of  considerable  confusion.  The  volunteer 
army  was  entering  into  a  sphere  of  inter- 
national relations  with  Middle  and  East- 
ern Europe.  The  Bolsheviki  were  depart- 
ing. Their  forces  ejected  from  Kiev  were 
retreating  hastily  to  the  northeast  to 
avoid  being  cut  off  by  the  Poles,  who 
were  advancing  on  Gomel.  Another  force 
was  retiring  northward  from  Odessa, 
trying  to  find  its  way  through  the  tangle 
of  friendly,  neutral,  and  openly  hostile 
bands  and  regiments  that  occupied  the 
various  areas  between  the  Lower  Dnieper 
and  Dniester  Basins. 

The  anti-Bolshevist  volunteer  army 
held  Kiev  and  a  strip  of  country  imme- 
diately to  the  west.  Its  nearest  neigh- 
bors on  the  west  were  Galician  Ukrain- 
ians under  an  Austrian  General  named 
Krause,  who  withdrew  to  Russia  after 
having  been  defeated  by  the  Poles  in 
Galicia  and  joined  the  forces  of  Petlura. 
The  relations  between  the  volunteer 
army  and  the  Ukrainians  were  those  of 
armed  neutrality.  So  far  as  the  Ukrain- 
ian movement  was  concerned^  Denikin 
had  pledged  himself  to  the  principle  of 
regional  autonomy  and  to  permitting  the 
cultivation  of  the  Ukrainian  or  Little 
Russian  language  and  literature.  As 
against  this  the  Germans  had  promoted 
the  movement  with  which  Petlura  was 


SING  IN  ON  SOVIET  Ri 


identified,  and  which  aimed  at  establish- 
ing an  independent  Ukrainian  State  in 
Russia.  Denikin  had  resolutely  set  his 
face  against  this  movement  "  in  the  name 
of  united  and  undivided  Russia."  In  con- 
sequence of  this  attitude  the  feeling  of 
the  Ukrainians,  who  have  long  been  de- 
termined on  autonomous  independence, 
has  been  one  of  hostility  to  the  person- 
ality of  General  Denikin  and  to  the 
movement  led  by  him;  the  Ukrainian  In- 
formation Bureaus  in  Paris,  London,  and 
New  York  have  constantly  attacked  him. 
The  Ukrai^1'  Bureau  in  London  on  Oct. 
8,  after  referring  to  the  causes  of  con- 
flict between  Denikin  and  the  Ukrainian 
General,  Petlura,  stated  that  all  efforts 
to  avert  a  break  between  them  had  failed 
and  that  General  Petlura  had  declared 
war  upon  the  Russian  anti-Bolshevist 
commander  in  the  south.  On  Oct.  8 
violent  fighting  between  the  Russian 
volunteer  army  and  the  Ukrainians  was 
reported.  These  conflicts  were  continuing 
on  Oct.  11. 

On  the  Dniester  the  volunteer  army 
was  in  contact  with  the  Rumanians  and 
virtually  in  contact  with  the  Poles,  who 
were  regarded  as  allies  in  the  struggle 
against  the  Bolsheviki.  A  Polish  mili- 
tary and  economic  mission  had  just  ar- 
rived with  the  object  of  establishing  a 
satisfactory  modus  vivendi  in  connection 
with  boundary  and  other  matters  in  dis- 
pute. Similar  arrangements  with  Ru- 
mania were  also  in  the  making. 

Regarding  Denikin's  attitude  toward 
Poland  and  Finland,  an  important  an- 
nouncement was  made  at  Helsingfors  on 
Oct.  9  by  General  Krasnov,  Denikin's 
representative,  to  the  effect  that  Gen- 
eral Denikin  had  unconditionally  recog- 
nized the  independence,  of  these  two 
countries.  Krasnov  stated  that  the 
crushing  of  the  Soviet  regime  was  cer- 
tain, and  declared  that  it  would  be  most 
unwise  for  the  Baltic  States  to  conclude 
peace  with  the  Bolsheviki  at  that  time. 
He  also  alluded  to  the  large  quantities 
of  war  material  supplied  to  Denikin,  on 
which  the  latter's  uninterrupted  suc- 
cesses were  based.  It  was  announced  in 
Paris  on  Oct.  8  that  General  Mangin, 
whose  recall  from  command  of  the 
Eighth  Army  had  just  been  published, 


was  to  proceed  to  South  Russia  and  join 
General  Denikin,  in  company  with  Baron 
Basil  Maklakov,  Russian  Ambassador  to 
Paris,  to  co-ordinate  the  policy  of  the 
formers    anti-Bolshevist    Government. 

THE  SIBERIAN  FRONT 
The  phenomenal  successes  of  General 
Denikin  in  South  Russia,  compelling  the 
Soviet  Government  to  withdraw  forces 
from  the  Siberian  front,  were  reflected 
in  the  Ural  region  at  the  beginning  of 
September  by  Admiral  Kolchak's  action 
in  starting  a  wide  offensive  with  his 
three  western  armies.  This  triple  cam- 
paign came  to  a  climax  about  Sept.  24. 
At'  the  beginning  of  September  General 
Sakharov  held  the  Bolshevist  forces  back 
along  the  Kurgan-Ishim  highway,  while 
in  the  north,  at  Tobolsk  and  east  of  Ir- 
tish, the  Red  emissaries  were  vainly  try- 
ing to  stir  the  peasants  to  attack  the 
Kolchak  armies  from  the  rear.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  Omsk  forces  in  the  south  was 
less  favorable.  The  Reds  had  constituted 
a  new  force  in  Samara,  composed-  of  the 
First  and  Fourth  Armies,  under  the 
designation  of  the  Turkestan  front. 
Orders  had  been  sent  to  all  the  Bolshe- 
vist authorities  to  prepare  for  the  tran- 
sit of  troops  and  material  from  the  lower 
Volga  to  Central  Asia. 

By  Sept.  11  Genera!  Sakharov's  army 
was  winning  continuous  successes  in  the 
direction  of  Kurgan,  (about  200  miles 
southwest  of  Tobolsk,)  having  captured 
five  staffs,  2,000  prisoners,  19  cannon, 
40  machine  guns  and  a  large  amount  of 
other  booty.  Cossacks  co-operating  had 
driven  the  Bolsheviki  to  the  northwest. 
The  Second  Siberian  Army,  under  Gen- 
eral Lokvitsky,  was  also  advancing  and 
forcing  its  way  past  the  flank  and  in 
the  rear  of  the  Bolshevist  forces  on  the 
Ishim-Tiumen  railway.  Hard  fighting 
was  in  progress. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
September  the  Siberian  troops  had 
pushed  forward  an  average  distance 
of  seventy-five  miles  along  the  whofe 
front  in  the  face  of  serious  resistance 
and  counterattacks,  and  15,000  prison- 
ers, 100  machine  guns,  and  21  heavy  can- 
non had  been  captured.  Further  de- 
velopments were  reported  on  Oct.  1.  All 
three  of  Admiral  Kolchak's  armies  had 


300 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


advanced  another  15  miles,  making  an 
average  gain  of  90  miles  since  the  offen- 
sive began. 

A  wireless  message  from  the  Kolchak 
Government  dated  Oct.  13  announced 
a  general  retreat  by  the  Bolsheviki  along 
the  entire  line.  They  were  deporting 
whole  populations  between  the  ages  of 
16  and  50,  as  well  as  driving  away  the 
cattle  as  they  departed. 

PLOT  AGAINST  KOLCHAK 

That  there  were  forces  in  Siberia  seek- 
ing the  overthrow  of  the  Kolchak  regime 
was  plain  on  Sept.  15,  when  it  was  an- 
nounced from  Vladivostok  that  Ivan 
Yakushev,  President  of  the  first  Siberian 
Duma,  which  Admiral  Kolchak  dissolved 
in  the  Fall  of  1918,  had  signed  and  issued 
secretly  a  proclamation  calling  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  Kolchak  Government 
and  the  calling  of  a  popular  convention 
to  establish  an  All-Siberian  Constituent 
Assembly.  The  proclamation  accused 
Kolchak  and  his  coadjutors  of  both  mili- 
tary and  political  incapacity,  and 
enumerated  a  list  of  reform  measures  to 
be  passed  by  the  proposed  new  Assembly, 
including  local  self-government,  land- 
cession  to  peasants,  freedom  of  work- 
men's unions,  and  abolition  of  the  alleged 
"  reactionary  "  regime  in  the  army. 

The  Omsk  Government  was  also  faced 
with  diplomatic  difficulties  involving 
Americans.  At  Iman,  Siberia,  on  Sept.  5, 
Cossack  troops  commanded  by  General 
Kalmykov  had  arrested  an  American 
officer  and  an  enlisted  man  on  the  pre- 
text of  lack  of  proper  identification 
papers,  and  had  flogged  the  latter.  Gen- 
eral Graves,  the  American  commander, 
demanded  an  apology  from  General 
Rozanov,  the  Russian  commander  in  that 
province.  The  strained  situation  was  re- 
lieved on  Oct.  1  when  the  Russian  Am- 
bassador at  Washington,  Boris  Bakme- 
tev,  informed  the  State  Department  that 
General  Rozanov  had  formally  tendered 
the  desired  apology  and  promised  to  call 
for  the  punishment  of  the  offending 
troops. 

It  appeared  from  Omsk  advices  of 
Sept.  23  that  General  Graves,  in  retalia- 
tion for  scurrilous  articles  published 
in  a  Vladivostok  newspaper,  as  well  as 
for   the   hostile   acts   of   Cossack  chiefs 


against  Americans  in  the  Far  East  zone, 
had  held  up  shipments  of  14,000  rifles 
which  had  arrived  from  America  con- 
signed to  the  All-Russian  Government  at 
Omsk.  The  Omsk  Government  protested 
to  the  Washington  Government.  On  Oct. 
2  the  State  Department  ordered  that  the 
delivery  of  these  rifles  be  made,  and  an- 
nounced that  efforts  were  being  exerted 
to  persuade  the  Omsk  Government  to 
suppress  the  newspaper  which  had  pub- 
lished the  attack,  or  at  least  to  compel 
a  less  hostile  attitude  toward  the  Ameri- 
can forces.  The  trend  of  the  attack  in 
question  was  that  the  United  States  was 
fostering  disunion  in  Russia,  desiring 
not  to  see  a  united  Russia,  but  a  number 
of  disunited  and  autonomous  powers  to 
facilitate  its  own  materialistic  ends. 

On  Sept.  18  Admiral  Kolchak  issued  a 
decree  calling  a  Zemstvo  congress  to  con- 
sider the  solution  of  the  many  problems 
confronting  the  Government,  and  to  put 
in  motion  the  machinery  for  legal  ad- 
ministrative measures.  At  this  time  the 
Omsk  treasury  had  a  gold  reserve, 
largely  in  the  shape  of  ingots  and  coin, 
including  some  gold  plate,  weighing  1,- 
440,000  pounds.  An  official  inspection 
of  this  vast  deposit  was  arranged  by  the 
Minister  of  Finance  for  foreign  corre- 
spondents, for  the  purpose  of  confirm- 
ing statements  made  by  the  Government 
that  sufficient  funds  existed  to  finance 
the  extensive  undertakings  projected. 

IN  SOVIET  RUSSIA 

Previously  described  conditions  of  epi- 
demic and  demoralization  continued  in 
Petrograd.  Deaths  from  cholera  and 
dysentery  had  risen  from  200  to  300  a 
day,  sanitary  conditions  were  intolerable, 
and  many  hospitals  had  closed  owing  to 
scarcity  of  food  and  medicine.  Carts 
jogging  along  with  many  coffins,  con- 
taining the  bodies  of  the  dead,  were  a 
common  sight.  The  State  Bank  had  been 
looted  of  more  than  2,000,000  rubles. 
Officers  were  deserting  from  the  Bol- 
shevist army,  and  Trotzky,  the  Soviet 
Minister  of  War,  had  ordered  the  pun- 
ishment of  their  families.  Moscow  was 
declared  in  a  state  of  siege,  due  to  the 
advance  of  Mamontov  and  Denikin.  All 
youths  of  15  and  17  years  had  been  called 
to  the  colors.    A  Soviet  Government  ap- 


CLOSING  IN  ON  SOVIET  RUSSIA 


.101 


MAP  OF  PETROGRAD  REGION,  WHERE  YUDENITCH  MADE  HIS  SUDDEN 
INCURSION  FROM  THE  SOUTH.  RIGA  AND  MITAU  WERE  THE  SCENE  OF 
GERMAN     OPERATIONS     UNDER    VON     DER    GOLTZ     AND     AVALOV-BERMONDT 


peal,  the  text  of  which  reached  London 
on  Sept.  22,  admitted  the  loss  of  impor- 
tant cities  in  the  south,  and  called  on  the 
workmen  and  peasants  to  "  conquer  the 
coal  and  the  factories,  which  will  give 
us  the  indispensable."  It  added:  "De- 
feat Denikin  and  again  the  factory  chim- 
neys will  smoke  and  the  locomotives  and 
trains  of  wheat  will  circulate."  The 
Council  of  People's  Commissaries  in  Mos- 
cow had  ordered  Admiral  Kolchak  and 
his  Ministers  outlawed. 

At  about  this  time  Leon  Trotzky,  in  a 
speech  delivered  in  Petrograd,  announced 
the  determination  of  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment to  defeat  its  enemies  one  by  one. 
Peace  had  been  offered  the  Balkan 
States,  he  dec'ared,  because  they  were 
insignificant.  Denikin,  like  Kolchak, 
would  be  defeated  and  driven  back,  and 
then  would  come  the  turn  of  Poland  and 
Rumania.  If  Fin1  and  tried  to  intervene 
in  Russian  affairs,  war  would  be  waged 
on  her  also.  The  contest  was  placed  by 
Trotzky  and  his  Government  on  the 
ground     of     a     worldwide     conspiracy 


against  the  world's  proletariat,  and  a 
Moscow  wireless  charged  that  Germany 
and  Great  Britain  had  concluded  a  secret 
compact  to  secure  this  end.  Paris  ad- 
vices reported  that  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment was  endeavoring  to  recruit  soldiers 
for  the  Red  Army  from  Austria  and  Ger- 
many; in  the  former  country  these  ef- 
forts had  been  unsuccessful,  but  many 
Germans  had  crossed  the  frontier,  in-* 
eluding  deserting  soldiers,  and  joined  the 
Soviet  forces. 

A  wireless  dispatch  of  Sept.  23  reported 
the  discovery  of  a  widespread  anti-Bol- 
shevist plot  in  Soviet  Russia,  which  led 
to  the  arrest  and  execution  of  sixty-seven 
men,  including  some  of  distinguished 
rank  and  attainments.  The  plot  origi- 
nated in  Moscow.  Among  those  executed 
were  the  former  Duma  member,  N.  N. 
Scheptin,  and  Professor  Astrov,  both  in- 
fluential adherents  of  the  "  Cadet " 
Party;  Professor  Volkov,  Prince  Obolen- 
sky,  and  Generals  Kuzrietsov  and  Ma- 
chov.  Others  arrested  were  Prince  An- 
drenikov,  Baron  Stroberg,  and  M.  Roza- 


304 


THE    XEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


nov,  a  widely  known   Menshevik   leader. 
Travelers  returning  from  Moscow  at  that 
time  stated  that  the  episode  had  brought 
a  renewal  of  the  Red  terror,  and  that  all 
persons  coming  under  the  slightest  sus- 
picion were  immediately  arrested.     The 
Bolshevist   official    organ,   the    Izvestia, 
commented  on  the  affair  as  follows: 
At  the  time  when  Denikin's  hordes  had 
entered   the*  heart   of   Soviet   Russia  spies 
prepared   a    rebellion  at    .Moscow.     The  so- 
called   National   Centre   Party   intended   to 
seize  the  reins  of  power,  but  the  plot  was 
discovered  and  members  *)f  the  party  were 
arrested    ai    Moscow   and    Petrograd. 

In  addition  to  members  of  technical  and 
military  eiubs.  among  the  prisoners  were 
Generals,  Princes,  teachers,  ami  officers 
who  had  given  Denikin  and  .ludenitch  in- 
formation regarding-  the  rno\  ■■inimia  of  the 
Red  Army.  '1  ne  conspii atol  s  also  pos- 
sessed arms,  Sixty-seven  of  them  were 
executed,  among  these  being  several  well- 
known  scientists. 

BOMBS  IN  THE  KREMLIN 

An  event  even  more  sensational  oc- 
curred in  Moscow  on  Sept.  25,  when  thir- 
teen Bolshevist  commissaries  were  killed 
by  a  bomb  thrown  during  a  meeting  of 
the  Moscow  Soviet  in  the  Kremlin.  Ad- 
vices to  the  State  Department  indicated 
that  this  was  the  second  bomb  attack 
that  had  occurred.  As  a  result  of  this 
second  attack  the  Bolshevist  authorities 
had  appointed  an  extraordinary  commis- 
sion to  handle  the  situation,  and  had 
p'aced  the  city  under  martial  law; 
Among  the  victims  was  the  notorious 
Jacob  Peters,  who  had  been  called  the 
"  Chief  Executioner  of  the  Russian  Rev- 
olution." An  English  criminal,  a  rag- 
picker implicated  and  arrested  in  con- 
nection with  the  killing  of  three  police- 
men, this  man  had  become  the  most  sin- 
ister figure  of  the  Bolshevist  Red  Ter- 
ror, a  man  whose  power  over  life  and 
death  was  absolute,  who  was  depicted  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Bolshevist  as- 
cendency as  signing  death  warrants 
without  even  looking  at  them,  and  who 
mocked  the  relatives  of  his  victims  when 
they  came  to  inquire  about  the  fate  of 
those  executed.  The  orgy  of  slaughter 
in  which  he  induced  with  Zinoviev, 
President  of  the  Petrograd  Soviet,  and 
Shatov,  formerly  a  New  York  anarchist, 
head  of  the  Extraordinary  Commission 
against  the  Counter-Revolution,  appalled 


Lenin,  who  vainly  protested,  and  whose 
power  in  internal  affairs  waned  in  con- 
sequence. 

A  Soviet  wireless  dispatch  of  Oct.  5 
intercepted  at  Omsk  declared  that  the 
situation  had  never  been  so  serious  and 
that  the  anti-Bolshevist  forces  converg- 
ing from  all  sides  on  Moscow  had  n,ever 
approached  so  near.  The  dispatch  stated 
that  anti-Bolshevist  armies  were  mov- 
ing toward  the  heait  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment from  all  directions,  that  Bol- 
shevist organizations  were  disintegrat- 
ing, and  that  there  were  only  9,000  mem- 
bers of  the  party  left  in  Moscow.  Dan- 
ish advices  of  Oct.  13  stated  that  the 
Bolsheviki  were  calling  a  council  of  their 
leaders  to  discuss  the  situation.  At 
this  time  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
Moscow  Soviet  had  resolved  to  declare 
martial  law  and  to  create  a  special  com- 
mittee, with  the  fullest  authority,  to 
fight  the  Counter-Revolutionary  League, 
which  still  had  ramifications  in  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

The  Swedish  Foreign  Department  on 
Oct.  10  confirmed  the  reports  dissemi- 
nated shortly  before  of  the  sacking  of 
the  Swedish  Legation  in  Petrograd  and 
the  Consular  offices  in  Petrograd  and 
Moscow  by  the  Bolshevist  authorities, 
declaring  that  valuables  and  private  de- 
posits aggregating  12,000,000  rubies  had 
been  confiscated. 

AMERICAN    EMBASSY    SACKED 

A  detailed  account  of  the  sacking  of 
the  American  Embassy  in  Petrograd  last 
July  was  published  in  London  for  the 
first  time  on  Oct.  2.  According  to  this 
account,  Commissary  Karolov  took  pos- 
session of  the  embassy  in  the  morning 
of  July  10.  Every  cupboard  and  press 
was  searched,  doors  were  burst  open, 
and  a  fruitless  search  for  provisions, 
valuables,  and  firearms  was  conducted. 
In  a  second  search  a  week  later  Soviet 
soldiers  stripped  the  place  of  piactically 
everything.  When  the  soldiers  had  fin- 
ished, the  crowd  burst  in  and  rooted  what 
was  left.  Members  of  the  Red  Army 
then  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  em- 
bassy, which  they  turned  into  a  species 
of  inn. 

On  Oct.  16  the  text  of  a  note  from  the 
Supreme  Council   of  the   Peace   Confer- 


GERMAN  TROOPS  IN  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


303 


ence  inviting  Germany  to  participate  in 
a  combined  blockade  of  Soviet  Russia 
was  published  by  the  Berlin  Tageblatt. 
This  note  indicated  that  Sweden,  Nor* 
way,  Denmark,  Holland,  Finland,  Spain, 
Switzerland,  Mexico,  Chile,  Argentina, 
Colombia,  and  Venezuela  had  also  been 
invited  to  initiate  measures  to  prevent 
their  nationals  from  engaging  in  any 
trade  with  Bolshevist  Russia.  The  pre- 
amble to  the  note  declared  that  the  open 
enmity  of  the  Bolsheviki  was  directed 
against  all  Governments  and  that  pro- 
grams of  international  evolution,  circu- 
lated by  them,  constituted  a  grave  danger 
to  the  national  security  of  all  the  powers. 
Every  increase  in  the  capacity  of  the 
Bolsheviki  for  resistance  increased  this 
danger,  the  preamble  added,  and  it  was 
desirable  that  all  nations  wishing  peace 
and  the  re-establishment  of  social  order 
should  unite  to  resist  Bolshevist  govern- 
ment. For  this  reason,  it  was  further 
declared,  the  allied  and  associated  Gov- 
ernments, after  raising  the  blockade  of 
Germany,  had  refused  permission  to  their 
nationals  to  resume  commercial  relations 
with  Bolshevist  Russia.  The  measures 
to  be  taken  were  thus  enumerated: 

First.— Refusal  of  permission  to  sail  to 
every  ship  bound  for  a  Russian  Bolshe- 
vist port  and  the  closing  of  all  ports  to 
ships  from   Bolshevist  ports. 

Second.  —  Similar  regulations  to  be 
adopted  with  regard  to  all  goods  des- 
tined for  Russia  by  any  other  route. 

Third.— Passports  will  be  refused  to  all 
persons    to    or    from    Bolshevist    Russia. 


Isolated  exceptions  may  be  made  by 
agreement  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers. 

Fourth.— Measures  will  be  taken  to  hin- 
der the  banks  from  granting  credit  to 
commercial  undertakings  in  Bolshevist 
Russia. 

Fifth.— Every  Government  will  refuse 
its  nationals  any  facilities  of  intercourse 
with  Bolshevist  Russia,  whether  by  post 
or  wireless  telegraphy. 

Marshal  Foch  added  the  following  in- 
struction : 

Inform  the  German  Government  that 
the  British  and  French  men-of-war  in 
the  Gulf  of  Finland  will  continue  to 
blockade  Bolshevist  ports  and  detain 
from  the  moment  they  come  in  sight 
ships  bound  for  Bolshevist  ports. 

The  German  Government  was  request- 
ed to  take  measures  in  conformity  with 
those  enumerated. 

The  decision  to  authorize  the  inter- 
allied Generalissimo  to  make  this  request 
of  Germany  was  reached  as  early  as 
Aug.  19;  the  concrete  plan  of  a  formal 
note  to  this  effect  to  Germany  and  the 
neutral  nations  was  determined  on  Sept. 
30.  Secretary  Polk,  head  of  the  Ameri- 
can delegation,  helped  draw  up  the  note 
to  the  neutrals,  the  text  of  which  was 
different  from  that  forwarded  to  Berlin 
only  in  the  phrasing  of  the  preamble. 
The  invitation  had  not  been  formally 
considered  by  the  German  Government 
on  Oct.  13,  but  a  statement  had  been 
issued  indicating  that  the  Cabinet's 
answer  would  be  of  a  temporizing 
nature. 


German  Troops  in  the  Baltic  States 

Ultimatum  to  Von  der  Goltz 

[Period  Ended  Oct.  18,  1919.— See  Map  on  Page  301] 


nrtHE  gravest  problem  with  which  the 
Peace  Conference  had  to  deal  in  the 
Baltic  region  was  the  continued  re- 
fusal Of  the  German  troops  under  Gen- 
eral von  der  Goltz  to  withdraw  from 
Courland  and  adjoining  provinces.  The 
Berlin  Government  professed  to  be 
unable  to  compel  the  return  of  these 
forces,  which  were  suspected  of  lending 
their  aid  to  Junker  designs  for  gaining 


a    permanent    foothold    in    the    Baltic 
region. 

A  letter  from  an  American  Army 
officer  made  public  by  the  American 
Relief  Administration  toward  the  end 
of  September  stated  that  there  were 
100,000  German  troops  in  Letvia,  and 
that  von  der  Goltz  was  receiving 
more  troops  than  he  sent  home. 
The  whole  City  of  Mitau,  only  twenty- 


804 


THE    SEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


five  miles  from  the  Lett  capital,  was  oc- 
cupied by  them.  Acts  of  violence  com- 
mitted by  them  on  the  Letts  were  de- 
scribed. Promises  of  land  and  money 
were  contained  in  German  official  com- 
munications. The  allied  officers  were 
ignored  or  insulted.  Machine  guns  were 
posted  everywhere,  and  the  whole  region 
was  under  the  military  rule  of  the  Ger- 
man invaders. 

On  Sept.  15  it  was  reported  from 
Polish  sources  that  200  Polish  leaders 
had  been  seized  by  the  Germans  at  Kov- 
no,  Lithuania. 

On  the  same  date  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  the  Peace  Conference  decided  to 
send  Germany  another  note.  After  hear- 
ing General  Foch,  the  council  decided 
that  there  was  no  merit  in  the  German 
Government's  assertion  that  it  was  not 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  von  der  Goltz, 
and  that  it  must  compel  his  withdrawal. 
In  its  communications  with  the  confer- 
ence the  German  Government  professed 
inability  to  control  these  troops  in  the 
Baltic  Provinces,  and  blamed  von  der 
Goltz  and  the  German  Barons  for  the 
continued  presence  of  the  German  forces 
in  the  forbidden  territory. 

ULTIMATUM  OF  ALLIES 
The  Supreme  Council  on  Sept.  28  dis- 
patched a  note  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment which  was  equivalent  to  an  ulti- 
matum. The  text  of  this  note,  made  pub- 
lic by  the  Washington  Government  on 
Sept.  30,  was  as .  follows : 

According-  to  the  terms  of  Article  12  of 
the  armistice  of  Nov.  11,  1!UK,  Germ/un- 
subscribed to  the  following-  engagement : 

"  All  German  troops  at  present  in  any 
territory  which  before  the  war  belonged 
to  Austria-Hungary,  Rumania,  or  Turkey 
shall  withdraw  within  the  frontiers  of 
Germany  as  they  existed  Aug.  I,  1014,  and 
all  German  troops  at  present  in  territories 
which  before  the  war  formed  parr  of  Rus- 
sia must  likewise  return  to  within  the 
frontiers  of  Germany,  above  defined,  as 
soon  as  the  Allies  shall  think  the  moment 
suitable,  having  regard  to  the  internal  sit- 
uation in  these  territories." 

Cnder  date  of  Aug.  27  Marshal  Foch. 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated armies,  made  known  the  time  had 
come  for  Germany  to  evacuate  the  said 
territories,  and  summoned  the  German 
Government  to  proceed  thereto  immedi- 
ately. 

By  its  note  of  Sept.  :>  the  German  Gov- 


ernment endeavored  to  evade  the  engage- 
ment above  referred  to  by  alleging  pre- 
text* widen  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  were  unable  to  consider. 

The  allied  and  associated  Governments 
particularly  refuse  to  admit  that  tin-  Ger- 
man Government  can,  in  order  to  avoid 
responsibiIit>  upon  it,  shield  itself  behind 
alleged  inability  to  enforce  obedience  to 
its  orders  by  troops  in  the  Baltic  regions. 

They  therefore  request  the  German  Gov- 
ernment to  proceed  without  delay  to  the 
evacuation  of  all  German  troops,  staffs, 
and  services  included  now  In  the  Baltic 
Provinces.  The  German  Government  will 
immediately  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
withdraw  within  aforesaid  boundaries  all 
German  officers  and  soldiers  who  have 
enlisted  since  the  demobilization  in  Rus- 
sian corps  organized  in  said  Baltic  Prov- 
ince* and  will  withhold  authorization  for 
and  strictly  forbid  enlistment  in  said 
corps. 

Kvacuation  must  be  started  immediately 
and  must  continue  without  Interruption. 
The  allied  and  associated  Governments 
hereby  notify  that,  unless  they  are  satis- 
fied that  their  demands  are  being  effec- 
tively executed,  they  will  not  entertain 
any  of  the  applications  put  forward  by 
the  German  Government  for  supplies  of 
foodstuffs  and  raw  materials.  They  have 
consequently  given  instructions  not  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  examination  of  any  of 
these  applications. 

Furthermore,  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments  will  refuse  all  financial  fa- 
cilities which  the  German  Government  is 
enjoying  at  the  present  time,  or  which  it 
is  seeking  from  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments  or  their  nationals. 

In  the  event  of  non-compliance  on  the 
part  of  the  German  Government  the  al- 
lied and  associated  powers  will  take  such 
measures  as  they  shall  judge  necessary  to 
enforce  the  aforesaid  terms  of  the  ar- 
mistice. 

GERMAN  OFFICIAL  ATTITUDE 

In  Berlin  on  Oct.  3  it  was  said  that 
though  Noske  and  other  members  of  the 
Government  had  believed  that  von  der 
Goltz  entertained  no  counter-revolution- 
ary ideas,  but  merely  sought  to  do  his 
best  for  the  Fatherland,  the  situation 
had  begun  to  be  serious.  Von  der  Goltz 
himself  had  remained  absolutely  silent 
regarding  his  intentions,  merely  ac- 
knowledging Noske's  urgent  summons  to 
return  immediately  with  his  troops  un- 
less he  wished  to  foifeit  his  own  and  all 
his  officers'  pensions,  and  expose  Ger- 
many to  "  vengeful  "  measures  by  the 
Entente. 


GERM  AX  TROOPS  IX  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


so  5 


Though  the  Government  feared  von 
der  Goltz's  unruly  troop.*,  they  feared 
even  more  the  threatened  blockade,  and 
had  already  cut  off  supplies  to  the  Baltic 
army.  They  had  also  dissolved  what  in 
the  Prussian  War  Office  was  known  as 
the  Department  for  the  White  Russian 
Army,  opener!  by  anti-Bolshevist  Russian 
nationalists  in  Berlin  and  headed  in  the 
Baltic  by  a  Russian,  Colonel  Avalov- 
Bermondt.  Though  von  der  Goltz  had 
received  the  German  Government's  order 
to  evacuate,  he  had  not  moved,  and  on 
Oct.  1  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt  had 
been  ordered  to  report  immediately  at 
General  Headquarters  in  Mitau  to  re- 
ceive instructions  concerning  his  new 
command;  this  order  was  signed,  "Von 
der  Goltz.  Commanding  General.  Main 
Headquarters,  Mitau."  Rumors  of  a 
contemplated  coup,  by  which  von  der 
Goltz  would  proclaim  himself  dictator  of 
the  whole  Baltic  region,  were  rife  among 
German  military  officers  who  had  re- 
cently returned  from  this  district. 

Official  notice  was  given  at  Paris  on 
Oct,  5  that  Germany  had  delivered  to 
General  Dupont,  commander  of  the  Inter- 
allied Mission  at  Berlin,  a  memorandum 
stating  that  it  had  recalled  General  von 
der  Goltz,  and  on  Sept.  25  had  stopped 
pay,  supplies,  and  munitions  to  the  Ger- 
man troops  in  the  Baltic  Provinces  and 
in  Lithuania,  and  asserting  that  it  was 
doing  everything  possible  to  bring  about 
the  withdrawal  of  the  German  soldiers 
in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  the 
Supreme  Council.  General  von  Eberhard 
had  been  appointed  in  place  of  General 
von  der  Goltz  to  take  charge  of  the  evac- 
uation. The  memorandum  insisted  that 
with  these  measures  Germany  had  ex- 
hausted its  means  of  coercion,  and  re- 
quested the  appointment  of  an  allied 
commission  to  visit  the  Baltic  Provinces 
and  verify  this  fact. 

GERMAN   EXCUSES  CONSIDERED 

On  Oct.  7  the  Supreme  Council  dis- 
cussed the  German  Government's  memo- 
randum reply  and  decided  to  send  an- 
other note.  The  paragraph  of  the  Ger- 
man reply  referring  to  the  stoppage  of 
pay  was  taken  as  evidence  that,  the  Ger- 
man authorities  had  long  continued  the 


pay  of  soldiers  who,  by  their  own  ad- 
mission, were  "  rebellious."  On  the  same 
date  Herr  Bauer,  the  German  Chancellor, 
in  a  speech  before  the  National  Assem- 
bly, said  that  decisive  measures  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  Baltic  Provinces  had 
been  taken,  and  that  news  of  this  had 
been  communicated  to  the  Entente  three 
days  before  the  ultimatum  had  been  re- 
ceived.    He  said : 

1  protest  before  the  whok-  world  against 
this  ultimatum.  It  la  not  thus  that  we 
have  imagined  the  dawn  of  the  new  era 
provided  for  by   the  League  of  Nations. 

GERMAN  ASSAULT  ON  RIGA 

On  Oct.  8  the  nominally  Russian  army 
under  the  pro-German  Colonel.  Avalov- 
Bermondt,  opened  a  bombardment  on 
Riga.  The  Letts  offered  heroic  resistance 
on  a  ten-mile  front,  but  on  Oct.  10,  under 
furious  attacks  by  the  troops  of  General 
von  der  Goltz,  with  tanks  and  airplanes, 
the  Lettish  army  gave  way  and  Ber- 
mondt's  advance  guard  entered  Riga. 
Bermondt  then  proclaimed  Courland  and 
Mitau  as  belonging  to  the  Russian  Gen- 
eral Government,  and  assumed  the  title 
of  Governor  General.  Official  explana- 
tion of  his  action  was  given  by  him  in  a 
note  handed  to  the  Entente  representa- 
tives on  Oct.  8.  The  text  of  this  note  as 
published  was  as  follows: 

In  order  to  combat  Bolshevism,  restore 
order,  and  secure  the  safety  of  my  base 
of  action,  I  have,  as  head  of  the  Russian 
army  in  the  western  provinces,  concluded 
an  agreement  with  the  commanders  of 
the  German  Army  Corps  occupying  the 
country,  under-  which,  I  guarantee  the 
gradual  Withdrawal  of  their-  troops  and 
the  safety  of  their  transportation  to  Ger- 
many. 

In  order  to  help  remedy  the  chaotic 
state  of  the  administration  of  the  pro- 
vinces occupied  by  my  troops,  I  appoint- 
ed a  central  committee  charged  to  draft 
and  organize  a  temporary  administration 
and  also  to  prepare  foundations  for  liberal 
administrative  measures  on  a  democratic- 
basis  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the    population. 

The  present  Lettish  Government  began 
to  send  a  number  of  Lettish  troops  against 
the  boundaries  of  my  military  base,  which 
violated  the  neutral  zone.  This  evoked 
a  number  of  minor-  collisions  w.-me  my 
troops    were    replacing   German   posts. 

I  had  given  my  posts  orders,  despite 
the  continued  provocation,  not  to  let  them- 
selves become  involved  with  the  Letts 
and    Bsthonians       The    latter    interpreted 


306 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


my  action  as  weakness  and  attacked  my 
petitions. 

I  was  compelled  to  take  measures  for 
my  military  safety  and  occupy  a  new 
line,  making  it  possible  to  march  against 
and  effectively  combat  Bolshevism  and 
the  enemies  of  my  country.  I  hope  that 
the  powers  allied  with  my  country  will 
support  my  endeavors  in  accordance  with 
treaties  and  grant  me  all  facilities  to 
take  requisite  measures. 

The  Lettish  Government,  while  con- 
tinuing fighting  on  the  western  flank  of 
the  city,  dispatched  an  energetic  protest 
to  the  Peace  Conference.  The  Supreme 
Council,  perturbed'  by  these  new  Baltic 
developments,  drew  up  a  note  to  the  Ger- 
man Government  which  included  a  pro- 
test against  the  attack  by  German  troops 
on  Riga.  The  note  threw  full  responsi- 
bility on  the  German  Government  for  its 
failure  to  oust  von  der  Goltz  from  the 
Baltic  Provinces,  and  for  the  unexpected 
assault  upon  the  Letts,  and  reiterated 
its  intention  of  applying  the  economic 
blockade.  The  note  also  announced  the 
creation  of  an  interallied  commission  to 
control  the  evacuation  insisted  upon  in 
the   region   affected. 

Demands  that  German  ships  on  the 
Baltic  be  recalled  to  their  home  ports 
and  that  all  others  be  forbidden  to  leave 
in  view  of  the  attack  on  Riga  were  re- 
ceived by  Germany  from  the  Entente 
Powers  on  Oct.  11.  Six  German  mer- 
chant ships  were  seized  by  the  British 
shortly  afterward  and  taken  to  Reval. 

RECALL  OF  VON  DER  GOLTZ 

General  von  der  /Goltz  finally  trans- 
ferred his  command  in  the  Baltic  region 
on  Oct.  12  to  General  von  Eberhard, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  him. 
The  semi-official  Berlin  statement  an- 
nouncing this  change  also  declared  that 
on  the  previous  day  the  Government  had 
ordered  a  complete  stoppage  of  all  pro- 
visions to  the  insubordinate  troops  and 
of  all  passenger  traffic  from  Germany 
toward  the  Baltic  States*. 

Meanwhile  allied  cruisers  were  aiding 
in  the  defense  of  Riga  against  German 
attacks,  which  had  been  going  on  con- 
tinuously for  five  days;  On  Oct.  14 
the  commander  of  the  British  naval 
forces,  acting  on  his  own  initiative,  sent 
word  to  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt  that  he 
must  withdraw  from  the  suburbs  of  Riga 


by  noon  of  Oct.  15  or  the  British  war- 
ships would  bombard  his  positions.  A 
British-French  squadron  of  more  than 
twenty  vessels  had  arrived  before  Riga 
by  Oct.  16.  The  Letts  had  received  6,000 
Esthonian  reinforcements,  and  had  suc- 
ceeded in  crossing  the  Dvina  both  above 
and  below  Riga.  Premier  Uimanis  had 
been  slightly  wounded.  The  Lettish 
Foreign  Minister  had  been  sent  to  War- 
saw to  seek  aid  of  the  Polish  Army.  Thus 
the  matter  stood  when  the  present  article 
went  to  press. 

On  Oct.  8  John  Alleyne  Gade  left  the 
United  States  to  become  Commissioner 
of  the  United  States  to  the  Baltic  Prov- 
inces of  Letvia,  Esthonia,  and  Lithua- 
nia. Before  departure  Mr.  Gade  stated 
that  his  appointment  meant  that  this 
country  would  sympathetically  follow 
events  in  these  regions,  and  particular- 
ly would  do  its  share  toward  forcing 
Generals  von  der  Goltz  and  Eberhard 
and  their  considerable  armies  to  leave 
Letvia  and  Lithuania.  Mr.  Gade  pur- 
posed to  go  direct  to  Paris  before  pro- 
ceeding to  the  Baltic  to  learn  the  exact 
status  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  of  the 
disbanding  of  the  German  forces,  and 
to  study  and  advise  regarding  the  ques- 
tion of  the  food  blockade  in  case  of  re- 
fusal to  demobilize. 

GERMAN   RIGHTS   IN   LETVIA 

Though  the  Lettish  Government  in 
Riga  denied  the  existence  of  a  treaty  be- 
tween Germany  and  Letvia  providing  for 
the  conferring  of  Lettish  citizenship  and 
homestead  rights  upon  certain  members 
of  the  German  army  in  Courland,  Vor- 
warts,  the  leading  organ  of  the  Majority 
Socialists  in  Germany,  published  on  Sept. 
5  the  following  text  of  such  an  agree- 
ment: 

Riga,    Dec.   29,   1918. 
Treaty  between  the  Plenipotentiaries  of 
the   German    Nation    and    the    Provisional 
Lettish    Government. 

1.  The  Provisional  Lettish  Government 
declares  its  readiness  to  grant,  upon  re- 
quest, full  citizenship  in  the  Lettish  State 
to  all  members  of  foreign  armies  who 
have  been  active  at  least  four  weeks  in 
the  Association  of  Volunteer  Formations 
in  the  struggle  to  free  the  territory  of 
the  Lettish  State  from  the   Bolsheviki. 

2.  The  German  Baltic  citizens  of  the 
Lettish  State  receive  the  right  to  join  the 


GERMAN  TROOPS  IN  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


307 


National    German    Volunteer    Associations. 

Oi>  the  other  hand,  for  the  duration  oi 
irnpalgn,  there  will  be  no  objections 
to  the  use  of  German  officers  an«l  non- 
commissioned officers  as  Instructors  in 
the  Association  of  the  German -Lettish 
Companies  of  the  I,andwehr. 

:;.  Tlie  right  conceded  to  the  German 
Da  Its  in  the  treaty  of  Dec.  7  to  organize 
seven  national  companies  and  two  bat- 
teries in  the  Association  of  the  Landwehr 
is  expressly  guaranteed  by  the  Pro- 
visional Government,  even  if  Paragraph 
2  of  the  present  arrangements  should 
toad  to  the  temporary  dissolution  of  the 
German-Batto  associations.  In  case  the 
number-  of  the  Lettish  companies  of  the 
Landwehr  is  increased,  there  is  to  be  a 
corresponding  increase  in  the  number  of 
the  German  companies. 

j.  The  lists  of  enrollment  and  dis- 
charge of  volunteer's  made  necessary  for 
the  carrying  out  of   Paragraph  1   will   be 


sent  to  the  Provisional  Government  at 
least  once  a  week.  On  the  basis  of  these 
lists  the  contracting  par-ties  will  deter- 
mine which  German  citizens  have  earned 
the  right  to  citizenship  according  to 
Paragraph  1. 

(Signed)  AUGUST   WIN  NIG, 

German  Knvoy  in  Riga. 

K.     II,MANIS.     Premier. 

PR    PAKGFI.. 

.J.    SANP1TS. 

In  its  introduction  to  the  treaty  Vor- 
warts  said  that  according  to  its  terms 
the  "  German  Courland  warriors  have 
earned  Lettish  citizenship  and  therewith 
(damlt)  the  right  of  settlement  (Sied- 
lung),"  implying  that  full  Lettish  citi- 
zenship included  the  right  to  the  land 
claimed  by  Von  der  Goltz's  recalcitrant 
troops. 


Massacres  of  Jews  in  the  Ukraine 

Petl lira's  Troops  Accused 


THE  Zionist  Organization  of  America, 
with    headquarters    in    New    York, 
made  public  on   Oct.   10,   1919,  the 
substance  of  authentic  reports  describing 
massacres  of  more  than  30,000  Jews  in 
the   Ukraine.     The    reports    in    question 
were  made  by  two  Ukrainian  journalists 
who    had    escaped    to    London — Dr.    A. 
Koralnik  and  Meir  Grossman,  a  member 
ol  the  Jewish  National  Assembly  in  the 
Ukraine — and  their  accuracy  is  vouched 
for  by  the  Jewish  National   Secretariat 
and  the  Zionist  Organization  of  America. 
The  witnesses  declare  that  the  murders 
were  the  work  both  of  Petlura's  troops 
and  of  the  Bolshevist  Reds,  as  well  as  of 
General  Gregoriev,  many  of  whose  offi- 
cers are  ex-members  of  the  Czar's  notori- 
ous Black  Hundred.   The  Zionist  Organi- 
zation's summary  is  in  part  as  follows: 
Attached  to  the  report  is  a  list  of  thirty- 
eight    towns    in     Southern    Russia     when 
tin  se  massacres  occurred.     Five  thousand 
and    five   hundred    were   killed     at    Pros- 
kurov.      Two      thousand      were      killed     in 
Elizabethgrad.       There     the    mob     threw 
bombs     into     the     cellars     where     whole 
famllU  s  had  taken  h  fuse. 

in   Zabakritch   the   butchery    lasted    two 
days.      The    Jews    had    locked    thems.  ! 
in  their  houses.     The  bandits  entered    <nd 
in  prim  silence  struck   th<    Ji  ws  down   one 
aft<  r    anothi  r,      At    Tcherkaesl    800    were 


killed.  At  Litire  400.  The  whole  popula- 
tion of  Bobri,  an  agricultural  colony,  was 
exterminated,  except  one  old  woman  and 
five  children.  The  Jewish  communities  of 
Koublitch.  Alexandrovna.  Medjiboge  and 
Radomysl  wen  wiped  out.  At  Habidievka 
all  the  men.  .'100  in  number,  were  killed. 
The  town  of  Novi-.Yflsgevode  was  set  afire 
and  200  killed.  Four  hundred  wer<  killed 
at   Freschtlne   arri  500  at   Hirs-dnc 

The  report  s»  ts  forth  that  at  the  present 
moment  the  Ukraine  is  divided  into  the 
following    regions  of  power: 

1.  Bolshevik!  hold  the  provinces  of  Kiev, 
Tenet nigov,  parts  of  Podolia,  Volhynia 
and    Ekatt  rlnoslav. 

2.  Oenikin  holds  Kharkov,  Kherson. 
Poltava,  the  Crimea,  and  parts  of  the 
Province    of   Ekaterinoslav. 

x.  Between  both  r<  aions  Petlura,  Hu- 
so-called Ukrainian  Directorate,  occupies' 
parts  of  th<  Province*  of  Podolia  and 
Volhynia. 

1.  In  the  whole  of  the  I'kraine  region 
there  are  large  robber  bands  of  various 
dimensions. 

The  whole  period  from  the  end  of 
November.  1'nx,  is  filled  with  a  series  of 
pogroms.  They  were  commuted  partly  by 
the  troops,  parti)  by  the  civilian  popu- 
lation, especially  by  the  lower  middle 
classes,  and  also  by  the  peasant 
workmen.  The  principal  culprits  wtre  the 
of  Petlura  and  Grlgorlev,  whose 
officers  Jn  many  cases  belong  to  the 
Black  Hundred,  as  well  as  countless 
band1*.  Tin  Bolshevist  troops  hav.  also 
committed   many   pogroms,   but   their  mili- 


808 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


tary  commanders  took  rigorous  measures 
against  them  and  had  many  hundreds  of 
soldiers  shot  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
excesses.  But  the  military  authorities 
had  to  yield  in  the  end  to  the  anti-semitic 
feeling  to  the  extent  of  refraining  from 
sending  the  Jewish  commission  to  the 
front. 

Three  main  periods  of  the  pogroms  can 
be  distinguished.  The  first  period  was 
during  the  victorious  campaigns  of  Petlura 
against  the  Hetman,  November,  1918,  to 
January,  1919,  which  includes  particu- 
larly the  terrible  pogroms  of  Zhitomir  and 
Ovrutch.  The  second  period  was  from 
February  to  April,  1919,  when  the  Petlura 
troops  were  on  the  retreat  before  the 
Bolsheviki,  and  countless  bands  arose. 
Particularly  disastrous  was  the  two  days' 
massacre  at  Proskurov,  February  14  and 
15,  of  which  Colonel  Simosenki  was  the 
organizer.  It  has  been  absolutely  estab- 
lished and  registered  that  1,700  Jews  were 
murdered  on  this  occasion.  In  many  cases 
entire  families  were  completely  wiped  out. 

When  the  Central  Relief  Committee 
learned  of  the  pogroms,  it  sent  a  com- 
missioner with  100,000  rubles  to  Proskurov 
to  assist  the  survivors,  but  the  commis- 
sioner often  did  not  know  to  whom  he 
should  give  the  money,  as  there  were  no 
survivors  at  all. 

At  Filtschtin,  near  Proskurov,  400 
Jews  were  killed.  An  especially  terrible 
affair  was  the  holding  up  of  a  steamer 
on  the  Dnieper,  in  the  vicinity  of  Men- 
achikorie,  near  Kiev,  when  103  Jews  were 
seized  on  board  and  drowned.  Over  sixty 
corpses  were  recovered. 

The  worst  period  has  been  raging  since 
April  of  this  year.  The  troops  of  Grigo- 
riev  upon  capturing  Tscherkassi  put  to 
death  800  persons  there.  Equally  terrible 
were  the  excesses  at  Elizabethgrad,  where 
about  2,000  were  killed.  At  Trostientietz 
there  was  a  Bolshevist  garrison,  and  when 
the  peasants  rose  against  the  Bolshevist 
authority  the  Christian  section  of  the 
garrison  went  over  to  their  side  and  dis- 
armed their  Jewish  comrades.  There- 
upon, all  the  Jewish  inhabitants  of  the 
little  town— down  to  those  who  were  12 
years  of  age— were  locked  into  a  com- 
munal building  and  kept  in  prison  there 
for  two  days,  and  after  prolonged  de- 
liberations were  murdered.  More  than  400 
persons  were  then  slain. 

The  Jewish  National  Secretariat  has 
drawn  up  an  exact  record  of  all  the 
pogroms  from  the  end  of  November,  1918, 
down  to  May  28,  1919.  Pogroms  and 
bloody    excesses    are     recorded     to     have 


taken  place  in  127  places.  With  regard 
to  another  forty  or  fifty  places  it  cannot 
be  stated  definitely  what  dimensions  the 
excesses  assumed,  as  the  Secretariat  is 
unable  to  get  into  communication  with 
them.  The  total  number  of  Jews  who  are 
said  to  have  been  killed  in  these  pogroms 
Is  from  30,000  to  35,000.  A  long  list  of 
names  of  those  murdered  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  National  Secretariat. 

The  figure  given  is  quite  reliable,  and 
probably  even  falls  short  of  the  actual 
truth. 

The  Jews  tried  to  organize  in  self- 
defense,  but  this  was  not  permitted  by  the 
Bolsheviki,  who  urged  the  Jews  to  join 
the  Red  army,  if  they  wished  to  defend 
Jewish  lives.  The  pogroms  were  every- 
where marked  by  the  same  horrible  fea- 
tures, a  bestial  murder  lust  and  an  in- 
credible  passion    for   destruction. 

Under  the  Bolshevist  regime  nothing 
has  been  left  of  national  autonomy,  and 
the  numerous  Jewish  institutions,  not  only 
the  communities  and  the  local  autonomous 
bodies,  but  also  purely  charitable  organi- 
zations, have  been  dissolved.  The  Pogrom 
Committee  was  not  tolerated,  although 
It  contained  Socialist  members. 

But  the  Bolsheviki  did  all  in  their  power 
to  suppress  the  pogroms  and  to  support 
the  survivors.  No  collections  of  any  kind 
were  permitted,  not  even  for  pogrom 
victims.  The  Jewish  parties  have  been 
completely  disbanded.  All  the  'Jewish 
newspapers  have  been  suppressed  with  the 
exception  of  the  Communist  Flag.  Schools 
where  Hebrew  is  the  medium  of  instruc- 
tion are  prohibited,  but  the  Yiddish 
language  is  encouraged. 

The  Zionist  organization  is  described 
and  treated  by  the  Bolsheviki  as  counter- 
revolutionary, but  it  has  hitherto  been 
impossible  to  suppress  it.  As  political 
activity  is  now  out  of  the  question,  all 
energy  is  concentrated  upon  Palestine 
work.  The  registration  of  would-be  emi- 
grants has  been  taken  in  hand,  and  more 
than  seventy  Achuzoth  and  numerous  co- 
operative migration  companies  have  been 
formed.  The  Zionist  central  office  at 
Kiev  is  still  in  existence.  The  eagerness 
to  emigrate  is  exceedingly  great,  and  it 
is  only  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
those  anxious  to  leave  the  country  can  be 
withheld  from  a  precipitate  exodus.  The 
Jewish  National  Secretariat,  elected  by 
the  National  Assembly,  continues  its 
activity,  although  under  prohibition,  and 
it  has  endeavored  to  preserve  the  com- 
munal institutions. 


Creating  the  Russian  Communist  Army 

Official  Account  of  Methods  Adopted,  Including  Con- 
scription of  Peasants  and  Forced  Service  of  Officers 
By  LEON  TROTZKY 

[Bolshevist  Minister  of  War] 

This  article,  translated  from  the  official  Soviet  organ,  the  Pravda,  of  Feb.  25, 
1919,  is  a  description  of  the  methods  used  in  creating  the  Red  Army  of  Russia, 
which  fought  on  all  the  Bolshevist  fronts  during  the  Spring  and  Summer.  Not  the 
least  interesting  portion  of  the  document  is  Trotzky's  explanation  of  why  the 
Communist  Government  has  adopted  the  military  methods  of  "  imperialist "  and 
"  bourgeois  "  nations. 


THE  old  program  of  Social  De- 
mocracy demanded,  among  other 
things,  a  national  militia,  this 
militia  to  be  based  on  the  military 
training  of  all  citizens  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms,  but  not  to  be  concentrated  in 
barracks.  This  program  was  a  chal- 
lenge, raised  during  the  period  of  the 
Second  Internationale,  against  the  stand- 
ing armies  of  imperialism  with  their 
barrack-room  service,  their  prolonged 
military  education,  and  their  officer 
caste.  *  *  *  The  "  peaceful "  de- 
velc  :ient  of  capitalism  and  the  policy 
adopted  by  the  proletariat  of  pursuing 
its  class  war  by  means  of  the  most  legal 
methods  available  *  *  *  had  this  re- 
sult, that  Social  Democracy's  task  was 
most  naturally  conceived  to  be  that  of 
introducing  an  even  larger  measure  of 
democracy  into  the  organization  of  the 
capitalist  State  and  the  capitalist  army. 
This  struggle  had  undoubtedly  great  edu- 
cative influence,  but  the  experience  of 
the  last  war  has  shown  that  its  results 
were  even  less  than  those  of  the  struggle 
for  democratizing  the  parliamentary  in- 
stitutions of  bourgeois  society.  *  *  * 
As  soon  as  bourgeois  interests  came  to 
be  fundamentally  threatened  by  the  con- 
dition of  international  and  interstate 
relations,  the  bourgeois  militarism  of 
France,  England,  America,  and  Switzer- 
land *  *  *  displayed  in  an  identical 
form  the  most  demoralized  and  ruthless 
spirit  of  class  rule. 

But  once  class  war  becomes  open  civil 
war  *  *  *  the  solution  of  a  national 
militia   becomes   as   meaningless   as   the 


solution  of  democratic  parliamentarian- 
ism.  *  *  *  The  dissolution  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly  served  to  frustrate 
the  efforts  of  the  landlord  and  of  the 
capitalist  to  restore  his  power;  on  the 
same  principle  Generals  Krasnov  and 
Kolchak  are  using  the  solution  of  the 
national  army  to  serve  their  own  pur- 
poses. It  requires  the  provincial  stu- 
pidity of  a  Kautsky  to  go  on  talking, 
after  all  the  experiences  of  the  Russian 
revolution,  about  the  claims  of  formal 
democracy  to  organize  the  power  of  the 
State  and  the  army,  at  a  time  when  the 
German  National  Assembly  is  fleeing 
from  Berlin  to  Weimar  and  putting 
itself  under  the  protection  of  the  White 
Guard,  while  General  Hoffman  [on  the 
Polish  frontier]  is  forming  his  units 
from  among  the  sons  of  the  Junkers  and 
of  the  bourgeois  exploiting  classes. 
Meanwhile,  the  Spartacists  arm  the  revo- 
lutionary workers.  The  present  phase  of 
the  proletarian  revolution  can  only  be 
the  phase  of  open  civil  war  by  the  pro- 
letariat against  any  and  every  bourgeois 
authority  and  bourgeois  army.     *     *     * 

MILITIA  ON  CLASS  BASIS 

Although  we  have  now  outgrown, 
among  the  other  discarded  ideas  of  the 
previous  period,  the  so-called  popular 
idea  of  a  militia  *  *  *  we  do  not  in 
principle  repudiate  the  idea  of  a  militia 
as  such.  We  are  reforming  political  de- 
mocracy on  a  class  basis,  and  changing 
it  into  a  democracy  of  Soviets;  in  the 
same  way  we  are  putting  the  militia  on 
to  a  class  basis,  and  changing  it  into  a 


310 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


militia  of  the  Soviets.  Consequently,  our 
next  task  will  be  to  create  an  army  of 
workers  and  small  peasants,  to  give  it 
compulsory  military  training  without 
forcing  it  into  barracks,  and,  in  doing 
this,  to  maintain  as  far  as  possible  con- 
ditions which  shall  be  irf  harmony  with 
the  working  conditions  of  the  laboring 
population. 

Yet  the  actual  progress  of  our  Red 
Army  might  appear  to  contradict  this 
program.  At  first  we  formed  an  army 
of  volunteers;  then  we  introduced  com- 
pulsory military  training  for  all  workers 
and  peasants  who  were  not  employers 
of  the  labor  of  others,  and  simultaneous- 
ly made  a  beginning  of  conscribing  a 
number  of  years  of  the  laboring  classes. 
These  may  have  been  contradictory 
actions,  but  they  were  no  casual  errors; 
they  were  the  result  of  circumstances, 
and  simply  unavoidable  and  transitory 
steps  in  creating  an  army  under  the  con- 
ditions forced  on  us  by  the  imperialist 
war  and  the  bourgeois  (February)  revo- 
lution. 

The  ruinous  breakdown  of  the  old 
army,  and  of  its  whole  system  of  organi- 
zation, meant  that  no  fighting  forces 
could  be  formed  except  from  volunteers. 
*  *  *  It  was  not  until  the  great 
masses  of  the  old  army  had  been  ab- 
sorbed into  the  towns  and  villages,  and 
new  local  military  institutions  set  up, 
such  as  local,  district,  and  central  re- 
cruiting and  commissariat  agencies,  that 
a  beginning  could  be  made  of  proceeding 
from  volunteer  corps  to  conscription. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  method  of 
free  corps  was  the  only  possible  method 
for  the  proletariat.  This  was  a  conse- 
quence of  previous  oppression  exercised 
by  the  State.  In  just  the  same  way  the 
proletariat  had  once  been  forced  to  use 
secret  meetings  and  subterranean  print- 
ing presses  in  order  to  organize  itself. 
But  when  the  proletariat  conquered 
political  power  it  was  in  a  position  to 
make  use  of  the  State  apparatus  in  order 
to  proceed  systematically  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  centralized  army,  a.  uniform 
organization,  and  those  uniform  institu- 
tions through  which  alone  the  greatest 
results  nmy  be  obtained  at  the  cost  of 
the  smallest  sacrifices.     *     *     * 


CONSCRIPTION   OF   PEASANTS 

It  is  in  theory  incontrovertible  that  we 
shall  get  the  best  army  by  the  use  of 
universal  conscription  of  the  woi-kers  and 
of  the  working  peasants,  if  such  con- 
scription is  so  arranged  as  to  fit  into 
the  day's  work.  A  universal  rehabilita- 
tion of  industry,  and  an  increased  output 
in  the  tot&l  amount  of  agricultural  labor 
and  agricultural  products,  would. give  an 
improved  basis  for  the  army.  Units, 
battalions,  regiments,  brigades,  divisions, 
would  have  to  correspond  with  work- 
shops, w*hole  factoi-ies,  villages,  districts, 
circuits,  provinces.  Such  an  army  would  . 
be  unsurpassed;  its  organization  would 
proceed  side  by  side  with  the  economic 
restoration  of  the  whole  country  and  the 
training  of  an  officer  class.  Such  an 
army  is  our  goal,  and  we  know  today 
that  sooner  or  later  we  shall  have  it. 

But  the  instant  and  direct  opposition 
of  our  class  enemies,  at  home  and  abroad, 
prevented  us  from  forming  such  a  work- 
ers' and  peasants'  militia  on  the  "  or- 
ganic "  methods  described.  It  would 
have  needed  several  years,  or  at  least  a 
great  many  months.  Circumstances  had 
originally  forced  us  to  create  volunteer 
corps  immediately  after  the  October  revo- 
lution. In  the  same  way  during  the  suc- 
ceeding period — i.  e.,  during  the  Summer 
of  last  year,  when  the  iron  ring  with 
which  the  imperialists  in  all  countries 
wanted  to  throttle  us  was  being  drawn 
ever  more  tightly  round  Russia — we  were 
forced  to  hurry  on  our  military  institu- 
tions. We  began  by  mobilizing  several 
years  all  over  Russia,  and  by  hurrying 
on  their  training  and  drafting  in  the  bar- 
racks. Our  aim  was  to  turn  the  barrackr; 
into  a  military  school,  where  not  only 
military  training  might  be  acquired,  but 
political  education  and  political  discipline 
also.  Our  present  active  army,  in  service 
or  in  training,  presents  the  transitional 
type  we  have  described.  In  its  social 
formation  it  is  a  class  army;  yet  it  is*no 
militia,  but  a  regular  "  standing  "  army 
with  the  corresponding  methods  of  train- 
ing. We  can  assert  with  complete  satis- 
faction that  this  type  of  army,  created 
under  the  most  unfavorable  circum- 
stances, has  already  proved  itself  able 
to  get  the  better  of  its  enemies. 


CREATING  THE  RUSSIAN  COMMUNIST  ARMY 


311 


UNIVERSAL  TRAINING 

Simultaneously  with  our  use  of  bar- 
rack units  and  field  units — these  last 
are  only  formed  in  the  zone  of  operations 
— we  are  everywhere  carrying  on  the 
military  training  of  workers  and  peas- 
ants. We  view  the  first  steps  of  this 
universal  training  in  the  light  of  a  rough 
preparation  and  an  acquirement  of  cer- 
tain methods  which  every  fighter  must 
master.  This  will  make  further  training 
easier  when  the  soldier  is  drafted  into 
our  regular  units.  It  has  already  been 
proved  that,  in  spite  of  its  restricted 
operation,  universal  military  training 
has  been  of  the  utmost  use  in  reconstitut- 
ing the  army.     *     *     * 

Thus  the  militia  army  on  a  class  basis 
does  not  mean  an  army  casually  created, 
partly  improvised,  and  mostly  untrained, 
whose  equipment  is  the  result  of  acci- 
dent and  whose  commanding  officers  are 
without  the  necessary  technical  knowl- 
edge. On  the  contrary,  universal  train- 
ing is  designed  to  equip  the  individual 
soldier,  as  also  the  whole  unit,  with 
greater  familiarity  in  all  methods  of 
manoeuvring,  shooting,  and  military 
practices.  The  militia  army  must  be 
absoK.ely  up  to  date  as  regards  scienti- 
fic knowledge,  equipment,  and  organiza- 
tion. 

INCULCATING  COMMUNISM 

Our  Commissaries  for  Military  Affairs 
are  not  only  to  be  the  direct  representa- 
tives of  the  Soviet  Government;  they  are 
destined,  above  all,  to  inspire  the  army 
with  the  spirit  of  our  party,  with  its 
sense  of  discipline,  its  firmness,  its  cour- 
age in  fighting  for  the  realization  of 
ideas  once  conceived.  Our  party  may 
reflect  with  the  most  complete  satisfac- 
tion on  the  heroic  behavior  of  the  Com- 
missaries it  has  dispatched;  together 
with  the  best  elements  of  the  staff,  they 
have  created  an  effective  army  within 
the  shortest  possible  time.     *     *     * 

Our  commanding  officers  will,  how- 
ever, only  be  able  to  obtain  complete  re- 
sults if  they  can  reckon  on  the  support 
of  organizations  of  communist  soldiers 
in  each  unit.  Our  best  guarantee,  there- 
fore, for  impregnating  the  armies  with 
the  ideas  and  discipline  of  communism 


will  be  the  rapid  and  overwhelming 
growth  of  such  communist  organizations. 
Considering  the  significance  which  these 
communist  organizations  play  in  the 
army,  it  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  our  com- 
manding officers  and  of  our  riper  com- 
rades in  the  army  to  prevent  these  or- 
ganizations from  admitting  unworthy 
elements.     *     *     * 

Nothing  will  raise  the  reputation  of 
the  communist  organizations  more  than 
that  each  soldier  should  clearly  under- 
stand that  membership  of  a  communist 
organization  can  give  the  soldier  no  spe- 
cial privileges,  but  can  only  impose  on 
him  the  duty  of  being  an  example  of 
self-sacrifice  and  courage. 

The  question  of  command  is  a  very 
difficult  practical  question;  but  in 
principle  there  can  be  no  dispute  about 

Even  if  it  were  possible  to  create  an 
entirely  new  command  in  the  course  of 
several  years  by  means  of  systematic 
work,  there  would  yet  be  no  fundamental 
reason  to  forego  the  help  of  members  of 
the  old  command,  nor  does  it  matter 
whether  these  are  convinced  supporters 
of  the  Soviet  Government  or  have  been 
obliged  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to 
offer  their  services.  To  demand  that 
the  proletarian  army  be  officered  by 
proletarians  only,  is,  stated  thus,  mere 
rhetoric.  The  revolutionary  character 
of  an  army  is  determined,  in  the  first 
place,  by  the  character  of  the  Soviet 
Government  which  creates  it,  supplies 
it  with  an  aim,  and  uses  it  as  an  instru- 
ment.    *     *    * 

EDUCATING  NEW  OFFICERS 

One  of  our  most  important  tasks  in 
building  up  our  army  is  to  educate  a 
new  body  of  officers,  to  be  formed  prin- 
cipally of  workers  and  class-conscious 
peasants.  The  increase  in  the  number 
of  courses  of  instruction  and  in  the  num- 
ber of  students  attending  them  proves 
clearly  that  the  military  authorities  are 
alive  to  their  duties.  Besides  the  highest 
war  academy,  (of  the  General  Staff,) 
five  schools  of  the  middle  type  are  being 
formed,  which  are  designed  to  be  an 
intermediate  stage  between  the  academy 
and  the  courses  of  instruction.     *     *     * 

The  opposition  directed  by  bourgeois 


!U<Z 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CUtiRENT    HISTORY 


democracy  (Social  Revolutionaries  and 
Mvusheviks)  against  the  Soviet.  Army, 
which  is  condemned  as  a  new  growth  of 
"  militarism  "  and  as  the  menace  of  a 
coming  Bonapartism,  serves  merely  to 
disclose  the  utter  political  crudeness  or 
artificiality  of  these  parties.  Bonapait- 
ism can  only  appear  as  the  expression  of 
certain  quite  definite  social  conditions. 
It  was  the  political  iule  of  the  class  of 
the  smaller  bourgeoisie  which  created  the 
conditions  indispensable  to  the  rise  of 
Bonapartism.  But  if  that  class  of  the 
peasantry  which  may  be  called  the  ex- 
ploiting class  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
props  of  any  phase  of  Bonapartism,  then 
the  social  composition  of  our  army  is  the 
very  best  guarantee  against  all  Bona- 
partist  tendencies,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  this  exploiting  class  of  the  peasantry 
is  not  present  in  it.  Those  parodies  on 
Bonapartism  of  which  we  have  had  ex- 
perience in  connection  with  Generals 
Krasnov  and  Kolchak  in  no  way  had 
their  origin  in  the  organization  of  the 
Red  Army,  but,  on  the  contrary,  arose 
in  direct  opposition  to  it.  Skoropadski, 
the  Ukraine  Bonaparte  "  by  .  grace  of 
William  II.,"  created  his  army  on  a  prin- 
ciple directly  opposed  to  our  own;  he 
formed  his  regiments  exclusively  from 
the  exploiting  peasants.     *     *     * 

Seeing  that  our  army  is  only  the 
insti-ument  of  a  definite  method  of  gov- 
ernment, the  only  satisfactory  guarantee 
against  Bonapartism  and  all  other 
phases  of  counter-revolution  will  be 
found  in  this  government  itself.  The 
counter-revolution  will  never  be  able  to 
arise  out  of  the  government  of  the  pro- 
letarian dictatorship;  it  can  only  be 
introduced  as  the  consequence  of  a  direct 
and  bloody  victory  over  this  government. 
But  it  is  just  the  purpose  of  the  Red 
Army,  of  its  development  and  its  internal 
unity,  to  make  such  a  victory  impos- 
sible.    *     *     * 

"CLASS  RULE  ONLY  TEMPORARY" 

The  aim  of  the  communist  organiza- 
tion is  the  abolition  of  all  class  war  by 
means  of  the  dispersion  of  all  classes. 
Class  militia  and  class  army  can,  there- 


fore, be  no  final  phenomena.  In  propor- 
tion as  social  and  economic  life  becomes 
more  highly  organized,  the  work  of  the. 
Soviet  Class  State  will  concentrate  more 
and  more  on  directing  production  and 
distribution,  and  on  tasks  of  culture  and 
administration.  Thus  will  the  State  lose 
its  class  character  and  raise  its  own 
nature  by  transforming  itself  into  an 
instrument  for  economic  and  cultural  life 
of  a  self-governing  kind.  Then,  too,  will 
the  army  lose  its  class  character,  and 
will  become  a  citizen  army  in  the  true 
sense  of  that  term;  for  in  society  thus 
socialized  parasitic  exploiting  elements 
will  no  longer  exist.  The  disposition  of 
this  army  will  be  directly  controlled  by 
the  most  powerful  groups  of  workers  in 
the  socialized  republic;  its  equipment  will 
be  guaranteed  by  the  enormous  develop- 
ment of  socialized  processes  of  produc- 
tion. This  army,  which  will  now  be 
nothing  less  than  the  trained,  armed, 
socialized,  and  organized  nation,  will  be 
the  mightiest  army  which  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  Its  goal  will  not  be  limited 
to  defending  the  socialized  community 
against  the  attack  of  such  countries  as 
still  remain  imperialistic;  it  will  also 
hasten  to  support  the  proletariat  of  such 
countries  in  their  own  struggle  against 
imperialism. 

[Authentic  information  at  the  end  of 
August,  1919,  indicated  that  there  were 
then  in  existence  fifteen  Bolshevist 
armies,  disposed  over  four  fronts  and 
totaling  485,000  men.  On  the  North 
Russian  front,  aiound  Archangel  and 
Murmansk,  were  two  armies  totaling 
39,000  men.  On  the  West  Russian  front, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Finland  to  the  Black 
Sea,  were  three  armies  with  a  total  of 
167,000  men.  The  South  Russian  front, 
from  the  Black  Sea  to  Astrakhan,  had 
six  armies  totaling  146,000  men.  The 
eastern  front,  from  Astrakhan  to  the 
North  Urals,  had  five  armies  comprising 
133,000  men.  In  addition  to  this  total  of 
485,000  it  was  estimated  that  there*  were 
approximately  727,000  soldiers  in  the  in- 
terior who  were  still  in  training  or  were 
employed  in  putting  down  revolts.] 


Converting    Soldiers    to    Bolshevism 

Notes  of  a  Russian  Prisoner  Revealing  Lenin's 
Methods   and   the   Disillusionment   of    Converts 

By  PIOTR  KRUGLOV 

Piotr  Krufflov,  a  Russian  p.ieoner,  of  war  in  Germany,  who  escaped  and  wan 
interned  in  Denmark,  has  described  in  La  Renaissance  Politique  the  modus  operandi 
of  the  agent:}  of  Lenin  in  their  efforts  to  "  Bolshevize  "  600  prisoners  of  that  kind 
in  the  Danish  internment  camp:;.  His  simple  narrative,  the  essential  portions  of 
which  are  here  translated  for  Current  History,  is  significant  as  an  indication  of 
the  mental  processes  through  which  the  masses  in  Russia  also  have  pussed  or  are 
passing  in  presence  of  the  unfulfilled  promises  of  the  Lenin-Trotzky  regime. 


TOWARD  the  end  of  June,  1918,  the 
colony  of  Russian  soldiers  at  Ribe 
was  in  a  state  of  great  excitement 
ever  the  prospect  of  returning  to 
Russia.  Our  existence  was  not  so  bad; 
we  could  eat,  walk  about,  and  meditate 
at  our  leisure,  but  life  without  work 
begins  to  pall,  and  meditation  increases 
desires.  Our  only  wish  was  to  return  to 
our  country. 

My  arrival  at  Ribe  coincided  with  the 
moment  when  every  one  was  striving  to 
find  a  means  of  leaving  for  Russia.  The 
colony  was  divided  into  two  factions.  One 
of  these,  presided  over  by  a  soldier 
named  Ivan,  was  called  the  "  Men- 
nhevist  "  Party,  and  its  leaders  argued 
in  favor  of  going  to  the  Muiman  Coast 
to  fight  with  gun  in  hand  against  the 
Bolsheviki,  friends  of  the  Germans,  whom 
we  so  detested.  The  other  party,  grouped 
around  a  soldier  named  Nikolai,  called 
itself  "  Independent."  Neither  of  these 
two  parties  knew  anything  of  the  under- 
lying principles  of  Bolshevism  or  Men- 
shevism. 

Despite  the  efforts  of  these  two  politi- 
cal parties,  the  desire  of  departure  re- 
mained unfulfilled.  Several  soldiers  sent 
requests  to  the  American  Consul,  asking 
permission  to  go  to  America  or  to  Eng- 
land to  look  for  work.  Nikolai  and  I 
were  among  these  candidates.  We  sent 
a  collective  request,  but  we  received  no 
reply. 

After  long  discussions  we  questioned 
General  Potocky,  the  Military  Attache  of 
the  former  Russian  Legation  at  Copen- 


hagen, to  find  out  the  date  of  our  de- 
parture. At  the  same  time  we  sent  a 
similar  request  to  the  Bolshevist  repre- 
sentative, Gaiin.  General  Potocky  an- 
sweied  soon,  but  his  response  was  nega- 
tive. Garin  made  no  answer  at  all.  Then 
we  decided  to  send  two  delegates  to 
Garin.  Nikolai  and  a  soldier  named 
Troitzkov  were  appointed.  The  dele- 
gates returned  two  days  later.  They 
bore  a  great  number  of  promises  from 
Garin,  and  the  sum  of  70  ores  to  be  given 
to  each  soldier.  Garin  promised  also  to 
come  in  person,  and  invited  us  to  form  a 
"  soviet  "  of  four  members. 

NIKOLAI  CONVERTED 

Nikolai  was  delighted  with  his  visit  to 
Gai-in.  He  told  us  triumphantly  how 
Garin  had  shaken  hands  with  him  and 
called  him  "  comrade."  He  had  gone  to 
him  an  "  Independent "  and  returned  a 
Bolshevik.  It  was,  above  all,  the  word 
"  comrade  "  that  charmed  him.  "  Just 
think !  "  he  said,  "  the  representative  of 
Russia  himself  called  me  comrade!  But, 
to  tell  the  truth,"  he  added,  "  the  repre- 
sentative is  not  very  presentable.  Quite 
small  and  thin,  but  yet  a  representative. 
And  he  called  me  comrade!  I  understood 
at  once  that  this  was  something  new,  and 
I  immediately  became  a  partisan  of  this 
1  socialism  '  and  '  Bolshevism.'  " 

Thus  Nikolai  told  us  his  impressions. 
The  most  important  news  he  bore  was 
that  Garin,  in  the  month  of  June,  was 
said  to  have  repatriated  a  part  of  the 
1,000  Russian   soldiers   in   the   Horserod 


.'H4 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Camp.  "There!"  we  said.  "  Garin 
knows  the  way,  and  he  can  send  us  back 
to  -Russia."  This  news  caused  us  all 
great  joy,  and  even  Ivan  and  his  parti- 
sans made  no  further  opposition.  The 
two  leaders,  Ivan  ar.d  Nikolai,  shook 
hands  with  great  ceremony. 

Nikolai's  companion,  Troitskov,  It  b 
true,  showed  a  certain  uneasiness.  When 
he  spoke  of  Garin  and  his  staff  he  said: 
"  I  received  "  the  impression  that  there 
was  not  a  single  Russian  there;  nothing 
but  Jews.  Garin  is  a  Jew,  and  his 
wife.  *  *  *  You  can  guess  it  only 
by  hearing  her  talk.  But  what  can  we 
do?  There's  no  other  way.  In  captivity 
we  have  suffered  greatly  through  the 
Jews.  Very  little  hope  can  be  based  on 
Jews.  But  all  Jews  are  not  traitors; 
there  are  good  people  among  them,"  he 
added,  trying  to  encourage  his  hearers. 

GARIN  AND  HIS  PROMISES 

The  election  of  the  "  Soviet "  began. 
They  elected  Nikolai,  Trpitzkov,Doulaiev, 
and  myself,  but;  i-refused  to  participate 
and  was  replaced  By  Miagkov.  Then  we 
waited  for  Garin.  He  arrived  only  on 
the  evening  of  the  14th,  in  an  automobile, 
with  two  companions!  He  told  us  a  lot 
of  fine  things  about  the  new  regime  of 
the  Soviets  in  Russia,  and  made  a  lot  of 
promises,  of  which  the  most  important 
was  that  they  would  begin  to  send  us 
home  within  two  weeks,  every  week  two 
detachments  of  twenty-five  men  each,  or 
perhaps  all  together,  if  "  Germany 
guaranteed  that  the  ship  would  be 
neither  stopped  nor  sunk."  He  gave 
money  to  Nikolai  to  be  distributed  to 
the  soldiers  at  the  rate  of  5  crowns 
apiece,  and  then  departed,  amid  loud 
"  hurrahs "  for  Soviet  Russia,  for  her 
representative,  Garin,  and  for  the  hos- 
pitality of  little  Denmark.     *     *     * 

The  majority  were  convinced  by 
Garin,  but  there  were  pessimists  who 
said:  "Who  knows?  Perhaps  he  will 
betray  us  to  the  Germans."  Others  said 
that  Garin  was  powerless  because  the 
Danish  Government  had  not  recognized 
him,  but  an  official  telegram  announcing 
that  Garin  was  accepted  as  representa- 
tive of  Russia  dispelled  this  doubt.  "  If 
the  Danish  Government  recognizes  him," 


I  said  to  the  others,  "  it  also  recognizes 
the  Government  of  Soviet  Russia,  and  if 
the  Soviet  Government  is  recognized  by 
the  Danish  Government  we  have  no 
light  to  doubt  its  reality.  The  Bolske- 
viki,  then,  are  net  a  band  of  brigand?, 
as  they  think  in  Germany  and  here  in 
Denmark,  but  a  real  Government  of  the 
people,  because  a  foreign  Government 
could  not  recognize  a  band  of  brigands. 
And  if  the  Bolshevist  Government  is  a 
real  National  Government,  we  ought  to 
make  an  honest  attempt  to  do  our  duty 
and  to  have  faith  in  its  representative 
without  discussing  the  question  of 
whether  he  is  a  Jew  or  a  Russian."  So 
I  spoke  to  my  comrades,  and  I  would 
speak  in  the  same  way  today  if  I  had  not 
learned  the  horrible  falseness  .  of  my 
words. 

AWAITING   REPATRIATION 

On  Aug.  26  we  left  Ribe  and  arrived 
in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  at 
Helsingor.  Seven  kilometers  distant 
from  Helsingor  was  the  camp  of  Horse- 
rod,  to  which  we  had  been  assigned.  We 
had  believed  we  would  be  sent  back  to 
Russia  two  or  three  days  after  our  ar- 
rival, but  we  soon  discovered  that  we 
were  not  to  leave  so  quickly.  At  the 
Horserod  Camp  we  experienced  a  whole 
series  of  disagreeable  surprises.  First, 
at  the  dock  we  were  met  by  an  armed 
patrol  of  considerable  numbers  who 
escorted  us  to  the  camp.  Even  in  Ger- 
many we  had  never  had  such  an  escort 
as  this.  Secondly,  the  camp  was  sur- 
rounded with  barbed  wire,  and  we  were 
not  allowed  to  go  beyond  its  confines. 
Thirdly,  the  food  was  worse  than  at 
Ribe.  And,  fourthly,  we  were  given  forced 
labor  to  do.  An  epidemic  of  Spanish  in- 
fluenza, too,  was  raging  there. 

We  were  all  furious  with  the  Ribe  au- 
thorities and  with  General  Potocky,  for 
we  thought  he  had  denounced  us  as  bri- 
gands and  all  these  new  trials  were  due 
to  him.  We  became  more  and  more  angry 
with  the  "  old  regime "  and  more  and 
more  favorable  to  Bolshevism.  We  tele- 
phoned to  Garin,  and  he  came  on  Aug. 
29.  Alas,  Garin  said  that  we  would  leave 
only  at  the  end  of  September,  on  the 
ground  that  Germany,  as  he  alleged,  had 
guaranteed    that    the    vessel    would    be 


CONVERTING  SOLDIERS   TO  BOLSHEVISM 


315 


neither  stopped  nor  sunk,  but  that  the 
Russian  Government  had  but  little  faith 
in  this  promise,  and  desired  this  guaran- 
tee to  be  confirmed  by  the  Danish  Gov- 
ernment. 

"  It  will  be  safer,  won't  it,  comrades?  " 
said  Garin.  "  And  meanwhile  we  will 
begin  to  look  after  you  a  little.  You 
must  clean  yourselves,  dress  up,  and 
shave.  I  will  have  workshops  built  for 
you,  a  school,  an  office.  We  will  begin 
to  get  your  passports  ready."  As  for  the 
camp  regulations,  he  said  that  some  day 
he  would  attend  with  Comrade  Vorovsky 
(a  Bolshevist  representative  in  Sweden) 
the  meeting  of  the  committee  at  the  Da- 
nish Ministry,  and  would  do  his  best  to 
have  them  i-elaxed.  *  *  *  The  prom- 
ises he  had  made  were  to  have  been 
realized  by  Sept.  2,  but  the  middle  of 
September  came  and  we  had  neither 
workshops,  nor  an  office  to  draw  up 
passports,  nor  permission  to  leave  the 
camp. 

HOPE  DEFERRED 

"  He  is  lying,"  some  said.  "  He  will 
not  have  us  sent  home.  None  of  his 
promises  has  been  kept.  He  talks  a  lot, 
but  does  nothing."  On  Sept.  13  Garin 
arrived  again.  "  I  am  prevented  from 
working  freely  here,"  he  said,  to  explain 
his  slowness.  "  The  Russian  Govern- 
ment has  instructed  me  to  protest  and 
address  a  note  to  the  Danish  Govern- 
ment threatening  reprisals  against 
Danish  subjects  residing  in  Russia,  but 
I  hope,  comrades,  that  we  shall  not  be 
forced  to  adopt  such  measures."  Two 
days  later  Garin's  son  took  charge  of  the 
barracks.  Next  day  his  father  again 
appeared.  He  announced  that  the  date 
of  departure  had  been  fixed  for  Oct.  2, 
and  everything  must  be  ready  by  that 
date.  The  vessel,  he  asserted,  had  been 
chartered  for  the  sum  of  25,000  crowns, 
and  for  every  day  of  delay  after  Oct.  2 
there  would  be  a  penalty  of  1,000  crowns. 
"  Try  to  be  ready,  comrades,"  he  said ; 
"  tomorrow  the  office  will  begin  to  pre- 
pare your  passports." 

He  also  imparted  to  us  strange  news, 
which  gave  a  shock  to  our  newly  acquired 
Bolshevist  ideas  of  equality  and  fra- 
ternity. We  had  been  led  to  believe  that 
Bolshevism  signified  such  universal  jus- 


tice that  chimney  sweeper  and  Prime 
Minister  alike  enjoyed  not  only  political 
.but  social  equality,  that  is  to  say,  that 
they  ate  the  same  food,  wore  the  same 
clothing,  and,  in  short,  possessed  the 
same  resources  of  life.  But  no;  even 
among  ourselves,  still  unavailable  to 
serve  Russia  and  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, there  existed  distinctions  differ- 
entiated by  a  different  rate  of  pay. 

BOLSHEVISM    NOT    EQUALITY 

We  were  divided  into  four  categories: 
simple  soldiers,  with  a  pay  of  9  crowns 
a  month;  Corporals  at  11  crowns;  non- 
commissioned officers  at  15  crowns,  and 
Sergeants  at  23  crowns.  We  were 
amazed.  If  conditions  were  such,  where 
was  the  newness  of  the  new  regime?  For 
this  new  regime  ought  to  differ  not  only 
from  the  Romanov  regime,  but  also  from 
that  of  the  democratic  republic  of 
Kerensky.  Some  said  that  we  should 
protest  to  Garin.  The  Sergeants  were 
filled  with  confusion,  and  some  even  pro- 
posed to  refuse  the  increase  of  pay,  but 
the  others  reasoned  thus:  if  the  situation 
is  such  here,  then  in  Russia  there  is  no 
equality  either,  and  every  one  must  think 
only  of  himself  and  not  of  others.  And 
the  spirit  of  egotism  held  so  long  in 
check  by  the  lofty  ideas  of  fraternity 
and  equality  reappeared  again  with 
brutal  force.  Every  one  began  to  do 
business  in  the  barracks  and  to  dupe 
his  comrades.  They  sold,  bought,  and 
exchanged  watches,  shoes,  underclothing, 
hats,  suits,  cigarettes,  apples,  &c.  It  was 
a  regular  epidemic.  The  shouting  in  the 
barracks  was  like  that  at  a  fail1.  It  had 
been  instinctively  understood  that  Bol- 
shevist "  equality  "  was  nothing  but  a 
phrase. 

I  was  ashamed  to  meet  those  who  had 
asked  me  previously  what  communism 
and  Bolshevism  were,  and  to  whom  I 
had  explained  my  theories.  I  discovered 
that  I  had  lied  horribly  when  I  had 
identified  theoretical  socialism  with 
Bolshevist  reality.  "  It  isn't  fraternity; 
it's  rot,"  the  soldiers  said  upon  all  sides. 
"  I  don't  care  a  rap,"  replied  others,  "  if 
only  they  send  us  back  to  Russia,  so  that 
we  can  see  our  people  again."     *     *     * 

Garin's  son  refused  to  eat  with  the 
others- -with  the  "  people  " — and  had  his 


116 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


food  brought  to  him  from  the  officers' 
kitchen;  the  office  clerk  spent  all  his 
time  in  serving  him.  Every  one  was  dis- 
satisfied over  this,  and  we  decided  to 
ask  Garin  himself  why  such  inequality 
was  tolerated.  The  reply  of  the  Govern- 
ment representative  was  laconic:  "It 
is  not  my  fault ;  I  have  received  instruc- 
tions from  Russia."  From  Russia!  If 
such  practices  are  the  order  of  the  day 
in  Russia,  where  then  is  the  difference 
between  the  old  regime  and  the  Pi*c- 
visional  Government?  The  Bolsheviki 
have  not  abolished  the  Czar's  throne,  but 
the  Government  of  the  democratic  re- 
public. Why  have  they  done  this?  The 
disillusion   was   general. 

DISILLUSIONMENT  OF  FACTS 

Garin  began  to  bring  us  the  Bolshevist 
Russian  newspapers.  They  were  eager- 
ly seized  upon.  Most  of  the  prisoners 
could  not  understand  the  polemical 
articles  of  the  Bolsheviki  against  their 
.political  adversaries,  -and  the  picture 
they  gave  of  Bolshevist  actions  and  proj- 
ects; they  limited  themselves,  therefore, 
to  reading  current  events  and  dispatches. 
But  even  this  chronicle  of  current  events 
and  these  dispatches  sufficed  to  disillu- 
sion every  man  who  still  possessed  his 
mental  balance.  Every  page  gave  de- 
tails of  the  revolts  of  the  peasants 
against  the  Bolsheviki,  of  the  punitive 
expeditions  against  the  peasants  who 
had  revolted,  &c.  The  terror  inspired  by 
the  fierce  bands  of  the  Red  Guard 
reigned  everywhere.  There  were  revolts 
of  peasants  in  the  Governments  of  Vo- 
logda, Novgorod,  Yaroslav,  and  else- 
where. In  the  Government  of  Perm, 
when  the  Siberian  troops  were  approach- 
ing, revolts  took  place  not.  only  among 
the  peasants  of  the  villages,  but  even 
among  the  factory  workmen.  But  all 
these  movements  were  pitilessly  put 
down,  for  the  population  had  been  dis- 
armed by  the  foreseeing  Bolsheviki,  and 
the  peasants  did  not  possess  an  organiza- 
tion like  that  of  the  Red  Guard. 

And  we  read  that  the  peasants  were 
forced  to  work  the  land  beyond  their 
strength,  but  the  product  of  this  toil, 
namely,  bread,  was  confiscated  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet  and  the  peasants 
were  beaten  with  the  butts  of  the  guns. 


The  last  cow,  the  last  horse,  the  last 
grain  of  rye  was  taken  by  the  Red 
Guard.  The  Bolshevist  press  and  arti- 
cles of  propaganda  repeated  unblushing- 
ly  that  the  task  which  they  proposed 
was  to  destroy  every  thing  and  every  one 
opposed  to  Bolshevism.  And  as,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Red  Guard  and  of 
the  proletariat,  which  is  not  large,  all 
were  opposed  to  the  Bolsheviki,  every- 
thing was  destroyed,  and  all  were  terror- 
ized. 

M  RURAL   PROLETARIAT  " 

To  obtain  partisans  in  the  villages  the 
Bolsheviki  had  tried  to  divide  the  rural 
population  into  two  camps;  they  had 
organized  in  the  villages  Committees  of 
the  Rural  Proletariat,  and  had  given 
them  complete  power.  The  idea  is 
absurd.  A  rural  proletariat  does  not 
exist.  According  to  the  Russian  rural 
communal  system,  the  land  belonging  to 
a  village  is  divided  up  among  all  the 
members  of  the  commune,  and  every  ten 
or  fifteen  years  this  division  is  renewed. 
If  the  village  owns  but  little  land,  all  its 
inhabitants  are  poor,  and  if  the  village 
owns  much  arable  land  its  inhabitants 
are  relatively  well  off.  But  of  course 
the  material  level  of  all  the  members  of 
a  commune  is  not  always  the  same.  Gen- 
erally it  is  those  who  possess  inferior 
intelligence  or  who  are  victims  of  alcohol 
who  are  poorer  than  others.  And  those 
were  the  elements  which,  backed  up  by 
the  bayonets  of  the  Red  Guard,  were 
made  the  despots  of  the  village. 

And  we  read  that  the  school  teachers 
belonging  to  the  Union  of  School  Teach- 
ers of  all  Russia  had  also  opposed  the 
domination  of  the  Bolsheviki,  and  were 
suffering  greatly  from  economic  pres- 
sure. While  the  soldiers  of  the  Red 
Guard  received  complete  support  and  150 
rubles  monthly,  the  school  teachers  re- 
ceived only  80  rubles  to  pay  all  their 
living  expenses ;  which,  in  view  of  the 
enormous  cost  of  living,  appeared  to  be 
impossible. 

As  for  education  in  general,  we  read 
lying  articles  which  contained  promises 
to  send  all  the  proletariat  to  the 
universities,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
admitted  that  the  majority  of  primary 
schools  had  been  closed  because  of  the 


CONVERTING  SOLDIERS   TO  BOLSHEVISM 


317 


lack  of  books,  paper,  pencils,  pens,  &c, 
or  else  as  the  result  of  reprisals  by  the 
Red  Guard  against  the  school  faculty. 
And  we  read  of  a  complete  devastation 
of  the  universities  and  colleges,  of  in- 
cessant reprisals  against  the  teachers. 
These,  it  appeared,  were  the  preparatory 
labors  on  which  obligatory  popular  edu- 
cation was  to  be  based.  These  Pugatchevs 
of  the  twentieth  century,  it  was  clear, 
wished  to  annihilate  all  those  who  did 
not  agree  with  the  ideas  of  the  "  class." 

ENEMIES  OF  CIVILIZATION 

I  thought,  as  I  read  these  things:  Are 
not  these  the  Huns  of  the  future,  of 
whom  the  Russian  philosopher  Soloviev 
spoke?  If  they  really  get  the  power  of 
the  world  into  their  hands,  scholars  and 
poets,  as  that  philosopher  said,  "  will 
have  to  hide  the  eternal  light  of  science 
in  deserts  and  catacombs."  But  that  is 
impossible.  Europe  will  not  follow  their 
example.  It  would  mean  political  and 
intellectual  y'eath,  because  agricultural 
Asia,  with  its  population  of  500,000,000, 
would  not  follow  that  example,  and  would 
come  to  crush  Europe,  deprived  of  its 
main  source  of  power- — intelligence. 
Siberia  is  only  the  first  bastion  of  Asi- 
atic opposition. 

[Garin's  promises  continued,  and  were  re- 
peatedly broken.  Garin  came  In  person  to 
announce  departure  on  a  Russian  steamer. 
A  few  days  afterward  an  organized  system 
of  Bolshevist  propaganda  was  established  at 
the  camp.  A  clerk  named  Pavlov,  a  former 
teacher,  opened  a  series  of  lectures  on  po- 
litical subjects.  At  one  of  these  lectures 
Pavlov  spoke  with  the  greatest  reservations 
of  political  conditions  in  Bolshevist  Russia, 
when  the  door  optn.v],  and  Nikolai,  who 
had  become  an  ardent  Bolshevist,  entered. 
The   narrator   continue?  :J 

Pavlov  paused  and  began  to  talk  quite 
differently.  He  praised  Bolshevism  and 
the  Soviet  Government,  and  calumniated 
the  Constituent  Assembly.  He  was  afraid 
of  Nikolai,  who  reported  everything  to 
Garin.  Nikolai,  on  his  part,  added  some 
very  stupid  observations  lauding  the 
glory  of  Bolshevism.  Sapitza  and  I 
began  to  protest  against  these  pane- 
gyrics, and  little  by  little  the  discussion 
became  very  animated.  I  cited  the  news- 
paper articles  showing  the  nightmarish 
life  of  Russia  and  the  exploitation  of  the 
peasants.     I  pointed  out  Garin  and  his 


family  as  a  good  example  of  Bolshevist 
mentality,  and  the  difference  between 
their  words  and  their  deeds.  Some  pro- 
tested, but  the  majority  agreed  with 
Sapitza  and  myself.  This  was  the  last 
lecture. 

SAPITZA'S  INTERVIEW 

[It  was  finally  decided  that  the  "  Soviet" 
should  frankly  inform  Garin's  son  of  the 
general  feeling  of  dissatisfaction.  Sapitza 
undertook  this  mission,  the  other  members 
of  the  "  Soviet  "  having  refused  through  fear 
of  the  consequences.  The  conversation  be- 
tween Sapitza  and  Garin,  as  he  told  it  him- 
self,  was  as   follows:] 

"  On  Oct.  10  I  went  to  Garin  and  told 
him  that  I  wished  to  speak  to  him  with- 
out witnesses.  '  As  you  please ;  willing- 
ly.' I  asked  him  then,  '  How  are  official 
persons  appointed  in  Russia  at  the 
present  time?  Who  appoints  them? ' 
He  replied,  '  The  people.'  '  Who  ap- 
pointed you? '  '  I  was  appointed  by  three 
people.'  But  three  people  are  not  the 
people.  Then  I  said:  'You,  Alexis,  are 
young  and  strong;  you  can  do  everything 
for  yourself;  be  reasonable,  and  refuse 
the  services  of  the  man  who  waits  on 
you.  Do  not  allow  a  soldier  who  has 
been  imprisoned  for  four  years  to  shine 
your  shoes  and  make  your  bed  by  com- 
pulsion.' Garin  answered,  '  But  he  re- 
ceives money  for  his  work.'  I  was  very 
much  surprised  by  this  reply.  '  But,'  I 
said,  '  the  old  regime  consists  of  the  fact 
that  one  pays  and  another  works  for 
him.  What  ideas,  then,  do  you  and  your 
father  defend?  Your  father  says  that 
we  must  economize  the  money  of  the 
people,  and  we  approved  of  this,  but  in 
reality  the  money  of  the  people  is  be- 
ginning to  produce  a  new  bourgeoisie. 
You  may  kill  a  man,  but  you  cannot  kill 
a  bourgeois,  because  the  bourgeois  has 
taken  his  place  in  the  heart  of  the  slayer. 
You  must  first  kill  the  bourgeois  in 
your  own  heart,  instead  of  shedding  the 
blood  of  others  with  bayonets  and  red 
flags.'    Garin  made  no  reply." 

On  Oct.  11  Garin  senior  arrived.  He 
entered  the  office  very  much  excited,  and 
said:  "  What's  the  matter  here?  lam 
distrusted  here?  I  have  been  elected  by 
170,000,000  people,  and  here  600  low  ras- 
cals make  me  the  object  of  their  sus- 
picions? "     Then  he  spoke  to  the  whole 


S1K 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


camp,  told  a  lot  of  fine  stories,  and 
finally  declared  that  if  the  boat  did 
not  arrive  by  Oct.  20  we  would  leave 
on  the  22d  on  the  Danish  vessel  which 
had  been  already  chartered  for  25,000 
crowns.  ( Again  1)  Now  no  one  believed 
a  word  of  what  Garin  said.  We  began 
to  use  the  expression  "  Garin  says  "  as 
a  symbal  of  falsehood.  Those  who  had 
money  began  to  escape,  and  made  their 
way  to  Stockholm. 

On  Oct.  22  no  boat  had  arrived.  The 
Bolshevist  newspapers  furthermore  bore 
frightful  news  from  Russia.  The  Bolshe- 
viki  had  decided  to  mobilize  at  all  cost 
an  army  of  3,000,000  men,  and  every 
man  in  Russia  was  sure  that  he  would 


have  to  serve  in  the  Red  Army.  There 
were  but  few  of  us  disposed  to  do  any 
more  fighting,  whether  with  Bolsheviki 
or  against  them,  and  the  majority  wished 
to  remain  in  Denmark  and  look  for 
work.  I,  personally,  was  averse  to  serv- 
ing in  the  Red  Army.  I  preferred  to  be 
shot.  And  so  the  most  reasonable  thing 
I  could  do  was  to  escape  from  this  mad- 
house. On  Oct.  24  Garin  published  an 
order  saying  that  in  the  name  of  the 
Government  of  the  Soviets  he  ordered 
that  all  discussions  about  departure 
should  cease.  All  those  disobeying  were 
threatened  with  death.  New  promises 
followed.  Not  desiring  to  wait  further, 
Sapitza  and  I  left  the  camp  forever. 


Five  Months  in  Moscow  Prisons 


By  LUDOVIC  NAUDEAU 

CORRESPONDENT  OP  THE   PARIS   TtJMPS. 

[Conclusion] 

M.  Naudeau  had  been  arret*  '>y  the  Soviet  Government  in  Moscow  for  anti- 
Soviet  utterances  in  his  French  paper,  the  Journal  de  Russie,  and  transferred  to 
three  separate  prisons,  each  of  which  represented  a  descending  scale  in  respect  to 
food  and  treatment.  Thrust,  at  a  moment  when  he  expected  liberation,  into  a 
solitary  cell  at  Butirky  Prison,  M.  Naudeau  almost  gave  way  to  despair.  Tfie 
monotony  of  his  melancholy  thoughts  was  broken  by  an  interview  with  Captain 
Sadoul  of  the  French  Military  Mission,  who  was  said  to  be  a  kind  of  intermediary 
between  the  French  inhabitants  of  Moscow  and  Die  Soviet  authorities.  Sadoul,  at 
the  instance  of  the  Bolshevist  Com?nissary  Peters,  sought  vainly  to  persuade  M. 
Naudeau  to  declare  his  acceptance  of  the  Soviet  principles,  and  to  renounce  hie 
former  advocacy  of  allied  intervention.  The  narrative  of  the  author's  fourth  month 
of  captivity  proceeds: 


ONE  November  morning  we  sud- 
denly heard  a  great  hubbub  in 
all  the  corridors  and  on  all 
floors;  many  doors  were  opened, 
and  immediately  closed  again  and  bolted ; 
everything  indicated  that  a  considerable 
number  of  prisoners  had  been  brought  at 
the  same  time  and  shut  up  in  cells  near 
mine.  These  new-comers  were  Russians, 
and  Russians  who  seemed  to  intimidate 
our  jailers,  for  unceasingly  they  shouted 
and  cried  to  each  other  from  one  cell  to 
another,  and  no  jailer  dared  to  bid  them 
be  silent,  or  to  close  the  wicket  window 
in  their  door. 

I  soon  learned  that  these  howlers  be- 


longed to  a  band  of  about  fifteen  sailors 
who  up  to  this  time  had  been  members 
of  the  special  guard  of  the  Extraordinary 
Commission.  The  reader  may  easily 
divine  what  ruffians  they  were.  The 
men  who  become  the  Mamelukes  of 
Djerjinsky  and  Peters  are  by  tempera- 
ment gunmen,  killers,  torturers;  they 
belong  to  the  most  barbarous  elements  of 
the  army  and  navy.  We  never  knew 
exactly  what  kind  of  insubordination 
these  men  had  committed.  Some  of  the 
jailers  assured  us  that  their  exactions 
and  ferocity  had  finally  filled  even  the 
commission  with  alai-m.  We  were  told 
also    that    they    had    refused    to    go    to 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


31!) 


Petrograd  to  embark  on  Bolshevist  ships 
and  fight  against  the  British  cruisers 
which  made  frequent  raids  into  the  Gulf 
of  Finland. 

CAPTURED  BY  DECEPTION 

At  all  events,  Djerjinsky,  Peters,  and 
their  henchmen  judged  it  necessary  to 
get  rid  of  these  radicals.  But  it  was  not 
easy  to  take  them  openly;  they  were  al- 
ways armed  to  the  teeth,  and  it  was 
known  that  they  would  resist  to  the  last. 
So  a  trap  was  laid  for  them  with  all  that 
cunning  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
Bolshevist  leaders,  and  which  permits 
them,  a  mere  handful  of  men,  to  tyran- 
nize over  all  Russia.  The  sailors  were 
notified  one  morning  that  they  should  go 
to  Butirky,  where  they  were  to  put  to 
death  a  certain  number  of  counter-revo- 
lutionaries who  had  been  so  bold  as  to 
revolt.  So  the  whok  pack  started  off 
joyously  after  their  quarry.  They  were 
received  cordially  at  the  prison,  ushered 
into  one  courtyard,  then  into  another, 
and  finally  into  a  third,  where  they  were 
told  that  the  execution  would  soon  take 
place. 

The  officials  withdrew  ostensibly  to 
bring  the  men  condemned  to  death,  and 
the  sailors  did  not  notice  that  as  they 
departed  they  padlocked  the  gates  rap- 
idly behind  them.  But  what  was  going 
on  at  several  windows  looking  down  upon 
the  courtyard?  The  bewildered  sailors 
saw  the  muzzles  of  machine  guns  gleam- 
ing there.  Groups  of  soldiers  crowded 
into  other  windows :  "  Down  with  your 
arms  or  you  are  all  dead  men!  "  they 
cried  to  the  scoundrels.  The  former  jan- 
issaries of  the  commission  knew  from 
experience  that  at  the  least  sign  of  re- 
sistance the  machine  guns  would  mow 
them  down.  Crestfallen,  they  threw  down 
rifles  and  revolvers.  When  these  weap- 
ons hrd  been  taken  possession  of  the 
scoundrels  we:e  seized,  and  permitted 
themselves  to  be  placed  in  cells. 

But  the  jailers,  despite  all,  feared  to 
give  offense  to  these  individuals  whom 
some  sudden  change  might  not  only  lib- 
erate but  bring  back  again  into  power. 
The  latter  divined  this  feeling,  and 
though  they  were  reduced  to  a  level  with 
all  the  other  prisoners  they  proved  their 
independence  by  holding  converge  unin- 


terruptedly. From  one  cell  to  another 
their  unceasing  cries  resounded.  Through 
my  wicket,  slightly  ajar,  I  saw  them  go 
walking  on  several  occasions.  Some  of 
them  were  men  of  bestial  physiognomy, 
low-browed,  of  fierce  and  yet  vaguely 
uneasy  g'ance;  nothing,  in  short,  distin- 
guished them  from  the  majority  of  the 
madmen  whom  social  disorders  inevita- 
bly bring  forth.  *  *  *  Among  these 
uncouth  individuals,  for  whom  an  excuse 
could  have  been  found  in  the  wretched- 
ness of  their  birth,  the  jailers,  with 
evidences  of  considerable  surprise,  point- 
ed out  a  young  man  dressed  as  a  sailor, 
but  whom  they  knew  to  be  a  naval  offi- 
cer. He  had,  of  course,  received  some 
education,  and  even  spoke  several  lan- 
guages, and  yet  he  seemed  to  be  quite  at 
ease  among  these  malefactors,  and  re- 
sponded to  their  jesting  heartily. .  *    *    * 

OTHER  FELLOW-PRISONERS 

Thus  the  human  beings  who  surround- 
ed me  in  this  prison  were  so  varied  that 
they  formed  in  somewise  a  symbolic  rep- 
resentation of  the  Russian  world  swept 
by  the  gigantic  tidal  wave  of  revolution. 
I  was  living  near  a  band  of  murderers 
who  only  the  day  before  were  executing 
the  orders  of  the  commission.  But  also 
quite  near  me  there  lived  a  foimer  min- 
ister, an  ex-orderly  of  General  Kornilov, 
a  university  professor,  numerous  Church 
dignitaries,  and  Mr.  Lvov,  Marshal  of 
Moscow  nobi'ity  and  own  brother  of  that 
Prince  Lvov  who  was  President  of  the 
council  from  the  middle  of  March  to  the 
middle  cf  May,  1917.  Mr.  Lvov  some- 
times came  and  rapped  at  my  wicket,  ac- 
cording to  the  signal  known  to  the  ini- 
tiate, and  then  he  would  narrate  to  me 
the  story  of  his  misfortunes.  "  They  have 
taken  everything  from  me,"  he  said  to 
me  once  in  cautious  tones;  "they  have 
taken  my  factories,  my  ships,  my  ma- 
chines, my  horses.  And  today  those  who 
were  my  workmen  tell  me  that  until  I 
pay  them  an  indemnity  of  2,000,000  ru- 
bles I  shall  not  be  released  frcm  prison. 
Where  do  they  think  I  can  get  2,000,000 
rubles?"     *     *     * 

While  we  were  suffering,  however, 
things  wer*e  happening  The  prisoners 
began  to  perceive  that  the  amnesty  de- 


320 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cree  was  not  a  scrap  of  paper,  for  hun- 
dreds of  captives  were  being  released 
each  week.  Every  evening  the  jailers 
called  out  names,  and  the  cry,  "  Na 
svobodeu!  "  (releaccd)  resounded  joy- 
ously, and  we  saw  prisoners  laden  with 
big  packs  hastening  down  the  corridors. 

[A  member  of  the  Extraordinary  Commis- 
sion, one  Skripniak,  "  who  looked  like  an 
undertaker  in  some  sub-prefecture,"  came 
personally  to  examine  the  prisoners;  he  alio 
entered  the  cell  of  M.  Naudeau,  followed  by 
several  Soviet  officers,  but,  on  learning  that 
ho  was  a  journalist.  Immediately  withdrew 
with  manifestations  of  disgust  and  hostility. 
At  about  this  time  M.  Naudeau  was  sum- 
moned to  the  pri  ;on  office,  where  a  young 
Police  Judge  told  him  he  was  imprisoned,  not 
because  of  his  Moscow  publication,  but  be- 
cause he  was  a  correspondent  of  a  large 
newspaper  published  in  Paris.  He  refused  to 
take  testimony  thereupon  and  withdrew.  On 
Nov.  28  M;  Naudeau  received  a  second  visit 
from  Captain  Sadoul,  who  again  urged  him 
to  revoke  his  former  pronouncements  in 
favor  of  allied  intervention,  which  was  the 
ground  on  which  he  had  been  arrested.  This 
he  again  obstinately  refused  to  do,  alleging 
that  he  had  taken  a  vow  to  write  nothing 
until  he  was  placed  in  liberty.  Soon  after 
this  he  was  relieved  of  his  state  of  "  strict 
solitude  "  and  given  the  company  of  a  Brit- 
ish officer  captured  at  Archangel.  With 
thii  officer  he  was  talking  one  day  when  he 
was  summoned  quite  suddenly  to  pack  all  his 
things  quickly,  His  jailers  brought  him  by 
automobile  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Ex- 
traordinary Commission,  which  had  been  his 
first  place  of  captivity  after  his  nrrest.  The 
narrative  cf  M.  Naudeau  continues  as  fol- 
lows:] 

TERMS   OF   LIBERATION 

A  soldier  bearing  a  gun  led  me  down 
corridors,  up  stairways,  through  a  kitch- 
en. *  *  *  I  entered  a  room  incumbered 
with  an  indescribable  mass  cf  papers 
heaped  up  on  tables  and  chairs.  Two  or 
three  individuals  were  talking  there  to- 
gether, and  there  wa3  another  seated  in 
a  corner  who  seemed  to  be  waiting,  for 
as  soon  as  I  appeared  he  called  me.  He 
was  a  blonde  young  man,  with  long,  curly 
hair,  and  clearly  shaven  face;  he  spoke 
French  very  fluently,  but  with  the  spe- 
cial  accent  characteristic  of  those  whose 
mother  tongue  is  Russian.  I  had  no  dif- 
ficulty in  reccgnizing  in  him  one  cf  '.he 
stars  of  the  commission,  an  adventurer 
of  French  origin,  though  boi'n  in  Russia, 
and  whose  name  was  La  Farre,  Count 
d?  'a  Farre.    Not  once  did  this  represen- 


tative of  the  high  spheres  of  Bolshevism 
raise  his  eyes  on  me.     *     *     * 

"  Listen,"  he  said  to  me  in  French, 
"let  us  not  investigate  this  case;  this 
isn't  necessary  now.  You  had  lately  an 
interview  with  Sadoul,  did  you  not? 
Well,  I  am  charged  to  tell  you  this:  you 
are  to  be  placed  provisionally  in  liberty 
for  three  weeks  as  a  mixlmum.  If,  at 
the  expiration  of  these  three  weeks,  be- 
ginning from  the  present  time,  you  have 
not  yet  given  us  the  satisfaction  we  de- 
mand, you  will  be  again  arrested.  You 
will  have  three  weeks,  then,  to  ccme 
quietly  to  a  decision.  You  will  sign  a 
statement  pledging  your  word  of  honor 
that  you  will  not  attempt  to  take  flight 
from  Moscow  during  this  period,  that 
you  will  live  in  the  French  Refuge,  and 
that  you  will  conform  to  what  Sadoul 
told  you  in  the  interview  which  you  had 
with  him.     Do  you  accept?" 

I  hesitated  for  a  second.  Should  I  re- 
fuse the  respite  offered  me?  Since  I 
was  to  have  twenty-one  days,  in  which  to 
come  to  a  decision,  I  should  have  been 
extremely  Quixotic  to  drape  myself  any 
longer  in  the  mantle  of  my  dignity.  Four 
months  and  a  half  of  imprisonment  had 
given  me  the  firm  conviction  that  with 
such  people  as  the  Bolsheviki,  accus- 
tomed to  employ  blackmailing  and  mur- 
der in  support  of  their  propaganda,  it 
would  have  been  childish  of  me  to  stand 
on  scruple.  Such  was  the  point  of  view 
of  many  respectable  Russians  with 
whom  I  had  come  in  contact  in  my  pris- 
on. To  deceive  people  of  this  kind,  one 
signs,  when  one  has  to,  any  and  all  docu- 
ments whatsoever,  and  without  incurring 
the  slightest  responsibility. 

"  But,"  I  objected  nevertheless,  "  how 
do  I  know  that  if  I  yield  and  hand  you 
the  statement  which  you  demand,  I  shall 
not  le  again  arrested  on  some  pretext?  " 

"  No,"  replied  de  la  Fane  magnani- 
mously, "  the  political  conditions  which 
brought  about  your  imprisonment  have 
changed,  and  I  can  guarantee  you  that  if 
you  come  to  an  agreement  with  mc  you 
wi'l  not  me  troubled  again."        , 

What  couM  I  do?  I  signed,  then,  with 
the  most  Jesuitical  of  mental  reserva- 
tions, and  :  cme  instants  later  I  was  free 
and  in  the  sti'eet.  I  wondered  if  I  was 
not  dreaming  as  I  waked  a'ong  as  natu- 


FIVE  MONTHS  IN  MOSCOW  PRISONS 


321 


rally  as  possible,  astonished  to  perceive 
that  I  was  able  to  reatlapt  myself  imme- 
diately to  life.  I  arrived  a  half  hour 
later  at  the  French  Refuge,  where  sev- 
eral of  my  compatriots  who  had  seen  me 
many  times  before  did  not  recognize  me. 

f ; Acting  on  the  advice  of  his  compatriots  in 
Sloscow,  and  his  conscience  somewhat  re- 
lieved by  the  publication  of  an  announcement 
by  Stephen  Pichon,  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, before  the  French  Chamber,  that 
Fiance  did  not  intend  to  intervene,  M.  Nan- 
deau  drew  up  his  article  disclaiming  his 
former  views  of  the  necessity  of  allied  in- 
tervention in  Russia,  and  presented  it  to 
Captain  Sadoul,  who  assured  him  that  his 
liberation  was  thereby  made  permanent.  On 
Feb.  4,  the  day  before  his  deV^.'iure  from 
Moscow  with  the  French  group  of  which 
lie  was  a  part,  the  members,  of  which  were 
to  be  exchanged  at  the  Finnish  frontier 
against  a  certain  number  of  Russian  prison- 
ers, the  Soviet  official  journal,  Izvestia,  pub- 
lislud  a  garbled  summary  of  the  article 
Which  M.  Xaudeau  had  given  to  Sadoul.  This 
deliberately  distorted  version  was  signed  by 
Nieurine,  M,  Xaudeau'.s  first  public  accuser. 
The  narrative  of  the  released  correspondent 
concludes  as  follows:] 


As  for  me,  it  will,  perhaps,  be  consid- 
ered singular,  and  it  surprises  even  me, 
that  I  find  myself  able  to  say  that  I 
issue  from  this  sombre  adventure  with- 
out hatred  or  desire  for  vengeance.  It 
has  made  me  suffer,  but  it  also  com- 
pelled me  to  explore  abysses  which  can 
be  explored  only  by  those  who  are  swal- 
lowed up  by  them.  After  all,  the  Bolshe- 
viki  might  have  killed  me,  without  dan- 
ger to  themselves,  and  yet  I  am  alive; 
they  might  have  kept  me  permanently  in 
prison,  and  yet  I  am  in  France.  It  is 
true  that  they  blackmailed  me,  but  I 
laugh  at  this  and  at  them,  for  the  only 
thing  which  is  important  for  me  is  to  be 
able  to  speak  freely  to  the  public  of  my 
own  country.  So  everything  is  for  the 
best  in  the  best  of  worlds.  *  *  *  When 
I  see  with  what  a  harvest  of  sensations 
and  sentiments  they  have  made  me  rich, 
I  wonder,  after  the  casting  up  of  all  ac- 
counts, if  it  is  not  I  who  am  the  debtor 
of  the  sombre  monomaniacs  of  Moscow? 


How  King  ■  Constantiiie  Was  Deposed 

Parts  Played  by  France  and  Britain 


AN  interesting  chapter  of  secret  his- 
tory regarding  the  diplomatic 
forces  that  compelled  King  Con- 
stantiiie to  abdicate  the  throne  of  Greece 
was  made  public  in  the  September  issue 
of  the  Grarde  Revue  by  M.  Marcel  Lau- 
rent, director  of  a  Paris  neWs  agency. 
When  M.  Ribot  came  into  power  in  1917, 
M.  Laurent  states,  he  began  to  take  the 
situation  in  Greece  into  serious  consid- 
eration. The  Ministers  of  the  Entente, 
who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Athens  in 
consequence  of  the  events  of  the  previous 
December,  had  returned  to  that  capital, 
but  ether  diplomatists,  duly  accredited  by 
the  Entente,  were  living  at  Saloniki, 
where  M.  Venizelos  had  establirhed  his 
Provisional  Government.  In  view  of.  the 
undisguised  hostility  of  the  King,  M. 
.  Ribot  decided  that  definite  steps  ought 
to  be  taken  to  relieve  both  the  Entente 
and  Greece  herself  of  an  implacable 
enemy,  He  first  bronpht  up  the  subject 
at  his  interview  with  Mr.  Lloyd  George 


and  Baron  Sonnino  at  St.  Jean  de 
Maurienne,  on  April  19,  1917. 

In  principle,  says  M.  Laurent,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  was  not  opposed  to  this 
"  purification,"  but  he  at  the  same  time 
recognized  that  it  would  involve  serious 
difficulties.  Sonnino,  on  the  other  hand, 
feared  the.  repercussion  which  might  re- 
sult from  the  overturning  cf  a  neighbor- 
ing throne.  The  Consulta  agreed  that 
Constantine  should  be  put  scf  ide,  if  it 
were  absolutely  necessary,  but  only  on 
condition  that  the  Greek  dynasty  wae 
respected. 

The  settlement  of  the  Greek  difficulty, 
the  writer  points  out,  had  become  all  the 
more  urgent  frcm  the  fact  that-  "  the 
British  Government  had  outlined  an 
Eastern  program  which  in  no  way 
agreed  with  ours."  Far  from  increasing 
their  forces  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  the 
Briticfa  were  anxious  to  reduce  them,  and 
in  May,  1917,  they  announced  their  in- 
tention  to   reduce   their   effectives   pro- 


522 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


gressively  to  a  number  that  was  strictly 
indispensable  for  the  security  of  Sa- 
lonika The  French  Ministry,  on  the 
other  hand,  vigorously  resisted  this  view, 
and  urged  that  merely  to  occupy  Saloniki 
as  an  intrenched  camp  had  no  value  as  a 
strategic  •  factor.  When  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  and  Lord  Robert  Cecil  arrived  in 
Paris  at  the  beginning  of  May,  their  ob- 
ject was  to  arrange  with  the  French 
Government  for  the  partial  retreat  of 
the  Saloniki  troops.  M.  Ribot,  however, 
brought  up  the  whole  Balkan  problem, 
and  had  little  difficulty  in  convincing 
the  British  statesmen  that  the  situation 
was  not  very  flattering  for  the  Allies. 

Lord  Robert  Cecil  eventually  suggested 
that  a  High  Commissioner  should  be  sent 
to  Athens  as  the  representative  of  the 
Allies  as  a  body,  and,  as  the  allied  Com- 
mander in  Chief  at  Saloniki  was  French, 
he  proposed  that  the  suggested  emissary 
of  the  Entente  should  be  British.  M. 
Ribot  pointed  out  the  awkwardness  of 
having  a  High  Commissioner  of  a  differ- 
ent nationality  from  the  Commander  in 
Chief,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  sep- 
arating diplomacy  from  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  and  Lord  Robert  gave  way, 
with  the  result  that  M.  Jonnart  was  ap- 
pointed as  High  Commissioner. 

The  question  of  the  abdication  of  Ccn- 
stantine  was  reserved  for  settlement  in 
London  later  in  the  month,  together 
with  other  subjects  then  in  suspense.  On 
May  25  M.  Ribot,  accompanied  by  the 
Ministers  of  War  and  the  Navy,  and  by 
General  Foch  and  M.  Jonnart,  crossed  to 
London  for  a  conference  with  the  British 
Ministers.  General  Foch  expressed  his 
views  en  Saloniki,  and  stated  plainly  that 
the  best  means  to  satisfy  the  British  Ad- 
miralty (who  were  anxious  as  to  the  ef- 
fect submarine  warfare  would  have  on 
communications  with  Saloniki)  would  be 
not  to  reduce 'the.  army  of  occupation 
there  and  expose  it  to  the  danger  cf 
capitulation,  but  to  secure-  the  railway 
from  Athens  to  ^aloniki  and  establish  at 
Athens  a  Government  on  which  the  .Allies 
could  depend.  This  again  brought  up  the 
question  of  the  abdication  of  the  King. 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  his  colleagues;  ral- 
lied to  the  views  of  the  French  Cabinet, 
and  Lord  Robert  Cecil  handed  M.  Ribot 


a  note  which  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  com- 
munity of  views  between  the  two  Cabi- 
nets. 

Then  came  the  question  as  to  how  the 
abdication  should  be  brought  about!  The 
British  Ministers  favored  the  Thessaly 
operation,  to  be  followed  by  a  demand 
for  the  King's  abdication,  and  by  a  -laval 
demonstration  if  he  refused.  The 
French,  basing  themselves  on  General 
Foch's  advice,  uiged  a  landing  at  the 
Piraeus,  which  would  insure  the  King's 
abdication  without  necessitating  force. 
Finally  a  compromise  was  agreed  on. 
General  Sarrail  was  to  hold  his  troops 
ready  to  land  on  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth 
at  a  moment's  notice,  but  was  to  debark 
them  only  if  fhe  King  resisted. 

On  his  return  to  Athens  an  unexpected 
incident  occurred  in  connection  with  the 
personality  of  General  Sarrail.  In  of- 
ficial circles  in  the  allied  capitals  his  de- 
tractors predominated.  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
often  confessed  himself  uneasy;  Sor.nlno 
declared  himself  hostile  to  the  tactics  of 
a  commander  whom  the  French  Govern- 
ment defended  to  their  utmost.  An  ex- 
press messenger  was  sent  to  M.  Rjbot 
from  an  allied  country  asking  for  the 
immediate  recall  of  General  Sarrail, 
adding  that  his  maintenance  in  command 
was  regarded  everywhere  as  impossible. 
M.  Ribot  replied  that  his  Government 
had  given  the  opinion  of  their  allies  very 
serious  consideration,  but  found  it  im- 
possible to  relieve  General  Sarrail  of  his 
command,  as  such  a  measure,  coming  on 
the  eve  of  important  events  in  Greece, 
could  only  provoke  difficulties.  M.  Ribot 
undertook  that  when  the  matter  in  hand 
was  settled  he  would  not  fail  to  consider 
the  request  that  was  made.  The  sender 
of  this  message  from  "  an  allied  coun- 
try," M.  Laurent  subsequently  states, 
was  Mr.  Lloyd  George. 

The  French  Government  had  received 
no  direct,  news  from  M.  Jonnart  in  re- 
gard to  the  accomplishment  of  his  mis- 
sion, when,  on  June  9,  the  British  Cabi- 
net forwarded  a  note  of  protest.  It  had 
become  known  at  the  Foreign  Office  that 
the  High  Commissioner  in  Greece  had 
brought  troops  from  Saloniki  and  bad 
announced  his  intention  of  debarking 
them  at  the  Piraeus  and  of  giving  Con- 


HOW  KING  CONSTANTINE  WAS  DEPOSED 


3S3 


stantine  twenty-four  hours  in  which  to 
abdicate.  The  British  Cabinet  saw  in 
this  operation  an  infraction  of  the  stipu- 
lations of  the  Convention  cf  London,  and 
it  asked  for  explanations.  Cn  the  fol- 
lowing1 day  the  Quai  d'Orsay  received  a 
second  protest,  couched  in  terms  not  less 
categoric  than  the  preceding  one.  It  de- 
clared that  the  British  Foreign  Office 
did  not  share  the  optimism  of  the  French 
War  Minister,  who  had  stated  that  the 
Royalist  faction  at  Athens  would  vanish 
at  the  mere  sight  of  our  troops.  The 
French  Cabinet  lost  none  of  ;*s  sang- 
froid. It  carefully  avoided  disavowing 
M.  Jonnart. 

The  article  goes  on  to  relate  how  M. 
Jonnart,  after  delaying  for  forty-eight 
hours  the  landing  of  the  troops,  decided, 
without  waiting  for  the  fresh  instruc- 
tions asked  for,  to  bring  the  issue  to  an 
abrupt  decision.  He  appealed  to  the 
patriotism  of  the  Greek  Premier,  M. 
Zaimis,  pointing  out  that  if  matters 
were  allowed  to  proceed  peacefully  the 
protecting  powers  would  raise  the  block- 


ade, safeguard  the  lives  and  property  of 
all  Greeks,  without  distinction,  and  pre- 
vent reprisals  of  any  kind.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  difficulties  were  raised, 
force  would  be  used.  At  the  same  time, 
the  High  Commissioner  handed  the  Pre- 
mier a  note  relative  to  the  abdication  cf 
the  King. 

M.  Zaimis  was  familiar  with  steps  of 
the  kind  contemplated,  as  his  father  had 
assisted,  as  Prime  Minister,  at  the  abdi- 
cation of  King  Otho.  He  loyally  fol- 
lowed his  family  traditions.  The  next 
day,  before  the  period  laid  down  had.  ex- 
pired, he  sent  to  M.  Jonnart  a  letter  an- 
nouncing that  the  King  was  prepared  to 
leave  the  country,  together  with  the 
Crown  Prince. 

The  sequal  followed  promptly.  King 
Constantine  abdicated  on  June  12,  1917, 
and  was  at  once  succeeded  by  his  second 
son,  Prince  Alexander,  as  King  of  the 
Hellenes.  The  Allies  did  not  think  it 
worth  while  to  intera  the  fallen  King, 
and  allowed  him  to  take  refuge  in 
Switzerland,  where  he  still  remains. 


International    Rule    Not    a    Success    in    Tangier 


THE  state  of  war  existing  between  the 
Spanish  Government  and  the  tribes- 
men of  the  Wad  Ras  district,  near  the 
international  zone  around  Tangier,  has 
been  emphasized  frequently  by  heavy 
Spanish  casualties.  A  gloomy  picture  of 
the  condition  of  the  international  zone 
itself  was  drawn  by  the  Morocco  corre- 
spondent of  The  London  Times  on  Sept. 
1.  According  to  this  account  all  benef- 
icent or  charitable  work  had  been  pre- 
vented by  the  many  international  jeal- 
ousies prevailing  at  Tangier.  Justice  for 
the  natives  was  a  farce.  There  were  no 
hospitals  or  medical  staff.  A  serious 
shortage  of  water  existed.  Work  was 
scarce,  prices  high;  the  existence  of  the 
poor  Moslems  amid  surroundings  of  dirt 
and  squalor  was  pitiable.  This  article 
concluded  as  follows: 


If  there  .still  lingers  among  those  who 
are  charged  with  the  negotiations  for  the 
future  of  Tangier  any  intention  or  any 
desire  to  endow  this  place  with  a  per- 
manent status  of  internationalization,  let 
them  be  warned  in  time.  Let  them  eome 
for  themselves  and  see  what  international 
administration  has  accomplished.  It  has 
taught  the  people  to  poison  themselves 
with  foul  drinks :  it  invites  them  to  lose 
their  scanty  earnings  in  low  gambling 
hells;  it  tempts  them— to  our  shame  be 
it  said— with  the  dregs  of  European  prosti- 
tution, and  eventually  it  leaves  them  to 
die  untended  and  uncared  for.  It  has 
allowed  them  to  have  all  that  is  bad— 
for  no  social  legislation  is  possible  where 
the  jealousies  of  a  dozen  European  Gov- 
ernments have  to  be  contended  with— and 
it  has  deprived  them  of  ail  they  have  a 
right  to  have— a  semblance  of  Justice, 
cleanliness,  water,  a  little  aid  in  their 
sickness,  and  some  sympathy  in  their 
sufferings.  They  ask  so  little.  They  get 
nothing. 


Zionist  Difficulties  in  Palestine 

[By  a  London  Times  Correspondent] 
Writing  from  Jerusalem  at  the  beginning  of  September,   1919,  the  author  of 
this  artxcle-a  trained  British  observer  of  developments  in  the  Middle  East— mm- 
munzed  the  status  of  the  Zionist  project  as  fellows: 


ZIONISM  is  the  burning    issue  here. 
On  all  sides  it  is  laden  with  such 
deep  passions  that  one  is  conscious 
of    responsibility    in    touching    it.      Mr. 
Balfour   has    pledged    us   to   provide   in 
Palestine  a  nationr.'  home  for  the  Jews, 
a  pledge  which  we  intend  to  keep.     But 
Palestine,  as  at  present  administered  by 
us,  contains  approximately  500,000  Mus- 
sulmans,  60,000    Christians,   and   60,000 
Jews.    Although  a  great  deal  of  it  is  as 
barren  as  the  Wilderness  of  the  Tempta- 
tion, it  is  all  owned  by  somebody.     The 
old  formula  of  "  the  land  without  a  peo- 
ple for  the  people  without  a  land  "  pre- 
sents   difficulties    at    once.     But    these 
difficulties,  which  I  hope  to  show  are  not 
insoluble,   are   as   nothing   compared    to 
the  trouble  that  has  arisen  from  the  be- 
lief that  we  are  pledged  also  to  secure 
for  the  Jews  a  privileged  political  posi- 
tion in  Palestine.    Language  of  this  kind 
was    undoubtedly    used,    and    as   in    the 
crisis  of  the  war  no  one  had  time  for  re- 
flection on  the  sober  realities  of  the  sit- 
uation, Jews  all  over  the  world  naturally 
gave  vent   to  outbursts   of  joy,   and   of 
gratitude    to    Great    Britain    for    some- 
thing which,  without  being  in  any  way 
precisely    defined,    was    understood     to 
mean  that  the  Jews  were  to  be  masters 
in  their  new  home.    ' 

Now  all  this  was  at  the  time  entirely 
pardonable  ignorance,  but  ignorance  it 
was.  The  results  have  been  simply  de- 
plorable, and  it  is  essential  that  we 
should  all  of  us,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  get 
to  grips  with  the  situation,  and  use  no 
more  vague  language  or  harbor  vague 
ideas.  Otherwise  there  will  be  bloodshed 
in  Palestine,  and  the  position  of  the 
small  Jewish  minority,  which  is  already 
morally  distressing,  will  become  intoler- 
able. The  500,000  Mussulmans  and. the 
60,000  Christians  have  all  been  excited  to 
a  high  pitch  by  this  political  talk.  They 
have-   made  common  cause,  and   in   some 


cases  they  have  entered  into  covenants 
to  sell  no  land  to  Jews.  The  Christians 
say  they  would  prefer  to  go  back  under 
a  Mussulman  majority  rather  than  be 
ruled  by  a  Jewish  minority,  and  Mussul- 
mans and  Christians  alike  insist  on  the 
fact  that  if  there  were  to  be  government 
by  a  small  majority,  it  could  only  rest  on 
British  bayonets. 

All  this  passion  and  heat  is  engendered 
about  a  sheer  illusion.  For  naturally 
there  could  never  now  be  any  question 
of  the  British  arms  being  used  to  impose 
upon  the  vast  majority  of  the  inhabitants 
the  temporal  power  of  a  local  minority, 
reinforced,  perhaps,  by  immigrants  from 
all  over  Europe  and  America,  but  chiefly 
from  the  distressed  Jewries  of  Poland 
and  Rumania. 

The  majority  is,  it  should  be  said, 
largely  autochthonous.  For  the  Palestine 
Mussulmans,  though  commonly  called 
Arabs,  and  the  Palestine  Christians, 
though  commonly  called  Syrians,  are 
probably  largely  the  same  stock,  ethnically 
akin  to  those  Phoenician  and  other  "  lene 
Tyrian  traders  "who  founded  Marseilles, 
and  were  the  first  to  set  their  sails  into 
the  golden  west  of  the  vast  Atlantic 
through  the  Gibraltar  gate,  and  exploit 
the  tin  mines  of  Cornwall.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  descendants  of  these  merchant 
adventurers,  who 

on  the  beach  undid  their  corded   bales. 
are   far   more  intelligent  and    vivacious 
than  either  Turks  or  Arabs  elsewhere  in 
the  Ottoman  Empire. 

The  vital  fact  which  should  be  known 
is  that  not  only  is  the  establishment  of 
such  a  forcible  ascendency  unthinkable 
on  our  part,  but  it  is  not  even  sug- 
gested by  any  responsible  Zionist,  'in 
Jerusalem,  at  any  rate.  These  are  fully 
alive  both  to  the  inherent  injustice  of 
such  a  course  and  to  its  danger  to  their 
co-religionists.  Possibly  there  are  some 
hotheads  living  abroad   who,  since  their 


ZIONIST  DIFFICULTIES  IN  PALESTINE 


$21 


own  interests  are  not  involved,  will 
clamor  for  large  political  privileges; 
but  I  have  been  impressed  by  the  modera- 
tion of  the  Zionist  program  as  put  for- 
ward here.  It  cannot  be  too  widely 
known,  for  if  it  be  understood,  the  basis 
of  the  present  unrest,  a  basis  largely  of 
misunderstanding,  should  disappear. 
How,  then,  do  the  sober  Zionists  conceive 
the  future? 

They  assume  that  the  British  will  be 
offered  and  will  accept  from  the  Peace 
Conference  a  mandate  for  the  direction 
of  affairs  in  Palestine.  What  the  ter- 
ritorial limits  of  Palestine  will  be  is  yet 
unknown.     *     *     * 

Although  Jews  of  high  principle  and 
ability,  who  have  already  attained  dis- 
tinction in  the  West,  could  be  found  for 
the  heads  of  all  administrative  depart- 
ments, they  could  not  make  themselves 
acceptable  to  the  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants or  carry  the  necessary  au- 
thority. But  the  Zionists  do  expect  that 
an  opportunity  will  be  given  to  such 
men,  more  especially  in  the  less  acrimo- 
niously political  and  more  technical  posts, 
such,  for  instance,  as  public  works  or 
postal  administration.  Clearly,  also,  a 
Jewish  official  on  the  High  Commis- 
sioner's Council  will  be  required  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  Jewish  education. 

It  is  in  this  matter  of  education  that 
we  touch  one  of  the  questions  considered 
vital  by  the  most  responsible  Zionists, 
whose  present  aims  are  cultural  and 
•economic  rather  than  political. 

Orthodox  Jews  all  over  the  world  have 
maintained  schools  wherein  the  children 
of  the  Ghetto  have  learned  Hebrew.  It 
was  not  a  spoken  language.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  home  among  the  Sephar- 
dim,  the  long-robed  stately  Jews  of  the 
Levant,  is  the  Spanish  patois  which 
descends  from  the  Spanish  which  the 
Jews  brought  with  them  when  expelled 
from  Spain  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

The  humble  Jews  of  the  Ashkenazim, 
the  mean-clad,  uneasy  men  who  swarm 
in  Poland  and  the  Ukraine  and  fill  the 
Jewries  of  Western  Europe  and  America, 
talk  Yiddish — a  salad  of  German,  Slav, 
Hebrew,  and  any  local  language — -in 
their  homes.  Hebrew,  then,  though  well 
known  to  orthodox  Jews  throughout  the 
world,  remained  unspoken,  and  the  mod- 


ern movement  for  its  revival  has  had  but 
a  small  measure  of  success.  But  there  is' 
one  great  exception  to  this  rule — namely, 
Jerusalem.  Here  Jews  from  all  over  the 
world,  from  Samarkand  to  Mogador,  and 
from  California  to  Petrograd,  have 
found  in  Hebrew  a  common  tongue,  and 
here  it  is  freely  spoken  as  nowhere  else. 
The  movement  is  opposed  only  by  the 
Jewish  schools  maintained  here  and 
throughout  the  East  by  U Alliance  Uni- 
verselle,  which  stands  firmly  for  French 
culture  and  the  French  language.  The 
Zionists  ask  for  official  recognition  of 
Hebrew  in  equality  with  Arabic  m  Gov- 
ernment use.  "At  present  this  is  ac- 
corded, but  it  is  expensive  and  involves 
the  maintenance  of  a  large  establish- 
ment of  Jewish  clerks  and  translators  in 
Government  offices.  There  is  no  other 
objection  to  it,  and  probably  the  Zionist 
Council  will  agree  that  the  financial  bur- 
den of  a  sentimental  privilege  for  a  very 
small  minority  should  not  be  entirely 
borne  out  of  taxation. 

In  Jerusalem  the  Jews '  are  in  a  ma- 
jority. Elsewhere  they  are  greatly  in  the 
minority,  but  there  are  villages  and 
small  districts  that  are  almost  purely 
Jewish.  The  Zionists  ask  that  these 
should  be  allowed  local  autonomy  some- 
what equivalent  to  that  of  an  English 
borough,  with  power  of  levying  their 
own  rates.  There  should  be  no  in- 
superable difficulty  in  meeting  such  a 
demand. 

The  outline  that  I  have  given  contains 
all  that  the  Zionists  who  wish  to  safe- 
guard the  Jews  now  living  in  Palestine 
ask  in  their  political  program.  They 
regard  those  who  live  abroad  and  ask  for 
more  as  ayents  provocateurs,  who  will 
be  the  cause  of  their  ruin. 

But  there  remains  the  problem  of  pro- 
viding a  national  home  for  the  Jews. 
How  is  this  to  be  done?  The  land  is  al- 
ready owned.  As  things  are  now,  the 
country  can  support  but  few  more  peo- 
ple. There  are  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  poor  Jews  in  the  ghettos  of  Poland, 
the  Ukraine,  and  Rumania  who  would 
swarm  into  Palestine  if  the  gates  were 
open.  Already  there  are  more  refugees 
here  than  the  Zionists  can  support,  and 
the  burden  is  falling  to  an  increasing  ex- 
tent on  the  British  authorities.     How  can 


326 


1HE   NEW    yORK   TIMES   CURRENT    HISTORY 


these  poor  city  starvelings,  children  of 
persecution    who    have    failed    in    life's 
battle,  make  desirable  immigrants  for  a 
country  with  a  future?     If  they  are  to 
be  helped,  will  they  not  rely  en  help,  like 
those  fearful  products  of  philanthropic 
societies   in   other  parts   of   the   world? 
Will  net  the  children  of  Zion  be  the  "  re- 
mittance men"  of  the  Zionist   Council, 
and  incapable  of  standing  alone?     Will 
they  till  the  soil,  or  will  they  seek  to  get 
a  mortgage  on  the  land  of  the  fellaheen 
and  watch   the   Arabs   work  for  them? 
And  how,  save  by  the  employment  of  a 
large  force,  are  we  to  protect  these  im- 
migrants,  when   they   arrive,    from    the 
Arab  and  Christian  fury  which  is  now 
raging  against  them  in  advance,  owing 
to  the  way  in  which   the  question  has 
been  represented,  or  misrepresented? 

These  questions  I  have  put  and  I  find 
the  Zionists  here  awake  to  dangers 
which  it  is  imperative  should  be  realised 
abroad.  The  Zionist  reply  in  effect  is 
this : 


Immigration   will   have  to  be   most   care- 
fully controlled,   and   .selected   immigrants 
allowed   in   only  as   labor  is  required   or 
land   becomes   available,      it    is   true   that 
l lie  Jew  has  not  been  known  as  an  agri- 
culturist.     Jint    in    European   countries  he 
has    until     modern    times    been    jealously 
kept    off    the    land.      In    America,    where 
.agriculture    has    always    been    a    business 
like   any   other,    the  Jew    in   spite   of   this 
Inherited    dfttb'Nty    has    made    good    and 
there     are    some     fiO.uuu    Jewish     agricul- 
turists.    Here  in   Palestine  in   the  earlier 
of    the    modern    Jewish    colonies    it    mu«t 
be    admitted     that     the    Jews     have     not 
shown   a   disposition   to   work    themselves- 
they    employ    Arabs.      But    the    sons    and 
grandsons    of    the    colonists    of    the     '70s 
and   'NO's  take  a    much  greater   interest   in 


the  soil,  and  themselves  work  the  land 
more  and  more.  Moreover,  the  later 
colonies  have  been  very  much  better  in 
this  respect  from  their  foundation.  But 
we  consider  it  vital  1  hat  Jews  should 
not  shipwreck  Zionism  by  acquiring  land 
privately,  or  by  incurring  odium  as  small 
moneylenders. 

Our    desire    is    that    a    Jewish    National 
Council   should   acquire,   land   that   is   for 
sale,    more    especially    uncultivated    lands 
and  the  properties  of  the  former  Turkish 
Government.      We   believe   that   bv   scien- 
tific   irriation,    the    use    of    water    power, 
and   the  development  of  transport   Pales- 
tine  could   maintain   four   times   its   pres- 
ent   population    on    a    higher   standard    of 
living.      We   propose    that    a   Jewish    Na- 
tional  Council  should  finance  these  great 
pub  ic  works.     They  will  require  immigra- 
tion   of    labor,    and    that    labor    we    can 
supply.     In   this  way.    with   the   develop- 
ment  of  land  and    the  enrichment  of  the 
country  by  public  works,  we  propose  that 
Palestine    shall    in    a    natural    economic 
majiner     gradually     provide     a     national 
home  for  the  Jews.     We  must  resist   all 
pressure   to    go    in    for   large    schemes    of 
immediate    immigration,    and'   we    must 
make  sure  of  a  sound   economic  basis. 

Herein,  it  seems  to   me,  lies  wisdom. 
Let  the  Zionists  make  known  the  modera- 
tion of  their  demands  from  the  house- 
tops.   And  let  the  Christian  and  Mussul- 
man fanatics,  who  are  at  present  openly 
vowing  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  Jews, 
listen  and  understand.     This  i*  the  only 
way  of  safety.    For  the  Pa:e:tinr  situa- 
tion is  bad.     The  Moslems,  who  have  it 
to     their     eternal     credit     that,     while 
Christendom  acted  very  differently,  they 
have    always    shown    toleration    to    the 
Jews,    are   in   danger   of   spoiling   their 
record,   because  now  for  the  first   time 
they  believe  they  are  threatened  with  a 
Jewish  domination. 


With  Allenby  in  Palestine 

By  LOWELL  THOMAS 

Anuucun    War   Corespondent    and    Lrctnrer 
[BV    AKfuxorMKXT    wrrii    The    Loxno.v   CHlfoNIctiel 


ALTHOUGH  it  took  Field  Marshal 
m  Loid  Allenby  just  one  year  to  do 
what  the  Crusaders  were  unable  to 
accomplish  in  100  years,  nevertheless, 
while  carrying  out  the  most  brilliantly 
executed  campaign  in  the  annals  of  mili- 
tary history,  he  by  no  means  spent   all 


of  his  time  fighting  Turks.  One  expects 
a  great  military  leader  to  be  conversant 
with  military  tactics  and  the  history  of 
war,  but  it  is  a  bit  extraordinary  to 
find  the  leader  of  a  great  army  a  book- 
man and  naturalist.  But  Lord  Allenby 
probably  knows  as  much  as  any  man  liv- 


WITH  ALLENBY  IN  PALESTINE 


::.'7 


ing  about  the  flowers  and  wild  animals 
and  birds  of  the  Holy  Land.  He  sta- 
tioned a  Yorkshire  Sergeant  at  a  water- 
ing place  which  migratory  birds  fre- 
quented, and  whenever  a  new  species  ar- 
rived the  Commander  in  Chief  would 
forget  the  cares  of  his  campaign  and 
slip  off  to  the  pond  to  see  the  bird  for 
himself.  He  is  the  type  of  man  whom 
John  Burroughs  would  make  a  boon  com- 
panion. 

While  with  his  forces  in  Palestine  I 
discovered  that  Allenby  was  exception- 
ally popular  with  the  men  in  the  ranks. 
But  I  was  told  everywhere  that  his  Gen- 
erals got  shaky  in  the  knees  when  in  his 
presence,  because  if  anything  went 
wrong  you  could  hear  the  deliverer  of 
Jerusalem  all  the  way  from  Dan  to 
Beersheba. 

Since  the  Boer  war,  when  he  first 
made  his  reputation  as  a  great  cavalry 
leader,  he  has  been  known  to  his  men  as 
"  Bull  "  Allenby,  and  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Tommies  and  Anzacs  seldom  go 
far  wrong  in  their  measure  cf  a  man. 
A  thousand  years  from  now  historians,  I 
believe,  will  rank  Allenby  with  Thothmes 
III.,  Rameses  I.,  Joshua,  Sennacherib, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  Alexander  the  Great, 
Tiius,  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  Saladin, 
and  the  other  mighty  conquerors  who 
have  led  their  hosts  across  the  Plains  of 
Sharon  and  Armageddon.  And  I  believe 
they  will  vVrite  his  name  at  the  head  of 
the  list. 

Allenby  succeeded  where  even  Na- 
poleon failed.  His  was  a  campaign  such 
as  all  military  men  have  dreamed  cf, 
but.  few  have  realized.  But  though  e3- 
sentially  a  man  of  war  who  prefers  to 
wear  a  uniform  mc.de  of  the  same  cloth 
as  that  worn  by  his  privates,  to  eat  the 
same  food,  and  to  roar  like  a  lion, 
Allenby  has  another  side  to  his  nature. 
He  reads  both  Greek  and  Latin  fluently,, 
and  he  carried  with  him  on  his  campaign 
such  books  as  George  Adam  Smith's  Geog- 
raphy of  the  Holy  Land,  a  Bible  diction- 
ary, and,  of  course,  a  copy  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

Just  after  the  capture  of  Jericho, 
Allenby  and  the  Duke  of  Connaught  took 
a  run  down  to  the  edge  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  When  they  arrived  the  soldiers 
were  enjoying  their  noonday  siesta,  and 


there  were  some  motor  boats  lying  out  a 
bit  too  far,  being  knocked  about  by  the 
waves.  The  Commander  in  Chief  angrily 
ordered  them  to  be  pulled  in.  Both  he 
and  the  Duke  lent  a  hand.  The  tem- 
perature was  about  110  degrees.  Both 
were  wringing  wet  with  perspiration, 
and  hardly  as  comfortable  as  the  soldiers 
helping  them,  who  were  wearing  abso- 
lutely no  clothing.  When  the  job  was 
done  Allenby  remarked  quietly  to  one 
«f  the  boys  that  it  was  a  pity  they 
couldn't  have  taken  a  cinema  of  his 
Royal  Highness  pulling  on  the  rope  be- 
tween two  naked  Australians. 

An  hour  later,  on  their  way  back  to 
Jericho,  their  car  rounded  a  ber.d  within 
gunshot  of  the  Turks.  Somewhere  near 
the  place  that  Joshua  and  the  Israelites 
are  suppored  to  have  crossed  the  Jordan 
on  dry  land  the  Rolls-Royce  sank  up  to 
its  hubs  in  quicksand  and  salt. 

Instead  of  allowing  his  men  to  do  it, 
Allenby  insisted  on  crawling  through 
that  slime,  scooping  out  room  to  he  down 
under  the  car,  and  then,  using  his  enor- 
mous hands  as  shovels,  he  scooped  out 
the  white  mud  around  all  fou  wheels 
so  the  machine  could  be  pulled  out  by 
his  staff  Captain's  car.  When  he  crawled 
out  the  conqueror  of  the  Holy  Land  was 
absolutely  unrecognizable  and  covered, 
with  a  mass  of  oozy  slime. 

If  the  occasional  ripples  which  go 
through  my  audiences  at  the  Covent 
Garden  Royal  Opera  House  are  any  ba- 
rometer of  what  interests  them,  most 
people  are  far  more  interested  in  little 
stories  about  the  human  side  of  General 
Allenby  than  they  are  in  how  he  turned 
the  Turkish  flank  at  Beersheba  or  how 
he  captured  Aleppo  and  cut  the  Bagdad 
railway. 

Allenby.  in  addressing  his  troops  on 
Aug.  4,  1918,  said  his  confidence  was 
"  based  On  the  justice  of  our  cause  and 
faith  in  the  ""sustaining  help  of  the 
Almighty."  He  had  worked  out  the  plans 
of  attack  down  to  the  smallest  detail, 
and  whenjiis  cavalry  were  at  Armaged- 
don he  was  both  confident  and  playful. 
There  was  an  American  child  at  head- 
quarters that  morning,  and  the  great 
General  took  infinite  delight  in  enter- 
taining her. 


s«s 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT    HISTORY 


When  Allenby  captured  Jerusalem  he 
had  accomplished  one  of  the  most  dra- 
matic feats  of  all  human  history.  The 
best  that  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  could 
do  was  to  reach  the  top  of  Nebi  Samv/il 
and  get  a  view  of  the  Holy  City.  Herr 
Witfielm  Hohenzollern,  before  his  bubble 
burst,  showed  the  world  what  a  buffoon 
he  was  by  entering  Jerusalem  on  a  white 
charger,  dressed  in  white  robes,  and  fol- 
lowed by  his  resplendent  comic  opera 
cavalry. 

As  every  one  knows,  when  Allenby  the 
great  deliverer  entered  the  Holy  City  he 
merely  walked  in  with  three  officers  in 
front  of  him  who  occupy  a  far  more 
prominent  position  in  the  official  photo- 
graphs than  Allenby  himself,  whose  face 
is  almost  hidden.  When  the  Kaiser  rode 
into  Jerusalem  he  went  to  the  German 
Cathedral  and  delivered  an  oration,  as  if 
he  were  the  reincarnation  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  When  Allenby  enteied  he  stood 
modestly  while  another  man  rend  his 
very  brief  proclamation  for  him. 

One  day,  while  having  lunch  with  the 


Duke  of  Connaught  and  Lord  Allenby,  1 
asked  the  Commander  in  Chief  what  his 
feelings  were  when  he  received  the  news 
that  his  men  had  taken  Jerusalem,  the 
City  of  David,  "  the  city  which,  more 
than  Athens,  more  than  Rome,  taught 
the  nations  civic  justice,  the  city  which 
gave  her  name  to  the  ideal  city  which 
men  are  ever  striving  to  build  on  earth, 
the  city  which  gave  her  name  to  the  City 
of  God  which  shall  one  day  descend  from 
heaven — the  New  Jerusalem." 

Allenby  replied :  "  Oh,  I  guess  I  felt 
pretty  much  the  same  as  you  feel  when 
you  capture  any  town." 

Lieut.  Gen.  Sir  Philip  Chetwode,  who 
commanded  the  army  corps  which  cap- 
tured Jerusalem,  one  of  Allenby's  closest 
friends,  his  companion  through  the  Boer 
war,  and  his  second  in  command  during 
the  campaign  in  the  Holy  Land,  described 
the  deliverer  of  Palestine  to  me  one  day 
white  v.c  were  seated  in  the  Kaiser's 
palace  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  as  "  tlw 
straightest  man  who  ever  drew  on  >j 
boot." 


Colonel  Lawrence  and  the  Hedjaz 

Romantic  Career  of  the  Young  English  Archaeologist  Who  Led 
200,000  Arab  Horsemen  Against  the  Turks 


ONE  of  the  most  romantic  figures  of 
the  entire  war  was  Thomas  Law- 
rence, a  young  Oxford  graduate 
who  had  specialized  in  archaeology.  For 
seven  years  he  had  wandered  about  Syria 
and  other  Eastern  countries,  dressed  in 
native  costume  and  living  with  the 
various  Bedouin  tribes  whom  he  encoun- 
tered on  his  way.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  with  Germany  he  was  engaged 
in  excavation  work  among  the  ruined 
cities  of  Mesopotamia.  He  had  lived  in 
Arabia  so  long  and  had  gained  such  a 
remarkable  knowledge  of  the  various 
tribes,  their  language,  customs,  and  pe- 
culiarities, that  when  war  was  declared 
the  British  authorities  called  him  to 
Cairo  and  appointed  him  to  the  map  de- 
partment of  the  British  Office  there,  with 
the  title  of  Lieutenant. 
He  was  still  employed  in  this  capacity 


in  1916,  doing  the  most  valuable  kind  of 
work  in  connection  with  the  laying  out 
of  maps  of  lrcalities  which  he  knew  far 
more  intimately  than  the  official  topog- 
raphers, when  the  Shereef  of  Mecjca, 
King  Hussein  of  Arabia,  who  had  been 
for  years  a  virtual  prisoner  of  the  Turks 
at  Constantinople,  gave  the  word  for  his 
long-prepared  revolt  against  the  Turks, 
oppressors  of  Arabia  for  fully  500  years. 
This  revolt  proved  formidable.  When  it 
began,  the  British  authorities  at  -Cairo 
decided  that  Thomas  Lawrence  was  pre- 
eminently fitted  to  be  sent  to  Arabia  as 
British  military  representative. 

His  achievements  from  that  time  on 
placed  him  in  the  list  of  that  small  band 
of  Englishmen  whose  romantic  exploits 
in  exotic  countries  have  been  written 
permanently  into  the  pages  of  world 
history — the    Raleighs,    the    Drakes,    the 


COLONEL  LAWRENCE  AND   THE  HEDJAZ 


M» 


Kitcheners,  the  Gordons,  and  such  men 
as  Sir  Richard  Burton,  the  first  for- 
eigner who  ever  penetrated  within  the 
forbidden  walls  of  the  holy  city  of 
Mecca. 

The  revolution  that  has  resulted  in  the 
new  Kingdom  of  the  Hedjaz  was  chiefly 
due  to  the  Arabo-Turkish  Army.  The 
Turkish  principle  of  government  had 
been  to  fill  all  the  responsible  official 
posts  with  Turks.  Especially  was  P~'i 
the  case  with  the  Young  Turks.  But 
they  enforced  military  conscription 
among  the  Arab  population  to  the  best 
of  their  ability,  for  the  Balkan  war  had 
made  a  wide  chasm  in  the  Turkish  popu- 
lation of  military  age.  The  result  was 
that  '  the  so-called  Turkish  Army  in 
Arabia  consisted  very  largely  of  Arabs, 
whose  sympathies  were  wholly  with  their 
fatherland  and  against  their  oppressors. 
When  the  general  rising  occurred  the 
Arab  portion  of  the  army  deserted  almost 
en  masse.  The  Turkish  Army,  thus  de- 
pleted, was  forced  to  take  refuge  in 
various  forts,  and  was  gradually  driven 
to  surrender,  except  at  Medina,  where  a 
considerable  number  of  Turks  collected 
and  succeeded  in  holding  cut  until  the 
end  of  the  war. 

The  Arab  deserters,  with  their  West- 
ern drill  and  modern  weapons,  formed 
the  nucleus  of  the  new  army  of  the 
Hedjaz.  With  the  addition  of  new  re- 
cruits and  supplies  from  the  Allies  an 
excellent  force  of  regulars  was  formed. 
These  were  supplemented  by  swarms  of 
irregulars  —  Bedouin  horsemen  and 
camelmen  from  the  deserts.  This  was 
the  army  which  was  to  co-operate  with 
the  British  in  the  conquest  of  Syria.  1th 
guiding  spirits  were  Emir  Faisal,  third 
son  of  King  Hussein — a  man  of  strong 
patriotism,  energy,  tact,  and  ability  to 
command — and  Colonel  Thomas  Law- 
rence. 

To  Colonel  Lawrence  more  than  to 
any  other  man  was  due  the  efficient  or- 
ganization of  the  Hedjaz  Army.  He 
worked  in  perfect  harmony  with  King 
Hussein  and  Prince  Faisal,  to  whom  he 
was  second  in  command.  For  months  his 
wild  and  reckless  yet  continually  suc- 
cessful exploits  at  the  head  of  his  Bedouin 
force  of  200,000  horsemen  were  spoken 
of  in  this  and  other  countries  of  the  East. 


A  small  blonde  young  Englishman,  with 
intensely  blue  eyes  and  a  strong  chin, 
he  was  adored  by  the  fierce  tribesmen 
whofie  every  exploit  with  horse  or  camel 
he  could  equal,  if  not  surpass.  Fearless 
and    resourceful,    defeat   to   him    meant 


COLON'BL   LAWRENCE  IN  HIS  i'OKTIME 
AS    AN    ARAB    COMMANDED 


simply  accomplishing  a  given  task  in  a 
different  way.  He  wore  on  all  occasions 
full  Bedouin  costume,  and  his  achieve- 
ments as  military  commander  in  the 
impetuous  raids  which  he  led  against  the 
Turks,  and  which  drove  them  out  of 
Arabia,  were  such  that  King  Hussein 
conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Shereef, 
the  first  instance  in  history  of  a 
Westerner  holding  that  much-prized  re- 
ligious rank,  which  entitled  him  to  wear 
the  agal,  kuffia,  and  abba,  distinctive  of 
Arabic   Princes   of   the   blood.      He   also 


330 


THE    NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


A    DETACHMENT   OF   BEDOUIN   VOLUNTEERS   IN    ARABIA    MARCHING    TO   THE    FRONT 
TO    FIGHT    UNDER    PRINCE    FAISAL 


wore  a  curved  golden  sword  which  Prince 
Faisal  himself  presented  to  his  English 
commander. 

Despite  his  fame  and  the  brilliant 
record  of  his  achievements,  Colonel  Law- 
rence w7as  an  extremely  silent  and  almost 
abnormally  modest  man.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  he  literally  fled  from  the 
honors  which  the  British  Government 
wished  to  confer  upon  him.  Blonde  as  a 
Viking,  he  walked  about  in  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem  or  other  cities,  in  full  panoply 
of  Arab  royal  costume,  plunged  in  some 
inner  dream.  His  leisure  moments  he 
spent  in  the  study  of  archaeology.  His  in- 
fluence over  his  native  followers  was 
amazing;  he  accomplished  what  had 
never  been  accomplished  before-^— the 
welding  of  many  different  and  often  hos- 
tile tribes  into  one  single  patriotic  unit. 
In  none  of  his  wild  raids  was  he  ever 
wounded,  though  he  exposed  himself  in 
the  most  reckless  fashion,  leading  cavalry 
charges  in  the  style  of  Cromwell  or 
Seydlitz. 


It  should  not  be  forgotten,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  he  had  never  had  military 
training,  and  was  noteworthy  when  wear-* 
ing  British  uniform  (after  his  capture 
of  Akaba  he  had  been  made  a  Colonel) 
for  his  serene  disregard  of  all  matters  of 
military  etiquette.  His  power  over  his 
Arabic  followers  was  due  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  their  dialects,  his  understand- 
ing of  their  religion,  his  tact  in  settling 
disputes,  and  his  inborn  military  ability. 

The  Germans  and  Turks  alike  soon 
discovered  the  presence  of  this  young 
Englishman  among  their  Arabic  op- 
ponents in  the  desert,  and,  realizing  the 
menace  of  his  mysterious  and  amazing 
successes,  put  a  price  of  $500,000  upon 
his  head.  Needless  to  say,  this  blood 
money  was  never  paid;  the  Turks  were 
driven  out  of  Holy  Arabia  forever,  and 
Germany  saw  the  miraged  vision  of  the 
Berlin-to-Bagdad  route  vanish  into  the 
arid  wastes  across  which  the  Bedouin 
forces  of  Colonel  Lawrence  drove  the 
disillusioned   Turks. 


The  Young  Turk  Policy  in  Asia 

New  Light  on  the  Causes  Which  Led  Enver  Pasha  and  His 
Followers   to   Bring   Turkey   to   Ruin 

By  RENE  PINON 

[French    Authority   on   the   Near   East] 

At  the  very  moment  when  the  Ts"J'ish  delegates  at  Paris  were  petitioning  the 
Peace  Conference  for  the  preservation  of  the  Sultan's  empire,  Turkish  bands  were 
attempting  to  complete  the  extermination  of  the  Christians  in  that  empire.  More 
recently  the  fall  of  Damad  Ferid  Pasha's  Cabinet  and  the  rise  of  a  new  Ministry, 
with  General  Ali  Riza  Pasha  as  Grand  Vizier  and  Djemel  Pasha  as  Minister  of 
War,  have  focused  attention  anew  upon  Turkish  Governmental  policy.  The  causes 
that  produced  the  new  outbreak  of  barbarity  against  the  Armenians  are  illuminated 
in  an  article  by  M.  Pimm  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  September,  the  most 
interesting  portions  of   vhieh  are  here  translated  for  CURRENT  HISTORY. 


THE  Sick  Man  of  Europe  did  not  die 
of  his  chronic  malady;  he  com- 
mitted suicide  by  plunging  into 
the  great  war.  He  was  not  at 
all  compelled  to  take  part  in  it,  and  as 
the  price  of  his  neutrality  he  might 
long  have  consolidated  his  position  in 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  have  obtained 
from  the  allied  and  associated  powers  a 
guarantee  of  his  independence  and  ter- 
ritorial integrity.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
these  advantages  were  offered  by  the 
French  and  British  Ambassadors  to  the 
Young  Turk  Government;  but  the  ail- 
powerful  triumvirate,  Enver,  Talaat,  and 
Djemal,  had  fixed  its  determination  long 
before,  not  only  because;  it  had  allowed 
Germany  to  gain  a  dominating  influ- 
ence, but  also  because  the  war  waged 
by  Germany  satisfied  its  passions  and 
favored  its  ambitions.         ' 

To  understand  how  the  Young  Turks 
could  knowingly  have  committed  this 
fatal  mistake  it  is  necessary  to  pene- 
trate the  psychology  of  that  small  clan 
which  governed  with  absolute  power  the 
Ottoman  Empire.  Their  psychology, 
however,  did  not  differ  from  that  of 
Abdul  Hamid  and  the  rest  of  his  race, 
save  in  the  hypocrisy  of  formulas  and 
the  more  sustained  and  methodical  bru- 
tality of  execution.  The  "  Red  Sultan  " 
and  the  Young  Turks  practiced  the 
same  policy  of  narrow  nationalism,  of 
unification  and  of  inner  "  Turkification." 
When  the  revolution  of  July,  1908,  broke 


out  in  the  cry  of  freedom  and  the  singing 
of  the  "  Marseillaise  "  all  Europe  hoped 
that  Turkey  was  about  to  reform  of  its 
own  accord  and  become,  with  Europe's 
aid,  a  modern  State  in  which  each  in- 
dividual, without  distinction  of  race  or 
religion,  would  enjoy  the  same  rights 
and  be  subject  to  the  same  duties  as 
Turkish  citizens.  Before  the  revolution 
of  1908,  as  well  as  before  the  expedition 
of  1909,  which  dethroned  Abdul  Hamid, 
a  preliminary  agreement  had  been  made 
between  the  Young  Turks  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  other  nationalities,  Arme- 
nians, Bulgarians  of  Macedonia,  Syrians, 
&c.  Turkey  seemed  to  be  evolving  to- 
ward a  federative  form  of  government, . 
which  would  have  maintained  the  unity 
of  the  empire  and  allowed  each  nation- 
ality to  develop  according  to  its  tradi- 
tions and  aspirations. 

Vain  hope!  The  massacres  of  Adana, 
in  which  more  than  20,000  Armenians 
perished,  were  a  first  revelation  of  what 
was  to  be  expected  from  the  new  Gov- 
ernment. Dangerous  ideologists,  such 
as  Dr.  Nazim,  declared  that  the  State 
must  be  exclusively  Turkish;  the  pres- 
ence of  non-Turkish  elements  had  been 
the  pretext  of  all  European  interven- 
tions; it  was  necessary,  therefore,  to 
"  Turkify,"  if  need  be,  by  force,  to  im- 
plant Turkish  colonists,  to  oblige  all 
Ottoman  subjects  to  become  Turks. 
German  agents,  ambassadors,  soldiers  or 
merchants   encouraged   these  tendencies, 


332 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


which  harmonized  with  their  doctrines 
of  the  rights  of  the  State  and  with 
their  interests;  were  they  not  the 
guardians,  and  did  they  not  perceive 
that  more  and  more  they  were  becoming 
the  masters  of  the  whole  Ottoman  Em- 
pire? 

.     ALIENATING    THE    ALBANIANS 

The  result  of  such  a  rash  and  iniqui- 
tous policy  soon  became  apparent.  In 
all  Europe  the  Sultans  had  no  more 
faithful  subjects  than  the  Albanians, 
but  though  they  were  mostly  Mussulmans, 
they  were  attached  to  their  local  liber- 
ties and  their  special  customs.  They 
had  contributed  powerfully  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  revolution  of  July,  1908;  in 
return  the  Young  Turks  conceived  the 
idea  of  molesting  them  and  destroying 
their  social  organization,  thus  losing 
the  sole  support  which  they  still  pos- 
sessed in  the  western  part  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula.  At  the  same  time  they  de- 
vised the  scheme  of  implanting  amid 
the  Macedonian  Slavs  iittltadji; s  (Mus- 
sulman colonists)  emigrated  from  Bos- 
nia-Herzegovina. The  result  of  this  was 
to  make  possible  the  union  of  the  Balkan 
States,  which  had  previously  seemed  im- 
possible, and  to  provoke  the  War  of 
1913;  Turkey  lost  thereby  Macedonia, 
Crete,  the  Islands  of  the  Archipelago, 
and  would  have  lost  Adrianopie,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  mad  haste  of  the  Bul- 
garians in  declaring  a  second  war. 

Such  a  catastrophe,  far  from  serving 
as  a  lesson  to  the  Young  Turks,  only 
exasperated  them.  They  began  to  pre- 
pare a  war  of  revenge  against  the 
Greeks,  and  plunged  into  the  creation  of 
naval  armaments.  German  policy,  which 
had  already  been  crystallized  by  the  in- 
tention to  provoke  war,  could  not  fail  to 
make  use  of  such  tendencies  for  its  own 
ends.  Baron  Marschall  and,  after  his 
death,  his  successor,  Wangenheim,  and 
with  them  all  the  Germans  of  Turkey, 
strove  to  stir  up  the  grudges  of  the 
Young  Turks  and  to  fan  the  flami*  of 
their  mad  desires. 

The  Balkan  union,  ephemeral  as  it 
was,  had  made  Germany  anxious  for  the 
security  of  her  communications  with  the 
Ottoman    Empire  and  the   Bagdad   Rail- 


way; she  had  resolved  to  eliminate  Rus- 
sian influence  completely  from  the  Balk- 
ans and  Armenia;  that  is  to  say,  from 
the  two  points  from  which  a  Russian 
push  could  menace  the  Bagdad  Railway, 
that  backbone  of  Germanized  Turkey. 
German  publicists  like  Axel  Schmidt,  J. 
Hermann,  and  especially  Paul  Rohrbach, 
began  a  campaign  of  propaganda  and 
depicted  to  the  frightened  Turks  the 
descent  of  the  Czar's  Cossacks  toward 
the  Bosporus  and  the  Gulf  of  Alex- 
andretta.  There  was  no  salvation  for  the 
Turks  except  in  German,  protection.  The 
coalition  of  Germanic  ambitions  and 
Turkish  grievances  was  complete  by  the 
first  months  of  1914,  and  was  expressed 
by  the  appointment  of  the  German  Gen- 
eral, Liman  von  Sanders,  as  Inspector 
General  of  the  Ottoman  Army,  then  as 
commander  of  the  1st  Army  Corps  at 
Constantinople;  he  was  also  accredited 
to  the  Turkish  Government  as  the  per- 
sonal representative  of  the  Kaiser. 

It  was  difficult  to  conceal  the  truth 
longer.  The  Young  Turk  triumvirate  had 
been  clever  enough  to  name  the  Egyp- 
tian Prince,  Said  Halim,  Grand  Vizier, 
but  he  was  a  mere  figurehead,  whose 
ambition  and  vanity  placed  him  in  their 
hands  completely.  They  promised  him 
the  post  of  Khedive  of  Egypt  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Engli:  h,  and  left  to  him 
the  pompous  appearance  of  power  and 
the  duty  of  entertaining  foreign  repre- 
sentatives, while  they  kept  for  them- 
selves the  exercise  of  all  real  power  and 
all  immediate  benefits. 

It  was  the  same  in  the  provinces, 
where  no  functionaries  could  use  their 
authority  except  in  so  far  as  they  were 
submissive  to  the  instructions  of  tha 
Young  Turk  committees  which  formed  a 
network  extending  over  all  the  empire. 
This  secret  organization  constituted -for 
the  leaders  of  the  Constantinople  com- 
mittee an  instrument  of  domination;  it 
was  through  this  channel  that  Ta'aat, 
Enver,  Djemal  and  their  accomplices 
carried  out  their  will. 

CHARACTER  OF  LEADERS 

The  Ambassador  of  the, United  States, 
Mr.  Morgenthau,  in  the  interesting 
Memoirs  which  he  has  published,  draws 


THE  YOUNG  TURK  POLICY  IN  ASIA 


ssn 


a  striking  portrait  of  these  three  grave- 
diggers  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  He  com- 
pares Talaat  to  an  American  **  boss,"  a 
comparison  which  undoubtedly  calumni- 
ates the  "  bosses,"  who,  however  un- 
scrupulous they  may  be,  do  not  have  on 
their  conscience  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  human  lives.  Talaat  was  a  striking 
type  of  adventurer,  an  extraordinary 
combination  of  cunning  and  ferocity, 
subtlety  and  energy;  a  gambler's  tern-, 
permanent,  with  impuh.es  of  brutal  jovi- 
ality and  the  simplicities  of  an  ignorant 
child;  perceptions  of  an  intuitive  man 
of  the  people  and  the  cruel  and  cunning 
instincts  of  a  wild  beast.  Enver,  younger, 
more  distinguished  in  appearance,  more 
refined,  colder  and  more  calculating, 
more  capable  of  persistence  and  tenacity, 
br.t  at  bottom  without  wide  views,  unless 
his  own  personal  passions  were  in  ques- 
tion, and  offering  as  a  substitute  for 
genius  a  limitless  ambition  and  vanity, 
yielded  more  entirely  than  Ta'aat  to  the 
directions  of  the  Germans,  whose  me- 
thodical spirit  he  bad  admired  as  a  mili- 
tary attache  to  Berlin,  and  who  fasci- 
nated him  by  the  display  of  their  strength 
and  the  ostentation  of  their  omnipotence; 
in  Wangenheim's  hands  he  had  become  a 
precious  and  obedient  instrument  for  the 
great  events  which  William  II.  had  en- 
trusted specially  to  his  Ambassador  tr- 
prepare. 

As  long  as  peace  continued,  the  Ycung 
Turks  were  obliged  to  observe  appear- 
ances with  all  the  powers,  to  hide  their 
ambitions  and  their  agreements.  While 
Enver  was  ostensibly  the  friend  of  the 
Germans,  Talaat  feigned  to  court  Russian 
sympathies,  and  in  the  Spring  of  1914 
had  a  political  conversation  with  C.:ar 
Nicholas  II.  Djemal  played  the  part 
of  a  friend  of  France:  some  few  days  be- 
fore the  war  he  was  the  recipient  of 
the  most  flattering  attentions  in  Paris, 
at  Toulon,  at  Creusot,  and  on  his  re- 
turn to  Constantinople  he  was  able  to 
boast  that  he  had  pulled  the  wool  over 
the  eyes  of  the  French  most  clever' y. 
THeir  decision  to  enter  the  war  on  the 
side  of  Germany  was  fixed  from  the 
beginning;  they  sought  only  to  save  ap- 
pearances and  to  defer  to  the  undevel- 
oped embryo  of  public  opinion  which  had 


survived  so  many  tyrannies.  The  attack 
on  the  Russian  coast  by  the  Goeben  and 
the  Breslau  under  the  Turkish  flag  was 
premeditated. 

POLICY  OF  .EXTERMINATION 

After  hostilities  began,  the  Young 
-,J,"rks  abandoned  all  restraint;  their  true 
nature  was  revealed,  more  evil  and  cruel 
than  could  ever  have  been  imagined,  and 
more  naive  at  the  fame  time.  They  at 
once  began  to  carry  out  their  favorite 
plan.  What  they  aimed  at  was  to  free 
the  Ottoman  Empire  from  all  foreign 
guardianship,  to  extirpate  all  non-Turk- 
ish elements,  and  to  restore  to  the  name 
and  the  glory  of  the  Osmanlis  all  tneir 
former  lustre.  .They  began  by  abolishing 
the  "  capitulations  "  without  understand- 
ing that  the  destruction  of  a  regime 
which  humiliated  their  vanity  might  re- 
sult from  a  far-reaching  interior  reform, 
but  could  not  precede  it.  The  Young 
Turks  wished  to  have  at  their  mercy  all 
foreigners  and  non-Turkish  elements; 
and  they  soon  showed  how  they  intended 
to  treat  them.  Talaat  said  to  Mr.  Mor- 
genthau:  "  We  wish  to  prove  by  our  ac- 
tions that  we  are  not  a  race  of  barba- 
rians." But  the  fundamental  nature  of 
these  primitives  speedily  came  to  the 
surface;  the  superficia1  varnish  of  civil- 
ization disappeared  and  was  replaced  by 
savage  brutality. 

The  proclamation  of  the  holy  war,  if 
it  did  not  succeed  in  arousing  the  whole 
Mussulman  world,  at  least  excited  Turk- 
ish fanaticism.  A  pamphlet  was  printed 
in  Arabic  on  this  occasion  and  distributed 
through  all  Islam;  it  summoned  al!  the 
faithful  to  the  holy  war,  to  the  extermi- 
nation of  all  Christians,  except  the  Ger- 
mans.    This  pamphlet  said: 

The  extermination  of  the  wretches  who 
oppress  us  is  a  holy  task,  whether  it  be 
accomplished  secretly  or  openly,  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  the  Koran:  'Take 
them  and  kill  them  wherever  you  may 
find  them:  we  give  them  up  to  you  ami 
grant  you  all  power  over  them."  He  who 
kills  even  one  of  them  will  be  rewarded 
by  God.  Let  every  Mussulman,  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  world  he  may  dwell, 
swear  solemnly  that  he  will  strike  down 
at  least  three  or  four  of  the  Christians 
who  surround  him,  for  they  are  the  ene- 
mies of  Allah  and  of  the  Faith.  Let  each 
r>ii<-  of  you  know  *.hut   his  reward   will   !>■• 


334 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


doubled  by  the  God  who  has  created 
heaven  and  earth.  He  who  obeys  this  or- 
der will  be  saved  from  the  terrors  of  the 
last  judgment  and  assured  of  resurrec- 
tion and  eternal  life. 

The  pamphlet  then  gives  details  re- 
garding the  mode  of  organizing  bands 
and  the  duty  of  assassination.  Such  a 
document  bears  the  stamp  of  German 
manufacture,  but  it  was  disseminated  by 
the  Ottoman  Government,  and  if  it  had 
scarcely  been  heard  of  outside  Turkey, 
its  ideas  were  put  into  practice  by  the 
Young  Turk  in  the  case  of  the  Arme- 
nians, the  Greeks,  the  Syrians,  and  even 
the  Arabic  Mussulmans. 

USE  OF  GERMAN  METHODS 

The  method  of  deportation  applied  to 
the  Christian  populations  was  not  a  Turk- 
ish invention.  It  was  a  method  lauded 
by  the  Germans,  who  intended  to  apply 
it  to  Alsace-Lorraine,  had  they  been  the 
victors;  but  the  Turks  added  to  it  their 
own  special  interpretation.  Denouncing 
in  a  previous  study  the  massacres  and 
deportations  which  caused  the  death  of 
approximately  800,000  Armenians  in 
1915,  I  added  to  the  title  "  German 
Method  "  the  words  "  Turkish  Work  "— 
a  double  signature.  The  Germans  brought 
to  this  their  spirit  of  organization,  and 
it  was  due  to  their  instructions  that  the 
massacres  were  systematically  and  regu- 
larly carried  out.  Since  Abdul  Hamid 
Turkey  has  progressed;  it  has  introduced 
order  into  the  assassination  of  its  own 
subjects;  the  Young  Tui'ks  have  even 
boasted  of  surpassing  their  predecessors, 
and  of  their  plan  of  a  complete  extirpa- 
tion of  the  Armenian  people.  Talaat 
said  to  the  Ambassador  of  the  United 
States:  "  I  have  done  more  to  solve  the 
Armenian  problem  in  three  months  than 
Abdul  Hamid  in  thirty  years." 

Given  over  to  their  own  inspiration, 
freed  of  all  surveillance,  filled  with  en- 
thusiam  over  the  defeats  of  the  Allies 
before  the  Dardanelles,  assured  of  im- 
munity by  their  certainty  of  German  vic- 
tory, the  Turks  plunged  into  the  abyss, 
and  a  psychological  phenomenon  was  visi- 
ble in  them  which  Mr.  Morgenthau  de- 
fined as  reversion  to  primitive  type,  and 
described  as  follows: 

Now   that    the   chances   of   war   favored 
the     empire    an     entirely    new     type     ap- 


peared to  me.  The  timid  and  pusillani- 
mous Ottoman,  threading  his  way  cau- 
tiously through  the  mazes  of  "Western 
diplomacy  and  striving  to  profit  by 
the  diversity  of  opinion  among  the 
great  powers,  gave  way  to  an  arrogant, 
haughty,  audacious,  vain  person  who 
vaunted  his  rights,  resolved  to  live  his 
own  life  and  manifested  absolute  contempt 
for  "all    Christians. 

That  type  of  Turk,  the  true  Turk,  is 
very  different  from  the  descriptions  of 
novelists;  those  who  have  seen  him  at 
work,  torturer  and  assassin,  thief  and 
lecher,  have  retained  a  frightful  impres- 
sion. It  is  clearly  proved  from  all  the 
evidences  that  the  Young  Turk  Govern- 
ment willed  and  organized  the  total  ex- 
termination of  the  Armenians,  that  the 
Germans  encouraged  them  in  this,  and 
that  the  Turkish  people  carried  it  out 
gayly,  robbing  and  assassinating  the  vic- 
tims, forcing  the  women  and  children  to 
become  Mussulmans,  and  choosing  the 
prettiest  from  the  sad  caravans  to  take 
away  with  them  for  their  harems.   *   * '  * 

PAN-TURANIANISM 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  Pan- 
Turanianism  and  Pan-Islamism  are  not 
synonymous ;  the  two  policies  are  not 
geographically  identical,  since  the  Arabs 
are  not  Turanians.  Pan-Islamism  has, 
above  all,  a  religious  basis;  it  is  nothing 
else  but  the  sentiment  of  the  community 
of  religious  faith  between  the  Mussul- 
mans of  various  countries.  When  the 
Sultan,  at  the  German  bidding,  proclaim- 
ed the  holy  war,  his  decree  had  but  a 
feeble  echo  in  non-Turkish  Islam.  The 
Arabs,  with  the  aid  of  the  Entente, 
claimed  their  independence  and  denied 
the  Turkish  Sultan  the  right  of  the 
Khalifate;  they  opposed  to  him  the 
Grand  Shereef  of  Mecca,  descendant  of 
the  Prophet,  whom  the  Entente  has  rec- 
ognized as  the  King  of  Hedjaz. 

After  the  Bolshevist  revolution  and 
the  ruin  of  the  military  power  of  Russia, 
the  chimerical  conceptions  of  Pan- 
Turanianism  seemed,  nevertheless,  to  be 
fulfilled.  The  Black  Sea  became  a 
Turco-German  lake.  The  treaty  of  Brest- 
Litovsk  with  the  Ukrainians  and  'the 
treaty  of  Bucharest  with  the  Rumanians 
revealed  clearly  the  intentions  of  the 
Gei-mans;  they  wished  to  organize  a  land 
and  sea  route  starting  from  Odessa  or 


THE  YOUNG  TURK  POLICY  IN  ASIA 


335 


Costanza  and  ending  at  Batum,  whence 
it  would  radiate,  on  the  one  hand,  to- 
ward Baku  with  the  aid  of  the  Tartars, 
and,  by  the  Caspian,  toward  Turkestan 
and  its  large  historic  towns:  Khiva, 
Bukhara,  Samarkand ;  on  the  other  hand, 
by  way  of  Tauris  and  Teheran,  toward 
Persia,  Afghanistan,  and  India,  where 
66,000,000  Mussulmans  were  English  sub- 
jects or  under  English  protection. 

Pan-Turanianism,  thus  conceived, 
transcended  completely  the  powers  of  the 
Turks;  they  were  but  an  instrument  of 
the  German  policy  of  war.  The  various 
peoples  of  Turkish  race  were  to  become 
the  pillars  of  the  gigantic  bridge  which 
would  connect  Centi-al  German  Europe 
with  Central  Asia  and  with  China;  thus 
would  be  established  the  supremacy  of 
German  commerce,  and  the  influence  and 
domination  of  Great  Britain  would  be 
destroyed.  In  reality,  under  the  disguise 
of  Pan-Turanianism,  it  was  Pan-German- 
ism whose  domination  and  triumph  were# 
to  be  assured.  The  Young  Truks,  in  their 
naive  pride,  exulted  joyously;  they  saw 
themselves  back  to  the  days  of  Soli- 
man  the  Magnificent.  "  The  Black  Sea 
is  a  Mussulman  and  Ottoman  sea,"  wrote 
the  Ikdam  on  March  23,  1918.  They 
flattered  themselves  that  they  had 
grown  to  greater  stature  through  the 
support  of  Germany,  whose  pride  and 
insolence  they  endured  because  they 
needed  her,  but  of  which  they  thought 
they  could  get  rid  when  the  proper 
moment  had  come.  They  should  have  re- 
membered, since  it  was  Bismarck  who 
said  it,  that  he  who  wishes  to  sup  with 
the  devil  should  provide  himself  with  a 
long  spoon. 

AFTER  THE  TURKISH   DEFEAT 

Islam,  in  the  main,  was  not  the  dupe 
of  the  Pan-Turanian,  or  Pan-Turkish 
propaganda,  and  behind  the  chimera  of 
Van-Turanianism  is  discerned  the  dan- 
gerous reality  of  Pan-Germanism.  It 
knew,  furthermore,  that  the  great  peo- 
ples who  have  carried  forward  Mussul- 
man civilization  are  the  Arabsj  the  Per- 
sians, the  Berbers  of  North  Africa,  while 
the  Turks  have  only  been  destroyers.  All 
this  effort,  however,  all  this  money 
spread  right  and  left  by  the  German 
agents,  all  this  political  preaching  was 


not  completely  ineffectual ;  certain  re- 
sults, certain  ebullitions  continued  even 
after  the  complete  disaster  of  Turkey 
and  Young  Turk  policy. 

During  the  first  months  which  fol- 
lowed the  defeat  and  the  armistice,  the 
Turks,  bewildered  by  the  catastrophe, 
thought  only  of  humiliating  themselves 
before  Ike  conquerors  and  imploring 
their  mercy;  the  Young  Turk  agents 
either  disappeared,  or  kept  silence.  But 
the  Entente  delayed  coming  to  Con- 
stantinople and  manifesting  its  will. 
The  Turks  grew  accustomed  to  the  idea 
that  once  more,  perhaps,  the  Ottoman 
Empire  would  be  left  unchanged.  The 
Sultan  still  reigned  in  his  capital,  the 
Young  Turk  leaders,  assassins  of  so 
many  thousand  men,  torturers  of  women 
and  children,  were  not  punished;  many 
Germans  remained  in  Constantinople, 
and  Russia  had  not  been  placed  upon  her 
feet.  The  Turks,  therefore,  thought  they 
saw  some  fissures  in  the  allied  front, 
and  strove  to  play  the  game  which  had 
been  successful  for  so  long  a  time, 
namely  that  of  profiting  by,  and  if  need 
be,  embittering  the  conflict  of  opinion  he- 
tween  their  enemies. 

In  the  terms  of  the  armistice  the 
Allies  had  not  taken  the  precaution  to 
require  the  departure  of  the  Turkish 
administrators  and  soldiers  .from  all 
non-Turkish  countries,  that  is,,  all  the 
region  east  of  Taurus,  so  that  the  Turk- 
ish officials  who  had  massacred  the 
Armenians,  hung  the  Arabs,  deported 
the  Greeks,  remained  on  the  scene  of 
their  activities,  and,  when  they  had  re- 
covered from  their  first  fright,  began 
anew  to  oppress  the  population;  with 
only  more  discretion,  the  massacres 
recommenced.  To  put  a  stop  to  the  com- 
plaints of  these  peoples  and  to  discredit 
them,  the  Young  Turk  Committees, 
evidently  at  the  order  of  their  leaders, 
Talaat,  Enver,  Djemal,  whom  the  Al- 
lies have  not  yet  been  able  to  locate 
and  arrest,  began  anew  to  terrorize  and 
decimate  them. 

NEW  TACTICS  EMPLOYED 

'  Their  tactics  consisted  of  depicting  the 
interests  of  Islam  as  indentical  with 
those  of  Young  Turkey.  This  is  the 
manoeuvre     by     which     Germans     and 


3:iG 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Young  Turks  alike  are  trying  to  save 
their  interests  and  to  escape  from  their 
terrible  responsibilities. 

Recent  events,  whose  coincidence  is 
striking  in  its  revelation  of  a  unified 
plan  and  order,  have  occurred  to  prove 
that  Young  Turk  propaganda  had  borne 
its  fruits,  and  that  in  all  Asiatic  Islam 
a  dangerous  agitation  has  continued 
after  the  war.  In  Egypt,  in  the  month 
of  March,  among  that  passive  and  sheep- 
like people,  the  fellahs  and  Arabs,  a  sud- 
den disturbance  developed  rapidly  into 
serious  riots.  The  fh-st  troubles  had  a 
national  character.  The  Nationalist 
Party,  long  organized,  protested  against 
the  proclamation  dui-ing  the  war  of  the 
English  protectorate  over  Egypt;  it  de- 
manded the  independence  of  the  coun- 
try. *  *  *  The  first  Nationalist  troubles 
caused  the  deportation  to  Malta  of  four 
of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  movement. 
Such  a  measure  only  increased  the  dis- 
satisfaction, and  toward  March  10  very 
numerous  manifestations  were  organized. 
*  *  *  In  the  towns  the  workmen  cease 
work,  bands  of  pillagers  rush  through 
the  streets;  Armenians  and  Greeks  are 
particularly  attacked. 

The  agitation  lasted  more  than  two 
months;  the  British  Government,  which 
had  before  the  war  barely  4,000  Eng- 
lish troops,  was  obliged  to  send  a  force 
of  40,000  men  in  all  haste.'  The  attack 
against  the  Armenians,  who  in  Cairo 
form  but  a  numerically  small  and  gen- 
erally poor  colony,  is  revealing;  it  is  the 
signature  of  the  Young  Turk  Commit- 
tee. The  agitators  profited  by  local 
circumstances  and  motives  of  native  dis- 
content; they  sougth  to  stir  up  the  young 
men  of  the  university  by  invoking  the 
interests  of  Islam;  but  their  true  design 
was  to  bring  about  a  manifestation  in 
favor  of  the  integrity  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  and  the  Young  Turks;  the  in- 
cidents of  Egypt  are  directly  connected 
with  the  disorders  in  India,  Syria,  and 
Kurdistan. 

MAKING  TROUBLE  IN  INDIA 

In  the  great  Hindu  peninsula  the  dis- 
orders began  in  the  month  of  April; 
popular  orators  excited  the  Mussulmans 
to  revolt  and  spoke  of  the  riots  in  Egypt 
in   their   harangues;    they    also    invoked 


the  Bolshevist  example  in  Russia.  From 
April  10  to  April  15  serious  troubles 
broke  out  at  Amritsar,  Lahore,  Bom- 
bay, Ahmedabad;  the  whole  Punjab  was 
in  rebellion;  at  Calcutta  on  the  15th 
there  were  twelve  casualties.  The  Mussul- 
mans sought  to  draw  the  Hindus  with 
them,  but  with  indifferent  success;  the 
agitators  spoke  of  the  right  of  free  de- 
termination, but  it  was  perceived  that 
Turkish  agents  were  at  the  head  of  the 
movement,  spreading  false  rumors 
among  the  ignorant  masses.  In  the  first 
days  of  May,  order  was  gradually  re- 
stored, but  on  May  9  a  complication  oc- 
curred; the  Emir  of  Afghanistan,  Aman- 
ullah  Khan — successor  of  Emir  Habid- 
ullah,  assassinated,  according  to  all 
probability,  by  Turko-German  agents — 
demanded  the  complete  independence  of 
his  country  and  dispatched  armed  bands 
across  the  Indian  frontier.  The  Brit- 
ish Government  was  obliged  to  summon 
troops,  which  took  the  offensive  and 
compelled  the  Emir  speedily  to  ask  for 
peace. 

At  Aleppo  at  the  end  of  February, 
at  Adana  on  March  10,  grave  episodes 
occurred;  Armenians  were  killed,  and  the 
French  and  English  commanders  were 
forced  to  intervene  to  restore  public 
order.  On  the  Persian  frontier,  among 
the  Kurdish  tribes,  the  Young  Turk 
Committee  organized  armed  bands  to 
prevent  the  Armenians  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  Persia  from  returning  to  their 
country;  Haidar  Bey,  former  vali  of 
Van,  directed  the  movement. 

Thus  everywhere  the  disorders  have 
the  same  character  and  the  same  source; 
the  Young  Turk  Committees  of  Constan- 
tinople and  Berne  direct  the  movement, 
obeying  secret  orders.  The  approach  of 
inevitable  justice  maddens  the  guilty 
wretches;  the  idea  that,  despite  their 
bloodthirsty  zeal,  there  still  remain  Ar- 
menians who  are  preparing  to  return  to 
their  devastated  homes  and  to  create 
there,  with  the  support  of  the  Allies,  a 
great  independent  State,  excites  the  rage 
of  the  torturers.  The  longer  the  inde- 
cision of  the  Peace  Conference  and  the 
inactivity  of  the  Allies  continue,  the  more 
the  audacity  of  the  Turks  increases  and 
the  further  they  carry  their  intrigues. 


Germany  and  the  Armenian  Massacres 

Official  Documents  from  Berlin 


ACOLLECTION  of  German  official 
documents  compiled  by  Dr.  Jo- 
hannes Lepsius,  founder  of  the 
German  Orient  Mission  and  President  of 
the  German  Armenian  Society,  was  pub- 
lished in  Berlin  with  the  authority  of 
the  Wilhelmstrasse  toward  the  end  of 
August,  1919.  It  is  entitled  "  Germany 
and  Armenia:  1914-1918,"  and  is  a 
volume  of  over  500  pages,  issued  by  the 
Potsdam  Tempelveilag. 

Dr.  Lepsius  asked  leave  last  Novem- 
ber, after  the  Berlin  revolution,  to  con- 
sult the  archives  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office  for  correspondence  bearing  upon 
Armenia,  and  Dr.  Solf,  then  Foreign 
Secretary,  informed  him  that  if  he  would 
collate  and  publish  the  documents  in 
question  the  Foreign  Office  would 
abandon  its  projected  White  Book  upcn 
Armenia  in  order  to  avoid  duplication. 
The  book  that  resulted  from  thifl  ar- 
rangement is  the  first  full  and  authentic 
account  of  the  relations  existing  between 
Germany  and  Turkey.  Basing  his  in- 
vestigations on  free  and  unlimited  ex- 
amination of  all  German  official  corre- 
spondence from  Turkey,  Dr.  Lepsius,  as 
editor,  assumes  complete  responsibility 
for  his  exhaustively  documented  work. 

Dr.  Lepsius  disclaims  any  derire  to 
accuse  or  to  exculpate  any  one.  But  his 
array  of  evidence  shows  that  from  the 
Imperial  Chancellor  in  Berlin  down  to 
the  lowest  grade  official  in  Anatolia, 
the  whole  of  the  German  Foreign  Service 
knew  day  by  day  what  was  happening 
in  Armenia.  Hindenburg  and  Luden- 
dorff  were  as  well  aware  of  every  detail 
as  were  the  veteran  von  der  Goltz  and 
Liman  von  Sanders.  The  Main  Commit- 
tee of  the  Reichstag  shared  the  guilty 
secret.  Yet  nothing  effective  was  done 
to  bring  the  Turks  to  their  senses.  At 
Constantinople  the  German  Ambassador 
of  the  day  confined  himself  to  making 
academic  representations  at  stated  in- 
tervals. The  Turks  in  return  gave  Ger- 
many to  understand  that  it  Was  her 
business  to  win  the  war,  and  not  to 
meddle  in  Turkish  internal  affairs.    The 


Germans,  for  their  part,  appreciated  only 
too  clearly  the  retort  to  which  their  own 
policy  of  deportation  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium ultimately  exposed  them. 
.  Dr.  Lepsius's  labors  also  afford  the 
German  public  its  first  comprehensive 
view  of  what  he  describes  as  "  perhaps 
-^•-he  greatest  persecution  of  Christians  of 
all  time." 

The  drama  opened  in  Constantinople 
with  an  Oriental  St.  Bartholomew's 
Night  en  April  25,  1915,  when  600  Ar- 
menian notables  were  arrested,  deported, 
and  done  to  death.  In  Armenia  itself 
a  so-called  "rising"  at  Van  furnished 
the  pretext  for  the  wholesale  massacres 
and  deportations  that  continued  until  the 
end  of  the  year.  And  from  December, 
1915,  began  the  period  of  systematic  con- 
version to  Islam.  In  this  proceeding 
German  diplomacy  was  prepared  to 
acmiesce,  on  the  ground  that  "  in  the 
East  creed  and  nationality  are  synony- 
mous." But  even  the  German  diploma- 
tists had  to  acknowledge  that  the  Decree 
of  Aug.  1,  1916,  determining-  the  political 
and  religious  rights  of  the  Aimenians, 
was  designed  to  terminate  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  Armenian  Nation. 

Dr.  Lepsius  estimates  that  before  the 
war  1,845,450  Armenians  had  their 
homes  in  the  Ottoman  dominions.  Dur- 
ing the  war  the  Turks  deported  nearly 
1,400,000  persons,  and  of  the?e  no  fewer 
than  1,000,000  perished,  not  including 
some  50,000  to  100,000  Armenians  of 
the  Caucasus  who  are  also  "  missing." 
No  other  nation,  Dr.  Lepsius  observes, 
even  among  those  that  took  direct  part 
in  the  war,  can  show  such  a  record  of 
loss.  The  value  of  Armenian  property 
confiscated  by  the  Turks  is  estimated  at 
1,000,000,000  marks  (nominally  $250,- 
000.000). 

Dr.  Lepsius  couples  the  ferocious  greed 
of  the  Young  Turks  with  the  trumped- 
up  raison  d'etat  of  the  Nationalist  Con- 
stantinople Committee  as  the  mainspring 
of  the  policy  of  extermination.  Talaat, 
Halil.  and  Enver  are  exhibited  as  its 
most  conspicuous  exponents. 


33S 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


The.  Young  Turks  remained  wiUfully 
blind  to  the  inevitable  loss  of  economic, 
and  indeed  of  military,  efficiency  that 
followed  from  the  persecution  of  the 
Armenians. 

But  there  is  nobody  here  now  [wrote 
Count  Paul  Wolff-Metternich,  then  Am- 
bassador, to  Heir  von  Bethmann  Hollweg 
in  191C]  strong  enough  to  tame  the  many- 
headed  hydra  of  the  committee,  with  its  . 
chauvinism  and  fanaticism.  The  commit- 
tee insists  that  the  last  remnants  of  the 
Armenians  shall  be  devoured,  and  the 
Government  has  to  submit.  But  there  is 
now  littl.)  left  for  the  hungry,  wolves  of 
the  committee  to  extort  from  the  so 
wretched  creatures.  *  *  *  To  "  Turkif.v  " 
means  to  expel  or  to  kill  everything  that 
is  not  Turkish— it  means  to  destroy  and 
forcibly  to  annex  other  people**  property. 
Herein  for  the  moment,  and  in  the  child- 
ish repetition  of  French  Liberal  phrases, 
consists  the  vauntcel  new  birth  of  Turkey. 

Prince  Hohenlche  on  one  occasion,  and 
Count  Wolff-Metternich  on  another, 
urged  ven  Bethmann  Hollweg  to  con- 
sider the  expediency  of  publicly  dis- 
sociating Germany  from  the  Armenian 
horrors  by  means  of  articles  in  the  Ger- 
man press.  This  ingenuous  proposal 
evoked  no  response  from  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse.  On  the  contrary,  the  North- 
German  Gazette,  the  Berlin  semi-official 
organ,  was  allowed  to  publish  Turkish 
official  denials  of  the  massacres  and 
vigorous  protests  against  the  slanderous 
imputation  of  the  enemy  press  that  the 
Ottoman  Government  had  anything  to 
do  with  any  "  excesses  "  that  might  have 
been  committed. 

The  last  phase  of  Turkish  militancy 
was  inaugurated  by  the  B rest-Li tovsk 
Treaty  in  March,  1938,  and  extended,  as 
far  as  Dr.  Lepsius's  documents  are  con- 
cerned, down  to  the  capture  of  Baku  in 
September,  1918.  On  the  strength  of  the 
Brest  Treaty  the-  Turks  occupied  not 
only  the  assigned  districts  of  Ardahan, 
Kars,  and  Batum,  but  advanced  into  the 
more  densely  populated  Armenian  lands 
beyond.  As  this  advance  threatened  to 
engage  too  deeply  the  Turkish  reserves, 
which  he  desired  to  see  employed  nearer 
home,  Ludendorff  in  June,  1918,  ad- 
dressed from  German  Main  Headquar- 
ters a  strong  remonstrance,  based  en- 
tirely on  military  considerations,  to  En- 
ver.  Hindenburg  indorsed  Ludendorff's 
injunction,  and  pleaded  "  as  a  Christian  " 


that  the  Caucasus  populations  might  be 
preserved.  Enver  returned  an  evasive 
reply. 

An  indictment  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Central  Powers  in  the  face  of  Turkey's 
avowed  purpose  to  exterminate  the  Ar- 
menian Nation  is  contained  in  a  dispatch 
from  Tiflh  addressed  to  the  Berlin 
Foreign  Office  on  Aug.  20,  1918,  by  the 
Bavarian  General,  Baron  Kress  v  von 
Kressenstoin,  sometime  Chief  ox  Staff 
to  Djemal  Pasha's  Fourth  Turkish  Army 
in  Syria,  v/ho,  after  the  Brest-Litovsk 
conference,  had  been  appointed  German 
High  Com:  .-.issioner  in  the  Caucasus, 
with  instructions  to  study  the  Armenian 
question  on  the  spot.  In  this  di.;patch 
Baron  von  Kressenstein  said: 

If  all   the  elespairing  cries   for  help   on 
the  part  of  the  Government  and  clergy  of 
Armenia   pass   unheeded,    the   responsibil- 
ity   for   the    annihilation    of    this,    ancient 
Christian    people    will    lie    forever    upon 
Germany  and  Austria.     History  will   not, 
and    can    not,    admit    that    the    two    great 
Christian      empires     of     Central     Europe 
were    not    in    a   position    to    impose    their 
will    upon   their   Asiatic   ally,    at   least   in 
such   a   casei   as   this,    where  the  life  and 
death  of  a  whole  people  are  at  stake. 
As  for  the  entry  of  the  Turks,  under 
Nuri   Pasha,   into   Baku  on   Sept.   16-17, 
1918,  it  appears  from  an  extraordinary 
dispatch   rent  by   Lieut.   Col.   Paraquin, 
the  Gorman  Chief  of  Staff  to  the  Turk- 
ish'Eastern  Army  Group,  that  the  Turks 
did  not  even  spare  the  nationals  of  their 
German  ally.     In  this  dispatch   Colonel 
Paraquin  said  that  he  was  besieged  by 
German  residents  begging  for  protection, 
and  on  their  heels'  followed  the  neutral 
Consuls  on  a  similar  errand.     These  ap- 
peals were  communicated  to  the  Pashms 
with   an    urgent    request   for   attention. 
But  the   Pashas   and   their   suites   were 
engrossed  in  the  preparations  for  a  full- 
dress   banquet.     While  the   Pashas   and 
their  German  confederates  made  merry. 
the    inhabitants    of    Baku    were    being 
plundered  and  murdered.    "  The  Turks," 
says   Colonel  Paraquin,  "  did   not   allow 
themselves  to  be  disturbed." 

In  the  evening  the  Danish  Consul  ap- 
peared in  the  great  hall  of  the  Hotel 
Metropole,  where  the  convivialities  were 
in  full  swing,  and  reported  to  Colonel 
Paraquin  that  German  houses  were  be- 
ing plundered  and  that  the  lives  of  the 


GERMANY  AND  THE  ARMENIAN  MASSACRES 


S3!) 


occupants  were  in  danger.    The  German 
Colonel    thereupon    strode    up    to    Nuri 
Pasha  and  in  a  loud  voice  said  to  him : 
Your  Excellency,   1   beg  of  you  now   at 
last   to  take   effective  steps   for   the  pro- 
tection  of   the  Germans.     If   not,    I   shall 
be    compelled    to    report    to    the    German 
Embassy     at     Constantinople     how     little 
you   protect  German  life  and   property ! 

Nuri  was  taken  aback,  but  protested 
that  he  had  done  everything  possible. 
The  Colonel  pointed  out  that  not  a  single 
senior  officer  had  yet  visited  the  town, 
and  that  the  troops,  instead  of  being  told 
off  on  guard  duty,  had  merely  been 
paraded  for  inspection.  The  Colonel  de- 
clares that,   although  the   moment  was 


not  one  for  polite  amenities,  he  employed 
no  word  or  gesture  that  might  be  cal- 
culated to  give  offense.  Nevertheless, 
on  the  following  day,  Sept.  18,  Halil 
Pasha  sent  his  aide  de  camp  to  Colonel 
Paraquin  with  a  message  to  say  that,  in 
view  of  the  Colonel's  conduct  toward 
Nuri  Pasha  in  public  the  day  before,  her 
was  relieved  of  his  post  as  Chief  of  Staff 
to  the  Eastern  Army  Group. 

All  the  satisfaction  that  General  von 
Kressenstein,  the  German  High  Com- 
missioner at  Tiflis,  could  get  from  Nuri 
was  an  assurance  in  French  that  any 
"  little  accidents "  that  migjht  have  oc- 
curred would  be  repaired. 


Syria  and  the  Anglo-French  Pact 

Tentative  Spheres  of  Influence 


THE  presence  of  British  troops  in 
Syria,  the  portion  of  the  former 
Turkish  Empire  claimed  by  France, 
caused  increasing  friction  for  several 
months,  but  the  issue  was  amicably  ad- 
justed early  in  September  by  frank  con- 
ferences in  Syria  between  Lord  Allenby 
and  General  La  Forcade,  and  a  little 
later  by  similar  conferences  in  Paris  be- 
tween Premier  Lloyd  George  and  the 
French  Government.  The  arrest  of  the 
pro-French  Emir  Said  by  the  British 
called  forth  many  indignant  articles  in 
the  French  press,  which  charged  the 
British  with  working  against  French  as- 
pirations in  Syria.  The  criticism  at  all 
times  was  tempered  by  French  gratitude 
for  what  that  the  British  had  done  in  the 
war,  but  the  possibility  of  serious  mis- 
understanding was  finally  removed  by 
the  announcement,  on  Sept.  16,  1919,  that 
a  satisfactory  agreement  between  the 
two  Governments  regarding  the  distribu- 
tion of  spheres  of  influence  in  Syria  and 
adjoining  provinces  had  been  concluded. 
Lord  Allenby  himself  had  stated  in 
Paris  on  Sept.  10  that  Great  Brit- 
ain would  recognize  the  mandate  of 
France  in  Syria.  The  British,  he  said, 
were  in  Syria  for  purely  military  rea- 
sons, and  left  all  political  matters  to 
France. 


The  main  lines  of  the  agreement  ul- 
timately reached  were  published  by  the 
Temps  on  Sept.  16.  By  virtue  of 
this  agreement  Great  Britain  from 
Nov.  1  was  to  evacuate  all  the  terri- 
tories north  of  a  tentative  frontier  be- 
tween Syria  and  Palestine,  it  being  un- 
derstood that  this  frontier  had  only  a 
provisional  character  and  that  its  out- 
line might  be  modified  when  the  Peace 
Conference  decided  finally  on  the  politi- 
cal organization  of  the  Levant. 

The  district  of  Mosul  was  apparently 
not  included  in  the  regions  in  which 
Great  Britain  intended  to  cease  to  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  maintenance  of  order. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  agreed  that 
the  departure  of  the  British  troops 
should  not  have  as  its  consequence  the 
occupation  by  French  troops  of  the  four 
cilies  of  Damascus,  Hama,  Horns,  and 
Aleppo,  which  are  in  "  Zone  A,"  in  which 
the  Anglo-French  Agreement  of  1916 
provided  for  the  constitution  of  an  Arab 
State  or  confederation  of  Arab  States. 
Nevertheless,  the  Arab  power  would 
henceforth  look  to  the  French  and  not 
to  the  British  Government  for  support 
and  advice. 

Among  the  territories  in  which  the  re- 
lief of  the  British  troops  would  be  car- 
ried out  by  French  troops  figures  Cilicia- 


S-iO 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  which  are  already  French  units,  as 
well  as  a  French  mission  under  the  di- 
rection of  Colonel  Bremont. 

This  distribution  of  responsibilities 
and  forces  of  occupation  was  not  in  any- 
way to  prejudice  subsequent  communi- 
cations betv/een  the  two  Governments 
with  regard  to  political  questions  which 
might  arise  in  Syria  or  final  solutions 
which  can  only  be  decided  by  the  Peace 
Conference. 

Regarding  the  decision  to.  leave  Damas- 
cus, Hems,  Hama,  and  Aleppo  out.  of  the 
zone  of  direct  military  occupation,  it 
was  understood  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment communicated  to  the  French  Gov- 
ernment certain  documents  showing, 
first,  that  as  early  as  Nov.  23,  1915, 
Sir  Arthur  Nicolson,  then  Permanent 
Under  Secretary  at  the  Foreign  Office, 
acquainted  M.  Picot,  the  delegate  of  the 
French  Government,  .with  the  negotia- 
tions proceeding  "between  the  British 
Government  and  the  Shereef  of  Mecca, 
and  with  the  demand  of  the  Shereef 
touching  the  four  towns  in  question; 
secondly,  that  at  a  fresh  meeting  on 
Dec.  21,  1915,  at  the  Foreign  Office, 
M.  Picot  informed  Sir  Arthur  Nicolson 
that  the  French  Government  acquiesced 
in  the  four  cities  being  administered  by 
the  Arabs  themselves  under  French  in- 
fluence; thirdly,  that  in  a  letter  of  May 
16,  1916,  in  which  Sir  Edward  Grey  gave 
his  signature  to  the  Anglo-French  Agree- 
ment concerning  the  Levant,  it  was  speci- 
fied that  the  Arabs  were  to  "obtain  the 
cities  of  Horns,  Hama,  Damascus,  and 
Aleppo." 

Both  the  Paris  Temps  and  The  London 
Times  pointed  out  that  the  documents 
presented  by  the  British  Government 
showed  no  contradiction  between  the 
promises  made  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment to  the  Shereef  of  Mecca  and  the 
Anglo-French  Agreement  of  1916,  and 
that  the  very  text  of  this  agreement  in 
the  first  article,  which  speaks  of  "  Zone 
A,"  and  in  the  second  article,  in  which 
allusion  is  made  to  negotiations  to  be 
continued  with  the  Arabs,  manifestly 
took  into  account  the  engagements  en- 
tered into  with  the  latter. 

The  whole  question  of  tentative  British 
and  French  spheres  of  influence  in  the 
Levant     was     illuminated     by     Colonel 


Thomas  Lawrence— whose  activities  in 
Syria  during  the  war  are  described  else- 
where in  this  issue — in  a  running  de- 
scription of  British  promises  made  both 
to  the  French  and  to  the  Arabs.  The.c;c 
promises  were  embodied  in  four  docu- 
ments, which  Colonel  Lawrence  defined 
as  follows  in  a  communication  to  The 
Manchester  Guardian  on  Sept.  12: 

DOCUMENT  1.— The  British  premise  to 
King:  Hussein,  dated  Oct.  24,  191;").  It  under- 
takes, conditional  on  an  Arab  revolt,  to 
recognize  the  "  independence  of  the  Arabs  " 
south  of  latitude  37  degrees,  except  in  the 
provinces  of  Bagdad  and  Basra,  where  Brit- 
ish interests  require  special  measures  of  ad- 
ministrative control,  and  except  where  Great 
Britain  is  not  "  free  to  act  without  detriment 
to  the  interests  of  France." 

[N.  B. — Hussein  asked  for  no  personal  posi- 
tion, and  for  no  particular  Government  or 
Governments.  ] 

DOCUMENT  II.— The  Sykes-Picot  Agree- 
ment made  between  England  and  France  in 
May,  1916.  It  divides  the  Arabic  provinces 
of  Turkey  into  five  zone  j,  roughly— (a)  Pales- 
tine from  the  Jordan  to  the  Mediterranean, 
to  be  *'  international  ";  (b>  Haifa  and  Meso- 
potamia from  near  Tekrit  to  the  Gulf  to  be 
"British":  (c)  the  Syrian  coast,  from  Tyre 
to  Alexandretta,  Cilicia,  and  most  of 
Southern  Armenia,  from  Sivas  to  Diarbekir, 
to  be  "French";  (d)  the  interior  (mainly 
the  provinces  of  Aleppo,  Damascus,  Urfa, 
Deir,  and  Mosul)  to  be  "  independent  Arab  " 
under  two  shades  of  influence — 

(i.)  Between  the  lines  Akaba-Kuweit  and 
Haifa-Tekrit,  the  French  to  seek  no  "  politi- 
cal influence,"  xind  the  British  to  have  eco- 
nomic and  political  priority,  and  the  right  to 
supply  "  such  advisers  as  the  Arabs  desire." 
(II.)  Between  the  line  Haifa-Tekrit  and  the 
southern  edge  of  French  Armenia  or  Kurdis- 
tan, Great  Britain  to  seek  no  "  political  in- 
fluence," 'and  the  French  to  have  economic 
and  political  priority  and  the  right  to  supply 
"such   advisers   as  the   Arabs   desire." 

[N.B.— The  geography  of  the  agreement  is 
the  geography  of  the  White  Knight,  and  it 
makes  a  similar  irruption  into  economics 
when  it  lays  down  that  the  Bagdad  Railway 
may  not  be  finished  till  a  Euphrates  Rail- 
way has  been  built!] 

DOCUMENT  III.— The  British  statement  to 
the  seven  Syrians  of  Cairo  dated  June  11, 
1917.  This  assures  them  that  pre-war  Arab 
States,  and  Arab  areas  freed  by  military 
action  of  their  inhabitants  during  the  war, 
shall  remain   entirely  independent. 

[N.B. — This  assurance  was  unqualified, 
and  might  have  conflicted  with  Document  I. 
or  Document  II.,  but  was  regulated  locally 
by  arrangement  between  Allenby  and  Feisal, 
by  which  the  Arab  army  operated  almost 
entirely  in  the  area  given  to  the  Arabs  in 
Document    TT.  1 


SYRIA  AND  THE  ANGLO-FRENCH  PACT 


341 


TNDER  THE  ANGLO-FRENCH  AGRlTElCTeX'T"  VfTE  FRENCH  HOLD  SYPIA  AND  THE  BRITISH 
ARE  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  PALESTINE— ALSO  FOR  THE  MOSUL  DISTRICT.  THE  FRENCH 
OCCUPY  CILICIA.  THEY  EVACUATE  DAMASCUS,  HAMA,  HOMS,  AND  ALEPPO.  AS  THESE 
CITIES  ARE  PROMISED  TO  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HED.TAZ.  THE  MAP  SHOWS  LATITUDE  37 
DEGREES,  MARKING  THE  NORTHERN  BOUNDARY  OF  THE  ARAB  STATE  UNDER  THE  AGREE- 
MENT OF  1016  WITH  KING  HUSSEIN.  THE  LINES  HAIFA-TEKRIT  AND  AKABA-KOWE1T 
MARK  THE  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  BOUNDARIES  OF  THE  BRITISH  AREA  CONCEDED  IN  THE 
ANGLO-FRENCH    AGREEMENT    OF    1910. 


DOCUMENT  IV.—  The  Anglo-French  Dec- 
laration of  Nov.  9,  1918.  In  this  Great  Britf  i:i 
and  France  agree  to  encourage  native  Gov- 
ernments in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  and 
Without  imposition  to  assure  the  normal 
working  of  such  Governments  as  the  peoples 
shall   themselves   have   adopted. 

[N.B.— This  was  interpreted  in  the  Orient 
as  changing  the  "  direct  "  Eritish  and 
French  areas  "b"  and  "c"  of  Document 
II.   to  spheres  of  influence.] 

[The  author  of  Document  I.  was  Sir  Henry 
McMahon.  Document  II.  and  III.  were  by 
Sir'  Mark  Sykes.  Lord  Robert  Cecil  author- 
ised IV.  They  were  all  prodxiced  under 
stress  of  military  urgency  to  induce  the 
Arabs  to  fight  on  our  side.] 

The  misunderstanding  between  the 
British  and  French  was  largely  due  to 
the  inability  cf  Britain  to  withdraw  her 
promises  to  the  Arabs,  on  the  basis  of 
which  the  allied  nations  secured  the 
Shereef  of  Mecca  (now  King  of  the 
Hedjaz)    as   an   ally   against  the   Turk. 


When  Emir  Feisal,  during  his  fcrrr.er 
visit  to  Paris,  declined  to  accept  France 
as  a  mandatary  for  Syria,  Great  Britain 
declared  formally  that  she  would  not  ac- 
cept the  mandate  in  France's  stead.  Re- 
garding Mosul,  it  was  agreed  during  M. 
Clemenceau's  visit  to  England  in  Decem- 
ber, 1918,  that  the  Mosul  district  should 
go  to  Britain  as  an  integral  part  of 
Mesopotamia.  The-  arrangement  by 
which  the  British  evacuation  of  Damas- 
cus, Hamal,  Horns,  and  Aleppo  will  not 
be  followed  by  the  French  occupation 
thereof  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
boundary  of  the  new  Arab  State  by  the 
1916  treaty  was  placed  slightly  west  of 
these  towns.  At  this  writing  (Oct.  10) 
Emir  Feisal  is  on  his  way  to  London  at 
the  request  of  the  British  Government  to 
discuss  the  mandate  for  his  own  country, 
the  Hedjaz. 


The  Anglo-Persian  Agreement 

Great  Britain  Provides  Advisory,  Military,  and  Financial  Aid, 
but  Denies  Planning  a   Protectorate 


A  N  agreement  was  concluded  at 
/\  Teheran,  Persia,  on  Aug.  9,  1919, 
A  \  between  Great  Britain  and  Persia 
in  regard  to  the  future  political, 
economical,  and  financial  relations  of  the 
two  countries,  and  two  letters  sent  by 
the  British  Minister  at  Teheran  to  the 
Persian  Prime  Minister  entered  into 
supplementary  verbal  engagements.  The 
full  text  of  the  two  main  instruments, 
as  well  as  of  the  two  letters,  was  made 
public  in  England  on  Aug.  16  and  given 
out  by  the  State  Department  at  Wash- 
ington on  Sept.  19.  The  first  instrument 
embodies  Great  Britain's  agreement  to 
supply,  at  Persia's  expense,  expert  ad- 
visers, military  officers,  munitions,  and 
equipment  to  form  and  supply  an  army 
to  maintain  order  in  Persia  and  along 
her  borders.  The  second  provides  for 
a  loan  of  £2,000,000,  at  7  per  cent.,  re- 
deemable in  twenty  years,  and  possess- 
ing priority  over  all  other  debts  except 
a  former  British  loan  of  £1,250,000  made 
en  May  8,  1911.  In  return  for  the  new 
loan  Persia  pledges  her  customs  re- 
ceipts. The  letters  offer  aid  in  recover- 
ing Persia's  war  claims  and  in  arrang- 
ing her  boundary  lines. 

TEXT    OF    AGREEMENTS 

The  text  of  the  two  official  agree- 
ments, of  the  agreement  of  May  8,  1911, 
and  of  the  official  letters  transmitted, 
is  given  herewith: 

No.   1 

Agreement  between  the  Governments 
of  Great  Britain  and  Persia. 

Preamble:  In  virtue  of  the  close  ties  of 
friendship  which  have  existed  between  the 
two  Governments  in  the  past,  and  in  the  con- 
viction that  it  is  in  the  essential  and  mutual 
interests  of  both  in  future  that  these  ties 
should  be  cemented,  and  that  the  progress 
and  prosperity  of  Persia  should  be  promoted 
to  the  utmost,  it  is  hereby  agreed  between 
the  Persian  Government  on  the  one  hand  and 
his  Britannic  Majesty's  Minister,  acting  on 
behalf  of  his  Government,  on  the  other,  as 
follows : 


1.  The  British  Government  reiterate,  in  the 
most  categorical  manner,  the  undertakings 
which  they  have  repeatedly  given  in  the  past 
to  respect  absolutely  the  independence  and 
integrity  of  Persia. 

2.  The  British  Government  will  supply,  at 
the  cost  of  the  Persian  Government,  the  ser- 
vices of  whatever  expert  advisers  may,  after 
consultation  between  the  two  Goyernments, 
be  considered  necessary  for  the  several  de- 
partments of  the  Persian  administration. 
These  advisers  shall  be  engaged  on  contracts 
and  endowed  with  adequate  powers,  the 
nature  of  which  shall  be  the  matter  of 
agreement  between  the  Persian  Government 
and  the  advisers. 

3.  The  British  Government  will  supply,  at 
the  cost  of  the  Persian  Government,  such 
officers  and  such  munitions  and  equipment 
of  modern  type  as  may  be  adjudged  neces- 
sary by  a  joint  commission  of  military  ex- 
perts, British  and  Persian,  which  shall  as- 
semble forthwith  for  the  purpose  of  estimat- 
ing the  needs  of  Persia  in  respect  of  the 
formation  of  #.  uniform  force  which  the  Per- 
sian Government  proposes  to  create  for  the 
establishment  and  preservation  of  order  in 
the  country  and  oil  its  frontiers. 

4.  For  the  purpose  of  financing  the  reforms 
indicated  in  Clauses  2  and  3  of  this  agree- 
ment, the  British  Government  offer  to  pro- 
vide or  arrange  a  substantial  loan  for  the 
Persian  Government,  for  which  adequate  se- 
curity shall  be  sought  by  the  two  Govern-  , 
ments  in  consultation  in  the  revenues  of  the 
customs  or  other  sources  of  income  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Persian  Government.  Pend- 
ing the  completion  of  negotiations  for  such  a 
loan,  the  British  Government  will  supply  on 
account  of  it  such  funds  as  may  be  neces- 
sary  for   initiating  the   said   reforms. 

5.  The  British  Government,  fully  recogniz- 
ing the  urgent  need  which  exists  for  the  im- 
provement of  communications  in  Persia,  with 
a  view  both  to  the  extension  of  trade  and 
the  prevention  of  famine,  are  prepared  to 
co-operate  with  the  Persian  Government  for 
the  encouragement  of  Anglo-Persian  enter- 
prise in  this  direction,  both  by  means  of  rail- 
way construction  and  other  forms  of  trans- 
port ;  subject  always  to  the  examination  of 
the  problems  by  experts  and  to  agreement 
between  the  two  Governments  as  to  the  par- 
ticular projects  which  may  be  most  neces- 
sary,   practicable,    and    profitable. 

6.  The  two  Governments  agree  to  the  ap- 
pointment forthwith  of  a  joint  committee  of 
experts  for  the  examination  and  revision  of 
the  existing  customs  tariff  with  a  view  to  its 
reconstruction  on  a  basis  calculated  to  accord 


THE   ANGLO-PERSIAN   AGREEMENT 


\:\ 


with   the   legitimate   Interests  of  the  country 
ynd   to  promote  its  prosperity. 
Sigurd  al   T'hcran,  Aug,  .'».  fl»i». 

No.   2 
Agreement  relating  to  loan  of  £2,000,- 
000,  at  7  per  cent.,  redeemable  in  twenty 
years. 

Preamble:  Contract  between  the  British 
Government  and  the  Persian  Government 
with  reference  to  an  agreement  concluded 
tliis  day  between  the  said  Governments,  ft 
is  agr  eed  as  follows  : 

Article  1.— The  British  Government  grant  a 
loan  of  £2,000.000  to  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment, to  be  paid  to  the  Persian  Government 
as  required  In  such  installments  arid  at  such 
dates  as  may  be  indicated  by  the  Persian 
Government  after  the  British  Financial  Ad- 
viser shall  have  taken  up  the  duties  of  his 
office  at  Teheran,  as  provided  for  in  the 
aforesaid  agreement. 

Art.  2.— The  Persian  Government  under- 
takes to  pay  interest  monthly  at  the  rate  of 
7  per  cent,  per  annum  upon  sums  advanced 
in  accordance  with  Article  1  up  to  .March  20. 
1 021,  and  thereafter  to  pay  monthly  such 
amount  as  will  suffice  to  liquidate  the  prin- 
cipal sum  and  interest  thereon  at  7  per  cent. 
per  annum.  In  twenty  years. 

Art.  .'{.—All  th"  revenues  and  customs  re- 
ceipts assigned  in  virtue  of  the  contract  of 
May  N,  1011,  for  the  repayment  of  the  loan 
of  £1,250,000  are  assigned  for  the  repayment 
of  the  present  loan  With  continuity  of  all 
conditions  stipulated  in  the  said  contract, 
and  with  priority  over  all  debts  other  than 
the  1011  loan  and  subsequent  advances  made 
by  the  British  Government.  In  case  of  insuf- 
ficiency of  the  receipts  indicated  above,  the 
Persian  Government  undertakes  to  make 
good  the  necessary  sums  from  other  re- 
sources, and  for  this  purpose  the  Persian 
Government  hereby  assigns  to  the  service  of 
the  present  loan  and  of  the  other  advances 
above  mentioned,  in  priority  and  with  con- 
tinuity of  conditions  stipulated  in  the  afore- 
said contract,  the  customs  receipts  of  all 
other  regions,  in  so  far  as  these  receipts  are 
or  shall  be  at  its  disposal. 

Art.  4.— The  Persian  Government  will  have 
the  right  of  repayment  of  the  present  loan 
at  any  date  out  of  the  pioceeds  of  any 
British  loan  Which'  1t  may  contract  for. 

Sigurd  at  Tcharan,  Arlg.  9,  ISIS. 

No.  3 

Article  5  of  contract  between  the  Per- 
sian Government  and  the  Imperial  Bank 
of  Persia  relating  to  the  Persiayi  Govern- 
ment 5  per  cent,  loan  of  £1,250,000  of 
May  8,  1911. 

(Included    f"i'    reference) 

Art.  .">.—  The  Imperial  Government  of  Persia 
specially  assigns  to  the  service  of  the  loan, 
and  as  a  first  charge  thereon,  subject  only  to 
prior   charges    amounting   to    £13,714    Is.    lOd. 


per  annum  for  three  years,  and  £30,278  12s 
7d.  per  annum  from  the  year  101.1  to  the  year 
102>S.  The  full  net  customs  receipts  of  every 
description  which  the  Government  now  :s.  or 
at  any  time  hereafter  may  be.  entitled  to  col- 
lect and  receive  at  all  ports  or  places  in  the 
Persian  Gulf,  including  Bushire,  Bunder 
Abbas,  Llngah,  Mohammei  ah,  and  Ahwaz, 
which  receipts  are  hereby  made  payable  to 
the  Bank,  and  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Persia  hereby  engages  forthwith  alter  re- 
ceipt thereof  to  pay  to  the  Bank  all  such 
customs  receipts  as  aforesaid  without  deduc- 
tion othev  *han  for  actual  expenses  of  admin- 
istration of  the  customs  of  the  said  ports  dis- 
bursed prior   to   the  date  of  such    payment. 

(a)  The  Imperial  Government  of  Persia 
undertakes  that  throughout  the  continuance 
of  the  loan  all  sums  collected  by  the  customs 
administration  shall  be  paid  to  the  Hank  at 
the  ports  of  colleetion  or-  at  its  nearest 
branch,  week  by  week,  for  meeting  the  prior 
charges  referred  to  above  and  for  the  service, 
of  the  loan,  and  an  account  of  such  receipts 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment by  the  Bank  at  the  end  of  each  month. 

(b)  The  Bank  shall,  out  of  the  moneys  so 
collected,  pay  the  prior  charges  above  men- 
tioned, and  ihe  interest. and  sinking  fund  of 
the  loan,  and  sha.l  hold  the  surplus  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Imperial  Government  of  Per- 
sia. 

(e)  The  bank  undertakes,  out  of  the 
moneys  so  received,  to  pay  on  behalf  of  th? 
Impel  ial  Government  of  Persia  the  half- 
yearly  coupon  in  London,  and  supervise  the 
working  of  the  sinking  fund  and  service  of 
th.'  loan  free  of  charges  connected  with  the 
same. 

(d)  In  the  event  of  the  customs  receipts  of 
the  above-mentioned  ports  for'  any  three 
months  falling  short  of  the  amount  required 
for  the  prior  charges  and  the  service  of  the 
loan,  either  for  interest  or  amortization,  the 
Imperial  Government  of  Persia  binds  itself 
to  make  good  such  deficiency  from  other 
sources  of  Government  revenue,  and,  further, 
should  receipts  from  these  sourc<  s  fall  !>•  lo.v 
the  amount  required  as  above,  the  Persian 
Government  hereby  assigns  for  this  purpi  se 
the  revenue  derived  from  the  receipts  of  the 
telegraphs— this  assignment  to  consttue  a 
second  charge  on  the  said  telegraph  receipts 
up  to  the  year  102s.  after  which  the  tele- 
graph receipts  will  be  free. 

No.    4 

Sir  P.  Cox  to  his  Highness  Vossug-ed- 
Doivlch. 

British  Legation,  Teheran,  Aug.  0,  1010. 
Your  Highness:  I  trust  your  Highness  has 
been  able,  during  your  successful  direction' 
of  affairs  of  the  Persian  State,  to  convince 
yourself  that  lis  Britannic  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment havn  H.lways  endeavored  in  support 
to  the  utmost  the  efforts  of  your  Highness's 
Cabinet,  on  the  one  hand  to  r<  store  order  and 
security  in  tire  Intorlor  of  the  country,  and 
on  the  other  to  maintain  a  policy  of  close  co- 


fs+4 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT    HISTORY 


operation    between    the    Persian    and    British 
Governments. 

As  further  evidence  of  the  good -will  by 
which  the  Cabinet  of  London  is  inspired,  1 
am  now  authorized  to  inform  your  Highness 
that,  in  the  event  of  the  agreement  regard- 
ing projects  of  reforms  which  your  Govern- 
ment contemplates  introducing  in  Persia  be- 
ing concluded,  his  Britannic  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment will  be  prepared  in  due  course  to 
co-operate  with  the  Persian  Government 
with  a  view  to  the  realization  of  the  follow- 
ing desiderata : 

1.  The  revision  of  the  treaties  actually  in 
force  between  the  two  powers. 

2.  The  claim  of  Persia  to  compensation  for 
material  damage  suffered  at  the  hands  of 
other  belligerents. 

3|  The  rectification  of  the  frontier  of  Per- 
sia at  the  points  where  it  is  agreed  upon  by 
the    parties    to    be    justifiable. 

The  precise  manner,  time,  and  means  to  be 
chosen  for  pursuing  these  aims  shall  be  dis- 
cussed, as  soon  as  practicable,  by  the  two 
Governments.    I  have,  &c.  P.  Z.  COX. 

No.    5 

Sir  P.  Cox  to  his  Highness  Vossug-ed- 
Dowleh. 

British  Legation,  Teheran,  Aug.  !),  191 !». 

Your  Highness,  with  reference  to  the  sec- 
ond desideratum  indicated  in  my  previous 
letter  of  today's  date,  it  is  understood  and 
agreed  between  the  two  Governments  re- 
ciprocally that,  on  the  one  hand,  his  Ma- 
jesty's Government  will  not  cl&im  froth  the 
Government  of  his  Majesty  the  Shalt  the 
cost  of  the  maintenance  of  British  troops 
which  his  Majesty's  Government  were 
obliged  to  send  to  Persia  owing  to  Persia's 
want  of  power  to  defend  her  neutrality,  and 
that  on  the  other  hand  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment will  not  claim  from  the  British  Gov- 
ernment an  indemnity  for  any  damage  which 
may  have  been  caused  by  the  said  troops 
during  their  presence  in   Persian  territory. 

It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  this 
agreement  of  the  two  parties  does  not  in  any 
way  affect  the  claims  of  individuals  and 
private  institutions,  which  will  be  dealt  with 
independently. 

A  note  from  your  Highness  informing  me 
that  you  accept  this  position  on  behalf  of 
the  Persian  Government  will  suffice  to  re- 
cord  the  agreement  of  the  two  Governments 
on  this  subject.    I  have,  &c..         P.  Z.  COX. 

ENGLISH   EXPLANATION 

The  English  explanation  of  the  events 
that  led  to  the  signing  of  the  Anglo- 
Persian  agreement  was  as  follows: 

When  the  operations  on  the  western 
front  were  approaching  the  stage  of 
final  success,  the  Shah  appointed  Vos- 
sug-ed-Powleh  Prime  Minister.  He,  as 
well  as  two  ether  Ministers,  was  favor- 


able to  British  interests.  Almost  at  the 
same  time  Great  Britain  sent  as  Minister 
to  Teheran  Sir  Percy  Cox.  It  was  de- 
sired to  conclude  an  agreement  with 
Persia  which  would  make  it  possible  to 
safeguard  British  interests  and  prevent 
a  recurrence  of  the  difficulties  encoun- 
tered during  the  war,  and  which  would 
give  Persia  the  support  she  needed  to 
maintain  her  position  among  the  inde- 
pendent nations  of  the  world.  The  Per- 
sian Government,  according  to  this  ac- 
count, realized  that  Great  Britain  was 
the  only  great  neighboring  power  inter- 
ested in  her  fate  and  able  to  lend  her 
assistance  from  a  disinterested  point  of 
view. 

She  decided  therefore  of  her  own 
volition  to  ask  Great  Britain's  aid  in 
putting  Persia's  situation  upon  a  sound 
basis,  and  to  conclude  an  agreement  by 
virtue  of  which  the  former  country  would 
be  able  to  give  to  Persia  the  assistance 
she  required.  The  possibility  of  a  pro- 
tectorate was  specifically  excluded  by 
the  first  article  of  the  agreement,  which 
brought  an  end  to  the  intrigues  and 
jealousies  of  the  different  powers  that 
had  been  disorganizing  the  country. 

FOREIGN  COMMENT 

The  publication  of  the  treaty,  how- 
ever, aroused  considerable  comment 
abroad,  some  of  it  hostile.  The  Chicago 
Tribune,  in  its  Paris  edition,  declared 
that  the  treaty  was  in  contradiction  not 
■  only  with  the  Fourteen  Points  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  but  also  with  the  clauses 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  Many  bitter 
attacks  upon  the  treaty  appeared  in  the 
French  Press,  especially  in-  the  Temps. 
Prominent  Persians  jn  Paris  charged 
that  the  treaty  reduced  their  inde- 
pendence to  a  mockery  by  placing  all 
their  financial  and  military  affairs 
under  British  control;  also,  that  it  vio- 
lated Article  10  of  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant.  They  asserted  that  under  this 
agreement  Persia  was  placed  in  the  grip 
of  England  for  twenty  years  at  least  by 
the  period  fixed  for  payment  of  athe 
£2,000,000  loan,  with  no  assurance  that 
military  and  financial  control  would  end 
even  then. 

The  Echo  de  Paris  objected  that  the 
treaty  had  been  concluded  without  sub- 


THE  ANGLO-PERSIAN  AGREEMENT 


345 


mitting    it    to    the    League    of    Nations. 
Commenting  on  the  treaty  terms  it  said : 

If  the  above  stipulations  do  not  con- 
stitute a  most  complete  protectorate,  then 
words  have  lost  their  meaning.  Doubt- 
less nowhere  is  a  formal  protectorate 
mentioned,  and  doubtless  a  clause  an- 
nounces the  independence  and  full  integ- 
rity of  Persia,  but  the  substance  of  the 
agreement  will  fool  no  one. 

Le  Figaro  also  said  that  the  Anglo- 
Persian  agreement  was  equivalent  to  a 
protectorate  and  quoted  The  Morning 
Post  of  London,  which  said :  "  Were  we 
not  concerned  in  this  matter  we  should 
say  this  was  a  protectorate." 

The  Temps  on  Aug.  16  virtually  ac- 
cused England  of  violating  the  covenant 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  The  promise 
to  respect  the  integrity  and  independence 
of  Persia  it  characterized  as  an  oratori- 
cal precaution,  and  declared  that  Persian 
independence  was  attacked  by  the  treaty 
itself.  Persian  sovereignty,  it  said,  was 
lost  by  the  clauses  forcing  Persia  to  em- 
ploy only  British  officers  and  intrusting 
her  finances  only  to  British  specialists. 
Persia,  one  of  the  nations  invited  to  join 
the  League  of  Nations,  became  the  vic- 
tim of  what  Article  X.  of  the  covenant 
especially  forbade.  Further,  the  Temps 
continued,  Persia  has  a  Constitution — 
that  of  1907 — which  provides  that  all 
treaties  must  be  ratified  by  its  Assembly 
unless  for  the  sake  of  expediency  they 
are  secret  treaties.  But  this  treaty  can- 
not be  considered  secret  because  England 
has  repudiated  secret  diplomacy.  It  can- 
not be  ratified  by  the  Assembly  because 
no  Assembly  exists,  and  none  can  be 
elected  under  the  existing  regime  of 
British  military  cfcupation.  The  Temps 
added  that  France  resented  this  Persian 
treaty  on  moral  grounds  because  of  its 
violation  of  Wilsonian  principles  and  of 
the  League  of  Nations  covenant,  and  as- 
serted that  France  had  no  ulterior  mo- 
tive for  its  attitude  and  no  intention  to 
ask  of  England  compensatory  ad- 
vantages to  condone  the  offense. 

Of  the  English  papers  The  Daily  News 
stood  out  in  disapproval.  Its  comment 
was  in  part  as  follows: 

Great  Britain,  having  secured  by  the 
present  agreement  a  position  of  monopoly 
In  Persia,  is  prepared  to  consider  doing 
for  heiself  and  us  between  herself  and 
Persia     what     Persia     desired     the     Peace 


Conference  to  do  in  the  name  of  the  Al- 
lies as  a  whole.  Why  did  Great  Britain 
frustrate  that  legitimate  and  reasonable 
desire?  Was  it  in  order  to  retain  a  lever 
to  raise  herself  into  the  position  of  pre- 
ponderance she  obtains  by  the  present 
treaty?  The  suspicion  may  be  ill-found*  d 
—we  should  be  'lankful  to  be  convinced 
that  it  was— but  few  agreements  have 
worn  an  uglier  look. 

Other  British  papers  approved  the 
agreement  and  disclaimed  the  designs 
attributed  by  foreign  criticism.  The 
Daily  Chronicle  said: 

No  doubt  we  shall  be  accused  of  endeav- 
oring to  establish  in  Persia  a  second 
Egypt,  but  that  is  not  our  intention,  nor 
is  it  to  the  interests  of  this  country.  A 
prosperous,  well-governed,  self-dependent 
and  friendly  Persia  will  be  of  infinitely 
more  value  to  us  than '  discontented  and 
dependent.  With  a  frontier  .  bordering 
upon  Russia,  it  is  to  her  interest  and  ours 
that  she  should  be  free ;  for,  even  if  we 
wanted— which  we  do  not — another  Egypt, 
we  should  not  wish  to  have  it  in  that 
place,  above  all  others,  where  we  need  a 
friendly  buffer  State.  We  want  an  inde- 
pendent Persia  for  precisely  the  same 
reason  that  we  have  always  wanted  an 
independent  Afghanistan.' 

The  Morning  Post  commented  as  fol- 
lows: 

We  do  not  think  the  new  agreement 
can  arouse  the  objection  of  any  foreign 
Government ;  and,  indeed,  the  services  of 
British  troops  during  the  war  when  they 
occupied  the  Caspian  region  and  Bagdad 
and  held  (what  they  still  hold)  the  line 
from  Bagdad  to  Kasvln,  thus  preventing 
the  Germans  from  entering  Asia  by  that 
route,  entitle  this  country  to  some  recog- 
nition. 

ATTITUDE  OF  UNITED  STATES 

London  representatives  of  American 
oil  interests  viewed  the  agreement  as  an 
attempt  to  assure  British  control  over 
the  great  Persian  oil  fields  and  other 
natural  resources  such  as  the  British 
Government  had  been  planning  in  the 
Euphrates  Valley;  in  this  connection  The 
London  Chronicle's  financial  editor  said 
that  while  the  agreement  was  pre- 
eminently political,  it  was  also  true  that 
the  Government  controlled  the  Anglo- 
Persian  Oil  Company,  and  no  doubt  had 
an  eye  to  its  financial  interests  in  Per- 
sia. 

Officially  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  had  been  inclined  to  favor 
Persian  participation  in  the  Peace  Con- 


340 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ference.  Before  it  convened,  the  Persian 
Government  had  made  representations 
both  to  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  on  its  right  of  representation. 
One  of  the  grounds  on  which  it  based 
this  claim  was  that  England,  Russia,  and 
Turkey  had  violated  Persian  neutrality 
during  the  war,  the  British,  in  especial, 
having  established  military  bases  on  Per- 
sian territory  and  used  it  as  a  ground 
for  military  operations.  In  a  reply  to 
Persia's  request  sent  by  Secretary  Lan- 
sing to  Mirza  Ali  Kuli  Khan,  then  Per- 
sian Charge  d'Affaires  at  Washington,  it 
was  stated  that  "  The  Government  of  the 
"  United  States  regards  with  sympathy 
"  the  request  that  Persian  delegates  be 
"  admitted  to  the  Peace  Conference  with 
"  power  to  take  part  in  the  discussion 
"  and  determination  of  all  questions  with 
"which  Persia  is  interested  or  con- 
cerned." .  The  Persian  Government  sent 
its  delegation  to  Paris  in  January.  All 
American  efforts  to  secure  the  delega- 
tion's participation  in  the  conference, 
however,  proved  abortive,  and  the  mis- 
sion was  allowed  only  to  present  certain 
claims  of  its  country  on  Feb.  14,  followed 
by  a  supplementary  memorandum  on 
March  23  and  a  reminder  on  April  6. 
The  Persians  declared  that  no  reason- 
able attention  had  been  paid  to  their 
demands. 

It  was  stated  on  Aug.  29  that 
Kaighosrow  Shahrokh,  member  and 
Chief  Custodian  of  the  Persian  Parlia- 
ment, who  was  sent  to  the  United  States 
on  a  special  mission,  and  who  is  now  in 
Washington,  had  filed  with  Secretary 
Lansing  a  protest  against  the  Anglo- 
Persian  agreement,  and  that  other  in- 
fluential Persians  in  the  United  States 
had  begun  to  organize  a  movement 
against  the  new  arrangement. 

BRITISH  OFFICIAL  DENIALS 

Officially,  meanwhile,  the  British  Gov- 
ernment  denied   all   designs   on    Persia. 
Cecil  B.  Harmsworth,  Under  Secretary 
for     Foreign    Affairs,    addressing    the 
House  of  Commons  on  Aug.  18,  said: 
The    policy    of    his     Majesty's    Govern- 
ment   is    to   assist    Persia   to    re-establish 
herself   on   a    sound    basis.      There   is    not 
the    slightest    foundation    for    a    suspicion 
that  the  Government  proposed  or  that  the 
Persian  Government  would  have  consented 


to    create    anything    in    the    nature    of    a 
protectorate. 

The  Persian  Government  turned  to  Great 
Britain  as  her  most  powerful  friendly 
neighbor,  and  this  Government  would 
have  departed  from  its  traditional  policy 
of  warm  interest  in  the  Persian  Govern- 
ment had  it  declined  to  respond  to  her 
appeal. 

Mr.  Harmsworth  said  the  attitude  of 
the  Persian  Cabinet  and  the  impending 
visit  of  the  Shah  to  England  constituted 
a  sufficient  answer  to  all  the  insinua- 
tions. 

On  Sept.  19  Earl  Curzon,  Government 
leader  in  the  House  of  Lords  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  council,  speaking  at  a  dinner 
given  in  London  in  honor  of  the  Foreign 
Minister  of  Persia,  said  in  part: 

The  independence  of  Persia  is  a  British 
as  well  as  a  Persian  interest.  Indeed, 
our  main  interest  in  Persia  is  its  inde- 
pendence. We  do  not  want  Persia  to  be 
a  mere  buffer  against  our  enemies.  We 
want  her  to  be  a  bulwark  for  the  peace 
of  the  world,  and  I  can  assure  our  guest 
he  need  have  no  fears  upon  that  point. 
We  shall  respect  the  independence  of  his 
country. 

We  did  not  ask  at  the  Peace  Conference 
for  a  mandate  in  respect  to  Persia.  Had 
it  been '  offered,  we  should  not  have  ac- 
cepted it.  1  do  not  believe  for  a  moment 
that  Persia  would  have  asked  for  it. 
We  prefer  to  trade  with  Persia  as  a  part- 
ner on  equal  terms,  with  that  country  en- 
joying her  own  sovereignty  and  capable 
of  dealing  with  us  on  terms  of  partner- 
ship. 

I  do  not  conceal  from  myself  that,  fully 
as  we  understand  the  agreement  con- 
cluded between  us,  suspicions  have  been 
aroused  a?  to  its  real  character.  These 
suspicions  rest,  in  the  main,  upon  a  mis- 
conception which  should  not  be  difficult 
to  remove.  1  see  it  stated  In  some  quar- 
ters that  this  agreement  is  a  veiled  pro- 
tectorate by  Great  Britain  over  Persia. 
I  take  it  that  a  protectorate  means  some 
assumption  of  exclusive  responsibility  and 
some  curtailment  or  .  restriction  in  the 
protected   country's  liberties. 

I  find  no  evidence  of  such  a  condition 
of  affairs  in  this  agreement.  I  would  not 
have  been  a  party  to  any  attempt  to  set 
up  a  British  protectorate  over  Persia.  In 
any  case,  it  would  have  beep  impossible, 
because  Persia  would  neither  have  asked 
for  nor  accepted  it.  On  the  contrary,  she- 
would  have  resented  and  resisted  it.  I 
should  have  been  opposed  to  It  because 
it  would  have  been  contrary  to  our  re- 
peated engagements,  and,  in  the  last  re- 
sort, because  I  should  have  regarded  it  as 
inimical   to    British    Interests. 

Wo  have,  or  shall  have,  as  a  result  of 
ihia-  war  enough  to  do  in  the  eastern  parts 


THE  ANGLO-PERSIAN   AGREEMENT 


:U7 


ot  the  world.  If  a  nat'on  asfumcs  a  pro- 
toctoratc,  it  also  assumes  certain  respon- 
sibilities which  have  a  tendency  to  attafti 
the  weight  of  a  heavy  burden.  Above  all. 
it  is  compelled  to  give  financial  assistance 
on     a     scale     which     m  ultimately     be 

overwhelming.  Then  fo  -,.  neither  I  nor 
my  colleagues  would  ha.e  .  onsented  to  or 
acquiesced  in  anything  like  the  creation 
of   a    British    protectorate   over    Persia. 

DENIES   VIOLATION   OF   LEAGUE 

Those  who  believe  the  British  are  going, 
as  a  result  of  this  agreement,  to  settle 
down  in  Persia  and  to  Anglicize,  to  In- 
dianize  or  Europeanizf  it  in  any  sense  of 
the  term  are  grossly  mistaken.  All  we 
want  to  do  is  to  give  Persia  expert  as- 
sistance and  financial  aid  which  will  en- 
able ber  to  carve  out  her  own  fortunes 
as  an  independent  and  still  living  coun- 
try. 

1  see  it  stated  in  some  quarters  that 
this  agreement  is  a  disparagement  or  de- 
liberate neglect  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
Articles  X.  and  XX.  of  the  covenant  are 
supposed  in  some  sense  to  have  been 
ignored  by  us. 

1  would  say  emphatically,  on  behalf  of 
my  Government  and  after  a  conversation 
with  his  Highness  this  afternoon,  that 
both  his  Government  and  mine  i.rcept  un- 
reservedly Articles  X.  and  XX.  of  the 
covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations,  and 
that  we  see  in  them  nothing  inconsistent 
with  what  we  have  done.  On  the  con- 
trayy,  as  soon  as  the  treaty  of  peace  is 
ratified  and  as  soon  as  the  Council  of  the 
League  of  Nations  comes  into  effective 
existence,  it  is  the  intention  of  his  <5ov- 
ernment  and  mine  to  communicate  the 
agreement  to  the  council  of  the  Leasu<- 
with  a  full  explanation  and  defense  of  its 
contents. 

There  is  another  point  in  the  agreement 
concerning  which  there  has  been  some 
misunderstanding.  There  is  a  passage  in 
it  which  says  the  two  Governments  had 
agreed  to  the  appointment  of  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  experts  for  the  examination  and 
revision  of  existing  customs  tariffs,  u  <| 
it  Beetria  to  have  been  inferred  that  On  at 
Britain    is    claiming    the    right    to    revinc 


customs  treaties,  not  only  between  Persia 
and  Great  Britain,  but  between  Persia 
ami  foreign  powers.  An  examination  of 
the  text  shows  there  is  no  ground  for 
this  suspicion. 

Again,  when  we  undertake  in  this  agree- 
ment to  co-operate  vfMh  the  Persian 
Government  for  the  encouingoment  of 
Anglo-Persian  enterprises,  for  the  devel- 
opment of  the  country,  we  create  thereby 
no  monopoly.  We  claim  no  exclusive 
rights  for  ourselves  to  the  exclusion  of 
other  powers,  and.  indeed,  some  of  them 
have  rendered  substantial  service  to  that 
country.    *    *    * 

I  ask  our  guest  to  give,  as  I  am  con- 
fident he  will  be  able  to  do.  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  in  the  recent  negotiations 
between  us  both  parties  acted  with  abso- 
lute freedom  and  were  subject  to  no 
pressure  whatsoever.  We  could  not  have 
imposed  this  agreement  upon  Persia  if 
Persia  had  not  been  willing  to  accept  It. 
and  that  country  could  not  have  wrung 
it  from  us.  We  are  Jointly  prepared  to 
defend  this  agreement,  and  look  forward 
to  the  vindication  of  its  real  character  in 
its   operation.  \ 

Prince  Firuz,  Persian  Foreign  Min- 
ister, speaking  in  Teheran  for  the  Shah, 
who  was  in  Paris  incognito,  stated  on 
Oct.  11  that  Persia  had  sent  a  delegation 
to  the  Peace  Conference  when  it  was 
first  organized,  but  the  delegates  had 
been  refused  admission;  in  the  distracted 
condition  of  the  country  it  had  turned  to 
Great  Britain  for  financial  and  other 
assistance,  and  had  received  it.  The 
agreement  concluded  with  the  British 
Ministry,  he  said,  would  be  submitted  to 
the  Persian  Parliament  at  an  early  date, 
and  then  to  the  League  of  Nations  for 
approval.  "  Nothing  in  this  agreement," 
he  added,  "  affects  the  independence  of 
Persia.  It  givos  no  permanent  rights  to 
Great  Britain,  nor  any  monopolies.  We 
can  ourselves  fix  the  powers  of  coun- 
selors and  of  any  military  instructors  it 
may  please  us  to  accept  from  Enodand." 


Text  of  the  Shantung  Treaty  of  1898 

What  China  Conceded  to  Germany 


CHINA  refused  to  sign  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  because  that  treaty  gave 
to  Japan,  temporarily,  at  least,  the 
concessions  formerly  wrung  from  China 
by  the  German  Empire;  the  President  of 
China,    however,    issued    a    mandate    at 


Peking  on  Sept.  24,  1919,  announcing  the 
termination  of  the  war  between  that 
country  and  Germany.  The  mandate 
stated  that,  though  China  had  refused 
to  sign  the  treaty,  it  now  recognized  all 
the  articles  of  that  document  except  the 


34S 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


one  relating  to  the  Shantung  concessions. 
In  view  of  the  continued  importance  of 
the  Shantung  question  in  international 
affairs  Current  History  here  presents 
the  text  of  the  original  treaty  of  March 
6,  1898,  between  Germany  and  China, 
which  came  into  force  with  the  formal 
exchange  of  ratifications  at  Berlin  on 
April  29,  1898.  The  portions  of  the 
treaty  embodying  the  "  commercial  con- 
cessions "  (Parts  II.  and  III.)  were  not 
made  public  officially  until  ten  years 
later. 

Following  is  the  text-  of  the  entire 
document  as  translated  from  the  German 
official  version: 

The  incident  at  the  mission  station  in  the 
prefecture  of  Tsaochoufu  in  Shantung  having 
now  boon  settled  by  amicable  agreement,  the 
Imperial  Chinese  Government  regards  the 
occasion  as  a  suitable  one  for  giving  a  special 
and  concrete  proof  of  its  grateful  recognition 
of  the  friendship  which  has  hitherto  at  all 
times  been  manifested  by  Germany  toward 
China.  In  consequence,  the  Imperial  German 
Government  and  the  Imperial  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment, inspired  by  the  mutual  and  recip- 
rocal desire  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friend' 
ship  between  their  two  countries  and  further 
to  develop  the  economic  and  trade  relations 
of  the  citizens  of  the  two  States  respectively 
with  each  other,  have  concluded  the  follow- 
ing  special    convention : 

Part  I. — Leaxing-Arrangenients  Concern- 
ing Kiao-Chau 

AKTIOL.K  I.— His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
China,  in  pursuance  of  the  object  of 
strengthening  the  friendly  relations  between 
China  and  Germany,  and  increasing  the  mili- 
tary preparedness  of  the  Chinese  Empire, 
gives  his  promise— while  he  reserves  to  him- 
self all  rights  of  sovereignty  in  a  zone  fifty 
kilometers  (one  hundred  Chinese  11)  In 
width  surrounding  the  line  of  high-water 
mark  of  Kiao-Chau  Bay— to  permit  within 
this  zone  the  free  passage  of  German  troops 
at  all  times,  and  also  to  make  no  decree  con- 
cerning measures  of  policy  or  administration 
affecting  this  zone  without  the  previous 
assent  of  the  German  Government;  and  espe- 
.  dally  not  to  Interpose  any  hindrance  to  any 
regulation  of  the  water  courses  which  at  any 
time  may  become  necessary.  His  Majesty 
the  Emperor  of  China  hereby  reserves  to 
himself  the  right,  in  friendly  understanding 
with  the  German  Government,  to  station 
troops  in  the  zone  above  mentioned,  and 
also  to  decree  other  military  administrative 
measures. 

AltTICI.K  II.— With  the  object  of  fulfilling 
the  justifiable  wish  of  the  German  Emperor, 
that  Germany,  like  other  powers,  may  have 
a  place  on  the  Chinese  coast  under  its  own 
Jurisdiction,  for  the  repair  and  fitting  out 
of  Its  ships,  for  the  storing  of  materials  and 


supplies  for  the  same,  and  also  for  the 
establishment  of  other  appliances  connected 
therewith,  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  of 
China  concedes  to  Germany,  by  way  of  lease, 
provisionally  for  ninety -nine  years,  bom 
sides  of  the  entrance  to  Kiao-Chau  Bay.  Ger- 
many undertakes  to  carry  through  to  com- 
pletion, upon  the  territory  conceded  to  It, 
the  fortification  of  the  buildings  and  estab- 
lishments and  for  the  defense  of  the  i  ntrance 
of  the  harbor. 

AKTKXE  III.— In  order  to  prevent  any 
possibility  of  conflicts  arising,  the  Imperial 
Chinese  Government  will  not,  during  the 
term  of  the  lease,  exercise  rights  of 
sovereignty,  but  concedes  the  exercise  of  the 
same  to  Germany,  over  the  following  ex- 
plicitly defined  territory: 

1.  On  the  northerly  side  of  the  entrance  of 

the  bay :     The  tongue  of  land  bounded 
on    its    northeasterly    side    by    a    line 
.drawn  from  the  northeasterly  corner  of 
Potato   Island   to  Loahan   Harbor. 

2.  On  the  southerly  side  of  the  entrance  of 

the  bay :     The  tongue  of  land  bounded 
on    Its    southwesterly    side    by    a    line 
drawn  from  the  southwesterly  point  of 
the     inlet    situated     southwestward     of 
Chiposan    Island    in    a   straight    line    to 
Tolo.-an   Island. 
.'!.  The  Chipor.an  Islands  and  Potato  Island. 
4.  The  whole  expanse  of  water  of  the  bay 
up  to  the  highest  water-mark   as   it  is 
at   this  time. 
•1.  All    the    islands   which   front   upon  Kiao- 
Chau    Bay,    and    which    require    to    be 
taken  into  consideration  for  the  defense 
of   the    bay    from    the   side    toward    the 
sea,     namely,     for     example,     Tolosan. 
Tschalientau,   &e. 
The    high    contracting    parties    bind    them- 
selves  to   have   planned    out   and   established 
an   exact   fixation    of  the  boundaries   of   this 
territory  leased   to  Germany  and  aleo,  of  the 
fifty-kilometer  zone  around  the  bay :  this  to 
be  done  by  commissioners  appointed  by  both 
parties  respectively  and  In  a  manner  adapted 
to  the  local  circumstances. 

Chinese  warships  and  merchant  ships  shall 
participate  in  all  privileges  in  Kiao-Chau 
Bay  on  tiie  same  basis  with  the  other  nations 
which  are  on  friendly  terms  with  Germany, 
and  th<j  entrance  and  departure,  as  well  as 
Die  sojourn  of  Chinese  ships  in  the  bay. 
shall  be  subjected  to  no  other  limitations 
than  those'  which  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment, by  authority  of  the  rights  of 
sovereignty  over  the  whole  extent  of  the 
bay  ancillary  to  its  land  rights  and  hereby 
conceded  to  it.  may,  at  any  time,  by  public 
decree,  declare  to  be  prohibitions  applicable 
to  the   ships   of  other   nations. 

ARTICLE  IV.— Germany  obligates  itself  to 
eiect  th"  necessary  guides  and  signa's  for 
navigation  on  the  islands  and  shoals  In 
front  of  the  entrance  of  the  bay. 

No  imposts  shall  be  collected  from  Chinese 
warships  or  merchant  ships  In  Kiao-Chau  Bay 
except    those    to   which    other  ships   are    sub- 


TEXT  OF  THE  SHANTUNG  TREATY  OF  1891 


349 


Jected,  for  the  purpose  of  the  upkeep  of  the 
necessary    harbor  and   wharf  establishments. 

AHTICLK  V.— In  case  Germany  should 
hereafter  at  any  time  express  the  wish  to 
give  back  Kiao-Chau  Bay  to  China  before 
the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  the  lease, 
China  obligates  Itself  to  make  good  the  ex- 
pcndiluios  which  Germany  shall  hove  made 
In  Kiao-Chau,  and  to  concede  to  Germany  a 
better  place  to  be  under  Germany's  own 
Jurisdiction. 

Germany  obligates  itself  never  10  give  any 
kind  cf  leasehold  rigid  to  any  other  power. 

The  Chinese  people  residing  in  the  leased 
tcrrltoryt  a  turning  that  they  demean  them- 
selves fn  conformity  with  the  laws  and  the 
public,  order,  shall  participate  at  all  times  in 
tWe'  protection  of  the  Gorman  Government. 
So  far  as  their  lands  are  not  included  in 
plans  for  publfc  Improvements,  they  shall  be 
at    liberty    to   remain    upon    them. 

If  parcels  of  real  estate  owned  by  Chinese 
shall  be  Included  in,  plans  for  public  Improve- 
ments, the  owner  shall  be  Indemnified  for 
them. 

As  respects  the  reorganization  of ,  the 
Chinese  customs  stations  which,  as  formerly 
situated,  were  outside  the  leased  territory  of 
Germany,  but  within  the  community-zone  of 
fifty  kilometers,  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment intends  to  enter  Into  an  amicable 
understanding  with  the  Chinese  Government 
In  regard  to  the  determinate  regulation  of 
the  customs  boundary  and  the  collection  of 
customs,  In  a  manner  which  will  protect  all 
the  Interests  of  China:  and  it  binds  itself  to 
enter  Into  further  negotiations  on  this  sub- 
ject. 

Part    II. — Railroad    and    Mining 
Concessions 

ARTICLE  I.— The  Imperial  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment grants  to  Germany  the  concession 
for  the  following  lines  of  railroad  in  the 
P:ov'nee  of  Shantung: 

1.  Prom    Kiao-Chau    by    way    of    Weihslen, 

Chingchou.  Poshan,  Tzechuan,  and 
Tsinanfu,  and  from  thence  In  a  straight 
line  to  the  boundary  of  Shantung: 

2.  From    Kiao-Chau    to    Ichoufu    and    from 

thence  onward  through  Laiwuhsien  to 
Tsinanfu. 

It  is  understood  that  the  bv.ilding  of  the 
section  from  Tsinanfu  to  tin1  boundary  of 
Shantung  shall  not  be  entered  upon  unt'l 
after  the  completion  of  the  1  oad  to  Tsir.anfu. 
In  order  that  an  opportunity  may  be  given 
for  considering  the  connection  of  this  line 
with  the  line  to  be  built  by  China  itself.  Th<s 
special  agreement  to  be  made  after  consulta- 
tion, in  regard  to  the  details  of  all  the  under- 
takings, shall  determine  the  route  for  this 
last    section . 

ARTICLK  II.  -For  the  building  of  the 
above-named  lines  of  railroad,  one  or  more 
G'-rman-Chlnese  railroad  companies  shall  be 
formed.  German  and  Chinese  merchants 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  contribute  capital  there- 
for, and  on  both  sides  there  shall  be  named 


trustworthy  officials  to  supervise  these  under- 
takings. 

ARTICLE  III.— For  the  regulation  of  the 
details  a  special  agreement  will  be  drawn  up 
by  the  high  contracting  irties.  China  and 
Germany  will  regulate  the  matter  for  them- 
selves; nevertheless  the  Chinese  Government 
•hereby  obligates  itself  to  the  German- 
Chinese  railroad  companies  which  are  to 
build  the  railroads  to  concede  fair  terms  for 
the  building  and  operation  of  the  designated 
railroads,  so  that  in  all  economic  questions 
they  shall  not  be  placed  In  a  worse  position 
than  other  Chinese-European  companies  else- 
where in  the  Chinese  Empire.  This  provision 
has  reference  only  to  economic  matters.  .  No 
part  whatsoever  of  the  Province  of  Shantung 
can  be  annexed  or  occupied  by  the  building 
of  the  railroad  lines. 

ARTICLE  IV,— Along  the  railroads  above 
named  within  a  space  of  thirty  li  from  the 
line3,  especially  in  Poshan  and  Weihslen  on 
the  Kiao-Chau-Tsinanfu  line,  and  also  in 
Ichoufu,  and  Laiwuhsien  on  the  Kiao-Chau- 
lehoufu-Tsinanfu  line,  it  shall  be  permissible 
for  German  contractors  to  work  the  coal- 
beds,  and  cany  on  other  undertakings,  and 
also  to  carry  into  execution  the  plans  for 
necessary  public  works.  As  respects  these 
undertakings  German  and  Chinese  merchants 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  associate  themselves  In 
the  furnishing  of  the  capital.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  railroad  concessions,  so  also  as 
respects  the  working  of  miners,  appropriate 
special  arrangements  will  be  agreed  upon 
after  mutual  consultation.  The  Chinese  Gov- 
ernment hereby  promises  to  concede  to  the. 
German  merchants  and  engineers  fair  terms 
in  all  respects,  In  harmony  with  the  arrange- 
ments above  mentioned  undertaken  by  it  in 
reference  to  railroads,  so  that  the  German 
contractors  shall  not  be  placed  In  a  worse 
position  than  other  Chinese-European  com- 
panies elsewhere  in  the  Chinese  Empire. 
Moreover,  this  provision  has  reference  only 
to  economic  matters,  and  has  no  other  mean- 
ing. 

Part  III. — Priority  Rights  in  the 
Province  of  Shantung 

The  Imperial  Chinese  Government  obligates 
itself,  in  all  cases  In  which  for  any  purposes 
whatsoever  within  the  Province  of  Shantung. 
the  a  Icing  of  foreign  aid  in  persons,  capital, 
or  material  shall  be  under  consideration,  to 
tender  the  pubUs  works  and  the  supplying  of 
materials  to  which  the  plans  relate,  for  a 
first  bid.  to  German  industrial  development 
engineers  and  matevlal  supply  merchants  who 
are   engaged   in   similar   undertakings. 

In  caso  the  German  industrial  development 
engineers  and  material  supply  merchants  are 
not  inclined  to  undertake  the  carrying  out  of 
such  works  or  the  supplying  of  the  ma- 
terials, China  shall  be  at  liberty  to  pre>ceed 
in   any   other  manner  at  its   pleasure. 

The  foregoing  arrangements  shall  be  rati- 
fied by  the  sovereigns  of  the  two  States 
which  are  the  makers  of  this  agreement,  and 


350 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  instruments  of  ratification  shall  be  so 
exchanged  that,  upon  the  receipt  in  Berlin 
of  the  Instrument  of  ratification  on  the  part 
of  China,  the  instrument  of  ratification  on 
the  part  of  Germany  shall  be  handed  to  the 
Chinese    Minister   in    Berlin. 

The  following  agreement  Is  drawn  up  in 
four  originals— two  German  and  two  Chinese: 
and  on  March  fi,  1898  equivalent  to  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  second  moon  in  the  twenty- 
fourth  year  of  Kuang-hstl,   it  was  signed  by 


the  representatives  of  the  two  States  which 
are  the  makers  of  the  agreement. 

(Signed) 
Baron     von     HEYKING,     Imperial     German 

Minister. 
LI    HUNG-CHANG,    Imperial    Chinese   Chief 

Secretary,      Minister      cf      the      Tsungli- 

YamSn,   &c. 
WENG   T'UNG-HO,  Imperial    Chinese   Chief 

Secretary,     member    of    the     Council     of 

State,  Minister  of  the  Tsungli-Yam^n.  &c. 


Shantung  Under  General  Ma  Liang 

By  GEORGE  E.  SOKOLSKY 

[Manager  ok  the  China  Bureau  of  Information] 

The  Governmental  metheds  of  General  Ma  Liang,  the  pro- Japanese  ruler  of 
Shantung  Province,  are  described  in  this  article  by  Mr.  Sokolsky,  the  head  of  a  Chi- 
nese bureau  of  information  recently  established  in  Shanghai,  China.  Though  Ma 
Liang  is  a  Chinaman,  his  sympathies  are  on  the  Japanese  side  of  the  controversy. 
His  acts  in  enforcing  martial  law  in  the  disputed  province  during  August,  1919,  are 
here  reviewed  from  a  Chinese  viewpoint. 


THINGS  reached  their  climax  in  Shan- 
tung at  the  end  of  July,  when  the 
Civil  Governor,  Shen  Ming  Chang., 
resigned.  Thus  the  last  barrier  betweer 
the  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  disap- 
peared. Governor  Shen  was  beloved  by 
the  people  of  the  pi-ovince,  and  he  re- 
signed because  of  his  inability  to  settle 
the  many  disputes  which  arose  between 
China  and  Japan  in  a  manner  acceptable 
to  the  Chinese  people;  because  he  wished 
to  protest  against  the  high-handed  ac- 
tions of  the  Japanese  in  Shantung:  and 
because  he  wa~>  bitter  against  the  Japa- 
nese, stating  that  they  were  riding 
roughshod  over  China. 

After  the  Civil  Governor  had  resigned, 
martial  law  was  declared  and  General 
i.*a  Liang  was  appointed  to  carry  out  its 
provisions.  Ma  Liang  is  a  man  of  con- 
siderable education  and  ability.  He  has 
written  a  series  of  books  on  the  subject 
of  physical  uraining  which  are  the  best 
in  the  Chinese  language.  He  is  a  brill- 
iant commander  and  is  very  much  be- 
loved by  his  troops.  However,  he  has  a 
purely  military  point  of  view,  and  is  un- 
able to  understand  the  present  patriotic 
movements  in  China,  except  as  a  direct 
offense  to  the  militarists  and  as  an  in- 
sult to  him  personally.  His  army  is  paid 
out  of  a  loan  which  was  made  bv  Japan 
to  General  "  Little  "  Hsu,  and  he  feels 


that  if  the  Japanese  lost  their  power  his 
army  would  be  unpaid.  Therefore  he 
has  been  acting  in  the  interest  of  Japan 
and  against  the  interest  of  his  own  coun- 
try in  the  province. 

Ma  Liang's  attitude  toward  Japan  is 
best  described  in  his  own  words  in  a 
speech  which  he  delivered  at  the  Normal 
School  for  Boys  in  Tsinau  on  July  22. 
Ho  said: 

What  we  eat,  the  Japanese  give  us : 
oar  clothes,  the  Japanese  give  us.  We 
should  unite  with  the  Japanese  and  be 
as  one.  We  must  show  the  Japanese 
how  grateful  we  are  to  them  for  all  their 
kindness.  If  you  persist  In  refusing  to 
buy  Japanese  gooas  I  will  force  you  to 
buy  them.   *   *   * 

The  Americans  want  us  not  to  buy 
Japanese  goods,  because  the  white  peo- 
ples want  us  to  destroy  ourselves  and  the 
Japanese.  The  Chinese  refused  to  sign 
the  Peace  Treaty  only  because  the 
Americans  told  them  not  to  do  it.  Had 
they  signed  the  Peace  Treaty  the  follow- 
ing special  privileges  would  have  accrued 
to  China: 

1.  Japan  and  China  would  have  been 
friendly  to  each  other. 

2.  Extraterritoriality  would  have  been 
abolished,  and  hereafter  Chinese  officials 
would  be  able  to  punish  Europeans  and 
Americans. 

3.  The  customs  would  have  been  revised 
favorably  to  China. 

Had  the  Peace  Treaty  been  signed  these 
three  points  would  have  been  gained  and 
only  Tsing-tao  lost. 


SHANTUNG   UNDER  GENERAL  MA    LIANG 


:«5i 


A  student  arose  and  asked  Ma  Liang, 
"  According  to  you  it  would  be  better  for 
China  to  belong  to  Japan?  "  Ma  Liang 
replied:  "Why  not?  Korea,  India,  and 
Palestine  belong  to  others.  The  people 
in  those  countries  seem  to  be  happy. 
Why  should  the  Chinese  worry  about  it 
so?  Hereafter  any  one  who  boycotts 
Japanese  goods  will  be  executed,  and,  be- 
cause I  am  a  Mohammedan,  I  will  begin 
with  the  Mohammedans." 

On  Aug.  3,  tOO  students  in  Tsir.an  met 
and  appointed  fifteen  of  their  number  to 
call  upon  the  Military  Governor  and  to 
make  three  requests: 

1.  That  the  martial  law  which  had 
been  declared  throughout  the  province  be 
canceled. 

2.  That  the  old  Civil  Governor,  Shen 
Ming  Chang,  who  had  been  permitted  to 
resign,  should  be  reappointed. 

3.  That  General  Ma  Liang  be  removed. 
Ma  Liang  regarded  this  as  a  personal 

matter.  He  immediately  arrested  the 
fifteen  students  and  bambooed  them.  Ma 
Liang  made  violent  threats  against  the 
student  prisoners,  whom  he  said  he 
would  execute  summarily. as  a  warning 
to  the  whole  province  that  his  will  should 
not  be  opposed.  At  9  o'clock  the  same 
evening  the  British  and  American  Con- 
suls at  Tsinan  called  upon  Ma  Liang  to 
inquire  after  the  fate  of  the  students. 
He  said  they  had  been  released. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  Aug.  4  Gen- 
eral Ma  executed  three  Mohammedans, 
the  eldest  of  whom  was  a  native  physi- 
cian 68  years  old,  who  had  rendered  pro- 
fessional services  to  General  and  Mrs. 
Ma.  Before  being  put  to  death  the  old 
man  was  frightfully  tortured  with  red- 
hot  irons  and  was  given  112  lashes.  Ma 
Liang  executed  these  Mohammedans  un- 
der the  cover  of  martial  law  and  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  Bolsheviki.  It  is 
not  likely  that  Ma  Liang  knew  anything 
about  Bolsheviki  or  that  he  evert  knew 
the  word.  The  act  and  excuse  both  ema- 
nated from  the  same  source,  from  his 
Japanese  advisers,  who  are  using  him  to 
cow  the  brave  people  of  Shantung. 

The  President  of  the  Tsinan  Students' 
Union,  Mr.  Hsia,  is  a  prisoner  in  the 
Shantung  Christian  College,  in  which  he 
studies  medicine.  Should  he  leave  the 
building,  he  will  be  arrested,  and  if  not 


executed,  at  any  rate  imprisoned  -nd 
bambooed.  I  visited  Mr.  Hsia  and  he 
told  me  of  his  interview  with  Ma  Liang. 
He  said  that  he  had  asked  Ma  Liang  not 
to  declare  martial  law,  and  to  release  the 
merchants  and  proclaim  freedom  of 
meeting.  The  requests  were  refused.  Ma 
Liang  t aid :  "  You  cannot  interfere  in 
this  business.  If  you  do  I  will  ki.l  you. 
I  don't  want  to  talk  with  you;  I  have  the 
power  to  force  you  to  do  as  1  say." 

On  Aug.  2  the  students  visited  the 
Military  and  Civil  Governors  to  make 
the  same  requests.  Ma  Liang,  through 
his  highly  developed  spy  system,  knew 
what  was  happening,  and  frightened  the 
Military  Governor  by  telling  him  that 
the  students  were  going  to  rebel  the  fol- 
lowing day  and  send  him  a  bomb. 

Subsequently  sixteen  students  were 
imprisoned  in  the  Normal  School  Build- 
ing. Sixty  girl  students,  who  decided  to 
lend  the  boys  their  moral  support,  were 
prevented  by  soldiers  from  entering  the 
building,  but  sat  in  the  hot  sun  in  the 
street.  Ma  Liang  arrived  with  his  body- 
guard, drove  all  the  students  into  the 
school,  and  delivered  this  speech : 

i'ou  students  are  foolish,  not  patriotic. 
Ynu  arc  under  the  influence  of  Southern 
leaders.  The  merchants  who  have  been 
arrested  were  not  patriotic.  Tin  y  were 
Bolsheviki.  They  must  be  .'evenly  pun- 
ished. The  students  must  obey  the  rules. 
The  President  has  proclaimed  martial 
law,  and  who  does  not  obey  will  be  shot. 
•  •  •  The  students'  movement  is  due,  to 
Western  influence.  The  Chinese  and  the 
Japanese  must  stand  together  against  th* 
Western  nations.  Had  the  treaty  been 
signed  China  would  have  been  in  a  posi- 
tion of  equality  with  all  the  nations  of 
the  world.  *  *  *  The  busir.es*  of  a  Student 
is  to  study  in  the  school,  and  if  any  stu- 
dent participates  in  these  foolish  move- 
ments against  the  Japanese  1  will  shoot 
him. 

One  student  who  remonstrated  with 
him  was  bamboeed  till  an  artery  in  his 
wrist  was  broken.  Girl  students  who 
tried  to  join  their  imprisoned  comrades 
were  brutally  treated  and  insulted. 

After  this  the  student  headquarters 
were  closed,  their  literature  was  burned, 
the  boycott  movement  was  suppressed, 
and  the  effort  to  raise  funds  to  buy  back 
the  railroads  came  to  an  end  for  the 
time  being. 

Shanghai.  China,  Sept.  i.  /.')/«. 


Evolution  of  the  Tank 

A  Brief  History  of  the  Land  Dreadnoughts  and  Their 
Increasing  Efficiency  in  Battle 


THE  first  armored  battle  cars  or 
"  tanks "  were  a  British  inven- 
tion developed  from  an  American 
automobile  tractor  used  for  agri- 
cultural purposes  on  the  Western  prairies. 
They  made  their  initial  appearance  at 
the  battle  of  the  Somme,  Sept.  15,  1916. 
Various  models  were  tried  successively 
after  that,  both  by  the  French  and  by  the 
British,  with  two  diverging  tendencies, 
one  toward  smaller  and  more  mobile  ma- 
chines, culminating  in  the  French  "  baby 
tanks,"  and  the  other  toward  still  more 
powerful  and  heavy  machines,  culminat- 
ing in  the  Mark  V.  model,  weighing 
thirty-six  tons  and  armed  with  six- 
pounder  guns.  When  the  war  ended 
there  were  in  hand  extensive  develop- 
ments of  both  kinds  of  tanks  that  gave 
promise  of  force  sufficient  to  smash 
through  the  enemy  lines  with  impunity 
in  the  following  Spring. 

When  trench  warfare  resulted  in  .the' 
establishment  of  fixed  lines  the  British 
Navy's  armored  car  division  lost  its 
former  value,  demonstrated  in  the  early 
part  of  the  war  in  scouting  and  skirmish- 
ing expeditions.  Lieutenant  Walter  G. 
Wilson,  R.  N.  V.  R.,  of  Squadron  20, 
throughout  1915  carried  on  experiments 
with  a  view  to  discovering  a  trench- 
crossing  machine  which  would  take  in- 
fantry into  the  enemy  lines  with  com- 
parative immunity  from  rifle  and  ma- 
chine-gun fire.  Meanwhile  the  Landship 
Committee,  with  Mr.  (now  Sir  Eustace) 
d'Eyncourt  as  Chairman,  had  been 
formed.  The  test  laid  down  was  that  the 
machine  must  be  able  to  climb  a  parapet 
four  and  a  half  feet  high  and  cross  a 
trench  five  and  a  half  feet  wide,  this 
being  the  average  dimensions  of  an 
enemy  trench;  it  also  had  to  cross  soft 
ground  of  a  consistency  equal  to  Flan- 
ders mud  and  break  through  barbed  wire 
posts. 

Lieutenant  Wilson  worked  in  conjunc- 
tion  with  Mr.    (now  Sir  Williain)    Trit- 


ton  of  the  engineering  firm  of  W.  Fos- 
ter &  Co.,  at  Lincoln,  and  at  that  firm's 
works  two- experimental  machines  were 
set  up,  nicknamed  Little  Willie  and  Big 
Wiliie.  In  the  latter  was  embodied  the 
germ  from  which  sprang  all  subsequent 
types  of  tanks — i.  e.,  a  curved  armored 
steel  hull  with  all-round  track.  Trials 
took  place  at  Hatfield  Park  in  Janu- 
ary and  February,  1916,  at  which  the 
King,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  Lord  Kitche- 
ner," Commodore  Sueter,  and  Mr.  Church- 
ill were  present.  It  was  the  last-named 
who,  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty, 
sanctioned  and  encouraged  the  experi- 
ments when  there  was  a  marked  lack 
of  enthusiasm  in  high  military  quarters. 

FIRST  EXPERIMENTS 

Foster's  was  ordered  to  build  125 
machines,  and  in  order  that  no  whisper 
should  reach  the  enemy  of  what  was 
afoot  and  owing  to  some  resemblance 
borne  by  the  very  first  machine  to  an 
oil  tank  cart  such  as  used  to  be  seen  in 
the  streets  of  London,  the  name  "  tank  " 
was  adopted.  It  was  undoubtedly  the 
best-kept  secret  of  the  war.  Supply 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  leading 
member  of  the  Landship  Committee, 
also  an  officer  of  the  Armored  Car 
Squadron,  Major  Albert  Stern,  (now 
Colonel  Sir  A.  Stern,)  a  man  of  im- 
mense resource  and  energy.  Colonel 
Stern  put  his  whole  heart  and  soul  into 
the  pioneer  work  of  production,  and  was 
not  afraid  to  enlist  the  support  of  the 
most  powerful  in  the  land  when  opposi- 
tion had  to  be  broken  down.  Another 
order  for  tanks  was  given  to  the  Met- 
ropolitan Carriage  Works  Company, 
Birmingham,  and  in  time  this  firm  be- 
came the  backbone  of  heavy  tank  pro- 
duction. 

By  September,  1916,  a  considerable 
number  of  tanks,  Marks  I.,  II.,  and  III., 
wei-e  in  France  ready  for  action,  receiv- 
ing   their    first    practical    test    on    the 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE   TANK 


353 


•Somme.  They  carried  105  horse  power 
Daimler  engines,  with  an  armament  of 
6-pounder  40-calibre  naval  guns  and  ma- 
chine guns  and  averaged  two  miles  an 
hour  on  fairly  hard  ground. 

With  the  development  of  the  tanks, 
these  first  machines,  by  the  end  of  the 
war,  had  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the 
Noah's  Arks  of  the  Tank  Corps,  with 
the  cartwheel  device  at  the  back  for  get- 
ting over  awkward  angles.  It  had  be- 
come manifest  that  speed,  steering,  and 
invulnerability  had  to  be  greatly  im- 
proved, and  the  terrain  for  these  jug- 
gernauts of  war  carefully  chosen.  The 
huge  possibilities  of  the  tank  even  in 
its  primitive  state  were  exampled  in  the 
Ministry  of  Munitions  Journal,  in  which 
it  was  reported  that  on  Sept.  25,  1916, 
one  tank  followed  by  a  company  of  in- 
fantry cleared  1,500  yards  of  enemy 
trench,  killing  many  Germans  and  cap- 
turing 360  prisonei's  at  a  cost  of  five 
casualties  to  English   troops. 

TANK   MARK   IV. 

Thus  came  the  Mark  IV.  tank,  with 
its  epicyclic  control,  its  thicker  armor 
plate,  and  its  unditching  gear,  a  beam 
which  could  be  manipulated  to  lever  it 
out  of  awkward  holes.  The  latter  de- 
vice, however,  could  not  be  used  unless 
the  crew  exposed  themselves,  a  draw- 
back that  was  remedied  in  the  later 
types.  The  Mark  IV.  male  tank  car- 
ried two  6-pounder  guns  6f  a  new  type, 
shorter  than  the  naval  gun,  and  four 
Lewis  machine  guns;  and  the  female 
tank  six  machine  guns.  Its  highest  speed 
was  a  little  less  than  four  miles  an  hour 
on  firm  ground,  and  it  weighed  twenty- 
eight  tons  and  measured  twenty-six  feet 
over  all.  It  had  a  150  horse  power  Ri- 
cardo  engine. 

Meanwhile  the  medium  Mark  A  tank, 
commonly  known  as  the  "  whippet,"  had 
been  designed.  It  weighed  seventeen 
tons,  carried  two  forty-five  horse  power 
Tylor  engines,  had  a  maximum  speed  of 
eight  miles  an  hour,  and  was  armed  with 
four  Hotchkiss  machine  guns.  The  crew 
comprised  one  officer  and  three  men.  It 
made  its  debut  in  a  minor  action  during 
the  great  German  push  in  March,  1918, 
and  in  the  following  month  filled  the 
enemy  war  correspondents  with  dismay 


at  machines  "  which  could  outpace  cav 
airy  and  were  too  quick  for  field  guns  to 
put  them  out  of  action."  This  was  an 
exaggerated  notion  of  the  mobility  of  the 
whippet,  but  the  machine  did  accomplish 
some  remarkable  feats.  Near  Villers' 
Bretonneux,  after  the  German  bid  for 
Amiens  had  failed,  a  few  whippets  routed 
a  German  brigade,  causing  400  enemy 
casualties  at  a  cost  of  five  British  casual- 
ties and  one  whippet  hors  de  combat. 

FRENCH  BABY  TANKS 

By  this  time  the  French  had  taken  up 
tanks  most  enthusiastically,  and  their 
light  Renault  chars-a-assaut — with  a 
thirty-seven-millimeter  gun  or  eight-milli- 
meter Hotchkiss  machine  guns — caused 
the  enemy  almost  as  much  uneasiness  as 
its  British  prototype. 

Louis  Renault  had  submitted  a  model 
for  smaller  tanks  to  the  French  commis- 
sion handling  such  matters,  No  decision 
being  reached  regarding  their  use,  he 
manufactured  at  his  own  risk  of  failure 
one  hundred  of  these  light  machines  and 
presented  them  to  General  Petain.  After 
seeing  them  in  action  the  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  North  and 
Northeast  realized  their  possibilities,  and 
a  largo  order  was  given  Renault's  firm. 
These  tanks,  manufactured  in  great 
numbers,  contributed  largely  to  the  vic- 
tory obtained  by  Mangin's  army  on  July 
18,  1918.  To  commemorate  this  event 
and  to  express  due  recognition  of  Re- 
nault, the  French  Association  of  Auto- 
mobile Manufacturers  tendered  him  a 
banquet  on  the  occasion  of  his  nomina- 
tion as  a  member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

The  heavier  French  tanks — the  St. 
Chamond  and  Schneider — carried  much 
more  formidable  armaments  than  the 
British  machines,  but  were  necessarily 
less  mobile  with  their  seventy-five-milli- 
meter (about  3.3  inch)  guns  and  ammu- 
nition. All  these  machines  did  well  at 
the  battle  of  Noyon  and  other  engage- 
ments. 

THE  MARK  V. 
Other  types  were  being  designed  in 
England  throughout  1916  and  1917 — gun 
carriers,  salvage,  and  infantry  supply — 
but  every  nerve  was  strained  to  improve 
the  heavy  fighting  tank.    Thus  came  the 


854 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Mark  V.,  whose  main  feature  was  the 
very  much  easier  control  and  rapidity  of 
turning.  This  machine  weighed  thirty- 
six  tons,  was  twenty-eight  feet  in  length, 
had  a  maximum  speed  of  close  on  five 
miles  an  hour,  and  was  armed  with  two 
short  six-pounder  guns  and  four  Hotch- 
kiss  machine  guns.  The  female  Maik 
V.  carried  six  machine  guns  and  no  six- 
pounders.  The  Mark  V.  carried  a  150 
horse  power  Ricardo  engine. 

This  machine  and  a  modified  form  of 
it — Mark  V. — bore  the  brunt  of  the  tank 
fighting  in  the  iSummer  of  1918,  and  it 
is  acknowledged  by  the  military  experts 
that  Marshal  Foch's  great  counterattack 
on  the  Soissons  salient  in  July  owed 
much  of  its  success  to  the  co-operation 
of  tanks,  which  gave  courage  and  confi- 
dence to  the  troops,  while  it  spread  a 
corresponding  measure  of  despair  among 
the  enemy  ranks.  Heavies  used  to  make 
a  plunge  at  machine-gun  posts  and  go 
clean  over  them,  burying  the  enemy  gun- 
ners and  their  weapons  in  the  ground 
ureter  thirty-six  tons  of  metal.  In  a 
short  time  their  coming  became  in  most 
cases  a  signal  for  an  enemy  sauve  qui 
peut. 

IN  THE  CAMBRAI  BATTLE 

The  very  idea  of  tanks  contemplated  a 
vast  saving  of  infantry  man  power,  and 
if  in  its  early  esi-ays  the  tank  did  not 
execute  this  function  in  a  marked  degree 
it  was  largely  due  to  the  softness  and 
the  flatness  of  the  terrain  selected.  On 
the  Somme  in  1916  and  near  Arras  in 
the  Spring  of  1917  it  was  this  difficulty 
of  ground,  coupled  with  the  slowness  of 
the  machines  then  in  use,  which  gave  the 
German  gunners  chances  which  they 
could  not  miss.  But  in  the  capture  of 
the  Messines  Ridge  in  June,  1917,  tanks 
gave  great  assistance  to  the  infantry, 
and  this  was  repeated  in  the  Ypres- 
Comines  Canal  operations  in  the  follow- 
ing months.  In  a  certain  small  attack  in 
August,  1917,  which  ordinarily  would 
have  been  expected  to  incur  several  hun- 
dreds of  casualties,  the  co-operation  of 
several  tanks  reduced  the  number  to  fif- 
teen. 

Then  came  the  famous  battle  of  Cam- 
brai  in  November,  1917,  which  dispelled 
any  lingering  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy 


of  tanks  and  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
an  enemy  zone  over  six  miles  deep  and 
of  thousands  of  prisoners  and  over  a 
hundi-ed  guns  and  trench  mortars,  besides 
the  loss  to  the  enemy  of  many  killed  and 
injured.  The  surprise  was  so  complete 
that  on  the  first  day  the  British  infantry 
losses  were  only  ha'f  the  number  of 
prisoners  take:1.  Yet  the  best  machines 
used  in  this  attack  were  Mark  IVs.,  and 
during  the  oper-ations  of  1918  that  ter- 
minated in  the  enemy's  complete  sur- 
render the  saving  of  casualties  by  the 
Mark  V.  and  Medium  Mark  A  machines 
was  immeasurable;  though  it  must  be 
stated  in  fairness  to  the  Tank  Corps  that 
the  tank  casualties  were  often  very 
heavy.  The  Germans  had  devoted  an 
extraordinary  amount  of  thought  and 
genius  to  combating  tanks,  having  failed 
to  produce  a  successful  machine  them- 
selves. They  turned  out  a  few  very 
cumbrous  machines,  inferior  in  every- 
thing but  armament  to  the  earliest  Bi'it- 
ish  types,  and  the  German  Headquarters 
Staff  is  understood  to  have  reported  ad- 
versely on  the  use  of  them,  though  sev- 
eral came  into  action,  together  with  some 
of  the  British  captured  Mark  IVs. 

The  enemy  were  under  no  illusion  as 
to  the  efficacy  of  tanks  in  1918,  but 
neither  their  designing  nor  manufactur- 
ing capacity  was  capable  of  quick  pro- 
duction, and  when  this  new  weapon  really 
began  to  appear  in  numbers  on  the  Brit- 
ish side  the  tank  became  the  bugbear  of 
the  Germans. 

WHO  INVENTED  THE  TANK? 

Secretary  for  War  Winston  Churchill, 
testifying  before  the  Royal  Commission 
on  Awards  to  Inventors,  declared  that  it 
was  impossible  to  say  "  that  this,  or  that 
man  invented  the  tank,"  the  caterpillar 
monster  that  broke  through  the  enemy's 
wire  entanglements,  and  its  progeny, 
the  whippet  (British)  and  the  baby 
(French),  that  chased  retreating  Ger- 
mans and  poured  machine-gun  fire  into 
them.  Mr.  Churchill  spoke  of  eighteen 
types  of  land  ships  from  which  models 
were  constructed  by  the  Government, 
though  only  ten  or  eleven  of  hese 
designs  dealt  with  the  tank  idea.  The 
caterpillar  tractor,  a  farm  impler<unt 
invented  by  "  Uncle  "  Ben  Holt  of  Cali- 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TANK 


555 


fomia,  was  finally  adopted  as  the  motive 
power  and  basis  of  the  war  tank.  Colonel 
I.  C.  Welborn,  Director  of  the  Tank 
Corps  of  the  United  States  Army,  made 
the  following  statement  in  December, 
1918,  about  the  evolution  of  the  machine 
which  the  British  first  used  at  Delville 
Wood  on  Sept.  15,  1916,  in  the  battle  of 
the  Somme: 

For  several  years  prior  to  the  world 
war  the  authorities  of  the  British  Army 
had  been  endeavoring  to  create  .some 
machine  highly  destructive  in  its  fighting 
capacity,  and  at  the  same  time  affording 
maximum  protection  to  human  life.  The 
Holt  Manufacturing  Company,  maker  of 
the  Holt  farm  tractor,  was  giving  a 
tractor  demonstration  in  one  of  the  large 
German  cities  [in  1014].  A  representa- 
tive of  the  British  Government  who  hap- 
pened to  see  the  exhibit  conceived  the 
idea  that  the  caterpillar  tractor  might  be 
employed  In  propelling  a  huge  steel  fight- 
ing machine  which  would  enable  a  mov- 
ing fort  to  negotiate  the  steepest  hills 
and  to  move  over  difficult  ground  impos- 
sible of  passage  by  any  other  vehicle. 
This  officer  Immediately  brought  the 
tractor  to  the  attention  of  General  (then 
Colonel)  E.  D.  Swinton  of  the  British 
Army,  who  also  realized  the  effective  use 
to  which  the  caterpillar  tractor  could 
be  put. 

GENERAL  SWINTON'S  TESTIMONY 

Whether  General  Swinton  was  the 
first  to  prepare  a  model  of  the  super- 
structure of  an  armored  turret  car  based 
on  a  caterpillar  tractor  is  still  disputed 


by  some  of  his  countrymen.  When  Gen- 
eral Swinton  visited  the  United  States 
in  June,  1918,  he  frankly  said: 

America  must  be  credited  with  both 
the  machine  gun  and  its  antidote,  for 
in  Antwerp  in  1014  [not  in  a  German 
city,  it  seems]  a  friend  of  mine  saw 
for  the  first  time  an  American  agricul- 
tural caterpillar  tractor.  He  wrote  to  me 
inquiring  if  there  were  not  some  military 
uses  to  which  the  Idea  could  be  put,  and 
the  invention  of  the  tank  resulted. 

The  tank  idea  was  born  of  the  tactical 
problems  of  the  Great  War,  not  long 
after  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne,  when 
trench  fighting  began  and  open  warfare 
was  brought  to  a  sudden  stop.  Never 
before  had  defenses  bristled  so  densely 
with  wire  entanglements.  Open  war- 
fare, according  to  Field  Marshal  Haig, 
was  resumed  in  some  degree  in  the 
battle  of  the  Somme,  but  it  was  not 
until  Sir  Julian  Byng  made  his  surprise 
attack  on  the  German  line  before  Cam- 
bra  i  in  the  Autumn  of  1917  that  tanks 
were  employed  in  force  and  without 
artillery  preparation.  Then  the  trench 
system  was  broken  up  for  a  time,  and 
there  was  open  warfare  on  a  front  of 
several  miles.  Open  warfare  had  been 
planned  by  both  the  French  and  British 
General  Staff  long  before  the  Ameri- 
cans entered  the  war,  but  there  was  no 
practical  test  until  the  British  were 
ready  to  assemble  a  large  number  of 
tanks  to  lead  the  infantry  into  action. 


Humorous  German  Balance  Sheet  of  Gains  and  Losses 

In  an  August  issue  of  the  Berlin  comic  paper,  Ulk,  appeared  the  following 
ingenious  "  Balance  Sheet  of  the  War." 

PROFIT  AND   LOSS   TO  AUG.    1,    1919 


DEBIT.  Marks. 
Maintenance  of  Germany  at  The 

Hague  Conference  „ 113,766.500 

U-boat    war    110.000,000 

Depreciation   of   enemy 120,000,000 

The  great  Pan-German  clique 684,600,000 

Speeches  of  Kaiser  209,277,402 

The  German   Professors 1,120,000 

Sinking  of  Lusitania 842,200,000 

Deportation    Belgian   workmen . . .  280,400,000 
Senseless    destruction    of    e"nemy 

territory    1,800,000,000 

Food   organization  at  home 174,218,169 

Activities   of   war    press 12,000,000 


Total     3,837,fi82,161 

German    Republic    (Incorporated.) 


CREDIT.  Marks.     PfJ 
Patriotic   spirit  of   war   volun- 
teers         120,000,000.^ 

The   German   soldier 1,000,000,000.0» 

Strength   to   endure 30,000.000.0. 

Eight   patriotic   poets .  s 


Loss     2.667..W2, 160.2 


Total    3,K37..->S2.161.( 

(Formerly    the    Kaiser's    Empire.) 


Secret  History  of  the  Tanks 

By  SIR  ALBERT  STERN 

Sir  Albert  Stern,  who  was  made  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Armored  Car  Division  of 
the  British  Navy  in  November,  191b,  and  who  was  cne  of  the  chief  creators  of  the 
tank,  has  narrated  in  the  Strand  Magazine  the  secret  history  of  the  new  engine  <  / 
war.  A  Major  Hetherington,  Transport  Officer  cf  the  division,  was  a  great 
advocate  of  new  inventions.  After  a  discussion  of  the  uselessncss  cf  armcrcd  cars 
except  on  roads,  Major  Hetherington  one  day  got  the  Duke  of  Westminster  suffi- 
ciently interested  in  the  idea  of  a  "  land  cruiser  "  to  invite  Winst  n  Churchill  to  din- 
ner to  discuss  it.  Mr.  Churchill  was  delighted  with  the  project  of  a  cress-country 
car,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  study  it,  Eustace  Tennyson  d'Eyncourt,  Director 
of  Naval  Construction,  being  made  its  Chairman,  on  Feb.  2U,  1915.  After  describing 
this  committee's  early  efforts,  Sir  Albert  Stern  continues: 


WE  encountered  opposition  from  all 
quarters.  Manufacture!^  did  not 
like  our  type  of  work.  It  was  all 
experimental  and  meant  continual  can- 
celing of  orders.  Then,  in  July,  1915,  the 
Ministry  of  Munitions  took  over  all  in- 
ventions in  connection  with  land  warfare. 
*  *  *  In  August  the  whole  of  the  Ar- 
mored Car  Division  was  disbanded.  This 
disbandment  was  stopped  by  the  per- 
sonal intervention  of  Mr.  d'Eyncourt.  It 
was  one  of  the  many  occasions  on  which 
he  saved  the  landships  (and  future 
tanks)  from  extinction. 

The  first  tank,  "  Mother,"  was  finished 
on  Jan.  26,  191G,  and  sent  by  train  to 
Hatfield  station.  Colonel  Sir  Maurice 
Hankey  arranged  for  Mr.  McKenna, 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  to  travel 
down  to  the  Hatfield  trials  in  my  car.  I 
explained  to  him  our  ideas  of  mechanical 
warfare  and  its  value  in  the  saving  of 
life  and  shells.  After  the  trials  Mr.  Mc- 
Kenna said  that  it  was  the  best  invest- 
ment he  had  yet  seen,  and  that,  if  the 
military  approved,  all  the  necessary 
money  would  be  available.  Sir  William 
Robertson  was  well  satisfied  with  the 
machine. 

Colonel  Swinton,  who  was  acting  at 
this  time  as  Assistant  Secretary  to  the 
Committee  of  Imperial  Defense,  was  in- 
trusted with  the  task  of  raising  and 
training  a  corps  to  man  the  tanks,  and  a 
camp  was  taken  at  Thetford,  in  Norfolk. 
It  was  kept  a  great  secret,  and  the  whole 
gi'ound,  several  miles  in  extent,  was  sur- 
rounded by  armed  guards.  Several  dis- 
plays were  given  there  during  the  Sum- 


mer, and  live  six-pounder  shells  were 
used.  The  King,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  and 
Sir  William  Robertson  were  among  those 
who  saw  our  displays. 

On  Sunday,  Sept.  17,  Sir  Douglas  Haifr 
appeared  in  front  of  General  Butler's  of- 
fices and  congratulated  Colonel  Swinton 
and  me.  He  said:  "We  have  had  the 
greatest  victory  since  the  battle  of  the 
Mame.  We  have  taken  more  prisoners 
and  more  territory,  with  comparatively 
few  casualties.  This  is  due  to  the  tanks. 
Wherever  the  tanks  advanced  we  took 
our  objectives,  and  where  they  did  not 
advance  we  failed  to  take  our  objec- 
tives." He  added:  "Colonel  Swinton, 
you  shall  be  head  of  the  Tank  Corps. 
Major  Stem,  you  shall  be  head  of  the 
construction  of  tanks.  Go  back  and 
make  as  many  more  tanks  as  you  can. 
We  thank  you."  Immediately  after  my 
return  we  were  ordered  to  build  1,000 
tanks. 

On  Oct.  10  I  received  an  official  in- 
struction from  the  Army  Council  cancel- 
ing the  order  for  1,000  tanks.  I  imme- 
diately went  to  see  Mr.  Lloyd  George, 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  War.  He  said 
that  he  had  heard  nothing  of  the  in- 
struction. I  told  him  that  he  could  can- 
cel my  appointment,  but  he  could  not 
possibly  get  me  to  cancel  the  orders  I 
had  placed.  Sir  William  Robertson,  the 
Chief  of  the  Imperial  General  Staff, 
then  appeared,  and  Mr.  Lloyd  George 
said  that  he  could  not  understand  how 
this  order  could  be  canceled  without  his 
knowledge,  since  he  was  President  of  the 
Army  Council.     He  asked  me  to  tell  Sir 


SECRET  HISTORY  OF  THE  TANKS 


sr>7 


William  Robertson  what  I  had  told  him. 
This  I  did.  Excusing  myself  owing  to 
pressure  of  work,  I  then  left  the  room. 
The  order  for  the  production  of  1,000 
tanks  was  reinstated  next  day. 

In  May,  1917,  Sir  Douglas  Haig  wrote 
a  letter  to  Lord  Derby,  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  War,  in  which  he  said  that  the 
importance  of  tanks  was  firmly  estab- 
lished and  that  there  should  be  a  special 
department  at  the  War  Office  to  look 
after  them.  A  committee  was  therefore 
set  up,  with  General  Capper  as  Chair- 
man. On  July  27  Sir  Eustace  d'Eyn- 
court  and  I  ceased  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  this  committee.  We  found  that 
the  three  military  members,  who  a  month 
before  had  never  even  seen  a  tank,  laid 
down  all  rulings  even  with  regard  to  de- 
sign and  production.  They  were  in  the 
majority  and  we  could  do  nothing.  In- 
stead of  orders  being  given  for  thou- 
sands of  tanks,  as  I  had  hoped,  Mr. 
Churchill  told  me  that  the  requirements 
of  the  army  for  19L8  were  to  be  1,350 
fighting  tanks.  This  I  determined  to 
fight  with  every  means  in  my  power,  and 
I  told  Mr.  Churchill  so.  I  then  had  an 
interview  with  Sir  William  Robertson, 
Chief  of  the  Imperial  General  Staff,  and 
told  him  that  the  proposed  preparations 
for  1918  were  wholly  and  entirely  inade- 
quate. 

On  Oct.  11  I  asked  for  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Churchill  in  order  to  put  my 
views  before  him,  for  he  appeared  to  be 
taking  the  advice  of  the  War  Office  and 
not  of  the  pioneers  of  mechanical  war- 
fare. He  said  that  I  had  his  confidence, 
but  that  the  War  Office  wanted  a 
change  made.  The  War  Office,  he  said, 
accused  me  of  lumbering  them  up  with 
useless  tanks  at  the  front  and  of  wasting 
millions  of  the  public  money.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  War  Office  there  had 
been  a  total  failure  in  design,  no  prog- 
ress had  been  made,  all  the  money  spent 
on  tanks  had  been  wasted,  and  the  belief 
in  mechanical  warfare  was  now  at  such 
a  low  ebb  that  they  proposed  to  give  it 
up  entirely.  *  *  *  On  Oct.  15  I  was  told 
by  Sir  Arthur  Duckham  that  three  Gen- 
erals at  the  War  Office  had  asked  for 
my  removal. 

The  whole  trouble  with  the  War  Office 
was  that  I  had  pressed  for  a  large  pro- 


gram of  tanks,  at  least  4,000,  for  the 
fighting  of  1918,  but  the  committee 
against  which  we  had  continually  pro- 
tested, with  its  War  Office  majority  of 
Generals  who  knew  nothing  of  tanks,  had 
overruled  me.  Now,  at  a  time  when  the 
decisions  of  experts  were  absolutely  nec- 
essary in  preparation  for  1918,  and  when 
it  was  clear  to  us  that  enormous  quanti- 
ties of  tanks  were  reeded,  the  War  Of- 
fice program  was  for  1,350  tanks.  Mr. 
Churchill  told  me  that  he  agreed  with  Sir 
Eustace  d'Eyncourt  and  me  that  quanti- 
ties of  tanks  were  necessary  for  1918, 
but  as  Minister  of  Munitions  he  could  not 
argue  with  the  Generals  at  the  War  Of- 
fice about  their  requirements;  his  busi- 
ness simply  was  to  supply  what  they 
wanted. 

Next  day  Sir  E.  d'Eyncourt  and  I 
asked  for  an  interview  with  Mr.  Church- 
ill. He  refused  to  see  Sir  E.  d'Eyncourt, 
and  told  me  that,  with  regret,  he  had  de- 
cided to  appoint  a  new  man  in  my  place, 
and,  therefore,  there  was  no  object  in 
discussing  the  situation.  He  added  that 
he  was  in  power  and,  therefore,  it  was 
his  responsibility,  and  that  he  had  taken 
the  advice  of  the  Council  member,  Sir 
Arthur  Duckham.  I  told  him  that  I 
would  not  resign,  as  I  believed  it  to  be 
against  the  public  interest,  but  that  he 
could  dismiss  me.  I  had  an  interview 
with  Sir  Arthur  Duckham  on  the  fame 
day,  and  he  told  me  that  Mr.  Churchill 
was  unable  to  persuade  the  War  Office 
to  have  a  larger  number  of  tanks,  but 
that,  as  he  was  a  believer  in  mechanical 
warfare,  it  was  his  opinion  that  America 
should  be  persuaded  to  arm  herself  with 
the  necessary  number  of  tanks  for  next 
year's  fighting. 

On  April  8,  1918,  Lord  Milner,  now 
Secretary  of  State  for  War,  came  to  see 
me  at  the  offices  of  the  Mechanical  War- 
fare (Oversea  and  Allies)  Department  in 
Paris.  I  explained  to  him  the  develop- 
ment of  mechanical  warfare,  and  told 
him  that  the  tanks  had  great  power  of 
destruction  quite  out  of  proportion  to 
their  own  total  cost  of  humanity,  which 
was  limited  to  eight  men  a  tank.  I  ex- 
plained that  I  had  been  removed  from 
my  position  on  the  demand  of  the  War 
Office  because  I  had  fought  for  the  de- 
velopment  of   mechanical    warfare,   and 


858 


THE   NEW    x  ORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


told  the  War  Office  that  their  prepara- 
tions for  1918  were  entirely  inadequate; 
that  the  program  had  now  been  in- 
creased, too  late,  from  1,350  to  nearer 
5,000;  that  I  had  fought  for  the  stand- 
ardization of  mechanical  warfare  against 
continual  change  of  design,  and  that 
standardization  was  at  last  to  bo  brought 
in  by  August,  1918 — again  too  late.  I 
said  that  we  had  fought  our  hardest  to 
prevent  inexperienced  officers  from  ruin- 
ing the  one  development  in  this  country 
in  which  we  had  outstripped  the  Ger- 
mans, but  that  instead  of  continuing  its 
healthy  growth  under  imaginative  prac- 


tical men,  it  had  been  placed  under  the 
heel  of  elderly  service  men,  with  the 
usual  results:  that  the  modern  methods 
of  standardization  and  efficiency,  un- 
trammeled  by  army  procedure  and  preju- 
dice, had  been  stamped  out. 

Finally,  I  begged  him  to  see  Sir  Eus- 
tace d'Eyncourt  and  to  discuss  the  ques- 
tion of  some  proper  authority  to  control 
and  develop  mechanical  warfare.  From 
this  date  a  new  era  of  progress  started 
for  mechanical  warfare  at  the  War  Of- 
fice, with  Sir  Henry  Wilson  as  Chief  of 
the  Imperial  General  Staff  and  General 
Harrington  as  Deputy  Chief. 


Colonel   McCrae's  Famous  Poem   and   a   Reply 


IN  FLANDERS  FIELDS 

By    JOHN    MoCRAE 


YE  ARE  NOT  DEAD 

By    FRANK    E.    HERING 


In  Flanders  fields  the  poppies  blow 
Between  the  crosses,  row  on  row, 

That  mark  our  place;  and  in  the  sky 
The  larks,  still  bravely  singing,  fly, 
Scarce  heaid  amid  the  guns  below. 


In  Flanders  still  the  poppies  grow 
Among  the  crosses,  bending  low, 
On  fragile  stems,  their  cups  of  red 
Like  censers  swinging  o'er  the  dead 
That  fell  short  days  ago. 


We  are  the  Dead.     Short  days  ago 
We  lived,  felt  dawn,  saw  sunset  glow, 
Loved  and  were  loved,  and  now  we  lie 
In   Flanders   fields. 


Ye  are  not  dead!     If  it  were  so 
We  that  abide  could  never  go 
As  blithely  marching  by  your  bed 
In   Flanders  fields. 


Take  up  our  quarrel  with  the  foe! 
To  you  from  failing  hands  we  throw 

The  torch;  be  yours  to  hold  it  high! 

If  ye  break  faith  with  us  who  die 
We  shall  not  sleep,  though  poppies  grow 

In   Flanders  fields. 
France,  June,  191."). 


Because  your  bodies  lie  below, 

Above,  with  an  intenser  glow, 

The  Torch  moves  on ;  in  your  brave  stead 

Men  dare  to  bleed  as  ye  have  bled — 

That  larks  may  sing,  and  poppies  blow 

In  Flanders  fields. 

South   Bend,    Ind..   Oct.   30,    1!)1S. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
ON   CURRENT   EVENTS 


! 


. 


[Norwegian  Cartoon] 


The  Two-Edged  Sword 


—From  Karikatuw,  Cltrxstinnia 
When  the  agitato v  strikes  at  society  he  usually  hits  the  workers  the  hardest 


35U 


UB 


[German-Swiss    Cartoon] 

The  Great  War 


A    pyramU    ut.  tiro    siiu'i*    of   the   fallen         still  greater  the  mas*  .'f  weapons  which 
would  be  ten  tiru<  -  ;>.-•   great  as  the  corpse       achieved   this   effect 
pyramid  of  Jens' i-    Khan 


Still  greater  the  mouth  of  a  man,  a  so-         But,   greatest  of  all,   th<-   apish   stupidity 
called  statesman  of   mankind    which   permitted    it    all  ! 

—From   Xebclspalter,  Zurich. 


860 


[American  Cartoon] 

Who's  Going  to  Put  the  Cat  Out? 


— From    The    Los   Angeles   Time* 

1  '■  ■       ' 


361 


n     ■■         :,i  ir.i.i    i  v 


[American  Cartoon] 


■wtir  'Mmmz 


Doesn't  Seem  to  Have  Any  Parent? 


—From    The    New    York.    Tribune 


Mi 


V  ■         W       ■     I         I— Ml  J    -*»— 


■"  " 


[American  Cartoon] 


The  Operation  Was  a  Failure 


—From   The   New    York   Herald 
but  the   Patient  survived 


363 


■ 


[Italian   Cartoon] 

The  Caporetto  Investigation 


....n  .. 


— //    UW,   Finn  tier 


All  efforts  to  smother  Truth  are  in  vain.     She  insists  on  coming  out  of 
aer  well  and  charging  these  with  responsibility  for  the  Caporetto  disaster 


[American   Cartoon] 

D'Annunzio  at  Fiume 


[English  Cai'toon] 

A  Modern  Gabriel 


■ 


364 


38BWBBBBBBB5 1  vi  -rvfurt  ^a-.rir- 


[American   Cartoon] 


Vesuvius  Has  a  Rival 


—From   The   T)ayton  «rw* 


S6"> 


I 

1 

as 


'r.timi'ydrrr'h..   ~nd  •        •,    fT^'  -  -ZZ 


[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 


Wilson's  Departure  From  Europe 


■ 


'—'From  Nebelspalter,  Zurich 
"  Farewell,  sweet  lady,  the  Senate  will  be  angry  with  me  if  I  stay  any  longer 


3(50 


i  ■  i  i     ■•,  .tr^l.ti    rtii   tirui  i         ....       i  ■'  iidrrln1. 


[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 


A  Neighborly  Visit 


-From    X(bclspalt<  r.    in rich 


Switzerland:    "  Well,  dear  sister,  how  do  you  like  your  new  bonnet?  " 
Germania:     "Very  well  indeed,  thanks!     And  I  should  be  quite  happy  if  I 
could  only  get  rid  of  these  bracelets  and  this  footwear  " 


UG7 


303 


■ 


3Pj 


-       •   •••  '  ~ 


S69 


SSESEBBQSj 


'       ,  •  -,  ZS 


370 


M^  i  -W 


■'  —  -"■■  ' 

I...  r     ii  »  i  i   il   i       ■•'riii 


"w 


C/J 


Z=Z 


...  ■  f  ■        ,   .  *n  ,   .■ 


-  ■■-  - ■■■  ■■        •sr 


[American  Cartoons] 

The  Modern  Nero 


—  Thr  New    York    Tim  ex 


The  Blinded  Samson 


As  Usual 


:m 


^= 


•■  • '     •'-  -     ••   "=. 


■l  ■,',    -  -I   ■- 


[American   Cartoon] 

A  Merry  Chase 


[Chinese  Cartoon] 

Japan's    Policy  -in   China 


[Norwegian  Cartoon] 


Plucking    the    German    Bird 


—China  Bureau  of   Information.  Shanghai 
[Italian   Cartoon] 

Archduke  Joseph  in  Hungary 

ii 


wit 

— Viktngcn,   Christiania 
What   Is  the   use  of  plucking".'     In   a  few 
years  the  eagle  will  have  as  many  feathers 
as  ever 


J574. 


— 11  }20,  Florence 

iep,   the  Haj 
ghost  tiled  to  get  back  on  the  throne. 


II- 


[English  Cartoon] 


The  Dying  Lion 


Thr    World,    Ijniin.  i 


'"■"V-XT1-11!1 


:$7.> 


■  '   •  = 


\ 


I 


[Mexican  Cartoon]  [German  Cartoon] 

Carranza's  Way  of  Avoiding     Fruits   of   the   Kaiser's   War 
American    Intervention 

7T 


—El  Monitor   Rcpublicano.   Mexico   City 
"  A  former-  tool  of  von  EekhanU  has  Just 
been    appointed    to   issue   an    official    news- 
paper  for   the    Mexican   Government  " 

[American    Cartoon] 

Study  of  a  Man  Filing  a  Bill 


—Tier  TTTJc,  Beilln 
He  has  brought  us  beautiful  times  in  Ger* 
many. 

[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 

The  Peace  Soup 


-Los    Angeles    Times 


—Nebelspaller,   Zurich 
Mothkr   Ei/bope:     "Just  as  I  was  going 
to  have  this  nice  soup,  which  has  taken  so 
long  to  prenare,  that  dirty  fellow  spat  in  it" 


-       - 


37G 


DEFEAT    OF   RATIFICATION 


Decisive  Vote  Against  Peace  Treaty  Ends 
Long  Debate  in  the  United  States  Senate 


THE  United  States  Senate  on  Nov. 
19,  1919,  at  10:30  P.  M.,  refused 
by  a  decisive  vote  to  ratify  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles.  This  de- 
cision, by  which  the  United  States  alone 
of  all  the  great  powers  rejected  the 
treaty  and  the  League  of  Nations  cove- 
nant, was  the  outcome  of  four  months 
of  bitter  debate,  during  which  the  Re- 
publican majority  in  the  Senate — under 
the  leadership  of  Senator  Lodge  of 
Massachusetts — had  striven  to  alter  or 
modify  the  treaty,  and  the  Democratic 
Administration  minority  had  tried  to 
preserve  it  intact.  When  the  crucial 
test  came,  each  side  defeated  the  pur- 
pose of  the  other,  so  that  the  treaty  was 
rejected  in  two  different  ways.  The  vote 
on  unconditional  ratification — without 
amendments  or  reservations — stood  38 
ayes  and  53  noes,  whereas  an  affirma- 
tive vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
number  was  required  to  ratify.  On 
ratification  with  the  reservations,  which 
had  been  adopted  by  the 'Senate  sitting 
as  a  Committee  of  the  Whole,  the  de- 
cisive vote  was  39  ayes,  55  noes.  A  mo- 
tion to  reconsider  brought  a  third  vote 
of  similar  import. 

Party  lines  were  broken  in  the  final 
votes  by  seven  Democrats  who  joined  the 
Republicans  in  rejecting  the  treaty 
without  qualification;  one  Republican 
(McCumber  of  North  Dakota)  voted  with 
the  Democrats  for  unconditional  ratifi- 
cation. In  the  ballot  for  ratification 
with  reservations  seven  Democrats  voted 
with  the  Republicans,  while  thirteen  Re- 
publican Senators,  known  as  irreconcil- 
able opponents  of  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant,  voted  with  the  Democrats. 

Shortly  after  thus  defeating  the 
treaty  the  Senate  adjourned,  putting  an 
end  to  the  extra  session,  and  dispersed 
to  reassemble  at  the  regular  session  on 
Dec.  1. 

This  action  of  the  Senate  killed  the 
treaty  for  the  time  being,  so  far  as  the 


United  States  was  concerned,  and  left  the 
relations  between  this  country  and  Ger- 
many in  the  same  position  as  when  the 
armistice  was  signed,  Nov.  11,  1918.  The 
President  was  the  sole  authority  that 
could  decide  what  further  steps  were  to 
be  taken.  It  was  generally  believed  that 
he  would  again  present  the  treaty  to  the 
Senate  when  it  reassembled;  that  one  or 
two  of  the  Lodge  reservations  would  be 
modified  slightly  to  make  them  accepta- 
ble to  friends  of  the  treaty,  and  that 
ratification  would  follow  in  due  course. 

In  Current  History  for  November  the 
proceedings  of  the  Senate  on  the  treaty 
up  to  Oct.  25  were  reviewed.  The  first 
decisive  action  after  that  date  was  the 
defeat  by  a  vote  of  38  to  40  of  the 
amendment  offered  by  Senator  Johnson 
of  California  regarding  the  voting 
strength  of  Great  Britain  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  the  League  of  Nations.  This 
amendment  sought  to  equalize  the  vote 
of  Great  Britain  and  its  dominions  and 
colonies  with  the  vote  of  the  United 
States. 

ALL  AMENDMENTS  DEFEATED 

On  Oct.  29  the  Senate  clearly  demon- 
strated that,  while  it  favored  many  res- 
ervations, it  would  sanction  no  amend- 
ments to  the  treaty;  on  that  day  it  voted 
down  four  amendments  by  decisive  ma- 
jorities.   By  voting  down  an  amendment 
sponsored  by  Senator  Moses,  Republican, 
of  New  Hampshire,  on  equality  of  vote 
in  the  League  Assembly,  by  'a  vote  of  47 
to  36,  the  Senate  completed  the  list  of 
amendments  promulgated  by  the  Foreign 
Relations  Committee.    The  other  amend- 
ments voted  on  that  day  were  offered  by 
individual  Senators.    They  were  these: 
One   by   Senator   Johnson   of  California 
offered  as  a  substitute  to  his  amendment 
on  equality  of  vote,  killed  by  the  Senate 
earlier  in  the  week,  and  amplifying  it  so 
as  to  make  it  more  emphatic;  defeated  by 
a   vote  of  43  to  3."). 
One  offered  by  Senator  Shields,   Demo- 


382 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


■  crat,  of  Tennessee,  to  provide  that  Great 
Britain  and  her  colonies  and  dominions 
have  collectively  but  three  delegates  and 
one  aggregate  vote  in  the  assembly ;  de- 
feated 49  to  31. 

One  by  Senator  Sherman,  Republican, 
of  Illinois,  to  insert  the  phrase  to  "  in- 
voke the  considerate  judgment  of  man- 
kind and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty 
God,"  in  the  preamble,  defeated  57  to  27. 

All  the  amendments  proposed  by  the 
Foreign  Eelations  Committee  had  now 
been  defeated  by  decisive  majorities.  On 
Nov.  4  Senator  Lodge  put  in  an  amend- 
ment to  strike  from  the  treaty  the  three 
sections  under  which  the  economic  rights 
on  the  Shantung  Peninsula  are  awarded 
to  Japan.  He  had  given  notice  of 
this  amendment  early  in  October, 
when  the  Senate  defeated  the  committee 
amendment  on  Shantung  by  a  vote  of 
55  to  35.  The  Senate  voted  down  the 
new  amendment  by  41  to  26.  Then  Sen- 
ator Borah  offered  an  amendment  to 
strike  from  the  treaty  the  article  guar- 
anteeing the  territorial  integrity  and  po- 
litical independence  of  members  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  After  two  hours  of 
debate  on  it  Mr.  Borah  withdrew  the 
amendment,  explaining  that  he  would 
await  the  Senate's  action  on  his  reser- 
vation to  limit  the  obligation  imposed 
on  the  United  States  under  that  article. 

On  Nov.  5  an  amendment  by  Senator 
La  Follette  of  Wisconsin  to  strike  from 
the  treaty  the  labor  provisions  was  de- 
feated by  a  vote  of  34  to  47.  The  fol- 
lowing day  the  last  attempt  to  amend 
the  treaty,  made  by  Senator  Gore 
(Dem.,  Okla.)  was  defeated  by  a  vote 
of  76  to  16;  it  provided  that  the  United 
States  should  hold  a  referendum  vote 
before  entering  any  war. 

BATTLE  ON  RESERVATIONS 

The  real  battle  on  the  qualifying  reser- 
vations reported  by  the  Foreign  Rela- 
tions Committee  began  on  Nov.  7.  The 
first  vote  was  on  the  preamble,  which 
required  the  written  assent  of  three  of 
the  allied  powers  to  the  American  reser- 
vations. Efforts  to  modify  it  were  de- 
feated, and  it  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
48  to  40;  three  Democrats,  Senators 
Gore,  Reed,  and  Walsh  of  Massachusetts, 
voted  aye  with  the  Republicans;  one  Re- 
publican,   Senator   McCumber,  voted  no 


with  the  Democrats;  Senator  Shields, 
Democrat,  of  Tennessee,  would  have 
voted  aye,  but  was  paired  with  Senator 
Martin  (Dem.,  Va.),  who  was  ill. 

On  Nov.  8,  after  a  stubborn  fight  by 
the  minority,  the  Senate,  by  a  vote  of  50 
to  35,  adopted  the  reservation  offered  by 
the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  ma- 
jority, under  which  the  United  States 
claims  the  right  to  be  the  sole  judge,  in 
the  event  of  its  withdrawal  from  the 
League  of  Nations,  as  to  whether  its 
obligations  to  the  League  have  been  ful- 
filled. 

Had  all  the  Senators  who  were  unable 
to  vote  because  of  being  paired  or  absent 
cast  their  votes,  the  result  would  have 
shown  every  one  of  the  forty-nine  Re- 
publican Senators  in  favor  of  the  reser- 
vation, together  with  six  Democrats, 
making  an  aggregate  of  fifty-five  Sena- 
tors for  the  reservation  and  forty-one 
against  it. 

Efforts  were  also  made  by  the  minor- 
ity to  strike  out  all  mention  of  a  con- 
current or  joint  resolution,  giving  Con- 
gress the  option  to  proceed  as  it  deemed 
fit.  These  were  likewise  defeated. 

On  the  final  vote,  although  Senators 
McCumber  and  Nelson  had  assailed  the 
proposal  for  a  concurrent  resolution,  con- 
tending that  it  was  a  deliberate  affront 
to  the  President,  in  taking  away  the  veto 
power  he  had  under  the  Constitution, 
they  voted  for  the  reservation  exactly  as 
it  was  offered  by  the  majority.  An  unex- 
pected vote  in  favor  of  the  reservation 
was  that  of  Senator  Chamberlain,  Demo- 
crat, of  Oregon,  who,  supporting  it,  broke 
away  for  the  first  time  from  the  Ad- 
ministration alignment. 

ANNULLING    ARTICLE    X. 

The  Senate  on  Nov.  10  began  the 
debate  on  the  reservation  regarding 
Article  X.  of  the  treaty;  this  reservation 
put  the  United  States  on  record  as  re- 
fusing to  be  bound  by  any  obligation  to 
use  its  armed  forces  in  case  of  outside 
aggression  threatening  the  territory  of 
any  of  the  members  of  the  League,  except 
by  the  consent  of  Congress.  This  was  the 
reservation  which  President  Wilson  had 
denounced  as  "  a  knife-thrust  at  the  heart 
of  the  covenant."  A  modified  reservation 


DEFEAT  OF  RATIFICATION 


983 


offered  by  Senator  Th<  nas,  Democrat,  of 
Colorado,  was  defeated  Dy  a  vote  of  48  to 
36,  four  Democrats — Gore,  Reed,  Smith 
of  Georgia,  and  Walsh — voting  with  the 
Republicans.  The  debate  continued  on 
Nov.  11  and  12.  On  the  13th  the  reser- 
vation precisely  as  recommended  by  the 
Foreign  Relations  Committee  was  adopt- 
ed by  a  vote  of  46  to  33.  On  this  crucial 
ballot  all  the  Republicans  voted  aye, 
together  with  four  Democrats,  Senators 
Gore,  Reed,  Smith  of  Georgia,  and  Walsh 
of  Massachusetts.  Senator  Shields,  Demo- 
crat, of  Tennessee,  was  also  paired  in 
the  affirmative. 

INVOKING  CLOSURE  RULE 

After  the  reservation  had  been  adopt- 
ed, Senator  Lodge,  the  majority  leader, 
offered  a  petition,  signed  by  thirty  Re- 
publican Senators,  to  invoke  the  closure 
rule,  so  as  to  limit  further  debate  on  the 
treaty.  Under  the  rules  the  petition  went 
over  until  Nov.  15,  when  it  was  to  be 
voted  on  without  debate.  The  Senate 
took  a  recess  over  Nov.  14  on  account  of 
the  funeral  of  Senator  Martin. 

Senator  Lodge's  move  for  closure  came 
after  a  similar  attempt  made  by  Senator 
Hitchcock,  the  minority  leader,  under 
which  debate  on  the  reservations  alone 
would  have  been  restricted.  This  effort 
of  Mr.  Hitchcock  failed,  when  the  Senate 
sustained  a  ruling  by  Senator  Cummins, 
Republican,  of  Iowa,  who  was  in  the 
chair,  that  the  closure,  if  invoked,  must 
operate  as  to  the  entire  treaty  and  not 
the  reservations  alone. 

Among  the  reservations  offered  by 
Senator  Hitchcock  was  one,  touching 
upon  Article  X.,  to  provide  that  the  ad- 
vice which  the  League  of  Nations  Coun- 
cil might  give  to  members  of  the  League 
respecting  the  use  of  their  military 
forces  might  be  considered  by  the  mem- 
bers as  only  advisory  and  that,  for  itself, 
the  United  States  reserved  the  right, 
through  Congress,  to  decide  whether  to 
accept  the  advice.  The  minority  reser- 
vation on  Article  X.  was  offered  by  Sena- 
tor Hitchcock  as  a  substitute  for  the 
committee  reservation  before  the  latter 
was  finally  voted  upon.  It  was  defeated 
by  a  vote  of  44  to  52. 

Nov.   15  was  a  field  day  for  voting. 


The  closure  rule  was  first  adopted  by  a 
vote  of  78  to  16,  whereby  all  further  de- 
bate on  any  question  regarding  the  treaty 
was  limited  to  one  hour  for  each  Sena- 
tor. The  Foreign  Relations  Committee 
reservations  were  then  offered  in  quick 
succession,  and  ten  were  adopted  during 
the  day  by  votes  overaging  53  to  40,  the 
Republicans  voting  solidly  for  each  res- 
ervation; various  Democrats  voted  with 
them,  as  many  as  thirteen  breaking  party 
lines  in  certain  cases. 

On  Nov.  17  two  reservations  offered, 
respectively,  by  Senators  Owen  and  Reed, 
both  Democrats,  were  voted  down.  One 
of  them  rejected  participation  in  the  dis- 
posal of  the  German  colonies,  and  the 
other  excluded  the  League  of  Nations 
from  action  affecting  the  "  honor  and 
vital  interests  "  of  the  United  States. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  ATTITUDE 

Senator  Hitchcock  announced  on  the 
same  day  that  President  Wilson  had  in- 
formed him  that  he  would  "  pocket "  the 
treaty  if  the  Lodge  resolution  of  ratifica- 
tion, with  the  majority  reservations  as 
a  part  of  it,  were  adopted.  Various 
minor  reservations  offered  by  different 
Senators  were  quickly  voted  down  at  this 
session,  the  majority  indicating  that  no 
further  reservations  would  be  adopted. 
During  the  session  of  Nov.  18,  preceding 
the  final  vote  on  the  ratifying  clauses,  a 
number  of  reservations  were  offered,  but 
each  in  turn  was  defeated  by  a  decisive 
majority. 

On  Nov.  19  the  way  was  clear  for  final 
and  decisive  action  on  the  treaty.  The 
Democrats  held  a  conference  before  the 
Senate  assembled,  at  which  the  following 
letter  from  President  Wilson  to  Senator 
Hitchcock  was  read: 

My  Dear  Senator:  You  were  good 
enough  to  bring  me  word  that  the  Demo- 
cratic Senators  supporting  the  treaty  ex- 
pected to  hold  a  conference  between  the 
final  vote  on  the  Lodge  resolution  of 
ratification  and  that  they  would  be  glad 
to  receive  a  word  of  counsel  from  me. 

I  should  hesitate  to  offer  it  in  any  de- 
tail, but  I  assume  that  the  Senators  only 
desire  my  judgment  upon  the  all-impor- 
tant question  of  the  final  vote  on  the 
resolution  containing  the  many  reserva- 
tions of  Senator  Lodge.  On  that  I  can- 
not hesitate,  for,  in  my  opinion,  the 
resolution  in  that  form  does  not  provide 


384 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


for  ratification  but  rather  for  nullifica- 
tion of  the  treaty.  I  sincerely  hope  that 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  the  treaty 
will  vote  against  the  Lodge  resolution  of 
ratification. 

I  understand  that  the  door  will  then 
probably  be  open  for  a  genuine  resolution 
of  ratification. 

I  trust  that  all  true  friends  of  the 
treaty  will  refuse  to  support  the  Lodge 
resolution.  Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 
WOODROW  WILSON. 

DEFEAT  OF  THE  TREATY 

The  Senate  debate  continued  through- 
out the  day,  each  side  availing  itself  of 
every  known  manoeuvre  in  parliamen- 
tary tactics,  but  the  Republicans  stood 
solid  on  every  vote,  and  were  aided  by 
the  votes  of  four  to  seven  Democratic 
Senators. 

The  first  crucial  vote,  which  betokened 
the  fate  of  the  treaty,  came  late  at  night 
on  the  question  of  ratification  with  the 
Lodge  reservations.  Thirty-nine  Sena- 
tors voted  for  ratification  on  these  terms 
and  fifty-five  voted  against.  The  sec- 
ond vote  was  on  the  same  question,  re- 
vived by  a  motion  to  reconsider,  and  this 
time  forty-one  Senators  voted  for  and 
fifty  against.  The  third  and  final  vote 
was  on  the  question  of  ratification  with- 
out reservations  of  any  kind;  thirty- 
eight  Senators  voted  "  yes  "  and  fifty- 
three  "no."  The  Senate  then  adjourned 
sine  die  at  11:10  o'clock. 

Immediately  after  the  last  vote,  which 
spelled  the  doom  of  the  treaty  as  far  as 
that  session  of  Congress  was  concerned, 
Senator  Lodge,  the  majority  leader, 
offered  a  concurrent  resolution  declar- 
ing peace  to  exist  between  Germany  and 
the  United  States,  this  being  done  so  as 
to  pave  the  way  for  an  independent 
treaty  with  Germany. 

As  the  House  had  adjourned  sine  die, 
the  Lodge  resolution  had  to  go  over  un- 
til the  next  session  of  the  Congress, 
which  meets  Dec.  1. 

After  the  Democrats  for  the  second 
time  had  voted  down  the  Lodge  resolu- 
tion of  ratification,  Senator  Underwood, 
Democrat,  of  Alabama,  offered  the  sub- 
stitute resolution  of  ratification  without 
reservations.  Although  Senator  Lodge 
and  those  working  with  him  had  blocked 
all  previous  efforts  of  the  Democrats  to 
obtain  a  vote  on  any  resolution  of  their 


own  through  parliamentary  points  of  or- 
der, Mr.  Lodge  allowed  the  Underwood 
resolution  to  come  to  a  vote. 

Seven  Democratic  Senators  voted 
against  it  and  one  Republican  Senator, 
Mr.  McCumber  of  North  Dakota,  voted 
for  it.  The  vote  on  the  resolution  ended 
the  efforts  of  the  minority  to  save  the 
treaty. 

The  defeat  of  the  treaty  was  witnessed 
by  crowded  galleries  which  followed  the 
various  manoeuvres  with  acute  interest. 
Crowds  stood  in  the  corridors  leading  to 
the  galleries,  unable  to  get  into  the  Sen- 
ate Chamber. 

In  the  votes  on  ratification,  the  full 
voting  strength  of  the  Senate  was  re- 
corded except  that  of  Senator  Fall,  who 
was  at  his  home  in  New  Mexico.  He 
would  have  voted  to  reject  the  treaty. 

VOTE  ON  LODGE  RESOLUTION 

The  vote  on  the  Lodge  resolution  of 
ratification  came  at  5:30  P.  M.,  after  the 
Senate  had  debated  the  treaty  for  five 
and  a  half  hours.  Senator  McCumber 
of  North  Dakota  had  just  made  a  four- 
minute  speech,  in  which  he  told  the  Ad- 
ministration forces  that,  by  assuming 
their  attitude  for  unequivocal  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty,  they  were  "  scuttling 
their  own  ship."  As  he  sat  down  cries 
of  "  vote,  vote,  vote,"  came  from  all  over 
the  Chamber. 

No  other  Senator  arose  to  speak  and 
the  Vice  President  ruled  that  the  major- 
ity resolution  of  ratification  was  "  now 
before  the  Senate  for  vote." 

The  crowded  galleries  sat  in  tense  si- 
lence as  the  roll  was  called.  A  murmur 
swept  through  them  as  the  vote  was  an- 
nounced, 55  to  39,  by  which  the  resolu- 
tion was  defeated. 

The  vote  on  the  Lodge  resolution  was: 


FOR 

THE 

RESOLUTION— 39 

Republ; 

icans — 85 

Ball, 

Jones,  Wash., 

Calder, 

Kellogg, 

Capper, 

Kenyon, 

Cole, 

Keyes,        > 

Cummins, 

Lenroot, 

Curtis, 

Lodge, 

Dillingham, 

McCumber, 

Edge, 

McLean, 

Elkins, 

McNary, 

Frelinghuysi 

2n, 

Nelson, 

Hale, 

New, 

Harding, 

Newberry, 

DEFEAT  OF  RATIFICATION 


385 


Page, 


Sutherland, 

Townsend, 

Wadsworth, 

Warren, 

Watson. 


Penrose, 

Phipps, 

Smoot, 

Spencer, 

Sterling:, 

Democrats — 4. 

Gore,  Smith,    Ga., 

Shields,  Walsh,   Mass. 

AGAINST    THE    RESOLUTION— 55. 
It  epublican  s — 13. 

Borah,  La  Follette, 

Brandegee.  McCormlck, 

Fernald,  Moses, 

France,  Norris, 

Gronna,  Poindexter, 

Johnson,    Cal.,  Sherman. 
Knox, 

Democrats — 42. 

Ashurst,  Overman, 

Bankhead,  Owen, 

Beckham,  Phelan, 

Chamberlain,  Pittman, 

Culberson,  •  Pomerene, 

Dial,  Ransdell, 

Fletcher,  Reed, 

Gay,  Robinson, 

Gerry,  Sheppard, 

Harris,  Simmons, 

Harrison,  •  Smith,  Ariz., 

Henderson,  Smith,   Md., 

Hitchcock,  Smith,   S.   C, 

Johnson,  S.  D.,  Stanley, 

Jones,   N.   M.,  Swanson, 

Kendrick,  Thomas, 

King,  _  Trammell, 

Kirby,  Underwood, 

McKellar,  Walsh,  Mon., 

Myers,  Williams, 

Nugent,  Wolcott. 

A  motion  was  immediately  made  by 
Senator  Reed  to  reconsider  the  vote  in 
order  to  bring  the  resolution  of  ratifica- 
tion again  before  the  Senate;  it  pre- 
vailed by  a  vote  of  62  to  30.  Various 
parliamentary  moves  followed,  but  the 
Republican  majority  voted  down  all 
efforts  to  outmanoeuvre  them  in  their 
position.  The  second  vote  on  the  Lodge 
resolution,  which  followed,  resulted  in 
defeat  by  41  to  50. 

Senator  Pomerene,  Democrat,  of  Ohio, 
who  in  the  meantime  had  been  in  con- 
ference with  the  Administration  leaders, 
moved  that  the  treaty,  along  with  the 
majority  resolution  of  ratification,  be 
referred  to  a  "  Committee  of  Concilia- 
tion," composed  of  six  Senators  to  be 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate. Those  on  the  committee,  he  pro- 
posed, should  comprise  the  majority 
leader,    Senator    Lodge,    who    would    be 


Chairman  of  the  committee;  Senator 
Hitchcock,  the  minority  leader,  and  four 
other  Senators  to  be  named  by  the  Chair. 
Under  Senator  Pomerene's  proposal 
the  committee  would  "  prepare  and  re- 
port to  the  Senate  such  a  resolution  of 
ratification  and  reservation  as,  in  their 
judgment,  will  meet  the  approval  of  not 
less  than  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  Sen- 
ator La  Follette,  Republican,  of  Wiscon- 
sin, moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the 
table  and  his  motion  was  carried,  48 
to  42. 

The  motion  for  unconditional  ratifica- 
tion offered  by  Senator  Underwood  was 
defeated  by  38  to  53.  Senator  McCum- 
ber,  Republican,  voted  aye;  Senators 
Gore,  Reed,  Shields,  Smith  (Ga.), 
Thomas,  Trammell,  Walsh  (Mass.),  all 
Democrats,  voted  no  with  the  Republi- 
cans. 

THE    RATIFYING    RESOLUTION 

The  following  is  the  official  text  of 
the  ratifying  resolution  offered  by  Sen- 
ator Lodge,  which  met  defeat: 

Resolved  (two-thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  concurring  therein),  That  the  Sen- 
ate advise  and  consent  to  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany  con- 
cluded at  Versailles  on  the  28th  day  of 
June,  1919,  subject  to  the  following  res- 
ervations and  understandings,  which  are 
hereby  made  a  part  and  condition  of  this 
resolution  of  ratification,  which  ratifica- 
tion is  not  to  take  effect  or  bind  the 
United  States  until  the  said  reservations 
and  understandings  adopted  by  the  Sen- 
ate have  been  accepted  by  an  exchange  of 
notes  as  a  part  and  a  condition  of  this 
resolution  of  ratification  by  at  least  three 
of  the  four  principal  allied  and  associated 
powers,  to  wit,  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  and  Japan : 

1.  The  United  States  so  understands  and 
construes  Article  I.  that  in  case  of  notice 
of  withdrawal  from  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, as  provided  in  said  article,  the 
United  States  shall  be  the  sole  judge  as 
to  whether  all  its  international  obliga- 
tions and  all  its  obligations  under  the 
said  covenant  have  been  fulfilled,  and 
notice  of  withdrawal  by  the  United  States 
may  be  given  by  a  concurrent  resolution 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

2.  The  United  States  assumes  no  obliga- 
tion to  preserve  the  territorial  integrity 
or  political  independence  of  any  other 
country  or  to  interfere  in  controversies 
between  nations— whether  members  of  the 

gue    or    not— under   the    provisions    of 
Article  X.,   or  to  employ  the  military  or 


386 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


naval  forces  of  the  United  States  under 
any  article  of  the  treaty  for  any  purpose, 
unless  in  any  particular  case  the  Con- 
gress, which,  under  the  Constitution,  has 
the  sole  power  to  declare  war  or  authorize 
the  employment  of  the  military  or  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  shall  by  act 
or  joint  resolution  so  provide. 

3.  No  mandate  shall  be  accepted  by  the 
United  States  under  Article  XXII.,  Part 
I.,  or  any  other  provision  of  the  treaty  of 
peace  with  Germany,  except  by  action  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  United  States  reserves  to  itself 
exclusively  the  right  to  decide  what  ques- 
tions are  within  its  domestic  jurisdiction 
and  declares  that  all  domestic  and  polit- 
ical questions  relating  wholly  or  in  part 
to  its  internal  affairs,  including  immigra- 
tion, labor,  coastwise  traffic,  the  tariff, 
commerce,  the  suppression  of  traffic  in 
women  and  children,  and  in  opium  and 
other  dangerous  drugs,  and  all  other  do- 
mestic questions,  are  solely  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  and  are 
not  under  this  treaty  to  be  submitted  in 
any  way  either  to  arbitration  or  to  the 
consideration  of  the  Council  or  of  the 
Assembly  of  the  League  of  Nations,  or 
any  agency  thereof,  or  to  the  decision  or 
recommendation  of  any  other  power. 

5.  The  United  States  will  not  submit  to 
arbitration  or  to  inquiry  by  the  Assembly 
or  by  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, provided  for  in  said  treaty  of  peace, 
any  questions  which  in  the  judgment  of 
the  United  States  depend  upon  or  relate 
to  its  long-established  policy,  commonly 
known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine ;  said  doc- 
trine is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  United 
States  alone  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
wholly  outside  the  jurisdiction  of  said 
League  of  Nations  and.  entirely  unaffected 
by  any  provision  contained  in  the  said 
treaty  of  peace  with  Germany. 

6.  The  United  States  withholds  its 
assent  to  Articles  CLVI.,  CLVII.,  and 
CLVIII.,  and  reserves  full  liberty  of 
action  with  respect  to  any  controversy 
which  may  arise  under  said  articles  be- 
tween the  Republic  of  China  and  the 
Empire  of  Japan. 

7.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  will 
provide  by  law  for  the  appointment  of 
the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
in  the  Assembly  and  the  Council  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  and  may  in  its  dis- 
cretion provide  for  'the  participation  of 
the  United  States  in  any  commission, 
committee,  tribunal,  court,  council,  or 
conference,  or  in  the  selection  of  any 
members  thereof  and  for  the  appointment 
of  members  of  said  commissions,  com- 
mittees, tribunals,  courts,  councils,  or 
conferences,  or  any  other  representatives 
under  the  treaty  of  peace,  or  in  carrying 
out  its  provisions,  and  until  such  par- 
tkiiKition  and  appointment  have  been  so 
provided    for   and   the   powers   and   duties 


of  such  representatives  have  been  defined 
by  law,  no  person  shall  represent  the 
United  States  under  either  said  League 
of  Nations  or  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
Germany  or  be  authorized  to  perform  any 
act  for  or  on  behalf  of  the  United  States 
thereunder,  and  no  citizen  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  selected  or  appointed  as 
a  member  of  said  commissions,  commit- 
tees, tribunals,  courts,  councils,  or  con- 
ferences except  with  the  approval  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States. 

8.  The  United  States  understands  that 
the  Reparations  Commission  will  regulate 
or  interfere  with  exports  from  the  United 
States  to  Germany,  or  from  Germany  to 
the  United  States,  only  when  the  United 
States  by  act  or  joint  resolution  of  Con- 
gress approves  such  regulation  or  inter- 
ference. 

9.  The  United  States  shall  not  be  obli- 
gated to  contribute  to  any  expenses  of 
the  League  of  Nations,  or  of  the  secre- 
tariat, or  of  any  commission,  or  com- 
mittee, or  conference,  or  other  agency, 
organized  under  the  League  of  Nations 
or  under  the  treaty  or  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  out  the  treaty  provisions,  un- 
less and  until  an  appropriation  of  funds 
available  for  such  expenses  shall  have 
been  'made  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States. 

10.  If  the  United  States  shall  at  any  time 
adopt  any  plan  for  the  limitation  of 
armaments  proposed  by  the  Council  of 
the  League  of  Nations  under  the  pro- 
visions of  Article  VIII.,  it  reserves  the 
right  to  increase  such  armaments  without 
the  consent  of  the  council  whenever  the 
United  States  is  threatened  with  invasion 
or  engaged  in  war. 

11.  The  United  States  reserves  the  right 
to  permit,  in  its  discretion,  the  nationals 
of  a  covenant-breaking  State,  as  defined 
in  Article  XVI.  of  the  covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  residing  within  the 
United  States  or  in  countries  other  than 
that  violating  said  Article  XVI.,  to  con- 
tinue their  commercial,  financial,  and  per- 
sonal relations  with  the  nationals  of  the 
United  States. 

12.  Nothing  in  Articles  CCXCVI.,  CCX- 
CVII.,  or  in  any  of  the  annexes  thereto  or 
in  any  other  article,  section,  or  annex  of 
the  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany  shall,  as 
against  citizens  of  the  United  States,  be 
taken  to  mean  any  confirmation,  ratifi- 
cation, or  approval  of  any  act  otherwise 
illegal  or  in  contravention  of  the  rights 
of  citizens   of  the   United   States. 

13.  The  United  States  withholds  its  as- 
sent to  Part  XIII.  (Articles  CCCLXXX- 
VII.  to  CCCCXXVII.  inclusive)  unless 
Congress  by  act  or  joint  resolution  shall 
hereafter  make  provision  for  representa- 
tion in  the  organization  established  by 
said  Part  XIII.  and  in  such  event  the 
participation  of  the  United  States  will  be 


DEFEAT  OF  RATIFICATION 


387 


governed     and     conditioned    by    the     pro- 
visions of  such  act  or  joint  resolution. 

14.  The  United  States  assumes  no  obli- 
gation to  be  bound  by  any  election,  de- 
cision, report,  or  finding  of  the  Council  or 
Assembly  in  which  any  member  of  the 
League  and  Its  self-governing  dominions, 
colonies,  or  parts  of  empire,  In  the  ag- 
gregate have  cast  more  than  one  vote, 
and  assumes  no  obligation  to  be  bounil 
toy  any  decision,  report,  or  finding  of  the 
Council  or  Assembly  arising  out  of  any 
dispute  between  the  United  States  and  any 
member  of  the  League  if  such  member,  or 
any  self-governing  dominion,  colony,  em- 
pire, or  part  of  empire  united  with  it 
politically  has  voted. 

RESOLUTION  TO  DECLARE  THE 
WAR  ENDED 

The  following  resolution  offered  by- 
Senator  Lodge  just  before  the  Senate 
adjourned  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations: 

Whereas  by  resolution  of  Congress 
adopted  April  6,  1917,  and  by  reason  of 
acts  committed  by  the  then  German  Gov- 
ernment, a  state  of  war  was  declared  to 
exist  between  that  Government  and  the 
United  States ;  and 
Whereas   the   said   acts   of   the    German 


Government  have  long  since  ceased ;  and 
Whereas  by  an  armistice  signed  Nov. 
11,  1918,  hostilities  between  Germany  and 
the  allied  and  associated  powers  were 
terminated ;  and 

Whereas  by  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  Germany  is  to  be  at  peace 
with  all  the  nations  engaged  in  war 
against  her  whenever  three  Govern- 
ments, designated  therein,  have  ratified 
said  treaty ;  now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  (the  House  of 
Representatives  concurring),  That  the 
said  state  of  war  between  Germany  and 
the  United  States  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  at  an  end. 

Following  the  adjournment  of  the  Sen- 
ate there  was  great  activity  among  the 
friends  of  the  treaty  to  bring  about  a 
compromise.  President  Wilson  made  no 
public  utterance  regarding  the  matter. 
In  European  countries  general  regret  was 
expressed  over  the  failure  of  the  Senate 
to  accept  the  treaty,  but  the  feeling  per- 
sisted that  at  the  following  session  some 
compromise  would  be  reached  whereby 
the  United  States  would  ratify  the  treaty 
with  l-eservations  that  would  prove  ac- 
ceptable. 


Putting  the  Treaty  Into  Force 

Steps   Taken   by   Allies   to    Start   Machinery   of   Peace   Pact 
Without  the  United   States 


AFTER  receiving  the  news  that  the 
/\  United  States  Senate  had  ad- 
4,  \  journed  without  consenting  to  the 
ratification  of  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles  the  peace  delegates  of  France, 
England,  and  Italy  at  Paris  decided  to 
give  up  their  long  wait  for  America's 
participation,  and  on  Nov.  21  the  Su- 
preme Council  agreed  upon  Dec.  1,  1919, 
as  the  date  for  the  final  ceremonies  that 
would  put  the  treaty  and  all  its  ma- 
chinery into  operation.  There  was  still 
great  reluctance  to  undertake  the  work 
of  the  many  commissions  created  under 
the  treaty  without  the  aid  of  the  United 
States,  and  some  sign  of  a  change  of 
heart  at  Washington  was  still  awaited 
eagerly. 

Meanwhile  many  further  steps  toward 
the  final  exchange  of  ratifications  had 


been  made.  The  German  "  instrument  of 
ratification  "  had  reached  Paris  on  July 
11.  Great  Britain,  Italy,  and  France,  as 
related  in  detail  a  month  ago,  had  fur- 
nished the  three  allied  ratifications  re- 
quired by  the  treaty  itself  for  putting 
the  pact  into  force,  but  certain  things 
besides  American  acceptance  were  still 
lacking.  In  England  the  treaty  had  re- 
ceived the  assent  of  King  George  on  July 
31,  but  it  had  been  arranged  that  the 
British  ratification  should  not  be  fully 
completed  until  the  dominions  had 
passed  their  several  measures  in  favor  of 
the  treaty.  Both  houses  of  Parliament  in 
the  four  British  dominions  gave  their 
approval  as  follows: 

In  the  case  of  New  Zealand  resolutions 
were  passed  by  the  Legislative  Council 
and  House  of  Representatives  on  Sept.  2. 


388 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIME*,    CURRENT    HISTORY 


In  the  case  of  Canada  resolutions  were 
passed  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Com- 
mons on  Sept.  4  and  Sept.  11,  respectively. 

In  the  case  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa 
resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Senate  on 
Sept.  12  and  by  the  House  of  Assembly 
on  Sept.  10. 

In  the  case  of  Australia  resolutions  were 
passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
on  Sept.  19  and  by  the  Senate  on  Oct.  2. 

King  George  completed  the  British 
ratification  on  Oct.  10  and  dispatched 
his  "  instrument "  to  Paris  on  that  date. 
The  instrument  included  a  copy  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  hearing  the  royal  signa- 
ture and  the  wafer  Great  Seal;  the 
King's  ratification  on  hehalf  of  the 
British  Empire;  the  protocol  and  the 
agreement  concerning  the  Rhine  Prov- 
inces, and  the  treaty  respecting  Poland. 
It  was  largely  printed  on  vellum  and 
magnificently  hound  in  gold  and  em- 
bossed leather,  the  whole  being  held  to- 
gether by  ribbons  in  the  colors  of  the 
four  great  Orders  of  Chivalry.  It  was 
dispatched  from  London  on  Oct.  10  to 
Paris  in  charge  of  a  King's  messenger 
and  deposited  in  the  archives  there. 

The  King  of  Italy  had  ratified  the 
treaty  by  royal  decree  on  Oct.  7,  thus 
being  the  first  of  the  "principal  allied 
and  associated  powers  "  to  complete  the 
task  of  ratification;  the  measure,  how- 
ever, still  awaited  action  by  Parliament, 
which  was  not  in  session,  before  becom- 
ing a  national  law. 

RATIFICATION  BY  FRANCE 

The  French  ratification,  the  third  in 
order,  having  received  the  approval  of 
the  Chamber  and  Senate  on  Oct.  2  and 
11,  respectively,  was  formally  completed 
on  Oct.  13,  when  the  Journal  Officiel 
contained  this  laconic  item:  "On  Oct. 
13,  1919,  the  President  of  the  French 
Republic  signed  the  instrument  ratifying 
the  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany  and 
other  documents  signed  at  Versailles 
June  28,  1919,  in  order  that  these  might 
be  deposited  in  conformity  with  the  final 
clauses  of  said  treaty."  The  instrument 
signed  by  President  Poincare  consists  of 
a  copy  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  pre- 
ceded by  a  sheet  of  paper  on  which  is 
written : 

From   Raymond  PoincarS,   President   of 

thf    French    Republic,    to    all    those    who 

shall  see  this,  Salutation! 


A  second  sheet,  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  treaty,  bears  the  following: 

Having  examined  the  said  treaty,  we 
have  approved  and  do  approve  it  by  virtue 
of  the  provisions  of  the  law  voted  by  the 
Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies.  We 
declare  that  it  is  accepted,  ratified,  and 
confirmed ;  and  we  promise  that  it  will 
be  inviolably  observed. 

In   token   of   which   we   have   given   the 
present  document  bearing  the  seal  of  the 
republic. 
Done  at  Paris,  Oct.  13,  1919. 
RAYMOND  POINCARE, 

President  of  the  Republic. 
S.   PICHON, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

JAPAN'S    RATIFICATION 

Japan,  the  fourth  of  the  great  powers 
to  accept,  ratified  the  peace  of  Versailles 
on  Oct.  30.  Three  days  previously  the 
Privy  Council  had  approved  it  at  a  meet- 
ing over  which  the  Emperor  presided. 
Some  of  the  members  had  criticised  the 
Government,  and  complained  that  the 
delegates  to  Paris  had  not  been  suffi- 
ciently prepared,  blaming  them  for  hav- 
ing accepted  without  protest  the  waiver 
of  indemnity  for  the  maintenance  of  pris- 
oners of  war.  It  was  pointed  out  that 
Japan,  unlike  her  allies,  had  no  prisoners 
in  Germany  to  counterbalance  the  ex- 
pense of  caring  for  enemy  prisoners  in 
Japan.  Regarding  the  Shantung  issue, 
it  was  decided  that  the  United  States 
Senate's  rejection  of  the  Shantung 
amendment  removed  any  obstacle  of 
courtesy  that  might  stand  in  the  way  of 
Japan's  immediate  adoption  of  the  treaty. 

The  committee,  headed  by  Viscount 
Kiyoura,  in  its  report  dwelt  particularly 
on  the  view  that  as  the  ratification  by 
the  Emperor  was  tantamount  to  imperial 
assent  to  the  League  of  Nations,  the 
League  would  not  encroach  upon  the 
prerogatives  of  the  Emperor;  also  that 
it  would  not  interfere  with  the  alliance 
with  England.  This  satisfied  the  critics 
in  the  council,  who  had  feared  that  the 
League  would  hopelessly  fetter  the  fut- 
ure of  Japan.  The  report  pointed  out 
that  the  League  covenant  permitted  the 
withdrawal  of  Japan  under  stated  con- 
ditions. Finally,  after  unanimous  ap- 
proval without  reservations,  the  treaty 
was  submitted  to  the  Emperor,  and  re- 
ceived his  signature  on  Oct.  30.    No  Par- 


PUTTING   THE   TREATY  INTO   FORCE 


.'589 


liamentary  vote  was  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  ratification. 

The  Brazilian  Chamber  of  Deputies,  on 
Nov.  7,  approved  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
without  discussion  or  amendment;  before 
the  vote  was  taken  Deputy  Joaquin 
Czorio  paid  a  tribute  to  the  work  of 
President  Wilson  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, characterizing  him  as  the  world's 
leader  of  human  progress.  The  Senate 
took  similar  action  after  a  short  discus- 
sion on  Nov.  11,  and  late  that  afternoon 
President  Pessoa  affixed  his  signature  to 
the  instrument  of  ratification.  Thus 
Brazil  officially  ended  her  war  with  Ger- 
many on  Armistice  Day. 

A  semi-official  message  from  Prague 
announced  that  the  Czechoslovak  Na- 
tional Assembly  had  adopted  both  the 
Versailles  and  St.  Germain  treaties  on 
Nov.  7. 

PROMULGATING  THE  TREATY 

The  principal  steps  that  still  remained 
to  be  taken  after  the  first- three  powers 
had  ratified  the  treaty  were  these :  The 
formal  exchange  of  the  three  ratifica- 
tions by  the  powers  concerned,  and  the 
deposit  of  the  "  instruments "  in  the 
archives  of  the  French  Foreign  Office  at 
Paris;  drawing  up  the  "  proces-verbal," 
or  formal  record  of  the  deposit  of  these 
instruments;  then  the  promulgation  of 
the  treaty. 

After  the  proces-verbal  has  been 
drawn  up,  the  treaty  must  be  promul- 
gated in  France  by  a  special  decree  in- 
serted in  the  Journal  Officiel,  whose 
first  article,  according  to  the  Paris 
Temps,  will  read  about  as  follows:  "The 
Senate  and  Chamber  of  Deputies  having 
approved  the  treaty  signed  June  28, 1919, 
at  Versailles,  between  France  *  *  * 
and  Germany,  and  the  ratifications  of 
this  act  having  been  exchanged  at  Paris, 
the  said  treaty,  whose  substance  follows, 
will  receive  its  full  and  entire  execution." 
Finally  will  come  the  putting  into  force 
of  the  treaty  with  all  its  machinery  of 
executive  boards  and  commissions.  The 
whole  series  of  formalities  can  be  com- 
pleted in  a  short  time. 

Besides  bringing  the  League  of  Na- 
tions formally  into  existence,  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  Peace  Treaty  by  the 
powers   which   have   already   ratified   it 


will  bring  into  force  a  prodigious  list  of 
obligations  which  must  be  pei"formed  by 
Germany.  They  touch  upon  great  and 
small  matters  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  and  are  subject  to  time  limits 
ranging  from  fifteen  days  to  fifteen 
years. 

A  number  of  commissions,  including 
that  which  is  to  take  charge  of  the  Sarre 
Basin  and  the  one  .which  is  to  delimit  the 
Polish-German  frontier,  are  to  be  set  up 
within  fifteen  days  of  the  establishment 
of  peace. 

Within  three  months  the  German  Army 
must  be  reduced  to  200,000  effectives,  all 
unauthorized  munition  plants  must  be 
closed.  Germany  must  hand  over  all  her 
military  and  naval  aeronautical  equip- 
ment, including  the  remnants  of  her  once 
proud  Zeppelin  fleet,  and  must  modify 
her  laws  to  conform  with  various  treaty 
provisions. 

The  time  limit  for  the  reduction  of  the 
German  Navy  personnel  to  its  prescribed 
strength  is  two  months,  and  by  the  same 
date  the  German  warships  named  in  the 
treaty  must  be  delivered  to  the  Allies. 
One  month  is  the  limit  for  the  delivery 
of  the  last  scrap  of  submarine  equip- 
ment. The  German  forts  which  the 
treaty  names  must  be  disarmed  within 
two  months  and  dismantled  within  six. 

The  date  of  May  1,  1921,  is  stipulated 
as  the  limit  for  Germany's  delivery  to 
the  Reparations  Commission  of  her  in- 
itial reparation  payment  of  20,000,000,- 
000  marks,  and  the  commission  is  re- 
quired by  May  1,  1919,  to  notify  Ger- 
many of  the  total  damage  claims  to  be 
filed  against  her  by  her  late  enemies. 
Germany  immediately  loses  legal  title  to 
all  her  colonies  and  to  all  her  surface 
warships  not  in  home  ports.  Rights  in 
Shantung  pass  formally  to  Japan  and 
Great  Britain's  protectorate  over  Egypt 
is  legalized. 

Germany  immediately  accepts  as  bind- 
ing upon  her  some  fifty  treaties  relating 
to  many  subjects,  and  agrees  to  accept  in 
future  many  other  treaties  yet  to  be  ne- 
gotiated by  the  Allies.  Prisoners  of  war 
are  to  be  repatriated,  the  treaty  says, 
"  as  soon  as  possible  "  after  the  date  of 
effective  peace.  German  troops  must  be 
withdrawn  from  various  sections,  includ- 
ing portions  of  East  Prussia  and  Poland, 


390 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


within  fifteen  days.     Coal   deliveries  to 
Belgium  and  France  must  begin  at  once. 

FRANCO-BRITISH   PACT 

The  supplementary  treaty  between 
Great  Britain  and  France,  by  which 
Britain  agrees  to  go  to  France's  aid  in 
the  event  of  unwarranted  German  ag- 
gression, was  advanced  another  step 
toward  effectiveness  in  the  evening  of 
Nov.  20,  when  Stephen  Pichon,  the 
French  Foreign  Minister,  and  Sir  Eyre 
Crewe,  British  Under  Secretary  for  For- 
eign Affairs,  exchanged  ratifications  of 
that  treaty.  Sir  Eyre  was  the  repre- 
sentative of  Great  Britain  in  the  Supreme 
Council  in  the  absence  of  Premier  Lloyd 
George.  The  treaty  does  not  come  into 
full  force  until  the  similar  treaty  with 
the  United  States  has  been  ratified. 

Five  additional  countries  indicated 
their  adhesion  to  the  League  of  Nations 
during  the  month.  Chile  gave  official 
notice  to  that  effect  on  Nov.  4.  Colombia, 
through  its  Congress,  gave  provisional 
adhesion  to  the  covenant  on  Nov.  10  and 
the  action  was  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent. The  Senate  of  Paraguay  on  Nov. 
13  voted  for  adhesion  to  the  League  and 
to  the  International  Labor  Organization. 
Holland  announced  through  her  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs  on  Nov.  15  that 
she  intended  to  enter  the  League  of 
Nations  as  soon  as  the  Peace  Treaty 
came  into  force.  Switzerland's  adhesion 
to  the  League  was  voted  by  the  National 
Council  at  Berne  on  Nov.  19.  The  vote 
came  after  eight  days  of  debate,  the 
count  being  124  in  favor  of  joining  the 


League  to  45  against.    The  decision  of 
the  council  is  subject  to  a  referendum. 

AUSTRIA   RATIFIES  TREATY 

Ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  St.  Ger- 
main between  Austria  and  the  allied  and 
associated  powers  was  the  first  impor- 
tant business  submitted  to  the  Austrian 
National  Assembly  when  it  convened  in 
Vienna  on  Oct.  14.  Dr.  Karl  Seitz,  the 
President  of  the  Republic,  presided  over 
the  sessions,  and  on  Oct.  15  the  treaty 
was  referred  to  a  special  committee.  This 
committee  reported  the  treaty  two  days 
later  with  recommendation  of  its  ac- 
ceptance, and  the  National  Assembly  at 
once  voted  for  its  ratification  without 
debate — on  Oct.  17.  The  German  party 
alone  opposed  it,  that  party  being  a  unit 
in  opposition. 

On  the  same  day  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced stipulating  that  the  territory  as- 
signed to  Austria  by  the  Treaty  of  St. 
Germain  should  be  a  democratic  re- 
public to  be  known  as  "  the  Republic  of 
Austria."  Another  provision  in  the  bill 
abrogated  the  law  of  1918,  which  had 
declared  Austria  to  be  an  organic  part 
of  the  German  Empire.  All  these  acts 
were  in  compliance  with  demands  of  the 
Peace  Conference.  On  Oct.  25  President 
Seitz  completed  Austria's  acceptance  by 
signing  the  treaty.  The  peace  of  St.  Ger- 
main will  become  effective  when  the 
formal  notices  of  ratification  by  Austria 
and  three  of  the  principal  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers  have  been  deposited  in 
the  French  Foreign  Office  and  this  fact 
has  been  made  public  in  a  proces- verbal. 


Holding  Germany  to  the  Terms 

Extensive    Violations    of    Armistice    and    Treaty    Provisions 
Dealt  With  in  a  New  Protocol 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  20,  1919] 


THE    question   of  the   fulfillment   of 
the  reparation  terms  by  Germany 
occupied  the  Supreme  Council  of 
the  Peace  Conference  during  Octo- 
ber  and    November.     Many    details    still 
remained  to  be  worked  out,  but  the  coun- 


cil's determination  to  insist  on  Ger- 
many's full  responsibility  for  violations 
of  the  armistice  terms,  including  the 
sinking  of  the  German  battleships  at 
Scapa  Flow  and  the  maintenance  of 
armed  forces  in  the  Baltic  in  the  face  of 


HOLDING   GERMANY   TO   THE   TERMS 


391 


repeated  Entente  protests,  was  made 
plain  by  the  measures  which  it  adopted. 
Such  questions  as  the  punishment  of  the 
German  officials  who  had  conducted  or 
encouraged  atrocities  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium, the  failure  of  Germany  to  restore 
art  treasures  and  machinery  stolen  from 
both  of  these  countries,  her  double-deal- 
ing in  the  matter  of  the  disposal  of  her 
ships,  her  arbitrary  actions  in  respect  to 
Danzig,  and  illegal  methods  in  the 
preparation  of  plebiscites  were  con- 
sidered and  discussed. 

One  matter  that  came  prominently  to 
the  fore  was  that  of  the  delimitation  of 
the  territory  of  the  Sarre  Valley.  In  this 
district,  which  was  occupied  by  French 
forces,  serious  troubles  had  occurred 
owing  to  various  causes  connected  with 
the  high  cost  of  living,  the  lack  of  coal, 
and  the  scarcity  of  food  staples,  especial- 
ly potatoes.  Spartacist  agitators,  taking 
advantage  of  this,  organized  a  revolt, 
which  was  put  down  by  the  French  au- 
thorities after  10  persons  had  been  killed 
and  600  others  arrested.  The  delimita- 
tion of  the  portion  of  this  territory  to  be 
administered  by  France  was  urgently 
necessary,  but  this  could  not  be  done  by 
the  council  until  the  League  of  Nations 
was  convened.  The  appointment  of  the 
Sarre  Commission  was  scheduled  for 
swift  action  as  soon  as  the  treaty  came 
into  force  and  the  League  should  begin 
to  function. 

GERMANS  STRIP  DANZIG 
Another  matter  that  came  to  the  coun- 
cil's attention  was  Germany's  action  in 
Danzig,  which,  by  the  terms  of  the 
treaty,  was  to  be  constituted  as  a  free 
city.  It  was  stated  on  Oct.  16  that  the 
German  authorities  in  this  port  were 
stripping  both  the  city  and  the  port  of 
all  objects  of  value;  that  they  had  sold 
naval  shipyards,  artillery  magazines, 
State  workshops  and  arsenals,  and  other 
institutions  which  had  brought  them  in 
more  than  275,000,000  marks.  The  value 
of  the  docks  sold  amounted  to  hundreds 
of  millions.  On  Nov.  6  the  German  Gov- 
ernment, in  a  communication  addressed  to 
the  Danzig  municipality,  announced  that 
it  did  not  consider  itself  bound  to  sur- 
render its  authority  over  the*  city  until 
the  United  States  ratified  the  treaty,  as 


the  terms  of  the  treaty  provided  that  this 
transfer  must  be  made  to  the  "  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers,"  among 
whom,  the  German  note  held,  the  United 
States  must  be  included. 

Meanwhile  Sir  Reginald  Tower  was 
appointed  High  Commissioner  for  Dan- 
zig under  the  Peace  Treaty,  and  he  took 
up  his  official  duties  at  the  beginning 
of  November.  By  Article  101  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  a  commission  of  three 
members  was  to  be  constituted  within 
fifteen  days  after  the  coming  into  force 
of  the  treaty;  this  commission  was  to  be 
composed  of  a  High  Commissioner  as 
President,  one  member  to  be  appointed 
by  Germany  and  one  by  Poland.  Its 
main  duty  was  to  be  the  delimitation  of 
the  frontier  of  the  future  free  city.  At 
the  date  mentioned  the  members  of 
the  Entente  Military  Mission  had  reached 
Danzig. 

In  some  respects  Germany  manifested 
her  desire  to  fulfill  the  reparation  de- 
mands laid  upon  her,  notably  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  new  Government  cen- 
sorship of  all  letters  from  and  to  Eng- 
land and  America,  devised  to  control 
tax-dodging  and  the  sending  of  money 
out  of  Germany;  but  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  Ger- 
many's official  acts  in  other  directions. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  coming 
plebiscites  in  Upper  Silesia,  Schleswig, 
Teschen,  and  Klagenfurt  the  German 
methods  adopted  to  secure  control  were 
particularly  obnoxious  to  the  council, 
which  received  many  complaints  of  the 
German  proceedings. 

GERMANS  TERRORIZE  SILESIA 

In  Upper  Silesia  the  Poles  charged 
that  200,000  German  troops  had  been 
brought  in,  and  that  every  one  who  had 
ever  been  in  Silesia  was  being  traced 
down  and  given  free  transportation  to 
enable  him  to  cast  his  vote  in  the  dis- 
puted district.  The  Germans,  they  also 
declared,  were  terrorizing  the  Polish 
population  and  killing  many  Poles.  Com- 
plaints of  German  activities  in  Schles- 
wig were  also  received  by  the  council. 
In  all  the  regions  where  plebiscites  were 
to  be  held,  provision  for  the  sending  of 
allied  troops  had  been  decided  upon 
under  the  treaty. 


392 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


An  example  of  the  German  method  of 
preparing  for  plebiscites  was  embodied  in 
an  appeal  made  by  the  Government  to 
the  German  people  on  Oct.  15,  which 
called  the  Peace  Treaty  "  dreadful  "  and 
"  unbearable,"  especially  with  regard  to 
the  loss  of  German  territory.  All  the 
territories  to  be  disposed  of  by  plebiscite, 
said  this  appeal,  could  be  saved  to  Ger- 
many if  every  German  did  his  duty  at 
the  voting  time.  Every  former  citizen 
of  any  of  these  districts  was  urged  in 
fervent  language  to  return  to  his  former 
home  "  to  perform  an  act  which  future 
historians  will  classify  with  the  great 
deeds  of  the  past." 

ARMISTICE  TERMS   VIOLATED 

Discussion  of  the  terms  of  the  armi- 
stice which  Germany  had  not  fulfilled 
was  begun  by  the  Supreme  Council  on 
Oct.  29.  At  this  meeting  military,  naval, 
and  financial  reports  were  presented  on 
violations  of  these  terms,  including  the 
following  transgressions :  the  presence  of 
German  soldiers  in  the  Baltic,  the  sink- 
ing of  the  ships  of  war  at  Scapa  Flow, 
and  the  failure  of  Germany  to  restore 
art  treasures,  machinery,  and  agricul- 
tural implements  stolen  from  France  and 
Belgium.  Other  violations  of  less  impor- 
tance were  also  cited.  To  deal  with 
those  not  covered  by  the  treaty  a  special 
protocol  was  drafted  and  forwarded, 
with  a  letter,  to  Germany  on  Nov.  6.  The 
text  of  this  letter,  which  dealt  also  with 
the  question  of  ratification,  was  as  fol- 
lows: 

By  the  terms  of  the  final  provisions  of 
the  treaty  signed  at  Versailles  June  28, 
1919,  it  has  been  stipulated  that  "  A  first 
procSs-verbal  of  the  deposit  of  ratifica- 
tions will  be  drawn  up  as  soon  as  the 
treaty  has  been  ratified  by  Germany  on 
the  one  hand  and  by  three  of  the  princi- 
pal allied  and  associated  powers  on  the 
other  hand." 

The  President  of  the  Peace  Conference 
had  the  honor  of  calling-  to  the  attention 
of  the  Government  that  three  ol  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers, 
namely,  the  British  Empire,  France,  and 
Italy,  have  ratified,  and  Germany,  on  the 
other  hand,  having-  also  ratified  the 
treaty,  the  condition  referred  to  above 
has  been  fulfilled. 

The  other  allied  and  associated  powers 
who  have  up  to  the  present  time  made 
known  their  ratification  are  Belgium, 
Poland,   and  Siam. 


In  compliance  with  the  said  provisions, 
and  if  the  various  acts  necessary  to  the 
coming  into  force  of  the  treaty  be  ful- 
filled in  time,  there  will  take  place  in 
Paris,  at  a  date  which  will  be  announced 
later,  and  notification  of  which  will  be 
given  five  days  in  advance,  a  proofs- 
verbal  of  the  deposit  of  these  ratifica- 
tions, at  which  the  German  Government 
is  requested  to  participate.  The  final 
provisions  of  the  treaty  add:  "  From  the 
date  of  this  first  proces-verbal  the  treaty 
will  come  into  force  between  the  high 
contracting  parties  who  have  ratified. 
For  the  determination  of  all  periods  of 
time  provided  for  in  the  present  treaty 
this  date  will  be  the  date  of  the  coming 
in  force  of  the  treaty." 

The  principal  allied  and  associated  pow- 
ers have  decided  that  the  treaty  shall  not 
go  into  force  until  the  execution  of  the 
obligations  which  Germany  had  by  the 
armistice  convention  and  the  additional 
agreements  undertaken  to  fulfill,  and 
which  have  not  received  satisfaction, 
shall  have  been  fully  carried  out. 

The  German  Government  is  therefore 
asked  to  give  to  the  German  representa- 
tives authorized  to  sign  the  procfes-verbal 
of  the  deposits  of  ratification  full  powers 
to  sign  at  th3  same  time  the  protocol,  of 
which  a  copy  is  hereto  annexed,  and 
which  provides  without  further  delay  for 
this  settlement. 

The  German  Government  therefore  is 
now  invited  to  send  to  Paris,  by  Nov.  10, 
1919,  duly  qualified  representatives  for 
this  purpose  to : 

1.  Arrange  ir.  agreement  with  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  the  conditions  for  the  setting  up 
of  the  commissions  of  government,  of  ad- 
ministration, and  of  plebiscite,  the  hold- 
ing over  of  powers,  the  transfer  of  serv- 
ices, the  entry  of  interallied  troops,  the 
evacuation  of  German  troops,  the  replace- 
ment of  the  said  German  authorities,  and 
all  other  measures  above  provided  for. 
Attention  is  now  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  German  authorities  must  leave  intact 
all  service  organizations  and  officers  as 
well  as  the  documents  required  by  the  in- 
terallied authorities  for  the  immediate* 
entry  on  their  duties,  and  that  the  Ger- 
man troops  must  also  leave  intact  all  the 
establishments  which  they  occupy. 

2.  Agree  with  the  staff  of  the  Marshal, 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  allied  and 
associated  armies,  as  to  the  conditions  of 
transport  of  interallied  troops. 

TEXT  OF  PROTOCOL 

The  text  of  the  proposed  protocol, 
transmitted  at  the  same  time,  was  as 
follows : 

Protocol :  At  the  very  time  of  proceed- 
ing to  the  first  deposit  of  ratifications  of 
the  Peace  Treaty  it  was  ascertained  that 


HOLDING   GERMANY    TO    THE    TERMS 


the  following  obligations  which  Germany 
bad  agreed  to  execute,  in  the  armistice 
conventions  and  the  complementary  agree- 
ments, have  not  been  executed  or  have 
not  received  full  satisfaction,  viz. : 

First — Armistice  convention  of  Nov.  11, 
1918,  Clause  7:  Obligation  of  delivering 
5,000  locomotives  and  150,000  cars.  Forty- 
two  locomotives  and  4,460  cars  are  still 
to  be  delivered. 

Second— Armistice  convention  of  Nov. 
11,  1918,  Clause  12:  Obligation  of  with- 
drawing within  the  frontiers  of  Germany 
the  German  troops  which  are  in  Russian 
territory  as  soon  as  the  Allies  judge  the 
time  proper.  The  withdrawal  of  troops 
has  not  yet  been  executed,  in  spite  of  the 
reiterated  injunctions  of  Aug.  27,  Sept. 
27,  and  Oct.  10,  1919. 

Third — Armistice  convention  of  Nov.  11, 
1918,  Clause  14 :  Obligation  to  discontinue 
immediately  all  requisition,  seizures,  or 
coercive  measures  in  Russian  territory. 
The  German  troops  continue  to  use  these 
methods. 

Fourth — Armistice  convention  of  Nov. 
11,  1918,  Clause  19:  Obligation  of  imme- 
diate delivery  -  of  all  documents,  specie, 
values  of  property  and  finance,  with  all 
issuing  apparatus,  concerning  public  or 
private  interests  in  the  invaded  countries. 
The  complete  statements  of  the  specie 
and  securities  removed,  collected,  or  con- 
fiscated by  the  Germans  in  the  invaded 
countries  have  not  been  delivered. 

Fifth— Armistice  convention  of  Nov.  11, 
1918,  Clause  22:  Obligation  of  delivering 
all  German  submarines.  Destruction  of 
the  German  submarine  UC-48  off  Ferrol, 
by  order  of  her  German  commander,  and 
the  destruction  in  the  North  Sea  of  cer- 
tain submarines  proceeding  to  England 
for  delivery. 

Sixth — Armistice  convention  of  Nov.   11, 

1918,  Clause  23 :  Obligation  of  maintain- 
ing in  the  allied  ports  the  German  bat- 
tleships designated  by  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers,  these  ships  being  des- 
tined to  be  ultimately  delivered.  Clause 
31 :  Obligation  of  not  destroying  any  ship 
before  delivery :  on  June  21,  1919,  de- 
struction at  Scapa  Flow  of  the  said  ships. 

Seventh— Protocol  of  Dec.  17,  1918.  an- 
nexed to  the  Armistice  Convention  of  Dec. 
13,  1918 :  Obligation  of  restoring  all  works 
of  art  and  artistic  documents  removed 
from  France  and  Belgium.  All  works  of 
art  were  transported  into  unoccupied 
Germany  and  have  not  been  restored. 

Eighth— Armistice  Convention  of  Jan.  15, 

1919,  Clause  III.  and  Protocol  392-1,  ad- 
ditional Clause  III.  of  July  25,  1919 :  Obli- 
gation of  delivering  agricultural  imple- 
ments in  lieu  of  the  supplementary  rail- 
road material  provided  for  in  Tables  1  and 

.  2  and  annexed  to  the  protocol  at  Spa  of 
Dec.  17,  1918.  The  following  were  not 
delivered  on  the  date  fixed  (Oct.  1,  1919)  : 
Forty  "  Heucka  "  plowing  outfits,  all  the 


personnel  necessary  to  operate  the  ap- 
paratus, all  the  spades,  1,500  shovels,  1,130 
plows,  T.  M.  23-26;  1,765  plows,  T.  F. 
18  21 ;  1,512  plows,  T.  F.  23  26 ;  629  Belgian 
plows,  T.  F.  O.  M.  20 ;  1,205  Belgian  plows, 
T.  F.  O.  M.  26 ;  4,282  harrows  of  2  K  500 : 
2,157  steel  cultivators;  966  fertilizot 
spreaders,  2  M.  50;  1,608  fertilizer  spread- 
ers, 3  M.  50. 

Ninth— Armistice  Convention  of  Jan.  It:, 
1919,  Clause  6:  Obligation  of  restoring 
the  industrial  material  removed  from 
French  and  Belgian  territories.  All  this 
material  has  not  been  restored. 

Tenth— Convention  of  Jan.  16,  1919. 
Clause  8:  Obligation  of  placing  the  entin 
German  merchant  fleet  at  the  disposal  of 
the  allied  and  associated  powers.  A  cer- 
tain number  of  ships  of  which  delivery 
had  been  requested  by  virtue  of  this 
clause  have  not  yet  been  delivered. 

Eleventh— Protocols  of  the  Brussels  Con- 
ference of  March  13  and  14,  1919:  Obli- 
gations of  not  exporting  any  war  material 
of  any  nature.  Exportation  of  aerial  ma- 
terial to  Sweden,  Holland,  and  Denmark. 

A  certain  number  of  the  above  un- 
executed or  incompletely  executed  stipu- 
lations were  renewed  by  the  treaty  of 
June  28,  1919,  the  going  into  force  of 
which  will  of  right  render  applicable  the 
sanctions  provided  for.  This  applies  in 
particular  to  the  various  payments  in 
kind  stipulated  as  reparations. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  question  of  the 
evacuation  of  the  Baltic  provinces  was 
the  object  of  an  exchange  of  notes  and 
decisions  which  are  in  course  of  execu- 
tion. The  allied  and  associated  powers 
expressly  confirm  the  contents  of  their 
notes,  the  execution  of  which  Germany 
by  the  present  protocol  agrees  to  carry 
out  loyally  and  strictly. 

Lastly,  the  allied  and  associated  powers 
cannot  overlook  or  sanction  the  other 
infractions  committed  against  the  armi- 
stice conventions,  and  violations  as  seri- 
ous as  the  destruction  of  the  German 
fleet  at  Scapa  Flow,  the  destruction  of 
the  submarine  UC-48  off  Ferrol  and  the 
destruction  in  the  North  Sea  of  certain 
submarines  proceeding  to  England  for 
delivery.     Consequently  Germany  agrees : 

First  (A) — To  deliver  as  reparation  for 
the  destruction  of  the  German  fleet  at 
Scapa  Flow : 

(a)  Within  a  period  of  sixty  days  from 
the  signing  of  the  present  protocol  and 
under  the  conditions  provided  for  by 
Paragraph  2  of  Article  CLXXXV.  of  the 
treaty  of  peace,  the  following  five  light 
cruisers :  Konigsberg,  Pillau,  Graudens, 
Regensberg,   Strassburg. 

(B)  Within  a  period  of  ninety  days  from 
the  signing  of  the  present  protocol  and  in 
all  respects  in  good  condition  and  ready 
to  function,  such  a  number  of  floating 
docks,  floating  cranes,  tugs  and  dredges 
equivalent    to    a    total     displacement    of 


834 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


400,000  tons  as  the  principal  allied  and 
associated  powers  may  demand.  As  re- 
gards the  docks  the  lifting  power  will  be 
considered  as  displacement.  In  the  num- 
ber of  docks  above  provided  for  there 
should  be  about  75  per  cent,  of  docks  of 
over  10,000  tens. 

(b)  To  be  delivered  within  a  period  of 
ten  days  from  the  signing  of  the  present 
protocol :  A  complete  list  of  all  the  float- 
ing docks,  floating  cranes,  tugs  and 
dredges  which  are  German  property.  List 
which  will  be  delivered  to  the  Interallied 
Naval  Control  Commission  provided  for 
by  Article  CCIX.  of  the  peace  treaty 
will  include  the  material  which  on  Nov. 
11,  1918,  belonged  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment or  in  which  the  German  Govern- 
ment had  an  important  interest  at  that 
date. 

(c)  The  officers  and  men  who  formed 
the  crews  of  the  battleships  sunk  at 
Scapa  Flow,  and  who  are  actually  de- 
tained by  the  principal  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  with  the  exception  of 
those  who  surrender,  as  provided  for  by 
Article  228  of  the  Peace  Treaty,  will  be 
repatriated  at  the  latest  when  Germany 
shall  have  completed  the  above  Para- 
graphs A  and  B. 

(d)  The  destroyer  B-98  will  be  consid- 
ered as  one  of  the  forty-two  destroyers 
the  delivery  of  which  is  provided  for  by 
Article  185  of  the  Peace  Treaty. 

Second— To  deliver  within  a  period  of 
ten  days  from  the  signing  of  the  present 
protocol  the  machines  and  engines  of  the 
submarines  U-137,  U-138,  and  U-150,  to 
offset  the  destruction  of  the  submarine 
UC-48,  as  well  as  the  three  engines  of 
the  submarine  U-146,  which  is  still  to  be 
delivered  to  offset  the  destruction  of  sub- 
marines in  the  North  Sea. 

Third — To  pay  to  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated Governments  the  value  of  the  ex- 
ported aerial  material  according  to  the 
decision  and  estimation  which  will  be 
made  and  notified  by  the  Aerial  Con- 
trol Commission  provided  for  by  Article 
210  of  the  Peace  Treaty  and  before  Jan. 
1,   1920. 

In  case  Germany  should  not  fulfill 
these  obligations  within  the  time  above 
specified,  the  allied  and  associated  pow- 
ers reserve  the  right  to  have  recourse  to 
any  coercive  measures  or  other  which 
they  may  deem  appropriate. 

The  date  set  for  the  signing  of  this 
protocol  by  Germany's  representatives, 
Nov.  10,  1919,  came  and  passed,  but  the 
German  delegation  did  not  appear  until 
a  week  later.  It  was  made  up  as 
follows:  Herr  von  Simson,  Director  of 
the  Office  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  Berlin; 
Herr  Gauss,  Counselor  of  Legation;  Herr 
Loehrs,     Captain    von      Gayern,     Major 


Michaelis,  and  Herr  von  Boeticher. 
Baron  Kurt  von  Lersner,  German  repre- 
sentative in  Paris,  sat  with  the  commis- 
sion. After  a  preliminary  session,  how- 
ever, the  whole  delegation  returned  to 
Berlin  on  Nov.  22,  leaving  the  matter  in 
suspense. 

QUESTIONS  OF  OCCUPATION 
The  question  of  the  expenses  of  the  oc- 
cupation by  the  allied  troops  in  Ger- 
many was  referred  to  the  Sub-Commit- 
tee on  Reparations  on  Oct.  1.  France 
requested  that  these  expenses  be  calcu- 
lated in  accordance  with  the  French 
tariff.  M.  Rolin-Jacquemyns,  Belgian 
High  Commissioner  in  the  Rhineland, 
proceeded  to  Coblenz  early  in  October, 
where  the  sessions  of  the  Interallied 
Commission,  composed  of  four  members, 
representing  respectively  Belgium,  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  America,  were  to 
be  held.  Command  of  the  interallied 
troops  of  occupation  of  the  Rhine  was 
taken  over  by  General  Degoutte,  hero  of 
the  great  Marne  counterstroke  in  July, 
1918,  to  replace  General  Fayolle,  who 
was  to  head  the  Interallied  Commission 
to  supervise  the  disarmament  of  Ger- 
many. 

Another  change  announced  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  Andre  Tardieu,  head  of  the 
General  Commission  for  Franco-Amer- 
ican War  Matters,  as  Minister  of  Block- 
ade and  Invaded  Regions  in  the  place  of 
Albert  Lebrun,  whose  resignation  M. 
Clemenceau  had  demanded  on  Nov.  6,  on 
the  ground  that  he  was  running  for  elec- 
tion as  a  Deputy  on  the  same  ticket  with 
Louis  Marin,  who  cast  his  vote  against 
ratification  of  the  Peace  Treaty  by  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies. 

BELGIAN  QUESTIONS 

The  measures  taken  by  the  Belgian 
Government  in  occupying  the  districts  of 
Eupen  and  Malmedy  were  made  the  sub- 
ject of  strong  protests  by  the  German 
Government  in  notes  to  the  Entente 
powers  dated  Sept.  1  and  Sept.  5.  In  an- 
swer, the-  Supreme  Council  pointed  out 
on  Sept.  26  that  Germany  had  renounced 
all  rights  in  these  territories  in  favor  of 
Belgium,  on  the  understanding  that  a 
part  or  all  of  them  might  revert  to  Ger- 
many under  the  League  of  Nations  on 


HOLDING   GERMANY   TO   THE    TERMS 


395 


the  basis  of  a  plebiscite;  meanwhile  they 
were  incontestably  under  the  sovereignty 
of  Belgium,  which  had  signified  its  con- 
sent to  enter  into  pourparlers  with  Ger- 
many regarding  the  execution  of  the 
treaty  in  these  territories,  as  well  as  in 
neutral  and  Prussian  Moresnet. 

The  Belgian  Minister  on  Oct.  28  gave 
Belgium's  approval  to  a  list  of  1,150 
Germans,  soldiers  and  civilians,  whose 
arrest  was  demanded  on  charges  arising 
from  violation  of  the  laws  of  war  at  the 
time  of  the  invasion  of  Belgium,  or  dur- 
ing the  occupation  of  that  country  by 
German  troops.  This  list  was  sent  to  the 
Peace  Conference  on  Nov.  5.  The  in- 
dictments were  based  principally  on  the 
executions  of  civilians  at  Louvain  and 
other  towns,  on  the  deportation  of 
workmen,  on  forced  labor  exacted  from 
prisoners  of  war,  on  the  treatment  of 
young  men  who  attempted  to  cross  the 
frontier  to  join  the  Belgian  Army,  and 
on  pillage. 

WORK   OF    RECONSTRUCTION 

The  report  of  the  German  Mining 
Conjmission  sent  to  France  to  ascertain 
the  extent  of  the  damage  done  by  the 


Germans  in  the  devastated  regions  stated 
that  the  work  of  construction  would 
have  to  be  done  "  from  the  ground  up," 
especially  in  the  Departments  of  Pas  de 
Calais,  Courriere,  Lens,  Lievin,  Dro- 
court,  Mourchin,  Carvin  and  Dourgas, 
where  the  damage  done  was  "  terrible." 
Most  of  the  mines,  the  report  said,  had 
been  "  drowned,"  and  in  rebuilding  new 
shafts  they  would  have  to  be  protected 
against  the  inward  pressure  of  the 
water.  The  work  of  reconstruction  was 
one  of  great  difficulty,  and  the  extent 
of  damage  was  in  many  cases  impossible 
to  ascertain;  location  of  responsibility, 
also,  the  report,  stated,  would  be  hard 
to  make,  owing  to  the  inadequacy  of 
military  records  showing  the  chronologi- 
cal location  of  the  military  units.  Com- 
menting upon  this  report,  the  German 
newspaper  Vorwarts  declared  that  there 
was  enough  work  to  be  done  in  recon- 
structing these  mines  to  keep  all  the  un- 
employed of  Germany  busy  for  the  next 
eight  years,  and  that  this  showed  the 
fallacy  of  the  frequently  expressed 
theory  that  the  emigration  of  thousands 
of  people  from  Germany  was  an  economic 
necessity. 


Work  of  the  Peace  Conference 

Many  Momentous  Problems  Occupy  the  Historic  Paris  Con- 
gress in  Its   Last  Sessions 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  20,  1919] 


MANY  questions  of  international 
importance  were  discussed,  and 
some  were  decided,  in  the  final 
weeks  of  the  Peace  Conference 
at  Paris;  others,  which  could  not  be  set- 
tled before  the  imminent  dissolution  of 
the  conference,  were  covered  by  the 
creation  of  special  machinery  devised  to 
function  after  the  body  which  for  so 
many  months  had  virtually  ruled  the 
whole  of  Europe  had  broken  up.  The 
great  difficulties  facing  the  conference 
in  October  and  November  were  the  Ger- 
man-Russian imbroglio  in  the  Baltic,  and 
the  continued  defiance  of  Rumania, 
whose  armed   forces  remained  in  Buda- 


pest despite  the  sending  of  no  fewer 
than  nine  notes  demanding  their  evacua- 
tion, and  whose  Government  approved 
the  annexation  of  the  Province  of  Bessa- 
rabia contrary  to  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Council. 

The  note  which  the  Supreme  Council 
dispatched  to  Germany  inviting  her,  in 
common  with  the  allied  and  neutral  na- 
tions of  Europe,  to  participate  in  the 
blockade  of  Soviet  Russia,  was  published 
in  the  November  Current  History.  It 
was  announced  from  Berlin  on  Oct.  26 
that  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  of 
the  National  Assembly  had  agreed  with 
the    Government    that   the   invitation    to 


396 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


share  in  such  a  blockade  must  be  de- 
clined, and  that  all  the  party  committees 
had  accepted  this  decision  unanimously. 
The  reply  to  the  allied  invitation  was 
subsequently  drafted  and  dispatched  to 
Marshal  Foch.  In  this  reply  Germany 
stated  that  she  declined  to  participate 
on  the  ground  that  she  did  not  believe 
that  such  a  blockade  would  achieve  the 
desired  end,  as  all  coercive  steps  would 
lead  to  Russian  reaction,  but  added  that 
Germany  was  prepared  to  co-operate  in 
any  other  measures  against  the  Bolshe- 
vist regime  which  would  prove  effective. 
The  note  also  pointed  out  that,  according 
to  the  articles  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
a  blockade  would  not  be  justified  at  that 
time.  The  opportunity  was  seized  to  ask 
that  the  blockade  against  Germany  be 
completely  removed,  and  that  all  German 
ships  held  in  Baltic  harbors  be  restored 
to  their  owners.  The  Supreme  Council 
referred  the  German  reply  to  the  proper 
commission  for  consideration  and  reply. 
In  view  of  the  obstinate  refusal  of  the 
troops  of  General  von  der  Goltz  to  leave 
Courland,  the  Supreme  Council  sent 
several  notes  to  the  German  Government 
demanding  that  it  take  more  effective 
measures  to  secure  this  evacuation,  under 
penalty  of  a  re-establishment  of  the 
economic  blockade  existing  before  the 
armistice.  Against  such  a  prospect  the 
German  Government  protested  vigorous- 
ly, asserting  that  it  had  done  all  in  its 
power  to  recall  these  insubordinate 
troops,  and  asking  that  an  interallied 
commission  be  appointed  to  proceed  to 
Berlin,  and  then  to  the  Baltic,  to  control 
the  situation. 

INTERALLIED    BALTIC    COMMISSION 

Such  a  commission  was  subsequently 
appointed  by  the  Supreme  Council,  under 
the  official  title  of  the  Allied  Commission 
to  Supervise  the  Evacuation  of  the  Baltic 
Provinces,  and  was  made  up  as  follows: 
General  Niessel,  representing  France, 
President;  General  Turner,  England; 
General  Marietti,  Italy;  Commandant 
Takeda,  Japan;  Brig.  Gen.  S.  A. 
Cheney,  United  States.  General  Niessel 
had  been  much  in  Russia  under  the  Bol- 
sheviki,  and  spoke  Russian  fluently; 
formerly  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Interallied   Commission  to  Posen.     This 


commission  left  for  Berlin  early  in  No- 
vember, where  it  began  an  investigation 
of  the  Allies'  suspicions  that  the  German 
Government  was  not  free  from  complicity 
in  the  failure  of  General  von  der  Goltz's 
troops  to  withdraw,  and  discussed  the 
question  of  control  of  the  railroad  lines 
running  from  East  Prussia  to  Courland. 
After  the  completion  of  the  Berlin  dis- 
cussions, the  commission  was  charged  to 
proceed  to  Riga  to  bring  about,  by  per- 
suasion or  sterner  measures,  the  dis- 
persal of  the  Germano-Russian  troops 
under  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt  who  had 
attacked  the  Letts  in  Riga. 

With  regard  to  complaints  against 
German  activities  in  the  plebiscite 
regions  in  Schleswig  and  Upper  Silesia, 
and  the  Polish  complaint  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  holding  municipal  elections  in 
the  latter  district,  although  these  elec- 
tions were  scheduled  to  take  place  only 
after  the  arrival  of  the  mission  to  organ- 
ize the  plebiscite,  word  was  sent  to  Ger- 
many that  the  results  of  these  elections — 
which  turned  out  to  be  in  favor  of  the 
Polish  element — must  be  disregarded. 

Foreign  Minister  Trumbitch  of  Serbia, 
who  arrived  in  Paris  on  Oct.  23  from 
Belgrade,  brought  with  him  authoriza- 
tion from  his  Government  to  sign  the 
Austrian  Peace  Treaty  under  reserva- 
tions. Serbia,  like  Rumania,  had  failed  to 
sign  the  Austrian  treaty  because  of  ob- 
jections on  the  part  of  the  Jugoslavs  to 
the  clause  dealing  with  racial  minorities. 
The  signature  of  Rumania  was  promised 
by  the  latter  country  on  Nov.  6.  The 
Austrian  delegation  handed  the  Peace 
Conference  the  document  of  ratification 
of  the  treaty  on  the  following  day. 

On  Oct.  25  the  Supreme  Council  adopt- 
ed instructions  for  the  commission  ap- 
pointed to  conduct  the  plebiscite  in  the 
disputed  district  of  Teschen  and  to  de- 
termine whether  the  region  was  to  be 
allotted  to  Czechoslovakia  or  Poland.  Re- 
garding this  latter  country,  the  council 
was  still  considering  the  future'  of  East- 
ern Galicia,  formerly  Austrian  territory, 
though  now  for  some  time  occupied  by 
Polish  troops.  It  also  decided  on  Nov.  3 
to  request  the  Polish  Government  to  open 
to  traffic  certain  railroads  crossing  the 
German-Polish  frontier  north  of  Warsaw. 


WORK  OF   THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 


397 


RUMANIA'S    DEFIANCE 

The  Rumanian  Government's  defiance 
of  the  wishes  of  the  Supreme  Council  in 
respect  to  the  evacuation  of  Hungary  by 
the  Rumanian  Army  continued  week 
after  week.  On  Oct.  16  Frank  L.  Polk, 
Under  Secretary  of  State  and  head  of 
the  American  peace  delegation  at  Paris, 
submitted  to  the  council  a  telegram  from 
the  Interallied  Mission  at  Budapest, 
which  complained  of  the  action  of  the 
Rumanians  in  Hungary,  particularly  con- 
cerning their  requisitions  of  foodstuffs 
on  a  large  scale,  and  their  preventing  the 
distribution  of  what  remained;  it  de- 
manded in  forcible  terms  that  the  Ru- 
manians withdraw  from  Hungary  and 
make  restitution.  The  council  commis- 
sioned Sir  George  Clerk  to  proceed  im- 
mediately to  Budapest  to  inform  the  mis- 
sion that  the  council  had  already  sent  a 
note  to  the  Rumanians  demanding  their 
immediate  withdrawal,  and  that  it  would 
insist  on  compliance  with  its  demands. 
On  Nov.  1,  to  add  to  the  council's  per- 
plexities, Rumania's  representatives  an- 
nounced the  annexation  by  Rumania  of 
the  Province  of  Bessarabia,  despite  the 
council's  warning  of  the  serious  conse- 
quences which  this  annexation  might 
create  and  its  proposal  of  a  plebiscite.  No 
action  on  Rumania's  announcement  was 
taken  by  the  council  at  this  time. 

A  further  note,  however,  was  sent  to 
Rumania  on  Nov.  3  calling  on  her  to 
answer  the  communication  sent  her  three 
weeks  before,  which  she  had  avoided 
until  that  time  on  a  technicality.  This 
note,  dispatched  on  Oct.  12,  called  on 
the  Bucharest  Government  to  remove  the 
Rumanian  troops  from  Hungary,  notified 
it  that  it  must  cease  all  efforts  to  ob- 
tain more  territory  for  Rumania  than 
the  Peace  Conference  had  assigned  to  it, 
and  served  notice  that  all  "  requisitions  " 
on  Hungai'y  would  result  in  diminishing 
the  total  of  the  reparations  to  which 
Rumania  would  be  normally  entitled.  The 
text  of  the  allied  note  of  Nov.  3  was  as 
follows : 

The  Supreme  Council  has  decided  to  re- 
quest the  allied  Ministers  at  Bucharest  to 
notify  jointly,  without  delay,  the  Ruma- 
nian Government  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
unfavorably  impressed  upon  learning  that 
General   Conda,    sent  as  special   envoy  to 


Paris  by  the  Rumanian  Ministry,  arrived 
without  the  Rumanian  reply  to  the  last 
note  from  the  powers  under  the  pretext 
that  the  Italian  Minister  had  not  taken 
this  step  at  the  same  time  as  France, 
England,    and   the   United   States. 

The  Supreme  Council  expresses  the 
formal  desire  to  obtain  within  the  short- 
est time  a  brief  and  clear  reply  from  the 
Rumanian  Government  on  all  the  points 
discussed.  As  the  situation  in  Hungary 
demands  an  early  decision  in  order  to 
insure  the  re-establishment  of  normal  con- 
ditions, which  is  absolutely  essential  for 
the  security  of  Central  Europe,  the  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers  cannot 
allow  Rumania  to  prolong  dilatory  nego- 
tiations on  the  three  questions  stated  Oct. 
12  last. 

Please  communicate  this  in  the  name 
of  the  conference  collectively  with  your 
colleagues,  who  need  not  wait  for  special 
instructions  from  their  Governments  owing 
to  the  urgency  of  the  situation. 

PICHON". 

RUMANIA'S  EVASIVE  REPLY 

Rumania's  answer  was  received  and 
read  to  the  Supreme  Council  on  Nov.  12. 
This  reply  stated  that  the  Rumanian 
troops  were  being  withdrawn  to  the  River 
Theiss,  but  made  no  mention  of  any  fur- 
ther evacuation.  As  the  River  Theiss  lies 
far  to  the  west  both  of  the  boundary  line 
between  Hungary  and  Rumania  laid 
down  by  the  Peace  Conference  and  the 
line  which  the  Rumanians  themselves 
have  demanded,  this  reply  was  deemed 
by  the  council  as  inadequate  and  unsatis- 
factory. Regarding  the  question  of 
requisitions  in  Hungary  and  the  signing 
of  the  Austrian  treaty  the  reply  evaded 
all  commitment.  Reports  reaching  the 
conference  confirmed  the  Rumanian  with- 
drawal to  the  River  Theiss,  which  was 
said  to  be  attended  with  great  disorder, 
and  the  levying  of  requisitions  on  an  un- 
precedented scale. 

Hungarian  troops,  under  Admiral 
Horthy,  entered  Budapest  on  Nov.  15. 
The  council  voted  that  a  new  note  to 
Rumania  should  be  drafted,  calling  on 
her  to  declare  her  intentions  in  regard  to 
withdrawal  to  the  line  desired  and  as  to 
signing  the  Austrian  treaty  within  one 
week. 

Shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
session,  at  which  this  decision  was  taken, 
Rumania's  representatives  dispatched  to 
the  Foreign  Office  notice  of  a  telegram 
sent  on  Nov.   6  from  Bucharest,   which 


398 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


stated  that  the  Rumanian  Government 
would  sign  the  Austrian  treaty  with  the 
clause  on  racial  minorities,  but  would 
demand  an  understanding  as  to  the  spirit 
in  which  this  article  would  find  applica- 
tion. 

This  left  outstanding  disputes  with 
Rumania  over  the  subject  of  requisitions 
in  Hungary,  and  the  question  of  her 
future  boundaries,  including  Bessarabia. 
Regarding  these  boundaries,  it  was  re- 
ported in  Paris  on  Oct.  24  that  Ru- 
mania's demands  for  a  rectification  of 
the  frontiers  fixed  for  the  western  bor- 
ders, involving  a  removal  of  her  boundary 
with  Hungary  to  a  point  fourteen  miles 
to  the  west  of  the  point  fixed  by  the 
Supreme  Council,  had  been  refused.  The 
vexed  question  of  the  disposition  of  the 
Banat  of  Temesvar  had  been  settled  at 
this  time  by  dividing  this  territory  be- 
tween Rumania  and  Serbia;  the  frontier 
was  minutely  defined  in  a  note  com- 
municated by  Secretary  Dutasta  of  the 
Peace  Conference  to  both  of  the  nations 
involved.  According  to  this  division  Ser- 
bia received  most  of  the  rich  agricultural 
plain  adjoining  Serbia  on  the  north,  and 
two-thirds  of  the  waterways,  while  Ru- 
mania received  the  eastern  half  of  the 
Banat,  including  several  important  in- 
dustrial towns. 

Besides  the  difficulty  involved  in  com- 
pelling Rumania  to  evacuate  Budapest, 
the  council  was  faced  with  the  vexation 
of  being  unable  to  conclude  terms  of 
peace  with  Hungary,  owing  to  the  con- 
tinuance in  office  of -the  Cabinet  of  the 
Hungarian  Minister,  Stepan  Friedrich, 
reports  of  whose  monarchical  proclivities 
had  reached  the  council's  ears,  and  whose 
Government  had  never  been  recognized 
by  the  Entente  Powers.  Energetic 
measures  were  taken  on  Nov.  12,  when 
Sir  George  Clerk,  the  allied  emissary,  on 
his  arrival  at  Budapest,  delivered  an 
ultimatum  to  Premier  Friedrich,  notify- 
ing him  that  a  Coalition  Cabinet  must  be 
formed  within  forty-eight  hours,  or  he 
himself  resign  his  office. 

GREEK  OCCUPATION  OF  SMYRNA 

The  report  of  the  commission  appoint- 
to  investigate  the  Greek  occupation  of 
Smyrna  was  approved  by  the  council  on 
Nov.  12,  at  which  date  it  was  decided  to 


ask  the  Greek  authorities  to  insure  that 
order  be  maintained  in  future,  and  that 
there  be  no  recurrence  of  such  anti- 
Turkish  aggressions  as  those  of  which 
Turkey  had  complained  after  the  Greek 
occupation,  and  also  to  notify  the  Greeks 
that  their  military  occupation  of  Smyrna 
must  be  understood  to  be  only  provisional 
and  temporary. 

M.  Venizelos,  the  Greek  Premier,  an- 
nounced in  Paris  on  Nov.  15  that  he  had 
asked  for  a  new  investigation,  and  urged 
that  the  commission's  findings  be  re- 
jected, on  the  ground  that  no  Greeks  had 
been  appointed  on  the  commission,  and 
no  Greek  testimony  had  been  accepted. 
As  regards  the  duration  of  the  occupa- 
tion, M.  Venizelos  stated  that  it  had  been 
his  understanding  that  the  Greeks  should 
occupy  permanently  "  a  country  which 
has  been  Greek  for  3,000  years." 

BULGARIA'S    ACCEPTANCE 

Bulgaria's  reply  to  the  peace  terms  of 
the  allied  powers  was  delivered  on  Oct. 
24,  the  last  day  of  the  time  limit  set  for 
its  receipt.  The  answer  comprised  three 
pamphlets.  The  first  of  these  related 
to  the  political  and  labor  clauses,  the 
second  to  the  territorial  provisions,  and 
the  third  to  the  military,  naval,  aerial, 
and  reparations  terms.  The  reply  was 
moderate  in  tone,  and  adhered  unre- 
servedly to  the  clauses  concerning  the 
League  of  Nations  and  labor.  It  ac- 
cepted the  principle  of  the  protection  of 
minorities  in  Bulgaria  on  condition  that 
the  same  measures  be  applied  to  other 
Balkan  States.  The  reply,  however, 
made  reservations  regarding  reparations, 
and  protested  especially  against  the  total 
sum  demanded  of  Bulgaria.  It  asked  for 
the  suppression  of  interest  charges,  and 
requested  an  extension  of  the  time  limit 
for  payment.  Regarding  the  military 
clauses,  Bulgaria  objected  to  the  volun- 
tary enlistment  system,  maintaining  that 
conscription  alone  could  produce  suffi- 
cient forces  to  preserve  order.* 

The  longest  part  of  the  reply  dealt 
with  territorial  clauses,  and  protested 
against  modifications  of  frontiers  on 
ethnical  grounds.  Quoting  statistics  ex- 
tensively, it  proposed  a  plebiscite  in 
Thrace,  and  the  formation  of  this  region 
into  an  autonomous  State.     The  various 


WORK   OF   THE   PEACE   CONFERENCE 


399 


subdivisions  of  the  Bulgarian  reply  were 
submitted  to  the  proper  commissions  for 
reports,  on  the  basis  of  which  the  council 
would  formulate  its  answer. 

This  answer,  which  made  but  slight 
concessions  to  the  Bulgarians'  demands, 
was  completed  by  Nov.  1  and  submitted 
to  the  Bulgar  representatives  the  follow- 
ing day;  a  time  limit  of  ten  days  was 
set  for  Bulgaria's  final  decision.  The 
council  likewise  considered  the  terms  of 
a  note  to  be  sent  to  the  Rumanian  and 
Jugoslav  Governments,  setting  forth  the 
status  of  those  Governments  with  regard 
to  the  Bulgarian  treaty,  and  informing 
them  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
them  to  sign  this  treaty  so  long  as  they 
withheld  their  consent  to  sign  the  treaty 
with  Austria.  Subsequently  the  consent 
of  both  of  the  countries  involved  was 
transmitted  to  the  council. 

The  Bulgarian  peace  delegation  on 
Nov.  13  sent  an  official  note  to  the  coun- 
cil announcing  that  Bulgaria  was  pre- 
pared to  sign  the  treaty.  M.  Stambulisky, 
the  Bulgarian  Premier,  had  left  Sofia 
for  Paris  to  complete  the  ceremony. 

In  a  statement  issued  at  Boston  on 
Nov.  7  the  League  of  Friends  of  Greece 
in  America  assailed  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  with  Bulgaria.  This  statement 
said  in  part: 

The  treaty  is  unjust  to  Greece,  Serbia, 
and  Rumania.  The  Bulgarian  troops, 
under  orders  from  Sofia,  have  annihilated 
half  of  the  Serbian  populations,  have  deso- 
lated Eastern  Macedonia  and  Western 
Thrace.  Despite  all  these  crimes,  Bul- 
garia has  lost  no  Bulgarian  territory. 
Western  Thrace  Is  Greek,  not  Bulgarian, 
yet  Bulgaria  is  given  by  the  Bulgarian 
treaty  250,000  inhabitants  of  Thrace,  of 
whom  only  35,000  are  Bulgarians,  the 
others  Turks  and   Greeks. 

NEW  COMMISSION  CREATED 

With  the  prospect  that  the  Bulgarian 
treaty  would  be  signed,  the  labors  of  the 
conference  drew  appreciably  nearer  to 
their  logical  termination.  Many  prob- 
lems, however,  after  the  expected  dissolu- 
tion of  the  conference  in  December  would 
be  left  in  abeyance.  Besides  the  League 
of  Nations  a  plan  was  formed  for  the 
future  conduct  of  European  affairs  by 
means  of  a  new  commission,  whose  crea- 
tion was  announced  about  Oct.  16  as  a 
co-ordinating    committee    to    which    the 


various  sub-committees  created  by  the 
Versailles  treaty  would  report  from  time 
to  time.  On  Oct.  21  this  body  assumed 
the  name  of  "  The  Committee  for  the 
Enforcement  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles." 

This  new  commission  was  to  concern 
itself  not  only  with  the  enforce'ment  of 
the  German  treaty,  but  with  the  en- 
forcement of  all  treaties  made  by  the 
Peace  Conference.  While  the  League  ,of 
Nations  Council  would  receive  reports 
from  the  League  committees,  the  En- 
forcement Commission  would  receive  re- 
ports from  other  committees.  The  un- 
derlying reason  for  the  creation  of  the 
new  commission  was  to  make  sure  that 
there  should  be  some  organization  to 
represent  the  allied  nations  authorita- 
tively at  all  times,  whether  the  League 
of  Nations  functioned  smoothly  or  with 
difficulty.  Effectiveness  was  to  be  given 
to  the  decisions  of  the  commission  by  the 
support  of  the  Reparations  Commis- 
sions, which,  in  case  of  any  emergency, 
would  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the 
former  enemies  of  the  Entente. 

The  ceremony  of  formally  putting  in 
force  the  treaty  of  Versailles  was  still 
deferred  pending  the  much-hoped-for 
ratification  by  the  United  States.  The 
possibility  that  the  American  Senate, 
however,  might  defeat  the  ratification 
measure  was  given  due  consideration  by 
the  Supreme  Council,  and  on  Nov.  10  the 
council  reached  an  agreement  on  the 
procedure  for  convoking  the  first  council 
of  the  League  of  Nations  without  the 
participation  of  the  United  States, 
though  admitting  the  difficulties  in  tbe 
way  of  executing  the  treaty  without 
American  participation  in  the  numerous 
Interallied  Commissions  on  Reparations, 
Control,  and  Military  Occupation. 

Belgium's  request  that  tho  seat  of  the 
League  of  Nations  be  changed  to  Brus- 
sels, the  council  decided,  would  be 
placed  before  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  of  the  League.  This  first 
meeting,  it  was  also  decided,  would  take 
place  in  Paris  on  the  day  when  the  final 
exchange  of  ratifications  took  place.  The 
call  for  this  meeting  would  be  issued  by 
President  Wilson  after  the  date  for  the 
exchange  of  ratifications  was  finally  de- 
cided. 


400 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


A  note  was  dispatched  to  Germany  on 
Nov.  2  inviting  her  to  send  a  deputation 
to  attend  the  ratification  ceremony  and 
sign  a  protocol  assuming  responsibility 
for  the  fulfillment  of  certain  terms 
of  the  armistice;  also  agreeing  to  make 
good  in  actual  payment  the  loss  of  the 
ships  sunk  at  Scapa  Flow,  as  well  as  to 
surrender  400,000  tons  of  floating  docks, 
tugs,  and  other  naval  equipment.  In  this 
note  no  mention  was  made  of  the  inter- 
allied blockade  of  Soviet  Russia,  in  which 
Germany,  as  well  as  several  neutral  na- 
tions, including  Sweden  and  Switzerland, 
had  declined  participation,  and  this  was 
taken  in  allied  circles  to  be  significant 
of  the  Entente's  lack  of  belief  that  the 
blockade  could  be  successfully  main- 
tained. 

POLAND   GETS   GALICIA 

The  Supreme  Council  on  Nov.  21  de- 
cided to  turn  over  Eastern  Galicia  to  Po- 
land for  twenty-five  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  the  League  of  Nations  will  deter- 
mine what  to  do  with  this  territory. 
Eastern  Galicia,  with  its  16,000,000  in- 
habitants, will  be  federated  with  Poland 
under  a  mandate,  the  arrangements  for 
which  will  give  Poland  practically  the 
government  of  the  region. 

This  decision  came  after  many  weeks 
of  discussion  of  the  Galician  problem. 
Poland  asked  for  annexation  outright, 
but  this  was  opposed  by  England,  which 
favored  giving  a  mandate  to  Poland  for 
five  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
there  would  be  a  plebiscite.  Paderewski 
opposed  this  solution,  asserting  that  Ga- 
licia could  not  be  reconstructed  if  for 
five  years  there  was  to  be  constant  elec- 
tioneering. The  solution  finally  adopted 
was  a  compromise  acceptable  to  Poland. 
The  mandate  is  different  from  the  man- 
dates provided  in  the  treaty  as  League  of 
Nations  mandates.   It  means  that  if  Po- 


land administers  Galicia  well  for  twenty- 
five  years  that  area  will  become  an  in- 
tegral part  of  Poland. 

The  council  on  Nov.  21  also  approved 
the  text  of  an  agreement  granting  polit- 
ical suzerainty  over  the  Spitzbergen 
Archipelago  to  Norway. 

CONFERENCE   NEARS   CLOSE 

It  was  stated  in  Paris  that  the  Peace 
Conference  would  reach  the  end  of  its 
labors  early  in  December.  Both  the  Brit- 
ish and  American  delegations  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  League  of  Nation? 
should  take  over  the  functions  of  the 
Peace  Conference  as  soon  as  possible,  on 
the  ground  that  the  conference  was  origi- 
nally charged  with  making  peace,  and 
not  with  governing  the  world.  They 
favored  leaving  to  a  Committee  of  Am- 
bassadors, with  fixed  powers,  the  winding 
up  of  the  few  specific  tasks  which  might 
remain  undone. 

Matters  still  in  abeyance  at  the  time 
when  these  pages  went  to  print  were  the 
dispute  between  Holland  and  Belgium 
over  the  revision  of  the  treaty  between 
these  two  countries;  the  settlement  of  the 
Adriatic  problem,  including  the  Fiume 
question;  the  final  disposition  of  Dal- 
matia  and  Albania;  the  Germano-Rus- 
sian  Baltic  problem;  the  persuasion  or 
compulsion  of  the  recalcitrant  small 
powers,  including  Rumania,  to  fulfill 
their  obligations ;  the  securing  of  a  stable 
Hungarian  Government  that  could  sign 
a  peace  treaty;  the  defining  of  the  east- 
ern boundary  of  Poland ;  the  effecting  of 
an  arrangement  whereby  Greece,  Ru- 
mania, and  Serbia  would  sign  treaties 
guaranteeing  the  rights  of  ethnical 
minorities,  and  the  completing  of  ar- 
rangements, for  control  of  plebiscites  in 
Schleswig,  Galicia,  Upper  Silesia,  and 
elsewhere,  where  national  territorial 
claims  were  still  in  conflict. 


D'Annunzio's  Seizure  of  Zara 

Raid  on   the  Dalmatian  Coast 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  22,  1919] 


DURING  October  and  November  the 
occupation  of  Fiume  by  the  armed 
forces  of  Gabriele  d'Annunzio  con- 
tinued. A  dramatic  message  from  d'An- 
nunzio brought  to  Rome  by  Whitney 
Warren,  the  American  architect,  on  Oct. 
23,  addressed  Americans  as  "  brothers  " 
and  implored  their  aid  for  Fiume,  which, 
the  message  said,  u  is  fighting  for  lib- 
erty." 

At  the  Fiuman  elections,  held  on  Oct. 
27,  the  Annexationists  won  by  a  large 
majority,  amid  a  great  display  of  mili- 
tary strength  by  the  d'Annunzian  forces, 
Fiume  was  in  a  ferment.  Walls  and 
streets  were  placarded  with  slogans  ap- 
pealing to  all  citizens  to  vote  as  a  pa- 
triotic duty,  and  denouncing  as  traitors 
all  who  did  not  vote  for  annexation. 
Only  the  Unions  Nazionale  was  allowed 
to  enter  the  field,  and  the  only  option 
was  in  the  choice  of  forty  candi- 
dates for  the  "National  Council."  The 
polls  were  guarded  by  gendarmes  and 
soldiers.  Girls  and  women  went  to  vote 
with  shouts  of  jubilation.  Two  American 
newspaper  men  were  roughly  handled. 

Fiume,  said  a  neutral  at  the  time,  was 
ruled  by  9,000  bayonets,  and  everything 
was  possible.  The  "  elections,"  according 
to  this  view,  were  nothing  but  a  farce. 
All  comers  and  goers  were  held  up  and 
searched.  All  not  in  favor  of  Italy  were 
considered  traitors.  The  Sushak  bridge 
was  closed  by  d'Annunzio,  barring  all 
the  Croats  of  that  suburb  from  partici- 
pating in  the  vote.  Results  of  the  elec- 
tion received  in  Paris  on  Oct.  29  showed 
that  6,688  persons  voted  the  straight  an- 
nexationist ticket,  186  voted  for  the  party 
led  by  Professor  Zanella,  d'Annunzio's 
opponent  in  Fiume,  and  3,189  of  those 
registered  did  not  vote. 

D'ANNUNZIO'S    STATEMENT 

D'Annunzio  in  a  statement  of  some 
length  given  on  Oct.  31  to  a  represent- 
ative of  The  New  York  World  set  forth 
his   entire   case  in   a   remarkable   state- 


ment, in  which  he  declared  that  by  the 
results  of  the  recent  elections  Fiume  had 
confirmed  her  declaration  of  May  18 
that  she  alone  had  the  right  to  decide 
her  own  fate.  This  statement  was  in 
part  as  follows: 

Why  did  we  make  war?  I  asked  a 
meeting  of  recruits  one  evening  behind 
an  embankment  of  the  Piave,  which  had 
become  a  frontier  of  tremendous  import. 
"  To  reacquire  the  summit  of  an  Alp,  a 
handful  of  land  jutting  into  the  sea  or 
the  bend  of  a  gulf?  Yes,  surely,  for  these 
things  as  well,  but  the  great  reason  is  the 
cause  of  territory,  the  cause  of  the  spirit, 
the   cause   of  immortality." 

The  cause  of  territory  has  its  limits 
and  because  it  is  only  in  Fiume  today  that 
people  talk  frankly  and  roughly  amid  so 
much  senile  chatter  we  shall  persist  in 
our  frankness  and  our  rudeness.  The 
cause  of  territory  has  its  limits.  To  the 
north  of  Fiume  it  must  include  Idria  as 
far  as  the  Toroid  Balkans;  the  district  of 
Idria  (40  miles  south  of  Fiume),  because 
by  centuries  of  historical  traditions  and 
by  the  evidence  of  its  configuration  it  be- 
longs to  the  body  of  Italy.  It  has  no 
sound  frontier  of  itself,  but  forms  the 
bulwark  of  the  Alps  of  Ternova. 

With  Idria  in  our  hands,  Gorizia  (15 
miles  northwest  of  Trieste)  remains  pro- 
teeted.  If  it  be  taken  away  from  us 
Gorizia  remains  exposed  to  the  Jugoslav 
guns.  Italy  has  no  raw  materials.  If  she 
possessed  Idria  she  would  have  at  least 
one,  mercury,  in  which  the  district  is 
rich. 

As  Idria,  so  should  Postumia  be  ours 
by  rights.  If  we  do  not  possess  Postumia 
the  waves  of  Balkan  tribes,  bitter  waves 
of  barbaric  Slavs,  will  surge  up  to  within 
twelve  miles  of  the  walls  of  Trieste. 
Without  the  district  of  Postumia  we 
would  leave  in  the  hands  of  the  Southern 
Slavs,  Longatico,  Nauporto,  and  perhaps 
Prevaldo,  which  from  time  Immemorial, 
constitute  the  true  gate  of  Italy,  the  Latin 
threshold  against  the  northern  and  east- 
ern incursions  of  the  barbarians  of  all 
times. 

And  tomorrow  the  citizens  of  free 
Trieste  on  ascending  one  of  the  hills 
which  crown  St.  Just  could,  with  the 
naked  eye,  discern  a  railway  equi-distant 
from  Trieste  and  Fiume,  and  he  who 
dominates  that  railway  has  full  command 
of  their  trade. 

To   renounce   St.    Pietro  on   Carso  is  to 


402 


THE  NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


renounce  the  district  of  Castelnuovo, 
twenty-two  miles  southwest  of  Trieste, 
which  includes  a  large  zone  of  Carso  ter- 
ritory. (Carso,  or  Karst,  consists  of 
rugged  platforms  and  mountain  ranges 
rising  east  of  the  Adriatic.  The  chief 
range  extends  north  of  Istria  from  the 
Isonzo  River  to  the  Quarnero  Gulf.) 

Thus  our  adversary  would  occupy  the 
crest  of  Middle  Carso  from  Mount  Aquila 
to  Mount  Maggiore,  would  dominate  the 
Valley  of  the  Timavo  and  so  cut  off 
Trieste  from  its  aqueducts  and  its  water 
'  works.  The  adversary  would  threaten 
from  near  the  railway  between  Trieste 
and  Pola,  and  by  destroying  its  strategic 
value  he  would  weaken  the  naval  fron- 
tiers. Furthermore,  we  should  lose  the 
bulwark  which  consists  of  Mount  Aure- 
miano,  Mount  Tore  and  Mount  Nevoso, 
which  is  our  necessary  frontier,  and  thus 
an  absurd  frontier  would  be  traced  be- 
tween villages  like  that  frontier  which 
once  existed  in  Friuli  (now  part  of 
Udine). 

Without  Idria,  without  Postumia,  with- 
out Castelnuovo,  Italy's  boundaries  would 
remain  in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  would 
remain  in  the  hands  of  Balkan  tribes. 

And  not  Fiume  alone,  but  the  whole  of 
the  Julian  Veneto  would  be  reduced  to  an 
Italian  agony  behind  a  broken  frontier. 
When,  on  May  19,  the  Fiumians  and 
Italians  shouted  in  the  face  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  that  the  history  written 
with  Italy's  most  generous  blood  could 
not  stop  at  Paris  and  that  they  firmly 
awaited  violence,  no  matter  whence  it 
came,  they  announced  thereby  the  fall  of 
the  old  world. 

Therefore,  Flume's  cause  is  the  biggest 
and  finest  opposed  today  to  the  meanness 
and  weakness  of  this  world.  It  stretches 
from  Ireland  to  Egypt,  from  Russia  to 
the  United  States,  from  Rumania  to 
India.  It  embraces  the  white  races  and 
the  black,  it  reconciles  the  gospel  with 
the  Korean,   Christianity  with  Islam. 

Every  insurrection  is  an  effort  toward 
expression,  an  effort  toward  creation.  No 
matter  if  it  be  interrupted  by  bloodshed, 
so  long  as  the  survivors  pass  on  to  the 
future  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  of  a  new 
life  and  the  profound  instinct  of  that  in- 
destructible relationship  which  binds  peo- 
ple to  their  soil. 

LEADER'S   ADVICE  TO   ITALY 

D'Annunzio  on  Nov.  8,  in  a  statement 
made  public  by  his  Press  Bureau,  pro- 
posed that  Italy  decline  to  restore  order 
in  the  Fiume  situation  at  the  behest  of 
the  Supreme  Council.  This  statement  was 
as  follows: 

The   way  out  is   wide,   clear,   direct,     it 

la  the  same  for  ua  who  entered  the  city 

Sept.  12. 


I  realize  that  the  Italian  Government 
persists  in  its  erroneous  judgment  and 
increases  it  by  accepting  from  the  Su- 
preme Council  a  mandate  to  restore  order 
in  Fiume,  held  by  me. 

I  propose  that  the  Italian  Government 
send  (back  the  Fiume  problem  to-  the 
Peace  Conference  by  returning  the  man- 
date, which  it  will  be  impossible  to  exe- 
cute without  shedding  fraternal  blood  and 
without  the  danger  of  civil  war  through- 
out the  nation. 

When  the  mandate  is  returned  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Fiume  claims  the  honor  of  re- 
maining solely  responsible  for  its  attitude 
before"  the  conference  and  before  the 
world. 

Soon  after  the  issuance  of  this  state- 
ment the  blockade  of  Fiume  was 
officially  lifted;  food  was  passing  freely 
into  the  city*  over  the  railway  from 
Tiieste,  and  commercial  relations  with 
the  outside  world  had  been  resumed. 
Efforts  were  being  made  at  this  time  by 
d'Annunzio's  Government  to  stabilize  the 
currency;  all  old  Hungarian  money  had 
been  invalidated,  and  Italian  money  was 
pouring  in  from  all  parts  of  Italy,  which 
was  being  used  by  d'Annunzio  to  pay  his 
soldiers  and  the  expenses  of  his  organi- 
zation. 

D'ANNUNZIO  RAIDS  DALMATIA 

A  dramatic  development  of  d'An- 
nunzio's campaign  occurred  on  Nov.  15, 
when  the  poet-soldier  landed  at  Zara,  on 
the  Dalmatian  Coast,  made  a  triumphal 
entry  into  the  city  amid  enthusiastic  ac- 
clamations from  the  populace  with  600 
troops,  including  Arditi,  grenadiers,  and 
d'Annunzio's  entire  staff,  and  announced 
its  occupation.  D'Annunzio  had  sailed 
from  Fiume  in  the  darkness  of  early 
morning  on  the  torpedo  boat  Nullo,  fol- 
lowed by  the  war  fleet  of  Admiral.  Millo, 
who  received  him  and  publicly  swore 
allegiance  to  him. 

News  that  d'Annunzio  had  begun  a 
new  adventure  soon  reached  Trieste  and 
roused  great  excitement.  The  newspapers 
both  there  and  at  Rome  were"  generally 
unsympathetic  to  the  Dalmatian  enter- 
prise. D'Annunzio  returned  to  Fiume  on 
Nov.  16  and  received  a  great  ovation. 
His  intention  to  occupy  other  territory, 
including  Spalato  and  part  of  Istria, 
which  he  argued  should  form  an  inde- 
pendent  State,    was    announced    at   this 


D'ANNUNZIO'S  SEIZURE  OF  ZARA 


103 


FIUME    AND    THE    DALMATIAN    COAST,    SCENE    OP    D'ANNUNZIO'S    EXPLOITS 


time.  The  dictator  of  Fiume  was  said  at 
this  time  to  have  a  force  of  50,000  men, 
ample  food  supplies  and  equipment,  and 
the  favor  of  a  large  element  of  the 
regular  army. 

A  semi-official  statement  issued  in 
Rome  on  Nov.  22  declared  that  a  minor- 
ity of  d'Annunzio's  forces,  counting  on 
the  support  of  friends  in  the  interior  of 
Italy,  persisted  in  the  idea  of  attempting 
seditious  action  against  Italy  itself,  con- 
templating the  overthrow  of  the  mon- 
archy and  the  establishment  of  a  repub- 
lic. In  Zara,  meanwhile,  a  Belgrade  state- 
ment said  that  d'Annunzio's  troops  left  in 
control  had  instituted  a  reign  of  terror, 
insulting  and  attacking  all  not  wearing 
the  armlet  of  Italian  colors  inscribed 
"  Italy  or  Death!  "  Private  advices  reach- 
ing London  on  Nov.  22  left  no  doubt  of 
d'Annunzio's  intention  of  annexing  the 
whole  Dalmatian  coast  and  attacking 
Montenegro.  The  situation  was  regarded 
as  extremely  grave.  A  Serbian  division, 
12,000  strong,  was  concentrated  at  Spa- 
lato  on  Nov.  22,  ready  to  oppose  the  ad- 


vance of  d'Annunzio  and  his  forces  if  he 
approached  the  city. 

GOVERNMENT  SENTIMENT 
CHANGING 

The  situation  of  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment, crushed  with  war  debts,  with  its 
army  still  mobilized,  and  unable  to  se- 
cure a  settlement  of  the  Adriatic  ques- 
tion with  its  allies,  was  made  even  more 
unpleasant  by  d'Annunzio's  new  activi- 
ties. The  defection  of  Admiral  Millo  to 
d'Annunzio  at  Zara  was  officially  disap- 
proved. In  Rome,  however,  Premier  Tit- 
toni,  in  a  letter  to  his  constituents,  came 
out  boldly  for  an  Italian  Fiume,  and 
reproached  the  Allies  for  not  understand- 
ing that  the  question  of  Fiume  had  for 
the  Italians  not  an  economic  but  a  moral 
significance. 

No  steps  were  taken  to  combat  d'An- 
nunzio's new  activities,  and  up  to  the 
time  when  this  edition  of  Current  His- 
tory went  to  press,  the  situation  created 
by  d'Annunzio's  occupation  of  Zara  re- 
mained unchanged. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


[Period  Ended  Nov.  20,  1919] 


King  Albert  in  Washington 

AFTER  touring  the  United  States  from 
New  York  and  Boston  to  the  cities 
of  the  Pacific  Coast,  everywhere  encoun- 
tering formal  receptions  and  cordial  ad- 
dresses of  welcome,  King  Albert,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  and  Prince  Leopold  of  Bel- 
gium arrived  in  Washington,  D.  C,  on 
Oct.  28.  Both  Houses  of  Congress  paused 
in  their  discussions  on  that  date  to  give 
a  hearty  welcome  to  the  royal  guests. 
King  Albert  delivered  short  addresses 
before  the  Senate  and  the  House,  paying 
tribute  to  the  American  Army,  to  which 
he  gave  the  credit  of  deciding  the  vic- 
tory; to  Brand  Whitlock,  the  American 
Ambassador  to  Belgium  when  the  war 
broke  out,  and  to  Herbert  Hoover,  the 
American  Food  Administrator.  He  pre- 
dicted that  the  ties  linking  the  United 
States  with  Belgium  would  never  be 
broken,  and  offered  thanks  to  all  Amer- 
icans who  aided  his  people  in  the  war. 
The  galleries  of  both  houses  were 
crowded,  and  the  King's  remarks  were 
greeted  with  the  most  enthusiastic  ap- 
plause. In  the  House  many  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  members  were  present.  Later 
in  the  day,  at  a  reception  in  the  home 
of  the  Asssitant  Secretary  of  State, 
Breckinridge  Long,  Secretary  of  War 
Baker  pinned  upon  the  King's  breast,  by 
the  order  of  President  Wilson,  the  Amer- 
ican Distinguished  Service  Medal,  in  the 
presence  of  General  Pershing,  General 
March,  and  other  military  and  civil 
notabilities.  In  the  evening  the  King  and 
Queen  and  their  son  were  the  guests  of 
honor  at  a  dinner  given. by  Vice  Presi- 
dent Marshall,  at  which  King  Albert  pro- 
posed a  toast  to  President  Wilson's 
speedy  recovery  from  illness. 

On  Oct.  29  the  Belgian  monarchs 
visited  Mount  Vernon  and  placed  a 
wreath  of  chrysanthemums  on  the  granite 
slab  of  George  Washington's  tomb.  In 
the  course  of  the  day  the  King  was 
visited  by  Samuel  Gompers,  President  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  who 
after  a  45-minute  interview  declared  the 


Belgian  monarch  to  be  "  a  real  man,  even 
if  he  is  a  King."  In  the  evening  the 
royal  guests  attended  a  dinner  given  by 
Secretary  Lansing.  On  the  following  day 
King  Albert  and  Queen  Elizabeth  made 
an  informal  visit  to  the  bedside  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  with  whom  they  had  a  cor- 
dial conversation,  and  on  Oct.  31  the 
royal  guests,  sailed  on  the  American 
transport  George  Washington,  after 
sending  a  heartfelt  message  of  farewell 
to  President  Wilson  by  wireless.  Before 
departure  the  King  gave  expression  to 
the  pleasure  and  interest  of  his  visit  to 
the  United  States,  and  on  landing  at 
Brest,  Nov.  13,  he  again  cabled  his  grati- 
tude for  the  rare  hospitality  vouchsafed 
by  the  United  States. 
*     *     * 

Suppressing  German  Opera 

A  GERMAN  opera  company  in  New 
-£*•  York  City  attempted  in  October  to 
produce  operas  in  the  German  language, 
but  public  sentiment,  voiced  through  the 
ex-soldiers  who  still  had  many  comrades 
lying  wounded  in  New  York  hospitals, 
refused  to  permit  this  form  of  art.  After 
throngs  of  soldiers  and  sailors  had  prac- 
tically stopped  the  performances  in  the 
Lexington  Theatre,  despite  the  attempts 
of  a  large  force  of  policemen  to  keep 
order,  Justice  Leonard  A.  Giegerich  of 
the  State  Supreme  Court  issued  a 
decision  dissolving  an  injunction  which 
had  restrained  Mayor  Hylan  and  the 
police  from  interfering  with  the  produc- 
tion of  German  opera  in  the  theatre 
named.  Justice  Giegerich  based  his  de- 
cision on  the  state  of  feeling  consequent 
on  the  war,  which  made  the  performance 
of  opera  in  the  German  language  a  pro- 
vocation to  a  large  proportion  of  the 
community.  All  performances  of  this 
kind  were  prohibited  until  after  the 
Peace  Treaty  had  been  ratified  by  the 
United  States. 

A  curious  contrast  to  this  action  in  the 
United  States  was  afforded  by  the  an- 
nouncement from  Paris  on  Nov.  9  that  a 
performance   of   Wagnerian    music   had 


CURRENT   HISTORY   IN   BRIEF 


405 


been  given  on  the  preceding  day  at  the 
Pas  de  Loup  Concert,  and  had  elicited 
only  two  isolated  protests  in  the  audience ; 
the  protestors,  a  man  and  a  woman,  were 
ushered  out,  and  the  conductor  of  the 
concert,  Rene  Baton,  declared  that  inter- 
ruptions against  German  music  would 
not  be  tolerated.  He  regarded  it  as  a 
pure  question  of  art,  and  said  that  he 
proposed  to  include  at  least  20  per  cent, 
of  German  music  in  his  programs.  Ak 
vote  of  three  Pas  de  Loup  concert  au- 
diences on  the  subject  resulted  in  4,983 
favoring   the   return   of   German   music 

and  213  opposing  it. 

*     *     * 

Exploits  of  a  Master  Spy 

CAPTAIN  FRITZ  DUQUESNE,  a 
former  Boer  officer,  is  being  hunted 
in  Mexico  by  British  and  American  Se- 
cret Service  agents  on  charges  of  arson 
arid  murder.  Duquesne,  according  to  evi- 
dence in  hand,  was  Germany's  most  dar- 
ing spy  in  America,  and  was  responsible 
for  many  "  sink  without  a  trace  "  plots 
against  British  shipping.  Information 
gathered  by  the  British  Secret  Service 
showed  that  Duquesne  operated  during 
the  war  as  head  of  a  desperate  gang  in 
South  America.  Their  principal  exploits 
were  related  to  attempts  to  destroy  allied 
shipping,  including  the  following  list  of 
outrages : 

Destruction  of  the  steamship  San  Salvador 
toy  fire. 

Narrow  escape  from  complete  destruction 
by  S.   S.   Vauban. 

Burning  of  coaling  station  at  Bahia. 

Destruction  of  the  Pembrokeshire  in  the 
Atlantic. 

Bursting  of  boilers  of  the  liner  Liger, 
through  dynamite  mixed  with  the  coal. 

Dynamiting  of  the  steamship  Tennyson. 

Erection  of  illicit  wireless  station  north  of 
Pernambuco. 

Complete  disappearance  of  four  ships  leav- 
ing for  South  American  ports,  and  never 
heard   from   again. 

Duquesne  himself  was  arrested  in  New 
York  last  May  on  a  charge  of  fraud.  It 
was  learned  at  this  time  that  he  traveled 
under  various  aliases,  notably  Freder- 
ick Fredericks  and  Captain  Claude 
Stoughton.  When  taken  into  custody  he 
was  posing  as  a  Captain  in  the  Austral- 
ian Light  Horse,  with  the  ribbons  of  the 
South  African,  Matabele  and  Long  Serv- 
ice medals.     By  simulating  complete  pa- 


ralysis Duquesne  got  himself  transferred 
to  the  prison  hospital,  whence  he  escaped 
with  the  aid  of  confederates,  who  took 
him  in  a  waiting  automobile  to  an  air- 
plane, in  which  he  flew  to  Mexico.  Secret 
Service  agents  followed  him  there,  but 
at  the  middle  of   October  he  was   still 

evading  them. 

*  *     * 

German  Dynamiter  Sentenced 

WERNER  HORN,  the  German  reserv- 
ist who  on  Feb.  2,  1915,  attempted 
to  dynamite  the  international  bridge  at 
St.  Croix  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  was  sentenced  by  a  New  Bruns- 
wick court  on  Oct.  31,  1919,  to  ten  years 
in  the  penitentiary.  Horn  stated  his  in- 
tention to  appeal  to  Germany,  declaring 
that  he  could  not  be  punished  after  the 
signing  of  peace. 

*  *     * 

Sentence  of  a  French  Bolshevik 

CAPTAIN  JACQUES  SADOUL,  sent 
to  Russia  as  a  member  of  a  French 
military  mission,  entered  a  year  ago  into 
close  personal  relations  with  Lenin  and 
Trotzky,  a  fact  which  enabled  him  to 
take  an  effective  part  in  the  release  of  the 
French  journalist,  Ludovic  Naudeau, 
from  Moscow  prisons,  as  recounted  by 
M.  Naudeau  in  the  November  Current 
History.  Sadoul's  relations  with  the 
Bolsheviki,  however,  proved  to  be  of  a 
treasonable  and  even  traitorous  nature, 
according  to  charges  filed  against  him 
by  the  French  military  authorities,  and 
on  Nov.  6  court-martial  proceedings  were 
begun  against  him  at  Paris  on  the 
ground  that  at  the  fall  of  Odessa  he  had 
deserted  his  own  countrymen  in  support 
of  the  enemy;  that  he  was  with  the  Bol- 
shevist forces  which  captured  the  city 
from  the  French  and  British  troops; 
that  he  supplied  information  to  the 
enemy,  and  later  urged  French  prisoners 
to  join  the  Bolsheviki. 

Meanwhile  Captain  Sadoul's  friends 
had  submitted  his  name  as  a  candidate 
for  election  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
though  he  was  still  in  Russia,  and  an 
active  campaign  in  his  behalf  was  in 
full  swing  at  the  time  of  his  court- 
martial.  The  President  of  the  court  re- 
fused to  allow  Mme.  Sadoul  to  be  repre- 
sented at  the  trial.    Albert  Thomas,  the 


406 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


former  Socialist  Minister  of  Munitions, 
also  was  unsuccessful  in  the  object  of 
a  petition  which  he  filed  in  Sadoul's 
behalf.  On  Nov.  8  Captain  Sadoul  was 
condemned  to  death  by  unanimous  vote 
of  the  court-martial.  Though  the  sen- 
tence cannot  be  executed  until  the  con- 
demned officer  is  given  up  by  Lenin  and 
Trotzky,  the  episode  is  not  without  sig- 
nificance. 

*  *     * 

D'Annunzio's  Oddities 

GABRIELE  D'ANNUNZIO,  the  Italian 
poet  and  dramatist,  now  the  centre 
of  the  world's  attention  as  the  raider 
and  military  chief  of  the  disputed  port 
of  Fiume,  has  for  many  years  given 
abundant  evidence  of  the  eccentricities 
of  his  artistic  temperament.  Among  these 
were  innumerable  "  love "  affairs,  in- 
cluding the  episode  with  Eleanora  Duse. 
Nearly  all  his  novels  and  plays  were 
written  at  "  La  Capponcina,"  a  remark- 
able pseudo-monastic  abode,  covered  with 
Latin  inscriptions,  in  which  every  article 
of  furniture  is  alleged  to  be  at  least  400 
years  old.  Photographs  of  d'Annunzio 
writing,  according  to  his  fixed  custom, 
on  an  ancient  church  altar  by  the  light 
of  sixty  candles,  because  he  believed, 
with  Balzac,  that  only  by  candle-light 
could  he  obtain  inspiration,  have  been 
spread  throughout  the  world.  They  re- 
call the  legend  of  Alfred  de  Musset  writ- 
ing feverishly  all  night  in  his  apartment 
in  Paris  by  the  light  of  candles. 
D'Annunzio,  like  Mascagni,  pays  great 
attention  to  his  dress,  and  just  before 
the  war  a  Neopolitan  paper  published  an 
amusing  inventory  of  his  clothes. 

*  *     * 

Labor  Troubles  in  Sweden 

IN  the  first  week  of  October  a  lock- 
out was  proclaimed  in  the  wood- 
working trades  of  Sweden,  including  that 
of  the  furniture  and  piano  makers;  re- 
peated conciliatory  efforts  had  failed, 
and  the  fight  was  bitter.  This  strike 
was  one  of  a  long  series  which  have  af- 
flicted Sweden  and  crippled  her  indus- 
tries for  a  whole  year.  As  early  as  last 
January  there  were  strikes  among  the 
sailors  and  engine-drivers  which  as- 
sumed serious  dimensions.    A  threatened 


strike  by  the  railway  men,  which  aimed 
eventually  at  the  State  railways  and  food 
supply,  was  averted  by  the  Government 
only  by  the  granting  of  important  con- 
cessions. There  followed  a  long  and  de- 
moralizing strike  in  the  Swedish  match 
industry  and  among  the  dockers  at 
Gothenburg,  the  latter  as  the  direct  out- 
come of  the  decision  taken  at  the  Inter- 
national Stevedoring  Congress  in  Hol- 
land that  all  goods  which  could  in  any 
way  be  classed  as  war  material  should 
be  blockaded.  Most  serious  of  all  was 
the  printers'  strike,  which  lasted  for 
about  two  months.  During  this  time  all 
the  papers,  except  the  Bolshevist  organ, 
Folkets  Dagblad  Politiken,  appeared  with 
considerably  reduced  issues,  but  the  con- 
flict ended  with  the  victory  of  the 
owners.  That  this  strike  was  managed 
and  supported  by  Bolshevist  money  was 
stated  from  Stockholm  to  be  beyond  ques- 
tion. 

The  extra  session  of  the  Swedish  Riks- 
dag in  October  had  before  it  the  Eight- 
hour  Working  Day  bill.  This  measure 
was  defeated  by  a  substantial  majority 
in  the  First  Chamber  last  Spring,  after 
its  acceptance  by  the  Second  Chamber, 
but  the  Premier's  statement  in  the  debate 
showed  the  Government's  determination 
to  carry  it  through.  Industrial  leaders 
almost  without  exception  opposed  the  bill 
on  the  ground  that  it  would  mean  noth- 
ing short  of  ruin  to  Swedish  industry, 
which  was  already  working  under  severe 
depression  owing  to  strong  competition 
from  abroad. 

*     *     * 

Heligoland  and  England 

A  MESSAGE  from  Cuxhaven  dated 
Oct.  1  stated  that  a  strong  agita- 
tion was  proceeding  in  Heligoland  for 
separation  from  Germany  and  union 
with  Great  Britain,  and  that  a  plebiscite 
on  the  question  was  planned.  The  people 
of  the  island,  according  to  the  Berliner 
Tageblatt,  are  anxious  to  Atme  again 
under  British  rule.  Before  Great  Britain 
ceded  Heligoland  to  Germany  it  was  one 
of  the  most  peaceful  spots  in  the  world, 
a  unique  place  to  study  the  habits  of 
rare  sea  birds,  inhabited  by  a  tiny  com- 
munity untroubled  by  the  cost  of  living, 
inasmuch  as  it  escaped  the  income  tax 


CURRENT    HISTORY   IN    BRIEF 


407 


and  was  well  supplied  with  German  wine 
and  cigars,  imported  for  the  Summer 
visitors  who  came  for  the  bathing  season. 
The  change  which  dug  huge  fortifica- 
tions a  hundred  feet  deep  in  the  cliffs, 
covered  them  with  gun  emplacements, 
and  girdled  them  with  a  labyrinth  of 
walls  50  feet  thick,  as  a  means  of  pro- 
tecting the  Elbe,  and  providing  a  base 
for  attack  on  England,  was  considered 
by  the  inhabitants  as  a  doubtful  blessing 
and  proved  a  severe  strain  on  the  island's 
zeal  for  the  Fatherland.  When  the  war 
broke  out  the  Heligoland  fishermen  were 
all  shipped  off  to  the  mainland,  and  the 
island  was  given  over  to  the  sea-gulls 
and  the  German  gunners.  Since  the  Ber- 
lin revolution  the  original  inhabitants 
have  returned,  the  island  has  again  been 
thrown  open,  and  a  beginning  has  been 
made  with  the  dismantling  of  the  formid- 
able fortifications  as  stipulated  by  the 
Versailles  Treaty. 

*  *     * 

Norway  for  Prohibition 

BY  a  popular  referendum  vote  on  Oct. 
7,  Norway  adopted  the  prohibition  of 
whisky,  brandy,  and  other  strong  liquors. 
The  vote  stood  428,455  in  favor  of  prohi- 
bition to  284,137  against  it.  Christiania 
was  strongly  against  the  proposal,  and 
only  18,500  voted  for  it,  as  compared 
with  70,000  in  opposition.  The  passing 
of  the  measure  did  not  affect  the  con- 
sumption of  wines  and  beers. 

*  *     * 

Austria  Sells  Art  Treasures 

IT  was  decided  by  the  Austrian  Gov- 
ernment on  Oct.  1  to  sell  the  vast 
and  costly  art  treasures  of  the  nation,  in 
order  to  obtain  money  to  feed  the  half- 
starved  people.  Valuable  paintings,  rare 
manuscripts,  tapestries,  porcelain,  his- 
torical furniture  from  the  Imperial 
palaces,  Ministries  and  other  State  build- 
ings, aggregating  a  total  value  of  1,000,- 
000,000  crowns,  ($250,000,000  at  the  pre- 
war rate  of  exchange),  as  the  result  of 
this  decision  will  be  scattered  through- 
out the  world.  Among  the  objects  offered 
for  sale  are  the  famous  Gobelin  and 
Arras  tapestries  collected  by  the  Haps- 
burgs  during  many  decades.  These  num- 
ber nearly  400   pieces,   and   their  value 


cannot  be  estimated.  There  are  also 
costly  gold  and  silver  saltcellars,  and 
dishes  and  flagons  set  with  precious 
stones,  the  work  of  the  most  famous 
Florentine  jewelers.  Even  after  the 
alienation  of  all  these  objects,  however, 
Vienna  will  still  be  rich  in  art  treasures, 
as  the  Peace  Treaty  with  Austria  pro- 
vides that  the  collections  belonging  to  the 
Government  of  the  former  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Empire  or  to  the  crown  of 
Austria-Hungary  may  not  be  sold  or 
dispersed  within  a  period  of  twenty 
years. 

*  *     * 

End  of  a  Robber  Chief 

TOWARD  the  beginning  of  October  it 
was  announced  from  Teheran  that 
the  Persian  Government,  which  had 
shown  unusual  activity  in  repressing 
disorders  in  the  country,  had  at  last 
hanged  the  famous  robber  chief  Nayib 
Hussein,  who  was  so  old  that  he  had 
become  almost  legendary  in  his  own  life- 
time, aT  well  as  his  son,  Mashallah 
Khan,  both  of  whom  had  long  terrorized 
the  district  of  Kashan.  Nayib  Hussein 
lived  in  a  huge  fortified  castle  on  his 
"  estate  "  near  Kashan,  where,  supported 
by  his  sons,  he  levied  blackmail  in  the 
bazaars  of  the  town.  Often  he  occupied 
the  town  itself,  and  he  became  so  power- 
ful that  in  1912  the  Government  invited 
him  to  assume  responsibility  for  the 
safety  of  the  roads  from  Kashan  to  Kum 
and  Yezd.  His  name  was  a  household 
word  in  Persian  homes,  and  was  used  as 
a  bogy  to  frighten  naughty  children.  On 
six  previous  occasions  his  violent  end 
had  been  announced  in  the  official 
Gazette  of  Teheran,  but  the  old  brigand 
had  always  survived  to  demonstrate 
that  the  news  of  his  death  had  been 
"  very  much  exaggerated." 

*  *     * 

Bolshevism    in   the   Far   East 

THE  Berlin  correspondent  of  the 
Nieuwe  Rotterdamsche  Courant 
pointed  out  at  the  end  of  September 
that  propagandist  traffic  was  being 
actively  carried  on  by  means  of  couriers 
between  Moscow  and  India,  and  that 
prominent  Indians  and  Persians,  as  well 
as  Turks,  were  welcome  guests  in 
the   Soviet  Capital.     The  propagandists 


408 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


traveled  between  the  front  of  Kolchak 
and  the  Ural  troops  of  General  Dutov. 
Lenin  himself  has  stated  that  his  main 
objective  is  Asia,  and  that  at  one  time 
he  sent  so  many  troops  and  such  quanti- 
ties of  money  to  that  theatre  that  the 
western  front  was  weakened  by  it.  A 
Russian,  the  Berlin  correspondent  said, 
conducted  the  propaganda  campaign  in 
India  as  a  representative  of  Lenin,  while 
a  former  Turkish  officer  had  the  man- 
agement of  affairs  in  Turkestan.  Here 
he  had  initiated  a  great  anti-British  or- 
ganization by  means  of  unlimited  Rus- 
sian money,  as  well  as  arms  and  ammu- 
nition. These  various  organizations 
which,  according  to  Lenin's  own  words, 
were  directed  against  the  integrity  of 
India,  were  being  extended  and  were 
gaining  strength. 

When  the  revolt  against  British  rule 
in  Afghanistan  broke  out,  Lenin's  cou- 
riers brought  hope  and  encouragement  to 
these  new  foes  of  Great  Britain.  After 
the  revolt 'was  ended,  Lenin  received  the 
Afghans'  Extraordinary  Ambassador  in 
Moscow  with  the  greatest  honors.  The 
attitude  and  words  of  the  envoy  on  this 
occasion  were  scarcely  those  of  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  beaten  and  humiliated 
nation,  such  as  the  British  Afghan  of- 
ficials had  depicted  the  Emir's  people 
to  be..  A  leading  article  of  The  London 
Times  pointed  out  on  Oct.  11  that  the 
Government  of  India,  after  forty  years, 
had  given  the  Afghans  control  of  their 
external  relations. 

The  visit  of  the  Afghan  Embassy  to 
Moscow  had  its  picturesque  and  sig- 
nificant features.  The  Ambassador,  Ma- 
homed Vali  Khan,  according  to  the  re- 
ports of  eyewitnesses  of  the  ceremony  of 
greeting,  was  a  stately  figure,  above  the 
average  height,  and  under  forty  years 
of  age.  Like  all  the  rest  of  his  embassy, 
he  was  dressed  in  European  costume, 
with  the  exception  of  an  astrakhan  cap. 
The  embassy  arrived  in  Moscow  on  Oct. 
10,  and  was  met  at  the  station  by  a 
large  deputation.  A  guard  of  honor  had 
been  provided,  accompanied  by  a  band 
and  banners.  "  Comrade  "  Narimanov, 
Director  of  the  Musulman  Near  East  De- 
partment, delivered  the  following  greet- 
ing: 

Welcome !     In   the   name   of  the   Soviet 


Authority  and  the  Commissariat  for  For- 
eign Affairs,  I  greet,  in  the  person  of 
your  Excellency,  Afghanistan,  and  its 
first  embassy  to  the  capital  of  the  Rus- 
sian Workers  and  Peasants'  Government. 
This  historic  fact  proves  that  Russian 
imperialism,  striving  to  enslave  and  de- 
grade small  nationalities,  has  gone,  never 
to  return.  In  the  name  of  my  Govern- 
ment, I  purposely  greet  you  in  the  Tur- 
kish language  in  the  Red  Russian  capital, 
in  order  to  prove  that  the  Workers  and 
Peasants'  Government  treats  all  peoples 
and  languages  with  sincere  respect.  Such 
a  Government  knows  how  to  value  sincere 
friendship.     I  welcome  you. 

Comrade  Sultan  Galiev,  welcoming  the 
Ambassador  in  the  name  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary Council  of  the  republic,  said: 
Tour  small  but  heroic  country  is  fight- 
ing for  its  emancipation  from  the  age-long 
oppressors  of  the  East,  British  imperial 
ism.  We  know  that  you  need  help  and 
support,  and  that  you  expect  this  support 
from  Soviet  Russia.  In  the  name  of  the 
Revolutionary  Council,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  revolutionary  organizations  of  the 
many  million  laboring  Mohammedan 
masses  of  Soviet  Russia,  I  declare  to  you 
that  Soviet  Russia  will  give  you  that 
assistance,  as  she  herself  is  fighting 
against  international  imperialism  and  for 
the  rights  of  the  oppressed  nations  of  the 
whole  world. 

In  reply  to  the  greeting  of  Comrade 
Sultan  Galiev,  the  Ambassador  said: 
We  know  that  the  Musulman  peoples  of 
Russia  are  now  free,  and  we  strongly 
hope  that,  with  the  assistance  of  Soviet 
Russia,  we  shall  succeed  in  emancipat- 
ing our  Afghanistan  and  the  rest  of  the 
East. 

*      *      * 

Oxford  and  Cambridge 

THE  great  pause  in  the  life  of  the 
universities  on  the  banks  of  the  Isis 
and  the  Cam  caused  by  the  war  has  come 
to  an  end.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have 
been  unlike  themselves,  unlike  any  por- 
tion of  their  history,  except  perhaps  the 
civil  war  period,  when  pikemen  thronged 
the  streets  and  "  quads,"  as  the  men  in 
khaki  of  the  modern  armies  have 
thronged  them  during  the  past  five  years. 
The  writer  of  these  lines  visited  both 
universities  in  1914,  some  months  after 
the  war  had  broken  out;  the  "  yard  "  was 
filled  with  the  tents  of  wounded  British 
soldiers,  and  uniformed  guards  were 
everywhere.  Today  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge are  returning  to  their  traditional 
pursuits;  freshmen  are  pouring  into  the 


CURRENT    HISTORY    IN    BRIEF 


40!) 


classrooms,  and  the  Don  is  assuming  once 
more  the  importance  of  which  he  had 
been  temporarily  deprived.  The  number 
of  undergraduates  in  the  Fall  of  1919 
was  wholly  unprecedented,  and  both  of 
the  great  British  universities  have  some 
difficulty  in  finding  accommodation  for 
them  all.  So  the  new  era  of  peace  and 
the  life  intellectual  has  been  inaugurated 
within  the  old  stone  walls  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  and  the  world  of  books  has 
again  come  into  its  own. 

Strasbourg  University 

IN  Alsace-Lorraine  the  life  of  Stras- 
bourg University  has  begun  anew 
under  French  direction,  but  there  are 
still  German  disharmonies  to  mar  the 
even  tenor  of  student  life.  Evidence  of 
such  disharmony  is  contained  in  an  open 
letter  which  the  students  addressed  to 
M.  Millerand,  High  Commissioner  of  the 
French  Government  in  Alsace,  in  which 
they  strongly  protest  against  the  exces- 
sive number  of  Germans  who  still  fre- 
quent the  classes  at  the  university.  This 
letter  reads  as  follows: 

After  the  evacuation  of  the  territory  by 
German  troops  there  was  a  conviction, 
both  in  Alsace  and  in  Lorraine,  that  the 
Germans  would  deem  it  more  suitable  not 
to  remain  in  the  territory  which  had  been 
restored  to  France  once  again,  and  that 
the  great  majority  would  ask  to  return 
to  the  country  of  their  origin. 

To  the  general  surprise,  not  only  do  a 
considerable  number  of  Germans  manifest 
a  tendency  to  attach  themselves  perma- 
nently to  the  country,  but  many  of  those 
whose  presence  was  merely  tolerated  show 
themselves  unworthy  of  the  kindness  of 
the  French  Government  by  openly  ex- 
pressing sentiments  contrary  to  the  inter- 
ests of  France. 

There  are  even  some  who,  by  a  stealthy 
and  clever  propaganda,  are  tending  to 
sow  discontent  between  Alsatians  and  the 
people  of  Lorraine.  In  a  word,  there  are 
very  few  Germans  who  observe  a  correct 
attitude ;  most  of  them  take  advantage  of 
the  mildness  of  the  Government  to  affect 
public  opinion  for  their  own  advantage. 
Actuated  by  these  motives,  the  club  of 
the  students  of  Strasbourg,  deeply  so- 
licitous for  the  future  of  the  country,  ex- 
presses the  wish  that  the  general  com- 
missary should  not  allow  himself  to  be 
influenced  by  demands  often  prompted  by 
purely  personal  considerations,  but  should 
take  against  the  Germans  residing  in 
Strasbourg  the  rigorous  measures  which 
public   opinion  unanimouslyexpects  of  him, 


viz.,  that  the  great  majority  of  German 
citizens,  if  not  all  of  them,  should  be 
invited  to  quit  the  reintegrated  territory, 
and  that  those  whose  presence  is  toler- 
ated should  be  subjected  to  the  strictest 
observation. 

The  French  Government  is  doing  all 
in  its  power  to  make  the  great  Alsatian 
University  worthy  of  the  best  French 
stadards.  The  most  renowned  French 
professors  are  being  sought  for  the  in- 
stitution, and  the  substitution  of  French 
for  German  in  the  examinations  has 
already  been  begun  with  considerable 
success.  The  German-speaking  but 
French-sympathizing  Alsatian  students 
are  working  hard  to  master  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  new  academic  tongue,  which 
they  take  pride  in  using.  French  pro- 
fessors, it  is  said,  will  have  no  great 
difficultly  in  the  work  of  reassimilation, 
for  Teutonic  "  kultur "  never  succeeded 
in  taking  deep  root  in  Alsace,  especially 
in  the  old  University  of  Strasbourg, 
where  French  sympathies  for  many  dec- 
ades have  been  openly  expressed. 

The   French    Peace   Army 

A  REPORT  of  the  French  Sub-Com- 
**■  mittee  on  Armaments,  submitted  to 
the  Senate  Commission  on  Military 
Affairs  and  dealing  with  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  French  Army  in  time  of  peace, 
contained  the  following  program: 

An  annual  conscription  of  200,000  instead 
of  600,000  men,   as  previously. 

Enlistments  and  re-enlistments,  150,000. 

Divisions    retained    in    twenty    districts. 

Headquarters  of  the  21st  Division  to  be 
moved  from  Epinal  to  Strasbourg. 

North  Africa,  two  army  corps ;  an  addi- 
tional corps  of  colonial  troops. 

Home  army  to  have  one  active  corps,  in- 
stead of  two,  with  a  reserve  division. 

Army  corps  on  eastern  frontier  to  have 
two  active  divisions,  one  at  more  than  full 
strength,  to  be  stationed  on  the  Rhine.  The 
North  African  army  corps  and  the  colonial 
corps  each  to  send  a  division  to  the  Rhine, 
thus  giving  six  infantry  divisions  for  the 
French  Army  of  Occupation  on  the  Rhine. 

Cavalry  to  be  reduced  to  four  divisions ; 
one  division   to  be   sent  to   the  Rhine. 

The  fulfillment  of  the  program,  to  sum 
up,  involves  a  peace  footing  of  350,000 
men  and  a  war  footing  of  1,350,000.  The 
Rhine  front  is  to  be  heavily  guarded.  A 
further  reserve  of  2,000,000  men,  based 
on  the  fifteen  classes  of  the  territorial 


410 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


and  reserve  forces,  is  kept  for  emergen- 
cies. 

*     *     * 

Canada's  War  Memorials 

THE  Canadian  Government  was  the 
first  to  submit  detailed  plans  to  the 
Battle  Exploits  Memorials  Committee  for 
sites  for  battlefield  memorials.  The  sites 
proposed  by  Canada,  and  fully  approved 
by  the  Memorials  Committee,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  pass  upon  all  memorial  proposals, 
so  as  to  avoid  clashing  with  other  units 
and  to  investigate  the  validity  of  the 
claim,  were  as  follows: 

1.  St.   Julien. 

2.  Courcelette. 

3.  Observatory  Ridge  (Sanctuary  Wood). 

4.  Vimy.      (Hill   145.) 

5.  Passchendaele. 

6.  Caix.      (Between    Caix   and   Le   Quesnel.) 

7.  Dury.      (Drocourt-Queant  Line.) 

8.  Bourion  Wood. 

Plans  to  obtain  title  and  permission  to 
build  are  being  obtained  from  the  re- 
spective Governments  concerned.  A  pre- 
liminary estimate  of  $500,000  was  author- 
ized in  the  Canadian  Parliament  in  Oc- 
tober for  the  erection  of  the  proposed 
memorials.  The  French  and  Belgian 
Governments  were  co-operating  heartily 
with  the  Canadian  representative,  Col- 
onel Hughes,  in  all  steps  taken. 

Strained  Relations  With  Mexico 

A  SITUATION  fraught  with  serious 
possibilities  in  the  relations  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico 
arose  during  November,  owing  to  the 
abduction  by  bandits  in  the  City  of 
Puebla,  Mexico,  of  William  O.  Jenkins,  a 
prominent  cotton  manufacturer  in  that 
city,  who  for  years  had  been  acting  as 
United  States  Consular  Agent  there. 
The  seizure  of  Mr.  Jenkins  was  accom- 
plished on  Oct.  19,  1919.  He  was  over- 
powered at  his  home  by  five  masked 
men,  his  safe  was  forced  open  and  $30,- 
000  taken  from  it,  and  he  was  forced  to 
accompany  the  bandits  to  their  head- 
quarters, where  he  was  held  for  ransom, 
$150,000  being  the  sum  named. 

The  State  Department  at  Washington 
on  Oct.  25  instructed  the  American  Em- 
bassy in  Mexico  City  to  demand  the  re- 
lease of  Mr.  Jenkins.     The  release  was 


accomplished  on  Oct.  26  by  the  payment 
of  $25,000  in  cash  and  the  balance  in 
notes  by  friends  of  the  kidnapped  man. 
A  few  days  later  Sefior  Mestre,  Mr. 
Jenkins's  attorney,  and  two  weeks  there- 
after Mr.  Jenkins  himself  were  arrested 
by  the  Mexican  authorities  on  the  charge 
that  they  had  connived  to  bring  about  the 
kidnapping  in  order  to  place  the  Car- 
ranza  Government  in  disrepute.  The 
American  authorities  had  previously  in- 
vestigated this  report  through  the  em- 
bassy at  Mexico  City  and  had  satisfied 
themselves  that  it  was  cruelly  unjust 
and  utterly  groundless;  the  Mexican 
Judge,  Franko,  who  investigated  the  ab- 
duction originally,  took  occasion  to  refute 
the  charge  and  praised  Mr.  Jenkins  as  a 
friend  of  the  Mexican  people. 

Mr.  Jenkins  in  a  letter  to  Congress- 
man Davis  of  Tennessee,  who  represents 
the  district  where  he  was  born,  stated 
that  the  bandits  told  him  their  principal 
object  was  to  show  the  helplessness  of 
the  Carranza  Government  and  force  that 
Government  to  pay  the  large  ransom. 
He  further  stated  that  while  he  was  held 
by  the  bandits,  he  suffered  greatly  from 
exposure  and  became  very  ill,  and  that 
after  his  release  he  was  subjected  to 
humiliations  and  serious  annoyances  by 
the  Carranza  authorities,  until  at  length 
he  was  again  arrested  on  the  trumped-up 
charge  of  having  connived  at  his  own  ab- 
dication. 

Secretary  of  State  Lansing  on  Nov.  20 
sent  a  note  to  the  Carranza  Government 
demanding  Mr.  Jenkins's  immediate  re- 
lease. The  official  announcement  re- 
garding the  action  was  as  follows: 

The  note,  which  is  based  on  the  rear- 
rest of  Consular  Agent  Jenkins  at  Puebla, 
points  out  that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment is  "  surprised  and  incensed  "  to 
learn  of  the  reimprisonment  of  Mr.  Jen- 
kins, particularly  in  view  of  the  suffering 
and  losses  already  sustained  by  him  in 
connection  with  his  kidnapping  through 
lack  of  protection  by  the  Mexican  author- 
ities and  in  connection  with  his  first  ar- 
rest  by    Mexican    officials. 

The  note  expresses  the  view,  based  on 
the  information  in  the  possession  of  the 
Department  of  State,  that  his  rearrest  is 
absolutely  arbitrary  and  unwarranted  and 
warns  the  Mexican  Government  that  fur- 
ther molestation  of  the  Consular  Agent 
will  seriously  affect  the  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico,   for  which 


CURRENT   HISTORY   IN   BRIEF 


411 


the  Government  of   Mexico   must   assume 
sole  responsibility. 

*  *      * 

"  Pussyfoot  "  Johnson 

WILLIAM  E.  JOHNSON,  an  Amer- 
ican who  is  conducting  a  prohibi- 
tionist propaganda  in  Great  Britain, 
was  attacked  by  a  group  of  students  at 
London  Nov.  13,  while  speaking  at  Es- 
sex Hall,  near  King's  College,  in  the 
Strand.  The  students  seized  the  speaker, 
placed  him  on  a  stretcher,  and  carried 
him  through  the  streets  of  London.  They 
disclaimed  any  attempt  to  injure  him, 
but  some  one  in  the  crowd  threw  a  mis- 
sile that  struck  him  in  the  face,  destroy- 
ing the  sight  of  one  eye.  Mr.  Johnson, 
universally  dubbed  "  Pussyfoot "  by  the 
British  press,  had  become  one  of  the 
most-talked-of  men  in  the  United  King- 
dom, and  though  his  campaign  was  un- 
popular, his  injury  was  commented  upon 
everywhere  with  regret. 

*  *     * 

British  Finances 

THE  British  Budget,  laid  before  the 
House  of  Commons  on  Aug.  27,  indi- 
cated a  deficit  of  over  $2,300,000,000. 
The  estimated  expenditure  is  in  round 
numbers  $8,000,000,000;  the  estimated 
revenue  $5,800,000,000.  The  increase  in 
expenditure  was  due  to  war  pensions 
and  bonuses,  police  grants,  increased 
pay  for  army,  navy,  and  air  forces, 
loans  to  allies,  and  the  railway  strike. 
The  army  increase  is  over  $500,000,000; 
navy,  $50,000,000.  The  national  debt  is 
estimated  at  $40,000,000,000.  The  cost  of 
the  army  during  the  ensuing  year  was 
estimated  at  $2,000,000,000;  that  of  the 
navy,  $800,000,000 ;  that  of  the  air  forces, 

$280,000,000. 

*  *     * 

Armistice  Day 

THE  first  anniversary  of  the  signing 
of  the  armistice  was  celebrated  on 
Nov.  11  throughout  America,  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  other  allied  coun- 
tries. In  Great  Britain  all  business 
ceased  precisely  at  11  A.  M.  for  two 
minutes  in  memory  of  the  dead.  The 
most  impressive  scenes  were  witnessed 
everywhere  as  the  solemn  moment  was 
observed.  Civic  employes  stood  still  at 
their  posts.     Judges  in  their  courtrooms, 


Cabinet  members  in  their  offices,  or 
wherever  they  happened  to  be,  ceased 
their  duties  and  stood  at  attention  when 
the  clock  struck  and  the  rockets  burst 
that  signaled  the  hour.  Every  man 
bared  his  head,  and  in  many  instances 
men  and  women  stood  sobbing  in  the 
streets. 

In  France  high  mass  was  celebrated 
and  in  some  cities  there  were  public 
demonstrations. 

The  dominating  note  at  American  cele- 
brations was  a  memorial  tribute  to  the 
dead;  the  observance  was  general,  and  a 
note  of  solemnity  pervaded.  President 
Wilson  issued  a  formal  message  in  com- 
memoration of  the  day,  in  which  he  said: 

The  war  showed  us  the  strength  of  great 
nations  acting  together  for  high  purposes, 
and  the  victory  of  arms  foretells  the  en- 
during conquests  which  can  be  made  in 
peace  when  nations  act  justly  and  in  fur- 
therance of  the  common  interests  of  men. 
To  us  in  America  the  reflections  of  Armi- 
stice Day  will  be  filled  with  solemn  pride 
in  th<;  heroism  of  those  who  died  in  the 
country's  serving,  and  with  gratitude 
for  the  victory,  both  because  of  the 
thing  from  which  it  has  freed  us  and  be- 
cause of  the  opportunity  it  has  given 
America  to  show  her  sympathy  with  peace 
and  justice  in  the  councils  of  nations. 

General  Pershing  paid  tribute  to  the 
American  Expeditionary  Forces  in  his 
statement,  saying: 

Our  armies  have  been  demobilized  and 
our  citizen-soldiers  have  returned  again 
to  civil  pursuits,  with  assurance  of  their 
ability  to  achieve  therein  the  success  they 
attained  as  soldiers,  thus  bringing  a  new 
asset  to  the  nation.  With  broadened 
visions  they  return,  not  only  with  pride 
in  the  high  standards  of  American  man- 
hood but  with  a  new  conception  of  its  re- 
lations to  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

As  we  pay  tribute  to  our  fighting  men, 
we  remember  that  solidly  behind  them 
stood  the  American  people,  with  all  our 
resources  and  our  determination.  This 
common  service  has  welded  together  our 
people.  These  experiences  safeguard  the 
future  of  America  and  enable  us  to  look 
forward  confidently  to  the  development 
of  a  stronger  nationality  and  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  obligations  that  rest  upon  us. 
The  exercise  by  the  American  people  of 
practical  patriotism  during  the  war  was 
an  avowal  of  our  firm  adherence  to  the 
principles  of  free  government  that  will 
continue  to  have  great  influence  upon  the 
progressive  thought  throughout  the  world. 
These  are  things  which  make  this  day  sig- 
nificant. 


412 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Mr.  Glass  a  Senator 

CARTER  T.  GLASS,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  was  appointed  Nov.  15  to 
the  United  States  Senate  to  succeed  the 
late  Thomas  S.  Martin.  His  term  does 
not  expire  until  1925.  Mr.  Glass  became 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  after  the 
resignation  of  William  G.  McAdoo.  It 
was  reported  Nov.  24  that  the  President 
would  appoint  Russell  Cornell  Leffing- 
well,  a  New  York  attorney,  who  was  As- 
sistant Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  the 
Secretaryship.  Mr.  Leffingwell  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  law  firm  of  Cravath  &  Hen- 
derson of  New  York  City. 

*  *     * 

Germans  in  Mexico 

MEXICO,  in  order  to  encourage  Ger- 
man colonization,  has  given  conces- 
sions of  over  3,400,000  acres  of  land, 
which  were  sold  to  German  capitalists, 
and  it  is  stated  that  Mexican  authorities 
expect  to  bring  Germans  into  Mexico  at 
the  rate  of  45,000  a  year. 

The  Kaiser's  Private  Yacht 

THE  Meteor,  formerly  the  private 
steam  yacht  of  the  German  Kaiser, 
recently  arrived  at  Buenos  Aires  on  a 
regular  trip  under  the  Royal  Steamship 
Company,  to  which  it  was  assigned  after 
the  British  Government  had  taken  it 
over  after  the  armistice.  On  this  trip 
the  ship  carried  170  passengers.  The 
Kaiser's  yacht  is  now  regularly  in  the 

passenger  and  cargo  service. 

*  *     * 

Berger  Excluded  From  Congress 

THE  House  of  Represeentatives  by  a 
vote  of  309  voted  to  exclude  Victor 
L.  Berger,  Socialist,  elected  to  Congress 
from  the  Fifth  Wisconsin  District,  from 
his  seat  in  the  House.  Berger  had  been 
convicted  of  violation  of  the  Espionage 
act.  Shortly  after  his  expulsion  he  was 
renominated  for  Congress  by  the  Social- 
ists at  Milwaukee. 

*  *     * 

Americans  Who  Died  in  Russia 

THE  armored  transport  Lake  Daraga 
arrived  Nov.  12  from  Archangel,  by 
way  of  Brest,  with  the  bodies  of  103  sol- 
diers who  had  died  in  Russia.  Patriotic 
services,  held  the  following  day,  were 
attended  by  members   of  the   American 


Legion  and  a  special  committee  of  Sena- 
tors and  Congressmen. 

*     *     * 

St.   Mark's  Bronze   Horses   Restored 

THE  famouis  Quadriga,  the  group  of 
four  bronze  horses  of  St.  Mark's, 
were  replaced  over  the  principal  portal 
of  the  Basilica  at  Venice  on  Nov.  11 
after  having  been  hidden  in  a  safe  place 
during  the  years  of  war.  This  stately, 
ancient  bronze  was  brought  to  Venice  in 
the  year  1204  by  Doge  Enrico  Dandolo, 
and  was  removed  early  in  1915  in  the 
fear  that  it  would  be  damaged  by  the 
Austrian  bombardment.  This  was  the 
second  time  the  horses  had  been  removed 
from  Venice,  Napoleon  having  taken 
them  to  Paris  to  decorate  the  Triumphal 
Arch  in  the  Place  du  Carrousel.  They 
were  returned  to  Venice  in  1815. 

Belgian  and  French  Grants  in  Africa 

BY  an  Anglo-Belgian  agreement,  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Belgian  Senate  on 
Aug.  26,  the  districts  of  Ruanda  and 
Urundi,  in  German  East  Africa,  were 
ceded  to  Belgium  by  Great  Britain.  The 
whole  of  German  East  Africa  was  assigned 
to  the  latter  country  by  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence as  a  mandatary  of  the  League  of 
Nations.  Ruanda  and  Urundi  constitute 
the  most  fertile  district  of  the  colony, 
and  have  a  population  of  over  3,000,000 
natives.  The  cession  was  made  by  Great 
Britain  as  a  mark  of  British  gratitude 
to  her  Belgian  ally. 

By  a  Franco-British  agreement  about 
four-fifths  of  Cameroun  and  two-thirds 
of  Togo  are  to  be  ceded  to  France.  Ger- 
man statistics  give  Cameroun  an  area  of 
540,000  square  kilometers  and  a  native 
population  of  2,750,000  inhabitants.  The 
population  in  French  Cameroun  has  been 
estimated  at  about  1,500,000.  The  port 
of  Douala  will  be  the  principal  port  of 
the  whole  territory  when  united.  Togo, 
according  to  German  statistics,  possesses 
87,000  square  kilometers  and  a  native 
population  of  1,032,000  inhabitants.  In 
1912  its  commerce  totaled  26,731,000 
francs.  The  British  cession  will  include 
the  port  of  Lome,  which  will  be  the  prin- 
cipal issue  of  Dahomey,  and  two  rail- 
ways which  are  susceptible  of  extension 
to  regions  of  French  Sudan. 


The  Month  in  the  United  States 


With  Demobilization  Practically  Completed  the  Nation  Grap- 
ples   With    Peace-time    Problems 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  20,  1919] 


FEW  American  troops  remained 
abroad  on  Nov.  1,  and  most  of 
these  were  getting  ready  to  re- 
turn. During  the  first  twenty- 
seven  days  of  October  16,047  army  per- 
sonnel sailed  from  Europe.  Since  the 
armistice  a  total  of  3,421,916  men  had 
been  discharged  from  the  army,  more 
than  a  million  of  whom  were  in  this 
country  and  never  had  an  opportunity  to 
go  to  France. 

The  estimated  strength  of  the  army  on 
Nov.  3  was  270,200,  not  including  nurses 
and  field  clerks.  The  distribution  in- 
cluded 18,455  in  Europe,  7,783  en  route 
to  or  from  Europe,  and  209,884  in  the 
United  States.  The  total  "enlisted" 
strength  was  247,543,  which  was  30,000, 
or  12  per  cent.,  below  the  number  per- 
mitted under  existing  appropriations. 
There  are  still  13,560  emergency  officers 
in  the  army. 

Comparative  figures  prepared  by  the 
General  Staff  and  published  on  Nov.  17 
showed  that  the  rate  of  demobilization 
of  the  army  since  the  armistice  exceeded 
the  rate  for  the  same  period  following  the 
civil  war  and  the  war  with  Spain.  De- 
mobilization for  the  year  reached  96  per 
cent.,  as  compared  with  94.4  the  first 
year  following  the  civil  war.  Demobiliza- 
tion following  the  war  with  Spain  ter- 
minated with  the  tenth  month,  when  a 
percentage  of  83  was  reached,  the  Philip- 
pine insurrection  preventing  the  disband- 
ment  of  some  volunteer  organizations 
until  the  succeeding  year. 

As  compared  with  the  civil  war,  de- 
mobilization during  1919  was  less  rapid 
for  the  first  six  months,  and  more  rapid 
for  the  second  six  months.  The  emer- 
gency forces  at  their  greatest  strength, 
regulars  not  included,  in  each  of  these 
three  wars,  were: 

Civil  War-April  30,  1865,  1,034,061. 

Spanish  War— Aug.  31,  1898,  216,266. 

World   War— Nov.    11,    1!)18,    3,"i60,000. 


The  mustering  out  of  troops  after  the 
civil  war  was  virtually  completed  by  the 
Summer  of  1866,  although  a  few  volun- 
teers were  retained  in  service  after  Nov. 
1,  1866.  The  last  volunteer  organization 
was  disbanded  Dec.  20,  1867,  or  two  and 
one-half  years  after  hostilities  had 
ceased. 

On  Armistice  Day,  Nov.  11,  the  pub- 
lication at  Washington  of  a  revised  list 
of  American  war  casualties  showed  a 
total  of  293,089.  The  list  included  34,- 
625  killed  in  action,  including  382  lost 
at  sea;  died  of  wounds,  13,955;  died  of 
disease,  23,392;  died  of  accident  and 
other  causes,  5,326;  wounded  in  action, 
215,489;   missing  in  action,  2. 

Thirty-three  graduates  of  West  Point 
were  killed  in  action  or  died  of  wounds 
received  in  action  during  the  world  war, 
according  to  information  from  the  offi- 
cial records  of  the  War  Department. 
These  officers  belonged  to  fifteen 
graduating  classes.  The  classes  of  1917 
and  1918  sustained  the  heaviest  losses, 
six  officers  of  the  class  of  1917  having 
lost  their  lives  and  ten  of  the  class  of 
1918,  which  was  graduated  on  Aug.  30, 
1917. 

No  West  Pointer  of  higher  rank  than 
Colonel  lost  his  life  in  the  war,  but  the 
majority  of  those  from  West  Point 
killed  in  action  were  of  grades  ranging 
from  Captain  up  to  Colonel,  only  eight 
being  of  as  low  rank  as  Lieutenants. 
One  of  the  officers,  Second  Lieutenant 
Albert  F.  Ward,  was  killed  in  action  at 
Vladivostok,  and  the  other  thirty-two 
were  killed  in  France. 

DEATHS  AT  FLYING  FIELDS 

It  was  stated  by  the  General  Staff  on 
Oct.  28  that  since  June  1,  1918,  the  Air 
Service  had  had  390  fatalities  at  flying 
fields  in  the  United  States,  of  which  14, 
or  4  per  cent.,  were  attributed  to  the 
failure  of  engines  or  the  collapse  of  air- 


414 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


planes.  The  causes  of  9  per  cent,  of 
all  fatalities  are  declared  to  be  unknown. 
The  causes,  numbers  of  fatalities,  and 
percentage  which  each  class  of  fatality 
bears  to  the  total  were  made  public,  as 

follows : 

Number.    P.C. 

Tail  spin    118  30 

Collision    61  16 

Nose   dive      47  12 

Unknown    36  9 

Side  slip  21  5 

Stall    19  5 

Fire    15  4 

Failure  of  machine 14  4 

Struck   by   propeller 13  3 

Others    46  12 

Total    390 

300,000   FOR  PEACE  ARMY 

The  House  Military  Affairs  Committee, 
it  was  announced  Nov.  15  by  Representa- 
tive Julius  Kahn,  Chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, had  reached  an  agreement  for  a 
peace  army  of  300,000  officers  and  men. 

The  unanimous  opinion  of  the  com- 
mittee is  that  the  regular  army  should 
be  recruited  by  voluntary  enlistments, 
and  that  promotions  should  be  from  a 
single  list,  as  recommended  by  General 
Pershing.  The  Tank  and  Chemical  War- 
fare Service,  Mr.  Kahn  said,  would  be 
continued,  although  many  other  divi- 
sions and  bureaus  created  during  the 
war  probably  would  be  discontinued. 

Mr.  Kahn's  statement  read  to  the  com- 
mittee was,  in  part,  as  follows: 

It  Is  believed  by  the  members  of  the 
committee  that  in  the  legislation  that  we 
ultimately  will  report  to  the  House  such 
branches  of  the  army  as  a  tank  section 
and  a  chemical  warfare  section  will  have 
to  be  provided.  These  are  two  of  the  en- 
tirely new  developments  of  modern  war- 
fare. A  number  of  new  divisions  and 
bureaus  of  the  supply  departments  also 
were  created  during  the  war.  Among 
these  were  the  finance  division,  the 
transportation  corps,  and  the  storage  and 
traffic  division,  while  the  air  service  was 
divorced  from  the  signal  corps  and  func- 
tioned   as    a    separate    organization. 

The  committee  has  reached  virtually  a 
unanimous  conclusion  as  to  the  size  of  the 
regular  army  at  this  time.  "We  feel  that 
the  legislation  ought  to  contemplate  a 
regular  force  of  250,000  combat  troops. 
"With  the  necessary  auxiliary  forces  in 
the  supply  and  staff  corps  it  probably 
will  bring  the  total  number  of  officers 
and  men  to  about  300,000.     Enlisted  men 


in    the    regular    army   we    feel    should    be 
recruited   by   voluntary   enlistments. 

PERSHING'S  MILITARY  POLICY 

General  Pershing  on  Oct.  31  appeared 
before  the  House  and  Senate  Committees 
on  Military  Affairs  and  gave  his  views 
as   to   the   reorganization   of   the   army. 
He  insisted  that  the  standing  army,  offi- 
cers and  men,  should  not  total  more  than 
275,000   or   300,000,   as   against   575,000, 
recommended  by  the  General  Staff.     In 
agreement   with    the    General    Staff   he 
recommended  universal  military  training 
for  youths  of   19   for  six  months.     He 
favored    this,   even    though    there    were 
never  another  war,  for  its  physical  and 
educational  features  and  the  preliminary 
and  necessary  training  it  gave  in  citizen- 
ship.    The  youths  so  trained  would  not 
be  subject  to  draft  in  peace  times,  as  the 
standing  army  would  be  maintained  by 
volunteers.     General  Pershing  said: 
In  considering  the  total  strength  of  the 
army  all  of  us  should  take  into  consider- 
ation   the    cost.      We    cannot    afford    to 
adopt   the    principle    of    a    large    standing 
army  at  the  enormous   expense   indicated 
in  this  bill. 

Our  success  in  the  war  was  not  due  to 
our  forethought  in  preparedness,  but  to 
exceptional  circumstances,  which  made  it 
possible  to  prepare  after  we  had  declared 
war.  It  is  my  belief  that  had  America 
been  adequately  prepared  our  rights  would 
never  have  been  violated,  our  institutions 
would  never  have  been  threatened.  As 
a  military  policy  we,. should  have: 

(A) — A  permanent  military  establish- 
ment large  enough  to  provide  against  sud- 
den attack. 

(B) — A  small  force  sufficient  for  ex- 
peditionary purposes  to  meet  our  interna- 
tional obligations,  particularly  on  the 
American  Continent. 

(C)— Such  force  as  may  be  necessary  to 
meet  our  internal  requirements. 

(D) — A  trained  citizen  reserve  organized 
to  meet  the  emergency  of  war. 

In  addition  to  preparing  our  young  man- 
hood to  defend  their  country,  universal 
military  training  brings  many  benefits 
which  our  Oovernment  should  hasten  to 
provide.  It  develops  physical  vigor  and 
manliness.  It  develops  mentality.  It  would 
decrease  illiteracy.  It  teaches  men  dis- 
cipline and  respect  for  constituted  au- 
thority. It  encourages  initiative  and  gives 
young  men  confidence  in  themselves.  It 
better  prepares  young  men  for  the  duties 
of  citizenship. 

Such  training  is  especially  needed  among 
our  alien  population,  who  would  learn 
something   of    our    language    and    our    in- 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


415 


stitutions.  All  these  benefits  have  been 
bestowed  upon  the  men  who  composed  our 
forces  during  the  war,  and  the  benefits 
of  such  training  should  be  universally 
extended  to  all  our  young  men.  Through 
service  it  increases  their  patriotism.  It 
broadens  their  views  through  associating 
with  men  of  all  classes.     It  is  democratic. 

RESIGNATION  OF  OFFICERS 

Up  to  Nov.  8  more  than  one-fourth  of 
all  the  officers  of  the  combatant  army, 
who  were  in  the  regular  army,  had  re- 
signed, and  other  resignations  were 
awaiting  the  action  of  the  President  and 
the  Secretary  of  War.  The  total  number 
accepted  up  to  noon  of  that  day  was 
1,999,  which  meant  that  32  per  cent,  of 
all  the  officers  in  the  Coast  Artillery 
Corps,  30  per  cent,  of  the  officers  of  the 
field  artillery,  24  per  cent,  of  the  cavalry 
officers,  28  per  cent,  of  the  infantry  offi- 
cers, and  16  per  cent,  of  the  official  per- 
sonnel of  the  .Corps  of  Engineers  had 
left  the  service. 

More  officers  have  resigned  since  the 
armistice  than  resigned  during  the  entire 
history  of  the  regular  army  prior  to 
November,  1918.  They  are  the  younger 
officers,  the  Lieutenants  and  Captains, 
the  ones  who  can  least  be  spared.  Vir- 
tually none  of  the  field  officers,  whose 
salaries  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
make  both  ends  meet  during  this  pres- 
ent period  of  high  cost  of  living,  are  re- 
signing. A  memorandum  issued  by  the 
Morale  Division  of  the  General  Staff 
says: 

The  army  is  in  a  very  serious  condi- 
tion. The  extraordinarily  high  cost  of 
the  necessities  of  lifv,  has  so  reduced  the 
standard  of  living  to  which  officers  have 
heretofore  been  accustomed  that  there 
has  resulted  a  profound  state  of  discon- 
tent and  low  morale  in  the  service. 
*  *  *  Those  who  resign  are  men  of 
high  initiative,  force,  energy,  and  self- 
reliance,  military  qualities  which  the 
army  can  ill-afford  to  lose. 

The  officers  of  the  army  are  now  being 
paid  on  the  salary  scale  passed  by  Con- 
gress in  1908,  since  which  time  no  in- 
creases have  been  granted.  In  numerous 
instances  the  situation  in  which  the 
younger  married  officers  find  them- 
selves, as  a  result  of  their  inadequate 
incomes,  borders  on  the  pathetic.  It  is 
of  record  that  in  scores  of  cases  they 
have  had  to  cancel  their  life  insurance, 


to  sell  their  Liberty  bonds,  while  their 
wives  and  daughters  attend  to  all  do- 
mestic work. 

The  answer  to  the  problem  now  facing 
the  country,  on  the  solution  of  which 
depends  the  future  of  the  military  estab- 
lishment, is  in  the  hands  of  Congress, 
which  now  has  before  it  a  bill  to  in- 
crease the  salary  of  officers  of  the 
army,  navy,  Marine  Corps,  Coast 
Guard,  and  Public  Health  Service  30  per 
cent.,  and  the  pay  of  all  enlisted  men  50 
per  cent. 

GENERAL  OFFICERS   NAMED 

Secretary  Baker  on  Oct.  31  announced 
the  names  of  101  general  officers  to  be 
retained  in  the  army  under  the  provisions 
of  the  bill,  which  allows  a  total  of  18,000 
officers  during  the  current  year.  The 
list  includes  the  names  of  two  Generals, 
two  Lieutenant  Generals,  fifty-five 
Major  Generals,  and  forty-two  Brigadier 
Generals.  Some  of  these  are  holding 
their  permanent  ranks,  while  others  are 
holding  temporary  ranks  as  general  offi- 
cers higher  than  their  permanent  ranks. 

The  Generals  ordered  to  be  retained, 
all  of  whom  will  remain  in  their  duties 
until  further  orders,  are: 

GENERALS— John  J.  Pershing  and  Pey- 
ton C.   March. 

LIEUTENANT  GENERALS  —  Hunter 
Liggett  and  Robert  L.  Bullard. 

MAJOR  GENERALS— Leonard  Wood. 
John  L.  Morrison,  Charles  G.  Morton,  Jo- 
seph T.  Dickman,  Charles  E.  W.  Kennedy, 
Francis  J.  Kernan,  Frank  Mclntyre, 
George  W.  Burr,  William  G.  Haan,  Henry 
Jervey,  James  W.  McAndrew,  Charles  H. 
Muir,  Peter  C.  Harris,  John  L.  Chamber- 
lain, Enoch  H.  Crowder,  Harry  L.  Rogers. 
M.  Perritt,  W.  Ireland,  William  M.  Black, 
Clarence  C.  Williams,  George  O.  Squier, 
Jesse  McCarter,  Frank  W.  Coe,  William 
J.  Spow,  Charles  T.  Menoher,  William  L. 
Sibert,  Charles  P.  Summerall,  James  G. 
Harbord,  William  M.  Wright,  John  L. 
Hines,  Henry  T.  Allen,  William  S. 
Graves,  Grote  Hutcheson,  James  H.  Mc- 
Rae,  Samuel  D.  Sturgis,  William  S.  Mc- 
Nair,  Clarence  H.  Edwards.  George  Bell, 
Jr.,  Joseph  E.  Kuhn,  David  C.  Shanks, 
Edwin  F.  Glenn,  John  Biddle,  Omar 
Bundy,  Harry  C.  Hale,  George  W.  Read, 
Edward  F.  McGlachlin,  Jr.,  Henry  C. 
Sharpe,  Charles  J.  Bailey,  Charles  S. 
Farnsworth,  Ernest  Hines,  Clement  A.  F. 
Flagler,  Edward  M.  Lewis,  William  H. 
Hay,  Robert  L.  Howze,  and  A.  W.  Brew- 
ster. 


416 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


BRIGADIER  GENERALS— Marlborough 
Churchill,  Herbert  M.  Lord,  Charles  R. 
Krauthoff,  "Walter  D.  McCaw,  Robert  E. 
Noble,  Samuel  D.  Rockenbach,  Frank  T. 
Hines,  Richard  C.  Marshall,  Jr.,  Charles 
B.  Drake,  William  Mitchell,  Edward  A. 
Kreger,  Francis  H.  French,  Henry  C. 
Hodges,  William  H.  Sage,  Richard  M. 
Blatchford,  William  S.  Scott,  D.  A. 
Poore,  Arthur  Johnson,  Wilds  P.  Rich- 
ardson, Francis  C.  Marshall,  Harry  H. 
Bandholtz,  Frank  H.  McCoy,  Charles  G. 
Treat,  Edwin  B.  Babbitt,  George  G.  Gat- 
ley,  George  V.  S.  Moseley,  Fox  Conner, 
W.  W.  Harts,  William  J,  N.  Holson, 
Harry  F.  Hodges,  John  W.  Ruckman, 
John  D.  Barrett,  Johnson  Hagood,  Rich- 
mond P.  Davis,  Andrew  Moses,  Andrew 
Hero,  Jr.,  William  C.  Davis,  Adelbert 
Cronkhite,  Douglas  MacArthur,  William 
D.  Connor,  W.  A.  Bethel,  and  Robert  C. 
Davis. 

ARMY  SALES  EXCEED  BILLION 

On  Nov.  18  it  was  stated  by  the  War 
Department  that  the  sales  of  surplus 
army  property  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe  reported  to  Nov.  8  amounted  to 
$1,152,328,305.  Sales  in  the  United 
States  alone  amounted  to  $602,000,000, 
which  was  9^  per  cent,  greater  than  the 
total  sales  in  Europe.  The  total  for  the 
United  States  covered  sales  of  real  estate 
and  improvements  and  included  $123,- 
245,240  in  sales  made  prior  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  office  of  the  Director  of 
Sales.  The  value  of  sales  of  army 
property  in  this  country  and  Europe  was 
given  as  follows: 

United  States,  $602,000,000;  France, 
$400,000,000;  Poland,  $48,459,152;  Bel- 
gium; $28,605,661;  Siberia,  $18,716,009; 
Czechoslovakia,  $14,958,937;  Rumania, 
$12,879,313;  Esthonia,  $10,820,117;  Uk- 
rainia,  $8,557,771;  Lithuania,  $4,414,861: 
Letvia,  $2,538,313;  Provincial  Govern- 
ments of  Russia,  $378,171.  Total,  $1,152,- 
328,305. 

To  Nov.  5  the  Liquidation  Commission 
had  made  credit  sales  of  surplus  prop- 
erty in  France  and  the  liberated  coun- 
tries aggregating  $550,328,305.  Corrected 
reports  received  by  the  department  re- 
duced the  value  of  the  liquidated  con- 
tracts. 

The  value  of  22,596  contracts,  reported 
liquidated  to  Nov.  1,  was  $2,091,436,000, 
as  compared  with  $2,128,795,000  reported 
last- week.  This  was  a  reduction  of  $37,- 
000,000  due  to  corrected  reports. 


THE    AMERICAN    LEGION 

The  first  convention  of  the  American 
Legion,  a  national  organization  of  ex- 
soldiers  of  the  world  war,  was  held  in 
Minneapolis  in  the  second  week  of  No- 
vember. It  adjourned  on  Nov.  12  after 
selecting  Franklin  D'Olier  of  Philadel- 
phia as  First  National  Commander. 
Resolutions  passed  as  the  convention 
closed  included  condemnation  of  strikes 
of  policemen,  firemen,  or  other  public 
employes,  and  a  call  for  settlement  of  in- 
dustrial disputes. 

The  convention  for  a  time  seemed  split 
on  the  proposal  to  indorse  a  specific 
bonus  plan.  Representative  Royal  O. 
Johnson  of  Aberdeen,  S.  D.,  who  served 
in  France,  urged  the  delegates  to  ask 
Congress  to  recognize  and  relieve  the 
financial  disadvantages  incurred  by  per- 
sons who  made  sacrifices  to  serve  their 
country.  Former  Senator  Luke  Lea  of 
Tennessee,  Chairman  of  the  Bonus  Com- 
mittee, formally  put  this  resolution  be- 
fore the  convention  and  it  was  adopted. 
A  broad  variety  of  subjects,  including 
the  Centralia  tragedy,  industrial  unrest, 
and  the  National  Non-Partisan  League, 
were  touched  on.  Delegates  from  North- 
western States  drew  up  a  resolution  as- 
sailing the  activities  of  President  A.  C. 
Townley  of  the  Non-Partisan  League, 
but  it  was  tabled. 

Commander  D'Olier  issued  the  follow- 
ing statement  soon  after  his  election: 
The  American  Legion  has  an  enormous 
amount  of  constructive  work  before  it  in 
the  coming  year,  but  the  spirit  of  clear 
thinking,  fair  play,  and  co-operation 
manifested  so  wonderfully  throughout  this 
convention  leaves  no  doubt  in  my  mind 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  accomplish  dur- 
ing the  coming  year  just  as  remarkable 
results  for  our  country  as  we  did  in  such 
a  comparatively  short  time  in  effecting 
the  utter  defeat  of  the  enemy. 

Every  action  of  the  convention  was  dis- 
cussed carefully,  and  in  every  instance 
the  soundest  possible  judgment  prevailed. 
There  was  only  one  thought  of  every  dele- 
gate present,  and  that  was  to  do  what  was 
best  for  this  country  of  ours,  for  which 
only  so  recently  we  were  willing  to  give 
our  all. 

Declarations  placing  the  legion  on 
record  against  anti- American  propaganda 
and  activities  were  adopted,  and  resolu- 
tions passed,  including: 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES 


417 


Demand  for  the  deportation  of  alien 
slackers  and  enemy  aliens  interned  dur- 
ing the  war,  with  selective  admission  of 
foreigners. 

Authorizing  the  appointment  of  a  legion 
committee  to  spread  the  teaching  of  the 
legion  doctrine  of  "  100  per  cent.  Amer- 
icanism "  among  veterans  of  the  war  and 
aliens  in  this  country. 

Demanding  a  "  change  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  from  a  passive  organiza- 
tion to  a  militant,  active  branch,  whose 
findings  will  be  promptly  acted  upon  by 
the  executive  authority." 

Opposition  to  organization  of  societies 
for  relief  of  civilian  populations  of  Ger- 
many, Austria  and  Hungary  unless  these 
societies  be  authorized  by  Congress. 

NAVAL  MINE  SWEEPERS 

On  Oct.  12  it  was  announced  at 
Plymouth,  England,  that  the  units  of  the 
American  Navy  then  in  British  waters 
were  assembling  at  that  port  for  their 
journey  across  the  Atlantic,  and  on  Nov. 
24  this  whole  fleet  was  receiving  honors 
in  New  York  Harbor.  These  vessels 
had  just  completed  the  gigantic  task 
of  sweeping  up  21,000  of  their  mines, 
which  formed  a  part  of  the  North  Sea 
barrage  from  the  Orkneys  to  Norway. 
The  barrier  was  230  miles  long,  with  an 
average  width  of  25  miles,  and  consisted 
of  70,000  mines. 

The  sweeping  up  of  this  huge  mine 
field  began  on  May  10  last,  and  American 
officers  say  they  completed  in  one  sea- 
son's work  that  which  it  was  confidently 
expected  would  take  two  years. 

They  employed  eighty  vessels,  includ- 
ing thirty-six  sweepers,  and  only  four  out 
of  the  thirty-six  sweepers  escaped  dam- 
age through  mines  exploding  near. 

One  ship  sank  and  Commander  King 
and  six  men  were  lost.  The  commander's 
devotion  to  duty  was  such  that  the  Amer- 
ican Navy  promptly  named  a  new  de- 
stroyer after  him. 

INCREASES  IN  NAVY  PAY 
Urging  immediate  pay  increases  as 
necessary  to  retain  present  navy  officers 
and  men  and  obtain  new  ones,  Secretary 
Daniels  on  Nov.  12  recommended  to  the 
House  Navy  Committee  temporary  in- 
creases aggregating  $53,000,000  a  year 
for  all  officers  and  men.  The  pi'oposed 
new  schedule  would  remain  in  effect  until 
June  30,  1921. 

Mr.   Daniels   also   told   the   committee 


that  funds  allowed  naval  officers  for  pub- 
lic and  official  receptions  should  be  in- 
creased. 

The  following  annual  increases,  with 
similar  advances  in  the  pay  of  officers 
of  corresponding  rank  in  the  Marine 
Corps,  were  recommended  by  Mr. 
Daniels: 

Admirals,  Rear  Admirals,  Vice  Ad- 
mirals, and  Captains,  $1,000;  Com- 
manders, $900;  Lieutenant  Commanders, 
$840;  Lieutenants,  senior  grade,  $720; 
Lieutenants,  junior  grade,  $600,  and  En- 
signs and  warrant  officers,  $480.  Monthly 
pay  of  chief  petty  officers  would  be  lim- 
ited to  $126,  and  that  of  other  enlisted 
men  to  $40  instead  of  $32.60. 

ARMY  TRANSPORT  SERVICE 
Brig.  Gen.  Frank  T.  Hines,  Director 
of  Transportation,  declared  on  Nov.  15 
that  since  the  armistice  was  signed  the 
Army  Transportation  Service  has  rede- 
livered to  the  Shipping  Board  and  to 
private  owners  nearly  600  passenger  and 
cargo  ships  aggregating  about  4,000,000 
deadweight  tons.    General  Hines  said: 

The  first  anniversary  of  Armistice  Day 
found  the  National  Army  returned  from 
oversea  and  a  division  of  the  regular  army 
on  watch  on  the  Rhine  with  scattering 
caretakers  here  and  there  in  France, 
guarding  American  supplies  and  equip- 
ment yet  to  be  returned  to  the  United 
States.  The  Army  Transport  forces  have 
been  withdrawn  from  Marseilles,  Bor- 
deaux, St.  Nazaire,  La  Pallice,  and  Le 
Havre.  Soon  the  famous  port  of  Brest 
will  be  closed,  as  Antwerp  has  been  es- 
tablished as  the  port  or  base  of  operations 
for  supplying  the  Rhine  Valley  Army  dur- 
ing the  reconstruction  period.  The  re- 
turn movemeht  of  troops  and  cargo  was 
no  sooner  well  under  way  than  the  trans- 
portation service  of  the  War  Department, 
heeding  the  call  of  Mr.  Hurley  and  the 
American  merchant  marine,  began  rede- 
livering cargo  troop  transports  to  the 
Shipping  Board  and  American  steamship 
lines. 

The  prompt  redelivery  of  these  steam- 
ships has  proved  a  most  potent  economic 
transaction  for  the  Government  in  re- 
ducing the  enormous  cost  of  war  oper- 
ations as  well  as  a  most  timely  stimulus 
to  the  American  merchant  marine  in  lift- 
ing the  enormous  congestion  of  export 
cargo  that  had  accumulated  at  American 
seaports  for  shipment  to  all  parts  of  the 
world.  The  war  tonnage  that  has  been 
redelivered  by  the  Transportation  Service 
reached  a  total  of  590  ships  of  3,911,000 
tons    deadweight,    not    including    twenty- 


418 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


four  battleships  of  352,395  displacement 
tons  that  were  pressed  into  service  as 
troop  carriers,  and  two  troop  ships  and 
thirty-one  cargo  ships  which  were 
sunk.    *    *    * 

Today,  with  the  emergency  functions  of 
the  Oversea  Transportation  Service  prac- 
tically completed,  an  excellent  perspective 
of  these  titanic  accomplishments  may  be 
had.  Briefly  stated,  It  picked  up 
2,100,000  soldiers  from  the  interior  of  the 
United  States  and  set  them  down  in  every 
part  of  Europe  and  even  in  Siberia  and 
brought  them  home.  It  carried  overseas 
8,000,000  tons  of  supplies  and  distributed 
same  to  wherever  required  for  their 
sustenance.  It  transported  their  equip- 
ment, armament,  ammunition,  and  all  the 
varied  paraphernalia  necessary  to  success- 
fully conduct  modern,  scientific  warfare. 
Before  the  ink  was  dry  on  the  signatures 
of  the  German  envoys  it  had  started  to  re- 
verse the  operation.  It  brought  the  soldier 
back  and  deposited  him  at  his  own  fire- 
side, so  that  he  might  renew  his  normal 
existence  in  the  industrial  life  of  the 
nation  with  the  least  possible  interruption. 
It  gathered  up  700,000  tons  of  army  stores 
from  various  corners  of  Europe  and  re- 
turned same  to  the  United  States.  It 
turned  the  chartered  tonnage  back  to  the 
merchant  marine  with  all  practicable 
speed. 

It  was  stated  in  Washington,  Nov.  1, 
that  with  the  completion  of  the  present 
construction  program  of  the  Shipping 
Board  there  would  be  under  the  Ameri- 
can flag  1,731  oil-burning  steamers  of  an 
aggregate  of  nearly.  10,000,000  dead- 
weight tons.  Fuel  stations  are  now  be- 
ing established  along  the  trade  routes 
in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  so  that  the 
American  ships  will  be  able  to  make  a 
complete  circuit  of  the  world  without 
taking  fuel  at  other  than  American- 
owned  stations. 

A  total  of  486  oil-burning  ships  is  now 
in  the  Government  merchant  fleet,  while 
sixty-seven  others  have  been  sold  to 
Americans  or  reconveyed  to  their  Amer- 
ican owners.  In  addition  636  oil-burn- 
ing vessels  are  under  construction. 

BILL  TO   RETURN   RAILROADS 

By  a  vote  of  203  to  159  the  House  on 
Nov.  17  passed  finally  the  Esch  bill  to 
regulate  the  railroads  after  their  release 
by  the  Government.  This  action  was 
taken  after  Representative  Claude 
Kitchin,  former  Democratic  floor  leader, 
had  'denounced  the  provision  the  railway 
unions  demanded  for  the  adjustment  of 


wage  disputes,  and  after  Representative 
Mondell,  Republican  leader,  had  char- 
acterized the  measure  as  a  whole  as 
"  strong,  sane,  and  sensible." 

Representative  Kitchin's  denunciation 
of  the  so-called  Anderson  amendment, 
dealing  with  the  adjustment  of  labor 
disputes,  was  made  in  a  five-minute 
speech  before  the  bill  was  reported  from 
committee.  This  section  continues  in 
effect  the  present  machinery  of  the  rail- 
roads and  presents  no  way  to  force  a 
dispute  before  the  adjustment  boards 
unless  action  is  initiated  by  the  railway 
unions.  There  is  nothing  in  the  amend- 
ment which  attempts  to  prevent  strikes 
or  gives  authority  to  the  board  to  en- 
force its  decision. 

Representative  Mondell  said  that  at 
no  time  in  twenty  years  had  the  House 
so  faithfully  considered  an  important 
measure  as  in  this  instance.  "  While  I 
am  not  in  favor  of  some  parts  of  the 
bill,"  he  said,  "  yet  I  believe  that  it,  as 
a  whole,  is  strong,  sane,  and  sensible, 
and  represents  the  view  of  the  majority. 

The  House,  when  the  bill  was  reported 
from  committee,  where  earlier  important 
sections  enlarging  the  powers  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  had 
been  adopted,  declined,  by  a  vote  of  200 
to  165,  to  recommit  it,  and  rejected  a 
motion  to  strike  out  the  Anderson  amend- 
ment by  a  vote  of  253  to  112.  The 
latter  vote  represented  a  stronger  senti- 
ment for  the  labor  adjustment  section 
than  when  it  was  adopted  originally  by 
the  committee. 

The  bill  passed  finally  also  enlarges 
the  powers  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  The  commission  is  empow- 
ered to  pass  upon  the  issue  of  stocks 
and  bonds  by  railroads  and  to  decide  in 
certain  emergencies  when  joint  terminal 
and  other  facilities  shall  be  used  by  the 
carriers. 

INCREASING  RAILWAY  WAGES 

Director  General  Hines  on  Nov.  15 
submitted  to  representatives  of  the  four 
railway  brotherhoods  an  increased  wage 
scale  amounting  approximately  to 
$3,000,000  a  month,  or  $36,000,000  a 
year.  The  increase  would  affect  train- 
men, firemen,  engineers,  and  conductors, 


THE  MONTH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


419 


but  more  particularly  those  employed  in 
the  slow  freight  train  service.  In  mak- 
ing the  awards  the  Railroad  Administra- 
tion set  forth  these  facts: 

The  Railroad  Administration  in  dis- 
charging its  responsibility  to  make  re- 
adjustments necessary  to  avoid  unjust  in- 
equalities in  the  compensation  of  differ- 
ent classes  of  railroad  employes  has  pro- 
posed to  the  four  brotherhoods  represent- 
ing the  train  and  enginemeen  that,  in 
order  to  give  an  additional  measure  of 
compensation  to  the  train  service  em- 
ployes in  the  slow  freight  service,  time 
and  one-half  will  be  paid  for  time  re- 
quired to  make  runs  in  excess  of  what 
would  be  required  if  an  average  speed  of 
12%  miles  per  hour  were  maintained,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  all  arbitrages  and 
special  allowances  now  paid  in  various 
forms  of  freight  train  service  are  en- 
tirely eliminated  for  the  railroads  as  a 
whole. 

In  discharging  the  responsibility  which 
unavoidably  rested  upon  the  Railroad 
Administration  consideration  has  been 
given  to  the  claim  that  various  classes 
of  train  and  engine  employes  are  rela- 
tively underpaid.  In  considering  these 
claims  the  conclusion  has  been  reached 
that  the  train  service  employes  in  freight 
train  service,  who  are  habitually  averag- 
ing less  than  twelve  and  a  half  miles  per 
hour,  do  not  get  an  opportunity  to  earn 
a  reasonable  monthly  wage,  as  compared 
with  employes  in  fast  freight  service  or 
employes  in  passenger  train  service,  with- 
out working  abnormally  long  hours,  fre- 
quently amounting  to  from  275  to  300 
hours  or  more  per  month,  and  the  above 
method   has   been  decided  to   be  the  best 


way   in   which   to  make  a  fair    equaliza- 
tion of  this  condition. 

Compromise  terms  with  the  Track 
Workers'  Brotherhood  were  accepted  on 
Nov,  24,  and  representatives  of  the  other 
unions  were  in  session,  with  every  pros- 
pect of  an  early  adjustment  of  remaining 
differences. 

FOOD  CONTROL  REVIVED 

President  Wilson  in  a  proclamation  of 
Nov.  21  placed  the  Government  again  in 
control  of  the  nation's  food  supply  by 
transferring  the  authority  of  the  Food 
Administration  to  Attorney  General 
Palmer.  The  revival  of  the  wartime 
functions  of  Administrator  Hoover  re- 
sulted directly  from  the  Government's 
efforts  to  avert  a  famine  in  sugar,  but 
the  powers  delegated  to  the  head  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  will  be  used  also 
to  help  put  down  the  ever-mounting  cost 
of  living. 

Mr.  Palmer's  staff  began  immediately 
to  build  up  a  sugar-distributing  system 
which  should  allocate  all  sugar  stocks  in 
the  country.  It  aimed  to  provide  an 
equitable  system  of  distributing  supplies 
and  to  defeat  any  concentration  or  hoard- 
ing. Plans  tentatively  decided  on  pro- 
vide for  increasing  the  price  of  all  sugar 
except  the  Louisiana  crop,  for  which  a 
price  of  17  cents  already  had  been  fixed, 
to  12  cents  a  pound  wholesale. 


Japan  Leads  in  Birth   Rate 


DURING  1917  the  population  of 
Japan,  including  the  colonial  pos- 
sesions, registered  a  net  increase  from 
births  of  612,774.  The  total  number  of 
recorded  births  for  that  year  is  1,843,023 
and  the  deaths  1,230,279.  The  net  in- 
crease by  sexes  is:  Males,  315,643; 
females,  297,101.  Official  reports  show 
an  increased  marriage  rate,  a  lower 
death  rate,  and  a  decrease  in  divorces. 

A  comparison  with  the  pre-war  vital 
statistics  issued  by  the  respective  Euro- 
pean Governments  shows  that  the  1917 
birth  rate  in  Japan  was  exceeded  by  only 
Rumania  and  Hungary  in  1914. 

During  1917  there  were  545,478  record- 
ed marriages  between  Japanese  subjects, 
an  increase  over  1916  of  14,723.    These 


marriages  were  at  the  rate  of  7.99  per 
1,000  of  population,  a  rate  exceeded  in 
1914  in  Rumania,  8.5,  and  England  and 
Wales,  8.0.  In  other  European  countries 
in  1914,  the  last  year  for  which  statistics 
are  available,  the  marriage  rate  per  1,000 
stood:  Germany,  7.7;  Scotland,  7.4; 
Hungary,  7.2;  Italy,  7.1;  Denmark,  6.9; 
Austria  and  the  Netherlands,  6.7; 
Spain  and  Norway,  6.5;  Finland  and 
Sweden,  5.8;  Ireland,  5.4,  and  France, 
5.1. 

Divorce  in  Japan  is  a  very  simple  proc- 
ess, involving  mainly  the  decision  of 
one  or  the  other  party  to  the  marrage 
to  cancel  it,  with  the  sanction  of  the  fam- 
ily council,  but  despite  this  there  was  a 
decrease  of  4,452  in  the  year's  divorces. 


The  Coal  Miners'  Strike 

Hundreds     of     Thousands     Walk     Out     Despite     Injunction, 
Threatening    a    Catastrophe    to    Industries 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  23,  1919] 


THE  greatest  strike  in  the  history  of 
the  coal  industry  of  the  United 
States  began  on  Nov.  1,  1919, 
when  a  call  for  the  walkout  of 
600,000  miners  in  the  bituminous  coal 
fields,  issued  by  the  leaders  of  the  Uni- 
ted Mine  Workers  of  America,  went 
partly  into  effect.  The  demands  of  the 
miners  included  a  six-hour  day,  a  five- 
day  week,  and  a  60  per  cent,  increase  in 
wages,  the  most  drastic  proposal  ever 
made  by  workmen  in  the  history  of 
American  trade  unionism,  involving,  if 
complied  with,  an  extra  tax  upon  indus- 
trial and  domestic  America  of  more  than 
one  billion  dollars  annually. 

These  terms  had  been  unconditionally 
rejected  by  the  mine  operators,  who 
called  on  the  miners  to  live  up  to  their 
existing  contracts.  The  miners  replied 
that  on  the  date  set  the  workers  of  their 
organization  would  begin  the  projected 
strike.  All  propositions  submitted  by 
Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  in  an  earnest 
effort  to  effect  an  agreement  were  re- 
jected. Secretary  Wilson  then  appealed 
to  the  President  to  intervene  in  a  situa- 
tion which  threatened  consequences  of 
the  gravest  concern  to  the  whole  nation. 
From  his  sickbed  President  Wilson  dic- 
tated a  letter,  in  which  he  proposed:  (1) 
That  the  representatives  of  the  miners 
and  operators  resume  negotiations  in  an 
effort  to  reach  a  peaceful  settlement. 
(2)  That,  if  the  miners  and  operators 
failed  to  agree,  the  matters  in  dispute  be 
referred  to  a  board  of  arbitration.  (3) 
That  pending  the  decision  of  the  board 
the  strike  be  called  off,  and  the  opera- 
tion of  the  mines  be  continued  without 
interruption. 

Secretary  Wilson  at  once  called  repre- 
sentatives of  the  miners  and  operators 
together,  and  communicated  to  them  the 
President's  letter.  The  President's  pro- 
posals were  accepted  by  the  operators, 
but  were  rejected  by  the  miners  after 


failure  to  obtain  guarantees  that  the 
suggested  conferences  would  insure  the 
fulfillment  of  the  miners'  demands.  Sec- 
retary Wilson,  finding  himself  unable  to 
shake  their  decision,  adjourned  the  meet- 
ing sine  die. 

THE  PRESIDENTS  STATEMENT 

The  President,  however,  after  receiv- 
ing information  of  the  miners'  uncom- 
promising attitude,  on  the  following  day 
(Oct.  25)  issued  a  statement  in  which  he 
denounced  the  proposed  strike  as  not 
only  unjustifiable,  but  unlawful,  and  re- 
quested the  officers  and  members  of  the 
coal  unions  to  recall  the  strike  order,  so 
that  production  might  not  be  interrupted, 
and  again  to  seek  to  arbitrate  their  dif- 
ferences. He  denounced  the  strike  as  an 
attack  upon  the  rights  of  society  and 
the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  declared 
that  the  law  would  be  enforced.  The 
President's  statement  was  as  follows: 

White  House,  Washington,   Oct.   25,   1919. 

On  Sept.  23,  1919,  the  convention  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  adopted  a  proposal  de- 
claring that  all  contracts  in  the  bitumin- 
ous field  shall  be  declared  as  having  auto- 
matically expired  Nov.  1,  1919,  and  mak- 
ing various  demands,  including  a  60  per 
cent,  increase  in  wages  and  the  adoption 
of  a  six-hour  workday  and  a  five-day 
week,  and  providing  that,  in  the  event  a 
satisfactory  wage  agreement  should  not 
be  secured  for  the  central  competitive 
field  before  Nov.  1,  1919,  the  national  of- 
ficials should  be  authorized  and  instructed 
to  call  a  general  strike  of  all  bituminous 
miners  and  mine  workers  throughout  the 
United  States,   effective  Nov.   1,   1919.- 

Pursuant  to  these  instructions,  the  of- 
ficers of  the  organization  have  issued  a 
call  to  make  the  strike  effective  aNov.  1. 
This  is  one  of  the  gravest  steps  ever  pro- 
posed in  this  country,  affecting  the  eco- 
nomic welfare  and  the  domestic  comfort 
and  health  of  the  people.  It  is  proposed 
to  abrogate  an  agreement  as  to  wages 
which  was  made  with  the  sanction  of  the 
United  States  Fuel  Administration  and 
which  was  to  run  during  the  continuance 
Of  the  war,  but  not  beyond  April  1,  1920. 


THE   COAL  MINERS'   STRIKE 


421 


This  strike  is  proposed  at  a  time  when 
the  Government  is  making  the  most  ear- 
nest effort  to  reduce  the  cost  of  living 
and  has  appealed  with  success  to  other 
classes  of  workers  to  postpone  similar  dis- 
putes until  a  reasonable  opportunity  has 
been  afforded  for  dealing  with  the  cost 
of  living.  It  is  recognized  that  the  strike 
would  practically  shut  off  the  country's 
supply  of  its  principal  fuel  at  a  time 
when  interference  with  that  supply  is 
calculated  to  create  a  disastrous  fuel 
famine.  All  interests  would  be  affected 
alike  by  a  strike  of  this  character,  and  its 
victims  would  be  not  the  rich  only,  but 
the  poor  and  the  needy  as  well,  those 
least  able  to  provide  in  advance  a  fuel 
supply  for  domestic  use.  It  would  involve 
the  shutting  down  of  countless  industries 
and  the  throwing  out  of  employment  of  a 
large  part  of  the  workers  of  the  country. 
It  would  involve  stopping  the  operation  of 
railroads,  electric  light  and  gas  plants, 
street  railway  lines  and  other  public  utili- 
ties, and  the  shipping  to  and  from  this 
country,  thus  preventing  our  giving  aid  to 
the  allied  countries  with  supplies  which 
they  so  seriously  need. 

The  country  is  confronted  with  this 
prospect  at  a  time  when  the  war  itself 
is  still  a  fact,  when  the  world  is  still  in 
suspense  as  to  negotiations  for  peace, 
when  our  troops  are  still  being  trans- 
ported, and  when  their  means  of  trans- 
port is  in  urgent  need  of  fuel. 

From  whatever  angle  the  subject  may 
be  viewed  it  is  apparent  that  such  a  strike 
in  such  circumstances  would  be  the  most 
far-reaching  plan  ever  presented  in  this 
country  to  limit  the  facilities  of  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  a  necessity  of  life 
and  thus  indirectly  to  restrict  the  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  all  the  necessaries 
bf  life.  A  strike  under  these  circum- 
stances is  not  only  unjustifiable,  it  is  un- 
lawful. 

The  action  proposed  has  apparently  been 
taken  without  any  vote  upon  the  specific 
proposition  by  the  individual  members  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America 
throughout  the  United  States,  an  almost 
unprecedented  proceeding.  I  cannot  be- 
lieve that  any  right  of  any  American 
worker  needs  for  its  protection  the  taking 
of  this  extraordinary  step,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that,  when  the  time  and  manner 
are  considered,  it  constitutes  a  fundamen- 
tal attack,  which  is  wrong  both  morally 
and  legally,  upon  the  rights  of  society 
and  upon  the  welfare  of  our  country.  I 
feel  convinced  that  individual  members 
of  the  United  Mine  Workers  would  not 
vote,  upon  full  consideration,  in  favor  of 
such  a  strike  under  these  conditions. 

When  a  movement  reaches  the  point 
where  it  appears  to  involve  practically 
the  entire  productive  capacity  of  the  coun- 
try with  respect  to  one  of  the  most  vital 
necessities   of  daily   domestic   and   indus- 


trial life,  and  when  the  movement  is  as- 
serted in  the  circumstances  I  have  stated 
and  at  a  time  and  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  involve  the  maximum  of  danger  to  the 
public  welfare  in  this  critical  hour  of  our 
country's  life,  the  public  interest  becomes 
the  paramount  consideration. 

In  these  circumstances  I  solemnly  re- 
quest both  the  national  and  the  local  offi- 
cers and  also  the  individual  members  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  to 
recall  all  orders  looking  to  a  strike  on 
Nov.  1,  and  to  take  whatever  steps  may 
be  necessary  to  prevent  any  stoppage  of 
work. 

It  is  time  for  plain  speaking.  These 
matters  with  which  we  now  deal  touch 
not  only  the  welfare  of  a  class,  but  vitally 
concern  the  well-being,  the  comfort,  and 
the  vary  life  of  all  the  people.  I  feel  it 
my  duty  in  the  public  interest  to  declare 
that  any  attempt  to  carry  out  the  pur- 
poses of  this  strike  and  thus  to  paralyze 
the  industry  of  the  country,  wita  tiie  con- 
sequent suffering  and  distress  of  all  our 
people,  must  bs  considered  a  grave  moral 
and  legal  wrong  against  the  Government 
and  the  people  of  the  United  States.  I 
can  do  nothing  less  than  to  say  that  the 
law  will  be  enforced,  and  means  will  be 
found  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  na- 
tion in  any  emergency  that  may  arise  out 
of  this  unhappy  business. 

I  express  no  opinion  on  the  merits  of 
the  controversy.  I  have  already  sug- 
gested a  plan  by  which  a  settlement  may 
be  reached,  and  I  hold  myself  in  readi- 
ness at  the  request  of  either  or  both  sides 
to  appoint  at  once  a  tribunal  to  investi- 
gate all  the  facts  with  a  view  to  aiding 
in  the  earliest  possible  orderly  settlement 
of  the  question  at  issue  between  the  coal 
operators  and  the  coal  miners,  to  the  end 
that  the  just  rights,  not  only  of  those  in- 
terests but  also  of  the  general  public,  may 
be  fully  protected. 

MINERS    DEFIANT 

John  F.  Lewis,  Acting  President  of  th3 
United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  reply- 
ing on  Oct.  26  to  the  President's  state- 
ment, declared  that  the  status  quo  still 
obtained.  Meanwhile  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment discussed  the  taking  of  Govern- 
mental action  under  the  Lever  food  con- 
trol law,  and  resolutions  were  offered 
in  both  houses  of  Congress  condemn- 
ing the  miners'  attitude  and  declaring 
that  any  action  which  the  Government 
might  take  to  prevent  the  strike  would 
be  supported  by  Congress.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  President  Lewis,  just  before 
his  departure  for  Indianapolis  to  take 
active  charge  of  the  threatened  strike, 
declared  that  the  strike  order  was  still 


422 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  effect,  and  that  the  600,000  miners 
would  walk  out  to  a  man  unless  the 
operators  made  concessions. 

By  telegraph  the  same  night  Lewis  in- 
vited twenty-five  district  Presidents  of 
unions  in  coal-producing  States  and 
members  of  the  Miners'  Scale  Committee 
to  meet  with  the  International  Board,  to 
discuss  the  President's  statement,  which 
^ewis  characterized  as  "  astounding," 
"  without  precedent  "  and  "  without  war- 
rant of  law."  Had  President  Wilson  not 
upheld  the  decision  of  Dr.  H.  A.  Garfield, 
as  United  States  Fuel  Administrator,  a 
year  before,  said  Lewis,  in  refusing  an 
advance  of  wages,  the  present  crisis 
would  never  have  occurred. 

Judge  Joseph  Buffington,  senior  Judge 
of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
through  which  thousands  of  foreign-born 
miners  had  been  naturalized  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  Oct.  27  issued  an  appeal  to  the 
miners  to  uphold  the  President.  This 
appeal  was  sent  to  all  foreign-language 
newspapers  in  the  United  States,  and 
distributed  in  all  communities  where 
foreign-born  citizens  resided.  On  the 
following  day  many  miners  in  the  East- 
ern Ohio  bituminous  fields  announced 
that  if  the  Government  took  over  the 
operation  of  the  soft-coal  mines  they 
were  ready  to  continue  work  under  ade- 
quate military  protection. 

THE   GOVERNMENT'S   ATTITUDE 

Meanwhile  Attorney  General  Palmer 
declared  that  the  strike  was  a  challenge 
to  the  law,  that  the  nation's  life  was 
attacked,  that  the  mines  would  be  pro- 
tected by  the  Government,  and  that  the 
Department  of  Justice  was  preparing  to 
take  vigorous  steps  against  all  who  con- 
spired to  restrict  the  supply  or  distribu- 
tion of  the  nation's  fuel  supply.  All  the 
resources  of  the  Government  would  be 
used,  said  Attorney  General  Palmer,  to 
prevent  the  national  disaster  involved  by 
the  threatened  strike. 

The  miners  themselves  on  Oct.  29, 
after  a  meeting  of  the  union  officials,  is- 
sued a  statement  in  which  they  said 
that  "  a  canvass  of  the  entire  situation 
showed  that  a  strike  of  bituminous  min- 
ers could  not  be  avoided,"  and  placed  the 
blame  for  the  strike  upon  the  operators. 
The  dissatisfaction  of  the  miners  for  the 


last  two  years  with  the  pay  they  were 
receiving  was  set  forth;  they  were  de- 
termined to  discontinue  the  operation  of 
the  mines  unless  a  new  agreement  should 
be  signed. 

PREPARATIONS    FOR   STRIKE 

The  operators  held  a  meeting  in  Cleve- 
land on  Oct.  30  to  consider  problems 
arising  from  the  expected  strike.  No 
hope  of  averting  it  was  entertained.  The 
Southwest  Coal  Operators,  however, 
agreed  to  a  proposal  made  by  Governor 
Allen  to  negotiate  a  new  contract  and 
wage  scale  for  the  Kansas  district,  inde- 
pendent of  other  districts,  on  condition 
that  the  men  remain  at  work,  while  Gov- 
ernor Cornwall  of  West  Virginia,  after 
the  receipt  of  definite  warnings  of 
threatened  disorders,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion saying  that  any  miners  engaging  in 
an  armed  uprising  and  invasion  of  any 
parts  of  the  State  would  be  treated  as 
insurrectionists.  The  situation  in  Indian- 
apolis was  so  threatening  that  the  citi- 
zens asked  the  Governor's  permission  to 
arm  themselves  for  their  own  protec- 
tion. 

The  Federal  Government,  meanwhile, 
took  measures  to  insure  the  protection 
of  all  workers  by  the  armed  forces  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  old  maximum  coal  prices  of 
the  Fuel  Administration  was  approved 
by  the  President.  On  the  same  date  the 
Senate,  after  four  hours'  debate,  and 
with  but  one  dissenting  vote — that  of 
Senator  Fall — voted  to  assure  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  support  of  Congress  in  main- 
taining order  during  the  "  present  indus- 
trial emergency."  This  Senate  resolu- 
tion of  support  was  adopted  by  the 
House  on  Oct.  31  without  a  dissenting 
vote. 

President  Lewis  sent  a  message  to 
Secretary  Wilson  at  this  time  in  which 
he  denounced '  President  Wilson  and  the 
Cabinet  as  the  allies  of  "  sinister  finan- 
cial interests."  This  communication  was 
sent  as  a  telegram  in  response  to  a  pre- 
vious telegram  sent  by  Secretary  Wilson, 
which  was  read  before  the  strike  execu- 
tive council  of  the  union  on  the  day  be- 
fore, but  which  Lewis  declined  to  make 
public.  The  labor  reply,  which  was  ap- 
proved   by    the    Executive    Council,    de- 


THE   COAL  MINERS'   STRIKE 


clared  that  the  President's  statement 
had  "  done  more  to  prevent  a  satisfac- 
tory settlement  than  any  other  element 
which  has  entered  into  the  situation." 
The  reply  said  further: 

The  President  of  the  United  States  is 
the  servant,  and  not  the  master,  of  the 
Constitution.  Yet  his  statement  of  Oct. 
L'."i  threatens  the  mine  workers  with  a 
sanctified  peonage,  demands  that  they 
perform  involuntary  service,  proclaims  a 
refusal  to  work  to  be  a  crime  when  no 
such  crime  exists,  nor  can  such  a  crime 
be  defined  under  the  Constitution. 

JUDGE    ANDERSON'S    INJUNCTION 

The  next  important  development  came 
on  Oct.  31,  when  Judge  Albert  Ander- 
son of  the  Federal  District  Court  at 
Indianapolis  issued  a  temporary  injunc- 
tion restraining  John  L.  Lewis  and  other 
officials  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America  from  taking  any  further  steps 
in  directing  the  coal  strike  called  for  the 
following  day.  Attorney  General  Palmer 
at  the  same  time  declared  that  the 
United  States,  exercising  its  authority 
through  the  Department  of  Justice,  was 
prepared  to  use  every  power  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government  in  compelling  obedience 
to  the  mandate  of  the  court. 

The  granting  of  this  injunction  came 
as  a  shock  to  the  labor  leaders,  though 
the  taking  of  such  an  action  had  been 
more  or  less  anticipated.  Soon  after 
the  news  reached  Washington,  Samuel 
Gompers,  President  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  with  other  leaders, 
hurried  to  the  Department  of  Justice  to 
confer  with  Attorney  General  Palmer. 
The  conference  was  long,  and  the  leaders 
bitterly  protested  against  the  action 
taken  by  the  Government.  On  their  re- 
turn to  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  Building,  they  issued  a  joint  state- 
ment, in  which  they  asserted  that  the 
injunction  would  result  in  the  creation 
of  "  new  and  disturbing  issues,"  and 
adding  that  these  "  may  not  be  confined 
solely  to  the  miners." 

LABOR  LEADERS'  STATEMENT 

The  text  of  this  statement  is  given 
herewith : 

Throughout  the  period  of  the  war  and 
during  the  nation's  time  of  stress  the  min- 
ers of  America  labored  patiently,  patri- 
otically, and  arduously  in  order  that  the 
principles     of     freedom     and     democracy 


might  triumph  over  the  forces  of  arbi- 
trary authority,  dictatorship,  and  despot- 
ism. % 

When  armed  hostilities  ceased  last  No- 
vember the  miners  found  themselves  in 
the  paradoxical  position  where  their  in- 
tensive labors  were  being  used  to  further 
enrich  the  owners  of  coal  mines  and  mer- 
chants dealing  in  coal  by  the  immediate 
reduction  of  the  mining  of  the  coal.  Of 
course  the  mine  owners  readily  conceived 
than  an  overabundance  of  mined  coal 
would  seriously  disturb  the  high  prices  of 
coal  and  endanger  their  large  margin  of 
profits. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  miners  found 
that  with  the  constantly  rising  cost  of 
necessities  of  life  and  with  their  income 
reduced  over  50  per  cent,  because  of  idle- 
ness they  had  reached  the  limit  of  human 
endurance. 

Orderly  and  improved  processes  were 
invoked  to  negotiate  a  new  understanding 
with  the  mine  owners,  and  which  would 
enable  the  miners  to  work  at  least  five 
days  during  each  week  throughout  the  en- 
tire year  and  allow  them  a  wage  suffi- 
cient to  enable  them  to  live  in  decency 
and  free  from  any  of  the  pressing  uncer- 
tainties of  life. 

In  ;  ttempting  to  negotiate  this  new  un- 
derstanding and  relation  the  miners  found 
that  their  plea  for  continuous  employ- 
ment would  destroy  the  mine  owners'  ar- 
rangement to  curtail  the  mining  of  coal 
so  as  to  continue  exploiting  the  public 
with  high  and  exorbitant  prices. 

The  mine  owners  very  clearly  met  the 
issue  by  appearing  willing  and  anxious  to 
negotiate,  but  only  if  the  miners  would 
first  throw  aside  the  only  power  at  their 
command  to  gain  a  respectful  hearing  and 
fair  consideration— the  decision  to  strike 
whenever  it  was  demonstrated  fair  deal- 
ings did  not  prevail. 

We  are  now  faced  with  a  coal  strike  of 
vast  magnitude.  The  Government  now 
proposes  to  intervene  because  of  a  pos- 
sible coal  shortage.  Apparently  the  Gov- 
ernment is  not  concerned  with  the  manip- 
ulation by  the  mine  owners  which  has 
made  for  present  coal  shortage  and  un- 
due unemployment  of  the  miners  for  the 
past  eleven  months.  Instead  of  dealing 
with  those  responsible  for  this  grave  men- 
ace to  the  public  welfare  it  now  proposes 
to  punish  those  who  by  force  of  circum- 
stances have  been  the  victims  of  the  coal 
barons'  exploitations.  The  miners  are 
now  told  the  war  is  not  over  and  that  all 
war  legislation  is  still  in  force,  and  if 
reports  received  here  are  correct  the  Gov- 
ernment intends  to  apply  existing  war 
measures,  not  against  the  owners  of  the 
coal  mines,  but  against  the  coal  miners. 
The  Government  has"  taken  steps  to  en- 
force war  measures  by  an  injunction  and 
it  has  restrained  the  officials  of  the 
United    Mini;    Workers    from    counseling. 


424 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


aiding,  or  in  any  way  assisting  the  mem- 
bers of  this  organization  for  relief  against 
grievous  conditions  of  life  and  employ- 
ment. 

It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  a  Gov- 
ernment which  is  proud  of  its  participa- 
tion in  a  great  war  to  liberate  suppressed 
peoples  should  now  undertake  to  sup- 
press the  legitimate  aims,  hopes,  and  as- 
pirations of  a  group  of  its  own  people. 
It  is  still  more  strange  that  a  nation 
which  may  justly  be  proud  of  its  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  should  now  reverse  the  ap- 
plication of  the  great  truth  he  enunciated 
when  he  said  that  as  between  capital  and 
labor,  labor  should  receive  first  and  fore- 
most consideration. 

The  injunction  against  the  United  Mine 
Workers  bodes  for  ill.  An  injunction  of 
this  nature  will  not  prevent  the  strike,  it 
will  not  fill  the  empty  stomachs  of  the 
miners,  it  may  restrain  sane  leadership, 
but  will  give  added  strength  to  unwise 
counsel  and  increase  bitterness  and  fric- 
tion. 

This  injunction  can  only  result  in  cre- 
ating new  and  more  disturbing  issues 
which  may  not  be  confined  solely  to  the 
miners.  These  views  were  presented  to 
Attorney  General  Palmer  in  a  conference 
this  afternoon,  lasting  nearly  two  hours, 
by  President  Gompers,  Secretary  Morri- 
son, and  Vice  President  Woll  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor. 

MINERS  QUIT  WORK 

At  midnight  in  the  last  day  of  October 
a  large  proportion  of  the  bituminous  coal 
miners  quit  work,  despite  the  fact  that 
their  leaders  had  been  silenced  and  pro- 
hibited from  further  activity  in  promot- 
ing the  strike.  Many  of  the  workers 
went  out  at  the  end  of  their  day's  work. 
Shortly  after  being  served  with  the  in- 
junction, President  Lewis  had  issued  the 
following  comment: 

I  regard  the  issuance  of  this  injunction 
as  the  most  sweeping  abrogation  of  the 
rights  of  citizens  guaranteed  under  the 
Constitution  and  defined  by  statutory 
law  that  has  ever  been  issued  by  any 
Federal  court. 

This  instrument  will  not  avert  the  strike 
by  bituminous  mine  workers  and  will  not 
settle  the  strike  after  it  occurs.  The  in- 
junction only  complicates  to  a  further  de- 
gree the  problems  involved  in  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  controversy. 

Mr.  Lewis  had  been  busy  all  day  send- 
ing telegrams  to  local  unions  and  pre- 
paring to  carry  the  strike  into  effect, 
but  ceased  his  activities  after  receiving 
the  injunction.  The  temporary  restrain- 
ing order  had  been  issued  on  a  petition 


filed  in  behalf  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment against  Frank  J.  Hayes,  Presi- 
dent of  the  mine  workers,  and  eighty- 
three  other  national  and  district  officers 
by  the  Assistant  Attorney  General.  The 
hearing  of  the  case  was  set  for  Saturday, 
Nov.  8.  The  Federal  authorities  asked 
that  at  the  final  hearing  the  strike  order 
be  recalled.  Meanwhile  the  operators 
declared  that  they  would  keep  the  Cen- 
tral Field  mines  open. 

FIRST  DAY  OF  STRIKE 

On  Nov.  1,  the  first  day  of  the  strike, 
the  union  leaders  declared  that  some 
394,600  miners  had  gone  out.  The  re- 
ports showed  also  that  the  soft-coal 
workers  in  some  cases  were  ignoring  the 
injunction.  Mines  in  Western  and  Cen- 
tral States,  Ohio,  and  Maryland,  had 
been  paralyzed.  The  non-union  miners, 
representing  the  product  of  175,000,000 
tons  of  coal,  continued  work,  and  the 
operators  asserted  that  66  per  cent,  of 
Pennsylvania's  and  all  West  Virginia's 
mines  were  in  operation. 

Meanwhile  the  Government's  measures 
to  insure  the  workers  protection  began  to 
operate;  additional  troops  were  moved 
to  West  Virginia,  Wyoming,  Utah,  and 
New  Mexico.  The  union  leaders  re- 
mained quiet  at  their  headquarters  at 
Indianapolis,  though  it  was  stated  that 
counsel  for  the  unions  were  completing 
plans  to  resist  the  issuance  of  a  perma- 
nent injunction.  At  this  time  the  Broth- 
erhood of  Railway  Trainmen  issued  a 
statement  of  sympathy.  The  Attorney 
General  instructed  the  Federal  Attorneys 
to  give  notice  immediately  of  any  viola- 
tion of  the  injunction.  All  strikers  were 
being  watched.  Measures  were  taken 
also  to  prevent  profiteering  in  coal,  and 
the  Railway  Administration  perfected 
plans  for  the  transportation  and  distri- 
bution of  the  coal  supplies  already  at 
hand. 

On  Nov.  3  the  situation  remained  es- 
sentially the  same,  though  Washington 
was  more  hopeful  after  a  conference  held 
by  Secretary  Wilson  with  members  of 
the  Government  Division  of  Labor  for 
Strike  Conciliation.  At  this  time  there 
were  signs  of  a  break  in  the  labor  ranks, 
especially  perceptible  in  West  Virginia, 
where  fifteen  union  mines  in  the  north- 


THE   COAL   MINERS'   STRIKE 


ern  fields  resumed  operations.  The  labor 
union  members  were  already  looking  to 
Washington  in  the  expectation  of  a  call 
to  confer.  A  definite  public  pronounce- 
ment against  the  injunction  was  issued 
by  Samuel  Gompers  on  Nov.  4  in  Wash- 
ington.   He  said  in  part: 

If  the  injunction  were  vacated,  and  the 
Department  of  Labor  invited  the  operat- 
ors and  tilt  representatives  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  to  a  further  conference,  I 
have  an  abiding  faith  that  a  mutually 
honorable  adjustment  can  be  negotiated 
and  effected  whereby  the  coal  strike  can 
be  brought  to  an  end. 

FIGHTING  THE  INJUNCTION 

This  "proposal  was  heartily  indorsed  by 
President  Lewis,  who  stated  that  the 
miners  would  be  willing  to  resume  nego- 
tiations with  the  operators  immediately 
if  the.  injunction  were  vacated.  Mr. 
Lewis  declared  that  the  machinery  of 
joint  bargaining  was  still  intact,  and 
could  be  brought  quickly  into  operation. 
Meantime  Attorney  General  Palmer  de- 
clared that  the  Government  would  accept 
no  compromise  and  would  continue  all 
effoi-ts  to  make  the  temporary  injunction 
permanent. 

The  officials  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  made  their  first 
active  move  on  Nov.  6  by  filing  in  the 
Federal  Court  at  Indianapolis  a  motion 
to  dissolve  Judge  Anderson's  restraining 
order.  This  motion  held  that  the  Gov- 
ernment had  no  right  to  interfere  in  the 
controversy  between  the  miners  and 
operators,  and  declared  that  it  was  with- 
out "  equity  and  clean  hands "  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  suit.  It  further  con- 
tended that  the  Fuel  Administration  was 
dissolved  at  the  end  of  the  war,  and  that 
it  should  not  have  been  re-established. 
It  also  charged  that  the  Government's 
action  had  brought  about  confusion  and 
disorder,  and  that  its  real  purpose  in  the 
suit  was  to  extricate  the  Administration 
from  the  "  unfortunate  state  of  disorder 
in  which  it  had  involved  itself." 

At  this  time  reports  were  coming  in 
that  coal  production  was  gaining  in 
Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  New  Mex- 
ico, Alabama,  Wyoming  and  Colorado. 
To  conserve  available  coal  supplies,  all 
oceangoing  steamships  under  foreign 
flags  were  refused  bunker  coal. 


THE   INJUNCTION   UPHELD 

After  three  separate  conferences  with 
the  Attorney  General  on  Nov.  7  Mr. 
Gompers  submitted  a  proposal  to  settle 
the  strike.  The  injunction  case,  however, 
was  not  deferred,  and  on  Nov.  8  Judge 
Anderson  ruled  that  the  bituminous  coal 
strike  was  a  defiance  of  the  Fuel  Control 
act,  almost  equivalent  to  rebellion,  re- 
fused to  listen  to  the  miners'  represent- 
atives who  sought  to  demonstrate  the 
miners'  right  to  strike,  and  issued  an 
order  to  the  United  Mine  Workers  to 
recall  the  strike  order  before  Nov.  11. 

The  counsel  for  the  miners  stated 
after  the  hearing  that  President  Lewis 
would  obey  the  mandate,  but  declined  to 
speak  for  the  other  leaders.  Gompers 
and  other  labor  chiefs  were  visibly  sur- 
prised and  disconcerted  by  the  failure 
of  their  case  at  Indianapolis,  and  implied 
that  officials  of  the  Federation  of  Labor 
might  be  called  to  conference  prepara- 
tory to  the  making  of  an  appeal  to  Presi- 
dent Wilson.  Later,  however,  they  ex- 
pressed defiance,  and  on  Nov.  9  the  Exec- 
utive Committee  of  the  Federation  of 
Labor,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Washington, 
issued  a  statement  denouncing  the  Gov- 
ernment's injunction  against  the  coal 
strike  as  "  so  autocratic  as  to  stagger 
the  human  mind,"  pledging  the  support 
of  the  federation  to  the  continuance  of 
the  strike,  and  calling  on  all  organized 
labor  in  the  country  to  aid  the  strikers, 
and  to  support  "  the  men  engaged  in  this 
momentous  struggle." 

In  reply  Attorney  General  Palmer, 
with  the  full  approval  of  the  President, 
issued  a  statement  which  reiterated  the 
charge  that  the  strike  was  a  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Government's  determination  to  enforce 
its  own  interpretation.  The  United 
States,  this  statement  said,  refused  to 
"  surrender  to  the  dictation  of  any 
group,  and  it  proposes  to  assert  its  power 
to  pi-otect  itself  and  the  people."  Mr. 
Gompers  made  rebuttal  in  a  speech  de- 
livered at  a  dinner  given  to  the  delegates 
of  the  International  Labor  Conference  on 
Nov.  10,  in  which  he  declared  that  Presi- 
dent Wilson  did  not  fully  understand 
the  strike  situation,  and  maintained  the 
workers'    right    to   obtain   freedom    and 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


justice,  "  which   must  prevail  over   any 
temporary  administration." 

AN  ALL-NIGHT  SESSION 

The  momentous  question  of  whether 
the  miners  wduld  comply  with  Judge 
Anderson's  mandate  to  rescind  the  strike 
call  was  thrashed  out  in  an  exhaustive 
discussion  of  the  United  Mine  Workers' 
Executive  Committee,  which  met  at  In- 
dianapolis on  Nov.  11.  This  conference 
was  in  session  all  day  and  far  into  the 
night.  Fierce  debate  characterized  the 
session,  with  the  radical  element  very 
much  in  evidence,  and  lasted  all  through 
the  night.  Many  fell  asleep  in  their 
chairs  after  seventeen  hours  of  delibera- 
tion. No  restriction  was  placed  on  the 
length  or  the  number  of  speeches.  It 
was  a  bitter  fight  to  the  end  between 
the  counsels  of  the  reckless  and  fie  sane, 
between  defiance  and  obedience  to  the 
order  of  the  court,  and  the  conservatives 
ultimately  won  the  hard-fought  battle. 
At  4:10  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  de- 
cision to  rescind  the  strike  order  was 
reached,  and  the  exhausted  members  of 
the  committee  adjourned. 

In  accordance  with  this  decision,  the 
strike  order  was  recalled.  The  labor 
leaders,  however,  denounced  the  injunc- 
tion and  announced  their  intention  of  ap- 
pealing the  case  to  the  highest  tribunal. 
The  statement  issued  subsequently  said 
in  part: 

When  the  officials  of  the  United  Mine  ' 
Workers  of  America  announced  that  they 
would  comply  with  the  order  of  the 
United  States  Court  and  obey  its  man- 
date they  simply  followed  the  union's 
historic  policy  of  patriotic  devotion  to  the 
Government  and  American  ideals  and  in- 
stitutions. The  United  Mine  Workers 
will  not  fight  the  Government.  It  is 
their  Government  just  as  it  is  the  Govern- 
ment of  every  other  citizen.  It  is  their 
Government  just  as  it  is  the  Government 
of  the  coal  operators. 

Immediately  following  the  recall  of  the 
strike  order,  the  Federal  Government 
took  prompt  action  to  bring  together  the 
coal  miners  and  operators  for  a  settle- 
ment of  their  differences.  After  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Cabinet,  Secretary  of  Labor 
Wilson  called  both  sides  to  the  contro- 
versy to  meet  at  Washington  on  Friday, 
Nov.  14.  Meanwhile  the  recall  of  the 
strike  order  was   issued.     Seven  mines 


were  reopened  in  West  Virginia,  but  in 
many  fields  the  miners  awaited  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  official  notification  before 
returning  to  the  collieries,  and  the  coal 
situation  grew  steadily  worse  as  day  by 
day  went  by  an,d  the  operators  and  min- 
ers failed  to  reach  an  agreement. 

JOINT   CONFERENCE   BEGINS 

On  Nov.  14  the  joint  conference  of  the 
miners  and  operators  began  in  Washing- 
ton. A  conciliatory  attitude  was  devel- 
oped by  the  opening  address  of  Secretary 
Wilson,  who  warned  both  the  miners  and 
the  operators  that  they  must  drop  their 
uncompromising  attitude,  and  urged  com- 
promise for  the  sake  of  the  public,  which 
would  have  to  bear  the  burden  of  any 
increase  in  coal  prices.  The  demands 
made  by  the  miners  for  a  six-hour  day 
and  a  five-day  week,  and  for  a  60  per 
cent,  increase  in  wages,  the  Secretary 
told  the  miners  plainly,  were  impossible. 
President  Lewis  spoke  in  reply.  Both 
the  operators  and  the  miners  admitted 
that  the  conference  should  not  come  to  a 
close  without  an  agreement. 

At  the  session  of  Nov.  15  an  agree- 
ment was  reached  that  the  immediate  ne- 
gotiations should  be  restricted  to  the 
central  competitive  district,  covering  the 
great  coal  fields  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio, 
and  Western  Pennsylvania.  This  restric- 
tion, which  was  in  accordance  with  a 
custom  that  had  been  followed  for  many 
years  in  strike  negotiations,  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  miners  after  refusal 
by  the  operators  to  discuss  a  nation-wide 
contract.  The  miners  then  presented  a 
draft  of  their  original  demands,  which 
Secretary  Wilson  had  declared  "  impos- 
sible." At  the  close  of  the  session  the 
operators  declared  that  a  60  per  cent, 
increase  in  wages  could  not  be  granted, 
and  promised  to  submit  a  draft  of  coun- 
terproposals. No  action,  however,  was 
taken,  and  on  Nov.  18  the  miners  de- 
clared that  discussion  was  being  held  up 
by  the  secret  meetings  of  the  operators, 
who  apparently  could  not  agree  among 
themselves. 

DR.  GARFIELD'S  ACTION 

At  this  point  Dr.  Garfield,  clothed 
with   all   his   wartime    powers    as    Fuel 


THE   COAL   MINERS'   STRIKE 


427 


Administrator,  and  acting  by  direct  au- 
thority from  the  President's  Cabinet, 
called  on  Nov.  19  a  joint  meeting  of  the 
conflicting  parties,  on  whom  he  served 
formal  notice  that  mining  operations  on 
a  large  scale  must  be  resumed,  and  that 
coal  must  be  produced  at  a  reasonable 
price.  As  ground  for  the  urgency  of 
agreement,  the  situation  in  the  coal 
fields  generally  was  pointed  out.  Dr. 
Garfield  cited  the  drastic  action  of  the 
State  Governments  of  North  Dakota  and 
Kansas  in  taking  over  the  coal  pits  to 
operate  them  under  State  authority. 
(Later  a  court  decision  handed  back  the 
North  Dakota  mines  to  the  operators.) 
He  also  cited  the  reports  from  the  Cen- 
tral Competitive  Fields,  embracing  the 
States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and 
Western  Pennsylvania,  strongholds  of 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America, 
which  showed  all  mines  shut  down  and 
not  enough  coal  -coming  from  non-union 
plants  in  other  States  to  meet  the  nor- 
mal demand  by  several  million  tons. 

The  operators  and  miners  met  in  a 
committee  of  sixteen;  no  definite  pro- 
posals were  offered  by  the  former,  but 
both  sides  were  hopeful  after  the  ses- 
sion. One  point  discussed  was  whether 
the  operators'  taxes  should  be  included 
in  the  price  to  the  public,  which  the 
Government  had  disputed.  President 
Lewis  charged  the  operators  with  re- 
ceiving 125  per  cent,  more  profit  for  coal 
in  1919  than  in  1914,  while  the  miners' 
wages  showed  an  increase  of  only  a  little 
more  than  37  per  cent.,  as  against  an 
increase  of  110  per  cent,  in  the  cost  of 
living. 

Discussion  was  resumed  on  Nov.  20, 
and  ended  in  a  deadlock.  The  operators 
made  a  proposal  of  an  increase  of  15 
cents  per  ton  to  pick  and  machine  miners, 
a  20  per  cent,  increase  for  day  labor, 
and  the  same  working  hours  that  had 
previously  obtained.  They  also  proposed 
that  the  new  contract  should  extend  to 
March  31,  1922,  thus  obviating  the  dan- 
ger of  another  strike  in  the  Fall,  the 
Mine  Workers'  Association  to  be  respon- 
sible for  the  fulfillment  of  the  contract, 
and  a  penalty  clause  for  unauthorized 
strikes  to  be  included  in  the  contract. 
The   representatives   of   the   miners    re- 


jected these  counterproposals  uncon- 
ditionally as  "  preposterous  and  ridicu- 
lous," while  the  operators  declared  that 
they  represented  the  utmost  concessions 
which  could  be  made. 
^  The  committee  recommended  the  crea- 
tion of  a  National  Industrial  Board  with 
powers  of  compulsory  investigation, 
mediation,  and  recommendation.  It  rec- 
ommended also  an  Americanization  bill 
to  be  passed  by  Congress  for  the  educa- 
tion of  foreigners  in  the  principles  of  our 
Government;  also  that  workmen  in  in- 
dustrial districts  be  provided  with  their 
own  homes,  that  no  one  be  naturalized 
who  is  unable  to  speak  the  English  lan- 
guage, and  that  an  effective  law  be 
passed  to  deal  with  anarchists  and  revo- 
lutionists. 

NEARING  A  COMPROMISE 

With  the  threat  of  Governmental  in- 
tervention hanging  over  their  heads,  the 
operators  and  miners  on  Nov.  21  strug- 
gled for  several  hours  to  reach  an  agree- 
ment. After  four  hours  of  fruitless  argu- 
ment Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  was 
called  in  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 
a  stormy  session  followed  for  two  hours 
longer,  with  the  result  that  the  miners 
abandoned  their  demand  for  a  thirty- 
hour  week;  no  basis  for  settlement,  how- 
ever, was  reached.  On  the  following  day 
the  uncompromising  attitude  of  the  op- 
erators continued.  Secretary  Wilson's 
proposal  of  a  31  per  cent,  increase  of 
wages  was  rejected,  and  the  operators 
demanded  that  the  Fuel  Administration 
assume  responsibility  for  the  added 
burden  on  the  public  involved  in  the  pre- 
vious offer  of  a  15-cent  increase  and  20 
per  cent,  to  day  labor  before  they  again 
submitted  it.  The  workers  on  their  part 
accepted  the  Secretai'y's  proposal,  but 
held  out  for  a  seven-hour  day. 

At  this  juncture  the  operators  turned 
to  the  Government  for  a  solution,  asking 
the  President's  Cabinet  for  instructions 
as  to  whether  or  not  they  must  accept 
Secretary  Wilson's  proposal.  On  Nov.  23 
Dr.  Garfield,  Director  General  of  Rail- 
ways Hines,  and  Attorney  General  Palmer 
conferred  and  an  early  decision  was  ex- 
pected. 


Other  Phases  of  Labor  Unrest 

The    Steel   Strike  Fails 


THE  strike  in  the  iron  and  steel  in- 
dustries of  the  United  States 
proved  a  failure.  The  leaders 
themselves  admitted  the  fact  on  Nov.  23, 
1919.  When  the  call  had  been  issued 
Sept.  22,  162,474  workmen  out  of  228,- 
430  in  the  Pittsburgh  district  alone  went 
out  or  were  forced  out;  of  the  162,474, 
over  60  per  cent.,  or  109,455,  were  back 
at  work  Nov.  23,  and  the  plants  were 
running  about  100  per  cent,  full  on  Nov. 
25.  In  the  Wheeling  district,  which  held 
out  longest,  the  strikers  voted  to  return 
to  work.  It  was  estimated  in  the  last 
week  in  November  that  the  steel  indus- 
try was  working  over  90  per  cent.,  and 
could  have  been  operating  on  a  100  per 
cent,  basis  but  for  the  coal  strike.  The 
payroll  loss  to  the  strikers  in  the  Pitts- 
burgh district  alone  had  been  $29,604,- 
064.  The  Senate  Committee  which  in- 
vestigated the  strike  said  in  its  report 
on  Nov.  8: 

The  committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  has  made 
a  serious  mistake,  and  has  lost  much  fa- 
vorable public  opinion  which  otherwise 
they  would  possess,  by  permitting  the 
leadership  of  this  strike  movement  to 
pass  into  the  hands  of  some  who  hereto- 
fore have  entertained  most  radical  and 
dangerous  doctrines.  If  labor  is  to  re- 
tain the  confidence  of  that  large  element 
of  our  population  which  affiliates  neither 
with  labor  organizations  nor  capital,  it 
must  keep  men  who  entertain  and  formu- 
late un-American  doctrines  out  of  its 
ranks  and  join  with  the  employers  of  la- 
bor in  eliminating  this  element  from  the 
industrial  life  of  our  nation. 

Unquestionably  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation  has  had  the  support  of  a 
larger  and  of  a  wider  circle  in  the  coun- 
try during  the  strike  because  of  the  char- 
acter of  some  of  the  strike  leadership. 
Labor  organizations  should  not  place  the 
workingman  in  the  position  of  any  sym- 
pathy with  un-American  doctrines  or 
make  them  followers  of  any  such  leader- 
ship. Such  practice  will  result  in  defeat- 
ing the  accomplishment  of  their  demands. 

The  Senate  committee  severely  crit- 
icised William  Z.  Foster,  Secretary  to 
the  committee  which  managed  the  strike, 
for  his  radical  sentiments,  and  held  that 
he  had  hurt  the  cause  he  was  trying  to 
assist.      The   committee   censured   other 


strike  leaders,  among  them  President 
Gompers  of  the  Federation  of  Labor,  for 
their  failure  to  postpone  the  strike  when 
called  upon  to  do  so  by  the  President.  It 
also  censured  Judge  Gary  for  not  heed- 
ing the  request  of  the  President  to  confer 
with  Gompers  and  other  union  labor  of- 
ficials in  an  effort  to  prevent  the  walk- 
out. 

Concerning  hours  of  labor  and  collec- 
tive bargaining,  the  committee  found 
that  the  laborers  in  the  steel  mills  had  a 
just  complaint  relative  to  the  long  hours 
of  service  on  the  part  of  some  of  them 
and  the  right  to  have  that  complaint 
heard  by  the  company,  and  that  they  had 
the  right  to  have  the  representatives  of 
their  own  choosing  present  grievances  to 
the  employers. 

The  eight-hour  day  [says  the  report]  is 
involved  in  the  solution  of  this  question. 
These  non-English-speaking  aliens  must 
be  Americanized  and  must  learn  our  lan- 
guage, so  the  question  of  a  reasonable 
working  day  is  involved  in  the  question 
of  Americanization.  Men  cannot  work 
ten  and  twelve  hours  per  day  and  attend 
classes  at  night  school. 

It  is  the  general  consensus  of  opinion 
of  the  best  economic  writers  and  think- 
ers that  the  establishment  of  eight-hour- 
day  systems  does  not  diminish  produc- 
tion. Nor  do  we  think  the  claim  made 
that  an  eight-hour  day  is  impossible  be- 
cause the  workmen  cannot  be  secured  for 
three  shifts  is  tenable.  An  eight-hour  day 
with  a  living  wage  that  will  enable  men 
to  support  their  families  and  bring  up 
their  children  according  to  the  standards 
of  American  life  ought  to  be  a  cardinal 
part  of  our  industrial  policy,  and  the 
sooner  the  principle  is  recognized  the  bet- 
ter it  will  be  for  the  entire  country. 

The  public  also  has  an  interest  in  the 
problem  of  an  eight-hour  day.  Fatigue 
in  humankind  is  a  breeder  of  unrest  and 
dissatisfaction. 

LONGSHOREMEN'S  STRIKE  SETTLED 

The  strike  of  the  longshoremen,  which 
almost  completely  tied  up  New  York  Har- 
bor and  put  on  embargo  practically  on  all 
exports,  was  ended  Nov.  4  by  a  com- 
promise, the  men  receding  from  their 
extravagant  demands;  an  award  of  an 
increase  of  22^  per  cent,  was  given  them 
on  Nov.  22  by  the  National  Adjustment 


OTHER  PHASES  OF  LABOR   UNREST 


429 


Committee  of  the  United  States  Shipping 
Board,  the  rate  of  wages  to  run  to  Oct. 
1,  1920 ;  the  men  receive  80  cents  an  hour, 
$1.20  for  overtime;  they  had  demanded 
$1  an  hour  and  $2  for  overtime.  At  one 
time  there  were  70,000  men  out  and  495 
ships,  aggregating  1,693,700  tons,  were 
tied  up  in  New  York  Harbor. 

The  strike  in  the  printing  trade  in  New 
York  growing  out  of  a  controversy  be- 
tween the  unions  was  settled  Nov.  25 
by  the  printers  and  pressmen  returning 
to  work  under  orders  of  their  interna- 
tional officers  at  an  increase  of  $6  a 
week;  they  had  demanded  $14  and  re- 
fused to  arbitrate  a  demand  for  a  44-hour 
week.  The  strike  tied  up  fifty  period- 
icals,  some   of  which  missed   their  No- 


vember issues,  and  many  of  which  were 
printed  in  other  cities.  Current  History 
Magazine  appeared  in  November  by  re- 
sorting to  the  rotogravure  presses  of 
The  New  York  Times;  two-thirds  of 
the  December  issue  also  is  etched  in 
rotogravure;  the  strike  ended  in  time  for 
the  first  sixty-four  pages  of  this  is- 
sue to  be  printed  on  ordinary  rotary 
presses. 

The  plea  of  the  Boston  police  who 
sought  restoration  to  the  positions  from 
which  they  were  removed  for  striking 
was  denied  by  the  Massachusetts  Su- 
preme Court  Nov.  7;  600  new  policemen 
had  been  installed  by  Nov.  10,  and  it 
was  expected  to  have  a  new  force  entirely 
recruited  soon  thereafter. 


Dealing  With  Anarchist  Agitators 

Evidence  of   Worldwide  Conspiracy 


ACCUMULATING  evidence  of  Bol- 
^\_  shevist  and  anarchist  agitation 
throughout  the  United  States 
stirred  the  Government  to  action  in  the 
Autumn  of  1919.  As  early  as  August 
the  President  asked  Congress  to  con- 
tinue the  passport  law  for  a  year  after 
the  formal  proclamation  of  peace,  in 
view  of  the  receipt  of  information  that 
many  undesirable  persons  of  anarchistic 
proclivities  were  seeking  to  enter  the 
United  States  from  abroad.  Toward  the 
end  of  October,  Representative  Albert 
Johnson  proposed  a  bill  in  the  House  to 
fulfill  the  President's  request,  and  gave 
new  reasons  why  the  passing  of  this 
measure  was  necessary. 

Disclosures  of  radical  activities  in  Gary, 
Ind.,  during  the  steel  strike  roused  pub- 
lic concern;  they  showed  a  widespread 
agitation  to  overthrow  the  United  States 
Government.  An  Americanization  bill 
was  reported  in  the  Senate  on  Oct.  27, 
which  proposed  fines  and  imprisonment 
for  exhibiting  a  red  flag  or  advocating 
the  Government's  overthrow.  Further 
plots  were  revealed  in  Cleveland  and  else- 
where, and  fifteen  arrests  were  made 
in  connection  with  a  bomb  plot  to  be 
carried  out  next  May.  The  success  of 
Governor  Coolidge  of  Massachusetts   in 


obtaining  re-election  on  the  issue  of  the 
Boston  police  strike  was  taken  by  the 
President  and  others  as  a  good  omen  in 
showing  the  attitude  of  the  general  pub- 
lic. 

The  Lusk  Investigating  Committee, 
acting  under  the  New  York  State  Gov- 
ernment, raided  the  Russian  People's 
House  in  New  York  City  on  Nov.  9,  tak- 
ing thirty-five  men  and  two  women  to 
Ellis  Island  for  deportation;  about  150 
other  men  were  subsequently  released  for 
lack  of  evidence.  In  all  some  seventy- 
three  Red  centres  were  raided  at  this 
time  by  a  force  of  700  policemen,  and 
tons  of  seditious  literature  were  seized. 
More  than  200  persons  were  to  be  de- 
ported. Some  sixty  more  were  seized  at 
Bridgeport.  At  the  same  time  news  came 
that  Brazil  was  conducting  a  similar 
campaign,  and  on  Oct.  31  had  sent  six- 
teen anarchists  back  to  Europe. 

Examination  of  the  literature  seized 
in  New  York  showed  an  organized  effort 
to  overthrow  the  Government  after  the 
declaring  of  a  general  strike,  to  national- 
ize all  industries,  to  blow  up  barracks, 
to  shoot  the  police,  to  put  an  end  to  re- 
ligion, and  to  set  free  all  criminals.  On 
Nov.  10  some  391  alien  Reds  were  under 
arrest,    and    deportation    measures    had 


430 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


been  begun  in  a  number  of  cities  to  rid 
the  country  of  violent  and  dangerous  agi- 
tators. 

A  great  sensation  was  roused  in  the 
State  of  Washington  on  Nov.  11,  when 
an  armistice  parade  of  American 
Legion  soldiers  at  Centralia  was  fired 
upon  and  four  of  the  marchers  were 
killed,  two  others  fatally  wounded,  and 
several  seriously  hurt.  The  shots  were 
fired  by  I.  W.  W.  members  from  their 
building  on  one  of  the  main  streets. 
Subsequently  a  mob  surrounded  the  Cen- 
tralia jail,  succeeded  in  seizing  one  of  the 
men  arrested  for  the  outrage,  and  hanged 
him  just  outside  the  city  limits.  Fifty- 
one  radicals  were  arrested,  their  litera- 
ture was  seized,  and  the  Mayor  of  Seattle 
issued  a  warning  to  all  agitators  to  keep 
that  city  "  out  of  their  future  itinera- 
ries." The  affair  aroused  great  indigna- 
tion in  Congress,  where  fifty-two  bills 
against  radical  agitation  were  pending. 
A  few  days  later,  on  Nov.  16,  a  pitched 
battle  between  the  authorities  and  I.  W. 
W.  fugitives  occurred. 

Another  city  that  entered  the  struggle 
against  Red  propaganda  was  San  Fran- 
cisco, where  the  headquarters  of  the 
Radical  Labor  Party  were  raided, 
wrecked,  and  burned  by  former  service 
men.  Raids  were  also  conducted  in 
Washington  and  Oregon  cities,  and 
strong  military  measures  were  taken  in 
West  Virginia  in  connection  with  the 
coal  strike. 

Meanwhile  bills  were  offered  in  Con- 
gress transferring  from  the  Department 
of  Labor  to  the  Department  of  Justice 
the  enforcement  of  all  existing  deporta- 
tion laws.  Disclosures  by  Government 
agents  of  Bolshevist  activities  in  Mexico 
were  made  on  Nov.  14.  Considerable  dis- 
tribution   of    Red    propaganda    in    the 


United  States  via  Mexico  had  been  car- 
ried on  by  Bolsheviki  whom  the  "  ultra- 
modern "  features  of  the  Mexican  Con- 
stitution had  attracted.  Attorney  Gen- 
eral Palmer  on  Nov.  15  asked  the  United 
States  for  a  sedition  act  to  apply  against 
the  Red  agitators,  revealing  the  work  of 
the  Union  of  Russians  and  the  existence 
of  472  publications  in  various  languages 
preaching  the  overthrow  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

On  Nov.  19  a  New  York  Grand  Jury 
began  its  investigation  of  the  anarchist 
movment.  Many  subpoenas  were  issued, 
and  Ludwig  C.  A.  K.  Martens,  the  un- 
recognized "  Ambassador  "  of  the  Rus- 
sian Soviet  Republic  in  the  United  States, 
was  summoned  as  a  witness  in  spite  of 
his  protests  on  the  ground  of  diplomatic 
immunity.  Disclosure  of  the  raising  of 
a  sum  of  $68,000  by  the  Reds  in  New 
York,  and  the  condemning  to  death  of 
three  prominent  officials  of  the  depart- 
ment active  in  the  suppression  of  se- 
ditious activities,  was  made  on  Nov.  22. 
At  this  time  Byron  S.  Uhl,  acting  Com- 
missioner of  Immigration,  reported  that 
many  alien  anarchists  sent  to  New  York 
for  deportation  last  Spring  from  the 
Northwest  and  Middle  West  had  been  re- 
leased in  this  community,  among  them 
men  implicated  in  a  plot  against  the 
President;  Commissioner  Uhl  criticised 
the  Labor  Department  for  the  release  of 
these  men. 

In  Reading,  Penn.,  on  Nov.  23,  a  Debs 
amnesty  meeting  scheduled  to  be  held  in 
the  Socialist-Labor  Lyceum  was  called 
off  by  the  Mayor  after  the  gathering  of 
a  crowd  of  5,000  men,  mostly  service 
men,  who  threatened  violence  if  the  meet- 
ing was  held.  An  afternoon  parade  of 
the  radicals  had  similarly  been  sup- 
pressed. 


International  Labor  Conference 

Steps  Toward  Industrial  Peace 


THE  International  Labor  Conference 
provided  for  in  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles opened  its  first  session  in 
Washington  on  Oct.  29,  1919.  The  first 
move  of  the  conference  was  to  take  steps 
to  obtain  the  virtual  participation  of  the 
United  States  in  its  sessions,  although 
Congress  had  decided  against  the  ap- 
pointment of  delegates  prior  to  ratifica- 
tion of  the  Peace  Treaty.  On  motion  of 
Baron  Mayor  des  Planches,  Italian  Gov- 
ernment delegate,  United  States  employ- 
ers' and  workers'  organizations  were  in- 
vited unanimously  to  send  representa- 
tives to  take  part  in  the  deliberations. 

While  no  attempt  was  made  to  obtain 
the  appointment  of  Government  dele- 
gates, as  such  action  would  have  been 
in  direct  conflict  with  the  decision  of 
Congress,  the  United  States  was  rep- 
resented in  the  conference  through  Sec- 
retary of  Labor  Wilson,  who  opened  the 
first  session,  and  continued  as  perma- 
nent Chairman  during  the  major  portion 
of  its  deliberations.  Secretary  Wilson 
said  that  he  would  accept  the  nomination 
in  view  of  his  interpretation  that  the  or- 
ganization of  the  conference  cannot  be 
completed  until  the  League  of  Nations  is 
created,  and  that  the  United  States  is 
charged  by  the  Versailles  Treaty  with 
the  organization  of  the  conference. 

Owing  to  the  lack  of  time  the  ques- 
tion of  the  admission  of  German  and 
Austrian  delegates  was  not  taken  up, 
and  probably  will  be  the  first  item  on 
the  program  in  the  next  session.  Dele- 
gates generally  expressed  agreement 
that  the  former  enemy  powers  should  be 
admitted  without  delay. 

The  report  of  the  Organization  Com- 
mittee, submitted  by  Arthur  Fontaine, 
Chairman,  and  provisionally  adopted  by 
the  conference,  outlined  in  detail  the  de- 
velopment of  the  international  labor  or- 
ganization, and  submitted  the  tentative 
program  and  standing  orders  for  the 
conference  sessions. 

Interpreting  the  provision  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  providing  that  of  the 
twelve  members  of  the  governing  body 


of  the  conference  eight  should  be  named 
by  the  countries  of  chief  industrial  im- 
portance, the  committee  named  nine 
countries,  with  the  understanding  that 
Germany  be  he  last  country  on  the  list, 
and  that  Spain  be  dropped.  The  other 
seven  nations  are  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  Belgium, 
Japan,  and  Switzerland. 

Samuel  Gompers  was  invited  to  sit  as 
unofficial  representative  of  America.  The 
chief  discussion  centred  on  the  eight- 
hour  day,  favored  as  a  maximum  by  the 
conference,  except  in  certain  specified  in- 
dustries. Compulsory  employment  by 
Governments  was  also  discussed.  Mr. 
Gompers,  in  a  speech,  declared  that  labor 
in  the  United  States  was  bent  on  short- 
ening the  forty-eight-hour  week. 

Recognition  of  the  principle  of  an 
eight-hour  day  and  a  forty-eight-hour 
week  was  contained  in  a  committee  re- 
port completed  on  Nov.  22.  In  almost 
daily  sessions  since  the  conference  con- 
vened, the  committee,  including  delegates 
representing  Governments,  employers, 
and  labor,  had  arrived  at  an  agreement 
by  a  series  of  compromises.  An  interna- 
tional agreement  with  all  countries  ex- 
cept Japan,  India,  and  other  Oriental 
nations  was  indorsed.  For  continuous 
industries  a  fifty-six-hour  week  was  con- 
ceded. The  report  also  recommended  the 
making  up  of  time  lost  on  Saturdays  and 
holidays  by  a  distribution  of  extra  time 
throughout  the  week,  even  to  the  extent 
of  permitting  nine-hour  days  until  the 
lost  time  was  accounted  for.  Maritime 
labor  was  not  included  in  the  agreement. 

On  Nov.  23  the  conference  entered  upon 
its  final  week  of  deliberation,  the  de- 
cision having  been  taken  to  adjourn  on 
Nov.  29.  Besides  the  elimination  of  or- 
ganization matters,  election  of  officers, 
admission  of  delegates,  and  other  purely 
functional  acts,  the  vital  problems  of  the 
conference  were  thoroughly  discussed  and 
debated  by  a  series  of  committees,  which 
drew  up  and  agreed  upon  certain  prin- 
ciples, completed  by  Nov.  23,  for  submis- 
sion to   the  conference  during  the  last 


432 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


week  of  discussion.  The  principles  agreed 
upon  were  as  follows: 

(1)  The  adoption  of  the  eight-hour  day 
and  forty-eight-hour  week  principle,  with 
the  exception  that  (a)  where  less  than 
eight  hours  are  worked  on  some  days  of 
the  week  the  hours  not  worked  may  be 
redistributed  on  other  days,  but  with  no 
day  to  exceed  nine  houi's,  and  (b)  that  in 
continuous  processes  the  limit  shall  not 
exceed  fifty-six  hours  a  week.  All  over- 
time to  be  paid  not  less  than  time  and  a 
quarter.  The  labor  employed  in  the  dev- 
astated regions  of  France  and  Belgium 
is  to  be  considered  as  employed  under  spe- 
cial conditions.  This  agreement  cannot, 
of  course,  lower  any  higher  standards 
already  established  by  law  or  by  collec- 
tive   agreement. 

(2)  The  prohibition  of  work  in  industries 
between  10  P.  M.  and  5  A.  M.  for  all 
women  through  the  substitution  of  a 
modernized  and  enlarged  convention  for 
that  adopted  at  Berne  in  1906.  The  East- 
ern countries  are  prepared  to  adhere  to 
the  new  convention. 

(3)  The  prohibition  of  the  employment 
in  industry  of  children  under  14  years 
of  age,  except  that  Japan  has  agreed  and 
India  has  been  asked  to  raise  the  limit 
in  their  respective  countries  from  9  to  12 
and  with  14  as  the  eventual  standard. 

(4)  A  specii.l  commission  has  dealt  with 
the  limitation  of  hours  of  work  in  Eastern 
and  other  special  countries  which  were 
fully  represented  in  the  commission,  and 
are  recommending  considerable  reduc- 
tions in  the  present  hours  of  employment 
with  definite  limitations  in  each  case. 

(5)  Special  reports  are  to  be  received  on 
unemployment,  the  employment  of  women 
before  and  after  childbirth,  and  the  em- 
ployment of  children  at  night. 

The  conference  at  this  date  issued  an 
official  statement  in  which  it  pointed  out 
that  its  work  was  not  purely  a  matter 
of  discussion,  since  each  of  the  forty 
countries  represented  had  guaranteed  to 
present  the  decisions  of  the  conference  to 
the  competent  legislative  authority  of 
each  nation  involved  within  one  year. 
The  widely  representative  nature  of  the 
conference  was  also  emphasized;  it  in- 
cluded both  highly  organized  industrial 
States  and  less  developed  States  of  South 
America,  Africa,  and  Asia.  All  measures 
taken  would  protect  the  one  group  from 
the  unfair  competition  of  lower  labor 
standards,  and  safeguard  to  States  still 
in  process  of  industrialization  a  more 
liberal  system. 

The  organization  of  the  conference 
into  three  groups — Governments,  employ- 
ers,   and    workers — this    statement    said, 


had  brought  great  benefit  in  equalizing 
discussion  and  eliminating  the  possibility 
of  any  nation  adopting  legislation  either 
above  or  below  the  standard  set  by  its 
neighbors.  One  of  the  most  important 
achievements  of  the  conference  was  the 
selection  of  the  governing  body  of  the 
International  Office,  designed  to  be  the 
permanent  labor  organization  associated 
with  the  League  of  Nations.  Considerable 
difficulty  had  been  experienced  in  se- 
lecting these  members,  but  full  agree- 
ment was  expected  before  the  conference 
adjourned.  Already  many  problems  had 
been  referred  to  it  by  the  conference  for 
examination. 

WORKING  WOMEN'S  CONGRESS 

The  International  Working  Women's 
Congress  at  Washington  concluded  its 
sessions  on  Nov.  6.  Some  fifty  delegates 
had  come  from  foreign  countries,  eleven 
nations  besides  the  United  States  being 
represented. 

Prohibition  of  night  work  for  men  and 
women  in  all  industries  except  those 
which  are  in  continuous  operation  by 
reason  of  public  necessity  was  discussed, 
delegates  from  the  United  States,  France, 
Belgium,  Norway,  Sweden,  Czecho- 
slovakia, and  Japan  contending  that  this 
prohibition  should  affect  men  and  women 
alike,  while  the  British,  Polish,  and 
Italian  delegations  held  that  any  inter- 
national resolution  to  this  effect  should 
prohibit  night  work  for  women  in  all 
industries,  and  for  men  in  ell  save  con- 
tinuous industries. 

Discussion  of  a  resolution  providing 
for  maternity  benefits  and  protection  was 
continued,  the  points  in  question  being 
whether  maternity  indemnity  should  be 
granted  to  all  women  or  only  to  women 
engaged  in  gainful  occupations,  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  amount  of  this 
monetary  allowance  should  be  determined, 
whether  it  should  be  an  adequate  allow- 
ance for  the  mother  and  child,  or  whether 
the  minimum  wage  of  a  country  should 
be  the  basis  of  allotment. 

The  following  resolution  concerning 
the  employment  of  women  in  "  hazardous 
occupations  "  was  adopted: 

1.  Prohibition    of    home    work    in    such 
occupations. 

2.  No  exception  of  small  factories  from 


INTERNATIONAL  LABOR  CONFERENCE 


433 


the    regulations    governing-    the    industry. 

3.  Prohibition  of  the  employment  of 
women  in  trades  which  cannot  be  made 
healthy  for  women  as  potential  mothers. 

4.  An  international  inquiry  to  be  insti- 
tuted in  order  to  ascertain  the  scope  of 
measures  which  have  been  adopted  in  dif- 
ferent countries  to  control  dangerous  oc- 
cupations and  publication  of  the  result, 
this  with  the  object  of  making  clearly 
known  which  countries  fall  short  of  the 
standards- already  established  in  the  most 
advanced. 

.">.  The  appointment  of  a  committee  of 
women  under  the  League  of  Nations,  in- 
ternational in  personnel,  to  co-ordinate 
the  work  of  national  research  in  the  dan- 
gerous trades  with  a  view  to  eliminating 
poisonous  substances  through  the  substi- 
tution of  non-poisonous,  and  where  this 
is  impossible,  to  devise  new  and  efficient 
methods    of   protection. 

LABOR    CONGRESS    IN    CHICAGO 

On  Nov.  22  an  important  Labor  Con- 
gress held  its  opening  session  in  Chicago. 
Some  1,000  delegates  were  present,  rep- 
resenting State  labor  unions,  some  af- 
filiated with  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  delegates  from  farmers'  organiza- 
tions, co-operative  societies,  non-partisan 
and  Plumb-plan  advocates,  and  other 
workers  for  advanced  labor  and  social 
legislation.  About  forty  women  delegates 
attended.  The  opening  address  of  wel- 
come was  made  by  John  Fitzpatrick, 
President  of  the  Chicago  Federation  of 


Labor.  A  new  labor  party  was  formed, 
which  adopted  a  program  demanding 
free  speech,  free  assemblage,  and  a  free 
press.  Max  S.  Hayes,  in,  a  keynote 
speech,  advocated  that  all  sources  of 
production  be  thrown  open  to  the  people. 
The  convention  announced  its  intention 
not  to  nominate  a  national  ticket  at  that 
time,  but  to  issue  a  call  for  a  convention 
to  be  held  next  Spring  for  that  purpose. 

NEW  INDUSTRIAL  BOARD 

Undeterred  by  the  failure  of  the  In- 
dustrial Conference  with  its  three  sepa- 
rate groups,  President  Wilson  on  Nov. 
20  named  seventeen  men  for  another  con- 
ference on  the  relations  of  labor  and 
capital.  In  his  letter  of  invitation  he 
said  the  "  new  representatives  should 
have  concern  that  our  industries  may  be 
conducted  with  such  regard  for  justice 
and  fair  dealing  that  the  workman  will 
feel  himself  induced  to  put  forth  his  best 
efforts,  that  the  employer  will  have  an 
encouraging  profit,  and  that  the  public 
will  not  suffer  at  the  hands  of  either 
class." 

No  representatives  of  labor  were  in- 
cluded in  the  personnel,  nor  will  there  be 
any  representatives  of  capital  as  such. 
Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  heads  the  list, 
which  includes  three  former  Cabinet  of- 
ficers and  two  former  Federal  officials. 


Visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 

Welcoming  a  Royal  Guest 


EDWARD,  Prince  of  Wales,  stepped 
upon  the  soil  of  the  United  States 
at  Rouse's  Point,  N.  Y.,  on  Nov. 
10,  1919.  When  he  crossed  the  Canadian 
border  he  was  officially  greeted  by  Sec- 
retary of  State  Lansing,  Major  Gen. 
Tohn  Biddle,  representing  the  army;  Rear 
Admiral  Albert  T.  Niblick,  representing 
the  navy;  Major  Gen.  Charlton,  repre- 
senting the  British  Army;  representa- 
tives of  the  British  Embassy,  and  officers 
belonging  to  various  staffs.  He  arrived 
at  Washington  the  following  day,  where 
he  was  met  by  Vice  President  Marshall, 
General  Pershing,  the  British  Ambassa- 


dor, General  March,  Secretary  Daniels, 
and  other  prominent  American  officials. 
The  Prince  and  his  escort  were  conduct- 
ed to  the  Perry  Belmont  residence,  where 
he  was  quartered  during  his  stay  in 
Washington.  The  party  was  enthusias- 
tically acclaimed  as  it  proceeded  through 
the  streets  of  the  city. 

A  dinner  was  given  the  Prince  by  the 
Vice  President  on  the  evening  of  the 
11th.  In  proposing  the  health  of  the 
Prince  at  the  dinner  Vice  President  Mar- 
shall expressed  regret  that  the  Presi- 
dent could  not  be  present.  After  refer- 
ring   to    the    fact    that    one    year    had 


434 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


elapsed  since  the  armistice  was  signed, 
Mr.  Marshall  remarked  that  he  wished  to 
express  gratitude  that  the  Allies  had 
stood  together  in  the  great  war.  He  con- 
tinued: 

The  old  order  ceased  one  year  ago  to- 
day. The  new  order  then  began.  The 
conflict  which  started  at  Runnymede  was 
ended  by  Haig  and  Foch  and  Pershing 
on  the  fields  of  France.  The  right  of 
men  to  have  a  Government  controlled 
by  themselves,  law-encrowned,  is  never 
more  to  be  disputed  in  this  world  of  ours 
if  those  who  made  the  fight  to  put  down 
military  autocracy  will  make  the  fight 
to  put  down  prejudice,  suspicion,  and 
doubt  among  the  Allies. 

I  cannot  forget  that  while  we  hesitated, 
while  we  doubted,  while  we  wondered 
whether  it  was  any  of  the  part  of  our 
national  mission  to  come  to  the  defense 
.  of  stricken  Belgium  and  devastated 
France,  England  put  her  back  to  the 
wall  and  stood  upon  the  far-flung  battle- 
line  of  Europe,  making  freedom  and 
Christian  civilization  possible  even  for  the 
American   Republic. 

I  shall  not  say  that  it  was  altogether 
altruistic.  There  may  have  been  some 
element  of  self-defense  in  it.  But  may 
God  give  us  all,  when  the  time  of  self- 
defense  comes,  the  same  high  altruistic 
ideals  of  the  British  Empire.  More  and 
more  it  seems  to  me  that  the  fate  of 
the  future  rests  on  the  faith  and  confi- 
dence of  the  allied  nations  for  each  other. 

Proposing  a  toast  to  the  Prince,  the 
Vice  President  said: 

So,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  the  hope  ^ 
that  the  tie  that  binds  may  never  be 
broken  by  doubt,  suspicion,  or  treachery, 
that  it  may  bind  all  of  the  allied  peoples 
for  all  the  years  to  come,  I  propose,  as 
the  faith  of  the  American  people,  long 
life,  health,  and  prosperity  to  his  Royal 
Highness,  the  Prince  of  Wales. 

The  response  of  the  Prince  was  felici- 
tous. He  sympathetically  referred  to 
President  Wilson  and  the  late  President 
Roosevelt,  paid  a  graceful  tribute  to 
France,  and  alluded  to  his  visit  to  Can- 
ada, reverting  to  the  fact  that  no  physical 
barriers  or  fortresses  stood  upon  the 
boundaries  between  the  United  States 
and  Canada.    He  closed  by  saying: 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  example  of 
nations  living  side  by  side  in  a  spirit  of 
political  tolerance  and  human  liberty  is 
entirely  incompatible  with  the  militarism 
which  threatened  Europe  in  the  great 
war,  and  is  thus  a  living  example  of  the 
great  principles  for  which  we  gave  our 
best  in  that  terrible  ordeal.  *  *  *  As 
the  representative  here  of  the  British  Em- 


pire, and  also— I  hope  I  may  say— as  a 
friend  and  great  admirer  of  the  Amer- 
ican people,  I  reflect  with  pride  that  our 
common  victory  was  a  victory  for  the 
ideal  to  which  we,  with  our  institutions, 
and  you  with  yours  have  given  practical 
shape  upon  this  continent  for  a  hundred 
years. 

He  was  tendered  a  reception  at  the 
Library  of  Congress  on  the  evening  of 
the  12th,  which  was  attended  by  official 
Washington.  On  the  following  day  he 
was  admitted  to  President  Wilson's  bed- 
chamber and  spent  some  time  in  friendly 
conversation  with  him.  The  same  day 
he  visited  the  tomb  of  Washington  at 
Mount  Vernon,  where  he  had  a  wreath ;  in 
a  corner  of  the  same  vault  stood  a 
wreath  which  Edward  VII., -the  Prince's 
grandfather,  had  left  there  nearly  sixty 
years  before.  The  young  man  also 
planted  a  tree  in  the  grounds. 

He  left  Washington  Nov.  14,  after 
three  days  of  busy  sightseeing,  recep- 
tions, and  entertainments,  for  White 
Sulphur  Springs,  Va.,  where  he  rested 
for  three  days,  having  previously  also 
visited  Annapolis. 

The  Prince  arrived  in  New  York  Nov. 
18  and  for  three  days  was  the  guest  of 
the  city,  every  moment  of  his  time  being 
taken  with  receptions,  sightseeing  tours, 
dinners,  and  functions  of  various  sorts. 
The  reception  tendered  him  was  whole- 
hearted and  sincere,  and  he  won  the 
heart  of  the  people  by  his  engaging  man- 
ners, his  friendly,  boyish,  outspoken 
demeanor,  and  his  tactful,  democratic 
bearing.  The  freedom  of  the  city  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Mayor  Hylan. 
He  was  taken  to  all  points  of  interest  in 
and  about  the  city,  and  wherever  he  ap- 
peared upon  the  streets  or  in  assemblies 
he  was  acclaimed  with  sincere  demon- 
strations of  regard. 

He  visited  the  grave  of  former  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  where  he  deposited  a 
wreath;  another  day  he  inspected  the 
Cadets  at  West  Point.  He  was  tendered 
several  notable  dinners,  at  all  qf  which 
he  spoke  with  modesty,  but  with  tact 
and  judgment;  he  was  a  guest  at  a  gala 
performance  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera, 
attended  several  theatrical  performances, 
participated  in  dances  in  his  honor,  and 
visited  the  Stock  Exchange,  where  he 
won  the  plaudits  of  the  men  of  finance. 


VISIT  OF  THE  PRINCE   OF   WALES 


435 


During  his  stay  in  the  city  the  Prince's 
quarters  were  on  the  British  battle 
cruiser  Renown,  which  was  anchored  in 
the  Hudson  River  off  Eighty-sixth 
Street.  Here  he  gave  dinners  to  his 
hosts,  received  large  delegations  of  high 
school  students,  and  in  other  ways 
showed  his  appreciation  of  the  warmth 
of  his  welcome.     He  left  New  York  on 


the  Renown  Nov.  22.  Cablegrams  of 
appreciation  were  sent  by  his  father, 
King  George,  expressing  keen  pleasure 
over  the  welcome  given  the  Prince;  the 
British  press  also  gave  evidence  of  its 
extreme  satisfaction  over  the  success  of 
the  Prince's  visit  and  the  cordial  manner 
in  which  the  American  people  had  taken 
him  to  their  hearts. 


The  Prohibition  Enforcement  Law 

Passed   Over    President's  Veto 


THE  National  Prohibition  Enforce- 
ment bill,  which  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress on  Oct.  10,  1919,  was  vetoed 
by  President  Wilson  on  Oct.  27.  The 
veto  was  based  on  the  ground  that  the 
law,  as  passed,  attempted  to  cover  two 
different  things — wartime  prohibition,  a 
temporary  measure  now  practically  end- 
ed, and  the  prohibition  amendment  to 
the  Federal  Constitution,  a  permanent 
measure  which  goes  into  effect  Jan.  16, 
1920.  The  President  made  it  clear  that 
his  objection  was  directed  against  the 
phase  of  the  enforcement  law  applying 
to  wartime  prohibition.  The  bill,  he 
said  in  his  veto  message,  "  has  to  do  with 
the  enforcement  of  an  act  which  was 
passed  by  reason  of  the  emergencies  of 
the  war,  and  whose  objects  have  been 
satisfied  by  the  demobilization  of  the 
army  and  navy." 

Two  hours  after  the  veto  message  had 
reached  the  House  of  Representatives 
that  body  passed  the  bill  over  the  Presi- 
dent's disapproval  by  a  vote  of  176  to 
55 — twenty-one  more  than  the  necessary 
two-thirds.  The  Senate  followed  suit 
the  next  day  by  passing  the  bill  over  the 
veto  by  a  vote  of  65  to  20 — eight  more 
than  the  necessary  two-thirds. 

The  law  immediately  went  into  effect, 
and  orders  were  sent  out  the  following 
day  by  the  Internal  Revenue  Collector  to 
enforce  it  rigidly.  Saloons  in  most  of 
the  cities  of  the  country  were  immedi- 
ately closed,  but  at  many  points  efforts 
were  made  to  evade  the  law,  followed 
immediately  by  raids  by  revenue  offi- 
cers and  the  arrest  of  the  violators,  all 
of   whom  were  either   fined   or  held  to 


court  under  heavy  bonds.  Large  brew- 
ing and  liquor  interests  in  various 
centres  took  steps  to  test  the  valid- 
ity of  the  act,  and  suits  were  filed  in 
the  Federal  courts  to  restrain  the  Gov- 
ernment from  enforcing  its  provisions. 
The  first  decision  was  rendered  by 
United  States  District  Judge  Arthur  I. 
Brown  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  on  Nov.  12, 
and  a  preliminary  injunction  against  its 
enforcement  was  issued.  The  same  day 
Federal  Judge  Evans,  sitting  at  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  announced  that  he  would  issue 
a  similar  injunction  on  Nov.  13.  As  soon 
as  the  decisions  were  made,  saloons  re- 
opened in  Louisville  and  in  Providence. 
Three  days  later  the  United  States  Court 
of  Appeals  in  Boston  issued  a  stay  to 
the  injunction  of  Judge  Brown,  and  the 
law  was  again  enforced  at  Providence. 

On  Nov.  15  three  Federal  Judges — 
Hand,  Knox,  and  Rose — handed  down 
decisions  in  New  York  directly  in  con- 
flict with  Judges  Brown  and  Evans, 
holding  that  the  wartime  prohibition  was 
constitutional  and  that  the  act  was  a 
valid  exercise  of  Congressional  power. 
Two  days  later  Federal  Judge  Carpenter 
at  Chicago  upheld  the  law,  and  the  fol- 
lowing day  it  was  upheld  by  Judge  Fitz- 
henry  at  Peoria,  111.  At  St.  Louis  the 
court  sustained  a  decision  against  the 
law,  and  the  sale  of  2.75  per  cent,  beer 
was  resumed. 

Meanwhile  all  efforts  to  fight  the 
measure  were  concentrated  in  the  legal 
steps  taken  before  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  to  test  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  entire  prohibition  law.  The 
case   was   advanced    by    the   court;    the 


436 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


arguments  were  begun  Nov.  20  and  last- 
ed three  days;  the  chief  counsel  for  the 
liquor  interests  was  former  Secretaiy 
of  State  Elihu  Root;  the  Anti-Saloon 
League  co-operated  with  the  Govern- 
ment in  presenting  the  case.  The  Su- 
preme Court  adjourned  Nov.  22  for  a 
fortnight's  recess,  hence  no  decision  was 
looked  for  until  after  Dec.  8.  President 
Wilson  let  it  be  known  that  he  would 
issue  no  proclamation  lifting  the  ban  on 
wartime  prohibition  in  view  of  the  fail- 
ure of  the  Senate  to  ratify  the  Peace 
Treaty,  hence  the  sole  hope  of  the  liquor 
interests  of  obtaining  a  period  of  free- 
dom to  resume  business  before  constitu- 
tional prohibition  went  into  effect  on 
Jan.  16  rested  with  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

The  Ohio  election  on  Nov.  4  resulted 
in  a  victory  for  the  anti -prohibitionists 
by  a  majority  of  less  than  500  in  a  total 


vote  of  over  1,000,000,  but  the  accuracy 
of  the  count  was  attacked  by  the  pro- 
hibitionists; in  the  same  election  a  refer- 
endum vote  defeated  the  repeal  of  State 
prohibition  by  a  large  majority.  In  New 
Jersey  a  Democratic  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor, who  stood  on  a  pro-liquor  plat- 
form, was  elected;  in  Kentucky  the  pro- 
hibitionists carried  the  State  by  10,717 
and  expressed  themselves  as  satisfied 
with  the  results  of  the  election  generally. 

The  Government  instituted  measures 
to  enforce  the  prohibition  law  rigidly. 
The  country  was  divided  into  districts, 
and  a  Federal  Prohibition  Director  was 
appointed  to  each,  with  numerous  rev- 
enue agents  under  him. 

There  was  a  general  observance  of  the 
law  throughout  the  country  from  the 
start — with  scattered  exceptions  in  the 
larger  cities — and  nowhere  were  any  dis- 
orders reported. 


"Absent  Without  Leave" 

By  CRITTENDEN  MARRIOTT 

[Late  Director  of  Activities,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Bordeaux  Region,  France] 


ONE  of  the  great  though  compara- 
tively minor  tragedies  of  the  world 
war  was  that  of  the  men  who  were 
lost;  not  lost  in  the  sense  that  they  were 
killed  or  captured  or  missing,  but  lost  in 
the  ordinary  significance  of  the  term. 
Late  in  1918  it  was  stated  semi-officially 
that  120,000  privates  and  18,000  officers 
were  "  A.  W.  O.  L."  (absent  without 
leave)  in  France.  Every  one,  including 
the  army  authorities  that  made  the 
statement,  knew  perfectly  well  that 
scarcely  a  tenth  of  these  men  were  ab- 
sent of  their  own  will,  and  that  the  other 
nine-tenths  were  simply  lost.  In  default, 
however,  of  any  formal  explanation  of 
their  absence,  it  was  impossible  to  sep- 
arate the  sheep  from  the  goats,  and  all 
had  to  be  classed  together. 

It  seems  incredible,  of  course,  that 
120,000  men,  let  alone  18,000  officers, 
could  possibly  be  wandering  about 
France  trying  to  find  their  "  outfits " 
and  failing  to  do  so.  Yet,  not  only  these 
but  thousands  more  had  been  lost,  some 


for  weeks  and  some  for  months,  who 
had  at  last  reached  their  regimental 
home. 

Take  a  true  case:  John  Jones,  private, 
landed  at  Brest  in  November,  1917,  with 
his  battalion.  He  was  taken  ill  on  his 
arrival  and  sent  to  a  hospital.  Three 
days  later  he  was  discharged  as  cured 
and  ordered  to  rejoin  his  organization. 
Meanwhile,  however,  the  organization 
had  moved  away  under  "  sealed  orders." 
Even  the  Colonel  in  command  probably 
did  not  know  its  ultimate  destination, 
and  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  men  in 
Brest  knew  even  its  proximate  destina- 
tion. These  were  war  times,  and  all 
movements  of  troops  were  carefully  con- 
cealed. 

John  Jones  applied  to  army  neadquar- 
ters  in  Brest  and  received  a  ticket  for 
St.  Sulpice  and  two  days'  rations;  he  was 
told  to  get  on  a  certain  train.  Obediently, 
he  went  to  the  railway  station.  He  did 
not  speak  a  word  of  French  and  he  found 
no  one  to  point  him  right,  but  ultimately 


"ABSENT  WITHOUT  LEAVE" 


437 


he  got  on  a  train  for  somewhere  and 
finally  he  brought  up  at  a  place  called 
St.  Sulpice,  only  to  find  that  his  organi- 
zation was  not  there,  that  no  American 
troops  were  there,  and  that  none  had 
ever  been  there.  Clearly,  it  was  the 
wrong  St.  Sulpice. 

What  was  he  to  do?  He  was  a  coun- 
try boy  barely  21  years  old,  in  a  foreign 
land,  ignorant  of  the  language.  Naturally, 
he  was  panic-stricken  and  was  wild  to 
find  his  own  countrymen,  of  any  organ- 
ization, wherever  they  might  be,  who 
would  steer  him  to  the  right  St.  Sulpice. 

The  French  were  very  kind  to  Ameri- 
can soldiers;  they  discovered  that  he  was 
lost,  they  fed  him,  and  arranged  for  him 
to  take  the  train  to  the  nearest  known 
American  camp. 

At  the  camp  he  told  his  story  and 
asked  to  be  sent  on  to  St.  Sulpice.  The 
Adjutant  had  never  heard  of  the  place, 
but  he  got  out  his  railway  guide,  and  after 
a  while  he  found  the  name.  A  clerk 
made  out  a  ticket  and  the  Adjutant 
called  an  orderly.  "  Take  this  man  to 
Company  B  and  tell  the  Sergeant  to  feed 
him  and  give  him  a  place  to  sleep  to- 
night and  have  him  at  the  8  o'clock  train 
tomorrow  morning,"  he  ordered. 

Jones  took  the  train  as  directed,  but 
the  St.  Sulpice  it  took  him  to  turned  out 
to  be  another  wrong  St.  Sulpice.  So  did 
several  other  next  Choices.  Finally  some 
officer  looked  up  the  matter,  and  found 
that  sixty-seven  of  the  ninety-two  "  de- 
partments "  in  France  contained  a  town 
called  St.  Sulpice.  It  was  hopeless  to 
investigate  each  of  them  in  turn,  (the 
mails  and  telegraphs  were  hopeless;) 
moreover,  a  month  had  passed  and  it  was 
certain  that  Jones's  outfit  had  moved  on 
to  somewhere  else.  So  the  officer  sent 
him  to  Bourges,  where  the  central  rec- 
ords office  of  the  A.  E.  F.  was  situated. 

Bourges  ought  to  have  placed  him 
right.  No  doubt  Bourges  tried.  But  its 
records  were  not  up  to  date.  Of  course 
they  were  supposed  to  be,  but,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  they  were  not.  No  records 
ever  were  up  to  date  anywhere  at  any 
time  in  the  war.  In  the  very  nature  of 
things  they  could  not  be.  So  John  Jones 
went  wrong  again  and  again  and  again. 

He  never   did   get   right.    I   saw  him 


eleven  months  after  he  landed  at  Brest, 
and  he  was  still  ostensibly  seeking  his 
outfit.  Actually  he  had  become  a  tramp, 
utterly  worthless  and  utterly  hopeless. 
Consider!  For  eleven  long  months  this 
boy  of  21  had  wandered,  shunted  from 
outfit  to  outfit,  living  "  on  the  coun- 
try," with  never  a  cent  of  pay.  When  he 
found  American  troops  he  was  fed — and 
sent  on.  Again  and  again  he  was  picked 
up  by  M.  P.s,  (military  police,)  ques- 
tioned— and  sent  somewhere.  At  first  he 
tried  to  go  as  ordered,  later  he  simply 
went.  I  took  him  to  the  nearest  Provost 
Marshal,  who,  on  his  own  responsibility, 
sent  him  as  a  "  replacement "  to  the 
nearest  company.  Here  he  was  given 
food  and  quarters  with  the  other  men, 
but  no  pay.  What  became  of  him  ulti- 
mately I  do  not  know;  perhaps  he  made 
good,  but  the  chances  were  all  against- 
him,  for  he  was  worn  out,  hopeless,  and 
indifferent.  He  had  been  ruined  by  no 
fault  of  his  own. 

The  point  of  this  story  is  that  it  is 
typical.  Literally  thousands  of  men  and 
officers  had  similar  experiences,  varying 
in  details,  but  all  tending  to  the  same 
conclusion.  Some  were  patients  trying  to 
get  back  from  hospitals,  some  were  mes- 
sengers, some  were  truckman,  and  some 
were  men  who  had  fallen  out  on  a  march. 
Some  luckier  or  more  intelligent  than  the 
rest  found  their  outfits;  others  were 
picked  up  by  some  officer  who  was  will- 
ing to  cut  red  tape  and  were  assigned 
to  duty,  but  thousands  were  ruined  as 
John  Jones  was  ruined.  « 

Ultimately  conditions  got  so  bad  that 
the  plan  of  returning  hospital  cases  to 
their  old  outfits  was  abandoned,  and  they 
were  sent  to  permanent  replacement 
camps,  whence  they  were  forwarded  in 
squads  to  any  regiment  that  called  for 
them.  This  tended  to  destroy  regimental 
and  divisional  pride,  and  for  a  time  was 
resented  by  the  men,  but  the  necessities 
of  the  case  were  too  plain  to  be  ignored. 
Men  assigned  to  new  outfits  were  put  on 
the  rolls,  retained  their  honorable  stand- 
ing, and  got  (or  were  supposed  to  get) 
pay  and  allowances.  Men  wandering 
about  the  country  or  taken  on  irregu- 
larly by  chance  organizations  got  noth- 
ing— and  they  stood  on  the  rolls  of  their 


438 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


old  organizations  as  absent  without  leave, 
as  deserted,  or  as  dead.  Even  today 
many  are  lost,  and  all  will  find  almost 
endless  red  tape  confronting  them  when 
they  try  to   clear  their  names  and   re- 


establish their  standing.  For,  of  course, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  many  were 
willfully  absent — and  that  it  is  still  dif- 
ficult to  separate  the  sheep  from  the 
goats. 


Total  Cost  of  the  War  337  Billions 


A  CCORDING  to  a  volume  prepared  by 
J\_  Ernest  L.  Bogert,  Professor  of 
Economics,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Carnegie  Endowment  for  Internal 
Peace,  all  the  wars  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury from  the  Napoleonic  down  to  the 
Balkan  wars  of  1912-13,  show  a  loss  of 
life  of  4,449,300,  while  the  known  and 
presumed  dead  of  the  world  war  reached 
9,998,771.  The  monetary  value  of  the 
individuals  lost  to  each  country  is  esti- 
mated, the  highest  value  on  human  life 
being  given  to  the  United  States,  where 
each  individual's  economic  worth  is 
placed  at  $4,720,  with  England  next  at 
$4,140;  Germany  third,  at  $3,380;  France 
and  Belgium,  each  $2,900;  Austria- 
Hungary  at  $2,720,  and  Russia,  Italy, 
Serbia,  Greece,  and  the  other  countries 
at  $2,020. 

With  a  loss  of  more  than  4,000,000,  the 
estimate  puts  Russia  in  the  lead  in 
human  economic  loss,  the  total  being 
more  than  $8,000,000,000;  Germany  is 
next  with  $6,750,000,000;  France,  $4,800,- 
000,000;  England,  $3,500,000,000;  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, $3,000,000,000;  Italy,  $2,- 
384,000,000;  Serbia,  $1,500,000,000;  Tur- 
key* almost  $1,000,000,000;  Rumania, 
$800,000,000;  Belgium,  almost  $800,000,- 
000 ;  the  United  States  slightly  more  than 
$500,000,000;  Bulgaria,  a  little  more 
than  $200,000,000;  Greece,  $75,000,000; 
Portugal,  $8,300,000,  and  Japan,  $600,000. 
On  this  basis  the  total  in  human  life  lost 
cost  the  world  $33,551,276,280,  and  the 
loss  to  the  world  in  civilian  population 
is  placed  at  an  equal  figure. 

The  total  property  loss  on  land  is  put 
at  $29,960,000,000,  one-third  of  which 
was  suffered  by  France  alone,  its  loss 
being  given  as  $10,000,000,000,  with  Bel- 
gium next  at  $7,000,000,000,  with  theother 
countries  following  in  this  order:  Italy, 
$2,710,000,000;  Serbia,  Albania  and 
Montenegro,   $2,000,000,000;   the  British 


Empire  and  Germany,  each  $1,750,000,- 
000;  Poland,  $1,500,000,000;  Russia, 
$1,250,000,000;  Rumania,  $1,000,000,000, 
and  East  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Ukraine 
together,  the  same  amount. 

In  the  property  losses  on  sea,  that  is, 
to  shipping  and  cargo,  the  ueport  esti- 
mates that  "  the  construction  cost  of  the 
tonnage  loss  can  scarcely  be  estimated 
at  less  than  $200  a  ton,  and  the  mone- 
tary loss  involved  in  the  sinking  of  this 
15,398,392  gross  tons  may,  therefore,  be 
placed  at  about  $3,000,000,000."  To  this 
is  added  loss  of  cargo,  which  is  estimated 
at  $250  a  ton,  giving  a  cargo  loss  of 
$3,800,000,000,  and  a  total  tonnage  and 
cargo  loss  of  $6,800,000,000. 

Among  the  indirect  costs  of  the  war, 
loss  of  production  is  placed  at  $45,000,- 
000,000.  In  arriving  at  this  figure  an 
average  of  20,000,000  men  are  counted 
as  having  been  withdrawn  from  produc- 
tion during  the  whole  period  of  the  war, 
and  their  average  yearly  productive  ca- 
pacity is  placed  at  $500.  War  relief  is 
another  indirect  cost  which  totaled  up 
to  $1,000,000,000;  and  the  loss  to  the 
neutral  nations  is  given  as  $1,750,000,000. 

With  the  total  direct  costs  of  the  war 
amounting  to  $186,336,637,097  and  the 
indirect  costs  to  $151,612,542,560,  the  stu- 
pendous total  of  $337,946,179,657  is 
reached.     Finally  the  report  says: 

The  figures  presented  in  this  summary- 
are  both  incomprehensible  and  appalling, 
yet  even  these  do  not  take  into  account 
the  effect  of  the  war  on  life,  human  vital- 
ity, economic  wellbeingr,  ethics,  morality, 
or  other  phases  of  human  relationships 
and  activities  which  have  been  Disorgan- 
ized and  injured.  It  is  evident  from  the 
present  disturbances  in  Europe  that  the 
real  costs  of  the  war  cannot  be  measured 
by  the  direct  money  outlays  of  the  bellig- 
erents during  the  five  years  of  its  dura- 
tion, but  that  the  very  breakdown  of 
■modern  economic  society  might  be  the 
price    exacted. 


KING  ALBERT  ADDRESSING  CONGRESS 


The  King  of  the  Belgians,  first  reigning  sovereign  to  visit  America, 
addressing  the  United  States  Senate,  Oct.  28,  1919 


>  p » » «* 


«Q    L'ntlcncood    ,f    r>ntrrnootl) 


439 


PRINCE  CASIMIR  LUBOMIRSKI 


First  Minister  to  the  United  States  from  the  new  Republic  Of  Poland, 
who  arrived  Oct.  28,  1919 

(©    Jean    de    Strelecki,    New    York) 


BARON  ROMANO  AVEZZANA 


New   Italian   Ambassador   to   the   United    States,   succeeding   Count 
Macchi  di  Cellere,  who  died  Oct.  20,  1919 

(Bain    Tint*    Service) 

441 


FORMER  KAISER'S  LATEST  PORTRAIT 


jmmmmmmS 


**"■++  -.TJB*                      ■ 

... 

*-£ 

w                               It" 

Wilhelm  II.,  bearded  and  older  looking,  as  photographed  from  a  hay 
wagon  overlooking  the  garden  wall  at  Amerongen 

(©    New    York    Timea    Wide    World   Photos) 


442 


FIELD  MARSHAL  MACKENSEN  AS  A  PRISONER 


\iuit 


ExuEEEEE! 


The  German  commander  (wearing  war  crosses)  arriving  as  a  prisoner 
at  Saloniki,  Sept.  10, 1919, escorted  by  French  officers  and  gendarmes 

i<JJ     ls'lllush  utioii ,   Paris) 


443 


■■■■n^ggd! 


VmainlKSSMHSs 


444 


PUBLIC  DEFENDERS  IN  COAL  STRIKE 


■  ■■■■a*3 


FRANCIS  P.  GARVAN 
Assistant  Attorney  General 


Harris  <#   Etvinp) 


DR.  HARRY  A.   GARFIELD 
Fuel    Administrator 


(Photo    Brown   Broi*.) 


^kmmwx 


445 


LEADERS   IN  PROHIBITION  ENFORCEMENT 


:««««i^."»h 


DANIEL  C.  ROPER 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue 

<©    Harris   &   Ewing) 


CONGRESSMAN  A.J.VOLSTEAD 
Author  of  "  dry  "  enforcement  law 


(©    International) 


CARTER  T.  GLASS 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury 

(©    Vnderu-ood   <t    Underwood) 


COLONEL  DANIEL  L.  PORTER 
Internal  Revenue  head,  New  York 

(©    International) 


446 


FIGURES  IN  PEACE  CONFERENCE  MISSIONS 


MAJOR   GEN.  J.   G.   HARBORD 

Sent  to   investigate   conditions   in 

Armenia 

(©    Harris  d   Ewing) 


REAR  ADMIRAL  M.  L.  BRISTOL 

Who  warned  Turks  to  cease 

massacres 

(©    Clinedinat) 


HENRY  MORGENTHAU 
Head  of  commission  sent  to  Poland 

(©    Underwood   <t    Underwood) 


BRIG.  GEN.  EDGAR  JADWIN 
With  Morgenthau   Mission 

(©    Clinedinat) 


L.wj»itin: 


5EE 


I      III WM 


Sena 


447 


GROUP  OF  KOLCHAK'S  PRISONERS 


Bolshevist  prisoners  gathered  in  by  Admiral  Kolchak's  forces  during 
the  fighting  near  Ufa 

((£)    Uttdencood   tf    I 'inter  wood) 

■■■■■■■■■^■■■■■■Hl 


VICE  ADMIRAL  KOLCHAK 

Anti-Bolshevist  leader  and  head  of 

Omsk  Government 

(©    Pre**  Illustrating  Senlce) 


GENERAL  DENIKIN 

Leader  of  patriot  forces  in  South 

Russia,  threatening  Moscow 


■■■■■%! 


448 


GENERAL  NICOLAI  YUDENITCH 


cnn, . 


,ji»»«i 


Commander  of  the  Kussian  anti-Bolshevist  Army,  who,  with  Kolchak 
and  Denikin,  attempted  to  close  in  upon  the  Red  strongholds 


t...-  J»im 


(©    Press    lllut<tratiii(/   Service) 


449 


450 


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451 


452 


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453 


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464 


Origin  of  the  World  War 

Official  Minutes  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Council  That 
Decided  to  Force  War  on  Serbia 


T 


fTTHE  publication  in  Vienna  of  a  so- 
called  Austrian  Red  Book,  based 
on  materials  found  in  the  archives 
of  the  old  Austro-Hungarian 
Foreign  Office  and  written  by  a  publicist 
named  Dr.  Roderich  Gooss,  with  the  ap- 
)roval  of  the  present  Austrian  Govern- 
nent,  created  a  sensation  in  Central 
Europe  during  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember, 1919.  The  book,  entitled  "The 
Vienna  Cabinet  and  the  Origin  of  the 
World  War,"  showed  that  at  a  Minis- 
terial Council  held  in  Vienna  on  July  7, 
1914,  the  political  leaders  of  Austria- 
Hungary  had  deliberately  decided  to 
force  war  upon  Serbia  by  means  of  an 
ultimatum  in  regard  to  the  assassina- 
tion of  Archduke  Ferdinand  at  Serajevo. 
After  a  thorough  discussion  the  Ministers 
determined  to  shane  H»*  demands  upon 
Serbia  in  such  a  way  that  they  would 
cause  a  war,  in  which  Serbian  territory 
could  be  seized,  yet  the  terms  were  not 
to  be  so  drastic  as  to  make  the  purpose 
apparent  to  the  world. 

The  most  important  document  in  the 
Red  Book  is  the  official  report  of  the 
meeting  just  referred  to.  .This  record, 
containing  a  summary  of  each  Minister's 
remarks,  shows  that  Count  Berchtold, 
the  Austro-Hungarian  Foreign  Minister, 
had  been  assured  from  Berlin  that 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  Chancellor  Beth- 
mann  Hollweg  stood  ready  to  support 
Germany's  ally,  no  matter  what  the  de- 
mands upon  Serbia  might  be.  In  other 
words,  it  furnishes  official  evidence  that 
Austria-Hungary  first  obtained  Ger- 
many's consent  and  backing  before  pro- 
voking war.  The  minutes  also  reveal 
the  fact  that  Count  Tisza,  the  Hungarian 
Premier,  was  the  only  member  present 
who  seemed  to  fear  the  European  war 
which  would  almost  certainly  result 
from  the  attempt  to  make  Serbia  a 
dependency  of  Austria. 

Following  is  the  full  text  of  the  min- 
utes   of   that   historic    meeting,    as    re- 


printed from  the  Red  Book  by  the  Vi- 
enna Arbeiter-Zeitung  and  translated 
from  the  German  for  Current  History: 

Repwt  of  the  Ministerial  Council  hold  in 
Vienna  on  July  7,  Hili,  over  joint  affairs, 
nn<Ur  the  Presidency  of  Count  Berchtold. 
Minister  of  the  Imperial  Royal  House  and 
of    Foreign    Affairs. 

Present:  Count  Stuergkh,  Imperial-Royal 
Prem  erf  Count  Tisza,  Royal  Hungarian 
Premier;  Dr.  von  Bilinski,  Imperial  and 
Royal  Joint  Minister  of  Finance;  Ordnance 
General  von  Krobatin,  Imperial  and  Royal 
Minister  of  War;  General  Baron  von  Conrad, 
Imperial  and  Royal  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff,  and  R<ar  Admiral  von  Kailvr,  rep- 
resenting the  Imperial  and  Royal  Naval  Com- 
mand Recording  Secretary,  Legation 
Councilor  Count  Hoyos.  Subject;  Bosnian 
affair.s,  the  diplomatic  action  against  Serbia. 

Thl  Chairman  opened  the  session  by  re- 
marking that  the  Ministerial  Council  had 
been  called  for  the  purpo.se  of  discussing  the 
measures  to  be  taken  to  remedy  the  evil 
internal  conditions  that  had  become  apparent 
in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  in  connection  with 
the  catastrophe  of  Serajevo.  In  his  opinion 
there  were  various  internal  measures,  the 
application  of  which  to  Bosnia  setmed  to 
him  to  be  in  order  against  the  critical 
situation,  but,  first  of  all,  clarity  should  be 
reached  on  the  question  whether  the  time  had 
not  come  to  make  Serbia  harmless  once  for 
all  through  an  expression  of  force. 

Such  a  decisive  blow  could  not  be  struck 
without  diplomatic  preparations,  so  he  had 
got  in  touch  with  the  German  Government. 
The  discussions  in  Berlin  haU  led  to  a  very 
satisfactory  result,  as  Kaiser  •  Wilhelm,  as 
well  as  Herr  von  Bethmann  Hollweg,  had 
most  emphatically  assured  us  of  the  uncon- 
ditional support  of  Germany  in  case  of  a 
warlike  complication  with  Serbia.  Now  we 
must  still  reckon  with  Italy  and  Rumania, 
and  here  he  was  in  accord  with  the  Berlin 
Cabinet  in  the  opinion  that  it  woulu  be  better 
to  act  and  then  await  any  possible  demands 
for  compensation. 

It  was  plain  to  him  that  a  passage  at 
arms  with  Serbia  could  lead  to  a  war  with 
Russia.  But  at  present  Russia  was  follow- 
ing a  policy  that,  taking  a  farslghted  view, 
was  aiming  at  a  combination  of  the  Balkan 
States,  including  Rumania,  for  the  purpose 
of  using  them  against  the  monarchy  when 
the  time  seemed  opportune.  He  was  of  the 
opinion  that  we  must  take  Into  account  the 
fact  that  our  situation,  as  opposed  by  such 
a   policy,    was   bound   to   become    worse,    es- 


456 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


pecially  as  passive  toleration  would .  be  sure 
to  be  construed  by  our  South  Slavs  and  Ru- 
manians as  a  sign  of  weakness  and  would 
lend  force  to  the  drawing  power  of  the  two 
border  States. 

The  logical  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from 
all  this  would  be  to  get  ahead  of  our  op- 
ponents and,  through  a  timely  settlement 
with  Serbia,  put  a  stop  to  the  process  of 
development  already  in  full  swing,  something 
that  might  not  be  possible  later. 

COUNT  TISZA'S  ATTITUDE 

The  Royal  Hungarian  Premier  agreed  that 
the  situation  had  changed  during  the  last 
few  days  because  of  the  facts  established 
by  the  investigation,  and  because  of  the  at- 
titude of  the  Serbian  press,  and  he  empha- 
sized the  fact  that  he,  too,  considered  the 
possibility  of  warlike  action  against  Serbia 
closer  at  hand  than  he  had  believed  im- 
mediately after  the  Serajevo  attentat.  He 
would  never  agree,  however,  to  a  surprise 
attack  upon  Serbia  without  preliminary 
diplomatic  action,  as  seemed  to  be  the  in- 
tention, and  as,  unfortunately,  had  been  dis- 
cussed in  Berlin  through  Count  Hoyos,  be- 
cause it  was  liis  view  that  in  such  a  case 
we  would  occupy  a  very  bad  position  In 
the  eyes  of  Europe  and  would  very  probably 
have  to  reckon  with  the  hostility  of  all  the 
Balkan  States,  except  Bulgaria,  which  at 
present  was  greatly  weakened  and  could  not 
support   us   to    the   proper   extent. 

We.  ought  first  to  formulate  unconditional 
demands  upon  Serbia  and  only  present  an 
ultimatum  if  Serbia  did  not  yield  to  them. 
These  demands  must  be  hard,  indeed,  but  not 
impossible  of  fulfillment.  If  Serbia  accepted 
them  we  would  be  able  to  show  a  striking 
diplomatic  success  and  our  prestige  In  the 
Balkans  would  rise.  But  if  our  demands 
were  not  accepted  he,  too,  would  be  for 
military  action,  but  he  must  emphasise  be- 
forehand that  with  such  action  we  must  aim 
at  the  diminution  of  Serbia's  power  but  not 
at  her  complete  destruction,  because  on  the 
one  hand  Russia  would  never  allow  that 
without  a  llfe-and-death  struggle,  and  on 
the  other  because  he,  as  Premier  of  Hungary, 
would  never  be  able  to  agree  to  the  annex- 
ation of  a  part  of  Serbia  by  the  [Austrian] 
monarchy. 

It  was  not  Germany's  affair  to  determine 
if  we  should  now  strike  Serbia  or  not.  He 
personally  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  was 
not  unconditionally  necessary  at  the  present 
moment  to  make  war.  At  present  we  must 
take  into  account  the  fact  that  there  was 
a  very  strong  agitation  against  us  in  Ru- 
mania ;  that,  in  view  of  the  excited  state 
of  public  opinion,  we  would  have  to  reckon 
with  a  Rumanian  attack,  and  that  at  all 
events  we  would  have  to  keep  a  good-sized 
force  in  Transylvania  in  order  to  intimidate 
the  Rumanians.  Now  that  Germany  has 
happily  cleared  the  way  for  the  adhesion  of 
Bulgaria  to  the  Triple  Alliance,  there  Is 
opened  to  us  a  very  promising  field  for  suc- 


cessful diplomatic  action  in  the  Balkans  by 
uniting  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  and  attaching 
them  to  the  Triple  Alliance,  thus  creating 
a  counterbalance  against  Serbia  and  Ru- 
mania, and  then  being  able  to  force  Rumania 
to  return  to  the  Triple  Alliance.  Upon  the 
European  field  it  must  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration that  the  relation  of  strength  be- 
tween France  and  Germany  would  steadily 
become  worse  for  the  former,  because  of  its 
low  birth  rate,  and  that  in  the  future  Ger- 
many would  constantly  have  more  troops 
available  against  Russia. 

These  were  all  considerations  that  must  be 
weighed  in  the  case  of  such  an  important 
decision  as  was  to  be  arrived  at  today,  and 
therefore  he  must  again  point  out  that  he 
would  not  unconditionally  decide  for  war,  in 
spite  of  the  crisis  in  Bosnia,  which,  further- 
more, could  be  remedied  by  an  energetic  re- 
form in  administration ;  he  believed,  rather, 
that  a  proper  diplomatic  victory— one  which 
would  include  a  severe  humbl!ng  of  Serbia- 
would  be  better  adapted  to  improve  our 
position  and  to  make  possible  a  profitable 
Balkan  policy. 

BERCHTOLD    FOR  ACTION 

The  Chairman  [Berchtold]  remarked  in  an- 
swer to  this  that  the  history  of  recent  years 
had  shown  that  diplomatic  victories  over 
Serbia  had,  it  was  true,  temporarily  raised 
the  prestige  of  the  monarchy,  but  that  the 
tension  actually  existing  in  our  relations  with 
Serbia  had  merely  become  greater.  Neither 
our  success  in  the  annexation  crisis  nor  the 
one  connected  with  the  creation  of  Albania, 
nor  the  subsequent  yielding  of  Serbia  in 
consequence  of  our  ultimatum  in  the  Fall  of 
the  preceding  year,  had  changed  anything 
In  the  actual  conditions.  A  radical  solution 
of  the  problem  created  by  the  Greater  Serbia 
propaganda  systematically  carried  on  from 
Belgrade,  the  disintegrating  effects  of  which 
upon  us  are  noticed  as  far  as  Agram  and 
Zara.  was  only  possible  through  an  energetic 
intervention. 

Regarding  the  danger  of  a  hostile  attitude 
by  Rumania  mentioned  by  the  Royaf  Hun- 
garian Premier,  the  Chairman  remarked  that 
at  present  this  was  less  to  be  feared  than 
in  the  future,  when  the  Joint  interests  of  Ru- 
mania and  Serbia  would  constantly  increase. 
Of  course  King  Carol  had  occasionally  ex- 
pressed doubts  as  to  his  ability  to  fulfill  his 
duty  as  an  ally  toward  the  monarchy  by 
active  military  service  in  case  it  became 
necessary.  On  the  other  hand  it  was  hardly 
to  be  assumed  that  he  would  allow  himself 
to  be  induced  to  take  military  action  against 
the  monarchy  or  be  unable  to  withstand 
any  public  sentiment  for  such  action.  For 
the  rest  there  must  be  considered  Rumania's 
fear  of  Bulgaria,  which  would  be  bound  to 
somewhat  restrain  the  former's  freedom  of 
movement  even  under  the  present  circum- 
stances. 

So  far  as  the  Hungarian  Premier's  remarks 
regarding  the  comparative  strength  of  France 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


Li" 


anil  Germany  were  concerned,  he  [Berehtold] 
belli  v»  d  it  necessary  to  point  out  that  the 
diminishing  increase  in  population  of  France 
WU  offset  by  the  disproportionately  'higher 
increase  in  the  population  of  Russia,  so  that 
the  assertion  that  Germany  would  in  the  fu- 
ture have  more  troops  available  against 
Fiance   hardly   appeared    to   hold    good. 

PREMIER  STUERGKH  FOR  WAR 

The  Imperial  Royal  Premier  [StuergkhJ  re- 
marked that  today's  council  of  Ministers  had 
really  been  called  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing the  internal  measures  to  be  used  in 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  that  would  be  cal- 
culated on  the  one  side  to  make  the  present 
Investigation,  begun  on  account  of  the  atten- 
tat, a  success,  and  on  the  other  to  counteract 
the  Greater  Serbian  movement  in  Bosnia. 
Now  these  questions  must  give  place  to  the 
main  question  of  whether  we  ought  to  settle 
the  internal  crisis  in  Bosnia  by  an  expression 
of  force  against  Serbia. 

This  main  question  had  now  become  timely 
afUr  two  months,  first  of  all  because  the 
commander  of  the-  provinces  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  on  the  basis  of  his  observations 
and  ills  acquaintance  with  Bosnian  conditions, 
proceeded  on  the  hypothesis  that  no  Internal 
measures  could  be  successful  unless  we  de- 
cided to  strike  a  powerful  blow  at  Serbia  on 
the  outside.  On  the  base  of  these  observa- 
tions of  General  Potiorek  we  must  consider 
the  question  as  to  whether  the  schismatic 
activity  proceeding  from  Serbia  could  be 
stopped,  and  whether  we  could  even  retain 
the  two  provinces  If  we  did  not  proceed 
against   the   kingdom. 

During  the  last  few  days  the  entire  situa- 
tion had  taken  on  a  different  aspect,  and 
there  had  now  been  created  a  psychological 
situation,  which,  In  his  opinion,  was  uncon- 
ditionally forcing  us  into  a  war  with  Serbia. 
He  agreed,  indeed,  with  the  Royal  Hungarian 
Premier  that  we,  and  not  the  German  Gov- 
ernment, must  decide  If  a  war  was  necessary 
or  not ;  but  he  must  still  remark  that  It  was 
bound  to  exercise  a  very  great  influence  upon 
our  decision  when,  as  we  had  heard,  we  had 
been  assured  of  unconditional  loyalty  by 
the  ally  which  we  must  regard  as  the  most 
faithful  supporter  of  our  policy  In  the  Triple 
Alliance  and,  furthermore,  had  been  urged 
to  act  at  once,  after  we  had  made,  inquiries 
there.  Count  Tisza  certainly  ought  to  at- 
tach importance  to  this  circumstance  and 
remember  that  we,  through  a  policy  of 
hesitation  and  weakness,  ran  the  risk  of 
no  longer  being  so  sure  of  this  unconditional 
support  of  the  German  Empire  at  a  later 
period.  This  was  the  second  matter  of 
weight  to  be  considered  in  reaching  our  de- 
cision, along  with  the  interest  in  restoring 
orderly  conditions  In  Bosnia. 

How  the  conflict  was  to  be  begun  was  a 
matter  of  detail,  and  if  the  Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment was  of  the  opinion  that  a  surprise 
attack  awns  crier  pare,  as  Count  Tisza  had 
>;tld.    was   not   practical,    then    another    way 


must  be  found:  nevertheless,  he  urgently 
desired  that,  whatever  might  happen,  quick 
action  be  taken  and  our  national  economic 
life  be  spared  a  long  period  of  unrest.  All 
these  things  were  details  alongside  of  the 
principal  question  as  to  whether  Jt  was  to 
come  unconditionally  to  warlike  action  or 
not,  and  there  the  Interest  In  the  prestige 
and  the  existence  of  the  monarchy,  whose 
South  Slavic  provinces  he  would  consider 
lost  If  nothing  happened,  was  decisive  above 
all    else. 

Therefore,  today  it  should  be  decided  in 
principle  that  it  shoull  and  will  come  to 
action.  He.  too,  shared  the  opinion  of  the 
Chairman  that  the  situation  would  not  be 
bettered  at  all  by  a  diplomatic  victory.  If, 
consequently,  the  road  of  preliminary  diplo- 
matic action  were  to  be  taken  because  of 
international  reasons,  this  must  be  done  with 
the  firm  Intention  that  this  action  dare  only- 
end   In   a   war. 

DECISIVE  STRUGGLE  NECESSARY 

The  Joint  Finance  -Minister  [BilinskiJ  ob- 
served that  Count  Stuergkh  had  referred  to 
the  fact  that  the  commander  of  the  provinces 
wanted  war.  General  Potiorek  for  two  years 
had  occupied  the  standpoint  that  we  would 
have  to  undergo  a  trial  of  strength  with 
Serbia  in  order  to  retain  Bosnia  and  Herzego- 
vina. We  ought  not  to  forget  that  the  prov- 
incial commander,  being  on  the  spot,  was 
the  best  Judge  of  matters.  Mr.  Billnski  also 
entertained  the  conviction  that  the  decisive 
struggle  was  unavoidable  sooner  or  later.  He 
had  never  doubted  that  Germany  would 
stand  by  us  in  a  grave  case,  and  already 
in  November.  1012.  he  had  received  the  most 
positive  assurances  from  Mr.  von  Tschirschky 
[German  Ambassador  at  Vienna]  along  that 
line.  The  recent  events  in  Bosnia  had  pro- 
duced a  very  dangerous  sentiment  among 
the  Serbian  population,  particularly  because 
the  Serbian  pogrom  in  Serajevo  had  made 
all  the  Serbs  very  excited  and  embittered, 
and  consequently  one  could  no  longer  decide 
who  among  the  Serbs  was  still  loyal  and 
who  was  for  Greater  Serbia.  In  the  country 
itself  this  condition  could  never  be  remedied  : 
the  only  way  to  accomplish  that  was  by  a 
definite  decision  as  to  whether  the  Greater 
Serbia   idea   had  a  future  or  not. 

Although  the  Royal  Hungarian  Premier 
would  now  be  content  with  a  diplomatic 
victory,  he  [Bilinski]  could  not  be  so  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  Bosnian  interests.  The 
ultimatum  that  we  sent  to  Serbia  last  Fall 
had  aggravated  the  sentiment  In  Bosnia  and 
merely  Increased  the  feeling  of  hatred  for 
us.  It  was  a  current  topic  among  all  the 
people  there  that  King  Peter  would  come 
and  free  the  people.  The  Serb  only  under- 
stands force ;  a  diplomatic  victory  would 
make  no  impression  In  Bosnia,  and  would 
be  more  likely  to  do  harm  than  good. 

The  Royal  Hungarian  Premier  asserted  that 
he,  indeed,  had  the  highest  opinion  of  the 
present   provincial  commander  as  a  milit  uy 


458 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


man ;  but  so  far  as  the  civil  administration 
was  concerned  it  could  not  be  denied  that 
it  had  completely  failed,  and  that  it  must 
be  reformed  unconditionally.  He  [Tisza]  did 
not  want  to  go  into  details  about  this  now, 
especially  as  It  was  not  the  proper  time  to 
undertake  great  changes;  he  must  point  out, 
however,  that  the  most  indescribable  con- 
dition must  prevail  among  the  police  in  order 
to  have  made  it  possible  for  six  or  seven 
characters  known  to  the  police  to  place 
themselves  on  the  day  of  the,  attentat  along 
the  route  of  the  murdered  heir  apparent, 
armed  with  bombs  and  revolvers,  without 
a  single  one  of  them  being  noticed  by  the 
police  and  removed.  He  could  not  under- 
stand why  the  conditions  In  Bosnia  could 
not  be  essentially  bettered  through  a 
thorough    reform. 

KROBATIN  FOR  ATTACK 

The  Imperial  and  Royal  Minister  of  War 
[Krobatin]  was  of  the  opinion  that  a  diplo- 
matic success  was  of  no  value.  Such  a 
success  would  only  be  Interpreted  as  weak- 
ness. From  a  military  standpoint  he  must 
emphasize  the  fact  that  it  would  be  more 
advantageous  to  carry  on  war  at  once  than 
at  a  later  time,  as  in  the  future  the  com- 
parative conditions  of  strength  would  be 
disproportionately  shifted  to  our  disadvan- 
tage. So  far  as  the  forms  of  beginning  the 
war  were  concerned,  he  must  stress  the  fact 
that  the  two  great  wars  of  the  last  Tew 
years,  the  Russo-Japanese  and  the  Balkan 
wars,  had  been  begun  without  preliminary 
declarations  of  war.  It  was  his  opinion  that 
at  first  only  the  mobilization  provided  for 
against  Serbia  should  be  carried  out,  and 
that  general  mobilization  should  be  delayed 
until  it  could  be  seen  if  Russia  was  going 
to  move. 

We  had  already  let  pass  two  opportunities 
to  settle  the  Serbian  question,  and  each  time 
postponed  the  decision.  If  we  were  to  do  the 
same  thing  now  and  fail  to  react  to  this  re- 
cent provocation  it  would  be  regarded  in  all 
the  South  Slav  provinces  as  a  sign  of  weak- 
ness, and  we  should  be  strengthening  the  ag- 
itation against  us. 

From  a  military  standpoint  it  would  be  de- 
sirable if  the  mobilization  were  put  into  ef- 
fect at  once  and  with  as  much  secrecy  as 
possible,  and  an  ultimatum  were  only  sent 
to  Serbia  after  mobilization  had  been  ac- 
complished. This  would  be  an  advantageous 
action  in  connection  with  the  Russian  mili- 
tary forces,  also,  as  Just  now  the  ranks  of 
the  Russian  frontier  corps  were  not  at  full 
strength  because  of  the  harvest  furloughs. 

At  this  point  there  ensued  a  lengthy  discus- 
sion over  the  objects  of  a  warlike  action 
against  Serbia,  in  connection  with  which  the 
view  of  the  Royal  Hungarian  Premier  that 
Serbia  must,  Indeed,  be  reduced  in  size,  but 
not  entirely  destroyed,  was  accepted.  The 
Imperial  Royal  Premier  insisted  that  it  would 
be  a  good  idea  also  to  remove  the  Kara- 
georgevich  dynasty  and  give  the  crown  to  a 


European  Prince,  as  well  as  to  bring  about 
a  certain  relation  of  dependency  by  the  di- 
minished kingdom  upon  the  monarchy  in  a 
military  way. 

EUROPEAN  WAR   FORESEEN 

The  Royal  Hungarian  Premier  [Tisza]  was 
still  of  the  opinion  that  a  successful  Balkan 
policy  for  the  monarchy  could  be  effected 
through  the  adhesion  of  Bulgaria  to  the 
Triple  Alliance,  and  he  pointed  out  the  fear- 
ful calamities  of  a  European  war  under  the 
present  conditions.  It  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  all  sorts  of  future  eventualities  were  im- 
aginable—such as  the  sidetracking  of  Russia 
through  Asiatic  complications,  a  war  of 
revenge  upon  Serbia  by  a  revived  Bulgaria, 
&c— which  might  make  our  position  in  regard 
to  the  Greater  Serbia  problem  materially 
more  favorable  than  was  the  case  at  present. 

In  this  connection  the  Chairman  [Berch- 
told]  remarked  that,  of  course,  one  could  im- 
agine various  future  eventualities  that  would 
make  the  situation  favorable  for  us.  He, 
however,  feared  that  there  was  no  time  for 
such  a  development;  One  must  reckon  With 
the  fact  that  from  a  hostile  side  a  decisive 
struggle  against  the  monarchy  was  being 
prepared  and  that  Rumania  was  assisting 
French  and  Russian  diplomacy.  It  dared  not 
be  assumed  that  the  policy  with  Bulgaria 
could  offer  us  a  complete  substitute  for  the 
loss  of  Rumania.  But,  in  his  opinion,  Ru- 
mania was  not  to  be  won  again  so  long  as 
the  Greater  Serbia  agitation  existed,  for  this 
also  entailed  the  Greater  Rumania  agitation, 
and  Rumania  could  only  proceed  against  this 
latter  if  it  were  to  feel  Itself  isolated  in  the 
Balkans  by  the  destruction  of  Serbia  and 
were  to  understand  that  it  could  only  find 
support  in  the  Triple  Alliance. 

Besides,  one  must  not  overlook  the  fact 
that  not  the  first  step  had  yet  been  taken 
toward  the  adhesion  of  Bulgaria  to  the  Triple 
Alliance.  We  only  knew  that  the  present 
Bulgarian  Government  had  expressed  this 
wish  some  months  ago  and  at  that  time  had 
also  been  about  to  enter  into  art  alliance  with 
Turkey.  Thus  far  the  latter  had  not  oc- 
curred, and  Turkey  since  then  had  fallen 
rather  more  under  French  and  Russian  in- 
fluence. Of  course,  the  attitude  of  the  Rado- 
slavnff  Ministry  afforded  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  it  was  still  resolved  to  lend  a  willing  ear 
to  positive  proposals  that  might  be  made  by 
us  in  Sofia  along  the  line  indicated.  But  at 
present  this  position  could  not  yet  be  re- 
garded as  a  firm  foundation  for  our  Balkan 
policy,  especially  as  the  present  Bulgarian 
Government  rested  upon  a  very  shaky  base, 
and,  as  the  adhesion  to  the  Triple  Alliance 
might  be  disavowed  by  public  opinion,  al- 
ways to  a  certain  degree  under  Russian  in- 
fluence, and  the  Radoslavoff  Ministry  be 
turned  out.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
Germany  had  only  previously  approved  the 
proposed  deal  with  Bulgaria  on  condition  that 
it  was  not  to  be  aimed  against  Rumania.     It 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 


459 


would  not  be  easy  entirely  to  fulfill  this  con- 
dition and  uncertain  situations  might  de- 
velop from  it  in  the  future. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  SESSION 

Thereupon,  the  question  of  war  whs  dis- 
cussed thoroughly  in  a  rather  lengthy  debate. 
At  the  conclusion  of  these  discussions  it 
could  be  stated : 

1.  That  all  those  present  desired  the  quick- 
est possible  decision  of  the  controversy  with 
Serbia,  either  in  a  warlike  or  a  peaceful 
sense. 

2.  That  the  Council  of  Ministers  was  ready 
to  accept  the  view  of  the  Royal  Hungarian 
Premier,  according  to  which  mobilization  is 
to  be  effected  only  after  concrete  demands 
have  been  presented  to  Serbia  and  after  these 
have  been  rejected  and  an  ultimatum  served. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  those  present,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Royal  Hungarian  Pre- 
mier, were  of  the  opinion  that  a  purely  diplo- 
matic victory,  even  if  it  ended  with  a  striking 
humiliation  of  Serbia,  would  be  worthless, 
and  that,  consequently,  -such  far-reaching  de- 
mands must  be  presented  to  Serbia  as  to 
make  their  r(j<ution  foreseen,  so  that  the 
way  to  a  radi< ul  solution  through  a  military 
attack  would  bo  prepared. 

Count  Tisza  observed  that  he  was  anxious 
to  meet  the  views  of  all  those  present,  and 
consequently  lie  would  also  make  a  conces- 
sion by  admiiting  that  the  demands  to  be 
sent  to  Serbia  should  be  very  hard,  but 
nevertheless  not  of  such  a  kind  as  to  expose 
our  intention  of  making  unacceptable  de- 
mands. Otherwise  we  would  have  an  Im- 
possible 1ck«1  ground  for  a  declaration  of 
war.  The  text  of  the  note  must  be  studied 
very  closely,  and  in  any  case  he  would  like 
to  see  the  note  before  it  was  sent.  He  must 
also  emphasize  the  fact  that  he,  for  his  part, 
would  l>e  obliged  to  draw  the  proper  conclu- 
sions if  hi*  views  were  not  considered^  At 
this  point  the  session  was  broken  off  until 
the  afternoon. 

THE   AFTERNOON  SESSION 

When  the  meeting  of  the  Ministerial  Coun- 
cil was  reopened  the  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff  and  the  representative  of  the  naval 
command  were  also  present.  At  the  request 
of  the  Chui i  man  the  Minister  of  War  ad- 
dressed the  following  questions  to  the  Chief 
of  the  General  St;iff : 

1.  Whether  it  were  possible  first  to  mobilize 
against  Serbia,  and  only  subsequently  against 
Russia  also,  if  it  became  necessary. 

2.  Whether  largo  bodies  of  troops  could  be 
retained  in  Transylvania  for  the  purpose  of 
intimidating  Rumania. 

8,  Where  would  the  struggle  against  Russia 
be  begun? 

\n  response  to  these  questions  the  Chief  of 
the  General  Staff  gave  secret  explanations 
and  consequently  asked  that  these  answers 
be  not  included  in  the  record.  On  the  basis 
of  these  answers  there  developed  a  long  i.e- 
bate  over  the  prevailing  conditions  of  strength 


and  the  probable  course  of  a  lOuropean  war: 
this,  because  of  its  secret  character,  was  not 
adapted  for  putting  oown  In  this  report. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  debate  the  Royal 
Hungarian  Premier  repeated  his  view  regard- 
ing the  question  of  war  and  directed  another 
appeal  to  those  present  to  examine  their  de- 
cision very  carefully.  Thereupon  were  dis- 
cussed the  points  which  could  be  embodied  in 
the  note  as  demands  upon  Serbia.  In  regard 
to  these  points  no  definite  decision  was  made 
in  the  Ministerial  Council;  they  were  merely 
taken  up  in  order  to  arrive  at  an  idea  of 
what  demands  could  be  made. 

Then  the  Chief  of  the  General  Staff  and  the 
representative  of  the  naval  command  left  the 
Ministerial  Council,  which  occupied  itself 
with  the  internal  situation  in  Bosnia  and  the 
measures  to  be  taken  there.  In  this  connec- 
tion the  Joint  Finance  Minister  declared  that 
he  had  become  convinced  through  conferences 
during  the  last  few  days  with  party  leaders 
that  a  dissolution  of  the  Landtag  would  not 
be  advisable,  because  it  would  be  linked  with 
political  losses.  At  present  there  could  be  no 
session*  held  because  of  the  universal  agita- 
tion of  tempers,  and  therefore  he  was  for  ad- 
journing the  Landtag  and  only  calling  It  to- 
gether for  a  short  session  in  September.  He 
hoped  that  it  then  would  be  possible  to  have 
the  budget  and  the  Kmeten  [?]  bill  passed. 
This  depended  first  of  all  upon  the  retention 
by  Dimovich  of  the  party  leadership  of  the 
pro-Government  Serbs— which  he  hoped  would 
be  the  case— thus  making  possible  the  main- 
tenance of  the  present  Government  majority. 
With  the  closing  of  the  Landtag  the  salaries 
and  the  right  of  immunity  came  to  an  end,  so 
that  the  wishes  of  the  provincial  commander 
and  of  the  Minister  of  War  in  this  regard 
would  be  met  even  If  he  did  not  dissolve  the 
Landtag.  Mr.  von  Blllnskl  then  discussed  a 
number  of  other  measures  that  he  considered 
timely,  among  them  the  dissolution  of  the 
Great   Serbia  Association. 

The  Royal  Hungarian  Premier  did  not  want 
to  propose  any  great  changes  at  present.  He 
again  directed  attention  to  the  condition  of 
.  the  police  at  Serajevo  and  declared  that  the 
disintegration  of  the  administrative  machine 
in  Bosnia  was  the  direct  result  of  the  pre- 
ponderant position  occupied  for  years  by  the 
provincial  commander,  who.  as  a  military 
man,  could  not  possibly  possess  the  experi- 
ence in  administrative  affairs  necessary  for 
a  good  administration. 

The  Joint  Finance  Minister  defended  the 
provincial,  commander  as  an  administrator, 
but  admitted  that  it  would  be  desirable  to 
have  the  civil  administration  entirely  sep- 
arated from  the  military  administration  and 
have  a  civil  Governor  appointed  alongside  of 
the  army  inspector,  as  was  the  case  in  Dal- 
matia. 

Then  upon  the  proposal  of  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Minister  of  War  there  were  immedi- 
ately discussed  special  measures  which  were 
to  be  applied  to  Bosnia. 

In   this   discussion   it   became  clear   that   it 


Nil) 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


was  tin  consensu*  of  all  present  that  some 
of  the  proposals  of  General  Krobatin  were  to 
be  accented,  while  others  went  too  far,  but 
that  In  general  It  was  not  possible  to  lay 
down  a  definite  program  for  internal  admin- 
istration before  the  main  question—as  to 
whether  war  was  to  be  Waged  upon  Serbia- 
had   been  decided. 

The  Chairman  [Berchtold]  pointed  out  that 
even  though  there  existed  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  Count  Tisza  and  all  the 
Othem  present,  they  had  got  (loser  together; 
in  all  probability  the  proposals  of  the  Koyal 
Hungarian  Premier  would  also  lead  to  the 
military  settlement  With  Serbia  thought 
necessary  by  himself  ami  the  other  members 
of  tin-  conference. 

Count  Berchtold  informed  the  Minister  that 
he  intended  to  go  to  ischl  on  the  8th  inst.  to 
present  a  report  to  his  Imperial  and  Koyal 
Apostolic  Majesty;.  County  Tisza  asked  the 
Chairman  also  to  present  a  most  respectful 
rc).,rt  that  he  was  to  make  of  his  view  of  the 
situation.  After  a  communique  for  the  press 
had  been  prepared,  the  Chairman  ended  the 
session.    *    *    * 

BERCHTOLD. 
Secretary,  A.  HOYOS. 

/  Ixivi  tdkin  note  of  the  content  a  of  tliis 
not t  .  Any.   /(»,    /.'>/(.  FRANZ  JOSEK. 

The  text  of  the  communique  to  the 
pi  ess  referred  to  is  given  as  follows  by 
the  Avbeiter-Zeitung: 

The  Joint.  Ministerial  Council  today  was 
called  for  the  purpose  of  occupying  itself 
with  the  ordering1  of  measures  which  are  to 
be  aoplied  to  the  internal  administration  of 
Bosnia  and  Herzgovina.  At  the  same  time 
the  Ministerial  Council  took  this  opportunity 
to  discuss  in  adyance  in  a  general  way  the 
joint  budget  for  next  year,  for  which  pur- 
pose the  Chief  of  the  General  Staff  and  the 
representative  of  the  naval  command  were 
<allcd  in  to  explain  some  technical  questions. 

An  authentic  account — evidently  of- 
ficial— of  the  equally  secret  council  of 
July  19,  1914,  was  printed  in  another 
Vienna,  paper,  the  Morgen.  At  that  ses- 
sion the  resolutions  providing  for  the 
sending  of  practically  impossible  de- 
mands to  Serbia  were  passed  unani- 
mously.    The  record  is  as  follows: 

Count  Berchtold  opened  the  deliberations 
by  announcing  that  a.  liplomatic  note  would 
be  sent  to  Serbia  on  the  following  Thursday, 
July  23;  The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
hoped  that  this  step  would  remain  unknown 
until  after-  President  Polncare's  departure 
from  St.  Petersburg,  and  that  in  any  case 
the  "  considerations  of  courtesy  "  would  be 
complied  with,  since  the  moment  of  his  de- 
parture would  have  been  waited  for.  For 
diplomatic    reasons     he     insisted     that     there 


should  be  no  delay  in  the  action  to  be 
under  taken  against  Serbia,  because  in  Berlin 
they  were  becoming  intoxicated,  and  Rome 
was  beginning  to  discover  the  Intentions  of 
Vienna.  The  council,  therefore,  accepted 
the  date  proposed.-  General  Conrad  do  Hoet- 
zendorff,  the  Chief  of  Staff,  immediately 
ordered  the  decreeing  of  a,  state  of  siege  in 
all  regions  of  the  monarchy  inhabited  by 
Jugoslavs.  Chevalier  dc  Krobatin,  Minister 
of  War,  then  present*  d  his  report  on  mobil- 
ization. Everything  was  ready;  the  order' 
would  be  submitted  to  the  Emperor  for  his 
signature  on  July  22.  Count  Stucrgkh.  Aus- 
trian Premier,  raised  the  question  of  the  at- 
titude to  be  taken  in  case  of  an  Italian 
expedition  to  Vallona.  Count  Stuergkh 
declared  such  an  event  improbable,  but  added 
that  if  It  should  happr  n  Austria-Hungary 
would  take  part  in  it  as  a  matter  of  form, 
and  would  thus  extricate  itself  from  em- 
barrassment. 

Count  Tisza,  Hungarian  premier,  laid  down 
the  condition  that  there  should  be  no  plan 
of  conquest  Involvtd  in  the  action  against 
Serbia ;  the  action  should  be  confined  to 
rectifications  of  frontiers  made  necessary  by 
strategical  considerations.  Count  Berchtold 
replied  that  he  could  accept  this  idea  only 
wltlr  some  reservation,  for'  if,  as  he  conceded, 
it  would  be  well  for  Austria-Hungary  not  to 
take  any  territory  from  Serbia,  portions  as 
large  as  possible  should  b<  given  to  Bulgaria, 
Greece,  and  Albania.  In  any  case  Serbia 
should  be  "  sufficiently  reduced  to  be  no 
longer-  dangerous." 

Count  Stuergkh  add<  d  .hat  if  occupation  of 
Serbian  territory  was  excluded,  one  could  at 
least  take  guarantees,  such  as  the  overthrow 
of  the  dynasty  or  a  military  convention.  The 
War1  Minister,  having  finally  declared  himself 
'ready  to  accept  the  provision  lhat  Austria- 
Hungary  should  limit  itself  to  rectifications 
of  strategical  frontiers  ami  p<  rmancnt  oc- 
cupation of  a  bridghead  on  (he  other'  side  of 
the  Save,  the  council  decided  unanimously 
that  "  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  they 
should  declare  to  the  foreign  powers  that  the 
monarchy  was  not  waging  a  war-  of  con- 
quest." Count  Berchtold  summed  lrp  the 
debate  in  the  remark  that  the  most  complete 
harmony  had  happily  (?  vfiynUvlivrweiM)  been 
attained  on  all  points  by  the  members  of  the 
council. 

The  Vienna  correspondent  of  the  Paris 
Temps,  in  transmitting  this  record  to 
his  paper,  compared  Count  Berchtold's 
"  happily  "  with  Emile  Ollivjer's  remark 
that  he  went  into  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  with  a  "  light  heart."  Ollivier's 
"  light  heart  "  led  to  Sedan,  and  Count 
Berchtold's  "  erfreulichervveise  "  led  to 
the  annihilation  of  the  ancient  monarchy 
of  the  Hapsburgs. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


Survey  of   Important   Events  and   Developments  in   Various 
Nations.  Alphabetically  Arranged 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  18,  1919] 


THE  BALKANS 

AN  important  indication  of  commer- 
/\  cial  revival  in  the  Balkans  was 
Jl!\»  announced  by  the  Progres  of 
Athens  and  confirmed  by  the  pa- 
pers of  Belgrade:  The  Serbian  Govern- 
ment, acting  in  co-operation  with  the 
Greek,  will  at  once  begin  work  on  a 
canal  extending  from  the  Danube  to  Sa- 
lftniki,  thus  intercepting  much  of  the 
traffic  from  Central  Europe,  via  the 
Orient  Railway  to  Constantinople,  des- 
tined for  the  Eastern  Mediterranean. 
The  canal  is  to  begin  at  the  village  of 
Kevevara,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Dan- 
ube and  the  Morava.  It  will  follow  the 
course  of  the  Morava  in  Serbia,  then 
will  join  the  valley  of  the  Vardar  near 
Kaprulu,  following  this  river  until  in 
the  vicinity  of  Saloniki.  The  total 
length  of  the  canal  will  be  373  miles. 
The  difference  in  elevation  between 
Kevevara  and  the  highest  point  of  the 
canal  is  about  300  meters.  Between  this 
point  and  Saloniki  the  difference  in  ele- 
vation is  practically  the  same.  It  will 
be  necessary  to  construct  sixty-five 
locks. 

The  Supreme  Council  at  Paris  on  Oct. 
24  took  a  leaf  from  the  waiting  Hun- 
garian Peace  Treaty  and  made  a  long 
step  toward  settling  the  Balkan  boun- 
daries, not  mentioned  in  the  Austrian  and 
Bulgarian  treaties,  by  making  a  parti- 
tion of  large  regions  of  Hungary  between 
Rumania  and  the  monarchy  of  the  Serbs, 
Croats,  and  Slovenes  (Jugoslavia).  Ac- 
cording to  this  protocol  Rumania  is  to 
receive  Transylvania,  containing  an  area 
of  120,000  square  kilometers  (about  half 
the  size  of  New  England),  rich  in  min- 
erals and  containing  the  Cities  of  Ora- 
diamare  and  Arad  on  the  Maros,  but  not 
the  full  control  of  the  Arad-Satmar  rail- 
way, as  she  desired.  The  Banat  is  to  be 
divided  between  Rumania  and  Serbia,  the 


frontier  being  minutely  defined  in  a  note 
communicated  to  each  Government, 
signed  by  Dutasta,  according  to  which 
Serbia  will  get  most  of  the  Comitat  of 
Torontal,  with  the  towns  of  Nagy-Ki- 
kinda,  Becskerek,  Versec,  and  Pancsova, 
with  two-thirds  of  the  waterways  of  the 
Banat,  and  Rumania  will  get  the  Comi- 
tats  of  Temes  and  Krasso-Szoreny  and 
the  towns  of  Temesvar  and  Lugos,  and 
the  famous  mines  and  steel  works  of 
Resicabanga. 

Rumania  had  asked  for  both  banks  of 
the  Maros  as  far  as  the  Theiss  and 
the  City  of  Bekes-Csaba,  and  that  the 
Hungarian  frontier  should  be  set  back 
fourteen  miles  west  of  the  railway  be- 
tween Arad  and  Satmar.  The  Banat, 
till  lately  part  of  Hungary,  is  bounded 
southwest  and  north  by  the  Rivers  Dan- 
ube, Theiss,  and  Maros,  and  on  the  east 
by  Transylvania.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
fertile  districts  in  Europe,  producing 
grain,  wine,  silk,  &c,  and  having  an 
abundance  of  mostly  undeveloped  min- 
eral wealth  in  the  shape. of  salt,  gold, 
silver,  iron,  lead,  copper  and  coal,  and 
vast  forests  with  valuable  fur-bearing 
animals.  Its  population  is  about  3,000,- 
000. 

In  the  capitals  of  the  Balkan  States 
the  publication  of  the  terms  of  the  Bul- 
garian treaty  of  peace  brought  all  ter- 
ritorial propaganda  based  on  nationalis- 
tic grounds  to  a  superlative  stage  of 
vehemence.  There  were  no  new  features, 
however,  except  in  Athens,  where  an  at- 
tack was  made  upon  the  alleged  growing 
predilection  of  the  Paris  Conference  to 
preserve  the  political  and  something  of 
the  territorial  integrity  of  the  Turkish 
Empire. 

BULGARIA  —  The  new  Ministry 
formed  for  the  express  purpose  of  sign- 
ing the  Peace  Treaty,  mentioned  in  last 
month's  Current  History,  was  completed 


462 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


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TERRITORY    ALLOTTED    TO    RUMANIA     AND    JUGOSLAVIA    BY    THE 
SUPREME     COUNOTT.     ON     OCT.     24.     1919 


as  ioiiows,  with  the  portfolios  of  Justice 
and  Public  Works  to  be  given  to  Demo- 
crats and  that  of  Finance  to  a  Pro- 
gressive: 

Premier     and     Minister     "for     War— M. 
STAMBOULINSKI. 

Public  Instruction— M.  KAALOFF. 

Railways—M.   TORLAKOFF. 

Interior— M.    DIMITROFF. 

Agriculture— M.    DASKAL.OFF. 

Foreign  Affairs-M.  MAGGIAROFF. 

Commerce— M.   BUROFF. 

The  last  two  named  Ministers  are 
Moderate  Socialists.  The  four  preceding 
them  are  Agrarians.  A  dispatch  from 
Sofia  stated  that  M.  Theodoroff,  al- 
though not  belonging  to  the  Stamboul- 
inski  Cabinet,  would  remain  President  of 
the  Bulgarian  delegation  at  the  Peace 
Conference. 

RUMANIA — The  eighteen-day  Min- 
isterial crisis  in  Rumania  ended  with  the 
establishment  of  a  new  Cabinet,  the  prin- 
cipal portfolios  being  held  as  follows,  to- 
gether, with  MM.  Inculetz  and  Ciugure- 
anu  of  Bessarabia;  M.  Nistor,  Bukovina, 
and  the  Voivode  of  Vajada,  M.   Goldis, 


and  M.  St.  Pop,  Transylvania,  without 
portfolios : 

Prime  Minister  and  ad  interim  Foreign 
Affairs— General  VAITOIANU. 

Public  Instruction— General  LUPESCU. 

Agriculture— General  POPOVICI. 

Industry    and    Trade— General    J.     PO- 
PESCU. 

Public   Works— General   ST.    MIHAIU 

War— General   RASCANU. 

Justice— M.  MICLESCU. 

During  the  crisis,  M.  Take  Jonescu  and 
General  Averescu,  the  leaders  of  the 
Opposition,  declared  their  readiness  to 
undertake  the  responsibility  of  office  and 
guaranteed  to  solve  both  the  foreign 
difficulty  in  agreement  with  the  Paris 
Conference  and  the  question  of  the 
liberty  of  the  elections.  M.  Bratiano 
opposing  this  course,  the  King  declined 
to  accept  it.  Then  M.  Maniu,  the  head  of 
the  Rumanian  Government  in  Transyl- 
vania, offered  his  services.  This  offer 
was  acceptable  to  Jonescu  and  Averescu, 
but  not  to  Bratiano.  Then  the  latter 
proposed  a  slate  with  six  Generals  on  the 
active  list,  presided  over  by  a  personal 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


463 


friend  who  will  keep  the  seat  of  Foreign 
Minister  warm  for  him.  This  was 
accepted. 

The  new  Government  refused  to  sup- 
press the  censorship  and  the  state  of 
siege,  so  that  the  ensuing  elections,  the 
campaign  for  which  was  in  full  blast  on 
Nov.  15,  will  still  be  amenable  to  the 
courts-martial  in  regard  to  press  offenses 
and  speeches.  The  elections  will  be  a 
mere  formality.  The  opposition  as  a 
body,  therefore,  declared  that  they  would 
take  no  part  in  them.  The  seats  contested 
numbered  240.  For  these  there  were  as 
many  Bratiano  Liberal  candidates.  Other 
contestants  numbered  867. 

On  Nov.  1  Rumania  formally  an- 
nounced to  the  Peace  Conference  the 
annexation  of  Bessarabia,  the  status  of 
which  was  described  last  month.  On 
Nov.  14,  the  last  Rumanian  troops  left 
Budapest. 

THRACE  —  In  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  the  Bulgarian  peace  treaty, 
Bulgar  troops  began  to  evacuate  Western 
Thrace  on  Oct.  20,  and  units  of  the  9th 
Greek  Division  occupied  the  district  of 
Xanthi  (Turkish  Eskije),  seventy  miles 
northwest  of  Dedeagatch.  From  Saloniki 
came  reports  of  fresh  atrocities  on  the 
part  of  the  Bulgars  on  their  departure. 

The  Mussulmans,  who  occupy  that  part 
of  Western  Thrace  left  by  the  peace 
treaty  to  Bulgaria,  sent  a  strong  protest 
to  the  Peace  Conference  against  such 
decision.  They  were  led  by  Ismail  Hakki 
Bey,  Deputy  for  Gumuldjina  kn  the  Bul- 
garian Parliament,  and  claimed  a  ma- 
jority of  the  population  in  the  Rhodope 
districts  of  Daiidere,  Egridere,  Sulyan- 
yeri,  Pashmakli,  and  Kirtejali.  Ismail 
closed  a  long  statement  covering  the 
protest  as  follows: 

A*  for  the  Greek*,  we  Mussulman*  of 
Thrace  feel  that  we  can  live  with  them 
and  in  perfect  good  fellowship,  despite  the 
difference  of  religion.  We  have  more  In 
common  with  the  Greeks  than  with  any 
hybrid  international  regime  that  may  be 
greeted  in  Western  or  Eastern  Thrace, 
and  I  am  confident  that  after  the  up- 
heaval due  to  the  gigantic  world  struggle 
ha«   passed    Mussulmans    and    Greeks    will 

settle  down  everywhere  together  to  a  life 

of  peace  and  co-operation  in   honeBt  work 
:m<l  of  material  prosperity. 

On   Oct.   29   the   Greek    Delegation  at, 


Paris  gave  out  for  publication  an  elab- 
orate summary  of  its  reply  to  the  recent 
Memorandum  submitted  by  the  Bul- 
garian Delegation  regarding  the  policy 
of  Bulgaria  and  her  claims  to  Thrace. 
The  purport  of  the  first  point  was  a  de- 
nial with  documentary  evidence  of  the 
Bulgar  claim  that  the  country's  anti- 
Allied  policy  was  a  matter  of  ex-King 
Ferdinand  and  the  Radoslavoff  Cabinet 
and  not  of  the  Bulgar  people  themselves. 
The  Greek  document  then  takes  up  the 
question*  of  Thrace  as  follows: 

In  the  Bulgarian  memorandum  on  East- 
ern Thrace  the  authors.  In  their  attempt 
to  prove  the  predominance  of  the  Bulga- 
rian elements  of  the  population  have 
deemed  It  sufficient  to  quote  only  authori- 
ties whose  Pan-Mavlst  tendencies  are 
well  known.  The  Greek  reply  opposes  to 
these  authorities  the.  opinions  of  such 
ethnologists  of  world-wide  fame  as  Kllsee 
Rectus  and  others,  and  also  the  evidence 
of  Bulgarian  statesmen  themselves,  who 
have  on  various  occasions  admitted  that 
the  Bulgarian  element  In  Thrace  was  In  a 
minority.  The  Greek  reply  gives  the  fig- 
ures of  the  populations  of  Thrace  as  fol- 
lowing: <l)  According  to  the  Turkish  cen- 
sus of  I8M:  304,."W7  Greeks,  8Bft,iMrO  Mos- 
lems, 72.W*  Bulgarians;  (2)  according  to 
the  census  of  1913,  organized  by  the 
Oecumenical  Patriarchate:  *H8,6fA  Greeks. 
344,011  Moslems.  tfT.SfS  Bulgarians.  The 
Bulgarians,  in  short,  represent  in  Thrace 
only  a  small  minority,  whereas  the  Greeks 
are  from  tlve  to  six  times  more  numerous. 
And  if  we  add  to  those  parts  of  Thrace. 
.the  fate  of  which  has  still  to  be  decided, 
the  population  of  the  district  of  Constan- 
tinople, the  disproportion  between  the 
Greek  and  the  Bulgarian  elements  will  be 
greater  still,  the  Greeks  being  ten  times 
superior  In  number  to  the  Bulgarians. 
This  superiority  of  the  Greeks  over  the 
Bulgarians,  already  proved  both  by  Turk- 
ish and  Greek  statistics,  is  still  more  elo- 
quently confirmed  In  the  fact  that  the 
Greek-Bulgarian  electoral  agreement  of 
1012  provided  for  the  return  for  Thrace 
of  seven  Greek  deputies  and  only  one 
Bulgarian. 

After-  having  failed  to  prove  the  his- 
torical and  ethnological  claims  of  Bul- 
garia to  Thrace,  the  Bulgarian  Peace 
Delegation  falls  back  on  economic  argu- 
ments, stating  that  (1)  Bulgaria  must 
have  Thrace  In  order  to  retain  an  outlet 
to  the  Aegean  Sea  :  (2)  Thrace  must  re- 
main Bulgarian  as  It  is  the  Bulgarian 
population  which  cultivates  the  soli  and 
represents  the  most  stable  element  and 
the  principal  factor-  of  production  As  re- 
gards the  outlet  to  the  Aegean  Sea.  th. 
Bulgarians  declare  that  if  tht  \  are  1. 
prlved    >>f   it    they    will    be   forced    to    use   as 


464 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


waterways  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Danube, 
with  the  result  that  Bulgarian  trade  will 
be  dependent  on  powers  which  are  mas- 
ters of  the  mouth  of  the  above-named 
river  and  of  the  Dardanelles.  The  weak- 
ness of  this  argument  is  obvious.  Com- 
pared with  the  conditions  in  which  are 
placed  several  European  .States  which 
have  no  territorial  outlet  to  any  sea,  Bul- 
garia, with  two  such  excellent  ports  as 
Varna  and  Burgas,  is  placed  in  quite  a 
privileged  position.  And  as  the  Darda- 
nelles and  the  Bosporus  will  be  under 
international  control,  her  trade  is  in  no 
danger  of  being  dependent  on  '  any  other 
State.  Besides,  Greece  has  not  only  of- 
fered Bulgaria  the  use  of  one  of  her  ports 
on  the  Aegean,  but  also  has  consented 
that  this  outlet  for  Bulgarian  trade  shall 
be  placed  under  the  control  and  the  guar- 
antee of  the  League  of  Nations. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

Conditions  in  Czechoslovakia  during 
October  and  November  showed  clearly  a 
stabilizing  tendency.  The  3,000,000, 
more  or  less  irreconcilable  Germans  of 
German  Bohemia,  whose  protests  over 
the  allotment  of  their  territory  to  the 
new  republic  had  been  vociferously  un- 
ceasing, showed  a  desire  for  a  rapproche- 
ment  with  President  Thomas  Masaryk 
and  his  Government.  Bolshevism  was 
killed  by  the  liberal  and  far-sighted 
policy  of  the  President,  whose  personal 
popularity  was  tremendous  after  his 
approval  of  a  measure  that  made  the 
8-hour  day  a  national  law.  One  Muna, 
a  Czech  Bolshevist,  who  sought  to  emu- 
late Lenin  and  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment, had  been  promptly  arrested  and 
imprisoned,  and  Smeral,  leader  of  the 
radical  wing  of  the  Social  Democrats, 
had  fled  to  Switzerland.  Economically 
the  country  was  rapidly  reverting  to  nor- 
mal. The  port  of  Hamburg,  the  use  of 
which,  under  the  terms  of  the  Peace 
Treaty,  was  given  to  the  Czechoslovaks, 
had  already  cleared  two  American  ships 
with  cargoes  of  American  goods.  Raw 
materials  were  being  brought  in  from 
neighboring  countries  to  start  the  facto- 
ries. The  most  important  industries  of 
Czechoslovakia,  textiles  and  glass  manu- 
factures, were  rapidly  being  re-estab- 
lished. The  harvests  were  good,  and 
sugar  was  plentiful  owing  to  a  surplus  of 
sugar  beets.  All  of  the  coal  used  on  the 
Austrian  railways  was  being  supplied  by 
Czechoslovakia. 


Politically,  a  policy  of  universal  concil- 
iation toward  neighboring  nations  was 
outlined  by  Dr.  Edward  Benes,  the 
Czechsolovak  Foreign  Minister,  in  a 
speech  delivered  before  the  National 
Assembly  in  the  first  week  o'f  October. 

BELGIUM,  HOLLAND, 

LUXEMBURG 

As  a  result  of  the  elections  held  in 
Belgium  on  Nov.  16,  the  Cabinet,  which 
took  office  under  the  Premiership  of  M. 
Delacroix  just  a  year  ago,  resigned  two 
days  later,  but  was  asked  by  King  Albert 
to  remain  in  office  until  the  line-up  of 
the  new  Chamber  should  be  definitely 
known.  According  to  advices  received 
Nov.  19  no  party  in  the  new  Chamber 
will  have  an  absolute  majority.  It  will 
consist  of  seventy-three  members  of 
the  Catholic  party,  seventy  Socialists, 
thirty-four  Liberals,  and  five  to  ten 
members  elected  from  the  smaller  politi- 
cal groups.  The  Chamber  elected  in  1913 
was  made  up  as  follows: 

Catholics    101 

Liberals    3.-, 

Social   Democrats   3(» 

Christian    Socialists j 

The  Socialist  gains  of  thirty-one  and 
the  Catholic  losses  of  twenty-four  were 
said  to  be  due  principally  to  the  recent 
abolition  of  plural  voting. 

The  receipts  of  the  Belgian  -Treasury 
for  the  first  seven  months  of  1919  to- 
taled 421,000,000  francs,  exceeding  the 
Government's  estimate  by  over  ten  mil- 
lion. Trains  circulated  all  over  the  king- 
dom, eighty  per  cent,  of  the  1,100  kilo- 
meters destroyed  by  Germany  having 
been  repaired  or  diverted,  or  the  German 
constructions  utilized.  Although  Belgium 
suffered  a  destruction 'of  rolling  stock  of 
50  per  cent.,  the  freight  tonnage  in  Oc- 
tober reached  60  per  cent,  of  the  pre-war 
amount. 

Some  indications  of  the  re-establish- 
ment of  business  relations  between  Hoi- 
land  and  Gel-many  were  given  last 
month — a  rush  on  the  part  of  the  Dutch- 
men to  get  ahead  of  the  AlMes.  Since 
then  it  was  announced  in  The  Hague 
that  a  group  of  Dutch  bankers,  headed 
by  the  Netherlands  Handels-Maat'schap- 
py,  had  granted  a  credit  of  over  $23,000,- 
000  for  the  purchase  of  raw  materials 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


4*6 


for  German  industry,  especially  cotton. 
Fifty  per  cent,  of  this  raw  material  will 
be  re-exported  in  the  form  of  goods  to 
pay  off  the  credit,  and  the  other  50  per 
cent,  will  be  used  for  German  domestic 
needs  or  uncontrolled  export  abroad. 

All  this  was  emphasized  by  M.  Van 
Aalst,  the  well-known  Dutch  banker  and 
President  of  the  new  Netherlands  Over- 
seas Trust,  in  an  interview  on  Oct.  23, 
who  added: 

I  hope  that  after  a  few  months  America 
will  come  to  the  conclusion  that  its  urgent 
help  not  only  to  the  allied  powers  with 
credits  but  also  to  Central  Rurope  Is  to 
her  own  interests.  The  main  iden  is  to 
give  credit  for  raw  material,  which  spells 
industry  and  stimulation  of  export  trade, 
with  which  debts  to  other  countries  can 
be  paid.  The  rehabilitation  of  Germany 
is  in  the  interest  of  the  world,  and  it  is 
safe  to  state  that  most  international  bank- 
ers and  financiers  have  now  arrived  at 
this  conclusion. 

The  official  figures  of  the  Luxemburg 
plebiscitum,  which  took  place  on  Sept. 
28,  were  published  as  follows: 

Voters  on  the  register 127,775 

Actual  voters   00,084 

DYNASTIC   tjl'KSTlON 
For  the  Grand   Duchess  Charlotte..   66,811 

For  another  Grand   Duchess 1,286 

For  another  dynasty 880 

For  a  republic  10,88.' 

Iilank   and  spoiled   papers 5,113 

ECONOMIC   Ql'FSTION 
For  an  economic  union  with  France  60,1. ».'> 
For    an    economic    union    with    Bel- 
gium      22.242 

Hlank    and    spoiled    papers 8,rt07 

Gereial  elections  took  place  in  Lux 
emburg  on  Oct.  26,  under  the  new  law 
including  the  scrutin  de  linte  with  pro- 
portional representation,  both  sexes  over 
the  age  of  21  voting  for  candidates  of 
25  years  or  over,  with  the  following 
results : 

Clericals 24 

Socialists    D 

Radicals   7 

Independents - 

Pro-Belgians    * 

Total       ** 

The  new  Chamber  thus  consists  of  48 
seats  as  against  53  in  the  old.  In  the 
old  the  Right— the  Catholic  and  Agra- 
rian Party— had  23  and  put  48  candi- 
dates in  the  field;  the  Radicals,  former- 
ly the  Liberals,  had  8  seats  and  put  for- 


ward 28;  the  Socialists,  with  12,  had  41 
candidates,  and  the  People's  Party,  with 
6  seats  in  the  old,  had  19  candidates  for 
the  new.  There  were  other  small 
groups,  and  three  women  candidates, 
two  of  them  Socialists. 

FRANCE 

Up  to  Nov.  19  the  French  Deputorial 
election,  held  Nov.  16.  showed  the  fol- 
lowing distribution  of  parties  in  com- 
parison with  the  old  Chamber,  elected 
May  10,  1914: 

1010. 

Republican  I,eft    . 123 

Radicals    57 

Radical   Socialists    78 

Republican  Socialists  26 

Unified   Socialists    65 

Dissident   Socialists    6 

Progressives     126 

1/ Action   Liberate  Group 73 

Conservatives    32 

1014. 

Organlicd   Radicals   136 

Democratic  l^eft 102 

Organised  Socialists 102 

Alliance    Democratlque   100 

Progresslvists    and    Federated    Repub- 
licans      .m 

Action    Liberale    34 

Independent   Socialists   30 

Right  26 

Independent   is 

Total «02 

The  incorporation  of  Alsace-Lorraine 
raised  the  number  of  seats  from  602  to 
626.  Another  academic  feature  of  the 
election  was  the  return  to  the  scrutin 
de  liete,  or  blanket  ballot,  with  partial 
proportional  representation.  The  con- 
test on  general  lines  was  waged  be- 
tween the  forces  of  democratic  govern- 
ment and  those  of  extreme  socialism,  or 
Bolshevism,  the  former  led  by  Premier 
Clemenceau  with  the  Bloc  National,  the 
backbone  of  which  was  the  Organized 
Radicals  or  so-called  Radical  Socialists 
and  the  various  Conservative  and  Repub- 
lican factions,  with  the  strength,  for  the 
time,  of  the  old  Right  made  up  of  Royal- 
ists and  Clericals,  who  collectively  took 
the  name  of  Action  Francaise.  Opposed 
to  these  were  the  various  Extremist 
groups  led  by  Socialists  ranging  from 
personal  enemies  of  Clemenceau,  like 
Henry  Franklin-Bouillon  and  Pierre  Re- 
naudel,  to  Jean  Lonjruet,  the  Bolshevist. 


466 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Nearly  all  the  Opposition  leaders  were 
defeated  and  nearly  all  the  Government 
leaders  were  elected,  with  the  result  that 
it  was  estimated  that  the  latter  would 
control  more  than  500  of  the  626  mem- 
bers of  the  next  Chamber. 

The  curtain  was  rung  down,  Oct.  19, 
on  the  French  war  Parliament,  which 
had  sat  since  the  Summer  of  1914.  The 
Chamber  gave  itself  over  to  a  patriotic 
demonstration.  One  of  the  last  acts  of 
the  Senate  was  to  pass  the  Amnesty 
bill,  but  without  the  clause  passed  by 
the  Chamber  extending  amnesty  to  cer- 
tain categories  of  military  convicts. 

According  to  figures  presented  by  M. 
Klotz,  Minister  of  Finance,  on  Oct.  21, 
France  must  borrow  $400,000,000  a  year 
in  order  to  balance  the  budget.  In  the 
Chamber,  however,  four  days  before,  he 
lad  presented  statistics  to  prove  that 
France,  on  account  of  her  industries  and 
oorrowing  power,  was  still  a  creditor 
nation,  and  added: 

We  owe  abroad  30  milliards  of  francs, 
about  half  of  which  is  due  to  the  United 
States,  but  France  has  a  very  important 
credit  balance.  France  wan  before  the 
war  and  If  still  the  greatest  creditor 
In  the  world.  France  had  before  the 
war  placed  48  milliards  abroad,  and  she 
advanced  during  the  war  thirteen  and  a 
half   milliards   to    different    nations. 

On  Nov.  10,  the  linotypers  and  typog- 
raphers of  the  Paris  papers  went  on  a 
strike,  stopping  the  publication  of  all 
save  the  Socialist  papers.  The  next  day 
the  proprietors  joined  forces  and  brought 
out  a  new  papei  called  La  Presse  de 
Paris,  which  was  said  to  have  had  an 
immense  effect  on  cutting  down  the 
Socialist  vote.  The  first  issue  of  La 
Presse  de  Paris  sold  to  the  extent  of 
5,000,000  copies. 

ITALY 

The  elections  to  the  Twenty-fifth  Par- 
liament since  the  foundation  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Italy  took  place  on  Nov.  16. 
So  far  as  reported  up  to  Nov.  19,  the 
new  Chamber,  compared  with  the  old, 
which  had  been  in  office  since  1913,  had 
the  following  distribution: 

1919. 

Ministerialists   145 

Socialists   126 

Catholics 90 


Constitutional   Opposition 36 

Nationalists 23 

Republicans 16 

1913. 

Constitutionalists .318 

Radicals 70 

Republicans    16 

Socialists   77 

Syndicalists    a 

Catholics    , 24 

Total    ."508 

For  the  first  time  the  Catholics  voted 
as  an  organized  political  party,  the  Ital- 
ian Popular  Party.  Other  organized 
parties  were  the  Socialists  and  the  Re- 
publicans. Other  designated  groups 
were  divided  on  the  sole  question  of  be- 
ing for  or  against  the  Nitti  Govern- 
ment. Other  features  of  the  election  in- 
cluded the  use,  as  in  France,  of  the 
blanket  ballot,  and  the  division  of  Italy 
into  fifty-four  constituencies,  each  re- 
turning members  varying  from  five  at 
Sassari  to  twenty  at  Milan,  with  the 
Roman  province  raised  from  five  to  fif- 
teen. The  Socialists  gained  in  all  the 
larger  northern  cities,  due  to  the  apathy 
of  the  bourgeoisie,  it  was  Kaid.  The  chief 
gains  of  the  Catholics  were  in  the  south- 
ern rural  districts. 

The  strength  of  the  Nitti  Government 
in  the  new  Chamber  would,  it  was  said, 
depend  upon  his  ability  to  gain  the  sup- 
port on  international  questions  of  the 
Socialists  and  Catholics,  to  which  might 
be  added  the  strength  of  the  Nationalists 
should  he  advocate  the  annexation  of 
Fiume.  On  Oct.  31  Premier  Nitti  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  his  constituents  in 
which  he  said: 

It  is  deplorable  that  our  allies  do  not 
realize  that  the  question  of  Fiume  has  no 
economic  value  for  Italy,  but  a  moral 
value,  being  a  question  of  national  dig- 
nity and  sentiment.  Opposition  from 
friendly  nations  will  mean  the  creation  of 
an  intolerable  Internal  situation  for  Italy, 
and  also  an  uneasy  International  situa- 
tion, the  effects  of  which  might  be  most 
injurious. 

In  making  a  report  on  the  food  situa- 
tion in  Italy,  H.  C.  MacLean,  U.  S.  Trade 
Commissioner  at  Rome,  stated: 

The  minimum  requirements  of  the  non- 
producing  proportion  of  the  population 
are  40,000,000  quintals,  of  which,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  it  is  hoped  to  obtain 
20,000,000  quintals  from  local  sources,  and 
to   import  20,0000,000   from    abroad. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


467 


He  declared  that  lack  of  tonnage  con- 
tinued to  be  a  serious  obstacle  to  the 
early  recovery  of  Italy's  industrial  and 
commercial  activity.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  wrote  that  the  Italian  coal  situation 
was  improving. 

LATIN  AMERICA 

A  group  of  fifty  German  families 
arrived  at  Buenos  Aires  on  Oct.  30,  and 
were  assigned  to  land  in  the  Argentine 
territory  of  Missiones.  Four  hundred 
more  were  expected.  The  concessions 
consist  of  25,  50,  or  100  hectares,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  family. 

The  convention  of  the  Socialist  Party 
of  Argentina  adopted  a  resolution  on 
Nov.  12, '  protesting  against  the  allied 
blockade  of  Bolshevist  Russia. 

Domingo  Salaberry,  Argentine  Min- 
ister of  Finance,  negotiated  a  loan  with 
the  Bank  of  Spain  at  Madrid.  The  sum 
under  consideration  was  600,000,000 
pesetas,  or  about  $100,000,000. 

On  Oct.  19  the  Brazilian  Chamber 
defeated  a  proposal  to  reduce  obligatory 
military  service  from  two  to  one  year. 
The  vote  was  75  to  49. 

A  va*.t  scheme  for  the  irrigation  of 
semi-arid  territory  in  Biazil  was  con- 
sidered by  the  Congress.  It  was  re- 
ported that  since  1877  more  than  a 
million  inhabitants  of  Northeastern  Bra- 
zil had  perished  from  famine  and  its 
consequences.  A  study  of  the  rainfall 
in  the  State  of  Ceara,  the  least  favored, 
showed  an  annual  precipitation  of  80.- 
000,000,000  cubic  meters,  16,000,000,00(1 
of  which  could  be  collected  and  be  made 
to  irrigate  about  a  million  hectares  or 
2,400,000  acies.  The  project  called  for 
an  annual  outlay  of  40,000  contcs  ($11.- 
000,000)  up  to  200,000  contos  (£55,100,- 
000),  and  included  reservoirs,  dums  and 
canals. 

On  Oct.  20  it  was  announced  from  the 
City  of  Mexico  that  steps  had  been  taken 
to  irrigate  200,000  hectares  of  land  in 
the  Fuerte  River  valley,  State  of  Sin- 
aloa,  where  German  immigrants  were 
expected  to  buy  tracts  on  the  twenty- 
year-payment  plan.  According  to  the 
official  publication  of  the  Mexican  De- 
partment of  Industry,  Commerce  and 
Colonization,  the  scheme  which  provided 


for  an  annual  inflow  of  45,000  Germans, 
had  its  origin  last  March.  A  bulletin 
issued  in  November  showed  the  conces- 
sions made  to  Germans  close  to  Carranza 
during  the  year  to  have  been  as  follows: 
J.  Meakany,  494,209  acres;  M.  Coltz, 
370,650;  E.  Mttller,  247,100;  von  Mag- 
nus, 591,685;  to  four  others,  1,073,635 
acres. 

NEW  ZEALAND 

The  High  Commissioner  for  New  Zea- 
land at  London  received  a  dispatch  from 
his  Government  on  Oct.  25  giving  the 
slate  of  the  reconstructed  New  Zealand 
Cabinet  as  follows: 

Prime  Minister— Mr.  W.  F.  MASSEY. 

Defense  and  Finance— Sir  JAMES 
ALLEN. 

Native  Affair*  and  Customs— Mr.  W.  H. 
MEKRIES. 

Public  Works-Sir  WILLIAM  ERASER. 

Attorney  General  and  Education— Sir  F. 
H.   D.  BELL. 

Lands—Mr.    D.    H.   GUTHRIE. 

Internal   Affairs— Mr.    J.    B.    HINE. 

Agriculture  —  Mr.         WILLIAM         NOS- 
WORTHY. 

Justice  and  Postmaster  General— Mr.  J. 
G.    COATES. 

Member  of  the  Executive  Council  Repre- 
senting the  Native  Race -Dr.  .M.  POM  A  RE. 

PERSIA 

Ayn-Lam-Ber,  acting  for  the  National 
Party  of  Persia,  said  to  have  been  first 
organized  by  the  American  W.  Morgan 
Shuster  when  he  was  Treasurer  General 
at  Teheran  in  191 112,  sent  out  an  appeal 
against  the  Anglo- Persian  treaty  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  the  first  step  toward 
annexation  and  contrary  to  the  terms  of 
the  Persian  Constitution.  The  document 
also  declared  that  in  the  light  of  the  fol- 
lowing facts  the  treaty  had  not  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Persian  people: 

1.  After  our  revolution  of  UKMI  the 
Anglo-Russian  diplomacy  aimed  several 
times  at  our  rights.  She  never  got  from 
us  willingly  what  she  wanted.  Every 
time  she  had  to  make  use  of  ultimatums 
and  even  play  at  invading  the  country. 
Meanwhile  the  supremacy  of  right  over 
force  had  not  yet  been  proclaimed  as  a 
dogma.  Persia  could  not  rely  on  any 
guarantee  protecting  the  life  of  the 
weaker.  Nevertheless,  she  firmly  stood 
up  for  her  Independence. 

Is  it  comprehensible  that  now— at  the 
dawn  of  an  era  of  Justice,  after  all  the 
assurances  given  by  the  Entente  about  U»«« 


468 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


free  disposition  of  nations,  after  the  ex- 
pounding of  the  Wilsonlan  principles,  at 
the  very  moment  when  small  nations  re- 
cover their  long-lost  independence— Persia 
hands  over  of  her  own  free  will  her  army, 
her  police,  her  finances,  and  her  economic 
resources  to  a  foreign  power?  And  all 
this  in  exchange  for  a  loan  of  two  million 
pounds  sterling  at  7%,  to  be  paid  monthly. 

•2.  The  head  of  the  present  Government, 
appointed  to  his  post  during  the  dissolu- 
tion of  Parliament,  wus  forced  on  the 
Shah  by  Great  Britain.  In  spite  of  pos- 
sible official  disproof  which  may  be  is- 
sued against  this  the  truth  of  it  can  easily 
be  proved. 

3  The  negotiations  that  brought  about 
the  present  agreement  have  lasted  nine 
months !  Such  length  of  time  is  signifi- 
cative. It  was  not  the  result  of  the  Brit- 
ish imperialists'  hesitating  before  the 
tempting  morsel,  but  due  to  the  Persian 
Government's  fear  of  a  revolution.  The 
latter  wanted  time  enough  to  gather  suf- 
ficient strength  to  force  the  fateful  act 
upon  the  people. 

4.  These  coercive  forces,  organized,  su- 
pervised, and  paid  by  the  British,  are  now 
fulfilling  their  office.  They  rage  against 
the  people  in  revolt.  They  arrest  pa- 
triots. They  forbid  manifestations.  They 
deport   former   Ministers. 

Today  it  is  the  goal ;  tomorrow— the  gal- 
lows ! 

These  facts  which,  if  wanted,  could  be 
verified  by  impartial  investigation,  show 
that  the  agreement  of  Aug.  »,  the  work 
of  the  Cabinet  appointed  by  Britain  under 
threat  of  British  bayonets.  Is  very  far  in- 
deed from  being  approved  by  the  Per- 
sian people. 

SCANDINAVIA 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles,  within  ten  days  after  the 
treaty  has  been  put  in  operation,  the 
people  in  the  zones  of  Schleswig  are  to 
decide  their  Danish  or  German  national- 
ity by  a  plebiscite.  The  manner  in  which 
this  will  be  done  will  be  found  in  the  text 
under  the  accompanying  map. 

It  was  said  to  be  certain  that  the  vot- 
ers in  the  First  Zone  would  vote  solid 
for  Denmark.  The  important  port  of 
Flensborg  comes  within  the  Second  Zone, 
and,  though  this  town  was  entirely  Da- 
nish at  the  time  of  the  war  of  1866,  the 
German  Government,  in  pursuance  of 
the  same  policy  which  it  adopted  in 
Prussian  Poland  and  Alsace,  sought  to 
Germanize  Schleswig  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, with  the  result  that  there  is  a  con- 
siderable German  population  now  in  the 
town.     The     International     Commission, 


however,  of  which  Sir  Charles  Marling, 
British  Minister  at  Copenhagen,  is  Chair- 
man, is  not  compelled  to  stand  by  the  re- 
sult of  the  plebiscite. 
Tfc  will  be  remembered  that  the  Peace 


SchlcswiyHolttiin  as  far  south  as  t)n 
Kiel  Canal.  In  the  first  zone  the  inhabit 
Uinta  vote  en  bloc  for  or  against  reunion 
with  Denmark  at  the  latest  twenty-one 
days  after  the  German  military  and  civil 
authorities  hate  evacuated.  In  the  second 
zone  voting  is  by  municipalities  not  later 
than  five  weeks  after  the  voting  in  the  first 
zone.  According  to  official  Danish  wishes, 
no  plebiscite  will  be  taken  in  Zone  III. 

Conference  originally  decided  to  have 
plebiscites  in  three  zones,  but  no  plebi- 
site  will  be  taken  in  the  Third  Zone  in 
deference  to  the  wish  expressed  by  the 
Danish  Government. 

Norman  Hapgood,  United  States  Min- 
ister to  Denmark,  sent  some  excerpts 
from  two  proposed  Danish  industrial 
laws,  one  of  which  placed  all  industries 
under  public  control  by  means  of  a 
business  council  composed  of  sixteen  mem- 
bers, four  of  whom  are  to  be  appointed  by 
the  Rigsdag  eleven  by  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  and  one,  the  Chairman,  by  the 
Government,  and  the  other  gave  em- 
ployes participation  in  all  business  en- 
terprises employing  five  or  more  adult 
workmen.  An  extract  from  the  first 
reads: 

All   concerns    which    are   believed    to   be 

operating  on  too   large  a   profit,   or  whose 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


469 


activities  are  suspected  of  being  other- 
wise against  the  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity, the  Business  Council  may  place 
under  its  own  direct  supervision.  Such 
firms  will  be  required  to  submit  their  an- 
nual accounts  to  the  Council,  and  to  give 
the  Council  any  other  information  which 
may  be  required  to  enable  it  to  ascertain 
the  exact  status  of  the  industry,  includ- 
ing the  conditions  relative  to  production 
and  sale  of  the  commodity  being  market- 
ed. But  no  firm  may  be  required  to  di- 
vulge secret  processes  of  a  technical  na- 
ture. Refusal  to  give  any  other  relevant 
information  upon  demand  of  the  Council 
is  made  a  police  offense,  and  is  punish- 
able by  a  fine  of  30  to  1.000  crowns 
($18.40  to  *26X)  per  day.  In  enforcing  its 
decisions  the  Business  Council  may  ap- 
propriate the  services  of  State  and  mu- 
nicipal authorities. 

The  second  law  covers  specifically 
"  industries  and  crafts,"  but  professional 
concerns  may  be  included  by  the  consent 
of  the  Business  Council: 

It  is  proposed  by  this  law  that  the  de- 
tails of  participation  shall  be  a  matter 
of  agreement  between  the  Danish  Em- 
ployers' Association  and  the  Federa- 
tion of  Trade  Unions  of  Denmark;  but 
that  such  agreement  shall  assure  the 
employes  the  right  of  participation  In 
the  control  of  the  observance  of  work 
agreements  and  of  decisions  relative  to 
workmen's  safety  legislation ;  in  the 
matter  of  the  employment  and '  discharge 
of  workmen  and  of  their  nearest  fore- 
men: and  in  the  preparation  of  the  an- 
nual income  report  of  the  enterprise.  •  •  * 
Violations  of  the  covenants  of  this 
law  are  punishable  by  a  fine  of  10  to 
2.000  crowns  ($2.68  to  $r>36).  All  enter- 
prises employing  five  or  more  adult 
workmen  and  coming  under  the  classi- 
fication of  industries  and  crafts  are 
subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  law, 
whether  represented  in  the  Danish  Em- 
ployers'  Association  or  not. 

SPAIN 

A  labor  crisis  and  a  political  crisis 
occurred  in  Spain.  Owing  to  the  strict- 
ness of  the  censorship  the  outside  world 
learned  little  about  either.  According 
to  the  censored  dispatches  the  Congress 
of  Spanish  Employers,  sitting  at  Barce- 
lona, declared  a  lockout  on  Oct.  26,  to 
take  effect  throughout  Spain  on  Nov.  4, 
affecting  over  one  million  workers,  and 
closing  all  the  principal  industries, 
trades  and  professions,  even  schools  and 
public  works.  The  lockout  went  into 
effect.  It  was  stated  on  Nov.  13  that 
the  opposing  organizations  had  come  to 


terms,  but  two  days  later  the  rupture 
was  renewed  by  strikes  succeeding  the 
general  lockout. 

Meanwhile,  a  political  crisis  arose 
through  the  vain  efforts  of  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior  to  meet  the  situation, 
which,  if  prolonged,  threatened  the  life 
of  the  country,  the  Government,  and 
even  of  the  dynasty  itself.  The  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  Senor  Burgos,  tried  to  resign, 
but  the  King  induced  him  to  remain.  On 
Nov.  11  there  was  the  report  that  a  new 
Conservative  Government  would  be 
formed  with  Senor  Dato  as  Premier; 
two  days  lated  it  was  announced  that 
the  Liberals  had  rallied  to  the  side  of 
Melquiades  Alvarez,  the  Reformist  and 
anti-German  leader,  who,  with  the  help 
of  Count  Rom  anon es,  then  in  London, 
would  form  a  stalwart,  progressive  Gov- 
ernment. In  a  statement  to  the  Lon- 
don press  Count  Romanones  subsequently 
threw  light  on  the  entire  situation.  He 
said : 

The  main  task  of  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment is  the  same  as  that  of  all  other 
Governments,  not  only  in  Europe  but  in 
the  world— to  combat  Syndicalism,  not 
only  Syndicalism  among  the  industrial 
workers,  but  Syndicalism  among  State 
officials.  In  this  task  It  will  have  the 
support  of  all  parties  which  are  opposed 
to  the  forces   of  disruption. 

Mail  advices  from  Madrid  showed  that 
the  action  of  the  Congress  of  Spanish 
Employers  was  aimed  at  the  mighty 
Confederacion  General  del  Trabajo, 
which  Prank  A.  Vanderlip  had  described 
before  the  Economy  Club  in  New  York 
on  May  26,  as  a  perfect  laboratory  of 
Bolshevism,  "  an  organization  that  was 
the  most  mysterious,  the  most  terrifying 
of  any  organization  that  I  ever  encoun- 
tered. *  *  *  It  is  secret  to  the  ex- 
tent that  the  members  themselves  do  not 
know  who  guides  it.  It  calls  general 
strikes  merely  for  gymnastic  exercises. 
It  rules  by  assassination." 

The  effective,  comprehensive  organi- 
zation of  the  Confederacion  General  del 
Trabajo — the  General  Federation  of 
Labor — with  its  headquarters  at  Bar- 
celona, is  a  relic  of  German  Kultur  re- 
ceiving its  vital  force  from  the  late  Ger- 
man Ambassador,  Prince  von  Ratibor, 
and  his  able  lieutenant  in  propaganda, 
Dr.  von  Stohrer.     It  is  non-political,  and 


470 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


its  membership  embraces  nearly  all 
forms  of  employment  capable  of  being 
organized  in  the  interests  of  an  entirely 
industrial  regime.  Opposing  employers, 
whether  individuals,  corporations,  or  of- 
ficials, are  "  removed." 

Following  its  decision  for  a  lockout  the 
Congress  of  Spanish  Employers  issued  a 
note  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  ex- 
plaining its  drastic  action  as  follows: 
Our  decision  is  due  to  the  pernicious  in- 
fluence of  a   certain   part— albeit   a    small 
one— of  the  proletariat,   which  renders  all 
useful    work    impossible.     The    employers 
attribute   the   present   state   of  affairs    to 
the  action   of  a  certain   group   of  miners 
which   has   as    Its   object    the    destruction 
of  the  social  edifice  in  Spain,  which  ren- 
ders all  useful  work  impossible.    The  em- 
ployers  therefore   appeal   to   the   working 
classes  to  rally  around  them,  repudiating 
those  who  are  trying  to  ruin  national  in- 
dustry. 

Meanwhile,  we  do  not  see  any  better  or 
more  radical  way  to  put  an  end  to  this  per- 
nicious influence  than  by  declaring  a  lock- 
out, by  which  the  working  classes,  who 
are  the  first  victims  of  the  Syndicalist 
endeavors,  may  be  made  aware  of  the 
errors  into  which  they  have  been  Induced. 

SWITZERLAND 

The  official  result  of  the  Swiss  elec- 
tions to  the  National  Council,  or  House 

of  Representatives,  held  Oct.  26,  was 
announced  as  follows: 

Radical'  Democrats   A3 

Catholic  Conservatives 42 

Socialists 39 

Peasants    27 

Liberal  Democracrats   0 

East  Swiss  Democrats 4 

Ci'utleans     3 

Progressive  Bourgeois   - 1 

Evangelist     1 

Total    1W 

TURKEY 

Major  Gen.  James  G.  Harbord  and 
the  members  of  his  mission  to  Turkey 
reached  Paris,  where  they  began  to  pre- 
pare their  formal  report,  which  will  have 
a  measurable  influence  in  determining 
the  status,  not  only  of  Armenia,  but  the 
Turkish  Empire — at  least  as  far  as  the 
United  States  is  concerned. 

Conflicting  views  as  to  the  status  of 
Kemal  Pasha  and  the  Nationalist  Army 
come  from  two  sources — one  describing 
them  as  patriots  not  opposed  to  any  ra- 
tional  decree  of  the   Peace  Conference, 


and  the  other  designating  them  as  op- 
posed to  any  political  or  territorial 
change  in  the  empire.  The  same  con- 
flicting statements  were  made  in  regard 
to  the  new  Cabinet  organized  by  General 
Ali  Riza  Pasha  on  Oct.  4,  after  the  Sul- 
ton  had  received  an  ultimatum  from 
Kemal  Pasha  to  dismiss  the  pro-Confer- 
ence Damad  Ferid  Pasha  Government. 

UNITED  KINGDOM 

The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  an- 
nounced in  the  House  of  Commons  on 
Oct.  27  that  the  railway  strike,  which 
began  Sept.  27  and  ended  Oct.  6,  had 
cost  the  Treasury  nearly  $50,000,000,  one 
item  of  which,  amounting  to  nearly 
$160,000,  was  for  publicity.  The  cost  to 
the  National  Union  of  Railwaymen 
had  already  been  estimated  at  over 
$10,000,000. 

On  the  same  day  a  White  Paper  was 
issued,  showing  an  estimated  deficit  of 
over  $2,000,000,000,  with  large  items  of 
assets  postponed  for  payment,  including 
nearly  $100,000,000  repayments  for  the 
maintenance  of  Australian  troops,  and 
$345,000,000  repayment  by  Germany  for 
the  cost  of  the  Army  of  Occupation. 
Other  war  assets  due  amount  to  about 
$13,130,000,000,  but  to  be  deducted  from 
this  sum  is  the  American  liability  of 
$4,210,000,000.  It  was  estimated  that  the 
expenditures  for  1919-20  would  be  about 
$2,365,000,000  and  the  revenue  about 
$4,030,000,000. 

On  Oct.  27  the  Cabinet  was  also 
reduced  in  number  and  reconstructed  as 
follows,  the  exchange  of  portfolios  of 
Earl  Curzon  and  A.  J.  Balfour  being  the 
chief  items  of  interest,  with  the  Prime 
Minister,  Lloyd  George,  still  as  First 
Lord  of  the  Treasury: 

Lord   Privy  Seal— Mr.  BONAR  LAW. 
Lord  "President    of    Council— Mr.     A.    J. 

Balfour. 

Chancellor  of  Exchequer— Mr.  A.  CHAM- 
BERLAIN. 

Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland— Mr.  G.  N 
BARNES,  or  Viscount  FRENCH. 

Chitf  Secretary— Mr.  MACPHERSON. 

Lord  Chancellor— Lord  BIRKENHEAD. 

Secretary  of  State  for  Home  Depart- 
ment-Mr.   SHORTT.    . 

Seen  tary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  ' 
EARL  CURZONi 

Secretary  Of  State  for  Colonies— Viscount 
MILNER. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


471 


letiiry  of  State  for  War  and  Air- 
Mi     tfHl'UCHlLL. 

Secretary  of  state  foi  Indh—Mr.  MON- 
TaOU. 

Find  Lord  of  Admiralty— Mr.  DONG. 

Secretary    for    Scotland— Mr.    Ml'NRO. 

I'k  sid.  nt  of  Board  of  Trade-Sir  AUCK- 
LAND UKDDES. 

\linist.-i   of  Health— T)r.  ADDISON. 

|*rei>)d«nl  of  Board  of  Agriculture  and 
Flsh«  rles—  Lord  L.EE  of  Fare  ham. 

President  of  Board  of  Education— Mr. 
FISHER. 

Minister  of  ^abor-SIr  B.  S.  HORNE. 

Mlnl-ter      of      Transport  Sir      ERIC 

OEDDES. 

Viscountess  Astor  having  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Unionist  Association  at 
Plymouth  to  stand  for  the  seat  in  the 
House  of  Commons  vacated  by  her  hus- 
band (son  of  the  late  William  Waldorf 
Astor  of  New  York)  upon  his  accession 
to  the  Peerage,  the  bye-election  took 
place  on  Nov.  15  and  it  was  reported 
that  Viscountess  Astor  had  been  seated 
by  a  plurality  of  5,000  votes.    . 

Great  excitement,  particularly  in  the 
French  press,  was  caused  on  Nov.  8, 
when  the  Prime  Minister,  speaking  at 
the  Lord  Mayor's  banquet,  on  which  oc- 
casion the  pdlicy  of  the  Government  is 
usually  outlined,  referred  to  the  vain  at- 
tempt to  obtain  peace  in  Russia  last 
spring,  and  added:  "I  hope  the  time  is 
not  distant  when  the  powers  will  be  able 
to  renew  that  attempt  with  better  pros- 
pects of  Kuccess."  This  was  qualified 
two  days  later  by  Mr.  Bonar  Law,  the 
Government  leader,  who  assured  the 
House  of  Commons  that  the  Government 
had  no  intention  of  opening  negotiations 
with  Bolshevist  Russia  until  the  House 
had  had  an  opportunity  to  discuss  the 
subject. 

THE  VATICAN 

Although  women  of  Italy  did  not  take 
part  in  the  election  for  the  Twenty-fifth 
Parliament  ort  Nov.  16,  the  Catholic  Party 
— Partito  Popolare  Italiano,  or  Italian 
Popular  Party — began  an  educational 
campaign  by  sending  the  leaders  of  several 
Catholic  women's  organizations  to  the 
polls  for  observation  and  by  circulars. 
This  organization  was  begun  by  Filippo 
Meda,  ex-Minister  of  Finance,  and  a 
leader  of  the  Catholic  aristocracy,  which 
until  the  removal  of  the  Papal  inhibition 
took  no  part  in  the  national  elections. 


The  Vatican  organ,  Osservatore  Ro- 
mano, disclaimed  any  intention  of  the 
Vatican  to  control  the  Popular  Party 
and  stated  that  it  was  a  free  Catholic 
organization. 

These  two  new  political  features — 
woman  suffrage  and  the  organization  of 
Catholic  women  by  the  Popular  Party — 
brought  to  an  important  stage  of  de- 
velopment the  problem  ot  wui.uan  in  re- 
lation to  the  Church.  Some  conserva- 
tive authorities  even  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  she  could  not  vote  unless  cer- 
tain religious  restrictions  had  been  re- 
moved. On  the  other  hand,  Pope  Bene- 
dict XV.  received  numerous  petitions  for 
the  removal  of  these  restrictions.  The 
most  elaborate  document  of  this  nature, 
from  both  the  point  of  view  of  history 
and  of  law,  was  entitled  "  Per  la  Riabili- 
tazione  della  Donna,"  (For  the  Rehabili- 
tation of  Woman,)  bearing  the  imprint 
of  Pastorio  of  Vicenza. 

In  the  same  category  was  a  petition 
from  the  priests  of  the  district  of 
Prague,  urging  that  the  Pope  abolish  the 
law  prescribing  celibacy  for  the  priest- 
hood as  far  as  it  concerned  Czechoslo- 
vakia. The  Papal  Archbishop  Ikordac 
excommunicated  fifty-one  priests  there 
who  had  taken  wives  while  continuing  to 
exercise  the  duties  of  their  office. 

On  Oct.  22  the  Pope  in  answering  an 
address  presented  to  him  by  the  women's 
union  declared: 

On  the  domestic  hearth  woman  Is  queen. 
Changed  times  have  given  woman  func- 
tions and  rights  which  she  did  not  possess 
In  former  ages,  and  have  enlarged  the 
field  of  her  activities,  but  no  alteration 
hi  man's  opinion,  no  novelty  of  things  or 
events  can  separate  woman,  conscious  of 
her  high  mission,  from  the  family,  which 
is  her  natural  centre. 

On  Nov.  3  the  first  Consistory  since 
1916,  when  the  Archbishops  of  Rennes, 
Rouen  and  Lyons  were  made  Cardinals, 
was  announced  for  December.  It  was 
understood  that  the  Polish  Archbishops 
of  Warsaw  and  Gnesen  would  receive  the 
beretto. 

For  the  first  time  since  Italy  entered 
the  war  the  Pope  on  Nov.  8  officially 
received  in  private  audience  a  represen- 
tative of  the  Central  Powers.  He  was 
Baron  Johann  von  Gebsettel,  Secretary 
of  the  Bavarian  Legation. 


Germany  Again  at  Work 

First   Industrial   Nation   to    Stop   Labor   Disturbances — War 

Guilt  Investigation 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  18,  1919] 


THE  outstanding  feature  of  German 
life  in  the  Autumn  of  1919  was 
the  remarkable  revival  of  indus- 
try. The  German  people  went  to 
work  again  in  earnest.  The  renewed 
signs  of  prosperity  were  commented 
upon  at  length  by  several  foreign  ob- 
servers, who  gave  facts  and  figures  in 
proof  of  their  assertions.  The  Govern- 
ment, it  is  true,  enforced  a  complete 
cessation  of  passenger  traffic  on  all  the 
railways  of  the  nation  for  ten  days — 
Nov.  5  to  15— primarily  to  save  coal, 
though  the  embargo  was  also  regarded 
as  a  masterstroke  of  Minister  of  De- 
fense Noske  to  reduce  the  risk  of  a 
Communist  uprising  on  the  first  anni- 
versary of  the  German  revolution.  The 
National  Assembly  Committee  for  the 
Investigation  of  War  Responsibility  con- 
vened in  Berlin  and  dragged  a  tedious 
course  along  from  day  to  day.  Hugo 
Haase,  the  Independent  Socialist  leader, 
died  of  wounds  inflicted  by  an  assassin. 
President  Ebert's  repeated  warnings 
that  only  by  work  would  it  be  possible 
for  Germany  to  restore  her  shattered 
commercial  and  social  labncs  began  to 
bear  fruit  by  the  middle  of  September. 
From  all  parts  of  the  country  dispatches 
indicated  a  return  to  the  national  sense 
of  order  and  united  effort  after  the 
months  of  political  turmoil  that  followed 
the  signing  of  the  armistice.  What  was 
especially  noteworthy,  in  view  of  the 
conflict  between  capital  and  labor  in 
other  countries,  was  the  workingmen's 
clear  perception  of  the  fundamental  dif- 
ficulties of  the  problem.  They  began  to 
see  that  "  higher  wages  alone  would  not 
improve  living  conditions  owing  to  the 
increased  cost  of  living."  Further,  the 
eight-hour  day  was  impossible  for  Euro- 
pean economy,  as  twenty  or  thirty 
million  European  workmen  in  their  best 
working  years  were  now  producing 
nothing,  owing  to  the  war,  and  the  strain 


of  the  war  had  decreased  the  production 
of  others.  The  only  road  leading  back 
to  normal  prosperity  was  that  of  in- 
creased production  through  longer  work- 
ing hours. 

LONGER  WORKING  HOURS 

The  first  sign  of  this  realization  was 
manifested  by  the  Wiirttemberg  Rail- 
way employes  in  voluntarily  deciding  to 
work  ten  hours  more  each  week  to  lessen 
the  coal  crisis.  Coincidentally,  it  was 
remarked  that  the  piecework  system 
was  again  being  adopted,  and  a  reac- 
tion was  setting  in  against  radicalism, 
whereby  the  strike  fever,  spreading  over 
Europe  and  America,  was  abating  in 
Germany.  From  all  districts  reports 
presently  came  to  hand  of  a  general 
speeding  up  of  work,  especially  in  those 
industries  possessing  raw  materials  and 
not  hampered  by  lack  of  fuel. 

Thus,  the  beginning  of  October  wit- 
nessed the  glass  industry  rapidly  over- 
hauling peace  time  production,  with  por- 
celain, optical,  musical,  and  toy  manu- 
factures following  closely.  While  the 
dye  industry  was  reviving  more  slowly, 
top  speed  had  been  attained  in  the 
Solingen  steel  industries.  According  to 
the  Frankfurter  Zeitung  these  works 
were  flooded  with  orders  for  cutlery  of 
all  descriptions,  including  surgical  in- 
struments, from  the  United  States 
among  other  foreign  countries.  Herein 
the  advantage  to  the  foreign  buyer  was 
plain.  Although  prices  at  Solingen  had 
been  raised  300  to  400  per  cent.,  the  cost 
of  Solingen  steel  wares  on  foreign  or- 
ders, owing  to  the  depreciation  of  the 
mark,  was  only  8  per  cent,  above  pre- 
war prices. 

The  cure  of  work,  and  more  work, 
was  rapidly  overcoming  the  disease  of 
near-chaos  in  Germany.  The  Federal 
Labor  Ministry  stated  that  within  six 
months   the    number   of   unemployed    in 


GERMANY  AGAIN  AT   WORK 


47J5 


Germany  had  been  reduced  from  1,500,- 
000  to  about  500,000.  After  talking 
with  officials  and  labor  leaders  a  corre- 
spondent thus  summed  up  the  reasons 
for  the  favorable  change: 

First,  employi-s  hav  already  gained  a 
considerable  increase  in  wages  and  other 
privileges  all  around.  .Second,  they  are 
tired  of  strikes,  seeing  their  gains  in 
wages  swallowed  !>y  enforced  idleness. 
One  great  incentive  for  strikes  formerly 
was  the  Chance  of  mi  extra  holiday,  but 
since  the  eight-hour  d  iy  was  introduced 
the  workmen  have  so  much  leisure  they 
actually  begin  to  hate  it.  Third,  the  re- 
awakening of  trade  with  foreign  countries, 
which  has  already  assum<  d  a  much  larger 
proportion  than  Is  rctlllvjed  outside  Ger- 
many.' 

Set  against  this  hopeful  view  of  the 
industrial  situation  in  Germany  there 
remained  the  two  chief  difficulties  of 
shortage  of  raw  materials  and  coal. 
The  raw  material  problem  was  said  to 
have  been  solved  in  at  least  one  instance 
by  the  characteristically  prompt  enter- 
prise of  a  New  York  merchant.  He 
brought  over  his  own  cotton  yarn,  valued 
in  Germany  at  25,000,000  marks,  and  at 
once  set  to  work  thousands  of  men  and 
women  who  made  it  into  stockings  and 
other  tricotage. 

THE  RAILWAY  EMBARGO 
To  relieve  the  coal  stress  as  applied 
to  the  congestion  of  railroad  freight, 
the  Government  ordered  a  suspension  of 
all  passenger  trains  for  ten  days  com- 
mencing Nov.  5.  In  the  face  of  much 
adverse  criticism  the  Government  justi- 
fied its  action  by  asserting  that  the  lack 
of  locomotives,  together  with  the  fact 
that  many  railroad  centres  were  threat- 
ened with  exhaustion  of  their  coal  sup- 
ply, compelled  immediate  attention  to 
the  distribution  of  food  and  coal.  A 
New  York  Times  correspondent,  on  ar- 
riving in  Berlin  just  as  the  order  was 
going  into  effect,  said  that  one  almost 
welcomed  the  official  ban  on  travel, 
since  railroad  journeys  in  Germany  had 
become  purgatorial.  The  few  trains 
running  during  the  last  month  or  two 
had  become  dangerously  packed.  He 
found  the  food  situation  in  the  capital 
slightly  worse  than  six  weeks  before, 
telephoning  an  almost  impossible 
achievement,  hotels  so  overcrowded  that 


guests  were  sleeping  in  the  bathrooms, 
and  the  mail  service  in  confusion. 

In  Berlin  the  companies  controlling 
the  airplane  services  were  beseiged  by 
persons  with  Urgent  business  in  othor 
parts  of  the  country,  but  benzine  wu* 
scarce  and  few  airplane*  were  available. 
Most  of  tlwm  were  commandeered  by 
the  Government  for  forwarding  mail.s. 
The  passenger  Zeppelin  Bodensee  left 
for  Fried  richshaf en  with  two  tons  of 
mail  and  no  passengers.  No  motor 
buses  were  running,  and  not  a  taxi 
could  be  hired  to  go  beyond  the  city 
limits.  A  few  privileged  individuals  who 
presented  sufficient  pleas  were  per- 
mitted to  depart  on  freight  trains.  The 
stoppage  of  passenger  traffic  produced 
some  curious  results.  Many  concerts 
were  abandoned,  since  the  artists  could 
not  reach  the  city.  In  the  courts  ac- 
cused persons  could  easily  obtain  bail 
without  sureties  because  the  chances  of 
flight  were  infinitesimal.  Profiteers 
were  hard  hit  because  they  could  not 
bring  in  their  high-priced  goods;  but 
prices  soared,  while  the  value  of  the 
mark  fell  lower  than  ever  before. 

First  results  Of  the  railroad  en\bargo 
gave  the  satisfactory  figures  of  106,000 
freight  cars  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Ruhr  coal  fields  of  West  Prussia,  an 
increase  of  fully  20  per  cent,  over  the 
previous  week;  and  7,000  cars  daily,  an 
increase  of  25  per  cent.,  delivered  to  the 
Upper  Silesian  coal  fields,  more  than 
sufficient  to  handle  the  output  of  those 
mines.  Berlin  advices  reported,  how- 
ever, a  tightening  of  the  food  belt  within 
a  few  days  to  the  extent  of  50  per  cent, 
of  the  potato  supply,  and  a  cutting 
down  of  the  milk  ration  from  a  half  to 
a  quarter  of  a  liter. 

FIXING    BLAME   FOR   WAR 

An  initial  report  of  the  National  As- 
sembly's sub-committee  for  the  investiga- 
tion of  war  responsibility  was  cabled  on 
Oct.  21.  The  first  meeting  was  de- 
scribed as  possessing  the  solemn  atmos- 
phere of  a  judicial  court,  though  there 
were  no  accused  as  yet  before  its  bar, 
and  though  its  power  even  to  compel  the 
attendance  of  witnesses  was  in  doubt. 
Among   those   present   for   examination, 


474 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


however,  were  several  notable  figures  of 
the  imperial  regime,  including  the  for- 
mer Ambassador  to  the  United  States, 
Count  von  Bernstorff;  ex-Chancellor 
Dr.  von  Bethmann  Hollweg,  Dr.  Helf- 
ferich,  and  Dr.  Zimmermann. 

At  the  second  session,  Oct.  22,  von 
Bernstorff  carried  his  testimony  for- 
ward through  the  peace  negotiations 
with  President  Wilson  to  the  declaration 
of  unrestricted  U-boat  warfare  in  1917. 
The  witness  was  reported  as  exercising 
greater  caution  in  his  answers,  some- 
times considering  more  than  a  minute 
before  responding  to  questions,  and 
often  consulting  State  papers.  Much 
wrangling  took  place  over  the  question 
why  definite  German  peace  conditions 
were  never  named  to  President  Wilson. 
While  Bernstorff's  answers  did  not  clear 
up  this  matter,  there  remained  the  ap- 
parent fact  that  without  such  positive 
knowledge  the  President  was  willing  to 
mediate.  Von  Bernstorff  caused  a  sen- 
sation when  he  professed  to  have  been 
greatly  shocked  by  his  discovery,  after 
the  revolution,  of  a  letter  from  the 
Kaiser  •  addressed  to  Herr  Zimmermann 
among  papers  in  the  Foreign  Office  and 
dated  Jan.  16,  1917.  This  letter  read: 
"  His  Majesty  instructs  me  to  thank  you 
for  your  communication.  His  Majesty 
does  not  care  a  bit  about  President  Wil- 
son's offer.  If  a  breach  with  America 
cannot  be  prevented,  it  cannot  be  helped. 
Events  are  developing." 

MILITARY  FAILURE  FORESEEN 

The  session  of  Nov.  5  brought  out  the 
surprising  disclosure  from  official  ar- 
chives that  the  army  authorities  went  on 
record  in  1916  as  declaring  that  land 
warfare  could  not  win  for  Germany; 
that  it  must  be  won  diplomatically  and 
politically.  Dr.  Zimmermann  repre- 
sented American  Ambassador  Gerard  as 
having  stated  in  reply  to  a  question  as  to 
what  the  result  of  unrestricted  U-boat 
warfare  would  be  in  the  United  States: 
"  I  don't  know  what  they  want  in  Wash- 
ington. You  may  be  right  in  the  action 
you  are  taking."  The  Ambassador,  ac- 
cording to  Zimmermann,  promised  to  use 
his  influence  to  keep  America  neutral, 
and  was  again  quoted  by  the  witness  as 


having  said :     "  I  shall  do  my  best  to 
avoid  further  friction." 

With  reference  to  the  number  of 
U-boats  constructed  by  Germany,  the 
former  Minister  of  Marine,  Vice  Ad- 
miral Eduard  von  Capelle,  stated  that 
"  810  submarines  Were  built  before  and 
during  the  war.  Of  these  46  were  con- 
structed before  the  war,  186  were  built 
during  the  administration  of  Admiral 
von  Tirpit*,  and  679  Were  built  by  me 
in  the  two  and  a  half  years  I  was  in 
office." 

HINDENBURG  AND  ROYALISTS 

When  Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg 
arrived  in  Berlin  to  testify  before  the 
investigating  commission  he  suddenly 
became  the  centre  of  embarrassing  atten- 
tions on  the  part  of  the  Pan-Germans. 
When  he  tried  to  enter  the  Reichstag 
building  on  Nov.  14  hia  automobile  was 
surrounded  by  students,  who  blocked  his 
way,  crying  that  he  must  not  degrade 
himself  by  appearing  before  the  commit- 
tee, and  mingling  shouts  for  the  Kaiser 
with  the  singing  of  "  Deutschland  uber 
Alles."  The  former  Commander  in  Chief 
was  finally  compelled  to  order  his  chauf- 
feur to  return  home;  however,  he  ap- 
peared before  the  committee  four  days 
later. 

Hindenburg's  presence  in  Berlin  caused 
a  marked  upflaring  of  Junker  and  reac- 
tionary sentiment,  which  took  the  form 
of  demonstrations  before  his  door  and 
elsewhere.  Through  the  press  he  issued 
a  request  on  the  16th  that  the  public  re- 
frain from  further  manifestations  in  his 
honor,  as  he  did  not  desire  to  be  the 
cause  of  any  disorder.  The  Government, 
while  posting  sentries  of  honor  before 
Helfferich's  house,  where  the  Field  Mar- 
shal was  staying,  took  the  precaution  on 
Nov.  16  of  stringing  barbed  wire  barri- 
cades across  Wilhelmstrasse  and  other 
important  thoroughfares  to  prevent 
further  reactionary  demonstrations.  It 
was  remarked  that  while  this  step  had 
been  taken  frequently  against  the  Sparta- 
cans,  it  was  the  first  occasion  when 
it  had  seemed  necessary  against  the 
monarchists. 

Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg  ap- 
peared before  the  committee  on  Nov.  18 


GERMANY  AGAIN  AT  WORK 


475 


and  made  important  statements  in  reply 
to  six  questions  which  had  been  submit- 
ted to  him  in  writing.  "  I  know  with 
absolute  certainty,"  he  said,"  that  neither 
the  people,  the  Kaiser,  nor  the  Govern- 
ment desired  war,  for  the  Government 
knew  better  than  others  Germany's  tre- 
mendously difficult  position  in  a  war 
against  the  Entente."  He  added  that  if 
there  had  been  united  co-operation  be- 
tween the  army  and  the  homeland  Ger- 
many would  have  won.  Internal  agita- 
tion, he  said,  had  broken  the  will  to  vic- 
tory. He  and  Ludendorff  had  been  ih 
entire  accord  throughout  the  war.  Both 
had  favored  unrestricted  U-boat  warfare. 
"  When  1917  came,"  he  continued,  "  we 
could  no  longer  permit  our  gallant  sol- 
diers to  be  bombarded  with  American 
ammunition  and  their  wives  and  children 
to  be  starved  by  the  blockade.  The 
U-boat  war  was  the  only  means  to  oppose 
those  conditions." 

The  second  of  the  six  questions  sub- 
mitted to  Hindenburg  asked  whether  the 
army  leaders  knew  of  the  warnings  of 
Under  Secretaries  Haniel  and  Albert  re- 
garding the  probable  effects  of  subma- 
rine warfare  upon  America,  and,  if  so, 
why  they  had  no  longer  considered  those 
warnings  sound.  Herr  Haniel's  report 
was  read.  It  had  informed  the  German 
Government  that  America,  despite  its 
English  and  French  ties,  would  go  to 
war  with  Germany  if  the  submarine 
methods  were  continued,  whereas,  if  the 
U-boat  activities  ceased,  it  would  compel 
the  British  blockade  to  be  lifted.  Any 
relaxation  of  Germany's  promises  made 
in  1916  meant  war  with  Germany. 

Under  Secretary  Heinrich  F.  Albert, 
formerly  Commercial  Attache  in  the  Ger- 
man Embassy  at  Washington,  had  made 
this  still  more  emphatic  statement  on 
Nov.  6,  1916: 

If  Germany  can  beat  England,  then  war 
with  America  will  make  no  difference. 
But  thus  far  our  boats  have  been  unable 
to  sink  the  large  British  armed  mer- 
chantmen. The  blockade  of  England 
would  have  to  last  a  long  time  and  be 
supported  loyally,  and  If  Japan  can  be 
Induced  by  England  to  keep  Its  fleet  at 
home  America  has  the  possibility  of 
sending  its  ships  to  European  waters. 

America  can  raise  at  least  several  army 
corps,  and  strengthening  of  the  Entente 
forces    would    result.      It    would    be    most 


important  in  economic  questions  and 
would  energetically  support  its  allies,  with 
no  telling  what  huge  loans,  under  the  In- 
fluence of  the  enthusiasm  In  America. 
Witness  the  Americans  who  came  to 
France  and  created  the  Lafayette  Flying 
Squadron.  That  dangerous  branch  of 
warfare  would  be  surely  vastly  strength- 
ened. 

America's  transportation  without  doubt 
would  be  efficient  and  capable  of  Increase, 
and  if  America  feels  safe  from  Japan 
she  will  throw  all  her  ammunition  to 
France,  not  to  forget  the  wonderful  Amer- 
ican automobile  Industry,  the  giant  Ford 
factories,  and  other;  machines  which 
would  help  In  winning  the  war. 

Neutrals  would  side  with  America.  The 
psychological  effect  would  be  felt  at  once. 
It  would  be  a  national  misfortune,  and,  at 
the  end,  Germany  would  be  sure  to  be 
defeated.. 

General  Ludendorff's  testimony,  which 
followed,  included  an  attack  upon  von 
Bernstorff  for  not  having  furnished  cor- 
rect information  from  Washington.  Count 
von  Bernstorff  said  this  was  renewed 
proof  that  the  German  Embassy  at 
Washington  had  been  unpopular  with  the 
naval  and  military  leaders,  who  would 
not  believe  its  representations'  regarding 
America. 

ATTACKS   ON    NOSKE 

During  the  latter  part  of  September, 
Minister  of  Defense  Noske  was  the  ob- 
ject of  attacks  both  from  within  and 
from  without  his  own  party.  Ex-Pre- 
mier Philipp  Scheidemann  returned 
from  his  vacation  to  denounce  Colonel 
Reinhard  as  a  national  danger  and 
Noske  as  a  tool  of  the  military  reaction- 
aries. Noske  issued  a  defense  of  his 
position  in  maintaining  order,  and 
warned  the  Allies  that  if  compelled  to 
fulfill  that  part  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
which  enforced  a  reduction  of  the  Ger- 
man Army  to  100,000  he  would  not  have 
a  single  intact  battalion  to  confront  the 
most  threatening  period  of  reconstruc- 
tion. That  the  incident  left  Noske  as 
securely  seated  in  the  saddle  as  before 
was  indicated  by  the  severe  measures 
he  was  able  to  adopt  in  preventing  the 
general  strike  set  for  Nov.  5  in  support 
of  the  metal  workers'  walkout.  The 
Berlin  headquarters  of  the  Independent 
Socialists  were  occupied,  a  meeting  of 
street  railway  employes  was  dissolved, 
the    Executive    Council    of    Workmen's 


476 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Delegates  dispersed,  and  the  thorough- 
fares of  the  city  paraded  by  formidable 
military  patrols. 

According  to  reports  reaching  the 
American  authorities  at  Coblenz,  the 
passenger  embargo  held  a  master  stroke 
concealed  within  the  ostensible  reason 
of  necessary  coal  distribution.  Minister 
of  Defense  Noske,  it  was  declared,  was 
determined  to  eliminate  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  threatened  danger  of  a  repe- 
tition of  the  events  of  the  year  before, 
when  the  revolutionists  used  trains  out  of 
Kiel  and  other  places  to  travel  quickly 
to  places  where  outbreaks  were  planned. 

DEATH  OF  HUGO  HAASE 

Hugo  Haase,  President  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Socialist  Party,  died  on  Nov.  7, 
at  the  age  of  66,  from  the  effects  of 
shot  wounds  received  from  an  Austrian, 
Johann  Voss,  while  entering  the  Reichs- 
tag Building  on  Oct.  8.  Haase  was 
prosecuting  Voss  on  a  charge  of  extor- 
tion, and,  it  was  alleged,  the  assault  was 
committed  from  personal  motives, 
though  a  political  cause  was  sought. 
Haase  was  about  to  attack  the  Govern- 
ment severely,  charging  it  with  fostering 
sinister  actions  against  the  radicals 
through  "  murder  bureaus." 

Hugo  Haase  was  one  of  the  most 
notable  figures  of  the  German  revolu- 
tion, and  personally  a  man  of  high  in- 
tegrity. He  served  several  terms  in  the 
Imperial  Reichstag,  and  was  Pi^esident 
of  the  German  Social  Democratic  Party. 
He  opposed  the  war,  but  served  for  a 
time  at  the  front.  When  the  Imperial 
Government    fell    in     November,     1918, 


Haase  entered  the  first  Coalition  Cab- 
inet, but  shortly  retired  after  disagree- 
ment with  his  colleagues.  Thereafter  he 
waged  a  strenuous  political  fight  against 
the  Ebert  Government. 

While  preparations  went  forward  to 
house  the  ex-Kaiser  in  his  recently  pur- 
chased mansion  at  Doom,  Holland,  it 
was  said  he  had  secured  several  villas 
in  the  neighborhood  for  the  large  per- 
sonnel with  which  he  intended  to  sur- 
round himself.  The  first  authentic 
photographs  of  the  former  Emperor  and 
Empress  since  taking  up  their  residence 
at  Amerongen  were  obtained  in  October 
by  a  photographer  concealed  in  a  hay 
wagon;  one  of  them,  showing  the 
Kaiser's  changed  appearance,  is  repro- 
duced in  the  portrait  section  of  this 
magazine. 

With  reference  to  questions  asked  in 
the  British  Parliament  as  to  what  meas- 
ures had  been  taken  by  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernment tcj  prevent  the  ex-Kaiser  and 
ex-Crown  Prince  from  leaving  Holland, 
it  was  stated  officially  at  The  Hague  on 
Oct.  29  that  no  measures  had  been  taken 
to  that  end,  as  these  two  personages 
were  considered  entirely  free  to  leave 
when  they  chose  to  do  so.  Any  measures 
taken  in  guarding  them,  it  was  added, 
were  only  with  a  view  to  their  personal 
safety  and  were  paid  for  by  them. 

The  former  Crown  Prince  continued 
to  reside  on  Wieringen  Island.  Frequent 
visits  of  important  personages  between 
Germany,  Amerongen  and  Wieringen 
were  noted  and  held  to  portend  renewed 
activity  among  the  German  monarchist 
parties.  .  . 


The  Most  Famous  German  Prisoner 

Field  Marshal  von  Mackensen's  Release 


THE  Supreme  Council  of  the  Paris 
Peace  Conference  decided  on  Nov. 
10,  1919,  that  Field  Marshal  von 
Mackensen,  one  of  Germany's  most 
famous  Commanders  on  the  Eastern 
front  and  the  only  one  of  his  rank  to 
become  a  prisoner  of  the  Allies,  should 
be  permitted,  in  view  of  his  advanced 
years  and  poor  health,  to  return  to  Ger- 


many from  Saloniki,  where  he  had  been 
interned  since  Oct.  8.  .  J 

This  decision  recalled  one  of  the  Inter- 
esting and  dramatic  episodes  of  the  war. 
When  hostilities  ceased  in  November, 
1918,  von  Mackensen  was  in  command  of 
the  German  troops  in  Rumania.  Men- 
aced on  his  line  of  retreat  by  French 
and    Serbian    divisions   on   the    Danube. 


THE  MOST  FAMOUS   GERM  AX  PRISONER 


477 


he  decided  to  abandon  Rumania  and  to 
march  back  into  Germany  at  the  head  of 
his  soldiers.  With  difficulty  he  made  his 
way  through  the  passes  of  the  Carpa- 
thians, through  which  he  had  made  a  tri- 
umphal passage  a  few  months  before, 
and  came  down  in  good  order  toward  the 
Hungarian  plain.  Meanwhile,  however, 
the  French  General  Henrys  had  signed 
at  Belgrade  with  Count  Karolyi,  then 
Hungarian  Premier,  an  armistice  agree- 
ment which  stipulated  that  the  German 
Army  in  Rumania,  together  with  its 
leader,  should  be  disarmed  and  interned 
in  Hungary. 

Checked  in  his  retreat,  von  Mackensen 
sought  to  attain  by  strategy  what  he 
could  not  gain  by  force.  First  of  all,  he 
declared  that  he  could  not  be  responsible 
if  his  soldiers,  who,  being  "  very  undis- 
ciplined," (as  a  matter  of  fact  they  were 
highly  disciplined,)  refused  to  obey  his 
orders.  When  asked  to  give  his  word  of 
honor  that  he  would  not  try  to  escape, 
his  answers  were  ambiguous.  His  army, 
numbering  some  80,000  men,  rapidly 
melted  away;  the  soldiers,  profiting  by 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  disarming 
and  interning-  so  large  a  force,  departed 
bag  and  baggage  on  their  own  trains. 

Then  came  news  that  von  Mackensen 
himself,  who  was  residing  at  the  Chateau 
de  Foth,  the  property  of  Count  Karolyi, 
near  Budapest,  was  preparing  for  flight. 
Colonel  Vix,  who  commanded  the  French 
Mission  at  Budapest,  on  hearing  these 
tidings  toward  the  end  of  Pecember,  at 
once  asked  permission  from  Belgrade  to 
detain  him,  as  the  armistice  had  stipu- 
lated, and  asked  for  troops  to  effect  his 
arrest.  From  Belgrade  General  Henrys 
ordered  four  squadrons  of  spahis  in  the 
Temesvar  to  proceed  at  once  to  Foth. 
Soon  afterward  special  trains  bore  the 
spahis,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Guesperau,  to  their  destination.  Mean- 
while the  surveillance  of  the  chateau, 
which  had  been  intrusted  to  Lieutenant 
Genevrier,  was  drawn  closer;  but  von 
Mackensen's  baggage  had  a1  ready  been 
sent  ahead,  while  his  own  departure  was 
fixed  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning.  There 
was  not  a  moment  to  be  lost. 

Lieutenant  Genevrier  left  Budapest  by 
automobile  Dec.  30  at  10  o'clock  in  the 
evening.     Arriving  at  11,  he  posted  his 


agents  in  the  shrubbery  around  the  castle 
and  cut  all  the  telephone  wires  that  con- 
nected von  .Mackensen  with  his  head- 
quarters in  Budapest.  According  to  the 
schedule  communicated  to  him,  the  spahis 
were  due  to  reach  Budapest  at  midnight. 
Through  poor  railway  service  they  did 
not  arrive  until  4  or  5  in  the  morning. 
In  an  hour  the  two  divisions  that  had 
reached  the  Hungarian  capital  marched 
to  Foth.  Meanwhile  the  long  delay  had 
upset  all  the  calculations  of  Genevrier, 
who  with  intense  expectation  watched  all 
night  for  the  spahis  to  appear.  Hiding 
under  a  balcony,  Genevrier  heard  one  of 
von  Mackensen's  officers  attempt  to  ring 
up  Budapest  three  times,  curse  the  tele- 
phone girl  when  he  received  no  answer, 
and  strike  the  telephone^-whose  wires 
had  been  cut — with  his  fist. 

Genevrier's  situation  became  embar- 
rai  ing  and  delicate.  Fearing  that  von 
Mackensen's  Hungarian  guard  might  de- 
tect his  presence  and  give  the  alarm  to 
the  prisoner,  who  would  at  once  take 
flight  by  motor  car,  he  conceived  the 
bold  plan  of  seeking  out  that  guard  him- 
self, allaying  their  suspicions,  and  hold- 
ing them  in  converse  until  the  arrival  of 
the  expected  troops.  This  project  met 
with  complete  success.  Representing 
himself  as  a  French  officer  charged  with 
a  mission  at  Vacs,  a  small  town  not  far 
from  Foth,  he  explained  in  very  decent 
German  that  his  automobile  had  broken 
down,  and  asked  the  guard  to  send  some 
men  to  aid  his  chauffeur — who  was  in 
the  secret — to  find  the  imaginary  trouble. 
Meanwhile  he  kept  the  Hungarian  offi- 
cer diverted  and  amused  by  his  conver- 
sation until  about  a  quarter  after  8. 

Hearing  at  last  the  sound  of  h"oof- 
beats,  for  which  his  strained  ears  had 
so  long  been  listening,  he  rose,  smiled  to 
his  host,  and  said:  "Lieutenant,  I  thank 
you  for  your  hospitality.  I  am  off  now. 
My  mission  has  been  fulfilled."  "  Where 
are  you  going?  "  asked  the  Hungarian 
officer.  Lieutenant  Genevrier  opened 
the  door  and  showed  the  Hungarian  of- 
ficer the  spahis  already  posted  in  the 
park.  He  then  left  the  astounded  officer 
and  went  to  Colonel  Guespereau  to  re- 
port to  him  that  von  Mackensen  was  still 
in  the  chateau. 

Guespereau  at  once  demanded  to  see 


478 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURREST  HISTORY 


the  German  Field  Marshal.  Furious, 
von  Mackensen  refused  to  see  him. 
Guespereau  insisted.  Von  Mackensen 
sent  word  that  he  was  a  prisoner  of  the 
Hungarian  Government,  and  that  he 
recognized  no  other  authority.  Gues- 
pereau still  insisted,  and  refused  an  of- 
fer to  speak  with  one  of  von  Macken- 
sen's  officers'.  "I  have  orders  to  see 
Marshal  von  Mackensen,"  he  replied  in- 
flexibly, "and  I  will  see  him,  with  or 
without  his  will."  At  last  von  Macken- 
sen gave  way.  Seated  at  his  table  in 
an  apartment  on  the  first  floor,  he 
growled  surlily  when  Guespereau  ap- 
peared on  the  threshold:  "  Bonjour, 
Monsieur!  "  Guespereuu  answered  him, 
then  immediately  withdrew  and  posted 
his  spahis  in  an  iron  ring;  around  the 
chateau;  a  French  officer  was  placed  in 
the  room  adjoining  that  of  von  Macken- 
sen to  watch  his  every  movement. 


A  few  days  later,  on  Jan.  6,  1919,  a 
special  train  bore  the  German  Field 
Marshal  to  the  chateau  of  Count  Chotck, 
(brother  of  the  wife  of  the  Austrian 
Archduke  Ferdinand,  as.-  assinatod  at 
Serajevo  in  1914,)  in  the  surroundings 
of  Temesvai*.  According  to  the  terms 
of  the  armistice  the  Marshal  could  be  in- 
terned only  on  Hungarian  territory.  Un- 
til early  in  October  von  Mackensen  re- 
mained at  this  place.  He  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  Sa'oniki,  where  he  and  his  of- 
ficers were  installed  in  a  large  and  com- 
fortable house  opposite  the  French  avi- 
ation field  and  overlooking  the  Aegean 
Sea.  None  of  the  allied  officers  or 
troops  saluted  him  when  he  walked  along 
the  streets.  Finally,  on  Nov.  10,  the  Su- 
preme Council  at  Paris  released  him,  a 
disillusioned  and  broken  man  of  70,  who 
had  ended  a  brilliant  military  career  in- 
glorioUsly.     [See  illustration,  Page  44!?.] 


Terrible  Privations  in  Central  Europe 

By  H.  N.  BRAILSFORD 

|  I  '■HtUKSI'UNDKNT  OF    TlIK    M  ANCI I  KKTKtt    (S  r  AlthlAN  ] 

This  brief  accouit  <>f  one  Britixk  observer's  impressions  was  written  in  October, 
1919,  and  covers  ft  in  months  of  the  Summer  and  Autumn.  The  further  privations 
of  the  Winter  wer<    s'i/l  to  come. 


THE  most  convincing  accounts  of  the 
distress  in  Central  Europe  have 
come  from  travelers  who  went  out 
deliberately  to  report  upon  it.  I,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  a  sojourn  of  nearly  four 
months,  saw  only  so  much  of  the  misery 
as  forced  itself  on  my  notice.  After 
spending  two  days  of  my  first  week  in 
visiting  the  poorer  quarters  of  Vienna, 
I  confess  that  I  consciously  fled  from  any 
further  evidence  of  the  efficacy  of  our 
blockade.  The  political  and  intellectual 
consequences  of  war  and  famine  were  for 
me  absorbingly  interesting,  and  in  heer 
cowardice  I  turned  away  my  eyes  from 
the  unbearable  physical  misery  which  I 
should  have  witnessed  if  I  had  continued 
those  first  visits  to  soup  kitchens,  work- 
ing-class schools,  and  hospitals. 

One  might  flee  from  these  sights,  but 
none  the  less  they  lay  in  wait  daily,  al- 
most hourly,  for  any  traveler  with  eyes 


and  ears.  What  impressed  me  most  vvas 
not  the  misery  of  those  who  had  p-one 
under,  but  the  signs  of  poverty  and  de- 
cayed vitality  among  people  who  normal- 
ly are  comfortable.  1  frequented  in 
Vienna  a  pleasant  but  rather  cheap  and 
homely  restaurant  near  several  birr  Gov- 
ernment offices.  Many  of  its  habitues 
were  Foreign  Office  clerks.  After  two 
or  three  visits  the  atmosphere  began  to 
depress  me.  I  was  almost  the  only  guest 
who  sat  alone;  the  others  were  all  in 
groups  of  two  or  three.  And  yet  the 
room  was  nearly  silent,  and  no  one 
stayed  very  long.  One  day  I  "was  so  im- 
pressed that  I  had  the  curiosity  to  watch 
narrowly  for  an  hour.  I  was  literally 
the  only  guest  who  took  more  than  one 
dish,  and  during  that  hour  I  neither 
heard  a  ripple  of  laughter  in  a  big  full 
room  nor  saw  a  smile.  This  wa^s  umong 
middle-class    people,    mostly    young,   in 


TERRIBLE  PRIVATIONS  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 


470 


what  used  to  be  the  gayest  city  of  the 
Continent.  I  read  next  day  a  documented 
article  in  the  Arbeiter  Zeitung  on  "  The 
Misery  of  the  Intellectual  Proletariat." 
The  plain  fact  was  that  these  officials 
were  all  of  them  half-starved,  and  liter- 
ally so  poor  that  they  could  not  afford 
to  buy  a  bare  sufficiency  of  food. 

A  similar  impression  came  to  me  one 
day  in  Lodz.  1  was  taken  to  see  a  model 
school,  with  a  kindergarten,  subsidized 
by  the  wife  of  a  multi-millionaire  mill- 
owner.  The  children  were  those  of  fore- 
men, engineer*,  and  managers.  My  guide 
took  me  to  it  as  one  of  the  few  happy 
and  creditable  sights  in  that  starving  and 
workless  town.  The  children,  who  were 
washed  in  the  school,  were  spotlessly 
clean  (only  the  well-to-do  can  be  clean 
where  soap  is  almost  unobtainable),  and 
many  of  them  were  pretty.  They  sang 
for  me,  but  1  noticed  that  after  the  first 
few  bars  most  of  them  fell  silent.  It  was 
an  action  song.  Healthy  children  make 
vigorous  movements,  and  usually  overdo 
them.  These  children,  with  the  wan, 
pinched  faces,  and  the  voices  that  died 
away  to  a  whisper,  faintly  agitated  their 
hands  in  the  symbol  or  reminiscence  of  a 
movement.  Hunger  and  fatigue  had 
taught  them  to  economize  energy. 

Every  one  knows  by  now  that  the 
working  classes  in  Vienna  are  three- 
quarters  staived,  and  would  have  starved 
completely  but  for  the  admirable  organi- 
zation of  soup  kitchens  by  that  most  hu- 
mane and  kindly  city.  There  was  much 
more  food  in  Warsaw  and  Lodz  when  I 
was  there,  but  also  there  was  much  less 
efficient  relief.  The  glimpse  that  I  had 
in  two  days  of  two  industrial  towns  in 
Saxony  suggested  that  they  were  only  a 
little  less  poverty-stricken  than  Vienna. 
What  few  seem  to  realize,  however,  is 
that  the  rural  districts  are  also  in  acute 
distress.  In  the  Polish  countryside,  for 
example,  there  was  a  sufficiency  of  bread 
and  potatoes,  but  even  when  the  peasants 
owned  a  cow  or  a  pig  their  children  never 
tasted  milk  or  bacon.  The  reason  was 
obvious  when  I  discovered  that  the  aver- 
age money  wage  of  an  adult  laborer  for 
a  whole  year  would  just  have  sufficed, 
at  the  prices  then  ruling,  to  buy  two 
coarse     shirts    or    one    pair    of    rough 


boots.  The  children  in  these  villages, 
even  in  cold  weather,  were  only  half 
clothed,  and  the  bedding  in  most  of  the 
cottages  consisted  largely  of  sacking. 

Vienna  was  a  nightmare.  It  was 
pitiable  to  see  the  swarms  of  half-naked 
children  who  waited  outside  the  city  for 
the  trains  coming  from  Hungary  (at 
that  time  Hungary  had  food),  and  ran 
beside  them  along  the  line  for  hundreds 
of  yards,  crying  "  Bitte,  ein  Stuck  Brod." 
Nor  shall  I  ever  forget  the  sight  of 
women  during  a  Communist  riot,  gather- 
ing, actua'ly  under  rifle-fire,  the  coal 
from  an  overturned  cart,  while  others 
cut  a  policeman's  horse,  that  had  been 
shot,  into  butcher's  meat  in  the  middle 
of  the  King.  .    • 

But  Vienna  was  not  the  worst.  The 
eastern  border  zone  of  Poland,  which  the 
Cossacks  burned  and  devastated  as  they 
retreated  in  1915,  was  in  the  grip  of 
literal  famine. 

Almost  every  shop  in  Pinsk  was  closed 
when  I  was  there  in  March;  there  was 
nothing  to  sell.  I  went  into  the  one  co- 
operative store  which  remained  open  out 
of  five,  to  discover  what  stock  it  had.  It 
was  selling  salt,  and  absolutely  nothing 
else.  For  days  the  orphanage  and  the 
almshouse  had  been  without  bread  or 
fuel.  When  I  pointed  to  the  distant 
woods  and  asked  why  no  one  fetched  fuel 
from  them,  the  answer  came  that  the 
horses  had  all  been  eaten  up,  and  the  two 
or  three  still  left  were  too  weak  to  walk. 
Most  of  the  poorer  families  were  living 
on  potatoes,  carrots,  or  chestnuts.  Ty- 
phus was  raging  in  the  town,  and  still 
more  severely  in  the  villages.  It  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  the  poor  to  fall  dead 
in  the  street  from  mere  exhaustion  as 
they  staggered  round  to  beg;  I  saw  two 
such  cases  myself  in  one  morning. 

The  villages  were  in  worse  case  than 
the  towns,  and  peasants,  in  groups  of 
ten  or  twenty,  would  journey  a  hundred 
miles  and  back  to  buy  flour.  That  is  no 
guess  estimate.  I  met  such  a  party  my- 
self. The  worst  part  of  the  case  was 
that  only  a  limited  use  could  be  made  of 
the  dilapidated  railway  to  pour  in  sup- 
plies, for  all  its  rolling  stock  was  needed 
for  the  insensate  war  against  the  Bol- 
sheviki. 


Desperate  Conditions  in  Austria 

Personnel  of  the  New  Cabinet 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  18,  1919] 


THE  makeup  of  the  reorganized  Aus- 
trian Cabinet,  the  ^acceptance  of 
which  by  the  National  Assembly  was 
noted  in  a  Vienna  cablegram  of  Oct.  17, 
was  given  as  follows  by  the  Neue  Freie 
Presse : 
Chancellor  and  Foreign  Minister— Dr.  KARL. 

RENNER. 
Vice  Chancellor— JO DOK  FINK. 
Secretary    of    the    Interior— MATTHIAS    EL- 

DERSCH. 
Minister  of  Justice-Dr.    RUDOLF  RAMEK. 
Secretary    of    Military    Affairs— Dr.    JULIUS 

* DEUTSCH. 
Minister  of  Finanee-Dr.  RICHARD  REISCH. 
.secretary     of     Ajfticulture-JOSEF     STOCK- 

LER. 
Secretary  of  Commerce— J  OH  ANN   ZERDIK. 
Secretary      of      Transportation  —  LUDWIG 

PAUL. 
Secretary  for  Social  Administration— FERDI- 
NAND HANUSCH. 
Secretary    of    Food    Supplies— Dr.    JOHANN 

LOEWENFELD-RUSS. 
Secretary  for  Constitutional  and  Administra- 
tive  Reforms— Prof.  Dr.  MICHAEL  MAYR 
Under      Secretary      of      Education  —  OTTO 

GLOCKEL. 
Under      Secretary      for      Cults— WIDH  ELM 

MIKLAS. 
Unuer   Secretary   for -Justice— Dr.    ARNOLD 

EISLER. 
Under    Secretary    for    Military    Affairs— Dr 

ERWIN  WAISS'. 
Under  Secretary  for  Social  Administration— 

JOSEF  RESCH. 
Under    Secretary    of    Commerce— Dr.    WIL- 

HELM  ELLENBOGEN. 
Under    Secretary    for    Health— Dr.     JULIUS 

TANDLER. 

By  the  end  of  October  all  reports  from 
Austria  pronounced  the  situation  well- 
nigh  desperate.  It  threatened  the  exist- 
ence of.  the  Government.  The  former 
Austrian  Empire,  now  confined  within 
the  narrow  boundaries  of  one  of  its 
shorn  provinces,  was  dependent  for  food 
and  coal  upon  none  too  friendly  neigh- 
boring countries,  and  drifted  helplessly 
toward  bankruptcy.  The  war  appeared 
to  have  shattered  Austria  beyond  repair. 

"  Vienna  is  a  changed  city,"  wrote  a 
correspondent  from  that  capital.     "  The 


outer  shell  remains  as  beautiful  as  ever, 
the  Stefansturm  still  raises  its  proud 
head  as  heretofore,  the  palaces  still 
gleam  in  the  sunshine,  the  Danube  is 
still  blue;  but  the  old  gayety  is  gone,  the 
Ringstrasse  lacks  its  old-time  animation, 
the  children  seem  to  have  forgotten  how 
to  laugh  and  play,  and  poverty  and  want 
haunt  the  streets.  Demobilized  soldiers 
in  .  rags  tramp  the  thoroughfares,  pic- 
tures of  misery,  begging  as  they  go." 
The  correspondent  added  that  there  re- 
mained practically  no  coal,  and  quoted 
food  prices  as  having  reached  staggering 
figures.  With  Bolshevism  fostered,  by 
the  distress  and  unrest  among  the 
masses,  those  still  hoping  for  a  rehabili- 
tation of  the  country  could  see  no  other 
means  but  a  union  with  Germany,  a 
step  banned  by  Versailles. 

Meantime,  the  Government  i  proceeded 
from  one  temporary  or  dubious  expedient 
to  another  in  attempts  to  pacify  the 
discontented.  On  Sept.  13  an  order  was 
issued  expelling  130,000  war  refugees, 
mostly  Galician  Jews.  These  unfortunate 
people  were  enable  to  return  to  their 
devastated  homes.  On  the  same  date  the 
Government  refused  to  accede  to  Hun- 
gary's demand  for  the  extradition  of 
Bela  Kun,  the  former  Communist  dic- 
tator of  Budapest.  A  message  of  the 
29th  stated  that  the  famous  Skoda  arms 
and  munition  works  had  been  national- 
ized, and  a  new  council  of  six  Czechs  and 
three  Frenchmen  had  been  named  to  con- 
duct the  factory. 

The  fiscal  year  which  ended  Oct.  1 
disclosed  that  the  Government  had  spent 
8,441,000,000  kronen,  while  its  total  in- 
come was  8,444,000,000.  The  deficit  was 
met  by  printing  paper  money,  so  that 
the  krone  sold  for  1  cent  American 
money,  though  normally  worth  20  cents. 
Driven  by  the  prospect  of  widespread 
starvation  in  the  capital  during  the 
coming  Winter,  the  City  Council  passed 


DESPERATE  CONDITIONS  IN  AUSTRIA 


i.*i 


u  resolution  on  Oct.  17  appealing-  to 
America  for  assistance.  Further  urgent 
appeal*  were  dispatched  by  Dr.  Adolph 
Lnvenz,  the  famous  surgeon,  and  Mrs. 
Albert  Halstead,  wife  of  the  American 
Commissioner,  Mrs.  Halstead  wrote  on 
Nov.  14  that  2,500,000  persons  were  in 
sore  straits,  and  that  death  from  cold 
faced  the  children  unless  warm  clothing 
was  provided.  On  Oct.  25  the  announce- 
ment was  made  that  Dr.  Giest,  organizer 
of  the  American  work  for  children's  relief 
in  Vienna,  had  been  appointed  food  dic- 
tator for  the  Winter  months.  Over  a 
million  inhabitants  of  Vienna  would  thus 
come  under  his  care.  By  Nov.  12  con- 
ditions had  become  so  much  worse  that 
deaths  of  new-born  infants  and  their 
mothers,  from  too  low  a  temperature 
even  in  the  hospitals,  had  become  dis- 
tressing. 

The  Government  was  rumored  to  be 
contemplating  the  desperate  experiment 
of  a  dissolution  of  the  Austrian  Republic, 
whereupon  each  constituent  province 
would  proclaim  its  union  with  Germany. 
It  was  said  the  People's  Guards,  as  the 
new  Austrian  Army  was  termed,  would 
support  the  upheaval,  since  the  various 


allied  commissions,  except  those  engaged 
in  purely  charitable  work,  had  done  noth- 
ing but  draft  reports  and  wa*te  public 
funds,  which  irritated  the  Viennese  in 
the  face  of  onsweeping  bankruptcy  and 
beggary.  At  celebrations  of  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  founding  of  the  Austrian 
Kepublic  at  Vienna  on  Oct.  14  gloomy 
speeches  predicting  a  collapse  were  de- 
livered. The  Burgomaster  of  Gratz  de- 
clainl  "German-Austrian  workmen  will 
never  abate  their  demand  for  union  with 
Germany."  Two  merchants  of  Vienna, 
J.  Henry  Kuhn  and  John  L.  Geggenhofer, 
who  had  arrived  in  New  York  with  pass- 
ports numbered  one  and  two,  confirmed, 
on  Nov.  16,  the  serious  conditions  in 
Austria  as  due  mainly  to  lack  of  coal, 
food,  and  raw  materials.  Mr.  Kuhn  said 
the  Hungarians  had  spent  millions  of 
crowns  in  vain  propaganda  to  "  bolshe- 
vise "  the  Austrian  farmers  and  work- 
men. He  added  that  since  the  regions 
ot  Austria's  former  food  supply  v  ,re 
now  cut  off,  and  her  farmers  could  pro- 
duce only  enough  for  three  months'  con- 
sumption, the  majority  of  his  country- 
men would  like  Austria  to  become  an 
American  province. 


Poland's  War  With  the  Bolsheviki 

Protests  Against  Treaty  Articles 

[Peru- «  Ended  Nov.  15,  1919] 


IN  a  long  statement  before  the  Polish 
Diet  on  Nov.  13  M.  Paderewski,  dis- 
cussing the  war  against  the  Bolshe- 
viki, said  that  Poland's  sacrifices  had 
been  heavy,  but  that  the  effort  was  in- 
dispensable for  the  security  of  the 
present  and  future  generations.  It  was 
impossible,  he  declared,  to  make  peace 
with  the  Bolsheviki.  He  was  loudly  ac- 
claimed when  he  thanked  the  countries 
which  had  assured  Poland's  independ- 
ence— France,  England,  Italy,  the  United 
States  and  Japan — and  paid  tribute  to 
the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  Poles  in  Amer- 
ica for  the  aid  which  they  had  sent  the 
new  republic. 

Important      manifestations      occurred 
shortly    before    Oct.    8    at    Lemberg    in 


favor  of  the  absolute  reunion  of  all  East- 
ern Galicia  to  Poland,  and  against  the 
establishment  of  any  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment of  any  kind.  The  division  of 
Galicia  into  east  and  west,  it  was  de- 
clared by  prominent  Poles  at  this  time, 
was  purely  artificial,  devjsed  by  the  Aus- 
trian Government  to  footer  antagonism 
between  the  Poles  and  the  Ruthenians. 
Ruined  financially  and  economically, 
Eastern  Galicia  could  not  exist  inde- 
pendently, and  must  be  annexed  to  a 
neighboring  State.  But  annexation  to 
any  other  State  but  Poland,  it  was 
alleged,  would  mean  the  strengthening 
of  German  influence  and  the  weaken- 
ing of  Poland,  which  was  Germany's 
main  aim. 


482 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


Municipal  elections  in  Upper  Silesia  on 
Nov.  12  were  watched  with  keen  interest 
because  of  their  bearing  on  the  coming 
plebiscite.  The  returns  indicated  that 
the  Poles  had  obtained  75  per  cent,  of 
the  votes  cast.  The  Pan-German  organ 
of  Upper  Silesia,  the  Kastowitzer 
Zeitung,  declared :  "  Upper  Silesia  is 
lost  to  us."  Polish  organs  held  that  a 
plebiscite  was  now  unnecessary.  On  Nov. 
13,  however,  the  Supreme  Council,  after 
discussing  these  elections,  drew  up  a 
note  advising  Germany  to  disregard  them 
and  to  carry  out  the  original  plan  of  a 
plebiscite. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  arrange- 
ment concluded  between  Germany  and 
Poland  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners 
taken  in  connection  with  the  insurrec- 
tion in  Galicia  were  as  follows: 

All  prisoners  taken  by  the  Germans  as 
a  result  of  the  revolt  in  Upper  Silesia  are 
to  be  released,  and  all  sentences  passed 
on  such  persons  to  be  annulled.  The  Poles 
are  to  set  free  all  German  prisoners  of 
war.  Further,  nobody  is  to  be  punished 
for  military,  political,  or  national  action 
within  the  territories  assigned  to  Poland 
or  in  those  districts  in  which  a  plebiscite 
is  to  be  held,  when  such  action  took  place 
before  the  present  agreement  became 
binding.  Persons  released  under  this 
agreement  are  to  be  at  liberty  to  return 
to  the  place  where  they  formerly  lived, 
and  will  not  there  be  subject  to  any  re- 
strictions. The  appointment  of  a  Joint 
commission  to  superintend  the  carrying 
into  effect  of  the  agreement  is  also  pro- 
vided for. 

In  an  open  letter  addressed  to  the 
allied  nations  by  leading  citizens  in 
Poland,  a  detailed  statement  of  wrongs 
done  Poland  under  the  peace  settlement 
and  by  hostile  foreign  opinion,  especially 
in  regard  to  the  charges  of  Jewish  mas- 
sacres, was  made  for  the  world's  judg- 
ment. This  letter,  which  reflects  Polish 
public  opinion  and  is  a  review  of  Poland's 
whole  case,  protests  against  the  loss  of 
Danzig,  the  taking  of  a  plebiscite  in 
purely  Polish  districts,  or  in  districts 
like  Upper  Silesia,  where  the  majority 
element  was  Polish ;  the  internationaliza- 
tion of  the  Vistula,  which  irrigates  al- 
most half  of  the  territory  of  the  Polish 
State;  the  atrocities  of  Galician  Ukrain- 
ians against  Polish  nationals,  and  the 
widely  advertised  charge  that  Poland  has 
tolerated  Jewish  massacres.   The  thirty- 


four  Jewish  people  killed  at  Lemberg,  the 
letter  states,  were,  according  to  verified 
reports,  caught  shooting  at  the  Polish 
troops.  Other  stories  of  Jewish  pogroms 
in  Poland  were  invented  by  the  Ger- 
mans and  other  enemies  of  Poland.  The 
statement  concludes  with  an  expression 
of  deep  gratitude  to  the  allied  nations 
for  all  that  they  have  done  for  Poland, 
and  an  appeal  to  their  good  faith  in  re- 
pudiating false  information  circulated  by 
Poland's  worst  enemies — Jews,  Ukrain- 
ians, Germans,  Bolsheviki,  and  others. 

Prince  Casimir  Lubomirski,  first  diplo- 
matic envoy  from  the  new  republic  to 
the  United  States,  arrived  in  New  York 
on  Oct.  10  with  his  family  and  legation 
staff.  Discussing  affairs  in  Poland,  he 
said : 

Food  conditions  are  better  in  Poland, 
but  we  need  wheat  and  raw  materials, 
especially  cotton  and  wool,  so  that  the 
idle  men  can  be  put  to  work.  It  is  also 
of  vital  importance  that  the  Entente  Allies 
send  a  strong  neutral  force  into  the  coun- 
tries where  the  people  are  to  vote  on 
which  nation  they  shail  be  joined  to,  so 
that  the  vote  shall  be  fairly  conducted 
without  pressure  from  the  German  ele- 
ment. 

In  Upper  Silesia  75  per  cent,  of  the 
people  are  unskilled  and  uneducated  Polish 
workmen  who  are  powerless  to  assert 
their  rights  because  the  land  owners,  mine 
owners,  Magistrates,  school  teachers,  and 
owners  of  all  factories  and  industries  are 
Germans.  If  a  man  were  known  to  vote 
against  them  he  and  his  family  would  be 
turned  out  of  their  home.  Each  day  of 
delay  in  the  ratification  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  by  America  is  a  day  lost  to  the 
interests  of  Poland  in  these  territories, 
an*1   a  day's   rata   bv  Germany. 

When  I  left  Poland  the  Constitution  was 
being  drawn  up.     When  It  is  completed  a 

1  l^.j.ai-111     vv.U     Oti    C'tCbbvU    ililu     a     u.Ae;Il- 

ment  formed  on  a  stable  basis.  I  do  not 
understand  why  any  one  should  believe 
that  the  Jewish  population,  which  forms 
about  11  per  cent,  of  the  total,  will  not 
have '  equal  rights  and  liberties  with  the 
Polish  people. 

The  Allies  should  establish  a  strong  line 
through  neutral  territory  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  Black  Sea  to  keep  out  the  Bolshe- 
viki. We  have  about  six  millions  of  Poles 
in  that  country  between  the  Rivers  Dnies- 
ter and  Dvina.  and  have  an  army  there 
to  fight  the  Bolsheviki  and  assist  the 
Allies.  My  sister  hid  in  swamps  and 
forests  fourteen  months  after  being  driven 
from  her  home  by  the  Bolsheviki,  and 
her  three  sons  were  captured  and  have 
not  been  heard  of  since. 


Germans  in  the  Baltic  States 


How  von  der  Goltz   and  Bermondt  Gained  a  Foothold  in 
Russia,  and  How  They  Were  Driven  Back 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  20,  1919] 


THE  attack  upon  Riga  by  the  pro- 
German  Russian  commander,  Col- 
onel Avalov-Bermondt,  on  Oct.  8, 
and  the  establishment  by  him  of 
a  dictatorship  at  Mitau  on  behalf  of  a 
"  General  Russian  Government,"  gave 
rise  to  a  mass  of  comment  in  the  foreign 
press  concerning  the  origins  of  the  move- 
ment initiated  by  him  in  Latvia  and  the 
manner  in  which  the  roots  of  the  German 
military  power,  of  which  Avalov-Ber- 
mondt's  force  is  said  to  be  but  a  ramifi- 
cation, were  implanted  in  the  Baltic 
territory. 

From  the  confused  mass  of  comment 
and  explanation  certain  things  are  clear. 
The  formation  of  General  von  der  Goltz's 
"  Iron  Division,"  which  participated  with 
Avalov-Bermondt  in  the  assault  on  Riga, 
was  practically  the  creation  of  a  German 
official  named  Winnig,  a  Social  Demo- 
cratic Army  Commissioner  representing 
the  Berlin  Revolutionary  Government, 
who  was  sent  to  the  Baltic  soon  after  the 
armistice  to  reorganize  the  German 
Eighth  Army,  which  was  already  break- 
ing up  in  confusion.  The  commander  of 
this  army,  von  Kalthen,  was  persuaded 
by  Winnig  to  form  a  complete  division  of 
6,000  men  to  fight  the  Bolsheviki.  For 
this  venture,  however,  only  600  volun- 
teered. Appeals  made  by  Winnig  to  the 
Prussian  War  Minister  for  reinforce- 
ments in  the  Baltic  proved  vain.  Winnig 
then  induced  the  Lettish  Government,  by 
working  on  its  fears  of  the  Bolshevist 
peril,  to  issue  a  charter  conferring  Let- 
tish citizenship  and  full  political  rights 
on  every  German  soldier  who  agreed  to 
fight  for  a  month  on  the  Letts'  behalf 
against  the  Bolsheviki.  This  charter 
occupies  a  very  important  position  in  the 
present  developments  in  the  Baltic.  [For 
the  text  of  thin  charter,  see  the  Novem- 
ber Current  History,  Page  804.] 

Five  days  after  this  document  was 
signed,  on  Feb.  8,  1919,  the  Bolsheviki 


occupied  Riga.  Armed  with  his  charter, 
Winnig  returned  to  Berlin  and  opened 
recruiting  offices  there  while  the  Ger- 
man revolution  was  in  full  blast.  His 
agents — though  Winnig  now  asserts  with- 
out his  authority — told  all  prospective 
recruits  that  not  only  would  they  receive 
from  the  Lettish  Government  full  rights 
of  citizenship,  as  provided  in  the  charter, 
but  also  inalienable  grants  of  land  for 
homestead  construction,  of  which  the 
charter  made  no  mention.  The  rebellious 
soldiers  in  the  army  under  von  der  Goltz 
subsequently  based  their  refusal  to  evac- 
uate Courlahd  on  these  promises,  which 
were  not  fulfilled. 

ARMY  UNDER  VON  DER  GOLTZ 

Winnig's  volunteers  soon  mounted  up 
into  the  hundreds,  and  were  sent  off  in 
large  batches  to  Courland,  where  they 
were  put  under  command  of  General  von 
der  Goltz,  who  had  just  come  from  Fin- 
land. At  the  end  of  January  he  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  small  but  ever- 
growing army,  which  was  receiving,  as 
it  has  received  ever  since,  all  the  sup- 
plies it  needed  direct  from  Germany. 
Winnig  was  promoted  to  the  post  of  "  Im- 
perial Army  Commissioner  for  the  East " 
and  left  the  further  development  of  the 
Baltic  Province  forces  to  others.  He 
subsequently  became  Governor  of  East 
Prussia,  in  succession  to  the  former  Food 
Dictator,  von  Botocki. 

After  Winnig's  departure,  this  Baltic 
army  grew  rapidly  in  size,  and  was 
splendidly  armed  and  equipped.  It  was 
openly  stated  in  Vorwarts,  one  of  the 
pro-Government  organs  of  Berlin,  that 
the  maintenance  of  von  der  Goltz's  army 
was  costing  the  Government  800,000 
marks  a  day.  After  the  armistice  the 
allied  Governments  themselves  asked  von 
der  Goltz  to  remain  with  his  troops  in 
the  occupied  territory  for  the  sake  of 
stabilizing  the  conditions  there.     Subse- 


484 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT?   HISTORY 


quently,  after  reports  of  their  high- 
handed and  arbitrary  actions  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Letts,  whom  they  attacked, 
reached  the  Entente's  ears,  Germany  was 
summoned  to  withdraw  these  troops. 
Ostensibly  Germany  endeavored  to  do 
this,  but  von  der  Goltz  professed  power- 
lessness  to  enforce  evacuation,  on  the 
score  of  the  promises  of  land  grants  pre- 
viously made,  and  remained  for  many 
weeks  with  his  forces  in  the  occupied  ter- 
ritory, despite  the  demands  of  the  En- 
tente and  of  his  own  Government.  Many 
of  the  German  soldiers,  especially  Bava- 
rians, joined  the  pro-German  Russian 
formations  of  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt, 
thus  escaping  from  German  jurisdiction. 
Meanwhile  both  the  pay  of  von  der 
Goltz's  soldiers  and  full  food  supplies  for 
his  combined  forces  continued  to  arrive 
from  Germany  until  the  Entente  menace 
of  a  renewal  of  the  blockade  brought 
Berlin  to  a  realization  of  the  seriousness 
of  the  situation  created  by  the  rebellious 
German  Baltic  troops. 

GERMANY'S   APPEAL 

Following  the  receipt  of  the  first  ulti- 
matum, sent  by  the  Paris  Supreme  Coun- 
cil on  Sept.  28   (the  text  of  which  was 
printed  on  Page  304  of  Current  History 
for  November),  the  Geiman  Government 
made  public  on  Oct.  3,  through  the  Wolff 
Telegraph  Bureau,  the  following  appeal 
to  the  troops  of  General  von  der  Goltz: 
Soldiers !      You  have  rend   the   last  note 
"f  the  Entente  in  respect   to  the  evacua- 
f.en    of   the    Baltic    States.      The    Entente 
Uii  i  aten    us    with    the   resumption    of   the 
blockade,    with    the    stoppage    of   credits, 
and  with  the  refusal  of  the  supply  of  raw 
materials.     The  Entente  military  authori- 
ties Jnsist  on  a  further  advance  into  Ger- 
man territory,  including  the  occupation  of 
Frankfort. 

Tho  Government  appeals  for  the  last 
time  to  the  conscience  and  patriotism  of 
the  German  soldiers  in  the  Baltic  States. 
The  Government  has  never  denied  that  the 
German  soldiers  have  been  recruited 
under  conditions  which  were  not  kept. 
We  have  not  failed  to,  explain  to  the 
Entente  that  for  this  reason  unrest  and 
indignation  prevail  among  tne  German 
soldiers  in  the  Baltic  Provinces.  But  now 
a  great  deal  Is  at  stake.  The  nation  will 
starve  and  national  property  will  be  lost 
if  the  German  troops  do  not  evacuate  the 
Baltic  States  during  th|s  month.  Those 
who  do  not  want  to  pe  guilty  of  con- 
tributing to  the  ruin  of  their  own  nation 


must    bow    before    the    stern    necessity    of 
the  situation,    and  obey  the  order  of  the 
Government  to  evacuate  the  Baltic  States. 
The  Government,  in  the  interests  of  Ger- 
many,  must  not  leave  any   doubt  that  it 
has    used    all    the    means    at    its    disposal 
to  enforce  the  evacuation.     But   it  hopes 
that   this  appeal   will  suffice   to  convince 
the   German   soldiers   that   this   is   a   case 
in  which  the  interest  of  the  whole  nation 
is    involved.      Our    opponents   have   raised 
the  blockade,  and  it  is  for  you  to  secure 
that     tnis     weapon     of     warfare     which 
wrought    more    deadly    havoc    among    our 
ranks    than   any   other   shall   not   be   used 
again.     Obey  the  order  for  evacuation. 
The  National  Chancellor:  BAUER. 
The    National    Government:    BELL..     Dr. 
DAVID,    ERZBERGER,    GIESBERTS, 
Dr.      MAYER,      MUELLER,      NOfeKE, 
SCHLIKE,    SCHMIDT. 
Berlin,  Oct.  3.  &J9. 

REPLY  TO  ENTENTE  NOTE 

The  next  day  the  following  note  was 
handed  to  General  Nudant,  the  head  of 
the    Interallied    Mission    in    Berlin,    for 
transmission  to  the  Supreme  Council: 
In  answer  to  the   note  of  Sept.   28,   the 
German    Government   attaches   the   great- 
est importance  to  demonstrating  the  fact 
that  it   has  been   continually   making  the 
mos,t    energetic    efforts    to    withdraw    the 
troops     from     the     Baltic     district     and 
Lithuania. 

For  that  purpose  it  ordered,  among  other 
things,  on  Sept.  25,  that  such  detachments 
of  troops  as  might  not  obey  the  order  to 
withdraw  would  be  deprived  of  their  pay, 
as  well  as  of  any  claim  to  supplies  in  the 
future.  And  in  order  to  prevent  any 
possible  sending  of  reinforcements  the 
German  frontier  bordering  on  Courland 
was  closed,  and  an  order  was  given  to 
fire  upon  the  troops  who  might  try  to 
cross  that  line.  Any  dispatch  of  muni- 
tions was  also  strictly  forbidden.  General 
Count  von  der  Goltz  has  been  recalled 
from  the  east.  Tn  his  place,  until  the 
complete  execution  of  the  return  of  the 
troops  General  von  Eberhardt  has  taken 
over  the  command  of  all  the  troops  east 
of  the  German  border.  Finally,  the  Ger- 
man Government  issued  an  appeal  to  the 
troops  reminding  them  of  their  duty  and 
impressively  pointing  out  to  ti.em  what 
.incalculable  dangers  and  sufferings  they 
are  bringing  upon  the  heads  of  their 
fellow-nationals  if  they  continue  their 
disobedience.  , 

All  these  measures  should  have  pro- 
tected the  German  Government,  even  in 
the  judgment  of  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments,  from  the  unjustified  re- 
proach of  employing  the  insubordination 
of  the  Gorman  troops  as  a  pretext  for 
letting  its  obligations  as  to  the  evacua- 
tion   of   the    former    Russian    territory    go 


GERMANS  IN  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


485 


unfulfilled.  The  allied  and  associated 
Governments  are  sufficiently  Informed  re- 
garding the  condition  created  In  Germany 
by  the  Peace  Treaty  to  be  bound  to  admit 
that  the  German  Government  has  no 
further  military  means  of  compulsion  at 
its  command. 

So  far  as  the  entry  of  German  troops 
into  Russian  formations  Is  concerned,  the 
German  Government  Is  decidedly  opposed 


lUCiaON      BETWKKX     M1TAIJ      AMi     UIGA. 

WHERE    GERMANS    AKE    ATTEMPTING 

TO  RETAIN  HOLD  ON  BALTIC  STATES 

to  such  action.  And  It  has  repeatedly 
made  Its  opinion  known  to  those  concerned 
in  no  uncertain  terms.  It  has  never 
granted  permission  for  such  entries.  The 
German  Government  has  the  firm  desire 
to  do  all  in  its  power  to  fulfill  the  obliga- 
tion of  evacuation.  On  the  other  hand,  It 
is  obliged  to  make  a  very  sharp  protest 
against  the  fact  that  the  note  of  Marshal 
Foch  contains  threats  regarding  measures 
of  compulsion  calculated  to  cut  off  Ger- 
many's imports  of  foodstuffs  through  a 
renewal  of  the  blockade.  The  allied  and 
associated  Governments  can  hardly  have 
forgotten  that  it  was  the  hunger  block- 
ade that  wan  responsible,  not  only  for  the 
death  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women, 
children,  and  ill  persons,  but  also,  through 
the  weakening  of  the  ability  to  work  be- 
cause of  chronic  undernourishment,  for 
no  small  part  of  the  manifestations  of 
disintegration  under  which  Germany 
suffers  so  greatly  at  present.  The  Ger- 
man Government  voices,  rather,  the  con- 
fident expectation  that  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated Governments  will  recognize  Its 
good-will  and  therefore  will  refrain  from 
using  Inhuman  war  measures  against  the 
German  civilian  population,  which  surely 
is  not  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the 
troops  in  the  east. 

But  in  order  to  give  an  opportunity  to 
the  allied  and  associated  Governments  to 
convince  themselves  of  the  extreme  ear- 
nestness of  its  conduct  the  German  Gov- 


ernment asks  them  to  enter  Into  a  con- 
sultation with  it 'on  the  necessary  meas- 
ures. For  this  purpose  it  proposes  the 
Immediate  formation  of  a  commission 
made  up  of  German  representatives  on 
the  one  side  and  representatives  of  the 
allied  and  associated  Governments  on  the 
other.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  German 
Government  that  this  commission,  after 
an  examination  of  the  situation,  should 
have  tho  task  of  working  out  measures 
and  seeing  to  It  that  they  are  put  into  ef- 
fect. The  German  Government  begs  that 
a  commission  about  this  matter  be  sent 
to  It  at  once. 

BISCHOFF'S   PROCLAMATION 

How  little  effect  the  German  Govern- 
ment's appeal  to  its  soldiers  in  the  Bal- 
tic region  had  upon  General  von  der 
Goltz's  subordinates  was  indicated  in  the 
following  proclamation  by  Major  Bisch- 
off,  commander  of  the  "  Iron  Division," 
made  public  in  Mitau  on  Oct.  5: 
S  .Idlers  of  the  Iron  Division! 

The  Entente  has  threatened  the  German 
Government  with  a  renewal  of  the  block- 
ade of  Germany  if  you  do  not  evacuate 
Latvia.  The  Government  calls  to  you, 
"  Lay  down  your  arms,"  as  In  Novem- 
ber, 1018.  Just  as  you  were  then  de- 
ceived, so  you  are  again  being  deceived. 

In  April  you  raised  your  voices  before 
me  against  the  shameful  and  annihilating 
peace.  But  it  is  only  now  that  you  see 
for  the  first  time  that  the  peace  Is  in- 
tended to  destroy  the  German  people,  not 
only  economically  and  politically,  but  also 
physically.  This  peace  treaty  has  a  thou- 
sand paragraphs,  and  not  one  of  them  is 
capable  of  being  carried  out !  Not  a  sin- 
gle one !  Just  as  it  today  seizes  upon  Par- 
agraph 202,  tomorrow  the  Entente  will 
selie  upon  another  as  a  pretext  to  throt- 
tle the  German  people.  Therefore,  this 
threat  of  the  Entente  must  not  be  allowed 
to  frighten  us,  either.  Compliance  by  us 
would  not  help  our  homeland,  anyway. 
In  a  few  days  the  same  game  would  be 
begun  again.  Everything  said  by  the 
Entente  is  a  He.  The  only  time  It  does 
not  He  Is  when  It  openly  declares  that  It  is 
striving  to  extirpate  the  German  people 
with  every  means,  even  the  most  immoral. 
In  April  the  American  Military  Mission 
here  In  Mitau  made  it  clear  to  me  that 
the  Iron  Division  ought  to  take  Riga.  At 
that  time  peace  was  established,  even 
though  not  yet  ratified.  1  ask  the  whole 
world,  no  far  as  It  in  general  still  pos- 
sesses a  spark  of  morality  not  suffocated 
by  lies,  whether,  then,,  the  Entente  still 
has  a  right  to  use  Paragraph  202  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  against  us.  Nevertheless,  it 
does  so.  So  we  wish  to  deprive  It  of  tho 
formal  right  to  apply  force  to  our  Gov- 
ernment  and    our   home    on   our   account. 


480 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY 


We  want  to  put  the  land  that  we,  and  we 
alone,  conquered,  under  the  Russian  flag, 
We  want  to  help  the  Russians  liberate 
their  home  from  the  scourge  of  human- 
ity. You  know  that  I  am  German  and 
that  I  shall  remain  Gorman  to  the  last 
drop  of  my  blood,  so  you  will  believe  me 
when  1  swy  that  you  Wn  follow  me  in 
this  course  without  hesitation,  and  that 
1  wish  to  work  for  Germany  here,  too, 
while  helping  our  friends. 

Side  by  side  with  the  corps  of  Count 
Keller  we  wish  to  defend  our  rights,  and, 
if  it  must  be  so,  to  win  them  again  by 
fighting.  If  the  Entente  hinders  us  in 
doing  this,  too,  it  is  merely  looking  for  an 
excuse  to  strike  the  German  people.  So 
stand  fast,  soldiers  of  the  Iron  Division! 
And  if  tin:  Englishman  incites  Letts  and 
Esthonlnns  against  us,  then  we  will  show 
that  we  tire  worthy  of  our  name. 

BISCHOFF, 
Commander  of  the  Iron  Division. 

On  learning  of  this  proclamation,  Gus- 
tav  Noske,  German  Minister  of  Defense, 
told  the  National  Assembly  on  Oct.  7 
that  Major  Bischoff  would  be  court- 
martialed  for  having  defied  the  Govern- 
ment. 

ALLIED  ULTIMATUM 

As  there  was  no  indication  that  the 
German  forces  in  the  Baltic  region  had 
taken  the  Government's  appeal  seriously, 
and  as,  in  the  meantime,  the  German- 
Russian  troops  of  Colonel  Avalov-Ber- 
mondt,  including  the  Iron  Division,  be- 
gan an  assault  upon  Riga,  the  Supreme 
Council,  after  a  week's  deliberation,  dis- 
patched the  following  note  to  Berlin: 

The  allied  and  associated  Governments 
have  noted  the  intension  formally  ex- 
pressed by  tli<  Gorman  Government  in  its 
note  of  Oct.  :\  to  undertake  and  to  con- 
tinue in  the  most  energetic  manner  the 
withdrawal  of  its  troops  from  the  Baltic 
and  Lithuanian  regions.  They  also  ap- 
preciate the  nature  of  the  measures  taken 
to  this  effect  by  the  German  Government. 
•  When,  however,  the  German  Government 
affirms  that  the  measures  taken  by  it 
must  absolve  it  from  the  accusation  of 
having  neglected  to  fulfill  Its  obligations 
in  honor  bound,  as  fixed  by  the  armi- 
stice clauses,  it  must  be  pointed  out  that, 
notwithstanding  the  repeated  requests 
and  remonstrances  of  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated Governments,  the  orders  of  the 
German  Government  were  so  long  de- 
ferred that  the  said  Government  now  de- 
clares that  it  is  practically  impossible  for 
it  to  cause  them  to  be  carried  out. 

It  is  difficult  not  to  believe  that  this  de- 
lay was  deliberately  arranged  to  give  the 


results  which  tlio  German  Government 
now  affects  to  deplore.  It  would  appear 
to  be  really  impossible  to  explain  In  ;my 
other  manner  it.-  refusal  to  recall  Gen- 
eral von  der  GolU.  who  was  Its  official 
agent  In  the  mat  tor  of  creating  the  pres- 
ent situation— a  situation  characterized  by- 
overt  resistance  to  the  legitimate  behests 
of  the  allied  and  associated  Governments. 
Why  was  the  mull  of  the  General  re- 
fused, although  asked  for  three  times? 
Having  been  rilled  to  Berlin  not  more 
than  a  day  or  two  ago,  why  was  he  pur- 
posely sent  back  to  his  theatre  of  opera- 
tions if  not  to  complete  (thanks  to  the 
authority  of  his  official  command)  that 
organization  which  now  tdlows  the  Ger- 
man Government  to  plead  that  the  troops 
which  have  hitherto  been  paid,  clothed, 
and  transported  by  that  'Government, 
have  now  freed  themseho*  from  its  au- 
thority? 

Has  General  von  der  Goh/.  acted  con- 
trary to  his  instructions?  ii  .-<•,  why  was 
not  his  insubordination  puridted  either 
by  formal  dismissal  or  by  some  other 
means?  Unless  the  German  'Government 
furnishes  more  satisfactory  explanations 
regarding  th'.s  question  th  in  It  has 
hitherto  done,  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments  will  be  unable  to  admit  that 
the  German  Government  Ka*.  In  accord- 
ance with  Its  affirmation,  dorr  nil  in  its 
power  to  withdraw  the  Urirumn  troops 
from  the  Baltic  States.  it  has,  more- 
over, transpired,  from  the  Litest  news  re- 
ceived from  Latvia,  that  the  situation 
has  suddenly  changed  for  the  worse  ow- 
ing to  the  offensive  undertaken  by  the 
Germans  on  Oct.  S,  when  they  violated 
the  German-Lettish  Zone,  bombarded  the 
Lettish  positions  with  armored  trains, 
airplanes,  and  asphyxiating  (.gas)  shells, 
threatened  the  town  of  Riga,  and  brought 
about  the  formation  in  Oourlnnd  of  a 
German-Russian  Government  opposed  to 
the  established  local  Government. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  affairs,  the  al- 
lied and  associated  Governments  uphold 
the  principle  of  the  Gernian  Government's 
entire  responsibility  regarding  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  evacuation  and  intend  to 
maintain,  in  their  entirety,  all  the  coer- 
cive measures  announced  by  their  tele- 
gram of  Sept.  27,  so  long  us  the  evacua- 
tion shall  not  have  been  finally  under- 
taken and  carried  through  with  all  de- 
sirable  speed. 

With  the  object,  however,  of  assisting 
the  execution  of  this  operation  and  of  as- 
sisting the  German  Government'  the  al- 
lied and  associated  Governments  agree  to 
send  out  allied  representatives  whose 
mission  shall  be;  (a)  To  take  cognizance 
of  the  measures  decided  on  by  the  Ger- 
man Government  for  th*  purpose  of  reg- 
ulating the  conditions  of  evacuation,  as 
also  to  suggest  to  It  such  measures  as 
they  may  consider  to   be  necessary,      (b) 


GERMANS  IN  THE  BALTIC  STATES 


487 


To  exercise  on  the  spot  and  with  entire 
liberty  of  action  an  effective  control  over 
tin-  execution  of  such  measures.  A  gen- 
eral officer  appointed  by  the  allied  and 
>>ciated  Governments  will  preside  over 
the  allied  commission. 

The  suspension  of  the  measur-is  referred 
to  in  the  telegram  of  Sept.  11  c  mnot  be 
considered  before  such  a  general  officer 
shall  have  informed  the  Suprem<-  Council 
of  the  allied  and  associated  Governments 
that  the  evacuation  operations  itrf  pro- 
ceeding normally.  The  German  Govern- 
ment is  requested  to  make  Its  reply 
known  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  Informed 
that  the  allied  and  associated  Govern- 
ments hold  it  responsible  for  an\  tv  t  of 
hostility  against  their  representatives  in 
the  Baltic  Provinces  on  the  purt  of  Ger- 
man troops. 

GERMANY'S   REPLY 

Thfi  German  Government's*  ivply  to 
this  uncompromising  communication  was 
received  by  the  representative  of  Mar- 
shal Foch  on  Oct.  16.  It  read  as 
follows: 

The"  allied  and  associated  Governments 
for  tile  first  time  on  June  IS  requested  the 
Gerrrtan  Government  to  evacuate  the  Bal- 
tic Provinces  and  Lithuania,  while  in  May 
they  had  demanded,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
Gerrtlan  protest,  insisted  that  the  Ger- 
man troops  should  not  be  withdrawn  from 
these  regions. 

The  German  Government  has  since  done 
all  in  its  power  to  carry  out  the  with- 
drawal of  the  troops  and  to  overcome  the 
opposition  of  the  troops  who  have  been 
promised  Lettish  citizenship  by  the  Let- 
tish Government. 

The  German  Government  has  withheld 
pay,  food,  and  other  supplies  from  the  in- 
subordinate troops,  and,  further,  has 
taken  all  necessary  measures  to  prevent 
any  munitions  or  reinforcements  crossing 
the  German  frontier  to  the  troops. 

The  German  Govermnent  has  not  de- 
clined to  recall  Count  von  der  Goltz.  hut 
only  pointed  out  that  this  was  a  matter 
which  concerned  German  internal  affair*. 
As  a  matter  of  fact.  Count  von  ri<  r  Goltz 
was  recalled,  and  it  was  only  after  a  mu- 
tiny had  broken  out  In  the  Iron  Llvlslon 
soon  after  his  departure  that  In;  decided 
to  return  to  Mitau  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility. His  return  temporarily  was  tol- 
erated by  the  German  Government  only 
because  von  der  Golti  appeared  to  have 
sufficient  authority  with  the  mutinous 
troops  to  make  them  obey  the  Govern- 
ment's withdrawal  order.  He  actually 
succeeded  In  Inducing  some  of  the  troops 
,to  obey  the  order.  But  as  his  further  en- 
deavors were  a  failure,  he  was  definitely 
recalled    and   ordered    to   come   to    Berlin. 


Meanwhile  General  von  Kberhardt  took 
over  the  command  us  his  successor. 

The  German  Government  has  not  recog- 
nized any  new  Government  in  the  Baltic 
regions  nor  hus  It  had  any  relations  with 
such.  It  has  strictly  forbidden  German 
soldiers  to  enlist  in  Russian  formations, 
and  broke  up  all  connection  with  those 
who  did  so.  There  Is  not  a  single  soldier 
among  the  Russian  troops  In  the  Baltic 
Provinces  over  whom  the  German  Gov- 
ernment has  any  power  of  command.  In 
General  Avalov-Bcrmondt's  recent  offen- 
sive no  troops  under  German  command 
participated. 

General  Avalov-Bermondt's  political  and 
military  designs  are  not  in  any  way  ap- 
proved by  the  German  Government. 

Germany  has  no  warlike  designs  what- 
ever either  against  the  Lettish  or  Russian 
peoples. 

The  German  Government  takes  note  that 
the  allied  and  associated  Governments 
intend  to  send  an  interallied  mission  to 
the  Baltic  States,  and  requests  that  this 
mission  may  be  dispatched  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  that  it  may  make  u  brief  stay 
at  Berlin  for  an  interview  with  the  Ger- 
man authorities  there. 

The  mission  will,  on  its  ow.n  Judgment 
surely  come  to  the  conviction  lh«t  the  re- 
proaches made  against  the  German  Gov- 
ernment are  not  justified 

BERMONDT  THANKS  GERMANS 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt, 
after  establishing  himself  firmly  in  Mi- 
tau, announced  his  intention  of  restoring 
order  in  the  parts  of  Western  Russia 
freed  of  Bolshevism  in  the  name  of  Great 
Russia.  On  Oct.  7  he  transmitted  to  the 
German  representative  at  Mitau  the  fol- 
lowing note,  embodying  high  tribute  to 
the  services  of  the  German  troops  against 
the  Bolsheviki: 
To  the  National  German  Government  : 

Supported  by  the  Central  Council  for 
West  Russia,  organised  Oct.  7.  I  have. 
In  the  name  of  Great  Russia,  taken  over 
the  task  of  restoring  legal  authority  and 
discipline  in  the  parts  of  West  Russia 
freed    of    Holshevism. 

As  the  representative  of  the  executive 
power  of  the  Russian  State.  I  do  not 
wish  to  overlook  this  opportunity  to  ex- 
press Russia's  thanks  to  the  National 
German  Government  for  the  memorable 
services  performed  by  the  German  troops 
In  saving  the  Russian  border  provinces 
from  Bolshevism.  Following  the  with- 
drawal of  the  German  troops  I  shall  take 
over  the  protection  of  the  territory  oc- 
cupied by  my  troops.  I  shall  give  special 
attention  to  insuring  the  transportation 
from  here  of  the  German  troops. 
I    have    every    confidence    that,    in    the 


488 


THE  NEW  YORK  TIMES  CURRENT  HISTORY  - 


work  of  crushing  Bolshevism  and  Its 
widespread  disintegrating:  Influence  in 
the  Russian  State,  I  shall  find  in  all 
nations  the  comprehension  necessary  to 
wipe  out  this  menace  to  the  world  and 
to  insure  peace  and  development  in  free- 
dom to  all  states. 
AVALOV-BERMONDT.  Colonel. 
Senator  PAHL.EN,  President  of  the  Cen- 
tral Council  for  West  Russia. 

LETTS  DRIVE  BACK  INVADERS 

Bermondt's  projects,  however,  built  on 
the  possession  of  a  military  base,  were 
embarrassed  by  the  Letts'  obstinate  re- 
sistance at  Riga,  their  refusal  to  accept 
an  armistice,  and  the  receipt  of  a  wire- 
less ultimatum  from  the  British  naval 
commander  at  Libau  to  evacuate  Thoren- 
berg,  the  village  west  of  Riga  where  he 
had  established  himself.  In  reply  he  said 
that,  after  successfully  safeguarding  a 
strategic  base  for  an  offensive  against 
the  Bolsheviki,  he  had  offered  the  Letts 
an  armistice  on  Oct.  10,  and  requested 
support  for  its  acceptance  to  avoid  fur- 
ther bloodshed.  Premier  Ullman,  how- 
ever, head  of  the  Lettish  Government, 
complained  on  Oct.  22  that  German- 
troops  in  regular  regimental  formation 
were  being  allowed  to  cross  the  frontier 
and  participate  in  hostilities  against  the 
Lettish  Army.  Major  Bischoff,  he  assert- 


ed categorically,  was  in  charge  of  the  of- 
fensive against  Riga. 

At  this  time  the  Letts  were  resisting 
the  German  attacks  successfully.  Up  to 
Oct.  27  the  Germans  had  not  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  Dvina,  and  held  only  two 
out  of  the  ten  districts  of  Courland.  An 
attack  on  the  northern  defenses  of  Riga 
was  repulsed  on  Nov.  8,  and  the  Letts, 
advancing  under  cover  of  a  bombard- 
ment, drove  the  troops  of  Bermondt  from 
the  immediate  suburbs  of  Riga.  In  an 
offensive  which  continued  four  days  the 
Lettish  troops  pushed  back  these  forces 
several  miles  along  the  entire  line,  free- 
ing Riga  completely  from  the  menace 
of  the  invading  forces. 

Shortly  afterward  (Nov.  15)  it  was 
reported  by  the  Lokal-Anzeiger's  K6- 
nigsberg  (East  Prussia)  correspondent 
that  Avalov-Bermondt's  troops  were  re- 
tiring on  Mitau,  and  that  his  so-called 
Western  Central  Council  and  headquar- 
ters staff  were  preparing  to  evacuate 
Mitau  and  retire  to  Shavle.  The  Lettish 
troops  were  encircling  Mitau.  On  Nov. 
19  it  was  announced  semi-officially  at 
Berlin  that  General  von  Eberhardt,  in 
Mitau,  was  arranging  for  the  immediate 
return  of  the  troops  from  the  Baltic 
States  to  Germany  by  rail. 


The  Red  Terror  in  Kiev 


One  of  the  Blackest  Chapters  in  Bolshevist  History- 
Months  of  Rule  by  Murder  and  Torture 


-Seven 


WHEN  one  of  General  Denikin's 
armies  drove  the  Bolshevist 
forces  from  Kiev,  the  capital 
of  Ukraine,  in  the  first  days 
of  September,  1919,  the  world  learned 
for  the  first  time  of  the  horrors  which 
the  inhabitants  had  suffered  under  a 
small  group  of  murderous  Red  leaders. 
The  Bolsheviki  had  regained  control  of 
Kiev  in  January,  and  had  terrorized  the 
whole  population  for  about  200  days. 
On  every  one  of  those  200  days  of  Bol- 
shevist occupation  there  were  executions 
under  the  orders  of  the  Chresvechayna 


(commissions  for  combating  the  counter- 
revolution). When  a  London  Times  cor- 
respondent reached  the  city  by  airplane 
from  Warsaw  on  Sept.  17  he  found  it  a 
place  of  horrors. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  wrote,  "  of  any 
other  town  in  which  the  Bolsheviki  have 
left  such  ghastly  traces  of  their  fiendish 
work  as  they  have  here.  No  one  knows 
how  many  persons  perished,  but  reckon- 
ing by  the  number  of  bodies  which  have 
been  found  (buried  or  unburied),  there 
must  have  been  at  least  2,000  victims. 
The  anatomical  theatre  of  the  university 


THE  RED  TERROR  l.\  KIEV 


m 


was  used  as  a  mortuary  for  the  executed 
dead,  and  the  volunteer  army  when  they 
entered  the  city  found  about  200  corpses 
lying  there  in  a  state  of  horrible  putre- 
faction. In  a  room  in  a  private  house 
140  more  were  found,  locked  up  and  left 
to  rot. 

"  Even  today,  a  fortnight  after  the  de- 
livery, a  terrible  odor,  which  chloride 
only  partially  stifles,  invades  one's  nos- 
trils continually  in  certain  parts  of  the 
town.  Among  the  '  sights  '  of  Kiev  are 
the  houses  where  the  two  Chresvechay- 
nas,  the  one  for  Kiev,  the  other  for  the 
Ukiaine,  held  their  sittings  and  tortured 
their  victims,  either  to  wring  informa- 
tion from  them  or,  as  it  appears  in  many 
cases,  simply  from  a  fiendish  pleasure  in 
human  suffering. 

"  The  Kiev  Chresvechayna,  which  was 
accounted  the  most  cruel,  sat  in  a  house 
in  the  street  of  Sadovaia,  a  gloomy  by- 
road, darkened  by  the  thick  foliage  of 
horse  chestnut  trees.  Behind  it  is  a  small 
garden,  in  which  is  a  shallow  pit  not  five 
feet  deep.  From  this  were  taken  the 
bodies  of  124  persons,  who  were  mur- 
dered a  few  days  before  Kiev  was  cap- 
tured— one  night's  work.  Many  of  the 
bodies  were  mutilated  by  having  pieces 
of  skin,  in  the  shape  of  epaulets  cut 
from  trreir  shoulders  and  strips  from  the 
thighs  in  imitation  of  the  stripes  on  an 
officer's  trousers. 

"  At  one  side  of  the  garden  is  a  ga- 
rage or  coachhouse.  This  was  used  as 
the  place  of  execution.  The  walls  are 
pitted  with  revolver  bullets  and  splashed 
with  red  stains;  the  floor  is  still  gluti- 
nous; the  smell  makes  one  turn  away 
sickened  after  a  very  short  inspection. 
An  English  governess,  Miss  Billingsley, 
who  lives  in  this  street,  has  told  me  of 
the  awful  shrieks  which  could  be  heard 
coming  from  this  house  night  after  night. 
The  house  itself  is  littered  with  an  al- 
most comic  collection  of  objects,  appar- 
ently looted  by  members  of  the  commit- 
tee from  private  houses.  There  are  furni- 
ture of  all  kinds,  clocks,  toys,  a  bird 
cage,  photographs,  gramophones,  books, 
heaped  together  anyhow.  The  first  vol- 
ume picked  at  hazard  from  a  big  pile 
proved  to  be  a  Tauchnitz  copy  of  Mark 
Twain's  '  The  Innocents  Abroad.' 


*  The  house  of  the  Ukraine  Committee 
has  a  similar  slaughterhouse,  also  a  ga- 
rage. This  is,  if  anything,  worse  than 
the  other.  There  is  an  inspection  pit, 
which  was  used  as  a  drain;  from  it  there 
comes  up  the  horrible  reek  of  blood.  A 
common  chopping  block  beside  it  is 
soaked  in  it.  An  old  bayonet  lies  on  the 
floor  near  by.  Tw  olve  bodies  were  found 
in  the  garden  hero,  stuffed  anyhow  into 
a  pit  and  barely  covered  with  earth." 

The  strange-t  part  of  the  Kiev  episode 
is  the  fact  that  a  handful  of  soldiers — 
perhaps  6,000  in  all — and  about  200  men, 
none  of  tlirm  educated,  and  almost  all 
newcomers  to  the  city,  the  majority  of 
them  dissipated  and  diseased,  weie  able 
to  hold  for  s<n  on  months  a  population  of 
200,000  in  slavish  subjection.  One  rea- 
son was  that  on  entering  the  city  the 
Bolshcviki  searched  every  drawer,  cup- 
board, and  cranny  for  firearms;  another 
was  that  tho  people  were  constantly  in 
a  state  of  scnd-staivation.  A  Kiev  jour- 
nalist, Joan  Ka'innikov,  who  has  long 
studied  l'olsliovist  methods,  adds  the 
further  exp'anation  that  the  Moscow 
Government  has  worked  out  a  deliberate 
system  of  rendering  a  population  supine 
by  terror. 

A  special  correspondent  of  The  Lon- 
don Morning  Post,  who  visited  Kiev, 
wrote  on  Sept.  19: 

L  ATS  IS  AT  WORK 

"  In  Kiev  the  man  who  performed  this 
all-vital  work  for  Lenin  and  Trotzky  was 
a  brother-in-law  of  the  notorious  Peters 
of  Petrograd.  His  name  was  Latsis,  and 
ho  is  a  Lett  by  birth.  Soon  after  the 
Bolshevist  occupation  in  January  he  was 
sent  on  from  Moscow  to  become  chief  of 
the  Commission  for  the  Suppression  of 
Counter-revolution  in  Kiev — the  Kiev 
Chiesvechayna.  Concerning  the  man's 
oarUor  antecedents  I  was  not  able  to  get 
any  exact  information,  except  that  he 
was  a  Jew  and  had  been  identified  with 
the  Bolshevist  movement  from  the  be- 
ginning. However,  I  have  a  photograph 
of  Latsis,  seated  in  the  middle  of  a  group 
of  all  the  members  of  the  Kiev  Counter- 
revolution Commission.  Short,  dark,  un- 
tidily dressed,  his  countenance  seems  to 
express  a  kind  of  cheery  confidence,  the 


490 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


expression  of  a  man  on  the  crest  of  the 
wave  and  sure  of  himself.  His  eyes  have 
in  them  a  quality  of  rat-like  intelligence, 
and  Latsis  was  intelligent;  at  least,  he 
was  intelligent  enough  to  have  contrib- 
uted an  analytical  article  to  the  Bolshev- 
ist publication,  the  Red  Knife,  on  the 
subject  of  tortures.  At  any  rate,  it  was 
Latsis  who  was  the  real  power  in  the 
Bolshevist  control  of  Kiev,  and  it  was  he 
who  manufactured  the  Red  Terror  for 
the  city's  200,000  people. 

"  Latsis's  system  forbade  a  beginning 
of  his  operations  until  about  nightfall. 
At  the  end  of  the  day  he  would  gather 
around  him,  generally  at  No.  5  Sadovaia 
-—a  great,  gloomy  house  that  had  once 
been  a  private  residence,  and  is  set  dark- 
ly within  the  shade  of  a  dense  bank  of 
horse  chestnut  trees — the  other  members 
of  the  Kiev  Commission,  and  there  plan 
out  the  evening's  work,  I  was  told  that 
there  was  always  much  immoderate 
drinking  at  these  sessions,  and  in  poking 
about  the  premises  I  came  upon  several 
barrels  filled  with  empty  wine  and  vodka 
bottles.  Latsis  himself,  however,  had  the 
reputation  of  being  temperate.  It  would 
be  about  10  o'clock,  or  a  little  later,  when 
four  or  five  automobiles  would  set  out 
from  the  Sadovaia  establishment,  scatter- 
ing in  several  directions,  and  roaring 
through  the  streets  on  a  round  of  visits 
to  search  homes  for  concealed  firearms 
or  food,  to  drag  back  some  so-called  sus- 
pect for  examination,  or  to  make  one  of 
Latsis's  arbitrary  '  arrests,'  which  were 
reckoned  equivalent  to  a  death  sentence. 

"  A  woman  in  Kiev,  who  lived  near  the 
house  in  Sadovaia,  told  me  that  sight 
after  night  for  nearly  seven  months  she 
turned  positively  ill  at  the  sound  of  those 
Chresvechayna  motors.  The  searches, 
under  Latsis's  handling,  contributed  not 
a  little  to  the  creation  of  the  terror.  Very 
skillfully  he  endowed  them  with  the  ele- 
ment of  surprise.  For  instance,  in  Kiev 
all  through  the  Bolshevist  regime  there 
were  Dr.  Lipinsky,  Professor  of  Neurol- 
ogy in  Kiev  University,  and  his  family. 
Lipinsky  was  a  man  whom  the  Bolshe- 
vik!, on  account  of  his  private  wealth, 
his  well-appointed  home,  his  prestige,  his 
position,  and  influence,  would  have  liked 
to  do  away  with.  There  were  elements  of 


danger  in  Dr.  Lipinsky.  But  Latsis  could 
not  quite  bring  himself  to  arrest  and  ac- 
cuse the  professor.  Lipinsky  maintained 
a  hospital,  of  which  he  was  the  chief 
physician.  It  was  the  best  conducted  in- 
stitution of  its  kind  in  the  city — a  fact 
which  Latsis  was  entirely  capable  of 
realizing.     *  ■    *     * 

TRIALS  AND   EXECUTIONS 

"  Nothing  could  have  been  more  dis- 
graceful than  the  so-called  '  examina- 
tions '  conducted  by  Latsis  and  his  un- 
derlings at  the  house  in  Sadovaia.  A 
4  suspect,'  torn  from  his  bed  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night,  attired  without  dignity, 
would  be  dragged  there  to  the  principal 
room  of  the  dwelling.  Perhaps  six  or 
eight  of  the  Chresvechayna  would  be 
ranged  at  one  side  of  a  long,  plain  board 
table;  not  infrequently  some  were  in- 
toxicated, some  under  the  influence  of 
drugs,  some  throughout  the  proceedings 
fondling  a  woman  of  his  fancy  as  lewd 
as  himself.  Latsis,  always,  it  appears, 
quite  collected,  would  preside.  From 
such  a  tribunal  none  expected  justice; 
life  seemed  to  depend  upon  the  whim  of 
some  distorted,  irresponsible  brain;  an 
'  examination '  was,  as  Latsis  desired  it 
should  be,  a  first-class  torture  in  itself. 
Frequently  '  suspects  '  were  f  need,  some- 
times they  were  tortured,  not  infrequent- 
ly they  were  taken  to  the  stable  in  the 
rear  and  summarily  executed.  Once 
within  the  Sadovaia  portals  there  was 
nought  one  could  do  but  pray;  there  was 
no  guessing  one's  fate.  All  the  city  knew 
this,  and  a  summons  in  the  night — thou- 
sands of  examinations  were  made- 
brought  all  the  terror  of  a  death  decree. 

ROSA  SCHWARTZ'S  CRIME 

"  There  was  one  episode  at  the  Sado- 
vaia place  that  contributed  not  a  little  to 
Kiev's  paralysis  of  fear.  Among  the 
number  of  celebrated  scholars  included 
in  the  Faculty  of  the  University  of  Kiev 
was  Dr.  Florinsky,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  all  authorities  on  S'avic  history  and 
law.  The  city  was  very  proud  of  Dr. 
Florinsky,  and  he  enjoyed  enormous  re- 
spect and  influence  there.  At  the  time 
of  the  coming  of  the  Bolsheviki,  Dr.  Flo- 
rinsky, like  a  great  number  of  the  other 


THE  RED  TERROR  IN  KIEV 


491 


professors  in  the  university,  did  not  flee, 
because  it  was  reported  then,  and  gener- 
ally believed,  that  Lenin  and  Trotzky  had 
abandoned  their  policy  of  attempting  to 
exterminate  the  intellectuals,  and  were, 
on  the  contrary,  trying  to  coax  them  into 
the  movement.  He  stayed  on.  During 
the  early  days  of  the  occupation  the  Flo- 
rinskys  underwent  the  '  search,'  but  noth- 
ing worse.  However,  upon  a  night  in 
June,  a  Chresvechayna  motor  stopped 
before  the  professor's  home,  and  a  young 
man  routed  him  from  his  bed. 

"  The  doctor  insisted  upon  dressing 
carefully,  and  that  irritated  the  youthful 
agent  of  Latsis.  About  2  in  the  morn- 
ing they  reached  the  house  in  Sadovaia, 
where  Florinsky  was  to  be  '  examined.' 
The  usual  gathering  was  there,  including, 
as  usual,  Rosa  Schwartz,  a  Kiev  prosti- 
tute, who  was  used  as  an  agent  by  Lat- 
sis, and  was  in  effect  an  unofficial  mem- 
ber of  the  Chresvechayna.  Dr.  Florin- 
sky  entered — a  tall,  grave,  white-haired 
figure. 

"  The  doctor  was  a  man  of  a  ripeness 
and  dignity  not  easily  to  be  exaggerated. 
Schwartz,  a  dark,  impudent  type  of  wo- 
man, bedecked  with  diamonds,  for  she 
always  wore  much  jewelry,  demanded 
the  privilege  of  examining  the  professor. 
Latsis  agreed.  At  length  she  put  a  cer- 
tain question;  I  did  not  learn  what  the 
question  was,  but  at  it  Florinsky  stif- 
fened and  drew  ei'ect.  The  situation  is 
readily  conceived;  the  embodiment  of  all 
that  is  noble  in  the  world  on  the  grill 
before  all  that  is  ignoble  in  the  world, 
the  prostitute  harrying  the  Faint.  The 
historian's  reply  was  slow  in  coming.  At 
Schwartz's  elbow  lay  a  small  revolver 
which  she  invariably  kept  by  her.  In  a 
sudden  spasm  of  emotion  she  fired,  and 
Florinsky  was  dead,  and  within  a  few 
moments  his  body  had  been  cast  into  the 
dark  garden  behind.  Mme.  Florinsky 
subsequently  recovered  the  body  by  mak- 
ing a  payment  of  25,000  rubles. 

"  The  news  of  Florinsky's  death  stag- 
gered Kiev.  If  they  would  kill  him  none 
could  be  immune!  Would  the  Schwartz 
woman  suffer?  Not  at  all!  To  the 
Chresvechayna  life  was  less  than  noth- 
ing. To  enter  the  house  in  Sadovaia 
was  death.    Thus  went  the  talk  after  the 


shooting  of  Professor  Florinsky,  which 
Latsis  made  not  the  smallest  effort  to 
excuse  or  conceal.  The  episode  and  the 
reaction  it  produced  were  all  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  which  he  had  been 
sent  from  Moscow  to  carry  out.  It  in- 
tensified the  enslaving  fear  of  the  Red 
Terror  in  Kiev." 

METHODS   OF  TORTURE 

There  were  many  forms  of  torture  used 
in  Kiev,  but  in  a  rough  way  they  are  di- 
visible into  three  classes.  First,  beatings 
were  employed.  Second,  there  were  de- 
crees of  executions,  some  of  which  the 
Chresvechayna  intended  eventually  to 
carry  out,  and  did  carry  out,  some  of 
which  were  merely  threats  to  terrify. 
Third,  there  were  what  may  be  most 
conveniently  termed  the  "  confinement '" 
tortures.  Of  these  The  Morning  Post 
correspondent  wrote: 

"  In  this  group  of  cases  the  underlying 
'idea  was.  to  imprison  a  person,  who  was 
entirely  uncertain  whether  he  or  she  was 
later  to  be  killed,  with  the  bodies  of 
others  who  had  already  met  death.  Fre- 
quently, as  in  the  case  of  Mme.  Vasilyra, 
the  subject  of  the  torture  was  compelled 
to  witness  the  execution  of  the  persons 
with  whose  lifeless,  often  mutilated, 
bodies  he  or  she  was  later  to  be  con- 
fined. The  imprisonment  was  sometimes 
made  in  a  tiny  room — always  the  room 
where  the  execution  had  occurred.  Some 
of  these  rooms  I  have  visited — at  the 
houses  in  Sadovaia  Institutskaia.  These 
were  windowless  holes  with  spattered 
walls,  and  floors  still  glistening,  despite 
heavy  overlays  of  chloride  of  lime,  with 
blood,  and  none  too  sure  to  the  foot  by 
reason  of  human  particles  as  yet  unre- 
moved.  The  mind  recoils  from  the 
thought  of  what  those  rooms  must  have 
been  on  a  hot  Russian  night,  when  pow- 
der smoke  still  clung  heavily  in  the  air, 
and  the  very  rafters  still  echoed  with 
dying  screams. 

"  But  not  always  were  the  imprison- 
ments made  in  these  rooms.  Latsis,  in 
creating  the  Terror,  had  variety.  And  a 
Chresvechayna  device  was  to  imprison  a 
person  condemned  to  the  '  confinement ' 
torture  in  a  coffin  with  the  corpses  of 
those  whom  he  or  she  had  a  few  moments 


492 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


before  seen  die.  These  imprisonments 
would  last  from  twenty-four  to  ninety- 
six  hours.  Dr.  Kraynsky,  Professor  of 
Psychology  in  Kiev  University,  who 
heads  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Fac- 
ulty of  the  university  to  investigate  the 
entire  subject  of  tortures  and  executions 
carried  out  by  the  Bolsheviki,  told  me, 
and  Countess  Natalie  Medivedieff,  a  Rus- 
sian Red  Cross  sister,  confirmed  his 
statement  as  he  made  it,  that  he  knew  of 
more  than  thirty  cases  of  insanity  in  Kiev 
as  a  result  of  the  '  confinement '  tortures. 

EXECUTIONS 

"  Actual  execution,  however,  was  the 
great  weapon  of  the  Terror.  Apparently 
executions  were  carried  out  in  two  ways. 
Upon  occasions  victims  were  struck  over 
the  head  with  a  heavy,  sharp  instrument 
that  caused  profuse  bleeding  and  also  in- 
stant death,  but  more  frequently  simple 
shooting  was  employed.  Most  of  the  exe- 
cutions were  carried  out  by  Chinese 
troops,  but  not  all. 

"  There  are  aspects  of  the  Red  Terror 
in  Kiev  which  I  have  ignored.  For  ex- 
ample, a  great  number  of  bodies  were 
thrown  by  the  Chresvechayna  into  the 
opeiating  theatre  of  the  medical  school 
of  Kiev  University;  every  one  in  the  city 
knew  the  bodies  were  there;  boys  used  to 
lift  each  other  up  to  look  through  the 
iron  palings  at  the  gruesomeness  within. 
Soon  after  the  day  when  the  Bolsheviki 
arrived  until  the  day  they  left  the  ana- 
tomical room  of  the  university  was  a 
known  horror  pit. 

"  The  entire  story  seems  horribly  un- 
real. One  has  a  s^nse  that  none  of  the 
chapter  1  have  recorded  could  possibly 
have  happened  in  our  day.  But  it  did 
happen.  Professor  Lipinsky  has  declared 
to  rue  that  it  happened.  Dr.  Dietrichs,  the 
Professor  of  Surgery  in  Kiev  University, 
has  affirmed  it;  so,  too,  has  Professor 
Kraynsky,  the  psychologist,  and  the  very 
cool-eyed  Countess  Medivedieff  of  the 
Russian  Red  Cross.  There  were  others, 
including  General  Bredov,  Denikin's  rep- 
resentative in  Kiev.  I  could  go  on  at 
much  greater  length,  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary. The  case  is  this:  A  handful  of 
alien  commissaries,  with  only  a  most 
slender  garrison  at  their  command,  held 


the  200,000  people  of  Kiev  in  utter  sub- 
jugation for  seven  months.  They  did  it 
by  propagating  fear,  by  scientifically 
creating,  with  methods  in  large  degree 
indicated  from  Moscow,  a  Red  Terror. 

NO  RUSSIAN  LEADERS 

"  Who  are  the  Bolsheviki  of  today  ? 
That  was  a  question  to  which  by  many 
means,  direct  and  roundabout,  I  tried 
to  find  an  answer.  In  the  first  place,  as 
Kiev  knew  the  Bolsheviki,  they  are  utter 
aliens — Letts,  Finns,  internationalized 
Jews,  Rumanians,  anything  except  actual 
Russians.  Rokowsky,  the  nominal  head 
of  the  Bolshevist  Government  in  Kiev, 
was  a  Jew,  bora  a  Bulgarian,  naturalized 
as  a  Rumanian;  Latsis,  head  of  the  Ex- 
traordinary Commission  for  the  Suppres- 
sion of  Counter-Revolution  in  Kiev,  and 
in  reality  the  master  of  the  city,  was  a 
Lett — a  Lettish  Jew--  ar.d  there  were  a 
few  Jews  in  the  movement  who  had  been 
in  America  long  enough  to  obtain  citizen- 
ship. 

.  "  In  the  leadership  of  Bolshevism  in 
Kiev  there  was  not  a  single  bona  fide 
Russian,  not  a  single  man  who  had  ever 
been  known  of  or  heard  of  in  the  city 
before  the  occupation.  It  was  an  alien 
invasion,  a  crowd  of  strangers,  who  came 
in  to  strangle  the  town.  And  it  was 
aliens  whom  the  Rokowsky-Latsis  gang 
used  for  the  chief  work  of  the  terroriza- 
tion  that  paralyzed  and  atrophied  the 
population — that  is  to  say,  Chinese  mer- 
cenaries. Kiev  for  seven  months  was 
under  the  domination  of  a  group  of  com- 
plete strangers.  The  workmen  of  Kiev, 
the  thousands  employed  in  the  foundries 
and  sugar  refineiies  were,  practically 
speaking,  entirely  dissociated  from  the 
Bolshevist  movement. 

"  At  the  beginning,  in  January,  1919, 
many  of  the  woikers  seemed  to  see  a  pos- 
sibility  that  through  Bolshevism  they 
might  obtain  easier  hours  and  a  larger 
remuneration  than  they  had  ^been  receiv- 
ing. Essentially  their  attitude  was  for 
a  time  noncommittal  and  neutra1.  But 
this  period  soon  passed.  The  factories 
closed;  food  rose  to  impossible  prices; 
horrors  began  to  become  commonplaces. 
1  We  thought  we  saw  through  to  the 
light,'  said  a  petition  presented  by  30,000 


THE  RED  TERROR  IN  KIEV 


493 


workmen  to  General  Bredov,  Denikin's 
representative,  when  he  entered  the  city, 
1  but  we  did  not  see  then  the  hand  that 
was  holding  the  light.'  However,  there 
was  an  element  in  Kiev  that  did  join  up 
with  the  Bolsheviki.  Professor  Krayn- 
sky  told  me  that  about  200  strangers 
came  into  the  city  to  enforce  the  com- 
munistic order,  that  these  aliens  had 
about  5,000  troops  at  their  command,  and 
that  they  could  incidentally  call  upon 
something  like  500  other  persons  in 
Kiev 

"  These  other  persons  were  not  labor- 
ing people  at  all,  nor  were  they  persons 
with  any  definite  trade.  In  the  main, 
they  were  shop  assistants,  economic 
ne'er-do-wells,  rolling  stones  of  industry, 
who  saw  in  the  Bolshevist  invasion  a 
chance  that  the  normal  ways  of  life  did 
not  offer.  Latsis  used  them,  but  pre- 
cisely in  so  far  as  they  served  his  ends. 
They  were,  according  to  all  testimony, 
unwitting  dupes  of  the  movement,  and 
the  only  actual  Kiev  residents  in  the 
smallest  way  involved. 

"  Three  professors  of  the  university 
escaped  with  their  lives  because  they 
were  medical  men.  I  have  it  upon  the 
testimony  of  all  three  of  these:  First, 
that  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few 
of  the  prime  leaders,  like  Latsis,  those 
who  exercised  control  in  Kiev  were  syphi- 
litic; second,  that  a  considerable  number 
were  addicted  to  the  use  of  drugs;  third, 
that  they  were  alcoholic.  In  short,  there 
is  responsible  testimony  that  there  was 
very  little  normality  in  the  entire  Bol- 
shevist Government  of  Kiev.  The  head 
of  the  Government,  Rokowsky,  was  a  fop 
and  a  fool  and  a  laughing  stock." 

TWO  IRISHWOMEN'S  STORY   , 

Miss  Eva  and  Miss  Eileen  Healy, 
daughters  of  the  former  member  of  Par- 
liament, Thomas  Healy,  were  among  the 


forty  or  so  British  residents  of  Kiev 
during  these  six  months  of  Bolshevism. 
They  gave  the  following  statement  to  a 
Reuter  correspondent: 

Our  first  experience  of  Bolshevist  lib- 
erty was  at  Kiev  in  1918.  when  over  3.000 
officers  were  shot  only  for  the  crime  of 
defending  their  country  against  the  Ger- 
mans. We  saw  long  rows  of  corpses  clad 
in  underlinen  in  the  square  before  the 
palace,  inside  of  which  drunkeri  "  com- 
rades "  were  dancing  and  capering  about 
the  place.  There  were  more  rows  of 
corpses  in  the  public  gardens  of  all  ages, 
from   mere  boys   to  old  men   of  seventy. 

The  last  six  months,  when  the  majority 
of  the  members  of  the  Kiev  ChreRvechayna 
were  always  under  the  influence  of  drink 
and  drugs,  transcended  all  conceivable 
awfulness.  At  every  Chresvechayna  huge 
heaps  of  empty  spirit  and  wine  bottles  and 
scores  of  morphine  and  cocaine  bottles 
were  found.  The  members  sat  before  a 
cage  with  wooden  bars  reaching  to  the 
ceiling.  The  prisoners  were  marched 
through  the  cage  to  be  reviled  and  sen- 
tenced to  death.  Afterward  they  were 
stripped  naked  and  carted  off  to  the 
slaughterhouse. 

Among  the  exhumed  bodies  was  that  of 
a  young  woman  with  a  child  of  2  or  S 
years  old  closely  tied  to  her.  Both  had 
been  shot  through  the  head.  The  Sister 
of  Mercy,  Sister  Martinova,  who  was  ac- 
cused of  sheltering  officers,  was  violated, 
and  her  breasts  were  cut  off  before  she 
was  killed.  A  lady  .of  over  60  years  of 
age  was  taken  out  on  several  successive 
nights  and  placed  against  a  wall  and 
shots  were  fired  all  around  her  head.  This 
was  done  to  extract  information  as  to  the 
whereabouts  of  an  officer's  son  whom  she 
did  not  know.  She  also  was  finally  mur- 
dered. Other  barbarities,  including  the 
crucifixion  of  a  priest,  could  be  enumer- 
ated. The  Bolsheviki  explained  that  all 
such  deeds  were  committed  "  for  strategi- 
cal   purposes." 

The  chief  guilt  for  Russia's  bloody  era 
falls  on  the  trio  Lenin,  Trotzky,  and 
Peters. 

The  Reuter  correspondent  who  trans- 
mitted this  statement  estimated  the  total 
number  of  Bolshevist  victims  in  Kiev  at 
more  than  4,000. 


Russian   Factions    in   Death    Grapple 

Bolsheviki  Drive  Back  Yudenitch — Omsk  Evacuated 
by    Kolchak — Soviet    Peace    Offers 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  15,  1919] 


THE  desperate  and  sanguinary  con- 
flict of  opposing  forces  in  Russia 
continued  through  the  months  of 
October  and  November.  After 
virtually  reaching  the  City  of  Petrograd, 
the  Northwestern  Army  led  by  General 
Yudenitch  was  driven  back  to  its  original 
starting  point  at  Yamburg  by  large  Bol- 
shevist reinforcements.  The  Esthonian 
and  other  Baltic  Governments  subse- 
quently planned  to  resume  peace  nego- 
tiations with  the  Bolshevist  Government 
and  a  conference  of  the  representatives 
of  the  Baltic  States  began  at  Dorpat  on 
Nov.  9. 

The  Bolshevist  Armies  advanced  so 
close  to  Omsk  that  the  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment removed  its  offices  to  Irkutsk  and 
the  former  capital  was  evacuated  by 
civilians,  hospital  and  interallied  units. 
On  Nov.  15  a  Moscow  wireless  reported 
its  capture  and  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Kolchak  forces  to  the  east.  The  suc- 
cesses of  Denikin  in  the  south  continued, 
but  toward  the  middle  of  November  the 
Bolsheviki  were  progressing  also  in  this 
theatre,  and  Denikin,  who  was  holding 
a  front  of  1,300  miles  with  a  compara- 
tively small  army,  and  who  was  much 
harassed  by  marauding  bandits,  was  ad- 
vancing his  offensive  toward  Tula,  the 
Bethlehem  of  Ilussia  and  the  key  to  Mos- 
cow. On  Nov.  15  it  was  reported  that 
the  whole  eastern  coast  of  the  Black  Sea 
had  been  seized  by  a  large  insurgent 
army  operating  in  Denikin's  rear. 

Soviet  Russia  during  this  period  suf- 
fered much  from  cold  and  famine,  but  the 
Bolsheviki 's  confidence  apparently  suf- 
fered no  abatement,  though  they  reiter- 
ated their  readiness  to  make  peace  with 
the  Allies  whenever  terms  might  be  ar- 
ranged. The  formal  blockade  of  the  En- 
tente and  the  virtual  blockade  by  the 
United  States  continued.  Germany,  to 
United  States  continued.  Germany,  after 


long  consideration  of  the  subject,  finally 
returned  a  definite  refusal  to  the  request 
that  she  associate  herself  with  the  inter- 
allied blockade  of  Petrograd. 

ON  THE  NORTHERN  FRONT 

After  the  departure  of  the  British  and 
other  allied  troops  from  Archangel  little 
fighting  occurred  between  the  Russian 
forces  and  the  Bolsheviki.  Where  fight- 
ing occurred  the  North  Russians  gave  a 
good  account  of  themselves.  About  Oct. 
25  the  Russian  forces  repulsed  a  Bolshe- 
vist attack  on  Povenietz  and  inflicted 
great  loss  upon  the  enemy,  who  were 
driven  thirty-three  miles  from  Onega. 
Several  villages  were  captured.  The  im- 
portant railroad  junction  of  Plessetskaya, 
with  an  armored  train  and  many  prison- 
ers and  guns,  was  also  taken.  The  Arch- 
angel newspapers  regarded  the  capture 
of  Plessetskaya  as  a  notable  success,  and 
rejoiced  at  the  unaided  achievements  of 
the  North  Russian  Army,  declaring  that 
its  position  was  better  at  that  time  than 
it  had  been  before  the  departure  of  the 
Allies,  who,  they  asserted,  had  under- 
estimated the  North  Russian  strength. 

A  further  advance  of  the  North  Rus- 
sians occurred  shortly  before  the  end  of 
October.  The  anti-Bolshevist  forces  had 
reached  Birumshev,  150  versts  south  of 
Onega,  where  they  had  formed  a  junc- 
tion with  the  forces  operating  on  the  rail- 
way front.  In  the  Onega  sector  the  cap- 
ture of  2,000,000  cartridges  and  1,000 
shells  was  reported.  The  road  along  the 
Onega  River  was  found  strewn  with  the 
bodies  of  soldiers  and  horses,  and  with 
vehicles  which  had  been  mired  and  aban- 
doned by  the  Bolsheviki. 

THE    PETROGRAD    FRONT 

The  offensive  begun  by  General  Yude- 
nitch on  Oct.  10  brought  the  forces  of 
the  Northwestern  Government  virtually 
within  the  suburbs  of  Petrograd  by  Oct- 


RUSSIAN  FACTIONS  IN  DEATH  GRAPPLE 


4!)  5 


18.  Gatchina,  twenty-five  miles  south 
of  Petrograd,  was  captured  from  the 
Bolsheviki  on  Oct.  17,  while  the  Esto- 
nians, acting  in  conjunction  with  Yude- 
nitch,  had  arrived  within  four  miles  of 
Krasnaya  Gorka,  facing  Kronstadt.    Re- 


Si'KXK     OK     rtliiUNlTCIl'R     ATTEMPT     TO 
TAKR     PHTROORAH 

ports  that  Kronstadt  had  surrendered 
proved  untrue.  Yudenitch  also  estab- 
lished himself  at  Krasnoe  Selo  and  Li- 
govo,  twelve  miles  from  Petrograd,  but 
only  after  hard  fighting.  Strong  resist- 
ance was  encountered  at  Pulgovo,  about 
seven  miles  south  of  Petrograd,  com- 
pelling General  Yudenitch  to  halt  bis  ad- 
vance and  concentrate  his  forces  while 
awaiting  reinforcements  and  heavy  ar- 
tillery. Bolshevist  forces  concentrated 
at  Gdov,  on  Lake  Peipus,  and,  threaten- 
ing the  rear,  were  dispersed.  Fighting 
still  proceeded  six  miles  north  of  krasnoe 
Selo,  and  along  the  Windau  Railway, 
while  the  Bolsheviki  and  the  forces  of 
General  Yudenitch  kept  up  a  heavy  bom- 
bardment. 

Already  at  this  time  the  stiffening  de- 
fense of  the  Soviet  Army  showed  the  ef- 
fect of  the  heavy  reinforcements  which 
the  Reds  had  drawn  from  the  northern 
front,  and  fears  of  the  Bolshevist  ad- 
vance which  occurred  soon  thereafter 
drove  long  processions  of  peasant- folk, 
with  their  carts  of  household  effects, 
along  the  road  toward  Gatchina,  which 
General  Yudenitch  had  made  his  base. 
A  slight  advance  had  been  made  to  a 
point  just  short  of  Tsarskoe  Selo,  in  the 


face  of   an   obstinate   Bolshevist   resist- 
ance. 

YUDENITCH  DRIVEN  BACK 
The  threatened  advance  of  the  Bolshe- 
viki began  to  be  fulfilled  about  Oct.  24 
with  an  offensive  against  Pavlovsk  and 
Tsarskoe  Selo,  in  which  the  forces  of 
Yudenitch  were  driven  back.  Their  left 
flank  was  under  fire  from  a  Bolshevist 
dreadnought  lying  in  the  Neva.  On  Oct. 
25  Yudenitch  announced  that  his-  cavalry 
had  pushed  forward  to  Tosno,  a  few  miles 
southeast  of  Tsarskoe  Selo  and  twenty- 
five  miles  east  of  Gatchina,  but  admitted 
that  his  forces  had  been  repulsed  at  other 
points.  By  Oct.  27  the  success  of  the 
Bolshevist  counteroffensive  was  clearly 
outlined.  The  Bolsheviki,  after  taking 
Tsarskoe  Selo,  had  moved  on  Krasnoe 
Selo  and  thrust  the  Yudenitch  line  back 
south  of  this  place,  and  to  the  west  six 
miles  from  Gatchina.  At  this  date  Yude- 
nitch was  daily  losing  ground,  and  com- 
plained bitterly  of  the  refusal  of  Colonel 
Avalov-Bermondt,  the  pro-German  Rus- 
sian commander,  whose  forces  had  at- 
tacked Riga,  and  who  had  been  nominally 
under  his  command,  to  aid  him  in  his 
offensive  against  Petrogi'ad. 

Meanwhile  the  Bolsheviki  were  making 
a  wing  movement  in  an  attempt  to  cut 
off  Gatchina  and  reach  the  railroad. 
Stubborn  fighting  was  proceeding,  while 
the  Bolsheviki  were  daily  growing 
stronger.  Sporadic  offensives  of  Yude- 
nitch proved  fruitless,  and  by  Oct.  29 
he  was  falling  back  along  his  entire  line, 
being  compelled  to  abandon  Gatchina  and 
to  remove  his  staff  headquarters  to  Yam- 
burg,  sixty-eight  miles  from  Petrograd 
on  the  road  to  Reval.  In  an  official  com- 
munication to  an  Esthonian  paper  Gen- 
eral Yudenitch  admitted  that  his  offen- 
sive on  Petrograd  had  failed  "  because 
of  lack  of  assistance."  On  Nov.  1  Trotzky 
declared  officially  that  the  danger  of 
Petrograd's  capture  had  been  definitely 
removed. 

BOLSHEVIST  ADVANCE 
Meanwhile  fierce  fighting  was  con- 
tinuing in  the  Finnish  Gulf  region,  and 
the  Bolsheviki  had  advanced  all  along 
the  line  against  the  retreating  forces  of 
Yudenitch.    The  occupation  of  many  vil- 


496 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


lages  in  the  Luga-Gdov  sector,  to  the  east 
of  Lake  Peipus,  was  claimed  by  Bolshe- 
vist dispatches.  Gdov  had  been  captured 
by  Nov.  8,  and  the  anti-Bolshevist  troops 
driven  fifteen  miles  south  of  Yamburg. 
The  Bolshevist  pressure  was  increasing 
hourly  from  the  north  and  south,  despite 
heroic  resistance  offered  by  the  person- 
nel of  the  armored  trains  to  check  the 
Soviet  advance.  The  forces  of  Yudenitch 
lacked  both  food  and  munitions.  A  Bol- 
shevist wireless  stated  that  the  pursuit 
of  General  Yudenitch's  retreating  forces 
was  continuing  along  the  whole  front. 
The  Soviet  troops  had  advanced  to  within 
twenty-five  versts  southeast  of  Yamburg, 
and  were  driving  the  enemy  northwest 
of  Gdov. 

At  this  time  all  hopes  entertained  by 
anti-Bolshevist  sympathizers  of  the  suc- 
cess of  General  Yudenitch's  offensive 
had  vanished,  though  on  Nov.  11  he  an- 
nounced the  recapture  of  Gdov,  and 
though  officials  of  the  Northwestern. 
Government  stated  on  Nov.  13  that  plans 
were  being  made  for  a  new  campaign. 

APPEAL  TO  FINLAND 

Strong  pressure  was  brought  by  the 
Northwestern  Government  on  Finland  to 
persuade  that  country  to  throw  its 
strength  into  the  balance  against  the 
Bolsheviki.  With  this  object  Stefan 
Lianosov,  head  of  the  Northwestern  Gov- 
ernment, proceeded  to  Helsingfors  from 
Reval  on  a  British  torpedo  boat  destroyer 
to  conduct  negotiations.  On  Oct.  31  M. 
Lianosov  declared  that  Petrograd  could 
be  taken  in  three  days  with  the  help 
of  the  Finns,  who  had  an  army  of  35,000 
men,  of  whom  some  15,000  were  stationed 
on  the  Russian  frontier.  The  Finns,  he 
said,  would  aid  in  the  struggle  if  the 
Allies  consented  to  finance  them,  and 
give  them  guarantees  of  Finland's  future 
independence.  The  situation  at  the 
front,  he  said,  was  critical,  as  the  Bol- 
sheviki numbered  from  50,000  to  60,000 
men,  and  were  fighting  desperately:  they 
had  led  eighteen  successive  attacks  on 
Tsarskoe  Selo  before  they  had  captured 
it.  The  assistance  of  Finland,  he  de- 
clared, would  turn  the  scale  in  favor 
of  Yudenitch. 

Both    Lianosov    and    Margulies    had 


been  cordially  received  by  a  Finnish  con- 
ference consisting  of  President  Stahl- 
berg,  Prime  Minister  Dr.  Ho'lsti  and  the 
Chief  of  Staff.  The  President,  said  M. 
Margulies,  though  not  in  favor  of  official 
intervention,  was  well  disposed  to  the 
suggestion  that  Finland  should  send 
troops  to  assist  in  the  taking  of  Petro- 
grad. On  Oct.  31  the  question  came  up 
in  the  Finnish  Parliament  in  the  form 
of  an  interpellation  relative  to  Finland's 
future  policy;  in  his  reply  the  Premier 
stated  that  Finland  would  co-operate 
with  the  Allies  and  the  Baltic  States  in 
opposing  Bolshevism.  After  an  all-night 
debate,  forty-four  members  of  the  Diet 
voted  the  statement  unsatisfactory,  and 
moved  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  Foreign 
Relations  Committee  for  further  investi- 
gation. The  answer  was  considered  sat- 
isfactory by  seventy  members — seventy- 
five  Socialists  abstained  from  voting. 

Meanwhile,  on  Nov.  2,  General  Justus 
Mannerheim,  the  former  Finnish 
Premier,  addressed  an  open  letter  to 
President  Stahlberg  demanding  Finland's 
immediate  intervention  in  the  campaign 
against  Petrograd,  which,  he  declared, 
"  the  whole  world  is  urging."  On  Nov. 
4,  however,  it  was  stated  from  Helsing- 
fors that  the  Finnish  Government  had 
informed  General  Yudenitch  that  it  was 
unable  to  co-operate  with  him  for  the 
deliverance  of  Petrograd.  The  reply  set 
forth  that  it  was  impossible  to  accede  to 
General  Yudenitch's  appeal  owing  to 
Finland's  internal  political  situation,  her 
weak  finances,  the  uncertainty  of  obtain- 
ing war  materials,  and  the  fact  that  the 
Entente  had  not  guaranteed  that  future 
Russian  Governments  would  recognize 
Finland's  independence.  Soon  after  this 
the  offensive  of  General  Yudenitch  col- 
lapsed. 

THE  DORPAT  CONFERENCE 

An  attempt  to  arrange  a  conference 
of  the  Baltic  States  to  bring  about  peace 
with  the  Bolsheviki  had  been  begun  by 
Esthonia  in  Pskov  before  the  Yudenitch 
offensive.  With  the  collapse  of  this  of- 
fensive the  plan  was  pushed  more  ener- 
getically, and  on  Nov.  6,  seven  repre- 
sentatives of  Esthonia  left  for  Dorpat, 
the    place    chosen    for    the    conference. 


RUSSIAN  FACTIONS  IN  DEATH  GRAPPLE 


497 


>Dvinsk 


azan 


THEATRE  OF  THE.  STRUGGLE   BETWEEN   THE   REDS   AND   GENERAL   DENIKIN'S   FORCES 

SOUTHEAST    OF    MOSCOW 


Here  they  were  joined  by  delegates  from 
Lettland,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Finland, 
and  the  Ukraine,  the  three  last  named 
being  unofficial  delegations.  Informal 
discussions  were  held  on  the  7th,  8th, 
and  9th,  and  the  first  general  meeting 
of  the  conference  took  place  on  Nov.  10. 
White  Russia  also  was  represented.  M. 
Piip,  Esthonian  Foreign  Minister  and 
head  of  the  Esthonian  delegation,  had 
sent  a  preliminary  dispatch  to  Moscow 
expressing  a  desire  to  confer  with  the 
Soviet  delegates  regarding  the  liberation 
of  prisoners  and  the  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities. Esthonia's  attitude  was  further 
stated  by  Premier  Strandemann  as  fol- 
lows: 

For  Esthonia  it  is  not  a  question  of 
peace  with  the  Bolshevik!,  but  of  a  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  in  order  to  save  our 
existence.  We  cannot  fight  indefinitely: 
our  financial  and  economic  condition  will 
not  permit  this.     Our  military  supplies  are 


exhausted,  those  from  England  having 
ceased,  and  Esthonia  and  the  other  border 
States  have  no  reason  to  fight  longer 
•  .♦  •  It  is  too  early  to  speak  about 
terms.  I  think,  however,  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  bring  about  an  armed  truce, 
somewhat  like  the  state  of  things  existing 
between  the  Bolshevik!  and  Finland.  •  *  • 
As  for  Esthonia's  sacrifice,  the  occupation 
by  the  German*  stripped  the  country  of 
foodstuffs,  horses,  machinery,  and  other 
necessaries.  In  November,  1!>1n.  came 
the  Bolshevist  invasion,  which  we  have 
documents  to  prove  was  instigated  by  the 
Germans.  The  Bolshevlki  overran  three- 
quarters  of  Esthonia,  committing  whole- 
sale murders  and  atrocities.  Last  June 
the  offensive  by  the  German  General  von 
der  Goltz  began.  As  h  result  of  the 
wastage  in  the  years  of  fighting,  the 
country   Is  worn  out. 

So  far,  the  Esthonian  Premier  said, 
the  allied  Governments  had  offered  no 
objection  to  the  Baltic  League  project 
and  the  suggested  peace  with  the  Bolshe- 
vist Government. 


498 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Soviet  Foreign 
Minister,  sent  a  radiotelegram  to  the 
Esthonian  Premier  on  Nov.  13,  demand- 
ing guarantees  of  safety  for  the  Bol- 
shevist representatives  at  the  Dorpat 
conference.  M.  Piip  replied  assuring 
Tchitcherin  of  safe  conduct  and  immu- 
nity from  arrest  for  the  delegates.  On 
the  afternoon  of  Nov.  16  the  little  Es- 
thonian city  observed  with  keen  interest 
the  arrival  of  four  Bolshevist  representa- 
tives, headed  by  Maxim  Litvinov,  former 
Soviet  ambassador  to  England.  The  con- 
ference was  still  in  session  when  this 
issue  of  Current  History  went  to  press. 

[For  the  struggle  of  the  pro-German 
Russian  commander,  Colonel  Bermondt, 
for  possession  of  Riga,  and  the  problem 
of  getting  the  German  troops  of  von  der 
Goltz  out  of  the  Baltic  territory,  see 
page  483.] 

THE    SOUTHERN    FRONT 

After  the  capture  of  Orel  in  the  mid- 
dle of  October,  with  3,500  prisoners, 
Denikin's  forces  seized  Chernigov,  south- 
west of  Moscow,  and  recaptured  a  junc- 
tion town  north  of  Voronezh.  Heavy 
Bolshevist  attacks  southwest  and  east  of 
Orel  were  repulsed  with  heavy  losses  to 
the  enemy.  The  Don  Army  was  kept 
busy  meanwhile  in  defense  operations 
against  cavalry  attacks  led  by  the  Bol- 
shevist General  Budenny,  following  the 
raids  of  the  Cossack  leader  Mamontov, 
along  the  Don.  Kiev  was  temporarily 
occupied  by  the  Bolsheviki  on  Oct.  15, 
but  they  were  finally  driven  out;  the 
city  was  still  held  by  Denikin's.  forces 
on  Oct.  27,  though  the  anti-Bolshevist 
troops  had  been  compelled  to  withdraw 
at  some  points  south  of  the  city. 

By  Oct.  20  Denikin's  battleline  ex- 
tended from  Kiev  to  Kharkov,  and  along 
the  Don  to  Tsaritsin.  Pressure  was  be- 
ing exerted  by  his  army  at  various 
points,  despite  the  handicap  of  insuffi- 
cient munitions.  Denikin's  objective  at 
this  time  could  be  drawn  by  a  line  bi- 
secting Saratov,  Penza,  and  Tula  (120 
miles  south  of  Moscow),  as  the  three 
main  points  of  a  triangle  whose  apex 
pointed  straight  at  Moscow,  and  whose 
base  controlled  the  Ural  region.  In  this 
base  sector,   on   Oct.   22,   the   Bolshevist 


forces  were  thrown  back  near  Kamyshin, 
sustaining  a  loss  of  3,000  prisoners  and 
many  machine  guns.  The  Bolshevist 
authorities  at  Tula,  at  the  apex  of  the 
triangle,  after  a  visit  from  Trotzky  in 
his  armored  train,  began  fortification 
work  in  anticipation  of  an  advance  of 
Denikin's  army  as  far  as  this  city. 

NEW   BOLSHEVIST  OFFENSIVE 

Spurred  by  the  increasing  menace  of 
Denikin's  steady  advance,  the  Bolshevist 
forces  began  a  general  attack  along  a 
700-mile  front  from  Tsaritsin  to  Kiev. 
They  scored  successes  at  Voronezh  and 
Orel,  which  they  recaptured,  but  were 
unable  to  check  Denikin,  who  by  Oct.  25 
had  advanced  from  forty  to  forty-five 
miles  on  a  120-mile  front,  taking  many 
.prisoners  and  much  material.  Yelets, 
midway  between  Voronezh  and  Tula,  and 
230  miles  southeast  of  Moscow,  was  also 
captured.  Harold  Williams,  a  corre- 
spondent with  Denikin's  armies,  admit- 
ted, however,  on  Oct.  28,  that  the  re- 
sistance of  the  Bolsheviki  was  stubborn 
in  the  extreme.  The  Bolshevist  com- 
manders, some  of  whom  were  formerly 
Generals  in  the  army  of  the  Czar,  were 
exerting  all  their  strategical  and  tactical 
resources  to  avert  disaster. 

Despite  the  loss  of  .Voronezh  and  Orel, 
the  anti-Bolsheviki  held  Yelets,  a  mast 
advantageous  position,  and  won  a  great 
improvement  on  their  flanks;  Tsaritsin 
had  been  held  against  desperate  attacks 
by  General  Wrangel  and  the  Bolsheviki 
driven  northward  toward  Kamyshin; 
this  success,  combined  with  a  northeast- 
erly drive  of  the  Don  Cossacks  from  the 
Middle  Don,  had  removed  the  Bolshevist 
menace  to  Denikin's  eastern  flank,  which 
had  impeded  his  operations  in  the  centre. 

In  the  alternating  battle  for  suprem- 
acy Orel  again  changed  hands  (Oct.  30), 
and  General  Denikin  resumed  his  advance 
on  Moscow.  The  Reds  had  brought  up 
a  large  number  of  troops  and  were  ex- 
erting pressure  on  both  sides  of  the 
Orel  salient  in  an  attempt  to  relieve  the 
central  advances  on  Moscow.  Some  suc- 
cesses were  won  by  Denikin  at  this  time, 
including  the  capture  of  a  Soviet  division 
of  3,300  men,  on  the  Khoper  River,  the 
capture  of  Bobrov,  southeast  of  Voronezh, 


RUSSIAN  FACTIONS  IN  DEATH  GRAPPLE 


490 


and  the  capture  of  another  town  with 
1,000  men. 

For  nearly  a  fortnight  no  news  of  im- 
portance came  from  Denikin,  but  on 
Nov.  12,  a  communique  was  given  out 
by  him  admitting  the  loss  of  Alexan- 
drovsk,  and  the  abandonment  of  Dmit- 
rievka.  The  Reds  declared  that  in  taking 
the  latter  town  they  had  inflicted  a 
Bevere  defeat  on  Denikin's  army,  and 
asserted  further  that  Denikin's  front 
had  been  broken  over  an  extent  of  forty- 
seven  miles,  that  Denikin  had  suffered 
heavy  losses,  and  that  the  Bolshevist 
Cossack  division  had  advanced  105  miles 
in  three  days. 

DENIKIN'S  TROUBLES 

A  constant  handicap  under  which 
General  Denikin  had  to  struggle  was 
the  disturbance  to  his  rear  by  the  hostile 
attitude  of  unfriendly  populations,  re- 
plete with  propaganda  to  attain  some 
national  aim.  Under  this  category  came 
the  hostility  of  General  Petlura,  the 
peasant  Ukrainian  leader,  between  whom 
and  Denikin  a  state  of  war  had  been 
declared.  But  Petlura  was  far  from 
being  Denikin's  only  opposer  in  South 
Russia.  Three  Ukrainian  bands  had 
been  operating  for  some  time  behind  his 
lines,  robbing  stragglers  and  holding  up 
trains.  Of  these,  the  most  formidable 
was  the  band  of  Makhno,  in  the  Province 
Of  Ekaterinoslav,  which  was  anti- 
Semitic,  and  the  band  of  Shube,  which 
attacked  trains  between  Kiev  and  Pol- 
tava. The  inhabitants  of  the  Kuban 
district,  also,  gave  Denikin  considerable 
trouble,  until  he  entered  into  an  agree- 
ment with  them  which  relieved  the  sit- 
uation. The  district  of  Astrakhan,  on 
the  Black  Sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  Volga, 
had  fallen  under  Bolshevist  control. 

Petlura  saw  in  Denikin  the  representa- 
tive of  reactionary  monarchism ;  Denikin 
refused  to  encourage  the  separatist 
tendency  embodied  by  Petlura  and  the 
Ukrainian  Government.  There  were  also 
intimations  that  Petlura  was  conducting 
his  campaigns  with  the  aid  of  German 
money.  This  charge  was  confirmed  in 
an  official  report  made  by  General 
Edgar  Jadwin,  member  of  the  Morgen- 
thau  Jewish  Commission  and  one  of  the 


ranking  officers  of  the  American  Army, 
who,  in  company  with  an  Intelligence 
officer,  traveled  for  three  weeks  through 
the  Ukraine,  visited  Denikin,  and  also 
Petlura,  and  saw  much  of  the  latter's 
army.  Petlura's  source  of  supplies  was 
frankly  and  avowedly  German,  General 
Jadwin  reported,  and  Petlura's  justifi- 
cation was  that  only  the  Germans  would 
help  him.  General  Jadwin  described 
Petlura  as  a  man  of  considerable  in- 
telligence, and  much  determination  to 
maintain  Ukraine's  absolute  independ- 
ence. His  civil  Government  scarcely 
deserved  the  name  of  Government  at  all ; 
and  his  army  was  a  mere  aggregation 
of  scattered  guerrilla  units;  there  was 
little  discipline  or  co-ordination,  the  vari- 
ous leaders  making  war  on  the  Bolshe- 
viki  or  upon  General  Denikin's  forces  as 
they  saw  fit. 

FIGHTING    A    BANDIT    FORCE 

About  the  middle  of  October,  after 
Petlura's  declaration  of  war  on  Denikin, 
he  was  joined  by  the  bandit  leader, 
Makhno,  who,  after  having  been  defeated 
north  of  Odessa,  had  returned  to  his  old 
haunts,  the  eastern  side  of  the  Dnieper 
and  the  region  north  of  the  Sea  of  Azov, 
and  had  raided  several  towns  in  Daghes- 
tan,  in  Northeastern  Caucasus,  where  an 
insurrection  movement  had  begun.  Deni- 
kin had  dispatched  troops  to  this  spot 
to  put  down  the  insurrection  and  capture 
the  bandit  leader.  On  Oct.  29  a  Moscow 
wireless  reported  that  large  bodies  of 
both  Petlura's  and  Makhno's  forces  were 
joining  the  Red  Army.  Several  towns 
along  the  Dnieper  had  been  taken  by  the 
insurgents  southeast  of  Kiev,  while 
Makhno  had  captured  Alexandrovsk  and 
was  besieging  Elizabetgrad.  On  Nov. 
15  it  was  reported  that  a  number  of  im- 
portant towns  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Black  Sea  from  Elershik  to  Sochy  had 
been  taken  by  a  large  insurgent  army 
operating  in  Denikin's  rear. 

Severe  fighting  occurred  between  Pet- 
lura's forces  and  those  of  Denikin  on  Oct. 
30,  and  the  Petlura  troops  were  driven 
from  several  villages.  On  Nov.  4  Denikin 
concluded  an  armistice  with  Petlura,  by 
the  terms  of  which  Denikin  was  to  evac- 
uate the  Ukraine,  but  after  a  lull  of  a 


»ou 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


few  days  the  battle  was  renewed.  An 
Ukrainian  dispatch  of  Nov.  9  said  that 
Denikin  had  been  driven  across  the  Bug 
River,  leaving  many  prisoners  and  much 
booty  and  war  material  in  the  hands  of 
the  Ukrainians.  A  later  dispatch  from 
Denikin,  however,  said  that  30,000  Gali- 
cians  had  joined  the  volunteer  army  and 
taken  Petlura's  army  in  the  rear,  and 
that  the  Ukrainians,  in  consequence,  in- 
tended to  lay  down  their  arms. 

At  this  date  General  Denikin  sent  a 
telegram  to  the  Paris  headquarters  of 
the  American  Red  Cross,  thanking  that 
organization  for  the  assistance  which  the 
populations  of  Southern  Russia  had  re- 
ceived from  it.  This  telegram  was  as 
follows : 

In  these  epoch-making  days,  which  de- 
mand superhuman  effort  and  self-sacri- 
fice from  every  true  Russian,  the  Amer- 
ican Nation  ha?  once  more  proved  the 
depth  of  its  historical  devotion  to  real 
liberty  and  progress  by  stretching  out  its 
hand  to  Russia  In  an  effort  to  save  world 
civilization  from  the  corruption  of  the 
Bolshevlki. 

I  beg  you  to  accept  my  profound  thanks 
for  the  numerous  gifts  of  the  American 
Red  Cross  through  its  commission  to 
South  Russia  and  for  assistance  given 
soldiers  and  wretched  populations,  and 
express  to  you  and  the  American  people 
the  deeply  felt  gratitude  of  the  Russian 
people,  who  will  always  remember  these 
acts  of  generosity. 

THE  SIBERIAN  FRONT 

A  summary  of  military  events  on  the 
Siberian  front  given  out  Oct.  12  showed 
that  at  this  time  the  right  flank  of  the 
Kolchak  armies  had  passed  Tobolsk  and 
was  driving  toward  Tumen;  the  centre 
was  advancing  slowly  eighteen  miles  west 
of  Yalutorovsk,  the  left  wing  was  within 
thirty  miles  of  Kustany,  and  in  the  south 
the  fight  had  been  carried  to  within  three 
miles  of  Orenburg.  Ural  Cossacks  were 
driving  the  Reds  before  them  seven  miles 
from  Uralsk.  Then  the  tide  turned. 
Petropavlovsk,  166  miles  from  Omsk,  was 
captured  from  Kolchak  at  the  end  of 
October,  with  1,500  prisoners.  The  rapid 
progress  of  the  Red  forces  was  indicated 
on  Nov.  12,  when  a  Moscow  wireless  an- 
nounced that  the  Bolsheviki  had  taken 
Ishim  and  occupied  Kochubayev  Station, 
eighty  versts  west  of  Omsk.  The  question 
of  whether  Omsk,  the  Kolchak  capital, 


should  be  abandoned  or  defended  was 
bitterly  debated;  owing  to  a  difference 
on  this  point  General  Diedrichs,  com- 
mander of  the  western  armies  of  the 
Omsk  Government,  was  superseded  by 
General  Sakharov.  Admiral  Kolchak  and 
the  members  of  his  Government  on  Oct. 
31  expressed  their  determination  to  re- 
main and  defend  Omsk  in  spite  of  all  ad- 
vice and  dissuasion. 

Evacuation  of  civilians  and  Govern- 
ment offices,  however,  was  decided  upon. 
A  constant  stream  of  carts  and  trucks 
took  away  the  civilians'  household  goods, 
and  in  freezing  weather  civilians,  Gov- 
ernment aids,  sick  and  wounded,  were 
taken  away  in  unheated  box  cars.  The 
plans  of  defense  were  outlined  by  the 
Russkoye  Dielo,  which  stated  that  a  de- 
cisive battle  would  be  fought  between 
the  Rivers  Ishim  and  Irtish,  and  that 
Omsk  would  be  fortified  and  surrounded 
with  trenches  as  a  centre  of  defense.  The 
newspaper  Russ  called  upon  all  to  rally 
around  the  Government,  realizing  that 
the  situation  was  critical,  and  that  an 
ultimate  choice  must  be  made  between 
Lenin  and  Kolchak. 

The  allied  military  representatives  re- 
garded the  situation  as  grave.  All  the 
allied  missions  finally  left  on  Nov.  6,  ex- 
cept the  Japanese.  The  American  Red 
Cross  hospitals  and  the  Government  of- 
fices were  provisionally  transferred  to 
Irkutsk.  The  American  Vice 'Consul  was 
left  to  maintain  contact  with  the  Kolchak 
Foreign  Office  at  Novo  Nikolaevsk. 

A  Moscow  wireless  on  Nov.  15  asserted 
that  Omsk  had  been  occupied  by  Bolshe- 
vist forces,  and  that  the  troops  of  Kol- 
chak were  retreating  to  the  east.  Up  to 
the  time  these  pages  went  to  press,  this 
claim  had  not  been  confirmed. 

IN  EASTERN  SIBERIA 

General  Semenov,  an  anti-Bolshevist 
leader,  held  up  a  train  bearing  part  of  a 
consignment  of  68,000  rifles  recently 
shipped  from  America  to  Admiral  Kol- 
chak at  Chita,  Trans-Baikalia,  on  Oct. 
24,  and  demanded  that  15,000  rifles  be 
delivered  to  him  by  Oct.  25.  The  Amer- 
ican Lieutenant  who  was  guarding  the 
assignment  with  a  small  force  of  fifty 
soldiers  telegraphed  to  General  Graves 


RUSSIAN  FACTIONS  IN  DEATH  GRAPPLE 


301 


for  instructions,  and,  on  receiving  orders 
on  no  account  to  surrender  the  guns,  sent 
a  categorical  refusal  to  Semenov,  and  got 
through  safely  with  his  consignment. 

It  was  stated  at  Vladivostok  on  Oct.  28 
that  General  Rozanov,  whose  activities 
had  occasioned  great  friction  with  the 
interallied  commanders  and  a  demand 
for  the  withdrawal  of  his  troops  from 
Vladivostok,  had  been  recalled  to  Omsk, 
and  that  General  Romanovsky,  recently 
leader  of  the  Russian  troops  in  the 
Udinsk  region,  had  been  appointed  by 
Admiral  Kolchak  to  act  as  Governor  and 
commander  of  the  Russian  troops  in  the 
Far  Eastern  provinces.  A  Cossack  con- 
ference at  Omsk  issued  a  protest  the 
same  day  against  Rozanov's  recall  from 
the  Far  East,  where  his  presence  was 
considered  desirable. 

ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS 

Admiral  Kolchak  toward  the  middle  of 
October  asked  the  allied  Governments 
for  a  credit  of  $350,000,000  to  be  used 
for  military  and  economic  purposes.  He 
also  requested  the  use  of  additional  al- 
lied troops  to  guard  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railroad  between  Irkutsk  and  Omsk  as 
substitutes  for  Czechoslovak  troops  soon 
to  return  to  Europe.  Siberian  banks,  co- 
operating with  the  Government,  arranged 
a  credit  of  $25,000,000  with  Japanese 
banks,  at  7  per  cent,  interest,  depositing 
gold  bullion  of  an  equal  amount  as  se- 
curity. It  was  announced  in  Washing- 
ton on  Nov.  7  that  the  All-Russian  Gov- 
ernment had  made  a  deposit  of  $1,000,000 
in  gold  bullion  at  Omsk  as  a  guarantee 
that  it  would  meet  its  obligations  for  the 
purchase  of  war  material  from  the 
American  Government.  This  bullion  was 
safely  received  at  San  Francisco,  and 
subsequently  deposited  in  the  United 
States  Treasury. 

Not  having  received  a  reply  from  the 
Japanese  Government  to  a  communica- 
tion sent  in  September  concerning  co- 
operation in  the  administration  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway,  the  United 
States  on  Oct.  18  dispatched  a  second 
note  on  the  subject  to  Japan.  The  Japan- 
ese reply,  finally  received  in  Washington 
on  Nov.  2,  signified  Japan's  readiness  to 
protect  the  road  to  the  best  of  its  ability ; 


constant  efforts  to  do  so  had  been  made, 
and  reports  that  it  had  not  done  so  were 
based  on  misunderstanding.  The  note, 
however,  declined  in  diplomatic  but  firm 
language  to  submit  the  Japanese  troops 
in  Siberia  to  the  authority  of  the  Allied 
Railway  Board  under  John  W.  Stevens 
and  defended  the  Japanese  policy  of  non- 
participation  in  individual  disputes. 

IN  SOVIET  RUSSIA 

The  psychology  of  Leon  Trotzky,  the 
Bolshevist  Minister  of  War,  who  went  to 
Petrograd  to  direct  that  city's  defense 
against  Yudenitch,  and  whose  energetic 
measures  led  to  the  final  driving  back 
of  the  Yudenitch  forces  below  Yamburg, 
was  brought  out  in  a  Moscow  wireless 
of  Oct.  18  which  reported  Trotzky's  views 
on  the  Baltic  situation  in  the  following 
terms: 

A  pack  of  bourgeois  curs  is  worrying  the  . 
boi'l.  of  Soviet  Russia  on  all  sides.  Polish 
Knights  are  gnashing  their  teeth.  The 
German  General  von  der  Goltz,  under  in- 
structions by  the  Stock  Exchange  and  the 
off-seourlngs  of  all  lands,  is  seizing  the 
Baltic  country  with  the  help  of  monarchist 
hands  in  order  to  attack  Moscow  from 
there. 

In  the  northwest,  the  blood-drunken 
trio,  Yudenitch.  Balakovitch  and  Rodzl- 
anko,  are  advancing  on  Petrograd.  The 
Esthonian  peace  negotiations  served  as 
a  means  to  lull  the  Red  Petrograd  troops 
and  as  a  soporific. 

The  army  defending  the  approaches  to 
Petrograd  failed  to  withstand  the  first 
blow,  and  danger  has  again  come  to 
Petrograd.  The  English  and  French  radio 
stations  announce  with  Joy  the  fact  of 
our  failures  on  the  road  to  Petrograd. 
The  Stock  Exchange  and  the  press  of 
the  whole  world  are  sharing  the  Joy  and 
predicting  the  speedy  fall  of  Petrograd. 
But  they  are  wrong  this  time.  Petrograd 
will  not  fail.  It  will  stand.  We  shall 
not   surrender    Petrograd. 

For  the  defense  of  the  first  town  of 
the  proletarian  revolutions  sufficient 
strength  will  be  found  in  the  peasants 
and  the  workers  of  the  land.  Yudenitch's 
successes  are  those  of  a  cavalry  raid. 
Troops  are  being  sent  to  the  assistance  of  . 
Petrograd  and  the  Petrograd  workers  who 
rose  first  of  all.  We  must  break  the 
skulls  of  Yudenitch's  bands  and  the 
Anglo-French   Imperialists. 

Other  proclamations  issued  by  Trotzky 
and  addressed  to  the  Red  Army  attacked 
the  English  bitterly,  and  called  on  the 
Red  troops  to  harry  the  forces  af 
Yudenitch    unceasingly.      Observers    in 


-,0-2 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Petrograd  ,  at  this  time  described  the 
situation  of  the  former  capital  as  tragic ; 
many  people  both  in  this  city  and  Mos- 
cow were  perishing  of  cold  and  hunger. 
On  Oct.  22  Tchitcherin  notified  the  Ger- 
man Government  that  participation  by 
Germany  in  the  proposed  interallied 
blockade  of  Soviet  Russia  would  be  re- 
garded as  a  deliberate  act  of  hostility. 
Strong  opposition  to  Germany's  joining 
the  blockade  was  expressed  by  the  Berlin 
press. 

Despite  the  beating  back  of  the  Yude- 
nitch  offensive,  and  the  favorable  posi- 
tion of  the  Red  Army  on  other  fronts,  the 
Soviet  authorities  still  maintained  their 
readiness  to  make  peace  with  the  allied 
nations — on  Lenin's  terms.  On  Nov.  6 
The  Daily  Herald,  the  London  labor 
organ,  published  a  draft  of  the  Bolshe- 
vist peace  conditions;  they  had  been 
brought  from  Moscow  by  Lieut.  Col. 
Lcstrange  Malone,  Liberal  member  of 
Parliament,  who  had  interviewed  both 
Lenin  and  Trotzky. 

These  terms  briefly  were  a  peace  con- 
ference in  a  neutral  country,  an  armi- 
stice on  all  fronts,  the  removal  of  the 
blockade,  the  re-establishment  of  free 
communication  over  all  parts  of  Russia 
and  Finland,  the  withdrawal  of  all  allied 
troops  from  Russia,  and  the  discon- 
tinuance Of  all  aid  to  Soviet  Russia's 
enemies.  The  former  debts  of  the  Rus- 
sian Empire  were  to  be  accepted.  The 
draft  concluded  with  an  implied  threat 
to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  Germany 
in  case  the  Entente  rejected  the  Soviet 
terms. 

Similar  offers  were  made  in  public 
statements  attributed  to  Tchitcherin  and 
Lenin  at  this  time.  As  far  as  Germany 
was  concerned,  Herr  Muller,  German 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  declared 
before  the  National  Assembly  on  Oct.  24 
that  so  long  as  the  Bolsheviki  were  inter- 
fering in  Germany's  internal  affairs  and 
preaching  world  revolution  any  agree- 
ment with  Soviet  Russia  would  be  im- 
possible. The  ex-Danish  Consul  General 
at  Moscow,  Baron  Haxthausen,  declared 
in  Paris  on  Oct.  23  that  the  program  of 
the  Bolshevist  Government,  as  given  to 
him"  in  full  by  Karl  Radek,  Lenin's  right- 
hand  man,  was  based  wholly  on  the  over- 
throw of  all  existing  "  capitalistic  "  Gov- 


ernments. For  this  and  other  reasons, 
Great  Britain,  France  and  the  United 
States  refuse- 1  to  take  the  Soviet  offers 
of  peace  at  then  face  value. 

AMERICA'S    BLOCKADE 

In  specific  application  to  the  United 
States,  Assistant  Secretary  Phillips,  in  a 
letter  made  public  on  Nov.  4  at  the  State 
Department  in  Washington,  in  explain- 
ing the  reas.ms-  why  the  United  States 
had  not  formally  joined  in  the  blockade 
against  Soviet  Russia,  said  that  the 
American  policy  of  non-intercourse  was 
based  on  the  following  considerations: 

(1)  It  was  the  declared  purpose  of  the 
Bolsheviki  of  Russia  to  carry  revolution 
throughout  the  world,  and  they  had 
availed  themselves  of  every  opportunity 
to  conduct  propaganda  in  the  United 
States  aimed  to  bring  about  the  forcible 
overthrow  of  the  American  form  of  gov- 
ernment. 

(2)  The  opening  of  commercial  rela- 
tions would  mean  the  bringing  into  the 
United  States  of  large  supplies  of  gold, 
some  of  it  the  expropriated  property  of 
the  Rumanian  Government,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  on  this  anarchistic  prop- 
aganda. 

(3)  By  the  nationalization  scheme  of 
the  Bolshevist  authorities  a  program  of 
political  oppression  was  being  maintained 
in  the  apportionment  of  food  supplies 
among  the  various  classes,  and  it  was 
inadmissible  that  American  food  should 
be  sent  for  the  perpetuation  of  such  a 
system.  If  food  could  be  sent  without 
concurring  in  this  system,  the  United 
States  would  consider  it.  Far-reaching 
measures  had  been  taken  for  the  relief 
of  all  peoples  in  areas  freed  from  Bolshe- 
vist control.  The  American  Relief  Com- 
mission had  sent  food  stores  to  Viborg 
sufficient  to  support  Petrograd  for  a 
month,  and  they  would  be  delivered  when- 
ever that  city  came  under  the  control  of 
authorities  with  whom  it  was  possible  to 
deal. 

On  Nov.  13  Premier  Lloyd  George  an- 
nounced in  the  House  of  Commons  that 
he  proposed  to  call  at  an  early  date  an 
international  conference  at  which  the 
Ministers  of  the  allied  powers  might  con- 
sider, among  other  questions  left  un- 
settled, the  vexing  problem  of  Russia. 


Yudenitch  and  Northwestern  Russia 

Plans    of   New    Government 


[See   Portrait.   Page  440] 


GENERAL  NICHOLAS  YUDE- 
NITCH, whose  offensive  against 
the  Bolsheviki  brought  him  within 
a  few  miles  of  Petrograd  in  October,  1919, 
first  came  into  prominence  in  1914  as  a 
military  commander  of  note.  A  graduate 
of  the  Military  School  of  Moscow  and  the 
Military  Academy  of  Petrograd,  he  had 
seen  considerable  service  in  Turkestan, 
and  was  made  a  Colonel  at  the  age  of 
33.  He  was  subsequently  made  a  Major 
General  for  his  record  in  the  Russo-Jap- 
anese war,  in  the  course  of  which  he  had 
been  severely  wounded,  and  five  years 
later  received  the  epaulets  of  a  Lieuten- 
ant General  and  the  appointment  of 
Chief  of  Staff  in  the  Caucasus.  It  was 
in  this  region  that  he  first  came  into  the 
limelight.  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  had 
been  removed  by  the  Czar  from  his  com- 
mand as  head  of  the  Western  front,  and 
transferred  to  the  Caucasus,  where  the 
Turks  were  active.  When  Turkey  en- 
tered the  war,  at  the  close  of  1914,  her 
plan  of  campaign  included  a  swift  in- 
vasion of  the  Russian  Caucasus,  with  a 
drive  toward  Tiflis,  its  capital.  The 
battles  of  Sarikamysis  and  Ardahan,  and 
above  all  of  Erzerum,  where  Yudenitch 
led  the  troops  of  the  Czar,  broke  up  this 
movement  of  invasion  and  put  the  Turks 
on  the  defensive. 

In  the  four  years  following,  during 
which  the  Russian  Revolution  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Bolshevist  regime 
occurred,  little  was  heard  of  Yudenitch. 
But  about  a  year  ago  it  became  known 
that  he,  with  a  small  group  of  Russian 
officers,  had  organized  a  force  of  23,000 
men  under  the  name  of  the  Northwestern 
Volunteer  Army,  to  fight  against  the 
Bolsheviki  on  the  Petrograd  front.  It 
was  stated  at  this  time  that  he  was  act- 
ing in  co-operation  with  the  Finnish  Gen- 
eral, Mannerheim,  now  Premier  of  Fin- 
land. His  first  operations  against  the 
former  capital  were  cautious,  but  as  suc- 
cess met  his  attempts  he  became  more 
aggressive,  and  eventually  became  a  men- 


ace to  the  rule  of  Lenin  and  Trotzky. 
In  August,  1919,  in  co-operation  with 
Finnish  forces,  he  advanced  toward 
Petrograd  along  three  lines  in  an  offen- 
sive which  met  with  considerable  suc- 
cess, but  desperate  resistance  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki checked  this  movement. 

NORTHWESTERN  GOVERNMENT 

Soon  after  the  failure  of  this  offensive, 
however,  a  new  anti-Bolshevist  Govern- 
ment was  formed  under  the  name  of  the 
Northwestern  Government,  with  its  seat 
in  the  Esthonian  city  of  Reval.  In  the 
Cabinet  formed,  which  fused  all  factions 
opposed  to  Bolshevism,  General  Yude- 
nitch was  given  the  position  of  Minister 
of  War.  The  full  list  of  the  appointed 
members  of  ■  this  new  Government  is 
given  herewith: 

Chairman  of  the  Council  of  Ministers 
and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and 
Finances— C.  G.  LIANOZOV,  (Constitu- 
tional-Democrat. ) 

Minister  of  the  Interior— K.  A.  AL.EX- 
ANDROV,    (Constitutional-Democrat. ) 

Minister  of  War  —  General  N.  N. 
YUDENITCH.   (Non-Partisan.) 

Minister  of  Industry  and  Commerce, 
of  Provisions  and  of  Health  —  M.  S. 
MARGUL1ES,    (Radical.) 

Minister  of  Justice  —  E.  I.  KEDRIN, 
(Constitutional-Democrat.) 

Minister  of  Food— F.  G.  EISHTNSKY. 
(Radical.) 

Minister  of  the  Navy  —  Vice  Admiral 
V.  K.  PILKIN,  (Non-Partisan.) 

Minister  of  Education  —  F.  A.  ERN. 
(Constitutional-Democrat. ) 

Minister  of  Public  Charities  —  A.  S. 
PIESHKOV,    (Socialist-Revolutionist.) 

State  Controller  —  V.  L.  GORN,  (So- 
cial-Democrat. ) 

Minister  of  Agriculture  —  P.  A.  ROG- 
DANOV.    (Socialist-Revolutionist.) 

Minister  of  Cults  —  I.  F.  EVSE1EV, 
(Labor  Group.) 

Minister  of  Postp  and  Telegraphs  — M. 
M.  PHILLIPEO,   (Non-Partisan.) 

Minister  of  Public  Works  —  N.  N. 
IVAX<  )Y,    (Constltutlonil-Democrat. ) 

The  Northwestern  Government  was 
subordinated  to  the  All-Russian  Govern- 
ment at  Omsk.  Its  official  program,  as 
issued  on  Aug.  24.  when  General   Yude- 


504 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


nitch  was  planning  his  new  campaign, 
was  as  follows: 

In  the  fratricidal  war  brought  about 
by  the  Bolsheviki.  Russia  is  perishing  in 
fire  and  blood.  The  young  and  strong  are 
perishing  in  vain  and  without  glory,  and 
the  old  and  weak  are  dying  out  from 
hunger  and  epidemics. 

Entire  cities  are  dying  out,  and  mills 
and  factories  are  deserted  and  at  a  stand- 
still. The  villages  are  but  to  the  torch, 
and  the  fruits  of  the  land  tillers'  labors 
are  destroyed  while  yet  in  the  fields ;  their 
live  stock  is  ruined  and  our  peasantry  is 
reduced  to  the  utmost  degree  of  desola- 
tion. Masses  of  refugees,  shelterless  and 
hungry,  are  wandering  in  the  forests  of 
our  native  land. 

Thus  is  Russia  perishing  under  the  heel 
of  the  Bolsheviki.  The  bottom  of  the 
dark  precipice  into  which  Russia  has  been 
hurled  is  already  in  sight.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  of 
Russia,  having  been  called  into  life  by  the 
necessity  of  the  immediate  and  decisive 
liberation  of  Russia  from  the  Bolshevist 
yoke,  is  formed  in  complete  harmony  with 
the  plenipotentiary  representatives  of  the 
allied  powers,  and  is  united  with  the  rest 
of  Russia  in  the  person  of  the  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive,  Admiral  Kolchak. 

It'  has  put  before  the  citizens  of  Rus- 
sia the  principles  which  it  accepts  as  the 
basis  of  its  impending  activities: 

(1)  A  firm  struggle  against  the  Bolshe- 
viki, as  Well  as  againBt  all  those  who 
aspire  to  re-establish  the  old  regime. 

(2)  The  equality  before  the  law  of  all 
the  citizens  of  the  Russian  State,  without 
distinction  of  race,  nationality,  and  re- 
ligion. 

(8)  All  the  citizens  of  liberated  Russia 
are  guaranteed  inviolability  of  person  and 
domicile,  freedom  of  the  press,  speech, 
association,   assembly,  and  strikes. 

(4)  The  All-Russian  authority  must  be 
recreated  on  the  ba/sls  of  the  rule  of  the 
people.  To  this  end,  immediately  upon  the 
liberation  of  our  motherland  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  Bolsheviki,  steps  must  be 
taken  for  the  summoning  of  a  new  All-, 
Russian  Constituent  Assembly  to  be 
elected  by  a  general,  direct,  equal,  and 
secret  vote. 

(5)  If  after  the  liberation  of  the  Petro- 
grad.  Pskov,  and  Novgorod  Provinces  gen- 
eral conditions  may  not  yet  warrant  the 
convocation  of  an  Ail-Russian  Constituent 
Assembly,  there  should  be  summoned,  for 
the  purpose  of  co-ordinating  conditions  of 
local  life,  a  Territorial  Popular  Assembly 
in  Petrograd,  elected  on  the  same  demo- 
cratic basis  by  the  population  of  the  lib- 
erated provinces. 

(6)  The  nationalities  inhabiting  the  va- 
rious territories  composing  the  united  and 
regenerated    Russia    are    to   decide   freely 


for  themselves  their  form  of  administra- 
tion, 

(T)  The  administration  of  the  Russian 
State  is  to  be  founded  on  principles  of 
wide  local  autonomy.  The  Zemstvos  and 
municipal  self-governments  are  to  be 
elected  upon  a  democratic  basis. 

(8)  The  land  problem  is  to  be  solved  in 
the  Constituent  Assembly,  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  the  toiling  agricultural 
population.  Until  its  solution  by  the  lat- 
ter body,  the  land  should  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  peasantry,  and  all  transac- 
tions and  alienations  of  lands  outside  of 
city  limits  are  prohibited,  except  in  cases 
of  extraordinary  importance  and  by  spe- 
cial permission  of  the  Government. 

(9)  The  labor  question  is  to  be  solved  on 
the  basis  of  the  eight-hour  day,  the  State 
control  of  industry,  and  the  full  protection 
of  labor  and  of  the  working  class. 

Citizens  of  long-sufferihg  Russia!  The 
Government  of  the  Northwestern  Prov- 
inces of  Russia,  having  undertaken  at  this 
critical  hour  of  our  struggle  for  liberation 
the  responsibility  for  the  present  and  the 
future  of  Russia,  calls  upon  you  for  a 
final  effort  and  for  final  sacrifices  In  the 
name  of  our  motherland,  our  freedom,  and 
our  happiness. 

TO  REPRESENT  ALL  CLASSES 

In  September,  1919,  on  the  eve  of 
the  decisive  movement  toward  Petrograd, 
the  Northwestern  Government  issued  the 
following  appeal  to  the  a 'my: 

Citizen-Soldiers ! 

The  newly  formed  Government  of  the 
Northwestern  Territory  is  making  this 
appeal  to  you,  brave  soldiers  of  our  army, 
the  sole  support  and  hope  of  mutilated 
and  bleeding  Russia. 

The  Bolsheviki,  as  may  be  expected 
from  them,  will  tell  you  that  ours  Is  a 
Government  of  capitalists  and  landown- 
ers or  of  "  social  traitors."  Place  no 
trust  in  them,  for  the  Bolsheviki  are  ly- 
ing and  deceiving  you,  and  they  are  only 
maintaining  themselves  by  chicanery  and 
lies  and  your  credulity. 

We  are  a  Government  not  of  capitalists 
and  the  landed  gentry.  Our  Government 
is  composed  of  men  in  public  life,  of  rep- 
resentatives of  all  clashes  and  of  all  the 
strata  of  the  population.  The  regime  of 
Czarism  is  as  hateful  to  Its  as  it  is  to 
you,  and  no  return  to  it  is  possible. 

We  shall  not  permit  that  the  peasants 
become  again  the  hired  help  upon  lands 
belonging  to  the  gentry.  The  land  be- 
longs to  those  who  toil  upon  it.  We  shall 
not  permit  that  capitalists,  manufactur- 
ers, and  industrials  re-establish  a  twelve- 
hour  working  day  in  mills,  shops,  and  fac- 
tories. The  eight-hour  day  must  be  pre- 
served. 

We  shall  not  permit  that  Russian  life 
be   again    placed    behind    a   Czar's    prison 


YU  DEN  ITCH  AND  NORTHWESTERN  RUSSIA 


505 


walls,  where  It  has  been  stunted  and 
stultified  during  many  centuries.  We 
shall  use  all  our  *e7iergles  and  apply  all 
'  our  efforts  to  the  end  that  the  people 
may  live  a  free,  peaceful  life :  that  they 
m;iy  freely  develop  and  make  use  of  their 
abilities;  that  they  may  enjoy  in  the  full- 
est measure  the  fruits  of  thelf  labors; 
that  our  people  may  dwell  in  happiness 
anil  comfort  which  they  so  Justly  de- 
serve. 

But  In  order  to  establish  this  new,  good 
life,  we  must  first  of  all  rid  our  coun- 
try of  the  Bolsheviki,  who  have  been 
plaguing  and  mutilating  our  unfortunate 
Russia  for  the  past  two  years.  Having 
usurped  power  by  force,  they  afe  leading 
oar  motherland  to  perdition.  They  prom- 
ised peace  to  a  people  weary  and  tired  of 
wni,  and  deceived  them;  they  Concluded 
peace  with  the  Germans,  and  are  now 
warring  against  their  own  fellow-Russians 
and  shedding  rivers  of  blood;  they  prom- 
ised bread  to  the  people  and  deceived 
them  again.  In  place  of  bread,  they  have 
created  in  Russia  a  famine  such  as  our 
motherland  had  not  known  in  the  thou- 
sand   years-  of   its   existence. 

The  Bolshevik!  have  turned  over  to  the 
peasants  the  estates  of  the  former  land- 
owners, but  they  have  confiscated  their 
crops,  both  from  their  former  allotments 
and  from  the  lands  that  had  belonged  to 
the  gentry,  leaving  for  the  peasants  only 
a  meagre  ration  of  twenty  pounds  per 
soul. 

They  are  promising  freedom  to  all,  but 
In  reality  they  are  filling  the  prisons  daily 
and  are  executing  hundreds  of  innocent 
people,  and,  without  consulting  the  will  of 
the  people,  are  issuing  decrees  more 
vicioi.s  in  their  nature  than  a  state  of 
total  lawlessness.  They  are  promising  a 
prosperous  life  to  every  one,   and,   mean- 


while, they  are  destroying  cities  and  are 
putting  villages  to  the  torch,  confiscating 
bread  from  the  peasants  and  fodder  from 
their   cattle. 

As  long  as  the  Bolsheviki  remain  in 
Russia  we  shall  have  neither  peace,  nor 
bread,   nor  freedom,   nor  laws. 

Only  the  army  can  save  Russia  from 
the  Bolsheviki.  We  know  that  you  are 
tired  of  campaigning  and  fighting:  we 
know  that  you  have  frequently  suffered 
from  hunger  artd  want,  that  you  have 
been  poorly  clad  and  shod  in  the  past, 
and  that  you  were  poorly  armed.  But 
now  all  this  is  ended.  We  have  supplies 
for  you  in  plenty,  and  soon  bread  as  well 
as  clothing  and  arms  will  be  distributed 
among   you. 

Make  your  greatest  efforts,  citizen- 
soldiers,  and  your  last  and  final  sacrifice 
at  this  hour.  March  bravely  to  fight  the 
enemies  of  the  people  and  of  freedom, 
and  fulfill  to  the  last  your  duty.  t'.:us 
winning  peace  and  happiness  for  your- 
selves and  for  our  unfortunate  mother- 
land. 

The  new  offensive  by  General  Yude- 
nitch  followed  soon  after  the  issue  of  thi.« 
proclamation.  Its  results  have  been  de- 
scribed in  the  November  issue  of  CUR- 
RENT History.  In  this  approach  to  the 
very  gates  of  Petrograd  General  Yude- 
nitch  was  nearer  than  ever  before  to  at- 
taining his  desire — the  capture  of  the 
Red  stronghold.  His  forces  were  inade- 
quate, however,  and  the  Bolsheviki,  by 
concentrating  large  masses  of  troops 
from  other  fronts,  kept  him  from  actual- 
ly entering  the  city,  and  early  in  Novem- 
ber had  driven  him  back  beyond  Gatchina. 


British  Aid  for  Northwest  Russia 


The  terms  of  an  agreement  between 
the  British  Government  and  the  North- 
western Government  of  Russia,  headed 
by  Stefan  Lianozov,  were  recently 
printed  in  La  Feuille,  a  Socialist  paper 
of  Geneva.  According  to  this  agreement, 
Great  Britain  agrees: 

1.  To  support  In  every  way  the  Lianoatov 
Government  in  its  struggles  against  the 
Bolsheviki  and  especially  In  its  efforts  to 
occupy    Petrograd. 

2.  To  supply  LianotOV  with  munitions  and 
mod.  rn  weapons  of  war.  such  as  tanks,  air- 
pl-i.'ics.    ^.-e. 

:{.  T°  exercise  pressure  upon  Germany  so 
it*  to  facilitate  recruiting  among  the  Russian 
prisoners   of    war    In    Germany. 

I  To  furnish  supplies  to  the  districts  suffer- 
ing from  the  effects  of  Bolshevist  rule. 


5.  To  grant  a  special  credit  of  1.000.000.000 
rubles,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  Bolshevist 
regime,  for  the  purchase  of  machinery  and 
raw  materials  for  the  restoration  of  Russian 
industry. 

The  Northwestern  Government  agrees : 

1.  To  recognize  all  Great  Britain's  special 
interests  in  the  Baltic  region. 

'2.  To  give  the  Baltic  countries  an  oppor- 
tunity  to  eXferrfM    self-determination. 

3.  To  declare  officially,  after  the  fall  of 
Petrograd,  its  disinterestedness  in  the  Per- 
sian  question. 

4.  To   recognize   all   the  debts  of   the   former 

'  !ov»  rnment. 

.">.    To    forbear   making    any    Important    pui- 
p  In  Germany  jo  long  as  deliver)  agre<  - 
n    nts    based    upon    the    credit    arrangenn  nl 
l  Ireat   Britain  exist. 


How  We  Made  the  October  Revolution 

By  LEON  TROTZKY 

[Bolshevist  Minister  or  War] 

(First  Installment) 

This  narrative  of  the  events  that  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Keren-sky  Govern- 
ment and  the  advent  of  the  Bolshevist  revolution  in*  Russia  is  the  official  Bolshevist 
version  of  thqse  events.  It  is  part  of  a  long  treatise  first  drafted  by  Leon  Trotzky 
in  the  intervals  between  the  sessions  of  the  Russo-Gennan  Peace  Conference  at 
Brest-Litovsk.  In  the  preface,  dated  Feb.  25,  1918,  the  object  of  the  work  is  de- 
clared to  be  "  to  acquaint  the  international  proletariat  with  the  causes,  the  develop- 
ment! and  the  significance  of  the  revolution  accomplished  in  Russia  in  October, 
ment,  and  the  significance  of  the  revolution  accomplished  at  Russia  in  October, 
1917/'  It  was  addressed  to  the  workers  of  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  and  all 
fiurope."  The  work  was  published  serially  in  French  at  Paris  in  the  Summer  of 
1919  by  the  Archives  de  la  Grande  Guerre,  from  which  the  essential  portions  are 
here  translated  for  CURRENT  History  and  presented  without  comment. 


THE  revolution  was  born  directly 
from  the  war,  and  the  war  be- 
came the  touchstone  of  all  the 
revolutionary  parties  and  en- 
ergies. The  intellectual  leaders  were 
"  against  the  war  "  ;  in  the  time  of  Czar- 
ism  many  of  them  were  considered  af- 
filiated with  the  left  wing  of  the  Inter- 
nationale and  were  Zimmerwaldians.  But 
scarcely  had  they  assumed  "  responsi- 
bilities "  when  their  whole  attitude 
changed. 

To  practice  the  policy  of  revolutionary 
socialism  was,  in  these  conditions,  to 
break  with  the  Russian  and  allied 
bourgeoisie.  But  the  intellectual  and 
semi-intellectual  lower  middle  class 
sought  to  cover  its  political  incapacity 
by  an  alliance  with  bourgeois  liberalism. 
Hence  the  pitiful  and  really  shameful 
role  played  by  the  leaders  of  the  lower 
middle  class  in  the  question  of  the  war. 
Sighs,  phrases,  exhortations  or  secret 
pleas  addressed  by  them  to  the  "  allied  " 
Governments  was  all  that  they  could 
mentally  devise;  but  f actively  they  con- 
tinued to  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
liberal  upper  bourgeoisie.  The  soldiers 
dying  in  the  trenches  could  evidently 
not  infer  that  the  war,  in  which  they 
had  fought  for  nearly  three  years,  had 
suddenly  taken  another  turn  through  the 
sole  fact  that  in  Petrograd  certain  new 
personalities,  calling  themselves  Revolu- 


tionary Socialists,  or  Mensheviki,  had  be- 
come a  part  of  the  Government. 

Milyukov  succeeded  the  official  Pro- 
krovsky,  and  Tereschenko  succeeded 
Milyukov;  that  is,  in  simple  words,  in- 
stead of  bureaucratic  disloyalty,  there 
was  first  the  militarist  imperialism  of  the 
Cadets,  and  then  the  absence  of  all  prin- 
ciple, and  political  "  complaisancy  "  ;  but 
there  were  no  objective  changes,  and  no 
real  issue  from  the  terrible  struggles  of 
war  was  shown. 

DISINTEGRATION  OF  THE  ARMY 

To  this,  precisely,  was  due  the  gradual 
disintegration  of  the  army.  The  agita- 
tors explained  to  the  soldiers  that  the 
Government  of  the  Czar  sent  them  with- 
out rhyme  or  reason  to  be  slaughtered 
like  so  many  cattle.  But  the  successors 
of  the  Czar  were  unable  in  any  way  to 
modify  the  character  of  the  war,  just 
as  they  were  unable  to  pave  the  way  for 
an  effort  to  obtain  peace.  In  the  first 
months  not  a  foot  of  advance  was  made, 
and  the  impatience  of  the  army,  as  well 
as  of  the  allied  Governments,  was  caused 
thereby.  This  led  to  the  offensive  of 
June  18,  [1917.]  The  Allies  insisted  on 
the  offensive,  presenting  at  the  cashier's 
window,  so  to  speak,  old  letters  of  ox- 
change  received  from  the  Government  of 
the  Czar. 

The  leaders  of  the  petite  boui    m  i-rieY- 


HOW   WE  MADE   THE  OCTOBER  HE\OLUTI(>\ 


hnt 


intimidated  by  their  own  impotence  and 
the  growing  impatience  of  the  masses, 
yielded  to  this  demand.  They  began 
really  to  imagine  that  only  a  push  by 
the  Russian  Army  was  needed  to  bring 
about  peace.  The  offensive  seemed  to 
them  to  be  the  only  way  to  escape  from 
their  difficulties,  the  solution  of  the 
problem;  in  short,  salvation. 

No  more  monstrous  and  criminal  error 
could  be  conceived.  At  that  time  they 
spoke  of  the  offensive  as  they  did  in  the 
first  days  and  the  first  weeks  of  the 
war;  the  patriotic  Socialists  spoke  of  the 
necessity  of  defending  "  the  country,"  of 
inner  peace,  of  the  "holy  union,"  &c. 
All  their  Zimmerwaldian  and  interna- 
tionalist enthusiasm  appeared  to  have 
been  swept  away. 

We,  who  combated  them  uncompro- 
misingly, were  well  aware  that  the  of- 
fensive might  prove  a  frightful  peril, 
and  might  even  bring  about  the  end  of 
the  revolution.  We  pointed  out  that 
they  should  not  send  into  battle  an  army 
which  had,  as  it  were,  just  awakened  to 
consciousness,  and  which  had  been 
shaken  by  the  force  of  events  whose  im- 
port it  still  did  not  understand,  without 
previously  giving  it  new  ideas  which  it 
might  consider  as  its  own.  We  resorted 
to  exhortation,  demonstration,  threat. 
But  as  there  was  no  other  possible  solu- 
tion for  the  factions  in  control,  who  in 
their  turn  were  allied  with  the  Russian 
and  the  allied  bourgeoisie,  they  showed 
us  only  a  hostile  attitude  and  an  im- 
placable hatred. 

CAMPAIGN    AGAINST    BOLSHEVIK! 

The  historian  of  the  future  will  not 
read  without  emotion  the  Russian  papers 
of  May  and  June,  1917,  period  of  the 
moral  preparation  of  the  offensive.  The 
articles  of  the  official  and  Governmental 
organs,  almost  without  exception,  were 
directed  against  the  Bolsheviki.  There 
was  no  accusation,  no  calumny  which 
was  not  "  mobilized  "  against  us  at  this 
period.  In  this  campaign  the  principal 
part,  as  was  only  to  be  expected,  was 
played  by  the  Cadets.  Their  class  in- 
stinct told  them  that  not  merely  the  of- 
fensive, but  all  the  subsequent  develop- 
ments of  the   revolution,   and   even   the 


whole  future  of  the  State,  were  involved 
in  this  offensive. 

The  bourgeois  machinery  of  so-called 
"  public  opinion  "  was  then  revealed  in 
all  its  workings.  Divers  organs,  divers 
authorities,  publications,  platforms,  and 
pulpits,  all  were  used  to  bring  about  the 
common  objective:  to  make  the  Bolshe- 
viki, as  a  political  party,  impossible.  The 
tenseness  and  dramatic  qualities  of  the 
press  campaign  directed  against  the  Bol- 
sheviki, all  ready  before  the  appointed 
hour  had  come,  foreshadowed  the  civil 
war  which  was  destined  to  break  out  in 
the  following  revolutionary  phase. 

This  campaign  of  hatred  and  calumny 
was  intended  to  excite  the  working 
masses  against  "  cultivated  society  "  and 
to  divide  the  two  radically  by  erecting 
between  them  a  water-tight  compart- 
ment. The  liberal  upper  class  under- 
stood that  it  could  not  succeed  in  placat- 
ing the  masses  without  the  intervention 
and  assistance  of  the  democratic  lower 
middle  class,  who  held  provisionally  the 
directing  power  of  the  revolutionary  or- 
ganizations. The  political  hue  and  cry 
against  the  Bolsheviki  ha*d,  then,  as  its 
immediate  object,  the  stirring  up  of  re- 
lentless hostility  between  our  party  and 
the  deep-lying  strata  of  "  intellectual 
socialism,"  which,  once  isolated  from  the 
proletariat,  would  be  bound  to  fall  into 
subjection  to  the  liberal  upper  class. 

It  was  at  the  time  of  the  first  Con- 
gress of  the  Soviets  of  all  Russia  that 
the  first  muffled  roar  of  thunder  was 
heard  presaging  the  terrible  events  which 
were  about  to  occur.  Our  party  had 
planned  for  the  10th  of  June  an  armed 
demonstration  in  the  streets  of  Petro- 
grad.  The  object  of  this  demonstration 
was  to  act  directly  on  the  Congress  of 
the  Soviets  of  all  Russia.  "  Seize  the 
power!  "  the  workmen  of  Petrograd  said 
thereby  to  the  social  revolutionaries  and 
the  Mensheviki,  who  had  come  from  all 
the  comers  of  the  earth:  "Break  with 
the  bourgeoisie,  renounce  coalition  with 
it,  and  seize  the  power!  " 

AN  ABORTIVE  DEMONSTRATION 

It  was  manifest  to  us  that  a  rupture 
of  the  Social  Revolutionaries  and  the 
Mensheviki  with  the  liberal  upper  bour- 


508 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


geoisie  would  force  the  former  to  seek 
support  in  the  most  advanced  ranks  of 
the  proletariat,  and  that  they  would  thus 
assure  themselves  a  preponderance  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  upper  bour- 
geoisie. But  it  was  precisely  this  proba- 
bility that  frightened  the  leaders  of  the 
latter.  When  they  learned  the  plan  for 
a  demonstration,  they  launched,  in  com- 
mon with  the  Government,  in  which  they 
had  representatives,  and  with  the  liberal 
and  counter-revolutionary  bourgeoisie,  a 
veritably  insane  campaign  against  the 
demonstration. 

All  the  trumps  were  played.  We  had 
at  this  time  in  the  Congress  only  an  in- 
significant minority,  and  we  were  obliged 
to  retreat.  The  demonstration  did  not 
occur.  But  this  abortive  demonstration 
left  deep  traces  in  the  consciousness  of 
the  two  parties;  it  accentuated  contrasts, 
and  embittered  hostilities.  At  a  special 
session  of  the  presiding  officers  of  the 
Congress,  at  which  the  representatives 
of  our  group  were  present,  M.  Tseretelli, 
who  was  then  Minister  in  the  Coalition 
Government,  declared,  with  all  the  uncom- 
promising dogmatism  of  the  doctrinary 
petit  bourgeois  of  limited  horizon,  that 
the  only  danger  threatening  the  revolu- 
tion came  from  the  Bolsheviki  and  from 
the  Petrograd  proletariat  armed  by  them. 
He  concluded  that  men  "  who  did  not 
know  how  to  use  arms  "  should  be  dis- 
armed. This  applied  to  the  workmen 
and  to  members  of  the  Petrograd  garri- 
son who  had  joined  our  party.  This  dis- 
armament, however,  did  not  take  place, 
for  the  political  and  psychological  con- 
ditions which  would  justify  the  carrying 
out  of  such  a  radical  measure  were  not 
at  hand. 

In  order  to  offset  the  effect  of  the 
failure  of  the  demonstration  on  the 
masses,  the  Congress  of  Soviets  an- 
nounced a  general  demonstration,  with- 
out arms,  for  June  18.  That  day  was  a 
day  of  triumph  for  our  party.  The 
masses  marched  through  the  streets  in 
solid  columns,  and  though,  inversely  to 
what  had  taken  place  in  our  demonstra- 
tion project  for  June  10,  they  had  been 
called  out  by  the  official  power  of  the 
Soviets,  the  workmen  had  inscribed  on 
their   f]ags   and   standards   the   rallying 


cries  of  our  party:  "  Down  with  Secret 
Treaties!"  "Down  with  the  Policy  of 
an  Offensive!  "  "  Hurrah  for  an  Honor- 
able Peace!  "  "All  Governmental  Power 
for  the  Soviets!  " 

Only  three  signs  expressed  confidence 
in  the  Coalition  Ministry,  those  borne  by 
the  Cossack  regiment,  the  Plekhanov 
group,  and  the  Petrograd  section  of  the 
Jewish  "  League,"  which  comprised  ele- 
ments alien  to  the  proletariat. 

This  demonstration  proved  not  only  to 
our  enemies,  but  also  to  ourselves,  that 
we  were  much  stronger  in  Petrograd  than 
we  had  supposed. 

OFFENSIVE   OF   JUNE    1 8 

Following  this  demonstration  of  the 
revolutionary  masses,  a  Governmental 
crisis  seemed  absolutely  inevitable.  But 
news  from  the  front  that  the  revolution- 
ary army  had  taken  the  offensive  effaced 
the  impression  of  the  demonstration. 
The  very  day  that  the  proletariat  and 
the  Petrograd  garrison  demanded  publi- 
cation of  the  secret  documents,  as  well 
as  categorical  offers  of  peace,  Kerensky 
launched  the  revolutionary  army  into  the 
offensive. 

This  was  not  purely  a  gratuitous  coin- 
cidence. The  engineers  of  the  political 
backstage  had  already  prepared  every- 
thing in  advance,  and  the  time  of  the 
offensive  had  been  determined  not  on 
military  but  on  political  grounds. 

On  June  19  the  so-called  patriotic  man- 
ifestation occurred  in  the  streets  of  Pe- 
trograd. The  Nevsky  Prospekt — the  prin- 
cipal artery  of  bourgeois  circulation — 
was  filled  with  animated  groups, 
among  whom  were  officers,  journalists, 
and  elegant  ladies,  all  agitating  against 
the  Bolsheviki.  The  first  news  regarding 
the  offensive  had  been  favorable.  The 
liberal  press  asserted  that  the  main  ob- 
ject was  attained;  that  the  attack  of 
June  18,  whatever  its  subsequent  mili- 
tary effects  might  be,  was  a  deadly  blow 
at  the  revolution,  for  it  would  re-estab- 
lish in  the  army  the  old  system  of  dis- 
cipline, and  would  assure  to  the  liberal 
upper  middle  class  the  domination  of  the 
State. 

We  had  predicted  otherwise.  In  a  spe- 
cial  statement   which   we  had  presented 


HOW   WE  MADE  THE  OCTOBER  REVOLUTION 


•i   -!l 


to  the  first  Soviet  Congress  a  few  days 
before  the  June  offensive  we  said  that 
this  offensive  would  destroy  the  inner 
unity  of  the  army,  would  bring  its  dif- 
ferent branches  into  opposition,  and 
would  give  a  great  preponderance  to  the 
counter-revolutionaries,  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  discipline  in  an  army  in  a  pro- 
gressive state  of  demoralization  and 
without  any  new  moral  principle  to  sup- 
port it  would  lead  to  bitter  reprisals. 

In  other  words,  we  predicted  in  this 
statement  the  consequences  which  were 
fulfilled  later  on  under  the  general  name 
of  the  Kornilov  affair.  We  pointed  out 
that  in  every  case  the  revolution  was 
threatened  by  the  greatest  danger, 
whether  the  offensive  succeeded,  which 
we  doubted,  or  whether  it  failed,  which 
seemed  to  us  almost  inevitable.  The  sec- 
ond theory  proved  to  be  the  correct  one. 
The  news  of  victory  did  not  last  long. 
Instead  came  the  announcement  of  sad 
events,  such  as  the  refusal  of  numerous 
army  corps  to  support  the  attacking  units, 
and  the  killing  of  officers,  who,  in  some 
instances,  were  the  only  attackers. 

Military  events  were  also  complicated 
by  the  ever-increasing  difficulties  in  the 
inner  life  of  the  country.  In  respect  to 
the  agrarian  question,  industrial  organi- 
zation, and  national  harvests,  the  Coali- 
tion Government  made  absolutely  no 
progress.  The  question  of  food  and  trans- 
port became  increasingly  difficult  and 
local  conflicts  became  more  frequent 
every  day. 

THE  GOVERNMENT  HESITATES 

The  Socialist  Ministers  asked  the 
masses  to  wait.  All  urgent  decisions  and 
measures,  notably  the  question  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly,  were  deferred. 
The  irresolution  of  the  Government  was 
obvious.  There  were  only  two  possible 
solutions — either  the  bourgeoisie  must  be 
expelled  from  power  and  the  revolution 
must  go  on,  or  else,  by  severe  reprisals, 
the  popular  masses  must  be  muzzled. 
Kerensky  and  Tseretelli  backed  and  filled 
between  these  two  extremes  and  only 
confused  the  situation  more. 

When  the  Cadets,  who  were  the 
shrewdest  and  most  penetrating  members 
of  the  Coalition  Government,  saw  that 


the  failure  of  the  offensive  of  June  might 
deal  a  fatal  blow,  not  only  to  the  revolu- 
tion, but  also  to  the  directing  parties, 
they  hastened  to  withdraw,  throwing  as 
they  did  so  all  responsibilities  on  the 
shoulders  of  their  associates  of  the  Left. 

On  July  2  occurred  the  Ministerial 
crisis,  the  direct  cause  of  which  was  the 
question  of  the  Ukraine.  From  all  point* 
of  view  this  was  a  moment  of  extreme  po- 
litical tension.  From  different  parts  of 
the  front  thronged  delegations  and 
isolated  representatives  to  describe  the 
chaos  which  reigned  in  the  army  follow- 
ing the  offensive.  The  "  Governmental  " 
press  demanded  stern  reprisals.  Similar 
demands  became  more  and  more  frequent 
in  the  columns  of  the  "  Socialist  "  press. 

Kerensky  drew  nearer,  or  rather  pub- 
licly nearer,  to  the  Cadet  Party  and  the 
Cadet  generals,  and  he  showed  publicly 
not  only  all  the  hatred  which  he  had  for 
the  Bolsheviki,  but  also  his  aversion  for 
all  revolutionary  parties  in  general. 
Meanwhile  the  Entente  diplomats  exerted 
pressure  on  the  Government,  and  de- 
manded the  re-establishment  of  discipline 
and  the  continuation  of  the  offensive.  In 
Governmental  circles  the  greatest  heed- 
lessness prevailed.  In  the  breast  of 
the  working  masses  an  accumulation  of 
angfer  awaited  impatiently  the  moment  of 
explosion.     *    *    * 

THE  COALITION  DISSOLVED 

I  remember  the  meeting  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  July  2.  The  Socialist 
Ministers  had  come  to  report  on  the  new 
Governmental  crisis.  *  *  *  The  spokes- 
man was  Tseretelli.  He  explained  at 
length  to  the  Executive  Committee  that 
the  concessions  which  he  and  Terest- 
chenko  had  made  to  the  Kiev  Rada  were 
far  from  signifying  the  dismemberment 
of  Russia,  and  were  consequently  not  a 
sufficient  motive  for  the  Cadets'  with- 
drawal from  the  Cabinet.  Tseretelli  re- 
proached the  Cadet  leaders  with  their 
centralizing  doctrinarianism,  their  in- 
ability to  grasp  the  necessity  of  a  com- 
promise with  the  Ukraine,  &c. 

From  all  the  previous  experiences  of 
the  coalition  only  one  issue  seemed  pos- 
sible— to  break  with  the  Cadets  and  to 
constitute    a    Soviet    Government.    The 


ill) 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT    HISTORY 


equilibrium  of  forces  in  the  Soviets  was 
then  such  that  the  Government  of  the 
Soviets,  from  the  point  of  view  of  party 
policy,  would  have  come  into  the  hands 
of  the  revolutionary  Socialists  and  the 
Mensheviki.  We  boldly  defended  this 
policy.  But  even  after  the  Minis- 
terial crisis  of  July  2  Tseretelli  and  his 
associates  did  not  renounce  their  idea  of 
the  "  coalition."  They  declared  to  the 
Executive  Committee  that  though  the 
Cadet  leaders  were  infected  with  doc- 
trinarianism  \  and  even  with  counter- 
revolutionary tendencies,  there  were  in 
the  provinces  numerous  bourgeois  ele- 
ments which  could  still  act  harmoniously 
with  the  Revolutionary  Democracy,  and 
that  to  obtain  their  collaboration  repre- 
sentatives of  the  upper  bourgeoisie  must 
be  admitted  into  the  new  Government. 

The  announcement  that  the  coalition 
was  dissolved,  only  to  be  succeeded  by 
a  new  coalition,  spread  immediately 
through  Petrograd  and  aroused  a  storm 
of  indignation  in  the  workmen's  quarters. 
Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
events  of  July  3,  4,  and  5. 

THE  DAYS  OF  JULY 

The  Executive  Committee  of  All-Russia, 
created  by  the  July  Congress  and  sup- 
ported by  the  unprogressive  provinces, 
relegated  the  Petrograd  Soviet  further 
and  further  to  the  background,  and  even 
seized  control  of  affairs  in  Petrograd.  A 
conflict  was  inevitable.  The  workmen 
and  soldiers  expi-essed  violent  dissatis- 
faction with  the  official  policy  of  the 
Soviets  and  demanded  more  energetic 
action  on  our  part.  The  position 
of  our  party  in  relation  to  the  move- 
ment of  July  3,  4,  and  5  was  clearly 
drawn.  The  agitators  of  the  party,  dis- 
tributed through  the  lower  strata  of  the 
population,  went  with  the  mass  and 
fomented  an  agitation  based  on  no  half 
measures. 

The  Central  Executive  Committee  was 
in  session  at  the  Tauride  Palace  when 
the  palace  was  invested  by  tumultuous 
bands  of  workmen  and  soldiers  bearing 
arms.  These  elements  (including  anarch- 
ists, "  Black  Hundreds,"  and  paid  agents) 
demanded  the  arrest  of  Tschernov  and 
Tseretelli,  the  dispersal  of  the  Executive 


Committee,  &c.  They  even  tried  to  seize 
Tschernov.  .The  bourgeois  press  repre- 
sented the  whole  movement  as  a  pog- 
romist  and  counter-revolutionary  us  well 
as  a  Bolshevist  exploit,  the  immediate 
object  of  which  was  to  seize  the  Govern- 
ment and  to  do  violence  to  the  Central 
Executive  Committee. 

All  the  strategy  of  Tseretelli,  Tscher- 
nov, and  others  on  July  3  was  to  try  to 
gain  time  and  thus  give  Kerensky  the 
possibility  to  bring  "  safe "  troops  to 
Petrograd.  In  the  hall  of  the  Tauride 
Palace,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  large 
'crowd  of  armed  people,  deputation  after 
deputation  arrived,  demanding  an  im- 
mediate break  with  the  upper  bourgeoisie, 
absolute  social  reforms,  and  the  opening 
of  overtures  of  peace.  We,  the  Be  he- 
viki,  received  each  new  detachment  in 
the  street  or  in  the  courtyard,  and  ex- 
horted them  to  be  calm,  expressing  our 
certainty  that  in  view  of  the  attitude  of 
the  masses  the  party  of  the  Centre  would 
not  succeed  in  forming  a  new  Coalition 
Government.  The  most  excited  were  the 
militant  ones  who  had  come  from  Kron- 
stadt,  and  we  had  great  difficulty  in 
keeping  them  in  bounds. 

On  July  4  the  demonstration  assumed 
even  greater  proportions,  already  under 
the  immediate  direction  of  our  party 
The  Soviet  leaders  were  lacking  in  de- 
cision, their  words  were  evasive;  the  re- 
plies that  "  Ulysses  "  Tseretelli  made 
the  delegations  were  void  of  any  politi- 
cal import.  It  was  clear  that  all  the 
official  leaders  were  in  a  state  of  ex- 
pectation. 

On  the  night  of  the  4th  the  first 
"  safe  "  troops  arrived  from  the  front. 
During  the  session  of  the  Executive 
Committee  there  resounded  from  within 
the  walls  of  the  palace  the  strains  of  a 
brass  band  playing  the  "  Marseillaise." 
The  faces  of  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee were  immediately  transformed. 
The  self-assurance  which  they  had  lost 
during  the  last  few  days  returned  to 
them.  It  was  the  Volhynian  regiment 
which  was  entering  the  Tauride  Palace, 
the  same  regiment  which,  a  few  months 
later,  marched  under  our  flags  in  the 
vanguard  of  the  October  revolution. 
'This     event    changed     the    aspect     of 


HOW   WE  MADE  THE  OCTOBL'J!  REVOLVTIOh 


everything.  The  Executive  Committee 
threw  off  all  restraint  in  replying  to  the 
delegations  of  workmen  and  soldiers  and 
to  the  representatives  of  the  Baltic  fleet. 
From  the  balcony  of  the  committee  came 
words  referring  to  armed  rioting,  which 
"  troops  faithful  to  the  Government " 
had  just  repressed.  The  Bolsheviki  were 
dec'ared  a  counter-revolutionary  party. 
The  anguish  of  the  upper  bourgeoisie 
during  the  last  two  days  of  armed  dem- 
onstration now  gave  way  to  an  intense 
haired,  not  only  in  the  columns  of  the 
papers,  but  also  in  the  streets  of  Petro- 
grad,  and  especially  on  the  Nevsky  Pros- 
pekt,  where  the  workmen  and  soldiers 
who  were  arrested  in  the  act  of  "  crimi- 
nal agitation  "  received  a  f xnghtful  beat- 
ing. Ensigns,  officers,  shock  troops, 
Knights  of  St.  George,  remained  the 
masters  of  the  situation.  At  their  head 
stood  the  uncompromising  counter-revo- 
lutionaries. In  the  city  the  offensive 
against  the  labor  organizations  and  the 
institutions  of  our  party  was  pitilessly 
pursued.  Arrests,  domicile  visits,  bas- 
tonnades  and  assassinations  occurred  on 
every  hand. 

During  the  night  of  the  4th  the  Min- 
ister of  Justice,  M.  Pereverscv,  gave  out 
for  publication  "  documents  "  which  pur- 
ported to  show  that  the  leaders  of  the 
Bolshevist  Party  were  paid  German 
agents.  The  leaders  of  the  Socialist- 
Revolutionist  Party  and  of  the  Menshe- 
viki  had  known  us  too  long  and  too  in- 
timately to  believe  these  charges;  but 
they  were  too  much  interested  in  having 
them  believed  to  repudiate  them  openly. 
To  this  day  we  cannot  think  without  dis- 
gust of  those  orgies  of  falsehood  over- 
flowing the  pages  of  all  the  bourgeois 
and  moderate  press. 

Our  own  papers  were  stifled.  The 
Petrograd  revolutionists  felt  that  the 
province  and  the  army  were  far  from 
teing  in  their  favor.  In  the  workmen's 
quarters  there  was  a  short  period  of  dis- 
order. Repressive  measures  began  in  the 
garrison  against  disbanded  regiments, 
and  various  units  were  disarmed,  whi'e 
the  leaders  of  the  Soviet  "  manufac- 
tured "  a  new  Ministry,  including  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  landholding  bour- 
geois parties,  who  were  not  only  inca- 
pable of  supporting  the  Government  in 


any  way,  but  could  only  take  from  it  the 
last  iota  of  revolutionary  initiative. 

MILITARY   COLLAPSE 

And  at  the  front  events  merely  foU 
lowed  their  course.  The  organism  of 
the  army  was  shaken  through  and 
through.  The  soldiers  had  convinced 
themselves  that  the  majority  of  the  of- 
ficers who  at  the  beginning  of  the  revo- 
lution, with  a  view  to  persona'  protec- 
tion, had  displayed  the  red  cockade  were 
hostile  to  the  new  regime.  At  the  main 
headquarters  counter-revolutionary  ele- 
ments were  openly  chosen.  The  Bolshe- 
vist publications,  meanwhile,  were  re- 
lentless'y  pursued. 

The  offensive  was  soon  transformed 
into  a  tragic  retreat.  The  bourgeois 
press  overflowed  in  furious  calumnies 
against  the  army;  and,  though  on  the 
eve  of  the  offensive,  the  directing  par- 
ties had  told  us  that  we  were  a  complete- 
ly negligible  quantity,  that  the  army 
knew  nothing  about  us,  and  wanted  to 
know  nothing  about  us,  now,  that  the 
opening  of  the  offensive  had  come  to 
such  a  tragic  end,  these  same  individuals 
and  parties  sought  to  throw  all  the  re- 
sponsibility for  this  failure  upon  our 
shoulders. 

The  prisons  were  packed  with  work- 
men and  soldier  revolutionists.  The 
Magistrates  of  the  former  courts  of  the 
Czaristic  period  were  charged  to  investi- 
gate the  events  of  July  3,  4  and  5.  It 
was  under  these  conditions  that  the  So- 
cialist-Revolutionist Party  and  the  Men- 
sheviki  invited  Lenin,  Zinoviev  and  our 
other  comrades  to  fiiva  themselves  up 
voluntarily  into  the  hands  of  "Justice." 

AFTER  THE   DAYS  OF  JULY 

The  period  of  disorder  in  the  work- 
men's quarter  lasted  but  a  short  time, 
and  was  succeeded  by  great  revolution- 
ary activity,  not  on'y  among  the  prole- 
tariat, but  also  in  the  Petrograd  garri- 
son. The  moderates  lost  all  influence, 
the  stream  of  Bolshevism  began  to  over- 
flow from  the  urban  centres  over  the 
whole  country,  and,  overcoming  all  ob- 
stacles, invaded  the  army. 

The  new  Coalition  Government,  head- 
ed by  Kerensky,  openly  began  reprisals. 
The  Ministry  re-established  the  penalty 


51« 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


of  death  for  offenses  committed  by  sol- 
diers. Our  papers  were  stifled  and  our 
agitators  imprisoned,  but  this  only 
strengthened  our  influence,  Despite  all 
the  impediments  put  in  the  way  of  re- 
election to  the  Soviet  of  Petrograd,  the 
balance  of  forces  had  been  so  shifted 
that  in  some  important  questions  we  al- 
ready had  a  majority.  It  was  the  same 
with  the  Moscow  Soviet. 

At  this  time  I,  myself,  together  with 
many  other  comrades,  was  detained  in 
the  Kiesty  Prison  "  for  agitation  and  or- 
ganization of  armed  revolt  on  July  8,  4 
and  5,  at  the  instigation  of  the  German 
Government,  and  with  the  intention  of 
furthering  the  war  aims  of  the  Hohen- 
zollerns."  The  examining  Judge  of  the 
Czarist  regime,  Alexandrov,  who  was  no 
nonentity,  and  who  had  numerous  trials 
of  revolutionists  to  his  credit,  received 
instructions  to  defend  the  repub  ic 
against  the  counter-revolutionary  Bol- 
sheviki. 

•  Under  the  old  regime  political  and 
criminal  prisoners  were  distinguished. 
This  distinction  was  succeeded  by  a  new 
terminology:  the  common  law  criminals 
and  the  Bolsheviki. 

The  majority  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
been  arrested  were  perplexed.  They  were 
young  boys  from  the  country  who  had 
previously  known  nothing  about  politics, 
and  who  had  believed  that  the  revolution 
had  brought  them  freedom  once  and  for 
all.  But  now  they  were  amazed  to  find 
themselves  behind  bolted  doors  and 
grated  windows.  During  the  daily  exer- 
cise they  asked  me  each  time  with  great 
anxiety  what  it  all  means  and  how  it 
would  end.  I  consoled  them  by  assuring 
them  that  the  ultimate  victory  would  be 
for  us. 

THE  KORNILOV  AFFAIR 

[M.  Trotzky  at  this  point  takes  up  the 
Kornilov  affair  in  some  detail.  He  repre- 
sents it  as  an  attempt  of  the  bourgeois  class. 
Including  Kerensky  and  others,  to  give  the 
Bolshevist  revolutionary  elements  a  lesson, 
and  explains  Kornilov's  subsequent  abandon- 
ment as  due  to  fear  of  the  consequences  of 
the  latter's  success.  Kornilov's  defeat  he 
ascribes  to  the  thoroughness  of  the  Bolshe- 
vist propaganda,  which  turned  the  revolu- 
tionary masses  against  him  as  an  exponent 
of  imperialism.  Despite  the  favorable  out- 
<  vn^    of   the   Kornilov   revolt   no   immediate 


political  transformation  could  occur,  because 
of  the  still  existing  effects  of  the  repression 
of  the  July  revolts',  which  had  made  the 
revolutionary  musses  and  their  leaders  much 
more  prudent.  One  tangible  accomplishment, 
however,  was  the  gaining  of  a  Bolshevist 
preponderance  in  both  the  Petrogiad  an-  the 
Moscow  Soviets,  and  the  steady  falling  into 
line  of  the  provincial  Soviets  under  the  same 
system.  Confident'  of  a  majority  in  the  ap- 
proaching second  Soviet  Congress,  the  Bol- 
sheviki favored  it  in  opposition  to  the  plan 
of  a  '•  Democratic  Congress,"  This  project 
was  advocated  vigorously  by  the  Socialist- 
Revolutionists  as  a  weapon  to  be  used  both 
against  the  Bolsheviki  and  against  Kerensky, 
who  had  reached  an  extreme  stage  of  arbi- 
trary irresponsibility,  though  In  reality  his 
belief  in  his  own  power  was  mostly  pure 
delusion.  Kerensky,  in  fact,  had  become  one 
of  those  "  personal  factors  "  whose  elimina- 
tion it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  coming 
Democratic  Congress,  composed  of  Soviet 
representatives,  diplomatic  councils,  zemst- 
vos,  trade  bodies,  and  labor  unions,  to  ef- 
fectuate. 

This  Democratic  Congress  was  convened  in 
the  middle  of  September  by  Tseretclll  and  his 
associates.  M.  Trotsky  eharaeterlzvs  It  as 
"  a  combination  of  Soviets  and  autonomous 
organs.  '  dosed  '  in  such  a  way  as  to  assure 
the  predominance  of  the  moderate  parties." 
it  was,  he  asserts,  a  miserable  fiasco.  The 
bourgeois  landholders,  fearing  dispossession, 
showed  extreme  hostility ;  the  revolutionist 
proletariat  and  the  peasant  and  soldier 
masses  condemned  the  illicit  methods  em- 
ployed for  the  convocation  of  the  Assembly. 
The  voting  on  the  question  of  a  Coalition 
Government  showed  extr  me  inconsistency, 
the  project  of  coalition  with  the  bourgeoisie 
obtaining  only  a  few  more  votes  than  the 
contrary  tendency.  Coalition  with  the  Cadets 
was  rejected,  but  secret  negotiations  ulti- 
mately led  to  their  inclusion  as— social  work- 
ers :  The  Soviet,  eliminated  from  the  Demo- 
cratic Conference,  was  to  be  completed  by 
representatives  of  the  landholding  class: 
this  pre-parllument  would  function  until  the 
convocation  of  the  Constituent  Assembly. 
The  whole  result  of  the  conference  was  a 
victory  of  the  landholding  bourgeois  element 
over-  the  lower  middle  class.  The  study  of 
M.  Trotzky  continues  as  follows:] 

The  inner  situation,  however,  became 
more  and  more  complicated  and  difficult. 
The  war  dragged  on,  purposeless,  mean- 
ingless, and  hopeless.  The  new  Coalition 
Government  did  nothing  to  escape  from 
this  vicious  circle.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  ridiculous  plan  was  formed  of 
sending  to  Paris  the  Menshevik  Skobelev 
to  influence  the  Entente  Imperialist*. 
But  no  sensible  man  took  this  plan 
seriously. 

Petrogiad    was    threatened,    but    the 


HOW   WE  MADE   THE  OCTOBER  REVOLUTION 


olri 


bourgeois  elements  showed  a  malicious 
joy,  all  too  obvious,  before  the  danger. 
The  former  President  of  the  Duma,  M. 
Rodzianko,  declared  openly  that  the  cap- 
ture by  the  Germans  of  a  centre  of  cor- 
ruption like  Petrograd  would  be  no  great 
misfortune.  He  cited  the  case  of  Riga, 
where,  after  the  entrance  of  the  Ger- 
mans, the  Soviet  had  been  abolished  and 
public  order  restored  by  the  police  or- 
ganization of  the  old  regime.  "  The 
Baltic  fleet  is  lost;  but  this  fleet  is  gan- 
grened by  revolutionary  propaganda,  and 
consequently  the  loss  of  the  fleet  deserves 
no  great  amount  of  lamentation,"  he 
said.  This  cynicism  of  a  verbose  grand 
seigneur  expressed  the  secret  thoughts 
of  the  bourgeois  circles. 

The  Kerensky  Government  had  no  in- 
tention of  seriously  defending  the  city; 
on  the  contrary,  it  prepared  public 
opinion  for  an  eventual  capitulation. 
The  various  branches  of  the  Government 
had  already  been  transferred  to  Moscow 
and  to  other  cities.  It  was  at  this  junc- 
ture that  the  group  of  soldiers  of  the 
Petrograd  Soviet  assembled.  The  state 
of  mind  was  tense  and  disquieted.  "  The 
Government  is  unable  to  defend  Petro- 
grad? Then  let  it  make  peace!  And  if 
it  cannot  make  peace,  let  it  fall  and  be 
damned!  " 

This  point  of  view  expressed  the 
opinion  of  the  soldier  group.  The  day 
of  the  October  revolution  was  already 
dawning.  At  the  front  the  situation  was 
steadily  growing  worse.  Autumn  was 
approaching  with  its  cold,  its  rain  and 
mire.  A  fourth  Winter  of  war  was  im- 
minent. The  food  was  becoming  worse 
every  day.  The  rear  had  forgotten  the 
front;  there  were  neither  relief  forces, 
reinforcements,  nor  the  warm  garments 
required  for  the  regiments.  Desertions 
multiplied.  The  old  Soldier  Committees, 
which  had  been  elected  during  the  first 
period  of  the  revolution,  continued  to 
function  and  supported  the  policy  of 
Kerensky.  No  re-election  was  authorized. 
Between  the  committees  and  the  mass  of 
soldiers  an  abyss  was  being  created.  The 
soldiers  finally  reached  a  point  where 
they  felt  nothing  but  hatred  for  the  com- 
mittees. More  and  more  frequently  dele- 
gates from  the  trenches  came  to  Petro- 


grad, and  at  all  the  sessions  of  the  Pe- 
trograd Soviet  they  asked  the  same  in- 
sistent question:  "  What  is  to  be  done? 
Through  whom  and  how  is  the  war  to 
be  ended?  Why  does  the  Petrograd 
Soviet  remain  silent?  " 

STRUGGLE   FOR   POWER 

But  the  Petrograd  Soviet  did  not  re- 
main silent.  It  demanded  the  immediate 
delivery  to  the  Soviets  of  all  the  central 
and  local  power,  as  well  as  the  immediate 
handing  over  of  the  land  o  the  peasants ; 
the  control  of  production  by  labor  and 
the  immediate  opening  of  peace  negotia- 
tions. As  long  as  we  were  merely  an 
opposition  party,  our  rallying  cry  and 
the  slogan  of  our  propaganda  was  "  All 
power  to  the  Soviets."  But  as  soon  as 
we  had  a  majority  in  all  the  principal 
Soviets,  this  rallying  cry  imposed  on  us 
the  necessity  of  beginning  a  direct  and 
immediate  struggle  to  obtain  this  power. 

In  the  country  districts  the  situation 
was  extremely  confused  and  complex. 
The  revolution  had  promised  lands  to  the 
peasants,  but  the  directing  parties  for- 
bade the  peasants  from  touching  those 
lands  before  the  convening  of  the  Con- 
stituent. At  first  the  peasants  waited 
patiently.  When  they  began  to  lose 
patience  the  Coalition  Ministry  adopted 
violent  measures. 

The  convening  of  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly, meanwhile,  was  constantly  de- 
ferred. The  upper  middle  class  did  not 
wish  to  convene  the  Constituent  until 
after  the  conclusion  of  peace.  The 
peasant  masses  lost  patience  more  and 
more.  What  we  had  predicted  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  revolution  began  to  be 
fulfilled— the  peasants  seized  the  land  on 
their  own  account.  Reprisals  by  the 
Government  were  intensified;  one  after 
the  other  the  peasant  revolutionary 
committees  were  arrested.  In  some  dis- 
tricts Kerensky  had  proclaimed  martial 
law. 

Rural  deputations  thronged  to  the  Pe- 
trograd Soviet.  They  complained  at  the 
arrest  of  the  peasants  for  having,  in 
accordance  with  the  program  of  the 
Petrograd  Soviet,  transferred  the  landed 
estates  to  the  peasant  committees.  The 
peasants  counted  on  our  protection.   We 


514 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


replied  to  them  that  we  could  protect 
them  only  if  we  were  in  power.  The 
conclusion  was  that  if  the  Soviets  did 
not  wish  to  be  mere  talking  bodies  they 
must  gain  possession  of  the  Govern- 
mental power. 

Our  neighbors  of  the  Right  told  us 
that  it  was  an  act  of  folly  to  begin  a 
struggle  to  obtain  power  for  the  Soviets 
within  a  month  and  a  half  of  the  con- 
vening of  the  Constituent,  But  we  were 
by  no  means  infected  with  the  Constitu- 
ent fetich,  all  the  less  so  as  we  had  no 
guarantee  that  it  would  really  be  con- 
voked. 

The  demoralization  of  the  army,  the 
wholesale  desertions,  the  food  distress, 


the  agrarian  revolts,  had  all  created  an 
unfavorable  situation  for  elections  to 
the  Constituent.  The  eventual  surrender 
of  Petrograd  to  the  Germans  threatened, 
moreover,  to  wipe  the  question  of  elec- 
tions from  Governmental  discussion. 
And  then,  even  if  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly should  meet  under  the  authority 
of  the  old  parties,  and  on  the  basis  of 
the  old  electoral  lists,  it  would  become 
only  a  mask  and  a  means  of  justifica- 
tion for  the  Coalition  Government. 
Neither  the  Socialist-Revolutionists  nor 
the  Mensheviki  would  be  able  to  take 
over  power  without  the  assistance  of  the 
upper  bourgeoisie. 

[To  be  Continued] 


AUenby— Victor  of  Jerusalem 

Career  of  the  Famous,  British  General,  Culminating  in  Honors 
Paid  Him"  by  the  City  of  London 


FIELD-MARSHAL  SIR  EDMUND 
ALLENBY,  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  British  Army  in  Egypt 
and  Palestine,  received  the  free- 
dom of  the  City  of  London  on  Oct.  7, 
1919,  and  was  presented  with  a  sword  of 
honor  commemorating  the  victories 
gained  by  him  against  the  Germans  and 
Turks  in  the  Levant,  culminating  in  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem.  At  a  brilliant 
ceremony  in  the  venerable  Guildhall, 
which  was  hung  with  many  flags  and 
colorful  with  the  uniforms  of  distin- 
guished soldiers,  in  the  presence  of  the 
greatest  personages  of  the  British 
realm,  a  laudatory  speech  on  Marshal 
Allenby's  exploits  was  delivered  by  the 
City  Chamberlain,  Sir  Adrian  Pollock; 
the  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented, 
and  the  sword  of  honor,  a  richly  deco- 
rated gift,  supplied  by  the  Goldsmiths  and 
Silversmiths  Company,  was  formally  con- 
ferred. In  reply,  General  AUenby  re- 
viewed his  historic  campaign.  Later,  at 
an  elaborate  luncheon  at  the  Mansion 
House,  speeches  were  made  by  the  Lord 
Mayor  of  London,  Mr.  Winston  Churchill, 
Mr.  Lloyd  George,  arid  Sir  Douglas  Haig, 


to  all  of  which  General  AUenby  made  a 
suitable   reply. 

In  a  number  of  these  speeches,  which 
marked  the  crowning  point  of  General 
Allenby's  long  careei-,  the  chief  facts  of 
his  life  were  brought  out.  He  had  not 
originally  intended  to  enter  the  British 
Army.  From  Haileybury,  where  he  was 
educated,  he  attempted  to  pass  the  dif- 
ficult examination  for  the  Indian  Civil 
Service,  and  failed.  This  failure  led  him 
to  change  his  plans  and  enter  the  army. 
He  joined  the  6th  Inniskilling  Dragoons 
in  1882,  and  had  his  first  fighting  ex- 
perience in  the  Bechuanaland  expedition 
of  1884.  In  1888  he  served  in  the  opera- 
tions in  Zululand.  Subsequently  he  went 
through  the  Staff  College  course,  where 
his  remarkable  abilities  and  strong  per- 
sonality attracted  much  attention. 

Like  many  of  the  foremost  British 
Generals  in  the  European  war,  AUenby 
served  with  distinction  in  tho  South 
African  war,  taking  part  in  the  ivlief  of 
Kimberley,  the  operations  at  Paanlrburg, 
and  many  subsequent  actions.  Ro  was 
three  times  mentioned  in  dispatch?,  for 
distinguished  services,  and  received  the 


ALLEN  BY— VICTOR  OF  JERUSALEM 


.51.5 


brevet  rank  of  Colonel,  the  Queen's 
meda!  with  six  clasps,  and  the  King's 
medal  with  two.  In  1902  he  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  5th  Lancers,  and  was  sub- 
sequently appointed  to  command  the  4th 
Cavalry  Brigade.  Afterward  he  became 
Inspector  of  Cavalry;  this  important  post 
he  held  until  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

Sir  Edmund  went  to  France  as  a  corps 
commander  under  Lord  French,  and  took 
a  notable  share  in  the  magnificent  but 
unequal  struggle  sustained  by  the  "  Old 
Contemptible*. "  In  command  of  the 
Javalry  Corps  in  the  Expeditionary 
Force,  he  covored  the  British  front  until 
the  Geimans  launched  their  great  attack 
through  Mons.  His  cavalry  again  played 
a  brilliant  part  at  Le  Cateau,  and  in  the 
subsequent  retreat,  where  the  critical 
work  of  reaguard  fell  to  Allenby  and  his 
men. 

At  the  second  battle  of  Ypres,  the 
Field  Marshal  took  up  the  command  of 
the  5th  .Corps,  and  defended  the  Ypres 
salient  successfully  through  the  Summer 
of  1915.  He  was  then  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  now  famous  Third 
Army,  which,  among  other  exploits, 
fought  the  battle  -  of  Arras  under  his 
orders  on  Easter  Monday,  1917.  In  this 
battle  the  Vimy  Ridge  was  stormed  and 
16,000  prisoners  and  160  guns  were 
taken. 

CAMPAIGN    IN   THE   EAST 

In  1918,  soon  after  these  exploits,  Gen- 
eral Allenby  was  appointed  to  head  the 
campaign  against  the  Germans  and  the 
Turks  in  the  East,  a  campaign  which 
the  Prime  Minister  said  in  the  House  of 
Commons  was  "  the  last  and  most  tri- 
umphant of  the  Crusades,  the  completion 
of  an  enterprise  which  absorbed  the 
chivalry  of  Europe  for  centuries."  The 
character  of  that  victory  and  the  general- 
ship which  secured  it  appealed  univers- 
ally to  the  imagination  of  the  British 
people. 

Despite  the  fact  that,  before  his  offen- 
sive began,  his  army  had  been  reduced 
from  a  total  strength  of  316,000  to  under 
293,000  between  March  and  August,  1918, 
Lord  Allenby  carried  through  in  six 
weeks,  hot  ween  Sept.  19  and  Oct.  30, 
one  of  tho  most  brilliant  campaigns  in 
the  history  of  the  British  Army.    In  this 


short  time  the  army  of  Syria,  operating 
in  a  lugged  country  and  under  extra- 
ordinarily complicated  difficulties  of 
supply  as  regards  food,  water,  and 
munitions,  attacked  and  completely  de- 
feated the  Turkish  Army,  which  was  well 
intrenched  and  skillfully  led,  captured 
75,000  prisoners  and  350  guns,  advanced 
a  distance  of  over  300  miles,  from  Sa- 
mara to  Aleppo,  and  compelled  the  Tur- 


FlELD-MAKSilAL     SIR      EDMUND      ALLENBY 

kish  Government,  owing  to  the  utter  de- 
struction of  its  army,  to  ask  for  a  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  these 
brilliant  results  were  achieved  owing  to 
Lord  Allenby's  skillful  use  of  resources 
which,  sp  far  from  being  excessive, 
might,  on  the  contrary,  be  regarded  as 
barely  adequate  for  the  task  in  hand,  and 
that  these  resources  were  only  the  resi- 
due of  what  was  left  him  after  all  the 
needs  of  the  British  Army  on  the  main 
front  in  the  west  had  been  fully  sup- 
plied. 

ALLENBY'S   OWN    STOR,Y 

The  detailed  record  of  this  campaign 
has  been  given  by  General  Allenby  in 
his  official  dispatches,  which  have  been 
printed  from  time  to  time  in  Current 
History.     The   following  intimate  sum- 


:>\k> 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


mary,  however,  embodied  in  his  reply  to 
the  City  Chamberlain  at  the  Guildhall 
ceremony,  is  well  worthy  of  being  added 
to  the  record: 

As  regards  my  campaign  in  Palestine  ' 
and  Syria.  I  should  like  to  say  how  in- 
debted  1  am  to  the  L,ondon  Division  under 
Sir  John  Shea.  He  was  with  me  in  the 
Third  Army  in  France.  He  did  not  take 
part  in  the  Arras  battle  because  the  60th 
Division  was  transferred  to  Saloniki,  but 
before  1  began  my  campaign  in  Palestine 
and  Syria,  the  60th  Division  Joined  me 
from  Saloniki,  with  Sir  Edward  Bulfin, 
who  handed  over  the  division  to  Sir  John 
Shea,  who  commanded  in  Palestine  and 
Syria.  That  division  took  a  very  leading 
part  in  the  capture  of  Beersheba.  Further, 
it  was  the  division  which  eventually  ac- 
cepted the  surrender  of  Jerusalem.  When 
1  say  accepted  the  surrender,  the  general 
officer  commanding  that  division  had 
orders  and  took  the  greatest  pains  to  pre- 
serve Jerusalem  from  any  sort  of  injury. 
The  capture  of  the  city  was  delayed,  for 
several  days  owing  to"  the  necessity  VI 
avoiding  damage  to  the  city  itself.  It 
was  gradually  surrounded,  and  the  city 
itself  surrendered  to  him  without  a  shot 
being  f-ired  in  the  neighborhood  of  it. 
Subsequently,  the  60th  Division  fought  in 
the  Jordan  Valley  in  the  Spring  and  Sum- 
mer of  last  year,  1,300  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  sea,  in  intense  heat  and  every  sort 
of  physical  discomfort.  They -fought  there 
the  whole  of  the  early  part  of  the  Sum- 
mer and  took  part,  or  practically  carried 
out.  with  the  help  of  the  cavalry,  the  Aus- 
tralian Light  Horse,  and  the  New  Zealand 
mounted  troops,  two  gr,eat  raids  on  the 
Hedjaz   railway. 

The  first  raid  was  at  the  end  of  March 
last  year.  The  60th  Division  got  to  Bs 
Salt,  and  supported  the  New  Zealanders 
right  up  to  the  hills,  but  the  weather 
was  atrocious,  coming  from  the  heat  of 
the  Jordan  Valley  to  the  bitter  cold, 
snow,  rain,  and  sleet  of  r>,000  to  6,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  which  meant  about  6,000  to 
7,000  feet  above  the  Jordan,  and  they 
were  unable  to  hold  what  they  had  so 
gallantly  won.  The  second  raid  was  made 
at  the  end  of  April  or  the  beginning  of 
May  last  year,  with  the  same  objective. 
All  my  mounted  troops  took  part  in  it. 
The  London  Division  again  supported 
them,  and  had  terrible  fighting  in  the 
hills,  trying  to  break  their  way  through 
to  open  a  second  road  to  join  up  with 
the  cavalry  and  mounted  troops,  who  had 
already  arrived  there.  The  troops  of  his 
Royal  Highness  the  Emir  Feisal  co-oper- 
ated gallantly  from  south  of  Amman. 
The  Turks  were  too  strong  for  us,  and 
again  we  had  to  withdraw.  The  result 
of  this  was  that  we  applied  a  blister  to 
that  part  of  the  Turkish  front,  which 
drew  a  whole  Turkish  Army  over  there, 


and  there  they  remained.  Tin.  effect  of 
that  action  of  the  London  troops  and 
our  Arab  allies,  with  the  mounted  troops 
and  cavalry  of  the  Dominions  and  India, 
enabled  us  to  proceed  with  our  prepara- 
tions fqr  an.  attack  on  the  other  flank, 
without   any   fear   for   our   right   flank. 

IN   THE  JORDAN   VALLEY 

From  the  headquarters  of  Liman  von 
Sanders  we  tound  that  the  enemy  staff 
expected  an  attack  along  the  Jordan  Val- 
ley. 1  do  not  know  why,  but  I  suppose 
they  thought  that  we  could  not  attack 
them  along  the  seacoast,  because  uiey 
thought  that  the  necessity  of  keeping  in 
touch  with  the  Arabs  would  prevent  me 
from  moving  anywhere  else.  I  knew  that 
his  Royal  Highness  Emir  Feisal  would 
recover  that  flank  for  us,  and  I  kept  suf- 
ficient mounted  troops— 1  kept  the  whole 
Anzac  mounted  division— in  that  valley 
the  whole  Summer.  I  was  told  by  all  the 
textbooks  and  authorities  that  no  troops 
could  be  kept  in  the  valley  during  the 
Summer,  1,300  feet  below  sea  level,  and 
in  a  heat  which  could  be  hardly -named, 
and  under  frightful  conditions  of  malaria. 
But  we  attacked  the  mosquito,  drained 
the  swamps,  burned  the  bush,  canalized  the 
streams,  and  oiled  the  pools,  and  wc  were 
able  to  stay  there.  After  we  crossed  the 
Turkish  lines,  we  tumbled  into  it,  and 
got  sickness  very  bad.  In  six  weeks 
from  Sept.  19,  when  I  attacked,  I  lost 
three  times  as  many  men  by  disease- 
malaria  and  influenza— as  by  wounds  in 
battle.  That  was  not  in  our  own  ground. 
but  when  we  had  reached  the  Turkish 
area,  where  they  had  not  taken  precau- 
tions  for   attacking   malaria. 

The  London  Division,  after  all  its  good 
work  in  the  mountains  throughout  the 
Spring  and  Summer  of  last  year,  was 
called  upon  again  to  make  the  first  hole 
in  the  attack  on  Sept.  19.  The  60th 
Division  was  not  the  old  London  Division 
now.  The  call  for  trorops  in  Europe  pre- 
vented Londoners  being  sent  out  to  keep 
it  up  to  the  old  London  establishments, 
and,  although  there  was  a  nucleus  of  two 
battalions  left  in  the  division,  the  rest 
was  cqmposed  of  Indian  troops,  and  many 
of  those  were  quite  raw  and  had  to  be 
trained  during  the  few  weeks  that  re- 
mained between  May  and  the  end  of 
August.  They  had  to  be  trained  to  war 
and  made  efficient  fighting  soldiers,  and 
that  was  done.  The  old  spirit  of  the 
London  Division  remained  in  the  cadre 
and  animated  it  as  it  had  in  the  pa&t. 
That  60th  Division  in  the  attack  of 
Sept.  19  attacked  right  on  the  coast- 
line, and  its  mission  was  to  break  a  hole 
for  the  cavalry  to  go  through,  and  it 
carried  out  that  mission  splendidly.  I 
was  up  there  at  5:30  in  the  morning, 
when  the  division  was  ready  to  attack. 
By  6:15  three  divisions  of  cavalry  began 


ALLEN  BY— VICTOR  OF  JERUSALEM 


517 


to  pour  tnrough  the  gap  made.  They 
were  told  to  go  right  away  through  the 
Turkish  Army.  The  00th  Division  went 
on  fighting  thoughout  the  whole  of  the 
hostilities,  and  continued  to  take  as  lead- 
ing a  part  as  it  had  done  before. 

ATTRACTIVE  "LADIES" 

There  is  one  little  point  which  shows 
the  spirit  of  that  division.  Before  it 
attacked  at  Beersheba  it  was  exercising 
so  hard  to  keep  fit  that  the  general 
officer  commanding  ordered  the  men  to 
eat  and  drink  more  and  not  to  do  so  much 
work.  They  were  wrestling  and  taking 
every  possible  exorcise,  and  they  also 
kept  up  the  very  best  theatrical  musical 
comedy  company  1  have  ever  seen  In  my 
life.  Later  that  entertaining  company 
went  down  to  Cairo,  stayed  there  about 
a  month,  and  cut  out  every  other  enter- 
tainment in  the  place.  There  were  two 
"  indie* "  In  that  company,  who  broke 
the  hearts  of  all  the  youths  In  Cairo,  who 
swarmed  around  the  stage  door,  but  never 
saw  the  "  ladles  "  come  out.  The  "ladles" 
never  did  come  out.    I  do  not  want  to  be 


too  discursive,  but  1  thought  you  would 
like  to  know  something  about  the  London 
Division   which  did  bo  well. 

When  I  mention  the  London  Division  I 
do  not  want  to  depreciate  any  other. 
They  all  did  well.  I  had  an  army  such 
as  a  man  has  seldom  commanded.  In 
spite  of  Its  number  of  different  units- 
there  were  ten  or  twelve  nationalities— 
they  all  worked  together  and  worked  for 
one  aim.  I  should  like  to  refer  again  to 
the  loyal  work  done  by  our  gallant  allies 
In  the  East.  A  commander  was  never 
more  loyally  supported  by  allies  than  I 
was  by  the  Bmlr  Felsal,  who  is  one  of  my 
greatest  friends,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  him 
sitting  here  today.  I  thank  you  again 
for  the  reception  you  have  given  me,  for 
the  sword  of  honor  which  I  have  received, 
and  for  the  inestimable  privilege  of  being 
numbered  among  the  freemen  of  thiB 
great  city  in  this  ancient  hall.  It  Is  an 
honor  which  falls  to  few  people,  and  It  Is 
an  honor  which  no  one  can  prize  more 
than  I  do.  In  accepting  this  sword  of 
honor,  I  shall  look  upon  it  as  a  gage 
of  honor  to  remind  me  of  my  duties  to 
London,  to  my  country,  and  to  my  King. 


The  Straits  of  Constantinople 

By  DR.  J.  F.  SCHELTEMA 


ONE  of  the  curious  developments  of 
the  war,  which  presented  so  many 
strange  <  aspects,  was  the  effort 
of  a  British  fleet,  aided  by  the 
French  Navy  and' a  strong  army  operat- 
ing on  land,  to  open  the  Straits  of  Con- 
stantinople for  the  relief,  in  the  first 
place,  of — Russia.  British  warships  had 
been  up  those  Straits  on  earlier  errands, 
in  1807,  even  as  on  this  occasion,  to  com- 
ply with  the  obligations  of  a  short-lived 
Russian  alliance,  but  then  guided  by  a 
different  policy  based  on  considerations 
of  an  exactly  opposite  character,  though 
always  in  keeping  with  Britain's  tradi- 
tional attitude  toward  the  chronic  East- 
ern question.  When  her  course,  if  not 
her  aims,  gradually  veered  round,  as 
indicated  by  her  treaties  and  agreements 
of  1904  and  1907,  which  were  followed 
by  the  frightful  conflagration  that 
flamed  up  in  1914  from  long-smoldering 
animosities,  the  world  was  notified  of 
what  would  have  seemed  impossible  a 
few  years,  nay,  only  a  few  months,  before. 


In  reply  to  a  question  put  to  him  in  th< 
House  of  Commons,  Sir  Edward  Grey, 
British  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  announced  on  Feb.  25,  1915, 
Britain's  consent  to  Russia's  free  egress 
from  and  ingress  into  the  Black  Sea. 
True,  this  concession  was  prudently 
hedged ;  nevertheless,  it  denoted  the  pass- 
ing away  of  a  phase  of  British  diplomacy 
worn  out  since  the  opening  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  a  fortiori  since  the  stipulations 
of  the  entente  cordiale  concerning 
Egypt  versus  Morocco. 

Diplomatic  squabbles  and  armed  con- 
flicts for  the  possession  of  Constantino- 
ple are  of  much  older  birth  than  the 
city's  comparatively  modern  name.  Its 
advantageous  position  as  a  bridgehead 
between  Orient  and  Occident  has  drawn 
on  it  and  on  its  successive  occupants,  last 
but  not  least  on  the  Sultans  of  the  house 
of  Othman,  the  bone-breaker,  that  long 
series  of  encroachments  which  crystallized 
into  the  disgraceful  scramble  character- 
istic especially  of  the  more  recent  stages 


.->  1  R 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


of  the  Eastern  question.  Thus  far  abso- 
lutely insolvable,  thanks  to  international 
rivalries,  the  problem  involved  touches 
primarily  the  Dardanelles  and  Bosporus, 
those  narrow  inlets  and  outlets  of  the 
Sea  of  Marmora,  intended  by  nature  for 
a  double  gate  of  entrance  to  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  wealth  of  Asia  beyond. 

MEDIAEVAL    FORTIFICATIONS 

Blazing  a  path  for  the  European  con- 
quests of  his  descendants,  the  Emir 
Orchan,  son  of  the  founder  of  the  Otto- 
man dynasty,  had  already  made  himself 
felt  in  the  waters  of  the  classic  ox  ford 
and  the  Sea  of  Helle,  notorious  pools  of 
dissension  between  East  and  West  from 
the  most  remote  antiquity  on.  Masters, 
after  Mohamed  II.,  of  the  northern  as 
of  the  southern  coastline,  his  successors 
did  not  delay  tightening  their  hold  by 
means  of  the  two  strongholds  which  be- 
came famous  under  the  name  of  the  "  old 
castles,"  Rumely  Hissar  on  the  European 
and  Anatoly  Hissar  on  the  Asiatic  side 
of  the  Bosporus.  In  1642,  under  Sultan 
Ibrahim,  Saddul-Bahr,  the  sea-barrier, 
and  Chanaq  Qaleh,  or  fortress  of  the 
potteries,  were  built  to  remain  for  a 
while  the  sole  works  of  defense  on  the 
western  waterfront,  which  unprepared- 
ness  gave,  in  1649,  the  Venetians  an  op- 
portunity to  enter  the  Dardanelles  and 
anchor  off  Gallipoli,  from  where,  how- 
ever, Derwis  Pasha  obliged  them  to  re- 
tire. Two  more  castles  or  fortresses 
were  then  erected,  facing  each  other 
across  the  water  on  the  hills  of  Yeni  Sihr 
and  Baba  Yusoof,  according  to  plans  out- 
lined by  the  spirited  Sultane  Valide,  the 
mother  of  Mohamed  IV.  But,  though  the 
battle  of  Lepanto  and  naval  engagements 
of  a  younger  date  had  demonstrated  the 
urgent  necessity  of  taking  the  Darda- 
nelles still  further  in  hand,  it  was  not 
before  the  Grand  Vizier  Mohamed 
Kiuprilli's  firm  rule  that  Qoom  Qaleh, 
or  fortress  of  the  sands,  and  Kilid  Bahr, 
the  key  to  the  sea,  were  constructed  at 
their  mouth,  while  nine  other  fortifica- 
tions and  eight  batteries  completed  his 
system  of  defense  between  1678  and  1700. 

After  a  new  period  of  inaction  the  dili- 
gent Baron  de  Tott,  one  of  the  numerous 
agents  sent  to  Turkey  by  the  Duke  of 
Choiseul    to    assist    the    Sublime    Porte 


against  Catherine  II.  for  the  benefit  of 
France  and  greater  glory  of  Louis  XV., 
saw  to  it  that  the  Dardanelles  had  again 
their  due  amount  of  care,  fully  aware 
as  he  was  of  their  strategic  value. 

HEAVY  MOSLEM  GUNS 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  by  old  his- 
torians and  travelers  about  the  big  guns 
mounted  on  the  shores  of  Bosporus  and 
Dardanelles  in  those  and  earlier  days. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  Turks 
in  their  conquest  of  European  lands, 
which  they  began  to  invade  under  the 
leadership  of  Orchan's  son  Solyman,  and 
particularly  in  their  final  investment  of 
Constantinople,  made  a  clever  use  of 
artillery,  far  surpassing  their  Christian 
foes  by  their  skill  in  the  manufacture 
and  manipulation  of  ordnance.  Mohamed 
II.  had,  moreover,  a  certain  Urban  in  his 
service,  a  Hungai'ian  renegade  and  a 
worker  in  metals  by  trade,  who  founded 
a  cannon  described  as  the  biggest  ever 
seen.  This  monster  gun  threw  enormous 
balls  of  stone  and  sank  as  its  first  vic- 
tim a  Venetian  blockade  runner,  which 
exploit  commended  it  so  highly  to  the 
Sultan  that  he  had  it  transported  to  his 
camp  before  the  walls  of  Constantinople. 
Seven  hundred  men  were  required  to 
bring  it  in  position,  and  it  needed  three 
hours  of  rest  to  cool  off  after  every 
discharge,  while  to  its  right  and  left  two 
pieces  of  smaller  calibre  kept  up  the  task 
of  widening  with  twenty-twc-pound  balls 
the  breach  it  had  made.  When  these  en- 
gines of  destruction  had  been  wheeled  to 
one  of  the  town  gates,  which  showed 
signs  of  weakening,  and  the  prime-holes 
of  the  trio  were  touched  with  the  fuse  to 
finish  the  job  by  bringing  the  bridge 
tower  down,  Urban  directing  the  fire,  a 
tremendous  crash  startled  the  besieging 
army  and  besieged  garrison  alike.  Not 
the  barbican  had  come  to  grief,  though, 
but  Urban's  giant  cannon,  blowing  up 
and  killing  him  with  a  score  of  the  Padi- 
shah's artillerists  on  the  spot. 

PROPERTY  OF  THE  SULTANS 

From  1453  on  the  Ottoman  Sultans  held 
the  Bosporus  and  Dardanelles  and  Sea 
of  Marmora,  like  the  Black  Sea,  to  be 
their  exclusive  property.  According  to 
Dmitry  Galitzin,  Peter  the  Great's  envoy 


THE   STRAITS   OF   CONSTANTINOPLE 


Id 


to  the  Sublime  Porte,  they  considered 
especially  the  latter  their  private  domain, 
where  nobody  was  allowed  to  penetrate, 
Mustapha  comparing  its  status  to  that 
of  a  virgin  reserved  for  fine  disport  in 
his  harem,  and  "  he  would  l-ather  have 
war  than  permit  any  one  to  navigate  it." 
Peter's  taking  of  Azov  changed  the  situa- 
tion. Catherine  II.,  extending  her  empire, 
continued  that  work  of  southern  expan- 
sion. Potemkin's  victories,  the  formal 
annexation  of  the  Crimea,  the  Peace  of 
Jassy,  Jan.  9,  1792,  established  Russia 
as  Turkey's  neighbor  on  the  Euxine. 

None  the  less,  that  maiden  once  unap- 
proachable, save  as  it  might  please  the 
Grand  Signeur,  could  yet  be  isolated  by 
closing  the  double  door  of  Bosporus  and 
Dardanelles  until  Britain  succeeded  in 
gaining  a  joint  control  of  the  key  to  her 
favors,  which  feat  greatly  agitated  her 
lover  on  the  Neva,  too,  the  more  so  since 
the  occupation  of  the  classic  Taurus  had 
brought  him,  the  White  Czar,  a  wide 
step  forward  on  his  way  to  Byzantium. 
To  cite  Danilewsky:  "Russia's  right  to 
let  her  warships  pass  from  the  Black 
Sea  to  the  Mediterranean  is  nothing  but 
the  right  to  pass  from  her  inner  court 
to  the  outside  world;  the  (alleged)  right 
of  other  powers  to  let  their  warships 
enter  the  Black  Sea  at  their  will  is  the 
(alleged)  right  to  invade  our  inner  court 
for  the  sake  of  pillage." 

IN  NAPOLEON'S  DAY 

One  of  the  results  of  Bonaparte's  ex- 
pedition to  Egypt,  which,  for  a  moment, 
united  Sultan  and  Czar  in  their  common 
apprehension  of  his  ultimate  purpose, 
was  free  access  for  the  Russian  Navy 
to  the  Mediterranean  through  Bosporus 
and  Dardanelles.  Thereupon  the  Peace 
of  Tilsit  introduced  a  different  combina- 
tion— the  two  Emperors  thought  that  they 
could  pool  their  covetings  to  mutual  ad- 
vantage. But  Alexander  I.  asked  too 
much.  Napoleon  hesitated.  "  Constan- 
tinople," he  was  heard  to  mutter,  "  Con- 
stantinople, never!  The  possession  of 
Constantinople  means  world  dominion." 
Accordingly,  the  negotiations  between 
Paris  and  St.  Petersburg  failed,  and 
Scbastiani,  Napoleon's  envoy  to  the  Sub- 
lime Porte,  beciitix.-  so  unpleasantly  active 
that  the  English    \mbassador  Arbuthnut 


demanded  his  dismissal  and  the  instant 
co-operation  of  Turkey  with  England  and 
Russia  against  France.  No  reply  being 
vouchsafed,  Admiral  Duckworth,  in  com- 
mand of  a  fleet  off  Tenedos,  received 
instructions  to  proceed  to  Constantinople 
and  prepare  for  a  bombardment  of  that 
town.  Though  the  Turkish  fleet  in  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  was  destroyed,  Admiral 
Duckworth  had  to  withdraw  and  sus- 
tained severe  losses  on  his  return  voyage. 
Scbastiani  having  made  it  his  business 
to  equip  the  fortifications  of  the  Dar- 
danelles for  that  emergency.  By  the 
Treaty  of  Jan.  5,  1809,  the  Sultan  en- 
gaged himself  to  keep  the  Straits  closed, 
and  England  declared  that  from  her  no 
further  attempts  to  force  them  were  to 
be  feared  if  he  saw  to  it  that  all  the 
other  powers  respected  the  compact.  This 
was  intended  as  a  blow  for  Russia,  and 
the  antagonism  displayed  furnished  the 
sick  man  of  Stamboul  with  a  handy 
trump  card  in  the  diplomatic  game  which 
he  learned  to  play  with  consummate 
skill. 

IN  THE   VICTORIAN   EPOCH 

On  Oct.  20,  1827,  the  combined  squad- 
rons of  Britain,  Russia,  and  France  de- 
feated the  Turco-Egyptian  fleet  in  the 
Bay  of  Navarino.  In.  1833  Russia  was 
on  the  side  of  Turkey  against  her  re- 
bellious vassal  and  obtained  in  leward  of 
her  services  the  Sultan's  signature  to  the 
Treaty  of  Unkiar  Skelessy,  which  an- 
nulled that  of  Jan.  5,  1809,  and  estab- 
lished a  Russian  protectorate  in  the  guise 
of  a  defensive  alliance.  The  second 
Turco-Egyptian  unpleasantness  gave 
Lord  Palmerston  an  opportunity  to 
resuscitate  British  predominance,  and 
Article  4  of  the  Convention  of  London, 
July  15,  1840,  laid  down  the  closure  of 
the  Dardanelles  as  a  principle  of  inter- 
national policy,  binding  in  still  wider 
sense  when  France  rejoined  the  Euro- 
pean concert  by  her  adhesion  to  the 
agreement  of  July  13,  1841.  Henceforth 
it  was  the  Sultan's  duty  to  keep  the 
Straits  closed  sans  phi  use,  and  the  in- 
sistence on  his  renunciation  of  the  right 
to  open  them  at  his  will  implied  a  cur- 
tailment of  his  sovereignty,  guaranteed 
by  the  powers  themselves,  that  humbled 
him.     Yet,  during  the  Crimean  War,  his 


5*0 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Bi'itish  and  French  allies  sent,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  their  battleships  and 
troopships  through  the  gate  which  they 
were  so  anxious  to  lock  and  bar  against 
their  rivals. 

The  Treaty  of  Paris,  concluded  on 
March  30,  1856,  which,  by  the  way,  ad- 
mitted Turkey  "  to  participate  in  the 
advantages  of  the  public  law  and  system 
of  Europe,"  and  guaranteed  besides  "  the 
independence  and  territorial  integrity  of 
the  Ottoman  Empire,"  (Article  7,)  added 
to  the  stipulations  of  1840  and  1841  this 
other  one  that  the  Black  Sea  should  be 
neutralized,  its  waters  and  its  ports 
thrown  open  to  the  mercantile  marine  of 
every  nation,  but  formally  and  in  per- 
petuity interdicted  to  the  ilag  of  war  of 
the  powers  possessing  its  coasts  or  of 
any  other  power.  (Article  11.)  Russia 
was  forbidden  to  have  there  any  military- 
maritime  arsenal  or  any  kind  of  navy  ex- 
cept a  small  number  of  lightly  armed 
vessels  for  the  coast  service.  A  century 
and  a  half  after  Peter  the  Great  secured, 
for  her  an  outlet  to  the  south,  she  had 
lost  more  in  that  quarter  than  she  had 
won,  and  she  felt  terribly  aggrieved. 

Small  wonder  that,  when  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war  changed  the  international 
outlook,  Prince  Gortschakov,  notified  by 
his  circular  dispatch  of  Oct.  81,  1870, 
the  co-signatoi'y  Governments  of  his  im- 
perial master's  decision  to  renounce  the 
Treaty  of  Pai'is,  repudiating  in  particu- 
lar the  obligations  derogatory  to  Russia's 
rights  in  the  Black  Sea,  The  protocol 
which  embodied  the  result  of  the  Con- 
ference of  London,  in  the  course  of  the 
next  year,  accepted  the  Czar's  defection, 
Article  2  authorizing  the  Sultan  to  open 
the  Dardanelles  and  Bosporus  "  in  time 
of  peace  to  vessels  of  war  of  friendly 
and' allied  powers,  in  case  the  Sublime 
Porte  should  judge  it  necessary  to  secure 
the  execution  of  the  stipulations  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris."  The  Congress  of  Ber- 
lin, held  in  1878,  from  which  British 
diplomacy,  personified  in  Lord  Beacons- 
field,  could  carry  home  the  glad  assur- 
ance of  "  peace  with  honor,"  simply  con- 
.  firmed  the  status  of  the  Straits  as  suc- 
cessively defined  in  1841,  1856,  and  1871. 
But,  says  M.  Rene  Pinon,  in  one  of  his 
brilliant    di;<cuiisitions    on    international 


problems,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  elated  by 
his  success,  presumed  too  much  on  the 
future,  believing  that  he  could  count 
upon  the  uninterrupted  continuity  of  pre- 
ponderant British  influence  at  Constan- 
tinople. 

CONCESSIONS   TO    RUSSIA 

At  the  occasion  of  the  Armenian  dis- 
turbance of  1895  the  powers  asked  and 
obtained  permission  to  station  each  a 
second  warship  off  Galata.  In  1897  Rus- 
sia was  allowed  to  dispatch  troopships 
through  the  Straits  on  the  same  footing 
as,  before  and  after  that  date,  the  ships 
of  her  so-qalled  volunteer  fleet.  But 
when  in  1902  she  wished  to  reinforce  her 
Black  Sea  squadron  with  four  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers  from  Kronstadt,  Sultan 
Abdul  Hamil  II.  seemed  inclined  to  re- 
fuse. As  usual  there  was  much  mining 
and  countermining  in  the  diplomatic  cir- 
cles of  Stamboul,  but  at  last  the  advice 
to  yield,  whispered  from  Berlin,  if  rumor 
did  not  err,  silenced  the  arguments  of 
the  obstructionists,  and  the  imperial  as- 
sent was  given  by  an  h*ade  which  had  no 
sooner  been  signed  at  Yildiz  Kiosk  than 
the  four  destroyers  left  for  their  destina- 
tion. This,  however,"  did  not  end  the 
affair.  Three  months  afterwaid,  Jan. 
6,  1903,  Sir  Nicholas  O'Connor,  Ambas- 
sador of  the  Court  of  St.  James's  to  the 
Sublime  Porte,  presented  a  note  wherein 
he  stated  that  his  Government,  apprised 
of  the  passage  of  Russian  warships 
through  the  Straits,  would  not  hesitate 
to  avail  itself  of  this  precedent  whenever 
it  saw  fit  to  claim  the  same  privilege  for 
British  warships. 

And  so,  by  the  irony  of  fate,  Russia 
and  Britain,  playing  at  chaasi-crcisd, 
interchanged  the  diametrically  opposite 
views  of  the  question  of  the  Bosporus 
and  Dardanelles  defended  in  1878  by 
their  respective  plenipotentiaries  at  Ber- 
lin as  in  1840  at  London  and  in  1856  at 
Paris,  trimming  their  ideas  of  interna- 
tional equity  to  make  them  agree  with 
their  shifting  interests. 

MORE  RECENT  INCIDENTS 

When  it  was  thought  at  St.  Peters- 
burg that  a  prompt  display  of  naval 
strength  in  the  Far  East  might  ma- 
terially affect  the  issue  of  the  war  with 


THE   STRAITS    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE 


ji\ 


Japan,  the  best  squadron  Russia  boasted 
had  to  stay  in  the  Black  Sea,  bottled  up 
by  treaties  and  agreements  of  which 
Japan's  well-wishers  in  Europe  super- 
vised the  desired  interpretation.  Instead, 
the  Baltic  fleet  was  ordered  to  go  under 
command  of  Admiral  Rozhdestvensky, 
who  enlivened  its  roundabout  voyage  with 
the  Dogger  Bank  episode  and  finally  met 
crushing  defeat  off  Tsushima. 

The  movements  of  the  volunteer  fleet  that 
left  Odessa  to  supply  the  Russian  Navy 
in  eastern  seas  with  coal  and  provisions, 
or  to  harass  foreign  merchantmen  char- 
tered by  the  enemy,  were  greatly  ham- 
pered by  all  sorts  of^regulations.  Turco- 
Russian  antipathy,  adroitly  exploited  by 
third  parties,  militated  worse  than  in  any 
period  of  the  past  .against  the  Black  Sea 
remaining  the  Sultan's  or  becoming  the 
Czar's,  while  the  former's  lordship  over 
the  Dardanelles  and  Bosporus,  even  over 
the  Istambool  Boghaz,  the  channel  be- 
tween Constantinople  and  Scutari,  was 
disregarded  whenever  it  suited  the  leader 
of  the  moment  in  the  Western  European 
concert. 

The  incident  of  the  Russian  ironclad 
whose  mutinous  crew,  after  an  insane 
cruise,  appeared  with  her  before  Burgas 
and  Constantza,  at  last  ingloriously  to 
surrender  to  the  Rumanian  authorities, 
proved  likewise,  if  proof  had  been  neces- 
sary, that  besides  Russians  and  Turks, 
other  nationalities  were  astir  in  the  Black 
Sea  to  dispute  the  pretensions  of  either 
of  them.  Both  Rumania  and  Bulgaria, 
ignoring  the  question  whether  they  had 
a  right  to  any  warships  at  all,  seized 
upon  the  short  but  wild  career  of  the 
Knvaz  Potemkin  as  a  pretext  to  increase 
the  embryonic  navies  which  they  had 
quietly  acquired,  and  to  put  their  har- 
bors in  a  better  state  of  defense. 

MODERN  FORTIFICATIONS 

As  regards  the  defenses  of  the  Bos- 
porus and  Dardanelles,  the  work  com- 
menced by  Sultan  Mohamed  II.  and 
recommended  by  Mohamed  Kiuprili  had 
been  continued  with  the  fits  and  starts 
and  indolent  delays  characteristic  of 
Turkish  er.deavor.  There  was  a  renewal 
of  vigilant  display  in  1827  when  Admiral 
Cochrane,  having  entered  the  Greek  serv- 


ice, menaced  Constantinople  without, 
however,  substantiating  that  threat.  At 
the  example  of  de  Tott  and  Sibastiani, 
General  von  Moltke  and  General  von  der 
Goltz  gave  successively  their  attention  to 
the  Straits,  followed,  also  in  this  respect, 
by  General  Liman  von  Sanders,  as  the 
Franco-British  fleet  hammering  at  the 
forts  between  Qoom  Qaleh  and  Gallipoli 
experienced  to  its  cost  without  effecting 
an  entrance  to  the  Golden  Horn.  Neither 
did  the  Black  Sea  squadron,  steaming  up 
to  its  eastern  approach,  accomplish  the 
capture  of  Constantinople. 

Alexander  II.  pledged  on  Nov.  2,  1876, 
his  sacred  word  to  Lord  Loftus,  then 
British  Ambassador  in  St.  Petersburg, 
that  he  had  no  intention  of  acquiring 
Constantinople  or  identifying  himself 
with  the  aims  of  Peter  the  Great  and 
Catherine  II.,  the  stories  of  whose  ambi- 
tious schemes  were,  moreover,  largely  a 
figment  of  the  imagination.  Not  seven- 
teen months  later  came  the  Treaty  of 
San  Stefano  to  show  that  no  Russian 
Czar,  whatever  his  assertions  to  the  con- 
trary, could  resist  the  fascination  of 
"  the  precious  jewel  of  the  Thracian 
Chersonese,  Contrived  to  clasp  two  con- 
tinents." 

FATE  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Assigned  to  Russia  under  the  regime 
now  defunct  by  an  agreement  among  the 
Allies,  principally  due  to  the  persistence 
of  M.  Sazonov  when  Russian  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  announced  to  the 
Duma  on  Dec.  2,  1916,  by  the  Russian 
Premier,  Trepov,  its  award  fell  in  abey- 
ance owing  to  the  Brest-Litovsk  arrange- 
ment and  Bolshevist  reign  of  terror.  As 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  gave  to  understand  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  Dec.  20,  1917, 
improving  upon  Sir  Edward  Grey's  reser- 
vation of  Feb.  25,  1915,  "  the  fact  that 
Russia  entered  into  separate  negotia- 
tions disposes  of  all  questions  about  Con- 
stantinople " — i.  e.,  with  respect  to  Rus- 
sian aspirations  in  that  quarter.  Lucky, 
perhaps,  for  Russia,  because,  apart  from 
Bismarck's  hypothetical  forecast,  Con- 
stantinople has  always  been  a  source  of 
danger  to  its  overlords.  With  the  Allies 
in  possession,  we  may  also  expect  another 
prophecy  to  reach  fulfillment. 

When,   according   to   the   legend,    Mo- 


;>»« 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


hai iied  II.  entered  St.  Sophia  on  horse- 
back after  his. troops  had  forced  the  town 
gates  and  scaled  the  ramparts,  and  made 
the  imprint  of  his  bloody  hand  on  the 
inner  wall  in  token  of  his  appropriating 
the  Christian  Church  for  Moslem  uses,  a 
priest  was  celebrating  mass  at  the  high 
altar,  surrounded  by  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  sanctuary's  defenders, 
who,  praying  and  wailing,  counted  upon 
a  miracle  to  save  it  and  themselves  from 
Turkish  lordship  and  violence.  But,  no 
miracle  stemming  the  tide  of  Mohamed's 
onslaught,  the  priest  suspended  his  holy 
office  and,  gathering  together  the  sacred 
vessels,  carried  them  in  solemn  proces- 
sion toward  the  sacristy.  Brandishing 
their  scimitars  and  heading  him  off,  the 


invaders  had  almost  attained  him  and  his 
flock  when,  lo!  he  vanished  from  their 
sight.  At  first  they  thought  that  he  had 
escaped  through  a  secret  passage,  but 
wherever  they  tested  the  masonry  of  the 
solid  walls,  it  gave  no  sign  of  sliding 
panels  or  marked  doors.  And  it  is  said 
that  up  to  this  day,  on  every  anniversary 
of  Mohamed's  capture  of  the  City  of 
Constantine,  near  the  mark  of  his  hand 
a  faint  sound  is  heard  as  of  psalms  and 
canticles  being  chanted  in  some  hidden 
recess ;  that  at  the  moment  of  St.  Sophia's 
restoration  to  Christian  worship,  the  wall 
will  open  in  that  place  and  the  priest  will 
step  forth  to  finish  his  mass  so  rudely 
interrupted  more  than  four  and  a  half 
centuries  ago. 


Managing  200,000  Coolies  in  France 

By  CAPTAIN  HARRY  L.  GILCHRIESE 


WHEN  the  post-war  touiist  de- 
barks in  one  of  the  polyglot 
ports  of  France  he  now  sees 
among  the  stevedores  a  color- 
ful sprinkling  of  coolies  from  the  Far 
Eastern  countries.  Predominant  among 
these  are  Chinese,  Indo-Chinese,  and  Sia- 
mese, fused  in  the  cosmopolite  melting 
pot  with  Turk  and  Moroccan,  Senegalese, 
and  Prussian — all  contributing  their  ef- 
forts, willingly  or  otherwise,  to  restoi'e 
to  France  what  four  years  of  chaos  de- 
stroyed. 

These  Chinese  and  their  slant-eyed  kin- 
dred are  the  outposts  of  a  large  army 
working  in  every  port  of  France,  and  on 
the  scenes  of  the  recent  world  conflict. 
More  than  120,000  of  them  are  engaged 
in  clearing  the  battlefields  preparatory  to 
the  colossal  scheme  of  restoration  de- 
signed for  war-ravaged  Fra'nce.  This 
force,  working  under  contract  with  the 
British  and  French  Governments,  is  be- 
ing continually  augmented  by  new  drafts 
from  the  Orient.  It  represents  China's 
contribution  to  the  war.  Since  1916  it 
has  been  steadily  increasing,  the  bulk 
coming  chiefly  from  the  northern  prov- 
inces of  Chihli  and  Shantung.  It  reached 
its  greatest  height  just  prior  to  the  sign- 


ing of  the  armistice,  when  it  numbered 
almost  200,000.  With  the  British  the 
coolies  are  engaged  for  three  years,  con- 
tracts terminable  at  Ihe  option  of  the 
Government  any  time  after  the  first 
year.  The  French  hold  them  unreserv- 
edly for  five  years,  but  retain  the  right 
to  .sublet  their  services. 

During  the  war  the  coolie  went  about 
his  business  of  laboring  in  true  hero 
fashion,  impassively,  and  with  outward 
contempt  for  danger.  Frequently  air 
raids,  long-range  artillery,  and  poisonous 
gas  resulted  fatally  for  him.  Even  now 
he  is  beset  by  dangers,  the  kind  that 
strike  him  in  the  dark.  Unexploded 
mines,  grenades,  "  duds,"  and  bombs 
have  increased  the  already  swollen  cas- 
ualty list  of  the  Chinese  laborers.  But 
these  accidents  are  always  met  by  coolies 
with  the  stoicism  so  characteristic  of  the 
race. 

Long  before  China's  doofs  were  open 
to  modernism,  church  missionaries  and 
representatives  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had 
gained  entrance  and  were  working  into 
the  interior  of  the  world's  greatest  em- 
pire. Now  200,000  Chinese  have  come 
into  personal  contact  with  our  Christian 
civilization.      What   are  their    thoughts, 


MANAGING  200,000  COOLIES  IN  FRANCE 


5*:: 


THEY    WERE    TAUOHT    BOXING    A8    A    SUBSTITUTE    FOR    KNIFING  " 
[&   By  the  American  painter,  Harry  B.  Lachman] 


and  how  will  these  thoughts  be  expressed 
upon  their  return  home? 

FIRST  IMPRESSIONS 

Arriving  from  China  after  a  voyage 
filled  with  heretofore  unknown  terrors,  a 
voyage  lasting  weeks  and  resulting  in 
strange  maladies  of  the  stomach,  they 
were  herded  together  in  wire  inclosures. 
English  and  French  officers  were  placed 
in  immediate  command  of  the  labor  bat- 
talions into  which  the  coolies  were 
grouped,  and  noncommissioned  officers, 
whose  limit  of  Chinese  knowledge  was 
confined  to  "Chink"  and  its  French 
equivalent,  were  assigned  as  gang  fore- 
men. Their  charges,  willing  enough  to 
work,  were  timorous,  bewildered  by 
strange  sights,  and,  perhaps,  a  little  su- 
per-sensitive. Gruff  commands  were  mis- 
understood for  insults,  and  the  coolies 
refused  to  work. 

For  example,  tke  English  word  "  go  " 
has  a  sound  which  in  Chinese  is  simi'ar 
to  the  expression  for  "dog."  The 
phraseolo^A   of  the  "  Tommie  "  unfortu- 


nately is  bountifully  besprinkled  with 
terms  in  which  "  go  "  is  salient.  Inter- 
preters were  not  only  difficult  but  al- 
most impossible  to  obtain.  A*luch  valua- 
ble language  was  wasted  on  coth  sides, 
and  more  misunderstandings  resulted. 
Strikes,  and  even  riots,  occurred  with 
alarming  frequency,  and  many  uncomp'i- 
mentary  things  were  said  by  both  the 
party  of  the  first  part  and  the  party  of 
the  second  part. 

From  the  Chinese  viewpoint  everything 
was  topsy-turvy  in  this  new  land  of  gro- 
tesquely dressed  people,  impossible  lan- 
guages, and  peculiar  customs.  Darkness 
is  the  coolie's  most  dreaded  enemy,  and 
it  was  only  natural  for  him  to  resent 
having  his  customary  candle  snuffed  out. 
What  did  he  know  of  air  raids  and  the 
direful  consequences  of  illuminating  the 
way  for  "  Fritzie  "  ?  The  sight  of  the 
first  battlep'ane  surrounded  by  tiny 
white  puffs  of  smoke,  silhouetted  against 
an  azure  sky,  held  him  fascinated,  as- 
tounded; then,  at  Calais,  an  air  bomb  fell 
in  one  of  the  camps,  killing  twenty  Chi- 


,H4 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


nese.  After  that  he  not  only  gave  them 
a  wire  berth,  but  showed  uncommon 
eagerness  to  find  shelter  when  a  Hun  ap- 
peared. 

AVERTING  A  CRISIS 

Conditions  were  rapidly  approaching  a 
crisis  in  the  British  labor  camps,  where 
the  coolies  were  held  in  rigid  military 
discipline,  when  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  with  a 
knowledge  bred  of  many  years'  experi- 
ence in  the  Orient,  volunteered  its  serv- 
ices. For  several  months  the  "  Y  "  had 
been  urging  a  program  of  welfare,  point- 
ing out  that  with  adequate  interpreters 
and  men  who  understood  Chinese  cus- 
toms the  chief  source  of  difficulty  would 
be  removed.  The  British  authorities  de- 
murred at  first,  fearing  that  Chinese- 
speaking  workers  in  camp  might  react 
to  the  prejudice  of  military  discipline, 
but  this  attitude  soon  underwent  a  per- 
ceptible change.  The  French  had  already 
accepted  the  Red  Triangle  as  necessary 
to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  work 
by  the  Chinese. 

In  1918  the  Interaational  Committee  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  North  America  began 
recruiting  secretaries  for  this  new  phase 
of  army  welfare  work.  It  was  required 
that  these  secretaries  be  familiar  with 
Mandarin,  the  only  written  language  of 
China.  The  co-operation  of  the  Chinese 
branch  of  the  "  Y  "  therefore  was  en- 
listed, and  for  the  first  time  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  China  sent  mission- 
aries abroad.  Today,  in  addition  to 
American  and  British  secretaries,  there 
are  more  than  eighty  Christian  Chinese 
students,  representatives  of  universities 
in  America,  England,  and  China,  serving 
the  coolie  labor  battalions  in  France. 
They  come  from  fourteen  provinces  and 
forty-six  cities  of  China. 

SUCCESS  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT 

Difficulties  over  orders  began  to  dis- 
appear at  once.  The  coolies  were  over- 
joyed to  find  a  means  of  transmitting 
their  desires  and  needs  to  their  officers. 
Some  one  was  taking  a  personal  interest 
in  them  for  the  first  time  in  their  tem- 
pestuous careers  on  foreign  soil.  They 
had  wished  to  write  letters  home.  Prac- 
tically no  one  had  been  able  to  do  this, 


and,  as  a  result,  relatives  in  China  had 
not  heard  from  them  in  six  months. 

Letter-writing  soon  became  more  popu- 
lar than  gambling.  Under  capable  in- 
structors they  were  taught  boxing  as  a 
substitute  for  knifing,  (this  had  been  one 
of  their  favorite  pastimes,)  and  many  a 
quarrel  was  settled  in  the  ring  before  a 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  referee.  Baseball  and  Chi- 
nese chess,  of  which  they  are  very  fond, 
soon  replaced  idleness  and  vice.  Enter- 
tainments in  which  the  performers  were 
attired  in  their  native  costumes  and  pro- 
vided with  weird  Chinese  musical  instru- 
ments drew  them  from  the  estaminet. 
So  great  has  been  the  progress  in  read- 
ing and  writing  at  the  night  schools  in 
the  camps  that  recently  the  "  Y  "  started 
a  newspaper  printed  in  Chinese  script. 

Although  the  moving  pictures  and  Chi- 
nese plays  are  by  far  the  most  popular 
features  of  this  welfare  work,  the  most 
beneficial  service  the  "  Y "  is  giving 
these  unlearned  Celestials  is  along  edu- 
cational and  vocational  lines.  These  men 
will  exert  a  great  influence  on  China 
when  they  return,  and  it  is  imperative 
that  they  understand  not  only  the  funda- 
mentals upon  which  Christianity  is  based, 
but  that  they  carry  home  with  them  an 
undistorted  conception  of  modern  civili- 
zation. 

The  illiteracy  of  the  coolies  is  the  basis 
of  many  amusing  tales.  During  a  heated 
discussion  among  laborers  in  one  of  the 
camps,  the  theory  was  advanced  that  the 
United  States  entered  the  war  because 
the  Crown  Prince  of  America  had  become 
engaged  to  a  Princess  of  France,  and  we 
were  thus  bound  to  support  the  cause  of 
our  newly  acquired  ally.  A  favorite  sub- 
ject, often  discussed,  is  the  phenomenon 
whereby  so  many  Chinese  came  to  be  as- 
sembled in  France  when  some  of  them 
went  east  and  some  west  from  China. 
Many  versions  of  this  remarkable  dis- 
covery have  been  rendered,  in  which  the 
sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars  have  been 
accused  of  straggling  on  their  respective 
"  beats." 

EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS 

These  childish  ideas  are  rapidly  being 
dispelled  in  the  elementary  classes 
conducted    by    the    Y.    M.    C.    A.,    and 


MANAGING  200,000  COOLIES  IN  FRANCE 


•w.> 


."  THE  PERFORMERS  WERE  PROVIDED  WITH  WEIRD  CHINESE  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS 
[©    By  the  American  painter.  Harry  B.  Lachman] 


the  vision  of  the  coolie  is  broaden- 
ing. His  war  experience  has  con- 
tributed, in  some  measure,  to  this  meta- 
morphosis. When  understanding  first 
began  to  replace  ignorance  in  his 
credulous  heart,  he  worked,  and  even 
fought,  for  his  officers  when  opportunity 
afforded.  In  one  company  two  Chinese 
were  awarded  the  British  Distinguished 
Service  Medal  for  conspicuous  bravery. 
They  went  through  a  barrage  three  times 
to  get  food  for  their  company  when  its 
supply  had  been  cut  off  by  enemy  fire. 

The  work  of  the  labor  battalions  did 
not  often  take  them  into  advanced  posi- 
tions, but  during  the  onrush  of  the  Ger- 
man horde  they  were  sometimes  swept 
into  the  maelstrom  of  battle.  Nor  did 
they  flinch.  One  company  almost  refused 
to  leave  the  field,  begging  for  helmets 
and  a  chance  to  show  their  allies  the 
spirit  with  which  the  Chinese  could  fight. 
During  the  fiercest  fighting  in  Picardy  a 
British  officer  commanding  a  Chinese 
labor  unit  was  caught  in  a  sudden  ad- 
vatx*1   by  the  enemy  and  badly  gassed. 


Although  they  were  hard  pressed,  the 
coolies  grouped  around  him  and  fought 
with  their  crude  weapons  until  relief  ar- 
rived. They  might  have  run  and  escaped, 
with  a  few  casualties,  but  they  didn't. 

ETHICS  AND  BOMBS 

The  coolie's  methods  of  warfare  did 
not  always  follow  the  ethics  of  interna- 
tional law.  When  some  German  pris- 
oners in  a  wire  inclosure  shouted  deri- 
sively at  a  gang  of  passing  coolies  the 
insults  were  taken  without  show  of  the 
slightest  emotion.  The  following  day, 
having  purchased  some  Mills  bombs  (at 
10  francs  per  bomb)  from  the  willing 
"  Tommies,"  the  coolies  proceeded  to 
"  mop  up "  the  inclosure,  forgetting, 
however,  to  pull  the  magic  firing  pins 
which  ignite  the  fuses.  The  Germans 
knew  how  to  meet  this  emergency,  and 
without  a  moment's  delay  picked  up  the 
bombs,  pulled  the  pins,  and  hurled  them 
back.  The  result  was  disastrous  to  the 
coolie  brigade.  But  by  the  time  they 
had  learned  their  lesson  the  guards  had 


>>u 


THE    SEW    YORK    TIM  Li    ClRREXl'    HISTORY 


taken  the  situation  in  chaige,  ana  there 
was  no  more  bombing  that  day. 

These  children  of  the  Far  East  are  ef- 
facing the  scars  of  war.  Their  contracts 
aii  neither  remunerative  nor  easy.  They 
ha\  p  agreed  to  work  ten  hours  daily  and 
seven  days  a  week,  but  they  are  never 
held  strictly  to  this  agreement.  The  Brit- 
ish give  them  1  franc  a  day,  and  send  a 
small  monthly  allowance  to  their  families 
in  China.  The  French  omit  this  latter 
ceremony,  but  pay  a  trifle  more.  Both 
Governments  make  provision  for  the  la- 


borers family  in  case  of  death  01  dis- 
ablement. The  Chinese  are  contented  with 
their  contracts — in  fact,  from  their  point 
of  view  the  terms  are  very  liberal.  They 
go  about  their  daily  business  of  digging 
and  carrying  quite  cheerfully,  and  with  a 
vigor  that  bids  well  for  the  future  of 
new  China.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  rest 
of  the  world  to  see  that,  when  they 
finally  take  leave  of  the  West,  they 
take  with  them  the  message  that  our 
modern  Christian  world  is  worthy  of 
emulation. 


China  and  Japan 


Aftermath     of     the     Shantung     Settlement  —  Contemporary 
Events  in  Both  Countries 

[Period  Ended  Nov.  10,  1919] 


THE  resentment  of  the  Chinese  over 
the  Shantung  provisions  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  with  Germany  con- 
tinued to  find  expression  during 
September  and  October,  and  the  parallel 
Japanese  insistence  on  the  correctness  of 
its  intentions  underwent  no  abatement. 
The  discussion  of  the  Shantung  award 
in  the  United  States  Senate  was  closely 
followed  in  China,  and  at  the  end  of  July 
the  Shantung  Provincial  Assembly  sent 
a  telegram  addressed  to  "  The  President, 
American  Senate,  Washington,"  voicing 
the  gratitude  of  the  Chinese  for  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  Senate.  The  telegram  read 
sis  follows: 

T.-inanfu.    China,    July    :<0.    1010. 
Tin    President.   American   Senate.   Wash- 
ington : 

The  people  of  China,  and  particularly  of 
Shantung,  are  extremely  grateful  for  the 
sympathetic  understanding  of  international 
justice  i-hown  by  the  American  Senate 
concerning  the  Shantung  clauses  in  the 
Peace  Treaty  with  Germany.  All  Sino- 
Gorman  treaties  became  null  and  void 
on  China's  entry  into  the  war  as  one  of 
the  Allies,  and  Japan  has  no  right  to 
claim  that  she  is  heir  to  the  concessions 
and  privileges  taken  forcibly  from  China 
by  Germany. 

The  treaty  of  101"<  containing  twenty- 
one  demands  was  forced  on  China  by 
Japan;  the  Kiao-Tsi  railway  agreement, 
the   Kaomi-Hsuchow    and    Shunteh-Tsinau 


railway  agreements  were  negotiated  by 
Chinese  traitors,  and  have  not  been  s.i ra- 
tioned by  the  national  Parliament.  Chi- 
nese people  cannot  recognize  such  treat- 
ies and  agreements,  and  will  opppse  them 
with   the  sacrifice  of  life  if  ncess.iry. 

Sino- American  friendship  lias  always 
been  ideal,  and  to  perpetuate  this  friend- 
ship and  to  maintain  everlasting  peace 
in  the  Par  East  we,  the  representatives 
of  the  Shantung  people,  address  the 
American  people  through  the  American 
Senate  in  the  hope  that  profound  consid- 
eration will  be  given  to  the  Shantung 
question  and  that  America  will  continue 
her  aid  toward  maintaining  the  integ- 
rity of  Chinese  sovereignty.  We  extend 
our  heartfelt  thanks. 
(Signed) 
SHANTl'NG    PROVINCIAL   ASHKMHIA'. 

NARRATIVE    OF   A   DELEGATE 

All  through  July  and  August  the 
Chinese  attacks  on  the  Shantung  pro- 
visions and  the  official  deprecations  of 
the  Japanese  succeeded  one  another  in 
rapid  succession,  linked  with  arguments 
pro  and  contra.  At  the  beginning  of 
September  a  number  of  the  Chinese 
peace  delegates  arrived  in  Shanghai. 
One  of  these,  Kung  Hsiang-ko,  a  Shan- 
tung delegate  who  traces  his  ancestry 
in  a  direct  line  through  seventy-four 
generations  from  Confucius,  returned 
afte-r  a   short   stay  in   Shanghai   to  his 


<'HI\A   AND  J, WAS 


W7 


ancestral  home  at  Kufovv,  in  the  Shan- 
tung Peninsula,  to  prepare  for  the 
Provincial  Assembly  the  formal  report 
of  China's  activities  in  the  Peace  Con- 
ference. Kufow,  famed  throughout 
China  as  the  place  where  the  tomb  of 
Confucius  stands,  felt  more  keenly  than 
any  other  city  the  grief  which  the  Shan- 
tung award  to  Japan  brought  to  the 
Chinese  Nation;  for  it  is  in  a  sense  the 
very  heart  of  the  nation.  After  recount- 
ing the  efforts  of  Dr.  Wellington  Koo 
and  Dr.  C.  T.  Wang  to  combat  the  pro- 
Japanese  campaign  which  had  hampered 
the  work  of  the  delegates  at  every  turn, 
Kung  Hsiang-ko  stated  his  belief  that 
one  of  the  important  reasons  why  China 
was  defeated  was  because  the  Fiume 
question  had  received  precedence  at  the 
conference.  In  this  regard  Mr.  Kung 
said: 

President  Wilson  was  fully  determined 
to  support  the  Chinese  cause.  If  the 
Shantung  question  had  been  brought  Up 
first  it  would,  perhaps,  have  been  dis- 
posed of  to  the  satisfaction  of  tin 
Chinese. 

THE   TREATY   OF   TOKIO 

But  the  blow  under  which  the  Chinese 
delegates  were  crushed,  said  Mr.  Kung, 
was  the  disclosure  of  the  so-called 
"  Tokio  Treaty,"  of  which  they  had  never 
heard  until  the  Japanese  produced  it  at 
the  conference.  This  was  a  document 
of  agreement  concluded  with  Japan  by 
the  former  Chinese  Minister  to  Tokio, 
Chiang  Chung-hsiang,  one  of  the  of- 
ficials against  whom  the  wrath  of  the 
students  was  turned  in  June  when  the 
Minister  was  deposed.  Chiang  Chung- 
hsiang,  the  Shantung  delegate  explained, 
acted  with  the  power  of  a  plenipoten- 
tiary in  concluding  this  secret  treaty,  by 
the  terms  of  which  the  German  holdings 
in  Shantung  and,  in  particular,  the  rail- 
way concessions,  were  given  to  Japan. 
When  Dr.  Koo  and  Dr.  Wang,  protesting 
against  the  twenty-one  demands,  con- 
tended that  they  had  been  signed  under 
threat  of  war,  the  Japanese  produced  the 
Treaty  of  Tokio,  of  the  existence  of 
which  the  Chinese  envoys  were  ignorant. 
Mr.  Kung  commented  further  as  follows: 

When  this  treat)  was  produced  it 
closed   th«   mouth*   of    '11   of  china's  del) 


-  and  nnn<'  of  them  knew  <  xnt  tl) 
what    to  do. 

\\  "hen  the  Chinese  delegates  learned 
that  the  decision  on  Shantung  had  been 
reached  all  the  smaller  nations  protested 
and  the  Chinese  tool*  vigorous  action. 
At  a  conference  a  delegate  asked  who  had 
made  the  decision.  Speaking  for  the  Mig 
Five.     M.    Clemonceau    answered  We 

did  it."  When  he  was  asked  how  the 
Hig  Five  could  decide  a  Question  like  that 
he  replied,  saying:  'We  have  suffered 
more   than   others." 

We  trusted  Sir.  Wilson  entirely  too 
much.  Wc  sent  a  note  to  him  asking 
him  how  he  could  reconcile  assurances 
he  had  given  to  China  before  she  entered 
the  war  with  the  decision.  He  font  a 
representative  to  us  expressing  his  s  >r- 
row  and  suggested  that  he  would  help  us 
when  the  League  <>f  Nations  was  farmed. 

When  the  conference  was  concluded  the 
Chines*-  divided  on  the  question  whether 
to  sign  the  treaty  with  Germany.  It  was 
the  students  and  Chinese  statesmen  in 
Palis  who  swayed  those  who  were  dis- 
posed  to  sign. 

On  the  morning  of  the  dn>  set  for 
the  signing  of  the  treaty,  after  China 
had  been  refused  the  right  of  signing 
with  reservations,  crowds  of  students 
patrolled  in  front  of  the  hotel  of  T,u 
Chen-hsiang,  our  chief  delegate,  who  had 
been  suffering  from  ill-health  and  was 
confined  to  his  bed.  The  question  of 
signing  had  not  been  decided  when  the 
delegates  gathered  in  his  room.  He  was 
asked  for  the  last  time1  if  he  would  con- 
sent to  sign,  and  he  replied  with  tears 
streaming  from    his  eyes: 

"  1  signed  the  twenty-one  demands  Can 
I.  must  I.   also  sign  this'.'  " 

It  was  the  only  answer  b«  gave  and  the 
delegates  understood.  That  Is  why.  when 
tlie  conference  was  called  to  order,  th< 
seats   of   the  Chinese   were   Vacant. 

MARTIAL    LAW    IN    KOREA 

In  Korea  the  condition  of  unrest  con- 
tinued. Since  the  attempt  made  on  Sept. 
2  to  assassinate  Baron  Saito,  the  new- 
Japanese  Governor  General,  in  Seoul, 
every  part  of  that  city  was  occupied  by 
Japanese  troops,  and  the  place  was  vir- 
tually in  a  state  of  siege.  The  bomb- 
thrower  was  still  at  large,  although  a 
number  of  persons  suspected  of  being 
implicated  in  the  plot  were  under  arrest. 
Baron  Saito.  on  the  day  following  the  at- 
tack, which  injured  twenty-nine  persons, 
summoned  the  Councilors  and,  appa- 
rently unperturbed,  explained  the  key- 
note of  his  policy  as  Governor  General 
along  the  lines  of  abolishment  of  dis- 
crimination   and    non-interference    v\  i*h 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


freedom  of  speech  or  publication  so  far 
as  consistent  with  public  safety.  An- 
swering visitors  who  congratulated  him 
on  his  escape,  he  replied  that  he  was 
ready  to  sacrifice  his  life,  if  necessary, 
in  the  cause  for  which  he  came  to  Korea. 

PEACE  WITH  GERMANY 
Parliament  having  agreed  that  the 
state  of  war  between  China  and  Ger- 
many should  be  ended,  a  Presidential 
mandate  to  that  effect  was  issued  on 
Sept.  16.  The  document  contained  the 
following  statement: 

Although,  owing  to  our  disapproval  of 
the  three  articles  concerning  Shantung, 
we  have  refused  to  sign  the  treaty  with 
Germany,  yet  we  recognize  all  the  other 
articles  as  our  allies  do.  Now  that  the 
war  is  ended,  we,  as  one  of  Jhc  allied 
nations,  shall  consequently  regard  our- 
selves as  in  the  same  position  as  our 
allies. 

But  though  finally  at  peace  with  Ger- 
many, China  was  not  at  peace  within 
her  own  boundaries,  and  the  clashing 
factions  of  the  north  and  south  continued 
the  civil  war  which  has  so  long  disor- 
ganized the  country.  The  Chinese  peace 
delegation  at  Paris  had  been  advised  on 
Aug.  28  that  Wong-i-Tong,  representing 
the  Northern  Government,  had  begun 
negotiations  with  Tang  Shao-yi  of  the 
Southern  Government  looking  to  recon- 
ciliation. On  Sept.  29,  however,  further 
advices  reported  that  southern  repre- 
sentatives had  refused  to  treat  with 
Wong-i-Tong;  hostilities  between  the  two 
Governments  were  resumed  by  Oct.  7, 
with  the  departure  of  numerous  troops 
from  Amoy  for  action  against  the  south- 
ern forces  stationed  at  Changchow. 

Serious  disorders  meantime  continued 
through  the  metropolitan  province  as 
the  result  of  acts  of  brigandage  com- 
mitted by  roving  bands  of  outlaws,  whose 
suppression  could  not  be  undertaken  be- 
cause the  military  Governor  did  not  pos- 
sess the  necessary  funds  to  move  the 
troops  against  them.  The  attitude  of 
the  troops  themselves  was  a  matter  of 
very  serious  concern.  A  large  number  of 
these  were  superfluous,  but  regular  dis- 
bandment  involved  the  payment  of  ar- 
rears, amounting-  to  $50,000,000,  which 
the  depleted  Chinese  Treasury,  reduced 
to  nuch  disastrous  expedients  as  the  dis- 


count of  Treasury  bills  at  a  loss  of  4(> 
per  cent,  on  the  transaction,  found  it 
impossible  to  provide.  Fears  of  a  mu- 
tiny of  these  unpaid  troops  were  enter- 
tained. 

The  National  Government,  neverthe- 
less, sought  to  reduce  its  outlay  for  mili- 
tary purposes.  Keen  interest  was 
aroused  in  Peking  on  Oct.  30  by  the  ac- 
tion of  Parliament  in  making  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  military  budget  from  $250,- 
000,000  to  $160,000,000.  As  it  was  un- 
certain whether  the  Tuchuns  would  com- 
ply, General  Ni  Ssu-chung,  Tuchun  of 
Amhui,  who  advocated  the  reduction,  be- 
gan an  exchange  of  telegrams  with  other 
Tuchuns  recommending  an  immediate  30 
per  cent,  reduction. 

OUTER   MONGOLIA'S   PETITION 

An  event  of  considerable  importance 
was  the  receipt  of  a  petition  signed  by 
the  chief  tans  of  the  "  Mongolian  Ban- 
ners "  and  forwarded  by  the  Chinese 
Ambassador  at  Urga,  capital  of  Outer 
Mongolia,  asking  China  to  take  this 
province  back  under  her  protection.  Out- 
er Mongolia  had  declared  itself  autono- 
mous shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
Chinese  revolution.  On  Nov.  3,  1912,  by 
a  protocol  signed  at  Urga,  the  province 
was  placed  under  the  protection  of  Rus- 
sia, and  Chinese  colonization  and  the 
presence  of  Chinese  troops  were  forbid- 
den. Later  an  agreement  was  reached 
between  Russia  and  China  whereby  Rus- 
sia recognized  Inner  Mongolia  as  part 
of  Chinese  territory  under  Chinese 
suzerainty,  and  China  recognized  the 
autonomy  of  Outer  Mongolia. 

The  petition  set  forth  that  the  origina' 
declaration  of  autonomy  had  been  due  to 
intriguers,  that  the  Russians  had  treated 
the  autonomous  province  with  a  high 
hand,  and  that  the  province  regretted 
the  loss  of  favorable  treatment  by  the 
Chinese  Government  which  the  Princes 
and  chieftans  of  Inner  Mongolia  still  re- 
ceived. It  also  expressed  a  desire  to 
cancel  the  declaration  of  autonomy,  and 
return  to  the  protection  of  the  mother 
country.  The  petitioners  further  asked 
that  China  should  redeem  the  2,000,000 
ruble  loan  which  the  Urga  Government 
had  contracted  with  Russia  in  October, 
1913,  and  requested  that  the  sauries  or 


CHINA   AND  JAPAN 


5*0 


allowances  of  the  Princes  and  chief  tans 
be  paid  by  the  Central  Government. 

The  Peking  Government  sent  a  tele- 
graphic message  to  the  Ambassador  at 
Urga  accepting  the  offer  and  promising 
to  pay  the  sa'aries  and  allowances; 
$800,000  was  voted  for  this  purpose. 

On  Nov.  2  Captain  Frederick  F.  Moore 
of  the  Intelligence  Department  of  the 
American  Expeditionary  Force  in  Si- 
beria, declared  that  the  attempt  of  Outer 
Mongolia  to  cancel  her  autonomy  and  to 
return  under  the  protection  of  China  was 
due  to  the  rapidly  increasing  control  of 
the  Japanese  in  Mongolia  and  Manchuria 
through  acquirement  of  mines,  public 
utilities,  and  concessions  of  all  kinds, 
supported  by  a  considerable  strengthen- 
ing of  Japanese  armed  forces  in  Siberia 
and  Northern  China. 

Another  recalcitrant  province,  Sze- 
chuan,  over  whose  boundary  with 
Thibet  a  dispute  had  arisen,  and 
which  withdrew  from  the  control  of  the 
Chinese  Government  in  1917,  when  it 
broke  the  three-year  armistice  following 
the  Conference  of  Simla  by  an  attack 
upon  the  Thibetans,  was  stated  on  Sept. 
18  to  be  again  seeking  the  advice  of 
Peking  in  regard  to  the  campaign  it  was 
waging,  chiefly  as  the  result  of  having 
been  chastened  by  defeat.  The  Chinese 
Government  on  its  part  had  proposed  the 
resumptipn  of  the  negotiations  which 
had  been  broken  off  in  India  in  1914. 

STATEMENT    OF    DR.    REINSCH 

On  Sept.  14  Dr.  Paul  S.  Reinsch,  after 
handing  in  his  resignation  as  United 
States  Minister  to  China  because  of  his 
inability  to  approve  the  Shantung  set- 
tlement, left  Peking  on  Sept.  13.  Amer- 
ican, British,  and  Chinese  guards  of 
honor  were  drawn  up  about  the  station, 
while  the  members  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps  and  of  the  Chinese  Cabinet,  as  well 
as  a  number. of  students  just  returned 
from  America,  bade  him  farewell.  On 
his  arrival  at  San  Francisco  on  Oct.  9 
the  former  Ambassador  made  the  fol- 
lowing public  comment  on  the  situation 
in  China: 

There  is  a  strong  undercurrent  of  feel- 
ing in  Japan  that  the  best  Interest.*  of  the 
country  will  br  served  by  making  a  liberal 

-•  ttl<m,»nt    of    th*    Shantung   question. 


Few  persons  have  any  conception  of 
the  thoroughness  of  the  Chinese  boyentt. 
So    efficiently    is    it    maintained,    there    Is 

no  question  that  Japanese  Interest!  are 
losing  vastly.  As  an  instance,  one  of 
the  Japanese  concerns  with  a  capital  of 
IM.dUO.000  yen  constructed  palatial  Steam* 
ships  to  carry  freight  and  passengers  up 
and  down  the  Chinese  rivers.  The  only 
competition  consisted  of  old  and  unde- 
sirable British  vessels.  The  latter  are 
carrying  all  the  Chinese  passengers  and 
all  the  native  freight,  while  the  Japanese 
line  is  plying  nearly  empty  and  is  losing 
a  million  yen  each  month. 

Americans  in  China  are  not  anti-Japa- 
nese because  they  must  oppose  whatever 
Japan  may  attempt,  but  In  the  matter 
of  Shantung  they  are  looking  at  the  ques- 
tion in  the  full  knowledge  they  have  of 
the  situation  and  an  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  the  pledge  to  restore  to  China 
the  sovereignty  of  the  province  means 
only  the  return  of  the  shell,  and  in  this 
they  sympathize  with  the  Chinese,  just 
as  the  other  foreigners  in  China. 

They  appreciate,  too.  the  fact  that 
Japan  holds  a  wonderful  trump  card  if 
she  will'  only  play  it,  which  is  the  return 
to  China  of  those  things  wrung  from  her 
by  Germany,  retaining  only  her  privilege 
of  entering  S-hantung  on  equal  terms 
with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

If  Japan  could  'only  see  it.  that  would 
be  her  reply  to  all  the  charges  that  have 
been  brought  against  her,  a  reply  that 
would  at  once  convi  rfsentiment  in  China 
from  a  probable  lasting  hatted  into  a 
feeling  of  grateful  friendship  and  some- 
thing that  would  be  appreciated  by  the 
Americans  in  China  equally  with  the 
Japanese.  It  would  also  be  something 
that  would  disarm  every  critic  of  Japan 
in  America  and  elsewhere  throughout  the 
world  and  pay  Japan  materially  much 
more  than  she  can  possibly  gain  by  push- 
ing the  advantage  the  treaty  gives  her  in 
Shantung. 

JAPANESE  ATTITUDE  ON  PEACE 

The  feeling  of  Japan  on  the  issues  in- 
volved at  the  Peace  Conference  was  one 
of  satisfaction  over  the  Shantung  award, 
combined  with  chagrin  over  the  failure 
of  the  proposal  to  incorporate  a  clause  of 
racial  equality  in  the  peace  treaty  with 
Germany.  On  Sept.  8  Marquis  Saionji. 
head  of  the  Japanese  Peace  Delegation 
at  Paris,  in  response  to  an  address  of 
welcome  made  on  behalf  of  the  City  of 
Tokio  at  a  banquet  given  in  celebration 
of  his  return,  reviewed  the  situation  in 
the  following  terms: 

Japan  clearly  understands  her  responsi- 
bility in  airline  and   promoting  the   useful- 


MO 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIME'S    CURRENT   HISTORY 


nes.s  of  the  League  of  Nations— that  groat 
international  organization.  which,  if 
whole-heartedly  and  effectively  admin- 
istered, is  destined  to  injure  the  world 
against  the  menace  of  war. 

The  Marquis  pointed  out  that  Japan 
had  gained  a  reputation  as  a  militarist 
and  aggressive  nation,  which  was  due 
partly  to  sinister  propaganda  by  inter- 
ested parties,  and  partly  because  she  had 
prosecuted  two  successful  wars  since  she 
opened  her  doors  to  foreign  intercourse. 
He  added : 

That  Japan  should  be  made  the  object 
of  distrust  and  misunderstanding  is  im- 
mensely injurious  to  Japan,  and  not  less 
unfortunate  to  the  foreign  nations  whose 
policy  in  the  Far  East  is  Influenced  by 
tills  erroneous  estimate.  It  is  of  para- 
mount importance  that  Japan  should  cor- 
rect this  mistaken  judgment  abroad, 
wiiile  the  people  of  Japan  should  exercise 
the  utmost  care  in  all  their  domestic  and 
international  undertakings  to  demonstrate 
the  real  national  ideals  of  Japan,  which 
are  entirely  opposed  to  militarism  or  ag- 
gression. 

Marquis  Saionji  outlined  the  rapid  de- 
mand which  had  arisen  in  Japan  for 
armaments  in  consequence  of  the  pecul- 
iar changes  of  the  last  half  century.  He 
pointed  out,  however,  that  military  excel- 
lence was  not  the  only  thing  to  be  de- 
sired, but  now  that  the  empire  was  con- 
solidated and  Japan  was  co-operating  in 
a  world  movement  to  secure  a  durable 
peace,  all  the  people  should  exert  them- 
selves to  develop  along  the  paths  of  sci- 
ence, art,  literature,  and  industry.  He 
ended  as  follows: 

I  feel  confident  that  the  time  is  cdming 
when  those  who  misrepresent  and  mis- 
understand us  today  will  appreciate  our 
sincerity  in  laboring  toward  international 
peace  and  credit  us  with  success  in  the 
sphere  of  pacific  undertakings.  Then, 
alone,  will  Japan's  position  be  made  last- 
ingly secure  and  unassailable. 

STATEMENT   BY  DR.   IYENAGA 

Another  semi-official  utterance  on  the 
question  was  contained  in  an  address  de- 
li\  c  red  Oct.  4  before  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tuiv  Club  of  Boston  by  Dr.  T.  Iyenaga, 
tin  head  of  the  Japanese  Bureau  of  In- 
foiUKvtioiL  Dr.  Iyenaga  deplored  what 
ho  <rmod  "the  campaign  of  misrepre- 
sentation, abuse  and  slander"  directed 
against  Japan  since  July,  1919,  which, 
he  <irt laved,  had  produced  "a  gross  mis- 


understanding among  the  American  peo- 
ple regarding  the  Shantung  question." 
His  interpretation  of  the  whole  situation 
from  the  Japanese  viewpoint  was  in  part 
as  follows: 

When  we  study  the  Shantung  settlement 
by  the  light  of  the  Portsmouth  Treaty 
we  at  once  observe  a  very 'marked  dif- 
ference between  the  provisions  of  the  two 
agreements.  The  difference,  however,  is 
all  to  the  advantage  of  China.  By  the 
Shantung  adjustment— that  is  to  say,  in 
observance  of  the  China-Japan  agree- 
ments of  101.">  and  1918,  and  the  assur- 
ances given  by  Japan's  peace  envoys  to 
President  Wilson  and  Premiers  Lloyd 
George  and  ClemehceaU,  reinforced  by 
the  repeated  declarations  of  the  Japa- 
nese Government— the  Kiao-Chau  lease- 
hold is  to  be  given  Up,  the  Tsing-tao- 
Tsinanfu  Railroad  brought  under  joint 
Sino-Japrmese  management,  the  road 
policed  by  Chinese  police,  the  military 
occupation  wiped  out  by  the  complete 
withdrawal  of  Japanese  troops,  and  the 
exercise  of  full  sovereignty  over  Shan- 
tung, which  was  infringed  upon  by  Ger- 
many, restored  to  China.  In  this  way, 
Shantung  will  comd  to  attain  the  same 
status  as  that  in  other  provinces  of 
China. 

What  Japan  obtains  are  simply  the  eco- 
nomic rights  and  concessions  in  Shantung 
similar  to  those  enjoyed  by  other  powers 
in  other  parts  of  China,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  a  settlement  at  Tsing- 
tao  as  the  foreign  settlements  tnat  exist 
at  Shanghai.  Tien-tsin,  and  Hankow. 
The  Shantung  settlement,  therefore,  far 
from  impairing  the  territorial  integrity  or 
independence  of  China,  rather  serves  to 
restore  her  sovereignty,  which  Germany 
had,  in  fact,  overridden  at  Kiao-Chau  by 
the  treaty  of  1&& 

Such  being  the  actual  outcome,  I  am 
unable  to  understand  what  ground  there 
Is  for  the  abuse  that  has  been  heaped 
upon  the  Japanese  Nation  on  account  of 
the  Shantung  disposition  of  the  treaty. 
To  restore  the  exercise  of  full  sovereignty 
over  Shantung  to  its  owner— is  this  what 
you  call  "  Japan's  rape  of  China  "  ?  To 
develop,  in  conjunction  with  China,  the 
resources  of  her  potentially  rich  prov- 
ince, which,  left  alone  to  the  Chinese, 
would  long  remain  a  hidden  treasure— is 
this  what  you  call  an  act  of  "burglary"  ? 
To  contribtte  to  the  education,  sanita- 
tion, and  physical  well-being  oof  the  in- 
habitants of  Shantung,  as  Japan  will 
doubtless  strive  to  do  along  the  raiiroad 
in  whose  management  she  has  a  share- 
is  this  what  you  call  "  the  enslaving  of 
36,000,000  in  Shantung  "  ?  Were  these  acts 
to  be  properly  styled  "  rape,"  "  bur- 
glary," and  "  enslavement,"  we  would 
ask  for  the  immediate  and  thorough   re- 


CHINA   AND  JAP  AS 

H 


\i  ion  of  Anglo-Aim  than  dictionaries  to 
prevent  our  disastrous  blunders  in  under- 
standing  tin-    English    language.    •    *    • 

A    BITTER   EXPERIENCE 

Every  experience  which  Japan  has 
gained  is  a  priceless  lesson  to  her.  In 
ItiftCi  die  tasted  tin-  bitter  cup  of  being 
deprived  of  the  best  fruits  of  victory  in 
lb*  costly  war  with  China  through  the 
machinations  of  certain  European  powers, 
and  not  long  after  of  witnessing  those 
fruits  slip  from  China's  grasp  und  fall 
into    European   hands. 

is  it  difficult,  then,  to  undei  stand  that, 
In  order  to  forestall  a  repetition  of  this 
experience  at  the  Peace  Conference,  which 
was  to  settle  the  world  war.  Japan  felt 
it  necessary  to  assuie  herself  of  the  sup- 
port of  her  claims  by  her  allies  at  the 
peace  table?  This  will  explain  the  agree- 
ments entered  into  in  11)17  between  Japan 
on  the  one  hand  and  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  Russia  on  'the  other, 
as  well  as  the  China-Japan  agreements  of 
161.1  and  1(1  IS. 

These  agreements  are  the  basis  '  of 
A i  ticks  ir>«.  J37,  and  V>H  of  the  Versailles 
Treaty.  The  terms  of  the  latter  treaty 
are  substantially  the  same  as  those  speci- 
fied in  the  former.  So  long,  therefore,  as 
these  treaties  stand,  so  long  will  the 
Shantung  clause  of  the  Versailles  Treaty 
stand.  Consequently,  Chinese  advocates 
are  consistent,  at  least,  when,  in 
trying  to  annul  the  Shantung  decision, 
they  advocate  the  abrogation  of  the 
China-Japan  Treaty  of  1013.  This,  how- 
ever, Is  out  of  the  question.  Great  Britain, 
Fiance,  and  Italy  stand  upon  their  honor. 
Nor  will  Japan  ever  consent  to  be  a 
party  to  the  abrogation  of  the  Treaty  of 
11)1.".  Moreover,  In  adopting  such  a  grave 
course.  China  must  be  prepared  to  turn 
Into  "  scraps  of  paper  "  many  of  the 
treaties  she  has  concluded  with  other 
powers. 

AWAITS    EUROPE'S    EXAMPLE 

I  dare  say  that  Japan  will  follow  the 
suit  of  other  powers,  if  they  decide  to 
give  up  the  leaseholds  and  settlements 
they  maintain  in  China  :  if  they  return  to 
her  the  rights  and  concessions  they  have 
strut- ed  therein,  and  withdraw  their  troops 
now  quartered  at  Pckinp,  Tientsin,  and 
Other  places,  and.  further.  If  China  suf- 
ficiently demonstrates  'her  ability  to  tic- 
fend  herself  ami  maintain  her  Integrity 
by  her  own  arms,  instead  of  shifting:  the 
burden  to  Japan  to  stand  in  the  Far  East 
as  a  bulwark  against  outside  aggression. 
Then  Japan  Is  safe,  China  free,  and  she 
will  have  attained  all  that  she  is  clamor- 
ing for  today. 

Among  the  Great  Five,  the  United  States 
is  the  only  disinterested  power,  free  from 
the  web  which  history  lias  woven.  This, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken.   Is  the  reason  why 


China,    bacaed    b}    scores   i»f    for< 

vlsers.  Is  moving  heaven  and  e.m', 
persuade  America  to  come  to  h*i'  r»wn 
views,  and  Is  putting  to  a  test  the  talent 
of  intrigue  and  persuasion,  wliii  h  >1.<  ■..- 
Inherited  through  centuries,  against  hard 
realities.  I  am,  however,  inclined  toil.uk 
that  the  American  people,  who,  howevi 
Idealistic,  bold  as  their  first  principle 
doctrine  of  independence  and  "  self-help." 
will  first  see.  before  they  commit  them- 
selves and  take  upon  themselves  the  bur- 
den of  China,  what  she  has  done  to  help 
herself.  The  history  of.  the  past  few 
decades  is  m  sad  commentary  upon  China's 
lack  of  ••  self-help."  In  fact,  the  genius 
of  intrigue  and  wrangling,  with  which  the 
Chinese  are  so  strikingly  endowed,  is 
rending  the  country  into  frictions  and 
leading  it  to  disintegration  and  disaster. 

Such  being  th.-  situation,  is  it  not  most 
urgent  for  our  neighbors  across  the  Yellow 
Sea  to  compose  their  factional  quarrels, 
put  their  house  in  order,  and  exert  them- 
selves to  uplift  the  country,  so  that  their 
goal  of  the  abolition  of  foreign  setth  merits 
and  of  the  system  of  extra  •territoriality 
and  the  recovery  of  tariff  autonomy  may 
successfully  be  attained?  The  savior  of 
China  is  found  in  her  own  self.  and.  as 
President  Wilson  said,  in  the  League  nf 
Nations. 

JAPANESE  DISSATISFIED 

It  was  stated  that  the  Japanese  Privy 
Council  on  Oct.  30  had  suggested  the  im- 
peachment of  the  Ministry  of  Premier 
Hara  and  the  Versailles  Peace  Delega- 
tion for  the  "  unsatisfactory "  peace 
terms.  At  a  meeting  of  the  council  on 
Oct.  27  Viscount  Kiyoura,  head  of  the 
special  committee  of  the  council  which 
examined  the  German  Peace  Treaty,  had 
declared  that  Japan  made  a  mistake  in 
raising  the  racial  issue  at  the  Peace  Con- 
ference, and  had  criticised  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  failures  he  asserted  had 
been  scored  by  Japan  at  the  conference. 

In  respect  to  the  racial  issue,  Viscount 
Kiyoura  stated  that,  though  the  Govern- 
ment had  negotiated  on  this  question  be- 
forehand with  the  American  delegation, 
it  had  not  consulted  the  representatives, 
of  Great  Britain,  Japan's  ally,  »nd  its 
proposal  of  the  racial  issue  had  been 
both  untimely  and  inadvisable,  while  the 
proposal's  enforced  withdrawal  had  pro- 
duced an  awkward  situation,  in  which 
the  distinction  between  the  Japanese  and 
the  negro  race  had  been  ignored.  He 
also  regretted  that  the  Japanese  delega- 
tion   had    failed    to    insist    on    .'  tpanese 


.532 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


occupation  of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  The 
League  of  Nations  had  recognized  the 
American  Monroe  Doctrine,  he  pointed 
out,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  regret  that 
the  delegates  had  made  no  effort  to  se- 
cure recognition  of  Japan's  special  posi- 
tion in  the  Far  East.  He  also  declared 
that  the  Japanese  delegation  should  have 
protested  against  the  proposal  to  try  the 
German  Emperor. 

After  reviewing  the  entire  navy  in  an 
imposing  display,  the  Emperor  on  Oct.  28 


issued  a  message  to  the  fleet  congratu- 
lating it  upon  its  showing  in  strict  dis- 
cipline, martial  spirit,  and  marked  im- 
provement in  tactical  ability. 

Kijuro  Shidehara,  the  new  Japanese 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  made 
his  first  visit  to  Secretary  Lansing  at 
the  State  Department  in  Washington  on 
Nov.  3,  pending  the  presentation  of  his 
credentials  to  President  Wilson  person- 
ally as  soon  as  the  President  should  be 
able  to  receive  him. 


Tacna  and  Arica 

The  Powder  Kegs  of  South  America 
By  WILLIS  KNAPP  JONES 


TACNA  and  Arica,  the  Alsace-Lor- 
raine of  America!"  "Chile,  the 
South  American  Germany!  "  These 
are  catch  phrases  bandied  about 
through  Peru  and  Bolivia  from  the  high 
altitudes  of  La  Paz  and  Cochabaniba  to 
the  lowlands  of  Lima  and  Mollendo. 
During  a  six  weeks'  trip  through  these 
countries  I  have  heard  the  expressions 
from  Indian  and  Senator,  on  seacoast 
and  altiplano.  Discussions  of  the  topic 
fill  the  pages  of  the  daily  papers,  once 
dedicated  to  European  war  news,  and 
books  on  all  phases  of  it  are  legion. 

To  get  to  the  first  beginnings  of  the 
trouble  now  involving  Chile,  Bolivia,  and 
Peru,  it  is  necessary  to  go  back  to  the 
period  of  Spanish  settlement  when  the 
counti-y  was  divided  between  various 
colonies  and  ruled  by  various  officials, 
all  under  the  Vicerov  in  Peru.  The  exact 
boundaries  were  never  carefully  laid  out, 
for  a  few  leagues  more  or  less  meant 
nothing  to  the  colony.  The  Spaniards  did 
not  attempt  to  delineate  boundaries,  ex- 
cept for  their  own  farms.  When  the 
nineteenth  century  began  and  the  yoke 
of  Spain  was  thrown  off,  the  new  nations 
had  too  much  to  do  to  regulate  such  un- 
important problems.  No  treaties  were 
made  over  the  geographical  lines  of  any 
of  the  nations. 

Bolivia  and  Chile  were  separated  by  a 
barren    region,   the    desert   of   Atacama, 


where  no  one  lived  and  where  nothing 
grew.  Consequently,  neither  Chile  nor 
Bolivia  cared  much  about  it,  although 
the  governing  officials  and  the  almost 
negligible  customs  revenue  were  Bolivian. 
Thus  there  was  peace  until  1841. 

GUANO  AND  NITRATE  DISCOVERED 

In  that  year  it  was  found  that  the  sea- 
coast  of  Atacama  and  the  islands  in  the 
ocean  were  rich  in  guano,  especially  at 
a  place  called  Punta  Angamos,  north  of 
Antofagasta.  A  hasty  survey  put  the 
value  of  this  fertilizer  at  60,000,000 
pesos,  ($20,000,000.)  Here  was  some- 
thing worth  thinking  about.  On  Oct.  31, 
1842,  the  Chilean  Congress  passed  a  bill 
claiming  this  territory.  Chile  pressed 
her  claims  on  the  gi^ound  that  Alto  Peru, 
out  of  which  Bolivia  had  been  cut  after 
the  War  of  Independence,  never  came  as 
far  south  as  the  desert.  Chile's  northern 
boundary,  she  declared,  was  at  parallel 
23,  and  produced  documents  to  show  that 
the  Captain  General  of  Chile  in  colonial 
days  ruled  all  the  Province  of  Antofa- 
gasta. Bolivia  replied  that  her  own 
country  extended  to  parallel  25.  While 
they  were  discussing,  the  further  discov- 
ery of  vast  salitre,  or  nitrate,  beds  in 
Atacama  and  Antofagasta  made  the  mat- 
ter of  boundary  still  more  keenly  argued. 
Without  waiting  for  the  question  to  be 
settled.  Chilean  financiers  and  labor  went 


TACNA  AND  A  RICA 


:,:.a 


to  the  country,  and,  aided  by  British 
Capital,  began  the  development  of  the 
territory. 

The  President  of  Bolivia,  Melgarejo, 
was  a  great  admirer  of  Chile  and  things 
Chilean.  He  held  a  position  in  the  Chil- 
ean Army  and  drew  an  officer's  salary. 
As   one   Bolivian   writer   says   of   him, 


MAP  SHOWING  LOCATION  OF  TACNA 
AND  AHICA  IN  RELATION  TO  CHILE, 
PERU,    AND    BOLIVIA 


"  The  atmosphere  of  honors  and  adula- 
tions in  which  the  Government  of  Chile 
and  its  agents  enveloped  the  dictator, 
Melgarejo,  put  him  in  the  attitude  of 
conceding  whatever  was  demanded  of 
him  by  that  Government  and  its  citizens. 
Things  came  to  such  a  pass  that  he 
handed  over  to  a  group  of  these  Chileans 
the  concession  of  five  square  leagues  of 
land  and  the  sole  privilege  for  fifteen 
years  of  exploiting  and  exploring  the 
nitrate  of  Atacama." 

All  the  countries  on  the  west  coast  sud- 
denly found  themselves,  or  thought  them- 
selves, confronted  with  a  war  against  a 
Spain  determined  to  win  back  her  lost 
colonies.  A  defensive  alliance  was 
formed  in  1866  while  the  Spanish  fleet 


was  bombarding  Valparaiso,  Chile,  and 
Callao,  Peru.  But  the  pending  conflict 
was  stopped  by  the  intervention  of  the 
United  States.  Chile  seized  the  opportu- 
nity to  come  to  an  agreement  with  Mel- 
garejo and  a  compromise  was  effected, 
making  the  boundary  the  24th  parallel. 
However,  all  the  wealth  between  the  23d 
and  25th  parallels,  the  customs  on  out- 
going nitrate  and  other  minerals,  were  to 
be  divided  between  the  two  countries. 

BOLIVIAN-PERUVIAN*  ALLIANCE 

Yet,  in  spite  of  the  apparent  friendly 
spirit,  Bolivia  was  not  entirely  at  ease. 
She  possessed  neither  army  nor  navy. 
Chile  had  a  fleet  of  five  warships  and 
four  transports,  and  was  building  two 
more  of  each.  Bolivia  found  Peru  like- 
wise afraid  of  the  war  preparations  of 
Chile,  and  in  1873  the  two  nations  formed 
a  defensive  alliance. 

Yet  the  relation  between  Peru  and  Bo- 
livia was  far  from  smooth,  and  at  least 
once,  when  a  Peruvian  fleeing  from  po- 
litical trouble  was  sheltered  in  Bolivia, 
there  was  much  open  talk  of  war.  How- 
ever, they  managed  to  calm  matters,  and 
at  Peru's  suggestion  tried  to  strengthen 
their  alliance  by  inviting  Argentina  to 
join  them.  As  later  events  proved,  they 
made  a  diplomatic  blunder. 

In  1874  Chile  complained  that  Bolivia 
was  not  living  up  to  her  agreement,  and 
the  representatives  talked  it  over,  decid- 
ing on  Aug.  6,  1874,  that  the  dividing 
line  extended  back  to,  the  Cordilleras. 
Chile  promised  to  recognize  Bolivia's  sov- 
ereignty in  Antofagasta  in  return  for 
the  confirmation  of  Chilean  nitrate  con- 
cessions in  that  province.  Also  it  was 
settled  that  no  increase  in  export  taxes 
was  to  be  levied  by  Bolivia.  Once  more 
peace  reigned. 

Peru  took  this  occasion  to  show  her 
hand.  She  declared  all  nitrate  beds  to 
be  a  State  monopoly.  The  Chilean  com- 
panies found  themselves  compelled  to 
shut  down  and  turn  over  their  nitrate 
establishments,  upon  which  they  had 
spent  time  and  money.  All  they  received 
in  return  were  paper  notes,  which  were 
valueless.  They  appealed  to  Chile,  but 
nothing  was  done,  and  they  had  to  leave 
the  country. 

Meanwhile   the   President   changed   in 


S.'H 


THE   NEW    YORK.   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Bolivia,  and  in  1876  Hilarion  Daza  came 
into  power.  His  Peruvian  friends  pointed 
out  how  the  country  was  losing  money 
in  the  nitrate  district,  and  consequently 
in  1878  the  President  imposed  a  heavy 
tax  on  all  exported  fertilizer.  At  first  it 
was  to  have  been  a  10  per  cent,  tax,  but 
later  it  was  reduced  to  10  centavos  a 
quintal,  (220  pounds.)  The  nitrate  men 
objected,  called  attention  to  the  treaty  of 
1874,  and  refused  to  pay,  asserting  that 
it  would  spoil  their  business.  Chile  later 
imposed  a  tax  of  1.50  pesos  a  quintal,  and 
the  industry  flourished. 

When  the  Bolivian  authorities  threat- 
ened to  corffiscate  the  nitrate  plants 
where  the  tax  was  not  paid,  the  Chil- 
eans called  upon  their  country  to  keep 
them  from  being  driven  out  of  Bolivia 
as  they  had  been  out  of  Peru.  A  small 
naval  force  was  sent  to  Antofagasta. 
Then  Peru  tried  to  use  its  good  officer 
to  ti vert  trouble,  but  Argentina  revealed 
the  proposed  league  against  Chile,  and 
the  latter,  disgusted  with  such  double 
dealing,  declai'ed  war  on  Peru  and  Bo- 
livia on  April  5,  1879. 

Valdes  Vergara  in  his  history  of  Chile 
points  out  how  sure  the  allies  were  of 
victory.  Peru  thought  her  fleet  far 
stronger  than  Chile's.  Bolivia  was  con- 
fident in  her  army.  Since  1839  Chile  had 
lived  in  peace,  except  for  two  brief  revo- 
lutions in  1851  and  1859,  while  the  allies, 
with  their  continual  wars,  were  well  in 
practice.  The  naval  battle  of  Iquique  fin- 
ished the  Peruvian  fleet,  while  the  Chil- 
ean roto  soldier,  primed  with  chicha,  his 
national  drink,  was  a  demon,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  even  the  capital  of  Peru 
was  in  his  hands. 

TACNA    AND    ARICA 

Then  came  the  treaty  of  Ancon  with 
Peru,  signed  March  28,  1884,  and  with 
Bolivia  peace  was  made  a  week  later. 
By  the  terms  of  the  treaties  Chile  was 
given  the  Peruvian  nitrate  Province  of 
Tarapaca.  Two  provinces  further  north, 
Tacna  and  Arica,  were  temporarily  to 
go  to  Chile.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  a 
vote  was  to  be  taken,  the  people  having 
the  power  to  decide  whether  they  would 
belong  to  Chile  or  Peru.  The  country 
which  gained  the  territory  was  to  pay  to 
the   other   the    sum   of    10,000.000   pesos. 


(about  $2,000,000.)  The  two  provinces  are 
really  of  little  value,  although  Arica,  on 
the  seacoast,  is  the  most  beautiful  port  be- 
tween Panama  and  Valparaiso,  and  Tac- 
na, two  hours  from  it  by  rail,  is  an  at- 
tractive city.  But  the  greater  part  of  the 
land  is  desolate.  Its  chief  value  to  Chile 
is  as  a  buffer  between  Peru  and  the  ni- 
trate beds. 

The  plebiscite  was  to  have  been  held 
in  1894,  but  it  never  took  place.  The 
terms  of  the  treaty  are  largely  to  blame, 
because  the  manner  of  voting  was  not 
decided  then.  Peru  has  always  insisted 
that  only  those  vote  who  have  lived  for 
a  long  time  in  the  territories.  In  1910 
Chile  proposed  that  all  who  had  resided 
there  for  six  months  and  who  could  read 
and  write  be  given  a  ballot,  but  this  plan 
would  permit  the  Chilean  garrisons  to 
vote,  and  Peru  refused.  And  while  they 
are  settling  upon  a  way  Chile  keeps  the 
territory. 

In  the  terms  of  peace  with  Bolivia, 
Chile  received  Atacama  and  Antofagasta, 
thus  cutting  off  Bolivia  from  the  sea. 
The  delegates  at  the  conference  sug- 
gested that  Bolivia  would  be  given  an  op- 
portunity at  some  future  time  to  ac- 
quire a  port,  and  that  in  the  meantime 
Chilean  ports  were  open  to  them.  In  the 
year  when  the  plebiscite  should  have 
been  held,  Chile  made  another  treaty 
with  Bolivia,  promising,  in  return  for  as- 
surances of  perpetual  control  of  Ata- 
cama and  Antofagasta,  that,  should  Chile 
gain  Tacna  and  Arica,  she  would  turn 
them  over  to  Bolivia.  And  if  she  lost 
them,  she  would  give  Bolivia  the  little 
port  of  Vitor  and  5,000,000  pesos. 

CHILE'S  MILITARISTIC  CLAIMS 

Five  years  passed.  In  1900,  after  Chile 
had  settled  her  boundary  dispute  with 
Argentina,  the  Chilean  Minister  in  Bo- 
livia, Abraham  Kbnig,  handed  a  strange 
document  to  the  Bolivian  Chancellor. 
Among  other  things,  it  said  that  public 
opinion  had  changed  in  the"  last  five 
years,  and  therefore  Bolivia  need  not 
count  on  getting  Tacna  and  Arica.  even 
if  the  plebiscite  were  favorable  to  Chile. 
Tt  denied  that  Bolivia  was  to  have  a  port 
in  return  for  the  seacoast  which  she  had 
lost,  and  added.  "  Chile  has  occupied  the 


TACK  A    AND  A  RICA 


:,:■.:> 


shore  and  has  become  guardian  of  it  by 
the  same  title  as  that  by  which  Germany 
annexed  to  her  empire  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine. Our  rights  arise  from  our  vic- 
tory, the  supreme  law  of  nations."  Thus 
Bolivia  lost  nearly  60,000  square  miles  of 
territory  occupied  by  32,000  people.  From 
one  of  the  nitrate  districts  alone,  Toco, 
Chile  gets  an  annual  income  of  5,000,000 
pesos.  Yet  Bolivia  is  getting  a  return, 
too.  In  1904  a  new  treaty  was  signed 
giving  Bolivia  4,000,000  pesos  indemnity 
and  promising  a  railroad  from  Avica  to 
La  Paz,  recently  finished  at  a  cost  of 
$25,000,000,  which  in  twenty-five  years 
will  become  Bolivian  property.  Bolivia 
at  that  time  ceded  all  her  claims  to  the 
coast. 

Pei*u,  however,  is  not  yet  satisfied 
with  arrangements.  Tacna  and  Arica 
occupy  a  place  in  Peruvian  politics  sim- 
ilar to  that  formerly  held  by  the  tariff 
or  free  silver  issue  in  the  United  States. 
The  papers  there  are  full  of  talk  now 
because  a  Presidential  election  comes  this 
year,  and  the  candidates  are  incorporat- 
ing the  "  Lost  Provinces  "  in  their  plat- 
forms. Then  there  is  a  hope,  too,  that 
the  League  of  Nations  will  do  something. 
From  being  newspaper  and  political  talk, 
it  has  now  gone  further.  Students  in 
Callao  and  Lima  made  demonstrations 
against  Chile.  In  Paita,  Peru,  the  Chilean 
Consul  was  supposed  to  have  been  in- 
sulted and  driven  from  the  country.  Ex- 
aggerated reports  of  the  doings  came  to 
Chile  and  the  incensed  people  stained  the 
present  trouble  in  the  country; 

DANGERS  OF  THE  SITUATION 

The  internal  conditions  of  Chile  are  not 
enviable.  The  United  States  Embassy 
in  the  last  few  months  has  more  than 
once  been  on  the  point  of  sending  all 
Americans  home.  This  is  due  partly  to 
injudicious  newspaper  reports  and  part- 
ly to  the  underlying  social  unrest.  The 
Bolshevist  germ  has  reached  South  Amer- 
ica, and  the  Chilean  authorities  fear  an 
outbreak.  Punta  Arenas,  in  the  far 
south,  has  been  in  open  revolt,  while  the 
many  demonstrations  by  striking  work- 
men in  all  the  cities  give  at  least  a  hint 
of  danger;  so  the  Government  is  quite 
willing  that  the  Peruvian  issue  should 
distract  popular  attention. 


Little  is  known  in  the  south  of  Chile 
of  conditions  in  the  north,  for  news  is 
rigidly  suppressed;  but  1  had  occasion 
to  visit  Iquique,  the  scene  of  the  greatest 
anti-Peru  disorder.  In  Santiago  the  re- 
port was  given  out  that  the  Peruvians 
in  Iquique  left  the  city  of  their  own  ac- 


MAl'   INDICATING   LOCATION   OF   I»ISPrTRI> 
PHOVINCK8   IN   RELATION    TO  THE    REST   CTF 

SOl'TH    AMERICA 


cord,  and  the  statement  wras  backed  by 
affidavits  of  the  steamboat  Captains  who 
carried  them  to  Peru.  In  Iquique  the 
fleteros  who  row  passengers  from  the 
ships  to  the  shore,  for  there  are  no  docks, 
say  that  there  is  a  fine  of  a  hundred 
pesos  for  any  one  who  carries  a  Peruvian 
ashore,  and  we  had  to  assure  them  of 
our  nationality  before  we  could  land.  One 
fletero  told  me  that  many  Peruvians 
were  taken  out  of  their  beds  and  forci- 
bly put  on  board  ships  for  Peru,  and  one 
American  gentleman  upon  whose  word  I 
can  rely,  though  it  is  obvious  his  name 
cannot  be  given,  said  he  watched  six 
mounted  police  guard  his  dwelling  while 
a  crowd  looted  the  house  of  a  Peruvian 
six  doors  away,  completely  wrecking  it. 
In  the  nitrate  district  also  there  is  this 
same  distrust  of  Peruvians.  All  have 
been  sent  away,  and  when  I  visited  the 


.53  fl 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


American  copper  mine  at  Chuquicamata 
the  representatives  of  the  Patriotic 
League  questioned  me  very  closely  be- 
cause they  fancied  I  looked  like  a  Peru- 
vian. 

This  movement,  it  should  be  noted,  is 
against  Peru,  not  Bolivia.  The  news- 
papers recently  published  a  report  that 
the  Chileans  at  the  Huanchaca  mine  in 
Bolivia  had  been  driven  out,  but  while 
there  I  found  that  the  director  of  the 
mine,  a  Chilean,  had  put  his  friends  in 
power,  and  that  it  was  not  nationality 
but  inefficiency  which  made  the  work- 
men rise  against  them.  Their  places 
have  now  been  filled  with  capable  Chil- 
ean and  Peruvian  engineers  working  to- 
gether. In  my  six  weeks  in  Bolivia  I 
carried  a  card  identifying  me  with  a 
Chilean  newspaper,  and  it  got  me  a  num- 
ber of  favors  from  the  authorities,  and 
several  of  them  remarked  that  they  were 
glad  to  be  able  to  do  something  for  a 
person  from  Chile. 

Of  course,  everything  is  not  quiet  in 
Bolivia.  The  papers  are  full  of  edito- 
rials about  a  port,  but  they  do  not  advo- 
cate war.    It  is  Peru  that  is  doing  the 


war  talking,  and  Chile  encourages  hrr, 
for  it  takes  the  minds  of  the  Chileans 
from  internal  troubles. 

The  educated  people  of  both  Peru  and 
Bolivia  see  that  war  would  not  help 
them.  Chile  is  infinitely  superior  to  both 
nations  together.  Her  army  is  well 
trained.  She  possesses  fifty  airplanes, 
the  gift  of  Great  Britain.  Her  warships 
are  more  up  to  date  and  better  manned, 
and  her  submarines,  three  times  as  nu- 
merous as  those  of  Peru,  have  only  re- 
cently made  the  ocean  trip  from  the 
United  States  to  Chile,  while  the  Peru- 
vian underwater  craft  have  never  been 
outside  Caliao  Harbor.  War,  therefore, 
would  not  obtain  Tacna  and  Arica  for 
Peru,  nor  get  Bolivia  a  port.  Many  of 
the  more  thoughtful  in  both  countries 
are  hoping  that  a  better  way  may  be  hit 
upon  by  the  League  of  Nations. 

[Official  advices  received  at  Washington  on 
Nov.  4,  1919,  stated  that  Chile  had  given 
Bolivia  an  outlet  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  by 
ceding  a  strip  of  land  north  of  the  Province 
of  Arica ;  the  Bolivian  Legation,  however,  dis- 
credited the  report.  Minister  Calderon  stated 
that  such  reports  had  been  current  in  years 
past,  but  that  nothing  had  come  of  them.] 


The  Negro  in  the  War 

How  French  and  American  Black  Troops  Performed  Deeds 
of  Valor  on  Many  Battlefields 


AMONG  the  factors  which  aided  the 
f\  allied  and  associated  nations,  in- 
1\  eluding  the  United  States  of 
America,  to  fight  their  way  to 
victory  in  the  great  war  were  the  effi- 
cient services  rendered  by  the  dark- 
skinned  Hindus  from  Britain's  furthest 
dominions  and  the  negro  colonials  of 
France — her  Algerians,  her  Senegalese, 
and  her  Moroccans — whose  fearlessness 
was  demonstrated  repeatedly  on  the  bat- 
tlefield— "  black  devils,"  the  German  sol- 
diers called  them,  when,  fighting  like  de- 
mons, they  had  forced  the  Kaiser's  proud- 
est shock  troops  to  retreat  before  them. 
And  America  sent  80,000  negro  citizens 
to  do  their  part  for  the  world's  liberty. 
What  they  did  was  made  manifest  by  ci- 


tation after  citation,  the  conferring  by 
the  French  Government  of  many  War 
Crosses,  and  the  granting  of  many  Uni- 
ted States  medals  for  distinguished 
bravery. 

France  for  a  long  time  struggled  with- 
out the  help  of  her  black  colonists,  and 
the  thought  of  the  valuable  man-service 
that  was  being  wasted  in  her  African 
and  other  colonial  possessions,  while 
French  soldiers  by  millions  were  falling 
on  red  battlefields,  was  slow  in  coming 
to  her.  And  yet,  had  she  listened  to  the 
voice  of  Gallifet,  Minister  of  War  at  the 
time  of  the  Fashoda  episode,  and  of  Man- 
gin,  then  a  simple  Captain,  and  of 
Gouraud,  victor  of  Samory,  she  would, 
at  the  time  the  European  war  broke  out, 


THE  NEGRO  /.V   THE  WAR 


:>:J7 


have  been  able  to   bring  a  large  black 
army  into  the  field  against  Germany. 

In  1908  Mangin,  then  a  Lieutenant  Col- 
onel and  Chief  of  Staff  of  Western 
Africa,  foreseeing  the  European  confla- 
gration which  burst  forth  six  years  later, 
took  up  the  idea  again,  but  his  proposals 
failed  of  acceptation;  in  1910,  however,  a 
commission,  headed  by  Mangin  and  com- 
posed of  four  colonial  officials,  was  sent 
to  Western  Africa  to  study  the  possibili- 
ties. It  stayed  there  nine  months.  On 
its  return  it  reported  that  an  annual  con- 
tingent of  40,000  black  troops  could  be 
depended  on,  and  recommended  the  crea- 
tion of  seven  divisions  within  four  years. 
But  when  the  war  broke  out  France  pos- 
sessed only  the  two  Algerian  divisions 
originally  planned. 

TRAGIC    FATE    OF    ALGERIANS 

The  history  of  these  two  divisions  of 
black  soldiers  is  tragic.  The  men  went 
into  a  hell  of  artillery  fire  untested,  and 
they  proved  their  worth.  The  2d  Di- 
vision, which  reached  the  front  first, 
came  into  contact  with  the  enemy  at 
Rheims  at  the  end  of  September,  1914. 
The  thunder  of  big  guns  seemed  only  to 
amuse  them,  and  the  carnage  left  them 
unperturbed.  From  Rheims  they  were 
sent  to  Arras.  In  this  sector  on  Nov.  3 
the  battalion  attacked  "on  ground  as 
completely  bare  as  a  billiard  table,  cut 
every  fifty  yards  by  cana's  five  yards 
in  width  and  two  yards  deep."  For  three 
days  and  three  nights  the  Senegalese 
went  forward  under  a  frightful  fire  of 
artillery,  infantry  and  machine  guns, 
wading  through  canal  after  canal,  wet  to 
the  skin,  decimated  by  the  terrific  hail 
of  projectiles,  and  ended  with  a  surprise 
attack  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in 
which  when  the  whole  front  line  was 
mowed  down  by  the  first  and  last  Ger- 
man fire,  those  behind  rushed  forward 
and  took  the  German  trenches  after  a 
furious  body  to  body  struggle.  Of  the 
whole  battalion  only  3  officers,  5  non- 
commissioned officers  and  120  men  re- 
mained alive.  So  the  second  battalion  of 
Algeria  died  on  the  field  of  honor. 

The  end  of  the  first  battalion  was 
equally  dramatic.  It  happened  at  Dix- 
murle,  a  name  made  famous  by  Charles 


Le  Goffic  in  his  epic  of  the  French  ma- 
rines. With  these  fought  the  Senegalese. 
On  Nov.  10  they  were  defending,  with 
the  Belgian  troops  on  the  left  and  the 
cemetery  of  Dixmude  on  the  right,  the 
allied  trenches,  which  were  furiously  at- 
tacked. The  roaring  field-gray  tide 
poured  suddenly  upon  them  from  the 
flanks.  Two  solutions  faced  them — to 
surrender  or  to  die  at  their  posts.  They 
chose  the  latter. 

An  extraordinary  scene  began.  The 
madness  of  battle  had  seized  the  black 
soldiers,  the  intoxication  of  self-immola- 
tion. The  mysterious  call  of  their  Afri- 
can blood  was  heard  and  hearkened  to, 
and  an  elemental  power,  born  of  the  bar- 
baric life  of  the  wilderness,  lifted  them 
above  themselves.  They  roared  forth  to 
the  amazed  enemy  their  fury,  hatred,  and 
contempt.  A  hundred  African  dialects 
fused  into  a  savage  and  unintelligible 
harmony.  A  vast  chant  of  war  and  death, 
it  rose  and  grew,  became  formidable,  ter- 
rible, dominating  all  the  battle,  a  funeral 
paean  of  the  black  warriors,  mo)ituri. 
And  when  the  gray  tide  struck  them  they 
rushed  foiward,  striking,  killing,  dying. 
The  German  troops  could  not  finish  with 
them.  The  German  commanders  brought 
up  machine  guns  and  from  a  distance  of 
fifty  yards  mowed  them  down.  Under 
the  vo'leys  the  fierce  hymn  of  war  died 
away,  and  silence  came.  But  history 
echoes  with  it  still. 

TROOPS  FROM  MOROCCO 

Other  territorial  troops  were  raised  in 
Morocco  by  General  Lyautey.  Some  of 
them  shared  the  fate  of  the  Senegalese 
already  described.  "  Imperfectly  trained, 
but  formidable  fighters,"  went  the  rec- 
ord. Fully  awakened  now  to  the  possi- 
bilities of  her  colonial  possessions,  France 
mobilized  all  available  forces  in  Western 
Africa,  in  Senegal,  Mauritia,  in  the 
Lower  Sudan  and  sent  a  regiment  into 
the  furnace  of  battle  at  Champagne.  The 
i-ecords  tell  of  a  cry  used  by  one  Captain 
Poupart  to  encourage  white  soldiers,  who 
were  wavering.  "  Come,  men,  another 
effort!  See  how  the  blacks  are  hold- 
ing!" On  Oct.  24,  transported  in  auto- 
mobile trucks  to  Arras,  they  advanced  on 
the  enemy  from  one  parallel  to  another, 


538 


THE    NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


then  across  open  country.  The  red  flare 
of  a  burning  mill  illuminated  the  horizon. 
Then  from  the  German  trenches  came 
suddenly  a  roar  of  fire.  When  it  died 
away  many  black  soldiers  strewed  the 
ground;  but  when  the  charge  resounded 
the  survivors  rushed  forward  and  swept 
like  a  wave  to  the  German  dugouts.  The 
Germans  were  too  many,  however;  the 
Senegalese  too  few.  The  blacks  retreated 
without  panic,  and,  reinforced  by  their 
reserves,  held  their  lines.  Six  times  in 
the  night  the  Lavenir  regiment  attacked 
the  enemy,  sustaining  many  losses.  The 
result  was  made  manifest  by  the  German 
papers,  which  admitted  that  the  blacks 
were  "  good  troops,"  had  "  fought  well," 
and  that  their  own  soldiers  "had  never 
been  attacked  with  such  fury  before."  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  black  soldiers  had 
saved  Arras. 

In  the  hell  of  GallipOli,  in  1915,  the 
black  troops  of  France  fought  also,  and 
made  the  same  record  as  elsewhere.  But 
the  man  power  of  France  was  waning.  A 
French  envoy  to  Russia,  who  went  to 
ask  assistance  of  the  Czar,  contained  of 
the  wastage  of  human  material.  "  The 
Germans,"  he  said,  "make  war  with 
machinery;  we,  with  human  breasts." 
Realizing  that  their  resources  were  weak- 
ening, the  French  looked  again  to  Africa. 
The  creation  of  eight  Senega^se  bat- 
talions was  planned  for  1916,  but  the 
necessary  mobilization  law,  for  some  in- 
explicable reason,  was  never  passed. 
Special  decrees,  however,  were  subse- 
quently issued,  notably  that  of  Oct.  9, 
1916,  by  virtue  of  which  a  recruiting  limit 
of  50,000  men  was  established.  Raised 
hastily,  this  force,  almost  untrained, 
reached  France  in  mid-Winter,  and  was 
amalgamated  with  other  corps.  At  least 
a  dozen  battalions  shared  in  the  military 
operations  of  this  period.  The  press  re- 
counted in  detail  the  exploits  of  the  Sen- 
egalese at  Barleux,  at  la  Maisonette,  be- 
fore Peronne,  at  the  time  of  the  offen- 
sive of  General  Fayolle  on  the  Somme, 
and  before  Verdun  under  General  Man- 
gin. 

At  Douaumont,  in  the  attack  of  Oct. 
24,  the  fourth  battalion  of  the  colonial 
infantry  regiment  of  Morocco  (the  regi- 
ment which,  of  the  whole  French  Army, 


won  the  greatest  number  of  citations) 
sallied  forth  from  its  trenches,  only  to 
meet  a  terrific  fire  of  musketry  and  ma- 
chine guns.  Wavering  for  a  moment, 
the  two  companies  at  the  head  of  the 
battalion  swept  on  again.  Split  in  the 
centre  by  an  enemy  force,  the  Senegalese 
rushed  ahead  on  either  side,  attacking  on 
the  first  lines.  Thanks  to  this  heroic  ac- 
tion, the  resistance  of  the  Germans  at 
Douaumont  was  bi*oken  after  a  furious 
struggle. 

Again,  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Fausse  Cote,  when  the  white  soldiers, 
swept  by  machine-gun  fire,  took  shelter, 
the  1st  and  3d  Companies  of  sharpshoot- 
ers, all  Senegalese,  continued  to  progress, 
charged  the  machine-gun  nest,  and  took 
it  by  storm.  Inspired  by  the  spirit  of  the 
black  troops,  the  whole  line  renewed  the 
attack,  the  Germans  surrendered,  and  the 
German  position  was  captured. 

AT  CHEMIN   DES   DAMES 

The  much-discussed  offensive  of  April 
16,  1917,  a  gigantic  operation  led  by  the 
British  and  the  French  from  Arias  to 
the  Argonne,  was  disastrous  not  only  to 
the  French,  but  to  the  black  contingents. 
The  task  of  General  Mangin  was  to  take 
by  storm  the  formidable  position  called 
the  Chemin  des  Dames.  Because  of  their 
achievements  as  shock  troops,  the  fury 
of  their  advance  under  the  most  devas- 
tating fire,  the  black  divisions  were 
marked  out  for  the  firs.t  assault.  At 
dawn  they  bounded  forward  and  took  the 
first  German  line  within  an  hour,  tra- 
versing a  distance  of  from  five  to  seven 
k^ometers  through  a  bewildering  and 
formidable  network  of  defenses.  But 
somebody  blundered.  Halted  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning  before  the  second  Ger- 
man line,  bristling  with  machine  guns, 
they  were  kept  immovable  all  that  day 
and  night  in  trenches  swept  by  glacial 
winds  and  clouds  of  snow.  Their  feet, 
unsued  to  European  footgear  and  held 
like  vices  in  their  army  brogans,  became 
badly  frostbitten,  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  18th,  when  the  2d  Colonial  Corps 
moved  forward,  thousands  of  Senegalese 
could  not  follow.  Whole  battu'ions  were 
thus  put  hors  de  combat.  Then  another 
blunder  occurred.     Many  of  thete  cases 


THE  NEGRO  IN  THE  WAR 


5:39 


of  frostbite  were  easily  cured.  Had  the 
black  soldiers  been  brought  back  a  short 
distance  to  the  rear,  and  only  tempora- 
rily, they  could  have  been  used  again  in 
the  great  offensive.  Instead  of  this, 
they  were  dispersed,  and  when  at  last 
they  rejoined  their  corps,  Geneial  Man- 
gin  no  longer  commanded  his  army  and 
the  offensive  had  been  abandoned.  By 
the  end  of  May,  1917,  the  black  bat- 
talions were  distributed  over  all  the 
front  and  relegated  to  obscure  tasks. 
Some  regained  a  regimental  unity  in 
quiet  sectors,  some  participated  in  the 
few  operations  around  Verdun  in  asso- 
ciation with  white  colonial  troops.  The 
year  1917  was  ill-omened  for  the  black 
troops,  as  it  was  for  all  others. 

THE  DEFENSE  OF  RHEIMS 

In  1918  the  Senegalese,  withdrawn 
from  the  front  at  the  beginning  of  Win- 
ter, and  reinforced  by  belated  units,  were 
reorganized  in  the  camps  of  the  south 
by  a  colonial  General,  who  created  the 
fine  battalions  whose  strength  the  Ger- 
mans experienced  in  the  Spring  of  the 
same  year.  These  black  troops,  veterans 
of  two  years'  fighting,  were  given  the 
task  of  holding  the  martyred  City  of 
Rheims.  The  Germans,  planning  to  take 
the  city  by  surprise,  advanced  between 
Rheims  and  Soissons,  and  were  beating 
down  the  resistance  of  the  French  first 
lines  when  the  Senega'ese  divisions  ar- 
rived. The  German  soldiers,  who  had 
already  tested  the  temper  of  their  black 
adversaries,  had  no  stomach  for  further 
fight,  and  withdrew.  But  on  June  12 
they  began  another  furious  assault  from 
the  east  of  the  city,  and  succeeded  in 
capturing  one  of  its  keys,  the  PompePe 
fort.  By  a  fierce  counteroffensive  the 
Senegalese  drove  them  out  headlong,  and 
the  Germans  did  not  return  to  the  attack. 

These  continued  failures,  especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  German  papers 
had  divulged  contemptuously  the  secret 
that  Rheims  was  held  "  only  by  negroes 
and  colonial  troops,"  became  serious  for 
German  prestige,  and  on  June  18  the 
Crown  Prince  ordered  his  troops  to  take 
the  city,  at  whatever  cost.  On  a  front  of 
twenty-five  kilometers  from  west  to  east, 
three  first-line  divisions  assailed  the  cir- 


cle of  the  French  defenses,  preceding  the 
attack  by  •  a  violent  bombardment  of 
asphyxiating  shells.  The  German  effort 
failed  again.  At  only  one  point,  to  the 
north  of  Sillery,  the  enemy  penetrated, 
but  was  driven  out.  "  We  were 'strug- 
gling," wrote  a  German  officer,  "  against 
those  negro  soldiers,  who  hold  like  walls, 
wait  for  our  men  till  they  are  within  five 
yards,  and  throw  themselves  upon  them." 

When,  by  a  surprise  attack,  the  Ger- 
mans finally  succeeded  in  taking  le 
Chemin  des  Dames,  a  capture  which 
brought  them  in  four  days  from  l'Ailette 
to  the  Maine,  there  was  panic  in  Cha- 
teau-Thierry, which  was  choked  with 
fugitives  and  fleeing  soldiers.  All  ef- 
forts to  halt  the  rout  proved  vain.  Only 
one  General,  renowned  for  his  exploits  in 
Africa,  made  an  attempt  to  stem  the 
tide  of  the  advancing  Germans.  In  the 
ruins  of  the  castle  he  installed  his  Sene- 
galese, with  orders  to  defend  it  to  the 
death.  These  orders  were  obeyed.  Vainly 
the  German  wave  beat  against  the  old 
walls  of  the  castle,  while  the  evacuation 
of  the  town  proceeded.  When  finally 
the  object  of  the  Allies  was  gained,  the 
handful  of  Senegalese  soldiers  came 
forth,  bearing  their  dead  and  wounded, 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Germans,  who 
were  stupefied  by  the  small  number  of 
their  tenacious  adversaries. 

So  the  French  blacks  fought  in  the 
great  European  war,  the  first  in  which 
they  had  ever  been  allowed  to  share. 
Iso'ated  cases  of  the  panic  of  raw  b'ack 
troops,  brought  for  the  first  time  under 
the  fire  of  big  guns,  cannot  impair  the 
record  made  by  the  black  troops  as  a 
whole.  They,  too,  were  the  artisans  of 
the  victory  of  France. 

THE   COLORED   AMERICANS 

The  negro  soldiers  of  the  United  States 
arrived  late  on  the  field  of  battle,  but  in 
more  than  sufficient  time  to  make  Ger- 
many feel  the  strength  of  their  arm.  In 
all  83,600  negroes  were  drafted  for  serv- 
ice  in  the  National  Army  sent  overseas. 
More  than  626  of  the  1,250  colored  men 
who  completed  their  course  of  training 
were  commissioned  as  officers  in  the 
United  States  Army;  nearly  100  negro 
physicians   and   surgeons  received   com- 


540 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


missions  as  officers  in  the  Medical  Re- 
serve Corps,  and  a  full  fighting  force  of 
30,000  men  constituted  the  92d  Division 
detailed  for  duty  in  France  under  Gen- 
eral Pershing.  The  total  number  of  negro 
combat  troops  was  42,000. 

Like  the  Senegalese  forces  of  the 
French  Army,  the  black  American  troops 
held  their  own  on  European  battlefields 
and  stood  the  test  of  courage,  endurance 
and  aggressiveness  in  moments  of  the 
greatest  stress.  They  fought  valiantly 
at  Chateau-Thierry,  Soissons,  on  the 
Vesle,  in  Champagne,  in  the  Argonne, 
and  in  the  final  attacks  in  the  Metz  re- 
gion. The  entire  first  battalion  of  the 
367th  Infantry,  the  "Buffaloes,"  as  it 
was  called,  was  awarded  the  Croix  de 
Guerre  for  heroism  in  the  drive  on  Metz. 
The  soldiers  of  this  battalion  received 
their  baptism  of  fire  in  this  attack;  at 
the  start  they  won  honors  which  veterans 
of  many  conflicts  had  failed  to  capture. 
In  other  engagements  three  black  regi- 
ments as  units  were  awarded  the  Croix 
de  Guerre,  which  bestows  on  each  man 
the  right  to  wear  the  coveted  badge. 
When  the  fighting  stopped,  if  was  the 
negro  troops  who  were  nearest  to  the 
Rhine.  Whether  performing  individual 
exploits,  fighting  in  a  single  regiment, 
or  doing  battle  in  a  division  made  up 
entirely  of  men  of  his  organization  the 
negro  soldier  rose  to  everj  test. 

In  the  Argonne  the  368th  Infantry,  col- 
ored, sent  a  volunteer  runner  with  a 
message  to  the  left  flank  of  an  Amer- 
ican firing  line.  The  way  led  across  an 
open  field  swept  by  heavy  enemy  ma- 
chine-gun fire.  Before  he  had  gone  far, 
a  shell  cut  him  down.  As  he  fell  he 
shouted  back  to  his  comrades  that  some 
one  should  come  and  get  the  message. 
Another  member  of  the  regiment,  Lieu- 
tenant Campbell,  dashed  across  the  shell- 
swept  space,  picked  up  the  wounded  pri- 
vate, and,  amid  a  hail  of  German  bullets, 
carried  his  man  back  to  the  American 
lines,  winning  by  this  achievement  the 
Distinguished  Service  Cross  and  the  pro- 
motion' to  a  Captaincy.  Under  the  same 
Lieutenant  Campbell  a  few  black  soldiers, 
armed  only  with  their  rifles,  trench 
knives,  and  hand  grenades,  moving  over 
a    road    in    the    Chateau-Thiery    sector, 


by  a  clever  ruse  and  great  bravery,  cap- 
tured a  concealed  machine  gun  that  had 
been  doing  deadly  work,  killed  four  of 
the  Germans  operating  it,  and  made  pris- 
oners of  the  other  three. 

DEEDS   OF   372D   REGIMENT 

Four  of  the  negro  regiments  first  sent 
over,  the  369th,  370th,  371st,  and  372d, 
afterward  organized  into  the  Provisional 
93d  Division,  were  brigaded  separately 
with  French  troops.  The  fighting  record 
of  the  372d  may  be  taken  as  typical.  The 
men  had  arrived  in  France  on  April  14, 
and  had  gone  into  training  with  the 
French  on  April  28.  On  June  6  the  372d 
was  sent  to  the  trenches  just  west  of 
Verdun,  and  occupied  the  famous  battle- 
swept  Hill  304  and  sections  at  Four  de 
Paris  and  Vauquois.  On  Hill  304  thou- 
sands of  French  and  German  soldiers 
had  fallen  as  the  battleline  swung  back 
and  forth.  This  hill  was  given  to  the 
negroes  to  hold,  and  they  held  it. 

In  the  Champagne  sector,  with  Mon- 
toir  as  the  objective,  the  negroes  cheered 
and  sang  when  the  announcement  that 
they  were  going  into  battle  was  made. 
From  June  6  to  Sept.  10,  in  the  bloody 
Argonne  Forest,  the  372d  bore  the  brunt 
of  the  terrific  battle  for  Weeks.  They 
took  an  active  part  in  the  Argonne  offen- 
sive, which  lasted  from  Sept.  26  to  Oct. 
7.  In  the  ordeal  of  this  gigantic  drive, 
the  negro  troops  proved  their  fighting 
qualities  in  deadly  striking  power  and 
stubborn  resistance  in  moments  of  crisis, 
and  made  for  themselves  such  a  record 
that  they  won  as  a  unit  the  coveted  Croix 
de  Guerre.  The  casualty  list  showed  500 
men  killed,  wounded,  and  gassed. 

Another  regiment's  record,  that  of  the 
369th,  commanded  by  Colonel  William 
Hay  ward,  ex-Public  Service  Commis- 
sioner, is  equally  striking.  The  369th 
was  in  the  Champagne  offensive  as  a 
part  of  the  Fourth  Army,  commanded 
by  General  Gouraud,  a  few  miles  west 
of  the  Argonne  Forest.  The  accomplish- 
ment of  this  regiment  was  described  by 
Colonel  Hayward  in  the  opening  lines  of 
his  official  report: 

At  ,">  :2.">  A.  M.  the  assault  was  launched, 
an  assault  that  kept  assaulting  so  far  as 
our  division  was  concerned,  for  twelve 
days,  in  which  we  crossed  rivers,  captured 


THE  SEdRO  IN  THE  WAR 


.541 


towns,    cut    and    climbed    through    acres 
and  acres  of  barbud   wire  entanglements, 
stormed  bluffs,  ridges  and  hills  for  four- 
teen kilometers,  all  the  way  facing  stub- 
born  and   terribly   effective   artillery   and 
machine-gun  fire.     At   the  end  of  twelve 
days  we  came  out  with  our  division,  what 
was    left    of    ua.    which    included    twenty- 
office  rs. 
At  the  very  end  of  the  war  the  369th 
won  another  distinction,  pointed  out  by 
The  Stars  and  Stripes,  the  organ  of  the 
American  troops  in  France,  in  the  fol- 
lowing announcement: 

The  furthest  north  at  11  o'clock  [when 
the  armistice  went  Into  effect,  Nov.  11, 
1918]  on  the  front  of  the  two  armies  was 
held  at  the  extreme  American  left,  up 
Sedan  way,  by  the  troops  of  the  77th 
Division.  The  furthest  east— the  nearest 
to  the  Rhine— was  held  by  those  negro 
soldiers  who  used  to  make  up  the  old  New 
York  15th,  and  who  have  long  been 
brigaded  with  the  French.  They  were  in 
Alsace,  and  their  line  ran  through  Thann 
and  across  the  railway  that  leads  to 
Colmar.  u    _, 

NEGRO  DIVISION   IN  ACTION 

Soon  after  the  92d  Division  was  thor- 
oughly organized  it  took  over  the  Mar- 
bache  sector.  The  fury  of  these  men's 
trench  raids  won  from  the  Germans  the 
sobriquet  of  "  schwarze  Teufel,"  (black 
devils.)  By  these  raids  they  drove  the 
Germans  north  beyond  Erehaut  and  Voi- 
vrotte  to  Cheminot  Bridge.  To  check 
these  attacks  the  Germans  tried  to  de- 
stroy the  bridge,  and  flooded  the  coun- 
try. Up  to  that  time,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, the  92d  Division  as  a  unit  had 
never  been  in  battle.  Only  the  368th  In- 
fantry had  received  the  baptism  of  fire 
in  the  Argonne  Forest. 

The  division's  chance  came  in  the  drive 
on  Met*.  At  4  o'clock  one  Sunday  morn- 
ing (Nov.  10,  1918)  they  were  notified 
that  they  were  to  be  sent  into  action. 
Through  the  whole  division  echoed  the 
fighting  slogan  of  the  "Buffaloes,"  the 
367th  Infantry:     "See  it  through!" 

The  92d  began  its  advance  at  7  o'clock 
from  Pont-a-Mousson.  Facing  it  was  a 
valley  commanded  by  the  heavy  guns  of 
Metz,  and  by  nests  of  German  machine 
guns.  The  negro  troops  realized  their 
first  great  opportunity.  Fused  by  a  spe- 
cies of  race  solidarity  they  plunged  for- 
ward like  a  single  man,  swiftly,  unfalter- 


ingly, through  a  veritable  rain  of  shell- 
fire,  heedless  of  their  losses.  Their  ob- 
jective for  the  day  was  Bois  Frehaut. 
Picked  Moroccan  and  Senegalese  troops 
of  the  French*  Army,  striking  for  the 
same  point,  in  an  odd  competition  of 
black  races  on  this  day,  were  the  first 
to  arrive.  The  Germans,  grasping  the 
situation,  pounded  Bois  Frehaut  with  a 
heavy  fire,  and  the  Senegalese  and  Mo- 
roccans were  finally  compelled  to  retreat. 

Of  the  American  negro  troops,  the  56th 
Regiment  was  forced  to  withdraw,  but 
not  until  after  heavy  loss.  It  was  the  1st 
Battalion  of  the  "  Buffaloes,"  commanded 
by  Major  Charles  L.  Appleton  of  New 
York,  with  negro  company  commanders 
and  Lieutenants,  that  was  called  upon  to 
hold  the  Germans  at  bay  while  the  deci- 
mated 56th  retreated.  The  iron  resist 
ance  which  the  Buffaloes  made  to  th< 
Germans  on  this  occasion,  in  the  face  ol 
a  terrific  fire,  won  for  the  battalion  the 
Croix  de  Guerre.  A  little  later  Bois 
Frehaut  was  taken  by  the  92d.  The 
murderous  fire  directed  against  the 
swiftly  advancing  blacks  could  not  deter 
them.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  sail  of 
this  fight: 

Probably  the  hardest  fighting  done  by  ■ 
any  Americans  in  the  final  hour  was  that 
which  engaged  the  troops  of  the  28th. 
92d,  81st.  and  7th  Divisions  of  the  Second 
American  Army,  who  launched  a  fire- 
eating  attack  above  Vigneulles  just  at 
dawn  on  the  11th.  It  was  no  mild  thing, 
that  last  flare  of  battle,  and  the  order  to 
cease  firing  did  not  reach  the  men  in  the 
front  line  until  the  last  moment,  when  the 
runners  sped  with  it  from  fox  hole  to  fox 
hole. 

Numerous  officers  and  privates  of  the 
92d  were  commended  for  meritorious 
conduct  by  General  Orders.  At  the  close 
of  hostilities  the  negro  division  held  the 
line  Vandieres-St.  Michel-Xon-Norry.  The 
92d  suffered  a  total  of  1,478  casualties. 

So  the  negro  soldier,  alike  of  Africa 
and  of  the  United  States,  played  his 
part  in  the  great  war.  Along  the  north- 
east front,  in  Rheims,  on  the  Marne,  at 
Mont  de  Choisy,  in  the  Argonne,  before 
Metz,  these  troops  held  their  ground  or 
broke  the  enemy  lines  by  their  uncon- 
querable tenacity.  As  a  French  writer 
put  it,  "  they  tought  like  demons,  and 
they  died  like  men." 


Haiti  and  the  American  Occupation 

By  DR.  FRANCOIS  DALENCOUR 


[A   RK.sim.vr  of  Haiti] 


EVENTS  in  Haiti  both  before  and 
during  the  period  of  the  war 
have  been  little  known  in  the 
United  States.  The  negro  re- 
public, which  traces  its  history  back  to 
the  discovery  of  the  island  by  Columbus 
in  1492,  has  passed  through  five  political 
phases: 

1.  The   Indian    period.     (Prior  to   1402.) 

2.  The  Spanish  period.    {From  1-f!>2  to  1CU7.) 

3.  The  French  period.     (From  l«07  to  t«04.1 

4.  The  Haitian  period.    (From  1K(M  to  i91.r>.) 

5.  The     Haitian- American    period.       (From 
1M5-.) 

The  first  of  these  periods  is  but  little 
known.  The  Spanish  period  was  marked 
by  cruAty  and  oppression  on  the  part  of 
the  Spaniards,  who  exploited  the  Indians 
unscrupulously.  Subsequently  they  im- 
ported black  slaves  from  Africa.  Under 
Spanish  rule  the  Island  of  Hispanola,  as 
the  discoverers  had  baptized  their  island 
possession,  suffered  rapid  decline;  the 
mines  were  empty  and  deserted,  agri- 
culture was  neglected,  and  the  incom- 
petency and  corruption  Of  the  various 
Spanish  Governors  went  on  unchecked. 

In  the  year  1620  French  and  English 
adventurers  came  to  Haiti.  These  new 
immigrants  were  called  "  Freebooters  " 
and  "  Buccaneers."  They  established 
factories  in  the  north  of  the  island,  but 
the  French  gained  the  predominance  and 
drove  the  English  away,  subsequently 
taking  possession  of  the  whole  western 
part  of  the  island,  which  they  called 
Saint  Domingue,  (Santo  Domingo.)  In 
1697  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick  ceded  all  this 
territory  permanently  to  France.  The 
French  colony  soon  became  rich  and 
prosperous.  Santo  Domingo  was  called 
by  them  the  "  Pearl  of  the  Antilles." 
Under  their  rule  the  slave  trade  was 
actively  pursued.  During  the  American 
Revolution  800  young  Haitians,  blacks 
or  mulattoes,  took  part  in  the  expedition 
of  Lafayette  to  aid  the  American  colo- 
nists. History  has  preserved  their  names 
— BeauvMs,  Rij?aud,  J.  B.  Chavannes, 
Jourda'n  among  others. 


ERA    OF    INDEPENDENCE 

Haiti,  like  the  rest  of  the  world,  but 
even  more  strongly,  was  affected  by  the 
French  Revolution  of  1789.  A  Haitian 
who  had  been  educated  in  Paris,  Vincent 
Oge,  returned  to  Santo  Domingo,  and 
sought  out  Jean  Baptiste  Chavannes. 
who  had  fought  at  Savannah  for  the 
independence  of  the  United  States.  These 
two  Haitians  initiated  an  uprising  of 
the  slaves,  but  they  were  defeated  and 
executed.  The  ideal  of  liberty,  however, 
had  been  spread  through  Haiti,  and  was 
upheld  by  the  brilliant  but  brief  career 
of  Toussaint  L'Ouverture;  although 
Napoleon  1.  sent  a  military  force  to  com- 
pel the  allegiance  of  Haiti,  his  efforts 
ended  in  failure.  After  many  struggles 
Haiti  became  independent  on  Jan.  1, 
1804,  and  the  national  period  began. 
Dessalines,  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
Haitian  Independence  Army,  was  pro- 
claimed Emperor  under  the  title  of 
James  I.  He  died  in  1806,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Alexander  Pieton,  who  became 
the  first  President  of  Haiti. 

A  temporary  revolt  by  General  Henri 
Christophe,  head  of  the  northern  army, 
who  proclaimed  himself  King  Henry  I., 
failed  with  his  death,  and  the  whole 
western  part  of  the  island  became  a 
single  State,  Haiti,*  under  the  Presi- 
dency of  Jean  Pierre  Boyer,  who  suc- 
ceeded Pieton  in  1818.  In  1820  the  whole 
island  was  under  one  unified  control.  But 
after  the  departure  of  Boyer  in  1843. 
the  eastern  part  of  the  island,  the  former 
Spanish  colony,  became  an  independent 
State.  It  is  now  called  the  Dominican 
Republic.  After  Boyer  there  came  a  be- 
wildering succession  of  Haitian  Presi- 
dents;.from  1843  to  1915  no  fewer  than 
twenty-two  may  be  counted;  in  the  past 
ten  years,  especially,  a  new  President 
has  been  elected   practically  every  year. 


♦The  name  Haiti  i.«  derived  from  (he 
Indian  word  Attl.  meaning  a  high  and 
mountainous  '  O'.tnti  y 


HAITI  AND   THE  AMhhH.W    OCCUPATION 


'ITV    OF    rOHT-Ar-TRINCi;, 


HAITI,    WITH    A    VIEW    OF    ITS    HARBOR 
Brown    d    D(iirson) 


Bad  politics,  graft,  incompetency,  bad 
faith  in  public  business  and  constant 
revolutions  brought  about  a  deplorable 
state  of  public  affairs  in  the  Haitian 
Republic. 

RELATIONS  WITH  UNITED  STATES 
For  the  past  twenty  years  the  Ameri- 
can Government,  well  infoi-med  of  exist- 
ing conditions,  has  been  watching  the 
Haitian  Republic.  The  public  men  of 
the  negro  State  seemed  quite  blind  to 
their  country's  welfare.  Ambition  and 
love  of  money  dominated  them  in  all 
their  acts.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1914, 
during  the  Presidency  of  Davilmar  Theo- 
dore, the  American  Government  notified 
the  Haitian  Government  that  it  was 
disposed  to  grant  recognition  on  condi- 
tion that  a  Haitian  mission  sign  at 
Washington  a  satisfactory  protocol  rela- 
tive to  certain  questions,  first  among 
which  should  be  a  customs  convention 
along  the  lines  of  that  made  with  the 
Dominican  Government.  The  draft  of 
such  a  protocol  was  submitted  to  Haiti, 
according  to  the  terms  of  which  a  Gen- 


eral Receiver  and  Financial  Adviser  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  receive  and  disburse  all 
moneys  received ;  the  debts  of  Haiti  were 
to  be  audited  and  controlled,  and  a  sink- 
ing fund  established  and  maintained. 

But  on  Dec.  15,  1914,  the  Haitian 
Government  answered  that  it  could  not 
accept  this  convention,  on  the  ground 
that  it  meant  the  intervention  of  a  for- 
eign power  in  the  affairs  of  the  Adminis- 
tration. On  Dec.  19  the  Legation  of  the 
United  States  declared  that  it  had  pro- 
posed this  agreement  only  with  the  ob- 
ject of  giving  assistance  to  the  Haitian 
Government,  adding  that,  as  Haiti 
showed  no  disposition  to  ratify  it,  there 
would  be  no  insistence  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  Un- 
happily,  the  warring  political  factions  of 
the  country  could  not  maintain  peace 
among  themselves;  -a  new  revolution 
occurred,  in  which  the  Government  of 
Davilmar  Theodore  was  overthrown,  and 
General  Vilbrun  Guillaume  was  elected 
President. 


.544 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


>-**.*    DtMHTMlNT    j 
"'■santf- f  or 

-aoNAiyevr*'.    n 


..     NO»TM  «  If  •  ^  Pi') 


w^it4W^"s  A  N  T  ° 
K*5^      W/M    -ass- 


MAP  SHOWING  CHIEF  DIVISIONS  AND  CITIES  OF  THE  NEGRO  REPUBLIC  OF  HATTI   AND    fTS 

RELATION   TO    SANTO    DOMINGO 


Immediately  the  American  Govern- 
ment sent  two  Americans  to  Port-au- 
Prince,  Mr.  Ford  and  Mr.  Smith,  on  a 
semi-official  mission.  With  the  Ameri- 
can Minister,  Bailly  Blanchard,  they 
were  received  by  the  President  of  Haiti, 
with  whom  they  sought  to  resume  the 
conversations  interrupted  in  December, 
1914.  But  after  discovering  that  these 
two  envoys  had  no  official  letters  of  au- 
thority from  the  American  Government, 
the  Haitian  officials  refused  to  nego- 
tiate with  them,  and  the  two  American 
representatives,  after  filing  a  protest, 
departed  on  an  American  .man-of-war. 
This  was  in  April,  1915. 

In  May  the  United  States  Government 
sent  Paul  Fuller,  Jr.,  to  Haiti,  as  Envoy 
Extraordinary,  charged  not  to  recognize 
the  Government  of  Vilbrun  Guillaume 
officially  unless  the  latter  accepted  a 
new  convention.  This  new  protocol  called 
for  a  close  and  confidential  advisory  con- 
nection between  the  United  States  and 
Haiti,  to  te  established  through  the  re- 
spective Presidents  of  the  two  countries 
and  Mr.  Fuller  and  Ulrich  Duverin,  Hai- 
tian Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs; it  also  provided  for  the  protection 


of  Haiti  by  the  American  Government 
against  either  foreign  or  internal  ag- 
gression; the  refusal  of  any  rights  or 
privileges  in  Haiti  to  any  foreign  power 
or  its  representatives,  and  the  settlement 
of  American  or  other  foreign  claims  by 
arbitration  within  a  period  of  six 
months.  In  response  to  the  presentation 
of  this  proposed  convention,  the  Haitian 
Government  submitted  a  counterdraft 
embodying  some  modifications.  Mr. 
Fuller  accepted  some  of  these  modifica- 
tions, but  suddenly,  in  the  first  days  of 
June,  1915,  with  the  outbreak  of  a  new 
revolution,  he  took  his  departure. 

ANTI-AMERICAN    DEMONSTRATIONS 

This  upheaval  had  broken  out  quite 
unexpectedly.  Civil  war  raged,  amid 
scenes  of  bloodshed,  pillage,  and  fire,  in 
the  north.  On  June  2  the  American 
Secretary  of  State,  William  J.  Bryan,  fn- 
formed  the  Haitian  Minister  at  Wash- 
ington that  he  had  received  from  Capo 
Haitien,  a  town  of  Haiti,  a  telegram 
which  said  that  there  had  been  a  hos- 
tile demonstration  before  the  American 
Consulate,  and  that  the  rebels  had 
threatened  to  burn  the  town  if  they  were 


HAITI  AND   THE  AMERICAN  OCCUPATION 


5i5 


forced  to  evacuate  it.  The  American 
Secretary  stated  that  an  order  had  been 
given  to  dispatch  two  men-of-war  to 
Haiti. 

On  July  27,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  friends  of  the  rebels  at  Port-au- 
Prince  took  arms  and  attacked  the 
President  at  his  residence  in  Champ  de 
Mars,  a  park  of  the  town.  The  Presi- 
dent, Vilbrun  Guillaume,  fled  to  the 
French  Legation.  The  Governor  of 
Port-au-Prince,  on  hearing  of  this  attack, 
ordered  the  massacre  of  all  political 
prisoners.  About  150  of  these  were  exe- 
cuted in  prison.  The  following  day,  July 
28,  1915,  some  relatives  and  friends  of 
the  massacred  prisoners,  reinforced  by  a 
number  of  the  rebels,  went  to  the  French 
Legation  and  seized  the  President,  whom 
they  killed  with  machetes  and  bayonet 
thrusts.  Parts  of  the  body,  including 
the  head,  which  was  impaled  on  a  stiek, 
were  taken  out  and  paraded  in  the  street  - 
of  the  city  by  a  furious*  crowd. 

The  political  situation  was  threaten- 
ing. Several  factions  were  struggling 
to  elect  their  Presidential  candidates. 
On  «the  same  day,  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  United  States  Marine  Corps 
landed  at  Port-au-Prince,  under  Captain 
Beach,  soon  followed  by  Rear  Admiral 
Caperton,  who  was  in  chief  command. 
After  many  parleys  the  Haitian  Parlia- 
ment was  convoked,  and  a  new  Presi- 
dent, Sudre  Dartiguenave,  was  elected 
for  a  period  of  seven  years.  Soon  after 
this  the  United  States  Legation  pre- 
sented the  outline  of  a  new  convention. 

CONVENTION   NOW    IN   FORCE 

After  many  negotiations  this  conven- 
tion was  signed  and  ratified  by  the  Hai- 
tian Parliament  in  November,  1915.  It 
was  ratified  at  Washington  on  May  6, 
1916.  The  text  of  this  convention  is 
ijiven  herewith: 

'  Republic  of  Haiti  desiring 
to  confirm  and  strengthen  the  friendship 
existing  between  them  by  the  most  cordial 
co-operation  in  measures  for  their  com- 
mon advantage,  and  the  Republic  of  Haiti 
desiring  to  remedy  the  present  condition 
of  its  revenues  and  finances,  to  maintain 
the  tranquillity  of  the  republic,  to  carry 
out  plans  for  the  economic  development 
and    prosperity    of    the    republic    and    Its 


people,  and  the  I'nited  States  being  in 
full  sympathy  with  all  these  aims  and 
objects  and  desiring  to  contribute  in  all 
propel-  ways  to  their  accomplishment. 

The  I'nited  States  and  the  Republic  of 
Haiti  have  resolved  to  conclude  a  conven- 
tion with  these  objects  in  view,  and  have 
appoint'  i  for  that  purpose  plenipotentia- 
ries, who  having  exhibited  to  each  other 
their  respective  powers,  which  ar< 
to  be  fully  in  good  and  true  form,  have 
agreed  aa  follows: 

autmi.k  l.— The  Government  of  the 
United  States  will,  by  its  good  office,  aid 
the  Haitian  Government  in  the  proper  and 
efficient  development  of  its  agricultural, 
mineral,  and  commercial  resources,  and 
in  the  establishment  of  the  finances  of 
Haiti  on  a  firm  and  solid  basis. 

AliTICLK  II.— The  President  of  Haiti 
shall  appoint,  upon  nomination  by  the 
President  of  the  I'nited  States,  a  General 
Receiver  and  such  aids  and  employes  as 
may  be  necessary,  who  shall  collect, 
receive,  and  apply  all  customs  duties  on 
imports  and  exports  accruing  at  the 
several  Custom  Houses  and  ports  of  entry 
of   the  Republic  of  Haiti. 

The  President  of  Haiti  shall  appoint, 
upon  nomination  by  the  President  of  the 
I'nited  States,  a  Financial  Adviser,  who 
shall  be  an  officer  attached  to  the  Ministry 
of  Finance,  to  give  effect  to  whose  pro- 
posals and  labors  the  Minister  will  lend 
efficient  aid.  The  Financial  Adviser  shall 
devise  an  adequate  system  of  public  ac- 
counting, aid  in  increasing  the  revenues 
and  adjusting  them  to  the  expenses, 
inquire  into  the  validity  of  the  debts  of 
the  republic,  enlighten  both  Governments 
with  reference  to  all  eventual  debts,  rec- 
ommend improved  methods  of  collecting 
and  applying  the  revenues,  and  make 
such  other  recommendations  to  the  Min- 
ister of  Finance  as  may  be* deemed  neces- 
sary for  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
Haiti. 

AKTICLK  III.— The  Government  of  the 
Republic,  of  Haiti  will  provide  by  law  or 
appropriate  decrees  for  the  payment  of 
all  customs  duties  to  the  General  Receiver. 
and  will  extend  to  the  Receivership,  and  to 
the  Financial  Adviser,  all  needful  aid  and 
full  protection  in  execution  of  the  powers 
conferred  and  .duties  imposed  herein,  and 
the  I'nited  States  on  its  part  will  extend 
lik«-  aid   and   protection. 

AKTK'I.E  IV.— Upon  the  appointment  of 
the  Financial  Adviser  the  Government  of 
the  Republic  of  Haiti,  in  co-operation  with 
the  Financial  Adviser,  shall  collate,  clas- 
sify, arrange,  and  make  full  statement 
of  all  the  debts  of  the  republic,  the 
amounts,  character,  maturity,  and  con- 
dition thereof,  and  the  interest  accruing 
and  the  sinking  fund  requisite  to  their 
final  discharge, 

AUTU'l.K     V.— All    sums    collected    and 


51(1 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


received  by  the  General  Receiver  shall 
bo  applied,  first,  to  the  payment  of  the 
salaries  and  allowances  of  the  General 
Receiver,  his  assistants  and  employes, 
and  expenses  of  the  Receivership,  in- 
cluding the  salary  and  expenses  of  the 
Financial  Adviser,  which  salaries  will 
be  determined  by  previous  agreement ; 
second,  to  the  interest  and  sinking  fund 
of  the  public  debt  of  the  Republic  of 
Haiti ;  and,  third,  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  constabulary  referred  to  in  Article  X., 
and  then  the  remainder  to  the  Haitian 
Government  for  the  purpose  of  current 
expenses. 

For  making  these  applications  the  Gen- 
eral Receiver  will  proceed  to  pay  salaries 
and  allowances  monthly  and  expenses  as 
they  arise,.  '  and  on  the  first  of  each 
calendar  month  will  set  aside  in  a  sepa- 
rate fund  the  quantum  of  the  collections 
and  receipts  of  the  previous  month. 

ARTICLE  VI.— The  expenses  of  the  Re- 
ceivership, including  salaries  and  al- 
lowances of  the  General  Receiver,  his 
assistants  and  employes,  and  the  salary 
and  expenses  of  the  Financial  Adviser, 
shall  not  exceed  5  per  centum  of  the 
collections  and  receipts  from  customs 
duties,  unless  by  agreement  by  the  two 
Governments. 

ARTICLE  VII.— The  General  Receiver 
shall  make  monthly  reports  of  all  col- 
lections, receipts,  and  disbursements  to 
the  appropriate  officers  of  the  Republic 
of  Haiti  and  to  the  Department  of  State 
of  the  United  States,  which  reports  shall 
be  open  to  inspection  and  verification  at 
all  times  by  the  appropriate  authorities 
of  each  of  the  said  Governments. 

ARTICLE  VIII.— The  Republic  of  Haiti 
shall  not  Increase  its  public  debt  except 
by  previous  agreement  with  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  shall  not  con- 
tract any  debt  or  assume  any  financial 
obligation  unless  the  ordinary  revenues 
of  the  republic  available  for  that  purpose, 
after  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, shall  be  adequate  to  pay  the 
interest  ami  provide  a  sinking  fund  for 
the  final    discharge   of  such  debt. 

ARTICLE  IX.—  The  Republic  of  Haiti 
will  not,  without  the  assent  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  modify  the 
customs  duties  in  a  manner  to  reduce 
the  revenues  therefrom,  and  in  order 
that  the  revenues  of  the  republic  ma.v  be 
adequate  to  meet  the  public  debt  and  ex- 
penses of  the  Government,  to  preserve 
tranquillity  and  to  promote  material  pros- 
perity, the  Republic  of  Haiti  will  co- 
operate with  Uie  Financial  Adviser  in 
his  recommendation  for  improvement  in 
the  methods  of  collecting  and  disbursing 
the  revenues  and  for  new  sources  of 
needed    income. 

ARTICLE  X.— The  Haitian  Government 
obligates  itself,  for  the  presevation  of 
domestic  peace,   the  security  of  Individual 


rights,  and  the  full  observance  <>i  i>« 
provisions  of  this  treaty,  to  create  wit', i>ui 
delay  an  efficient  constabulary,  urban  ami 
rural,  composed  of  native  Haitians.  This 
constabulary  shall  be  organized  and 
officered  by  Americans  appointed  by  the 
President  of  Haiti,  upon  nomination  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
Haitian  Government  shall  clothe  these 
officers  with  the  proper  and  necessary 
authority  and  uphold  them  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  functions.  These  offi- 
.cers  will  be  replaced  by  Haitians  as  tiny, 
by  examination  conducted  under  direc- 
tion of  a  board  to  be  selected  by  the. 
senior  American  officer  of  this  constabu- 
lary, in  the  presence  of  a  representative 
of  the  Haitian  Government,  are  found  to 
be  qualified  to  assume  such  duty.  The 
constabulary  herein  provided  for  shall, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Haitian  Gov- 
ernment, have  supervision  and  control  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  military  supplies 
and  traffic  therein,  throughout  the  coun- 
try. The. high  contracting  par-ties  agree 
that  the  stipulations  in  this  article  are 
necessary  to  prevent  factional  strife  and 
disturbances. 

ARTICLE  XI.— The  Government  of  Haiti 
agrees  not  to  surrender  any  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Republic  of  Haiti  by  sale, 
lease,  or  otherwise,  or  Jurisdiction  over 
such  territory,  to  any  foreign  Govern- 
ment or  power,  nor  to  enter  Into  any 
treaty  or  contract  with  any  foreign  power 
or  powers  that  will  impair  or  tend  to  im- 
pair   the    Independence    of    Haiti. 

ARTICLE  XII.— The  Haitian  Govern- 
ment agrees  to  execute  with  the  United 
States  a  protocol  for  the  settlement,  by 
arbitration  or  otherwise,  of  all  pending 
pecuniary  claims  of  foreign  corporations, 
companies,  citizens,  or  subjects  against 
Haiti. 

ARTICLE  XIII.— The  Republic  of  Haiti, 
being  desirous  to  further  the  devi  loptm-nt 
of  Its  natural  resources,  agrees  to  under- 
take and  execute  such  measures  as,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  high  contracting 
parties,  may  be  neeessaiy  for  the  sanita- 
tion and  publh'  Improvement  of  the  re- 
public, under  tin-  supervision  and  direc- 
tion of  an  engineer  Ol'  engineers  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Ptesldent  of  Haiti  uj-on 
nomination  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  authorized  for  that  purpose 
by    th"    Government    of    Haiti. 

ARTICLE  XIV.— The  high  contracting 
parties  shall  have  authority  to  take  such 
steps  as  may  be  necessary  to  insure  the 
complete  attainment  of  any  of  the  objects' 
comprehended  in  this  treaty,  and,  should 
the  necessity  occur,  the  Toiled  states 
will  lend  an  efficient  aid  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  Haitian  Independence  and  the 
maintenance  of  a  Government  adequate 
for  the  protection  of  life-,  property,  and 
individual   liberty. 

ARTICLE  XV.— The  present  treaty  shall 


HAITI  AND   THE  AMERICAN   OCCUPATION 


547 


be  approved  and  ratified  by  the  high 
contracting  parties  in  conformity  with 
their  respective  laws,  and  the  ratifications 
thereof  shall  be  exchanged  in  the  City  of 
Washington  as  soon  as  may  be  possible. 

AHTICUB  XVI.— The  present  treaty 
shall  remain  in  full  force  and  virtue  for 
the  term  of  ten  years,  to  be  counted  from 
the  day  of  exchange  of  ratifications,  and 
further  for  another  term  of  ten  years  if, 
for  specific  reasons  presented  by  either 
of  the  high  contracting  parties,  the  pur- 
pose of  this  treaty  has  not  been  fully 
accomplished. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  respective  plenipo- 
tentairies  have  signed  the  present  conven- 
tion in  duplicate  in  the  English  and 
French  languages,  and  have  thereunto 
affixed   their  seals. 

After  the  ratification  of  this  conven- 
tion several  agreements  were  made  for 
the  organization  of  public  service,  in* 
eluding  a  special  Haitian  constabulary 
and  a  coast-guard  service;  the  annual 
compensation  of  these  bodies  and  of  the 
Financial  Adviser  and  General  Receiver 
was  fixed;  the  telephone  and  telegraph 
systems  were  reorganized  and  similar 
financial  provisions  made.  In  the  mean- 
time the  whole  country  was  put  under 
martial  law,  and  order  was  preserved. 
The  affairs  of  Haiti  seemed  at  last  to 
have  been  established  upon  a  basis  favor- 
able for  the  prosperous  development  of 
the  island  republic. 

DISAPPOINTED  HOPES 

As  soon  as  the  Haitian-American  con- 
vention was  accepted  by  both  nations 
everybody  in  Haiti  thought  that  a  new 
era  of  peace,  of  industry,  of  freedom 
was  at  hand.  But  the  Haitian  officials, 
under  the  aegis  of  America's  protection, 
took  advantage  of  the  situation  to  seek 
their  personal  profit.  Malversations  were 
committed.  Journalists  striving  to  dis- 
cuss these  questions  were  put  in  prison. 
Faithful  to  his  promise  to  protect  the 
existing  administration,  Rear  Admiral 
Caperton  took  no  measures  to  maintain 
the  freedom  of  the  press.  Confronted 
with  many  protests  and  much  opposition, 
the  Haitian  Government  then  took  the 
decision  to  dissolve  the  Parliament.  This 
was  done  on  April  4,  1916.  Rear  Ad- 
miral Caperton  gave  his  consent  to 
this  disloyal  and  criminal  proceeding. 
And  this  marked  the  beginning  of  Hai- 
tian  hostility  to   America.    How  can  a 


democratic  country,  white  or  negro,  li" 
without  a  Parliament  in  which  the  vital 
problems  of  a  people  are  discussed?    No 
democracy  without  a  popular  Parliament 
is   possible. 

Rear  Admiral  Caperton  ordered  fresh 
elections,  and  new  ^ppresentatives  were 
chosen  in  January,  1917.  At  the  end  of 
the  same  month  a  part  of  the  American 
Atlantic  fleet,  under  Admiral  Mayo, 
came  to  Port-au-Prince.  This  was  a 
friendly  visit  and  a  demonstration  of 
American  power  in  the  West  Indies. 
Europe  was  still  plunged  in  war  ngainst 
Germany.  The  American  fleet  was  re- 
ceived with  the  utmost  cordiality  by  the 
Haytian  people,  both  officially  and  indi- 
vidually. Franklin  Roosevelt,  sub-Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy  Department,  made  an 
eloquent  speech  to  the  President  of.  Haiti, 
who  answered  in  cordial  terms.  After  a 
three-day  sojourn  the  American  fleet 
steamed  away,  bearing  with  it  the  best 
wishes  of  the  Haitian  people. 

THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION 
In  May,  1917,  the  new  Parliament  met 
to  give  a  new  Constitution  to  the  country. 
But  this  Parliament  also  was  dissolved 
in  June,  1917.  In  its  stead,  a  Council  of 
State  of  twenty-one  members  was  ap- 
pointed. This  council  was  endowed  with 
legislative  powers.  At  the  beginning  of 
1918  a  new  Constitution  was  at  last 
elaborated  by  the  Haitian  authorities.  It 
contained  134  articles.  For  the.  first  time 
in  history  one  saw  a  Constitution  of  134 
articles  and  twenty-three  pages  submit- 
ted to  a  whole  people,  called  upon  to 
answer  "  Yes  "  or  "  No."  Natives  sug- 
gested it,  which  makes  the  case  worse, 
and  Americans  approved  it. 

A  special  article  of  this  Constitution 
said: 

All  acts  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  during  its  military  occupation  in 
Haiti  are  hereby  ratified  and  validated. 
No  Haitian  may  be  pursued  civilly  or 
criminally  for  any  act  executed  in  virtue 
of  orders  of  the  occupation,  or  under  its 
authority.  The  acts  of  military  courts 
shall  not  be  subject  to  revision.  The  acts 
of  the  Executive  Power,  till  publication  of 
the  present  Constitution,  are  equally  rati- 
fied   and    validated. 

How  can  public  acts  be  ratified  in  a 
lump  by  people  who  have  no  power  to 
discuss  and  examine  them?     How  can  a 


548 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ratification  be  made  by  wholesale?  Pub- 
lic acts  have  to  be  submitted  to  the  judg- 
ment and  approval  of  competent  men; 
otherwise  government  becomes  a  matter 
of  brute  force. 

All  intelligent  Haitians  know  that 
American  statesmen  and  leaders  of  opin- 
ion are  not  aware  of  what  is  happening 
in  Haiti.  The  American  Nation  is  too 
great  and  good  to  tolerate  such  infrac- 
tions of  political  morality.  Haiti,  which 
in  July,  1918,  entered  the  confraternity 
of  the  allied  nations  by  declaring  war 
on  Germany,  is,  with  the  approval  of 
American  officials,  in  a  state  of  anarchy, 
anarchy  of  legislation,  anarchy  of  ad- 
ministration, with  no  Parliament  to  dis- 
cuss the  living  interests  of  its  people, 
with  no  freedom  of  thought,  of  speech, 
of  act,  deprived  of  justice  and  legality, 
and  so  undermined  by  disorganization  of 


labor  and  by  pauperism  that  many  Hai- 
tians are  emigrating  to  Cuba  and  else- 
where to  look  for  work. 

[EDITORIAL  NOTE.— Major  W.  W.  Buck- 
ley of  the  Marine  Corps,  on  fur'ough  from 
Haiti,  reports  that  the  native  constabulary, 
2,500  strong,  under  American  officers,  has 
attained  an  efficiency  never  dreamed  of  in 
the  old  days  when  one  politician  after  another 
massacred  his  way  to  the  Presidency.  The 
constabulary,  well  fed  and  contented,  dress,  d 
in  khaki  uniforms  and  wearing  shoes  tliat 
match,  has  become  a  well-disciplined  force, 
and  in  excursions  into  the  mountains  to  put 
down  brigandage  has  always  shown  courage 
and  resolution.  Before  Admiral  Caperton 
landed  marines  at  Port-au-Prince  in  July. 
lDli),  it  was  not  safe  for  white  men  of  any 
nationality  to  go  into  the  interior,  and  even 
in  coast  towns  it  was  well  to  be  in  touch 
with  a  legation.  Now  white  men  are  seldom 
attacked  even  by  bandits.  The  treaty  with 
the  United  States  does  not  please  all  parties. 
but  the  people  are  prospering  under  the 
American  "  protectorate."] 


Santo  Domingo's  Plea  for  Self-Government 


THE  other  half  of  the  island  that  con- 
tains the  Haitian  Republic  is  oc- 
cupied by  the  Republic  of  Santo 
Domingo,  which  also  is  under  American 
military  occupation.  United  States  ma- 
rines were  ordered  to  Santo  Domingo  on 
Nov.  25,  1916,  because  there  was  a  threat 
of  revolution  there.  The  Acting  Presi- 
dent, Dr.  Francisco  Henriquez,  took 
refuge  in  Santiago  de  Cuba  and  has  been 
living  there  in  exile  with  other  ex-offi- 
cials of  his  country.  When  the  Peace 
Conference  assembled  in  Paris  he  head- 
ed a  delegation  to  present  the  case  of 
Santo  Domingo  to  that  body;  his  plea 
was  heard  by  individual  delegations,  but 
Santo  Domingo  was  not  included  in  the 
list  making  up  the  League  of  Nations. 

On  Sept.  10,  1919,  a  Madrid  dispatch 
brought  a  brief  address  signed  by  a  num- 
ber of  Spanish  political  leaders,  including 
former  Premiers  Romanones  and  Alhuce- 
mas,  suggesting  that  "  it  would  be  op- 
portune at  the  present  moment  for  the 
Spanish  Government  to  express  to  the 
Washington  Government  the  desire  of 
the  Dominican  Government  to  see  re- 
stored the  regime  annulled  by  the  mili- 
tary occupation  to  which  the  country  is 
subjected."    It  was  noted  that  this  ad- 


dress coincided  with  the  presence  in 
Madrid  of  the  Dominican  diplomat, 
Enrique  Deschamps.  The  next  day  the 
following  statement  was  issued  in  Wash- 
ington by  ex-President  Henriquez  him- 
self, who  had  returned  from  Paris  at  the 
head  of  a  commission  which  included 
other  former  Dominican  officials: 

It  is  nearly  three  years  now  that  an 
American  military  Government  was  estab- 
lished in  Santo  Domingo,  with  a  military 
occupation  by  American  forces  and  the 
application  of  military  laws.  This  mili- 
tary Government  supplanted  the  National 
Government  of  the  country,  which  has 
not  existed  since  then. 

Individual  liberties  have  been  greatly 
diminished  in  Santo  Domingo  by  the 
action  of  the  American  military  Govern- 
ment. There  is  no  freedom  of  the  press, 
no  right  of  assembly,  and  the  people  can- 
not take  any  initiative  to  modify  the  situa- 
tion. Some  administrative  reforms  of 
great  usefulness  have  been  introduced  by 
the  military  Government,  but  the  popula- 
tion desires  a  change  in  the  present  situa- 
tion and  wishes  to  see  the  National  Gov- 
ernment again  in  native  hands.  At  the 
same  time,  there  is  a  desire  to  reorganize 
national  institutions  in  accordance  with 
advanced  ideas  in  order  to  avoid  any  in- 
ternal disturbances  and  to  favor  economir 
development. 
In  the  proclamation  issued  by  the  Amor- 


SANTO    DOMINGO'S    PLEA    FOR    SELF-GOVERNMENT 


549 


lean  military  Government,  the  people  of 
Santo  Domingo  were  told  that  the  mili- 
tary occupation  was  meant  to  be  tran- 
sitory; that  there  was  no  intention  to  put 
an  end  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Domin- 
ican Republic;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the 
purpose  was  of  helping  the  country  to  re- 
turn to  a  situation  of  internal  order  that 
would  enable  it  to  fulfill  its  obligations  as 
a  member  of  the  family  of  nations  upon 
the  termination  of  the  great  war. 

For  that  reason  Dr.  Francisco  Henriquez 
y  Cnrvajal,  who  went  recently  to  Paris 
with  the  object  of  presenting  the  case  of 
Santo  Domingo  to  the  Peace  Conference, 
has  now  come  to  Washington  in  order  to 
present  to  the  American  Government  some 
suggestions  as  to  a  general  plan  that  will 
lead  to  the  political  and  administrative 
reorganization  of  the  country  and  to  the 
restoration  of  the  National  Government. 
We  are  fully  confident  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  will  give  a 
favorable  solution  to  the  question  of  the 
Dominican   Republic. 

The  United  States  had  been  virtually 


forced  to  intervene  by  the  violent  dis- 
turbances and  general  chaos  in  the 
island.  There  were  bandits  everywhere, 
and  the  mulatto  republic  had  become  a 
disturber  among  the  nations.  We  landed 
about  5,000  marines,  put  naval  and 
marine  officers  into  the  chief  executive 
posts,  and  took  hold  of  the  customs 
duties,  which  furnish  the  bulk  of  the 
revenue.  Now  there  are  less  than  200 
bandits  left  in  their  last  refuge,  Seybo, 
at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  island. 
Elsewhere  murder  no  longer  stalks 
abroad  by  night  and  day.  Military  ad- 
ministration is  strict,  but  the  people 
again  live  in  security,  and  honest  collec- 
tion of  revenue  has  made  the  country 
again  financially  solvent.  The  United 
States  Government  has  indicated  a  will- 
ingness to  withdraw — with  some  reserva- 
tions— whenever  the  Dominican  Republic 
again  produces  a  competent  Government. 


Causes  of  the  Caporetto  Disaster 

Official  Italian  Report 


THE  sudden  disaster  which  over- 
whelmed General  Cadorna's  Italian 
armies  in  the  Julian  Alps  and  along 
the  Isonzo,  beginning  Oct.  24,  1917,  and 
developing  into  an  Austro-German  in- 
vasion of  Northern  Italy  as  far  as  the 
Piave  River,  has  since  come  to  be  known 
by  the  one  word  "  Caporetto,"  the  name 
of  the  town  where  the  Italian  lines  first 
gave  way.  After  the  close  of  hostilities 
the  Italian  Parliament  ordered  an 
investigation  into  the  causes  of  this 
disaster,  and  the  committee's  report  was 
submitted  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  at 
Rome  on  Aug.  16,  1919.  It  lays  the 
blame  primarily  upon  General  Cadorna 
and  upon  the  Cabinet,  which,  it  holds, 
should  have  deposed  him  earlier  on  ac- 
count of  serious  defects  in  his  military 
methods. 

Dealing  with  Italian  preparations  for 
the  war,  the  committee  does  not  spare  its 
strictures  on  the  methods  with  which 
some  classes  of  young  officers  were  re- 
cruited, and,  as  far  as  arms  and  ammu- 
nition are  concerned,  it  is  of  opinion  that 


the  Supreme  Command  showed  lack  of 
foresight  by  not  procuring  adequate 
information  about  the  enemy's  defensive 
organization,  which,  in  the  initial  stages, 
succeeded  in  breaking  the  impetus  of  the 
advance  and  in  causing  losses  altogether 
out  of  proportion  to  the  results  obtained. 
The  Supreme  Command  failed  to  make 
the  best  use  of  the  experience  gained 
both  on  the  French  and  on  the  Russian 
fronts.  And  in  the  disaster  of  1917  it 
failed  to  grasp  a  political  and  military 
situation  that  pointed  to  the  extreme 
probability  of  an  offensive  by  the  enemy. 
The  committee  extends  its  criticism  to 
tiie  insufficient  results  derived  from  the 
units  of  machine  gunners,  in  spite  of  the 
many  instances  of  individual  gallantry; 
to  the  deficient  organization  of  the  first- 
assault  companies ;  to  the  defective  train- 
ing of  the  troops,  due  to  insufficient 
periods  of  rest. 

Concerning  the  discipline  and  the  Gen- 
eral's relations  with  the  officers,  the 
committee  condemns  Cadorna's  policy  in 
removing  officers,  a  policy  which  he  car- 


550 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ried  too  fur,  and  which  resulted  not  only 
in  the  removal  of  900  high  officers  but 
also  in  producing  a  wave  of  fear  and 
antagonism  among  a  great  many  more. 
It  also  calls  attention  to  the  bad  treat- 
ment of  the  troops  in  the  way  of  feeding, 
as  well  as  to  the  overtaxing  of  their 
physical  energy  by  overfrequent  rounds 
of  trench  service. 

It  calls  attention  to  the  insufficient 
work  of  propaganda,  to  the  lack  of 
.  uniformity  in  discipline,  and,  above  all, 
to  those  dreadful  though  short  periods 
of  harsh  discipline  when  capital  pun- 
ishment was  freely  resorted  to,  often 
following  the  cruel  method  of  decimation 
when  individual  responsibilities  could  not 
be  ascertained.  The  committee  charges 
Cadorna  with  not  having  properly  util- 
ized the  soldiers'  combative  qualities, 
which,  indeed,  he  depressed  by  keeping 
the  men  in  dangerous  places  for  too 
long,  and  by  repeatedly  compelling  them 
to  attack  positions  which  had  become  ill- 
famed  through  the  blocd  which  they  had 
already  exacted  without  results.  The 
committee  maintains  that,  although  the 
Italian  Army  had  already  acquired  an 
everlasting  title  of  glory  for  its  valiant 
resistance  in  eleven  battles,  yet  the 
dreadful  impression  made  on  the  men, 
added  to  the  widespread  conviction  of 
the  perfect  uselessness  of  such  efforts, 
reached  such  a  climax  that  it  would 
have  been  quite  sufficient  by  itself  to 
determine  that  mental  crisis  which  was 
the  ultimate  cause  of  the  Caporetto 
disaster. 

The  committee  recognizes  that  all  these 
other  causes  were  additional  causes.  Side 
by  side  with  the  sentimental  factors, 
which  produced  a  feeling  of  weariness 
and  a  longing  for  the  end  of  the  war, 
there  were  political  factors,  such  as  the 


particular  conditions  under  which  the 
Italian  intervention  had  taken  place,  the 
weakness  of  the  Government  toward  the 
political  parties  which  were  opposing  the 
war,  the  permission  granted  to  sup- 
porters of  the  Soviet  to  circulate  freely 
through  Italy,  the  repercussion  of  the 
statement  that  "  there  should  not  be 
another  Winter  spent  in  the  trenches," 
the  effect  of  the  Turin  riots  and  of  the 
papal  peace  note.  All  these  causes  would 
not  alone  have  had  great  consequences. 
It  was  the  fault  of  the  Cabinet  then  in 
power  not  to  have  shown  the  secondary 
importance  of  these  non-military  factors 
to  the  Supreme  Command,  which  was 
prone  to  exaggerate  the  danger  of  the 
so-called  "  disf  attismo  "  ("defeatism") 
and  not  to  have  urged  the  command  to 
adopt  wiser  methods  in  handling  the 
troops. 

To  state  the  whole  matter  briefly,  the 
committee  traces  the  chief  causes  of  the 
Caporetto  disaster  back  to  the  Supreme 
Command.  Those  on  whom  the  weight 
of  responsibility  would  rest  most  heavily 
would  therefore  be  General  Cadorna,  for 
the  above-stated  reasons  as  well  as 
for  neglecting  the  organization  of  the 
strategic  reserves  and  the  construction 
of  defense  lines;  General  Porro,  vice 
head  of  the  General  Staff,  for  having 
disregarded  the  necessity  of  inducing 
General  Cadorna  to  correct  his  wrong 
methods  and  for  having  failed  in  his  task 
of  gathering  political  and  military  infor- 
mation; General  Capello,  head  of  the 
Second  Army,  for  his  cruel  disciplinary 
methods,  and  for  his  persistent  prodigal- 
ity in  shedding  blood  with  results  out  of 
all  proportion  to  the  losses;  and,  finally, 
the  Cabinet  presided  over  by  Signor 
Boselli,  for  failing  to  exercise  proper 
vigilance  over  the  morale  of  the  army. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS  ON 

CURRENT  EVENTS 

[Dutch  Cartoon] 

Spoiling  the  Soup 


™^  d  «=a^cs  i!»  *:» 


^^ 


—From    I)r   Xotcnkrakri .    Amsterdam 
Everybody  wants  his  own  bit  of  meat  from  the  bottom 


oo  l 


[American  Cartoon] 

Carrying  the  Entertainment  a  Little  Too  Far 


—From   The  Dcs   Moines   Register 


552 


[German  Cartoon] 


The  Peace  of  Versailles 

(As   Germany    Sees   It) 


— From   SimpliciS8imuSj    Munich 
[Under  this  cartoon  the  Munich  artist  placed  a  passage  from  Carlyle  calling  on 
Germany  to  live  her  own  brave  life,  regardless  of  Versailles] 


553 


[Australian  Cartoon] 

Still  Joy-Riding 


[American  Cartoon]      -from   The  Sydney  Bulletin 


It  Always  Happens  When  Company  Comes 


—From    The   New    York   Times 


554 


[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 


First  Results  of  the  Peace  Settlement 


[Italian  Cartoon] 

The  Progress  of  Peace 


—From   Stbrlspnlti  r,   Zurich 

[Dutch  Cartoon] 

The  Puppet  Show 


-  D<    Sot'-nkruki  r,   Avistrrdiihi 
QOVKRMMKMT   (to   food   prices)  :     "  For  the 
first  and  last  time,  come  down  !    You  won't? 
Well,    stay    up,    then  " 


—L'Atina,  i: 


555 


[English  Cartoon] 


66 


The  Devil's  Thoughts 


•>•> 


—From    The    Whitehall    Gazctti,    London 


[A  Premonition,   Coleridge.  17M] 


556 


[American  Cartoon] 


Why  Not  Drop  a  Few  Bundles? 


-From   The  Taconw   Xrtcs-Tilbvne 


557 


[Italian  Cartoon] 


Italy  and  Fiume 


France:  "  I'll  give  you  Fiume  thus."   "  England:   "  And  1  thus."    America: 
And   I  thus." 


F.uin    11    \*Q,   Floxnc 

D'Annunzio:     "  And  I'll  give  it  to  you  thus." 


558 


[German-Sv  tag  Cartoon] 

The  Hero  of  Fiume 


That's  it:    I'll  enter  Rome  as  Caesar.     No.  T,ien  as  Garlballi.     Xo,  that  doesn't 'sum, 

that  doesn't  suit  me  .   .  either. 


r'A  -f 


Ha!     I   will 
won't  do 


-.■ 


Apollo.      But.   no.   (hat 


Good    heaven«  !      Th-     poll 


"'  r,   7.<nuh 


559 


[Russian  Cartoon] 


The  Peril  of  the  Pacific 


from  the  Russian  Magazine,  Solr.t&e  {TheSun) 


[A  Chinese  editor,  reproducing  this  cartoon,  wrote  under  it:  "Japan  is 
rising  out  of  the  ocean.  Already  she  has  Korea  by  the  throat.  .Already  she  has 
one  foot  on  Shantung  and  the  other  on  the  Maritime  Provinces,  including  Vladi- 
vostok. Russia,  China,  and  America  are  ready  to  protect  the  world  against  the 
Beast.   What  will  they  do?  "] 


660 


[Australian  Cartoon] 


w. 


The  Old  Man  of  the  Sea 


•«! 


—Finnx  The  Sydney  Bulletin 

Sinbad  the  Sailor  (Labor)  unable  to  shake  off  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea  (Bolshevism) 


561 


r German  Cartoons] 

The    Prisoner's   Returr  Frederick  the  Fat 


Leading  the  Blind 


French  Chivalry 


iiow    America  entered   the  war  Children   (to  grandmother,  who  Is  trying 

[President  Wilson  first  learned  of  the  to  tell  them  a  story  of  .French  chivalry) : 
secret  treaties  with  Japan  at  the  Peace  ••  But,  Grandma,  such  foolish  and  impos- 
Confei  t  >nce]  sible  tales  are  no  longer  toid  now  " 

—From  Kladderadatach,   Berlin 


562 


[American  Cartoons] 


The  Innocent  Bystander 


Self -Determination 


A  Meeting  of  the  League 


Why  Not  a  Nursery  of  Our 
Own? 


ifAOUf  or  NftTinm 


—From   The  San  Ftancier.o   Chronicle 


563 


[American  Cartoon] 


As  Senator  Reed  Pictures    H™    W™ld  J°"    Lih  to 
the  League  Have   Phls  ]}lrd  Wlshed 


on  You? 


-: 


**£&: 


-Vtt   Louia  R(  public 


-Philadi  Iphin    I*qnu<  r 


r German  Cartoon] 

The  Allies  "Protecting"  Themselves 


— From  Lnstige  BUictter,  Berlin 

[The  German  cartoonist  shows  France  bagging  Syria,  Alsace-Lorraine,  and 
the  Sarre  Basin,  while  Great  Britain  takes  Egypt  and  Persia,  and  the  United 
States  tries  in  vain  to  prevent  Japan  from  seizing  China] 


564 


[American  Cartoon] 


Defying  the  Laws  of  Gravitation  and  the 
United  States 


"Public  irwi+ed 
upor\At\e  stage 
+o  vrwesVijjo^e. 


—From   The  Detroit  Newa 


565 


\ 


[American  Cartoons] 


ti      tj  Wr.  ,,  How    About    the    People    m 

Ihe   Human    wishbone  ST  a  * 

the  Street: 


-1>'i,'i\t     X<v 


Ui  hair     .\  i  /'  •. 


Got   a   Match? 


The  World's  Only  Overpro- 
duction 


■ 


Si 

v  - 


$Vfr 


-Vr«i    >V»#    7Y?Im/» 


-  Dayton     S  '■  us 


566 


STRUGGLING  TOWARD  PEACE 


Difficulties    Over    Complete    Ratification    of    the 
Treaty  With  Germany — Bulgarian  Treaty  Signed 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  20,  1919] 


THE  Peace  Conference  started  the 
week  beginning  Nov.  30  with  very 
poor  prospects  of  a  speedy  termina- 
tion of  its  difficulties.  Germany  was 
holding  up  all  the  allied  plans  by  refus- 
ing to  sign  the  protocol  on  which  the 
putting  into  force  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
depended;  was  making  efforts  «  save 
her  war  criminals  from  punishment,  and 
was  adopting  in  general  a  defiant  and 
unyielding  attitude,  due  in  great  part  to 
the  failure  of  the  American  Senate  to 
ratify  the  treaty  and  to  the  announce- 
ment that  the  American  peace  delega- 
tion would  depart  from  Paris  in  the 
first  week  of  December.  The  Balkan 
tangle  was  worse  than  ever,  neither 
Rumania  nor  Serbia  being  willing  to 
sign  the  Bulgarian  treaty;  the  German- 
Russian  military  raid  in  the  Baltic  States 
was  still  in  progress,  and  the  fate  of 
Fiume,  Thrace,  and  Turkey  still  hung 
in  the  balance. 

By  the  middle  of  December,  however, 
the  situation  looked  brighter.  Bulgaria 
signed  the  terms  dictated  to  her  by  the 
Entente  powers;  Rumania,  which  had 
long  been  recalcitrant,  finally  assented 
to  signing  the  Austrian  and  Bulgarian 
treaties,  as  well  as  the  special  minorities 
treaty  prepared  for  her,  and  Jugoslavia 
offered  prospects  of  signing  the  Bulga- 
rian and  Austrian  treaties  within  a  short 
time. 

The  great  stumbling  block  in  the  way 
of  complete  ratification  of  the  German 
Peace  Treaty  was  the  deadlock  estab- 
lished in  the  American  Senate  between 
the  Democratic  forces  of  the  Administra- 
tion and  the  Republican  Senators  op- 
posed to  acceptance  of  the  document 
without  drastic  reservations.  After  the 
treaty's  rejection  by  the  Senate  on  Nov. 
19  President  Wilson  was  expected  to  re- 
submit it  at  the  December  session;  this, 
however,  he  refused  to  do,  and  his  atti- 
tude left  the  Republican  opposition,  led 


by  Senator  Lodge,  in  a  dilemma,  as  the 
general  Republican  feeling  was  averse  to 
making  the  question  of  ratification  with 
reservations  an  issue  in  the  coming  Pres- 
idential campaign;  besides,  a  general  de- 
sire for  peace  was  being  voiced  through- 
out the  country.  Both  parties  were 
working  for  a  compromise,  and  there 
were  strong  indications  when  these  pages 
went  to  press  that  an  adjustment  on  the 
basis  of  milder  reservations  would  be 
reached. 

Meanwhile  the  failure  of  the  Senate  to 
push  the  treaty  through  emboldened  the 
Germans  in  their  negotiations  with  the 
Supreme  Council,  whose  path  was  beset 
with  new  and  special  difficulties  on  ac- 
count of  the  American  situation.  Ger- 
many, however,  finally  yielded,  and  the 
possibility  of  securing  the  ratification  of 
the  whole  treaty,  including  the  special 
protocol  articles  concerned  with  com- 
pensation for  the  Scapa  Flow  sinkings, 
looked  more  promising  by  the  middle  of 
December  than  it  had  looked  before. 

Besides  the  treaty  itself,  and  the 
League  of  Nations  covenant  intertwined 
with  it,  the  fate  of  the  triple  pact  en- 
tered into  by  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
America  was  left  indefinite  through  the 
Senate's  failure  to  ratify  the  Versailles 
document.  The  attitude  of  both  France 
and  Great  Britain  in  respect  to  this  pact 
was  one  of  waiting.  Meanwhile  the  ne- 
gotiations with  Germany  proceeded,  un- 
interrupted by  the  departure  of  the 
American  peace  delegation,  which  left 
Paris  on  Dec.  9,  and  there  were  no 
signs  of  a  definitive  adjournment  of 
the  Peace  Conference  as  long  as  the  dip- 
lomatic issue  with  Germany  remained 
acute.  A  supplementally  conference  was 
begun  in  London  on  Dec.  11  between  the 
British  and  French  Premiei-s  and  the 
Italian  Foreign  Minister,  at  which  many 
subjects  of  great  importance  were  (lis- 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


cussed,  including  the  vexed  question  of 
Fiume  and  the  ultimate  disposition  of 
Turkey.  The  machinery  for  an  interna- 
tional military  force  under  Marshal  Foch 
also  was  created. 

AMERICAN   MISSION  DEPARTS 

It  had  seemed  probable  in  November 
that  the  Peace  Conference  would  reach 
the  end  of  its  labors  early  in  December 
and  permanently  adjourn.  New  compli- 
cations, however,  which  arose  over  the 
German  protocol  made  the  continuance 
of  the  conference  imperative.  The  Amer- 
ican delegation,  nevertheless,  reiterated 
its  intention  of  departing  in  the  first 
week  of  December,  and  consented  to  re- 
main until  Dec.  9  only  at  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  France,  supported  sympatheti- 
cally in  this  by  Great  Britain  and  Italy. 
The  ground  given  for  this  request  was 
the  fear  that  the  German3  would  con- 
strue the  Americans'  departure  as  evi- 
dence of  a  lack  of  unity  among  the 
peace-making  powers.  The  anticipated 
withdrawal  of  the  Americans  was  at- 
tacked bitterly  by  French  newspapers, 
including  the  Paris  Figaro,  which  de- 
clared that  America  was  continuing  to 
follow  her  traditional  policy  of  "  jealous 
isolation,"  and  that  Germany  was  al- 
ready preparing  to  resist  the  terms  of 
the  treaty,  because  of  the  attitude  of  the 
United  States  Senate  and  the  withdrawal 
of  the  American  delegation.  Fears  that 
the  Ebert  Government  would  be  over- 
thrown by  the  Pan-Germans  and  Spar- 
tacans,  emboldened  bythe  new  turn  of 
events,  were  variously  expressed.  Un- 
deterred by  these  attacks,  the  delegation, 
headed  by  Frank  Polk,  left  Paris  on  the 
last  date  fixed,  reaching  New  York  Dec. 
20,  and  the  allied  powers  were  left  to  deal 
with  the  Germans  as  best  they  could 
without  American  assistance. 

ASK  REASON  FOR  DELAY 

The  Supreme  Council  had  been  greatly 
surprised  toward  the  end  of  November 
by  the  sudden  departure  of  the  German 
Protocol  Commission,  headed  by  Herr 
von  Simson,  three  days  after  its  ar- 
rival. The  attitude  of  von  Simson,  sup- 
ported by  Baron  von  Lersner,  head  of 
the  German  peace  delegation,  had  been 
aggressive  from  the  start,  and  he  had 


attempted  to  use  the  American  situation 
as  an  offset  to  the  allied  demands  for 
the  expatriation  of  the  German  war  crim- 
inals. Failing  in  this,  he  suddenly  left 
Paris  with  his  staff.  Baron  von  Lersner 
on  Nov.  24  sent  a  note  to  the  council  ex- 
plaining this  action  of  von  Simson  as  due 
to  the  desire  to  put  the  protocol  directly 
before  the  German  Assembly.  Mean- 
while there  arrived  the  news  that  the 
American  Senate  had  adjourned  without 
ratifying  the  Peace  Treaty. 

At  this  juncture  the  council  dispatched 
a  note  to  Germany  which  had  been 
drafted  on  Nov.  22,  and  which  was  pro- 
vided with  a  postscript  of  date  Nov.  24, 
when  it  was  finally  sent.  This  note 
called  on  Germany  to  make  known  her  in- 
tentions with  regard  to  signing  the  pro- 
tocol, pointed  out  that  Germany's  delay 
laid  her  open  to  the  imputation  of  insin- 
cerity, declared  that  the  repatriation  of 
German  war  prisoners  was  directly  con- 
tingent on  the  delay  in  signing  the  pro- 
tocol, and  expressed  great  surprise  over 
the  departure  of  von  Simson.  The  note 
concluded  as  follows: 

The  Supreme  Council  desires  to  know 
how  the  German  Government  stands  in 
this  matter  and  it  throws  on  that  Gov- 
ernment the  whole  responsibility  for  the 
delay  caused  by  it  in  the  restoration  of 
the  state  of  peace. 

PRISONERS  IN  FRANCE 

The  subject  of  German  war  prisoners 
in  France  had  been  brought  up  by  the 
Berlin  Government  on  Nov.  10,  when  it 
sent  a  note  to  the  council  urging  a 
speedy  return  of  these  captives,  whose 
retention  and  treatment  it  denounced  as 
inhumane  and  unjust,  since  Germany 
had  done  her  best  to  comply  with  the 
hard  terms  of  the  armistice  expressly 
on  the  understanding  that  she  would 
thus  secure  favorable  action  in  the  mat- 
ter of  repatriation  of  German  prisoners. 

A  wireless  message  from  Berlin  under 
date  of  Nov.  25  gave  the  text  of  the 
allied  reply  to  this  protest.  The  reply, 
signed  by  M.  Clemenceau,  as  President 
of  the  Peace  Conference,  was  sent  to 
the  Chairman  of  the  German  delegation 
at  Versailles,  and  was  in  substance  a 
stern  refusal  to  deviate  from  the  terms 
of  the  Peace  Treaty  in  favor  of  German 


STRUGGLING  TOWARD  PEACE 


prisoners     employed     in     reconstruction 

work  in  Northern  France.    Referring  to 

the  brutal  treatment  meted  out  to  the 

populations    of   this   district   under   the 

German  occupation,  M.  Clemenceau  said : 

The    deepest   sentiments   of   the   human 

heart  have  been  so  cruelly   injured   that 

French    public    opinion    cannot    agree    to 

grant  the  favor  you  request. 

The  allied  reply  further  declared  that 
Germany  had  systematically  delayed  per- 
formance of  the  armistice  terms,  and  in- 
stanced the  sinking  of  the  warships  in 
Scapa  Flow,  delay  in  the  delivery  of 
German  ships,  Germany's  Baltic  policy, 
and  anti-Entente  propaganda  in  Alsace 
and  the  world  at  large,  and  concluded 
thus: 

We  owe  nothing  to  Germany  except  the 
precise  fulfillment  of  the  provisions  of 
the  Peace  Treaty  accepted  by  Germany. 

SHARP  REPLY  TO  LERSNER 

A  further  interchange  of  notes  be- 
tween Baron  von  Lersner  and  M.  Clemen- 
ceau was  made  public  on  Dec.  1.  In  the 
German  note  von  Lersner  said  that  Ger- 
many had  made  concessions  in  the  case 
of  the  killing  of  Sergeant  Mannheim  and 
in  the  matter  of  coal  delivery  because  of 
promised  favorable  treatment  on  the 
question  of  prisoners.  He  accused 
France  of  making  innocent  prisoners  pay 
for  pretended  derelictions  on  the  part  of 
the  German  Government,  and  declared 
that  the  laws  of  war  had  been  applied  to 
the  prisoners  with  pitiless  severity. 

In  his  reply  M.  Clemenceau  said  that 
Baron  von  Lersner's  letter  contained  a 
series  of  statements  "  whose  incisive  tone 
cannot  mask  their  inaccuracy."  That 
France  had  given  any  promises  in  con- 
nection with  either  of  the  two  mattere 
referred  to  by  von  Lersner,  M.  Clemen- 
ceau emphatically  denied.  The  charge 
that  the  German  war  prisoners  had  're- 
ceived any  but  kind  and  humane  treat- 
ment was  denied  subsequently  by  the 
French  Premier,  who  added  that  Ger- 
many, by  her  unceasing  delays,  was  her- 
self responsible  for  the  retention  of  th« 
prisoners. 

GERMAN    WAR   CRIMES 

Another  subject  which  occasioned  an 
interchange  of  notes  was  that  of  the  ex- 
tradition of  the  German  war  criminals. 


Correspondence  made  public  on  Dec.  2 
expressed,  on  the  part  of  M.  Clemenceau, 
indignation  at  the  work  of  destruction 
systematically  carried  out  by  the  Ger- 
mans in  North  France  and  Belgium,  and 
inability  to  understand  Germany's  hesita- 
tion to  consent  to  reparation  for  these 
crimes.     M.  Clemenceau  further  said: 
If    the    same    impartial    observer    then 
heard  from  the  mouths  of  the  inhabitants 
the  tale  of  the  treatment  to   which   they 
were  subjected  for  four  years  and  the  vio- 
lences   and    abominable    constraints    im- 
posed  on  young  girls  brutally  separated 
from  their  families,   he  would  be  unable 
to  restrain  his  indignation  in  face  of  the 
attitude   of    Germany    and    the    arrogant 
tone  of  your  letters     *     *     *      Until  the 
German  public  conscience  understands,  as 
all  the  rest  of  the  world  does,  that  wrong 
must  be  righted  and  criminals  punished, 
Germany   must   not   expect   to   enter   the 
communion  of  nations  or  to  obtain  from 
the  Allies  forgetfulness  of  her  crimes  or 
modification  of  just  peace  conditions. 

THE  SCAPA  FLOW  SINKINGS 

A  German  note  regarding  the  sinking 
of  interned  warships  at  Scapa  Flow  came 
before  the  Supreme  Council  on  Nov.  28. 
It  held  that  the  Allies  themselves,  by 
interning  the  ships  in  an  allied  instead 
of  a  neutral  port,  were  responsible  for 
the  scuttling,  inasmuch  as  Admiral  von 
Reuter  had  been  deprived  of  means  of 
communicating  with  Germany,  and  be- 
lieved that  the  armistice  ended  at  noon 
on  June  21;  in  accordance  with  maritime 
law  he  had  then  sunk  the  ships  in  antici- 
pation of  a  renewal  of  war.  Further- 
more, the  note  declared  that  as  a  pris- 
oner of  war  von  Reuter  had  lost  his  naval 
command,  and  the  German  Government 
incurred  no  responsibility  for  his  actions. 
In  conclusion,  the  memorandum  proposed 
that  the  question  be  submitted  to  The 
Hague  tribunal  for  arbitration. 

Official  public  comment  on  this  dis- 
claiming by  Germany  of  her  responsibil- 
ity was  made  by  the  publication  by  Great 
Britain  on  Dec.  3  of  two  striking  letters, 
one  from  Admiral  von  Trotha,  Chief  of 
the  German  Admiralty,  the  other  from 
Admiral  von  Reuter.  These  letters  had 
been  found  in  July  by  the  British  in  Ad- 
miral von  Reuter's  safe  in  the  salvage 
operations  on  the  German  flagship  Em- 
den.  The  letter  from  von  Reuter,  dated 
June  17,  1919,  and  addressed  "  To  Com- 


6 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


manding  Officers,"  gave  explicit  instruc- 
tions regarding  the  sinking.  Trotha's 
letter,  dated  May  9,  1919,  marked  "  Most 
Secret,"  and  addressed  to  Admiral  von 
Reuter,  was  said  by  the  British  Admi- 
ralty, which  was  preparing  photographs 
of  it,  to  disprove  entirely  the  German 
statement  that  orders  from  the  Berlin 
Government  failed  entirely  to  reach  Ad- 
miral von  Reuter  during  the  time  when 
his  ships  were  at  Scapa  Flow.  Though 
couched  in  guarded  phrases,  the  whole 
import  of  this  letter,  especially  one 
phrase,  "  Their  surrender  to  the  enemy 
remains  out  of  question,"  pointed  to  the 
solution  which  von  Reuter  subsequently 
adopted.  Its  transmission  to  von  Reuter 
was  explained  by  the  arrival  of  certain 
German  ships  bringing  supplies  to  the 
crews  at  Scapa  Flow.  The  letter  was  re- 
published in  Berlin  on  Dec.  5  by  the  Ger- 
man Government,  with  a  denial  that  it 
signified  that  Admiral  von  Reuter  should 
scuttle  the  ships.  The  British  Admi- 
ralty's contention  that  the  German  Gov- 
ernment was  in  communication  with  von 
Reuter  before  the  scuttling  remained  un- 
shaken. 

GERMAN  CRISIS   BEGINS 

On  Dec.  1,  the  day  on  which  the  allied 
powers  had  expected  to  begin  putting  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  into  operation,  Baron 
von  Lersner  notified  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil that  Germany  refused  to  sign  the 
protocol  unless  the  Scapa  Flow  demands 
were  eliminated  from  the  document,  and 
suggested  arbitration.  His  communica- 
tion also  declared  that  the  clause  of  the 
protocol  authorizing  the  invasion  of  Ger- 
many was  impossible  of  acceptance. 

With  this  downright  refusal  the  situa- 
tion became  more  critical  than  it  had 
been  at  any  time  since  last  June,  when 
the  resumption  of  military  action  against 
Germany  hung  upon  the  action  of  the 
Weimar  National  Assembly.  General 
Foch  at  once  called  Sir  Henry  Wilson, 
chief  of  the  British  General  Staff,  into 
conference  at  Paris.  Andrew  Bonar 
Law,  Government  leader  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  said  on  Dec.  4  at  Glasgow  that 
Germany,  profiting  by  the  inaction  of  the 
American  Senate,  was  trying  to  evade 
the  terms.  Speaking  for  the  British 
Government,  he  declared  that  the  Allies 


had  the  power,  and  would  use  it  if  neces- 
sary, to  make  it  certain  that  the  allied 
terms  would  be  carried  into  effect  by 
Germany.  Both  diplomacy  and  economic 
threats  having  failed,  it  was  stated,  the 
last  recourse  was  to  be  had  in  the  mili- 
tary invasion  of  Germany  to  bring  her 
to  terms. 

VON   LERSNER  DEFIANT 

Informed  on  Dec.  6  that  the  council 
was  about  to  dispatch  an  "  ultimatum  " 
to  Germany,  von  Lersner  stated  that  the 
reply  of  his  Government  would  depend 
wholly  on  the  content  of  this  communica- 
tion and  its  tone.  He  further  said  that 
if  the  note  was  "  reasonable  "  he  would 
transmit  it  with  a  recommendation  that 
the  National  Assembly  consider  it.  Ger- 
many, he  declared,  on  no  consideration, 
would  surrender  the  German  officers  ac- 
cused of  crimes.  Two  notes  were  finally 
delivered  to  him  on  Dec.  8  and  trans- 
mitted by  him  to  his  Government. 

The  first  of  these  two  notes  denied 
the  German  demands  for  modification 
of  the  treaty  clauses  relating  to  the  sur- 
render of  Germans  charged  with  crimes 
against  the  usages  of  international  war- 
fare and  to  the  return  of  prisoners. 
It  agreed  to  consider  the  economic  ef- 
fects on  Germany  of  the  indemnities 
required  for  the  sinking  of  the  war- 
ships at  Scapa  Flow  "  in  a  spirit  of 
equity,  after  a  hearing  by  the  Repara- 
tion Commission."  It  warned  Germany 
"  for  the  last  time "  that  denunciation 
of  the  armistice  would  give  the  allied 
armies  all  latitude  for  necessary  mili- 
tary measures,  and  then  added :  "  In 
this  spirit  we  await  without  de- 
lay signature  of  the  protocol  and  the 
exchange  of  ratification."  It  further 
waived  the  so-called  coercion  clauses  of 
the  protocol,  on  the  ground  that  the 
signing  and  ratification  of  the  treaty 
would  make  the  latter  effective,  and 
that  the  execution  of  the  protocol  would 
be  guaranteed  by  the  general  terms  of 
the  treaty  and  by  ordinarily  recognized 
methods.  It  rejected,  however,  the  Ger- 
mans' pretended  right  to  modification 
of  the  treaty  clauses  as  compensation 
for  the  absence  of  Americans  from  the 
commissions,  and  declared  that  it  was 
"  vain  for   Germany  to  seek  to   delay " 


STRUGGLING  TOWARD  PEACE 


the  treaty's  effectiveness  because  of  the 
position  of  America  in  respect  to  mem- 
bership on  these  commissions. 

The  second  note  dealt  entirely  with 
the  Scapa  Flow  incident.  It  placed  the 
responsibility  for  the  sinking  upon  the 
Germans,  and  saw  in  the  protest  only 
"  an  attempt,  difficult  to  explain,  to  de- 
lay the  treaty."  It  cited  the  secret  mes- 
sage sent  in  May,  1919,  by  Admiral  von 
Trotha  to  Admiral  von  Reuter,  and 
quoted,  among  other  phrases,  the  one 
telling  the  latter  that  the  disposition  of 
the  ships  "  cannot  be  decided  without 
us,  it  will  be  finished  by  us,  and  de- 
livery to  the  enemy  avoided."  The 
council's  proposal  of  arbitration  regard- 
ing the  Scapa  Flow  indemnity  had  been 
embodied  in  the  first  note. 

NOSKE  TRUCULENT 

On  the  day  these  two  notes  were  de- 
livered to  von  Lersner,  Gustav  Noske, 
German  Minister  of  Defense,  said  boldly 
in  Berlin  that  the  Allies'  plan  meant  not 
.  peace,  but  the  prolongation  of  war,  and 
that  it  behooved  Germany  to  resist. 
His  country,  he  declared,  would  never 
sign  the  protocol  as  drawn.  Acceptance 
of  the  allied  terms  would  rouse  all  Ger- 
many to  vengeance.  The  situation 
could  not  be  worse  if  the  Hohenzollerns 
had  remained  in  power.     He  added: 

If  the  United  States  stays  out,  the  com- 
missions established  under  the  Peace 
Treaty  will  be  taken  over  by  the  other 
Allies.  If  that  means  more  Frenchmen, 
it  would  be  most  injurious  to  German  in- 
terests and  we  should  not  agree. 

The  French  doubtless  will  march  into 
Germany.  Let  that  come.  The  Allies 
know  that  Germany  is  without  means  of 
resistance.  Allied  officers  are  all  over  the 
country-  Spies  are  shuffling  about  every- 
where. All  the  scare  talk  about  German 
armament  is  a  deliberate  press  campaign 
to  prepare  public  opinion  for  aggression. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  threaten- 
ing situation  thus  created  that  the 
American  peace  delegation  left  Paris  on 
Dec.  9.  Despite  the  somewhat  hostile  atti- 
tude of  certain  papers,  the  departure 
was  made  under  good  auspices.  M. 
Clemenceau  and  General  Foch  accompa- 
nied the  American  delegates  to  the  sta- 
tion, and  bade  them  farewell,  while 
large  crowds  shouted  "  Vive  l'Ame- 
rique!  "    Before  leaving,   Mr.   Polk,  the 


head  of  the  delegation,  dictated  a  state- 
ment to  one  of  the  leading  Paris  papers, 
expressing  his  regrets  at  the  necessity 
for  departure,  likewise  his  conviction 
that  Germany  would  sign  the  pro- 
tocol. The  French  press,  in  bidding 
him  farewell,  voiced  its  belief  that  he 
and  his  colleagues  had  done  everything 
in  their  power  to  secure  ratification  of 
the  treaty. 

GERMANY   SURRENDERS 

The  German  reply  to  the  Supreme 
Council's  note  demanding  the  signing  of 
the  peace  protocol  was  received  in  Paris 
on  Dec.  15.  After  a  session  held  the 
following  day,  the  Supreme  Council  an- 
nounced that  the  reply  was  "  generally 
satisfactory."  It  was  referred  to  the 
allied  and  German  experts,  who  at  once 
began  the  elaboration  of  details.  Agree- 
ment was  understood  to  be  practically 
certain.  Berlin's  reply  met  all  the  al- 
lied demands  unreservedly  except  that 
which  concerned  payment  for  the  ships 
at  Scapa  Flow.  Germany  agreed  to  ac- 
cept responsibility  for  payment  on  the 
warships  sunk,  but  explained  to  the 
Allied  Council  that  she  could  not  at  that 
time  surrender  the  400,000  tons  of  mari- 
time equipment  demanded.  The  text  of 
the  German  note  was  as  follows: 

The  German  Government  desires  to  dis- 
sipate the  misunderstanding  that,  owing 
to  the  momentary  absence  of  American 
delegates  from  the  commissions  provided 
for  by  the  Peace  Treaty,  Gemany  claimed 
modifications  and  dispositions  of  the 
treaty  concerning  the  extradition  of  per- 
sons charged  with  culpability  in  acts  con- 
trary to  military  law,  or  the  repatriation 
of  prisoners. 

The  German  Government,  previous  to  re- 
ceiving the  allied  note,  had  already  ex- 
plained the  reasons  why  it  would  appear 
necessary  to  modify  the  conditions  for  the 
execution  of  those  clauses,  but  the  Ger- 
man Government  never  made  its  assent 
for  the  putting  into  force  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  conditional  upon  a  previous  solu- 
tion of  that  question. 

The  German  Government  maintains  its 
opinion  that  the  best  means  to  reach  a  so- 
lution of  the  Scapa  Flow  incident  would 
have  been  to  submit  the  case  to  interna- 
tional arbitration  at  The  Hague.  Such 
a  measure  would  not  have  delayed  put- 
ting the  treaty  into  force,  or  the  signing 
of  the  protocol  thus  modified. 

Desirous,  however,  of  doing  its  utmost 
for  the  early  re-establishment  of  peace, 
the    German    Government    declares    itself 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


o       zo     yo     bo     ao     ioo 
OLD  FRONTIER  — —  NEW  FRONTIER.  •••••« 

TERRITORY  LOST  TO  BUL6ARIA 


MAP    OF    BULGARIA    SHOWING    TERRITORY    LOST    UNDER    THE    TREATY    OF    NEUILLY, 

SIGNED    NOV.     27,    1919 

ready  to  make  reparations  for  the  dam- 


ages caused  to  the  allied  and  associated 
Governments  by  the  destruction  of  the 
ships. 

But  the  German  Government  is  unable 
to  effect  such  reparations  in  the  manner 
demanded  by  the  protocol  of  Nov.  1,  be- 
cause the  execution  of  the  demands  form- 
ulated in  that  protocol  would  compromise 
irretrievably  Germany's  economic  life  and 
also  render  impossible  of  execution  the 
other  enormous  obligations  which  the 
treaty  imposes  on  Germany. 

The  German  Government  will  formulate, 
through  experts,  positive  detailed  propo- 
sitions showing  a  mode  of  reparation 
which,  although  adding  a  new  and  heavy 
burden  on  Germany  in  its  present  situa- 
tion, is  not  altogether  incompatible  with 
its  vital  interests. 

So  the  tenseness  of  the  international 
situation  was  relaxed,  and  official  circles 
in  Paris,  greatly  relieved,  looked  forward 
to  a  speedy  ratification  of  both  protocol 
and  treaty.  Further  obstacles  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  details  arose,  however,  and 
on  Dec.  19  an  official  statement  named 
Jan.  1  as  the  nearest  probable  date  of 
settlement. 

A  German  delegation*  of  shipping  ex- 
perts had  reached  Paris  Dec.  15  with  a 
view  to  adjusting  details  of  the  protocol 


settlement.  It  was  presided  over  by  Herr 
Seelinger,  a  member  of  the  commercial 
department  of  the  German  Foreign 
Ministry,  the  other  members  being 
representatives  of  various  steamship 
lines  and  shipyards,  and  one  repre- 
sentative of  three  groups  of  sea- 
men. The  first  sessions  of  this  new  dele- 
gation with  the  allied  experts  led  to  no 
result,  as  the  Germans  declared  they  had 
no  power  to  negotiate  for  the  handing 
over  of  more  than  200,000  tons  of  ship- 
ping and  docking  materials,  of  the  400,- 
000  tons  demanded,  in  reparation  for  the 
Scapa  Flow  sinkings. 

BULGARIAN   TREATY   SIGNED 

The  treaty  of  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  with  Bulgaria  was  signed  on  Nov. 
27  at  Neuilly,  just  outside  of  Paris.  The 
ceremony  was  wholly  lacking  in  the  pomp 
that  attended  the  signing  of  the  treaties 
of  Versailles  and  St.  Germain.  The  Com- 
missioner who  signed  for  Bulgaria  was 
M.  Stambulinski.  It  was  this  Bulgarian 
statesman,  a  man  of  peasant,  origin  and 
the  leader  of  the  peasant  party  in  Bul- 
garia, who,  when  Bulgaria  turned  on  her 


STRUGGLING  TOWARD  PEACE 


>.) 


allies  and  joined  her  fortunes  with  the 
Central  Powers,  warned  King  Ferdinand 
that  he  was  signing  his  death  warrant. 
The  signature  which  he  affixed  to  the 
treaty  was,  in  a  way,  the  justification  of 
bis  own  judgment. 

The  ceremony  of  signing  was  simple. 
Premier  Clemenceau,  addressing  M.  Stam- 
bulinski,  said:  "  We  are  here  to  sign  the 
treaty  between  the  Allies  and  Bulgaria. 
Here  is  the  treaty  you  are  to  sign." 

Stambulinski,  the  incarnation  of  the 
popular  conception  of  a  Bulgar,  with  his 
heavy  frame,  thick  black  hair  and  up- 
turned mustache,  rose  and  affixed  his 
signature  to  the  treaty.  He  was  followed 
by  Mr.  Polk,  head  of  the  American  dele- 
gation, who  looked  tired  and  worn.  A 
puzzled  murmur  among  the  delegates  was 
their  only  comment  on  the  apparent  in- 
congruity of  America's  representatives 
signing  a  treaty  with  a  country  on  which 
America  had  never  officially  declared 
war.    The  other  delegates  followed. 

The  representatives  of  two  of  the  allied 
powers,  Serbia  and  Rumania,  were  miss- 
ing, though  both  powers  were  highly  im- 
portant for  the  restoration  of  order  in 
the  Balkan  peninsula,  which  the  Bul- 
garian treaty  was  intended  to  establish. 
Both  Serbia  and  Rumania,  themselves 
enemies,  had  refused  to  sign  the  Austrian 
treaty  because  of  their  objection  to  the 
provisions  for  the  protection  of  racial 
minorities,  and  the  signature  of  the 
treaty  with  Austria  was  made  a  condi- 
tion of  the  signing  of  the  Bulgarian 
treaty  by  the  allied  powers;  hence  the 
absence  of  the  Serbian  and  Rumanian 
delegates  from  the  Neuilly  ceremony. 

TERMS  OF  THE  TREATY 
By  the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Neuilly,  Bulgaria  is  called  upon  to  sur- 
render all  works  of  art  and  valuables 
taken  from  allied  countries  during  the 
war  and  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  approxi- 
mately $445,000,000.  She  is  deprived  of 
Thrace  and  also  loses  Strumitza,  a  small 
triangular  section  of  territory,  the  latter 
being  assigned  to  Serbia.  Proposals 
which  would  give  Bulgaria  a  corridor 
through  Thrace  to  the  Aegean  are  left 
to  the  future  disposition  of  the  allied 
Governments.      The    boundary    between 


Rumania    and    Bulgaria    is   changed    in 
only  minor  details. 

Compulsory  military  service  in  Bul- 
garia is  abolished  by  the  treaty  terms, 
the  Bulgarian  Army  being  limited  to 
20,000  men,  with  a  gendarmerie,  or 
police  force,  not  exceeding  10,000.  All 
arms  and  ammunition  exceeding  the 
amounts  laid  down  by  the  treaty  must  be 
turned  over  to  the  Allies.  A  commis- 
sion composed  of  allied  representatives 
has  power  to  punish  crimes  committed 
by  Bulgarians  during  the  war,  and  also 
to  deal  with  the  repatriation  of  pris- 
oners. 

JUGOSLAVIA  AND  AUSTRIA 
M.  Clemenceau's  intimation  to  the 
Jugoslav  delegates  that  they  would  not 
be  allowed  to  sign  the  Bulgarian  treaty 
unless  they  first  signed  the  allied  treaty 
with  Austria  provoked  an  outburst  of  in- 
dignation in  the  Belgrade  newspapers, 
some  of  which  even  counseled  the  Gov- 
ernment to  refuse  definitely  to  sign  the 
Bulgarian  treaty  rather  than  accept  the 
humiliating  minority  clauses  of  the  treaty 
with  Austria.  Some  of  the  comment  was 
extremely  bitter,  recalling  the  Jugoslav 
victories  and  asserting  that  the  minority 
clauses  were  inserted  in  the  Austrian 
treaty  at  the  instance  of  Italy,  whose 
ambitions  in  the  Adriatic  were  well 
known;  by  signing  the  treaty  with  these 
clauses,  it  was  insisted,  Jugoslavia  would 
lay  herself  open  to  constant  interference 
from  Italy  in  internal  affairs. 

Nevertheless  it  had  been  agreed  by  the 
Jugoslav  delegates  that  they  would  sign 
the  Austrian  treaty  on  Nov.  26,  but  when 
the  day  came  they  failed  to  do  so  on  the 
ground  that,  after  examination  of  the 
various  annexes,  they  found  that  they 
did  not  possess  the  requisite  powers. 
They  were  then  given  eight  days  to 
secure  this  authorizat,  »  which  they  ex- 
pected to  receive  withi..  '•he  limit  set. 
The  annexes  in  question  provided  for  the 
protection  of  racial  minorities,  repara- 
tions concerning  Italy,  and  a  financial 
arrangement  regarding  the  sharing  of 
the  expense  of  liberation  from  the  for- 
mer Austro-Hungarian  monarchy.  Prince 
Alexander  of  Serbia,  Prince  Regent  of 
Jugoslavia,  arrived*  in  Paris  on  Dec.  1  to 
discuss  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  his 


10 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


country's  signature   of   the  treaty  with 
Austria. 

RUMANIA  AT  THE  CROSSROADS 

The  innumerable  notes  that  passed 
between  Rumania  and  the  allied  powers 
regarding  her  whole  attitude  of  defi- 
ance of  the  Supreme  Council  have  been 
reproduced  or  analyzed  from  month  to 
month  in  these  pages.  Regarding  Ru- 
mania's signing  of  the  treaty  with  Aus- 
tria, the  council  on  Nov.  20  sent  a  note 
to  the  former  country,  which,  after 
praising  the  services  rendered  by  Ru- 
mania during  the  war,  brought  up  anew 
the  difficulties  which  Rumania  had 
placed  in  the  way  of  signing  that  treaty. 
The  communication  also  asked  whether 
Rumania  intended  to  follow  or  to  aban- 
don the  policy  of  the  Allies;  if  the  for- 
mer, she  must  sign  the  Austrian  treaty 
at  once;  if  the  latter,  she  would  be  con- 
sidered as  having  withdrawn  voluntarily 
from  the  alliance.  Both  this  note  and  a 
previous  note  of  Nov.  15  (the  ninth) 
asked  that  Rumania  declare  her  inten- 
tions regarding  the  withdrawal  of  her 
troops  from  Hungary,  and  the  deduction 
of  the  value  of  the  material  requisitioned 
by  her  in  the  latter  country  from  the 
total  reparation  due  her. 

Having  received  no  reply  to  either  of 
these  communications,  the  Supreme 
Council  on  Dec.  3  dispatched  a  new  com- 
munication, in  the  nature  of  an  ulti- 
matum, reviewing  Rumania's  repeated 
failures  to  comply  with  the  allied  desires 
in  the  various  matters  involved,  and 
giving  her  a  further  time  limit,  to  expire 
Dec.  8,  in  which  to  make  full  and  satis- 
factory reply,  with  a  strong  implication 
that  noncompliance  would  mean  a 
definitive  severing  of  relations. 

RUMANIA   FINALLY  SIGNS 

Rumania's  consent  to  sign  came  as  a 
dramatic  incident  of  the  departure  of 
the  American  peace  delegation  from 
Paris  on  Dec.  9.  It  was  after  7  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  Outside  waited  the  auto- 
mobiles that  were  to  take  Mr.  Polk  and 
his  staff  to  the  station.  There  came  a 
telephone  message,  saying  that  the  Ru- 
manians were  willing  to  sign  the  minor- 
ity treaty,  and  asking  whether  he  would 
^<rn  it  before  his  departure.     He  replied 


in  the  affirmative.  The  treaty,  which 
had  been  completed  by  noon,  had  been 
printed  and  bound;  it  was  brought  to 
the  Hotel  Crillon,  and  Mr.  Polk,  Mr. 
White,  and  General  Bliss  signed  it.  The 
Rumanian  delegates  affixed  their  signa- 
tures to  the  minority  treaty  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  as  well  as  to  the  Austrian 
and  Bulgarian  treaties.  At  the  same 
time  the  Bucharest  delegates  declared 
their  country's  willingness  to  withdraw 
from  Hungary  to  the  boundary  line  laid 
down  by  the  Peace  Conference  last  June. 
This  decision  of  Rumania  to  recede 
from  her  defiance  of  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence removed  one  of  the  ugliest  prob- 
lems of  European  politics,  and  one  of  the 
most  protracted  and  vexatious  inter- 
allied conflicts  which  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil had  had  to  face. 

THE  LONDON   CONFERENCE 

A  series  of  conferences  between  Pre- 
mier Clemenceau,  Premier  Lloyd  George, 
and  the  Italian  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, Signor  Scialoja,  took  place  in  Lon- 
don beginning  Dec.  11.  Matters  dis- 
cussed were  the  situation  in  Russia, 
America's  position  in  respect  to  ratifica- 
tion of  the  German  treaty,  and  problems 
of  European  reconstruction,  including 
Fiume  and  Turkey,  the  coal  famine  in 
France,  and  France's  financial  situation, 
which  was  considered  critical.  The  re- 
sults of  the  conferences  were  not  officially 
given  out,  but  semi-officially  the  main 
issues  were  divulged  in  Paris  on  M. 
Clemenceau 's  return.  In  an  inspired 
article  in  the  French  governmental  or- 
gan, Le  Temps,  the  subjects  discussed 
were  listed  one  by  one,  and  it  was  plainly 
intimated  that  none  of  these  problems 
could  be  solved  without  the  aid  of 
America.  The  United  States,  it  declared, 
was  involved  in  European  affairs  in  gen- 
eral, whether  the  Senate  wished  it  oi 
no,  and  hence  possessed  the  right  to  take 
all  the  precautions  necessary  to  protect 
American  interests. 

One  definite  result  of  the  London  con- 
ference was  the  decision  to  create  an  in- 
terallied army,  under  the  direction  of 
General  Foch  as  Chief  of  the  General 
Staff  at  Versailles.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  when  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant    was    taking    shape,     France 


STRUGGLING  TOWARD  PEACE 


11 


fought  for  such  an  international  police 
force,  and  President  Wilson  opposed  it. 
Later,  at  the  Peace  Conference,  France 
sought  the  establishment  of  an  interna- 
tional force  to  compel  Germany  to  live 
up  to  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles. Again  this  project  was  opposed 
by  the  Americans,  and  it  was  temporarily 
abandoned.  That  the  scheme  was  finally 
put  through  at  London,  in  connection 
with  the  discussion  of  American  partici- 
pation in  the  Peace  Treaty  as  the  one  big 
issue,  was  regarded  as  significant  of  the 


adoption  of  a  middle-of-the-road  policy, 
enabling  the  Allies  to  meet  the  possi- 
bility either  of  America's  co-operation  or 
of  America's  refusal  to  co-operate. 
Every  indication  pointed,  however,  to  an 
earnest  desire  for  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  by  the  United  States,  with  or 
without  reservations;  as  Le  Temps  ex- 
pressed it:  "All  the  problems  of  peace 
are  dominated  by  one  prime  necessity, 
and  that  is  to  obtain  the  ratification  of 
the  Versailles  Treaty  by  the  United 
States." 


D'Annunzio's  Adventure  Drawing  to  an  End 

Fiume  Problem  Near  Settlement 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  20,  1919] 


THE  Fiume  situation  had  reached  a 
point  at  the  close  of  the  second 
week  in  December  where  a  final 
agreement  seemed  to  be  within  reach. 
Gabriele  d'Annunzio  and  his  irregular 
forces  continued  to  hold  the  disputed 
Adriatic  port,  but  after  his  raid  on  Zara 
the  poet-soldier  had  refrained  from 
further  exploits  and  had  shown  a  willing- 
ness to  listen  to  the  proposals  of  the 
Italian  Government.  At  length  it  was 
announced,  though  not  officially  con- 
firmed, that  d'Annunzio  and  his  follow- 
ers had  consented  to  evacuate  Fiume 
and  allow  the  city  to  be  occupied  by 
regular  Italian  Army  forces  pending  an 
agreement  with  the  Entente. 

Attempts  to  solve  the  knotty  problem 
continued  both  before  and  after  this  ten- 
tative step  toward  a  solution.  Premier 
Nitti  and  Foreign  Minister  Tittoni  had 
formulated  what  they  regarded  as  Italy's 
maximum  concessions  regarding  Fiume, 
and  had  transmitted  them  to  President 
Wilson  at  Washington.  These  terms 
were  stated  unofficially  to  provide  that 
Italy  should  receive  the  part  of  Istria 
forming  a  triangle  with  its  extreme 
point  at  Velossa,  the"  line  running 
through  the  Alps  to  Monte  Maggiore, 
thence  to  Fisnona.  Fiume,  with  some 
territory  to  the  north,  together  with 
some  of  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  of 
Quarnero,  was  to  become  a  buffer 
State,  with  a  special  status;  Italy  was 


to  have  no  jurisdiction  over  its  foreign 
affairs,  but  Fiume's  Italianity  was  to 
be  recognized  and  guarded.  Zara  was 
to  be  constituted  a  free  city  and  port, 
represented  in  its  foreign  affairs  by 
Italy. 

This  proposal  failed  to  receive  the  in- 
dorsement of  President  Wilson,  and 
Fiume  continued  to  be  a  debated  question 
at  the  important  conference  of  Pi-emiers 
and  Ministers  held  in  London  in  the  mid- 
dle of  December,  when  the  new  Italian 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Signor 
Scialoja,  was  present  to  aid  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  this  subject. 

A  clear  idea  of  the  American  pro- 
posal and  of  how  it  differs  from  the  line 
laid  down  by  the  secret  treaty  of  London 
in  1915  is  furnished  by  the  accompany- 
ing sketch-map.  The  map  was  submit- 
ted to  The  London  Times  by  a  committee 
of  the  Serbian  Society  of  Great  Britain 
and  was  accompanied  by  an  open  letter 
stating  that  the  society  had  passed  reso- 
lutions to  the  effect  that  "  the  territorial 
solution  advocated  by  President  Wilson 
is  the  only  equitable  compromise  between 
Italian  and  Jugoslav  claims  and  should  be 
upheld  at  all  costs  by  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil." Referring  to  the  map,  the  commu- 
nication stated: 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Wilson  line  as- 
signs to  Italy  Gorizia,  Trieste,  and  Pola, 
Central  Istria  with  the  railway  connect- 
ing the  two  latter  towns,  and  the  island  of 


12 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Lussin,  which  has  an  Italian  majority. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  leaves  to  Jugoslavia 
the  port  of  Fiume-Sushak  (which  con- 
tains a  Jugoslav,  not  an  Italian,  ma- 
jority), the  railway  from  St.  Peter  to 
Fiume  (Slovenia's  only  direct  access  to 
the  sea),  and  the  overwhelming  Jugoslav 
province  of  Dalmatia  (in  which  the  Ital- 
ians form  3  per  cent,  of  the  population), 
while  the  town  of  Zara,  on  its  isthmus,  re- 
ceives special  autonomy. 

This  line  has  been  reached  as  the  re- 
sult of  exhaustive  inquiry  on  the  part  of 
the  American  experts  at  the  conference, 
and  represents  the  only  fair  compromise 


—  —  —  Austro-ltalian  Frontier  (I 9 14-) 
xuxm  Secret  Treaty  of  London  (1915) 
ooeooo  Wilson  Line  (1919) 

V«  ■■■«  Railways 


3/Z.4 


between  ethnography  and  strategy.  It 
has  the  great  advantage  of  reducing  to  a 
minimum  the  possibilities  of  aggression 
on  either  side.  As  it  assigns  over  300,000 
Jugoslavs  to  Italy,  and  less  than  45,000 
Italians  to  Jugoslavia  (24,000  of  these  in 
Fiume  itself),  it  will  be  seen  that  a  very 
severe  sacrifice  is  being  demanded  of  the 
Jugoslavs. 

On  Nov.  24,  following  the  action  of 
the  United  States  on  the  Italian  pro- 
posals, the  resignation  of  Foreign  Min- 
ister Tittoni  had  been  announced  in 
Rome,  and  Vittorio  Scialoja  had  been 
named  to  take  his  place.    Two  days  later 


the  Supreme  Council  in  Paris  received  a 
note  fr«n  the  Jugoslav  delegation  stat- 
ing that  the  Adriatic  situation  was  likely 
to  oblige  Jugoslavia  to  take  military 
measures  against  further  encroachments. 
In  Jugoslav  official  circles  it  was  de- 
clared that  war  between  Jugoslavia  and 
Italy  was  unavoidable  if  d'Annunzio  at- 
tempted further  advances.  In  Laibach  a 
large  body  paraded  carrying  banners  in- 
scribed: "  D'Annunzio  must  be  hanged!" 
and  "  Down  With  Italians!"  In  London, 
however,  it  was  said  that  the  British 
Government  had  given  Jugoslavia  as- 
surances that  Great  Britain's  influence 
would  be  used  to  obtain  a  just  settlement 
of  the  Adriatic  question. 

At  a  meeting  in  Milan,  at  which  all 
the  Socialist  Deputies  of  Italy  partici- 
pated, resolutions  were  passed  calling 
upon  the  Government  to  suppress  d'An- 
nunzio's  enterprises  in  Dalmatia. 

On  Dec.  7  it  seemed  that  the  Fiume 
question  was  approaching  a  satisfactory 
settlement  when  it  was  stated  in  Rome 
that  d'Annunzio  had  assured  the  Italian 
Government  that  he  would  undertake  no 
new  expeditions,  and  would  not  go  be- 
yond the  armistice  line.  Major  Giuriati, 
Chief  of  the  Cabinet  of  d'Annunzio,  ac- 
companied by  Commander  Rizzo  of  the 
poet-soldier's  naval  forces,  arrived  in 
Rome  bearing  d'Annunzio's  suggestions 
for  a  settlement  of  the  Fiume  and  Zara 
questions. 

Although  Premier  Nitti  refused  to 
make  any  statement  regarding  the 
Adriatic  situation,  it  was  announced  in 
Trieste  on  Dec.  13  that  an  agreement 
with  the  Italian  Government  had  been 
reached,  and  that  d'Annunzio  would 
leave  Fiume  with  his  troops,  which  were 
to  be  replaced  by  Italian  regulars  under 
General  Caviglia,  a  former  Italian  Min- 
ister of  War.  The  formal  transfer  of 
the  city  was  planned  for  an  early  date, 
but,  according  to  Washington  -  advices, 
this  occupation  was  to  be  merely  in  the 
nature  of  an  Italian  trusteeship  pending 
a  final  decision  by  the  Entente  powers. 

D'Annunzio  was  quoted  as  stating  that 
all  his  ambitions  in  regard  to  Fiume  had 
been  attained,  and  that  an  agreement 
signed  with  Premier  Nitti  was  a  full 
guarantee.     The  poet's  troops,  according 


D'ANNUNZIO'S  ADVENTURE  DRAWING  TO  AN  END 


13 


to  the  agreement,  were  to  return  to  the 
ranks  of  the  Italian  Army.  Their  de- 
parture from  the  city  was  delayed,  how- 
ever, by  appeals  from  the  Italian  citizens 
of  Fiume,  and  the  question  of  fulfilling 


the  agreement  was  at  length  referred  to 
a  plebiscite — which  was  postponed  and 
abandoned.  It  was  generally  understood, 
however,  that  the  end  of  d'Annunzio's  ad- 
venture was  in  sight. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  18,  1919] 


The  Fourteenth  Census. 

THE  following  interesting  proclama- 
tion by  President  Wilson  regarding 
the  Fourteenth  Decennial  Census,  which 
is  to  begin  Jan.  2,  1920,  was  signed  by 
him  on  Dec.  10: 

Whereas,  By  the  Act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved March  3,  1919,  the  Fourteenth 
Decennial  Census  of  the  United  States  is 
to  be  taken  beginning  on  the  second  day 
of  January,    1920;   and 

Whereas,  A  correct  enumeration  of  the 
population  every  ten  years  is  required  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  represen- 
tation of  the  several  States  in  the  House 
of  Representatives;  and 

Whereas,  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  interests  of  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States  that  this  census  should  be 
a  complete  and  accurate  report  of  the 
population  and  resources  of  the  nation; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Woodrow  Wilson, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
do  hereby  declare  and  make  known  that, 
under  the  law  aforesaid,  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  person  to  answer  all  questions  on 
the  census  schedules  applying  to  him  and 
the  family  to  which  he  belongs,  and  to 
the  farm  occupied  by  him  or  his  family, 
and  that  any  person  refusing  to  do  so  is 
subject  to  penalty. 

The  sole  purpose  of  the  census  is  to  se- 
cure general  statistical  information  re- 
garding the  population  and  resources  of. 
the  country,  and  replies  are  required  from 
individuals  only  to  permit  the  compilation 
of  such  general  statistics.  No  person  can 
be  harmed  in  any  way  by  furnishing  the 
information  required.  The  census  has 
nothing  to  do  with  taxation,  with  mili- 
tary or  jury  service,  with  the  compulsion 
of  school  attendance,  with  the  regulation 
of  immigration,  or  with  the  enforcement 
of  any  national.  State,  or  local  law  or 
ordinance.  There  need  be  no  fear  that 
any  disclosure  will  be  made  regarding  any 
individual  person  or  his  affairs.  For  the 
due  protection  of  the  rights  and  interests 
of  the  persons  furnishing  information 
every  employe  of  the  Census  Bureau  is 
prohibited,  under  heavy  penalty,  from  dis- 
closing any  information  which  may  thus 
come  to  his  knowledge. 


I  therefore  earnestly  urge  upon  all  per- 
•  sons  to  answer  promptly,  completely,  and 
accurately  all  inquiries  addressed  to  them 
by  the  enumerators  or  other  employes  of 
the  Census  Bureau,  and  thereby  to  con- 
tribute their  share  toward  making  this 
great  and  necessary  public  undertaking 
a  success. 

Prohibition  in  the  United  States 

PROHIBITION  was  substantially 
strengthened  by  a  unanimous  de- 
cision handed  down  by  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court  sustaining  the  constitu- 
tionality of  wartime  prohibition.  By  this 
decision  the  sale  of  liquor,  which  had 
been  resumed  at  a  few  points  on  account 
of  decisions  of  District  Federal  Judges, 
became  illegal  everywhere  in  the  country, 
and  the  prohibition  regulations  were  rig- 
idly enforced. 

The  Supreme  Court  held  that  Congress 
did  not  intend  the  wartime  act  to  termi- 
nate on  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  period  of  demobilization. 
The  "conclusion  of  the  war  clearly  did 
not  mean  cessation  of  hostilities,"  the 
court  said :  "  Congress,  therefore,  pro- 
vided that  the  time  when  the  act  ceased 
to  be  operative  should  be  fixed  by  the 
President's  ascertaining  and  proclaiming 
the  date  when  demobilization  had  termi- 
nated." 

Had  the  President  on  Oct.  28,  when  he 
vetoed  the  Volstead  act,  believed  that  de- 
mobilization had  terminated,  the  court 
says,  "he  would  doubtless  have  issued 
then  a  proclamation  to  that  effect,  for 
he  had  maintained  a  strong  conviction 
that  restriction  upon  the  sale  of  liquor 
should  end.  Only  by  such  proclamation 
could  the  purpose  of  Congress  be  attained 
and  the  serious  consequences  attending 
uncertainty  be  obviated." 

"In   view   of   facts   of   public   knowl- 


14 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


edge,"  the  opinion  reads,  "  some  of  which 
have  been  referred  to,  that  the  treaty  of 
peace  has  not  yet  been  concluded;  that 
the  railways  are  still  under  national  con- 
trol by  virtue  of  the  war  powers;  that 
other  war  activities  have  not  been 
brought  to  a  close,  and  that  it  cannot 
even  be  said  that  the  man  power  of  the 
nation  has  been  restored  to  a  peace  foot- 
ing, we  are  unable  to  conclude  that  the 
act  has  ceased  to  be  valid." 

The  liquor  interests  suffered  another 
severe  disappointment  on  Dec.  16  when 
the  House  Agricultural  Committee,  by  a 
vote  of  16  to  3,  tabled  a  resolution  to 
recommend  repeal  of  wartime  prohibi- 
tion. 

In  consequence  of  these  decisions  it 
seemed  unlikely  that  there  would  be  any 
"  wet "  period  before  the  constitutional 
prohibition  amendment  went  into  effect 
on  Jan.  16,  1920,  unless  the  Peace  Treaty 
was  ratified  and  peace  formally  pro- 
claimed by  the  President  before  the  lat- 
ter date. 

The  liquor  interests  instituted  suits  to 
obtain  a  ruling  by  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  on  the  prohibitive  consti- 
tutional amendment.  It  was  stated  that 
the  value  of  whisky  in  bond  in  the  United 
States  exceeded  $30u,u6o,000.  Suits  for 
compensation  were  announced  by  some 
distillers.  It  was  announced  that  if  the 
wartime  ban  was  not  lifted  by  proclama- 
tion before  the  end  of  the  year  the  stocks 
of  liquor  in  this  country  would  be  ex- 
ported to  Cuba  for  storage,  exports  be- 
ing also  forbidden  after  Jan.  16,  1920. 

German  Intellectuals  Recant 

THE  famous  declaration  made  by  nine- 
ty-three German  University  profes- 
sors, literary  men,  artists,  and  musical 
composers,  on  Oct.  14,  1914,  addressed  to 
the  learned  men  of  other  countries  as  a 
sweeping  denial  of  the  stories  of  atroci- 
ties charged  against  Germany  in  France 
and  Belgium,  has  been  refocused  into 
public  notice  in  Germany  by  the  activi- 
ties of  Dr.  Hans  Wehberg,  one  of  the 
best  known  German  pacifists,  who  has 
communicated  with  all  the  signers  still 
living  to  ascertain  their  attitude  toward 
that  manifesto  after  the  close  of  the  war. 
The  essence  of  the  original  document  was 


contained  in  six  paragraphs,  beginning 
with  the  words:  "It  is  not  true."  The 
charges  so  categorically  denied  were  that 
Germany  had  caused  the  war;  that  it  had 
criminally  violated  Belgium's  neutrality; 
that  any  Belgian  citizen's  life  or  prop- 
erty had  been  touched  except  in  direst 
self-defense;  that  the  German  soldiers 
had  proceeded  brutally  at  Louvain,  that 
the  German  conduct  of  the  war  had  in- 
fringed the  law  of  nations,  and  that 
"  a  fight  against  Germany's  so-called 
militarism  was  not  also  a  fight  against 
German  Kultur."  This  manifesto  was 
prepared  by  a  small  group  of  men  at 
Berlin,  among  whom  were  Professors 
Harnack,  von  Liszt,  Emil  Fischer,  and 
Gustav  Schmoller,  the  last  three  now 
dead;  the  author,  Ludwig  Fulda;  the 
painter,  Max  Liebermann;  the  composer, 
Humperdinck,  and  Burgomaster  Reicke. 

Of  all  the  signers,  no  less  than  15  have 
died.  Some  of  the  others  were  ill,  and 
could  not  answer  Dr.  Wehberg  on  this 
account,  but  the  23  from  whom  no  re- 
sponse was  received  included  also  a 
number  who  preferred  to  maintain  abso- 
lute silence.  In  all  Dr.  Wehberg  received 
55  answers  to  his  inquiries.  Of  that 
number  only  16  defended  their  signature 
of  the  manifesto.  These  included  Pro- 
fessors Eduard  Meyer,  the  historian,  now 
Rector  of  Berlin  University;  Professor 
Lenz  of  the  new  university  at  Hamburg, 
Professor  Dorpfeld,  and  Siegfried  Wag- 
ner, the  composer  and  son  of  the  greater 
Wagner.  The  39  others  heard  from  ad- 
mitted that  they  would  now  by  no  means 
stand  by  everything  in  the  address. 
Herbert  Eulenberg,  the  writer,  declared 
that  he  was  willing  to  withdraw  his  sig- 
nature entirely.  Carl  Hauptmann,  brother 
of  Gerhart  Hauptmann,  declared:  "In 
view  of  my  deviation  at  that  time  from 
personal  trustworthiness,  for  the  rest  of 
my  life  I  take  warning  against  the  rash 
herd-instinct  which  has  made  fool£  of 
men  for  thousands  of  years." 

President  Wilson  in  Paris 

RAY  STANNARD  BAKER,  head  of 
the  United  States  Official  Press 
Bureau,  has  published  a  small  book, 
"  What  Wilson  Did  at  Paris,"  giving  an 
inside  view  of  the  President's  struggle 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


15 


against  the  tortuous  methods  of  Euro- 
pean diplomacy.  In  this  book  he  cites  at 
least  five  separate  crises  which  the  Presi- 
dent dominated,  showing  how  Mr.  Wilson 
waged  a  grim  fight  against  hostile 
French  criticism  in  the  press,  against  all 
the  discouragements  of  almost  irrecon- 
cilable national  interests  in  such  matters 
as  the  disposal  of  the  German  colonies, 
of  Fiume,  and  of  the  Shantung  Peninsula, 
and  against  repeated  opposition  to  the 
incorporation  of  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant  in  the  Peace  Treaty  with  Ger- 
many. Ever  grimmer  and  grayer,  with 
nervous  twitchings  of  his  face  after 
many  hours  of  daily  interviews  and  dis- 
cussions with  committees  and  deputa- 
tions, he  stuck  to  his  task,  deprived  of 
all  exercise,  all  recreation,  the  centre  of 
universal  attack,  and  attained  the  ideal- 
istic objects,  as  far  at  least  as  they 
could  be  obtained,  for  which  he  had 
striven.  In  the  course  of  his  study  Mr. 
Baker  says: 

He  worked  everybody  else  to  a  stand- 
still. Sometimes  he  would  have  two 
meetings  going  on  at  the  same  time.  Once 
I  found  a  meeting  of  the  council  of  the 
Big  Four  going  on  In  his  study,  and  a 
meeting  of  the  financial  and  economic 
experts— twenty  or  thirty  of  them— in  full 
session  upstairs  in  the  drawing  room,  and 
the  President  oscillating  between  them. 

It  was  he  who  was  always  the  driver, 
the  initiator  at  Paris ;  he  worked  longer 
hours,  had  more  appointments,  granted 
himself  less  recreation  than  any  other 
man,  high  or  low,  at  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence. For  he  was  the  central  figure  there. 
At  the  same  time  he  continued  to  live 
with  a  simplicity  that  was  almost  rigor- 
ous; although  he  occupied  the  very  centre 
of  the  world's  great  stage,  with  the  eyes 
of  all  humanity  watching  every  move  he 
made,  he  lived  almost  the  life  of  an 
anchorite.  Sometimes  in  the  evening  I 
used  to  find  him  in  the  study  of  his  house, 
a  dark,  richly  furnished  room  looking  out 
upon  a  little  patch  of  walled  garden,  with 
an  American  sentinel  pacing  up  and  down 
the  passageway.  Mrs.  Wilson's  sitting 
room  was  opposite  this  study.  Some  day 
there  will  be  written  an  account  of  the 
incalculable  help  and  comfort  that  Mrs. 
Wilson  was  to  the  President  in  those  try- 
ing days. 

The  President  went  to  Paris  the  great 
moral  leader  of  the  world,  and  through- 
out the  conference  he  never  for  a  moment 
lost  sight  of  the  ideals  he  came  to  fight 
for;  he  kept  his  vision  clear,  but  he  was 
willing  to  face  the  world  as  it  is,  a  real 
world  of  imperfect  human  beings,  torn  by 


passion    and    fear,    and    yet    a    world    in 
which,  after  all,  we  have  to  live. 


Bolshevist  Propaganda  in  East 

rpHE  Bolshevist-Turco-Afghan  combi- 
•*■  nation  in  the  Near  East  has  met 
with  a  check  in  the  case  of  Bokhara. 
Its  principal  emissary,  the  Turk  Kazim 
Beg,  barely  escaped  from  Bokhara  with 
his  life  in  November,  and  fled  to  Tash- 
kent, the  capital  of  the  Turkestan  Soviet 
Republic,  after  urging  the  Emir  of  Bok- 
hara to  join  the  combination  mentioned 
in  bringing  pressure  to  bear  upon  Persia 
to  enter  a  pan-Islamic  Democratic  Union. 


'Scale  oF.Miies.*fesne$/ 


|A 


WHERE  RUSSIAN  BOLSHEVIKI  ARE  CARRY- 
ING ON  AN  ACTIVE  PROPAGANDA 

After  the  flight  of  Kazim  Beg,  the  re- 
quests were  changed  virtually  to  threats, 
and  the  Emir  on  Nov.  14  was  said  to 
have  torn  up  the  railway  twelve  miles 
on  both  sides  of  Bokhara  as  a  measure 
of  self-protection.  The  Bolsheviki, 
meanwhile,  who  were  firmly  established 
at  Kizil  Arvat,  on  the  Trans-Caspia 
Railway,  threatened  the  road  to  Kras- 
navodsk,  the  terminus  of  the  Caspian 
Railroad.  The  leading  newspaper  of 
Teheran,  which  had  previously  praised 
the  Indian  Government's  action  in  re- 
laxing control  of  Afghan  foreign  policy, 
sharply  criticised  the  reported  intention 
of  the  Afghan  Mission  at  Moscow  to  go 
through  Germany  to  Paris,  saying: 

If  the  Afghans  are  going  to  use  their 
freedom  in  foreign  relations  for  these  pur- 
poses their  diplomats  are  not  to  be  con- 
gratulated. If  they  intend  to  introduce 
themselves  as  the  Bolshevist  vanguard  in 


16 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Central  Asia  they  will  lose  the  friendship 
of  their  co-religionists  and  neighbors. 

According  to  an  account  published  in 
The  London  Times  on  Nov.  21,  relating 
the  experiences  of  a  traveler  through 
Turkestan  and  Trans-Caspia,  who  spent 
several  weeks  at  Tashkent,  the  people  of 
Turkestan  were  for  the  most  part  heart- 
ily sick  of  Bolshevism,  but  the  Soviets 
were  strong  in  the  towns,  and  the  rail- 
way to  Merv  and  the  Caspian  was 
strongly  garrisoned  by  Red  troops.  The 
Turkestan  Bolsheviki  were  rejoiced  at 
the  reopening  of  direct  communication 
with  Soviet  Russia,  whence  they  expected 
to  receive  large  supplies  of  food.  Over 
the  Trans-Caspian  line  the  trains  were 
not  infrequently  stopped  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  desert  while  the  Bolshe- 
vist train  staff  robbed  the  pas- 
sengers. Five  Indian  merchants  from 
Merv  were  robbed  of  2,000,000  rubles, 
and  two  of  these  were  brutally  mur- 
dered. In  Bokhara  and  Khiva  condi- 
tions were  better,  owing  to  the  repudia- 
tion of  the  Bolshevist  doctrines  by  both 
the  people  and  their  rulers.  The  Reds, 
however,  were  cr^cripting  Turcomans 
and  other  Mussulmans  by  force.  To 
avoid  this  many  thousands  of  Turcomans 
had  fled  with  their  families  into  Persia 
and  Northwest  Afghanistan.  In  their 
propaganda  campaign  the  Bolsheviki 
were  trying  to  prove  that  the  theories  of 
Bolshevism  were  in  accord  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Koran.  Kazim  Beg, 
who  accompanied  the  German  Mission  to 
Afghanistan  in  1913,  was  one  of  the  chief 
promoters  of  this  propaganda. 

Incidentally  Lenin  and  other  leaders  of 
the  Central  Soviet  are  also  intriguing  in 
the  Far  East.  A  Korean  delegation  was 
on  its  way  to  Moscow  toward  the  end  of 
November,  and  hopes  of  support  for  Bol- 
shevism in  China  were  being  entertained. 
The  activity  of  the  Reds  on  the  Siberian- 
Mongolian  frontier  has  long  been  known. 
According  to  Peking  reports  the  Bolshe- 
viki had  asked  the  provincial  authorities 
of  Sinkiang  (Chinese  Turkestan,  Kulja, 
and  Kashgaria)  to  send  them  an  accred- 
ited envoy.  They  also  proposed  to  open 
negotiations  with  the  Peking  authorities, 
holding  out  the  prospect  of  the  return  of 
the  Chinese  Eastern  Railway. 


England- Australia  Flight 

CAPTAIN  ROSS  SMITH,  the  Aus- 
tralian aviator,  began  a  transcon- 
tinental flight  from  England  to  Aus- 
tralia on  Nov.  12,  in  competition  for  a 
prize  of  £10,000  offered  for  the  first 
aviator  who  made  the  flight  of  11,500 
miles  within  thirty  days.  In  this  flight 
Captain  Smith  reached  Cairo  on  Nov. 
18;  arrived  at  Delhi  on  Nov.  23,  and 
thereafter  touched  at  Rangoon,  and  at 
several  points  along  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula and  the  islands  of  Oceania.  He 
arrived  at  Bima, .  on  Sunbawa  Island, 
near  Java,  on  Dec.  8.  Cruisers  and 
steamers  kept  watch  at  sea  on  the  last 
stage  of  the  airman's  journey,  vessels 
patrolling  between  Timor  and  Port  Dar- 
win, which  is  near  the  northernmost  tip 
of  Australia.  Elaborate  preparations 
were  made  for  the  landing  at  Fannie 
Bay,  three  miles  from  Port  Darwin, where 
the  aviator  completed  his  long  flight  on 
Dec.  10.  The  Australian  Premier,  Will- 
iam Morris  Hughes,  sent  a  congratula- 
tory message  to  Captain  Smith  after 
news  of  his  safe  arrival. 

Lieutenant  Etienne  Poulet,  the  French 
military  aviator,  left  Paris  for  a  similar 
flight  to  Australia  on  Oct.  14,  nearly  a 
month  before  Captain  Smith's  departure. 
The  Englishman  caught  up  with  Poulet 
in  India,  and  both  left  Bangkok  on  the 
same  day.  No  reports  have  since  been 
received  from  the  French  aviator. 
*     *     * 

The  Australian  Election 

VIRTUALLY  complete  election  returns 
received  at  Melbourne  on  Dec.  14 
showed  that  the  Liberal  and  Nationalist 
Labor  Parties,  who  support  the  Govern- 
ment, had  won  35  seats  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  the  Farmers' 
Party,  also  a  supporter  of  the  Govern- 
ment, 11  seats,  while  the  anti-govern- 
mental factions  and  the  laborites  had 
secured  only  29.  William  M.  Hughes, 
the  Premier,  had  been  re-elected  to  the 
House.  This  result  was  regarded  as 
highly  significant,  for  the  elections  were 
virtually  a  test  of  strength  between  the 
Nationalist  Party,  led  by  Premier 
Hughes,  and  the  Labor  Party,  under  the 
leadership  of  Frank  Tudor  and  former 
Premier   Ryan   of   Queensland.     In   an- 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


17 


other  sense  the  elections  were  also  an 
expression  of  public  opinion  favoring  the 
development  of  the  country  along  the 
lines  of  private  enterprise,  as  opposed 
to  State  socialism,  advocated  by  Mr. 
Ryan  and  his  party. 

The  Prime  Minister  thus  confirmed 
and  supported  first  gained  prominence 
in  Australia  because  of  his  forceful  atti- 
tude favoring  conscription,  which  was 
defeated  by  a  very  small  majority,  and 
soon  became  an  outstanding  figure  due 
to  the  large  part  he  played  in  the  Peace 
Conference  at  Paris.  The  slogan  of  the 
Coalition  Cabinet  formed  by  him  was 
"  Win  the  War!  "  Mr.  Hughes  is  a  small, 
slender  man,  weighing  about  100  pounds, 
but  in  mental  aggressiveness  no  man  in 
Australian  political  life  can  be  said  to 
equal  him.  This  attitude  of  mind  was 
said  to  have  been  frequently  displayed  in 
differences  of  opinion  between  himself 
and  President  Wilson,  who  found  in  the 
Australian    Prime    Minister    a    foeman 

worthy  of  his  steel. 

*     *     * 

Heligoland  Dismantled 

WHEN  the  war  broke  out,  the  whole 
population  of  Heligoland  (some  of 
whom  had  never  before  left  the  island) 
were  expelled  by  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment on  six  hours'  notice  and  sent  to 
Hamburg  and  Altoona,  where  they  were 
put  under  police  supervision.  A  London 
Times  correspondent  who  visited  the 
island  to  witness  the  dismantling  of  its 
forts  recalls  the  foregoing  fact  and 
continues : 

Strict  orders  had  "been  issued  by  the 
Island  Commandant  that  all  keys  to 
houses,  rooms,  and  cupboards  were  to  be 
left  in  their  locks,  and  only  such  luggage 
was  allowed  as  each  one  could  carry. 
And  these  were  German  citizens !  It  is 
significant  that  in  the  days  of  crisis  they 
were  treated  as  semi-English.  The  only 
two  actual  British  subjects  resident  on 
the  island,  one  a  sailor  with  twenty-three 
years'  service  in  the  British  Navy,  were 
flung  into  prison  three  days  before  war 
was  declared.  "  'Tain't  no  catch  being 
under  Prussian  rule,"  says  the  sailor,  still 
lean  from  his  long  bondage. 

The  people  eventually  returned  to  find 
their  houses  occupied  by  German  naval 
officers,  who  had  brought  their  families 
to  share  their  rest  cure,  or  ransacked  by 
the  garrison  of  artillerists  who  had  spent 
the  war  in  comparative  luxury—"  stupe- 
fied with  contentment."  For  from  start 
to  finish  not  a  salvo  was  fired  by  the  bat- 


teries, though  their  erection  cost  Germany 
£2,250,000.  They  found,  too,  their  local 
Government  still  further  undermined  by 
the  600  Prussian  officials  and  employes 
retained  on  the  island.  Party  political 
conspiracy  is  forthcoming  even  here,  and 
the  autonomy  stipulated  by  the  Anglo- 
German  Treaty  of  1890  is  more  mythical 
than  ever. 

Meantime  the  islanders  have  reminded 
the  Supreme  Council  of  the  years  when, 
"  under  the  long  and  blissful  administra- 
tion of  the  great  British  nation,  all  our 
rights  and  customs  were  always  most 
loyally  upheld."     The  petition  adds: 

"  We    seek    neither    wealth    nor    osten- 
tation,  but   desire   and   hope   to   live   our 
lives  in  our  lonely  home  upon  the  rocks 
in   peace   and   contentment,    as   our  fore- 
fathers did  before  us." 
The    correspondent    relates    that    the 
work  of  dismantling  the  forts  is  proceed- 
ing.      In    November     several     hundred 
workmen  were  employed  in  dismounting 
the  batteries  and  shipping  the  displaced 
material  to   Wilhelmshaven.     Stores  of 
metal  and  timber  lie  littered  about  the 
tableland,  but  instruments,  gun   sights, 
and  fittings  of  all  kinds  are  taken  as 
souvenirs  by  the  departing  naval  gar- 
rison.     Light    guns,    anti-aircraft    bat- 
teries and  searchlights  have  all  gone,  and 
only  a  few  machine  guns  remain  about 
the  island  and  harbor. 

*     *     * 

Gas  in  War  Humane 

GENERAL  MARCH,  Chief  of  the 
General  Staff  of  the  United  States 
Army,  on  Nov.  25,  authorized  an  an- 
nouncement that,  contrary  to  popular  be- 
lief, gas  was  now  regarded  by  responsi- 
ble American  Army  officers  as  one  of 
the  most  humane  weapons  of  war.  This 
conclusion  had  been  reached  only  after  a 
critical  study  and  analysis  of  official 
figures  compiled  by  the  office  of  the  Sur- 
geon General  of  the  army.  In  an  offi- 
cial statement  General  March  said: 

While  the  number  who  died  on  the  bat- 
tlefield from  gas  cannot  be  separated 
from  those  who  died  from  bullets  and  high 
explosives,  it  is  known  that  in  the  case  of 
the  A.  E.  F.  it  was  very  small.  This  is 
attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  high  con- 
centration of  gas  necessary  to  cause  death 
before  men  can  be  gotten  to  a  hospital  is 
obtained  by  cloud  gas  and  projector  at- 
tacks, with  only  an  occasional  death  on 
the  battlefield. 

The  number  of  deaths  in  the  hospitals 
from  gas  was  1.194.  which,  added  to  the 
206  deaths  in  battle,  gives  a  total  of  1,400 
deaths   from    gaa    out   Of   the    total    gas 


18 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


casualties  amounting  to  74,779.  The  total 
number  of  deaths  from  all  battle  causes 
is  given  as  48,059.  Subtracting  the  1,400 
deaths  attributed  to  gas  gives  46,659 
deaths  from  all  other  battle  causes.  De- 
ducting the  74,779  gas  cases  from  the 
274,217  total  battle  casualties  leaves  199,- 
438  for  battle  casualties  due  to  causes 
other  than  gas.  The  percentage  of  deaths 
from  such  causes  is  therefore  23.4  per 
cent. 

Thus  it  is  deduced  that,  while  gas  pro- 
duced 27.3  per  cent,  of  all  battle  casual- 
ties, accomplishing  the  prime  object  of  all 
weapons  of  war,  which  is  to  put  men  out 
of  action,  the  deaths  were  only  1.87  per 
cent.,  compared  with  23.4  per  cent,  of 
deaths  from  other  battle  causes.  In  other 
words,  based  on  the  statistics,  the  claim 
is  advanced  that  a  man  gassed  has  twelve 
times  as  many  chances  to  recover  as  the 
man  put  out  of  action  by  other  causes. 

The  casualties  in  the  A.  E.  F.  caused  by 
various  kinds  of  gas  were  as  follows: 

Asphyxiating  Gas— 3  officers,  124  men. 

Poisonous  Gas  (kind  not  stated)— 1,201 
officers,  34,812  men. 

Chlorine— 32  officers,  1,890  men. 

Mustard  Gas— 822  officers,  27,046  men. 

Phosgene  Gas— 415  officers,  6,698  men. 

Yperite   Gas— 30  officers,   901   men. 

Areine  Gas— 30  officers,  569  men. 

Total— 2,583  officers  and  72,040  men. 


British  Old- Age  Iensions 

IN  accordance  with  the  recommendations 
of  a  report  laid  on  the  table  of  the 
House  of  Commons  on  Nov.  8,  a  new 
scale  of  old-age  pensions  to  cost  £41,- 
000,000  was  offered  for  adoption.  This 
report  proposed  that  every  citizen  of  the 
kingdom,  irrespective  of  means,  should 
become  qualified  to  draw  a  State 
pension  of  ten  shillings  a  week  after  at- 
taining the  age  of  70.  Failure  to  re- 
duce this  maximum  age  to  65  was  ex- 
plained on  the  ground  that  this  would 
have  cost  an  additional  total  of  £70,- 
000,000.  A  minority  report  modified  the 
£41,000,000  outlay  to  the  extent  of  £9,- 

000,000. 

*     *     * 

Tank  Designers  Rewarded 

THE  British  Royal  Commission  on  In- 
ventions appointed  to  decide  what 
royalties  and  awards  should  be  paid  to 
the  inventors  of  war  instruments,  has 
given  credit -for  designing  and  producing 
the  tank  in  a  concrete,  practical  war 
shape  to  Sir  William  Tritton  and  Major 
Wilson,  who  claimed  it  jointly,  and  has 


awarded  them  £15,000.  The  commission 
devoted  several  weeks  to  hearing  evi- 
dence in  support  of  the  various  claim- 
ants. In  the  commission's  report,  issued 
on  Nov.  27,  special  praise  was  paid  to 
Winston  Churchill  for  his  receptivity, 
courage,  and  driving  force,  which  made 
it  possible  to  convert  the  idea  of  the  use 
of  the  tank  as  an  instrument  of  warfare 
into  an  effective  reality,  potent  in  the 
winning  of  the  war.  Mr.  Churchill,  it 
was  stated,  had  declined  reward,  on  the 
ground  that  all  his  thought  and  time  be- 
longed to  the  State. 

*     *     * 

Lady  Astor  Wins  a  Seat  in  the  British 
Parliament 

LADY  ASTOR  was  elected  a  member  of 
Parliament  for  the  Sutton  Division 
of  Plymouth,  England,  in  the  balloting 
held  on  Nov.  15,  the  vote  standing  as 
follows : 

Lady  Astor,  Unionist 14,495 

W.  T.  Gay,  Labor 8,292 

Isaac  Foot,  Liberal 4,139 

So  ended  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
and  unprecedented  campaigns  for  a  seat 
in  Parliament  ever  conducted  in  England, 
and  Lady  Astor,  formerly  Nancy  Lang- 
horne  of  Virginia,  noted  for  her  vivacity 
and  wit,  both  in  America  and  England, 
thus  brought  to  its  climax  a  most  un- 
usual career.  Married  to  Robert  Gould 
Shaw,  2d.,  of  Boston,  a  Harvard  grad- 
uate, and  son  of  an  aristocratic  New 
England  family,  in  1897,  she  secured  a 
decree  of  divorce  on  the  ground  of  deser- 
tion in  1903,  obtaining  the  custody  of 
her  child.  After  her  divorce  she  went  to 
England  with  Mrs.  John  Jacob  Astor, 
with  whom  she  maintained  a  hunting  es- 
tablishment in  the  High  Shires.  Her 
success  in  British  society  was  immediate, 
and  in  1906  her  engagement  to  Waldorf 
Astor,  son  of  William  Waldorf  Astor, 
was  announced. 

In  1908  Waldorf  Astor  took  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  since  that 
time  Lady  Astor  has  had  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  British  politics.  The  Astor 
residences  in  London  and  other  parts  of 
England  have  been  meeting  places  for 
many  of  England's  most  important 
statesmen,  including  Arthur  J.  Balfour, 
Herbert  Asquith,  Winston  Churchill,  Sir 


CURRENT   HISTORY  IN   BRIEF 


19 


Horace  Plunkett,  and  the  late  Lord 
Beresford.  After  the  death  of  her  fath- 
er-in-law, Viscount  Astor,  her  husband 
succeeded  to  the  peerage  and  a  seat  in 
the  House  of  Lords. 

Lady  Astor  then  decided  to  become  the 
coalition  Unionist  candidate  to  succeed 
her  husband  as  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  An  invitation  was  extended 
to  her,  after  announcing  her  intention, 
to  stand  for  Parliament  from  Plymouth, 
which  offer  she  accepted  on  Oct.  25. 

The  campaign,  which  she  conducted 
personally,  was  most  unusual  by  reason 
of  its  unconventionality  and  the  flashing 
wit  with  which  Lady  Astor  countered 
all  attempts  at  heckling.  No  political 
candidacy  has  stirred  the  interest  of  Eng- 
land so  much  for  many  years.  News 
that  she  had  won  her  seat  caused  a  sen- 
sation in  the  House  of  Commons,  all  of 
whose  venerable  traditions  had  been 
shattered  by  this  election.  The  tone  of 
newspaper  comment  was  favorable  in  the 
extreme,  and  Lady  Astor's  portrait,  her 
history,  her  unique  campaigning  methods, 
and  her  sayings  were  given  extended 
space.  When  finally,  on  Dec.  1,  the  first 
woman  member  of  Parliament  took  her 
seat,  she  was  greeted  with  cheers.  She 
went  through  the  ceremony  of  taking 
oath  and  signing  her  name  with  great 
composure,  and  was  then  escorted  beyond 
the  bar  by  Lloyd  George  and  Mr. 
Balfour.  The  first  vote  which  the  new 
member  cast  was  against  premium  bonds. 
Tickets  to  the  public  gallery  of  the  House 
were  in  great  demand,  and  hundreds 
showed  their  desire  to  see  the  first  wo- 
man member  presented  to  the  House. 
*     *     * 

Canada's  War  Contribution  in  Men 

IN  the  February,  1919,  Current  His- 
tory Magazine  a  statement  to  this 
effect  appeared :  "  Canada,  with  a  con- 
tribution of  nearly  1,000,000  men,  200,- 
000  of  whom  went  overseas,  lost  a  total 
of  220,182,  with  a  mortality  of  60,383." 
These  figures  are  now  known  to  be  in- 
accurate, and  have  been  officially  revised 
by  the  Canadian  Government. 

The  following  total  is  compiled  by  the 


Director  of  Records  from  official  Cana- 
dian sources.  It  shows  the  casualties 
reported  up  to  and  including  Nov.  30, 
1919.  The  figures  were  supplied  by  the 
Director  of  Records  Dec.  3,  1919,  and 
were  issued  by  the  Canadian  Bureau  of 
Information,  New  York: 

Other 
Officers.  Ranks.    Total. 
Killed     in    action     and 

died  of  wounds 2,559      48,557      51,110 

Accidentally   killed 5  8  13 

Died   of  disease 292        4,613        4,905 

Wounded    5,349    143,510    148,859 

Presumed  dead 187        4,915        5,102 

Missing     57  57 

Deaths  in  Canada 2,633       2,633 


8,392    204,293  •212,685 
Total  prisoners  of  war.      236        3,493        3,729 

Repatriated    204       3,086       8,290 

C.    E.    F.,    Siberia   Forces:     4  accidentally 
killed,  13  died  of  disease,  1  wounded. 

Enlistments  up  to  Nov  15,  1918 t595,441 

Sailings  for   England 418,052 

Sailings  to  Siberia 4,214 


Total    that   went    overseas $422,266 

•Represents  nearly  3  per  cent,  of  Canada's 
total  population  of  8,000,000.  fOver  7  per 
cent,  of  population.  JFive  per  cent,  of  popu- 
lation. 

*      *     * 

Scialoja  a  League  Delegate 

IT  was  announced  from  Rome  on  Nov. 
25  that  Senator  Vittorio  Scialoja  had 
been  appointed  Italian  delegate  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations.  The 
career  of  Signor  Scialoja  has  been  an 
interesting  one.  He  has  been  Professor 
of  Roman  Law  in  the  University  of 
Rome,  is  a  member  of  the  Accademia  dei 
Lincei,  was  for  twelve  years  a  Senator, 
was  Minister  without  portfolio  in  the 
Boselli  Cabinet  in  1916,  Minister  of  Jus- 
tice in  the  second  Sonnino  Cabinet,  Min- 
ister without  portfolio  in  the  Nitti  Cab- 
inet, and  was  appointed  on  Nov.  24  to 
succeed  Tommaso  Tittoni  as  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs.  Last  July  he  was  made 
a  member  of  the  Commission  for  the  Ex- 
ecution of  the  Versailles  Treaty.  Signor 
Scialoja  took  an  important  part  in  the 
council  of  Ministers  held  in  London  in 
mid-December  for  the  settlement  of  cer- 
tain Peace  Conference  problems,  includ- 
ing that  of  Fiume. 


American  Developments 

With  Emergency  Armies  Disbanded,  the  Country  Seeks  Settle- 
ment of  Industrial  War 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  18,  1919] 


THE  Sixty-sixth  Congress  met  in  its 
first  regular  session  on  Dec.  1. 
Many  important  domestic  ques- 
tions had  been  left  unsolved  when 
the  special  session  adjourned  ten  days 
before.  The  bituminous  coal  mine  strike 
had  been  called  off,  but  the  miners  were 
slow  in  obeying.  Railroad  legislation  was 
needed  to  protect  the  lines  after  their  re- 
lease by  the  Government.  A  strike  was 
threatened  by  railway  employes.  Radical- 
ism was  rampant  and  existing  laws  were 
confessedly  inadequate  to  deal  with  the 
situation. 

The  nation's  great  armies,  returned 
from  overseas,  were  disbanded,  but  the 
records  of  the  years  of  war  still  remained 
to  be  completed  in  many  details.  Thus 
the  director  of  the  Ws~-.Risk  Insurance 
Bureau,  R.  G.  Cholmeley  Jones,  reported 
to  Congress  on  Dec.  8  that  the  total  ex- 
penses of  this  bureau  for  the  year  ended 
June  30,  1919,  had  been  $269,500,000,  in- 
cluding $191,128,900  paid  as,  allowances 
to  families  of  soldiers  and  sailors  and 
$43,798,000  as  insurance.  Insurance 
premiums  paid  to  the  bureau  for  the  year 
aggregated  $172,557,215.  Congress  had 
appropriated  $126,183,500. 

A  detailed  report  of  operations  of  the 
bureau  was  asked  for  in  a  resolution  by 
Senator  Poindexter,  Republican,  Wash- 
ington, adopted  Dec.  8  by  the  Senate. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  re- 
quested to  advise  whether  the  bureau 
should  be  continued  or  its  work  dis- 
tributed among  other  Federal  agencies. 

The  following  official  announcement 
in  answer  to  the  renewed  request 
of  the  American  Government  for  the  re- 
turn of  its  fallen  soldiers  was  published 
in  Paris  on  Nov.  24: 

It  has  been  definitely  decided  that  the 
Allies  -who  fell  together  for  the  same 
cause  should  remain  together  in  death 
until  circumstances  permit  of  the  return- 
ing of  the  bodies  to  the  families  for  whom 
they  sacrificed  themselves. 

The  proposed  law  forbidding  the  ex- 


humation of  the  soldier  dead  for  three 
years  did  not  pass  at  the  last  session  of 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  but  the  For- 
eign Office  intimated  that  it  would  be 
adopted  soon.  Though  this  bill  provided 
for  a  delay  of  three  years  dating  from 
the  promulgation  of  the  law,  it  was 
stated  at  the  Foreign  Office  that  the 
exhumation  would  begin  considerably  be- 
fore January,  1922.  The  French  Gov- 
ernment, it  was  explained,  was  anxious 
to  hasten  matters,  as  French  families 
also  were  pressing  for  their  dead,  but 
there  were  many  thousands  of  unidenti- 
fied bodies,  and  transportation  facilities 
were  quite  inadequate  to  move  the 
1,500,000  dead  interred  in  French  ceme- 
teries. The  British  and  Belgian  Gov- 
ernments were  also  asking  for  the  return 
of  their  dead  soldiers,  but  they,  t  gether 
with  the  65,000  American  dead  in  France, 
must  be  left  in  the  graves  they  now  occupy 
until  the  French  are  ready  to  exhume 
their  own.  General  March  also  gave 
formal  notice  on  Dec.  16  that  no  individ- 
uals would  be  allowed  to  bring  back  their 
dead;  the  Government  alone  would  bring 
back  the  American  dead  from  abroad. 

It  was  announced  from  Washington  on 
Dec.  11  that  plans  for  the  disinterment 
of  the  bodies  of  American  soldiers  in 
England  had  reached  the  point  where 
two  officers  and  a  detachment  of  fifty- 
eight  men  of  the  Graves  Registration 
Service  of  the  Quartermaster  Corps 
would  sail  from  New  York  on  the  trans- 
port Martha  Washington  Dec.  16  for 
Southampton,  England,  to  start  this 
work.  The  officer  in  charge  is  Captain 
W.  E.  Robertson  of  the  Quartermaster 
Corps.  Second  Lieutenant  Frazier  Mc- 
intosh of  the  same  corps  is  assisting  him. 
The  detachment  consists  of  five  masters 
of  sections,  seven  supervising  embalmers, 
ten  technical  assistants,  sixteen  inspec- 
tors, and  twenty  convoyers. 

Major  Gen.  Enoch  Crowder,  Judge 
Advocate  General  of  the  Army,  in  his 


AMERICAN  DEVELOPMENTS 


21 


annual  report  on  Nov.  27  gave  detailed 
statistics  covering  military  courts-mar- 
tial. During  the  last  fiscal  year  16,547 
persons  were  tried  before  general  courts- 
martial  and  85  per  cent,  were  convicted. 
Of  the  charges  against  officers,  more 
than  one-third  comprised  drunkenness, 
absent  without  leave  or  conduct  unbe- 
coming an  officer;  in  the  case  of  en- 
listed men,  one-half  the  total  charges 
recorded  were  for  desertion,  absent 
without  leave,  disobedience  and  sleep- 
ing on  post. 

The  report  made  public  for  the  first 
time  an  official  summary  of  the 
"  capital  "  cases  occurring  in  the  army 
since  April  6,  1917,  the  beginning  of  the 
war  period.  Death  penalties  were  ad- 
judged in  145  cases  from  that  date  to 
June  30,  1919,  and  execution  was  con- 
summated in  thirty-five  cases,  ten  in 
France  and  twenty-five  in  the  United 
States.  Murder  was  charged  in  two  of 
these  cases,  murder  and  mutiny  in  nine- 
teen, assault  in  eleven,  and  assault  and 
murder  in  three. 

"  In  no  case,"  according  to  the  re- 
port, "  was  a  capital  sentence  for  a 
purely  military  offense  carried  into 
execution." 

Desertions  from  the  army  from  March 
1  to  Nov.  17,  1919,  averaged  more  than 
800  a  month,  with  less  than  15  per  cent, 
of  the  men  apprehended,  it  was  an- 
nounced by  the  War  Department.  The 
average  period  of  confinement  in  army 
disciplinary  cases  was  reduced  from  6.63 
years  to  1.85  years,  clemency  having 
been  recommended  in  81  per  cent,  of  the 
7,027  cases  reviewed.  In  2,075  cases  the 
entire  unexecuted  portion  of  the  sen- 
tence was  remitted. 

PEACE  ARMY  OF  260,000 

A  standing  army  of  about  260,000  men, 
backed  by  a  universal  military  training 
system  to  supply  reserves,  was  advocated 
by  General  Peyton  C.  March,  Chief  of 
Staff,  in  his  annual  report  made  public  on 
Nov.  22.  So  far  as  purely  naval  operations 
are  concerned,  he  added,  the  United 
States  had  nothing  to  fear  from  "  any 
conceivable  combination  "  of  naval  pow- 
ers, but  must  be  prepared  to  prevent 
seizure  of  bases  by  an  enemy  controlling 
the  sea  and  intent  on  landing  troops. 


"  Without  the  possession  of  such  bases 
in  France,"  the  report  said,  "  we  could 
not  have  landed  our  army,  irrespective 
of  the  fact  that  the  Allies  had  control 
of  the  sea." 

General  March  recommended  fixing  the 
strength  of  the  regular  army  at  five 
army  corps,  maintained  at  half  strength 
in  peace  times.  The  proposals  the  de- 
partment presented  tentatively  to  Con- 
gress during  the  special  session  called 
for  509,000  men,  and  the  statement  of 
the  Chief  of  Staff  was  taken  to  indicate 
that  this  would  be  scaled  down  to  260,000. 

The  war  produced  new  practices  but 
not  new  principles,  the  report  said,  and 
"  was  not  won,  as  some  predicted,  by  a 
new  and  terrible  development  of  modern 
science,"  but  by  "  men,  munitions,  and 
morale."  The  American  military  achieve- 
ment was  possible  "  only  because  of  the 
assistance  of  our  allies,"  General  March 
said,  and  in  urging  an  adequate  mili- 
tary policy,  he  added: 

Surely  we  can  never  expect  to  prepare 
for  defense  against  the  attack  of  a  power- 
ful and  determined  agency  again  under 
such  favorable  conditions  to  ourselves. 

Military  experts  are  agreed  that  the 
bulwark  of  American  power  is  its 
ability  for  self-sustenance.  This,  involv- 
ing, as  it  does,  our  unlimited  resources 
of  man  power  and  wealth,  constitutes  our 
greatest  national  military  asset,  provided, 
and  only  provided,  we  are  prepared  to 
prevent  the  landing  on  our  shores  of  an 
enemy  of  the  size  which  our  own  per- 
formance has  demonstrated  to  the  world 
can  be  landed  by  a  first-class  power  un- 
der certain  conditions.  These  conditions 
are  that  it  shall  have  control  of  the  sea 
and  control  of  proper  bases  for  debarka- 
tion. 

It  is,  accordingly,  one  of  the  very  im- 
portant lessons  of  this  war  that  reason- 
able provision  and  a  sound  military  policy 
demand  that  there  shall  be  at  all  times 
available  for  immediate  use  a  sufficient 
trained  and  organized  force  to  insure,  in 
connection  with  our  fixed  coast  defenses, 
that  no  probable  or  possible  enemy  can 
ever  seize  a  great  strategic  base  on  our 
coast.  With  such  a  base  in  his  posses- 
sion it  is  not  inconceivable  that  he  could, 
within  a  short  time,  land  a  sufficient 
number  of  fully  equipped  troops  to  seize 
and  hold,  by  establishing  a  line  of  defense 
not  incomparable  in  length  with  that  held 
by  the  Germans  on  the  western  front,  an 
area  including  such  an  appreciable  por- 
tion of  the  resources  and  wealth  of  the 
country  as  to  result  in  consequences  of 
incalculable  moment  to  the  nation. 


22 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


SURPLUS   ARMY   STOCKS 

The  Government  realized  from  73  to 
80  cents  on  the  dollar  during  the  last 
year  on  the  sale  of  surplus  army  stocks 
held  in  the  United  States,  Acting  Secre- 
tary Crowell  reported  Dec.  2  to  Congress. 
The  total  received  for  materials  sold  in 
this  country  was  $476,727,874,  exclusive 
of  $61,985,421  of  stocks  transferred  to 
other  Government  departments.  The 
largest  amount  for  any  one  commodity 
was  $201,810,000  for  wool.  Other  sales 
included  textiles,  other  than  wool,  $44,- 
540,000,  railway  rolling  stock  $70,157,000, 
subsistence  $26,613,200,  chemicals  $23,- 
045,000,  and  animals  $21,169,000. 

THE  MARINE  CORPS 

Major  Gen.  Barnett,  Commandant  of 
the  Marine  Corps,  in  his  report  of  Nov. 
23  recommended  a  permanent  enlisted 
strength  of  27,467  men  for  the  Marine 
Corps.  This  is  approximately  double  the 
pre-war  force.  Opportunity  to  qualify 
for  permanent  commissions  should  be 
given  all  present  temporary  officers  eli- 
gible for  transfer,  the  report  said,  adding 
the  recommendation  that  such  commis- 
sions be  made  probationary  for  one  year. 

Attributing  much  of  the  success  of 
the  Marine  Corps  in  the  war  to  the 
system  of  drawing  its  commissioned  per- 
sonnel from  the  ranks,  the  Commandant 
said  the  "  highest  efficiency "  would  be 
served  by  adherence  to  this  policy,  which 
attracts  the  highest  class  of  recruits. 

General  Barnett  recommended  that  the 
present  two,  three  and  four  year  enlist- 
ment terms  be  made  permanent,  as  being 
more  attractive  than  the  rigid  pre-war 
term  of  four  years,  and  asked  increased 
pay  for  both  enlisted  men  and  officers. 

Great  difficulty  being  experienced 
in  replacing  the  temporary  enlisted  per- 
sonnel of  the  aviation  section  of  the 
corps,  now  completely  demobilized,  Gen- 
eral Barnett  recommended  that  special 
grades  be  provided  in  order  to  place  the 
three  aviation  services  on  a  parity,  and 
asked  for  sixty  additional  officers  for 
aviation. 

The  report  declared  the  taking  of 
Mont  Blanc  Ridge  during  the  war  by  the 
2d  Division,  to  which  the  marine  bri- 
gade    was      still      attached,      was      an 


"  achievement  the  brilliancy  of  which 
rivals  the  record  of  the  marines  in  Bel- 
leau  Wood."  The  Commandant  also  paid 
tribute  to  the  fighting  of  the  marines  in 
the  Aisne-Marne  offensive  of  1918,  de- 
claring their  early  morning  surprise  at- 
tack in  the  Bois  de  Rit,  near  Soissons, 
on  July  18,  to  have  been  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  achievements  of  the  war.  Their 
operations  in  the  St.  Mihiel  offensive, 
he  said,  proved  the  same  invincible  spirit. 

Four  members  of  the  corps  received 
the  Medal  of  Honor,  four  the  Distin- 
guished Service  Medal,  349  the  Distin- 
guished Service  Cross,  1,237  were  award- 
ed the  French  Croix  de  Guerre,  and  fif- 
teen the  French  Legion  of  Honor.  Total 
Marine  Corps  casualties  in  France,  the 
report  showed,  were  11,968,  with  1,514 
killed. 

The  report  described  operations  of  Ma- 
rine Corps  aircraft  co-operating  with 
ground  troops  in  Haiti  and  Santo  Do- 
mingo. A  squadron  of  seven  water 
planes  and  six  land  planes  now  is  work- 
ing with  the  expeditionary  brigade  in 
Haiti,  while  six  land  planes  are  sta- 
tioned in  Santo  Domingo. 

LOSSES    IN    RAILROAD    OPERATION 

It  was  stated  in  Washington  on  Dec. 
1  that  the  net  loss  to  the  Government 
in  the  operating  expenses  of  the  railroads 
for  the  ten  months  of  1919  ending  with 
October  amounted  to  $269,678,158.  In 
July,  August,  September,  and  October,  it 
is  estimated,  the  net  gain  over  expenses 
was  more  than  $23,000,000.  The  greatest 
gain  was  in  August,  when  it  reached 
$16,397,112,  while  in  October  the  gain 
was  estimated  at  $2,000,000.  In  the 
other  months  of  the  year  the  report 
made  by  Director  General  Hines  shows 
that  heavy  losses  were  sustained,  the 
greatest  loss  being  $65,430,850,  in  Feb- 
ruary. 

The  Senate  devoted  most  of  its  time 
before  the  holiday  recess  to  discu*ssing 
the  Cummins  bill  to  restore  the  railroads 
to  their  owners.  President  Wilson  was 
petitioned  on  Dec.  17  by  a  delegation  rep- 
resenting the  Federation  of  Labor,  the 
four  railroad  union  brotherhoods,  and 
some  farm  organizations  to  defer  action 
on  the  return  of  the  roads  for  two  years, 
in  order  to  test  Government  ownership 


AMERICAN  DEVELOPMENTS 


23 


under  peace  conditions.     In  their  petition 
the  delegation  said: 

Director  General  Hines  and  members  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
have  shown  clearly  that  the  return  of 
the  railroads  will  involve  an  increase  In 
freight  revenue  of  close  to  a  billion  dol- 
lars, the  rates  being  increased  25  to  50 
per  cent.  Thi3  increase  in  rates,  accord- 
ing to  these  same  authorities,  will  be 
reflected  in  an  Increased  cost  of  living 
of  at  least  $4,000,000,000  a  year,  possibly 
$5,000,000,000.  The  American  people  can 
not  and  should  not  stand  such  Increases. 

Government  operation  as  reported  by 
Director  General  Hines  showed  a  net 
profit  at  the  rate  of  $168,000,000  a  year 
for  the  three  months  prior  to  the  coal 
strike. 

The  Senate  is  now  being  asked  to  In- 
vestigate serious  charges  against  certain 
officials  of  railroads  during  the  period  of 
Federal  control,  that  they  had  committed 
sabotage  and  had  willfully  and  purposely 
attempted  through  unfair  methods,  while 
presumably  serving  the  Government,  to 
discredit  Government  operation. 

We  respectfully  request,  Mr.  President, 
on  behalf  of  the  farmers,  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  the  Railway 
Brotherhoods,  as  well  as  the  general 
public,  that  you  stop  the  rumors  that  you 
plan  to  return  the  roads  to  private  con- 
trol, and  that  In  view  of  the  changed 
conditions  and  the  prevalent  industrial 
unrest  you  re-establish  public  confidence 
by  advocating  that  the  period  of  Govern- 
ment operation  be  continued  for  at  least 
two  years,  so  that  under  peace  conditions 
there  may  be  a  more  thorough  and  more 
consistent  trial  of  Government  operation, 
and  that  carefully  considered  plans  for 
the  ultimate  disposal  of  the  railroads  may 
be  worked  out  and  adopted. 

FIVE-BILLION   BUDGET 

Secretary  Glass,  on  Dec.  1,  in  present- 
ing the  annual  estimate,  proposed  appro- 
priations of  virtually  $5,000,000,000  for 
conducting  the  peace-time  activities  of 
the  Government  during  the  fiscal  year 
1921.  The  greatest  individual  estimates 
for  expenditures  go  to  the  army  and  the 
navy.  The  yearly  interest  on  the  war 
debt  is  $1,017,500,000,  which  sum  alone 
is  greater  than  all  the  appropriations  for 
all  purposes  whatsoever  of  any  peace- 
time Congress. 

All  in  all,  the  estimates  justify  the  pre- 
dictions made  on  the  floor  of  Congress 
during  consideration  of  the  War  Tax 
bills,  that  the  present  generation  would 
not  see  the  Government  conducted  at  an 


expense    of    less    than    $4,000,000,000    a 
year. 

The  estimated  appropriations  for  the 
principal  Government  departments  were 
presented  as  follows: 

Legislative  (Congress)   $9,025,297.25 

Executive  (White  House  and 
Government  departments).  .149,111,463.7" 

Judicial    1,634,190.00 

Army     989,578,657.20 

Navy   542,031,804.80 

Pensions    215,030,000.00 

Public  works  283,921,810.17 

Miscellaneous    833,717,637.96 

Foreign  intercourse    11,243,250.91 

The  total  of  all  estimates,  including 
some  comparatively  minor  items  not  in- 
cluded in  the  foregoing,  is  $4,865,- 
410,031.62,  the  greatest  sum  ever  asked 
of  any  Congress  when  the  country  was 
not  actually  at  war. 

The  billion-dollar  estimate  for  the 
army  includes  some  $85,000,000  for  the 
National  Guard.  The  normal  peace- 
time estimate  for  the  army  before  the 
war  was  between  ten  and  fifteen  millions. 
The  $542,000,000  estimate  for  the  navy 
includes  provision  for  the  program  of 
increase  and  is  comparable  to  an  annual 
estimate  of  some  $15,000,000  before  the 
war.  The  $283,000,000  public  works  esti- 
mate includes  the  Panama  Canal,  rec- 
lamation projects,  rivers  and  harbors 
improvement,  public  buildings,  and  also 
military  works,  arsenals,  and  fortifica- 
tions. 

An  item  of  more  than  $391,000,000 
for  postal  services  is  reimbursable  from 
postal  revenues. 

The  estimates  for  miscellaneous  ex- 
penditures contain  some  tremendous 
sums.  For  the  Treasury  Department 
more  than  $247,000,000  is  asked,  which 
goes  largely  to  the  enforcement  of  pro- 
hibition and  the  collection  of  income,  cor- 
poration and  excess  profits  taxes.  For 
the  Shipping  Board  nearly  $448,000,000 
is  asked  to  wind  up  its  program  of  re- 
storing the  American  flag  to  the  seas. 
Nearly  $40,000,000  is  asked  for  the  Fed- 
eral Board  of  Vocational  Education, 
which,  besides  being  expended  in  co-oper- 
ation with  the  States  for  civilian  educa- 
tion as  the  law  provides,  will  be  used  in 
large  measure  for  the  reconstruction  of 
disabled  soldiers  of  the  world  war. 


Settlement  of  the  Coal  Strike 


How  the  Six  Weeks'  Conflict  Between  the  Miners  and  Oper- 
ators Was  Ended  by  President  Wilson 

[Period  Nov.  23  to  Dec.  18,  1919] 


REPRESENTATIVES  of  the  bi- 
tuminous coal  miners  and  oper- 
ators, in  their  efforts  to  reach 
a  compromise  which  would  put 
an  end  to  the  strike,  which  had  begun  on 
Nov.  1,  and  which  threatened  the  comfort 
and  security  of  the  whole  nation,  strug- 
gled for  several  hours  on  Nov.  21  and  22 
to  find  some  common  basis  of  settlement. 
The  point  on  which  they  disagreed  was 
the  proposal  of  Secretary  Wilson  for  a 
31  per  cent,  increase  of  wages,  which  the 
workers  accepted  on  the  basis  of  a  seven- 
hour  day,  but  which  the  operators  re- 
jected. At  the  request  of  the  operators, 
Dr.  Garfield,  Fuel  Administrator,  Direc- 
tor General  of  Railways  Hines,  and  At- 
torney General  Palmer  conferred  on  Nov. 
23  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  with 
the  object  of  finding  a  solution  that 
would  break  the  deadlock.  Certain  prin- 
ciples of  settlement,  reached  by  Nov.  24 
and  read  before  a  joint  session  of  the 
conflicting  parties,  laid  down  as  essen- 
tial that  the  public  should  not  be  asked 
to  pay  more  than  it  was  already  paying 
for  coal  unless  a  reasonable  labor  wage 
or  a  reasonable  operating  profit  de- 
manded it.  This  program,  however,  was 
a  disappointment  to  both  parties  because 
it  contained  no  specific  recommenda- 
tions, and  the  situation  remained  in 
statu  quo  while  awaiting  the  Cabinet's 
ultimate  proposals. 

For  several  hours  on  the  following  day 
the  Cabinet  discussed  the  situation,  while 
the  miners  and  operators  "  marked  time." 
In  a  statement  issued  in  the  evening,  the 
operators  of  the  Central  Competitive 
Field  declared  that  the  wage  increases 
for  miners  proposed  by  Secretary  Wilson 
would  amount  to  an  average  increase  of 
111.3  per  cent,  over  1913  wages,  as  com- 
pared with  an  increase  of  only  77  per 
cent,  in  the  cost  of  living  during  the 
same  period.  The  operators  asserted 
that  their  offer  of  a  20  per  cent,  increase 


over  the  rate  obtaining  would  mean  a 
wage  increase  of  80.1  per  cent,  since 
1913. 

MR.    McADOO    ANSWERED 

The  operators  also  made  public  a  copy 
of  an  open  telegram  to  William  G.  Mc- 
Adoo  replying  to  the  latter's  charges 
under  the  same  date  of  enormous  profits 
made  by  the  operators  in  1917,  reaching 
allegedly  in  some  cases  to  2,000  per  cent., 
and  to  his  telegraphed  declaration  to 
Administrator  Garfield  that  the  miners' 
demands  were  fair,  and  that  no  part  of 
any  eventual  wage  increase  should  be 
borne  by  the  public.  In  this  reply  the 
operators  asserted  that  it  was  "  exceed- 
ingly poor  taste  "  for  a  former  Cabinet 
member  to  inject  himself  into  the  coal 
situation,  charged  Mr.  McAdoo  with 
ignorance  of  conditions  in  1918-19,  and 
asked  him  upon  what  "  current  facts  and 
figures  "  he  held  that  the  increases  for 
the  miners  were  just  and  reasonable. 
This  reply  elicited  a  further  statement 
from  Mr.  McAdoo,  in  which  he  reiterated 
his  former  charges  and  demanded  that 
the  operators'  income  tax  returns  for 
1918  and  1919  be  published. 

To  this  the  operators  made  no  official 
reply,  but  on  Nov.  26  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department  made  public  an 
official  statement  containing  estimates 
of  the  income  tax  returns  of  the  opera- 
tors. This  statement  showed  that  the 
coal  profits  in  1917  had  ranged  from  15 
to  800  per  cent.,  that  they  had  been  less 
in  the  East  in  1918,  and  still  less  in 
1919,  when  some  operators  even  stated 
that  they  were  working  at  a  loss. 

THE  GARFIELD  PROPOSAL 
Fuel  Administrator  Garfield,  repre- 
senting the  Government,  on  Nov.  26  read 
to  a  joint  session  of  miners  and  operators 
at  the  Red  Cross  Building  in  Washing- 
ton a  decision  granting  the  coal  miners 
of  the   Central    Competitive  district   an 


SETTLEMENT  OF   THE  COAL  STRIKE 


25 


average  wage  increase  of  14  per  cent., 
and  announcing  that  the  price  of  coal  to 
the  public  would  not  be  increased  and 
that  the  Government  would  continue  pro- 
visionally in  control  of  prices.  He  also 
urged  that  a  permanent  advisory  body, 
headed  by  Secretary  Lane,  with  an  equal 
representation  of  miners  and  operators, 
be  formed  to  get  information  regarding 
the  industry  to  govern  future  disputes. 

The  operators  at  once  accepted  this 
decision,  and  agreed  to  carry  out  its 
terms,  but  the  miners,  headed  by  John 
L.  Lewis,  Acting  President  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  of  America,  refused  to 
consider  the  offer,  and  stood  firmly  be- 
hind the  31  per  cent,  increase  proposed 
by  Secretary  Wilson.  Opposition  to  the 
Garfield  proposal  was  at  once  voiced  by 
Acting  President  Lewis  and  Frank  Far- 
rington,  who  said  that  acceptance  of  the 
plan  would  mean  starvation  wages  for 
many  miners.  Laughter  and  jeering 
came  from  among  the  representatives  of 
the  miners.  The  attacks  upon  the  offer 
were  couched  in  bitter  terms,  and  Ad- 
ministrator Garfield  was  asked  if  this 
new  decision  meant  an  open  repudiation 
of  Secretary  Wilson's  proposal.  Dr. 
Garfield  declined  to  answer  this,  simply 
saying  that  questions  to  that  effect  mis- 
represented the  situation.  He  pictured 
the  situation  rather  as  one  in  which 
there  had  been  a  difference  of  opinion, 
and  where  the  stand  taken  by  the  Fuel 
Administrator  had  irevailed,  pending 
further  investigation,  and  intimated  that 
the  new  proposal  was  one  behind  which 
the  Government  would  stand  firmly.  The 
situation  appeared  more  critical  than 
ever  after  the  session  had  adjourned. 

DEADLOCK    ESTABLISHED 

A  spirited  joint  meeting  of  operators 
and  miners  was  held  on  the  following 
day,  which  had  no  definite  outcome,  the 
miners  rejecting  the  operators'  proposal 
to  accept  the  Government's  offer,  the 
operators  rejecting  the  miners'  demand 
that  Secretary  Wilson's  offer  be  accept- 
ed. Afterward  President  Lewis,  in  stat- 
ing the  position  of  the  miners,  pointed 
out  that  though  the  operators  ostensibly 
accepted  the  Garfield  proposal,  they  also 
stated  that  they  would  be  unable  to  run 
many   of    their    mines    under    it,    which 


made  the  conclusion  of  any  agreement 
futile.  The  miners'  position,  he  declared, 
was  unchanged;  they  held  that  the 
United  States  Government  could  not 
break  its  word,  pledged  by  Secretary 
Wilson,  to  grant  a  31  per  cent,  increase 
in  wages.  Dr.  Garfield's  proposal  he 
characterized  as  a  "  colossal  blunder." 
Meanwhile  Mr.  Lewis  remained  in  the 
capital  to  await  developments,  but  many 
of  the  other  delegates  on  both  sides  re- 
turned home. 

On  the  side  of  the  miners,  Frank  Far- 
rington,  President  of  the  Illinois  Dis- 
trict of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America,  was  arrested  in  Springfield, 
111.,  Dec.  6,  on  charges  of  violating  the 
injunction.  His  bond  was  fixed  at  $10,- 
000.  Farrington's  attorney  announced 
that  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  would  be 
asked  to  obtain  his  release. 

So  the  situation  reached  a  crisis,  in 
which  no  prospect  of  compromise  or 
agreement  seemed  immediately  possible. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  President  Wil- 
son himself  intervened  with  a  new  offer, 
which  brought  fresh  negotiations  and  a 
hope  of  agreement. 

THE    PRESIDENTS    OFFER 

Attorney  General  Palmer  announced 
on  Nov.  7  that  President  Wilson  had 
made  the  coal  miners  a  definite  concrete 
proposal  looking  to  a  speedy  termina- 
tion of  the  strike  and  an  adjustment  of 
the  entire  controversy,  and  that  Acting 
President  Lewis  and  Secretary  Green  of 
the  miners  would  urge  its  acceptance  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Scale  Committee,  called 
to  meet  in  Indianapolis  on  Dec.  9.  The 
President's  terms  had  been  submitted  to 
Mr.  Lewis  and  Secretary  Green  at  a 
meeting  held  the  previous  day  and  at- 
tended by  Joseph  Tumulty,  Secretary  to 
President  Wilson.  Mr.  Palmer  had  pre- 
viously gone  over  the  whole  situation 
with  the  President. 

The  nature  of  the  new  offer  was  not 
disclosed  at  this  time.  The  text  of  Mr. 
Palmer's  statement  as  well  as  the  gen- 
eral attitude  of  the  Government  officials, 
indicated  clearly,  however,  that  accept- 
ance by  the  miners  was  anticipated.  The 
announcement  came  more  in  the  nature 
of  a  surprise,  because  Fuel  Administrator 
Garfield  had  declared  emphatically  that 


26 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


there  would  be  no  compromise  on  the 
Government's  part.  In  regard  to  this 
announcement  Dr.  Garfield  refused  to 
make  any  comment,  except  that,  so  far 
as  he  personally  was  concerned,  there 
would  be  no  compromising. 

Attorney   General   Palmer  issued  this 
further  statement  on  Dec.  9: 

The  President,  Saturday,  was  about  to 
issue  a  statement  to  the  country  reciting 
the  facts  in  relation  to  the  strike  situation 
and  making  an  appeal  to  the  miners  to  go 
back  to  work.  Mr.  Lewis  and  Mr.  Green 
called  on  me  that  day  and  I  showed  them 
the  President's  statement.  They  finally 
agreed  to  its  terms  as  far  as  they  were 
concerned  and  called  a  meeting  of  their 
official  boards  to  consider  it,  at  which 
time  they  agreed  to  urge  its  acceptance. 

A  memorandum  was  prepared,  its  form 
being  agreed  to  by  Mr.  Lewis  and  myself, 
embodying  in  brief  the  President's  pro- 
posal and  the  action  which  should  be 
taken  by  the  miners.  The  President's 
statement  will  be  presented  to  the  miners 
this  afternoon  and  I  am  assured  that  the 
action  indicated  will  be  taken. 

The  memorandum  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Palmer  reads: 

In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the 
President,  as  contained  in  his  statement 
of  Dec.  6,  the  miners  will  immediately  re- 
turn to  work  with  the  14  per  cent,  in- 
crease in  wages  which  is  already  in  effect. 

Immediately  upon  a  general  resumption 
of  operations,  which  shall  be  in  all  dis- 
tricts, except  as  to  wages,  upon  the  basis 
which  obtained  on  Oct.  31,  1919,  the  Pres- 
ident will  appoint  a  commission  of  three 
persons,  one  of  whom  shall  be  a  practical 
miner  and  one  of  whom  shall  be  a  mine 
owner  or  operator  in  active  business, 
which  commission  will  consider  further 
questions  of  wages  and  working  condi- 
tions as  well  as  profits  of  operators  and 
proper  prices  for  coal,  readjusting  both 
wages  and  prices  if  it  shall  so  decide,  in- 
cluding differentials  and  internal  condi- 
tions within  and  between  districts. 

Its  report  will  be  made  within  sixty  days 
if  possible  and  will  be  accepted  as  the 
basis  of  a  new  wage  agreement,  the  ef- 
fective date  and  duration  of  which  shall 
also  be  determined  by  the  commission. 

TEXT  OF  PROPOSAL 

On  the  same  date  the  full  proposal  of 
President  Wilson  was  made  public,  fol- 
lowing presentation  to  the  Miners'  Scale 
Committee.    It  was  as  follows: 

I  have  watched  with  deep  concern  the 
developments  in  the  bituminous  coal 
strike  and  am  convinced  there  is  much 
confusion  in  the  minds  of  the  people  gen- 
erally and  possibly  of  both  parties  to  this 


unfortunate  controversy  as  to  the  attitude 
and  purposes  of  the  Government  in  its 
handling  of  the  situation. 

The  mine  owners  offered  a  wage  in- 
crease of  20  per  cent,  conditioned,  how- 
ever, upon  the  price  of  coal  being  raised 
to  an  amount  sufficient  to  cover  this  pro- 
posed increase  of  wages,  which  would 
have  added  at  least  $150,000,000  to  the  an- 
nual coal  bill  of  the  people.  The  Fuel 
Administrator,  in  the  light  of  present  in- 
formation, has  taken  the  position,  and  I 
think  with  entire  justification,  that  the 
public  is  now  paying  as  high  prices  for 
coal  as  it  ought  to  be  requested  to  pay, 
and  that  any  wage  increase  made  at  this 
time  ought  to  come  out  of  the  profits  of 
the.  coal  operators. 

In  reaching  this  conclusion,  the  Fuel 
Administrator  expressed  the  personal 
opinion  that  the  14  per  cent,  increase  in 
all  mine  wages  is  reasonable  because  it 
would  equalize  the  miners'  wages  on  the 
average  with  the  cost  of  living,  but  he 
made  it  perfectly  clear  that  the  operators 
and  the  miners  are  at  liberty  to  agree 
upon  a  large  increase  provided  the  opera- 
tors will  pay  it  out  of  their  profits  so 
that  the  price  of  coal  would  remain  the 
same. 

The  Secretary  of  Labor,  in  an  effort  at 
conciliation  between  the  parties,  expressed 
his  personal  opinion  in  favor  of  a  larger 
increase.  His  effort  at  conciliation  failed, 
however,  because  the  coal  operators  were 
unwilling  to  pay  the  scale  he  proposed 
unless  the  Government  would  advance  the 
price  of  coal  to  the  public,  and  this  the 
Government  was  unwilling  to  do. 

The  Fuel  Administrator  had  also  sug- 
gested that  a  tribunal  be  created  in  which 
the  miners  and  operators  would  be  equally 
represented  to  consider  further  questions 
of  wages  and  working  conditions,  as  well 
as  profits  of  operators  and  proper  prices 
for  coal.  I  shall,  of  course,  be  glad  to 
aid  in  the  formation  of  such  a  tribunal. 

I  understand  the  operators  have  gener- 
ally agreed  to  absorb  an  increase  of  14 
per  cent,  in  wages,  so  that  the  public 
would  pay  not  to  exceed  the  present  price 
fixed  by  the  Fuel  administrator,  and  thus 
a  way  is  opened  to  secure  the  coal  of 
which  the  people  stand  in  need,  if  the 
miners  will  resume  work  on  these  terms 
pending  a  thorough  investigation  by  an 
impartial  commission  which  may  readjust 
both  wages  and  prices. 

The  Government  on  Nov.  28  officially 
warned  bituminous  coal  miners  and  op- 
erators that  it  would  not  tolerate  any  in- 
terference with  the  production  of  coal. 
Judge  Ames  announced  for  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  that  instructions  had 
been  sent  to  all  United  States  Attorneys 
in  the  coal  districts  to  prosecute  con- 
spirators on  either  side.   He  further  stat- 


SETTLEMENT   OF   THE   COAL  STRIKE 


27 


ed  that  100,000  troops  were  to  be  held 
available,  and  would  be  called  in  if  the 
situation  should  justify  it. 

Meanwhile  the  operators  posted  the 
new  scale  order  at  their  mines,  and  Pres- 
ident Lewis,  after  an  interview  with  Sec- 
retary Wilson  and  Samuel  Gompers,  went 
home  to  Indianapolis  tired  out  by  the  ex- 
hausting dispute  of  which  he  had  borne 
the  brunt.  Before  his  departure  he  stat- 
ed that  he  had  been  given  to  understand 
by  Secretary  Wilson  that  Mr.  Garfield's 
offer  was  definite,  final,  and  supported 
by  the  Government.  His  conference  with 
Mr.  Gompers  resulted  in  an  arrangement 
to  have  the  federation's  lawyers  assist 
counsel  for  the  miners  in  perfecting  their 
appeal  from  the  ruling  of  Federal  Judge 
Anderson,  ordering  the  coal  strike  order 
canceled.  The  Special  Assistant  District 
Attorney,  Dan  W.  Simms,  declared  in 
Indianapolis  on  Nov.  29  that  the  coal 
must  be  mined,  and  that  if  the  miners 
did  not  return  to  work  after  the  posting 
of  notices  by  the  operators  the  mines 
would  be  operated  in  compliance  with  the 
decision  of  the  Government,  and  many 
men  would  be  brought  before  Judge  An- 
derson to  face  charges  of  contempt. 

Meanwhile  the  Government  rested  on 
its  arms.  Fuel  Administrator  Garfield, 
before  leaving  Washington  for  a  few 
days,  firmly  upheld  his  proposal,  declar- 
ing that  it  would  cover  increases  in  the 
cost  of  living,  and  would  mean  an  in- 
crease of  $107,000,000  yearly.  Any  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  operators  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  coal  crisis  to  break  down 
the  labor  unions  would  be  resisted,  he 
declared.  Protection,  however,  would  be 
given  to  all  who  wished  to  work,  regard- 
less of  their  affiliations. 

Soft  coal  operators  to  the  number  of 
150  assembled  for  conference  in  Phila- 
delphia on  Nov.  30.  They  were  the  em- 
ployers of  about  75,000  union  men  on 
strike  in  the  bituminous  fields  of  thirteen 
counties  surrounding  Johnstown,  Pa., 
and  represented  an  annual  production 
of  60,000,000  tons  of  coal.  They  voted 
to  accept  Mr.  Garfield's  proposal. 

COURT  CHARGES  CONSPIRACY 

The  warning  of  the  Government  that 
it  would  institute  court  proceedings 
against   the  leaders   of  the   miners   for 


contempt  was  backed  up  by  deeds  on  Dec. 
3,  when  information  charging  criminal 
contempt  of  court  was  filed  in  the  United 
States  District  Court  of  Indianapolis 
against  eighty-four  international  and 
district  officers  of  the  400,000  Uni- 
ted Mine  Workers  of  America  named  in 
the  injunction  issued  by  Judge  Ander- 
son. It  was  charged  that  all  the  officers 
had  conspired  to  keep  the  strike  in  force, 
and  had  thus  violated  the  terms  of  the 
injunction.  Among  those  served  with 
capias  summonses  were  Acting  President 
John  L.  Lewis,  Secretary-Treasurer  Will- 
iam Green,  Percy  Tetlow,  Statistician, 
and  Ellis  Searles,  editor  of  The  United 
Mine  Workers  Journal,  all  of  Indianapo- 
lis, who  agreed  to  appear  in  court  the 
following  day  and  furnish  bond,  fixed  at 
$10,000  by  Judge  Anderson.  Other  offi- 
cials of  the  mine  workers  resident  out- 
side were  also  served  with  summonses 
to  appear. 

One  of  the  specific  charges  made  was 
that  of  having  paid  benefits  to  the  strik- 
ing workmen  and  their  families  to  en- 
able them  to  continue  the  strike.  On 
this  charge  officials  of  two  local  United 
Mine  Workers'  Unions  at  Clinton,  Ind., 
were  cited  for  contempt  of  court  on 
Dec.  5,  and  summoned  to  appear  at  the 
same  time  with  the  other  officials  men- 
tioned above.  All  appeared  together  and 
furnished  bonds  for  their  appearance. 
Meanwhile  seventy-eight  other  charges 
were  printed  and  certified,  and  copies 
mailed  to  all  court  districts  in  which  the 
accused  resided. 

NATION-WIDE  INVESTIGATION 

It  was  announced  at  this  time  that  the 
scope  of  the  Grand  Jury  investigation 
would  be  extended  to  cover  all  phases  of 
the  controversy  in  the  coal  industry,  and 
would  be  nation-wide  in  scope,  including 
investigation  of  alleged  violations  of  the 
Lever  Fuel  act  and  the  Sherman  anti- 
trust law  by  miners,  operators,  and  oth- 
ers, and  prosecutions  under  the  Lever 
law,  which  carried  a  penalty  of  $5,000 
fine  or  imprisonment  not  to  exceed  two 
years  in  the  penitentiary.  This  exten- 
sion was  due  to  certain  information 
gained  that  the  operators,  as  well  as  the 
miners,  had  transgressed  the  provisions 
of  this  law.    The  Operators'  Committee 


28 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


on  Dec.  5  issued  a  statement  characteriz- 
ing as  "  vicious  and  misleading "  pub- 
lished reports  to  the  effect  that  they 
were  considering  proposals  to  compro- 
mise with  striking  mine  owners  by  pay- 
ing more  than  the  14  per  cent,  increase 
suggested  by  Dr.  Garfield  and  increasing 
the  price  of  coal  correspondingly.  They 
further  sent  a  dispatch  to  Indianapolis 
urging  the  District  Attorney  to  expedite 
the  investigation  of  their  actions. 

By  the  acceptance  of  such  a  plan,  the 
miners  are  assured  immediate  steady  em- 
ployment at  a  substantial  increase  in 
wages  and  are  further  assured  prompt 
investigation  and  action  upon  questions 
which  are  not  now  settled  to  their  sat- 
isfaction. I  must  believe  that  with  a 
clear  understanding  of  these  points,  they 
will  promptly  return  to  work.  If,  never- 
ertheless,  they  persist  in  remaining  on 
strike  they  will  put  themselves  in  an  at- 
titude of  striking  in  order  to  force  the 
Government  to  increase  the  price  of  coal 
to  the  public,  so  as  to  give  a  still  further 
increase  in  wages  at  this  time  rather  than 
allow  the  questions  of  a  further  increase 
in  wages  to  be  dealt  with  in  an  orderly 
manner  by  a  fairly  constituted  tribunal 
representing  all  parties  interested. 

No  group  of  our  people  can  justify  such 
a  position,  and  the  miners  owe  it  to 
themselves,  their  families,  their  fellow- 
workmen  in  other  industries,  and  to  their 
country  to  return  to  work. 

Immediately  upon  a  general  resumption 
of  mining  I  shall  be  glad  to  aid  in  the 
prompt  formation  of  such  a  tribunal  as  I 
have  indicated  to  make  further  inquiries 
into  this  whole  matter  and  to  review  not 
only  the  reasonableness  of  the  wages  at 
which  the  miners  start  to  work,  but  also 
the  reasonableness  of  the  Government 
prices  for  coal.  Such  a  tribunal  should 
within  sixty  days  make  its  report  which 
could  be  used  as  a  basis  for  negotiation, 
for  a  wage  agreement.  I  must  make  it 
clear,  however,  that  the  Government  can- 
not give  its  aid  to  any  such  further  in- 
vestigation until  there  is  a  general  re- 
sumption of  work. 

I  ask  every  individual  miner  to  give  his 
personal  thought  to  what  I  say.  I  hope 
he  understands  fully  that  he  will  be  hurt- 
ing his  own  interest  and  the  interest  of 
his  family  and  will  be  throwing  countless 
other  laboring  men  out  of  employment  if 
he  shall  continue  the  present  strike,  and, 
further,  that  he  will  create  an  unneces- 
sary and  unfortunate  prejudice  against 
organized  labor  which  will  be  injurious 
to  the  best  interests  of  workingmen 
everywhere.  WOODROW  WILSON. 

Hopes  that  this  solution  would  be  ac- 
cepted forthwith,  and  that  the  long-pro- 


tracted strike  would  finally  be  settled, 
ran  high  among  the  officials  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers,  despite  the  hold- 
ing of  four  extended  "  caucuses  "  in  In- 
dianapolis in  which  radicals  of  Indiana, 
Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Western  Pennsylvania 
made  plans  for  continuing  the  fight 
against  adoption  of  the  strike  settle- 
ment plan  proposed  by  the  President, 
which,  they  held,  a  convention  alone 
would  have  the  authority  to  accept  or 
reject.  It  was  stated  semi-officially  by 
high  officials  of  the  mine  workers,  how- 
ever, that  the  conservative  element  was 
in  the  ascendency  in  the  conference, 
which  went  into  closed  session  on  Dec.  9 
at  2  o'clock  to  consider  the  President's 
proposal. 

It  was  stated  subsequently  that  the 
determined  opposition  that  arose  was 
mainly  over  the  method  of  making  the 
action  effective  and  sending  the  men 
back  to  work,  some  contending  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  reconvene  the 
Cleveland  convention,  which  voted  for 
the  strike  last  November,  to  pass  on  the 
matter,  otherwise  many  of  the  miners 
would  not  go  back  to  work,  on  the  theory 
that  action  by  the  Executive  Board  and 
other  members  of  the  conference  would 
not  be  authoritative.  In  answer  to  this 
it  was  pointed  out  that  in  order  to  re- 
lieve suffering  the  situation  demanded 
immediate  action,  and  that  approval  by 
the  body  assembled  would  be  sufficient. 
The  opposition  was  so  strong,  however, 
that  adjournment  was  judged  necessary 
as  the  only  proper  way  to  save  the  situa- 
tion, thus  giving  the  officials  time  to  win 
over  the  objectors.  Some  of  the  opposi- 
tion speeches  were  violent  in  the  ex- 
treme, accepting  a  fight  to  the  finish 
with  the  coal  operators,  pending  the  sus- 
pension of  the  Lever  act,  and  the  ability 
to  fight  without  "  the  Government  on 
our  backs."  To  return  to  work,  it  was 
declared,  would  demoralize  the  miners' 
organization  and  the  entire  country. 

The  operators,  on  their  part,  accord- 
ing to  a  statement  made  by  Thomas  T. 
Brewster,  Chairman  of  the  Scale  Com- 
mittee of  the  Coal  Operators  of  the  Cen- 
tral Competitive  Field,  had  given  their 
unqualified  approval  to  the  President's 
solution. 


SETTLEMENT   OF   THE  COAL  STRIKE 


29 


SECRETARY  WILSON  MAKES  APPEAL 

Into  the  swaying  balance  of  interests 
was  cast  the  weight  of  Secretary  of  La- 
bor Wilson's  personal  influence,  in  this 
letter  sent  by  him  to  the  United  Mine 
Workers'  committee  on  the  same  date:: 

Scale  Committee,  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America,   Indianapolis. 

Gentlemen:  I  cannot  too  strongly  urge 
you  to  accept  the  basis  of  settlement  pro- 
posed by  the  President.  I  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  him  for  more  than  six  years, 
and  I  know  that  every  fibre  of  his  strong 
nature  has  been  devoted  toward  securing 
fair  play  for  everybody,  and  particularly 
the  under  dog  in  the  fight.  Every  blow 
he  has  had  to  bear— and  he  has  had  to 
bear  many  of  them— has  been  brought 
about  by  his  intense  earnestness  in  that 
direction.  You  can  rely  thoroughly  upon 
every  prom^e  he  makes. 

But,  aside  from  that,  as  a  result  of  the 
stoppage  of  work  in  the  mines,  we  are 
facing  the  most  difficult  situation  that 
ever  confronted  the  country.  It  threatens 
the  very  foundation  of  our  social  life.  In 
this  emergency  the  President  has  pointed 
a  way  out  with  honor  to  the  Government 
and  honor  to  yourselves.  If  my  judgment 
and  experience  are  of  any  value  to  you, 
let  me  use  them  in  advising  you  for  the 
welfare  of  yourselves  and  the  country  as 
a  whole  to  accept  the  way  out  that  is 
proposed  by  the  President. 

W.   B.   WILSON,   Secretary  of  Labor. 

PRESIDENT'S  OFFER  ACCEPTED 

President  Wilson's  terms  of  settlement 
were  accepted  on  the  following  day  (Dec. 
10)  by  the  officials  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  at  Indianapolis. 
The  President  was  advised  of  the  fact 
immediately.  The  news  came  to  the 
White  House  over  a  special  wire  con- 
nected with  the  hall  at  Indianapolis, 
where  the  final  action  was  taken. 

Fuel  Adiministrator  Garfield  declared 
subsequently  that  immediate  removal  of 
regulations  on  soft  coal  consumption  was 
not  to  be  considered,  and  Director  Gen- 
eral Hines,  in  a  formal  statement,  as- 
serted that  the  dislocation  created  by 
the  strike  could  not  be  remedied  imme- 
diately. 

One  of  the  two  statements  issued  by 
the  mine  workers'  officials  after  the  tak- 
ing of  the  decision  was  as  follows: 
The     conference     of     members     of     the 
International   Executive   Board,   the  Scale 
Committee  of  the  central  competitive  field, 
the   Presidents   and   associate   representa- 
tives of  all  districts  in  the  United  States 


agreed  with  only  one  dissenting  vote  to 
accept  the  President's  proposition  of  set- 
tlement as  recommended  by  Secretary 
Green  and  myself. 

We  have  taken  this  action  conscious  of 
our  responsibilities  to  our  nation  during 
this  acute  industrial  crisis  and  firm  In 
the  conviction  that  the  word  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  will  secure  for 
the  mine  workers  just  consideration  of 
their  merited  claims. 

An  immediate  telegram  will  be  sent  out 
to  all  of  our  4,000  local  unions  advising 
our  membership  of  this  action  and  in- 
structing them  immediately  to  resume 
work  in  the  mines.  This  telegram  will 
be  later  followed  by  an  official  order 
fully  explanatory  and  carrying  the  signa- 
tures of  the  international  officials  ond 
the  Presidents  of  all  ihe  districts  in  the 
organization. 

We  have  confidence  that  immediate  com- 
pliance will  be  given  this  order;  that  our 
men  will  forthwith  return  to  work  and 
furnish  an  adequate  supply  of  fuel. 

After  the  mines  all  resume  normal  pro- 
duction the  international  convention  will 
be  reconvened  in  Indianapolis,  when  a 
supplemental  explanation  will  be  given 
the  delegates  from  all  local  unions  which 
will  enable  them  to  see  the  justification 
for  this  action. 

The  action  taken  today  should  demon- 
strate to  the  people  of  our  country  that 
the  United  Mine  Workers  of  America  are 
loyal  to  our  country  and  believe  in  the 
perpetuity  of  our  democratic  institutions. 
No  greater  demonstration  of  such  fact 
could  be  given  than  our  action  in  ac- 
cepting the  proposal  of  the  President  of 
the   United   States. 

We  hope  and  shall  expect  that  the 
public-spirited  citizens  of  our  nation  will 
recognize  the  Importance  of  the  sacri- 
fices that  the  miners  have  made  and 
will  lend  their  influence  to  the  end  that 
Justice  and  consideration  in  wages  and 
working  conditions  shall  be  given  to  the 
miners  who  produce  the  coal  upon  which 
is  predicated  our  entire  social  structure. 

The  miners  everywhere  will  await  with 
such  patience  as  is  possible  the  award 
of  the  President's  commission. 

MR.   PALMER'S   STATEMENT 

Attorney  General  Palmer  also  issued 
a  statement,  which  read  as  follows: 
The  coal  strike  is  settled  as  the  Gov- 
ernment wanted  it  settled.  When  Messrs. 
Lewis  and  Green  came  to  see  me  Satur- 
day I  restated  what  the  Government's 
position  hud  beta  from  the  beginning  and 
insisted  on  their  acquiescence.  They  finally 
agreed  to  it.  They  have  now  persuaded 
the  officers  of  their  organization  that  the 
situation  calls  for  compliance  with  the 
court's  order  and  the  Government's 
wishes,  and  I  am  certain  that  all  the 
miners     in     the     country     will     cheerfully 


30 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


acquiesce  in  the  decision  of  their  leaders. 
I  desire  to  publicly  commend  the  wise 
and  patriotic  action  of  Mr.  Lewis,  Mr. 
Green,  and  their  associates.  I  am,  of 
course,  gratified  at  the  outcome,  which 
is  one  the  entire  country  will  approve. 
Mining  will  be  fully  resumed  at  once,  the 
danger  of  distress  and  suffering  during 
the  Winter  is  passed,  the  authority  of 
the  Government  has  been  recognized  and 
upheld,  the  supremacy  of  the  law  has 
been  established  and  a  precedent  of  in- 
calculable value  has  been  set  for  the 
peaceful,  orderly  and  lawful  adjustment 
of    industrial   disputes. 

The    operators,    finally,    representing 
all  the  larger  bituminous  fields  of  the 
country,  gathered  in  Indianapolis  issued 
a  statement  on  their  own  part,  which  said: 
We    are   pleased   that   the   miners   have 
voted    to   return    to    work    and    that    the 
public  can  be  promptly  supplied.     Realiz- 
ing the   imperative  need   of  coal  in  large 
quantities,  the  operators  stand  ready  now, 
as  in  the  past,  to  bend  all  their  energies 
toward  a  maximum  production,  beginning 
at  once. 

So,  at  last,  the  coal  strike  was  brought 
to  an  end,  and  one  of  the  greatest  in- 
dustrial battles  in  the  history  of  union 
labor  in  the  United  States  reached  its 
climax  in  a  Presidential  intervention. 
This  strike  had  reached  far  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  coal  mining  industry, 
paralyzing  business,  manufacturing,  and 
transportation,  and  causing  suffering  in 
many  localities.  It  left  the  country  with 
an  acute  shortage  of  coal,  and  the  fuel 
authorities  were  obliged  to  adopt  strin- 
gent measures  to  conserve  light  and  heat 
energy.  Many  trains  were  taken  off  be- 
tween West  and  East,  car  service  was 
limited  in  various  cities,  shops  were 
closed  down  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
Many  of  these  measures  were  eliminated 
after  the  settlement  of  the  strike.  The 
need  of  coal  conservation,  pending  the 
continuance  of  production,  was  declared 
by  the  authorities,  however,  to  be  great, 
even  though  mining  had  begun  again. 

Meanwhile  the  400,000  striking  miners 
began  to  return  to  work  after  receiving 
the  proper  orders  from  their  union  offi- 
cials; many  resumed  their  labors  on  Dec. 
11,  and  a  further  influx  followed  on  the 
14th.  By  Dec.  15  practically  all  the  men 
were  back  in  the  Indiana  mines,  but  the 
showing  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  was 
only  about  60  per  cent,  of  normal,  while 
in   the   important   bituminous    fields   of 


Illinois  only  about  10  per  cent,  of  the 
miners  had  returned.  In  the  Central 
Pennsylvania  field,  one  of  the  largest, 
about  40  per  cent,  of  the  men  had  gone 
back  to  work.  At  that  time  President 
Wilson  was  still  withholding  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  settlement  commis- 
sion, which  was  to  be  appointed  after  all 
the  miners  had  returned  to  their  labors. 

DR.   GARFIELD'S    RESIGNATION 

The  President's  method  of  settling  the 
strike,  which  in  part  set  aside  the  Fuel 
Administrator's  plan,  resulted  in  the  res- 
ignation of  Dr.  Garfield.  His  resigna- 
tion, he  told  the  Senate  Interstate  Com- 
merce Committee  on  Dec.  13,  was  due  to 
the  fact  that,  according  to  his  view,  the 
terms  on  which  President  Wilson  brought 
an  end  to  the  strike  meant  transfer  of 
the  rights  of  the  Fuel  Administrator  to 
a  commission  of  three  men,  which  was 
so  composed  that  it  guaranteed  no  pro- 
tection to  the  public.  The  principle,  he 
declared,  was  fundamentally  wrong.  He 
further  informed  the  committee  that  his 
resignation  had  been  accepted  by  the 
President  on  that  day.  Two  of  his  chief 
assistants,  it  was  learned  on  Dec.  14,  had 
similarly  resigned. 

It  was  stated  at  about  this  time  that 
the  Government  still  intended  to  proceed 
with  the  Grand  Jury  investigation  of 
charges  of  violation  of  the  Lever  act  and 
anti-trust  laws  through  conspiracy  to 
limit  the  production  of  coal.  These 
charges  involved  both  miners  and  op- 
erators. It  was  indicated,  however,  that 
charges  of  contempt  made  against  the 
eighty-four  officials  of  the  mine  workers 
for  alleged  violation  of  the  Federal  Court 
injunction  against  the  strike  would  be 
dropped. 

One  echo  of  the  great  controversy  just 
ended  was  heard  in  Washington  on  Dec. 
13,  when  representatives  of  119  national 
and  international  unions,  including  the 
four  railway  brotherhoods,  who  had  been 
summoned  by  Samuel  Gompers,  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor, issued  a  "  bill  of  rights,"  which  up- 
held the  right  of  labor  to  strike,  ap- 
proved the  coal  and  steel  strikes,  and  de- 
nounced Government  "by  injunction," 
which  action  was  combined  with  an  at- 
tack on  the  I.  W.  W.  and  Bolshevism. 


VICE  PRESIDENT  AND  MRS.  MARSHALL 


■■■■■*"",« 


New  photograph  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  R.  Marshall  taken  during 
a  brief  Thanksgiving  rest  at  Old  Point  Comfort,  Va. 


I  Timet    Will,    H'..,/,/  Photon) 


JOSHUA  W.  ALEXANDER 


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Congressman   from   Missouri,   appointed    Secretary   of   Commerce  to 
succeed  Mr.  Redfield,  retired 

(0    Harris    ifc    Evinp) 


LADY  NANCY  ASTOR 


2EE 


mi^"gj 


The   American-born   peeress  who  has   the  honor   of  being   the 
woman  to  be  elected  to  the  British  House  of  Commons 

(©     Indvr'rooil    J-     LmUrivooil) 


first 


EARL  CURZON  OF  KEDLESTON 


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here  seen  with  Prince  Albert  at  Aldershot. 

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BARON  KURT  VON  LERSNER 


German  peace  representative  at  Paris,  who  has  conducted  the  later 

negotiations   regarding  fulfillment  of  the  treaty 

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The  British  heir  apparent  visited  Mount  Vernon  Nov.  13,  1919. 
is  here  seen  receiving  his  hat  from  a  colored  attendant 


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SIGNING  THE   BULGARIAN  PEACE   TREATY 

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Premier   Stambulewski,   head   of   Bulgarian   delegation,   signing  the 
Treaty  of  Neuilly,  Nov.  27,   1919 


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VENUSTIANO   CARRANZA 


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General  Carranza,  de  facto  President  of  Mexico,  and  First  Chief  of 
the  Mexican  Army 


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FIGURES  IN  THE  MEXICAN  CRISIS 


iiintf 


WILLIAM  O.  JENKINS 

American    Consular    Agent,    who 

was   imprisoned 


GENERAL  OBREGON 
Candidate  for  the  Mexican  Presi- 
dency 


IGNACIO   BONILLAS 
Mexican  Ambassador  at  Washing- 
ton 

(International    Film    Service) 


GENERAL  FELIPE  ANGELES 

Anti-Carranza  leader,  who  was 

executed 

<<£)     IihIi  rictioil    it    l.'ndcrirood) 


BEGINNING  LIFE  AGAIN  IN  RUINED  CITIES 


■iii«wS 


Street  in  the  new  quarter  of  Peronne,  France,  showing  temporary 
homes  one  year  after  the  armistice 


Children  coming  out  of  a  temporary  schoolhouse  in  Lens,  a  mining 
city  ruined  by  the  war 


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International  Labor  Conference 

Other  Labor  Meetings 


r[E  first  International  Labor  Confer- 
ence held  under  the  provisions  of 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles  ended  at 
Washington  Nov.  29.  It  was  understood 
generally  that  the  next  meeting  would 
be  late  in  1920  at  the  seat  of  the 
League.  Delegates  from  all  countries 
•  representing  labor  and  employer  groups 
as  well  as  the  Governments  attended  the 
conference  sessions,  which  continued 
exactly  one  month.  In  that  time  the 
members  perfected  their  organization, 
created  a  governing  body,  appointed  a 
Director  General  of  the  labor  office  and 
agreed  upon  a  great  volume  of  identic 
legislation  to  be  recommended  to  their 
respective  Governments. 

A  protest  against  the  preponderance 
of  European  influence  in  the  governing 
body  made  by  William  Gemmill,  employ- 
ers' delegate  from  South  Africa,  marked 
the  closing  session.  The  body  had  twenty- 
four  members,  twenty  of  whom  were 
from  European  countries  and  two  from 
the  Americas.  Mr.  Gemmill  pointed  to 
the  injustice  of  such  organization  and 
asked  for  an  expression  on  his  protest, 
which  was  supported  by  a  vote  of  44 
to  39. 

Arthur  Fontaine,  Director  of  the  Labor 
Department  of  the  French  Ministry  of 
Labor  and  President  of  the  governing 
body,  said  that  no  unfairness  was  in- 
tended, and  indicated  the  expediency  of 
having  the  majority  from  European 
countries.  The  board  will  meet  every 
two  months  at  the  seat  of  the  League, 
and  because  of  that,  Mr.  Fontaine 
pointed  out,  it  would  be  more  convenient 
for  members  from  European  countries  to 
attend  than  for  those  in  far-away  coun- 
tries. 

The  chief  function  of  the  governing 
body  will  be  to  carry  on  organization 
work  connected  with  the  conference,  and 
on  that  account  it  was  agreed  that  the 
agenda  for  the  next  meeting  should  be 
prepared  by  it.  An  effort  was  made  by 
some  of  the  delegates  to  pledge  the  con- 
ference to  a  discussion  of  certain  sub- 
jects at  the  next  meeting,  but  it  failed. 


The  first  meeting  of  the  governing  body 
will  be  held  Jan.  26,  probably  in  London, 
the  temporary  headquarters  of  the 
League  of  Nations. 

The  draft  conventions  and  recommen- 
dations adopted  by  the  conference  will 
find  their  first  lodgment  at  the  Interna- 
tional Labor  Office,  of  which  Albert 
Thomas,  the  French  labor  leader,  is  the 
Director  General.  To  the  five  draft  con- 
ventions, including  that  providing  for 
the  general  adoption  of  the  eight-hour 
day  and  the  forty-eight-hour  week,  and 
that  looking  to  the  alleviation  of  the  un- 
employment problem,  there  was  added,  as 
virtually  the  last  act  of  the  conference, 
the  proposed  convention  providing  for 
the  indemnification  of  wage-earning 
mothers  at  the  time  of  childbirth.  It 
provides  for  the  granting  of  a  six  weeks' 
leave  of  absence  prior  to  the  birth  of  the 
child  and  an  equal  period  immediately 
afterward,  and  the  payment,  either  by 
the  State  or  by  some  form  of  insurance, 
for  the  time  lost. 

Before  the  conference  adjourned  Sec- 
retary Wilson,  the  Chairman,  expressed 
to  the  delegates  the  regret  President 
Wilson  felt  that  he  had  been  unable  to 
meet  with  them.  Various  delegates  spoke 
briefly  of  their  appreciation  of  the  cour- 
tesy that  had  been  extended  to  them  by 
the  United  States. 

SECOND    INDUSTRIAL   CONFERENCE 

The  second  conference  called  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  to  consider  remedies  for  the 
industrial  situation  met  in  the  Pan- 
American  Building  at  Washington  on 
Dec.  1.  The  meeting  was  held  behind 
closed  doors,  and  Mr.  King  declared  that 
there  was  a  unanimous  decision  to  con- 
tinue these  secret  sessions  until  further 
notice.  Just  before  the  meeting  began 
all  newspaper  men  were  asked  to  leave 
the  room.  In  opening  the  meeting  Secre- 
tary Wilson  read  the  President's  letter 
calling  the  conference  together,  and  de- 
tailed the  outcome  of  the  first  industrial 
conferences,  which  ended  so  disastrously. 

The  high  cost  of  living  and  collective 


32 


THE   NEW    YORK    TiMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


bargaining  were  discussed,  but  merely 
academically,  so  it  was  declared.  No 
mention  was  made  of  either  the  recent 
steel  strike  or  the  coal  strike,  inasmuch 
as  the  President's  letter  specifically 
stated  that  the  conference  was  not  asked 
to  "  deal  directly  with  any  conditions 
which  exist  today,"  but  to  try  to  find 
remedies  that  would  prevent  a  repeti- 
tion.   Those  present  were: 

Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson. 

Thomas  W.  Gregory  and  George  W. 
Wickersham,  former  United  States  Attor- 
neys  General. 

Herbert  Hoover,  former  Food  Administra- 
tor. 

Oscar  S.  Straus,  former  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce. 

Henry  M.  Robinson,  lawyer,  of  Pasadena, 
Cal.,  a  member  of  the  economic  group  of 
advisers   at  the   Peace   Conference. 

Professor  Prank  W.  Taussig,  former  Chair- 
man of  the  Tariff  Commission. 

Former  Governors  Samuel  W.  McCall  of 
Massachusetts,  Martin  H.  Glynn  of  New 
York,  and  Henry  C.   Stuart  of  Virginia. 

Dr.  W.  O.  Thompson,  President  of  the  Ohio 
State    University. 

Richard  Hooker  of  the  Springfield  (Mass.) 
Republican. 

Julius  Rosenwald,  President  of  Sears, 
Roebuck   &   Co.,    Chicago. 

Owen  D.  Young,  Vice  President  of  the 
General  Electric   Company   of  New  York. 

Henry  J.  Waters,  President  of  the  Kansas 
State  Agricultural  College,  Manhattan,  Kan. 

Stanley  King,  Secretary  of  the  W.  E.  Mc- 
Elwain   Shoe   Company   of  Boston. 

No  further  announcements  of  its  pro- 
ceedings were  made  up  to  Dec.  20. 

LABOR'S   "BILL  OF   RIGHTS" 

The  representatives  of  119  national 
and  international  unions,  including  the 
four  railroad  brotherhoods,  in  a  confer- 
ence held  at  Washington  Dec.  13,  issued 
a  "  bill  of  rights,"  setting  forth  in  detail 
the  principles  for  which  they  intend  to 
stand.  The  program  contained  some  but 
not  all  of  the  planks  which  the  more 
radical  elements  in  organized  labor  de- 
sired. 

That  the  followers  of  Mr.  Gompers 
were  prepared  for  open  warfare  upon 
members  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  who  might  attempt  to  inject 
their  extreme  policies  into  the  national 
conference  was  plain,  and  the  climax 
came  just  before  adjournment,  when 
resolutions  denouncing  Bolshevism  and 
I.  W.  W.  principles  were  adopted  by  ac- 


clamation.    These   resolutions   were    as 
follows : 

Whereas,  The  American  Federation  of 
Labor  is  an  American  institution  believ- 
ing in  American  principles  and  ideas; 
and 

Whereas,  An  attempt  is  being  made  to 
inject  the  spirit  of  Bolshevism  and  I.  W. 
W.'ism  into  the  affairs  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor ;  and, 

Whereas,  The  American  Federation  of 
Labor  is  opposed  to  Bolshevism,  I.  W. 
W.'ism  and  the  irresponsible  leadership 
that  encourages  such  a  policy ;  therefore, 
be  it 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  of  repre- 
sentatives of  trades  unions  affiliated  with 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  other  organizations 
associated  in  this  conference  repudiate 
and  condemn  the  policy  of  Bolshevism 
and  I.  W.  W.'ism  as  being  destructive 
to  American  ideals  and  impracticable  in 
application;   be   it  further 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  reiterate 
the  action  of  the  conventions  of  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor  In  the  advocacy 
of  the  principles  of  conciliation  and  volun- 
tary arbitration  and  collective  bargaining. 

The  keynote  of  the  "  bill  of  rights  "  is 
that  capital  has  received  too  many  of 
the  good  things  of  life  and  that  the  laws 
now  on  the  statute  books  do  not  insure 
justice  to  all. 

The  steel  strike  is  indorsed  and  the 
use  of  the  injunction  in  the  case  of  the 
coal  miners  is  attacked.  The  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  is  denounced  for 
its  "  autocratic  attitude  and  destructive 
action."  The  right  of  Federal,  State, 
and  municipal  employes  to  organize  is 
defended.  Congress  is  urged  to  keep  the 
railroads  under  Federal  control  "  at  least 
two  years  after  Jan.  1,  1920."  Fixing 
of  wages  on  a  cost-of-living  basis  is 
strongly  disapproved  as  "  pernicious  and 
intolerable."  The  declaration  states 
labor's  desire  that  "  increased  productiv- 
ity be  used  for  service  and  not  alone  for 
profits." 

The  Peace  Treaty,  with  the  League 
covenant,  is  indorsed,  and  the  Senate  is 
asked  to  ratify,  in  order  that  "peoples 
may  know  to  whom  they  owe  allegiance, 
boundaries  may  be  fixed,  and  credit  and 
exchange  may  regain  the  lost  voltage," 
and  in  this  same  connection  the  labor  sec- 
tion of  the  Peace  Treaty  is  strongly  in- 
dorsed. 

When  the  conference  ended  it  was  with 
the  understanding  that  the  co-operative 


INTERNATIONAL  LABOR  CONFERENCE 


S3 


committee  named  at  the  recent  Atlantic 
City  Convention  would  consult  later  with 
representatives  of  farm  organizations 
with  a  view  to  bringing  about  a  co- 
operative movement.  A  report  would 
then  be  made  to  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Federation  of  Labor  and  plans  laid 
for  the  future. 

FARMERS'    LEGISLATIVE    PROGRAM 

Representatives  of  the  farm  organiza- 
tions attending  the  Washington  confer- 
ence of  labor  unions  submitted,  on  Dec. 
14,  a  legislative  program  which  they 
believed  would  meet  the  views  of  their 
constituents.  Their  program  included 
the  following  planks: 

1.  Passage  of  the  Kenyon  bill  to  regulate 
the  packing  industry. 

2.  Government  ownership  of  railways  and 
Government  control  of  the  merchant  marine. 

3.  Nationalfzation  of  natural  resources. 

4.  Financing  the  war  cost  by  the  retention 
of  the  income  and  excess  profits  taxes  and 
a  higher  tax  on  land  held  for  speculative 
purposes. 

5.  Change  in  the  credit  system  to  take 
it  out  of  the  hands  of  private  interests  and 
conduct  the  credit  system  on  a  co-operative 
basis,  so  that  the  small  merchant  and  the 
farmer  may  obtain  the  same  credit  as  is 
now  available  to  financiers. 

6.  Ratification  of  the  suffrage  amendment. 

7.  Passage  of  the  bill  submitted  by  Con- 
gressman Sabbath  of  Illinois  for  tne  removal 
of   the   tax   on   oleomargarine! 

NATIONAL  LABOR   PARTY 

The  work  of  organizing  a  new  National 
Labor  Party  was  completed  in  Chicago 
on  Nov.  25  by  the  adoption  of  a  declara- 
tion of  principles  and  the  election  of  a 
National  Committee  to  consist  of  one 
man  and  one  woman  from  each   State. 


The  organization  will  call  a  national  con- 
vention next  Summer  to  nominate  candi- 
dates for  President  and  Vice  President. 
A  monthly  tax  of  2  cents  per  capita  will 
be  levied  on  the  membership. 

Included  in  the  declaration  of  princi- 
ples are: 

Abolition  of  the  United   States   Senate. 

Election  of  Federal  Judges  by  popular  vote 
for  terms  not  exceeding  four  years. 
International  solidarity  of  labor. 

Maximum  hours  of  labor  for  men  and 
women  to  be  eight  hours  a  day  and  forty- 
four  hours  a  week. 

Minimum  wage  for  workers  to  be  fixed  by 
law. 

Old  age,  unemployment,  and  sick  pen- 
sions. 

Government  to  own  and  operate  the  bank- 
ing business. 

Nationalization  of  unused  lands. 

Incomes  of  individuals  to  be  limited  by 
law. 

National  initiative,  referendum,  and  recall. 

Application  of  the  "  home  rule  "  principle 
In    State,   county,    and   city   governments. 

Condemnation  of  universal  military  train- 
ing and  conscription. 

International  disarmament  to  prevent  future 
wars. 

Immediate  release  of  all  political  and  in- 
dustrial prisoners. 

Nationalization  of  all  public  utilities  and 
basic  industries. 

Criminal  prosecution  of  profiteers  and  ex- 
ploiters  of  labor. 

Free  speech,  free  press,  and  right  of  free 
assembly. 

All  Government  work  to  be  done  by  day 
labor  instead  of  by  contract. 

Equal  pay  for  men  and  women. 

Woman    suffrage. 

A  resolution  condemning  the  Peace 
Treaty  and  the  League  of  Nations  cov- 
enant was  adopted  on  the  ground  that 
they  do  not  conform  to  President  Wil- 
son's Fourteen  Points  and  are  not  in  the 
interest  of  the  working  classes. 


Anarchist  Activity  in  the  United  States 

Steps  Toward  Deportation 


DISCOVERY  of  widespread  anarchista 
plotting  in  the  United  States 
stimulated  the  Government  to  ener- 
getic preventive  measures.  The  House 
of  Representatives  Committee  on  Immi- 
gration, which  visited  Ellis  Island  on 
Nov.  25,  was  told  by  the  Acting  Com- 


missioner of  Immigration,  Byron  S.  Uhl, 
that  the  immigration  system  at  New 
York,  where  the  largest  shifting  of  races 
since  the  Middle  Ages  had  taken  place, 
was  at  present  "  largely  a  farce."  Mr. 
Uhl  added  that  with  the  limited  forces 
of   inspectors   boarding    incoming   ships 


34 


THE    NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  effort  to  weed  out  dangerous  immi- 
grants was  futile.  These  inspections  were 
to  a  considerable  extent  "  a  checking  up 
of  names." 

In  a  raid  on  the  headquarters  of  the 
Union  of  Russian  Workers  in  New  York 
on  the  26th  by  agents  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice  and  local  detectives,  a 
large  quantity  of  explosives,  together 
with  acids  and  chemicals  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  bombs,  was  discovered 
in  a  secret  chamber  in  rear  of  the  main 
parlor.  Among  the  explosives  was  a 
large  container  marked  TNT,  the  abbre- 
viation commonly  used  for  trinitrotoluol, 
the  most  powerful  agent  of  the  kind  de- 
veloped by  the  war.  Three  books  of 
membership  names  were  also  taken  over 
as  evidence. 

Seventy-three  radicals  awaiting  de- 
portation on  Ellis  Island,  and  calling 
themselves  The  First  Socialist  Commu- 
nity of  America,  began  a  hunger  strike  on 
Nov.  25  to  compel  the  officials  to  re- 
move a  wire  screen  separating  them 
from  visiting  friends.  When  informed 
of  the  strike,  Commissioner  Uhl  said  they 
could  go  without  food  as  long  as  they 
liked.  The  strike  came  to  an  inglorious 
end  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day. 

Meantime  a  general  roundup  of  radical 
agitators  went  on  in  various  parts  of 
the  country.  In  New  York  the  police 
were  reported  to  have  tabulated  the 
names  of  500  radical  sympathizers,  both 
men  and  women;  and  the  Extraordinary 
Grand  Jury  indicted  the  Irish  agitator, 
James  Larkin,  and  ex- Assemblyman 
Benjamin  Gitlow  for  criminal  anarchy, 
due  to  their  connection  with  manifestoes 
of  the  Communist  Party  published  in 
The  Revolutionary  Age.  Larkin  and  Git- 
low were  subsequently  released  by  Su- 
preme Court  Justice  Weeks  on  $15,000 
bail.  From  Sacramento,  Cal.,  Governor 
William  D.  Stephens  announced  that  no 
further  clemency  was  to  be  expected  on 
behalf  of  William  J.  Mooney,  convicted 
of  murder  in  connection  with  the  San 
Francisco  Preparedness  Day  bomb  ex- 
plosions, since  he  was  "  convinced  Mooney 
had  a  part  in  one  of  the  most  atrocious 
crimes  involving  treasonable  purpose 
ever  perpetrated  in  the  history  of  the 
country."  A  trial  of  thirty- three  mem- 
bers of  the  I.  W.  W.  was  opened  before 


Judge  John  C.  Pollock  in  the  Kansas 
Federal  Court  on  Dec.  1;  the  prisoners 
were  charged  with  attempting  to  over- 
throw the  United  States  Government. 

Department  of  Justice  agents  and 
Deputy  United  States  Marshals  in  De- 
troit raided  sixteen  places  and  took  150 
prisoners  on  Dec.  3,  and  on  the  same 
day  Federal  officials  in  Toledo  arrested 
100  persons  on  criminal  charges.  The 
Merchants  Association  of  New  York 
protested  to  Attorney  General  Palmer 
their  concern  over  disclosures  that  the 
arrest  of  anarchists  and  alien  radicals 
in  different  parts  of  the  country  had 
resulted  in  their  transfer  to  New  York 
and  their  release  upon  that  community, 
where  they  renewed  their  propaganda. 

The  Lusk  Committee  in  New  York, 
investigating  seditious  activities,  con- 
tinued its  hearings  of  the  case  of  the 
so-called  Russian  Embassy,  which  was 
raided  in  June  by  the  committee's  agents. 
On  Dec.  4  Supreme  Court  Justice  Samuel 
Greenbaum  refused  the  temporary  stay 
of  an  order  restraining  the  committee 
from  prying  into  the  affairs  of  the 
"  embassy "  pending  a  final  court  de- 
cision demanded  by  Dudley  Field  Malone, 
representing  "  Ambassador "  Martens. 
Mr.  Martens  was  under  subpoena  to  ap- 
pear as  a  witness  before  the  committee, 
and  to  produce  his  correspondence  with 
the  Lenin-Trotzky  Government,  which  he 
had  refused.  On  the  same  date  Dr. 
Michael  Mislig,  recently  Treasurer  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federation  of  America, 
was  declared  in  contempt  by  the  Lusk 
Committee  when,  as  a  witness,  he  de- 
clined to  divulge  who  were  the  members 
of  the  Executive  Committee.  From  Dr. 
Mislig's  testimony  it  was  gathered  that 
the  Russian  Socialist  Federation  had 
gone  over  to  the  Communist  Party  and 
was  in  thorough  accord  with  the  prin- 
ciples enunciated  by  Nikolai  Lenin,  but 
had  transferred  its  activities  under- 
ground. 

Attorney  General  Palmer  said  in  his 
annual  report  to  Congress  on  Dec.  8  that 
the  Department  of  Justice  was  con- 
fronted with  "  increasingly  dangerous 
radical  activities."  He  added  that  of  the 
total  of  365,295  index  record  cards, 
71,000  Bertillon  records,  and  262,712 
fingerprint  records  now  in  the  depart- 


ANARCHIST  ACTIVITY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


35 


ment,  some  60,000  represented  data  con- 
cerning "  Reds  "  and  their  work. 

Announcement  was  made  in  Washing- 
ton on  Nov.  29  by  Commissioner  General 
of  Immigration  Caminetti  that  the  De- 
partment of  Labor  had  ordered  the  de- 
portation of  Emma  Goldman,  anarchist 
and  radical.  A  few  days  previously  the 
department  had  affirmed  a  similar  order 
in  the  case  of  Alexander  Berkman.  These 
two  radicals  arrived  at  Ellis  Island  on 
Dec.  6  and  at  once  began  a  legal  battle 
to  stay  the  deportation  order.  On  Ellis 
Island  they  found  eighty-two  fellow- 
anarchists  awaiting  deportation,  thirty 
of  whom  had  been  arrested  in  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  in  the  previous  week. 
The  most  aggressive  of  these  was  a 
17-year-old  boy,  who  had  been  educated 
in  the  New  York  public  schools.  He  said 
he  had  been  converted  to  anarchy  by 
reading  anarchist  works  in  one  of  the 
New  York  public  libraries. 

Writs  of  habeas  corpus  on  behalf  of 
Emma  Goldman  and  Alexander  Berkman 
were  issued  by  Federal  Judge  Julius  M. 
Mayer.  On  the  9th  Judge  Mayer  dismissed 
these  writs,  but  allowed  a  short  stay  of 
deportation  to  make  possible  an  appeal  to 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  In 
the  brief  of  appeal  to  that  court  Harry 
Weinberger,  counsel  for  Emma  Goldman 
and  Berkman,  admitted  that  his  clients 
were  anarchists,  but  contended  that  there 
was  insufficient  evidence  to  warrant  de- 
portation. The  constitutionality  under 
which  the  order  was  issued  was  also  at- 
tacked. On  Dec.  11  the  Supreme  Court 
refused  to  interfere  with  the  deportation 
of  Berkman,  but  granted  Emma  Gold- 
man a  stay  of  one  week  to  determine 
certain  legal  aspects  of  her  case.  In  re- 
sponse to  this  decision  Mr.  Weinberger, 
on  behalf  of  Miss  Goldman,  asked  leave 
to  withdraw  the  appeal  on  the  ground 
that  his  client  preferred  jail  or  deporta- 
tion to  detention  on  Ellis  Island. 

A  bill  introduced  in  the  House  on  the 
11th  by  Representative  Johnson,  Repub- 
lican, Washington,  Chairman  of  the 
Immigration  Committee,  proposed  exten- 
sion of  exclusion  and  deportation  laws  to 
aliens  affiliated  with  "  any  organization 


which  writes,  prints,  or  distributes " 
matter  advocating  the  overthrow  of  the 
Government  by  violence,  sabotage,  or 
assassination  of  public  officials.  Another 
bill,  sponsored  by  Representative  Siegel, 
followed  the  New  York  State  law  almost 
word  for  word,  except  that  it  made  it  a 
Federal  act  and  provided  also  for  the 
punishment  of  those  who  might  plot  in 
Mexico  or  elsewhere  to  bring  about  the 
overthrow  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment. When  Mr.  Siegel's  attention  was 
drawn  to  Attorney  General  Palmer's 
annual  report,  he  said: 

I  fail  to  see  the  result.  Since  May, 
1917,  they  have  actually  deported  sixty 
alien  anarchists  out  of  a  total  of  697 
for  whom  warrants  have  been  issued.  In 
two  years  and  seven  months  they  have 
got  rid  of  only  sixty.  During  that  period 
warrants  were  Issued  for  a  total  of  697, 
but  in  the  last  three  weeks,  since  the 
I  'ongressional  Investigation  Committee 
has  been  at  work,  they  have  issued  war- 
rants  for  400   more. 

Commissioner  General  of  Immigration 
Caminetti,  in  his  annual  report,  pub- 
lished on  Dec.  15,  stated  that  only  two 
aliens  were  excluded  from  the  United 
States  during  the  fiscal  year  on  anar- 
chistic grounds,  while  thirty-seven  aliens 
in  the  same  class  were  expelled  from  the 
country  and  fifty-five  awaited  deporta- 
tion. The  Commissioner  was  opposed  to 
the  suggestion  that  immigration  be  sus- 
pended completely  for  the  reason  that  it 
would  have  "  an  injurious  effect  upon 
our  efforts  to  further  American  com- 
merce and  enterprise  in  foreign  coun- 
tries." In  proceeding  to  point  out  that 
deportation  of  an  anarchist  was  not  pun- 
ishment for  crime,  but  merely  removed 
him  from  one  field  of  activity  to  an- 
other, the  Commissioner  recommended 
changes  in  the  laws  whereby  both  aliens 
and  citizens  would  be  brought  within 
more  certain  control  of  the  Government 
in  respect  of  attempting  its  overthrow 
by  anarchistic  activity,  by  the  enactment 
of  punitive  statutes,  and  the  exercise  of 
correctional  influences.  He  further  rec- 
ommended making  the  anarchist  a  uni- 
versal outlaw  by  international  agree- 
ment. 


Strained  Relations  With  Mexico 

Rupture  of  Diplomatic  Intercourse  Threatened  in  Connection 

With  Jenkins  Case 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  18,  1919] 


THE  Mexican  Government  under 
General  Carranza  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States 
came  very  near  to  a  diplomatic 
rupture  in  December  over  Mexico's  treat- 
ment of  William  O.  Jenkins,  the  Amer- 
ican Consular  Agent  at  Puebla.  Mr. 
Jenkins  had  been  kidnapped  by  bandits 
on  Oct.  19,  and  held  for  $150,000  ransom, 
and  had  finally  been  released  upon  pay- 
ment of  a  large  portion  of  that  sum. 
After  his  release,  instead  of  receiving  re- 
dress from  the  Mexican  authorities,  he 
was  arrested  at  the  instance  of  the  Car- 
ranza Government  on  the  charge  of 
having  been  implicated  in  his  own  ab- 
duction, and  upon  his  refusal  to  furnish 
$500  bail  was  confined  in  jail. 

Mr.  Lansing,  the  American  Secretary 
of  State,  met  this  action  by  dispatching 
a  vigorous  note  to  the  Carranza  Govern- 
ment on  Nov.  20,  calling  for  the  imme- 
diate release  of  Mr.  Jenkins.  The  Mex- 
ican Government  replied  to  this  note  a 
week  later,  declining  to  release  Jenkins, 
taking  the  ground  in  a  prolonged  argu- 
ment that  the  Executive  could  not  order 
the  release  of  a  foreigner  on  trial  before 
a  State  tribunal  in  Mexico.  On  Dec.  1 
Secretary  Lansing  sent  a  severe  reply 
to  this,  bringing  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  to  a  most  acute  stage.  He  said 
in  part: 

What  conclusion  is  to  be  drawn  from 
such  a  reply  of  the  Mexican  Government 
other  than  that  there  has  been  a  studied 
effort  on  the  part  of  Mexican  authorities 
to  ensnare  Jenkins  in  the  intricacies  of 
legal  proceedings  by  alleging  the  commis- 
sion of  technical  offenses  and  by  bringing 
unsupported  charges  against  him,  for  a 
purpose?  In  the  first  place,  to  divert  the 
attention  of  the  American  public  and  the 
American  Government,  and,  indeed,  of 
Mexicans  themselves,  from  the  actual  sit- 
uation, namely,  that  Puebla,  the  capital 
of  the  State  of  Puebla,  and  perhaps  the 
second  largest  city  in  Mexico,  is  without 
adequate  protection  from  outlaws  who  in- 
fest the  immediate  neighborhood  and  who 
are  accustomed  openly  and  freely  to  visit 


the  city  without  hindrance;  that  by 
the  failure  to  furnish  adequate  protection 
in  this  district  the  Mexican  authorities 
have,  through  their  negligence,  made  pos- 
sible the  abduction  of  Jenkins,  and  that  in 
harmony  with  such  an  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  Mexican  authorities  they  have 
failed  to  carry  out  the  duty  and  obligation 
incumbent  upon  them  to  apprehend  and 
punish  the  bandits  concerned  in  the  crime 
of  which  Jenkins  was  the  victim. 

And,  in  the  second  place,  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  purpose  of  the  Mexican 
Government  to  assume  a  willful  indiffer- 
ence to  the  feelings  of  the  American  peo- 
ple that  have  been  aroused  to  the  point 
of  indignation  by  the  exposure,  hardships, 
and  physical  suffering  endured  by  Jenkins 
during  his  abduction  and  his  subsequent 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  Mexican  au- 
thorities. 

In  view  of  the  considerations  which  have 
been  set  forth  and  in  view,  particularly, 
of  the  belief  of  my  Government  that  the 
charge  against  Jenkins  of  deliberate  false 
swearing  is  unfounded,  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  must  renew  its  request 
for  the  immediate  release  of  Consular 
Agent  Jenkins  from  further  imprisonment. 

LANSING. 
The  position  of  our  Government  was 
later  confirmed  by  the  statement  of 
Federico  Cordova,  the  brigand  who  had 
kidnapped  Jenkins,  in  which  he  stated 
that  the  kidnapping  was  done  "to  com- 
bat in  this  manner  the  dictatorial  Gov- 
ernment of  Carranza,  which,  unfortu- 
nately for  Mexico,  has  established  itself  in 
power,"  and  that  the  deed  was  done  by 
himself,  accompanied  by  four  subordi- 
nates, "without  outside  intervention." 

The  main  object  of  the  kidnapping, 
said  Cordova,  was  political.  He  ex- 
pressly denied  the  truth  of  statements 
made  in  the  Carranzista  newspapers  that 
Jenkins  was  seen  with  him  on  friendly 
terms  four  days  after  the  kidnapping  and 
warmly  denounced  their  attempts  to 
make  it  appear  that  Jenkins  was  there- 
fore a  willing  victim. 

On  Dec.  3  a  formal  resolution  in 
favor  of  breaking  off  diplomatic  rela- 
tions with  Mexico  was  introduced  in  the 


STRAINED  RELATIONS  WITH  MEXICO 


37 


Senate  by  Senator  Fall  of  New  Mexico, 
who  charged  the  Carranza  Government 
with  fomenting  revolution  in  this  country 
and  trying  to  overthrow  the  American 
Government.  The  resolution  gave  the 
support  of  Congress  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment's action  in  the  Jenkins  case  and  re- 
quested President  Wilson  to  withdraw 
the  recognition  accorded  Carranza's  Gov- 
ernment and  to  sever  all  diplomatic  re- 
lations with  it. 

Senator  Ashurst  of  Arizona,  Democrat, 
introduced  a  resolution  directing  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  use  the  nation's 
armed  forces  to  protect  Americans  in  the 
border  States  from  raids  by  Mexican 
bandits. 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  ATTITUDE 

The  resolutions  were  referred  to  com- 
mittees. Meanwhile  it  was  decided  by 
the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  of  the 
Senate  to  appoint  a  committe,  consisting 
of  one  Democratic  and  one  Republican 
Senator,  to  confer  with  President  Wilson 
and  obtain  his  views  on  the  Mexican  sit- 
uation. Senator  Hitchcock,  the  Demo- 
cratic leader,  and  Senator  Fall  (Rep.) 
were  selected  for  the  purpose.  A  confer- 
ence was  arranged  through  the  Pres- 
ident's Secretary,  with  the  approval  of 
his  physicians.  The  President  received 
the  Senators  in  his  bedroom  in  the  White 
House  at  2:30  P.  M.,  Dec.  5. 

This  personal  interview  disposed  of 
rumors  that  President  Wilson  was  in  no 
condition  to  direct  American  action  in 
the  perturbing  state  of  affairs  that  has 
developed  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Carranza  Government.  The  Senators 
came  away  from  the  White  House  con- 
vinced that  his  mind  was  vigorous  and 
active. 

A  dramatic  touch  was  given  to  the  in- 
terview by  the  sudden  appearance  of 
Rear  Admiral  Grayson,  the  President's 
physician,  with  the  announcement  that 
Jenkins,  around  whose  imprisonment  the 
Mexican  crisis  centred,  had  been  freed 
the  preceding  night.  The  message  had 
come  to  the  State  Department  while  the 
conference  was  on.  Secretary  Lansing 
had  telephoned  to  the  White  House  that 
he  desired  the  information  to  be  given  to 
the  two  Senators  immediately. 

Both  Senators  reported  the  President 


to  be  fully  able  to  handle  the  situation. 
On  Dec.  8  President  Wilson  gave  docu- 
mentary evidence  to  the  same  effect  in  a 
letter  to  Senator  Fall  acknowledging 
some  data  on  Mexican  matters  and  re- 
ferring to  the  Fall  resolution,  which  was 
then  pending  in  the  Senate,  in  these 
words: 

I  should  be  gravely  concerned  to  see  any 
such  resolution  pass  the  Congress.  It 
would  constitute  a  reversal  of  our  con- 
stitutiontl  practice,  which  might  lead  to 
very  grave  confusion  in  regard  to  the 
guidance   of  our  foreign   affairs. 

I  am  convinced  that  I  am  supported  by 
every  competent  constitutional  authority 
in  the  statement  that  the  iniative  in  di- 
recting the  relations  of  our  Government 
with  foreign  Governments  is  assigned  by 
the  Constitution  to  the  Executive  and  to 
the  Executive  only. 

Only  one  of  the  Houses  of  Congress  is 
associated  with  the  President  by  Constitu- 
tion in  an  advisory  capacity,  and  the  ad- 
vice of  the  Senate  is  provided  for  only 
when  sought  by  the  Executive  in  regard 
to  explicit  agreements  with  foreign  Gov- 
ernments and  the  appointment  of  the  dip- 
lomatic representatives  who  are  to  speak 
for  this  Government  at  foreign  capitals. 

The   only  safe  course,   I  am  confident, 
Is  to  adhere  to  the  prescribed  method  of 
the  Constitution.     We  might  go  very  far 
afield  if  we  departed  from  it. 
As  a  result  no  action  was  taken  by 
the  Senate  on  the  resolution. 

ANOTHER  MEXICAN  NOTE 

The  Carranza  Government  replied  on 
Dec.  16  to  Secretary  Lansing's  last  note. 
The  reply  rejected  the  claim  of  the 
United  States  that  its  State  Department 
could  determine  the  guilt  or  innocence 
of  Jenkins,  but  added  that,  as  bail  had 
been  furnished  for  him  by  an  American, 
his  case  was  being  further  considered. 
The  note  ended  with  the  words:  "The 
Government  of  Mexico  expects  that  the 
case  will  not  disturb  the  harmony 
which  it  sincerely  desires  to  exist  be- 
tween Mexico  and  the  United  States." 

It  developed  that  the  release  of  Jen- 
kins was  apparently  not  in  response  to 
our  Government's  demand,  but  was 
brought  about  through  the  deposit  of  a 
cash  bond  by  J.  Salter  Hansen,  an  Amer- 
ican residing  in  Mexico,  who  wa?  re- 
garded as  an  agent  for  Carranza. 

An  American  named  James  Wallace 
an  employe  of  the  Aquila  Oil  Company, 
was  killed  by  Mexicans  in  the  Tampico 


38 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


district  early  in  December.  This  pro- 
voked another  note  of  protest  from  Wash- 
ington. On  Dec.  13  a  band  of  Villistas 
raided  a  ranch  near  Muzquiz,  State  of 
Coahuila,  and  held  an  American  named 
Frank  Hugo  for  $10,000  ransom.  Hugo 
was  released  a  few  days  later  without 
payment  of  the  money. 

AMERICANS   KILLED   IN   MEXICO 

An  official  compilation  submitted  to 
the  Senate  Foreign  Relations  Committee 
on  Dec.  13  showed  that  since  the  Madero 
revolution  of  1910  in  Mexico  551  Ameri- 
cans had  been  killed  in  Mexico  and 
along  the  international  border.  Eighteen 
American  women  and  children  were  on 
the  death  list,  and  thirteen  American 
men  were  listed  as  having  been  killed  in 
their  effort  to  protect  women.  In  con- 
nection with  the  deaths  listed,  eight 
American  women  were  outraged. 

Bandits  who  shot  down  Mrs.  Morten- 
sen  at  Guadeloupe,  Chihuahua,  in  1912, 
attempted  to  ravish  her  10-year-old 
daughter.  A  neighbor  who  came  to  the 
girl's  rescue  was  killed.  After  Villistas 
had  killed  Edward  J.  Wright  and  Frank 
Hayden  at  Colonia  Hernandez,  on  March 
1,  1916,  they  carried  off  Mrs.  Wright, 
and  for  nine  days  abused  her  horribly. 
She  escaped  while  the  Villistas  were  raid- 
ing Columbus,  N.  M.  When  bandits 
raided  the  ranch  of  John  W.  Correll  at 
Colonia,  near  Tampico,  Correll  sought  to 
defend  his  wife,  and  was  shot  down 
before  her  eyes.  She  was  repeatedly  out- 
raged by  the  bandits,  who  were  thought 
to  be  Carranza  soldiers.  On  July  22  of 
the  present  year  rebels  kidnapped  an 
unidentified  American  girl  from  a  train 
at  Baradon,  Puebla.  She  was  carried  off 
and  died  as  the  result  of  outrage. 

Sixteen  of  those  listed  were  victims 
of  the  Cumbre  Tunnel  horror,  on  Feb.  4, 
1914.  Bandits  under  Castillo  set  fire  to 
the  timber  lining  of  the  railroad  tunnel 
by  running  a  blazing  freight  train  into 
it.  A  passenger  train  crashed  into  the 
burning  freight  train  in  the  centre  of 
the  tunnel,  and  not  a  single  passenger 
escaped.    Some  of  the  bodies  never  were 


identified,  but  it  was  established  that 
Mrs.  Lee  Carruth  and  her  five  small 
children,  with  ten  other  Americans,  per- 
ished. 

MANY    CASES    OF    TORTURE 

In  many  of  the  murders  the  victims 
were  tortured,  or  mutilated  in  a  horrible 
manner  after  they  had  been  killed. 
William  Bishop,  Carl  Eck,  and  William 
Spencer,  who  were  killed  by  bandits 
under  Pose  Perez  at  Temosachic,  Chi- 
huahua, on  Nov.  8,  1914,  were  dragged 
to  death  by  wild  horses.  After  robbing 
and  murdering  John  Glenn  Parmenter  at 
Guadalajara,  Jalisco,  on  May  26,  1913, 
the  bandits  tore  the  victim's  teeth  from 
his  head  to  secure  the  gold  fillings. 

Maurice  McDonald,  an  American  sol- 
dier of  fortune  who  followed  Villa,  was 
captured  by  Carranzistas  at  San  Pedro 
de  las  Colonias,  Coahuila,  in  April,  1914. 
The  soles  of  his  feet  were  cut  off  and 
he  was  forced  to  walk  about  the  plaza. 
He  was  then  burned  at  the  stake  until 
his  legs  had  been  completely  consumed, 
and  finally  was  shot. 

In  many  cases  the  authorities  cited 
asserted  that  the  men  were  killed  "  be- 
cause they  were  Americans,"  or  because 
the  murderer  "  wished  to  show  that  he 
could  kill  an  American." 

During  the  period  from  April  7,  1917, 
to  Nov.  11,  1918,  while  the  United  States 
was  engaged  in  the  world  war,  with  the 
Carranza  Government  in  power  in 
Mexico,  forty-eight  Americans  met  death. 

General  Felipe  Angeles,  who  was  tried 
by  the  Carranza  authorities  and  convict- 
ed of  aiding  the  Villista  rebellion,  was 
executed  by  a  firing  squad  on  Nov.  27. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  mili- 
tary men  in  Mexico  and  aided  the  French 
Government  in  the  production  of  muni- 
tions in  1917  to  such  an  extent  that  he 
was  decorated  by  that  Government.  His 
wife,  an  American — formerly  Clara 
Krause  of  San  Francisco — died  in  New 
York  on  Dec.  8  of  illness  due  to  worry 
over  her  husband,  though  his  tragic  fate 
was  concealed  from  her  to  the  last. 


Among  the  Nations 

Survey  of  Important  Events  and  Developments   in  Various 
Nations  Great  and   Small 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  15,  1919] 


THE  BALKANS 

BULGARIA    signed    the    Treaty    of 
Neuilly  on  Nov.  27.     The  Allies 
signed  with  the  exception  of  Ser- 
bia and  Rumania,  which  had  de- 
clined to  sign  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain 
— the  Austrian  treaty — on  account  of  the 
clauses  providing  for  the  protection  of 
minorities,  and  were   consequently  for- 
bidden   to    sign    peace    with    Bulgaria. 
However,  Rumania  signed  the  Treaty  of 
St.  Germain  on  Dec.  9.    The  head  of  the 
Bulgarian  delegation  was  the   Premier, 
Stamboulinski   (also  spelled   Stambulew- 
ski    and    Stamboliisky),    leader    of    the 
Agrarian     Party,     who     had     recently 
formed  a  Ministry  of  pro-Entente  states- 
men for  the  purpose  of  accepting   the 
treaty  and  bringing  to  justice  the  mem- 
bers of  ex-Czar  Ferdinand's  regime,  who 
were  declared  to  be  responsible  for  Bul- 
garia   having    sided    with    the    Central 
Powers. 

The  Treaty  of  Neuilly  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Bulgar  delegation  on  Nov. 
3.  The  Sofia  Government  expressed  its 
willingness  to  sign  on  Nov.  14  after  hav- 
ing taken  exception  to  the  loss  of  the 
Dobrudja  and  the  districts  of  Vidin, 
Tzaribrod,  Bossilegrad,  Strumitza  and 
Thrace,  asserting  that  a  plebiscite  con- 
ducted by  the  principal  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers  could  easily  have  estab- 
lished the  fact  of  Bulgar  majorities  in 
these  places. 

The  effect  of  the  event  of  Nov.  27  was 
an  attempt  in  Bulgaria  itself  to  raise  its 
prestige  in  the  Balkans,  where,  while 
Rumania  was  suffering  from  a  Minis- 
terial crisis  and  the  National  Assembly 
of  Serbia  was  attempting  to  put  the 
monarchy  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slo- 
venes in  working  order,  Bulgaria  took 
steps  to  negotiate  commercial  treaties 
with  Greece  and  in  other  ways  to  make 
the  best  of  the  treaty  Stamboulinski  had 


signed.    On  Nov.  27  a  Bulgar-Greek  con- 
vention was  also  signed  at  Paris. 

The  object  of  this  convention  was  to 
prevent  in  both  countries  the  tyrannous 
coercion  of  minority  races  by  the  pre- 
dominant majority,  which  had  caused 
ceaseless  trouble  in  the  past  in  these 
countries,  where  the  population,  as  is  well 
known,  consists  of  inextricably  mixed 
nationalities.  The  document,  which  con- 
sisted of  sixteen  articles,  permitted  free 
emigration  for  a  period  of  two  years, 
and  instituted  a  mixed  Greco-Bulgar 
commission,  whose  duty  it  was  to  su- 
pervise and  facilitate  voluntary  emigra- 
tion, to  liquidate  the  property  of  the 
emigrants,  and  to  make  advances  to  in- 
tending emigrants  equal  to  the  value  of 
their  real  property. 

BULGARIA  —  Bulgarian  propaganda 
having  passed  through  various  phases 
calculated  to  arouse  the  sympathy  of  the 
Peace  Conference  reached  a  new  stage 
censuring  Rumania  and  Serbia  for  de- 
clining to  promise  protection  to  minor- 
ities, and  calling  upon  the  authorities 
to  make  short  work  of  all  pro-Germans 
while  emphasizing  the  utter  innocence  of 
the  people  in  being  led  into  the  war  by 
Ferdinand  and  the  Government  of  Rado- 
slavoff. 

The  new  Government  of  M.  Stambou- 
linski reached  the  following  decision, 
which  went  into  effect  on  Nov.  4: 

All  ex-Ministers  of  the  Cabinet  of  Rado- 
slavoff,  ex-members  of  the  Sobranje 
statesmen  and  journalists,  officers  func- 
tionaries and  Macedonian  leaders  who  by 
their  conduct  have  given  Germanophile 
tendencies  to  Bulgarian  politics  and  who 
have  contributed  toward  the  catastrophe 
of  the  country  which  involved  Bulgaria  in 
war.  to  be  arrested  and  judged  of  their 
conduct   and   crimes. 

Order  for  arrest  had  been  issued  for 
400  persons.  Early  this  morning  the  or- 
der began  to  be  executed.  The  dwellings 
of  ex-Ministers  were  surrounded  by  po- 
licemen   and    one    by    one    they  were   ar- 


40 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


rested.  Up  to  the  present  are  arrested 
P.  Peshoff,  the  actual  chief  of  Rado- 
slavoff's  party  and  ex-Minister  of  Educa- 
tion; D.  Toncheff,  ex-Minister  of  Fi- 
nances; P.  Dimtchoff,  ex-Minister  of 
Agriculture;  D.  Petcoff,  ex-Minister  of 
Public  Buildings,  and  the  chief  of  Stam- 
bouloff's  party;  G.  Bakaloff,  ex-Minister 
of  Commerce ;  N.  Apostoloff ,  ex-Minister  of 
Railroads;  N.  Popoff,  ex-Minister  of  Jus- 
tice; Koznitchki,  Minister  of  Railways 
after  Apostoloff.  The  deputies:  Dr. 
Georgieff,  the  son-in-law  of  Dr.  Rado- 
slavoff;  Dr.  Provadalieff,  brother-in-law 
of  Dr.  Radoslavoff;  K.  Rankoff,  T. 
Usounoff,  N.  Altimirski,  Milan  Maroff, 
Dr.  Toshkoff,  General  Protogheroff,  ex- 
Director  of  Socials  Livelihood  and  Mace- 
donian leader,  and  General  Koutintcheff, 
the  chief  of  the  army  during  the  war. 
The  journalists:  Atlanass  Damyanoff, 
director  of  the  newspaper  DnevniK  and 
Utro;  Chrusto  Stantcheff,  director  of  the 
newspaper  Kambana;  Spass  Iconomoff 
and  Ivan  Colaroff,  the  editors  of  the 
newspaper  Narodni  Prava,  organ  of  Rado- 
slavoff. 

On  his  return  from  Paris  to  Sofia  on 
Dec.  15,  Premier  Stamboulinski  declared 
at  a  Cabinet  meeting  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  bring  ex-Czar  Ferdinand  to 
trial,  and  for  that  purpose  steps  would 
immediately  be  taken  to  extradite  him 
and  other  refugees.  The  Mir  of  Sofia 
stated  that  undoubtedly  Bulgaria  would 
try  Ferdinand  before  the  Allies  tried 
Kaiser  William. 

GREECE— On  Nov.  20  the  press  of 
Athens  gave  prominence  to  two  pieces  of 
news,  which,  however,  as  yet  have  not 
been  confirmed  by  the  Peace  Conference. 
One  stated  that  an  Italo-Greek  agreement 
had  been  reached  in  regard  to  the  Dode- 
canesan  Islands,  off  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor,  Italy  to  surrender  the  islands,  re- 
taining a  coaling  station  and  receiving 
territorial  concessions  on  the  mainland 
south  of  Smyrna;  the  other  announced 
a  similar  agreement  in  regard  to  Epirus, 
the  region  lying  in  the  Western  Balkan 
Peninsula,  between  Greece  and  Albania, 
comment  on  which  was  as  follows: 

In  accordance  with  the  Italo-Greek 
agreement,  Hellenic  troops  have  begun  to 
occupy  the  region  of  Northern  Epirus  as 
far  as  the  line  set  by  the  protocol  of  Flor- 
ence. The  Italian  troops  withdrew  to  the 
frontier  established  by  that  protocol.  The 
Greek  and  Italian  authorities  exchanged 
reciprocal   sentiments   of   good-will. 

Censorship  both  of  mail  and  press  in- 
creased its  vigilance,  letters,  unless  spe- 


cially registered,  taking  thirty  days  be- 
tween Athens  and  New  York.  Papers 
coming  from  the  loyalists  of  ex-King 
Constantine,  with  headquarters  at  Berne, 
were  severely  dealt  with  on  reaching 
Athens.  All  attacked  M.  Venizelos,  the 
Prime  Minister,  not  because  he  had 
failed  to  get  more  from  the  Peace  Con- 
ference for  Greece,  but  because,  it  was 
affirmed,  Greece  would  have  been  in  a 
position  of  predominance  in  the  Near 
East  if  she  had  remained  neutral  and 
Constantine  been  allowed  to  remain 
King.  An  Athens  dispatch  announced 
on  Nov.  24  that  a  plot  to  assassinate 
Venizelos  and  restore  Constantine  had 
been  discovered  in  the  capital  and  many 
arrests  made. 

On  Dec.  1  the  ex-King  denied  the  ex- 
istence of  any  plot  in  an  interview  pub- 
lished in  the  Neue  Zurcher  Zeitung 
(Zurich,  Switzerland),  adding: 

M.  Venizelos  only  remains  in  power  by 
terrorism  and  by  using  martial  law  against 
his  opponents.  From  90  to  95  per  cent,  of 
the  people  are  opposed  to  him,  and  if 
there  were  any  truth  in  the  story  of  the 
attempt  against  him  it  would  be  an  ex- 
pression of  the  will  of  the  people  not  to  be 
ruled  by  force.  I  wish  emphatically  to 
deny  that  I  have  ever  been  in  favor  of  the 
Central  Empires;  I  only  desire  to  remain 
neutral,  but  France  distrusted  me  and 
plotted  against  me. 

In  Athens  the  most  violent  anti-Veni- 
zelos  journal  was  Politia,  which  was 
rarely  published  without  at  least  a  page 
censored  out. 

RUMANIA — Previous  to  the  signing 
of  the  St.  Germain  treaty  on  Dec.  9 
Rumania  had  already,  Nov.  25,  expressed 
herself  as  willing  to  comply  fully  with 
the  demands  of  the  Peace  Conference 
concerning  the  protection  of  national 
minorities  in  newly  acquired  territorial 
regions  and  would  submit  as  soon  as 
possible  legislative  proposals  in  this 
respect  to  the  Rumanian  Chamber;  the 
Rumanian  Government  was  also  willing 
to  give  way  in  connection  with  the  Bessa- 
rabia language  question;  it  was  pointed 
out,  however,  that  popular  opinion  was 
against  Rumania  evacuating  the  left  bank 
of  the  Theiss. 

On  the  same  day  that  Rumania  signed 
the  treaty  a  new  Cabinet  was  formed, 
taking  the  place  of  the  Bratiano  Admin- 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


41 


istration,  called  the  "  Generals'  Minis- 
try," because  all  the  portfolios,  save  that 
of  Justice,  were  held  by  Generals  on  the 
active  list.  As  was  stated  last  month, 
the  Opposition  declined  to  take  part  in 
the  election  thus  managed  by  a  military 
Government  under  the  dictatorship  of  M. 
Bratiano  to  give  the  latter  a  parliament- 
ary majority. 

The  only  candidates  were  those  of  the 
Liberal  Party  (M.  Bratiano),  those  of 
the  Germanophil  Party  (M.  Marghilo- 
man),  and  a  number  of  candidates  of  the 
Nationalist  and  Peasants'  Parties.  In 
spite  of  the  large  number  of  absentions 
— 70  per  cent.,  it  was  reported — M.  Bra- 
tiano's  supporters,  who  expected  to  elect 
every  one  of  the  240  Deputies,  only  suc- 
ceeded in  seating  100  as  against  120 
members  of  the  Nationalist  Party,  the 
Peasants'  Party,  and  other  independent 
groups,  and  even  among  the  100  were 
thirty  or  forty  dissenters  on  important 
points.  The  Germanophil  Party  secured 
only  five  seats,  and  M.  Marghiloman 
was  personally  defeated  in  the  domain  of 
Buzeu,  as  was  M.  Bratiano's  brother 
Dinu  in  that  of  Muscal. 

The  new  Ministry  of  Dec.  9  was  made 
up  in  part  as  follows,  led  by  the  head  of 
the  peace  delegation  then  in  Paris: 

Alexander  Viada 

Premier  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 

General  Fofoza  Averescu Interior 

General  Respanau War 

Ansel   Viada    Finance 

BELGIUM  AND  HOLLAND 

Revised,  official  returns  of  the  Belgian 
elections  held  on  Nov.  16  gave  the  result 
as  follows  for  the  new  Chamber: 

Catholics    71 

Socialists    70 

Liberals    34 

Christian  Democrats   4 

Front  Party  3 

Combatants    2 

Renaissance  Nationale  1 

Middle-class  Party   1 

186 

The  Catholics  lost  24  seats,  the  Social- 
ists gained  30,  and  the  Liberals  lost  11. 
With  27  Senators  still  to  be  elected  by 
provincial  councils,  the  new  Senate 
showed  59  Catholics,  36  Liberals,  and  25 
Socialists. 


A  revised  list  of  party  totals  gives: 

Socialists     644,924 

Catholics     619,911 

Liberals    309,976 

Front  Party    44,426 

Christian  Democrats   44,386 

Renaissance  Nationale 29,028 

Middle-class  Party 18,516 

Various    00,937 

1,762,104 

Voters  on  register 2,101,210 

According  to  the  debates  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Council  of  the  Socialist  Party, 
while  a  purely  Socialist  program  was 
advocated,  Bolshevist  doctrine  was  de- 
nounced, and  members  were  advised  to 
take  part  in  a  Coalition  Government  and 
to  support  a  collaborated  policy. 

For  a  fortnight  after  the  elections 
party  groups  indulged  in  prolonged  and 
animated  discussions  in  order  to  arrive 
at  a  common  program,  no  party  being 
willing  to  participate  in  a  Coalition  Gov- 
ernment without  its  own  special  reserva- 
tions being  accepted,  at  least  in  principle. 
The  Socialists  finally  gained  a  promise 
for  the  suppression  of  Article  310  of  the 
Penal  Code,  dealing  with  picketing  and 
sabotage,  and  for  bills  dealing  with 
housing  and  pensions,  and  the  Liberals 
gained  the  Socialist  support  of  a  bill 
regulating  the  liberty  of  labor  unions. 
All  agreed  to  reform  the  election  laws. 

M.  Delacroix,  who  had  resigned  when 
the  first  results  of  the  elections  became 
known,  was  thus  able  to  form  a  Coalition 
Government.  It  was  the  same  as  the 
last,  except  that  M.  Poullet,  formerly 
President  of  the  Chamber,  became  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior  instead  of  Count  de 
Broque,  and  the  post  of  Minister  of  Sci- 
ence and  Art  was  accepted  by  M.  Des- 
tree.  The  new  Government  will  thus 
consist  of  five  Catholics,  four  Socialists, 
and  three  Liberals. 

For  the  year  ending  Dec.  1  Belgium 
imported  from  the  United  States  goods 
valued  at  $283,417,698  and  sent  to  this 
country  goods  valued  at  $2,901,644. 

Holland,  in  spite  of  the  reassurances  of 
Belgian  Socialists  and  the  defeat  of  that 
party  in  France,  paid  more  attention  to 
the  victory  of  the  extremists  in  Italy 
and  their  subsequent  demonstrations.  A 
number  of  Governmental  measures  were 


42 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


taken  to  keep  out  the  Reds  and  to  stop 
Bolshevist  propaganda.  Consuls  abroad 
were  ordered  to  be  particularly  careful 
whose  passports  they  vise'd  and  frontier 
guards  received  special  instructions.  On 
Dec.  5  the  Dutch-German  frontier  was 
closed  with  9,220  persons  held  up  at 
Heerenberg.  In  the  Second  Chamber,  on 
Nov.  20,  the  Dutch  Premier,  Jonkheer 
Ruijs  de  Beerenbruck,  said  that  he  would 
like  to  see  incorporated  in  the  covenant 
of  the  League  of  Nations  a  clause  against 
Bolshevism. 

EGYPT,  INDIA,  AND  IRELAND 

For  several  quite  pertinent  reasons 
Egypt,  India,  and  Ireland  are  grouped 
together  this  month — all  are  attached  to 
the  British  Empire,  all  are  seeking  to 
modify  that  attachment  or  to  rupture  it 
entirely,  all  are  revolting  against  the  con- 
stituted authorities,  constitutions  have 
been  promised  to  all,  and  in  all  encour- 
agement is  given  to  conspirators,  as  some 
claim  by  a  policy  of  concession  and  sur- 
render and  as  others  claim  by  a  policy 
of  delay  and  prevarication.  All  claim 
international  instead  of  British  inter- 
vention. 

EGYPT— Amid  the  Nationalist  up- 
risings of  last  Spring  the  British  Govern- 
ment decided  to  send  out  a  commission 
under  the  Presidency  of  Lord  Milner.  In 
September  the  personnel  of  the  commis- 
sion was  made  up.  On  Nov.  18  the 
following  communique  was  issued  at  the 
British  Residency  at  Cairo: 

The  policy  of  Great  Britain  in  Egypt  is 
to  preserve  the  autonomy  of  that  country 
under  British  protection  and  to  develop 
the  system  of  self-government  under  an 
Egyptian  ruler. 

The  object  of  Great  Britain  is  to  defend 
Egypt  from  all  external  danger  and  inter- 
ference by  any  foreign  power,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  establish  a  constitutional 
system  in  which,  under  British  guidance, 
the  Sultan,  his  Ministers,  and  the  elected 
representatives  of  the  people  may  in  their 
several  spheres  and  in  an  increasing  de- 
gree co-operate  in  the  management  of 
Egyptian  affairs. 

His  Majesty's  Government  have  de- 
cided to  send  to  Egypt  a  mission  which 
has  as  its  task  to  work  out  the  details  of 
the  Constitution,  to  carry  out  this  object, 
and,  in  consultation  with  the  Sultan,  his 
Ministers,  and  representative  Egyptians, 
to  undertake  the  preliminary  work  which- 


is    requisite    before    the    future    form    of 
government  can  be  settled. 

It  is  no  function  of  the  mission  to  im- 
pose a  Constitution  on  Egypt.  Its  duty  is 
to  explore  the  ground  and  to  discuss,  in 
consultation  with  the  authorities  on  the 
spot,  the  reforms  that  are  necessary  and 
to  propose,  it  is  hoped  in  complete  agree- 
ment with  the  Sultan  and  his  Ministers,  a 
scheme  of  government  which  can  subse- 
quently be  put  into  force. 

A  Cabinet  crisis  and  Nationalist  dem- 
onstrations, ultimately  taking  the  atti- 
tude of  rebellion,  at  once  ensued.  Both 
were  based  on  the  objection  of  the  Mos- 
lem Egyptian  to  co-operate  with  the 
British  Government  until  the  fate  of  Tur- 
key had  been  decided  by  the  Peace  Con- 
ference. The  Ministry  resigned,  and  on 
Nov.  26  another  was  constituted,  as  fol- 
lows, being  more  Egyptian  than  any  of 
its  predecessors: 

Premier  and  Minister  of  Finance— 
YOUSSEF  WAHBA  PASHA. 

Public  Works,  War,  and  Marine— 
SIR  ISMAIL  SIRRY  PASHA,  K.  C.  M.  G. 

Communications  —  AHMED  ZIWER 
PASHA. 

Justice— AHMED  ZULFICAR  PASHA. 

Interior— TEWFIK  NESSIM  PASHA. 

Agriculture  —  MOHAMED  SHAFIK 
PASHA. 

Education— YEHIA   IBRAHIM   PASHA. 

Wakfs  (Pious  Foundations)— HUSSEIN 
DARWISCHE  BEY. 

Revolutionary  demonstrations  and  riots 
in  which  both  civilians  and  soldiers  had 
been  killed  had  already  given  emphasis 
to  the  increasing  objections  to  the  Milner 
Commission,  and  on  Nov.  24  Lord 
Allenby,  the  British  High  Commissioner, 
had  issued  the  following  proclamation: 

Whereas  certain  evilly  disposed  persons 
recently  endeavored,  and  are  now  en- 
deavoring, by  means  of  publications  in  the 
press,  by  the  distribution  of  printed  mat- 
ter, and  by  public  speeches  and  other 
means  to  promote  demonstrations  and  dis- 
turbances calculated  to  endanger  public 
order  and  public  security,  I  hereby  give 
warning  that  all  acts  of  incitement  to 
participation  in  disorderly  or  unlawful 
demonstrations  and  all  other  acts  subverr 
sive  of  authority  or  endangering  public 
order  and  security,  constitute  offenses  un- 
der martial  law  and  render  offenders 
liable  to  arrest  and  prosecution  by  a  mili- 
tary court. 

In  the  British  House  of  Lords  on  Nov. 
25  Earl  Curzon,  the  Foreign  Secretary, 
announced  that  Great  Britain  could  not 
possibly  give  Egypt  entire  liberty  of  ac- 
tion, as  the  country,  standing  as  it  did  at 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


43 


the  door  of  Africa  and  the  highway  to 
India,  was  incapable  of  maintaining 
either  a  stable  government  or  of  pro- 
tecting its  own  frontiers. 

INDIA — Three  phases  of  the  India 
question  came  into  prominence — a  re- 
vival of  fighting  on  the  Afghan  frontier, 
exchange     of    amenities     between     the 


-'fe"?#|V-  KAFIRIS  TAN" 

*&  '■ 
KABUL  £Y^4 

rO     Jalalabad^ 
£r  i 

..         H'-»eVv         r,      iEdwardesabei, 
Urgun  ^^a^£J 


„  ManduKhers  B 


^Sp  ^foFTSAHOEMWI 


SCENE    OF    RECENT    FIGHTING    ON    NORTH- 
WESTERN  FRONTIER   OF   INDIA 

Afghan  Court  at  Kabul  and  the  Bol- 
shevist administration  at  Moscow,  and 
the  report  on  the  Government  of  India 
bill  in  the  British  Parliament. 

Although  the  Indian  Government  had 
made  peace  with  Kabul  on  Aug.  8,  it  fell 
to  the  former  to  enforce  the  terms  on 
the  frontier  tribes,  two  of  which,  the 
Waziris  and  Mahsuds,  200  miles  south- 
east of  Kabul,  attacked  British  outposts 
in  the  middle  of  November  and  were  in 
turn  bombed  by  airplanes  into  partial 
submission.  The  Afghan  force  of  Shah 
Doula  was  said  to  be  ready  to  aid  the 
tribesman,  but  the  Emir  forbade  their 
movement. 

Meanwhile  an  Afghan  Extraordinary 
Mission  reached  Bolshevist  headquarters 
at  Moscow,  and  a  Bolshevist  Mission  un- 


der Herr  Suritz,  organized  at  Tashkend, 
Turkistan,  reached  Kabul.  The  aim  of 
the  former  was  to  establish  commercial 
relations  between  Afghanistan  and  So- 
viet Russia;  the  aim  of  the  latter  was  to 
draft  as  much  of  the  Bolshevist  doctrine 
on  the  Koran  as  the  precepts  of  Islam 
would  stand.    Both  were  anti-British. 

In  the  way  of  this  Bolshevist-Afghan 
combination  stood  the  Emir  of  Bokhara, 
who  was  approached  by  a  combined  Bol- 
shevist-Afghan mission  which  urged  the 
Emir  to  join  it  in  bringing  pressure  upon 
Persia  to  enter  a  Pan-Islamic  democratic 
union,  but  the  Emir  as  a  measure  of  self- 
protection  ordered  torn  up  the  railway 
twelve  miles  on  both  sides  of  Bokhara. 
The  Bolshevists  became  firmly  estab- 
lished at  Kizil  Arvat,  on  the  Trans-Cas- 
pian Railway,  and  threatened  the  road  to 
Krasnavodsk,  the  terminus  of  the  rail- 
way on  the  Caspian. 

The  report  of  the  Joint  Select  Com- 
mittee on  the  Government  of  India  bill 
was  presented  to  the  British  Parliament 
on  Nov.  19.  It  drew  its  authority  from 
his  Majesty's  Government's  declaration 
of  Aug.  20,  1917,  and  was  based  on  the 
subsequent  Montagu  report.  Aside  from 
the  establishment  of  a  Council  of  Princes, 
which  has  merely  advisory  functions,  lit- 
tle change  has  been  made  in  the  relations 
between  the  Government  of  India  and  the 
India  Office,  between  the  people  of  India 
and  the  British  Crown.  The  more  im- 
portant changes  are  the  following: 

Increased  financial  powers  to  be  given 
to  the  Legislatures  and  adjustments  to  be 
made  with  a  view  to  eauitable  provision 
as  between  transferred  and  reserved  sub- 
jects. 

The  President  of  each  provincial  Legis- 
lature to  be  not  the  Government,  but  a 
specially  selected  officer.  The  President 
of  the  Indian  Legislature  to  have  Parlia- 
mentary experience. 

The  Governor  of  the  province  will  de- 
part from  the  advice  of  Ministers  on 
transferred  subjects  only  under  excep- 
tional circumstances. 

Free  consultation  between  the  two 
halves  of  Government  to  be  fostered  in 
every  way  without  obscuring  their  sepa- 
rate distinctive  responsibilities. 

Two  Ministers  to  be  appointed  in  each 
province. 

The  franchise  as  settled  by  the  rules  not 
to  be  altered  for  the  first  ten  years.  The 
rules  to  give  greater  weight  than  under 


44 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  Southborough  scheme  to  the  rural 
vote  and  artisan  representation. 

The  Council  of  State  to  be  reshaped  as  a 
true  second  chamber  for  the  central  au- 
thority, and  not  to  be  the  instrument  of 
securing  essential  legislation. 

Three  members  of  the  Governor  Gener- 
al's Executive  to  continue  to  be  public 
servants  of  not  less  than  ten  years'  Indian 
experience,  three  to  be  Indians,  and  one  to 
have  definite  legal  qualification,  which 
may  be  gained  in  India  as  well  as  in  the 
United  Kingdom. 

The  Indian  Council  to  be  reduced  in 
numbers,  and  membership  to  be  for  five 
innstead  of  seven  years. 

The  cost  of  the  India  Office  for  other 
than  "  agency  "  services  to  be  paid  out  of 
British  and  not  Indian  revenues. 

Agency  functions  for  India  to  be  carried 
out  by  a  High  Commissioner  in  London. 

The  Secretary  as  far  as  possible  to  avoid 
Interference  when  the  Government  of 
India  and  its  Legislature  are  in  agree- 
ment, especially  in  respect  to  fiscal  policy. 

The  Joint  Select  Committee  to  be  reap- 
pointed to  advise  Parliament  in  respect 
to  the  rules  to  be  made  under  the  act. 

IRELAND— All  through  October  and 
November  Irish  Nationalists  and  Union- 
ist Ulsterites  were  both  optimistic  in 
regard  to  the  new  Home  Rule  bill  which 
the  Cabinet  Committee  on  the  Irish 
question  was  preparing.  As  the  day  ap- 
proached for  the  presentation  of  the  bill 
to  Parliament,  opinion  gradually  became 
pessimistic  and  there  were  said  to  be 
serious  differences  in  the  Cabinet  over 
certain  of  its  articles.  As  the  situation 
stood  on  Dec.  18  the  Government  may 
or  may  not  present  the  bill  before  the' 
end  of  the  year. 

The  essence  of  the  scheme  is  the  crea- 
tion of  two  State  Legislatures  with  a 
Council  of  Ireland  as  an  indispensable 
link.  The  largest  possible  unit  is  pro- 
posed for  the  Ulster  Legislature.  It  is 
to  consist  not  of  the  four  northeastern 
counties  nor  of  the  six  by  the  inclusion 
of  the  debatable  ground  of  Fermanagh 
and  Tyrone,  but  of  the  whole  province. 
There  is  to  be  no  voting  into  one  Legis- 
lature or  out  of  the  other.  The  second 
Legislature  is  to  consist  of  the  provinces 
of  Leinster,  Munster,  and  Connaught. 
The  Council  of  Ireland,  will  consist  of 
delegations  of  equal  strength  drawn 
from  the  two  State  Legislatures.  The 
Council  will  possess  not  only  the  obvious 
functions  of  co-ordination  and  unifica- 
tion, but  will   have  potentialities   of   a 


far-reaching  character — similar  to  those 
enjoyed  by  the  Government  of  the  Do- 
minion of  Canada. 

In  Ireland  more  drastic  measures  were 
taken  against  the  Sinn  Fein,  calculated 
to  prevent  acts  against  law  and  order 
and  to  visit  the  delinquents  with  more 
severe  penalties. 

FRANCE 

The  municipal  elections  of  Nov.  30 
gave  the  Socialists  of  France  a  supple- 
mentary defeat  to  the  one  they  had  re- 
ceived in  the  national  election  of  a  fort- 
night before.  In  Paris  seven  Conserva- 
tives, thirteen  Progressives,  thirteen  Re- 
publicans, thirteen  of  the  Republican 
Left,  and  finally  four  Radicals  and  Radi- 
cal Socialists  who  were  not  extremists 
were  elected.  Elsewhere,  in  125  prefec- 
tures and  sub-prefectures,  the  returns 
showed  fifty-one  Republican  Leftists,  fif- 
ty Radicals  and  Radical  Socialists,  ten 
Progressives,  eight  Conservatives,  two 
Republican  Socialists,  and  only  four  ex- 
treme Socialists. 

Aside  from  the  overwhelming  Socialist 
defeat  on  Nov.  16,  the  old  bloc  of  Radicals 
and  Radical  Socialists  (although  neither 
faction  was  Socialist)  was  practically 
dissolved.  This  was  the  combination, 
made  up  of  249  Deputies  in  the  late 
Chamber,  which  enabled  M.  Caillaux  and, 
after  him,  his  lieutenants,  to  manipulate 
French  national  and  international  poli- 
tics for  a  number  of  years. 

Many  causes  were  assigned  for  the 
great  swing  of  all  parties  toward  the 
Right,  or  Conservative,  which,  although 
inherently  Republican,  will  permit  a 
greater  tolerance  for  religion,  greater 
respect  for  existing  institutions,  and  a 
stronger  determination  to  conserve  the 
existing  social  order.  The  direct  defeat 
of  the  Socialists  was  charged  to  defec- 
tions among  the  party  itself  after  the 
revelations  that  came  from  Soviet  Russia 
and  the  repudiation  by  Socialist  soldiers 
on  account  of  Defeatism,  and  by  the  peas- 
ants on  account  of  the  Soviet  land 
scheme.  Added  to  these  elements  was 
the  constant  appeal  of  all  but  the  anarch- 
ist press  to  kill  Bolshevism  in  France. 

That  remarkable  paper,  La  Presse  de 
Paris,  a  composite  journal  of  practically 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


45 


all  the  Paris  papers  which  were  obliged 
to  suspend  publication  on  Nov.  11  on  ac- 
count of  a  strike  of  linotypers  and 
typographers,  was  published  daily  from 
Nov.  11  till  Nov.  30,  inclusive.  It  was 
a  four-page  folio  sheet  and  a  model  of 
its  kind  at  10  centimes  a  copy,  of  which 
over  5,000,000  were  daily  issued.  The 
first  page  was  devoted  to  local  news,  the 
second  to  editorial  comment  under  cap- 
tions showing  its  origin  —  L'Homme 
Libre,  Le  Gaulois,  Le  Journal,  &c. — the 
third  to  telegraphic  dispatches  and  the- 
atrical and  other  announcements,  and  the 
fourth  to  advertisements.  Although  it 
was  said  that  the  strike  was  made  in 
order  to  embarrass  the  press  at  election 
time,  the  defeat  of  the  Socialists  at  the 
polls  may  have  contributed  not  a  little  to 
the  ultimate  victory  of  the  proprietors, 
who  promised  to  take  back  the  strikers 
as  they  had  need  of  them. 

On  Nov.  27  three  Cabinet  Ministers 
who  had  been  defeated  at  the  polls  were 
replaced  by  newly  elected  Deputies,  of 
whom  there  were  339  who  had  never 
been  seated  before.  Leon  Berard  suc- 
ceeded Louis  Lafferre  as  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction  and  Fine  Arts;  Louis 
Dubois,  Etienne  Clementel,  as  Minister  of 
Commerce,  Industry,  Posts  and  Tele- 
graphs, and  Yves  Le  Trocquer,  Louis 
Morel,  as  Under  Secretary  for  Finance. 
The  post  of  Under  Secretary  for  De- 
mobilization was  abolished  and  its  in- 
cumbent, Louis  Deschamps,  was  appoint- 
ed Under  Secretary  for  Posts,  Tele- 
graphs, and  Telephones.  It  was  expected 
that  M.  Shuman,  Deputy  from  Moselle, 
would  succeed  M.  Colliard  as  Minister  of 
Labor. 

French  customs  returns  for  the  first 
three-quarters  of  1919  were  published. 
The  imports  showed  an  advance  of  $755,- 
000,000  over  the  same  period  for  last 
year;  the  exports  $182,500,000.  Owing 
to  the  present  rate  of  exchange  the  in- 
ternational value  of  these  figures  is  re- 
duced nearly  one-half.  French  foreign 
trade  in  million  dollars  at  the  nominal 
rate  of  exchange  was  as  follows :    - 

Countries  Impts.  Expts. 

United   States 1,020  11.9 

Great  Britain 900  26.5 

Belgium     75  21.4 

Spain    140  4.15 

Switzerland    45  5.55 


Countries  Impts.  Expts. 

Italy    97  6.5 

Brazil   101  1.25 

Argentina   134  2.75 

Russia    3  .35 

Algeria    119  9.40 

Morocco 32  1.30 

According  to  French  law,  as  soon  as 
the  state  of  war  ceases  and  has  so  been 
announced  by  Presidential  decree,  the 
French  railways  revert  automatically  to 
pre-war  conditions.  But  it  was  found 
that  the  roads  were  not  prepared  to  re- 
vert in  this  way,  and  so  the  President 
decreed  a  number  of  transition  provisions 
which  will  be  in  force  till  Dec.  31,  1920, 
unless  earlier  abrogated: 

The  principal  railroads  must  give  pri- 
ority in  the  following  cases: 

To  the  transportation  of  goods  destined 
for  the  reconstitution  of  the  liberated  re- 
gions, along  the  lines  of  the  program  laid 
down  by  the  Ministry  for  the  Liberated 
Regions. 

To  slow  freight,  in  carload  lots,  along 
the  lines  recommended  by  the  Ministries 
of  Revictualing  and  Industrial  Reconsti- 
tution In  regard  to  the  supply  of  fuel  and 
revictualing  of  the  whole  country. 

A  provisional  committee  will  be  formed 
to  decide  upon  the  necessary  measures  to 
insure  the  proper  compliance  with  these 
provisions  and  the  satisfactory  working 
of  the  great  railroad  systems.  Its  de- 
cisions are  final  and  obligatory  for  all  the 
systems. 

Another  committee  will  be  appointed  to 
deal  with  questions  relating  to  railroad 
supplies  and  rolling  stock  and  to  co-ordi- 
nate the  action  of  the  railroads  in  respect 
to  such  matters. 

This  latter  committee  will  include  among 
Its  members  three  manufacturers  of  rail- 
road material  designated  by  the  Ministry 
of  Public  Works.  Its  decisions  are  final, 
with  the  exception  of  measures  relating  to 
closing  stations,  suppression  of  trains, 
or  limiting  shipments.  In  such  cases  its 
decisions  are  subject  to  revision  by  the 
Ministry. 

ITALY 

The  estimate  of  the  results  of  the  Ital- 
ian Deputorial  elections  on  Nov.  16,  made 
in  Current  History  for  December,  were 
confirmed  by  the  official  figures  issued 
on  Nov.  21  as  follows: 

Socialists    156      Democrats    23 

Catholics  101      Republicans   9 

Liberals    161  Discharged    Sol- 
Reformist      So-              diers 23 

ciallsts    16  Independents  ...     8 

Although  the  Liberals  led,  theirs  was 
not  an  organized  party,  being  governed 


46 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


by  individuals  rather  than  by  measures. 
The  organized  parties  were  the  Social- 
ist, the  Popular  Party  (the  Catholic), 
and  the  Republican.  The  Socialist  gain 
was  seventy-nine  seats.  At  first  it  was 
believed  that  the  Nitti  Government  would 
be  unable  to  persuade  the  Socialists  to 
co-operate  with  other  parties  on  vital 
questions,  when  the  alternative  would 
have  been  resignation  for  the  Govern- 
ment or  dissolution  with  a  new  election 
and  a  special  appeal  to  the  absentee 
bourgeoisie. 

There  were  Socialist  and  anti-Socialist 
demonstrations,  with  loss  of  life  and  a 
general  strike,  but  after  a  fortnight  tran- 
quillity prevailed,  and  on  Dec.  13  the 
Chamber  voted  approval  of  Bang  Victor 
Emmanuel's  speech  from  the  throne 
made  on  Dec.  1,  and  rejected  by  a  vote 
of  289  to  124  an  amendment  calling  for 
the  recognition  of  Soviet  Russia. 

Geography  played  a  larger  part  in  this 
vote  than  political  principles,  for  the  So- 
cialists of  the  north  differ  from  the  So- 
cialists of  the  south,  just  as  the  Catholics 
do — on  all  but  Vatican  questions.  A 
comparative  table  of  the  Socialist  vic- 
tories at  the  polls  showed  how  great  was 
the  difference  between  the  industrial 
north  and  the  agricultural  south.  While 
Northern  Italy  selected  85  and  Central 
Italy  60  out  of  the  156  Socialist  Deputies, 
the  continental  south  elected  only  11  and 
Sicily  and  Sardinia  not  one.  The  same 
was  true  of  the  Catholics.  Of  their  101 
Deputies  52  were  elected  in  the  north,  25 
in  the  centre,  17  in  the  continental  south, 
and  7  in  the  islands. 

It  was  thus  calculated  that  73  per  cent, 
of  the  total  representation  of  the  indus- 
trial north  was  either  Socialist  or  Cath- 
olic, and  71  per  cent,  of  that  of  Central 
Italy.  The  vote  of  124  cast  for  the  rec- 
ognition of  Soviet  Russia  was  entirely 
made  up  of  northern  Socialists.  On 
many  reform  measures  the  Socialists  and 
Catholics  promised  cohesion. 

On  Nov.  26  Signor  Tittoni  resigned  as 
Foreign  Minister  and  head  of  the  Italian 
delegation  at  Paris,  and  was  succeeded  in 
both  posts  by  Vittorio  Scialoja,  a  pro- 
fessor of  Roman  law  and  the  holder  of 
several  learned  titles,  who  had  been  Min- 
ister without  portfolio  in  the  short-lived 


Boselli  Cabinet  of  1916-17  and  once  Min- 
ister of  Justice,  back  in  1909.  He  had 
also  been  Signor  Tittoni's  lieutenant  at 
Paris. 

On  Nov.  26  the  Government  published 
its  financial  program.  The  forced  loan 
at  2  per  cent,  and  the  BV2  per  cent,  loan 
on  capital  were  abandoned,  and  one  of  5 
per  cent,  issued  at  87%  proposed,  but 
with  drastic  increases  of  taxation.  The 
measures  were  divided  into  the  following 
categories: 

(1)  A  progressive  tax  on  increase  of 
capital  due  to  war  profits. 

(2)  An  extraordinary  progressive  tax  on 
all  capital. 

(3)  A  revision  of  the  present  tax  on  in- 
comes by  the  institution  of  a  comprehen- 
sive income  tax. 

(4)  An  increase  of  the  special  tax  on 
bearer  bonds. 

(5)  An  increase  of  the  various  existing 
taxes  on  bicycles  and  motors. 

(6)  A  tax  on  the  sale  of  all  articles  ex- 
cept food  and  fuel. 

(7)  A  special  luxury  tax  on  silk  gloves, 
&c. 

The  tax  on  increase  of  capital  due  to 
war  profits  will  vary  from  10  to  CO  per 
cent.  The  tax  on  capital  will  be  payable 
in  annual  quotas  for  30  years,  and  a  new 
valuation  will  be  taken  from  time  to  time 
during  this  period.  Property  below  the 
value  of  £800  will  be  exempt  from  the  tax. 
Above  that  sum  the  amount  taken  varies 
from  5  per  cent,  to  25  per  cent.,  the  latter 
in  the  case  of  estates  of  £4,000,000.  The 
annual  quota  payable  varies  fromr167  per 
cent,  in  the  case  of  estates  of  £800  to  .833 
per  cent.,  in  the  case  of  the  maximum. 
In  practice  the  new  tax  amounts  to  an  in- 
crease of  income  tax. 

LATIN  AMERICA 

The  Brazilian  Government,  through  the 
Dutch  Charge  d' Affaires  at  Rio  de  Ja- 
neiro, informed  Berlin  on  Nov.  22  that 
German  immigrants  would  be  admitted 
to  Brazil  "without  restrictions  of  any 
kind."  The  same  invitation  was  extended 
to  Italians  through  the  Brazilian  Ambas- 
sador at  Rome,  Dr.  L.  Martins  de,  Sousa 
Dantas.  In  a  recent  interview  in  La  Tri- 
buna  of  Rome  he  declared  that  "  relations 
between  Brazilians  and  Italian  immi- 
grants have  become  an  indestructible 
force  for  prosperity  and  fraternity."  He 
also  spoke  of  the  prosperity  of  Sao  Paulo 
as  depending  upon  Italians. 

Papers  of  Southern  Chile  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  a  Japanese  syndi- 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


47 


cate  had  obtained  an  option  on  some  coal 
mines  at  the  head  of  Concepcion  Bay.  A 
Santiago  paper  stated  that  copper  and 
iron  properties  along  the  Northern  Rail- 
way had  been  purchased  by  a  Japanese 
syndicate  for  $5,000,000. 

The    Colombian    Senate    adopted    and 
issued  a  motion  reciting  the  guaranties 
under  which   foreigners   live   in   Colom- 
bia, and  ending  with  this  declaration: 
The  Senate  of  the  Republic  of  Colombia 
proclaims  to  the  world  that  for  the  sake 
of  her  own  honor  Colombia  does  now  and 
always   will   maintain  her   respect   of  all 
alien  rights  with  a  firmness  equal  to  that 
with  which  she  will  sustain  her  independ- 
ence   and    sovereignty    and    demand    her 
rights. 

MONGOLIA 

The  Kiachta  Treaty  of  1912  practically 
placed  Mongolia,  formerly  a  Chinese  pro- 
tectorate, under  the  protection  of  the 
Czar  of  Russia,  although  affirming  its 


C  HI  *    A 

.0    100  200  300  <00  SpOMiUS 


AS  THE  RUSSO-MONGOLIAN  CONVENTION 
OF  1912  IS  NO  LONGER  OPERATIVE,  AND  AS 
THE  JAPANESE  ARE  PENETRATING  WEST- 
WARD FROM  MANCHURIA.  THE  MONGOLIANS 
WISH  TO  REVERT  TO  THEIR  PROTECTION 
UNDER   PEKING 

internal  autonomy.  Since  the  rise  of 
Bolshevism  the  treaty  had  become  inef- 
fective, and  Mongolia,  menaced  from  the 
north  by  Russian  bands  operating  from 
the  Trans-Siberian  Railway,  from  the 
east  by  the  Japanese,  while  from  the 
south  4,000  Chinese  troops  had  moved  on 
Urga,  the  capital. 

In  these  circumstances  the  Government 
at  Urga,  on  Nov.  20,  called  the  attention 
of  the  Peking  Government  to  the  inef- 
fectiveness of  the  treaty,  and  to  the  men- 


ace from  the  north  and  east,  announced 
its  intention  to  cancel  its  autonomy  and  re- 
quested that  Mongolia  be  allowed  to  come 
under  the  wing  of  China  "  as  in  the  time 
of  the  Manchu  dynasty,"  hoping  that  the 
Mongolian  people  would  be  permitted  to 
retain  some  of  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges, "  so  that  they  may  happily  attach 
themselves  to  the  Republic  of  China." 

On  Nov.  23  a  Presidential  mandate,  is- 
sued at  Peking,  repudiated  all  the  Russo- 
Chinese  and  Russo-Mongol  agreements 
concluded  since  the  declaration  of  Mon- 
golian independence,  accepted  the  Mon- 
golian proposal,  and  promised  to  the 
Mongols  cordial  treatment  and  the  bless- 
ings of  the  republic  forever. 

In  the  week  following  the  Chinese  Gen- 
eral at  Urga  brought  north  more  troops, 
and  General  Semenov,  with  the  Russians, 
advanced  south,  sending  a  proclamation 
to  the  Urga  Government  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Siberia  considered  the  treaty 
of  Kiachta  still  operative,  and  warning 
against  a  surrender  to  China. 

SCANDINAVIA 

Irrespective  of  what  might  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  Schleswig  plebiscite  the  Dan- 
ish press  started  an  opposition  campaign 
to  secure  the  important  port  of  Flens- 
borg.  There  were  also  demonstrations 
to  this  effect  in  Copenhagen.  M.  Zahle, 
the  Premier,  announced  that  should  the 
occasion  arise  he  would  refer  the  matter 
to  a  Danish  plebiscite  and  resign  if  the 
vote  were  for  Flensborg. 

On  Nov.  30  elections  for  the  new  Ad- 
visory Council  of  the  North  Schleswig 
Electors'  Associations  resulted  in  a  vic- 
tory for  the  party  which  had  hitherto 
been  the  Minority  group  and  which  op- 
posed the  Government's  policy.  It  de- 
manded the  absorption  of  the  second 
zone,  including  Flensborg,  in  Denmark. 
This  minority,  who  had  twenty-three 
votes  in  the  old  Council,  thereby  gained 
a  total  of  thirty,  while  the  party  which 
was  formerly  the  majority,  thirty-four 
strong,  was  reduced  to  twenty-two  seats. 

In  the  course  of  a  debate  in  the  Rigs- 
dag  Premier  Zahle  said  in  reference  to 
the  Schleswig  plebiscite: 

Reunion   with    our   lost   brothers    Is   an 

epoch-making  event  in  the  history  of  our 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


country.  A  heavy  responsibility  rests  up- 
on the  generation  to  whose  lot  it  has 
fallen  to  experience  this  great  event.  A 
responsibility  before  history  and  the  idea 
of  political  justice.  We  cannot  evade 
this  responsibility.  Ours  may  be  the  joy 
of  knowing  that  all  Danes  are  once  more 
united  under  a  single  sway,  but  ours,  too, 
would  be  a  heavy  responsibility  if  in  the 
critical  hours  we  lose  our  balance,  if  we 
forget  the  grave  lessons  of  our  history 
and  the  bitter  teaching  of  defeat  and 
spoliation  and  aim  at  the  solution  incom- 
patible with  the  principle  upon  which  our 
claims  have  rested  for  more  than  half  a 
century— I  mean  the  right  of  self  de- 
termination on  the  basis  of  nationality. 

An  important  commercial  event  in  the 
history  of  Sweden  was  the  opening  of 
the  new  free  harbor  of  Stockholm  at 
Lindarangen,  work  on  which  was  begun 
on  Aug.  6,  1917.  Up  to  the  opening, 
$1,230,750  had  been  expended  in  con- 
struction work  on  the  new  harbor,  but 
much  more  must  be  spent  before  the 
great  enterprise  is  completed.  Two  enor- 
mous new  quays  are  already  in  use. 

SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL 

The  lockout  inaugurated  by  Barcelona 
employers  against  the  General  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  on  Nov.  4  spread  through- 
out Catalonia,  and  thence  to  Madrid, 
where,  by  Dec.  15,  30,000  employes  were 
out  of  work.  (The  purpose  of  the  lock- 
out and  the  character  of  the  federation 
were  described  last  month.) 

The  Toca  Government  went  out  of  of- 
fice on  account  of  opposition  to  the 
budget,  and  on  Dec.  12  Manuel  Allende 
Salazar,  as  Premier,  arranged  a  new  Cab- 
inet: 

Minister  of  the  Interior— FERNANDEZ 
PRIDA. 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs— MARQUIS 
DE  LEMA. 

Minister  of  Finance  —  COUNT  DE  BU- 
GALLAL. 

Minister     of     War  —  GENERAL.     VIL- 
LALBA. 

Minister   of   Marine  —  ADMIRAL 
FLORES. 

Minister  of  Instruction  —  NATALIO 
RIVAS. 
Minister  of  Justice— SENOR  GARNICA. 
Minister  of  Public  Works— AMAL.IO  GI- 
MENO. 

The  budget,  which  did  not  allow  for 
extraordinary  expenditure  in  its  esti- 
mates, showed  a  deficit  of  400,000,000 
pesetas.    It  did  not  produce  a  favorable 


impression  in  financial  circles,  and  the 
distribution  of  taxation  caused  unfavor- 
able comment  among  the  masses. 

The  question  of  the  return  of  Olivenza 
by  Spain  to  Portugal  came  up  in  the 
Senate  of  the  latter  on  Nov.  21,  and  be- 
came the  subject  of  a  reply  by  the  Span- 
ish Government  on  Dec.  1.  Olivenza  is 
the  capital  of  a  district  in  the  Province 
of  Badajoz,  fourteen  miles  southwest  of 
Badajoz  and  six  miles  from  the  Portu- 
guese frontier.  It  is  a  walled  town  and 
was  formei'ly  strongly  fortified.  In  the 
war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  of  1709  it 
was  besieged  by  the  French  and  Span- 
iards, and  was  stormed  by  the  French 
under  Soult  in  1811.  The  Treaties  of 
1815  assigned  the  town  to  Portugal,  but 
the  Spaniards  refused  to  surrender  it, 
and  have  remained  in  possession  of  it 
ever  since. 

Senhor  Bernardino  Machado,  former 
President  of  Portugal,  insisted  in  the 
Senate  that  a  demand  should  be  made 
for  the  restitution  of  Olivenza  upon  the 
declaration  of  the  Foreign  Minister  that 
the  question  was  outside  the  scope  of  the 
Paris  Peace  Conference  to  adjust.  The 
demand  was  made  and  the  Spanish  Gov- 
ernment replied  by  declaring  that  for 
historic  reasons  the  request  of  Senhor 
Machado  was  impossible  of  fulfillment, 
and  by  regretting  that  a  former  Presi- 
dent of  Portugal  should  have  reopened  a 
question  which  had  been  closed  for  years. 

TURKEY 

The  whole  aim  and  method  of  the 
Turkish  Nationalist  movement  was  re- 
vealed in  a  proclamation  issued  by  Mus- 
tapha  Kemal  Pasha  in  the  name  of  the 
Committee  for  the  Defense  of  the  Rights 
of  Anatolia  and  Rumelia.  Mustapha  at 
about  the  same  time  (Nov.  24)  informed 
the  new  Turkish  Grand  Vizier  that  the 
Nationalist  movement  would  no  longer 
interfere  in  public  affairs,  and  that  the 
orders  of  the  Constantinople  Government 
would  be  carried  out  without  any  re- 
strictions. Mustapha's  proclamation 
read: 

The  Entente  Powers  will  pursue  their 
project  of  depriving  our  nation  of  the 
fairest  portion  of  its  country.  They  are 
working  to  balance  their  interests  by  par- 
titioning our  country.    The  massacres  and    ^ 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


49 


atrocities  committed  in  the  Aidin  vilayet, 
which  Greece  was  allowed  to  occupy  In 
order  to  pave  the  way  to  a  partition  of 
Turkey,  were  identical  with  those  now 
committed  in  the  Adana  vilayet  occupied 
by  the  French,  using  the  Armenians  as 
their  instrument.  We  protest  with  all  our 
energy  against  the  illegal  acts  commit- 
ted   up    to    the    present    by    the    Entente 


KURDISTAN  AND  THE  REGION  OVER  WHICH 
ENVER   PASHA    SEEKS    TO    RULE 

Powers  and  we  hope  that  they  will  learn 
to  cherish  juster  sentiments  toward  our 
nation.  The  result  which  will  be  brought 
about  by  the  inhuman  methods  embarked 
upon  by  those  powers  without  consenting 
to  listen  to  the  legitimate  voice  of  our 
nation  may  be  very  fatal.  It  would  not 
be  fatal  only  to  a  few  countries,  but 
possibly  also  to  two  worlds. 

There  was  no  change  in  the  situation 
in  Smyrna,  occupied  by  the  Greeks,  or  in 
Syria,  from  which  the  British  Withdrew 
in  favor  of  the  French,  but  the  foregoing 
proclamation  was  believed  to  have  fixed 
the  origin  of  the  propaganda,  which  told 
stories  of  both  Greek  and  French  atroci- 
ties in  the  newly  occupied  territories,  and 
that  this  propaganda  was  not  remote 
from  that  importuning  the  United  States 
to  assume  the  mandate  of  all  Turkey,  but 
far  remote  from  that  other  propaganda 


asking  this  country  to  become  the  man- 
datary for  Armenia  alone.  It  was  an- 
nounced in  Nationalistic  circles  in  Con- 
stantinople that  with  the  United  States 
as  Turkey's  guardian  angel  the  Commit- 
tee of  Union  and  Progress  would  be  able 
to  achieve  in  peace  what  it  had  failed  to 
win  by  war. 

Meanwhile,  Mustapha's  trend  towaid 
the  east  was  emphasized  on  Dec.  12,  when 
it  was  announced  from  Constantinople 
that  Enver  Pasha,  the  former  Turkish 
Minister  of  War,  had  made  himself  Dic- 
tator of  Kurdistan,  the  region  surrounded 
by  Armenia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Persia. 
This  report  was  not  confirmed,  but  the 
British  War  Office  had  announced  on 
Nov.  22  that  the  revolt  of  Sheik  Mah- 
mud  having  been  put  down  by  the  British 
at  Sulemaniyeh,  pilgrim  traffic  from  Ta- 
briz to  Bagdad  had  begun  to  pass 
through  that  place  closed  to  the  faithful 
for  many  years. 

THE  VATICAN 

Seven  new  Cardinals  were  nominated 
at  a  secret  consistory  on  Dec.  15,  and  the 
conferment  of  the  Cardinalate  on  Mgr. 
Bertram,  Archbishop  of  Breslau,  reserved 
in  petto  at  the  consistory  of  1916,  was 
announced.    The  others  named  were: 

Monsignor  "Valfre  dl  Bouzo,  former 
Nuncio  at  Vienna. 

Monsignor  Camassel,  former  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem. 

Monsignor  Sill,  Vice  Chamberlain  of  the 
Church. 

Monsignor  Soldevila  y  Romeo,  Arch- 
bishop of  Saragossa. 

Monsignor  Kakowski,  Archbishop  of 
Warsaw. 

Monsignor  Dalbor,  Archbishop  of  Posen. 

At  a  public  consistory  on  Dec.  18,  with 
the  court  assembled  in  full  pontificals,  all 
the  new  Cardinals  except  the  Archbishop 
of  Saragossa  took  the  oath.  To  him  the 
biretta  was  dispatched  by  Mgr.  Somma, 
the  papal  ablegate. 

The  Rev.  John  G.  Murray,  Chancellor 
and  Secretary  of  the  Diocese  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  was  appointed  Auxiliary 
Bishop  of  Hartford  and  Titular,  Bishop 
of  Flavies. 


General  Pershing's  Final  Report 

Complete  Official  Story  of  the  American  Operations  in  the 

World  War 

[First  Half] 

General  John  J.  Pershing,  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  American  Expeditionary 
Forces  in  Europe,  submitted  his  final  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  late  in  Novem- 
ber and  it  was  made  public  Dec.  IS,  1919.  The  complete  text  of  the  report  is  printed 
in  this  magazine  in  two  installments.  The  first  part,  covering  all  the  military 
operations  of  the  First  Army,  appears  below: 


THE  War  Department  planned  as 
early  as  July,  1917,  to  send  to 
France  by  June  15,  1918,  twenty- 
one  divisions  of  the  then  strength 
of  20,000  men  each,  together  with  auxil- 
iary and  replacement  troops,  and  those 
needed  for  the  line  of  communications, 
amounting  to  over  200,000,  making  a  total 
of  some  650,000  men.  Beginning  with 
October,  six  divisions  were  to  be 
sent  during  that  quarter,  seven  during 
the  first  quarter  of  1918,  and  eight 
the  second  quarter.  While  these  num- 
bers fell  short  of  my  recommendation 
of  July  6,  1917,  which  contemplated 
at  least  1,000,000  men  by  May,  1918,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  main 
factor  in  the  problem  was  the  amount  of 
shipping  to  become  available  for  mili- 
tary purposes,  in  which  must  be  included 
tonnage  required  to  supply  the  Allies 
with  steel,  coal,  and  food. 

SITUATION    REVIEWED 

On  Dec.  2,  1917,  an  estimate  of  the 
situation  was  cabled  to  the  War  De- 
partment, with  the  following  recommen- 
dation : 

Paragraph  3.  In  view  of  these  condi- 
tions, it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
the  allied  cause  that  we  move  swiftly. 
The  minimum  number  of  troops  we  should 
plan  to  have  in  France  by  the  end  of 
June  is  four  army  corps  of  twenty-four 
divisions  in  addition  to  troops  for  service 
at  the  rear.  Have  impressed  the  present 
urgency  upon  General  Bliss  and  other 
American  members  of  the  conference. 
Generals  Robertson,  Foch  and  Bliss  agree 
with  me  that  this  is  the  minimum  that 
should  be  aimed  at.  This  figure  is  given 
as  the  lowest  we  should  think  of  and  is 
placed  no  higher  because  the  limit  of 
available  transportation  would  not  seem 
to  warrant  it. 


Paragraph  4.  A  study  of  transportation 
facilities  shows  sufficient  American  ton- 
nage to  bring  over  this  number  of  troops, 
but  to  do  so  there  must  be  a  reduction  in 
the  tonnage  allotted  to  other  than  army 
needs.  It  is  estimated  that  the  shipping 
needed  will  have  to  be  rapidly  increased, 
up  to  2,000,000  tons  by  May,  in  addition 
to  the  amount  already  allotted.  The  use 
of  shipping  for  commercial  purposes  must 
be  curtailed  as  much  as  possible.  The  Al- 
lies are  very  weak  and  we  must  come  to 
their  relief  this  year,  1918.  The  year  after 
may  be  too  late.  It  is  very  doubtful  if 
they  can  hold  on  until  1919  unless  we  give 
them  a  lot  of  support  this  year.  It  is 
therefore  recommended  that  a  complete 
readjustment  of  transportation  be  made 
and  that  the  needs  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment as  set  forth  above  be  regarded  as 
immediate.  Further  details  of  these  re- 
quirements will  be  sent  later. 

A  SECOND  REPORT 

Again  on  Dec.  20,  1917: 

Understood  here  that  a  shipping  pro- 
gram based  on  tonnage  in  sight  prepared 
in  War  College  Division  in  September 
contemplated  that  entire  First  Corps  with 
its  corps  troops  and  some  32,000  auxilia- 
ries were  to  have  been  shipped  by  end  of 
November,  and  that  an  additional  pro- 
gram for,  December,  January,  and  Febru- 
ary contemplates  that  the  shipment  of 
the  Second  Corps  with  its  corps  troops 
and  other  auxiliaries  should  be  practi- 
cally completed  by  the  end  of  February. 
Should  such  a  program  be  carried  out  as 
per  schedule  and  should  shipments  con- 
tinue at  corresponding  rate,  it  would  not 
succeed  in  placing  even  three  complete 
corps,  with  proper  proportion  of  army 
troops  and  auxiliaries,  in  France  by  the 
end  of  May.  The  actual  facts  are  that 
shipments  are  not  even  keeping  up  to  that 
schedule.  It  is  now  the  middle  of  De- 
cember and  the  First  Corps  is  still  in- 
complete by  over  two  entire  divisions 
(The  First,  Forty-second,  Second,  and 
Twenty-sixth    Divisions    had    arrived   but 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


51 


not  the  Replacement  and  the  Depot  Divi- 
sions), and  many  corps  troops.  It  cannot 
be  too  emphatically  declared  that  we 
should  be  prepared  to  take  the  field  with 
at  least  four  corps  by  June  30.  In  view  of 
past  performances  with  tonnage  hereto- 
fore available  such  a  project  is  impossible 
of  fulfillment,  but  only  by  most  strenuous 
attempts  to  attain  such  a  result  will  we 
be  in  a  position  to  take  a  proper  part  in 
operations  in  1918.  In  view  of  fact  that 
as  the  number  of  our  troops  here  in- 
creases a  correspondingly  greater  amount 
of  tonnage  must  be  provided  for  their  sup- 
ply, and  also  in  view  of  the  slow  rate 
of  shipment  with  tonnage  now  available, 
it  is  of  the  most  urgent  importance  that 
more  tonnage  should  be  obtained  at  once 
as  already  recommended  in  my  cables  and 
by   General  Bliss. 

SUBDIVISION  PLAN 

During  January,  1918,  discussions 
were  held  with  the  British  authorities 
that  resulted  in  an  agreement  which  be- 
came known  as  the  subdivision  plan  and 
which  provided  for  the  transportation  of 
six  entire  divisions  in  British  tonnage, 
without  interference  with  our  own  ship- 
ping program.    High  commanders,  staff, 


infantiy,  and  auxiliary  troops  were  to  be 
given  experience  with  British  divisions, 
beginning  with  battalions,  the  artillery 
to  be  trained  under  American  direction, 
using  French  material.  It  was  agreed 
that  when  sufficiently  trained  these  bat- 
talions were  to  be  united  for  service  un- 
der their  own  officers.  It  was  planned 
that  the  period  of  training  with  the  Brit- 
ish should  cover  about  ten  weeks.  To 
supervise  the  administration  and  train- 
ing of  these  divisions  the  Second  Corps 
Staff  was  organized  Feb.  20,  1918. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  joint 
note  No.  12,  presented  by  the  military 
representatives  with  the  Supreme  War 
Council,  was  approved  by  the  council. 
This  note  concluded  that  France  would 
be  safe  during  1918  only  under  certain 
conditions,  namely: 

(a)  That  the  strength  of  the  British  and 
French  troops  in  France  be  continuously 
kept  up  to  their  present  total  strength 
and  that  they  receive  the  expected  rein- 
forcements of  not  less  than  two  American 
divisions  per  month. 


Critical  Situation,  March,   1918 — Allied  Agreement 


The  first  German  offensive  of  1918, 
beginning  March  21,  overran  all  resist- 
ance during  the  initial  period  of  the  at- 
tack. Within  eight  days  the  enemy  had 
completely  crossed  the  old  Somme  bat- 
tlefield and  had  swept  everything  be- 
fore him  to  a  depth  of  some  fifty-six 
kilometers.  For  a  few  days  the  loss  of 
the  railroad  centre  of  Amiens  appeared 
imminent.  The  offensive  made  such  in- 
roads upon  French  and  British  reserves 
that  defeat  stared  them  in  the  face  un- 
less the  new  American  troops  should 
prove  more  immediately  available  than 
even  the  most  optimistic  had  dared  to 
hope.  On  March  27  the  military  repre- 
sentatives with  the  Supreme  War  Council 
prepared  their  joint  note  No.  18.  This 
note  repeated  the  previously  quoted 
statement  from  joint  note  No.  12,  and 
continued: 

The  battle  which  is  developing  at  the 
present  moment  in  France,  and  which 
can  extend  to  the  other  theatres  of  opera- 
tions, may  very  quickly  place  the  allied 
armies  in  a  serious  situation  from  the  point 
of   view    of    effectives,    and    the   military 


representatives  are  from  this  moment  of 
opinion  that  the  above-detailed  condition 
can   no   longer   be   maintained,    and    they 
consider  as  a  general  proposition  that  the 
new  situation  requires  new  decisions. 
The   military   representatives   are   of 
opinion  that  it  is  highly  desirable  that 
the  American  Government  should  assist 
the  allied  armies  as  soon  as  possible  by 
permitting  in  principle  the  temporary 
service    of    American    units    in    allied 
army  corps  and  divisions.     Such  rein- 
forcements must,  however,  be  obtained 
from  other  units  than  those  American 
divisions  which  are  now  operating  with 
the  French,  and  the  units  so  tempora- 
rily employed  must  eventually  be  re- 
turned to  the  American  Army. 
The  military  representatives  are  of  the 
opinion  that  from  the  present  time,  in  ex^ 
ecution  of  the  foregoing,  and  until  other- 
wise directed  by  the  Supreme  War  Coun- 
cil, only  American  infantry  and  machine- 
gun  units,  organized  as  that  Government 
may  decide,  be  brought  to  France,  and  mat 
all    agreements    or    conventions    hitherto 
made    in    conflict    with    this    decision    be 
modified   accordingly. 

ASSIGNMENT  OF  FIRST  ARRIVALS 

The  Secretary   of    War,  who    was    in 
France  at  this  time;  General  Bliss,  the 


52 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


American  military  representative  with 
the  Supreme  War  Council,  and  I  at  once 
conferred  on  the  terms  of  this  note,  with 
the  result  that  the  Secretary  recom- 
mended to  the  President  that  joint  note 
No.  18  be  approved  in  the  following 
sense : 

The  purpose  of  the  American  Govern- 
ment is  to  render  the  fullest  co-operation 
and  aid,  and  therefore  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  military  representatives  with 
regard  to  the  preferential  transportation 
of  American  infantry  and  machine-gun 
units  in  the  present  emergency  is  ap- 
proved. Such  units,  when  transported, 
will  be  under  the  direction  of  the  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  American  Expe- 
ditionary Forces,  and  will  be  assigned  for 
training  and  use  by  him  in  his  discretion. 
He  will  use  these  and  all  other  military 
forces  of  the  United  States  under  his  com- 
mand in  such  manner  as  to  render  the 
greatest  military  assistance,  keeping  in 
mind  always  the  determination  of  this 
Government  to  have  its  various  military 
forces  collected,  as  speedily  as  their  train- 
ing and  the  military  situation  permit, 
into  an  independent  American  army,  act- 
ing in  concert  with  the  armies  of  Great 
Britain  and  France,  and  all  arrange- 
ments made  by  him  for  their  temporary 
training  and  service  will  be  made  with 
that  end  in  view. 

While  note  No.  18  was  general  in  its 
terms,  the  priority  of  shipments  of  in- 
fantry more  especially  pertained  to  those 
divisions  that  were  to  be  trained  in  the 
British  area,  as  that  Government  was  to 
provide  the  additional  shipping  according 
to  the  six-division  plan  agreed  upon  even 
before  the  beginning  of  the  March  21 
offensive. 

On  April  2  the  War  Department 
cabled  that  preferential  transportation 
would  be  given  to  American  infantry  and 
machine-gun  units  during  the  existing 
emergency.  Preliminary  arrangements 
were  made  for  training  and  early  em- 
ployment with  the  French  of  such  in- 
fantry units  as  might  be  sent  over  by 
our  own  transportation.  As  for  the 
British  agreement,  the  six-division  plan 
was  to  be  modified  to  give  priority  to 
the  infantry  of  those  divisions.  How- 
ever, all  the  Allies  were  now  urging  the 
indefinite  continuation  of  priority  for 
the  shipment  of  infantry  and  its  com- 
plete incorporation  in  their  units,  which 
fact  was  cabled  to  the  War  Department 
on  April  3,  with  the  specific  recommen- 
dation that  the  total  immediate  priority 


of  infantry  be  limited  to  four  divisions, 
plus  45,500  replacements,  and  that  the 
necessity  for  future  priority  be  deter- 
mined later. 

The  Secretary  of  War  and  I  held  a 
conference  with  British  authorities  on 
April  7,  during  which  it  developed  that 
the  British  had  erroneously  assumed  that 
the  preferential  shipment  of  infantry 
was  to  be  continuous.  It  was  agreed  at 
this  meeting  that  60,000  infantry  and 
machine-gun  troops,  with  certain  auxil- 
iary units  to  be  brought  over  by  British 
tonnage  during  April,  should  go  to  the 
British  area  as  part  of  the  six-division 
plan,  but  that  there  should  be  a  further 
agreement  as  to  subsequent  troops  to  be 
brought  over  by  the  British.  Consequent- 
ly, a  readjustment  of  the  priority  sched- 
ule was  undertaken  on  the  basis  of  post- 
poning "  shipment  of  all  noncombatant 
troops  to  the  utmost  possible  to  meet 
present  situation,  and  at  the  same  time 
not  to  make  it  impossible  to  build  up 
our  own  army." 

FIRST  UNITS  WITH  BRITISH  TROOPS 

The  battleline  in  the  vicinity  of 
Amiens  had  hardly  stabilized  when,  on 
April  9,  the  Germans  made  another  suc- 
cessful attack  against  the  British  lines 
on  a  front  of  some  forty  kilometers  in 
the  vicinity  of  Armentieres  and  along  the 
the  Lys  River.  As  result  of  its  being 
included  in  a  salient  formed  by  the  Ger- 
man advance,  Passchendaele  Ridge,  the 
capture  of  which  had  cost  so  dearly  in 
1917,  was  evacuated  by  the  British  on 
April  17. 

The  losses  had  been  heavy  and  the 
British  were  unable  to  replace  them  en- 
tirely. They  were,  therefore,  making 
extraordinary  efforts  to  increase  the 
shipping  available  for  our  troops.  On 
April  21  I  went  to  London  to  clear  up 
certain  questions  concerning  the  rate  of 
shipment  and  to  reach  the  further  agree- 
ment provided  for  in  the  April  7  con- 
ference. The  result  of  this  London 
agreement  was  cabled  to  Washington 
April  24,  as  follows: 

(a)  That  only  the  infantry,  machine 
guns,  engineers,  and  signal  troops  of 
American  divisions  and  the  headquarters 
of  divisions  and  brigades  be  sent  over  in 
British  and  American  shipping  during 
May   for   training    and    service   with    the 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


53 


British  Army  in  France  up  to  six  di- 
visions, and  that  any  shipping  in  excess 
of  that  required  for  these  troops  be 
utilized  to  transport  troops  necessary  to 
make  these  divisions  complete.  The 
training  and  service  of  these  troops  will 
be  carried  out  in  accordance  with  plans 
already  agreed  upon  between  Sir  Douglas 
Haig  and  General  Pershing,  with  a  view 
at  an  early  date  of  building  up  American 
divisions. 

(b)  That  the  American  personnel  of  the 
artillery  of  these  divisions  and  such  corps 
troops  as  may  be  required  to  build  up 
American  corps  organizations  follow  im- 
mediately thereafter,  and  that  American 
artillery  personnel  be  trained  with 
French  material  and  join  its  proper  di- 
visions as  soon  as  thoroughly  trained. 

(c)  If,  when  the  program  outlined  in 
paragraphs  (a)  and  (b)  is  completed,  the 
military  situation  makes  advisable  the 
further  shipment  of  infantry,  &c,  of 
American  divisions,  then  all  the  British 
and  American  shipping  available  for 
transport  of  troops  shall  be  used  for  that 
purpose  under  such  arrangement  as  will 
insure  immediate  aid  to  the  Allies,  and 
at  the  same  time  provide  at  the  earliest 
moment  for  bringing  over  American  ar- 
tillery and  other  necessary  units  to  com- 
plete the  organization  of  American  di- 
visions and  corps.  Provided  that  the 
combatant  troops  mentioned  in  (a)  and 
(b)  be  followed  by  such  Service  of  the 
Rear  and  other  troops  as  may  be  consid- 
ered necessary  by  the  American  Com- 
mander in  Chief. 

(d)  That  it  is  contemplated  American 
divisions  and  corps,  when  trained  and  or- 
ganized, shall  be  utilized  under  the  Amer- 
ican Commander  in  Chief  in  an  American 
group. 

(e)  That  the  American  Commander  in 
Chief  shall  allot  American  troops  to  the 
French  or  British  for  training  them  with 
American  units  at  his  discretion,  with  the 
understanding  that  troops  already  trans- 
ported by  British  shipping  or  included  in 
the  six  divisions  mentioned  in  paragraph 
(a)  are  to  be  trained  with  the  British 
Army,  details  as  to  rations,  equipment, 
and  transport  to  be  determined  by  special 
agreement. 

INDEPENDENT  AMERICAN  ARMY 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Supreme  War 
Council  held  at  Abbeville  May  1  and  2, 
the  entire  question  of  the  amalgamation 
of  Americans  with  the  French  and  British 
was  reopened.  An  urgent  appeal  came 
from  both  French  and  Italian  representa- 
tives for  American  replacements  or  units 
to  serve  with  their  armies.  After  pro- 
longed discussion  regarding  this  question 
and  that  of  priority  generally  the  follow- 
ing agreement  was  reached,  committing 


the  council  to  an  independent  American 
army  and  providing  for  the  immediate 
shipment  of  certain  troops: 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  War 
Council  that,  in  order  to  carry  the  War 
to  a  successful  conclusion,  an  American 
army  should  be  formed  as  early  as  pos- 
sible under  its  own  commander  and  under 
its  own  flag.  In  order  to  meet  the  pres- 
ent emergency  it  is  agreed  that  American 
troops  should  be  brought  to  France  as 
rapidly  as  allied  transportation  facilities 
will  permit,  and  that,  as  far  as  consistent 
with  the  necessity  of  building  up  an 
American  army,  preference  will  be  given 
to  infantry  and  machine-gun  units  for 
training  and  service  with  French  and 
British  armies;  with  the  understanding 
that  such  infantry  and  machine-gun  units 
are  to  be  withdrawn  and  united  with  its 
own  artillery  and  auxiliary  troops  into 
divisions  and  corps  at  the  direction  of  the 
American  Commander  in  Chief  after  con- 
sultation with  the  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  allied  armies  in  France. 

Subparagraph  A.  It  is  also  agreed  that 
during  the  month  of  May  preference 
should  be  given  to  the  transportation  of 
infantry  and  machine-gun  units  of  six  di- 
visions, and  that  any  excess  tonnage  shall 
be  devoted  to  bringing  over  such  other 
troops  as  may  be  determined  by  the 
American  Commander  in  Chief. 

Subparagraph  B.  It  is  further  agreed 
that  this  program  shall  be  continued  dur- 
ing the  month  of  June  upon  condition  that 
the  British  Government  shall  furnish 
transportation  for  a  minimum  of  130,000 
men  in  May  and  150,000  men  in  June, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  first  six 
divisions  of  infantry  shall  go  to  the  Brit- 
ish for  training  and  service,  and  that 
troops  sent  over  in  June  shall  be  allo- 
cated for  training  and  service  as  the 
American  Commander  in  Chief  may  de- 
termine. 

Subparagraph  C.  It  is  also  further 
agreed  that  if  the  British  Government 
shall  transport  an  excess  of  150,000  men 
in  June  that  such  excess  shall  be  infantry 
and  machine-gun  units,  and  that  early  in 
June  there  shall  be  a  new  review  of  the 
situation  to  determine  further  action. 

PARIS  IN  GRAVE  DANGER 

The  gravity  of  the  situation  had 
brought  the  Allies  to  a  full  realization 
of  the  necessity  of  providing  all  possible 
tonnage  for  the  transportation  of  Amer- 
ican troops.  Although  their  views  were 
accepted  to  the  extent  of  giving  a  con- 
siderable priority  to  infantry  and  ma- 
chine gunners,  the  priority  agreed  upon 
as  to  this  class  of  troops  was  not  as  ex- 
tensive as  some  of  them  deemed  neces- 
sary, and  the  Abbeville  conference  was 


54 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


adjourned  with  the  understanding  that 
the  question  of  further  priority  would 
be  discussed  at  a  conference  to  be  held 
about  the  end  of  May. 

The  next  offensive  of  the  enemy  was 
made  between  the  Oise  and  Berry-au- 
Bac  against  the  French  instead  of 
against  the  British,  as  was  generally  ex- 
pected, and  it  came  as  a  complete  sur- 
prise. The  initial  Aisne  attack,  covering 
a  front  of  thirty-five  kilometers,  met 
with  remarkable  success,  as  the  German 
armies  advanced  no  less  than  fifty  kilo- 
meters in  four  days.  On  reaching  the 
Marne  that  river  was  used  as  a  defensive 
flank  and  the  German  advance  was  di- 
rected toward  Paris.  During  the  first 
days  of  June  something  akin  to  a  panic 
seized  the  city  and  it  was  estimated  that 
1,000,000  people  left  during  the  Spring 
of  1918. 

APPEAL  OF  PRIME  MINISTERS 

The  further  conference  which  had  been 
agreed  upon  at  Abbeville  was  held  at 
Versailles  on  June  1  and  2.  The  opinion 
of  our  allies  as  to  the  existing  situation 
and  the  urgency  of  their  insistence  upon 
further  priority  for  infantry  and  ma- 
chine gunners  are  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing message  prepared  by  the  Prime  Min- 
isters of  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Italy,  and  agreed  to  by  General  Foch: 

The  Prime  Ministers  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Great  Britain,  now  meeting  at  Versailles,  de- 
sire to  send  the  following  message  to  the 
President  of  the   United  States: 

We  desire  to  express  our  warmest 
thanks  to  President  Wilson  for  the  re- 
markable promptness  with,  which  Amer- 
ican aid  in  excess  of  what  at  one  time 
seemed  practicable  has  been  rendered  to 
the  Allies  during  the  last  month  to  meet 
a  great  emergency.  The  crisis,  however, 
still  continues.  General  Foch  has  pre- 
sented to  us  a  statement  of  the  utmost 
gravity,  which  points  out  that  the  numer- 
ical superiority  of  the  enemy  in  France, 
where  162  allied  divisions  now  oppose  200 
German  divisions,  is  very  heavy,  and  that, 
as  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  British 
and  French  increasing  the  number  of  their 
divisions  (on  the  contrary,  they  are  put 
to  extreme  straits  to  keep  them  up)  there 
is  a  great  danger  of  the  war  being  lost 
unless  the  numerical  inferiority  of  the 
Allies  can  be  remedied  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible by  the  advent  of  American  troops. 
He,  therefore,  urges  with  the  utmost  in- 
sistence that  the  maximum  possible  num- 
ber   of    infantry    and    machine    gunners, 


in  which  respect  the  shortage  of  men  on 
the  side  of  the  Allies  is  most  marked, 
should  continue  to  be  shipped  from  Amer- 
ica in  the  months  of  June  and  July  to 
avert  the  immediate  danger  of  an  allied 
defeat  in  the  present  campaign  owing  to 
the  allied  reserves  being  exhausted  before 
those  of  the  enemy.  In  addition  to  this, 
and  looking  to  the  future,  he  represents 
that  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  ultimate 
victory  in  the  war  unless  America  is  able 
to  provide  such  an  army  as  will  enable 
the  Allies  ultimately  to  establish  numerical 
superiority.  He  places  the  total  American 
force  required  for  this  at  no  less  than  100 
divisions,  and  urges  the  continuous  rais- 
ing of  fresh  American  levies,  which,  in 
his  opinion,  should  not  be  less  than  300,000 
a  month,  with  a  view  to  establishing  a 
total  American  force  of  100  divisions  at 
as  early  a  date  as  this  can  possibly  be 
done. 

We  are  satisfied  that  General  Foch, 
who  is  conducting  the  present  campaign 
with  consummate  ability,  and  on  whose 
military  judgment  we  continue  to  place 
the  most  absolute  reliance,  is  not  over- 
estimating the  needs  of  the  case,  and  we 
feel  confident  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  will  do  everything  that  can 
be  done,  both  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
immediate  situation  and  to  proceed  with 
the  continuous  raising  of  fresh  levies  cal- 
culated to  provide  as  soon  as  possible  the 
numerical  superiority  which  the  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  allied  armies  re- 
gards as  essential  to  ultimate  victory. 

A  separate  telegram  contains  the  ar- 
rangements which  General  Foch,  General 
Pershing,  and  Lord  Milner  have  agreed  to 
recommend  to  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment with  regard  to  the  dispatch  of 
American  troops  for  the  months  of  June 
and  July.  (Signed) 

D.  LLOYD  GEORGE, 

CLEMENCEAU, 

ORLANDO. 

FINAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  TROOPS 

Such  extensive  priority  had  already 
been  given  to  the  transport  of  American 
infantry  and  machine  gunners  that  the 
troops  of  those  categories  which  had  re- 
ceived even  partial  training  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  were  practically  exhausted. 
Moreovei-,  the  strain  on  our  services  of 
supply  made  it  essential  that  early  relief 
be  afforded  by  increasing  its  personnel. 
At  the  same  time,  the  corresponding 
services  of  our  allies  had  in  certain  de- 
partments been  equally  overtaxed  and 
their  responsible  heads  were  urgent  in 
their  representations  that  their  needs 
must  be  relieved  by  bringing  over  Amer- 
ican  specialists.     The    final    agreement 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


55 


was  cabled  to  the  War  Department  on 
June  5,  as  follows: 

The  following  agreement  has  been  con- 
cluded between  General  Foch,  Lord  Mil- 
ner,  and  myself  with  reference  to  the 
transportation  of  American  troops  in  the 
months  of  June  and  July: 

The  following  recommendations  are 
made  on  the  assumption  that  at  least 
250,000  men  can  be  transported  in  each 
of  the  months  of  June  and  July  by  the 
employment  of  combined  British  and 
American   tonnage.     "We   recommend: 

(a)  For  the  month  of  June:  (1)  Absolute 
priority  shall  be  given  to  the  transporta- 
tion of  170,000  combatant  troops  (viz.,  six 
divisions  without  artillery,  ammunition 
trains,  or  supply  trains,  amounting  to 
126,000  men  and  44,000  replacements  for 
combat  troops) ;  (2)  25,400  men  for  the 
service  of  the  railways,  of  which  13,400 
have  been  asked  for  by  the  French  Min- 
ister of  Transportation;  (3)  the  balance 
to  be  troops  of  categories  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Commander  in  Chief,  Ameri- 
can Expeditionary  Forces. 

(b)  For  the  month  of  July:  (1)  Absolute 
priority  for  the  shipment  of  140,000  com- 
batant troops  of  the  nature  defined  above 
(four  divisions  minus  artillery  "  et 
cetera,"  amounting  to  84,000  men,  plus 
56,000  replacement) ;  (2)  the  balance  of 
the  250,000  to  consist  of  troops  to  be  des- 
ignated by  the  Commander  in  Chief, 
American  Expeditionary  Forces. 

(c)  It  is  agreed  that  if  the  available 
tonnage  in  either  month  allows  of  the 
transportation  of  a  larger  number  of  men 
than  250,000,  the  excess  tonnage  will  be 
employed  In  the  transportation  of  combat 
troops  as  defined  above. 

(d)  We  recognize  that  the  combatant 
troops  to  be  dispatched  in  July  may  have 
to  include  troops  which  have  had  insuf- 
ficient training,  but  we  consider  the  pres- 
ent emergency  is  such  as  to  justify  a  tem- 
porary and  exceptional  departure  by  the 
United  States  from  sound  principles  of 
training,  especially  as  a  similar  course  Is 
being  followed  by  France  and  Great 
Britain. 

(Signed)  FOCH, 

MILNER, 
PERSHING. 

The  various  proposals  during  these 
conferences  regarding  priority  of  ship- 
ment, often  very  insistent,  raised  ques- 
tions that  were  not  only  most  difficult 
but  most  delicate.  On  the  one  hand, 
there  was  a  critical  situation  which  must 
be  met  by  immediate  action,  while  on 
the  other  hand,  any  priority  accorded  a 
particular  arm  necessarily  postponed  the 
formation  of  a  distinctive  American 
fighting  force  and  the  means  to  supply 
it.       Such  a  force  was,  in  my  opinion, 


absolutely  necessary  to  win  the  war.  A 
few  of  the  allied  representatives  be- 
came convinced  that  the  American  serv- 
ices of  supply  should  not  be  neglected, 
but  should  be  developed  in  the  common 
interest.  The  success  of  our  divisions 
during  May  and  June  demonstrated  fully 
that  it  was  not  necessary  to  draft  Amer- 
icans under  foreign  flags  in  order  to 
utilize  American  manhood  most  effec- 
tively. 

THE  MIGHTY  ONSLAUGHT  OF  THE 
GERMANS 

When,  on  March  21,  1918,  the  German 
army  on  the  western  front  began  its 
series  of  offensives,  it  was  by  far  the 
most  formidable  force  the  world  had 
ever  seen.  In  fighting  men  and  guns 
it  had  a  great  superiority,  but  this  was 
of  less  importance  than  the  advantage 
in  morale,  in  experience,  in  training  for 
mobile  warfare,  and  in  unity  of  com- 
mand. Ever  since  the  collapse  of  the 
Russian  armies  and  the  crisis  on  the 
Italian  front  in  the  Fall  of  1917,  Ger- 
man armies  were  being  assembled  and 
trained  for  the  great  campaign  which 
was  to  end  the  war  before  America's 
effort  could  be  brought  to  bear.  Ger- 
many's best  troops,  her  most  successful 
Generals,  and  all  the  experience  gained 
in  three  years  of  war  were  mobilized  for 
the  supreme  effort. 

The  first  blow  fell  on  the  right  of  the 
British  armies,  including  the  junction  of 
the  British  and  French  forces.  Only  the 
prompt  co-operation  of  the  French  and 
British  General  Headquarters  stemmed 
the  tide.  The  reason  for  this  objective 
was  obvious  and  strikingly  illustrated 
the  necessity  for  having  some  one  with 
sufficient  authority  over  all  the  allied 
armies  to  meet  such  an  emergency.  The 
lack  of  complete  co-operation  among  the 
Allies  on  the  western  front  had  been 
appreciated,  and  the  question  of  prepara- 
tion to  meet  a  crisis  had  already  received 
attention  by  the  Supreme  War  Council. 
A  plan  had  been  adopted  by  which  each 
of  the  Allies  would  furnish  a  certain 
number  of  divisions  for  a  general  re- 
serve, to  be  under  the  direction  of  the 
military  representatives  of  the  Supreme 
War  Council,  of  which  General  Foch  was 
then  the  senior  member.     But  when  the 


56 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


time  came  to  meet  the  German  offensive 
in  March  these  reserves  were  not  found 
available  and  the  plan  failed. 

FOCH  IS  SELECTED 

This  situation  resulted  in  a  conference 
for  the  immediate  consideration  of  the 
question  of  having  an  allied  Commander 
in  Chief.  After  much  discussion,  during 
which  my  view  favoring  such  action  was 
clearly  stated,  an  agreement  was  reached 
and  General  Foch  was  selected.  His  ap- 
pointment as  such  was  made  April  3  and 
was  approved  for  the  United  States  by 
the  President  on  April  16.  The  terms  of 
the  agreement  under  which  General  Foch 
exercised  his  authority  were  as  follows: 

Beauvais,  April  3,  1918. 
General  Foch  is  charged  by  the  British, 
French  and  American   Governments  with 
the  co-ordination  of  the  action  of  the  al- 


lied armies  on  the  western  front;  to  this 
end  there  is  conferred  on  him  all  the 
powers  necessary  for  its  effective  realiza- 
tion. To  the  same  end,  the  British, 
French  and  American  Governments  con- 
fide in  General  Foch  the  strategic  direc- 
tion of  military  operations. 

The  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  British. 
French  and  American  armies  will  exercise 
to  the  fullest  extent  the  tactical  direction 
of  their  armies.  Each  Commander  in  Chief 
will  have  the  right  to  appeal  to  his  Gov- 
ernment, if  in  his  opinion  his  army  is 
placed  in  danger  by  the  instructions  re- 
ceived from  General  Foch. 

(Signed)      G.  CLEMENCEAU, 
PETAIN. 
•  F.  FOCH. 

LLOYD  GEORGE. 
D.  HAIG,   F.   M. 
HENRY  WILSON, 
General,  3,  4,  18. 

TASKER  H.   BLISS, 
General   and   Chief   of   Staff. 

JOHN  J.    PERSHING, 
General,   U.   S.   A. 


Employment  of  American  Divisions,  March  to  September 


The  grave  crisis  precipitated  by  the 
first  German  offensive  caused  me  to 
make  a  hurried  visit  to  General  Foch's 
headquarters  at  Bombon,  during  which 
all  our  combatant  forces  were  placed  at 
his  disposal.  The  acceptance  of  this  of- 
fer meant  the  dispersion  of  our  troops 
along  the  allied  front  and  a  consequent 
delay  in  building  up  a  distinctive  Amer- 
ican force  in  Lorraine,  but  the  serious 
situation  of  the  Allies  demanded  this 
divergence  from  our  plans. 

On  March  21,  approximately  300,000 
American  troops  had  reached  France. 
Four  combat  divisions,  equivalent  in 
strength  to  eight  French  or  British  divi- 
sions, were  available — the  1st  and  2d  then 
in  line,  and  the  26th  and  42d  just  with- 
drawn from  line  after  one  month's  trench 
warfare  training.  The  last  two  divisions  at 
once  began  taking  over  quiet  sectors  to  re- 
lease divisions  for  the  battle;  the  26th 
relieved  the  1st  Division,  which  was  sent  to 
northwest  of  Paris  in  reserve ;  the  42d  re- 
lieved two  French  division  from  quiet  sec- 
tors. In  addition  to  these  troops,  one  regi- 
ment of  the  93d  Division  was  with  the 
French  in  the  Argonne,  the  41st  Depot  Di- 
vision was  in  the  Services  of  Supply,  and 
three  divisions  (3d,  32d,  and  5th)  were  ar- 
riving. 

On  April  25  the  1st  Division  relieved  two 
French  divisions  on  the  front  near  Mont- 
didier  and  on  May  28  captured  the  important 


observation  stations  on  the  heights  of  Can- 
tigny  with  splendid  dash.  French  artillery, 
aviation,  tanks,  and  flame  throwers  aided 
in  the  attack,  but  most  of  this  French  as- 
sistance was  withdrawn  before  the  comple- 
tion of  the  operation,  in  order  to  meet  the 
enemy's  new  offensive  launched  May  27  to- 
ward Chateau-Thierry.  The  enemy  reaction 
against  our  troops  at  Cantigny  was  ex- 
tremely violent,  and  apparently  he  was  de- 
termined at  all  costs  to  counteract  the  most 
excellent  effect  the  American  success  had  pro- 
duced. For  three  days  his  guns  of  all  cali- 
bres were  concentrated  on  our  new  position 
and  counterattack  succeeded  counterat- 
tack. The  desperate  efforts  of  the  Germans 
gave  the  fighting  at  Cantigny  a  seeming 
tactical  importance  entirely  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  numbers  involved. 

Of  the  three  divisions  arriving  in  France 
when  the  first  German  offensive  began,  the 
32d,  intended  for  replacements,  had  been 
temporarily  employed  in  the  Services  of 
Supply  to  meet  a  shortage  of  personnel,  but 
the  critical  situation  caused  it  to  be  reas- 
sembled, and  by  May  21  it  was  entering  the 
line  in  the  "Vosges.  At  this  time  the  5th 
Division,  though  still  incomplete,  was  also 
ordered  into  the  line  in  the  same  region. 
The  3d  Division  was  assembling  in  its  train- 
ing area  and  the  3d  Corps  staff  had  just 
been  organized  to  administer  these  three  di- 
visions. In  addition  to  the  eight  di- 
visions already  mentioned,  the  28th  and  77th 
had  arrived  in  the  British  area,  and  the  4th, 
27th,  13th,  33d,  35th,  and  82d  were  arriving 
there.  Following  the  agreements  as  to 
British  shipping,  our  troops  came  so  rapidly 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


57 


TERRITORY   BETWEEN  THE   TWO   DARK   LINES    WAS    WON   BACK   IN   HEAVY   FIGHTING 
BY   AMERICAN    SOLDIERS    AND    MARINES 


that   by   the    end    of   May   we   had    a    force 
of  600,000  in  France. 

The  third  German  offensive,  on  May  27, 
against  the  French  on  the  Aisne,  soon  de- 
veloped a  desperate  situation  for  the  Allies. 
The  2d  Division,  then  in  reserve  north- 
west of  Paris  and  preparing  to  relieve  the 
1st  Division,  was  hastily  diverted  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Meaux  on  May  31,  and,  early 
on  the  morning  of  June  1,  was  deployed 
across  the  Chateau-Thierry-Paris  road  near 
Montreuil-aux-Lions  in  a  gap  in  the  French 
line,  where  it  stopped  the  German  advance 
on  Paris.  At  the  same  time  the  partially 
trained  3d  Division  was  placed  at  French 
disposal  to  hold  the  crossings  of  the  Marne, 
and  its  motorized  machine-gun  battalion  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  Chateau-Thierry  in  time 
to  assist  in  successfully  defending  that  river 
crossing. 

BELLEAU  WOODS 

The  enemy  having  been  halted,  the  2d 
Division  commenced  a  series  of  vigorous  at- 
tacks on  June  4,  which  resulted  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Belleau  Woods  after  very  severe 
fighting.  The  village  of  Bouresches  was 
taken  soon  after,  and  on  July  1  Vaux  was 
captured.  In  these  operations  the  2d  Division 
met  with  most  desperate  resistance  by  Ger- 
many's  best  troops. 

To  meet  the  March  offensive,  the  French 
had  extended  their  front  from  the  Oise  to 
Amiens,  about  sixty  kilometers,  and  during 
the  German  drive  along  the  Lys  had  also 
sent  reinforcements  to  assist  the  British. 
The  French  lines  had  been  further  length- 
ened about  forty-five  kilometers  as  a  result 
of  the  Marne  pocket  made  by  the  Alsne  of- 
fensive.     This    increased    frontage    and    the 


heavy  fighting  had  reduced  French  reserves 
to  an  extremely  low  point. 

Our  Second  Corps,  under  Major  Gen. 
George  W.  Read,  had  been  organized  for  the 
command  of  the  ten  divisions  with  the  Brit- 
ish, which  were  held  back  in  training  areas 
or  assigned  to  second-line  defenses.  After 
consultation  with  Field  Marshal  Haig  on 
June  3,  five  American  divisions  were  re- 
lieved from  the  British  area  to  support  the 
French.  The  77th  and  82d  Divisions  were 
removed  south  to  release  the  42d  and  26th 
for  employment  on  a  more  active  portion  of 
the  front;  the  35th  Division  entered  the  line 
in  the  Vosges,  and  the  4th  and  28th  Divisions 
were  moved  to  the  region  of  Meaux  and 
Chateau-Thierry  as  reserves. 

On  June  9  the  Germans  attacked  the  Mont- 
didier-Noyon  front  In  an  effort  to  widen  the 
Marne  pocket  and  bring  their  lines  nearer 
to  Paris,  but  were  stubbornly  held  by  the 
French  with  comparatively  little  loss  of 
ground.  In  view  of  the  unexpected  results 
of  the  three  preceding  attacks  by  the  enemy, 
this  successful  defense  proved  beneficial  to 
the  allied  morale,  particularly  as  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  German  losses  were  unusually 
heavy. 

On  July  15,  the  date  of  the  last  German 
offensive,  the  1st,  2d,  3d,  and  26th  Divisions 
were  on  the  Chateau-Thierry  front  with  the 
4th  and  28th  in  support,  some  small  units  of 
the  last  two  divisions  gaining  front-line  ex- 
perience with  our  troops  or  with  the  French; 
the  42d  Division  was  in  support  of  the  French 
east  of  Rheims,  and  four  colored  regiments 
were  with  the  French  in  the  Argonne.  On 
the  Alsace-Lorraine  front  we  had  five  di- 
visions in  line  with  the  French.  Five  were 
with    the    British    Army,    three    having    ele- 


58 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ments  in  the  line.  In  our  training  areas  four 
divisions  were  assembled  and  four  were  in 
the  process  of  arrival. 

AMERICANS  BAR  THE  WAY  TO  PARIS 

The  Marne  salient  was  inherently  weak  and 
offered  an  opportunity  for  a  counteroffensive 
that  was  obvious. 

If  successful,  such  an  operation  would  af- 
ford immediate  relief  to  the  allied  defense, 
would  remove  the  threat  against  Paris,  and 
free  the  Paris-Nancy  railroad.  But,  more 
important  than  all  else,  it  would  restore  the 
morale  of  the  Allies  and  remove  the  profound 
depression  and  fear  then  existing.  Up  to  this 
time  our  units  had  been  put  in  here  and 
there  at  critical  points  as  emergency  troops 
to  stop  the  terrific  German  advance.  In 
every  trial,  whether  on  the  defensive  or  of- 
fensive, they  had  proved  themselves  equal  to 
any  troops  in  Europe.  As  early  as  June  23 
and  again  on  July  10  at  Bombon,  I  had  very 
strongly  urged  that  our  best  divisions  be 
concentrated  under  American  command,  if 
possible,  for  use  as  a  striking  force  against 
the  Marne  salient.  Although  the  prevailing 
view  among  the  Allies  was  that  American 
units  were  suitable  only  for  the  defensive, 
and  that  at  all  events  they  could  be  used  to 
better  advantage  under  allied  command,  the 
suggestion  was  accepted  in  principle,  and  my 
estimate  of  their  offensive  fighting  qualities 
was  soon  put  to  the  test. 

The  enemy  had  encouraged  his  soldiers  to 
believe  that  the  July  15  attack  would  con- 
clude the  war  with  a  German  peace.  Al- 
though he  made  elaborate  plans  for  the  oper- 
ation, he  failed  to  conceal  fully  his  inten- 
tions, and  the  front  of  attack  was  suspected 
at  least  one  week  ahead.  On  the  Champagne 
front  the  actual  hour  for  the  assault  was 
known  and  the  enemy  was  checked  with 
heavy  losses.  The  42d  Division  entered  the 
line  near  Somme  Py  immediately,  and  five 
of  its  infantry  battalions  and  all  its  artillery 
became  engaged.  Southwest  of  Rheims  and 
along  the  Marne  to  the  east  of  Chateau- 
Thierry  the  Germans  were  at  first  somewhat 
successful,  a  penetration  of  eight  kilometers 
beyond  the  river  being  effected  against  the 
French  immediately  to  the  right  of  our  3d 
Division.  The  following  quotation  from  the 
report  of  the  commanding  General,  3d  Divi- 
sion, gives  the  result  of  the  fighting  on  his 
front : 

"  Although  the  rush  of  the  German  troops 
overwhelmed  some  of  the  front-line  posi- 
tions, causing  the  infantry  and  machine-gun 
companies  to  suffer,  in  some  cases  a  50  per 
cent,  loss,  no  German  soldier  crossed  the 
road  from  Fossoy  to  Crezancy,  except  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  and  by  noon  of  the  follow- 
ing day  (July  16)  there  were  no  Germans  in 
the  foreground  of  the  3d  Division  sector  ex- 
cept the  dead." 

On  this  occasion  a  single  regiment  of  the 
3d  Division  wrote  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant pages  in  our  military  annals.  It  pre- 
vented the  crossing  at  certain  points  on  its 


front,  while  on  either  flank  the  Germans  who 
had  gained  a  footing  pressed  forward.  Our 
men,  firing  in  three  directions,  met  the  Ger- 
man attacks  with  counterattacks  at  critical 
points  and  succeeded  in  throwing  two  Ger- 
man divisions  into  complete  confusion,  cap- 
turing 600  prisoners. 

The  selection  by  the  Germans  of  the  Cham- 
pagne sector  and  the  eastern  and  southern 
faces  of  the  Marne  pocket  on  which  to  make 
their  offensive  was  fortunate  for  the  Allies, 
as  it  favored  the  launching  of  the  counterat- 
tack already  planned.  There  were  now  over 
1,200,000  American  troops  in  France,  which 
provided  a  considerable  force  of  reserves. 
Every  American  division  with  any  sort  of 
training  was  made  available  for  use  in  a 
counteroffensive. 

General  PStain's  initial  plan  for  the  coun- 
terattack involved  the  entire  western  face 
of  the  Marne  salient.  The  1st  and  2d  Ameri- 
can Divisions,  with  the  1st  French  Moroccan 
Division  between  them,  were  employed  as  the 
spearhead  of  the  main  attack,  driving  direct- 
ly eastward,  through  the  most  sensitive  por- 
tion of  the  German  lines,  to  the  heights  south 
of  Soissons.  The  advance  began  on  July  18, 
without  the  usual  brief  warning  of  a  prelimi- 
nary bombardment,  and  these  three  divisions 
at  a  single  bound  broke  through  the  enemy's 
infantry  defenses  and  overran  his  artillery, 
cutting  or  interrupting  the  German  communi- 
cations leading  into  the  salient.  A  general 
withdrawal  from  the  Marne  was  immediately 
begun  by  the  enemy,  who  still  fought  stub- 
bornly to  prevent  disaster. 

MAGNIFICENT  DASH  NEAR  SOISSONS 

The  1st  Division,  throughout  four  days  of 
constant  fighting,  advanced  eleven  kilo- 
meters, capturing  Berzy-le-Sec  and  the 
heights  above  Soissons  and  taking  some  3,500 
prisoners  and  sixty-eight  field  guns  from  the 
seven  German  divisions  employed  against  it. 
It  was  relieved  by  a  British  division.  The 
2d  Division  advanced  eight  kilometers  in  the 
first  twenty-six  hours,  and  by  the  end  of 
the  second  day  was  facing  Tigny,  having 
captured  3,000  prisoners  and  sixty-six  field 
guns.  It  was  relieved  the  night  of  the  19th 
by  a  French  division. 

"  The  result  of  this  counteroffensive  was 
of  decisive  importance.  Due  to  the  mag- 
nificent dash  and  power  displayed  on  the 
field  of  Soissons  by  our  1st  and  2d  Divisions 
the  tide  of  the  war  was  definitely  turned  in 
favor  of  the  Allies." 

Other  American  divisions  participated  in 
the  Marne  counteroffensive.  A  little  to  the 
south  of  the  2d  Division,  the  4th  was  in  line 
with  the  French  and  was  engaged  until  July 
22.  The  1st  American  Corps,  Major  Gen. 
Hunter  Liggett  commanding,  with  the  26th 
Division  and  a  French  division,  acted  as  a 
pivot  of  the  movement  toward  Soissons,  cap- 
turing Torcy  on  the  18th  and  reaching  the 
Chateau-Thierry-Soissons  roads  on  the  21st. 
At  the  same  time  the  3d  Division  crossed 
the    Marne    and    took    the   heights    of    Mont 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


59 


Saint    Peter    and   the    villages   of   Charteves 
and  Jaulgonne. 

ADVANCING  TO  THE  VESLE 

In  the  1st  Corps,  the  42d  Division  re- 
lieved the  26th  on  July  25  and  extended  Its 
front,  on  the  26th  relieving  the  French  di- 
vision. From  this  time  until  Aug.  2  it 
fought  its  way  through  the  Forest  de  Fere 
and  across  the  Ourcq,  advancing  toward  the 
Vesle  until  relieved  by  the  4th  Division  on 
Aug.  3.  Early  in  this  period  elements  of  the 
28th  Division  participated  In  the  advance. 

Further  to  the  east  the  3d  Division  forced 
the  enemy  back  to  Roncheres  Wood,  where 
it  was  relieved  on  July  30  by  the  32d  Di- 
vision from  the  Vosges  front.  The  32d,  after 
relieving  the  3d  and  some  elements  of  the 
28th  on  the  line  of  the  Ourcq  River,  ad- 
vanced abreast  of  the  42d  toward  the  Vesle. 
On  Aug.  3  it  passed  under  control  of  our 
3d  Corps,  Major  Gen.  Robert  L.  Bullard 
commanding,  which  made  its  first  appear- 
ance in  battle  at  this  time,  while  the  4th  Di- 
vision took  up  the  task  of  the  42d  Division 
and  advanced  with  the  32d  to  the  Vesle 
River,  where,  on  Aug.  6,  the  operations  for 
the  reduction  of  the  Marne  salient  ter- 
minated. 

In  the  hard  fighting  from  July  18  to  Aug.  6 
the  Germans  were  not  only  halted  in  their 
advance,  but  were  driven  back  from  the 
Marne  to  the  Vesle  and  committed  wholly  to 
the  defensive.  The  force  of  American  arms 
had  been  brought  to  bear  in  time  to  enable 
the  last  offensive  of  the  enemy  to  be  crushed. 

BATTLES  ON  THE  VESLE 

The  1st  and  3d  Corps  now  held  a  contin- 
uous fron:;  of  eleven  kilometers  along  the 
Vesle.  On  Aug.  12  the  77th  Division  relieved 
the  4th  Division  on  the  1st  Corps  front,  and 
the  following  day  the  28th  relieved  the  32d 
Division  in  the  3d  Corps,  while  from  Aug.  6 
to  Aug.  10  the  6th  Infantry  Brigade  of  the  3d 
Division  held  a  sector  on  the  river  line.  The 
transfer  of  the  1st  Corps  to  the  Woevre  was 
ordered  at  this  time,  and  the  control  of  its 
front  was  turned  over  to  the  3d  Corps. 

On  Aug.  13  General  P4tain  began  an  offen- 
sive between  Rheims  and  the  Oise.  Our  3d 
Corps  participated  In  this  operation,  crossing 
the  Vesle  on  Sept.  4,  with  the  28th  and  77th 
Divisions  and  overcoming  stubborn  opposition 
on  the  plateau  south  of  the  Aisne,  which 
was  reached  by  the  77th  on  Sept.  6.  The 
28th  was  withdrawn  from  the  line  on  Sept. 
7.  Two  days  later  the  3d  Corps  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  region  of  Verdun,  the  77th  Di- 
vision remaining  in  line  on  the  Aisne  River 
until  Sept.   17. 

The  32d  Division,  upon  Its  relief  from  the 


battle  on  the  Vesle,  joined  a  French  corps 
north  of  Solssons  and  attacked  from  Aug. 
29  to  31,  capturing  Juvigny  after  some  par- 
ticularly desperate  fighting  and  reaching  the 
Chauny-Soissons  road. 

On  the  British  front  two  regiments  of  the 
33d  Division  participated  in  an  attack  on  Ha- 
mel  July  4,  and  again  on  Aug.  9,  as  an  in- 
cident of  an  allied  offensive  against  the  Ami- 
ens salient.  One  of  these  regiments  took 
Gressaire  Wood  and  Chipilly  Bridge,  cap- 
turing 700  prisoners  and  considerable  ma- 
terial. 

ASSEMBLING  OF  THE   FIRST  AMER- 
ICAN ARMY 

In  conference  with  General  P6tain  at 
Chantilly  on  May  19  it  had  been  agreed 
that  the  American  Army  would  soon  take 
complete  charge  of  the  sector  of  the  Woevre. 
The  26th  Division  was  already  in  line  in  the 
Woevre  north  of  Toul  and  was  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  other  American  divisions  as  they 
became  available,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  sector  was  to  pass  to  our  control 
when  four  divisions  were  in  the  line.  But 
demands  of  the  battle  then  going  on  further 
west  required  the  presence  of  our  troops, 
and  the  agreement  had  no  immediate  result. 
Due  to  the  presence  of  a  number  of  our 
divisions  northeast  of  Paris,  the  organization 
of  an  American  corps  sector  in  the  Chateau- 
Thierry  region  was  taken  up  with  General 
P6tain,  and  on  July  4  the  1st  Corps  as- 
sumed tactical  control  of  a  sector  in  that 
region.  This  was  an  important  step,  but  it 
was  by  no  means  satisfactory,  as  only  one 
American  division  at  the  moment  was  op- 
erating under  the  control  of  the  1st  Corps, 
while  we  had  at  this  time  eight  American 
divisions  in  the  front  line  serving  in  French 
corps. 

The  counteroffensive  against  the  Marne 
salient  in  July,  and  against  the  Amiens 
salient  in  August  had  gained  such  an  ad- 
vantage that  it  was  apparent  that  the 
emergency,  which  justified  the  dispersion  of 
our  divisions,  had  passed.  The  moment  was 
propitious  for  assembling  our  divisions. 
Scattered  as  they  were  along  the  allied  front, 
their  supply  had  become  very  difficult. 
From  every  point  of  view  the  immediate 
organization  of  an  independent  American 
force  was  indicated.  The  formation  of  the 
army  in  the  Chateau-Thierry  region  and  its 
early  transfer  to  the  sector  of  the  Woevre, 
which  was  to  extend  from  Nomeny,  east  of 
the  Moselle,  to  north  of  St.  Mihiel,  was 
therefore  decided  upon  by  Marshal  Foch  and 
myself  on  Aug.  9,  and  the  details  were  ar- 
ranged with  General  P6tain  later  on  the 
same  day. 


60 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Americans  in  the  St.  Mihiel  Operation 


At  Bombon  on  July  24  there  was  a  confer- 
ence of  all  the  Commanders  In  Chief  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  allied  operations. 
Each  presented  proposals  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  armies  under  his  command,  and 
these  formed  the  basis  of  future  co-operation 
of  the  Allies.  It  was  emphatically  deter- 
mined that  the  allied  attitude  should  be  to 
maintain  the  offensive.  At  the  first  opera- 
tion of  the  American  Army  the  reduction  of 
the  salient  of  St.  Mihiel  was  to  be  undertaken 
as  soon  as  the  necessary  troops  and  material 
could  be  made  available.  On  account  of  the 
swampy  nature  of  the  country  it  was  espe- 
cially important  that  the  movement  be  under- 
taken and  finished  before  the  Fall  rains 
should  begin,  which  was  usually  about  the 
middle  of  September. 

Arrangements  were  concluded  for  successive 
relief  of  the  American  divisions,  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  First  American  Army  un- 
der my  personal  command  was  announced  on 
Aug.  10,  with  La  Fertesous-Jouarre  as  head- 
quarters. This  army  nominally  assumed  con- 
trol of  a  portion  of  the  Vesle  front,  although 
at  the  same  time  directions  were  given  for 
its  secret  concentration  in  the  St.  Mihiel 
sector. 

The  force  of  American  soldiers  in  France 
at  that  moment  was  sufficient  to  carry  out 
this  offensive,  but  they  were  dispersed  along 
the  front  from  Switzerland  to  the  Channel. 
The  three  army  corps  headquarters  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  St.  Mihiel  attack  were  the  1st, 
4th,  and  5th.  The  1st  was  on  the  Vesle,  the 
4th  at  Toul,  and  the  5th  not  yet  completely 
organized.  To  assemble  combat  divisions 
and  service  troops  and  undertake  a  major 
operation  within  the  short  period  available 
and  with  staffs  so  recently  organized  was 
an  extremely  difficult  task.  Our  deficien- 
cies in  artillery,  aviation,  and  special  troops, 
caused  by  the  shipment  of  an  undue  propor- 
tion of  infantry  and  machine  guns  during 
the  Summer,  were  largely  met  by  the 
French. 

The  reduction  of  the  St.  Mihiel  salient  was 
important,  as  it  would  prevent  the  enemy 
from  interrupting  traffic  on  the  Paris-Nancy 
Railroad  by  artillery  fire  and  would  free  the 
railroad  leading  north  through  St.  Mihiel  to 
Verdun.  It  would  also  provide  us  with  an 
advantageous  base  of  departure  for  an  attack 
against  the  Metz-Sedan  railroad  system, 
which  was  vital  to  the  German  armies  west 
of  Verdun,  and  against  the  Briey  Iron  Basin, 
which  was  necessary  for  the  production  of 
German  armament  and  munitions. 

FOCH'S  PLAN  OF  BATTLE 
The  general  plan  was  to  make  simultane- 
ous attacks  against  the  flanks  of  the  salient. 
The  ultimate  objective  was  tentatively  fixed 
as  the  general  line  Marieulles  (east  of  the 
Moselle)— heights  south  of  Gorze-Mars  in 
Tour-Etain.  The  operations  contemplated 
the  use  of  the  western  face  of  three  or  four 


American  divisions,  supported  by  the  attack 
of  six  divisions  of  the  Second  French  Army 
on  their  left,  while  seven  American  divisions 
would  attack  on  the  southern  face,  and  three 
French  divisions  would  press  the  enemy  at 
the  tip  of  the  salient.  As  the  part  to  be 
taken  by  the  Second  French  Army  would  be 
Closely  related  to  the  attack  of  the  First 
American  Army,  General  Petain  placed  all 
the  Freench  troops  involved  under  my  per- 
sonal command. 

By  Aug.  20  the  concentration  of  the  scat- 
tered divisions,  corps,  and  army  troops,  of 
the  quantities  of  supplies  and  munitions  re- 
quired, and  the  necessary  construction  of 
light  railways  and  roads,  were  well  under 
way. 

In  accordance  with  the  previous  general 
consideration  of  operations  at  Bombon  on 
July  24,  an  allied  offensive  extending  practi- 
cally along  the  entire  active  front  was  even- 
tually to  be  carried  out.  After  the  reduction 
of  the  St.  Mihiel  sector  the  Americans  were 
to  co-operate  in  the  concerted  effort  of  the 
allied  armies.  It  was  the  sense  of  the  con- 
ference of  July  24  that  the  extent  to  which 
the  different  operations  already  planned 
might  carry  us  could  not  be  then  foreseen, 
especially  if  the  results  expected  were 
achieved  before  the  season  was  far  advanced. 
It  seemed  reasonable  at  that  time  to  look 
forward  to  a  combined  offensive  for  the 
Autumn,  which  would  give  no  respite  to  the 
enemy  and  would  increase  our  advantage  for 
the  inauguration  of  succeeding  operations  ex- 
tending into  1919. 

On  Aug.  30  a  further  discussion  with  Mar- 
shal Foch  was  held  at  my  headquarters  at 
L-igny-en-Barrois.  In  view  of  the  new  suc- 
cesses of  the  French  and  British  near  Amiens 
and  the  continued  favorable  results  toward 
the  Chemin  des  Dames  on  the  French  front, 
it  was  now  believed  that  the  limited  allied 
offensive,  which  was  to  prepare  for  the  cam- 
paign of  1919,  might  be  carried  further  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  year.  At  this  meeting  it 
was  proposed  by  Marshal  Foch  that  the 
generous  operations  as  far  as  the  American 
Army  was  concerned  should  be  carried  out 
in  detail  by: 

(a)  An  attack  between  the  Meuse  and  the 
Argonne  by  the  Second  French  Army,  rein- 
forced by  from  four  to  six  American  divi- 
sions. 

(b)  A  French-American  attack*  extending 
from  the  Argonne  west  to  the  Souain  road, 
to  be  executed  on  the  right  by  an  American 
Army  astride  the  Aisne  and  on  the  left  by 
the  Fourth  French  Army. 

To  carry  out  these  attacks  the  ten  to 
eleven  American  divisions  suggested  for  the 
St.  Mihiel  operation  and  the  four  to  six  for 
the  Second  French  Army,  would  have  eight  ■ 
to  ten  divisions  for  an  American  Army  on 
the  Aisne.  It  was  proposed  that  the  St. 
Mihiel  operation  should  be  initiated  on  Sept. 


62 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


10,    and   the   other   two   on    Sept.    15   and   20, 
respectively. 

PERSHING'S    PLAN   SUPERSEDES 
THAT  OF  FOCH 

The  plan  suggested  for  the  American  par- 
ticipation in  these  operations  was  not  ac- 
ceptable to  me  because  it  would  require  the 
immediate  separation  of  the  recently  formed 
First  American  Army  into  several  groups, 
mainly  to  assist  French  armies.  This  was 
directly  contrary  to  the  principle  of  forming 
a  distinct  American  army,  for  which  my 
contention  had  been  insistent.  An  enormous 
amount  of  preparation  had  already  been 
made  in  construction  of  roads,  railroads, 
regulating  stations,  and  other  installations 
looking  to  the  use  and  supply  of  our  armies 
on  a  particular  front.  The  inherent  disincli- 
nation of  our  troops  to  serve  under  allied 
commanders  would  have  grown  and  Ameri- 
can morale  would  have  suffered.  My  posi- 
tion was  stated  quite  clearly  that  the  strateg- 
ical employment  of  the  First  Army  as  a 
unit  would  be  undertaken  where  desired,  but 
its  disruption  to  carry  out  these  proposals 
would   not  be   entertained. 

A  further  conference  at  Marshal  Foch's 
headquarters  was  held  on  Sept.  2,  at  which 
General  P6tain  was  present.  After  discus- 
sion the  question  of  employing  the  American 
Army  as  a  unit  was  conceded.  .  The  essen- 
tials of  the  strategical  decision  previously 
arrived  at  provided  that  the  advantageous 
situation  of  the  Allies  should  be  exploited  to 
the  utmost  by  vigorously  continuing  the  gen- 
eral battle  and  extending  it  eastward  to  the 
Meuse.  All  the  allied  armies  were  to  be  em- 
ployed in  a  converging  action.  The  British 
armies,  supported  by  the  left  of  the  French 
armies,  were  to  pursue  the  attack  in  the  di- 
rection of  Cambrai ;  the  centre  of  the  French 
armies,  west  of  Rheims,  would  continue  the 
actions  already  begun  to  drive  the  enemy 
beyond  the  Aisne;  and  the  American  Army, 
supported  by  the  right  of  the  French  armies, 
would  direct  its  attack  on  Sedan  and  M6- 
zieres. 

It  should  be  recorded  that  although  this 
general  offensive  was  fully  outlined  at  the 
conference  no  one  present  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  final  victory  could  be  won 
in  1918.  In  fact,  it  was  believed  by  the 
French  High  Command  that  the  Meuse-Ar- 
gonne  attack  could  not  be  pushed  much  be- 
yond Montfaucon  before  the  arrival  of  Win- 
ter would  force  a  cessation  of  operations. 

The  choice  between  the  two  sectors,  that 
east  of  the  Aisne,  including  the  Argonne 
Forest,  or  the  Champagne  sector,  was  left 
to  me.  In  my  opinion  no  other  allied  troops 
had  the  morale  or  the  offensive  spirit  to 
overcome  successfully  the  difficulties  to  be 
met  in  the  Meuse-Argonne  sector,  and  our 
plans  and  installations  had  been  prepared 
for  an  expansion  of  operations  in  that  direc- 
tion. So  the  Meuse-Argonne  front  was 
chosen.  The  entire  sector  of  150  kilometers 
of  front,  extending  from  Port-sur-Seille,  east 


of  the  Moselle,  west  to  include  the  Argonne 
Forest,  was  accordingly  placed  under  my 
command,  including  all  French  divisions 
then  in  that  zone.  The  First  American  Army 
was  to  proceed  with  the  St.  Mihiel  operation, 
after  which  the  operation  between  the  Meuse 
and  the  western  edge  of  the  Argonne  Forest 
was  to  be  prepared  and  launched  not  later 
than   Sept.  25. 

THE  FIELD  OF  BATTLE 

As  a  result  of  these  decisions  the  depth  of 
the  St.  Mihiel  operation  was  limited  to  the 
line  Vigneulles-Thiaucourt-Regnieville.  The 
number  of  divisions  to  be  used  was  reduced 
and  the  time  shortened.  Eighteen  to  nine- 
teen divisions  were  to  be  in  the  front  line. 
There  were  four  French  and  fifteen  Ameri- 
can divisions  available,  six  of  which  would 
be  in  reserve,  while  the  two  flank  divisions 
of  the  front  line  were  not  to  advance.  Fur- 
thermore, two  Army  Corps  Headquarters, 
with  their  corps  troops,  practically  all  the 
army  artillery  and  aviation,  and  the  1st,  2d, 
and  4th  Divisions,  the  first  two  destined 
to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  St.  Mihiel  at- 
tack, were  all  due  to  be  withdrawn  and 
started  for  the  Meuse-Argonne  by  the  fourth 
day  of  the  battle. 

The  salient  had  been  held  by  the  Germans 
since  September,  1914.  It  covered  the  most 
sensitive  section  of  the  enemy's  position  on 
the  western  front,  namely,  the  Mezieres- 
Sedan-Metz  railroad  and  the  Briey  Iron 
Basin ;  it  threatened  the  entire  region  be- 
tween Verdun  and  Nancy,  and  interrupted 
the  main  rail  line  from  Paris  to  the  east. 
Its  primary  strength  lay  in  the  natural  de- 
fensive features  of  the  terrain  itself.  The 
western  face  of  the  salient  extended  along 
the  rugged,  heavily  wooded  eastern  heights 
of  the  Meuse ;  the  southern  face  followed  the 
heights  of  the  Meuse  for  eight  kilometers  to 
the  east  and  then  crossed  the  plain  of  the 
Woevre,  including  within  the  German  lines 
the  detached  heights  of  Loupmont  and  Mont- 
sec  which  dominated  the  plain  and  afforded 
the  enemy  unusual  facilities  for  observation. 
The  enemy  had  reinforced  the  positions  by 
every  artificial  means  during  a  period  of 
four  years. 

On  the  night  of  Sept.  11  the  troops  of  the 
First  Army  were  deployed  in  position.  On 
the  southern  face  of  the  salient  was  the  1st 
Corps,  Major  Gen.  Liggett  commanding,  with 
the  82d,  19th,  5th  and  2d  Divisions  in  line,  ex- 
tending from  the  Moselle  westward,  On  its 
left  was  the  4th  Corps,  Major  Gen.  Joseph  T. 
Dickman  commanding,  with  the  89th,  42d  and 
1st  Divisions,  the  left  of  this  corps  being  oppo- 
site Montsee.  These  two  army  corps  were  to 
deliver  the  principal  attack,  the  line  pivoting 
on  the  centre  division  of  the  1st  Corps.  The  1st 
Division,  on  the  left  of  the  4th  Corps,  was 
charged  with  the  double  mission  of  covering 
its  own  flank  while  advancing  some  twenty 
kilometers  due  north  toward  the  heart  of  the 
salient,  where  it  was  to  make  contact  with 
the  troops  of  the  5th  Corps.  On  the  western 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


63 


face  of  the  salient  lay  the  5th  Corps,  Major 
Gen.  George  H.  Cameron  commanding,  with 
the  26th  Division,  15th  French  Colonial  Divi- 
sion and  the  4th  Division  in  line,  from  Mou- 
Illy  west  to  Les  Eparges  and  north  to  Wa- 
tronvllle.  Of  these  three  divisions  the  26th 
alone  was  to  make  a  deep  advance  directed 
southeast  toward  Vigneulles.  The  French  di- 
vision was  to  make  a  short  progression  to  the 
edge  of  the  heights  In  order  to  cover  the  left 
of  the  26th.  The  4th  Division  was  not  to  ad- 
vance. In  the  centre,  between  our  4th  and 
5th  Army  Corps,  was  the  2d  French  Colonial 
Corps,  Major  Gen.  E.  J.  Blondlat  commanding, 
covering  a  front  of  forty  kilometers  with 
three  small  French  divisions.  These  troops 
were  to  follow  up  the  retirement  of  the  enemy 
from  the  tip  of  the  salient. 

ADVANCE  AT  DAWN 

The  French  independent  air  force  was  at 
my  disposal,  which,  together  with  the  British 
bombing  squadrons  and  our  own  air  forces, 
gave  us  the  largest  assemblage  of  aviation 
that  had  ever  been  engaged  in  one  operation. 
Our  heavy  guns  were  able  to  reach  Metz  and 
to  interfere  seriously  with  German  rail  move- 
ments. 

At  dawn  on  Sept.  12,  after  four  hours  of 
violent  artillery  fire  of  preparation,  and  ac- 
companied by  small  tanks,  the  infantry  of  the 
1st  and  4th  Corps  advanced.  The  infantry  of 
the  5th  Corps  commenced  its  advance  at  8 
A.  M.  The  operation  was  carried  out  with 
entire  precision.  Just  after  daylight  on  Sept. 
13  elements  of  the  1st  and  26th  Divisions 
made  a  junction  near  Hattonchatel  and 
Vigneulles,  eighteen  kilometers  northeast  of 
St.  Mihiel. 

The  rapidity  with  which  our  divisions  ad- 
vanced overwhelmed  the  enemy,  and  all  ob- 
jectives were  reached  by  the  afternoon  of 
Sept.  13.     The  enemy  had  apparently  started 


to  withdraw  some  of  his  troops  from  the  tip 
of  the  sailent  on  the  eve  of  our  attack,  but 
had  been  unable  to  carry  it  through.  We 
captured  nearly  16,000  prisoners,  443  guns, 
and  large  stores  of  material  and  supplies. 
The  energy  and  swiftness  with  which  the 
operation  was  carried  out  enabled  us  to 
smother  opposition  to  such  an  extent  that 
we  suffered  less  than  7,000  casualties  dur- 
ing the  actual  period  of  the  advance. 

During  the  next  two  days  the  right  of  our 
line  west  of  the  Moselle  River  was  advanced 
beyond  the  objectives  laid  down  in  the  origi- 
nal orders.  This  completed  the  operation  for 
the  time  being  and  the  line  was  stabilized 
to  be  held  by  the  smallest  practicable  force. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  BATTLE 

The  material  results  of  the  victory  achieved 
were  very  important.  An  American  army 
was  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  enemy 
had  felt  its  power.  No  form  of  propaganda 
could  overcome  the  depressing  effect  on  the 
morale  of  the  enemy  of  this  demonstration 
of  our  ability  to  organize  a  large  American 
force  and  drive  it  successfully  through  his 
defenses.  It  gave  our  troops  implicit  con- 
fidence in  their  superiority  and  raised  their 
morale  to  the  highest  pitch.  For  the  first 
time  wire  entanglements  ceased  to  be  re- 
garded as  impassable  barriers  and  open- 
warfare  training,  which  had  been  so 
urgently  insisted  upon,  proved  to  be  the 
correct  doctrine.  Our  divisions  concluded 
the  attack  with  such  small  losses  and  in 
such  high  spirits  that  without  the  usual 
rest  they  were  immediately  available  for 
employment  in  heavy  fighting  in  a  new 
theatre  of  operations.  The  strength  of  the 
First  Army  in  this  battle  totaled  approxi- 
mately 500,000  men,  of  whom  about  70,000 
were   French. 


Battling  to  Break  Hindenburg  Line 


The  definite  decision  for  the  Meuse-Argonne 
phase  of  the  great  allied  convergent  attack 
was  agreed  to  in  my  conference  with  Marshal 
Foch  and  General  P6taln  on  Sept.  2.  It  was 
planned  to  use  all  available  forces  of  the 
First  Army,  including  such  divisions  and 
troops  as  we  might  be  able  to  withdraw 
from  the  St.  Mihiel  front.  The  army  was  to 
break  through  the  enemy's  successive  forti- 
fied zones  to  include  the  Kriemhilde  Stellung, 
or  Hindenburg  line,  on  the  front  Brleulles- 
Romagne  sous  Montfaucon-Grand  Pre\  and 
thereafter,  by  developing  pressure  toward 
Mdzieres,  was  to  Insure  the  fall  of  the 
Hindenburg  line  along  the  Aisne  River  in 
front  of  the  Fourth  French  Army,  which  was 
to  attack  to  the  west  of  the  Argonne  Forest. 
A  penetration  of  some  twelve  to  fifteen  kilo- 
meters was  required  to  reach  the  Hinden- 
burg line  on  our  front,  and  the  enemy's  de- 
fenses were  virtually  continuous  throughout 
that  depth. 


The  Meuse-Argonne  front  had  been  practi- 
cally stabilized  in  September,  1914,  and,  ex- 
cept for  minor  fluctuations  during  the  Ger- 
man attacks  on  Verdun  in  1916  and  the 
French  counteroffensive  in  August,  1917,  re- 
mained unchanged  until  the  American  ad- 
vance in  1918.  The  net  result  of  the  four 
years'  struggle  on  this  ground  was  a  German 
defensive  system  of  unusual  depth  and 
strength  and  a  wide  zone  of  utter  devasta- 
tion, itself  a  serious  obstacle  to  offensive 
operations. 

The  strategical  importance  of  this  portion 
of  the  line  was  second  to  none  on  the  western 
front.  All  supplies  and  evacuations  of  the 
German  armies  in  Northern  France  were  de- 
pendent upon  two  great  railway  systems- 
one  in  the  north,  passing  through  Li6ge, 
the  other  in  the  south,  with  linos  com- 
ing from  Luxemburg,  Thionville,  and  Metz, 
had  as  its  vital  section  the  line  Carignan- 
Sedan-M6zleres.  No  other  important  lines  were 


64 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


available  to  the  enemy,  as  the  mountainous 
masses  of  the  Ardennes  made  the  construc- 
tion of  east  and  west  lines  through  that  re- 
gion impracticable.  The  Carignan-Sedan- 
MSzieres  line  was  essential  to  the  Germans 
for  the  rapid  strategical  movement  of  troops. 
Should  this  southern  system  be  cut  by  the 
Allies  before  the  enemy  could  withdraw  his 
forces  through  the  narrow  neck  between 
M6zieres  and  the  Dutch  frontier,  the  ruin  of 
his  armies  in  France  and  Belgium  would  be 
complete. 

From  the  Meuse-Argonne  front  the  per- 
pendicular distance  to  the  Carignan-Mezieres 
railroad  was  50  kilometers.  This  region 
formed  the  pivot  of  German  operations  in 
Northern  France,  and  the  vital  necessity  of 
covering  the  great  railroad  line  into  Sedan 
resulted  in  the  convergence  on  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  front  of  the  successive  German  de- 
fensive positions.  The  effect  of  this  con- 
vergence can  be  best  understood  by  reference 
to  the  map.  It  will  be  seen,  for  example, 
that  the  distance  between  No  Man's  Land 
and  the  third  German  withdrawal  position  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Meuse  River  was  approxi- 
mately 18  kilometers ;  the  distance  between 
the  corresponding  points  near  the  tip  of  the 
great  salient  of  the  western  front  was  about 
65  kilometers,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Cambrai 
was  over  30  kilometers.  The  effect  of  a 
penetration  of  18  kilometers  by  the  American 
Army  would  be  equivalent  to  an  advance  of 
65  kilometers  further  west ;  furthermore,  such 
an  advance  on  our  front  was  far  more  dan- 
gerous to  the  enemy  than  an  advance  else- 
where. The  vital  importance  of  this  por- 
tion of  his  position  was  fully  appreciated  by 
the  enemy,  who  had  suffered  tremendous 
losses  in  1916  in  attempting  to  improve  it  by 
the  reduction  of  Verdun.  As  a  consequence 
It  had  been  elaborately  fortified,  and  con- 
sisted of  practically  a  continuous  series  of 
positions  20  kilometers  or  more  in  depth. 

In  addition  to  the  artificial  defenses,  the 
enemy  was  greatly  aided  by  the  natural 
features  of  the  terrain.  East  of  the  Meuse 
the  dominating  heights  not  only  protected 
his  left,  but  gave  him  positions  from  which 
powerful  artillery  could  deliver  an  oblique 
fire  on  the  western  bank.  Batteries  located 
in  the  elaborately  fortified  Argonne  Forest 
covered  his  right  flank,  and  could  cross  their 
fire  with  that  of  the  guns  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Meuse.  Midway  between  the_  Meuse 
and  the  forest  the  heights  of  Montfaucon 
offered  observation  and  formed  a  strong  nat- 
ural position  which  had  been  heavily  forti- 
fied. The  east  and  west  ridges  abutting  on 
the  Meuse  and  Air  River  valleys  afforded 
the  enemy  excellent  machine-gun  positions 
for  the  desperate  defense  which  the  impor- 
tance of  the  position  would  require  him  to 
make.  North  of  Montfaucon  densely  wooded 
and  rugged  heights  constituted  natural  fea- 
tures favorable  to  defensive  fighting. 

When  the  First  Army  became  engaged  in 
the  simultaneous  preparation  for  two  major 
operations  an  interval  of  fourteen  days  sepa- 
rated the  initiation  of  the  two  attacks.    Dur- 


ing this  short  period  the  movement  of  the 
immense  number  of  troops  and  the  amount 
of  supplies,  and  confined  entirely  to  the 
hours  of  darkness,  was  one  of  the  most  deli- 
cate and  difficult  problems  of  war.  The  con- 
centration included  fifteen  divisions,  of 
which  seven  were  involved  in  the  pending 
St.  Mihiel  drive,  three  were  in  sector  in  the 
Vosges,  three  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sois- 
sons,  one  in  a  training  area  and  one  near 
Bar-le-Duc.  Practically  all  the  artillery, 
aviation  and  other  auxiliaries  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  new  operations  were  commit- 
ted to  the  St.  Mihiel  attack  and,  therefore, 
could  not  be  moved  until  its  success  was 
assured.  The  concentration  of  all  units  not 
to  be  used  at  St.  Mihiel  was  commenced 
immediately,  and  on  Sept.  13,  the  second  day 
of  St.  Mihiel,  reserve  divisions  and  artillery 
units  were  withdrawn  and  placed  in  motion 
toward   the   Argonne   front. 

MOVING  TOWARD  ARGONNE  FOREST 

That  part  of  the  American  sector  from 
Fresnes-en-Woevre,  southeast  of  Verdun,  to 
the  western  edge  of  the  Argonne  Forest, 
while  nominally  under  my  control,  did  not 
actively  become  a  part  of  my  command  until 
Sept.  22,  on  which  date  my  headquarters 
were  established  at  Souilly,  southwest  of 
Verdun.  Of  French  troops,  in  addition  to 
the  2d  French  Colonial  Corps,  composed  of 
three  divisions,  there  was  also  the  17th 
French  Corps  of  three  divisions  holding  the 
front  north  and  east  of  Verdun. 

At  the  moment  of  the  opening  of  the 
Meuse-Argonne  battle  the  enemy  had  ten 
divisions  in  line  and  ten  in  reserve  on  the 
front  between  Fresnes-en-Woevre  and  the 
Argonne  Forest,  inclusive.  He  had  undoubt- 
edly expected  a  continuation  of  our  advance 
toward  Metz.  Successful  ruses  were  carried 
out  between  the  Meuse  River  and  Luneville 
to  deceive  him  as  to  our  intentions,  and 
French  troops  were  maintained  as  a  screen 
along  our  front  until  the  night  before  the 
battle,  so  that  the  actual  attack  was  a 
tactical  surprise. 

The  operations  in  the  Meuse-Argonne  bat- 
tle really  form  a  contfnuous  whole,  but  they 
extended  over  such  a  long  period  of  contin- 
uous fighting  that  they  will  here  be  consid- 
ered in  three  phases,  the  first  from  Sept.  26 
to  Oct.  3,  the  second  from  Oct.  4  to  31,  and 
the  third  from  Nov.  1  to  11. 

FIRST  FIGHTING  IN  ARGONNE 

On  the  night  of  Sept.  25  the  nine  divisions 
to  lead  in  the  attack  were  deployed  between 
the  Meuse  River  and  the  western  edge  of  the 
Argonne  Forest.  On  the  right  was  the  3d 
Corps,  Major  Gen.  Bullard  commanding, 
with  the  33d,  80th  and  4th  Divisions  in  line; 
next  came  the  5th  Corps,  Major  Gen. 
Cameron  commanding,  with  the  79th,  37th  and 
91st  Divisions ;  on  the  left  was  the  1st  Corps, 
Major  Gen.  Liggett  commanding,  with  the 
35th,  28th  and  77th  Divisions.  Each  corps 
had  one  division  in  reserve  and  the  army  held 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


65 


three  divisions  as  a  general  reserve.  About 
2,700  guns,  189  small  tanks,  142  manned  by 
Americans,  and  821  airplanes,  604  manned  by- 
Americans,  were  concentrated  to  support  the 
attack  of  the  infantry.  We  thus  had  a 
superiority  in  guns  and  aviation,  and  the 
enemy  had  no   tanks. 

The  axis  of  the  attack  was  the  line 
Montfaucon-Bomagne-Buzancy,  the  purpose 
being  to  make  the  deepest  penetration  in  the 
centre,  which,  with  the  Fourth  French  Army 
advancing  west  of  the  Argonne,  would  force 
the  enemy  to  evacuate  that  forest  without 
our  having  to  deliver  a  heavy  attack  in  that 
difficult  region. 

Following  three  hours  of  violent  artillery 
fire  of  preparation,  the  infantry  advanced  at 
5 :30  A.  M.  on  Sept.  26,  accompanied  by  tanks. 
During  the  first  two  days  of  the  attack,  be- 
fore the  enemy  was  able  to  bring  up  his  re- 
serves, our  troops  made  steady  progress 
through  the  network  of  defenses.  Montfaucon 
was  held  tenaciously  by  the  enemy  and  was 
not  captured  until  noon  of  the  second  day. 

By  the  evening  of  the  28th  a  maximum 
advance  of  eleven  kilometers  had  been 
achieved  and  we  had  captured  Baulny, 
Epinonville,  Septsarges,  and  Dannevoux. 
The  right  had  made  a  splendid  advance  into 
the  woods  south  of  Brieulles-sur-Meuse,  but 
the  extreme  left  was  meeting  strong  re- 
sistance in  the  Argonne.  The  attack  con- 
tinued without  Interruption,  meeting  six 
new  divisions  which  the  enemy  threw  into 
the  first  line  before  Sept.  29.  He  developed  a 
powerful  machine-gun  defense  supported  by 
heavy  artilery  fire,  and  made  frequent 
counterattacks  with  fresh  troops,  particu- 
larly on  the  front  of  the  28th  and  35th  Di- 
visions. These  divisions  had  taken  Varennes, 
Cheppy,  Baulny,  and  Charpentry,  and  the 
line  was  within  two  kilometers  of  Apre- 
mont.  We  were  no  longer  engaged  in  a 
manoeuvre  for  the  pinching  out  of  a  salient, 
but  were  necessarily  committed,  generally 
sqeaking,  to  a  direct  frontal  attack  against 
strong,  hostile  positions  fully  manned  by  a 
determined  enemy. 

By  nightfall  of  the  29th  the  First  Army 
line  was  approximately  Bois  de  la 
C6te  Lemont-Nantillois-Apremont-southwest 
across  the  Argonne.  Many  divisions,  espe- 
cially those  in  the  centre  that  were  sub- 
jected to  cross-fire  of  artillery,  had  suf- 
fered heavily.  The  severe  fighting,  the 
nature  of  the  terrain  over  which  they  at- 
tacked, and  the  fog  and  darkness  sorely 
tried  even  our  best  divisions.  On  the  night 
of  the  29th  the  37th  and  79th  Divisions 
were  relieved  by  the  32d  and  3d  Divisions, 
respectively,  and  on  the  following  night  the 
1st  Division  relieved  the  35th  Division. 

The  critical  problem  during  the  first  few 
days  of  the  battle  was  the  restoration  of 
communications  over  No  Man's  Land.  There 
were  but  four  roads  available  across  this 
deep  zone,  and  the  violent  artillery  fire 
of  the  previous  period  of  the  war  had  virtu- 
ally  destroyed   them.     The   spongy   soil  and 


the  lack  of  material  increased  the  difficulty. 
But  the  splendid  work  of  our  engineers  and 
pioneers  soon  made  possible  the  movement  of 
the  troops,  artillery,  and  supplies  most 
needed.  By  the  afternoon  of  the  27th  all 
the  divisional  artillery  except  a  few  bat- 
teries of  heavy  guns  had  effected  a  passage 
and  was  supporting  the  infantry  action. 

SECOND  PHASE  OF  BATTLE 

At  5:30  A.  M.  on  Oct.  4  the  general  attack 
was  renewed.  The  enemy  divisions  on  the 
front  from  Fresnes-en-Woerve  to  the  Ar- 
gonne had  increased  from  ten  in  the  first 
line  to  sixteen,  and  included  some  of  his 
best  divisions.  The  fighting  was  desperate, 
and  only  small  advances  were  realized,  ex- 
cept by  the  1st  Division,  on  the  right  of  the 
1st  Corps.  By  evening  of  Oct.  5  the  line 
was  approximately  Bois  de  la  Cdte  Lemont- 
Bois  du  Fays-Gesnes-Hill  240-Fleville- 
Chehery-southwest  through  the  Argonne. 

It  was  especially  desirable  to  drive  the 
enemy  from  his  commanding  positions  on  the 
heights  east  of  the  Meuse,  but  it  was  even 
more  important  that  we  should  force  him  to 
use  his  troops  there  and  weaken  his  tenaci- 
ous hold  on  positions  in  our  immediate  front. 
The  further  stabilization  of  the  new  St. 
Mihiel  line  permitted  the  withdrawal  of  cer- 
tain divisions  for  the  extension  of  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  operation  to  the  east  bank  of  the 
Meuse  River. 

On  the  7th  the  1st  Corps,  with  the  82d 
Division  added,  launched  a  strong  attack 
northwest  toward  Cornay,  to  draw  attention 
from  the  movement  east  of  the  Meuse  and 
at  the  same  time  outflank  the  German  po- 
sition in  the  Argonne.  The  following  day 
the  17th  French  Corps,  Major  Gen.  Claudel 
commanding,  initiated  its  attack  east  of  the 
Meuse  against  the  exact  point  on  which  the 
German  armies  must  pivot  in  order  to  with- 
draw from  Northern  France.  The  troops 
encountered  elaborate  fortifications  and 
stubborn  resistance,  but  by  nightfall  had 
realized  an  advance  of  six  kilometers  to  a 
line  well  within  the  Bois  de  Consenvoye,  and 
including  the  villages  of  Beaumont  and  Hau- 
mont.  Continuous  fighting  was  maintained 
along  our  entire  battlefront,  with  especial 
success  on  the  extreme  left,  where  the  cap- 
ture of  the  greater  part  of  the  Argonne 
Forest  was  completed.  The  enemy  con- 
tested every  foot  of  ground  on  our  front 
in  order  to  make  more  rapid  retirements 
further  west  and  withdraw  his  forces  from 
Northern  France  before  the  interruption  of 
his  railroad  communications  through  Sedan. 

REPLACEMENTS  INSUFFICIENT 

We  were  confronted  at  this  time  by  an  in- 
sufficiency of  replacements  to  build  up  ex- 
hausted divisions.  Eary  in  October  combat 
units  required  some  90,000  replacements,  and 
not  more  than  45,000  would  be  available  be- 
fore Nov.  1  to  fill  the  existing  and  pros- 
pective vacancies.    We  still  had  two  divisions 


66 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


with  the  British  and  two  with  the  French. 
A  review  of  the  situation,  American  and 
allied,  especially  as  to  our  own  resources  in 
men  for  the  next  two  months,  convinced 
me  that  the  attack  of  the  First  Army  and  of 
the  allied  armies  further  west  should  be 
pushed  to  the  limit.  But  if  the  First  Army 
was  to  continue  its  aggressive  tactics  our  di- 
visions then  'with  the  French  must  be  re- 
called, and  replacements  must  be  obtained 
by  breaking  up  newly  arrived  divisions. 

In  discussing  the  withdrawal  of  our  di- 
visions from  the  French  with  Marshal  Foch 
and  General  P6tain  on  Oct.  10  the  former 
expressed  his  appreciation  of  the  fact  that 
the  First  Army  was  striking  the  pivot  of  the 
German  withdrawal,  and  also  held  the  view 
that  the  allied  attack  should  continue.  Gen- 
eral P6tain  agreed  that  the  American  di- 
visions with  the  French  were  essential  to  us 
if  we  were  to  maintain  our  battle  against  the 
German  pivot.  The  French  were,  however, 
straining  every  nerve  to  keep  up  their  at- 
tacks and,  before  those  divisions  with  the 
French  had  been  released,  it  became  neces- 
sary for  us  to  send  the  37th  and  91st  Divi- 
sions from  the  First  Army  to  assist  the  Sixth 
French  Army  in  Flanders. 

OVER  ONE  MILLION  AMERICANS  IN 
BATTLE 

At  this  time  the  First  Army  was  holding  a 
front  of  more  than  120  kilometers;  its 
strength  exceeded  1,000,000  men;  it  was  en- 
gaged in  the  most  desperate  battle  of  our  his- 
tory, and  the  burden  of  command  was  too 
heavy  for  a  single  commander  and  staff. 
Therefore,  on  Oct.  12,  that  portion  of  our 
front  extending  from  Port-sur-Seille,  east  of 
the  Moselle,  to  Fresnes-en-Woevre,  southeast 
of  "Verdun,  was  transferred  to  the  newly  con- 
stituted Second  Army,  with  Lieut.  Gen.  Rob- 
ert L.  Bullard  in  command,  under  whom  it 
began  preparations  for  the  extension  of  op- 
erations to  the  east  in  the  direction  of  Briey 
and  Metz.  On  Oct.  16  the  command  of  the 
First  Army  was  transferred  to  Lieut.  Gen. 
Hunter  Liggett,  and  my  advance  headquar- 
ters was  established  at  Ligny-en-Barrois, 
from  which  the  command  of  the  group  of 
American  armies  was  exercised. 

HINDENBURG  LINE  BROKEN 

Local  attacks  of  the  First  Army  were  con- 
tinued in  order  particularly  to  adjust  posi- 
tions preparatory  to  a  renewed  general  as- 
sault. The  1st  and  5th  Divisions  were  re- 
lieved by  the  42d  and  18th  Divisions,  which 
were  now  fresh.  An  attack  along  the  whole 
front  was  made  on  Oct.  11.  The  resistance 
encountered  was  stubborn,  but  the  strong- 
hold on  C6te  Dame  Marie  was  captured  and 
the  Hindenburg  line  was  broken.  Cunel  and 
Romagne-sous-Montfaucon  were  taken  and 
the  line  advanced  two  kilometers  north  of 
Sommerance.  A  maximum  advance  of  seven- 
teen kilometers  had  been  made  since  Sept.  26 
and  the  enemy  had  been  forced  to  throw  into 
the  fight  a  total  of  fifteen  reserve  divisions. 


During  the  remainder  of  the  month  impor- 
tant local  operations  were  carried  out,  which 
involved  desperate  fighting.  The  1st  Corps, 
Major  Gen.  Dickman  commanding,  advanced 
through  Grand  Pre;the  5th  Corps,  Major  Gen. 
Charles  P.  Summerall  commanding,  captured 
the  Bois  de  Bantheville;  the  3d  Corps,  Major 
Gen.  John  L.  Hines  commanding,  completed 
the  occupation  of  Cunel  Heights,  and  the 
17th  French  Corps  drove  the  enemy  from 
the  main  ridge  south  of  La  Grande  Montague. 
Particularly  heavy  fighting  occurred  east  of 
the  Meuse  on  Oct.  18,  and  in  the  further 
penetration  of  the  Kriemhilde-Stellung  on 
Oct.  23  the  26th  Division,  entering  the  battle 
at  this  time,  relieved  the  18th  French  Divi- 
sion. 

THE  RESULTS 

Summarizing  the  material  results  whicli  had 
been  attained  by  the  First  Army  by  the  end 
of  October,  we  had  met  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  Germany's  best  divisions,  rising  from 
twenty  in  line  and  reserve  on  Sept.  26,  to 
thirty-one  on  Oct.  31;  the  enemy's  elaborately 
prepared  positions,  including  the  Hindenburg 
line,  in  our  front  had  been  broken;  the  al- 
most impassable  Argonne  Forest  was  in  our 
hands;  an  advance  of  twenty-one  kilometers 
had  been  effected;  18,600  prisoners,  370  can- 
non, 1,000  machine  guns,  and  a  mass  of  ma- 
terial captured,  and  the  great  railway  artery 
through  Carignan  to  Sedan  was  now  seriously 
threatened. 

The  demands  of  incessant  battle  which 
had  been  maintained  day  by  day  for  more 
than  a  month  had  compelled  our  divisions  to 
fight  to  the  limit  of  their  capacity.  Combat 
troops  were  held  in  line  and  pushed  to  the 
attack  until  deemed  incapable  of  further  ef- 
fort because  of  casualties  or  exhaustion ;  ar- 
tillery once  engaged  was  seldom  withdrawn, 
and  many  batteries  fought  until  practically 
all  the  animals  were  casualties  and  the  guns 
were  towed  out  of  line  by  motor  trucks. 

The  American  soldier  had  shown  un- 
rivaled fortitude  in  this  continuous  fighting 
during  most  inclement  weather  and  under 
many  disadvantages  of  position.  Through 
experience,  the  army  had  developed  into  a 
powerful  and  smooth-running  machine,  and 
there  was  a  supreme  confidence  in  our  ability 
to  carry  through  the  task  successfully. 

While  the  high  pressure  of  these  dogged 
attacks  was  a  great  strain  on  our  troops,  it 
was  calamitous  to  the  enemy.  His  divisions 
had  been  thrown  into  confusion  by  our 
furious  assaults,  and  his  morale  had  been  re- 
duced until  his  will  to  resist  had  "well-nigh 
reached  the  breaking  point.  Once  a  German 
division  was  engaged  in  the  fight,  it  became 
practically  impossible  to  effect  its  relief. 
The  enemy  was  forced  to  meet  the  con- 
stantly recurring  crisis  by  breaking  up  tacti- 
cal organizations  and  sending  hurried  de- 
tachments to  widely  separated  portions  of 
the  field. 

Every  member  of  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces,    from    the   front   line    to    the 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


67 


base  ports,  was  straining  every  nerve.  Mag- 
nificent efforts  were  exerted  by  the  entire 
Services  of  Supply  to  meet  the  enormous  de- 
mands made  on  it.  Obstacles  which  seemed 
insurmountable  were  overcome  daily  in  ex- 
pediting the  movements  of  replacements,  am- 
munition and  supplies  to  the  front,  and  of 
sick  and  wounded  to  the  rear.  It  was  this 
spirit  of  determination  animating  every 
American  soldier  that  made  it  impossible  for 
the  enemy  to  maintain  the  struggle  until 
1919. 

THIRD  PHASE 

The  detailed  plans  for  the  operations  of  the 
allied  armies  on  the  western  front  changed 
from  time  to  time  during  the  course  of  this 
great  battle,  but  the  mission  of  the  First 
American  Army  to  cut  the  great  Carignan- 
Sedan-M^zieres  railroad  remained  un- 
changed. Marshal  Foch  co-ordinated  the 
operations  along  the  entire  front,  continu- 
ing persistently  and  unceasingly  the  attacks 
by  all  allied  armies;  the  Belgian  Army, 
with  a  French  army  and  two  American  di- 
visions, advancing  eastward ;  the  British  ar- 
mies and  two  American  divisions,  with  the 
First  French  Army  on  their  right,  toward 
the  region  north  of  Givet;  the  First  Amer- 
ican Army  and  Fourth  French  Army  toward 
Sedan   and    M6zieres. 

On  the  21st  my  instructions  were  issued  to 
start  the  First  Army  to  prepare  thoroughly 
for  a  general  attack  on  Oct.  28  that  would 
be  decisive,  if  possible.  In  order  that  the 
attack  of  the  First  Army  and  that  of  the 
Fourth  French  Army  on  its  left  should  be 
simultaneous,  our  attack  was  delayed  until 
Nov.  1.  The  immediate  purpose  of  the  First 
Army  was  to  take  Buzancy  and  the  heights 
of  Barricourt,  to  turn  the  forest  north  of 
Grand  Pre,  and  to  establish  contact  with  the 
Fourth  French  Army  near  Boult-aux-Bois. 
The  army  was  directed  to  carry  the  heights 
of  Barricourt  by  nightfall  of  the  first  day 
and  then  to  exploit  this  success  by  advanc- 
ing its  left  to  Boult-aux-Bois  in  preparation 
for  the  drive  toward  Sedan.  By  strenuous 
effort  all  available  artillery  had  been  moved 
well  forward  to  the  heights  previously  oc- 
cupied by  the  enemy,  from  which  it  could 
fully  cover  and  support  the  initial  advance 
of  the  infantry. 

On  this  occasion,  and  for  the  first  time, 
the  army  prepared  for  its  attack  under  nor- 
mal conditions.  We  held  the  front  of  the  at- 
tack, and  were  not  under  the  necessity  of 
taking  over  a  new  front,  with  its  manifold 
installations  and  services.  Our  own  person- 
nel handled  the  communications,  dumps,  tel- 
egraph lines,  and  water  service;  our  divisions 
were  either  on  the  line  or  close  in  the  rear; 
the  French  artillery,  aviation,  and  technical 
troops,  which  had  previously  made  up  our 
deficiencies,  had  been  largely  replaced  by 
our  own  organizations,  and  now  our  army, 
corps,  and  divisional  staffs  were  by  actual 
experience  second  to  none. 


FOE'S    LAST   DEFENSE 

On  the  morning  of  Nov.  1  three  army  corps 
were  in  line  between  the  Meuse  River  and 
the  Bois  de  Bourgogne.  On  the  right  the 
3d  Corps  had  the  5th  and  90th  Divisions; 
the  5th  Corps  occupied  the  centre  of  the  line, 
with  the  89th  and  2d  Divisions,  and  was  to 
be  the  wedge  of  the  attack  on  the  first  day, 
and  on  the  left  the  1st  Corps  deployed  the 
80th,  77th,  and  78th  Divisions. 

Preceded  by  two  hours  of  violent  artillery 
preparation,  the  infantry  advanced,  closely 
followed  by  "  accompanying  guns."  The  ar- 
tillery acquitted  itself  magnificently,  the  bar- 
rages being  so  well  co-ordinated  and  so  dense 
that  the  enemy  was  overwhelmed  and  quickly 
submerged  by  the  rapid  onslaught  of  the  in- 
fantry. By  nightfall  the  5th  Corps,  in  the 
centre,  had  realized  an  advance  of  almost 
nine  kilometers,  to  the  Bois  de  la  Folie,  and 
had  completed  the  capture  of  the  Heights  of 
Barricourt,  while  the  3d  Corps,  on  the  right, 
had  captured  Aincreville  and  Andevanne.  Our 
troops  had  broken  through  the  enemy's  last 
defense,  captured  his  artillery  positions,  and 
had  precipitated  a  retreat  of  the  German 
forces  about  to  be  isolated  in  the  forest  north 
of  Grand  Pre.  On  the  2d  and  3d  we  advanced 
rapidly  against  heavy  fighting  on  the  front 
of  the  right  and  centre  corps;  to  the  left  the 
troops  of  the  1st  Corps  hurried  forward 
in  pursuit,  some  by  motor  trucks,  while  the 
artillery  pressed  along  the  country  roads 
close  behind.  Our  heavy  artillery  was  skill- 
fully brought  into  position  to  fire  upon  the 
Carignan-Sedan  railroad  and  the  Junctions 
at  Longuyon  and  Conflans.  By  the  evening 
of  the  4th  our  troops  had  reached  La  Neu- 
ville,  opposite  Stenay,  and  had  swept  through 
the  great  F6ret  de  Dieulet,  reaching  the  out- 
skirts of  Beaumont,  while  on  the  left  we  were 
eight  kilometers  north  of  Boult-aux-Bois. 

The  following  day  the  advance  continued 
toward  Sedan  with  increasing  swiftness.  The 
3d  Corps,  turning  eastward,  crossed  the 
Meuse  in  a  brilliant  operation  by  the  5th  Di- 
vision, driving  the  enemy  from  the  heights 
of  Dun-sur-Meuse  and  forcing  a  general 
withdrawal  from  the  strong  positions  he  had 
so  long  held  on  the  hills  north  of  Verdun. 

APPEALS  FOR  ARMISTICE 

By  the  7th  the  right  of  the  3d  Corps  had 
exploited  its  river  crossing  to  a  distance  of 
ten  kilometers  east  of  the  Meuse,  completely 
ejecting  the  enemy  from  the  wooded  heights 
and  driving  him  out  into  the  swampy  plain 
of  the  Woevre;  the  5th  and  1st  Corps  had 
reached  the  line  of  the  Meuse  River  along 
their  respective  fronts  and  the  left  of  the 
latter  corps  held  the  heights  dominating  Se- 
dan, the  strategical  goal  of  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  operation,  forty-one  kilometers 
from  our  point  of  departure  on  Nov.  1.  We 
had  cut  the  enemy's  main  line  of  communi- 
cations. Recognizing  that  nothing  but  a  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  could  save  his  armies 
from  complete  disaster,  he  appealed  for  an 
Immediate  armistice  on  Nov.  6. 


68 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


Meanwhile  general  plans  had  been  prepared 
for  the  further  employment  of  American 
forces  in  an  advance  between  the  Meuse  and 
the  Moselle,  to  be  directed  toward  Longwy 
by  the  First  Army,  while  the  Second  Army 
was  to  assume  the  offensive  toward  the 
Briey  Iron  Basin.  Orders  directing  the  pre- 
paratory local  operations  involved  in  this  en- 
terprise were  issued  on  Nov.  5. 

Between  the  7th  and  10th  of  November  the 
3d  Corps  continued  its  advance  eastward  to 
Remoiville,  while  the  17th  French  Corps,  on 
its  right,  with  the  79th,  26th,  and  81st  Amer- 
ican Divisions,  and  two  French  divisions, 
drove  the  enemy  from  his  final  foothold  on 
the  heghts  east  of  the  Meuse.  At  9  P.  M.  on 
Nov.  9  appropriate  orders  were  sent  to  the 
First  and  Second  Armies  in  accordance  with 
the  following  telegram  from  Marshal  Foch 
to  the  commander  of  each  of  the  allied 
armies : 

"  The  enemy,  disorganized  by  our  repeated 
attacks,  retreats  along  the  entire  front. 

"It  is  important  to  co-ordinate  and  expe- 
dite our  movements. 

"  I  appeal  to  the  energy  and  the  initiative 
of  the  Commanders  in  Chief  and  of  their 
armies  to  make  decisive  the  results  ob- 
tained." 

NOV.  11,  1918 

In  consequence  of  the  foregoing  instruc- 
tions our  Second  Army  pressed  the  enemy 
along  its  entire  front.  On  the  night  of  the 
lOth-llth  and  the  morning  of  the  11th  the  5th 
Corps,  in  the  First  Army,  forced  a  crossing 
of  the  Meuse  east  of  Beaumont  and  gained 
the  commanding  heights  within  the  re- 
entrant of  the  river,  thus  completing  our 
control  of  the  Meuse  River  line.  At  6  A.  M. 
on  the  11th  notification  was  received  from 
Marshal  Foch's  headquarters  that  the  armi- 
stice had  been  signed  and  that  hostilities 
would  cease  at  11  A.  M.  Preparatory  meas- 
ures had   already   been  taken  to  insure  the 


prompt  transmission  to  the  troops  of  the  an- 
nouncement of  an  armistice.  However,  the 
advance  east  of  Beaumount  on  the  morning 
of  the  11th  had  been  so  rapid  and  communi- 
cation across  the  river  was  so  difficult  that 
there  was  some  fighting  on  isolated  portions 
of  that  front  after  11  A.  M. 

GREAT  ODDS  OVERCOME 

Between  Sept.  26  and  Nov.  11,  twenty-two 
American  and  four  French  divisions,  on  the 
front  extending  from  southeast  of  Verdun 
to  the  Argonne  Forest,  had  engaged  and  de- 
cisively beaten  forty-seven  different  German 
divisions,  representing  25  per  cent,  of  the 
enemy's  entire  divisional  strength  on  the 
western  front.  Of  these  enemy  divisions, 
twenty  had  been  drawn  from  the  French 
front  and  one  from  the  British  front.  Of  the 
twenty-two  American  divisions,  twelve  had, 
at  different  times  during  this  period,  been 
engaged  on  fronts  other  than  our  own.  The 
First  Army  suffered  a  loss  of  about  117,000 
in  killed  and  wounded.  It  captured  26,000 
prisoners,  847  cannon,  3,000  machine  guns, 
and  large  quantities  of  material. 

The  dispositions  which  the  enemy  made  to 
meet  the  Meuse-Argonne  offensive,  both  im- 
mediately before  the  opening  of  the  attack 
and  during  the  battle,  demonstrated  the  im- 
portance which  he  ascribed  to  this  section  of 
the  front  and  the  extreme  measures  he  was 
forced  to  take  in  its  defense.  From  the  mo- 
ment the  American  offensive  began  until  the 
armistice  his  defense  was  desperate  and  the 
flow  of  his  divisions  to  our  front  was  con- 
tinuous. 

[This  completes  the  report  op  the  opera- 
tions op  the  First  Army.  General  Pershing 
then  takes  up  the  Second  American  Army 
and  the  other  branches  op  the  service  in 
the  concluding  half  of  his  report.  this 
will  be  printed  in  february  current  history 
Magazine.— The  Editor.] 


Work  of  American  Mine  Sweepers 

Removing  the  North  Sea  Barrage 


r[E  United  States  Navy's  mine-sweep- 
ing fleet  was  reviewed  by  Secretary 
Daniels  Nov.  24,  1919,  in  the  Hudson 
River.  Fifty-nine  vessels  were  in  the  re- 
view, and  later  in  the  day  1,500  enlisted 
men  of  the  crews  were  entertained  at 
luncheon  in  the  Hotel  Astor  by  the 
Knights  of  Columbus.  The  last  great 
task  of  this  unique  fleet  had  been  that 
of  taking  up  more  than  50,000  mines  in 
an  area  of  250  square  miles  in  the  North 
Sea. 


Lieutenant  Dudley  A.  Nichols,  U.  S. 
N.  R.  F.,  in  describing  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  this  dangerous  work  explained 
that  an  elementary  form  of  sweep  might 
consist  merely  of  a  heavy  steel  cable 
having  each  of  its  ends  made  fast  to  a 
tug,  so  that  with  the  two  tugs  steaming 
abreast  of  each  other  this  cable  would 
catch  the  mooring  ropes  of  any  mines 
within  the  area  between  them.  Then  the 
mines  would  be  dragged  along  and  in  all 
probability    the    mooring    ropes    would 


WORK  OF  AMERICAN  MINE  SWEEPERS 


G9 


finally  part,  allowing  the  buoyant  mines 
to  float  to  the  surface. 

To  sweep  a  considerable  area,  however, 
he  stated,  the  sweeping  tugs  must  pro- 
ceed with  all  possible  speed,  and  as  soon 
as  this  is  done  the  horizontal  water 
pressure  against  the  cable  lifts  it  to  the 
surface,  with  the  result  that  the  mines 
are  passed  over.  To  overcome  this  the 
kite  principle  was  adopted,  but  the  kite 
was  made  to  dive  instead  of  fly.  The 
water  pressure  on  a  mine-sweeping  kite 
causes  it  to  dive  just  as  the  wind  pres- 
sure on  an  ordinary  box  kite  lifts  it  up 
high  into  the  air. 

A  huge  steel  kite  weighing  1,800 
pounds  was  towed  by  each  sweeper  to  at- 
tain the  level  of  the  deepest  mines  in  the 
North  Sea  barrage,  which  were  laid  at 
the  maximum  depth  to  which  a  modern 
submarine  dare  submerge. 

Just  as  lengthening  the  string  to  an 
ordinary  kite  will  cause  it  to  rise,  length- 
ening the  cable  by  which  the  water  kite 
is  towed  causes  it  to  dive  deeper;  and 
it  is  by  this  simple  means  that  the  mine 
sweepers  are  enabled  to  cut  off  mines  at 
any  desired  depth.  These  vessels  always 
work  in  pairs,  the  sweep  for  each  pair 
comprising  a  kite  towed  by  a  wire  rope 
from  each  ship  and  a  steel  cable  stretched 
between  the  two  kites.  The  wire  rope  is 
called  the  kite  wire,  while  the  steel  cable 
takes  the  name  of  sweep  wire. 

During  the  war,  when  mine  sweepers 
were  called  upon  to  sweep  mines  on  a 
scale  never  known  before,  it  was  found 
that  an  ordinary  steel  cable  would  not 
cut  the  mine  mooring  ropes  as  quickly  as 
desired.  To  meet  the  demand  for  a  bet- 
ter cable,  saw-toothed  wire,  which  acts 
like  a  huge  flexible  file  and  cuts  the 
mine  moorings  a  few  seconds  after  con- 
tact, was  developed.  This  wire  was  used 
solely  in  the  operations  in  the  North 
Sea. 

The  actual  plan  followed  in  the  North 


Sea  was  explained  by  Lieutenant  Nichols 
as  follows:  In  each  pair  one  ship  would 
slow  down  slightly  while  her  mate  came 
alongside  until  they  were  running  abreast 
about  fifty  feet  apart.  A  handline  was 
heaved  across  the  gap  between  them,  the 
end  of  the  sweep  wire  hauled  over  and 
shackled  to  its  other  half,  and  as  they 
diverged  the  wire  was  rapidly  paid  out. 
The  kites  were  launched  with  a  great 
splash,  and  the  sweepers  wheeled  into 
the  lines  of  mines,  maintaining  a  con- 
stant separation  of  four  or  five  hundred 
yards.  <• 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  pandemo- 
nium would  begin.  Mines  exploded  in 
the  sweep  ahead,  astern,  on  the  beam, 
and  everywhere  except  directly  under- 
neath. The  sea  suddenly  would  become 
a  Pandora's  box,  teeming  with  evil  spirits 
of  noise  and  demolition. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  any  ships  can 
endure  such  tremendous  shocks  without 
sustaining  serious  damage.  So  severe  is 
the  shock  from  a  deep-level  mine  a 
hundred  yards  distant  that  it  is  as  if 
a  prodigious  blow  has  been  suddenly 
struck  on  the  ship's  keel  by  a  colossal 
hammer. 

A  half  mile  astern  of  each  pair  of 
sweepers  come  a  little  sub-chaser  whose 
duty  it  was  to  sink  all  mines  which  were 
cut  off  and  floated  to  the  surface.  To 
accomplish  this  a  half  dozen  men  were 
kept  busy  firing  service  rifles. 

Thousands  of  fish  were  stunned  or 
killed  by  the  explosions,  and  the  sub- 
chasers found  time  to  pick  up  a  deckload 
of  these  of  a  size,  variety,  and  excellence 
to  tempt  an  epicure.  At  night  they  gen- 
erously distributed  this  cargo  of  fresh 
food  among  the  sweepers,  and  as  a  re- 
sult the  sub-chasers  came  to  be  dubbed 
the  "  fishboats."  The  seagulls  quickly 
discovered  this  unlimited  source  of  deli- 
cate food,  and  became  fast  friends  and 
followers  of  the  mine  sweepers. 


Vienna's  Agony 

By  PHILIP  GIBBS 

Mr.  Gibbs  visited  Vienna  in  November.  The  following  account  of  the  tragic 
scenes  he  witnessed  is  printed  in  Current  History  Magazine  by  arrangement  with 
The  London  Chronicle: 


I  CAME  by  train  to  Vienna — a  jour- 
ney of  twenty-four  hours — through 
the  new  Republic  of  Jugoslavia;  in 

a  train  dragged  by  an  engine  which 
staggered  and  panted  along  with  a  lack 
of  fuel,  and  stopped  abruptly,  with 
frightful  jerks,  in  desolate  places  with 
distant  views   of  rain-swept  hills. 

There  was  no  food  in  the  train,  nor 
time  to  get  it,  if  any  were  there  in  way- 
side stations.  The  carriages  were  crowd- 
ed, and  men,  women,  and  children  were 
packed  in  the  corridors  all  through  a 
night  and  day.  The  babies  screamed,  and 
their  mothers  could  not  feed  them.  *  *  * 
I  wondered  why  all  these  people  were 
coming  to  Vienna.  I  wonder  still,  for 
Vienna  has  no  room  for  them,  no  food  for 
them,  no  fuel,  no  trade,  no  money,  and 
no  hope  for  any  of  them. 

There  are  two  and  a  half  million  peo- 
ple in  Vienna,  out  of  a  population  of  six 
million  in  the  republic,  to  which  Austria 
has  now  been  reduced.  More  are  crowd- 
ing into  the  city  every  day,  and  not  leav- 
ing— by  reason  of  some  strange  freak  of 
social  psychology,  at  which  I  can  only 
guess  —  a  desire  for  a  mad  kind  of 
gayety  in  their  world  of  ruin,  a  herding 
together  of  doomed  people,  the  old  spirit 
which  in  times  of  plague  made  men 
"  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  tomorrow 
we  die." 

CITY  OF   DREADFUL  NIGHT 

On  my  first  night  in  Vienna  an  enor- 
mous gloom  seemed  to  encompass  me 
when  I  went  out  into  the  streets — those 
streets  which  I  remember  so  full  of  light 
and  gayety  and  music  before  the  war. 
Only  a  few  lights  glimmered.  The  great 
arc  lamps  were  not  burning.  At  6  o'clock 
all  the  shops  were  shut.  Not  many  peo- 
ple were  about  in  the  darkness.  Truly,  I 
thought,  I  have  come  to  a  city  of  tragedy. 

Now,  after  other  nights,  I  know  that 
this  is  a  city  of  tragedy,  more  tragic 


than  any  city  I  know  in  the  world  after 
the  years  of  war,  filled  with  masses  of 
people  who  exist  in  semi-starvation,  on 
the  verge  of  absolute  starvation,  and 
with  children  fed  by  the  charity  of  people 
who  were  their  enemies  in  war,  yet  not 
fed  enough  in  spite  of  an  organization  of 
relief — American  and  British — wonder- 
fully  administered  and  enormous  in  its 
scope. 

I  have  seen  the  valour  of  men  and  wo- 
men striving  ceaselessly  to  cope  with  the 
vast  sum  of  misery  seething  around  them 
in  this  City  of  Vienna,  but  not  doing 
much  more,  as  they  acknowledge,  than 
touching  the  surface  of  the  morass,  by  a 
temporary  relief  which  does  not  cure  the 
spreading  and  deep-rooted  evil  of 
hunger  and  disease. 

The  American  Relief  Committee  pro- 
vided 20  million  meals  to  the  starving 
children  of  Austria  between  May  16  and 
Sept.  30,  1919.  That  is  an  astounding 
achievement 

The  British  Mission,  working  with  less 
funds,  but  with  quiet  and  persistent  en- 
deavor to  postpone  the  justice  of  "  rep- 
aration "  to  the  immediate  needs  of  a 
stricken  people,  have  helped  in  the  way 
of  transport  and  supplies  to  give  a 
chance  of  life  to  a  population  which 
otherwise  would  die. 

But  beyond  all  these  efforts,  over- 
powering them,  is  the  state  of  Austria 
after  the  war,  entirely  isolated,  hemmed 
in  by  unfriendly  neighbors,  deprived  of 
natural  wealth,  without  industries  in  her 
great  capital,  and  ruined  so  utterjy  that 
her  Treasury  notes  are  hardly  better 
than  waste  paper. 

PALACE  A  SOUP  KITCHEN 

The  palace  of  the  Belvedere  belonged 
to  the  Archduke  Franz  Ferdinand — he 
who  was  murdered  at  Serajevo,  where 
the  spark  lit  the  powder  magazine  which 
spread  flame  and  fury  through  Europe 


VIENNA'S  AGONY 


71 


on  a  day  of  August  in  1914.  Now  it  is  a 
soup  kitchen  for  starving  children  fed  by 
American  relief;  and  when  I  went  there 
1,100  of  those  little  ones  were  having 
their  first  meal  of  the  day — the  only 
meal  for  most  of  them — and  saying 
"  Gruss  Gott "  before  they  dipped  their 
spoons. 

The  broad  boulevards  of  Vienna  are 
still  thronged  by  people  with  their  heads 
bent  today  against  the  driving  blizzard 
of  snow.  The  cafes  and  restaurants  are 
crowded  with  people  who  come  for 
warmth,  light,  music  and  smuggled  food, 
for  which  they  pay  great  prices.  Many 
of  these  people  are  foreigners — Czechs 
and  Slovaks,  and  Croats,  and  Serbians, 
and  Italians — who  come  like  vultures  to 
feed  on  the  corpse  of  Austrian  finance, 
changing  their  own  money  into  four,  five 
or  ten  times  the  number  of  Austrian 
kronen. 

Others  are  Viennese  profiteers  who 
gathered  much  bulk  of  paper  money 
while  the  old  empire  was  dying,  and  now 
are  eating  it  up  in  a  prodigal  way, 
shrugging  their  shoulders  at  the  future 
while  they  fill  their  stomachs. 

Others  are  middle-class  folk  who,  after 
a  breakfast  of  corn  coffee  and  black 
bread,  a  midday  meal  of  cabbage  soup, 
and  a  dinner  of  boiled  cabbage,  and  other 
green  stuff,  come  hungry  into  the  gilded 
rooms  of  these  restaurants  to  linger  over 
a  cup  of  coffee  with  a  glass  of  water, 
while  they  listen  for  hours  to  light 
music,  and  under  the  glitter  of  the  chan- 
deliers get  a  little  warmth  for  their 
bodies  and  souls. 

Outside,  in  the  thickly  populated  dis- 
tricts beyond  the  boulevards,  in  small 
middle-class  homes  and  workmen's  tene- 
ments, there  is  no  kind  of  pretense  at 
gayety,  no  "  camouflage "  of  misery. 
There  is  poverty,  naked  and  cold.  There 
is  hunger  which  is  just  less  than  starva- 
tion, and  disease  just  this  side  of  death, 
and  the  certain  knowledge  that,  unless 
"  something  happens  "  quickly,  they  will 
be  in  the  hands  of  Famine,  which  has 
been  staved  off,  so  far,  week  by  week, 
by  foreign  relief,  a  hand-to-mouth  supply 
of  Government  stocks — on  a  day  last 
month  they  had  only  five  days'  supply 
ahead — and  by  a  desperate  system  of 
small  smuggling. 


MISERY  BEYOND  WORDS 

Before  I  came  to  Vienna  I  had  read 
horrible  things  about  the  conditions  of 
the  city,  and  believed  they  might  be  ex- 
aggerated by  philanthropic,  humani- 
tarian people,  anxious  to  arouse  emotion 
for  the  sake  of  their  funds.  Now,  I  know 
by  personal  investigation  that,  so  far 
from  exaggerating,  it  is  impossible  to 
convey  to  the  outside  world  anything 
like  the  extent  and  depth  of  misery  into 
which  the  Viennese  have  fallen. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  after  all  my  in- 
vestigations— and  I  have  been  diligent — 
to  know  how  these  people  of  Vienna  are 
able  to  live.  Frankly,  I  cannot  under- 
stand how,  in  such  conditions,  they  keep 
body  and  soul  together. 

Look  at  a  few  simple,  appalling  facts, 
as  I  have  found  them. 

There  are  100,000  men  out  of  work  in 
Vienna  at  the  present  time,  drawing 
from  5  to  15  kronen  (5  to  15  cents  of 
our  money,  according  to  the  present  rate 
of  exchange). 

There  are  6,000  homeless  families. 
There  are  2,500,000  people,  of  whom 
2,000,000  at  least  live  without  meat,  but- 
ter, milk,  or  any  kind  of  fat. 

Eighty-three  per  cent,  of  the  children 
suffer  from  rickets,  so  badly  bulbous- 
headed  that  many  are  deformed;  and 

No  children  over  one  year  of  age  get 
any  allowance  of  milk.  Children  under 
one  year  of  age  are  allowed  one  litre  of 
milk  per  day;  but,  as  a  rule,  do  not  get 
more  than  half  a  litre. 

The  bread  ration  for  each  person  is 
two  pounds  a  week.  No  potatoes  can  be 
obtained  by  the  great  mass  of  people, 
and  those  who  get  them  smuggle  them. 

In  a  cold  climate  (with  snow  already 
in  the  streets  of  Vienna,  Nov.  8,  1919) 
the  people  are  miserably  clad  in  cotton 
clothes,  and  many  children  are  bare- 
legged, so  that  one  sees  them  shivering 
in  the  streets,  blue  to  the  lips  with  cold. 
There  is  no  coal  for  factories  or  dwell- 
ing houses. 

The  middle  classes  are  worse  off  than 
the  artisan  class,  so  that  whereas  the 
mechanic  gets  300  kronen  a  week,  the 
professor,  teacher,  clerk,  journalist  and 
small  professional  man  gets  no  more 
than  150  to  250  kronen  a  week.     These 


72 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


figures  do  not  mean  much  until  one 
knows  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
kronen.  Then  they  mean  black  poverty, 
daily  hunger,  hopelessness. 

EMACIATED   BABIES 

I  spoke  today  to  a  medical  officer  in 
charge  of  an  infant  welfare  centre.  He 
had  been  showing  me  the  emaciated  con- 
dition of  the  babies  brought  in  by  half- 
starved  mothers,  who  were  buying  tins 
of  condensed  milk  and  cocoa  supplied  at 
a  cheap  rate  by  the  Society  of  Friends, 
who  are  doing  very  noble  work  in  Vienna. 

He  pointed  out  the  babies  suffering 
from  eczema,  rickets,  scrofula,  and  then 
suddenly  he  began  to  tell  me  about  his 
own  conditions  of  life. 

I  earn  300  kronen  a  week  [he  said],  and 
I  have  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  a 
gentleman.  To  get  this  old  suit  of  mine 
turned  cost  600  kronen.  A  new  suit  is  be- 
yond my  means  altogether.  It  costs  2,000 
kronen.  A  shirt  costs  120  kronen,  a  pair 
of  boots  400.  I  cannot  afford  to  buy  meat 
at  14  ki'onen  for  a  veal  cutlet  or  16  kronen 
for  a  pork  chop.  I  never  eat  meat.  Po- 
tatoes are  beyond  my  means  at  7  kronen 
for  two  pounds.  I  live  mainly  on  cabbage 
soup  and  bread.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
our  young  men  and  women  are  develop- 
ing turberculous  disease  in  a  frightful 
way  and  that  the  vitality  of  the  people 
is  being  sapped  so  that  they  have  no 
strength  to  work? 

TERRIBLE  NEED  OF  COAL 

Coal  is  the  supreme  need — coal  for 
cooking,  coal  for  heating — and  there  is 
so  little  for  the  wards  that  the  children 
have  to  be  crowded  together  in  rooms 
that  can  be  heated  only  for  two  hours  a 
day,  and  by  this  crowding  do  not  get  a 
proper  chance  of  health. 

Even  with  money  they  cannot  get  it. 
Transport  fails.  The  trains  themselves 
have  no  fuel;  and  the  enemies  of  Austria 
— in  Czechoslovakia — hold  up  trucks  of 
Coal  labeled  for  Vienna,  bought  and  paid 
for,  and  hinder  them  from  passing. 

I  am  writing  of  Austria,  but  beyond 
are  Hungary  and  Russia,  a  vast  Slav 
race,  developing  not  only  typhus  and  tu- 
berculosis, but  morbid  passions  and 
philosophies  of  despair. 

Western  Europe,  "  victors  "  of  war,  but 
with  unhealed  wounds,  commercial  ruin, 
and  an  after-war  psychology  suspectible 
to  inf ectioiis  ideas,  had  better  take  warn- 


ing while  there  is  time,  before  they,  too, 
sicken  of  the  fever. 

The  problems  of  Eastern  Europe  are 
hideously  complicated  and  beyond  settle- 
ment by  statesmen  bigger  than  those 
who  made  this  muddle  of  misery.  There 
are  natural  forces  at  work  which  can 
hardly  be  controlled — the  surgings  of 
many  races,  whose  instincts  of  national- 
ity are  being  exploited  by  political  lead- 
ers for  their  own  ends. 

The  people  of  Vienna  are  not  without 
friends  who,  for  humanity's  sake,  are  de- 
voting themselves  to  the  relief  of  all  this 
suffering.  They  are  friends  who  were 
once  counted  as  their  enemies. 

Since  I  have  been  in  this  city  I  have 
come  in  touch  with  the  members  of  our 
own  British  mission,  under  Sir  William 
Goode,  which  has  done  most  admirable 
work  by  facilitating  the  transport  of 
foodstuffs  in  Austria,  Hungary,  Serbia 
and  other  distressed  countries  by  supply- 
ing large  stocks  of  food  at  cost  price  to 
the  Governments  of  these  States,  and  by 
supporting  the  work  of  relief  agencies. 

I  have  also  seen  the  work  of  the  Amer- 
ican Relief  Committee,  which  is  magnifi- 
cently organized  and  of  enormous  help, 
and  I  have  been  in  touch  with  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  seen  the  devotion,  the 
courage  and  the  ability  with  which  Dr. 
Hilda  Clarke  and  her  assistants  are  se- 
curing milk  and  food  for  poor  mothers 
and  babies. 

All  that  is  splendid  as  philianthropy, 
but  the  scale  of  the  work  that  these  peo- 
ple are  doing  is  in  itself  a  revelation  of 
the  mass  of  misery  surrounding  and 
overwhelming  their  efforts,  and  of  the 
doom  of  a  people  which  can  be  postponed 
a  little,  but  not  averted,  by  this  charity. 

The  American  Child-Relief  Committee, 
directed  by  a  young  naval  Lieutenant 
named  Stockton,  with  three  other  col- 
leagues— all  fine  men — is  enormous  in 
its  scope  and  enterprise.  It  has  estab- 
lished feeding  centres  and  distributing 
centres  in  Vienna  and  outside  districts 
for  starving  children  between  the  ages  of 
five  and  fifteen.  In  Vienna  it  is  feeding 
100,000  children,  and  another  100,000  in 
other  parts.  It  has  already  supplied  20,- 
000,000  meals  to  these  hungry  mouths  of 
Austria.    That  is  wonderful,  and  I  have 


VIENNA'S  AGONY 


73 


seen  few  things  more  touching  than  the 
battalions  of  little  ones  who  come  for 
their  midday  dinner  in  the  American  cen- 
tres. 

There  is  the  gratitude  of  dumb  animals 
in  their  eyes  for  this  gift  of  food,  and 
they  eat  silently  and  earnestly  as  they 
sit  together  on  the  long  wooden  benches. 
But  there  are  many  thousands  of  chil- 
dren— I  suppose  100,000  in  Vienna — 
who  do  not  get  these  meals. 

"A  LIMBLESS  TRUNK" 

All  this  charitable  work  is  but  a  sop 
given  to  half-starved  multitudes,  while 
their  state  becomes  more  desperate,  and 
their  chances  of  recovery  more  unlikely. 
Vienna,  to  recover,  needs  coal  for  her 
factories,  so  that  the  people  may  work 
and  produce  manufactured  articles  in  ex- 
change for  food.    With  her  money  fading 


away  to  nothing  in  purchase  power,  she 
can  buy  neither  coal  nor  raw  material. 

In  any  case,  there  can  be  no  recovery 
in  a  city  of  2,500,000  people  isolated  from 
all  the  natural  resources  and  flow  of 
wealth  which  created  so  great  a  capital. 
"A  man  who  has  had  his  legs  cut  off  can- 
not walk,"  I  was  told  by  an  Austrian 
man  of  letters.  "  We  have  had  our  legs 
cut  off.    We  are  but  a  limbless  trunk." 

Charity  is  good  and  kind.  But  Vienna 
asks  for  more  than  charity.  She  asks  for 
a  broad  scheme  of  rescue  by  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  willing  to  give  her  long 
credit  for  money  and  raw  material,  so 
that  she  may  regain  some  kind  of  vital- 
ity. 

Before  this  I  have  never  seen  a  city 
that  was  hopeless — and  it  is  not  good  to 
see,  unless  we  are  those  who  lick  our 
lips  because  vengeance  is  sweet. 


Austria's  Hunger  Crisis 

The  Nation's  Dangerous  Plight 


IN  Austria  the  food  and  coal  shortage 
was  reported  as  remaining  so  ex- 
tremely grave  that  only  a  large 
measure  of  assistance  from  America  dur- 
ing the  Winter  could  save  hundreds  of 
thousands  from  death.  In  order  to  con- 
serve the  scant  coal  supply  in  Vienna  the 
City  Government  adopted  the  novel  ex 
pedient  of  changing  the  age-old  midday 
meal  hour.  Instead  of  dinner  at  noon, 
families  in  even-numbered  houses  were 
required  to  dine  at  11:30  and  those  in 
odd-numbered  houses  at  12:30.  Thus  ex- 
cessive pressure  was  avoided  in  the 
power  plants,  since  at  this  season  of  the 
year  midday  lighting  was  necessary  in 
the  majority  of  dark  houses.  A  large 
increase  of  burglaries  and  street  hold- 
ups, together  with  shop-window  smash- 
ing, was  remarked  as  being  entered  on 
the  police  blotters,  due  to  the  dim  light- 
ing of  the  streets. 

Serious  bread  riots  broke  out  at  Inns- 
bruck. Hungry  mobs  of  men,  women, 
and  children  attacked  the  warehouses, 
hotels,  restaurants,  and  shops,  plunder- 
ing and  destroying.     Italian  carabineers 


protected    the    banks    and    Government 
granaries. 

At  the  invitation  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cli  in  Paris  Dr.  Karl  Renner,  Austrian 
Chancellor,  arrived  in  that  capital  on 
Dec.  11  to  plead  his  country's  dangerous 
plight.  In  an  interview  granted  to  The 
Associated  Press,  Dr.  Renner  said: 

When  I  left  Vienna  we  had  only  9,000 
tons  of  flour  for  six  and  three-quarter 
millions  of  people — a  supply  for  six  days 
only.  Children  are  dying  of  hunger  and 
cold,  and  85  per  cent,  of  those  between  9 
months  and  3  years  of  age  are  suffering 
with  rickets.  The  loss  of  weight  on  the 
part  of  nursing  mothers  is  serious,  result- 
ing in  the  diminution  of  the  nursing  ca- 
pacity. 

Turning  to  the  desperate  condition  of 
Austrian  finance,  Dr.  Renner  said: 

We  are  now  paying  thirty  prices  for 
everything  we  buy.  That  is  to  say,  the 
crown  has  depreciated  to  one-thirtieth  of 
its  normal  value.  At  the  same  time  we 
have  exhausted  our  resources  in  securi- 
ties, and  we  have  nothing  left  but  the 
resources,  which,  according  to  Article  197 
of  the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain,  are  mort- 
gaged to  the  Allies  for  payment  of  repa- 
rations.   •    •   • 

I  cannot  leave  Paris  empty-handed.    I 


74 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


must  go  back  with  the  assurance  that 
my  people  will  be  fed,  or  else  I  must  re- 
sign. It  is  a  question  of  time.  Austria 
may  be  likened  to  a  sick  man  who  Is  not 
permitted  to  call  in  a  single  physician, 
but  is  obliged  to  depend  upon  five  acting 
together.  One  alone  might  arrive  in  time, 
but  will  all  five  be  able  to  get  together 
and  apply  the  proper  remedy  before  the 
patient  succumbs?  Whether  Vienna  has 
bread  for  Christmas  depends  upon  the 
answer  to  the  request  made  to  Italy  for 
the  urgent  shipment  for  all  she  can  spare. 
Whether  the  whole  of  Austria  is  faced  by 
famine  by  the  middle  of  January  depends 
upon  quick  action  by  the  allied  and  as- 
sociated powers. 

RELIEF   MEASURES   ADOPTED 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Council 
at  Paris,  after  Chancellor  Renner  had 
again  explained  the  food  situation,  it  was 
decided,  on  Dec.  16,  to  allow  Austria  a 
credit  of  $70,000,000  for  food,  the  relief 
to  be  furnished  at  the  rate  of  $9,500,000 
monthly.  It  was  agreed  that  the  loan 
would  be  guaranteed  by  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Italy,  unless  the  United 
States  assumed  the  loan.  Ambassador 
Wallace,  who  was  present  when  the  plan 
was  agreed  upon  was  unable  to  enter 
into  any  undertaking  for  the  United 
States  without  instructions  from  his  Gov- 
ernment, but  he  cabled  to  Washington 
setting  forth  urgently  the  need  of  taking 
measures  in  Austria's  behalf. 

Dr.  Renner  received  a  letter  from  the 
Supreme  Council  signed  by  Premier 
Clemenceau,  confirming  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Council  to  maintain  integrally 
the  territory  of  the  Republic  of  Austria 
as  defined  in  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain. 

The  letter  referred  to  the  movements 


tending  toward  the  separation  from  the 
Republic  of  Vorarlberg,  Salzburg,  Tyrol, 
and  Western  Hungary,  and  declared  the 
success  of  such  movements  in  any  of 
these  territories  would  involve  complete 
disintegration  of  Austria  and  destroy  the 
equilibrium  of  Central  Europe. 

FEEDING   CENTRAL   EUROPE 

Herbert  Hoover,  Food  Commissioner, 
announced  Dec.  17  that  unless  the  United 
States  gave  credit  for  breadstuffs  to 
Finland,  Poland,  Austria,  and  other  na- 
tions in  Central  Europe,  millions  of  peo- 
ple would  starve.  He  advised  that  Con- 
gress allow  the  grain  corporation  to  con- 
trol the  advance  of  wheat  and  flour  on 
credit  to  the  countries  now  in  dire  dis- 
tress.   Mr.  Hoover  said: 

There  can  be  no  question  that  some 
15,000,000  or  20,000,000  people  in  the 
larger  cities  of  Finland,  Poland,  Austria, 
and  other  portions  of  Central  Europe,  out- 
side Germany,  are  facing  starvation 
unless  some  quick  means  can  be  discov- 
ered for  their  assistance.  The  bread  ra- 
tion in  Vienna  has  already  been  reduced 
to  three  ounces  per  day  and  bread  is  60 
per  cent,  of  the  people's  food. 

We  have  in  the  United  States  a  great 
surplus  of  wheat  and' flour  in  the  hands 
of  the  Government  Grain  Corporation  over 
and  above  our  own  possibility  of  con- 
sumption. This  surplus  of  wheat  and 
flour,  in  the  ordinary  course,  would  be 
sold  to  foreign  countries  for  cash.  The 
particular  peoples  mentioned  above,  ow- 
ing to  their  economic  situation,  are  totally 
unable  to  find  cash.  The  question  there- 
fore arises  as  to  whether  we  should  not 
devise  some  method  by  which  they  may 
purchase  on  credit  a  certain  amount  of 
this  surplus  that  will  otherwise  go  solely 
to   cash   purchasers. 


Hungary  Under  New  Government 

Recognized    by  the  Allies 


rTIHE  disturbed  political  situation  in 
J_  Hungary  was  somewhat  relieved  on 
Nov.  23  by  the  formation  of  a  new 
Cabinet  under  the  Christian  Socialist, 
Carl  Hussar,  which  included  represent- 
atives of  all  parties.  The  former  Pre- 
mier, Stephen  Friedrich,  accepted  the 
position  of  War  Secretary.  The  other 
members  of  the  Cabinet  were: 


Minister  of  the  Interior— M.  BENICZKY. 
Minister    of    Public    Instruction  —  STEFAN 

HALL.ER. 
Minister  of  Agriculture— JULIUS  RUBINEK. 
Minister  of  Commerce— FRANZ  HEINRICH. 
Socialist    Minister    of    Public    Safety— KARL. 

PAYER. 
Minister   of   Foreign    Affairs— COUNT    SOM- 

ZICH. 
Minister  of  Justice— DR.  PARIZY. 


HUNGARY  UNDER  NEW  GOVERNMENT 


75 


i\ 


Minister    of    National    Minorities  —  JACOB 

BLEYER. 
Minister  of  War— STEPHEN  FRIEDRICH. 
Minister  of  Finance— M.  KORANYI. 
Minister  of  Supplies— STEFAN  SZABO. 
Minister    of     Small    Farmers  —  M.     SOKO- 

SPATKA. 

Upon  announcement  of  this  change  of 
Government  Sir  George  Clerk,  the  allied 
representative  at  Budapest,  sent  a  note 
to  M.  Hussar,  stating  that  the  Allies 
were  prepared  to  recognize  the  Cabinet 
as  a  Provisional  Government  with  which 
the  Supreme  Council  could  negotiate  un- 
til elections  were  held.  Previously,  it 
was  reported,  Sir  George  had  informed 
the  Premier  that  recognition  of  the  Gov- 
ernment depended  on  these  conditions: 

First,  that  elections  be  held  without  de- 
lay; second,  that  order  be  maintained; 
third,  that  the  provisional  borders  of  Hun- 
gary be  respected;  fourth,  that  legal 
equality  be  granted  all  citizens;  fifth, 
liberty  of  the  press  and  public  opinion; 
sixth,  free  democratic  elections,  properly 
safeguarded. 

The  formation  of  the  Hussar  Coalition 
Cabinet  seemed  to  have  been  the  outcome 
of  Sir  George  Clerk's  successful  efforts 
earlier  in  the  month  in  bringing  into  a 
conference  such  political  leaders  as  Ad- 
miral Horthy,  commander  of  the  Hun- 
garian National  Army,  and  MM.  Lovas- 
sy,  Szabo,  Vazonyi  and  Garami,  repre- 
senting respectively  the  National  Land 
Party,  the  Peasant  Party,  the  National 
Democratic  Party  and  the  Social  Demo- 
crats. 

The  trial  of  Communists  at  Budapest 
charged  with  crimes  during  the  Bela 
Kun  dictatorship  began  on  Nov.  24. 
Cserny,  commander  of  the  "  Lenin  Boys," 
was  the  first  to  be  placed  on  trial  out  of 
16,000  accused.  He  denied  many  charges 
of  executions,  and  gave  instances  in 
which,  he  declared,  Bela  Kun  had  given 


explicit  orders  for  murders.  Before  the 
court  on  the  28th  a  man  named  Szteny- 
kowski,  one  of  seventeen  charged  with 
the  murder  of  Count  Stephen  Tisza  in 
November,  1918,  stated  that  Joseph 
Pogany,  Minister  of  War  in  the  Com- 
munist Government,  had  said  to  Count 
Tisza,  "  You  are  the  author  of  the  world 
war,  in  which  so  many  have  bled  to 
death."  According  to  Sztenykowski, 
Pogany  then  fired  a  shot  at  the  Count, 
whereupon,  the  witness  said,  he  and  the 
others  fired  shots  immediately.  On  Dec 
7  M.  Kovacs,  the  Judge  who  had  been  in- 
vestigating the  facts  concerning  the  mur- 
der of  Count  Tisza,  committed  suicide  by 
jumping  from  a  third-story  window  in 
the  Court  House.  Judge  Kovacs  had  been 
accused  by  the  Extreme  Socialists  of 
suppressing  evidence  to  show  that  for- 
mer Premier  Friedrich  had  knowledge 
that  the  murder  of  Count  Tisza  was  pur- 
posed. 

The  sentencing  of  the  Communists 
convicted  of  crimes  during  the  Bela 
Kun  dictatorship  began  on  Dec.  12.  Four- 
teen were  sentenced  to  death  by  hanging, 
one  to  life  imprisonment,  and  a  large 
number  to  terms  of  various  periods  at 
hard  labor. 

A  Budapest  message  of  Dec.  7  stated 
that  Brig.  Gen.  Harry  H.  Bandholtz, 
American  member  of  the  Interallied  Mili- 
tary Commission,  had  informed  the 
Pester  Lloyd  that  Hungary  might  rely 
on  the  Entente's  good-will  in  the  Peace 
Treaty,  and  might  expect  material  aid 
in  restoring  the  economic  situation.  He 
added  that  the  Entente  was  also  firm  in 
its  intention  to  protect  racial  minorities, 
and  that  the  United  States  would  resume 
to  the  fullest  extent  the  friendly  rela- 
tions existing  with  Hungary  before  the 
war. 


Poland's  Progress  Toward  Peace 

Paderewski's  Cabinet  Resigns 
[Period  Ended  Dec.  15,  1919] 


POLAND,  the  strongest  of  the  new  re- 
publics erected  in  the  Baltic  regions 
and  Central  Europe,  has  pursued  her 
way  of  inner  progress  and  outer  defense 
against  the  forces  of  Bolshevism,  despite 
many  obstacles  and  some  friction.  Major 
Gen.  Edgar  Jadwin,  a  member  of  the 
American  Mission  sent  to  investigate  re- 
ports of  Polish  excesses  against  the  Jew- 
ish population,  said  on  his  return  to  the 
United  States  on  Nov.  23: 

As  good  order  is  being  maintained  in 
Poland  at  present  as  in  the  United  States. 
There  is  a  good  system  of  gendarmes.  The 
crops  are  fair,  and  they  say  there  is 
enough  food  to  carry  them  through  the 
Winter.  The  trouble  lies  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  food. 

It  seems  marvelous  the  way  the  Poles 
have  set  to  work.  In  one  year  they  have 
accomplished  many  important  results. 
They  are  laying  the  foundations  for  a 
splendid  school  system,  with  elementary 
and  high  schools  and  universities.  They 
are  doing  their  best  to  settle  the  land 
problem,  which  formerly  was  very  bad, 
being  based  on  the  Russian  system.  The 
Government  has  declared  its  intention  of 
buying  the  surplus  land  and  selling  it  to 
the  people. 

I  was  impressed  with  the  businesslike 
manner  in  which  the  Poles  have  gone 
about  their  affairs.  What  they  accom- 
plished was  done  because  they  had  the 
backing  of  the  Peace  Conference.  The 
Poles  need  raw  materials,  credit,  and 
goods  to  keep  their  armies  over  the  Win- 
ter campaign.  As  an  instance,  in  !Lodz 
there  was  a  factory  with  132,000  spindles. 
The  Germans  carried  off  all  the  belts  at- 
tached to  the  spindles.  In  a  similar  way 
other  factories  need  supplies  and  machin- 
ery to  replace  that  which  has  been  stolen. 

ARMY  HOLDS  BOLSHEVIKI 
At  the  middle  of  November  the  Polish 
Army  was  the  only  anti-Bolshevist  army 
still  winning  victories  against  the  forces 
of  the  Soviet  Government;  all  others 
had  been  checked  by  the  energetic  Red 
campaigns.  The  Polish  counteroffen- 
sive  between  the  Dvina  and  the  Beresina 
at  that  time  was  going  well,  and  the 
Poles  had  regained  all  the  ground  lost  in 
the  Bolshevist  drive  of  some  three  weeks 
before.    Only  some  fifty  miles  separated 


them  from  Denikin's  army  after  their 
Volhynian  victories.  These  successes 
were  not  the  result  of  a  withdrawal  of 
Bolshevist  forces  on  the  Polish  front, 
for  the  Poles  still  continued  as  before 
to  engage  from  eight  to  nine  Bolshevist 
divisions,  besides  irregular  troops.  A 
furious  Bolshevist  offensive  on  the  Bere- 
sina continued  all  the  time,  while  Petro- 
grad  was  being  threatened  by  the  in- 
sufficiently supported  advance  of  Gen- 
eral Yudenitch  on  the  former  Russian 
capital;  had  these  Red  forces  been  re- 
leased by  Poland's  inactivity,  the  defeat 
of  the  Yudenitch  army  would  have  been 
far  more  crushing  and  disastrous  than  it 
actually  proved. 

POLISH  BOUNDARIES 
The  question  of  Polish  boundaries  still 
continued  to  preoccupy  the  Polish  public 
mind.  The  policy  adopted  by  the  Paris 
Peace  Conference  of  refusing  to  discuss 
the  eastern  frontiers  of  Poland  until 
Russia  had  been  reconstituted  left  Po- 
land's aspirations  indefinitely  deferred. 
The  views  of  General  Pilsudski  looked 
toward  an  early  settlement  of  the  bound- 
ary question  and  the  establishment  of  a 
provisional  regime  for  those  portions  of 
Lithuania,  White  Russia,  and  Volhynia 
whose  civilization  was  Polish,  and  which 
had  been  reclaimed  from  Bolshevism  by 
the  Poles. 

One  solution  of  the  East  Galician  prob- 
lem believed  to  be  in  harmony  with  allied 
desires  was  the  formation  of  two  auton- 
omous States  to  be  set  up  beyond  the 
Polish  frontiers,  and  to  be  placed  under 
a  Polish  protectorate  for  a  period  of 
twenty  years,  the  Governors  of  each  of 
these  States  to  be  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
ident of  Poland,  and  the  capitals  to  be 
fixed  at  Vilna  and  Lemberg  (Lvov).  M. 
Patek,  the  Polish  Minister  to  Czechoslo- 
vakia, who  was  sent  to  Paris  on  Nov.  12 
to  take  the  place  of  M.  Paderewski  as 
Polish  delegate  to  the  conference,  was 
commissioned  to  propound  a  solution  of 


POLAND'S  PROGRESS  TOWARD  PEACE 


77 


the  Polish  frontier  question  along  these 
lines. 

Aggression  of  a  Polish  army  in  Lith- 
uania was  reported  by  the  American  Bal- 
tic Commissioner,  Commander  Gade, 
after  a  visit  to  Kovno,  the  Lithuanian 
capital,  in  the  first  week  of  December. 
Commander  Gade  and  the  British  Com- 
missioner, Colonel  Tallents,  had  been 
there  at  the  same  time,  and  had  found 
that  the  Polish  Army  had  for  several 
weeks  been  advancing  into  Lithuanian 
territory — in  some  places  to  a  distance 
of  thirty  kilometers.  The  Poles  also  were 
continuing  to  hold  Vilna,  and  were  at- 
tempting to  Polonize  the  town.  A  plot 
to  overthrow  the  Lithuanian  Government 
had  resulted  in  the  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment of  sixty  Polish  leaders.  This  whole 
phase  of  the  Polish  situation  was 
summed  up  by  a  correspondent  in  these 
words : 

A  big  Polish  force  is  eating  off  its  head 
with  nothing  legitimate  to  do,  and  the  ef- 
fect in  Lithuania  is  deplorable.  On  the 
one  hand,  refugees  and  peasants,  dispos- 
sessed of  their  land,  swell  the  ranks  of  the 
homeless,  workless  and  discontented.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  a  natural  feeling 
throughout  the  country  that  the  Allies 
permit,  or  at  least  wink  at,  the  ill-treat- 
ment Lithuania  is  receiving. 

GERMAN  EVACUATION 
As  for  the  boundary  relations  with 
Germany,  these  are  to  be  adjusted  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  lines  laid  down  in  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  and  in  accordance 
with  a  German-Polish  agreement  regard- 
ing evacuation.  This  latter  agreement 
was  signed  in  Berlin  on  Oct.  24  by  Major 
Michelis,  Chief  of  the  Army  Peace  Com- 
mission in  the  Ministry  of  Defense,  for 
Germany,  and  by  Major  General  Count 
Lamezan  for  Poland.  Its  main  points,  as 
given  in  the  German  press,  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

The  Polish  advance  is  to  begin  only  on 
the  seventh  day  after  the  depositing  in 
Paris  of  the  protocol  of  the  ratification 
of  the  Peace  Treaty  by  the  principal  pow- 
ers. This  day  is  to  count  as  the  first 
day  of  evacuation,  from  which  the  dates 
hereinafter  given  are  to  be  recokoned. 

During  the  first  three  days  a  narrow 
strip  south  of  the  Schoensee-Culmsee- 
Bromberg-Nakel-Usch  line  will  be  occu- 
pied by  the  Poles;  at  noon  of  the  second 
day  Thorn  will  be  evacuated  by  the  Ger- 
mans. 


Between  the  fourth  and  seventh  days 
the  entire  district  to  be  ceded  east  of  the 
"Vistula  will  be  occupied,  Culm  being  oc- 
cupied on  the  sixth  and  Graudenz  on  the 
seventh.  West  of  the  "Vistula,  during  the 
same  period,  Bromberg  (on  the  fourth 
day),  Nakel,  Brotschin  and  Wirsitz,  and 
the  country  to  the  north  of  it  to  the 
Culmsee  line  north  of  Zempelburg  will  be 
occupied. 

The  eighth  day  is  a  general  day  of  rest. 
From  the  ninth  to  the  twelfth  day  the 
Germans  will  evacuate  the  territory  to 
the  following  line:  South  of  Dirschau- 
Prussian  Stargard-Czersk-south  of  Tuchel- 
south  of  Konitz. 

From  the  thirteenth  to  the  sixteenth 
day  the  district  as  far  north  as  above 
Berent  will  be  occupied  by  the  Poles. 

From  the  sixteenth  to  the  nineteenth 
day  the  rest  of  the  territory  to  be  ceded 
will  be  evacuated  as  far  as  the  sea.  The 
movement  in  the  individual  zones  will  be 
arranged  through  agreements  between  the 
local  German  and  Polish  commands. 

This  agreement  was  made  dependent 
upon  the  going  into  effect  of  the  general 
treaty  between  Germany  and  Poland. 

PADEREWSKI'S  RESIGNATION 
Administrative  difficulties  that  had  ac- 
cumulated in  the  pathway  of  the  Pade- 
rewski  Government  forced  a  crisis  on  Dec. 
7,  and,  owing  to  lack  of  support,  Premier 
Paderewski  resigned  after  practically  a 
year  in  power.  After  attempts  of  various 
party  leaders  to  form  another  Ministry 
a  Coalition  Cabinet  was  announced  on 
Dec.  15,  with  M.  Skulski  as  Premier.  The 
other  members  of  the  new  Government 
were  as  follows: 

Minister  of  War— General  IESNICWSKI. 

Minister  of  Finance— LADISLAS  GRABSKI. 

Minister  of  Justice— M.  HEBDZYNSKI. 

Minister  of  Public  Instruction  —  M.  IOPU- 
SZANSKI. 

Minister  of  Commerce  and  Industry  —  AN- 
TONY OLSZEWSKI. 

Minister  of  Agriculture— FRANCIS  BAR- 
DELL. 

Minister  of  Transportation— CASIMIR  KOY- 
REE. 

Minister  of  Posts— M.  TOLLOSZKO. 

Minister  of  Public  Works— M.  KENDZIOR. 

Minister  of  Food— STANISLAS  SLIWINSKI. 

Minister  of  Labor— EDWARD  OPOLOWSKI. 

Minister  for  the  Former  Prussian  Province— 
LADISLAS  SEYDA. 

During  his  occupancy  of  the  Premier- 
ship M.  Paderewski  is  declared  to  have 
shone  more  as  a  statesman  and  negotia- 
tor than  as  an  administrator,  this  being 
especially  apparent  in  his  dealing  with 
the  Supreme  Council  in  Paris.   The  time 


78 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


had  come,  however,  when  Poland  required 
men  of  strong  administrative  capacity 
to  undertake  the  country's  reconstruction. 
Dissatisfaction  existed  in  the  country 
over  the  Government's  failure  to  make 
the  progress  expected  of  it,  and  strong 
hostility  to  it  existed  in  the  Diet. 

In  a  letter  to  Brig.  Gen.  Joseph  Pil- 
sudski,  Chief  of  State,  Paderewski  ex- 
plained that  this  hostility,  together  with 
the  loss  of  the  support  he  had  expected 
from  some  groups  in  the  Diet,  had  made 
it  impossible  for  him  to  form  a  strong 
Ministry.  It  is  asserted  that  he*  also  lost 
influence  in  the  country  through  his  fail- 
ure to  secure  East  Galicia  for  Poland. 
With  his  departure  General  Pilsudski 
was  expected  to  become  the  leading  spirit 
looking  to  Poland's  future. 

FREE  CITY  OF  DANZIG 
The  question  of  the  free  city  of  Dan- 
zig still  caused  Poland  much  apprehen- 
sion, in  view  of  the  arbitrary  actions  of 
the  German  Government  of  the  city  in 
stripping  the  place  of  all  material,  in- 
cluding ships,  docks,  &c,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty, 
should  have  been  kept  for  equitable  dis- 
tribution between  Germany  and  Poland 
at  the  time  when  the  League  of  Nations 
came  into  being.  The  proposal  of  an  ad 
interim  Government  had  been  rejected 
by  the  Germans  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  unnecessary,  and  that  the  city  could 
be  taken  over  directly  by  the  League  of 
Nations  from  the  hands  of  the  German 
regime.  A  Polish  delegation  composed 
of  seventeen  members,  including  ten 
Germans  and  seven  Poles,  and  repre- 
senting industrial  and  commercial  cir- 
cles in  Danzig,  arrived  in  Warsaw  in 
November.  This  delegation  assured  the 
Danzig  Polish  Society  in  Warsaw  that 
the  future  free  city  desired  to  remain  in 
close  contact  with  Poland. 

Regarding  Poland's  Baltic  policy,  it 
was  announced  from  Kovno  on  Dec.  10 
that  at  Dorpat  (Esthonia),  where  the 
delegates  of  the  Baltic  powers  had  as- 
sembled to  discuss  the  question  of  an  ex- 
change of  prisoners  with  the  Bolshevist 
Government,  the  Polish  delegates,  in 
common  with  the  representatives  of  Es- 
thonia, Latvia,  Lithuania,  Ukraine,  and 
White  Russia,   had  declared   themselves 


in  favor  of  a  military  and  political  con- 
vention to  defend  their  independence. 

In  the  United  States  an  appeal  for  an 
American  governmental  loan  for  Poland, 
as  well  as  for  the  other  new  nations  in 
Central  Europe,  was  made  on  Dec.  7  by 
John  F.  Smulski,  President  of  the  Polish 
National  Committee  of  America,  on  the 
ground  that  Poland  and  the  new  sister 
republics  had  spent  themselves  in  fight- 
ing the  Bolshevist  menace  and  Germany, 
had  given  all  they  had,  were  financially 
bankrupt,  lacking  in  all  raw  materials, 
in  fuel,  clothing  and  food  supplies,  and 
that  they  should  be  helped  materially 
without  further  delay  to  aid  them  to  pre- 
serve the  liberty  which  they  had  so 
dearly  won.  A  similar  plea  was  made  in 
an  address  delivered  by  Herbert  Hoover, 
the  former  Food  Administrator,  before 
the  convention  of  the  Poles  of  America 
held  in  Buffalo  shortly  before  the  middle 
of  November. 

TREATMENT  OF  JEWS 
Henry  Morgenthau,  who  headed  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  special  mission  to  investi- 
gate Poland's  treatment  of  the  Jews,  de- 
livered an  address  in  New  York  on  Dec. 
14  in  which  he  said: 

We  found  that  not  as  many  murders  . 
had  been  committed  in  Poland  as  the 
Jews  had  unfortunately  proclaimed,  but 
the  sight  of  many  dead  bodies  and  of 
hundreds  of  others  being  shipped  away 
in  cars  was  a  justification  of  the  feeling 
that  all  those  who  were  deported  had 
been  killed.  But  the  economic  boycott 
is  absolutely  as  fearful  as  it  has  been 
painted.  While  among  the  Turks  I  saw 
how  they  sent  the  Armenians  out  into 
the  deserts  with  released  criminals  and 
had  the  latter  kill  them  on  the  way. 
The  Poles  have  a  more  refined,  if  you 
will,  method.  They  thought  they  could 
strangulate  the  Jews  by  not  dealing  with 
them.  They  would  do  no  business  with 
them.  Jewish  railroad  and  Government 
employes  were  discharged.  No  officers 
in  the  army  could  be  Jews.  In  designat- 
ing the  professors  for  four  universities 
they  were  organizing  they  had  not  a 
single  Jew  on  the  list.  They  injpressed 
Jews  into  service  regardless  of  age  and 
made  them  do  the  hardest  kind  of  work, 
and  the  old  bearded  Jews  were  afraid  to 
go  out  alone  in  the  dark,  for  fear  that 
their  beards  would  be  torn  or  cut  from 
their  faces. 

The  conditions  in  Poland  are  indescrib- 
able and  cannot  be  appreciated  unless 
actually  seen.  In  Vilna  we  were  told  of 
the  man  who  was  tied  to  a  horse  and  had 


POLAND'S  PROGRESS  TOWARD  PEACE 


79 


to  run  five  or  six  kilometers  around  the 
city  at  a  pace  set  by  the  soldier  who  was 
mounted  on  the  animal.  The  poet  Jaffe, 
a  man  of  fine  fibre  and  beautiful  soul, 
was  arrested,  beaten,  stripped  of  his 
clothing,  thrown  into  a  car  with  fifty 
others  and  allowed  to  go  for  three  days 
without  food  or  drink.  A  boy  who  had 
been  buried  alive  with  five  others  told 
how  he  had  extricated  himself  at  night. 

If  American  Jewry  wants  to  cure  the 
evils  of  Poland  it  must  get  at  their  roots. 
Sending  1,000,000  or  2,000,000  Jews  to 
Palestine  will  do  little  good.  The  evil 
consists  in  allowing  the  Jews  in  a  town 
to  follow  one  or  two  pursuits.  Where 
there  are  5,000,  perhaps  1,000  of  them 
could  make  an  honest  living,  but  5,000 
must  cheat  each  other  or  starve.  They 
must  be  given  schools  of  instruction. 
They  must  change  their  mode  of  life.  It 
will  take  a  year's  intensive  study  to  find 
out  how  to  do  it,  but  it  would  be  a  most 
creditable  achievement  for  those  Jews 
who  have  benefited  by  liberty  in  this 
country. 

Mr.  Morgenthau  stated  that  he  had 
made  a  definite  proposition  to  the  Polish 
Government  for  financing  Polish  indus- 
tries by  means  of  a  $150,000,000  fund, 
one-third  of  which  was  to  be  subscribed 
by  Poles,  one-third  by  Americans,  and 
one-third  by  England,  Spain,  and  other 
countries. 

PROTEST  OF  SOCIALISTS 
The  following  appeal,  entitled  "  Down 
with  the  War!  "  was  issued  by  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Polish  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party.  The  Polish  Socialists  have 
about  sixty  Deputies  in  the  National 
Assembly. 

The  bloody  war  continues  to  rage ;  the 

umber  of  dead  and  wounded  is  growing. 

Today,   as   the   Polish   troops   continue  to 


advance  toward  the  east,  as  they  are 
occupying  non-Polish  countries,  as  they 
have  driven  ahead  to  the  Dvina  and  the 
Dnieper,  the  entire  working  class  of 
Poland  must  raise  its  voice  in  protest  and 
demand  the  ending  of  the  bloody  war. 

The  bourgeoisie  and  its  hirelings  are 
agitating  for  the  continuance  of  the  war. 
For  the  Polish  propertied  classes  it  is  a 
question  of  ruling  as  much  territory  as 
possible  in  the  east  in  order  to  reconquer 
their  lost  estates,  in  order  to  take  the 
land  from  the  farmers  and  to  create  new 
privileges  for  themselves.  At  present  the 
war  in  the  east  Is  a  struggle  to*  strengthen 
the  reaction  in  Poland,  to  delay  the  great 
social  reforms,  to  defeat  the  working 
people. 

Our  country  needs  rest.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  young  men  are  being  made 
unfamiliar  with  productive  work  through 
plying  the  trade  of  war.  A  whole  park 
of  railroad  rolling  stock,  urgently  needed 
for  the  bringing  in  of  foodstuffs,  is  held 
at  the  disposition  of  the  military.  Thou- 
sands of  factories  are  waiting  for  work. 
The  Winter  is  approaching.  Death  through 
starvation  menaces  the  Polish  working 
class  families.  A  catastrophe  seems 
inevitable.  Nevertheless,  the  bourgeoisie 
is  playing  a  wicked,  wanton  game. 

The  Justified  demands  of  the  workers 
are  refused;  outlawry  prevails  in  the 
country  villages ;  frauds,  usury,  extortion, 
and  speculation  are  becoming  widespread. 
So  long  as  two-thirds  of  the  State's  in- 
come are  used  for  the  war,  unemployment, 
hunger  and  misery  must  prevail  among 
the  people.  But  the  working  people  do 
not  intend  to  be  the  servants  of  imperial- 
ism any  longer.  They  understand  that 
Poland  is  to  be  made  the  gendarme  of 
Europe,  and  against  this  the  proletariat 
will  revolt  with  all  its  power.  The  prole- 
tariat of  all  countries  will  rise  against 
international    imperialism. 

Away  with  the  war ! 

Long  live  the  international  solidarity  of 
the  proletariat ! 


Reconstruction  Days  in  Germany 

Pan  German  Tendencies 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  15,  1919] 


CONTINUED  sessions  at  Berlin  of  the 
war-guilt  investigating  committee 
of  the  National  Assembly  furnished 
some  scenes  of  international  interest. 
Mainly  the  investigation  revolved  around 
unrestricted  U-boat  warfare  and  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  peace  efforts.  On  Nov.  15 
the   former   Vice   Chancellor,    Dr.    Karl 


Helfferich,  was  fined  300  marks  for  re- 
fusing to  answer  a  question  put  by  Inde- 
pendent Socialist  Deputy  Cohen.  He 
protested  he  could  not  recognize  Deputy 
Cohen  from  patriotic  motives,  since  he 
charged  the  Deputy  with  having  accepted 
funds  from  the  Russian  Bolshevist  Am- 
bassador Joffe  to  produce  a  general  in- 


80 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ternal  collapse.  After  considerable  re- 
crimination, in  which  Deputy  Cohen  de- 
nounced Dr.  Helfferich  as  being  not  a 
witness  but  an  accused  person,  the  meet- 
ing was  adjourned  to  find  some  means 
of  forcing  Dr.  Helfferich  to  answer 
Cohen,  or  persuading  Cohen  to  desist  in 
his  cross-examination  of  the  refractory 
witness.  On  the  following  day  it  was 
remarked  that  an  almost  amusing  polite- 
ness toned  the  attitude  of  those  heckling 
the  former  Vice  Chancellor. 

The  session  of  Nov.  18  was  made 
notable  by  the  appearance  of  Field 
Marshal  von  Hindenburg  and  General 
Ludendorff  before  the  committee.  They 
drove  to  the  Reichstag  building  through 
a  bitterly  cold  Winter  scene,  which 
chilled  the  spirits  of  the  Reactionaries 
and  Spartacans  who  had  threatened 
demonstrations.  A  number  of  Reaction- 
aries, however,  had  gained  entrance  to 
the  building.  They  welcomed  the  two 
military  leaders  with  shouts  of  "  Down 
with  the  republic!  "  and  cheers  for  the 
Kaiser  and  Hindenburg. 

In  the  chamber  Hindenburg's  strong, 
almost  square  features  were  observed  to 
be  very  pale,  and  he  looked  physically 
weaker,  though  more  voluminous,  in  his 
black  frock  coat  than  in  uniform.  Luden- 
dorff, on  the  contrary,  appeared  sharper 
and  leaner  than  when  he  was  the  war 
lord's  right  hand.  In  response  to  the 
eight  questions  which  he  had  previously 
consented  to  answer,  Marshal  Hinden- 
burg said :  "  I  know  with  absolute  cer- 
tainty that  neither  the  people,  the  Kaiser 
nor  the  Government  desired  war,  for  the 
Government  knew  better  than  others  Ger- 
many's tremendously  difficult  position  in 
a  war  against  the  Entente."  He  added 
that  Germany's  defensive  strength  was 
as  unfavorable  as  possible  from  the 
start,  "  but  if  there  had  been  solid,  united 
co-operation  between  army  and  homeland 
we  could  have  attained  victory.  It  was 
not  the  German  Army  nor  its  leaders," 
he  declared,  "but  the  German  political 
leaders,  aided  by  the  Socialists,  who  lost 
the  war.  But,"  he  added,  on  noticing 
Bethmann  Hollweg's  agitation,  "  the  Gov- 
ernment meant  very  well  and  were  all 
honorable  men."  On  his  demand  for  the 
floor  he  vigorously  asserted,  "  I  and  my 


faithful  co-worker  wanted  peace,  but  an 
honorable  peace.  I  resist  emphatically 
charges  to  the  contrary." 

The  testimony  of  General  Ludendorff 
followed.  One  gathered  from  him  that 
he  thought  William  II.  not  only  the  all 
highest,  but  the  all  wisest,  and  that 
whatever  the  Kaiser  did  was  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  world,  which,  un- 
fortunately, could  not  accept  it.  When 
some  of  his  opinions  were  ruled  out  Gen- 
eral Ludendorff  grew  excited.  He  de- 
nounced it  as  an  infamous  lie  that  he 
really  directed  German  policy  during  the 
war.  In  a  vigorous  attack  on  Count  von 
Bernstorff  he  charged  the  former  Am- 
bassador to  the  United  States  with  false- 
ly appraising  and  inadequately  reporting 
the  American  situation  at  Wilhelm- 
strasse.  "  Bernstorff  and  I,"  he  cried, 
"  are  two  persons  of  wholly  different 
temperaments.  He  is  quite  right  if  he 
assumes  that  I  took  an  unsympathetic 
view  of  his  work  at  Washington."  When 
Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  refused  to 
give  further  testimony  on  that  day,  the 
session  was  suddenly  adjourned  indefi- 
nitely. 

Hindenburg's  return  to  Hanover  after 
giving  evidence  before  the  Investigation 
Committee  was  reported  to  have  been  a 
triumphal  journey.  At  Brunswick  he 
was  greeted  by  great  cheering  and  sing- 
ing crowds.  When  he  arrived  at  Han- 
over he  was  welcomed  by  a  tremendous 
demonstration  and  the  usual  singing  of 
"  Deutschland  iiber  Alles."  Later,  he 
addressed  a  deputation  from  the  door  of 
his  residence.  The  Field  Marshal  said 
that  his  trip  to  Berlin  had  been  inspiring, 
for  he  had  discovered  with  great  pleasure 
that  the  national  spirit  was  rising  again. 

On  the  evening  of  Nov.  23  General 
•Ludendorff  attended  a  memorial  service 
at  Potsdam  Garrison  Church,  to  which 
soldiers  garrisoned  at  Potsdam  marched 
or  were  brought  in  automobiles.  He  sat 
in  the  ex-Kaiser's  pew,  and  spoke  on 
"  Militarism  as  a  School  for  Moral  Qual- 
ification of  Successful  Men."  When  he 
got  through  speaking  a  soldier  in  uni- 
form rose  and  shouted:  "  When  the  time 
comes,  General,  we  will  follow  you 
again!"  Thereupon  the  whole  congrega- 
tion stood  and  sang  "  Deutschland  iiber 


RECONSTRUCTION  DAYS  IN  GERMANY 


81 


AUes."  As  Ludendorff  left  the  church 
there  were  loud  cheers  for  him  and  the 
ex-Kaiser.  The  episode  was  regarded  as 
placing  Ludendorff  definitely  among  the 
Pan-German  leaders. 

A  Berlin  correspondent  of  The  New 
York  Times  wrote  on  Nov.  14  that  he 
found  among  all  classes  in  Germany  a 
kind  of  sympathetic  pity  for  the  ex -Em- 
peror, which  was  frequently  expressed 
in  the  term,  "  Der  arme  Kaiser!" — "  The' 
poor  Kaiser!"  While  this  did  not  seem 
to  imply  any  wish  for  his  return  as  Em- 
peror or  King,  for  in  that  respect  he 
was  regarded  as  erledigt — done  with, 
disposed  of  once  for  all — but  if  he  was 
to  blame  for  the  war,  it  was  argued, 
others  were  equally  guilty,  and  it  was 
hoped  he  would  not  be  brought  to  trial. 
Moreover,  there  was  no  doubt  that  large 
sections  of  the  population  regretted  the 
days  of  the  Hohenzollern  splendor,  con- 
trasting them  with  the  sad  state  into 
which  Germany  had  fallen.  So  "Der 
arme  Kaiser!"  came  with  a  sigh  from 
many  lips.  This  retrospective  interest 
was  further  noticed  by  the  correspondent 
in  the  display  of  picture-postcards  of 
Wilhelm  and  his  family  in  a  shop  in 
Friedrichstrasse.  One  of  them  repre- 
sented the  Kaiser  with  his  two  elder 
sons  looking  out  of  a  frame  of  oak 
leaves.  Beneath  crossed  swords  and  other 
martial  emblems  ran  the  lines: 

Burschen  heraus ! 
Lasset  es  schallen  von  Haus  zu  Haus, 
Wenn  es  gilt  fiir's  Vaterland 
Treu  die  Klingen  dann  zur  Hand 
Und  heraus  mit  mut'gem  Sang, 
War'  es  auch  zum  letzten  Gang, 

Burschen  heraus ! 

TRANSLATION. 
Out  Boys ! 
From  house  to  house  re-echo  the  noise  ; 
When  the  Fatherland's  at  stake. 
Faithful  your  blades  In  hand  you  take ; 
Out— let  your  cheery  song  resound, 
Were  it  e'en  for  the  final  round — 
Out  Boys! 

The  correspondent  added:  "  Both 
Kaiser  and  Crown  Prince  were  '  out/ 
indeed,  in  a  sense  very  different  from 
that  intended  by  the  writer  of  the  verse. 
But  would  they  remain  out  for  good 
and  all?" 

Berlin,  on  Dec.  3,  extended  a  popular 
ovation  to  Field  Marshal  von  Mackensen 


on  his  return  from  captivity.  The  Noske 
Guard  and  troops  of  all  arms  waited  at 
the  station,  together  with  several  prom- 
inent Generals,  including  von  Falken- 
heyn,  Mackensen's  partner  in  the  Ru- 
manian campaign. 

The  same  date  was  also  marked  by  the 
presentation  of  a  vast  tax  measure  to  the 
National  Assembly  by  Mathias  Erzber- 
ger,  Minister  of  Finance.  At  the  outset 
the  Minister  uttered  a  warning  "that 
the  man  who  was  still  wrapped  up  in 
pre-war  individualism  would  not  find 
the  tax  assessments  to  his  liking."  Herr 
Erzberger  added  that  "  pre-war  individ- 
ualism resulted  in  a  badly  distorted  con- 
ception of  property,  overemphasized  its 
privileges,  never  or  rarely  took  into  ac- 
count its  duties  and  limitations."  The 
following  scale  indicated  the  Minister's 
proposed  high  levy  on  large  incomes: 

The  first  thousand  marks  of  income  are 
not  assessed  in  the  scale  named  in  the  in- 
come tax  schedule.  After  that  amount  in- 
comes will  be  taxed  10  per  cent.  For  the 
second  thousand  1  per  cent.,  that  being 
the  graded  increase  for  every  thousand 
up  to  15,000  marks.  Incomes  in  excess  of 
500,000  marks  must  pay  60  per  cent.  The 
man  who  had  a  pre-war  income  of  100,- 
000  marks  is  expected  now  to  turn  over 
half  that  amount  to  the  State.  Local 
taxes  are  likely  to  consume  an  additional 
20,000. 

Though  the  German  mark  fell  to  the 
unprecedented  value  of  only  2  cents  in 
American  money,  German  industries  were 
reported  as  again  expanding  at  remark- 
able speed.  Herr  Schmidt,  Minister  of 
Food  and  Economics,  speaking  in  Berlin 
on  Dec.  7,  cited  statistics  to  show  that 
production  in  the  mines,  shipyards  and 
general  industries  had  reached  a  level 
approaching  the  pre-war  basis.  The  only 
exceptions  were  those  lacking  raw  mate- 
rials. The  so-called  German  Dye  Trust 
increased  its  capital  to  1,000,000,000 
marks  with  a  view  to  making  a  vigorous 
campaign  for  supremacy  in  the  world 
markets. 

The  trial  of  Lieutenant  Marloh  for  the 
shooting  of  thirty-two  members  of  the 
Marine  Division  last  March,  ending  in 
his  acquittal,  attained  wide  notoriety. 
The  execution  had  been  ordered  on  the 
ground  of  discipline.  According  to  a 
Berlin  dispatch   of   Dec.    10,   Lieutenant 


82 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Marloh  had  been  coerced  into  signing 
three  successive  reports  regarding  the 
matter,  each  stronger  than  the  other,  at 
the  time  of  the  acquittal  of  Captain  von 
Kessel,  the  right-hand  man  of  Colonel 
Reinhardt;  at  the  same  time  he  had  him- 
self admitted  complete  responsibility  for 
the  tragedy  "  for  the  sake  of  military 
honor."  After  signing  the  third  report, 
which  Lieutenant  Marloh  now  declared 
to  be  nonsense  and  untrue,  he  accepted 
5,000  marks  from  von  Kessel  and  agreed 
to  disappear  for  a  time.    The  military 


conspirators  hoped  by  these  manoeuvres 
to  head  off  the  trial.  When,  howevtr,  it 
became  a  certainty,  they  even  contemplat- 
ed stealing  the  papers  in  the  case  if 
Lieutenant  Marloh  could  not  be  induced 
to  disappear  again.  While  the  newspa- 
pers unanimously  agreed  that  all  the 
parties  involved  had  some  excuse  for 
their  actions  in  the  incredible  confusion 
of  the  period,  they  likewise  agreed  that 
the  case  must  not  be  allowed  to  rest  with 
Marloh's  acquittal,  but  the  real  culprits 
must  be  brought  to  trial. 


Failure  of  Germany's  Baltic  Raid 

Troops  Driven  Home  by  Letts 
[Period  Ended  Dec.  15,  1919] 


COMPLETE  collapse  and  defeat  of  the 
German  forces  in  the  Baltic  States 
marked  the  closing  weeks  of  No- 
vember. Before  telling  the  story  of  the 
month's  events  it  may  be  well  to  explain 
the  whole  obscure  situation.  A  Reval 
correspondent  of  The  London  Morning 
Post,  writing  under  date  of  Nov.  5, 
illuminated  the  subject  in  an  article 
which  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

There  are  three  former  Russian  prov- 
inces that  desire  independence — Esthonia, 
Lithuania  and  Latvia-Courland.  All  three 
until  less  than  a  year  ago  were  completely 
dominated  by  the  so-called  Baltic  Barons, 
who  owned  the  greater  portion  of  all  the 
land  in  Esthonia  and  Latvia-Courland, 
and  a  high  percentage  of  it  in  Lithuania. 
These  Barons  were  of  absolute  Germanic 
blood.  After  the  Russian  collapse  their 
sons  in  great  numbers  went  into  the  Ger- 
man Army.  Their  treatment  of  their 
peasants  was  after  the  order  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Every  one  of  them  was 
an  anachronism  as  a  landed  proprietor. 
Politically  their  importance  lay  in  being 
the  liaison  between  Berlin  and  what  was 
St.  Petersburg,  promoting  German  influ- 
ence in  Russian  affairs,  to  a  large  extent 
shaping  Russian  policy  and  consistently 
upholding  reactionary  and  imperialistic 
principles.  Such  were  the  Baltic  Barons 
until  the  Russian  collapse — Russian  citi- 
zens aiding  every  devious  German  design 


— and  then,  less  than  a  year  ago,  the  peas- 
ants of  these  Barons  rose  up,  seized  the 
land,  and  evicted  the  former  owners,  who 
in  most  instances  fled  to  Berlin. 

Much  of  the  unsettled  condition  in  the 
Baltic  States  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  the 
Barons  to  recover  their  lost  possessions. 
Under  the  leadership  of  a  former  Rus- 
sian officer  named  Bermondt  they 
created  a  rather  formidable  army,  num- 
bering about  50,000  men.  Nominally,  the 
purpose  of  this  army  was  to  capture 
Petrograd  from  the  Bolsheviki.  Actually, 
the  scheme — very  thinly  disguised — is  to 
subjugate  the  Baltic  States  and  restore 
the  Barons  in  their  land  ownership.  This 
army,  in  conjunction  with  von  der  Goltz's 
army,  set  out  to  capture  Riga,  Bermondt 
alleging  that  he  desired  a  base  from 
which  to  conduct  operations  against 
Petrograd.  Though  von  der  Goltz  was 
nominally  superseded  by  one  of  his  lieu- 
tenants, General  Eberhardt,  the  purpose 
of  both  forces  remained  unchanged. 

Bermondt  had  served  with  distinction 
as  a  Russian  officer  through  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
world  war  he  was  in  the  Russian  Army. 
When  the  Bolshevist  revolution  came  in 
1917  he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  by 
the  Bolsheviki  in  Kiev.  Through  German 
influences  he  was  released  and  went  to 
Berlin,  where,  as  a  professional  soldier, 
he  was  hired  by  the  Baltic  Barons.    His 


FAILURE  OF  GERMANY'S  BALTIC  RAID 


83 


army  consists  partly  of  mercenaries  re- 
cruited in  Germany,  partly  of  Russians 
who  had  been  prisoners  of  war,  partly 
of  deluded  Russian  patriots  and  loyalists 
and  partly  of  Russians  who  had  been  in 
Poland  and  were  sent  by  the  Poles  to 
join  Yudenitch,  but  were  intercepted  by 
Bermondt  and  impressed  into  his  army. 

There  were  two  currents  in  the  Ber- 
mondt army.  One  group  of  officers  and 
men  honestly  believed  that  they  were 
eventually  to  march  on  Petrograd  and 
relieve  the  city  from  Bolshevist  control; 
these  are  the  loyal  Russians.  The  other 
group  are  the  pure  Germans,  whose 
interest  is  in  maintaining  German  domi- 
nation in  the  Baltic  States — that  is,  in 
so  far  as  mercenaries  may  be  said  to 
have  a  patriotic  interest  of  any  kind. 

GERMANY'S   OBJECT 

Von  der  Goltz's  troops  were  in  part 
professional  soldiers  out  of  jobs;  in  part 
discouraged  Germans  seeking  land  settle- 
ments, in  part  adventurers  on  the  watch 
for  any  haphazard  turn  of  fortune.  At 
first  he  invaded  Lithuania.  The  Peace 
Conference  told  him  to  get  out.  The  way 
he  did  it  was  to  go  down  into  the  Suwalki 
pocket,  where  he  began  to  harass  the 
Poles.  He  was  ordered  from  Suwalki 
and  marched  toward  Riga.  Until  allied 
pressure  on  Berlin  forced  him  to  give 
way  to  a  successor  he  continued  to  keep 
things  stirred  up,  for  unsettlement  in  the 
Baltic  States  is  a  part  of  German  policy. 

By  keeping  the  provinces  in  disorder 
Germany  finds  little  difficulty  in  main- 
taining a  comparatively  free  corridor 
through  to  Russia.  This  corridor,  which 
passes  up  through  Lithuania,  she  has 
been  using  for  months,  sending  through 
emigrants  to  form  "  spheres  of  in- 
fluence," and  even  engineers,  to  the  num- 
ber of  at  least  300,  to  begin  industrial 
reconstruction  in  Russia.  Also,  she  has 
succeeded  through  a  most  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  agents  in  creating  in  Lithuania 
an  anti-Polish  feeling  sufficiently  strong 
to  make  any  Polish-Lithuanian  union  or 
federation  very  unlikely.  Thus  the  Ger- 
man desire  to  keep  open  a  passage  to 
Russia  and  the  desire  of  the  evicted 
Barons  to  recover  their  land  are  operat- 
ing to  perpetuate  turmoil  in  the  Baltic 
States. 


Evacuation  of  the  German  Baltic 
troops,  formerly  under  command  of 
General  von  der  Goltz,  was  well  on  its 
way  under  General  von  Eberhardt  by 
the  middle  of  November.  Meanwhile,  the 
brilliant  military  campaign  led  by  the 
Lettish  commander,  Colonel  Ballod,  as 
a  result  of  which  the  German-Russian 


'■oTouroyyen 

A"NY        J    ~*4*0. 


RAILWAYS 


WHEKE    GERMAN    TROOPS    WERE    DRIVEN 
OUT    OP    LITHUANIA    BY     THE     LETTS 

forces  under  Colonel  Avalov-Bermondt 
were  first  thrown  out  of  Riga,  then 
driven  back  to  their  base  at  Mitau,  and 
finally  taken  over  by  the  successor  of 
General  von  der  Goltz,  the  German  Gen- 
eral, Eberhardt,  to  be  sent  back  to  Ger- 
many, was  made  the  occasion  of  joyous 
celebrations  in  Riga  on  Nov.  18,  the  an- 
niversary of  the  independence  of  Latvia, 
which,  by  an  odd  coincidence,  fell  vir- 
tually at  the  date  of  the  Lettish  victories. 
This  Baltic  city,  as  imposing  as  Stock- 
holm or  Copenhagen,  with  its  parks,  its 
public  buildings  and  private  houses, 
whose  population,  since  the  war  began, 
fell  from  750,000  to  200,000,  was  wild 
with  joy  beneath  its  fluttering  flags  over 
its  liberation  from  the  German  menace, 
against  which  it  had  virtually  been  fight- 
ing for  over  four  years. 

The  approach  to  Mitau  on  Nov.  21  was 
lit  up  by  the  blaze  of  farms  fired  by  the 
fleeing  enemy,  which  threw  a  red  glare 
over  the  snow.  In  the  immediate  fore- 
ground the  ancient  castle  of  Mitau  flared 
like  the  funeral  pyre  of  German  ambi- 
tions in  the  Baltic.  The  broad  white 
causeway,  barred  with  the  shadows  of 
high  trees,  was  trodden  hard  and  slip- 
pery by  the  advancing  Lettish  infantry, 


84 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


whose  weeks  of  bitter  fighting  against 
heavy  odds  had  been  crowned  by  this  re- 
markable success.  The  German-Russians 
gave  up  Mitau  without  resistance,  al- 
though the  Lettish  casualties  had  been 
heavy  in  the  flanking  operations,  which 
had  forced  the  evacuation  early  in  the 
morning  of  the  following  day.  Some 
were  able  to  escape  by  rail;  the  re- 
mainder marched  along  the  road  leading 
directly  south  toward  Shavli. 

Before  their  departure  the  Germans 
looted  and  burned.  In  the  main  street 
of  Mitau  there  was  not  a  single  shop 
that  was  not  smashed  or  robbed.  Despite 
the  bitter  provocation,  the  Lettish  troops 
behaved  well,  and  their  entry  into  the 
city  was  unaccompanied  by  reprisals. 
Colonel  Tallents,  commanding  the  British 
political  mission  to  the  Baltic,  who  was 
the  first  allied  representative  to  enter 
the  town,  found  the  Lettish  officers  keep- 
ing excellent  order.  The  inhabitants  told 
the  Lett  commanders  that  they  had  been 
living  through  a  reign  of  terror.  The 
Bermondt  forces  had  looted  indiscrim- 
inately, and  when  a  pretense  of  payment 
was  offered,  it  was  in  worthless  paper 
money  which  the  Germans  had  printed 
in  Berlin,  and  whose  acceptance  they 
compelled. 

EBERHARDT  ASKS  ARMISTICE 

In  a  reply  formulated  at  this  time  to  a 
request  for  an  armistice  from  General 
von  Eberhardt  at  Shavli — Avalov-Ber- 
mondt  meanwhile  had  disappeared — the 
Letts  asked  pointedly  whether  Eherhardt 
called  himself  the  German  or  "  West 
Russian "  commander,  and  whether  the 
German  Government  admitted  responsi- 
bility for  his  actions.  ^Regarding  this 
point  it  was  announced  from  Berlin  on 
Nov.  23  that  Minister  of  Defense  Noske 
had  refused  a  request  by  General  von 
Eberhardt  for  help  in  equipment  and 
money,  and  had  also  declined  to  give 
military  assistance  to  liberate  the  rail- 
road, which  the  Letts  had  cut.  Mean- 
while the  German  rout  continued,  with 
the  Letts  driving  on.  From  Lithuania 
came  news  that  the  German  commander 
and  his  staff,  numbering  sixty-five,  had 
left  Kovno  for  their  own  frontier.  Thus 
the  German-Baltic  imbroglio  was  being 


largely   solved   by  the  courage   and   te- 
nacity of  the  fighting  Letts. 

A  painful  impression,  however,  was 
caused  on  the  Letts  by  the  receipt  of  a 
wireless  from  the  newly  arrived  Inter- 
allied Commission,  presided  over  by  Gen- 
eral Niessel,  instructing  the  Lettish 
Army  to  cease  pursuit  of  the  fleeing 
Germans,  and  implying  that  the  Lett  sol- 
diery were  committing  excesses  against 
that  portion  of  the  Bait  population  rep- 
resenting Lettish  citizens  of  German 
stock.  These  charges  were  indignantly 
denied  by  the  Lettish  Commander  in 
Chief,  Colonel  Ballod,  who  declared  that 
no  executions  had  occurred  without  for- 
mal trial,  and  only  in  the  case  of  espio- 
nage. The  Lett  entrance  into  Mitau,  he 
said,  had  been  effected  only  under  strict 
orders  to  prevent  pillage  and  killing.  Re- 
garding the  charge  that  the  Letts  made 
no  prisoners,  Colonel  Ballod  cited  nu- 
merous cases  of  atrocious  actions  com- 
mitted by  the  Germans,  which,  he  as- 
serted, were  enough  to  justify  any  sol- 
diers in  refusing  to  give  quarter.  One 
of  these  cases,  which  was  authenticated 
by  official  reports  and  photographs,  was 
that  of  the  commander  of  the  2d  Com- 
pany of  the  8th  Regiment,  Lieutenant 
Fichtenberg,  who-  fell  into  the  Germans' 
hands.  What  the  Germans  did  to  him 
was  described  by  the  Lettish  commander 
as  follows: 

They  tore  out  his  eyes  and  cut  off  his 
tongue.  Then  they  wrapped  his  body  in 
barbed  wire  and  lowered  him  by  a  rope 
over  the  Dvina  bank  into  a  hole  which 
they  had  cut  in  the  ice.  He  was  immersed 
for  a  time  and  then  drawn  out,  lest  death 
come  too  quickly,  and  let  fall  again,  for 
there  were  three  separate  thicknesses  of 
ice  on  the  body  when  it  was  found.  Can 
you  imagine  what  would  be  the  feelings 
of  troops  who  had  seen  their  dead  like 
that? 

The  American  Children's  Relief  Com- 
missioner, Captain  Orbison,  on  Nov.  24 
confirmed  this  ghastly  story  in  all  its 
details  to  the  correspondent,  Walter 
Duranty,  to  whom  he  showed  a  photo- 
graph of  the  mutilated  body  of  the 
Lettish  officer.  Captain  Orbison,  on  the 
basis  of  this  and  many  other  cases  of 
German  atrocities  of  which  he  had  per- 
sonal knowledge,  expressed  surprise  at 


FAILURE  OF  GERMANY'S  BALTIC  RAID 


85 


the   moderation   and    self-control   which 
the  Lettish  troops  had  shown. 

Though  the  Letts,  in  obedience  to  the 
order  of  the  Interallied  Commission, 
ceased  to  pursue  the  German  Russians 
beyond  the  frontier,  the  Lithuanians, 
acting  on  their  own  responsibility,  ad- 
vanced westward,  and  occupied  the  town 
of  Radziwiliski,  with  the  object  of  cut- 
ting off  the  German  retreat.  This  action 
drew  from  General  Niessel  specific  in- 
structions to  the  Lithuanians  to  with- 
draw and  permit  the  Germans  to  gain 
their  own  frontier,  which  they  seemed 
only  too  anxious  to  do.  To  this  the 
Lithuanians  agreed,  but  only  reluctantly, 
and  it  was  clear  that  both  Letts  and 
Lithuanians  were  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  take  up  arms  again  if  the  Ger- 
mans made  any  further  aggression,  or 
delayed  their  evacuation  of  Lithuania 
and  Latvia  unduly. 

AN   INGLORIOUS  RETURN 

Unequipped  hospital  trains  continued 
to  roll  with  loads  of  wounded  toward 
the  German  frontier.  Six  hundred,  who 
had  arrived  by  Nov.  25  at  Konigsberg, 
complained  bitterly  of  the  way  in  which 
they  had  been  treated  by  those  respon- 
sible for  the  mad  Baltic  adventure,  which 
had  broken  down  so  disastrously.  These 
returning  German  troops  were  then  a 
menace  only  to  the  villages  and  towns 
through  which  they  passed,  starving,  cold 
and  angry,  in  their  disorderly  retreat. 
They  left  behind  them  hundreds  of  Ger- 
man dead. 

Meanwhile,  on  Nov.  29,  it  was  an- 
nounced from  Berlin  that  armistice  nego- 
tiations with  the  Letts  had  been  begun 
and  were  progressing  at  Yanishki.  It 
had  been  agreed  through  the  medium  of 
the  Interallied  Commission  that  the  Ger- 
mans should  withdraw  all  their  troops 
from  Lettland  by  Dec.  13.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  it  was  further  announced 
that  an  armistice  stipulating  the  imme- 
diate evacuation  of  Lithuania  by  the  Ger- 
mans had  been  signed  by  Germany  and 
Lithuania  through  the  same  commission. 
At  this  time  the  Germans  were  holding 
a  line  in  Lithuania  a  few  miles  south  of 
the  Lettish  frontier,  where,  it  was  said, 
they  were  receiving  arms  and  munitions 


from  Germany.  The  Letts  had  taken 
measures  to  attack  them,  and  the  Lett 
Foreign  Minister  at  Dorpat  said  that  the 
Letts,  despite  their  consent  to  suspend 
military  operations  temporarily,  would 
not  wait  long  for  the  Germans  to  make 
their  exodus. 

News  of  grave  import  was  received  in 
Riga  on  Dec.  9,  to  the  effect  that  five 
trainloads  of  troops  of  the  German  "  Iron 
Division,"  who  had  already  arrived  at 
Tilsit  on  their  way  to  the  interior  of 
Germany,  had  suddenly  refused  to  pro- 
ceed further  in  accordance  with  the  In- 
terallied Commission's  orders,  and  that 
four  trainloads  had  gone  back  to  a  point 
northwest  of  Memel,  where  they  again 
threatened  Courland.  The  authorities  of 
the  German  Army  Headquarters  at  Ko- 
nigsberg said  defiantly  that  this  had 
been  done  at  their  orders,  and  assumed 
all  responsibility  for  the  soldiers'  action. 

Soldiers  of  the  Iron  Division  to  the 
number  of  15,000  were  reported  on  Dec. 
13  to  be  concentrated  at  Memel  in  a 
position  to  menace  Courland.  Further 
east  the  evacuation  was  proceeding  regu- 
larly, but  the  Memel  force  seemed  to 
have  got  out  of  hand  and  was  defying 
the  Allies.  The  true  inwardness  of  the 
situation  was  explained  as  follows  by 
General  A.  N.  Dobrjansky,  who  had 
commanded  a  portion  of  Yudenitch's 
forces  in  Northwest  Russia,  and  who  ar- 
rived in  the  United  States  on  Dec.  10: 

The  northwestern  command  has  estab- 
lished with  absolute  clearness,  by  docu- 
ments, the  fact  that  the  Germans  are  try- 
ing to  found  in  Courland  a  nucleus  of 
armed  German  forces  with  which  not  only 
Russia  but  the  Allies  must  settle  accounts 
in  the  future.  Since  the  hour  when  they 
signed  the  armistice  the  Germans  have 
been  working  with  feverish  haste  and  in 
the  organized,  accurate  and  well-thought- 
out  manner  peculiar  to  them,  to  set  up  a 
counterpoise  to  the  conditions  of  the  armi- 
stice. They  have  chosen  Courland  as  ter- 
ritory bordering  on  Germany  and  yet  be- 
yond Its  frontiers  for  assembling  their 
army,  organizing  their  material  and  sup- 
ply departments,  arsenals,  and  even  com- 
missary stations.  On  this  enterprise  they 
have  been  expending  the  last  remnants 
of  their  cash. 

The  whole  enterprise  had  for  its  pur- 
pose two  objects— to  save  a  part  of  the 
war  supplies  needed  for  their  plans  from 
being  handed  over  to  the  Allies  under 
the  armistice,  and  to  camouflage  this  pe- 


86 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


culiar  mobilization  under  the  alleged  need 
to  fight  Bolshevism,  which  was  supposed 
to  be  threatening  East  Prussia. 
The  spirit  of  those  German  soldiers 
who  returned  to  Germany  was  shown  on 
Dec.  5,  when  the  repatriated  Baltic 
troops  entered  the  Doeberitz  Camp  carry- 
ing old  imperial  flags  and  singing  mo- 
narchical and  patriotic  songs.  They 
brought  with  them  a  number  of  Russian 
women.  The  soldiers  insulted  and  fought 
with  the  members  of  the  public  security 
groups  and  the  police,  and  later  appeared 
armed  with  hand  grenades.  They  retired, 
however,  on  finding  themselves  outnum- 
bered. 

BERLIN'S  ULTIMATUM 

The  German  Government's  final  ulti- 
matum to  the  defiant  members  of  the 
Iron  Division  and  other  Baltic  German 
formations  was  made  public  in  Berlin 
on  Nov.  1,  as  follows: 

The  National  Government  has  been 
obliged  to  threaten  to  use  most  drastic 
measures  against  the  troops  still  remain- 
ing in  the  Baltic  region  and  to  this  very 
day  refusing  to  evacuate  that  foreign 
land.  Every  soldier  who  shall  not  have 
crossed  the  German  border  on  Nov.  11, 
at  the  latest,  will  be  declared  a  deserter 
and  no  longer  a  German  citizen. 

The  National  Government  knows  that 
the  most  despicable  methods  have  been 
used  to  mislead  the  troops  in  the  Baltic 
region  and  to  prevent  their  return,  as  well 
as  to  lure  recruits  to  their  ranks.  They 
have  been  told  that  although  the  National 
Government,  under  the  pressure  of  the 
Entente's  demands,  must  appear  to  be 
using  all  methods  to  effect  the  evacuation 
of  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  it  is  in  reality 
in  full  accord  with  the  policy  pursued  by 
the  Iron  Division  and  the  other  groups. 

This  is  a  lie.  The  National  Government 
has  only  one  policy  in  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion, and  it  demands  the  return  of  the 
troops  from  the  Baltic  territory.  It  re- 
gards all  else  as  a  policy  of  criminal 
adventure  which  has  already  involved 
the  entire  German  people  in  a  most  seri- 
ous and  dangerous  situation,  and,  fur- 
thermore, is  on  the  point  of  bringing 
down  upon  us  endless  difficulties  and 
dangers  in  the  future.  Therefore  the  Gov- 


ernment has  resorted  to  the  most  inex- 
orable means  in  order  to  bring  the  mis- 
led and  deceived  men  to  their  senses  in 
the  last  moment,  and  it  declares  all  who 
shall  not  have  returned  to  German  soil 
no  later  than  Nov.  11  to  be  deserters  and 
subject  to  the  loss  of  their  German  citi- 
zenship by  the  shortest  process. 

That  means  that  every  man  who  refuses 
to  return  will  lose  all  his  claims  to  main- 
tenance in  Germany.  He  will  receive  no 
military  allowances  of  any  kind,  no  in- 
valid or  old  age  pensions,  and  in  case  he 
is  wounded  or  falls  ill  he  will  have  no 
claim  for  support.  If  he  ever  wishes  to 
return  to  Germany  he  will  be  regarded 
as  a  foreigner  and  will  also  be  punished 
for  desertion.  While  abroad  he  is  at  the 
mercy  of  the  regulations  of  foreign  gov- 
ernments, without  having  any  govern- 
ment to  intercede  for  him.  Neither  are 
his  present  or  future  wife  and  children 
Germans  any  longer,  and  they,  too,  lose 
all  right  to  any  kind  of  support  by  Ger- 
many. 

Once  more  the  National  Government 
presents  all  this  for  the  most  serious 
consideration  of  those  who  are  in  the 
Baltic  country,  or  who  wish  to  go  there, 
without  heeding  the  gloomy  prospects  for 
themselves  and  for  the  Fatherland  bound 
to  be  created  by  their  conduct.  The  time 
is  nearer  than  they  think  when,  in  the 
severe  Northern  Winter,  they  will  be  ex- 
posed, helpless,  without  supply  trains, 
without  munitions  and  without  medical 
supplies,  to  the  rage  of  the  embittered 
troops  of  those  countries.  For  the  last 
time,  before  the  worst  comes:  Leave  the 
Baltic  region !  Back  to  your  homes ! 
(Signed)  GIESBERTS, 

BAUER,  KOCH, 

SCHIFFER,  PLOVER, 

BELL,  MUELLER, 

DAVID,  SCHLICKE, 

ERZBERGER,  NOSKE, 

GESSLER,  SCHMIDT. 

In  the  closing  weeks  of  the  year  the 
Baltic-German  intrigue  showed  signs  of 
undiminished  vitality.  Colonel  Avalov- 
Bermondt,  the  Russian  leader  who  had 
attacked  Riga  with  German  support,  ar- 
rived in  Berlin  on  Dec.  17  and  was  wel- 
comed by  Minister  of  Defense  Noske. 
The  Freiheit  declared:  "The  robber 
chief  bears  himself  like  a  representative 
of  a  friendly  power  who  may  continue 
his  adventure  on  German  soil." 


Russia's  War  With  Bolshevism 


Military   Power   of   the    Soviet   Government    Shows    Marked 

Gains  on  All  Fronts 

[Period  Ended  Dec.  18,  1919] 


EVENTS  in  Russia  during  Novem- 
ber and  the  first  half  of  Decem- 
ber showed  an  unmistakable  gain 
by  the  Bolsheviki  in  their  death 
struggle  with  the  anti-Bolshevist  forces 
on  the  west  and  east,  and  considerable 
progress  in  the  south  against  the  armies 
of  Denikin.  The  Yudenitch  army  was 
driven  to  the  borders  of  Esthonia ;  several 
divisions,  forced  to  cross  the  border,  were 
disarmed  by  the  Esthonian  authorities, 
while  others,  under  Esthonian  direction, 
held  off  fierce  Bolshevist  onslaughts 
below  Narva. 

On  the  Siberian  front,  Omsk  was 
taken,  and  the  Bolsheviki  drove  on  toward 
the  east,  taking  large  numbers  of  prison- 
ers from  Kolchak's  troops  and  enormous 
booty.  The  Kolchak  Government  was 
transferred  to  Irkutsk,  and  a  new 
Coalition  Government  was  formed. 

In  the  south,  desperate  fighting  con- 
tinued, in  which  the  forces  of  Denikin 
were  driven  back,  especially  in  the  cen- 
tre, on  a  front  of  fifty  miles.  Later 
Poltava,  Kharkov,  and  Kiev  were  cap- 
tured by  the  Bolsheviki,  Denikin's  armies 
retreating  on  a  wide  front. 

Despite  these  victories  the  Bolshevist 
authorities  insisted  that  their  previous 
offers  to  make  peace  still  held  good;  and 
Maxim  Litvinov,  the  Soviet  Envoy  to 
the  Dorpat  Baltic  Conference  and  to  a 
conference  with  British  representatives 
at  Copenhagen,  was  said  to  have  been 
intrusted  with  power  to  open  peace 
negotiations,  though  his  ostensible  mis- 
sion was  merely  the  exchange  of  prison- 
ers. A  peace  conference  with  new  Bolshe- 
vist envoys  ended  in  a  deadlock. 

Appearing  before  the  Lusk  Investigat- 
ing Committee  in  New  York,  Ludwig  A. 
C.  Martens,  Soviet  "  Ambassador  "  to  the 
United  States,  admitted  that  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Soviet  Russia  since  March 
the  sum  of  $90,000  for  purposes  which 
he  denied  were  revolutionary  or  anarch- 


istic. He  later  refused  to  answer  ques- 
tions or  produce  his  official  documents, 
thereby  laying  himself  open  to  prosecu- 
tion for  contempt. 

In  North  Russia  during  November  and 
December  there  was  little  or  no  change 
in  the  military  situation,  due  to  the  com- 
ing on  of  Winter,  which  brought  a 
gradual  cessation  of  hostilities.  Up  to 
Nov.  27  the  anti-Bolshevist  Russian 
forces  had  cleared  the  Pinega  River 
front,  forcing  the  Bolsheviki  to  fall  back 
on  the  Dvina,  and  relieving  the  enemy 
pressure  on  Archangel. 

THE  PETROGRAD  FRONT 

The  position  of  the  Yudenitch  army  on 
the  Petrograd  front  on  Nov.  19  was 
serious.  Threatened  with  envelopment 
by  the  advancing  Red  forces,  and  crowded 
together  in  a  small  space  near  Yam- 
burg,  the  White  Army  which  had  ap- 
proached Petrograd 's  very  doors  was 
faced  with  capture  or  internment  in 
Esthonian  territory.  In  answer  to  an 
inquiry  by  General  Yudenitch  as  to  what 
Esthonia  would  do  if  he  were  obliged  to 
cross  the  Esthonian  frontier,  the  Estho- 
nian authorities  sent  word  that  he  might 
bring  his  hospitals  and  supplies,  but  that 
his  soldiers  must  disarm  if  they  entered 
Esthonian  territory. 

A  report  submitted  on  Nov.  24  by 
Colonel  Rink,  Chief  of  the  General  Staff 
of  the  Esthonian  Army,  after  a  personal 
visit  to  the  Narva  front,  stated  that  the 
army  of  General  Yudenitch  was  in  a 
bad  state  of  demoralization  after  its  re- 
treat from  Petrograd,  and  that  the  Gen- 
eral and  his  staff  had  lost  all  connection 
with  it.  Part  of  the  army,  with  10,000 
refugees,  had  crossed  the  frontier  and 
settled  south  of  Narva.  Some  of  the  sol- 
diers had  already  been  disarmed.  Four 
of  the  divisions  which  retreated  from 
Yamburg  to  Narva  had  been  organized 
under  General  Toennison.    These  forces 


88 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


had  submitted  to  Esthonian  authority, 
and  were  protecting  the  positions  below 
Narva. 

The  military  disaster,  it  was  stated, 
had  been  due  to  the  incompetence  of  the 
General  in  command,  who  had  neglected 
to  maintain  a  reserve  in  his  hasty  ad- 
vance on  Petrograd  and  had  made  no 
adequate  provision  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  food  supplies.  The  soldiers,  half 
starved,  were  so  weakened  that  they 
could  offer  no  resistance  to  the  advanc- 
ing enemy.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of 
bread  the  soldiers  had  been  obliged  to 
mix  flour  with  snow.  Many  refugee 
children  had  died  of  hunger  and  cold. 
The  Esthonian  Government  was  making 
all  efforts  to  alleviate  distress. 

Meanwhile  some  15,000  Red  troops 
continued  their  attacks  on  the  constrict- 
ed front,  which  followed  the  Esthonian 
boundary  some  twenty  miles  northward 
from  Peipus  Lake,  running  eastward 
and  curving  around  Narva  and  extending 
northwest  to  the  sea.  These  attacks, 
however,  had  been  repulsed.  Efficiency 
had  been  restored  to  those  sections  of 
the  Russian  troops  which  had  come 
under  Esthonian  command,  while  the  sec- 
tions that  had  crossed  over  into  Esthonia 
were  being  reorganized.  Bolshevist  at- 
tacks from  Dec.  1  to  3  had  been  repulsed 
with  heavy  losses.  In  Reval,  meanwhile, 
some  600  soldiers  of  the  former  vic- 
torious army  lay  grievously  wounded  or 
seriously  ill  with  typhus  in  a  cold 
emergency  shelter  destitute  of  blankets 
and  food. 

Despite  his  crushing  defeat,  General 
Yudenitch  said  to  an  Associated  Press 
correspondent  on  Dec.  8: 

I  have  not  given  up  my  intention  to 
capture  Petrograd.  Despite  reports  to  the 
contrary,  the  bulk  of  my  army  is  still 
intact  on  Russian  soil.  Only  a  fifth  part 
of  it  has  been  disarmed  by  the  Esthonians. 

M.  Lianozov,  head  of  the  Northwest- 
ern Government,  declared  on  Dec.  11  that 
a  new  offensive  against  Petrograd  was 
already   being   planned. 

REDS  ATTACK  ESTHONIANS 

Bolshevist  attacks  on  the  Esthonians 
in  the  direction  of  Narva  were  con- 
tinuing in  force  toward  the  end  of  No- 
vember, with  the  alleged  object  of  rein- 
forcing drastic  demands  at  the  Dorpat 


Conference.  New  Bolshevist  regiments 
were  being  sent  against  the  Esthonians, 
whose  morale  continued  good,  although 
these  heavy  attacks  were  combined  with 
energetic  peace  agitation.  The  Bolshe- 
vist offensive  went  on  through  the  early 
part  of  December.  On  Dec.  10  the  Red 
Army  began  a  new  drive,  accompanied 
by  terrific  artillery  fire.  No  fewer  than 
ten  attacks  on  the  strongly  fortified 
Esthonian  lines  were  repulsed  with  heavy 
losses  to  the  attackers.  The  Esthonians 
were  holding  their  positions  strongly, 
and  many  of  the  assailants,  who  ad- 
vanced in  massed  formation,  were  mowed 
down  before  the  barbed  wire  defenses. 

With  fifteen  Bolshevist  divisions,  as 
against  three  of  Esthonia,  to  contend 
with,  however,  the  Esthonians  foresaw 
disaster,  and  appealed  to  Finland  for 
military  aid,  pointing  out  that  if  the 
Esthonian  barrier  failed,  the  Bolsheviki 
might  sweep  the  Baltic  region.  Finland 
replied  that  she  could  take  no  action 
without  consulting  the  allied  Govern- 
ments. 

LITVINOVS   MISSION 

Maxim  Litvinov,  former  Soviet  Am- 
bassador to  England,  arrived  at  Dorpat 
to  attend  the  conference  of  Baltic  States 
convened  officially  for  the  discussion 
of  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  unof- 
ficially, as  it  was  believed,  for  the  bring- 
ing about  of  peace  with  the  Soviet  Re- 
public, on  Nov.  16.  As  the  Soviet  envoy, 
followed  by  three  other  Bolshevist  dele- 
gates, passed  through  the  silent  crowd 
in  the  hall  of  the  Dorpat  Station,  some 
men  near  the  door  uttered  a  single  word : 
"  Brest-Litovsk!  "  Litvinov  must  have 
heard  it,  though  he  gave  no  sign.  Since 
that  peace,  which  had  apparently  deliv- 
ered Russia  into  German  servitude,  the 
situation  had  greatly  changed,  for  it 
was  an  open  secret  that  Litvinov  was  on 
his  way  to  negotiate  a  peace  that  would 
recognize  his  Government's  independence 
and  the  Soviet  regime  as  the  de  facto 
Government  of  the  former  Russian 
Empire. 

Litvinov  himself  visited  Dorpat  only 
in  passing  on  his  way  to  Copenhagen,  to 
take  up  with  duly  accredited  British  rep- 
resentatives an  announced  program  of 
discussion  concerned  with  an  exchange 


RUSSIA'S  WAR  WITH  BOLSHEVISM 


89 


T  U    R   K   E  STAN 


THE  REGIONS  AROUND  KIEV  AND  KHARKOV  WERE  LOST  BY  DENIKIN  TO  THE  REDS.     IN 
THE   EAST   KOLCHAK   RETIRED  FROM  OMSK   FURTHER   EASTWARD   TO   IRKUTSK 


of  prisoners.  When  the  projected  meet- 
ing was  featured  purely  as  a  peace  con- 
ference, only  Esthonia  and  Latvia  had 
agreed  to  take  an  active  part,  with 
Lithuania  in  attendance  somewhat 
vaguely  as  an  onlooker;  but  when  the 
official  program  was  given  out  as  a 
discussion  of  exchange  of  prisoners, 
Poland,  the  Ukraine,  and  Lithuania  also 
sent  accredited  representatives.  The 
underlying  intention  was  understood, 
however,  to  be  a  tentative  discussion  of 
the  possibilities  of  an  armistice  and 
eventual  peace.  It  was  announced  on 
Nov.  19  that  the  terms  on  which  prison- 
ers and  hostages  would  be  exchanged 
with  the  Soviet  Government  had  been 
agreed  upon. 

L1TVINOVS  ATTITUDE 

After  his  arrival  at  Dorpat,  Litvinov 
boasted  that  the  Bolsheviki  had  smashed 
General  Yudenitch's  army  and  would  do 
the  same  to  General  Denikin's  forces. 
Toward  the  representatives  of  the  Baltic 
States,  who  had  been  led  to  believe  that 
the  Bolsheviki  were  as  eager  as  they  to 
make  peace,  Litvinov  assumed  at  the  out- 
set such  a  cold  and  threatening  manner 
that  the  Baltic  delegates  were  discon- 
certed.   It  was  said  that  when  Litvinov 


entered  the  conference  he  expressed  sur- 
prise at  finding  representatives  of  Latvia 
and  Lithuania,  as  well  as  of  Esthonia. 
The  Polish  representatives  left  the  con- 
ference immediately  on  Litvinov's  ar- 
rival. The  Bolshevist  envoy  showed  im- 
patience when  told  that  the  Baltic  dele- 
gates were  prepared  officially  to  discuss 
only  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  remark- 
ing that  he  did  not  wish  to  lose  time  on 
unimportant  details  which  could  be  in- 
cluded in  a  peace  treaty.  He  flatly  re- 
fused to  consider  the  establishment  of  a 
neutral  zone,  and  was  not  inclined  to 
treat  the  question  of  an  armistice  apart 
from  peace.  After  a  few  days'  stay 
in  Dorpat,  Litvinov  proceeded  to  Copen- 
hagen to  conduct,  with  British  represen- 
tatives, similar  discussions  of  an  ex- 
change of  prisoners. 

THE  COPENHAGEN  CONFERENCE 

Some  ten  days  before  Litvinov's  ar- 
rival in  Copenhagen,  Cecil  Harmsworth 
had  stated  in  the  British  Parliament 
that  the  Danish  Government  had  agreed 
that  a  meeting  should  take  place  between 
representatives  of  the  British  and  Soviet 
Governments,  "  providing  that  they  are 
previously  informed  of  the  personnel  of 
the  delegations,  which  should  be  small, 


90 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


and  that  the  right  of  the  delegations  to 
remain  in  Denmark  shall  automatically 
cease  as  soon  as  either  party  breaks  off 
negotiations." 

One  of  the  first  moves  made  by 
Litvinov  in  his  conversations  with  James 
O'Grady,  the  British  representative,  and 
his  assistants,  R.  Nathan  and  L.  G.  M. 
Gall,  which  occurred  on  Nov.  25,  was  to 
propose  that  the  Allies  lift  their  blockade 
on  Soviet  Russia.  The  Bolshevist  atti- 
tude was  most  conciliatory.  Among  other 
things  Litvinov  offered  to  telegraph  Mos- 
cow, Petrograd,  and  other  Bolshevist 
cities  to  obtain  full  reports  as  to  the 
condition  of  British  subjects  held  prison- 
er, estimated  at  117  in  all.  The  Soviet 
Government,  he  said,  was  prepared  to 
liberate  British  prisoners  if  its  own  na- 
tionals abroad  were  allowed  free  com- 
munication with  Soviet  Russia.  Though 
Great  Britain  was  deeply  interested  in 
the  trend  of  affairs  at  Copenhagen,  it 
was  affirmed  officially  that  Mr.  O'Grady 
had  been  definitely  instructed  to  enter 
into  no  negotiations  beyond  those  relat- 
ing to  prisoners. 

Litvinov's  desire  to  extend  the  scope 
of  the  discussions  beyond  this  subject, 
however,  was  made  clear  on  Dec.  10. 
After  he  had  failed  in  his  efforts  to  get 
the  British  envoys  to  discuss  peace  terms 
he  addressed  to  the  allied  representa- 
tives a  copy  of  a  resolution  adopted  on 
Dec.  5  by  the  Seventh  Congress  of 
Soviets  at  Moscow,  authorizing  peace 
negotiations  with  the  Allies.  This  docu- 
ment, however,  was  returned  to  him  by 
the  allied  representatives  as  constituting 
a  breach  of  good  faith  with  Denmark, 
which  had  not  authorized  the  holding  of 
peace  negotiations  within  her  domains. 
The  result  of  the  discussions  on  the  ex- 
change of  prisoners  had  not  been  offi- 
cially concluded  at  the  time  these  pages 
went  to  press.  Litvinov  admitted  that 
he  had  been  approached  by  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and  other  neutral  countries  in 
regard  to  a  similar  exchange,  but  that 
everything  depended  on  Britain's  action. 

THE  DORP  AT  CONFERENCE 

The  Esthonian  Government,  still  per- 
sisting in  its  desire  of  peace  with  the 
Bolsheviki,  announced  on  Nov.  29  that 
new  negotiations  would  be  begun  with 


the  Soviet  Government  at  Dorpat  early 
in  December.  On  Dec.  5,  after  the  ar- 
rival of  the  Bolshevist  delegation,  headed 
by  M.  Krassin,  the  Bolshevist  Minister 
of  Trade  and  Commerce,  M.  Poska,  the 
Esthonian  Foreign  Minister,  explained 
the  attitude  of  his  country  toward  Soviet 
Russia  as  follows: 

Esthonia  has  never  been  aggressive 
toward  Russia,  but  fought  only  to  defend 
her  independence.  I  believe  the  other  new 
States  were  in  the  same  situation. 
Esthonia  considers  it  necessary  that  Soviet 
Russia  should  make  analogous  proposals 
to  them.  The  other  States,  however,  have 
only  partially  accepted  the  Soviet  pro- 
posal. All  the  delegations  have  not  yet 
arrived.  The  Esthonian  delegation  hopes, 
nevertheless,  that  these  pourparlers  will 
be  concluded  successfully. 

M.  Krassin  commented  as  follows: 
Some  time  ago  Soviet  Russia  proposed 
that  Esthonia  enter  into  peace  negotia- 
tions, resulting  in  the  Pskov  Conference, 
which  was  so  suddenly  interrupted.  Soviet 
Russia  states  once  more  that  she  is  ready 
to  conclude  a  peace  and  to  make  im- 
portant concessions.  "We  desire  peace  on 
the  basis  of  self-determination  and  mutual 
non-interference  with  each  other's  affairs. 

BOLSHEVIST  PEACE   TERMS 

The  Esthonian  and  Bolshevist  envoys 
exchanged  their  peace  conditions  on  Dec. 
6,  before  the  arrival  of  either  the  Latvian 
or  Lithuanian  envoys.  The  Bolshevist 
conditions  were  given  out  officially  the 
following  day;  they  were  based  on  the 
following  thirteen  points: 

First— Mutual    recognition    of    indepen- 
dence. 
Second— Suspension  of  the  state  of  war. 
Third— Suspension  of  hostilities  and  de- 
termination of  the  time  for  withdrawal  of 
the   troops. 

Fourth— Declaration  by  the  Esthonian 
Government  of  the  nonexistence  of  alli- 
ances between  the  States  warring  with 
the  Soviet. 

Fifth— Similar  declarations  with  refer- 
ence to  other  forces  opposed  to  the  Soviet 
Government. 

Sixth— The  internment  and  disarmament 
of  General  Yudenitch  (commander  of  the 
Russian  Northwest  Army)  and  the  im- 
pounding of  his  war  stores  under  seal. 

Seventh— Amnesty  for  all  citizens  con- 
demned for  support  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment or  taking  part  in  the  third  In- 
ternationale. 

Eighth— Provisions  for  a  commercial 
treaty. 

Ninth— Resumption  of  diplomatic  rela- 
tions. 


RUSSIA'S  WAR   WITH  BOLSHEVISM 


91 


Tenth— Resumption    of    postal    and    tele- 
graphic   relations. 
Eleventh— Joining  up  of  railways. 
Twelfth— Transit  over  the  Esthonian  rail- 
ways of  goods  from  Esthonian  ports  bound 
for  Russia. 

Thirteenth— The  establishment  of  dock- 
age facilities  for  Soviet  Russian-bound 
goods. 

Other  Bolshevist  demands  that  de- 
veloped were  the  occupation  by  Soviet 
troops  of  that  part  of  Esthonia  north- 
ward from  Lake  Peipus,  taking  in  the 
Narva  front  and  all  the  territory  held 
by  the  remnants  of  the  Yudenitch  Army; 
this,  with  Clauses  6,  12,  and  13  of  the 
conditions  above  listed,  proved  to  be  the 
rock  on  which  the  negotiating  parties 
split,  after  an  agreement  had  been 
reached  on  most  of  the  other  points,  in- 
cluding the  relief  of  Esthonia  from  par- 
ticipation in  obligations  of  the  former 
Imperial  Government  incurred  subse- 
quently to  Nov.  17,  1917,  her  responsibil- 
ity for  prior  obligations  having  been 
made  a  condition  of  recognition  by 
France. 

A   DEADLOCK  ESTABLISHED 

To  the  frontier  stipulations  of  the 
Bolshevist  delegations  the  Esthonians 
opposed  counterpropositions.  M.  Krassin 
then  announced  that  he  must  consult 
his  Government  before  making  final 
answer,  and  soon  afterward  left  for 
Soviet  Russia  by  way  of  Pskov.  Pending 
his  return,  the  conference  continued  the 
discussion  of  other  subjects.  Both  sides 
were  pessimistic  regarding  a  favorable 
outcome.  The  Bolshevist  delegates  at 
this  time  were  demanding  full  publicity, 
and  M.  Krassin  had  threatened  that  if 
the  Baltic  delegates  continued  to  hold 
him  to  silence,  he  would  employ  the 
Moscow  wireless  to  flash  news  of  the 
conference  to   the  world. 

Even  more  drastic  demands  were  made 
by  the  Bolshevist  delegates  after  the  re- 
turn of  M.  Krassin;  they  included  the 
severance  by  the  Esthonians  of  all  rela- 
tions with  the  Allies  and  Finland,  in- 
sistence on  the  turning  over  of  all  transit 
and  dock  facilities,  which  would  make 
Esthonia  a  mere  Soviet  dependency,  and 
the  forbidding  of  any  troops  remaining 
on  Esthonian  territory  except  the  Estho- 
nian National  Army.  They  also  demanded 


that  no  units  of  the  Northwest  Russian 
Army  be  allowed  to  enter  the  Esthonian 
Army,  and  that  transportation  of  any 
armed  forces  through  Esthonia  be 
similarly  prohibited.  These  peremptory 
demands  were  being  reinforced  by  de- 
termined military  attacks  on  the  Estho- 
nian front.  It  was  at  this  juncture  (Dec. 
16)  that  Esthonia  appealed  to  Finland 
for  assistance. 

[For  the  development  of  the  small  war 
between  the  Letts  and  the  German- 
Russian  forces  under  Colonel  Bermondt, 
see  the  preceding  article. 

THE    SOUTHERN    FRONT 

Of  all  the  anti-Bolshevist  fronts,  that 
of  Denikin  in  the  south  was  the  one 
where  the  most  desperate  fighting  oc- 
curred. The  menace  to  Moscow  brought  by 
Denikin's  ever-advancing  armies  had  long 
been  a  source  of  apprehension  in  the 
Soviet  capital.  In  the  last  six  months 
the  Bolsheviki  had  sent  more  than  350,- 
000  men  and  thousands  of  guns  to  the 
south  from  the  eastern  front,  Turkestan, 
and  the  interior.  Fighting  of  a  fierce 
and  obstinate  character  was  continuing 
on  Nov.  12  southwest  of  Orel,  on  Deni- 
kin's centre,  where  the  Reds  were  ad- 
vancing, while  southeast  of  Kursk  Deni- 
kin's troops  were  well  north  of  Liski,  an 
important  railway  junction  that  had  just 
been  recaptured  from  the  Reds.  Between 
Orel  and  Kursk  Bolshevist  cavalry  broke 
through  Denikin's  lines  on  a  front  of 
forty-seven  miles.  Fighting  was  practi- 
cally continuous,  and  it  was  evident  that 
the  Bolsheviki  were  concentrating  their 
biggest  and  best  forces  in  their  attempt 
to  break  Denikin's  centre. 

By  Nov.  20  Winter  had  set  in,  and  the 
troops  were  fighting  in '  snowstorms,  al- 
ternating with  thaws,  that  reduced  the 
roads  to  morasses.  At  this  date  it  ap- 
peared probable  that  Denikin  would  be 
forced  to  retreat  still  further,  because 
of  the  ever-increasing  forces  brought 
against  his  centre,  though  on  Nov.  22 
an  important  victory  won  by  Denikin 
against  a  Bolshevist  army  of  50,000  men 
between  Orel  and  Tambov  was  reported. 
At  this  time  the  Bolshevist  forces  on 
Denikin's  left  flank  were  about  fifty 
miles   south   of   Veronezh. 

In  Western  Ukraine,  on  the  front  of 


92 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  Volunteer  army  between  Kharkov 
and  Kursk,  and  on  the  front  of  the  Cau- 
casus army  on  both  sides  of  the  Volga, 
there  was  an  alternation  of  Bolshevist 
and  anti-Bolshevist  advantage,  with  the 
balance  slightly  in  favor  of  the  forces 
of  Denikin  up  to  Nov.  25.  The  Bolsheviki 
were  driven  back  before  Tsaritsin  on 
Nov.  29,  and  Denikin  was  advancing  in 
this  region,  as  well  as  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Kursk  and  Kiev  about  Dec.  4. 
Counterbalancing  these  claims,  a  Bolshe- 
vist official  statement  of  Dec.  5  declared 
that  the  Bed  forces  were  making  a  gen- 
eral advance  along  the  entire  Denikin 
front,  and  had  captured  several  towns  in 
the  Governments  of  Tchernigov,  Poltava, 
and  Kursk,  northeast  and  east  of  Kiev. 

This  success  continued.  On  Dec.  13 
Poltava,  seventy-five  miles  southwest  of 
Kharkov,  was  taken,  and  on  Dec.  12 
Kharkov  itself,  one  of  the  five  most  im- 
portant cities  of  European  Russia,  also 
fell.  On  Dec.  16  the  Bolsheviki  claimed 
fresh  and  continuous  successes:  the  staff 
of  General  Mamontov  had  been  captured 
east  of  Kiev,  many  prisoners  had  been 
taken  in  various  other  sections,  including 
Trans-Caspia  and  the  Persian  border, 
where  Kazandzhik  had  been  captured; 
the  Soviet  forces  were  closing  in  on  Kiev 
itself,  and  had  defeated  Denikin's  forces 
in  the  suburbs  of  that  city ;  subsequently 
it  was  stated  that  Kiev  itself  had  fallen 
again  into  the  hands  of  the  Reds.  Deni- 
kin's armies,  outnumbered  and  outfought, 
were  retreating  on  a  wide  front. 

DENIKIN'S  ASSETS 

In  some  respects,  Denikin's  general 
situation  continued  favorable.  The  number 
of  volunteers  far  exceeded  the  capacity  of 
the  army  to  receive  them.  In  the  war 
with  Petlura  in  the  west,  the  peasant 
leader's  forces  had  been  beaten,  his  offi- 
cers were  coming  over  to  Denikin,  and 
20,000  of  his  Galician  soldiers  had  seced- 
ed and  joined  Denikin's  army.  General 
Tarnowsky  of  the  Galician  Ukrainian 
Army  had  been  arrested  by  the  Ukrain- 
ians for  secret  dealing  with  Denikin. 
The  movement  of  the  bandit  leader 
Makhno,  which  at  one  time  looked  danger- 
ous, had  been  reduced  to  a  comparatively 
small  area.  A  junction  with  the  Polish 
Army  occurred  about  Nov.  30. 


THE  EASTERN  FRONT 

Omsk,  the  former  capital  of  the  All- 
Russian  Government,  was  occupied  by 
the  Bolsheviki  on  the  morning  of  Nov. 
15.  The  city  was  partially  burned  fol- 
lowing the  destruction  of  the  ammunition 
supplies,  which  it  was  found  impossible 
to  remove  from  the  town.  On  Nov.  18 
the  Siberian  Army  was  occupying  posi- 
tions twenty-five  versts  east  of  Omsk. 
The  retreat  of  the  rear  units  of  the 
Siberian  Army  was  said  to  have  been  ac- 
complished in  great  disorder,  the  troops 
throwing  away  their  guns  and  com- 
mandeering locomotives,  trains,  and  carts 
in  which  to  escape.  Some  fifteen  trains 
carrying  officers  and  their  families,  be- 
sides scores  of  other  trains,  filled  with 
refugees,  ammunition,  and  merchandise, 
which  were  blocked  by  wreckage  and  lack 
of  motive  power,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Bolsheviki,  who  followed  up  the  Cos- 
sacks with  cavalry.  On  Nov.  24  it  was 
reported  by  Colonel  G.  H.  Emerson,  as- 
sistant to  John  F.  Stevens,  head  of 
the  American  Railway  Commission  in 
Siberia,  that  11  Generals,  1,000  other 
officers  of  the  Kolchak  Army,  and  39,000 
troops  had  been  captured  by  the  Bolshe- 
viki at  Omsk.  Material  seized  included 
2,000  machine  guns,  30,000  uniforms  with 
overcoats,  4,000,000  rounds  of  ammuni- 
tion, 75  locomotives,  and  5,000  loaded 
cars. 

NEW   GOVERNMENT   FORMED 

A  proclamation  calling  upon  all  ci- 
vilians in  Siberia,  especially  the  peasants, 
to  join  the  army  of  the  All-Russian  Gov- 
ernment to  resist  the  Bolshevist  advance 
was  issued  by  Admiral  Kolchak  at  this 
time.  This  proclamation  declared  the 
country  to  be  in  danger.  Meanwhile 
social  revolutionary  elements  at  Irkutsk, 
where  the  Kolchak  Ministers  had  arrived 
on  Nov.  19,  began  serious  opposition  to 
the  continuance  of  the  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Ministers  telegraphed  Ad- 
miral Kolchak  that  a  new  Coalition 
Cabinet  must  be  formed  at  once.  To  this 
Admiral  Kolchak,  who  at  that  time  was 
at  Novo  Nikolaevsk  supervising  the  re- 
treat of  his  armies,  gave  his  consent,  and 
on  Dec.  2  the  newly  constituted  Ministry, 
under  the  head  of  Premier  Pepilaev,  an- 
nounced its  program,  which  included  the 


RUSSIA'S  WAR  WITH  BOLSHEVISM 


98 


following  principles:  Emancipation  of 
the  civil  administration  from  political 
influence  of  all  military  leaders;  decisive 
struggle  against  excesses  and  injustice, 
no  matter  by  what  faction  or  party  they 
were  committed;  close  relation  between 
the  Government  and  the  people;  close 
and  friendly  relations  with  the  Czecho- 
slovaks; radical  measures  against  short- 
age of  supplies  for  the  army;  reduction 
of  the  Ministerial  staffs.  The  entire 
program,  it  was  declared,  was  based  on 
the  principle  of  a  decisive  struggle 
against  Bolshevism  for  the  regeneration 
of  Free  Russia. 

BOLSHEVIST    VICTORIES    CONTINUE 

The  Bolshevist  victories  on  the  Kol- 
chak  front  continued  uninterruptedly.  By 
Nov.  26  the  Siberian  troops  had  re- 
treated to  a  point  eighty-seven  miles  east 
of  Omsk;  by  Dec.  11  the  military  situa- 
tion was  desperate;  it  was  stated  in 
Paris  by  the  former  Chairman  of  the 
Russo-American  Chamber  of  Commerce 
on  Dec.  15  that  Kolchak  was  ready  to 
cede  a  part  of  Siberia  to  Japan  to  save 
the  rest  of  Russia  from  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  ever-advancing  Bolsheviki. 
The  latter,  on  Dec.  16,  announced  the 
capture  of  Novo  Nikolaevsk,  on  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railway,  390  miles  east 
of  Omsk,  where  Kolchak  had  made  his 
temporary  headquarters;  the  statement 
said  that  more  than  5,000  prisoners, 
many  guns  and  several  Generals  of  the 
Kolchak  Army  had  been  taken  by  the 
Soviet  troops,  who  had  reached  a  point 
1,200  miles  from  Irkutsk. 

CZECHOSLOVAKS'    HOSTILITY 

A  memorandum  embodying  the  Czecho- 
slovak views  on  the  Siberian  situation 
was  delivered  to  the  allied  representa- 
tives in  Vladivostok  on  Nov.  15.  This 
memorandum  read  as  follows: 

The  unbearable  conditions  cause  us  to 
ask  the  Allies  to  consider  a  means  of  safe 
conduct  to  the  motherland,  which  return 
the  Allies  have  approved.  The  Czechs 
were  prepared  to  guard  the  railroad  sec- 
tor allotted  to  them  and  have  conscien- 
tiously fulfilled  the  task,  but  now  our 
presence  along  the  Siberian  railroad  for 
the  purpose  of  guarding  it  becomes  im- 
possible by  virtue  of  its  uselessness  and 
also  in  consequence  of  the  most  primitive 
demands  of  Justice  and  humanity. 
By  guarding  and  maintaining  order,  our 


army  has  been  forced  against  its  convic- 
tions to  support  a  state  of  absolute 
despotism  and  unlawfulness  which  has 
had  its  beginning  here  under  defense  of 
the  Czech  arms. 

The  military  authorities  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Omsk  are  permitting  criminal 
actions  that  will  stagger  the  entire  world. 
The  burning  of  villages,  the  murder  of 
masses  of  peaceful  inhabitants  and  the 
shooting  of  hundreds  of  persons  of  demo- 
cratic convictions  and  also  those  only 
suspected  of  political  disloyalty  occurs 
daily.  The  responsibility  for  this  before 
the  peoples  of  the  world  will  fall  on  us, 
inasmuch  as  we,  possessing  sufficient 
strength,  do  not  prevent  this  lawlessness. 

Thus  our  passiveness  appears  as  a  direct 
consequence  of  the  principles  of  neutral- 
ity and  noninterference  in  Russian  in- 
ternal affairs,  and  we  are  becoming 
apparent  participants  in  these  crimes  as 
a  result  of  our  observing  absolute  neutral- 
ity. 

Later,  on  Dec.  16,  it  was  announced 
by  the  Kolchak  Government  that  the 
Czechoslovaks  would  remain  in  Siberia 
until  Summer. 

GAIDA   REVOLT   QUELLED 

An  even  more  serious  revolt  against 
Admiral  Kolchak's  authority  was  an  up- 
rising in  Vladivostok  led  by  General 
Gaida,  the  Czechoslovak  commander,  on 
Nov.  17,  which  ended  disastrously:  Gen- 
eral Gaida  himself  was  wounded  and 
surrendered  with  about  a  dozen  members 
of  his  staff  the  following  day,  and  the 
Provisional  Government  organized  by 
himself  and  his  associates  disappeared. 
General  Gaida  himself  was  not  punished, 
but  held  pending  his  return  to  his  native 
country.  On  Nov.  21  he  stated  that  the 
movement  led  by  him  was  one  purely  of  the 
people.  Its  supporters,  he  said,  were  of  the 
Russian  democratic  classes,  and  its  leaders 
included  members  of  the  Czar's  Duma, 
three  member  of  the  Kerensky  Cabinet, 
and  many  young  Russian  officers.  He 
denied  that  the  movement  had  Bolshevist 
affiliations.  During  the  fighting  oc- 
casioned by  this  revolt  the  Japanese 
naval  and  military  forces  maintained 
strict  neutrality.  General  Gaida's  de- 
parture occurred  on  Nov.  29. 

In  November  and  December  the  Bolshe- 
vist activities  were  extended  particularly 
in  Turkestan  and  the  Far  East.  German 
Orientalists  were  sent  by  Lenin  to  India, 
Persia,  and  other  Far  East  countries,  and 
the  Bolsheviki  were  in  uninterrupted  com- 


94 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


munication  with  Afghanistan.  In  the 
course  of  an  address  to  the  Second  AU- 
Russian  Congress  of  the  Mussulman 
Communist  organizations  of  Eastern 
people  held  in  Moscow  at  the  end  of  No- 
vember, Lenin  said: 

Impudent  attacks  by  enemies  of  the 
revolution  have  brought  about  a  miracle. 
We  have  gained  a  full  victory  over  Kol- 
chak,  which  will  be  of  historic  importance 
for  the  peoples  of  the  East.  At  the  same 
time,  attacks  from  the  west  are  weaken- 
ing. The  Versailles  Peace  is  the  greatest 
blow  the  Entente  could  inflict  upon  itself. 
The  peoples  see  clearly  that  President  Wil- 
son did  not  bring  liberty  to  democracy. 

A  strong  resolution  urging  the  making 


of  peace  with  the  Entente  was  adopted 
by  the  Seventh  Congress  of  Russian 
Soviets  at  Moscow  on  Dec.  6,  at  which 
both  Lenin  and  Trotzky  were  present. 
The  resolution  passed  by  the  Congress 
read: 

The  Soviet  Government  proposed  peace 
to  the  Entente  on  Aug.  5,  and  has  re- 
peated the  proposal  eight  times  since.  It 
affirms  again  its  unalterable  desire  for 
peace.  It  offers  to  all  the  Entente 
powers— England,  France,  the  United 
States,  and  Japan— together  or  separately, 
to  begin  negotiations.  It  directs  the 
Executive  and  the  Commissary  of  Foreign 
Affairs  to  continue  systematically  the 
policy  of  peace,  taking  all  steps  to  attain 
success. 


The  First  Bolshevist  Republic 


A  WRITER  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes  calls  attention  to  the 
little-known  fact  that  China  furnished 
the  first  experiment  in  Bolshevism. 
It  is  known  as  the  Republic  of  Chetuga, 
and  was  created  about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  in  Manchuria  by  the 
Khunguses,  whose  successors,  originally 
bandits,  have  now  become  the  regular 
gendarmerie  of  Northern  Manchuria  in 
the  service  of  Japan. 

Gold  having  been  discovered  on  the 
banks  of  the  Chetuga,  an  affluent  of  the 
Amur  River,  the  Chinese  Government  re- 
cruited vast  numbers  of  miners  to  dig  up 
this  gold  for  the  Chinese  Emperor.  Half- 
starved,  almost  naked,  maltreated,  many 
of  these  conscripted  miners  fled  into  the 
mountains,  and  established  a  communist 
republic,  worked  their  own  gold  mines, 
and  substituted  work  coupons  for  the 
use  of  money.  All  was  held  in  common 
for  the  advantage  of  the  workers  alone, 
and  all  income  was  in  strict  ratio  to  the 
amount  of  work  actually  done. 

The  ever-increasing  influx  of  Chinese 
bandits  who  had  fled  from  the  hell  of  the 
mines  produced  a  robber  class,  who  pil- 
laged all  except  the  Khunguses  of  the 
Chetuga  Republic,  and  who  formed  a 
Government  of  their  own  along  the  same 
lines.  As  with  the  former,  so  here  theft 
and  other  crimes  against  the  community 
were  punishable  by  death. 


But  the  depredations  of  the  robbers 
finally  became  so  bold  that  the  Chinese 
Government,  long  suffering  and  orient- 
ally inert,  finally  was  aroused  and  sent 
a  small  army  against  them,  driving  them 
into  the  mountains.  These  forces  also 
took  occasion  to  break  up  the  Republic 
of  Chetuga,  disperse  its  citizens,  whose 
Chinese  status  had  remained  one  of  out- 
lawry, and  seize  its  mines  for  Government 
exploitation.  The  bandits  who  remained 
in  the  northern  mountains  lived  on  pil- 
lage of  boats  on  the  Amur  River  and  its 
affluents.  One  of  their  incursions  led  to 
the  invasion  of  Manchuria  by  Russian 
troops  in  1900.  The  Russians  used  them 
in  various  ventures  against  the  Chinese, 
but  finally  mistreated  them  so  that  they 
went  over  to  the  Japanese,  in  whose  serv- 
ice they  became  the  Russians'  bitterest 
enemies. 

In  1905,  when  the  Peace  of  Portsmouth 
was  signed,  the  Government  of  Tokio 
kept  the  Khunguses  in  their  service  and 
transformed  them  into  a  regular  body  of 
gendarmes.  Unscrupulous  but  loyal, 
they  were  of  the  greatest  value  to  Japan 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Manchuria  as  a 
policing  force.  In  1914,  in  Kingan,  on 
the  slope  of  Mount  Djigitchan,  they  had 
their  headquarters.  Since  1905,  when 
they  numbered  some  40,000,  their  num- 
bers have  considerably  increased. 


Kolchak' s  Methods  in  Siberia 

Terroristic  Nature  of  His  Military  Orders  a  Partial  Explana- 
tion of  His  Reverses 


THE  popular  antagonism  to  the  rule 
of  Admiral  Kolchak  in  Siberia,  and 
the  refusal  of  the  inhabitants  to 
support  him  in  his  losing  fight 
against  the  Bolsheviki,  are  attributed  by 
his  critics  to  the  severity  of  his  methods 
in  administering  the  regions  that  came 
under  his  control.  He  referred  to  this 
matter  himself  in  a  proclamation  issued 
Sept.  16,  1919,  to  the  peoples  of  Siberia, 
in  which  he  said :  "  The  National  Con- 
gress must  also  assist  the  Government  to 
effect  a  change  from  a  military  regime, 
unavoidably  severe,  yet  indispensable 
to  the  conditions  of  desperate  civil  war, 
to  a  new  regime  suitable  to  a  life  of 
peace,  based  upon  guarantees  of  civil 
liberty  and  upon  the  safeguarding  of 
property  and  personal  interests."  The 
documents  printed  below,  however,  first 
made  public  in  the  English  language  by 
The  International  Review  last  November, 
reveal  the  extent  of  the  Admiral's  sever- 
ity and  go  far  to  explain  his  failure  to 
win  popular  support.  They  show  that  the 
shooting  of  hostages  was  an  established 
feature  of  his  method  of  pacification. 

Under  the  Kolchak  regh.ie  practically 
the  whole  country  has  been  subjected  to 
martial  law.  Not  only  the  war  zone 
proper,  but  the  Transbaikal,  Yenesei, 
Irkutsk,  and  Amur  and  Maritime 
Provinces,  and  the  lines  of  the  Siberian 
and  Amur  Railways,  with  the  branch 
lines  and  towns  and  villages  along  their 
routes,  are  under  military  law.  Local 
government  and  its  organs — e.  g.,  the 
Zemstvos — have  been  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition in  which  they  were  in  the  days  of 
Czarism;  labor  unions  have  been  sup- 
pressed, labor  leaders  banished;  the 
workers  are  forbidden  to  strike,  and  are 
under  military  law.  In  the  districts  in 
which  martial  law  has  been  proclaimed, 
the  military  exercise  powers  of  life  and 
death  over  the  inhabitants,  and  how 
that  power  is  exercised  may  be  seen  in 


the  instructions  printed  below.  That 
there  are  continual  wholesale  floggings 
and  shootings  is  proved  by  the  protest 
and  orders  of  General  Gaida  and  Ad- 
miral Kolchak  himself.  One  of  the  orders 
to  officers  against  such  methods  naively 
stated  that  "they  (the  officers)  do  not 
understand  that  too  much  zeal  harms  the 
cause." 

Such  are  the  conditions  in  those  dis- 
tricts of  Siberia  immediately  under  the 
administration  of  Admiral  Kolchak.  East 
of  Lake  Baikal  the  country  is  adminis- 
tered by  General  Horvat,  and  his  subor- 
dinates, Semenov  and  Kalmikov.  Seme- 
nov  and  Kalmikov  originally  refused  to 
recognize  the  Kolchak  Government.  Kol- 
chak tried  to  get  rid  of  them,  but  as 
they  were  supported  by  the  Japanese  he 
failed,  and  eventually  an  arrangement 
was  made  by  which  they  recognized  the 
Kolchak  Government  in  return  for  their 
recognition  by  that  Government  as  the 
restorers  of  law  and  order  in  the  Trans- 
baikal and  Amur  provinces.  The  reign 
of  terror  carried  on  by  Semenov,  says 
The  National  Review,  exceeds  anything 
known  in  Russia  for  a  century;  whole 
villages  have  been  stripped  naked  and 
knouted,  sixty  workmen  at  the  Chita 
workshops  were  flogged  so  that  seven 
died.  Kalmikov,  who  appears  to  be  a 
homicidal  maniac,  was  publicly  described 
by  General  Graves,  commanding  officer 
of  the  American  Expeditionary  Force,  in 
an  interview  in  the  Japanese  Advertiser 
of  February,  1919,  as  a  bandit  and  mur- 
derer. He  murdered  several  thousands  of 
people  in  and  around  Habarovsk,  and 
later  murdered  sixteen  of  his  own  offi- 
cers who  wished  to  leave  him  and  go  to 
the  front.  He  was  prevented  by  the 
Allies'  representatives  from  murdering 
these  officers  on  the  spot,  and  promised 
to  send  them  to  Chita  for  trial.  They 
never  arrived,  and  Kalmikov's  explana- 
tion was  that  on  the  way  the  sixteen  of 


96 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


them  "  expired."  It  is  hardly  surprising 
in  these  circumstances  that  all  Siberia 
east  of  Lake  Baikal  was  actually  or 
potentially  in  revolt  in  the  Autumn  of 
1919;  and  that  where  Kolchak  had  the 
largest  concentration  of  forces,  accord- 
ing to  his  critics,  there  was  the  greatest 
disorder  and  the  most  Bolshevism. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  the  in- 
structions to  military  officers: 

(1)     INSTRUCTIONS    TO    THE    COM- 
MANDERS OF  GARRISONS 

Appendix  to  the  declaration  of  the  Com- 
missioner for  the  keeping  of  public  order  and 
peace  in  the  Tenesei  and  part  of  the  Irkutsk 
Provinces   (§  of  March  28,  1919.) 

1.  To  inform  me  by  telegraph  of  every  inci- 
dent which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  garrison 
commander,  requires  the  execution  of  the 
hostages. 

2.  Announce  in  the  same  telegram  just 
what  hostages  the  garrison  commander  pro- 
poses to  shoot  in  view  of  the  given  fact. 

3.  The  garrison  commander  must  demand 
of  the  military  control  and  investigatory  com- 
mittees the  evidence  submitted  in  each  case 
for  inclusion  as  a  hostage.  The  lists  of 
hostages,  together  with  the  reasons  why  they 
have  been  considered  as  hostages,  are  to  be 
sent  to  me. 

4.  The  material  and  evidence  received  from 
the  organs  mentioned  above  are  not  to  con- 
tain an  estimate  of  the  person's  guilt.  This 
estimate  will  be  made  by  the  garrison  com- 
mander, but  the  person  and  institution  that 
reported  the  facts  are  responsible  for  the 
accuracy. 

5.  In  cases  of  undoubted  guilt  the  garrison 
commander,  after  receiving  from  me  permis- 
sion to  shoot  a  given  number  of  hostages 
owing  to  the  event  reported,  will  inform  me 
simply  of  the  surnames,  Christian  names,  by 
whom,  when,  and  for  what  (in  the  most  gen- 
eral terms)  detained.  On  receipt  of  my  tele- 
gram, "  I  agree  with  the  contents  of  your 
telegram     recommending     the     shooting     of 

Nos. ,"  he  is  to  proceed  with  the  shooting 

within  twenty -four  hours. 

6.  In  doubtful  cases  all  the  evidence  col- 
lected is  to  be  forwarded  to  me  by  telegraph 
in  precis  form,  and  the  shooting  is  not  to  be 
proceeded  with  pending  my  confirmation  for 
each  case  (po  kajdomu  abdielnomu  dielu.) 

7.  Only  persons  detained  for  Bolshevism  in 
general,  or  for  acts  implicating  them  in  the 
present  revolt,  can  be  counted  as  hostages. 

Simply  criminals  (not  implicated  in  the  re- 
volt) are  not  to  be  included  among  the  hos- 
tages. 

March  28,   1919.  Krasnoyarsk. 

Original  signed  by  Lieut.  Gen.  Rozanov, 
Chief   of   the    Staff. 

Captain    of   the    General    Staff,    Afanasiev. 


(2)     ORDER   TO   THE   PRE-AMUR 
MILITARY  DISTRICT 

The  Fortress  of  Vladivostok,  No.  203,. 

May  3,   1919. 

The  so-called  Bolsheviki  temporarily  seized 
the  reins  of  government  in  Russia.  The 
millions  of  the  Russian  people  allowed  the 
Bolsheviki  to  do  this  only  because  they  be- 
lieved their  delusive  promises,  trusted  their 
assurances  at  meetings,  and  believed  that  the 
Bolsheviki  are  sincere  friends  of  the  people. 
But  the  Russian  people,  who  had  been  misled 
by  propaganda  and  devilish  duplicity,  soon 
saw  that  instead  of  bread  the  Bolsheviki 
gave  hunger,  instead  of  peace  they  soaked 
Russian  soil  in  the  blood  of  brothers,  instead 
of  easy  work  and  a  prosperous  existence  they 
gave  the  proletariat  unemployment,  gave  over 
Russian  soil  to  spoliation,  and,  collecting 
bands  of  hireling  slaves  from  among  the 
criminals  released  from  prison,  and  war 
prisoners  of  our  enemies,  armed  them  with 
the  military  stores,  left  in  vast  quantities 
from  the  shamefully  concluded  war,  and 
hounded  these  ruffians,  like  hordes  of  wild 
beasts,  on  the  wounded  body  of  our  dying 
mother— Russia. 

But  the  spirit  of  the  long-suffering  and 
patient  Russian  people  has  been  roused  and, 
in  spite  of  all  the  horrors  of  terror  and 
violence  by  which  the  Bolsheviki  try  to  hold 
in  their  dirty  clutches  the  power  they 
usurped,  the  Russian  people  has  already  two- 
thirds  cleared  its  soil  of  this  defilement.  The 
many-headed  monster  is  breathing  its  last 
under  the  mighty  blows  of  the  blades  of  the 
young  Siberian  army,  of  Denikin's  army,  of 
the  noble  Cossacks,  of  the  armies  of 
Yudenitch,  of  the  Esthonians,  and  of  the 
peasants  rising  all  over  Russia. 

But  in  its  death  throes  it  is  trying  to  fix 
its  poisonous  fangs  in  the  heel  Of  the  foot 
that  crushes  it  to  earth. 

The  hydra  has  raised  its  head  in  the  Far 
East  also,  and  is  trying  to  incite  the  peaceful 
peasantry   against  one   another. 

Our  young  forces  did  not  wish  to  frighten 
the  peaceful  inhabitants,  did  not  wish  to  dis- 
turb the  peasant  in  his  peaceful  toil,  and 
therefore  fought  the  enemies  of  the  people 
only  when  they  became  too  insolent. 

Therefore,  our  young  troops  struck  down 
the  head  of  Bolshevism  only  when  it  was 
raised  too  high. 

The  cowardly,  bloodthirsty  beasts  fled 
before  our  detachments,  and  displayed  their 
courage  only  at  the  expense  of  peaceable  in- 
habitants and  of  our  wounded,  whom  they 
subjected  to  a  prolonged  and  ferocious  death. 

Cowardly  thieves,  robbers,  and  bandits 
could  not  act  otherwise. 

And  now  the  Bolsheviki,  not  daring  to 
come  forward,  determined  to  act  secretly, 
committing  terroristic   acts. 

I  herewith  publish  my  order  for  the  cog- 
nizance of  all,   as  follows : 

1.  All  active  agents  of  Bolshevism  cap- 
tured by  our  forces  shall  be  tried  by  field 
court-martial,  and  upon  being  sentenced  im- 


KOLCHAK'S  METHODS  IN  SIBERIA 


97 


mediately  shot;  all  their  property  Is  to  be 
destroyed,  and  their  houses  razed  to  the 
ground. 

2.  In  all  places  infected  by  Bolshevism, 
hostages  are  to  be  taken  from  among  those 
sympathizing  with  Bolshevism  and  their  ac- 
complices. 

3.  In  case  of  a  repetition  of  terroristic  acts 
or  the  discovery  of  corpses  of  our  soldiers 
tortured  by  the  Bolsheviki,  the  hostages  are 
to  be  shot,  and,  further,  hand  over  to  court- 
martial  and  execute  Bolshevist  agents  and 
active  Bolsheviki  in  prison,  as  well  as  those 
members  of  the  Soviet  forces  in  our  power 
as  are  convinced  adherents  of  Bolshevism 
(soznatelnya  chiny  sovietskikh  armii— ),  in 
the  ratio  of  ten  men  for  every  terroristic  act 
committed. 

4.  In  case  the  acts  of  terrorism  continue,  I 
will  publish  lists  of  the  Bolshevist  agents,  and 
of  the  parties  allying  themselves  to  them, 
and  will  declare  all  these  agents  outlawed. 

Commander  of  the  forces, 

MAJOR    GEN.    IVANOV-RINOV. 

(3)    THE  YENESEI  PROVINCE 

ORDER  TO  THE  COMMANDERS  OF  MILI- 
TARY   FORCES    OPERATING    IN    THE 
DISAFFECTED       REGION       OF       THE 
YENESEI   PROVINCE. 
I  order   that  the  following  instructions  be 

obeyed  unfalteringly : 

1.  In  capturing  villages  formerly  taken  by 
the  bandits,  demand  the  surrender  of  their 
chiefs  and  ringleaders ;  if  this  is  not  done, 
and  there  is  reliable  evidence  of  the  presence 
of  such,  shoot  every  tenth  man. 

2.  Villages  whose  population  offers  armed 
resistance  to  Government  troops  are  to  be 
burned  to  the  ground,  the  adult  male  popula- 
tion shot  to  the  last  man,  property,  horses, 
carts,  corn,  &c,  confiscated  for  the  use  of 
the  State. 

Remark:  All  the  confiscated  goods  are  to 
be  published  in  the  order  of  the  day  of  the 
force. 

3.  If,  when  the  Government  troops  pass 
through  a  village,  the  inhabitants  do  not  of 
their  own  initiative  report  the  presence  in 
the  village  of  enemy  forces,  and  if  there  had 
been  a  possibility  of  communicating  this 
information,  money  contributions  are  to  be 
laid  on  the  population  with  collective  re- 
sponsibility, (krugavaya  poruka,  i.  e.,  each  Is 
responsible  for  all).  These  tributes  are  to  be 
exacted   mercilessly. 

Remark:  Every  contribution  is  to  be  pub- 
lished in  the  order  of  the  day  of  the  force, 
and  the  sums  afterward  paid  in  to  the  State. 

4.  After  occupation  of  the  villages,  and 
examination  of  the  case,  contributions  are 
to  be  imposed  without  hesitation  on  all  those 
who  have  aided  the  bandits,  even  indirectly. 
All  such  persons  are  tb  be  held  collectively 
responsible. 

6.  Declare  to  the  population  that  for  volun- 
tarily supplying  the  bandits,  not  only  with 
arms  and  war  material,  but  with  provisions, 
clothes,    &c,    the    offending   villages   will   be 


burned,  and  the  property  removed  for  the 
use  of  the  State.  The  population  is  bound 
to  remove  Its  property,  or  destroy  it,  in 
every  case  where  it  may  be  used  by  the 
bandits ;  for  property  thus  destroyed  the 
population  will  be  Indemnified  in  full,  eitTier 
in  money  or  In  kind,  from  the  confiscated 
goods  of  the  bandits. 

6.  Take  hostages  from  among  the  popula- 
tion; in  case  of  action  hostile  to  the  Govern- 
ment troops  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  village, 
shoot  the   hostages   without  mercy. 

7.  As  a  general  'guide,  remember:  The 
people  who  openly  or  secretly  aid  the  bandits 
are  to  be  regarded  as  enemies,  and  dealt 
with  mercilessly,  and  their  property  must 
be  used  to  make  good  the  losses  due  to  mili- 
tary operations  suffered  by  that  part  of  the 
population  which  is  faithful  to  the  Govern- 
ment. LIEUT.  GEN.  ROZANOV. 

Marcn  27,  1919. 
Krasnoyarsk. 

(4)   SHOOTING  HOSTAGES 

DECLARATION  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER 
FOR      THE      KEEPING      OF      PUBLIC 
ORDER  AND  PEACE  IN  THE  YENESEI 
AND       PART       OF       THE       IRKUTSK 
PROVINCES. 
The     Government     troops     are     operating 
against    bands    of    robbers.      The    offending 
elements — dregs    of    society — commit    acts    of 
armed  violence  for  gain  and  robbery.  Bolshe- 
vism   gave    them    organization.      The    disor- 
derly acts  committed  by  the  robbers,  wreck- 
ing of  passenger  trains,  killing  of  administra- 
tive officials,  of  priests,  the  shooting  of  the 
families    of   peaceful    Inhabitants    who    have 
felt   the  region  in  revolt,   the   endless   series 
of  deeds  of  violence  and  oppression— all  this 
makes    it    necessary    to    depart    from    those 
general   moral   principles   which   are   applied 
to  the  enemy  in  war. 

The  prisons  are  full  of  the  leaders  of  the 
murderers.  I  order  the  heads  of  garrisons  of 
the  towns  in  the  region  under  my  charge : 
Consider  the  Bolsheviki  and  robbers  detained 
In  prisons  as  hostage*.  Communicate  to  ma 
every  incident  similar  to  the  above,  and 
shoot  from  three  to  twenty  of  the  local 
hostages  "or  every  offense  taking  place  In 
the  given  region. 

Bring  this  order  Into  force  by  telegraph. 
Publish  it  widely.  Detailed  instructions 
follow.  Krasnoyarsk. 

March  28,  1919. 
The  original  signed  by  Lieut.  Gen.  Rozanov. 

OTHER   TESTIMONY 

Further  light  is  thrown  on  conditions 
in  Siberia  by  a  passage  from  the  Siberian 
co-operative  journal  Nashe  Dyelo,  which 
says  that  at  first  the  Siberians  rejoiced 
at  their  liberation  from  Bolshevism,  but 

As  time  went  on  the  people  learned  that 
peace  and  democracy  seemed  ever  further  off. 
Six  weeks  after  the  clearing  of  Siberia,  the 


98 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


reactionary  elements  had  completely  strangled 
democracy.  *  *  *  The  rapidly  monarchical 
elements  reappeared,  and  below  the  discon- 
tent grew  ever  more  real. 

A  contributor  to  Vorwarts,  A.  Grigor- 
yanz,  quotes  the  text  of  an  official  re- 
port from  the  Denikin  front  dated 
Sept.  29: 

Our  flying  division,  under  the  leadership 
of  Colonel  Mamontov,  who  has  gained 
notoriety  by  his  smart  work  in  the  rear  of 
the    Bolshevist   troops   during   the  last   two 


months,  penetrated  a  few  days  ago  into  the 
town  of  Yelez,  in  the  Government  of  Orel, 
and  after  having  hanged  all  the  commissaries 
and  members  of  the  different  Bolshevist 
institutions  in  the  place,  he  disappeared  into 
the  unknown.    *    *    * 

The  population  of  the  conquered  districts 
greet  the  Denikin  and  Yudenitch  armies  as 
liberators,  as  with  the  arrival  of  the  Generals 
order  is  restored.  But  their  feelings  quickly 
change  as  with  the  order  all  the  well-known 
institutions  of  the  Tsarist  regime  and  the 
political  secret  service  are  established,  and 
make  short  work  of  anybody  under  suspicion. 


Suffering  Prisoners  in  Siberia 

Despair   of  200,000  Men 

The  hard  fate  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Austro-Hungarian  prisoners  of 
war,  still  suffering  under  the  harshest  conditions  in  Siberia,  was  described  in  the 
Japan  Weekly  Chronicle  of  Oct.  80,  1919.  The  writer  was  himself  one  of  the 
prisoners — a  doctor  possessing  English  university  degrees.  "  The  state  of  affairs 
he  describes,"  remarked  the  Japan  Chronicle,  in  presenting  the  letter,  "  is  a  disgrace 
to  the  powers  who  are  jointly  undertaking  the  restoration  of  Siberia."  The  corre- 
spondent wrote: 


THERE  are  at  the  present  day  the  fol- 
lowing numbers  of  prisoners  of  war 
in  Siberia:  Germans,  5,000;  Aus- 
trians,  100,000;  Hungarians,  90,000; 
Turks,  15,000;  Bulgarians,  2,000;  total, 
212,000  men.  The  majority  were  taken 
prisoner  in  1914,  i.  e.,  more  than  five 
years  ago.  On  an  average  they  have 
been  kept  in  captivity  about  four  years 
already.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  in 
concentration  camps,  located  in  the  dif- 
ferent towns  from  Petropavlovsk  to 
Vladivostok,  on  the  northern  railway  line, 
strongly  guarded  by  the  worst  type  of 
Russian  soldier,  specially  hired  for  this 
purpose,  fed  insufficiently,  and  getting 
every  day  exactly  the  same  food — for 
five  long  years  on  end!  The  exact 
figures  of  a  medical  analysis  of  this  food 
show  that  a  day's  ration  contains  1,900 
to  2,200  calories  on  an  average,  whereas, 
the  normally  needed  amount  is  3,000 
calories. 

Housed  like  dogs — not  like  the  dogs  of 
the  rich — receiving  hardly  any  clothing 
since  their  capture,  they  are  hungry, 
squalid,  and  ragged.  The  uniforms, 
boots,  &c,  sent  from  home  through  the 
Danish,  Swedish,  and  other  representa- 
tives of  the  Red  Cross,  or  in  other  ways, 


have  been  "  requisitioned  "  and  then  sold 
by  the  Russians,  or  given  to  the  "  brave  " 
Cossacks.  They  are  treated  in  an  inde- 
scribably rough  and  inhuman  manner. 
A  recent  instance  was  silently  witnessed 
by  American  officers,  Japanese  soldiers, 
and  Red  Cross  representatives.  Five 
thousand  prisoners,  sent  from  Beresovka 
to  Nikolsk-Ussuriiskii,  were  on  arrival 
surrounded  by  Kalmykov's  Cossacks,  and 
without  the  slightest  reason  whatever 
attacked  by  the  mounted  formation, 
sabred  and  knouted.  It  was  afterward 
explained  as  a  "  mistake  " — they  thought 
they  were  "  Bolsheviki." 

In  Krasnoyarsk  two  Russian  regiments 
mutinied,  whereupon  the  Czechs  disarmed 
them.  Finding  a  concentration  camp  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  barracks  of  the  muti- 
neer regiments,  they  accused  the  pris- 
oners of  war  of  having  incited  the. Rus- 
sian soldiers.  This  could  not,  of  course, 
be  proved,  nevertheless  they  shot  18  of- 
ficers, who  had  been  lecturing  to  their 
own  comrades,  in  German  or  Hungarian, 
on  all  kinds  of  scientific  questions. 

These  officers,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
get  no  rations — only  a  roof  over  their 
heads — hardly  a  house,  for  the  houses 
allotted  to  them  in  Nikolsk,  for  instance, 


SUFFERING  PRISONERS  IN  SIBERIA 


99 


had  no  windows.  These  had  to  be  made 
by  them.  They  got  50  rubles  a  month. 
From  February,  1919,  to  the  present  day 
this  had  a  fluctuating  average  purchas- 
ing value  of  about  1  yen.  They  were, 
therefore,  in  a  decidedly  worse  position 
than  the  men.  In  May  they  were  promised 
100  rubles  and  food.  This  order  has  not 
been  executed  as  yet,  excepting  that  they 
get  1  ruble  90  kopeks  per  day  in  lieu  of 
rations.  They  would  long  ago  have  been 
starved,  of  course,  on  this  pay,  which  is  a 
derision,  had  they  not  found  means  to 
support  themselves  by  some  kind  of  work. 
You  find  now  jurists,  professors,  engi- 
neers, painters,  sculptors,  &c,  cleaning 
the  dirty  streets  of  small  Siberian  towns 
and  working  as  servants  in  all  kinds  of 
black  labor.  Very  few  have  been  able  to 
find  positions  as  skilled  workmen,  not 
being  trained  to  any  manual  profession, 
and  fewer  still  obtain  a  situation  corre- 
sponding to  their  education  and  abilities. 
They  are  in  this  respect  treated  exactly 
like  slaves,  the  Russian  authorities  giv- 
ing them  out  for  work  only  on  condition 
that  50  per  cent,  of  their  earnings  go  to 
their  own  mysterious  "  funds." 

All  the  different  representatives  of  the 
Red  Cross — mainly  American — who  have 
visited  the  camps  will  confirm  in  detail 
the  above  facts.  They  have  been  breath- 
less on  first  seeing  them,  promised  im- 
mediate help  and — nothing  has  happened 
since,  except  that  time  flies,  Winter  is 
again  at  hand,  and  it  can  be  imagined 
what  that  means  for  people  in  such  a  con- 
dition in  Siberia.  There  are,  of  course, 
political  reasons. 

Three  camps — Krasnaya  Riechka,  Per- 
vaya  Riechka  and  the  old  Nikolsk  camp 


— have  been  taken  under  custody  of  the 
American  and  Japanese  command  and 
are  now  all  under  Japanese  rule.  There 
the  men  have  been  clad  and  fed  up  in  a 
princely  way  compared  to  their  previous 
lot;  the  officers  get  $35  (50  yen)  per 
month.  The  camps  have  been  built  up 
as  model  camps,  duly  photographed  and 
advertised  in  the  home  papers.  They  in- 
clude about  6,000  men.  The  remaining 
206,000  have  been  left  to  the  Russians 
in  the  same  misery  as  before.  In 
Nikolsk  there  are  now  prisoners  of  war 
of  the  same  armies — Austrian,  Hunga- 
rian, and  Turkish — in  twodifferent  camps 
at  a  distance  of  100  yards  from  each 
other,  and  in  the  one  they  get  50  yen 
and  maintenance,  in  the  other  only  1  yen 
and  hardly  sufficient  food.  Can  you  ex- 
plain that  even  on  political  grounds? 

You  might  ask,  Why  do  they  suffer 
this?  Isn't  death  far  preferable  to  such 
existence?  The  answer  is — first,  ex- 
haustion, want  of  energy  as  a  conse- 
quence of  chronic  starvation;  secondly, 
the  thought,  indeed  idee  fixe,  that  they 
"  must "  get  home  somehow  or  other,  to 
see  once  more  parents,  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, who  have  a  right  to  their  life. 
But  of  course  there  is  a  limit  even  to 
such  a  pathological  state  of  mind.  What 
the  consequences  must  be  if  these  200,000 
embittered  men  lose  patience  I  leave  it 
to  you  to  guess. 

All  these  poor  wrecks  of  war  thank 
you  in  advance  for  anything  you  might 
do  for  them  by  publishing  some  news 
about  their  situation,  thus  helping  to 
arouse  public  indignation,  which  alone 
can  wipe  out  this  shameful  blot  on  the 
"  civilization  "  the  Entente  has  saved. 


How  We  Made  the  October  Revolution 


By  LEON  TROTZKY 

[Bolshevist  Minister  op  War] 
(Concluded*) 


THE  revolutionary  class  alone  was 
called  to  break  the  fatal  circle  in 
which,  to  its  ruin,  the  revolution 
had  remained  confined.  It  was 
necessary  to  seize  the  power  from  those 
elements  which,  directly  or  indirectly, 
were  only  the  servants  of  the  upper  bour- 
geoisie, and  who  used  the  resources  of 
the  Government  as  a  means  of  obstruct- 
ing the  revolutionary  demands  of  the 
people.  *  *  *  "  Governmental  power 
to  the  Soviets!  "  cried  our  party.  In 
October,  1917,  this  meant  the  delivery  of 
all  power  to  the  revolutionary  proleta- 
riat, at  the  head  of  which,  at  this  time, 
stood  the  party  of  the  Bolsheviki.  It 
was,  then,  a  question  of  the  dictation  of 
the  working  class,  which  rallied,  or,  more 
exactly,  was  capable  of  rallying  behind 
it  the  millions  and  millions  of  men  con- 
stituting the  compact  masses  of  the  rural 
proletariat.  This  is  the  whole  historical 
meaning  of  the  October  revolution. 

Everything  spurred  the  party  along 
this  path.  Since  the  first  days  of  the 
revolution  we  had  preached  the  necessity, 
and  even  inevitability,  of  delivering  power 
over  to  the  Soviets.  After  many  internal 
struggles,  the  majority  of  Soviets  had 
adopted  this  demand,  and  had  come  to 
share  our  view.  We  then  began  to  pre- 
pare the  second  Congress  of  the  Soviets 
of  all  the  Russias.  The  Central  Execu- 
tive Committee,  directed  by  Dan,  used 
every  means  to  prevent  the  convening  of 
this  Congress.  With  much  difficulty,  we 
finally  succeeded  in  fixing  the  convoca- 
tion of  the  Congress  for  the  25th  of 
October,  a  date  of  the  greatest  signifi- 
cance for  Russia's  future  history. 

[At  the  beginning  of  October,  the  Petro- 
grad  Military  Staff  demanded  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  garrison  be  sent  to  the  front. 
The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Petrograd 
Soviet,  suspecting  a  purely  political  manoeu- 
vre, refused  to   accept  this  transfer  blindly. 


*AU  the  dates  used  by  M.  Trotzky  are  Old 
Style.  To  translate  them  into  our  calendar, 
add  thirteen   to  each   date. 


Documents  subsequently  found,  M.  Trotzky 
alleged,  proved  that  the  measure  was  de- 
vised by  Kerensky,  "  who  sought  thus  to 
free  the  capital  of  the  most  revolutionary 
soldiers,"  i.  e.,  those  most  hostile  to  him. 
A  revolutionary  military  committee  was 
formed  by  the  Petrograd  Soviet,  in  which  the 
Bolsheviki  were  in  the  ascendency,  to  ex- 
amine the  question  technically.  This  com- 
mittee was  deliberately  conceived  to  serve  as 
an  organ  of  the  approaching  revolution,  and 
by  its  intensive  propaganda  work  among  the 
soldiers  of  the  garrison,  on  whose  attitude 
the  fate  of  the  coming  Congress  of  Soviets 
depended,  prepared  the  way  for  the  subse- 
quent upheaval. 

Meantime  the  Bolsheviki  proclaimed 
openly  their  intention  to  overthrow  Keren- 
sky's  Government  and  to  substitute  the  rule 
of  the  Second  Soviet  Congress.  Lenin,  who 
was  hiding  in  Finland,  sent  innumerable  let- 
ters demanding  action.  On  Oct.  10  a  secret 
session  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  held 
in  Lenin's  presence  to  discuss  the  projected 
revolution.  With  only  two  dissenting  voices 
a  resolution  was  adopted  declaring  that  the 
sole  way  to  save  the  revolution  and  the 
country  from  final  disaster  was  to  create  a 
revolutionary  movement  which  should  deliver 
over  all  governmental  power  into  the  hands 
of  the  Soviets.  Seeing  in  the  Democratic 
Soviet  and  the  Provisional  Parliament  a 
mere  compromise  with  the  upper  bourgeoisie, 
the  Bolsheviki  decided  to  break  with  it  pub- 
licly. The  Socialist-Revolutionists  refused  to 
follow  them  in  an  armed  revolt.  The  Bol- 
sheviki then  announced  from  the  gallery  of 
the  Provisional  Parliament  that  they  had 
decided  to  abandon  this  institution.  This 
declaration  "  was  received  by  the  majority 
groups  with  roars  of  impotent  anger." 

The  work  of  preparation  went  on,  amid 
the  alleged  slanders  of  the  opposition  press. 
"  The  advocates  of  the  upper  bourgeoisie 
were  right,"  said  M.  Trotzky,  "  when  they 
accused  us  of  seeking  to  create  a  revolution- 
ary situation.  Open  revolt  and  direct  seizure 
of  power  were  in  our  eyes  the  only  issue  pos- 
sible." The  popular  masses  came  over  in 
greater  and  greater  numbers ;  delegates  from 
the  trenches  constantly  arriving  declared  that 
if  peace  were  not  effected  by  Nov.  1  the  sol- 
diers would  leave  the  trenches  and  attack 
Petrograd.  The  Bolsheviki  had  become  at  la  -t 
the  army's  main  hope.  The  Petrograd  gar- 
rison, meantime,  was  won  over  by  the  Bol- 
shevist propaganda.  The  Revolutionary  Mil- 
itary Committee,  supported  by  the  Petrograd 
Soviet,    became    openly    an    organization    of 


HOW  WE  MADE  THE  OCTOBER  REVOLUTION- 


101 


revolt.     The  decisive  moment  was  approach- 
ing.    M.  Trotzky  continues:] 

BOLSHEVIST   COMMISSARIES 

The  first  act  of  the  Revolutionary  Mil- 
itary Committee  had  been  to  appoint 
commissaries  for  all  parts  of  the  Petro- 
grad  garrison  and  for  all  the  important 
institutions  of  the  capital  and  its  sur- 
roundings. On  every  hand  we  were  in- 
formed that  the  Government,  or,  rather, 
the  Governmental  factions,  were  organ- 
izing and  arming  their  forces  energeti- 
cally. In  all  places  where  arms  were 
kept,  both  public  and  private,  they  had 
seized  guns,  revolvers,  machine  guns  and 
cartridges,  with  which  they  had  armed 
non-commissioned  officers,  students  and 
young  men  of  the  middle  class  in  general. 
We  were  therefore  compelled  to  take  pre- 
ventive measures.  Our  commissaries 
were  installed  in  all  arsenals  and  gun- 
shops.  With  practically  no  resistance 
they  became  the  masters  of  the  situa- 
tion. Henceforth  no  arms  were  delivered 
except  by  order  of  the  commissaries.  The 
regiments  of  the  garrison  declared  one 
after  the  other  that  they  recognized 
only  the  commissaries  of  the  Petrograd 
Soviet,  and  that  they  would  not  move 
without  their  instructions. 

Besides  this  work  of  organization  a 
violent  campaign  of  agitation  was  car- 
ried on.  Continual  meetings  were  held 
in  the  factories,  in  the  Cirque  Moderne, 
in  the  Cirque  Ciniselli,  in  clubs,  and  bar- 
racks. The  atmosphere  of  all  these  meet- 
ings was  filled  with  electricity.  Every 
allusion  to  the  imminent  revolution  was 
received  with  thunders  of  applause  and 
cries  of  enthusiasm.  The  bourgeois  press 
contributed  greatly  to  deepen  the  im- 
pression of  general  unrest.  The  order 
signed  by  me  and  given  to  the  Sestror- 
jetzk  Munitions  Works  to  furnish  the 
Red  Guard  with  5,000  guns  aroused  an 
indescribable  panic  in  the  bourgeois  cir- 
cles. Everywhere,  in  speech  and  press, 
the  main  topic  of  discussion  was  the 
general  massacre  that  was  being  pre- 
pared. This  naturally  did  not  prevent 
the  factory  in  question  from  delivering 
the  guns  to  the  Red  Guard.  And  the 
more  the  bourgeois  press  barked  against 
us  and  slandered  us  the  more  ardent  was 
the  response  of  the  masses  to  our  call. 


KERENSKY'S  POWER  GONE 

The  Smolny  Institute  was  already  at 
that  time  in  the  hands  of  the  Petrograd 
Soviet  and  of  our  party.  The  Menshe- 
viki  and  the  Revolutionary  Socialists  of 
the  Right  transferred  their  political  ac- 
tivity to  the  Mary  Palace,  where  the  re- 
cently born  Provisional  Parliament  was 
already  in  its  death  agony.  Kerensky  de- 
livered before  this  Parliament  a  long 
speech,  in  which  he  sought  to  conceal  his 
powerlessness  behind  the  loud  applause 
of  the  bourgeois  factions  and  menacing 
cries  raised  against  the  Bolsheviki.  The 
Government  Military  Staff  made  one 
last  effort  at  resistance.  It  sent  to  all 
the  elements  of  the  garrison  an  invita- 
tion to  appoint  two  delegates  for  each 
troop  corps  to  examine  the  question  of 
whether  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison 
should  be  sent  away  from  the  capital. 
The  discussion  was  fixed  for  Oct.  22  at 
1P.M. 

The  regiments  notified  us  immediately 
of  this  invitation.  We  summoned  the 
Council  of  the  Garrison  to  meet  at  11  in 
the  morning.  A  part  of  the  delegates, 
however,  went  to  the  Staff  Headquar- 
ters, but  only  to  declare  that  they  would 
do  nothing  without  the  instructions  of 
the  Petrograd  Soviet.  The  Garrison 
Council  showed  almost  unanimously  its 
loyalty  to  the  Revolutionary  Military 
Committee.  Objections  were  made  only 
by  the  official  representatives  of  the  fac- 
tions of  the  former  Soviet,  but  these 
found  no  sympathy  with  the  regimental 
delegates.  The  efforts  of  the  Staff  Head- 
quarters had  shown  us  clearly  that  we 
were  on  solid  ground.  Among  our  warm- 
est partisans  was  the  Volhynian  Regi- 
ment, that  same  regiment  which,  on  the 
night  of  July  4,  preceded  by  its  military 
band,  had  left  the  Tauride  Palace  to 
suppress  the  Bolsheviki. 

SOVIET  DAY   IN  "PETER" 

Since  the  end  of  September  we  had 
undertaken  a  series  of  steps  to  procure 
for  the  Petrograd  Soviet  an  independent 
paper.  But  all  the  printing  houses  were 
occupied,  and  their  owners,  supported  by 
the  Central  Executive  Committee,  boy- 
cotted us.  We  therefore  decided  to  or- 
ganize a  "  Soviet  Day  in  Petrograd,"  and 


102 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


to  collect  the  funds  necessary  to  finance 
such  a  paper.  This  day  had  been  fixed 
two  weeks  before  for  Oct.  22,  which  date 
coincided  with  the  date  of  the  opening 
of  the  conflict.  The  opposition  press  de- 
clared positively  that  on  Oct.  22  an 
armed  rebellion  by  the  Bolsheviki  would 
take  place  in  the  streets  of  Petrograd. 
*  *  .*  The  Soviet,  however,  proceeded 
calmly  and  coolly,  paying  no  attention  to 
the  vociferations  of  "  public  opinion " 
and  the  outcry  of  the  upper  bourgeoisie. 

Oct.  22  was  the  parade  day  of  the  pro- 
letariat army.  Everything  went  off  well. 
Despite  all  warnings  issued  by  the  Right 
that  blood  would  flow  in  streams  in  the 
streets,  the  popular  masses  thronged  to 
the  meetings  of  the  Petrograd  Soviet.  All 
the  forces  of  oratory  had  been  mar- 
shaled. All  public  buildings  were  packed. 
The  meetings  lasted  for  several  hours 
without  interruption.  As  speakers  there 
were  members  of  our  party,  delegates  of 
the  Congress  of  Soviets,  representatives 
from  the  front,  Social  Revolutionists  of 
the  Left,  and  anarchists.  All  public  edi- 
fices were  invaded  by  throngs  of  work- 
men, soldiers,  and  sailors.  *  *  * 
Tens  of  thousands  of  men  filled  the  Peo- 
ple's House,  swarmed  in  the  corridors, 
filled  the  halls  to  overflowing.  Around 
the  iron  pillars  clusters  of  human  heads, 
hands,  and  feet  clung  like  enormous 
vines.  The  atmosphere  was  charged  with 
that  electrical  tension  which  character- 
izes all  critical  moments  of  revolution. 

"  Down  with  the  Kerensky  Govern- 
ment! "  "Down  with  war!  "  "All  pow- 
er for  the  Soviets !  "  these  masses  shout- 
ed. Before  this  vast  multitude  no  one 
dared  utter  a  protest.  The  Petrograd 
Soviet  dominated  absolutely  everything. 
The  revolution  had  begun.  The  only 
thing  remaining  was  to  give  the  pale 
spectre  of  Kerensky's  Government  the 
finishing  blow. 

[Steps  were  taken  immediately  to  win  over 
troops  who  were  still  irresolute,  such  as  the 
Cossacks,  the  cavalry  regiments,  Semenov's 
regiment,  the  automobile  corps.  Commis- 
saries and  agitators  were  dispatched  to  these 
danger  points,  as  well  as  to  the  Fortress  of 
Peter  and  Paul  dominating  Petrograd.  The 
efforts  of  the  Bolsheviki  were  everywhere 
successful.  Additional  troops  sent  for  by 
the  desperate  Kerensky  from  outside  halted 
their  march   and   sent   delegates  to   the  Bol- 


shevist leaders.  Delegates  from  the  front 
returned  there  with  Bolshevist  propaganda 
material  to  distribute.  The  Revolutionary 
Military  Committee  established  communica- 
tion by  telephone  with  the  garrisons  of 
neighboring  towns,  and  posted  forces  at  all 
stations  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  "  counter- 
revolutionaries "  into  the  city.  The  public 
telephone  service  was  taken  over  by  force 
after  it  had  refused  its  co-operation.  The 
telegraph  and  postal  services  were  also 
seized.  The  Smolny  Institute  was  equipped 
with  machine  guns,  and  the  Bolshevist  lead- 
ers installed  themselves  on  the  third  floor  in 
a  small  corner  room,  where  all  reports  were 
received,  and  whence  all  action  was  directed. 

On  the  evening  of  Oct.  24  Kerensky  went 
before  the  Provisional  Parliament  and  asked 
authority  to  take  repressive  measures  against 
the  Bolsheviki.  A  wild  storm  of  conflicting 
views  arose,  which  resulted  in  the  condem- 
nation of  the  seditious  movement  of  the  So- 
viet, but  also  in  throwing  the  blame  for  this 
movement  "  on  the  anti-democratic  policy  of 
the  Government."  The  Bolshevist  leaders 
received  dozens  of  letters  threatening  death. 
Gorky,  in  his  Novaya  Zhizn,  prophesied  the 
end  of  the  world. 

The  members  of  the  Revolutionary  Military 
Committee  had  not  left  the  Smolny  Institute 
the  whole  week ;  they  lay  on  sofas,  sleeping 
but  little,  awakened  constantly  by  couriers, 
bringers  of  news,  cyclists,  telegraph  messen- 
gers, and  telephone  calls.  The  most  exciting 
night  was  that  of  Oct.  24-25,  when  news 
came  that  Kerensky  was  preparing  armed 
resistance  at  Pavlovsk  and  Peterhof.  The 
Bolsheviki  replied  by  posting  sentries  on  all 
roads  leading  to  Petrograd,  and  sending  ag- 
itators forward  to  mingle  with  the  Govern- 
ment troops  and  seduce  them  to  the  Bol- 
shevist cause.  The  Petrograd  garrison, 
meanwhile,  held  itself  in  readiness  to  sup- 
port the  Bolsheviki.  In  this  decisive  night 
all  the  principal  points  of  the  city,  including 
the  State  Bank,  were  seized  by  the  Bolshe- 
viki almost  without  resistance.  The  cruiser 
Aurora,  on  the  Neva,  was  held  up  as  it  was 
about  to  sail  and  taken  over  into  the  service 
of  the  Soviets.  The  narrative  of  M.  Trotzky 
continues:] 

THE   DECISIVE  DAY 

On  Oct.  25,  at  dawn,  there  arrived  at 
the  Smolny  Institute  a  man  and  a  woman 
worker  from  the  printing  plant  of  our 
party,  who  announced  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  forbidden  the  appearance  of 
the  central  organ  of  the  party,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  new  paper  of  the  Petro- 
grad Soviet.  Government  agents  had 
placed  seals  on  the  plant.  The  Revolu- 
tionary Military  Committee  immediately 
took  the  two  organs  under  its  protection, 
and  confided  "  to  the  glorious  Volhynian 
regiment  the  great  honor  of  defending 


HOW  WE  MADE  THE  OCTOBER  REVOLUTION 


!<)'{ 


the  freedom  of  the  people's  press  against 
counter-revolutionary  attacks."  The 
printing  plant  resumed  work,  without 
further  interruption,  and  the  two  papers 
appeared  at  the  time  fixed. 

The  Government  was  still  quartered  in 
the  Winter  Palace,  but  it  was  only  the 
shadow  of  a  Government.  Politically  it 
was  already  dead.  On  Oct.  25  [Nov.  7, 
New  Style]  the  Winter  Palace  was  grad- 
ually surrounded  by  our  troops.  At  1 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  at  the  session  of 
the  Petrograd  Soviet  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Revolutionary  Military  Commit- 
tee, I  announced  that  the  Kerensky  Gov- 
ernment no  longer  existed,  and  that 
pending  the  decision  of  the  Soviet  Con- 
gress all  Governmental  power  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Revolutionary  Mil- 
itary Committee. 

Lenin,  who  had  secretly  left  Finland 
and  gone  into  hiding  in  the  suburbs, 
came  to  the  Smolny  Institute  on  Oct. 
25.  That  same  evening  a  provisional 
session  of  the  Soviet  Congress  took  place. 
Dan,  head  of  Kerensky's  Central  Exec- 
utive Committee,  made  a  report  in  the 
name  of  that  committee.  He  delivered 
a  speech  accusing  the  rioters,  the  "  ex- 
propriators "  and  fosterers  of  rebellion, 
tried  to  frighten  the  Congress  by  repre- 
senting the  repression  of  the  revolution- 
ary movement  as  inevitable,  declaring 
that  it  would  be  crushed  by  troops  from 
the  front  within  a  few  days.  His  words 
lacked  persuasiveness,  and  were  out  of 
place  in  an  assemblage  where  the  great 
majority  of  the  delegates  followed  with 
intense  joy  the  victorious  progress  of 
the  Petrograd  revolution. 

The  Winter  Palace  was  then  sur- 
rounded, but  not  yet  taken.  From  time 
to  time  shots  were  fired  from  its  win- 
dows against  the  besiegers,  who  slowly 
and  prudently  closed  their  circle  around 
it.  From  the  Fortress  of  Peter  and  Paul 
two  or  three  cannon  shots  were  fired  at 
the  palace.  Their  far-off  thunder  could 
be  heard  inside  the  Smolny  Institute. 
Filled  with  impotent  rage,  Martov,  from 
the  gallery  of  the  Congress,  spoke  of 
civil  war,  and  especially  of  the  siege  of 
the  Winter  Palace.  The  reply  to  this 
was  given  by  two  sailors,  who  had  come 
directly  from  the  scene  of  combat  to  sub- 


mit a  report.  This  report  recalled  the 
offensive  of  June  18,  all  the  policy  of 
betrayal  of  the  former  Government,  the 
re-establishment  of  the  death  penalty 
for  the  soldiers,  arrests  and  oppressive 
measures  against  revolutionary  organi- 
zations, and  ended  with  a  solemn  oath 
to  conquer  or  die. 

These  sailors  also  brought  us  the  news 
of  our^first  losses,  which  occurred  in  the 
large  square  facing  the  Winter  Palace. 
As  though  a  signal  had  been  given,  all 
the  delegates  rose  from  their  seats  and 
with  a  unanimity  produced  only  by  a 
high  moral  tension,  intoned  the  Song  of 
the  Dead.  All  those  who  experienced 
that  moment  will  never  forget  it.  The 
session  was  broken  off.  It  was  impossi- 
ble to  continue  the  theoretical  discussion 
relating  to  Government  when  the  fate 
of  the  existing  Government  was  being 
decided  amid  the  tumult  of  combat  and 
shots  around  the  Winter  Palace.  *  *  * 
We  all  awaited  anxiously  the  news  of 
what  was  going  on. 

FALL  OF  KERENSKY 

After  some  time  Antonov,  who  was  di- 
recting the  operations,  arrived  at  Smolny. 
Amid  utter  silence  he  announced  that 
the  Winter  Palace  had  been  taken,  that 
Kerensky  had  fled,  and  that  the  other 
Ministers  had  been  arrested  and  brought 
to  the  Peter  and  Paul  Fortress.  The 
Social  Revolutionists  and  the  Menshe- 
viki,  numbering  about  sixty,  or  about 
one-tenth  of  the  Congress,  left  the  hall 
protesting.  As  they  had  no  other  al- 
ternative, they  "  threw  all  responsibil- 
ity "  for  everything  destined  to  occur 
upon  the  Bolsheviki  and  the  Social  Rev- 
olutionists of  the  Left. 

The  latter  still  hesitated.  The  Right 
wing  of  this  party  had  gone  over  com- 
pletely to  the  middle  class  and  the  lower 
bourgeoisie,  to  the  intellectuals  of  the 
lower  bourgeoisie,  and  to  the  well-to-do 
residents  of  the  villages,  and  in  all  im- 
portant questions  it  allied  itself  against 
us  with  the  liberal  upper  bourgeoisie. 
The  most  revolutionary  elements  of  this 
party,  in  which  was  still  reflected  all 
the  radicalism  of  the  social  demands  of 
the  poorest  peasant  masses,  leaned  to- 
ward the  proletariat  and  the  party  of 
the  proletariat.     Nevertheless  they  v.ere 


104 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


afraid  to  cut  the  bonds  which  linked 
them  with  their  former  party.  When, 
therefore,  we  le%  the  Provisional  Par- 
liament, they  refused  to  follow  us  and 
warned  us  against  "  adventures."  But 
now  the  revolution  compelled   them   to 


choose  for  the  Soviets  or  against  the 
Soviets.  Not  without  hesitation  they 
took  up  their  position  on  the  same  side 
of  the  barricade  as  ourselves.  The  first 
chapter  of  the  October  revolution  was 
thus  concluded. 


Free  Finland 

By  ARMAS  HERMAN  SAASTAMOINEN 

[Finnish  Minister  to  the  United  States] 

Mr.  Saastamoinen,  though  not  yet  40  years  of  age,  is  considered  one  of  the 
ablest  statesmen  in  the  new  Finland.  In  the  Spring  of  1918  he  was  appointed  first 
envoy  of  independent  Finland  to  Copenhagen.  He  was  subsequently  offered  the 
portfolio  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  Finnish  Government,  but  preferred  the  post  of 
Finnish  Minister  to  the  United  States,  a  country  which  he  had  learned  to  know 
from  a  business  and  study  trip  taken  some  years  ago.  His  story  of  events  in  Fin- 
land since  the  Russian  revolution  is  here  reproduced  from  the  October  number  of  the 
American-Scandinavian  Review. 


THE  whole  history  of  Finland  is 
nothing  but  a  struggle  for  her 
very  existence.  After  centuries 
of  wars  and  resistance  to  oppres- 
sion, we  have  at  last  attained  free- 
dom and  recognition  as  one  of  the 
independent  States  of  the  world,  but 
only  after  a  struggle  more  bitter  than 
any  that  preceded  it,  because  in  this 
case  we  had  to  fight  our  own  brothers. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  other  countries, 
while  they  were  themselves  in  the 
throes  of  great  events,  should  have 
failed  to  understand  what  took  place  in 
our  country,  but  increased  sympathy 
will  come  with  fuller  knowledge.  When 
the  whole  history  of  our  struggle  be- 
comes known,  as  perhaps  it  will  be  ten 
years  from  now,  the  world  will  be 
amazed. 

It  has  seemed  to  many  foreigners  that 
the  class  hatred  shown  in  the  Red  revolt 
must  necessarily  be  the  result  of  oppres- 
sion by  the  capitalist  class,  and  that  the 
excesses  of  the  proletariat,  however  ter- 
rible, must  have  had  some  justification 
or  at  least  excuse  in  the  tyranny  of  their 
masters.  This  is  an  absolute  perversion 
of  the  truth.  The  Finns  are  by  nature 
pugnaciously  democratic,  and  we  had  in 
our  country  evolved  a  democracy  so  com- 
plete that  its  failure  to  insure  peace 
would  almost  tempt  one  to  doubt  the 
possibility  of  democracy  anywhere. 


During  the  last  few  decades  Finland 
has  been  changing  rapidly  from  an  al- 
most purely  agricultural  country  to  one 
in  which  large  industries  hold  an  impor- 
tant place.  The  laborers,  heing  prac- 
tically a  new  class,  were  not  represented 
in  our  old-fashioned  Constitution,  which 
was  based  on  representation  of  four  es- 
tates. In  1905,  however,  the  whole  coun- 
try instituted  a  strike  against  Russian 
autocracy,  a  strike  in  which  not  only 
workmgmen  but  professional  men,  offi- 
cials, university  professors,  and  even  the 
police  took  part,  and  by  this  means  we 
succeeded  in  wresting  from  the  Czar  a 
new  Constitution,  the  most  democratic 
the  world  had  up  to  that  time  known.  All 
power  was  lodged  in  a  one-chamber  Par- 
liament, elected  by  free  and  equal  suf- 
frage of  all  men  and  women  over  24 
years  of  age.  Unfortunately,  however, 
our  Constitution  was  in  effect  nullified 
by  the  Czar,  who  would  dissolve  the  Diet 
whenever  it  was  on  the  point  of  passing 
any  liberal  law,  and  during  the  war  it 
was  permanently  suspended;  but  it  has 
now  resumed  its  functions.  The  present 
Diet,  elected  last  March,  has  framed  a 
republican  Constitution  and  elected  our 
first  President.  Since  the  revolution  in 
March,  1917,  we  have  had  in  fact 
a  parliamentary  government,  and  in 
December  of  the  same  year  a  law  was 
passed   making    it    obligatory    that    the 


FREE  FINLAND 


105 


Ministry  should  have  the  confidence  of 
the  Diet. 

Economically,  as  well  as  politically, 
Finland  is  a  democracy.  I  venture  to 
say  that  there  is  no  country  in  the  world 
where  wealth  is  more  evenly  distributed, 


ARMAS    SAASTAMOINEN 
First    Finnish    Minister    to    the    United   States 

where  there  are  fewer  large  fortunes,  and 
where  the  standard  of  living  is  simpler 
and  more  uniform  among  all  classes.  Nor 
is  there  any  immutable  line  between 
classes;  most  of  the  present  leaders  are 
plain  men  who  have  risen  from  the  peo- 
ple. The  so-called  bourgeois  parties 
have  for  decades  been  working  to  reform 
our  somewhat  antiquated  land  laws,  but 
all  efforts  were  wrecked  on  the  refusal 
of  the  Czar  to  sanction  any  liberal  legis- 
lation and  on  the  resistance  of  the  So- 
cialists, who  wanted  to  communize  the 
land,  and  therefore  would  not  support  a 
law  that  would  increase  the  number  of 
land  owners.  The  law  making  thousands 
of  small  tenants  (torpare)  owners  of  the 
soil  they  tilled  has  now  been  passed;  it 
was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  very  first  actions 
of  that  "  rump  "  Diet  which  met  imme- 
diately after  the  revolt  was  crushed. 
Other  reforms  in  the  interests  of  indus- 
trial workers  were  passed  by  the  bour- 
geois   majority    in    the    Diet    of    1917, 


among  them  the  eight-hour-day  law  and 
a  very  radical  municipal  law — the  two 
chief  points  for  which  the  Socialists  had 
instituted  the  general  strike  of  Novem- 
ber, 1917.  Nevertheless,  the  prepara- 
tions for  revolution  went  right  on,  and 
the  Red  leaders  continued  to  delude  their 
followers  by  calling  the  members  of  the 
Government  "  butchers  "  and  "  enemies  of 
the  people." 

This  accusation  would  be  absurd  if  it 
were  not  so  tragic.  How  could  these 
men  be  enemies  of  the  people?  They  had 
suffered  imprisonment  and  banishment 
and  had  been  threatened  with  death  a 
thousand  times  for  standing  by  their 
own  people.  The  most  determined  re- 
sistance to  the  tyranny  of  the  Czar  was 
always  found  in  the  educated  middle 
classes,  and  not  least  among  the  offi- 
cials. During  the  years  1911  to  1917 
not  less  than  fifty  Finnish  officials  were 
confined  in  Russian  prisons  because  they 
refused  to  execute  orders  that  were  con- 
trary to  Finnish  law.  When  the  Russian 
revolution  broke  out,  about  200  Finnish 
patriots  were  awaiting  their  death  sen- 
tences in  Petrograd  prisons  and  others 
were  in  banishment  in  Siberia,  among 
them  President  of  the  Diet  Svinhufvud 
and  Mayor  Hasselblatt  of  Vasa,  who  had 
both  been  deported  in  1914.  The  White 
Guards  were  not,  as  the  Red  leaders  at- 
tempted to  make  their  followers  believe, 
organized  against  the  workingmen,  but 
to  keep  order  and,  of  course,  with  a  view 
to  being  eventually  used  against  the  for- 
eign oppressor.  They  asked  nothing  bet- 
ter than  to  co-operate  with  the  working- 
men  against  the  common  enemy. 

No,  the  class  hatred  in  Finland  was 
artificially  stimulated  from  the  outside. 
To  understand  the  whole  situation,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  our  country 
had  for  twenty  years  been  living  under 
abnormal  conditions.  Russification  had 
been  going  on  at  an  accelerated  pace, 
and  had  roused  bitter  and  vengeful  re- 
sistance. The  inherited  respect  for  law 
and  authority  was  undermined,  because 
law  and  authority  were  represented  by 
the  hated  Government  of  the  Czar.  The 
fires  of  revolution  were  smoldering  in 
the  people,  and  when,  at  last,  they  burst 
out  in  flame  they  were  turned  against 
countrymen   instead   of   against   the  ty- 


106 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT  HISTORY 


rant,  who  had  sc. suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly fallen.      ^N 

It  was  a  fatal  influence  that  made 
the  Finns  identify  their  cause  with  that 
of  the  Russian  revolutionists.  The  sym- 
pathy was  natural  enough,  since  both 
were  fighting  a  common  enemy,  and  yet 
the  situation  in  our  country  was  widely 
different  from  that  of  our  earnest 
neighbor.  Finland  was  a  well-ordered 
western  democracy  with  a  popular  rep- 
resentation, able  to  put  through  any  re- 
forms that  the  people  demanded,  pro- 
vided only  that  the  Czar  would  allow  it 
to  function.  Resistance  with  us  could 
therefore  take  legal  forms.  Not  so  in 
Russia.  An  Oriental  despotism  held  sway 
there  and  could  only  be  changed  by  the 
complete  overthrow  of  the  despot  and  the 
building  up  of  a  new  form  of  govern- 
ment. Our  Finnish  workingmen,  though 
they  stand  infinitely  higher  in  literacy 
and  intelligence  than  do  Russians  of  the 
same  class,  were  unable  to  see  the  differ- 
ence. During  the  war  they  came  very 
much  under  the  influence  of  Russian  sol- 
diers and  marines.  Immense  fortifica- 
tions were  built  in  Finland,  and  the  con- 
struction gave  employment  to  about  70,- 
000  Finnish  laborers.  There  they  were 
under  the  supervision  of  Russian  soldiers, 
and  learned  to  fraternize  with  them  as 
well  as  with  the  marines  from  the  bat- 
tleships stationed  near  our  coast. 

As  all  the  world  now  knows,  the  Rus- 
sian Army,  and  even  more  the  Russian 
Navy,  with  its  inhuman  discipline,  were 
breeding  places  of  anarchism,  and  it  was 
in  the  navy  that  Bolshevism  found  its 
first  supporters.  Finland  became  the 
spectator  of  a  horrible  massacre  of  offi- 
cers, and  the  streets  of  Helsingfors  were 
infested  with  Russian  marines,  rushing 
around  in  automobiles,  finger  on  trigger, 
hunting  down  their  former  commanders, 
or  shooting  into  the  empty  air  for  sport. 

Long  before  that  crisis,  however,  our 
laborers  had  been  infected  with  Bolshevist 
doctrines.  There  is  much  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Finn  that  makes  him  fall  a 
ready  victim  to  theories  of  that  kind.  He 
is  extremely  doctrinaire,  and,  when  he 
has  once  accepted  an  idea,  is  ready  to 
carry  it  out  to  its  ultimate  consequences. 
Sometimes  this  quality  leads  him  to  the 


most  sublime  self-sacrifice,  even  to  death, 
for  his  convictions,  but  at  other  times  it 
may  be  a  source  of  great  danger.  In  the 
present  case,  it  carried  the  workingmen 
to  the  extremes  of  internationalism.  They 


GENERAL    JUSTAS    MANNERHEIM 
Commander    in    Chief    of    Finnish    armies 


accepted  the  doctrine  of  the  solidarity  of 
the  proletariat  against  the  "  exploiting 
class,"  and  instantly  transplanted  to 
their  own  conditions  that  class  hatred 
which  might  have  some  reason  in  Russia, 
but  was  absolutely  without  justification 
in  Finland.  As  a  Finnish  writer,  Hen- 
ning  Soderhjelm,  says :  "  With  Finnish 
stubbornness  and  tenacity  they  accepted 
the  lightly  constructed  fancies  and 
Utopias  of  the  Russians.  The  edifice 
which  to  the  Russian  was  only  a  house 
of  cards,  built  in  an  exalted  hour  and  dis- 
missed with  a  mere  shrug  of  the  shoulder 
When  it  fell,  was  to  them  a  temple 
founded  on  a  rock  which  could  never 
fall." 

There  were,  of  course,  moderate  Social- 
ists in  Finland,  but  these  were  either 
carried  away  or,  at  best,  remained  pas- 


FREE  FINLAND 


107 


sive.  To  all  such,  who  now  disclaim  re- 
sponsibility for  the  revolt,  we  can  only 
say  that  they  blew  sparks  which  they 
ought  to  have  known  would  burn  the 
house.  In  the  elections  of  1917,  the  party 
managed  to  secure  103  out  of  a  total  of 
200  representatives,  largel/  through  the 
indifference  of  the  bourgeois  parties, 
which  had  lost  interest  in  the  vote,  since 
all  their  attempts  at  legislation  were 
nullified  by  the  Russian  authorities.  Fol- 
lowing in  the  footsteps  of  the  Czar, 
Kerensky  dissolved  the  Diet  in  July  of 
the  same  year,  and  when  the  new  elec- 
tions were  held  in  October  the  Socialists 
had  lost  their  majority,  and  succeeded  in 
electing  only  92  of  their  candidates.  The 
reason  was  simply  that  the  people  saw 
whither  the  Socialists  were  tending. 
They  saw  them  fraternizing  with  the 
ancient  enemies  of  our  people,  while  the 
Red  Guard  refused  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
crimes  committed  by  hooligans  and  the 
demoralized  Russian  soldiery.  Therefore 
the  voters  turned  against  them,  but  the 
Socialists  refused  to  accept  their  defeat 
at  the  polls,  and  prepared  more  and  more 
openly  for  revolution.  On  Jan.  27,  1918, 
at  6  o'clock,  the  signal  was  given  which 
let  loose  the  forces  of  the  Red  revolt. 

We  have  been  criticised  for  accept- 
ing German  aid,  but  it  was  a  case 
of  self-preservation.  We  had  no  army; 
for  the  Finnish  Army  had  been  dissolved 
by  the  Russian  authorities,  and  since 
1902  we  have  had  no  military  service.  We 
had  scarcely  any  arms;  for  the  posses- 
sion of  firearms  had  long  been  forbidden. 
Against  us  we  had  the  Red  Army,  which, 
according  to  the  protocol  of  the  Guard  in 
March,  1918,  numbered  75,000,  aug- 
mented by  tens  of  thousands  of  Russian 
soldiers.  They  were  supplied  with  arms, 
which  had  been  pouring  into  the  country 
from  the  Bolsheviki  in  Petrograd  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  December,  1917. 
They  were  in  possession  of  the  line  of 
forts  that  had  been  flung  across  the 
country  in  the  expectation  that  Finland 
would  become  an  important  strategic 
centre  in  the  world  war — tremendous 
fortifications,  blasted  in  rock,  reinforced 
with  trenches  and  barbed  wire,  and  com- 
parable in  strength  to  Antwerp  and 
Liege.  Outside  our  coasts  were  about 
four-fifths    of   the    Russian   battleships, 


most  of  them  right  in  the  Harbor  of  Hel- 
singfors. 

Against  all  this  we  had  practically 
only  our  bare  hands — not  a  single  can- 
non and  only  a  few  rifles.  Nevertheless, 
General  Mannerheim  assured  the  Gov- 
ernment that,  given  time,  he  could  put 
down  the  Reds  unaided,  but  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  think  it  right  to  incur  the 
frightful  loss  of  life  that  must  have  been 
the  consequence  of  going  against  the 
fortifications  with  unarmed  men.  It 
would  have  meant  that  the  entire  south- 
ern part  of  the  country  would  have  been 
laid  waste  and  Helsingfors  reduced  to  an 
ash-heap.  The  brunt  of  the  fighting, 
however,  was  borne  by  Mannerheim's 
volunteer  army,  the  backbone  of  which 
was  made  up  of  peasants  and  woodsmen 
from  the  north. 

A  glance  at  the  composition  of  the 
White  Army  is  the  best  answer  to  the 
fiction  that  it  was  an  army  of  the 
"  possessing  classes  "  trying  to  crush  the 
proletariat.  Peasants  fighting  to  retain 
their  few  acres  of  land,  country  school 
teachers  defending  their  hearthstones, 
schoolboys  who  had  been  learning  the 
use  of  firearms  in  secret  to  use  them 
some  time  against  Russia — these  were  the 
"  capitalists  "  and  "  reactionaries  "  of  the 
Finnish  people's  army.  A  Swedish 
writer,  Ernst  Klein,  has  remarked  that 
one  "  might  as  well  hope  to  marshal  an 
army  in  Finland  for  Confucianism  or  for 
the  Asa  faith  as  for  reactionism." 
Equally  untrue,  therefore,  is  the  accusa- 
tion that  Finnish  "  junkers"  were  in- 
triguing with  Prussians  of  the  same 
calibre  to  enslave  their  own  countrymen. 
Our  leaders  were  pro-German  in  the 
sense  of  looking  to  Germany  as  the  only 
power  likely  to  help  them  against  Rus- 
sian aggression;  but  the  men  who  had 
just  come  back  from  prison  and  banish- 
ment for  refusing  to  submit  to  one  tyrant 
were  not  likely  to  put  their  country  un- 
der the  foot  of  another.  All  they  wanted 
was  Finland  free  and  independent. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  tell  the  story 
of  the  fighting  and  cf  the  final  victory 
won  by  our  troops,  but  I  wish  to  say  a 
few  words  about  the  so-called  White 
terror.  The  Socialists  claim  that  more 
than  15,000  persons  were  killed,  and  it  is 
made  to  appear  that  these  people  were 


108 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


executed  by  the-,  Government  in  cold 
blood,  after  peace  was  restored  and  the 
enemy  had  been  rendered  helpless.  This 
is  absolutely  untrue.  No  doubt  summary 
justice  was  done  by  local  bodies  of  White 
troops,  who  took  the  law  in  their  own 
hands,  for  the  war  was  largely  a  guerrilla 
war,  fought  by  undisciplined  men,  who 
were  under  terrible  provocation.  I  shrink 
from  mentioning  the  Red  terror;  it  is 
hard  to  confess  that  such  things  could 
be  done  by  my  own  countrymen,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  touch  on  it  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  fury  of  the  peasants.  Many 
localities  had  been  infested  by  bands 
of  thieves  and  cut-throats  for  months 
past;  about  one  thousand  murders  were 
committed  before  the  revolution  broke 
out,  besides  those  perpetrated  on  helpless 
prisoners  during  the  war.  Often  they 
were  accompanied  by  such  bestial 
tortures  that  the  story  is  unfit  to  print. 
One  can  hardly  marvel  that  people  who 
saw  their  neighbors  nailed  to  the  table  by 
their  tongues — to  mention  only  one  in- 
stance— would  take  instant  vengeance. 

With  regard  to  the  executions  ordered 
by  the  Government,  I  am  able  to  give 
exact  figures.  They  were  127  or,  possi- 
bly, 128.  Nearly  all  those  condemned  to 
death  were  murderers ;  many  had  several 
murders  on  their  conscience,  one  no  less 
than  120.  All  were  tried  in  civil  courts. 
Not  a  single  person  was  executed  in  the 
camps. 

The  conditions  in  the  camps  have  been 
the  subject  of  criticism.  When  the  war 
was  over,  we  found  ourselves  with  80,000 
prisoners  on  our  hands.  Many  of  these 
were,  of  course,  comparatively  innocent; 
they  had  been  deluded  or  perhaps  even 
forced  into  the  P.ed  army.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  was  danger  of  releasing  those 
who  would  instantly  start  the  revolt  over 
again.  The  sifting  process  took  time, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  care  for  this  mass 
of  people,  but  I  deny  that  deliberate 
cruelties  or  even  avoidable  hardships 
were  inflicted  on  them.  There  were 
epidemics  due  to  malnutrition  in  the 
camps,  but  also  outside  of  the  camps.  The 
daily  bread  ration  in  Finland,  even  after 
we  had  received  some  aid  from  abroad, 
was  eighty  grams,  of  which  forty  grams 


were  wood  pulp.  (A  normal  ration  is  500 
grams.)  If  the  prisoners  were  stagger- 
ing for  want  of  food,  so  were  the  guards 
who  took  care  of  them,  and  had  exactly 
the  same  miserable  rations.  I  doubt  if 
any  people  less  hardy  than  the  Finns 
could  have  lived,  let  alone  fought,  on  the 
diet  of  our  troops.  It  is  the  literal  truth 
that  sometimes  they  did  not  taste  food 
for  days  together,  for  they  could  not 
plunder  the  land  they  were  set  to  defend 
or  take  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of 
helpless  women  and  children.  As  fast 
as  the  prisoners  could  be  tried,  they  were 
released  in  batches  of  many  thousands 
each  time. 

According  to  the  latest  report  from 
Finland,  General  Mannerheim  has  pro- 
posed that  the  few  who  still  remain  be 
released,  with  the  exception  of  criminals 
and  the  leaders  of  the  revolt. 

That  the  Socialists  have  not  been  de- 
prived of  the  right  of  free  speech  and  the 
use  of  their  press  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  last  March  elections  they 
managed  to  elect  eighty  representatives 
to  the  Diet.  In  my  opinion,  they  will  not 
be  able  to  turn  Finland  into  a  com- 
munistic State,  but  will  have  to  accept 
the  fact  that  it  will  remain  a  radical 
democracy  with  more  and  more  liberal 
tendencies.     *     *     * 

It  is  to  the  Scandinavian  countries 
that  Finland  must  look  for  her  closest 
friends  in  the  future.  One-eighth  of  our 
population  are  Swedes,  and  they  enjoy 
exactly  the  same  rights  with  regard  to 
the  use  of  their  language  as  do  the  Fin- 
nish-speaking majority.  Our  culture  has 
been  built  by  both  races,  but  has  received 
its  strongest  impulses  from  Scandinavia, 
not  only  from  Sweden,  but  from  Den- 
mark and  Norway.  We  feel,  perhaps,  a 
stronger  affection  for  the  three  brother 
nations  than  they  feel  for  one  another. 
The  sympathy  of  Scandinavia  has  been 
to  us  more  than  mere  words;  to  us  who 
have  had  almost  to  dig  ourselves  out  of 
our  own  grave,  the  hand  of  fellowship 
from  the  west  has  meant  renewed  hope 
of  life.  To  all  Scandinavians  I  want  to 
say  that  the  Finland  you  learned  to  know 
in  the  writings  of  Runeberg  and  Topelius 
is  still  there. 


The  White  Terror  in  Hungary 

Premier  Friedrich  Charged  With  Concealing  and  Promoting 

Murder  and  Persecution 

After  the  fall  of  Beta  Kurt's  Bolshevist  regime  and  the  brief  interim  of 
Archduke  Joseph's  attempt  to  govern  Hungary,  the  power  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  temporary  Friedrich  Government,  with  which  the  Peace  Conference  long  re- 
fused to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace.  Charges  of  a  White  Terror  under  this  regime 
were  formulated  in  impressive  detail  by  a  special  correspondent  of  the  Viennese 
Socialist  paper,  the  Arbeiter  Zeitung;  his  articles,  signed  "  R,"  appeared  in  the 
issues  of  Sept.  16  and  17,  1919.  The  Arbeiter  Zeitung  is  an  anti-Bolshevist  journal, 
hence  its  story  of  atrocities  committed  in  the  name  of  anti-Bolshevism  carries 
weight.    The  International  Review's  translation  is  here  presented  in  part. 


Budapest,    Sept.    13,    1919. 

UNDER  Friedrich,  Hungary  has 
arranged  the  most  stringent 
embargo  on  information,  so  as 
s  to  be  able  to  carry  on  her  hang- 
man's job  undisturbed.  The  Reds  had 
yoked  the  Hungarian  press ;  the  Whites 
have  strangled  it.  With  the  help  of  the 
Rumanian  censorship  a  check  has  been 
imposed  on  correspondents  of  the  for- 
eign press,  by  means  of  which  reports 
about  events  in  Hungary  are,  at  the 
least,  detained ;  but  should  the  Rumanian 
censorship,  nevertheless,  allow  some- 
thing to  slip  through,  Friedrich  has  made 
arrangements  to  prevent  the  handing  on 
of  such  information  to  foreign  countries ; 
for  this  purpose  the  so-called  Friedrich 
censors  have  been  installed  at  the  central 
telegraph  stations,  and  they  subject  tele- 
grams to  a  fresh  scrutiny.  One  or  two 
notices  of  atrocities  had,  however,  ap- 
peared in  the  Vienna  papers;  these 
papers,  as  I  know  by  personal  observa- 
tion, have  been  seized  at  the  frontier  by 
the  frontier  police  for  the  last  ten  days, 
at  the  direct  order  of  the  Hungarian 
Government.  The  most  stringent  em- 
bargo on  information  is  being  imposed 
on  Hungary,  because  Hungary  has  an 
evil  conscience! 

And  suppose  a  cry  of  despair  from 
some  of  those  who  are  being  tortured  to 
death  should,  nevertheless,  penetrate  the 
embargo,  in  order  to  call  Europe  to  wit- 
ness their  arraignment — for  this  eventu- 
ality also  Friedrich  has  made  his  dis- 
positions: he  directs  his  telegraph 
bureau  to  circulate  in  foreign  parts  lies 
calculated  to   contradict   all  accusation, 


even  over  there.  A  few  days  ago,  for 
instance,  the  Friedrich  Government 
caused  to  be  circulated  a  certain  declara- 
tion; it  appeared  also  in  the  official 
Gazette:  that  declaration,  with  the  au- 
dacity characteristic  of  Herr  Friedrich, 
contained  a  statement  to  this  effect: 
*  Once  for  all  let  us  say,  with  the  ut- 
most definiteness,  that  the  much  talked- 
of  White  Terror  does  not  exist,  and 
never  has  existed.  What  is  being  done 
in  Hungary  by  the  White  Guard  simply 
amounts  to  the  keeping  of  law  and  the 
keeping  of  order.  We  further  declare 
that  the  White  Guard  will  not  allow  it- 
self to  be  obstructed  by  this  manoeuvre." 

GOVERNMENTS  RESPONSIBILITY 

Before  I  give  cases,  proved  by  docu- 
mentary evidence,  copies  of  most  of 
which  are  in  the  possession  of  the  En- 
tente missions,  I  propose  first  to  settle 
accounts  with  the  malicious  lie  which 
has  been  officially  spread  abroad  in  or- 
der to  suppress  the  truth. 

Herr  Friedrich,  Premier  of  Hungary: 
I  beg  to  remind  you  that  when  last  I 
spoke  to  you  and  had  an  opportunity  of 
asking  you  about  the  authentic  informa- 
tion I  had  of  atrocities  of  the  White 
Guard  in  Trans-Danubian  Hungary,  you 
answered  as  follows :  "  I  regret  to  have 
to  admit  that  these  atrocities  did,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  take  place."  As  I  know 
your  political  methods  full  well  by  now, 
I  am  aware  that,  when  as  a  simple  corre- 
spondent, I  now  bring  a  public  complaint 
against  your  system,  you  will,  in  order 
to  whitewash  yourself,  deny  that  this 
conversation  ever  took  place.     You  will 


110 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


not  succeed.  Here  and  now,  I  submit 
to  you  the  records  of  the  Hungarian 
War  Ministry,  Department  5a,  copies  of 
which,  as  is  stated  in  these  documents 
themselves,  have  been  deposited  with 
Colonel  Lorx,  at  Algya-Papp,  with  First 
Lieutenant  Nyekhegyi,  with  Major 
Denes,  with  Captain  Denghy,  with  the 
Police  Section  of  the  Ministry  of  the  In- 
terior, with  the  Manager  of  the  Press 
Bureau  in  the  Prime  Minister's  Depart- 
ment, with  various  Hungarian  Minis- 
tries, with  Sections  II.,  III.,  XIII.,  XIV., 
and  with  the  Hungarian  liaison  officers 
attached  to  the  Entente  missions.  I  have 
had  opportunity  to  inspect  a  great  many 
"  bulletins "  ;  in  order  to  keep  within 
the  limits  of  this  article  I  will,  at  pres- 
ent, select  only  a  few  cases. 

From  the  bulletin   of  the  Hungarian 
War  Ministry  621/1,  5a  1010,  dated  Aug. 
21,  1918,  (sic),  8  A.  M.: 
Official  Report  from  Veszprim: 

The  Rumanian  occupation  troops  are 
limiting  their  operations  to  keeping  order 
and  to  taking  prisoner  Communists  who 
are  in  hiding.  The  population  has  abso- 
lutely no  cause  for  complaint  on  account 
of  the  Rumanian  occupation.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  the  unoccupied  villages  of 
the  county  the  White  Guard  are  making 
unauthorized  requisitions,  are  using  lynch 
law,  are  carrying  out  executions. 

In  this  same  report  Count  Louis  Bat- 
thyany  of  Polgardi,  who  is  a  big  land- 
owner, says: 

The  soldiers  who  form  the  White  Guard 
are  carrying  on  a  reign  of  terror  in  the 
village  and  surrounding  district,  are  mak- 
ing unauthorized  requisitions,  have  black- 
mailed a  Jewish  merchant  to  the  extent 
of  20,000  kronen,  which  he  was  to  pay  in 
order  not  to  be  hanged.  They  are  behav- 
ing in  a  way  calculated  to  arouse  the 
greatest  disquiet  among  the  population. 
The  administrative  authorities  of  the 
Feher  County  report: 

We  have  already  several  times  drawn 
the  attention  of  the  Gendarmerie  Com- 
mand in  Stuhlweissenburg  to  the  behavior 
of  the  White  Guard.  There  are  official 
reports  to  the  effect  that  the  soldiers  of 
the  White  Guard  are  carrying  out  lynch 
law  and  are  refusing  trial ;  that  they  hang 
all  persons  who  had  any  connection  with 
the  Bolshevist  regime,  and  they  further 
egg  on  the  people  to  religious  cruelties. 
These  cases  of  execution  by  lynch  law 
were  carried  out  within  the  Feher  County, 
principally  in  Nagylang  and  Aban,  in  the 
Veszprim  County,  in  Lepseny  and  Bnying. 
The  Gendarmerie  Command  informed  the 


Chief  Command  of  the  White  Guard  of 
these  events,  and,  according  to  information 
supplied  by  Captain  of  the  Gendarmerie, 
Ratz,  the  Chief  Command  has  already  in- 
stituted an  inquiry.  The  population  of  the 
villages,  which  has  been  embittered  by  the 
Bolshevist  rule,  in  many  cases  openly  en- 
couraged the  executions  and  lynch  law  of 
the  White  soldiers.  But  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  much  harm  will  be  done  to  public 
safety  hereabouts  by  these  unauthorised 
acts,  and  the  tolerable  security  of  the  dis- 
trict will  be  succeeded  by  a  reign  of  utter 
anarchy. 

In  the  bulletin  of  the  War  Ministry, 
822/1,  5a,  1919,  dated  Aug.  22  of  the 
current  year,  the  Vice  Governor  of 
Stuhlweissenburg  says: 

I  am  receiving  from  the  borders  of  the 
Feher  and  Tolna  counties  the  most  dis- 
quieting reports  of  acts  of  lynch  law.  The 
members  of  the  White  Guard  are  continu- 
ing their  persecution  of  the  Jews,  their 
lynch  executions,  and  their  other  acts  of 
violence,  especially  in  the  Sarbogar  dis- 
trict. Several  days  ago  I  sent  in  a  com- 
plaint as  to  this  to  the  Prime  Minister's  ' 
Department,  to  the  Ministry  of  the  In- 
terior, and  to  the  Trans-Danubian  Com- 
mand of  the  National  Army.  Five  days 
ago  the  military  authorities  promised  me 
to  make  an  end  of  these  unauthorized 
acts.  Until  now  nothing  has  happened. 
In  Enying  the  atrocities  of  the  White 
Guards  are  being  continued. 

Such  official  bulletins  are  being  re- 
ceived every  day.  Fresh  news  of  the 
outrages  of  the  White  Guard  come  in 
hourly.  *  *  *  The  Government  are 
taking  no  steps  about  the  White  Terror 
because,  having  seized  power  by  means 
of  a  police  coup  d'etat,  they  hold  it  un- 
justifiably, and  not  only  are  unable  to 
keep  it  except  with  the  help  of  the 
Terror,  but  also  misuse  for  their  own 
purposes  the  anti-Semitic  feeling  which 
certainly  exists  among  the  population. 

In  this,  my  first  statement,  I  have  in- 
tended to  confine  myself  to  proving  that 
the  atrocities  have,  in  fact,  been  carried 
out  by  the  White  Guard  with  the  com- 
plicity of  the  Government,  in  spite  of  all 
denials.  I  will  now  come  back  to  individ- 
ual cases  which  rest  on  documentary  evi- 
dence already  in  the  hands  of  the  En- 
tente. 

LIKE  THE  RED  TERROR 

Budapest,  Sept.  14. 

The  organization  of  the  White  Terror 
is  an  uncanny  copy  of  the  Red  Terror 
down  to  the  smallest  details.    Its  sphere 


THE  WHITE  TERROR  IN  HUNGARY 


111 


of  operations  covers  the  same  sites  as 
those  which  housed  the  Red  Guards;  the 
same  Headquarters  Siofok,  where  for- 
merly Pogany  and  Szamuely  had  set  up 
their  rule,  is  now  the  seat  of  the  White 
General  Staff,  and  even  the  "  execution 
train  "  of  the  Red  Terrorists  is  now  be- 
ing used  by  the  "Whites.  In  Trans- 
Danubian  Hungary  the  White  National 
Army  forms  the  nucleus  of  the  Terror; 
in  Budapest,  the  place  of  the  "  Lenin 
Boys "  has  been  taken  by  the  White 
Terrorists,  who  call  themselves  the 
"  Revivalist  Hungarians."  It  is  a  char- 
acteristic fact  that  both  among  the 
White  Guard,  which  is  devastating  the 
countryside,  and  among  the  Terrorist 
group  at  Budapest,  there  are  those  serv- 
in,  and  even  playing  a  leading  role,  who, 
only  six  weeks  ago,  were  among  the 
maddest  of  the  Red  leaders.    *    *    * 

The  elements  of  the  Revivalist  Hun- 
garian organization  were  started  by 
Friedrich  soon  after  the  October  revolu- 
tion, although  at  that  time  it  professed 
to  follow  Karolyi.  When  Friedrich 
came  to  power  he  developed  his  organ- 
ization. This  organization  was  directed 
by  the  Prime  Minister's  Department,  and 
the  Government  also  made  arrangements 
for  the  necessary  financial  support.  The 
Szent-Imre  College  alone  received  600,- 
000  kronen.  Now  the  Revivalist  Hun- 
garians are  among  the  most  dreaded  of 
the  Terrorists.  They  have  suppressed 
every  expression  of  opinion,  and  for 
weeks  together  have  disquieted  the 
city  with  the  most  infamous  lying 
placards.    *    *    * 

The  Revivalist  Hungarians  form  the 
Budapest  outpost  of  the  central  Terror- 
ist organization  in  Trans-Danubian  Hun- 
gary. The  elements  of  this  White  Ter- 
rorist Guard  were  in  existence  even  at 
Szegedin.  Contrary  to  hitherto  accepted 
information,  the  French  Command  at 
Szegedin  did  not  show  any  particular 
favor  or  partiality  for  the  army  formed 
at  Szegedin,  which  army  consisted  al- 
most exclusively  of  officers.  In  every 
way  the  French  put  obstruction  in  the 
path  of  the  Szegedin  Army.  Nor  did 
these  relations  change  perceptibly  when 
the  fall  of  the  Soviet  Government  was 
imminent.  At  that  time  the  Whites  man- 


aged to  get  permission  for  an  officers' 
troop  to  take  up  its  position  behind  the 
French  position,  which  was  detailed  to 
guard  the  line  of  demarkation.  This  of- 
ficers' troop,  which  called  itself  the  Pro- 
nay  troop,  and  was  under  the  leadership 
of  Pronay,  Firs^  Lieutenant  of  Hussars, 
had  wormed  itself  in  between  Szagmaz 
and  Dorozma.  It  was  known  as  the 
Black  Death  Battalion,  and  it  undertook 
to  exact  vengeance  for  Bolshevism. 

The  very  first  days  of  its  activities  re- 
sulted in  the  deaths  of  innocent  per- 
sons. Thus,  on  the  second  day,  it  hanged 
a  19-year-old  youth,  named  Herz,  the 
son  of  a  Budapest  barrister.  His  guilt 
consisted  in  having  on  him  two  Vtters 
of  introduction  from  William  and  Eugene 
Vazsonyi.  The  young  man  had  been  de- 
nounced as  a  Bolshevik  to  the  French, 
and  as  proof  the  letters  of  the  two  "  big- 
gest Bolsheviki,"  the  Vazsonyi,  were  pro- 
duced; but  the  French  let  the  young  man 
go  at  once  as  being  innocent.  The 
Whites  hanged  him,  nevertheless.  The 
artist,  Nana  Kukovicz,  was  buried  alive; 
she  was  accused  of  having  sympathized 
with  the  Bolsheviki.  Among  the  mur- 
ders of  wholly  innocent  victims  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  most  extraordinary:  A 
man's  body  was  found  in  the  Theiss; 
hands  and  feet  were  fastened  together 
with  wire,  and  the  neck  was  throttled 
with  a  wire  noose.  The  French  military 
authorities  diagnosed  the  corpse  as  that 
of  a  Russian  spy  in  their  service,  who 
was  bringing  them  information  about 
the  Budapest  Bolsheviki.  French  detec- 
tives have  established  the  fact  that  this 
man  was  murdered  by  three  Hungarian 
nobles,  officers  of  Hussars,  because  they 
thought  him  a  Bolshevik. 

The  leaders  of  the  White  Terrorist 
troops  are  mostly  Hungarian  nobles.  We 
find  the  names  of  Scechenyi,  Esterhazy, 
Count  Vaj,  Baron  Pronay,  Pongracz, 
Salm,  and  Denes  Bibo,  Knight  of  the 
Golden  Spur.  The  sites  where  they  have 
worked  are  Simontorney,  Enying,  Czell- 
domolk,  Dunafoldvar,  Marczalli,  Csurgo, 
Janoshaza,  and  other  places  in  Trans- 
Danubian  Hungary.  For  instance,  in 
Marczalli,  twenty-five  innocent  persons 
were  executed  within  a  week;  in  Leng- 
yeltoti,  nine;  in  Czurgo,  eight;  in  Fon- 


112 


STHE   NEW   YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


yod,  four.  The  commander,  Nicholas 
Horthy,  whose  seat  is  at  Siofok,  has  at- 
tempted in  individual  cases  to  rescue  in- 
nocent persons  from  his  officers,  but 
always  unsuccessfully. 

EXTORTION  AND  MURDER 

Of  the  many  cases  which  have  been 
communicated  to  the  Entente  Missions, 
among  others,  I  will  choose  only  those 
which  the  documentary  evidence  shows 
to  be  the  most  characteristic.  At  Duna- 
foldvar Baron  Pronay  arrived  with  thir- 
ty-five men,  and,  by  order  of  Commander 
Horthy,  took  over  the  command  in  that 
place.  With  him  was  Count  Salm.  The 
first  question  which  the  officers  asked 
was:  "Are  there  any  Jews  here;  if  so, 
bring  them  to  us  at  once."*  The  first  to 
be  caught  was  the  dancing  master  at 
Dunafoldvar,  Heldai;  he  was  hanged  im- 
mediately. In  the  afternoon  Salm  went 
to  the  innkeeper,  Eugene  Kovacs,  who 
was  accused  of  having  sympathized  with 
the  Bolsheviki,  and  of  being  a  Jew.  Said 
Salm  to  him:  "  You,  Jew,  hand  me  over 
100,000  kronen,  and  I  will  let  you  live." 
Kovacs  was  brought  into  a  room,  a  noose 
was  put  around  his  neck,  and  while  they 
drew  the  rope  tight,  Salm  said  to  him 
again:  "  Pay  or  be  hanged."  Meanwhile 
District  Judge  Frey  came  in.  When 
he  saw  what  they  were  about,  he  went 
to  Salm  and  swore  that  Kovacs  had  never 
been  a  Bolshevik;  had,  on  the  contrary, 
been  forced  to  flee  from  the  Bolsheviki. 
Whereupon  Salm  said  to  Kovacs:  "The 
District  Judge  says  that  you  are  neither 
Communist  nor  White.  If  you  can  de- 
posit 10,000  kronen  at  once,  we'll  let  you 
go."  The  noose  was  taken  off  his  neck. 
Kovacs  went  to  his  safe,  with  difficulty 
got  together  10,000  kronen,  and  gave 
them  into  the  hands  of  District  Judge 
Frey,  who  paid  them  over  to  Salm. 

Kovacs  went  to  his  house.  Ten  min- 
utes later  Salm  appeared  again  and  said: 
"  I  have  just  heard  that  you  have  de- 
ceived us;  you  have  some  more  money. 
Unless  you  hand  over  the  rest  at  once, 
I'll  have  you  hanged."  The  District 
Judge,  who  was  still  there,  again  inter- 
fered, and  swore  that  Kovacs  really  had 
no  more  money  to  give.  Salm  made 
Kovacs  kneel  down,  sing  the  doxology, 
and  boxed  his  ears.    Then  he  went  away. 


Half  an  hour  afterward  the  Whites  came 
back  again,  but  Kovacs  had,  meanwhile, 
succeeded  in  escaping.  When  the  Whites 
realized  that  he  was  gone,  they  took  his 
brother-in-law,  Alexander  Stein,  who,  ac- 
cording to  the  statement  of  all  the  in- 
habitants, had  been  entirely  ruined  by 
the  Bolsheviki,  and,  consequently,  could 
not  have  sympathized  with  the  Bolshe- 
viki, saying  to  him:  "You  wretched 
Jew,  we  want  you,  too."  Stein  was 
hanged.  While  the  rope  was  being  ad- 
justed it  broke.  Stein  attempted  to  es- 
cape, but  was  brought  back.  To  punish 
him,  his  head  was  hammered  with  a 
stone;  then  he  was  again  strung  up. 

Afterward,  the  Whites  went  to  his 
house,  where  they  looted  8,000  kronen 
in  cash,  jewelry,  linen,  and  clothes.  Stein 
was  agent  of  an  English  insurance  com- 
pany, and,  as  such,  had  money  deposited 
with  him;  these  sums,  too,  were  taken. 
Salm  noticed  a  pair  of  new  boots,  and 
asked  the  murdered  man's  wife  whose 
they  were;  she  answered  they  were  her 
husband's;  whereupon  Salm,  with  the 
words,  "  They  were  his ;  they  are  mine," 
put  them  on. 

A  teacher  living  in  Dunafoldvar,  Ra- 
vasz,  accused  of  having  abused  the  Gov- 
ernment, was  stripped  and  hit  twenty- 
five  times  with  a  rod  in  the  market  place 
in  the  presence  of  the  crowd.  While  re- 
ceiving this  punishment  he  was  forced 
to  sing  the  doxology.  On  that  same  day, 
George  Somlo,  the  60-year-old  Maurice 
Braun,  and  the  70-year-old  Leopold  Eis- 
enstatter  were  also  stripped  and  beaten, 
only  because  they  were  Jews.  The  two 
latter  are  still  in  hospital  suffering  from 
severe  wounds.  Two  booksellers,  Eman- 
uel Somlo  and  Frederick  Raab,  who  were 
found  to  be  in  possession  of  Socialist 
books,  had  to  buy  themselves  off  from 
being  executed,  Somlo  by  a  payment  of 
20,000  and  Raab  by  a  payment  of  10,000 
kronen.  When  the  Jews  were  being  exe- 
cuted, Konyok,  a  priest,  appeared  and 
swore  on  the  cross  on  his  cassock  the 
condemned  were  innocent,  and  begged  for 
mercy  for  them.  But  the  White  officers 
would  not  listen  to  him.  Such  acts  nat- 
urally arouse  the  greatest  agitation 
among  the  respectable  people  of  Trans- 
Danubian  Hungary.  R. 


CEREMONY  AT  BELGIAN  HEADQUARTERS  IN  HONOR  OP  THE  ARRIVAL  OP  AMERICAN 
TROOPS    ON    BELGIAN    SOIL,    JULY    .'.,>1918 

How  Americans   Fought   in   Belgium 

By  W.  P.  CRESSON 

[Late   Captain   A.    E.    F.,    Formerly    Chief   op   the   American    Military    Mission    at   Belgian 

Headquarters] 


THE  operations  carried  out  during 
the  Autumn  of  1918  by  the  newly 
formed  army  of  Flanders,  which 
ended  in  freeing  Belgium  from 
the  tyranny  of  German  occupation,  were 
intimately  connected  with  Foch's  great 
final  strategical  plan.  Irresistible  pres- 
sure exercised  at  widely  distant  points 
along  the  front — notably  the  forward 
movement  of  the  American  troops  in  the 
Argonne — were  all  part  of  the  monu- 
mental scheme  devised  by  the  French 
High  Command.  American  divisions  also 
participated  in  loosening  the  enemy's 
long  hold  on  Belgian  soil  and  joined  in 
the  final  struggle  along  the  Scheldt 
which  ended  in  the  evacuation  of  Ghent 
and  Brussels.  Yet  the  story  of  the  part 
played  by  the  American  Expeditionary 
Forces  in  this  latter  important  offensive 
has  never  yet  been  told  (so  far  as  the 
writer  is  aware)  outside  the  pages  of 
brief  official  reports  and  summaries. 

Admiral  Sims's  valuable  memoirs  have 
drawn  attention  to  the  outstanding  im- 
portance to  the  enemy's  cause  of  his  sub- 
marine lairs  established  in  the  ports  of 
Ostend    and    Zeebrugge    and    his    great 


naval  refitting  base  of  Bruges.  For  the 
task  of  reconquering  Belgium,  and  of 
finally  removing  this  menace  to  allied 
shipping,  a  separate  army  known  as  the 
"  Army  of  Flanders  "  was  assembled  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  King  Al- 
bert in  person.  Directing  the  strategy 
of  the  allied  forces  of  which  this  army 
was  composed  was  one  of  the  best  of  the 
French  "  fighting  Generals  " — General 
Degoutte — fresh  from  a  victorious  com- 
mand which  included  the  heroic  Amer- 
ican divisions  who  won  a  place  in  history 
at  Chateau-Thierry.  Though  American 
( troops  were  not  brought  into  the  battle 
line  in  Belgium  until  just  before  the  de- 
cisive moments  of  this  forward  move- 
ment, their  participation  had  been  count- 
ed on  from  the  beginning. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  asso- 
ciated during  the  entire  campaign  both 
with  the  Belgian  General  Staff  (to  which 
I  had  long  been  accredited  as  General 
Pershing's  personal  representative)  and 
also  with  the  Headquarters  of  the  Army 
of  Flanders,  which  were  established  near 
La  Panne.  I  was  thus  able  to  follow  the 
whole  course  of  these  operations  and  to 


1 


114 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


take  part  in  the  opening  assault  on  Sept. 
28,  which  drove  the  enemy  from  the 
tragic  old  battlefields  of  Langemarck  and 
Houthulst  Forest.  Finally  it  was  my 
privilege  to  take  part  in  the  royal  entry 
into  Brussels  and  to  view  the  dramatic 
climax  of  Belgium's  just  vengeance — the 
entry  of  the  Belgian  cavalry  into  the 
proud  imperial  city  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

COMING  OF  THE  AMERICANS 

Following  the  check  of  the  desperate 
German  offensive  along  the  Lys  a  new 
spirit  began  to  animate  the  allied  troops, 
Belgian,  French,  and  British,  who  had 
long  shared  the  monotonous  defensive 
campaign  of  the  Yser  front.  Rumors, 
constantly  verified,  of  the  successful  de- 
barkation in  France  of  American  forces, 
in  numbers  exceeding  all  anticipations, 
and  finally  the  arrival  on  Belgian  soil  of 
two  American  divisions  (the  30th  and 
27th)  filled  the  entire  population  of 
"  Free  Belgium,"  both  civilian  and  mili- 
tary, with  anticipation  of  great  events  to 
come.  Moreover,  the  "  Unity  of  Com- 
mand "  which  General  Pershing  had  so 
insistently  advocated  began  to  give  al- 
most immediate  results. 

On  July  4  a  little  military  ceremony 
took  place  at  the  Belgian  Headquarters 
at  Houtem  to  mark  the  advent  of  our 
welcome  reinforcements.  The  American 
flag  was  raised  and  saluted  by  a  guard 
chosen  from  the  Belgian  troops,  who  had 
most  signally  distinguished  themselves 
during  the  victorious  engagement  of 
Kippe  (April  17).  This  battle — in  spite 
of  the  relatively  small  numbers  en- 
gaged— decided  the  fate  of  the  Ypres 
salient  during  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
Lys  onslaught,  and  proved  the  mettle  of 
the  reconstructed  Belgian  Army.  A  few 
days  later  American  troops  of  the  new 
Second  Corps,  hastily  drawn  from  the 
training  areas,  were  placed  in  support  of 
their  British  instructors  defending  Kem- 
mel  and  the  West  Poperinghe  line. 

In  contrast  to  this  celebration  of  our 
Glorious  Fourth  came  the  news  that 
reached  us  on  July  14,  most  fateful  of 
French  national  holidays,  when  Luden- 
dorff's  final  desperate  attempt  reached 
the  high-water  mark  of  the  Hun  in- 
vasion.    The  Lys  and  Picardy  salients 


both  had  the  coast  ports  as  their  ob- 
jective, and  the  first  result  of  such  a 
success  would  have  been  the  capture  of 
the  entire  Belgian  Army  and  their  neigh- 
boring allies.  But  within  a  few  weeks 
Foch's  overmastering  strategy  and  the 
heroic  defense  of  the  "  Line  of  the 
Mounts77  relieved  us  of  our  imminent 
danger.  In  this  dramatic  struggle  the 
30th  and  27th  American  Divisions  again 
played  an  important  role  in  the  de- 
fense of  the  little  triangle  of  sacred 
soil — all  that  was  left  of  "  Free  Bel- 
gium." 

TASK  OF  ALBERT'S  TROOPS 

During  these  anxious  days,  while  our 
fate  was  being  decided  elsewhere,  per- 
haps the  greatest  trial  to  which  the  Bel- 
gian Army  was  subjected  was  in  the  pa- 
tient carrying  out  of  its  strategical 
task — that  of  remaining  on  a  stubborn 
defensive.  The  line  held  by  King  Al- 
bert's troops  between  Ypres  and  the 
sea — defended  by  the  Yser  and  its 
canals — was,  by  the  nature  of  its  ob- 
stacles, almost  impregnable.  The  con- 
stant vigilance  of  the  Belgian  engineers, 
their  skillful  handling  of  the  great  in- 
undations that  formed  our  chief  protec- 
tion, safely  repulsed  all  danger  from  a 
direct  offensive  on  this  important  front. 
Indeed,  to  attack  from  either  side  across 
these  "  flooded  areas "  was  almost  an 
impossibility.  Raids — in  which  whole 
companies  sometimes  took  part — were, 
however,  undertaken  across  the  drowned 
lands  by  both  sides.  This  happily  pre- 
served the  morale  of  our  infantry  from 
stagnation. 

By  September  it  became  apparent  that 
the  tide  of  victory  had  definitely  set  in 
our  favor,  and  a  restless  desire  to  share 
in  the  promised  harvest  of  military  lau- 
rels beset  the  officers  and  men  of  our 
whole  sector.  On  Sept.  13  a  High  Coun- 
cil, at  which  Marshal  Foch  was,  present, 
was  held  at  Belgian  Headquarters.  With- 
in the  next  few  weeks  we  became  by  de- 
grees aware  that  the  new  "  Army  of 
Flanders "  under  King  Albert's  com- 
mand had  silently  come  into  being.  Along 
the  roads  to  our  rear  French,  British, 
and  Belgian  troops,  infantry  and  artil- 
lery, began  converging  as  secretly  as 
possible  upon  the  Belgian  front. 


HOW  AMERICANS  FOUGHT  IN  BELGIUM 


115 


The  assembling  of  a  great  armed  force 
under  modern  conditions  of  warfare  is 
at  best  a  difficult  enterprise.  During 
these  last  two  weeks  of  September  many 
a  farmer  of  the  Pas  de  Calais  awoke  to 
find  his  orchard  or  "  wood  lot "  filled 
with  troops,  tired  out  by  their  long 
night's  march.      Often,  if  no  better  shel- 


GENERAL,    DEGOUTTE 

French    commander    in    Belgium    under    Kino 

Albert 

ter  was  available,  the  infantry  could  be 
found  sleeping  in  long  lines  in  the  de- 
ceptive shadow  of  some  hedgerow,  while 
their  artillery  and  baggage  trains  were 
masked  by  piles  of  hay  or  green 
branches.  From  all  the  evidence  we  were 
subsequently  able  to  gather,  the  attack 
of  the  French  divisions  came  as  a  sur- 
prise to  the  boche  armies  across  the 
Yser. 

BEGINNING  THE  OFFENSIVE 

•Events  now  began  to  move  with  sur- 
prising rapidity.  On  Sept.  13  General 
Degoutte's  headquarters  were  estab- 
lished in  La  Panne.  (A  few  days  later 
the  neighboring  town  of  Bergues — a  pic- 
turesque relic  of  Vauban's  "barrier  for- 
tress " — was  heavily  bombed  by  the  en- 
emy under  the  impression  that  this  old 
masterpiece  of  military  art  was  the  cen- 
tre of  our  operations.)  From  now  on  I 
was  able  through  the  courtesy  of  Gen- 
eral Degoutte  to  follow  closely  the  staff 


operations  at  the  French  Headquarters, 
to  which  two  American  officers  (Lieu- 
tenants Leigh  Hunt  and  Greppo)  were 
attached  as  liaison  officers. 

The  atmosihere  of  suspense  and  mys- 
tery surrounding  the  impending  offen- 
sive became  almost  intolerable  as  the 
hour  of  Belgium's  vengeance  ap- 
proached. Early  in  the  morning  of 
Sept.  28  a  salvo  of  shots  fired  from  the 
great  guns  of  the  English  monitors  of 
the  Dunkirk  flotilla  (which  had  crept 
down  the  coast  and  anchored  opposite 
La  Panne)  announced  the  opening  phase 
of  the  attack.  Their  deafening  music 
bombarding  the  defenses  of  Ostend  and 
Zeebrugge  was  echoed  by  the  massed 
artillery  supporting  the  French  divisions 
in  reserve  behind  the  Belgian  battle- 
front.  At  King  Albert's  desire,  and 
their  own,  the  brunt  of  the  first  day's 
fighting  fell  chiefly  upon  the  Belgian 
divisions.  Beyond  Ypres  their  attack 
blended  with  the  simultaneous  assault  of 
General  Plumer's  Second  British  Army — 
a  ten-mile  front  in  all. 

The  irresistible  onslaught  of  these 
allied  forces  began  at  5:30  A.  M.  By  9 
the  first  objectives  had  everywhere  been 
attained,  the  whole  battlefront  moving 
forward  from  near  Dixmude  to  a  point 
beyond  Ypres.  I  cannot  better  describe 
the  general  tactics  of  the  first  day's  at- 
tack than  by  attempting  some  account  of 
the  events  which  passed  beneath  my  own 
observation. 

CONTACT  WITH  THE  ENEMY 

It  was  not  until  late  in  the  morning  of 
the  28th  that  my  military  duties  allowed 
me  to  leave  the  vicinity  of  French  and 
Belgian  Headquarters  and  proceed  to  the 
front.  The  part  of  the  line  I  proposed  to 
visit  was  a  typical  one,  that  near  Dix- 
mude, the  "  hinge "  upon  which  the 
enemy's  front  was  being  slowly  pressed 
back. 

Arriving  at  Divisional  Headquarters, 
I  secured  General  Bernheim's  consent  to 
allow  me  to  accompany  a  liaison  officer 
just  starting  on  horseback  for  the  sadly 
famous  marshes  surrounding  Lake  Blan- 
kaert.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  an  attack 
had  not  been  seriously  contemplated  at 
this  point,  the  Belgian  troops  through 
their  desire  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  di- 


116 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


BATTLEFIELDS    OP    BELGIUM,    BETWEEN    YPRES    AND    THE    SEA,    WHERE    AMERICAN 

TROOPS    UNDER   KING   ALBERT   HELPED    TO    FORCE    THE    FINAL 

RETREAT     OF    THE     GERMAN     INVADERS 


vision  on  their  right,  and  through  their 
own  initiative  and  the  zeal  of  their  bat- 
talion commanders,  had  pressed  forward 
until  they  found  themselves  engaged  in 
an  actual  hand-to-hand  conflict  with  an 
enemy  whose  strong  defenses  had  been 
but  superficially  prepared  by  the  artil- 
lery. Traces  of  the  struggle  were  every- 
where to  be  met  with  as  we  threaded  our 
way  among  the  shell  holes  of  what  a 
few  hours  before  had  been  the  No  Man's 
Land  separating  the  Belgian  trenches 
from  the  enemy's  first  line  of  defense. 

Crossing  a  little  stream  known  as  the 
Jansbeek,  and  leaving  on  our  right  the 
collection  of  ruins  marking  the  village  of 
Merckhem,  we  reached  the  broken  chaus- 
see  of  the  old  road  formerly  connecting 
the  market  town  of  Woumen  with  Elver- 
dinghe.  The  enemy's  machine  gunners 
still  held  the  ridge  on  which  Woumen 
stands,  and  a  constant  stream  of  walk- 
ing wounded  and  files  of  stretcher  cases 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  sullen  Ger- 
man prisoners  showed  with  what  tenacity 
these  German  units  had  been  ordered  to 
protect  the  retirement  of  the  main  forces 


behind.  It  was  these  same  boche  machine 
gunners — the  last  heroes  which  Ger- 
many's great  adventure  was  to  produce — 
that  later  made  the  crossing  of  the 
Scheldt  by  our  troops  an  operation  test- 
ing Yankee  dash  and  heroism  to  the  full. 
Above  the  ever-receding  roar  of  the 
enemy's  heavy  artillery  the  methodical 
staccato  of  their  terrible  weapons  sound- 
ed its  steady  menace.  Among  the  shel- 
tering reeds  of  the  further  side  of  Lake 
Blankaert  and  the  still  flourishing  trees 
of  the  old  castle  park  other  "  wasp 
nests "  still  unidentified  were  silently 
awaiting  our  further  advance. 

CHARACTERISTIC   BATTLE   SCENE 

Leaving  our  horses  in  the  shelter  of  a 
captured  German  "  pillbox  "  (now  turned 
into  a  ghastly  little  emergency  dressing 
station),  we  proceeded  on  foot  toward  the 
ill-defined  front  line.  That  we  were  well 
under  observation  was  apparent  from 
the  bullets  that  occasionally  sang  close 
overhead.  Bodies  of  German  infantry- 
men caught  by  the  fire  of  our  advance 
lay  about  in  the  tall  grass. 


HOW  AMERICANS  FOUGHT  IN  BELGIUM 


117 


Beyond,  toward  Lake  Blankaert,  birds 
sang  in  the  trees  and  the  reedy  shores 
offered  a  picture  of  peaceful  beauty.  Yet 
we  were  now  in  the  very  centre  of  what 
had  been  the  most  bitterly  disputed  part 


GENERAL,    LEMAN 
The  hero  of  Liege 

of  the  entire  battlefront,  where  the  Bel- 
gian loss  relatively  to  the  forces  engaged 
was  the  heaviest.  The  park  of  the 
chateau  just  beyond  us  was  still  strongly 
held  by  the  enemy's  machine  gunners. 
To  attack  such  a  position  in  daylight 
against  an  enemy  sheltered  by  the 
overgrown  jungle  of  the  old  gardens 
would  have  been  sheer  madness.  Yet  we 
found  the  young  Lieutenant  commanding 
the  little  garrison  of  a  captured  pillbox 
facing  this  point,  with  difficulty  pre- 
venting his  men  from  "  carrying-on  "  re- 
gardless of  the  unknown  danger.  After 
giving  him  all  the  news  that  was  pos- 
sible and  leaving  directions  for  continu- 
ing the  attack  at  nightfall  we  returned 
to  headquarters  in  the  face  of  the  rising 
storm,  which  was  to  play  such   an  im- 


portant part  in  the  history  of  the  follow- 
ing days. 

IMPEDED  BY  A  STORM 

The  tornado  of  wind  and  rain  which 
broke  over  the  battleline  of  the  Army 
of  Flanders  at  the  end  of  the  first  day's 
offensive,  Sept  29,  greatly  impeded  the 
development  of  the  operations  so  success- 
fully carried  out  by  King  Albert's  troops. 
Had  it  been  physically  possible  to  bring 
into  line  the  French  supporting  divisions 
and  the  Belgian  cavalry  (which  under 
General  Degoutte's  plan  were  to  exploit 
the  capture  of  the  first  objectives)  the 
enemy  would  probably  have  been  readily 
thrown  back  from  the  high  ground  of 
Clercken  Ridge  and  Houthulst  Forest. 
But  the  extraordinary  weather  condi- 
tions, the  quagmires  of  mud  and  the 
streams  and  canals  swollen  by  the  down- 
pour across  which  our  troops  were  forced 
to  advance,  enabled  the  enemy  to  retire 
in  good  order  from  their  front  line  posi- 
tions. 

It  would  have  been  hard  to  imagine  a 
picture  of  deeper  gloom  than  that  pre- 
sented by  headquarters  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders  following  the  first  day's  at- 
tack. To  the  news  that  a  whole  division 
of  Belgian  cavalry  had  bogged  down  dur- 
ing the  night  on  the  road  we  had  fol- 
lowed the  day  before  was  added  the  re- 
port that  even  the  field  telephone  and 
other  means  of  communication  with  the 
advancing  army  had  been  put  out  of  com- 
mission by  the  extraordinary  weather 
conditions.  Nevertheless,  all  the  infor- 
mation that  came  through  from  the  front 
tended  to  confirm  the  extent  and  com- 
pleteness of  the  victory  won.  Heroic  de- 
tails were,  moreover,  not  lacking  in  the 
fragmentary  accounts  we  were  able  to 
obtain  of  this  opening  phase  of  the  Flan- 
ders campaign. 

Near  Houthulst  Forest  a  Walloon  regi- 
ment, finding  itself  face  to  face  with 
Saxon  troops  bearing  the  numbers  of  the 
unit  which  wrote  such  a  dark  page  of 
history  during  the  Dinant  massacres  of 
1914,  succeeded  in  partially  surrounding 
them  during  their  retirement.  Little  did 
the  brutal  victors  of  four  years  before, 
who  had  driven  a  screen  of  helpless  civil- 
ians at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  before 
their  advancinc  columns,  dream  that  the 


118 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


final  reckoning  would  be  so  complete  and 
overwhelming.  Scarcely  a  prisoner  was 
taken  during  the  fury  of  the  Belgians' 
just  revenge,  and  the  short  trench  knives, 
which  the  Walloon  infantry  have  inher- 
ited from  the  Spanish  in  Flanders,  played 
a  terrible  role  in  this  wholesale  military 
execution. 

RATIONS   BY   AIRPLANE 

As  the  day  advanced  it  became  appar- 
ent that  many  of  our  forward  units,  after 
consuming  their  emergency  rations,  were 
in  imminent  danger  of  being  placed 
hors  de  combat  through  lack  of  food. 
To  revictual  these  troops  along  the  oblit- 
erated roads  or  to  reinforce  them  by  or- 
dinary means  of  transport  seemed  an  im- 
possibility. It  was  the  resourcefulness 
of  Colonel  van  Cronbregge,  commanding 
the  Belgian  aviation,  that  saved  many  of 
these  heroes  from  starvation  in  this  mo- 
ment of  their  victory.  The  least  accessi- 
ble points  of  the  front  were  supplied  with 
bread  and  canned  meat  rations  dropped 
like  manna  from  the  skies  by  bombing 
planes.  Belgian  and  English  airmen  fly- 
ing low  in  the  face  of  enemy  machine- 
gun  fire  succeeded  in  carrying  out  this 
difficult  mission. 

In  spite  of  the  obstacles  met  with  in 
reinforcing  and  provisioning  the  troops 
engaged,  the  Belgians  on  Sept.  21  took 
the  towns  of  Zarren,  Staden,  and  Mors- 
lede.  On  Sept.  30  Roulers  itself  was 
taken,  while  the  British  completed  their 
occupation  of  the  Passchendaele  Ridge. 
By  Oct.  2  the  full  force  of  the  support- 
ing French  divisions  was  brought  into 
play,  and  the  Army  of  Flanders,  operat- 
ing on  the  splendid  roads  along  which 
the  Germans  were  retreating,  began  the 
series  of  masterly  operations  which 
ended  in  the  freedom  of  Lille  and  Tour- 
coing. 

AMERICAN  DIVISIONS  ARRIVE 

On  Oct.  16  I  returned  from  a  mission 
to  the  American  Grand  Headquarters  in 
time  to  assist  in  the  arrival  of  the  two 
American  divisions — the  91st  and  the 
37th — which  had  been  assigned  to  the 
Army  of  Flanders  to  aid  in  the  opera- 
tions designed  finally  to  clear  Belgium 
of  the  enemy's  forces.  Already  evidence 
was  not  wanting  that  the  Germans  were 


preparing  to  give  up  the  formidable  de- 
fenses of  the  Flanders  coast,  on  which 
but  a  few  weeks  before  their  chief  hope 
of  victory  had  been  based.  But,  although 
a  complete  abandonment  of  Belgium  was 
a  foregone  conclusion,   every  indication 


GENERAL    BARON     JACQUES 

Whose    troops    saved    the    Ypres    salient, 

April   17,   1918 

pointed  to  a  determined  resistance  dur- 
ing the  enemy's  retreat,  and  his  inten- 
tion to  use  to  the  full  this  last  oppor- 
tunity to  inflict  all  possible  damage. 
The  wide  extension  of  the  front  brought 
about  by  the  advance  of  the  Army  of 
Flanders  in  the  direction  of  Roulers  and 
Thourout  made  essential  its  reinforce- 
ment by  the  two  large  American  divis- 
ions now  brought  into  line. 

The  first  American  units  began  to  ar- 
rive at  Dunkirk  on  Oct.  18,  and  on  the 
same  day  Bruges  was  evacuated  by  the 
German  forces.  On  the  19th  I 'had  the 
honor  of  presenting  General  Johnson, 
commanding  the  91st  Division,  to  Gen- 
eral Degoutte,  and  afterward  accom- 
panied him  to  the  Divisional  Headquar- 
ters he  intended  to  occupy  near  Ypres. 
On  Oct.  21  General  Farnsworth,  com- 
manding the  37th,  also  visited  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Army  of  Flanders  at 
La  Panne. 


HOW  AMERICANS  FOUGHT  IN  BELGIUM 


110 


The  picture  afforded  by  our  two  great 
divisions — almost  twice  the  size  of  the 
war-worn  divisions  of  our  allies — as  they 
marched  through  the  ruined  streets  and 
squares  of  Ypres  was  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  significant,  even  dramatic,  events 
of  our   participation   in  the  war.    Cer- 


CAPTAIN  W.    P.    CRESSON 

Former  Chief  of  American  Military  Mission  at 

Belgian    Headquarters 

tainly  no  spectacle  calculated  to  stir  the 
crusading  spirit  which  had  brought  the 
Americans  overseas  could  have  been  bet- 
ter imagined  than  the  via  cruris  of  that 
Belgian  road  from  Ypres  to  Wareghem. 
In  a  drizzle  of  rain  and  mist  they  passed 
before  the  shattered  remnants  of  the 
splendid  old  Cloth  Hall,  then  out  across 
the  "blasted  heath"  of  the  battlefields 
of  Langemarck  and  Poelcappelle. 

As  I  looked  in  the  faces  of  these  men 
of  our  Far  and  Middle  West  it  was  easy 
to  read  the  effect  produced  by  the  tragic 
scene  of  this  massacred  countryside.  By 
October  24  the  37th  and  91st  Divisions 
occupied  a  line  astride  the  Oudenarde 
Road,  following  part  of  the  railway  line 
from  Courtrai  to  Thielt.  The  embank- 
ment of  the  destroyed  line,  about  twelve 
feet  high  and  a  hundred  in  width,  was 
in  many  places  the  No  Man's  Land  sep- 
arating the  German  first  line  and  the 
American  attacking  forces. 

It  was  across  this  formidable  obstacle 


that  the  American  divisions  were  called 
upon  to  make  their  first  attack — with 
Oudenarde  and  the  Escaut  as  their  prin- 
cipal objectives. 

FIRST  AMERICAN  ATTACK 

On  Oct.  31  at  5:30  A.  M.  the  American 
divisions  made  their  first  attack  upon 
the  German  troops,  stubbornly  defending 
the  retreat  of  the  divisions  to  the  south 
of  Ghent.  During  the  next  five  days  of 
fighting  the  brunt  of  the  assault  was 
borne  by  "  ours,"  who  gladly  accepted  the 
dangerous  honor  of  forcing  a  crossing  of 
the  southern  branch  of  the  Scheldt, 
locally  known  as  the  Escaut.  The  right 
of  the  American  line  was  held  by  the  91st 
Division  in  conjunction  with  the  128th 
French  Division.  The  37th  American  Di- 
vision, with  the  12th  French  Division,  oc- 
cupied their  left. 

After  heavy  artillery  preparation  the 
37th  advanced  behind  a  well  -  timed 
barrage,  (high  explosive  and  shrapnel), 
to  which  the  enemy  replied  with  a  heavy 
gas  barrage.  Through  this  obstacle  the 
Allies  continued  steadily  to  progress,  and 
at  8:15  reports  reached  headquarters 
that  the  first  objective  had  been  success- 
fully taken.  The  enemy  nevertheless  con- 
tinued to  defend  himself  with  despera- 
tion, notably  about  the  village  of  Olsen 
and  the  high  ridge  between  the  Lys  and 
the  Escaut.  At  some  cost  our  troops 
captured  Olsen,  where  the  civilian  pop- 
ulation, which  the  enemy  had  taken  no 
steps  to  evacuate,  suffered  a  severe  bom- 
bardment. Between  10  and  11  the  im- 
portant village  of  Chrysohotem  and  its 
neighboring  ridge  were  evacuated  by  the 
enemy,  who  left  317  prisoners,  including 
eleven  officers,  in  the  hands  of  our 
troops. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place 
the  91st  Division — supported  by  General 
Price's  brigade  of  Pennsylvania  artillery 
— after  rushing  the  enemy  from  their  de- 
fenses along  the  railway,  advanced 
through  a  rough  and  broken  country  cov- 
ered with  low  fir  trees,  in  which  the 
enemy's  machine  gunners  made  a  last 
stand.  This  fighting,  to  which  our  troops 
had  been  schooled  by  their  recent  experi- 
ences in  the  Argonne,  while  costly,  ended 
in  a  perfectly  timed  capture  of  the  indi- 
cated   objectives.      Smoke    screens   were 


120 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


successfully  used  in  many  places  to  con- 
ceal our  attack.* 

On  Nov.  1  the  attack  was  renewed 
along  the  whole  line,  and  by  11  A.  M.  the 
American  divisions  had  consolidated  a 
position  parallel  to  the  Escaut  about  a 
mile  from  that  stream.  The  night  was 
passed  in  preparations  to  cross  this  diffi- 
cult obstacle.  Nov.  2  saw  the  climax  of 
the  American  effort  in  Flanders.  In  the 
face  of  fierce  machine-gun  fire  from  the 
heights  beyond,  small  detachments  of  the 
37th  reached  the  banks  of  the  Escaut  as 
early  as  3  A.  M.  The  crossing  of  this 
broad  and  deep  river  was  one  of  the 
heroic  feats  of  the  war. 

Small  parties  were  able  to  reach  the 
opposite  banks  by  swimming  in  the  face 
of  a  raking  fire  from  the  machine-gun 
nests  arranged  on  tiers  on  the  broad 
slope  beyond.  Others  crossed  by  means 
of  trees  so  felled  that  they  partially 
bridged  the  stream.  Although,  from  the 
nearly  demolished  village  of  Heurne,  our 
men  protected  these  courageous  efforts 
by  rifle  and  machine-gun  fire,  it  was  not 
until  late  afternoon  that  the  145th  In- 
fantry (forming  part  of  the  37th  Divi- 
sion) was  able  to  establish  a  bridgehead 
on  the  opposite  bank.  In  the  meantime 
their  attack  was  impeded  by  a  terrific 
gas  bombardment.  One  regiment  of  the 
91st  also  succeeded  in  crossing  at  a  point 
further  up  the  river. 

The  morning  of  the  3d  thus  found  two 
American  divisions  in  a  position  to  place 
their  entire  strength  beyond  the  for- 
midable obstacle  offered  by  the  Scheldt. 
The  actual  crossing  in  force  was  still  dis- 
puted by  machine-gun  fire  and  enemy 
bombing  machines,  which,  with  some 
courage,  flew  low  over  their  advancing 
columns.  Later  in  the  day  the  12th 
French  Division  was  able  to  cross  a 
bridge  built  by  the  American  engineers. 

The  town  of  Oudenarde,  whose  out- 
skirts had  been  captured  after  fierce 
hand-to-hand  fighting  by  troops  of  the 
91st  Division,  offered  a  point  of  consid- 
erable resistance.  The  part  held  by  the 
Americans,    including    the    quarter   sur- 


*For  the  above  details  concerning  the 
attack  of  the  91st  I  am  indebted  to  my 
fellow-townsman,  Lieutenant  S.  R.  King  of 
Elko,   Nev. 


rounding  the  ancient  church  and  the 
famous  Hotel  de  Ville,  was  subjected  to  a 
ferocious  bombardment  by  enemy  gas 
shells,  to  which  many  of  the  residents 
hiding  in  their  cellars  fell  victims. 

The  houses  lining  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  Escaut,  which  runs  through  the 
town,  were  tenaciously  held  by  the  ene- 
my's machine  gunners,  effectually  pre- 
venting any  crossing  in  spite  of  repeated 
heroic  efforts.  Again  and  again  our  sol- 
diers (most  of  them  troops  from  Cali- 
fornia, Nevada,  and  Oregon)  attempted 
to  cross  in  the  face  of  almost  certain 
death,  throwing  themselves  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  houses  overhanging  the 
stream  and  trying  to  gain  a  foothold  on 
the  slimy  masonry  of  the  old  buildings  on 
the  opposite  bank.  Heroic  efforts  were 
also  made  by  our  engineers  to  rebuild 
the  destroyed  bridges,  but  the  enemy, 
using  his  advantage  to  the  full,  pre- 
vented the  success  of  these  ventures.  An 
attack  planned  by  General  Johnson  to 
force  a  crossing  by  swimming  the  river 
in  company  front  was  happily  rendered 
unnecessary  by  the  cessation  of  opera- 
tions, due  to  the  armistice. 

Shortly  after  the  armistice  I  had  the 
honor  of  accompanying  King  Albert  on 
a  visit  to  the  Headquarters  of  the  37th 
and  91st  Divisions.  The  Royal  Comman- 
der in  Chief  of  the  Army  of  Flanders 
was  received  with  rousing  cheers  by  the 
American  troops  under  his  command.  In 
company  with  Generals  Farnsworth  and 
Johnson  he  visited  the  scenes  of  the 
struggle  along  the  Escault,  where  the 
green  slopes  were  still  freshly  torn  and 
furrowed  by  the  shell  fire  of  our  guns — 
and  by  little  mounds  of  new-turned  earth 
more  eloquent  still.  Later,  surrounded 
by  General  Johnson's  staff,  he  addressed 
the  mixed  crowd  of  soldiers  and  civilians 
fraternizing  in  the  public  square  of  Oude- 
narde. Standing  on  the  balcony  of  the 
splendid  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  King  paid  a 
touching  tribute  to  the  men,  who,  in  the 
square  before  us,  had  traveled  so  far  to 
lay  down  their  lives  for  the  defense  of 
liberty  and  right. 

The  King  of  the  Belgians,  the  first 
reigning  sovereign  to  visit  the  United 
States,  is  the  only  monarch  who  has  ever 
held  command  over  American  troops. 


The  Betrayal  of  Edith  Cavell 

Trial  and  Conviction  of  Quien,  the  Spy  Who,  After  Receiving  Aid 
From   Her,  Caused  Her  Death 


GEORGES  GASTON  QUIEN,  charged 
with  having  had  intelligence  with 
the  enemy  and  betraying  Edith 
Cavell  and  others  to  the  Germans,  ap- 
peared for  trial  before  the  sixth  court- 
martial  of  Paris  on  Aug.  25,  1919,  and 
on  Sept.  5  was  convicted  and  condemned 
to  death.  Fifty-eight  witnesses  had  been 
summoned  by  the  prosecution,  including 
Brand  Whitlock,  United  States  Minister 
at  Brussels,  and  Mile.  Thuillez,  whom 
the  Germans  had  condemned  to  be  shot 
with  Miss  Cavell,  but  who  was  saved  by 
the  King  of  Spain.  While  posing  as  a 
French  officer  seeking  to  escape  from 
Brussels  into  Holland  Quien  had  gath- 
ered information  against  those  who  be- 
friended him  and  had  returned  to  Brus- 
sels and  denounced  the  whole  of  Miss 
Cavell's  organization  to  the  Germans. 

The  official  report  of  the  charges 
brought  against  Quien  throws  an  inter- 
esting light  on  the  organization  for  aid- 
ing British,  French,  and  Belgian  sol- 
diers to  escape  from  the  territories  held 
by  the  Germans  into  Holland,  of  which 
Edith  Cavell  was  the  central  figure. 
Quien,  who  was  40  years  of  age,  was  serv- 
ing in  St.  Quentin  jail  his  third  term  of 
imprisonment  when  the  Germans  took 
possession  of  the  town  in  August,  1914. 
He  was  discharged  from  prison  on  Sept. 
14,  1914.  He  found  himself  penniless  in 
a  town  under  the  rigors  of  martial  law. 

According  to  the  report,  Quien  was  not 
long  in  choosing  a  means  of  livelihood. 
The  Germans  needed  spies  among  the 
French  population,  and,  as  witness  at 
the  trial  testified,  Quien  was  soon  ob- 
served to  be  spending  riotous  evenings 
in  company  with  German  soldiers,  re- 
turning to  his  own  quarters  when  he 
chose,  although  it  was  obligatory  for  all 
inhabitants  of  the  town  to  be  in  their 
homes  by  10  o'clock  at  night.  In  March, 
1915,  the  Germans  sent  Quien  ostensibly 
as  one  of  a  large  number  of  civilian 
prisoners  to  Landrecies.  He  was  allowed 
every  liberty   by  his   jailers,   and  went 


where  he  wished  in  the  town.  It  was 
there  that  he  met  a  girl  named  Jeanne 
Balligan,  who  was  working  for  Miss 
Cavell's  organization,  and  who  in  purest 
good  faith  and  supposing  him  to  be  loyal 
offered  to  help  him  to  escape,  and  gave 
him  information  as  to  the  means  whereby 
British,  French,  and  Belgian  soldiers  and 
patriotic  young  men  anxious  to  escape 
from  the  German  grip  were  being  con- 
tinuously passed  northward  through  Bel- 
gium into  Holland  under  the  noses  of 
the  German  Kommandanturen. 

Up  to  that  time  the  secret  had  been 
rigorously  kept.  The  German  authori- 
ties knew  that  numbers  of  British  and 
French  officers  and  men,  wounded  or 
stragglers,  had  been  left  behind  their 
front  during  the  retreat  from  Mons,  and 
knew  that  men  were  constantly  being 
passed  out  of  the  country  into  neutral 
territory.  They  did  not  know  that  Miss 
Cavell's  ambulance  in  Brussels  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  organization,  and 
that  the  Chateau  of  Bellignies,  belonging 
to  Prince  Reginald  of  Croy,  who  was 
living  there  with  the  Princess  Marie,  his 
sister,  was  a  half-way  house  between  the 
German  lines  and  Holland,  through  which 
nearly  all  the  fugitives  passed. 

"  Generally  each  member  of  the  asso- 
ciation," says  the  report,  "worked  in 
carefully  defined  limits,  and  knew  noth- 
ing of  what  happened  to  the  fugitives 
confided  to  their  care  after  their  per- 
sonal task  was  accomplished.  They  had 
to  take  fugitives  from  a  certain  point  to 
another  certain  point,  there  to  leave  them 
in  charge  of  a  given  person.  This  person 
they  could  of  course  recognize,  but  often 
did  not  know  his  real  name.  Beyond  this 
they  knew  nothing  of  the  association  of 
which  they  were  members." 

By  working  himself  into  the  confi- 
dence of  Jeanne  Balligan,  Quien  was  able 
to  reach  the  Chateau  of  Bellignies  and 
to  meet  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Croy, 
to  whom  he  represented  himself  as  a 
French  officer.    From  Bellignies,  his  ere- 


122 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


dentials  being  considered  sufficient,  he 
was  passed  on  to  Mons  with,  another 
fugitive,  a  certain  M.  Motte,  to  the 
care  of  local  agents  of  the  associa- 
tion, one  of  whom,  Mile.  Thuillez,  was 
among  the  principal  witnesses  against 
him.  Next  day  Mile.  Thuillez  took  both 
men  to  Brussels,  where  she  introduced 
Quien  to  Miss  Cavell  at  her  hospital. 

Quien':;  first  step  was  to  demand 
money.  Miss  Cavell  gave  him  300  francs, 
ncl;  without  surprise  that  he  should  ask 
ior  so  much  from  her,  seeing  that  once 
across  the  Dutch  border  he,  being,  as  she 
supposed,  a  French  officer,  could  obtain 
what  he  needed  from  the  nearest  French 
Consulate.  He  remained  in  Brussels 
about  a  fortnight.  Miss  Cavell  could 
have  sent  him  into  Holland  within  two 
or  three  days,  but  he  put  off  his  de- 
parture, pretending  that  he  would  make 
his  escape  in  company  with  certain 
agents  of  the  Brussels  police.  During 
this  time  he  learned  to-  know  the  mem- 
bers of  the  organization  and  the  houses 
and  hotels  where  they  could  shelter  the 
hunted  men. 

Miss  Cavell  finally  decided  to  get  rid 
of  him.  She  confided  her  embarrass- 
ment to  Mme.  Baudart,  a  member  of  the 
association,  through  whose  agency  he 
was  conveyed  with  sixteen  other  fugi- 
tives to  Holland.  In  Holland  Quien  pre- 
sented himself  to  the  French  Military 
Attache,  who  believed  his  story  that  he 
was  a  French  officer,  and  gave  him  500 
francs. 

Quien  immediately  returned  to  Brus- 
sels, and  saw  Miss  Cavell,  who  sent  him 
to  Mme.  Baudart.  It  was  at  this  meet- 
ing that  Quien  learned  the  address  of 
the  architect  Baucq,  Miss  Cavell's  chief 
collaborator,  who  shared  her  tragic  fate. 
Two  days  later  M.  Baucq  was  arrested 
at  his  house,  together  with  young  Bau- 
dart and  Mile.  Thuillez.  Quien,  accord- 
ing to  the  prosecution,  delivered  not  only 
these  three  to  the  German  police  but 
several  others  connected  with  the  asso- 
ciation, who  were  arrested  during  the 
next  few  days.  The  Princess'  Croy  was 
condemned  by  the  Germans  to  ten  years' 
imprisonment  at  hard  labor,  Quien  had 
told  Mme.  Jacobs,  another  member  of  the 
organization  and  a  friend  of  Mme.  Bau- 
dart, that  M.   Baucq  would  not  escape 


condemnation,  and  that  Miss  Cavell  was 
about  to  be  arrested.  She  was  arrested 
on  Aug.  5. 

After  bringing  about  the  break-up  of 
this  organization,  Quien  remained  in  the 
service  of  the  German  espionage  system 
until  1917,  when  he  returned  to  France 
through  Switzerland.  He  was  imme- 
diately arrested  and  imprisoned  on  a 
charge  of  theft,  and  on  his  release, 
being  of  military  age,  was  sent  to  serve 
in  the  special  group  in  French  North 
Africa.  It  was  not  until  the  release  of 
Miss  Cavell's  associates  from  German 
prisons  that  the  espionage  charges  were 
brought  against  him. 

ECHOES   OF  CAVELL  AFFAIR 

Since  the  condemnation  of  Quien 
further  details  of  the  Cavell  organiza- 
tion have  come  to  light  with  the  publica- 
tion of  a  remarkable  story  told  by  Pere 
Meeus,  a  heroic  Belgian  priest,  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  clandestine  La  Libre 
Belgique  and  an  associate  of  Miss  Cavell 
in  her  patriotic  and  dangerous  activities. 
Prisoners  who  were  escaping,  he  said, 
were  taken  into  Brussels  in  disguise  and 
there  met  by  "  La  Grande  Espionne,"  a 
little  girl  of  11,  who  carried  a  big  doll, 
ran  about,  and  gazed  into  shop  windows, 
till  she  finally  stopped  before  Miss 
Cavell's  house,  where  the  disguised  sol- 
diers had  followed  her.  The  arriving  sol- 
diers were  here  bandaged  up  as  hospital 
cases,  and  introduced  to  Pere  Meeus, 
who  would  get  them  across  the  frontier. 

Some  of  this  daring  priest's  adventures 
and  disguises  are  equally  interesting. 
Once,  as  a  cattle  driver,  he  got  to  Ostend 
and  found  the  real  lurking  place  of  the 
German  submarines.  It  was  known  that 
previous  to  an  air  raid  into  England  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  officers  of  the 
Zeppelins  and  Gothas  to  meet  at  dinner. 
Pere  Meeus  disguised  himself  as  a  pastry 
cook  and  thus  was  able  to  find  out  when 
such  dinners  were  to  be  given,  and  by 
means  of  carrier  pigeons  sent  into  Hol- 
land to  inform  the  British  Admiralty 
by  6  P.  M.  of  an  impending  raid. 

It  was  only  by  chance  that  the  priest 
was  not  taken  with  Miss  Cavell.  He  was 
to  have  attended  a  conference  with  her, 
but  Cardinal  Mercier  had  sent  for  him  to 
get  an  important  message  into  Holland, 


THE  BETRAYAL  OF  EDITH  CAVELL 


123 


and  thus  he  was  forced  to  be  absent  on 
the  night  the  nurse  was  arrested. 

It  was  announced  at  Brussels  on  Nov. 
10  that  the  cells  occupied  by  Edith  Cavell 
and  Gabrielle  Petit,  another  victim  of  the 
German  rage,  were  to   be  transformed 


into  miniature  museums  by  decision  of 
the  Court  of  Justice.  Clothes  worn  by 
the  two  women,  their  books,  and  other 
belongings  have  been  collected  and  placed 
in  the  cells.  Plates  bearing  appropriate 
inscriptions  will  be  attached  to  the  doors. 


Repairing  the  Ravages  of  War 

Progress  in  Rebuilding  the  Devastated  Areas  of  France  and 

Belgium 


RECONSTRUCTION  of  the  war- 
torn  regions  of  Europe  is  slowly 
but  surely  taking  shape.  France 
is  devoting  all  her  energy  to 
hasten  the  work,  and  has  established  a 
group  of  co-operative  societies  whose 
duties  are  to  repair  the  material  damage 
done  by  the  invading  Germans. 

The  reconstruction  work — "  reconstitu- 
tion  "  the  French  call  it — falls  into  three 
distinct  divisions  —  agricultural,  provid- 
ing for  the  peasants  and  farmers  of  the 
devastated  areas;  industrial,  providing 
for  the  machinery  in  the  mills  and  fac- 
tories, and  the  village,  town,  and  plan- 
ning work,  providing  for  the  housing  of 
the  repatriated  French.  The  channels 
through  which  this  task  is  being  accom- 
plished are  three — the  French  Govern- 
ment, the  French  organizations,  func- 
tioning through  individual  efforts  of 
Frenchmen,  and  the  various  relief  socie- 
ties supported  in  the  main  by  Americans. 
Altogether  the  total  damage  in  the  north 
of  France,  including  agriculture,  indus- 
try, furniture,  and  public  works,  is  esti- 
mated at  about  $15,000,000,000. 

In  July,  1919,  a  vast  reconstruction 
program  for  the  whole  of  France  at  an 
estimated  cost  of  40,000,000,000  francs 
was  announced  in  the  Chamber  of  Dep- 
uties by  M.  Bedouce,  budget  reporter,  in 
a  debate  on  public  works.  The  plan  in- 
cluded the  reconstruction  of  railroads, 
some  of  which  would  be  electrified,  and 
large  projects  for  building  canals  and 
improving  harbors.  M.  Bedouce  stated 
that  the  public  works  budget  for  the 
year  1919  amounted  to  1,600,000,000 
francs,  as  compared  with  300,000,000  in 


1914.  For  road  repairs  in  the  invaded 
areas  176,000,000  francs  had  been  allo- 
cated, and  these  were  to  receive  primary 
attention.  The  entire  road  construction 
program  will  cost  nearly  2,000,000,000 
francs. 

Albert  Claville,  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  told  the  Chamber  that  in  Alsace- 
Lorraine  all  the  mines  save  one  were  in 
working  order;  they  could  not  all  be  put 
into  full  operation,  however,  owing  to 
the  scarcity  of  furnace  coke,  the  Ger- 
mans having  failed  to  carry  out  their 
obligations  under  the  terms  of  the  armi- 
stice to  supply  a  specified  quantity  per 
day  of  suitable  coke.  Marked  progress 
also  in  restoring  the  transportation  sys- 
tems was  shown  in  M.  Claville's  report  to 
President  Poincare.  Since  the  armistice 
564  miles  of  double-track  railway  lines 
and  567  miles  of  single-track  lines  had 
been  restored  on  the  North  and  East 
Railway.  Of  645  miles  of  canals  that 
were  closed  to  navigation,  198  miles  had 
been  opened  to  commerce.  Seven  thou- 
sand miles  of  highway  had  been  put  in 
good  condition  out  of  24,000  miles  of 
roads  that  were  damaged. 

IN   NORTHERN   FRANCE 

The  remaking  of  Northern  France  is  pro- 
gressing rapidly.  A  year  ago  not  a  build- 
ing in  Arras  was  unscathed;  whole  dis- 
tricts were  leveled,  cathedrals,  churches, 
institutions,  the  railway  station,  all  were 
in  ruins.  By  the  Autumn  of  1919  the 
station  had  been  restored,  and  in  nearly 
all  the  houses  injured  by  shells,  business 
and  residential,  occupations  had  been  re- 
sumed.    Light   railways   had   been   con- 


124 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


structed  to  carry  away  the  debris  and 
bring  back  refashioned  masonry.  For 
this  work  German  prisoners  are  em- 
ployed. A  beginning  has  been  made 
toward  rebuilding  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and 
the  ruined  churches.  This  labor  is  being 
done  by  the  Belgians. 

The  Enterprise  General  d'Etude,  with 
kindred  organizations,  has  educated  the 
French  in  the  north  in  the  work  of  res- 
toration; it  has  been  carrying  on  an 
active  propaganda  since  1917,  and  last 
Autumn  gave  an  exhibition  at  Amiens  of 
the  means  of  restoring  the  devastated 
regions,  or  of  making  arrangements  to 
meet  temporary  needs.  The  main  idea 
behind  the  French  scheme  is  economy 
and  speed  in  construction,  not  only 
of  houses,  but  of  temporary  schools, 
churches,  and  hospitals. 

The  situation  of  the  French  invaded 
provinces,  however,  compares  unfavor- 
ably with  conditions  in  parts  of  Bel- 
gium. The  inhabitants  last  Spring  asked, 
without  success,  that  the  whole  under- 
taking be  placed  under  one  administra- 
tion with  full  power;  later  they  made 
an  attempt  to  take  matters  into  their 
own  hands,  in  a  spirit  of  sectionalism 
that  was  not  popular  with  the  admin- 
istration. In  the  Summer  about  a  hun- 
dred Mayors  of  the  communes  of  the 
Pas  de  Calais  met  in  Arras  and  drew 
up  a  statement  to  the  effect  that,  in  spite 
of  the  promises  of  the  administration, 
an  insufficient  number  of  huts  had  been 
furnished,  and  that  unless  the  situation 
were  remedied  immediately  an  evacua- 
tion of  the  district  in  September  must 
be  faced.  In  order  to  help  them,  M. 
Lebrun,  Minister  of  the  Liberated  Re- 
gions, allotted  to  them  a  section  of  the 
Service  of  Work  of  Prime  Urgency,  which 
was  charged  with  supplying  the  most 
urgent  needs  and  distributing  huts  as 
temporary  dwellings.  There  was  still 
some  dissatisfaction  in  the  last  months 
of  the  year. 

At  the  beginning  of  1919  American 
engineers,  architects,  and  builders  who 
went  to  France  with  proposals  for  recon- 
struction were  received  rather  coldly,  and 
were  told  that  the  work  would  be  done 
by  the  French.  But  by  the  end  of  the 
year  it  was  realized  that  help  was  needed 
from  other  countries.    The  desire  for  co- 


operation was  expressed  by  Hector 
Franchomme,  one  of  the  chief  manu- 
facturers of  Lille.  His  plant  was  almost 
totally  destroyed,  the  damage  to  his  fac- 
tory buildings  amounting  to  2,000,000 
francs,  for  which  he  has  received  in  repa- 
ration only  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and 
that  is  far  above  the  average.  France, 
he  says,  is  now  not  only  unable  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  situation  in  a  financial 
way,  but  also  lacks  materials  and  skilled 
engineers  and  architects. 

The  first  contract  for  reconstruction 
work  apparently  was  given  to  the  Vulcan 
Steel  Products  Company  of  New  York 
City  for  rebuilding  the  war-destroyed 
area  in  the  Nancy  district.  Associated 
with  the  Vulcan  company  are  two  large 
contracting  concerns,  the  McClintic  Mar- 
shall Construction  Company  and  Mac- 
Arthur  Brothers  Company.  The  contract 
at  tentative  figures  involves  $250,000,000, 
but  it  is  estimated  that  half  a  billion 
dollars  will  be  spent.  It  calls  for  re- 
placing public  buildings,  factories, 
houses,  roads,  bridges,  and  churches. 

The  country  around  Verdun,  battered 
and  fought  over  again  and  again,  is  to 
be  restored  by  the  Society  of  Friends. 
The  American  Red  Cross  already  in  1917 
found  English  Quakers  all  through  the 
valley  of  the  Marne  and  groups  in  the 
Somme.  They  found  the  work  so  satis- 
factory that  later  they  co-operated  with 
American  Quakers,  adding  a  million 
francs  to  their  budget.  The  Quakers  had 
experience,  they  were  on  the  spot,  and 
already  at  work. 

The  ruined  City  of  Verdun  will  prob- 
ably be  left  as  a  monument  to  German 
guns,  and  a  new  town  built  outside  the 
old  walls.  Eight  hundred  houses — small, 
red-tiled,  white  or  brown  walled,  with 
two,  three,  or  four  rooms — have  been  set 
up  in  Northeastern  France  by  the 
Quakers.  Several  hundred,  partially 
ruined  houses  and  stables  have  been  re- 
paired, and  likewise  hundreds  of  thrash- 
ers, reapers,  binders,  and  other  machines 
that  had  been  lying  about  rusting  have 
been  restored.  Nineteen  out  of  twenty 
refugees  from  the  Verdun  villages 
wanted  to  go  back  to  their  former  homes. 
Three  thousand  families  will  eventually 
return  to  the  Verdun  region. 

In  an  article  in  the  Berliner  Tageblatt 


REPAIRING  THE  RAVAGES  OF  WAR 


125 


it  has  been  proposed  to  use  the  tank,  the 
tested  war  machine,  for  aims  of  peace. 
Not  only  can  the  tank  cross  ground  un- 
suitable for  the  ordinary  vehicle,  but  it 
can  haul  ten  tons,  and  it  may  be  fitted 
with  a  crane  or  a  windlass  and  will  then 
be  able  to  lift  objects  weighing  approxi- 
mately two  tons.  These  suggestions 
originated  with  Louis  Renault,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  French  tank.  Experiments 
have  also  been  made  with  tanks  in 
wrecking  crumbling  walls  instead  of  tak- 
ing them  down  in  the  old  way. 

In  the  building  of  houses,  foundation 
holes  for  rows  of  buildings  are  being 
dug  with  machines  in  the  same  manner 
as  trenches  during  the  war.  The  French 
have  for  a  number  of  years  studied  the 
problem  of  using  substitute  materials 
the  manufacture  of  which  calls  for  as 
little  coal  as  possible.  The  aim  is  to 
build  walls  with  hollow  bricks  or  frames, 
which  are  afterward  filled  in  solidly  with 
cement.  This  method  had  already  been 
employed  in  the  construction  of  the  New 
York  Grand  Central  Terminal. 

It  is  planned  to  build  houses  in  Lens 
with  cement  blocks.  Also  the  French 
have  turned  to  the  use  of  sun-dried  clay, 
to  save  materials  in  the  manufacture  of 
which  coal  is  used.  They  have  estab- 
lished special  courses  to  improve  the  old 
methods  in  building  clay  houses,  for  the 
construction  of  small  settlements  and  vil- 
lages. 

RESULTS   IN  ELEVEN   MONTHS 

According  to  a  pamphlet,  "  France: 
The  Reconstruction,"  issued  in  New 
York  with  the  indorsement  of  Maurice 
Casanove,  director  of  the  French  Mis- 
sion in  the  United  States,  90  per  cent, 
of  the  double-track  railroad  lines  in 
France  and  93  per  cent,  of  the  single 
track  had  been  restored  by  Sept.  1,  1919. 
Of  the  1,160  railway  bridges  and  tunnels 
destroyed,  588  had  been  reconstructed. 
Work  on  the  waterways  had  been  nearly 
completed,  and  a  large  part  of  the 
damage  to  highways  had  been  repaired. 
The  pamphlet  gave  these  further  facts 
and  figures  of  interest: 

The  total  number  of  houses  partially 
or  wholly  destroyed  was  550,000.  Up  to 
Sept.  1,  1910,  the  following  results  had 
been  accomplished :  Temporarily  repaired, 
80,000;   shelters  provided,    16,225;   shelters 


under  construction,  60,000;  total,  156,225. 
Nearly  a  million  of  the  people  who  fled 
from  their  homes  at  the  time  of  the 
Invasion  have  returned,  and  out  of  4,023 
communities  which  were  invaded,  munici- 
pal administration  has  been  resumed  in 
3,872. 

Of  the  total  area  of  the  invaded  terri- 
tory of  France,  6,950  square  miles  of 
tillable  land3  were  devastated  by  mili- 
tary operations.  By  Sept.  1,  1919,  1,540 
square  miles,  an  area  larger  than  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island,  had  been  made 
fit  for  cultivation.  Much  of  this  work 
has  been  performed  under  handicap  of 
barbed  wire,  trenches,  and  the  constant 
danger  from  unexploded  shells.  Since 
the  signing  of  the  armistice,  however, 
more  than  25,000  |  acres  have  been  cleared 
of  barbed  wire  and  approximately  74,- 
000,000  cubic  yards  9t  trench  excavations 
have   been   filled   in. 

Of  a  total  of  1,986  factories  destroyed 
during  the  entire  war,  1,027  were  again 
on  a  productive  basis  by  Sept.   1. 

The  republic  has  already  expended  more 
than  10,000,000,000  francs  in  restoring  the 
devastated  regions,  and  it  is  reported  at 
present  to  be  advancing  about  1,000,000,000 
francs,  or  $193,000,000,  a  month  for  recon- 
struction. 

Before  the  war  the  invaded  areas  fur- 
nished from  20  to  25  per  cent,  of  the  total 
revenue  of  the  country.  The  restoration 
of  this  territory  in  addition  to  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  and  the  fact  that  the  manhood 
of  the  nation  is  returning  to  productive 
pursuits,  will  greatly  increase  the  taxing 
power  of  the  Government.  During  the 
first  eight  months  of  1919,  5,100,000,000 
francs  ($984,300,000)  were  collected  from 
taxes,  representing  an  increase  of  1,400,- 
000.000  francs  ($270,200,000),  as  compared 
with  the  corresponding  period  In  1918. 

IN  BELGIUM 

The  work  of  reconstruction  in  Belgium 
is  moving  slowly,  according  to  Adolphe 
Max,  Burgomaster  of  Brussels,  and  it 
will  take  at  least  five  years  for  the  re- 
turn of  normal  conditions.  Other  Belgian 
officials  are  more  optimistic  and  declax*e 
that  Belgium  will  be  richer  than  ever  in 
ten  years.  What  Belgium  needs  more 
than  foreign  money  is  raw  materials — 
leather,  rubber,  wool,  cotton,  steel,  &c. 

There  is  still  havoc  in  Belgium's  fac- 
tories caused  by  the  Germans'  removal 
or  destruction  of  the  plants,  and  though 
many  are  working,  hundreds  are  still 
desolate.  Moreover,  there  has  been  an 
exodus  of  workmen  to  France  from  dis- 
tricts where  the  factories  are  either 
closed  down  or  not  working  to  full  capa- 
city,  owing   to   the   temptation    of   high 


126 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


wages  offered  by  the  French.  A  Belgian 
laborer  can  get  11,000  francs  a  year  in 
France  instead  of  a  third  of  that  in 
Belgium. 

The  spirit  of  the  Belgians  is  good; 
strikes  are  almost  unknown,  Socialist 
Ministers  in  the  Cabinet  having  played 
an  essential  part  in  discouraging  strike 
tendencies  among  the  workers. 

The  organization  of  transport  is  pro- 
ceeding steadily;  the  canal  system  is 
being  repaired  in  a  fairly  rapid  way, 
and  the  entire  Belgian  railway  is  work- 
ing, except  for  some  fifty  unimportant 
kilometers.  Temporary  bridges  and 
wooden  stations  are  in  general  use,  al- 
though the  rebuilding  of  permanent 
structures  is  in  progress.  On  main 
lines  like  that  between  Brussels  and 
Antwerp  the  passenger  service  reaches 
about  three-quarters  of  the  pre-war  serv- 
ice, elsewhere  three-fifths  to  one-fifth. 
Of  the  74,000  freight  cars,  one-sixth  are 
under  repair.  Before  the  war  there- were 
82,000  cars  and  only  5  per  cent,  ordina- 
rily under  repair. 

BRUSSELS  AND   ANTWERP 

Conditions  in  Brussels  seem  more 
hopeful  than  in  the  devastated  areas; 
business  is  fast  reviving.  A  consider- 
able amount  of  reconstruction  has  been 
done  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  in  spite 
of  the  impossibility  of  rebuilding  such 
cities  as  Ypres  and  Dixmude.  The  future 
of  Ypres  is  still  uncertain.  There  are 
more  than  a  thousand  people  living  there, 
but  these  are  mainly  adventurers  at- 
tracted by  the  chance  of  making  money 
out  of  visitors. 

The  port  of  Antwerp  is  busy  once 
more;  commerce  is  starting  up  and  Bel- 
gian exports  are  mounting  again,  es- 
pecially coal.  The  output  is  not  far 
short  of  pre-war  figures.  France,  which 
needs  coal  desperately,  gets  the  main 
bulk  of  the  Belgian  output,  and  it  is  for 
that  reason  that  for  the  first  time  in 
history  the  Belgian  franc  is  worth  more 
than  the  French. 

The  small  farmers  of  Belgium  are 
prosperous  as  never  before  and  receive 
enormous  prices  for  their  products.  Vir- 
tually all  the  glass  factories  are  in 
operation;   30   per  cent,   of   the   textile 


looms  are  spinning  raw  cotton  imported 
from  the  United  States  and  her  beet 
sugar  industry  has  substantially  in- 
creased. 

Belgium  seizes  every  opportunity  to 
add  to  the  grass  acreage  when  this  can 
be  done  to  advantage — when  the  land  re- 
claimed is  better  suited  for  agriculture 
than  for  forestry.  In  the  sand  belt  of 
Campine,  agricultural  reclamations  have 
proceeded  alongside  the  afforestation 
projects,  and  with  equal  success  have 
transformed  the  wastes  of  sand  dunes, 
marshes  and  heather  into  crop-producing 
land. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  KULTUR 

It  is  said  that  a  large  staff  of  ex- 
perts in  Germany  are  pushing  work  on 
preliminary  plans  for  the  restoration  of 
devastated  Northern  France  and  Bel- 
gium. These  plans  are  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Allies.  The  work  of  the  organiza- 
tion is  being  pushed,  so  that  if  accepted 
wholly  or  in  part,  the  restoration  can  be 
begun  immediately. 

It  is  an  atonement  scheme,  and  the  ex- 
perts declare  Germany  will  have  no 
trouble  raising  an  army  of  500,000  high 
grade  laborers,  and  could  recruit,  if 
necessary,  1,000,000  volunteer  workmen. 
The  tentative  scheme  bars  anything  like 
slave  labor,  peonage,  or  the  drafting  of 
workmen.  The  restoration  work  is  to  be 
purely  a  State  enterprise,  and  is  to 
eliminate  all  private  profiteering  in  fur- 
nishing materials  and  labor.  The  best 
results,  the  experts  say,  will  be  attain- 
able only  by  free  union  labor,  receiving 
union  wages  and  working  union  hours 
under  a  high  standard  of  living  condi- 
tions. Special  inducements  are  offered, 
such  as  free  clothing  and  equipment,  the 
promise  of  good  rations,  and  free  hous- 
ing in  attractive  sanitary  barracks. 

German  Socialists  and  labor  leaders 
see  in  the  obligatory  restoration  of 
France  and  Belgium  a  great  opportunity 
of  convincing  the  world  of  Germany's 
good  faith  and  new  spirit.  One  labor 
leader  said :  "  We  are  anxious  to  show 
the  world  what  we  can  do  to  atone  for 
the  sins  of  the  old  regime  by  doing  a 
monumental  piece  of  Kultur  work  of 
which  we  may  justly  be  proud." 


^Winning  Freedom  for  Alsace-Lorraine 

How  the  National  Council  Held  Out  Against 
German    Repression    Throughout    the    War 

By  COUNT  JEAN  DE  PANGE 

The  part  played  by  the  Lower  House  of  the  Alsace-Lorraine  Parliament  in 
checkmating  German  imperial  measures  and  holding  the  disputed  provinces  in  a 
position  for  their  full  return  to  France  was  told  by  Count  de  Pange  in  the  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes  and  is  here  translated  in  somewhat  abridged  form  for  Current 
History. 


AT  the  moment  when  the  legitimate 
/\  claims  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  are 
JLjL  being  satisfied,  it  is  not  without 
interest  to  place  before  the  eyes 
of  the  public  the  history  of  the  "  National 
Council  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,"  the 
name  borne  by  the  Lower  House  of  the 
Alsace-Lorraine  Parliament  since  the 
revolutionary  coup  d'etat  of  Nov.  11, 
1918,  delivered  the  supreme  power  into 
its  hands.  Elected  by  universal  suffrage, 
it  was  the  only  body  which  really  repre- 
sented the  population  of  France's  new 
province.  Its  history,  little  known  in 
France  and  elsewhere,  will  enable  the 
reader  to  appreciate  the  part  played  by 
this  assembly,  which  did  great  service 
to  the  cause  of  France,  and  which,  on 
transferring  its  powers  to  the  French 
authorities,  traced  out  the  way  that 
France  was  destined  to  follow  in  her  ad- 
ministration of  these  provinces. 

This  is  the  first  and  only  chamber 
elected  by  universal  suffrage  in  Alsace 
and  Lorraine.  The  distrust  which  it  in- 
spired in  the  rulers  of  the  German 
Empire  appeared  clearly  in  the  powers 
which  the  latter  reserved  to  itself  with 
a  view  to  stifling  all  desire  for  inde- 
pendence. Though  the  Constitution  which 
the  Germans  drafted  and  had  voted  by 
the  Reichstag  in  1911  granted  a  Parlia- 
ment to  the  imperial  province,  the  latter 
still  remained  subject  to  the  rule  of  a 
"  Statthalter,"  an  agent  of  the  Emperor, 
who  appointed  and  dismissed  him  at  his 
pleasure.  The  Reichstag  had  vainly  pro- 
posed to  the  Federal  Council  that  the 
Statthalter  should  be  appointed  for  life, 
which  would  have  assured  him  relative 
independence.  The  Emperor  also  ap- 
pointed half  of  the  thirty-eight  members 


of  the  Upper  Chamber.  The  other  half 
included  the  Bishops  of  Strasbourg  and 
Metz,  the  President  of  the  Upper  Con- 
sistory of  the  Church  of  the  Confession 
of  Augsburg,  the  President  of  the  Syno- 
dal Committee  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
a  delegate  of  the  Jewish  Consistories,  the 
President  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of 
Colmar,  a  university  professor,  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Agricultural  Councils 
of  the  Departments,  Municipal  Councils 
and  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  Stras- 
bourg, Metz,  Colmar,  and  Mulhouse.  This 
small  conservative  Senate,  where  the 
Government's  majority  was  assured,  to 
use  the  words  of  the  German  Chancellor 
Bethmann  Hollweg,  was  "  to  be,  at  all 
costs,  a  rampart  against  all  non-German 
policy  in  the  imperial  province." 

AN  INSTRUMENT  OF  LIBERTY 

But  the  Second,  or  Lower,  Chamber, 
elected  for  five  years  by  universal  suf- 
frage, marked  considerable  progress  over 
that  of  the  previous  regime,  when  the 
country  was  represented  only  by  a  dele- 
gation (Landesausschutz)  elected  by 
limited  suffrage.  The  Second  Chamber 
counted  60  members,  divided  into  four 
groups — the  Lorrainers  (11),  the  Centre 
(28),  the  Liberals  (10),  and  the  Social- 
ists (11).  The  Lorrainers  and  the  Cen- 
tre, generally  associated,  made  up  the 
majority.  On  Dec.  6,  1911,  in  his  open- 
ing address,  the  President,  M.  Ricklin, 
declared : 

We  are  opening  the  first  session  of  the 
Parliament  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  this  Parlia- 
ment which  the  people  of  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine have  elected  on  the  basis  of  uni- 
versal, equal,  secret  suffrage,  and  not 
only  Germany,  but  the  whole  political 
world,  will  have  their  eyeja  fixed  on  our 
deliberations. 


128 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


The  Lower  House  soon  began  to  justify 
the  anxieties  which  the  Prussian  con- 
servatives had  expressed  when  it  was 
created.  On  Dec.  7,  1912,  it  interpellated 
the  Government  concerning  the  annul- 
ment of  orders  given  by  the  Imperial 
Bureau  of  Railways  to  the  Alsatian  So- 
ciety of  Mechanical  Construction.  This 
was  a  French  enterprise,  which,  since 
the  annexation  of  the  provinces  to  Ger- 
many, had  kept  up  its  factory  at  Grafen- 
staden,  near  Strasbourg,  where  it  em- 
ployed more  than  2,000  workmen, 
"  amongst  whom,"  to  quote  from  the 
charges  brought  against  the  association, 
"  native  Alsatians  are  preferred  to  Ger- 
mans." Its  director,  M.  Heyler,  "  com- 
bats in  the  commune  everything  which 
is  German  or  connected  with  German- 
ism." He  was  also  accused  of  having 
displayed  a  French  flag  at  a  festival  and 
of  having  allowed  the  "  Marseillaise  "  to 
be  sung.  But  in  spite  of  the  long  requisi- 
tion of  the  Under  Secretary  of  State,  M. 
Mandel,  the  Chamber  voted  an  order  of 
the  day  in  which  it  "  blamed  in  the  most 
energetic  way  the  attitude  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Alsace-Lorraine."  It  also 
insisted  that  in  future  the  Government 
"  should  defend  in  the  most  effective  way 
the  interests  of  Alsace-Lorraine  and 
should  use  every  means  to  repair  the 
injury  done  to  the  Alsatian  Society." 

Such  language,  to  which  the  Govern- 
ment was  not  accustomed,  showed  that 
the  imperial  province  had  undergone  an 
evolution.  The  Second  Chamber  had 
gained  the  consciousness  that  it  was  the 
interpreter  of  the  country.  On  Jan.  15, 
1914,  it  voted  unanimously  an  order  of 
the  day  reproaching  the  Government  for 
not  having  sought  more  energetically  to 
obtain  satisfaction  for  offenses  commit- 
ted against  the  people  of  Alsace-Lorraine, 
and  demanding  autonomy  for  the  coun- 
try, the  reform  of  military  justice,  and 
the  limitation  of  military  power  in  con- 
formity with  modern  ideas. 

OUTBREAK  OF   THE  WAR 

As  a  logical  consequence  of  this  atti- 
tude, following  the  mobilization  and  the 
establishment  of  the  state  of  siege,  when 
all  powers  were  given  over  to  the  mili- 
tary authorities,  these  authorities  de- 
clared that  they  would  prevent  the  re- 


currence of  "  certain  agitated  sessions  of 
the  Landtag."  The  council  was  thus  piti- 
lessly gagged  by  a  regime  which,  four 
years  later,  the  Alsace-Lorraine  Deputies 
judged  in  the  following  terms: 

The  military  regime,  with  a  despotism 
destitute  of  all  consideration,  has  stifled 
the  whole  political  life  of  the  country, 
suspended  the  organization  of  all  parties, 
suppressed  the  freedom  of  association  and 
of  the  press,  and  even  despoiled  the  Land- 
tag of  Alsace-Lorraine  of  its  constitu- 
tional rights.  Thus  for  four  years  the 
expression  of  all  public  opinion  has  been 
made   impossible. 

In  1915  the  convocation  of  the  Landtag 
was  made  subject  to  the  following  con- 
ditions :  The  session  should  not  last  more 
than  a  week;  in  the  plenary  sessions  and 
at  committee  meetings  there  should  be  no 
criticism  of  military  measures;  no  men- 
tion of  any  political  question  should  be 
made  of  any  nature  whatsoever.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Landtag  session  was 
so  short  that  the  Assembly  had  time  only 
to  vote  the  credits  without  discussion. 
The  High  Command  laid  down  the  same 
conditions  for  the  session  of  1916.  On 
the  arisal  of  opposition  of  the  parties  of 
the  Lower  Chamber,  it  was  finally  agreed 
that  discussion  would  be  allowed  at 
strictly  secret  sessions  of  the  Budget 
Committee.  The  stenographic  account  of 
those  meetings,  recently  printed,  brings 
to  our  ears  the  echo  of  the  moving  com- 
plaints provoked  by  the  barbarity  with 
which  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace-Lorraine 
were  treated  by  the  German  military  au- 
thorities. 

The  latter,  before  the  war,  in  their 
secret  reports  to  the  Military  Council  of 
the  Kaiser,  had  constantly  depicted 
Alsace-Lorraine  as  an  enemy  country. 
When  mobilization  occurred,  the  civil  au- 
thorities had  to  issue  a  warning  that  a 
single  shot  from  a  house  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  warrant  the  burning  of  the 
house  and  the  shooting  of  its  owner. 
*  *  *  The  feeling  of  the  .  German 
military  officials  regarding  the  provinces 
was  summed  up  by  the  German  General 
Gaede,  who,  in  response  to  a  plea  in 
favor  of  the  people  made  by  one  of  the 
Vice  Presidents  of  the  Lower  Chamber, 
said :  "  In  all  this  population  a  treacher- 
ous current  flows." 

At   the   beginning   of   1917   the   Pan- 


WINNING  FREEDOM  FOR  ALSACE-LORRAINE 


129 


German  circles,  disquieted  by  the  state 
of  mind  which  the  multiplicity  of  convic- 
tions revealed  in  the  imperial  province, 
began  more  and  more  to  favor  suppress- 
ing the  relative  autonomy  which  the 
province  had  enjoyed  since  1911.  They 
spoke  openly  of  giving  Lorraine  to  Prus- 
sia, Lower  Alsace  to  Bavaria,  and  Upper 
Alsace  to  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden  or 
Wvirttemberg.  By  dismembering  these 
provinces  their  capacity  of  resistance 
would  be  diminished,  and  it  was  hoped 
that  each  of  them  would  be  swiftly  ab- 
sorbed by  the  German  organization  to 
which  it  was  delivered.  Negotiations  to 
this  end  had  already  been  begun  in  the 
Bundesrat,  the  :  Federal  Council,  in 
which  the  different  German  States  were 
to  decide  on  the  fate  of  the  imperial 
province  before  presenting  their  propo- 
sals to  the  Reichstag  for  ratification. 

It  was  in  this  oppressive  atmosphere 
of  disquietude  that  on  June  6,  1917,  the 
fifth  session  of  the  Landtag  opened.  The 
liberal  members  of  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment, and,  above  all,  Chancellor  von  Beth- 
mann  Hollweg,  sought  to  defend  the  Con- 
stitution of  Alsace-Lorraine  against  this 
coalition  of  greed,  and  made  every  ef- 
fort to  obtain  from  the  two  Chambers 
a  declaration  of  loyalty.  In  the  Upper 
Chamber,  still  devoted  to  the  ruling 
power,  this  was  an  easy  matter.  Its 
President,  Dr.  Hoeffel,  in  his  address 
closing  the  session,  lauded  the  benefits  of 
the  German  rule,  and  insisted  oh  the 
economic,  ethnographic,  and  linguistic 
bonds  which  united  Alsace-Lorraine  to 
the  empire.  But  of  what  value  were 
these  declarations  of  a  Chamber,  half 
of  whose  members  were  appointed  by  the 
Emperor? 

DECLARATION    OF    LOYALTY 

It  was  accordingly  on  the  Lower 
Chamber  that  the  Government  concen- 
trated all  its  efforts.  At  a  secret  ses- 
sion it  had  a  German  liberal  member 
propose  a  declaration  of  loyalty  to  Ger- 
many. Abbe  Muller  replied  that  such  a 
declaration  could  not  be  asked  from  the 
Alsatians,  after  all  the  bad  treatment 
to  which  they  had  been  subjected,  and 
which  had  literally  thrown  them  into  the 
arms  of  France.  The  Secretary  of  State, 
Herr  von  Tschammer,  who  was  present 


at  the  discussion,  then  renounced  the  at- 
tempt, which  he  himself  had  provoked, 
and  the  proposal,  opposed  by  the  Centre, 
the  Socialists,  and  the  Lorrainers,  failed 
of  acceptance. 

The  passing  of  such  a  declaration, 
however,  was  considered  so  important 
that  the  German  Chancellor  himself  came 
to  Strasbourg  and  persuaded  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Lower  Chamber,  M.  Ricklin, 
to  make  this  concession.  On  June  12, 
at  the  closing  of  the  session,  to  the 
great  astonishment  of  all  present,  (many 
members,  especially  the  Lorrainers,  sus- 
pecting what  was  coming,  had  left,)  he 
made  the  following  statement: 

The  people  of  Alsace-Lorraine  reject 
absolutely  the  Idea  that  the  frightful 
bloodshed  of  this  war  should  be  con- 
tinued on  their  account;  they  aspire  only 
to  develop  their  culture,  their  economic 
and  political  interests,  and  to  maintain, 
in  indissoluble  union  with  the  German 
Empire,  the  special  situation  to  which 
they   are   entitled. 

This  declaration  was  at  once  seized  on 
by  the  Germans  for  worldwide  propa- 
ganda. It  made  a  painful  impression  on 
the  French. 

ELEVENTH-HOUR    CONCESSIONS 

It  was  only  at  the  moment  when  the 
empire  was  succumbing  under  its  defeats 
and  the  defection  of  its  allies  that  it  re- 
signed itself  to  granting  autonomy  to 
Alsace-Lorraine.  On  Oct.  5,  1918,  the 
new  Chancellor,  Max  von  Baden,  in  ex- 
plaining his  program  to  the  Reichstag, 
declared :  "  The  empire  is  essentially  a 
Federal  State,  each  member,  of  which 
determines  independently  its  internal 
Constitution,  a  right  which  Alsace-Lor- 
raine may  also  claim  absolutely."  It 
was  announced  at  the  same  time  that 
the  imperial  empire  would  be  given  a 
Ministry  made  up  of  Alsatians  and  pre- 
sided over  by  M.  Hauss,  a  Catholic 
Deputy  from  Lower  Alsace,  who  knew 
France  well,  and  who  was  one  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
autonomist  party.  On  Oct.  9  Herr  von 
Dallwitz,  who  had  fought  with  all  his 
energies  against  these  projects  of  au- 
tonomy, abandoned  the  post  of  Statt- 
halter,  and  Herr  von  Tschammer  re- 
signed his  functions  as  Secretary  of 
State.     With   them   abdicated   the   Pan- 


130 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


German  policy,  which,  by  treating 
Alsace-Lorraine  like  an  enemy  country, 
had  done  so  much  to  stir  up  hatred  of 
Germany  there. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  learned  that 
the  mission  of  inaugurating  the  Parlia- 
mentary regime  in  Alsace-Lorraine  had 
been  given  to  M.  Schwander.  A  Pro- 
testant of  a  modest  family  of  Upper 
Alsace,  M.  Schwander  had  been  since 
1906  the  Mayor  of  Strasbourg.  As  the 
result  of  his  initiative  and  genius  for 
organization,  the  city  had  undergone  a 
remarkable  development.  Assisted  by 
the  new  Secretary  of  State,  M.  Hauss, 
and  by  several  Under  Secretaries,  he  was 
charged  with  the  direction  of  affairs 
until  the  population  of  the  country  itself 
should  appoint  a  permanent  head  for  the 
administration  of  the  Government.  He 
kept  provisionally  the  name  of  Statt- 
halter.  It  was  his  intention  to  convoke 
the  Landtag  within  a  week,  as  soon  as  he 
had  reached  agreement  with  the  various 
parties  regarding  the  appointment  of  the 
Under  Secretaries  of  State.  Various 
names  were  cited.  But  successively  all 
parties — the  Centre,  the  Lorrainers,  the 
Socialists,  and  the  Liberals — refused 
office  on  the  pretext  that  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  situation  made  it  necessary 
for  them  to  await  the  outcome.  Thus 
they  refused  to  aid  in  the  establishment 
of  that  new  order  of  things  which  they 
had  striven  to  attain  for  thirty  years! 
It  was  no  longer  enough  for  them  to  be 
their  own  masters.  The  first  use  they 
wished  to  make  of  their  liberty  was  to 
give  themselves  to  France. 

AUTONOMY    NO    LONGER    ENOUGH 

It  was  now  the  oppressors  who  begged 
the  oppressed  to  accept  autonomy.  On 
Oct.  16,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Reichstag 
Deputies  from  Alsace-Lorraine,  the  Ger- 
mans proposed  to  read  from  the  gallery 
a  collective  statement  in  which  all  the 
Deputies  of  the  imperial  province  should 
claim  for  it  the  right  to  direct  her  own 
destiny.  Speaking  for  the  Alsace-Lor- 
raine Deputies,  M.  Peirotes  replied  that 
he  had  claimed  this  right  throughout  his 
whole  political  career  and  even  during 
the  bad  days  of  the  war,  but  declared 
that  he  now  declined  to  associate  himself 
with  his  former  adversaries,  so  tardily 


converted  to  his  program.  Abbe  Delsor 
made  a  similar  declaration. 

Again  M.  Ricklin,  President  of  the 
Landtag,  was  invited  while  in  Berlin  to 
visit  Herr  Lewald,  Under  Secretary  of 
State  in  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior. 
The  latter  admitted  his  efforts  to  per- 
suade Alsace-Lorraine  to  decide  by  a 
plebiscite  in  favor  of  Germany,  and  an- 
nounced the  speedy  formation  of  a  Minis- 
try composed  of  Alsace-Lorraine  Depu- 
ties. M.  Ricklin  replied  that  the  separa- 
tion of  Alsace-Lorraine  from  the  German 
Empire  would  be  voted  by  90  votes 
against  100,  and  that  union  with  France 
would  be  voted  for  by  at  least  75  out  of 
100.  Subsequently,  on  Oct.  23,  M.  Rick- 
lin stated  before  the  Reichstag  that  all 
German  projects  of  reform  in  Alsace- 
Lorraine  would  be  fruitless,  so  far  as 
the  state  of  mind  of  the  people  of  these 
provinces  was  concerned,  as  it  had  de- 
veloped during  the  war,  and  that  the 
solution  of  autonomy  had  been  "  rele- 
gated to  the  past  by  actual  events." 
Another  Alsatian  Deputy  made  a  similar 
declaration. 

Both  Schwander  and  Hauss  soon  after 
this  went  to  Berlin  to  offer  their  resig- 
nations in  view  of  the  impossibility  of 
fulfilling  the  duties  laid  upon  them  in 
Alsace-Lorraine  by  the  German  Govern- 
ment. The  latter  declined  to  accept  their 
resignations,  and  sent  them  back  to  the 
imperial  province  to  find  collaborators, 
at  a  time  when  the  Alsace  press  was 
openly  declaring  for  union  with  France. 

THE  ARMISTICE  PERIOD 

On  Nov.  9  news  reached  Alsace  of  the 
handing  of  the  conditions  of  armistice 
to  the  German  plenipotentiaries,  the 
abdication  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  republic  at  Munich.  The 
German  revolution  had  begun.  Demon- 
strations in  honor  of  France  occurred  in 
Strasbourg  on  Nov.  9  and  10.  Ftom  Kiel 
and  Hamburg  trainloads  of  armed  sail- 
ors left  to  proclaim  the  German  Republic 
in  all  important  cities.  One  of  these 
trains  reached  Strasbourg  in  the  night  of 
Nov.  9-10,  occupied  the  station,  the  Post 
Office,  and  forced  the  Governor  to  re- 
sign. The  military  authorities,  having 
received  instructions  from  General  Head- 
quarters to  cause  no  bloodshed,  offered 


WINNING  FREEDOM  FOR  ALSACE-LORRAINE 


131 


no  resistance.  A  council  of  soldiers  and 
workmen  was  formed  at  the  City  Hall, 
and  issued  a  proclamation.  Soldiers 
stopped  all  German  officers  in  the 
streets,  tore  off  their  insignia,  and  broke 
their  svords.  The  Municipal  Council 
took  measures  to  establish  and  maintain 
public  order. 

But  the  main  authority  was  that  of 
the  Council  of  Soldiers,  German  of  origin, 
anti-French  in  tendency,  militaristic  in 
scope.  Only  one  representative,  native, 
anti-German,  pro-French  power  re- 
mained, that  of  the  Lower  Chamber, 
which  took  its  mandate  directly  from  the 
country,  by  universal  suffrage.  It  was 
from  this  Lower  Chamber,  which  had 
long  acted  virtually  as  a  council,  that  the 
National  Council  of  Alsace-Lorraine  was 
officially  born. 

REVOLUTIONARY  COUP  D'ETAT 

The  newspapers  had  announced  that 
the  Chambers  would  be  convened  on  Nov. 
12  by  imperial  decree,  (auf  allerhochster 
Verordnung,)  presumably  to  receive  noti- 
fication of  autonomy.  On  Nov.  9  the 
President  of  the  Lower  Chamber,  M. 
Ricklin,  informed  the  Statthalter  that 
this  Chamber  declined  the  imperial  convo- 
cation and  would  meet  of  its  own  initia- 
tive on  Nov.  12.  But  following  the  events 
of  the  10th,  the  majority  of  members  of 
the  Second  Chamber  assembled  at  an 
urgent  call  on  the  afternoon  of  the  11th, 
and  addressed  to  the  people  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  a  proclamation  which  began  as 
follows : 

The  members  of  the  Second  Chamber  of 
Parliament  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  assem- 
bled here  today,  have  constituted  them- 
selves a  National  Council  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  and  have  named  a  Provisional 
Administrative  Ministry  composed  of  the 
following  members :  Burger,  Minister  of 
Justice  and  Religions ;  Heinrich,  Agri- 
culture; Imbs,  Social  Welfare;  lung. 
Finances ;  Meyer,  Public  Works ;  Dr. 
Pfleger,  Interior  and  Public  Instruction ; 
Peirotes   and    Ricklin,    without   portfolios. 

The  National  Council  and  the  Ministry 
expect  that  the  people  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  will  receive  with  confidence  this 
administration  created  from  its  elected 
representatives,  and  that  it  will  do  every- 
thing to  facilitate  its  task  in  this  period 
of  transition,  which  will  probably  be 
very  short. 

Two    concluding    paragraphs    of    the 


proclamation,  "  The  penal  laws  remain  in 
force,"  and  "  The  National  Council  grants 
full  amnesty  to  all  political  prisoners," 
show  clearly  that  the  National  Council 
was  acting  with  plenary  powers.  *  *  * 
Memorable  revolution  in  the  history  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  which  for  the  first 
time  in  forty-eight  years  became  the 
masters  of  their  destiny! 

M.  Ricklin  withdrew  the  following  day 
from  the  Government,  but,  on  the  motion 
of  M.  Peirotes,  was  elected  President  of 
the  National  Council.  The  coup  d'etat 
met  with  no  resistance.  The  President 
of  the  Chamber  officially  notified  the 
Statthalter  that  the  Second  Chamber  had 
assumed  power  and  named  a  Ministry. 
M.  Schwander  yielded  without  opposi- 
tion. He  was  only  the  Vice  Regent; 
after  the  abdication  of  William  II.,  what 
authority  remained  to  him?  The  same 
announcement  was  sent  to  the  Council  of 
Soldiers.  The  latter,  representing  the 
German  majority,  did  not  oppose  the 
formation  of  the  new  power,  but  it  was 
openly  hostile  to  the  pro-French  demon- 
strations which  had  been  going  on  in 
the  cities  for  two  days.  It  threatened  to 
intervene,  and  exacted  even  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  French  flags  and  cockades. 
The  National  Council  was  obliged,  there- 
fore, to  renounce  the  act  of  immediate 
union  with  France  which  had  been  origi- 
nally planned.  Meanwhile  the  Council  of 
Workmen  and  Soldiers  hoisted  at  the  top 
of  the  cathedral  tower  an  enormous  red 
flag,  announcing  to  all  Alsace  the 
triumph  of  socialism.  Fifteen  years 
before,  in  an  electoral  proclamation,  M. 
Peirotes  had  written :  "  We  will  hoist 
the  red  flag  over  the  old  Cathedral  of 
Erwin  *  *  *  an{j  no  power  in  the 
world  will  be  able  to  lower  it." 

THE  DAY  OF  TRIUMPH 

The  German  troops  withdrew.  At  last, 
for  France,  "  the  day  of  glory  had  ar- 
rived." Her  soldiers,  over  all  the  roads 
leading  to  Lorraine,  through  all  the 
gorges  of  the  Vosges,  began  their  trium- 
phal march  into  the  promised  land.  Those 
who  took  part  in  this  march,  who  saw 
the  reception  given  by  every  village  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  its  "  liberators," 
as  they  were  called  in  repeated  inscrip- 
tions over  all  the  triumphal  arches,  will 


182 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


never  forget  this  procession  in  the  midst 
of  acclamations,  in  the  beflagged  streets, 
under  the  gaze  of  ancestral  portraits 
placed  before  the  windows,  the  subjects 
of  which  seemed  to  be  personally  present 
to  behold  the  realization  of  their  dream. 
With  this  accomplished  fact  of  union 
with  France,  the  main  task  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  was  accomplished.  One 
last  act  remained  to  be  performed — that 
of  renunciation.  On  Dec.  5,  while  await- 
ing the  announced  visit  of  the  President 
of  the  French  Republic,  the  National 
Assembly  voted  unanimously  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  which  was  passed  by  all 
the  groups  of  the  Chamber  and  dis- 
played in  all  communes  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine: 

The  Deputies  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
chosen  by  universal  suffrage  and  incor- 
p&rated  in  the  National  Assembly,  greet 
joyously  the  return  of  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine to  France,  after  a  long  and  cruel 
separation.  Our  provinces  will  be  proud 
to  owe  to  the  mother  country,  with  which 
they  are  reunited,  together  with  the  safe- 
guarding of  their  traditions,  their  reli- 
gious beliefs  and  their  economic  interests 
solemnly  guaranteed  them  by  the  leaders 
of  the  victorious  army,  a  new  era  of 
freedom,   prosperity,    and  happiness. 

The  National  Assembly,  desirous  that 
not  even  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  true 
sentiments  of  the  Alsatians  and  Lorrain- 
ers  should  remain  either  in  France  and 
the  allied  nations,  or  among  the  neutral 
or  enemy  nations,  declares  that  the  neu- 
tralist agitation  was  the  work  of  a  small 
minority  or  of  German  agents,  and  states 
solemnly  that,  faithfully  interpreting  the 
firm  and  irrevocable  will  of  the  people  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  expressed  already 
in  1871  by  its  representatives  in  the 
Assembly  of  Bordeaux,  it  considers  as  in- 
violable and  unrecallable  the  right  of  the 


Alsatians  and  Lorrainers  to  remain  mem- 
bers of  the  French  Nation.  The  National 
Assembly  esteems  it  a  duty,  before  ad- 
journing, to  proclaim  in  its  turn  the  re- 
turn of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  as  legal,  and 
their  union  with  France  indisputable  and 
definitive. 

So  the  National  Council  abdicated  its 
sovereignty  in  favor  of  France.  The 
President  of  the  French  Republic  arrived 
in  Strasbourg  on  Dec.  9.  He  proceeded  to 
the  City  Hall  and  addressed  the  people 
in  the  open  air.  He  paid  no  visit  to  the 
palace  of  the  National  Council.  The 
latter,  however,  did  not  yet  consider  its 
task  completely  finished.  On  Dec.  19  it 
addressed  a  petition  to  the  newly  elected 
council  in  Paris  asking  for  co-operation 
with  the  French  High  Commissioner  in 
administering  certain  important  inter- 
departmental and  other  questions  in 
which  the  new  French  provinces  were 
vitally  interested.  On  Jan.  14,  1919,  how- 
ever, the  President  of  the  council  sent  an 
answer  which,  while  declaring  that  the 
interests  of  Alsace-Lorraine  would  be 
fully  safeguarded,  insisted  that  the 
necessity  of  a  further  continuance  of  the 
National  Council  no  longer  existed. 

The  new  regime  has  already  in  large 
measure  fulfilled  the  desires  which  the 
National  Council  interpreted.  The  object 
which  I  proposed  in  beginning  this  study 
will  be  attained  if  I  have  succeeded  in 
showing  how  the  National  Council  (both 
as  Chamber  and  council)  did  not  cease 
for  seven  years  to  represent  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  whose  rights  it  defended,  some- 
times in  the  most  tragic  circumstances, 
and  whose  reunion  with  France  it  finally 
sealed  by  a  solemn  official  act. 


Alsatian  Deputies  Again  in  French  Parliament 


Elections  for  the  return  of  Deputies 
from  Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  the  French 
Chamber  were  held  on  Nov.  16,  1919, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  preliminary 
campaign  Premier  Clemenceau  visited 
Strasbourg  and  delivered  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  speeches  of  his  career.  The 
results  of  the  election  showed  an  over- 
whelming sentiment  in  favor  of  full  re- 
union with  France.  When  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  reopened  on  Dec.  8  it  gave  a 
memorable  welcome  to  the  twenty-four 


new  members  from  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
a  welcome  only  superficially  disturbed 
by  the  "  booing "  that  greeted  the  at- 
tempts of  Trench  Socialists  to  utilize 
the  occasion  for  their  own  ends.  M. 
Francois,  who  read  the  declaration  on 
behalf  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  began  by 
quoting  from  the  famous  declaration 
read  before  the  National  Assembly  at 
Bordeaux  in  1871,  and  continued: 

The  Bordeaux  protest,  renewed  in  1874 
in    the    Reichstag    by    the    newly    elected 


WINNING  FREEDOM  FOR  ALSACE-LORRAINE 


133 


Deputies  from  the  annexed  provinces,  has 
lost  none  of  its  force.  Today,  on  the 
morrow  of  our  liberation,  we,  the  legiti- 
mate heirs  of  the  Bordeaux  protesters,  at 
the  moment  of  taking  possession  of  their 
seats,  vacant  for  half  a  century,  wish  to 
signify  to  Germany  and  the  whol^  world 
that  the  heart  of  Alsace-Lorraine  has 
never  ceased  to  belong  to  the  family  of 
France  and  now  feels  profound  joy  on 
re-entering    therein. 

We  wish  solemnly  to  record  that  no 
protest  has  been  raised  by  our  two  prov- 
inces against  the  Versailles  Treaty,  which 
gave  us  back  our  French  nationality.  On 
the  contrary,  the  candidates  of  every 
list  presented,  even  those  who  were  de- 
feated, proclaimed  in  their  programs, 
manifestos,  and  speeches  their  unfailing 
affection    for   their    country,    France. 

The  declaration  expressed  gratitude 
for  France's  heavy  sacrifices,  and  sa- 
luted "  the  great  Lorrainer,"  who  was 
President  of  the  republic  during  the  long 
war,  and  also  M.  Clemenceau,  the  last 
representative  of  the  Bordeaux  protest, 
and  concluded: 

Alsace  and  Lorraine  will  resume  their 
guard  along  the  frontier  of  the  Rhine. 
They  will  not  fail  in  their  mission  as  the 
advance  sentinels  of  French  thought. 
*  *  *  The  Germans  have  not  renounced 
Alsace-Lorraine.       The     decision     of     the 


people  against  Germany  has  not  recon- 
ciled the  Germans  to  the  loss  of  the  two 
provinces.  Germany  does  not  understand 
the  verdict  of  the  election  of  Nov.  16  last. 
By  every  artifice  Germany  has  tried  to 
falsify  that  vote.  For  ten  months  past 
she  has  been  flooding  the  retrieved  prov- 
inces with  so-called  autonomist  literature. 
The  nation  of  pillagers  has  one  senti- 
mental romance — the  possession  of  Alsace 
is  now,   as  ever,  a  casus  belli. 

Germany  never  dared  organize  a  refer- 
endum in  her  subject  provinces.  France 
obtained  a  unanimity  of  votes  at  the  elec- 
tions, which  constituted  a  true  plebiscite, 
on  Nov.  16.  In  virtue  of  the  now  univer- 
sally recognized  right  of  peoples  to  dis- 
pose of  themselves,  Germany  can  never 
again  by  any  title  reclaim  the  territory 
she  held  only  by  the  obsolete  right  of  con- 
quest. 

More  than  32,000  Germans  left  Alsace 
in  the  Autumn  of  1919,  during  the 
French  Government's  campaign  to  stamp 
out  disturbing  propaganda.  Statistics 
show  that  up  to  the  end  of  October  2,800 
Germans  were  expelled,  18,500  left  volun- 
tarily, and  4,800  German  railroad  em- 
ployes were  "  repatriated."  Another 
6,000  left  the  country  under  various  con- 
ditions, and  only  12,000  Germans  re- 
mained in  Alsace  on  Nov.  1.  Similar  de- 
velopments took  place  in  Lorraine. 


An  English  Hill 

BY  I.   MAT 

[In  The  Sunday  Times,  London] 


An  English  hill  beneath  an  English  sky, 
Swept  by  strong  sweetness  of  the  chanting  wind; 
A  hill  uplifted  to  the  solemn  stars 
Where  first,  when  Dawn  her  opal  gate  unbars, 
Shows  the  sun's  pageantry; 
And  where,  when  grows  the  West  incarnadined. 
The  light,  that  from  the  valley  all  has  gone, 
Lingers  as  if  in  voiceless  benison. 

An  English  hill  that  golden  lads  have  trod, 
Racing,  fleet-footed,  to  th'  empurpled  crest, 
Watching  the  pigmy  village  in  the  plain, 
Leaping  and  laughing  and,  brief  weary,  lain 
Stretched  on  the  flowing  sod, 
A  hill  whose  river  on  its  ocean  quest 
Sets  to  its  singing  all  the  changing  hours. 
Through  careless  hedges  starr'd  with  English  flow'rs. 

Such  were  their  dreams  on  that  immortal  day, 
When  death  than  life  more  beautiful  had  grown ; 
Not  unto  marble  statues,   mold'rlng  brass, 
Or  fading  names  writ  on  some  painted  glass 
Did  their  hearts,  wistful,  stray, 
But  to  green  ways,  and  Bweet  grass,  all  unmown. 
In  cool  fields.     In  hallowed  mem'ry  still 
Give  them  their  dreams  upon  an  English  hill ! 


Wartime  Feats  of  French  Railways 

How  the  Stupendous  Tasks  of  Mobilization  and  Troop  Trans- 
port  at  the   Front   Were   Handled 

By  GENERAL  G.  GASSOUIN 

[Director  General  of  French  Military  Transport] 

The  railways  of  France,  like  those  of  England  and  the  United  States,  were 
taken  over  by  the  Government  for  war  service.  A  complete  summary  of  what  they 
did  in  the  four  years  of  conflict,  written  by  the  man  who  controlled  the  movements 
of  all  trains  in  tJiat  period,  appeared  in  a  special  French  number  of  The  London 
Times  on  Sept.  6,  1919,  and  is  here  reproduced  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  records 
of  the  war. 


THE  following  telegram  was  pla- 
carded throughout  France  at  4 
P.  M.  on  Aug.  1,  1914:  "  General 
Mobilization  Order— Sunday,  Aug. 
2,  is  the  first  day  of  mobilization."  From 
this  moment  onward  there  began  an  era 
of  multiple  difficulties  for  the  railway 
service  of  France,  which  had  been 
requisitioned  by  the  State  and  placed 
under  the  control  of  the  military  authori- 
ties. 

On  Jan.  1,  1914,  the  French  railway 
system  comprised  over  25,000  miles  of 
lines  worked  by  357,000  employes.  The 
number  of  locomotives  was  14,047,  with 
a  rolling  stock  of  373,000  units.  With 
this  material  at  its  disposal,  the  new  de- 
partment of  military  transport,  which 
had  not  to  date  enjoyed  an  opportunity 
of  working  together  as  a  whole,  had,  in 
the  first  place,  to  assume  the  immediate 
charge  of  the  transports  for  couvertures 
mobilization  and  concentration,  and  sub- 
sequently to  maintain  the  economic  life 
of  the  country. 

On  July  31  the  Germans  having  occu- 
pied the  railways  and  having  seized  the 
telegraphic  installations  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity  of  the  frontier,  the  French 
Government  ordained  the  enforcement  of 
the  program  of  couverture.  These  trans- 
ports, which  were  conveyed  without  any 
interruption  of  the  ordinary  commercial 
traffic,  particularly  intense  at  that 
moment,  required  no  less  than  385  loaded 
trains  for  the  Northern  and  Eastern  sys- 
tems alone. 

On  Aug.  2  mobilization  proper  began. 
The    number    of    trains    now    running 


amounted  to  thousands.  From  Aug.  5 
onward  concentration  had  to  be  car- 
ried out,  and  the  armies  had  to  be 
grouped  in  the  zones  assigned  to  them  by 
the  plan  of  general  mobilization.  Nearly 
3,000  trains,  comprising  147,000  cars, 
had  to  be  dispatched.  On  Aug.  9  the 
first  detachments  of  the  British  Expedi- 
tionary Force  landed  in  France.  On  the 
Northern  line  345  trains  were  employed 
for  the  concentration  of  the  British 
troops,  and  on  the  State  railway  a  nearly 
equal  number. 

During  this  period  the  intensity  of 
traffic  reached  such  a  pitch  that  at  cer- 
tain control  stations  as  many  as  200 
trains  per  day  had  to  be  cleared,  an 
average  of  one  train  every  eight  minutes. 

The  troops  had  to  be  supplied  with 
fresh  provisions  and  munitions,  rein- 
forcements had  to  be  brought  up,  the 
wounded  had  to  be  evacuated,  and  large 
units  summoned  from  one  point  to 
another  of  the  line  had  to  be  carried  to 
their  destination. 

HOSTILITIES    BEGUN 

These  commitments  were  still  further 
increased  by  events  in  the  field  during 
August.  The  retirement  of  our  army  in- 
volved both  in  the  fighting  zone  and  be- 
hind the  front  the  dispatch  of  countless 
evacuation  trains,  including  French  and 
Belgian  rolling  stock,  material  stores  of 
all  kinds,  public  funds,  archives,  military 
depots,  and  other  establishments  where 
withdrawal  was  called  for,  and  added  to 
these  there  was  the  formidable  exodus  of 
the   civilian   population   of   the   invaded 


WARTIME  FEATS  OF  FRENCH  RAILWAYS 


135 


territories  and  of  the  French  capital, 
which  the  enemy  was  daily  approaching. 
On  Sept.  3,  50,000  persons  left  Paris 
from  the  Orleans  station  alone. 

In  order  not  to  overburden  the  lines, 
already  strained  to  their  utmost,  and  in 
order  not  to  endanger  the  running  of 
indispensable  trains,  83  locomotives  and 
rolling  stock  amounting  to  45,000  units 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Many  railway 
servants  were  killed,  and  a  considerable 
number  fell  into  German  hands. 

The  battle  of  the  Marne  brought  this 
first  period  to  an  end.  We  recovered 
part  of  the  invaded  railway  system.  But 
forthwith  there  followed  the  "  race  to  the 
sea,"  in  which  from  Nov.  1  to  13  the 
Northern  Railway  cleared  no  fewer  than 
1,271  troop  trains  on  the  Amiens-Bou- 
logne-Calais line  alone,  without  counting 
rolling  stock  returned  empty  and  trains 
for  supply  and  evacuation,  &c. 

In  1915  the  Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee 
carried  70,000  Sikhs  and  Gurkhas,  who 
were  landed  at  Marseilles  from  52  troop 
ships  arriving  from  India.  In  1915, 
moreover,  the  Orleans  company  dis- 
patched from  Toulouse  to  Orleans  400 
trains  carrying  Indian  troops. 

These  transports,  however,  represent 
little,  as  compared  with  the  strain  im- 
posed by  strategic  troop  movements.  The 
Northern  Railway  alone,  which  served  the 
districts  where  the  British  and  French 
were  fighting  side  by  side,  had  to  carry 
no  fewer  than  60,000,000  men  during  the 
war.  Each  offensive  demanded  a  fresh 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  railway  services. 
The  Somme  battle  alone,  in  1916,  ren- 
dered necessary  the  dispatch  of  6,768 
trains,  not  counting  return  loads.  During 
the  most  critical  period  of  the  battle  of 
Verdun,  between  March  and  June,  1916, 
the  Eastern  Railway  had  to  provide  the 
transport  of  90  divisions,  or  more  than 
1,500,000  men,  necessitating  the  dispatch 
of  3,592  trains. 

From  1917  onward  the  difficulties  with 
which  the  railways  had  to  contend  con- 
tinued to  increase.  In  October  of  that 
year  the  Austrians  broke  through  the 
Italian  front.  French  and  British  troops 
had  to  be  hastened  to  the  assistance  of 
the  Italians.  The  Paris-Lyon-Mediter- 
ranee had  immediately  to  deal  with  this 
urgent  situation.     Between  Oct.  29  and 


Nov.  18,  384  troop  trains  were  dispatched 
to  Italy,  and  between  Nov.  13  and  Dec. 
21,  810  trains  were  dispatched. 

AMERICAN   TRANSPORT 

Then  America  entered  the  war.  The 
American  transports  over  the  French 
railway  lines  deserve  a  page  to  them- 
selves. The  movement  of  over  2,000,000 
men  accompanied  by  5,000,000  tons  of 
material  across  the  whole  breadth  of 
French  territory  represented  in  itself 
an  impressive  achievement.  Unlike  the 
British  Army,  which,  concentrated  in  a 
favorable  position,  was  operating  at  only 
a  slight  distance  from  its  bases,  and 
could  group  the  whole  of  its  transport  in 
a  single  corner  of  France,  and,  so  to 
speak,  on  a  single  railway  system,  the 
American  Army  established  its  bases  in 
nearly  every  French  port  and  imposed 
upon  the  French  railway  system  long 
journeys  on  lines  that  were  least  pre- 
pared to  cope  with  such  a  task.  From 
St.  Nazaire  and  from  Bordeaux,  and 
later  from  Brest,  Nantes,  La  Rochelle, 
and  later  even  from  Havre,  Cherbourg, 
Bayonne,  and  Marseilles,  American 
trains  started,  with  the  result  that  all 
the  railway  services  of  the  interior  found 
themselves  set  in  motion.  The  American 
transport  and  supply  program  initiated 
during  the  Winter  of  1917-18  suddenly 
expanded  in  the  Spring  of  the  latter 
year,  in  consequence  of  events  in  the 
field,  with  the  result  that  all  estimates 
had  to  be  doubled.  During  the  dramatic 
months  of  the  Summer  of  1918,  which 
saw  the  railway  crisis  in  France  become 
acute,  American  transport  trains  con- 
tinued ever  more  frequently  to  cover  the 
lines  assigned  to  them,  adapting  old- 
fashioned  installations  to  their  needs,  and 
finally  converging  upon  the  front  in  Lor- 
raine. 

During  April,  1918,  there  were  carried 
from  ports  and  camps  and  from  the 
supply  bases  of  the  American  Army 
77,000  men  and  195,000  tons  of  material  ; 
in  July,  245,000  men  and  290,000  tons, 
and  in  October,  430,000  men  and  640,000 
tons.  For  the  Western  State,  Orleans 
and  Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee  lines  alone, 
these  figures  represented  for  the  month 
of  April,  303  trains  with  a  train  mileage 
of  75,000;   for  the  month   of  July,  848 


136 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


trains  with  a  train  mileage  of  240,000, 
and  for  the  month  of  October,  1,600 
trains  with  a  train  mileage  of  nearly 
400,000.  There  were  days  on  which,  for 
example,  72  trains  were  crossing  France 
in  every  direction  and  averaging  nearly 
250  train  miles. 

BATTLES  OF   1918 

With  1918  there  began  the  final  act  of 
the  great  drama  which  was  to  impose 
upon  the  railways  a  greater  strain  than 
ever.  At  the  end  of  March  the  Ger- 
mans suddenly  attacked.  Troops  had 
urgently  to  be  sent  to  every  threatened 
point.  Every  day  172  trains  were  dis- 
patched. On  the  Northern  system  the 
train  mileage  in  May  reached  the  un- 
precedented figure  of  1,200,000.  On  the 
Eastern  system  the  figure  stood  at  over 
1,000,000  train  miles.  The  enemy  con- 
tinued to  advance,  and  his  guns  com- 
manded the  important  railway  junction 
of  Amiens,  while  his  troops,  after  occu- 
pying the  lines  converging  on  Soissons, 
seized  in  May  the  main  line  from  Paris 
to  Nancy,  between  Chateau-Thierry  and 
Epernay.  The  control  station  had  to 
be  withdrawn  to  the  rear,  together  with 
all  stocks  and  stores,  railway  and  aero- 
nautical material,  factory  installations, 
and  other  stores  and  products  of  all 
kinds.  Notwithstanding  these  successive 
evacuations,  which  necessitated  the  em- 
ployment of  thousands  of  railway  cars, 
and  notwithstanding  the  necessity  for 
equipping  and  supplying  lines  that  be- 
came more  and  more  removed  from  the 
original  front,  from  May  5  onward  a 
service  of  198  troop  trains  in  24  hours 
had  been  instituted.  By  July  the  Ger- 
man advance  had  been  definitely  stopped. 
To  the  anxious  question  whether  the 
overtaxed  resources  of  the  Northern  and 
Eastern  systems  would  be  able  to  respond 
to  the  growing  requirements  of  the  mili- 
tary situation,  these  two  lines  replied  by 
exerting  an  effort  which  exceeded  by  far 
their  previous  records.  On  Aug.  28, 
35,000  loaded  cars  were  run  over  the 
Northern  system  in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  and  nearly  equaled  the  record 
train  mileage  achieved  by  it  in  May, 
while  the  Eastern  Railway  surpassed  its 
figure  for  that  month.  And  this  intensi- 
fication, be  it  remembered,  was  achieved 


while  the  railway  works  destroyed  by  the 
enemy  during  his  retreat  were  being  re- 
paired. 

Meanwhile  there  were  leave  trains  re- 
quiring 2,728  cars  to  be  provided  for, 
together  with  162  hospital  trains,  with 
2,455  cars. 

Similarly,  the  supply  services  for  the 
army  imposed  upon  the  railways  heavy 
additional  burdens.  In  1915  the  Northern 
Company  cleared  60,000  complete  trains 
at  the  rate  of  160  a  day  for  these  serv- 
ices, while  the  Southern  line  during  the 
same  year  carried  617,000  tons  of  supply 
goods  and  584,000  tons  of  other  traffic. 

These  figures  were  doubled  and  quad- 
rupled in  succeeding  years,  and  did  not 
cease  increasing  until  well  into  1918. 
The  preparation  for  supplying  Paris 
against  the  eventualities  of  a  siege  in 
1914,  from  Aug.  20  to  Sept.  30  of  that 
year,  alone  accounted  for  117,000  tons 
of  provisions  carried  by  the  Orleans  line, 
together  with  66,000  tons  of  fodder, 
107,000  bullocks,  and  211,000  sheep  and 
pigs. 

OTHER  SERVICES 

In  1915  the  Orleans  line  carried  11,000 
guns  and  gun  carriages,  and  in  addition 
there  was  an  unceasing  flow  of  machine 
guns,  trench  mortars,  airplanes,  tools, 
wire,  road  macadam,  petrol,  &c,  as  well 
as  clothing,  equipment,  and  camping  ma- 
terial. The  army  postal  service  from 
1915  onward  required  no  fewer  than  200 
railway  cars  a  day  for  the  delivery  of 
the  army's  3,000,000  letters,  not  to  speak 
of  the  mountains  of  parcels  and  news- 
papers that  had  to  be  carried. 

In  order,  moreover,  to  compensate  the 
deficiency  in  French  agricultural  pro- 
duction, labor  had  to  be  imported  from 
outside.  In  addition,  raw  material  had 
to  be  imported  in  order  to  keep  the  war 
factories  at  work,  and  these,  too,  re- 
quired coal,  the  supply  of  which  had 
been  cut  short  by  the  seizure  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  northern  coalfields. 
The  provision  of  all  these  needs  was  the 
prime  duty  of  the  railways,  and  hand  in 
hand  there  went  the  necessity  for  main- 
taining a  continual  stream  of  empty 
trucks  on  all  lines  leading  to  the  coast 
in  order  to  prevent  the  French  ports 
from  becoming  choked.  The  problem  was 


WARTIME  FEATS  OF  FRENCH  RAILWAYS 


137 


complicated  by  the  progressive  increase 
of  imports  as  shown  by  the  tonnage  re- 
turns of  the  French  ports,  which  amount- 
ed in  1913  to  31,384,516,  and,  after  a  fall 
in  1914  to  27,224,000,  to  40,156,000  in 
1915,  and  to  51,502,000  in  1916. 

PERSONNEL  AND  MATERIAL 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that 
the  French  railways  entered  upon  the 
war  with  357,000  servants,  14,047  locomo- 
tives, and  373,000  cars.  The  two  latter 
figures  were  reduced  respectively  to 
12,361  and  358,343  by  normal  withdraw- 
als for  repairs.  From  1914  to  1918  ton 
mileage  increased  41  per  cent.;  in  order 
to  deal  with  this  increase  the  establish- 
ment of  the  French  railways  in  1918 
ought  to  have  numbered  402,808  em- 
ployes, 15,641  locomotives,  and  457,426 
cars.  But  the  actual  figures  were  352,- 
431  employes,  13,580  locomotives,  and 
388,050  cars.  Requirements  were  in- 
creasingly in  excess  of  existing  resources. 
Everything  possible  was  done  to  rein- 
force the  personnel  by  recruiting  dis- 
charged railway  servants,  women, 
wounded  soldiers,  exempted  men,  colonial 
labor,  and  prisoners  of  war.  But  the  pro- 
fessional standard  of  these  new  em- 
ployes was  far  inferior  to  that  of  the 
regular  hands.  From  1916  onward  the 
British  provided  their  own  railway  per- 
sonnel for  nearly  the  whole  of  their 
transports,  but  some  months  elapsed 
before    the    Americans    provided    labor 


commensurate  with  the  additional  bur- 
den which  they  threw  upon  the  French 
railways.  The  locomotives,  for  their 
part,  were  in  no  better  case.  Repairs 
were  in  arrear,  and  the  bad  quality  of 
the  coal  which  the  railways  were  com- 
pelled to  burn  put  a  number  of  boilers 
out  of  action.  The  number  of  locomo- 
tives withdrawn  from  service  rose  from 
1,720  in  January,  1914,  to  2,854  in  Janu- 
ary, 1919,  while  the  number  of  cars 
withdrawn  rose  from  14,840  to  38,520. 
Important  repair  shops  like  Hellemmes 
and  Tergnier  were  from  the  start  of  the 
war  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

During  the  four  years  of  war  French 
railways  showed  themselves  fully  equal 
to  their  task  and  to  every  demand  that 
was  made  upon  them.  No  military  plan 
had  to  suffer  in  its  execution  owing  to 
any  failure  on  the  part  of  the  railways. 
It  was  the  thanks  of  all  France  that  the 
Minister  of  War,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Minister  of  Public  Works,  returned  in 
the  order  of  the  day  in  which  he  paid 
striking  tribute  to  the  admirable  devo- 
tion of  the  railway  personnel.  In  this 
order  he  declared: 

The  whole  Government  expresses  to  of- 
ficials of  all  ranks  its  gratitude  for  the 
patriotic  activity  which  they  have  exerted 
without  stint  and  without  ceasing,  day 
and  night.  In  the  name  of  the  army, 
whose  victorious  labors  they  have  so 
modestly  and  methodically  promoted,  the 
Minister  of  War  addresses  to  them  hl3 
warmest  thanks. 


Armenia's  Struggle  for  Independence 

By  W.  D.  P.  BLISS 

Dr.  Bliss,  an  American,  born  in  Constantinople,  knows  the  Near  East  intimately. 
He  has  been  a  lifelong  student  of  social  and  political  questions,  and  has  been  in 
Europe  twice  recently  on  investigations  for  the  Federal  Government.  During  the 
Peace  Conference  in  Paris  he  obtained  from  the  Armenian  Peace  Commissioners — 
and  others — valuable  documents  and  inside  information. 


TO  understand  the  Armenian  strug- 
gle for  independence,  one  must  re- 
member that  Armenia,  like  Poland, 
has  had  a  tripartite  division. 
Armenia,  meaning  by  this,  historic 
Armenia,  centring  around  Mount  Ararat, 
near  the  meeting  place  (before  the  war) 
of  Turkey,  Russia,  and  Persia,  has  been 
divided  among  those  three  countries. 

Turkish  Armenia,  with  an  area  of  101,- 
000  square  miles  and  a  pre-war  popula- 
tion of  3,788,000,  of  which  1,403,000  were 
Armenians,  was  made  finally  Turkish  in 
1451,  though  portions  of  it  were  con- 
quered before  that  date.  Russian 
Armenia,  with  26,130  square  miles  and 
a  pre-war  population  of  2,072,000,  of 
which  1,295,000  were  Armenians,  was 
annexed  to  the  Russian  Empire  partly  in 
1828,  partly  in  1878.  Persian  Armenia, 
with  an  area  of  5,789  miles  and  165,000 
Armenians,  has  been  definitely  Persian 
since  1472,  while  much  of  Armenia,  and 
sometimes  all  of  it,  was  under  ancient 
Persian  suzerainty  for  centuries  before 
that. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  even  before  the 
war  Armenia  was  a  divided  country  and 
the  Armenians  a  much  scattered  race. 
It  is  estimated  that  in  1914  there  were 
520,000  Armenians  in  Turkey,  outside  of 
Turkish  Armenia ;  758,000  in  Russia,  out- 
side of  Russian  Armenia,  and  some  250,- 
000  in  India,  Egypt,  Europe,  and  Amer- 
ica, making  nearly  4,500,000  Armenians 
in  the  world. 

But,  though  scattered,  these  Armenians 
were  by  no  means  wholly  divided.  Po- 
litical unity  being  lost,  the  Armenian 
Church,  with  its  Catholicos  or  Primate 
at  Etchmiadzin  in  the  Caucasus,  to  a 
considerable  extent  bound  the  Armenians 
of  the  world  together  as  forming  one 
nationality. 


FROM  AUTONOMY  TO  INDEPEND- 
ENCE 

At  the  opening  of  the  war,  in  1914, 
Armenians  generally,  both  in  Turkey 
and  Russia,  aimed  only  at  autonomy.  It 
is  true  that,  beginning  in  1888,  with  a 
few  Armenians  in  Geneva,  Switzerland, 
and  extending  to  the  Armenians  of  every 
country,  an  organization  called  the 
Dashnakzoutiun  (Federation)  aimed  at 
independence  for  Armenia.  But  when, 
in  1908,  the  Young  Turk  revolution  pro- 
claimed a  Constitution,  recognizing  all 
races  and  religions  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  as  having  equal  political  rights, 
the  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Dashnakzoutiun  in  Turkey  took  the 
Young  Turk  movement  at  its  face  value, 
worked  with  the  Committee  of  Union  and 
Progress  (the  Young  Turks)  for  the  de- 
velopment of  a  new  and  liberalized 
Turkey,  and,  for  the  time  at  least,  aban- 
doned all  thought  of  independence. 

At  first  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war 
did  not  change  the  Armenian  political 
situation.  To  a  council  of  Armenians  of 
the  Caucasus,  assembled  in  Tiflis  in 
August,  1914,  the  Russian  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment, through  Prince  Varentzov 
Dashkov,  promised  autonomy  for  Rus- 
sian Armenia  after  the  war,  if  the  Ar- 
menians would  loyally  support  the  Rus- 
sian armies  during  the  war.  To  this  the 
Armenians  of  the  Caucasus  assented, 
though  with  some  hesitation ;  160,000  Ar- 
menian reservists  served  in  the  Russian 
regular  army,  while  some  20,000  more 
Armenians  served  as  volunteers. 

In  Turkey,  during  the  same  month, 
there  was  a  conference  of  the  Dash- 
nakzoutiun in  the  theatre  at  Erzerum 
and  before  this  conference  came  a  dele- 
gation of  twenty-nine  leading  members 


ARMENIA'S  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


139 


of  the  Turkish  Committee  of  Unfon  and 
Progress,  then  in  power  in  the  Govern- 
ment, and  made  a  proposition  somewhat 
similar  to  that  which  Russia  had  made  to 
the  Russian  Armenians,  but  with  im- 
portant differences — differences  destined 
to  affect  the  history  of  the  world.  Turkey 
asked  her  Armenian  subjects  not  only  to 
support  her  during  the  war,  but  also  to 
induce  the  Russian  Armenians  to  rise 
against  Russia,  the  Turks,  under  a  Ger- 
man guarantee,  promising  that  if  the 
Armenians  would  do  this  there  should 
be  formed  a  new  Armenia,  to  include 
Russian  Armenia  to  be  won  from  the 
foe,  and  three  Turkish  Armenian  vila- 
yets, this  new  Armenia  to  be  autonomous 
under  Turkish  suzerainty.' 

PURPOSE  OF  THE  TURKS 

There  was  in  this  proposition  more 
than  at  first  appears.  The  hope  of  the 
Young  Turk  Party,  at  the  outset  of  the 
war,  was  to  make  it  a  Hejad,  a  Holy 
War,  Pan-Islamic,  and  Pan-Turanian. 
Against  Russia  the  Turks  hoped  to  unite 
with  themselves  the  following:  Persia 
with  its  9,000,000  inhabitants,  Tartars 
numbering  3,000,000,  Kurds  1,125,000,  all 
Moslem  races,  with  2,000,000  Georgians, 
and  others  in  the  Caucasus  whose  inter- 
ests might  ally  them  with  the  Turks.  But 
between  Turkey  and  those  races  lay  Ar- 
menia. A  hostile  Armenia  would  make 
it  very  difficult  for  the  Turks  to  co- 
operate with  the  Moslem  millions  the 
other  side  of  Armenia.  But  if  Armenia, 
as  a  whole,  would  side  with  the  Turks,  it 
would  be  comparatively  easy  to  bring 
against  Russia  in  the  Caucasus  a  Pan- 
Turanian  force,  which  Russia,  fighting 
also  on  the  west,  could  scarcely  resist. 

Some  believe,  indeed,  that  this  Ar- 
menian question  was  largely  decisive  of 
the  war.  Had  Armenia  as  a  whole  gone 
on  the  side  of  Turkey,  and  had  over- 
whelming forces  attacked  Russia  in  the 
Caucasus,  she  could  not  have  done  what 
she  did  in  the  early  part  o"  the  war  on 
her  western  front,  and  the  Central 
Powers,  far  earlier  than  they  did,  could 
have  transferred  large  forces  from  the 
east  to  the  west  front,  with  results  per- 
haps fatal  to  the  Entente;  while  Turkey, 
triumphant  or  at  least  secure  in  the 
Caucasus,  could  have  turned  her  whole 


army  to  meet   and   defeat   the   English 
advance  from  the  south. 

Certainly  the  Turkish  proposal  to  Ar- 
menia was  a  momentous  one,  and  the 
Turks,  at  least,  knew  it.  They  sent  a 
very  weighty  delegation  to  the  Armenian 
conference  at  Erzerum.  They  argued 
from  the  basis  of  friendship,  and  also 
threatened.  They  declared,  probably 
with  truth,  that  the  Tartars,  Kurds,  and 
Georgians  were  already  committed  to  the 
side  of  Turkey,  and  that  if  the  Ar- 
menians refused  they  would  be  surround- 
ed on  all  sides  by  foes  and  would  suffer 
accordingly,  as  indeed  they  did — how  ter- 
ribly all  the  world  now  knows. 

THE  ARMENIANS  REFU  SE 

But  the  Armenians  at  Erzerum  said 
no;  they  affirmed  themselves  loyal  citi- 
zens of  the  Turkish  Empire;  they  de- 
clared that  they  would  faithfully  sup- 
port the  Turkish  cause  and  serve  in  the 
Turkish  Army;  but  for  them  to  turn  the 
Russian  Armenians  against  Russia,  they 
said,  was  beyond  their  power.  The  view 
of  the  conference  was  that,  since  Ar- 
menia could  not  be  independent  and  must 
be  attached  to  some  greater  power,  it 
was  for  their  economic  and  educational 
interest  to  belong  partly  to  Russia  and 
partly  to  Turkey,  since  if  they  were 
wholly  swallowed  up  in  either  empire 
they  would  be  left  helplessly  in  its  power. 
Loyalty  to  Turkey  they  were  therefore 
willing  to  promise  and  to  fulfill;  but 
turn  Russian  Armenians  against  Russia 
they  declared  they  could  not. 

With  this  response  to  their  proposition 
the  Turks  were  deeply  embittered.  It 
meant  to  them,  and  perhaps  meant  in 
fact,  the  defeat  of  the  whole  Turkish 
campaign.  From  that  moment  the  de- 
struction of  Armenia  was  determined. 
Armenia  became  the  Belgium  of  the  war 
in  the  East.  Soon  the  leaders  of  the 
Erzerum  Conference  found  themselves 
persecuted,  arrested,  and  some  of  them 
killed.  A  little  later  began  the  mas- 
sacres of  Armenians,  and  then  the  pol- 
icy of  deportation,  by  which  the  Arme- 
nians of  Turkey  were  to  be  annihilated. 

That  terrible  tale  has  been  often  told; 
but  Armenia,  perhaps  unwittingly,  at 
Erzerum  had  chosen  for  herself.  She 
could    no    longer    look    for    autonomy, 


140 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


scarcely  even  for  existence,  in  Turkey; 
her  one  hope  lay  in  independence,  freed 
from  the  Turkish  Empire. 

ARMENIANS  IN  RUSSIA 
A  different  line  of  events  drove  the 
Armenians  of  Russia  to  practically  the 
same  conclusion  with  respect  to  the  Rus- 
sian Empire.  The  Armenians  of  Russia 
were  loyal  to  the  Imperial  Government 
so  long  as  there  was  an  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment; but  the  imperial  bureaucracy 
was  not  faithful  to  the  Armenians.  The 
Armenian  regiments  were  not  allowed  to 
defend  Armenia,  but  were  kept  chiefly  on 
the  western  front.  When  the  capture  of 
Erzerum  made  the  Russians  believe  for 
the  moment  that  they  no  longer  needed 
Armenian  help,  the  Grand  Duke  Nicho- 
las Nicholaievitch  ordered  the  disbanding 
of  the  Armenian  volunteers.  In  truth, 
Imperial  Russia  cared  little  for  the  Ar- 
menians. Twenty  years  before,  in  1896, 
when  the  Russian  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Count  Rostonsky,  was  asked 
why  Russia  did  not  occupy  Armenia  and 
save  the  Armenians  from  the  massacres 
then  going  on,  he  replied,  cynically: 
"  We  need  Armenia,  but  without  the  Ar- 
menians." 

Russia's  attitude  to  Armenia  in  1916 
was  largely  the  same.  To  the  Armenian 
refugees,  fleeing  from  massacres,  Russia 
gave  little  or  no  relief  or  protection,  even 
when  it  might  easily  have  been  given. 
Nevertheless,  the  Russian  Armenians 
fought  steadfastly  for  Russia  with  hero- 
ism and  brilliancy.  Even  when  the  Rus- 
sian revolution  overthrew  the  Imperial 
Government,  the  Armenians  supported 
the  Kerensky  Administration.  When, 
however,  in  November,  1917,  Kerensky 
fell  and  the  Russian  Army  of  the  Cau- 
casus disbanded,  leaving  the  Caucasus  in 
chaos,  the  Armenians  of  Russia  felt  that 
they  had  nothing  to  hope  from  the  Bol- 
sheviki,  and,  like  so  many  of  the  subject 
races  in  Russia,  came  to  believe  that 
there  was  a  possibility  of  independence 
for  them,  and  that  here  lay  their  hope. 
Thus  by  the  stern  logic  of  events  both 
Turkish  and  Russian  Armenians  were 
practically  driven  into  efforts  for  inde- 
pendence. 

Against  their  terrible  massacres  and 
deportations  the  Armenians   in   Turkey 


could  do  little  or  nothing.  One  of  the 
first  steps  in  the  Turkish  program  was, 
so  far  as  possible,  to  deprive  Armenians 
of  arms.  Even  the  Armenian  soldiers 
in  the  Turkish  Army  were  rarely  trusted 
with  arms,  but  were  assigned  to  camp 
and  manual  work.  Nevertheless,  in  the 
few  cases  where  they  had  some  arms,  in 
hopeless  but  magnificent  bravery,  the 
Armenians  did  what  they  could.  In 
April,  1915,  the  Armenians  of  Van,  by  a 
gallant  defense,  kept  the  Turks  at  bay 
for  a  whole  month,  until  some  Armenian 
volunteers  in  the  Russian  Army  under 
General  Nikolaev  came  to  the  rescue  of 
the  city.  The  Armenians  of  Van  kept 
busy  a  whole  division  of  Turkish  regu- 
lars, with  thousands  of  Kurds,  and  so 
had  contributed  largely  to  defeat  the 
Turkish  plan  to  crush  the  Russian  left 
wing  in  Persia. 

In  June  of  the  same  year,  when  Turks 
and  Kurds  were  laying  waste  Moush  and 
the  surrounding  villages,  a  little  band 
of  Armenians  from  Sasoun,  which  had 
been  able  to  maintain  a  virtual  independ- 
ence of  Turkey  even  to  the  nineteenth 
century,  marched  down  from  the  moun- 
tains and  enabled  the  Sasounians,  though 
only  10,000  in  number  and  equipped  with 
antiquated  weapons,  for  two  months  to 
keep  from  their  city  some  50,000  Turks 
and  Kurds  fully  armed  and  equipped. 
The  Sasounians  also  hoped  that  Russia 
would  come  to  their  aid;  but  Russia  did 
not,  though  her  armies  were  only  thirty- 
one  miles  away. 

At  Sivas  an  Armenian  patriot,  Mou- 
rat,  escaped  with  a  little  band  into  the 
mountains  and  resisted  the  Turks  for  a 
year  and  a  half,  when  he  escaped  into 
Russia.  At  Urfa,  Armenian  men,  with 
women  also  in  their  trenches,  resisted  a 
Turkish  division  for  forty  days.  At  Sha- 
bin-Karahissar  nearly  5,000  Armenians 
resisted  another  Turkish  division  for 
twenty-seven  days.  When  their  ammuni- 
tion gave  out  nearly  3,000  Armenian 
women  are  said  to  have  drunk  poison 
rather  than  fall  into  Turkish  hands.  In 
Cilicia  some  5,000  Armenians  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Sudiah,  near  Zeitun,  fled  into 
the  mountains,  and  for  forty-two  days 
resisted  Turkish  regulars,  till,  succeeding 
in  signaling  a  French  cruiser,  they  were 


ARMENIA'S  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


141 


rescued  and  conveyed  to  Port  Said  in 
Egypt,  where  many  of  them  enlisted  in 
the  British  Army  or  in  the  French  Ori- 
ental Legion. 

Thus  what  the  Armenians  in  Turkey 
could  do,  heroically  they  did.  They  kept 
five  divisions  of  Turks  and  innumerable 
Kurds  from  joining  the  Turkish  of- 
fensives. 

IN  THE  CAUCASUS 

The  Armenians  in  the  Caucasus  were 
not  braver,  but  they  could  do  more.  They 
had  arms.  The  part  they  contributed 
to  the  Turkish  defeat  is  not  generally 
known,  but  the  Turkish  General,  Ihsan 
Pasha,  commanding  the  right  wing  of 
the  Turkish  Caucasus  Army,  said  in 
1915 :  "  I  must  confess  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  Armenians  we  would  have 
conquered  the  Caucasus."  General  Liman 
von  Sanders,  the  German  commander 
in  Syria,  said  after  the  Turkish  sur- 
render :  "  The  collapse  of  the  Turkish 
Palestinian  front  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  Turks,  against  my  orders  and 
advice,  sent  all  their  available  forces  to 
the  Caucasus  and  Azerbaidjan,  where 
they  fought  the  Armenians."  Ex-Premier 
Kerensky  said  on  Aug.  20,  1918:  "Of 
all  the  races  of  the  Caucasus,  the  Ar- 
menians alone  stuck  to  their  posts,  or- 
ganized volunteer  forces  and  by  the  side 
of  their  Russian  comrades  faced  the 
formidable  assaults  of  the  enemy  and 
turned  his  victorious  march  into  a  disas- 
trous rout."  Lord  Robert  Cecil  wrote  on 
Oct.  3,  1918 :  "  The  service  rendered  by 
the  Armenians  to  the  common  cause  can 
never  be  forgotten." 

Turkey  during  the  war  made  five  dis- 
tinct offensives  in  the  Caucasus  and  four 
of  the  five  were  defeated  principally  by 
the  Armenians,  while  in  the  fifth  the 
Russian  forces  which  chiefly  defeated  it 
were  led  by  the  Armenian  General, 
Nazarbekoff. 

FIRST  TURKISH  OFFENSIVES 
The  first  offensive  was  in  1914,  when 
Enver  Pasha,  considering  himself  a. 
Turkish  Napoleon,  endeavored  to  reach 
Tiflis  by  shattering  the  right  wing  of  the 
Russian  Army.  He  had  under  him  three 
army  corps.  One  corps  was  to  capture 
Sarikamish  and  cut  off  the  retreat  of 
60,000  Russians ;  but  in  the  Barduz  Pass 


it  was  held  up  for  twenty-four  hours  by 
a  comparative  handful  of  Armenians, 
who  lost,  it  is  said,  only  600  men.  But  it 
gave  the  Russians  time  to  concentrate  at 
Sarikamish;  and  instead  of  the  Turks 
capturing  60,000  Russians,  the  Turks 
were  disastrously  defeated  and  lost,  it 
was  reported,  30,000  men,  and  failed  in 
their  offensive. 

The  second  Turkish  offensive  was  in 
1915,  when  the  Turks  endeavored  to  turn 
the  extreme  left  wing  of  the  Russian 
Army  by  marching  through  Persia.  The 
Russians  had  only  one  brigade  under  the 
command  of  the  Armenian  General, 
Nazarbekoff,  and  one  battalion  of  Ar- 
menian volunteers.  The  Turks  had  a 
whole  division  of  well  drilled,  equipped 
troops,  sent  especially  from  Constanti- 
nople under  Khalil  Bey,  and  nearly  10,000 
Kurds.  The  Turks  easily  captured 
Urmia  and  took  nearly  1,000  Russian 
prisoners ;  but  at  Dalmost  the  Armenians 
met  them  in  one  of  the  fiercest  battles 
between  the  Armenians  and  Turks,  and 
for  three  days  repulsed  the  Turks,  until 
Russian  reinforcements  came  and  the 
Turkish  Army  was  put  to  flight.  Ar- 
menians declare  that  3,600  Turkish  sol- 
diers fell  before  the  Armenian  trenches. 

The  third  Turkish  offensive  in  the 
Caucasus  was  in  the  same  year,  when 
eleven  divisions  of  Turks,  again  under 
Khalil  Bey,  advanced  against  the  Rus- 
sian centre.  The  Russian  Army  retreated 
for  a  week  till  its  left  wing  came  to  its 
aid,  and  under  the  Armenian  General, 
Nazarbekoff,  the  Russians  succeeded  in 
driving  back  the  Turks. 

AFTER  RUSSIA'S  COLLAPSE 

The  first  three  offensives  were  won 
before  the  collapse  of  the  Russian  forces. 
It  was,  however,  after  the  collapse  that 
the  Armenians  accomplished  their  most 
important  work.  When  the  Russian  Cau- 
casus Army  of  250,000  abandoned  the 
country  to  its  fate,  the  Tartars  armed 
themselves  and  arose  en  masse,  expect- 
ing to  unite  with  the  Turks  and  carry 
all  before  them.  Against  them  were  only 
30,000  Armenians.  The  Turkish  Army 
had  from  50,000  to  75,000  men,  besides 
the  Tartars. 

When,  however,  by  the  Brest-Litovsk 
treaty,  the  Bolsheviki  agreed  to  surren- 


142 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


der  to  Turkey  large  portions  of  Russian 
Armenia  and  Georgia,  the  Georgians, 
Armenians,  and  Tartars  of  the  Caucasus 
united  for  their  own  defense.  A  tem- 
porary Government  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  three  races  was  called, 
with  Chekhenkeli,  a  Georgian,  as  Presi- 
dent, and  in  April,  1918,  an  independent 
federated  republic  of  the  Caucasus  was 
declared.  This  republic  did  not  endure. 
Racial  enmities  were  too  strong. 

Already  in  1917,  when  the  Tartars 
rose  against  the  Bolsheviki,  there  had 
been  gathered  at  Baku  a  considerable 
body  of  Armenians  returning  from  Rus- 
sia, and  these  the  Tartars  attacked,  de- 
claring them  partisans  of  the  Bolsheviki. 
The  Tartars  expected  to  make  quick  work 
of  the  Armenians.  But  instead,  in  a 
severe  battle,  while  the  Armenians,  as 
they  declared,  lost  only  2,500  men,  the 
Tartars  lost  over  10,000,  and  the  Ar- 
menians remained  possessors  of  Baku 
and  its  oil  wells.  For  five  and  a  half 
months  the  Armenians,  with  the  aid  of  a 
few  Russians,  held  Baku  against  the 
combined  offensives  of  Tartars  and 
Turks.  A  small  British  force  of  1,400 
men — with  only  800  rifles  among  them — 
reached  Baku,  but  too  late,  and  finally 
the  Armenians  and  the  British  were  com- 
pelled to  take  refuge  in  Persia. 

Even  the  Georgians  were  induced  to 
favor  the  Turks  by  the  promise  that  they 
should  have  Batoum.  Consequently  the 
Georgian  President  of  the  Federation 
ordered  the  Armenians  to  deliver  to  the 
Turks  the  fortress  of  Kars,  and  they  had 
to  obey.  In  such  circumstances  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that  a  republic  of 
federated  Georgians,  Tartars,  and  Ar- 
menians could  endure.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  lasted  less  than  five  weeks.  On 
May  26,  1918,  Georgia,  depending  on  aid 
from  Germany,  declared  herself  an  inde- 
pendent republic.  Two  days  later  the 
Tartars  declared  the  republic  of  Azer- 
baidjan,  and  the  same  day,  May  28,  1918, 
Russian  Armenia  declared  herself  as  an 
independent  Armenian  Republic,  with 
Erivan  as  its  capital. 

But  the  Armenians  alone  had  to  fight 
for  their  republic  and  did  so  with  mar- 
velous success.  At  Sardarabad  and  Kara- 
kilissa,  in  two  fierce  battles,  one  of  them 
lasting  four  days,  they  routed  the  Turks, 


who,  it  is  said,  lost  6,000.  The  Turks  re- 
treated almost  to  the  frontier  and  con- 
sented to  negotiate  for  peace  with 
Armenia.  On  June  4,  1918,  prelimina- 
ries of  peace  were  signed  subject  to  rati- 
fication within  thirty  days.  These  pre- 
liminaries were,  however,  never  ratified 
by  the  Armenian  Republic  and  eventually 
Turkey  surrendered  to  the  Allies. 

ARMENIA   SINCE   THE   ARMISTICE 

After  the  Turkish  surrender  to  the 
Entente,  Armenia's  efforts  for  independ- 
ence had  to  be  transferred  to  the  fields 
of  diplomacy.  In  arms  in  the  Caucasus 
they  had  been  successful,  but  the  Ar- 
menians had  also  fought  elsewhere.  In 
France  900  Armenian  students  enlisted 
in  the  Foreign  Legion,  while  at  the  end 
of  the  war  scarcely  50  survived,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  remaining  850  giving  their 
lives  in  1916  at  Verdun.  In  Syria  and 
Egypt  some  eight  battalions  of  Arme- 
nians enlisted  in  the  French  Oriental 
Legion  or  in  the  British  Army.  General 
Allenby  said  of  them :  "  I  am  proud  to 
have  Armenian  contingents  under  my 
command.  They  fought  brilliantly  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  victory." 

But  now  Armenia  had  to  plead  before 
the  nations.  An  Armenian  Republic,  in- 
deed, existed  in  the  Caucasus,  but  Tur- 
kish Armenia  was  helpless,  starving,  and 
largely  depopulated.  The  Unifed  States 
generously  sent  large  aid  in  the  way  of 
food  and  relief.  England  and  France  de- 
clared themselves  favorable  to  Armenian 
independence,  but  their  acts  scarcely 
tallied  with  their  words.  In  1916  Arme- 
nians in  the  midst  of  their  heroic  sacri- 
fices for  the  Entente  had  learned,  almost 
with  despair,  that  England  and  France 
had  come  to  a  secret  agreement  that 
Asia  Minor,  including  large  portions  of 
Armenia,  should  be  divided  between  them, 
at  least  as  spheres  of  influence. 

In  the  circumstances,  who  can  wonder 
that  the  Armenians  turned  for  hope  to 
the  United  States,  grounding  their  appeal 
partly  on  President  Wilson's  words  in 
behalf  of  oppressed  nationalities,  and 
partly  on  the  fact  that  for  nearly  one- 
hundred  years  Americans  had  been  in- 
terested in  educational  and  religious 
progress  among  the  Armenians. 


ARMENIA'S  STRUGGLE  FOR  INDEPENDENCE 


143 


AT   THE    PEACE   CONFERENCE 

Consequently  in  February,  1919,  there 
met  in  Paris  an  assembly  of  thirty-one 
elected  representatives  of  the  Armenians 
of  the  whole  world,  including  four  from 
the  United  States;  and  these  representa- 
tives selected  a  delegation  of  six  to  pre- 
sent Armenia's  claims  before  the  Peace 
Conference.  The  President  of  this  dele- 
gation was  the  Excellency  Boghos 
Nubar  Pasha,  an  Armenian  from  Egypt, 
Chairman  of  the  Railway  Directorate  of 
Egypt,  whose  father  had  been  twice 
Egyptian  Prime  Minister.  This  delega- 
tion represented  Turkish  Armenia,  while 
A.  Aharonian  was  President  of  the  dele- 
gation of  the  Republic  of  Armenia.  This 
republic  had  been  formed  of  the  Arme- 
nians in  the  Caucasus  in  1918,  but  inten- 
tionally its  organization  had  been  left  pro- 
visional in  order  that  Turkish  Armenia 
might  be  added  to  its  territory,  and  that 
then  permanent  organization  might  be 
effected  by  the  elected  representatives 
of  both  Turks  and  Armenians,  united  as 
one  nation.  For  political  and  diplomatic 
reasons  Persian  Armenia  had  to  be  left 
out. 

On  Nov.  30,  1918,  the  Armenian  Na- 
tional Delegation  at  Paris  proclaimed  the 
independence  of  Integral  Armenia  and 
placed  it  under  the  guarantee  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus  and  the  Armenians  of  Turkey, 
and  indeed  of  the  whole  world,  came 
therefore  before  the  conference  as  a 
unit  and  presented  an  earnest  and  dra- 
matic appeal  for  independence. 

SUPPORT  FOR  ARMENIA'S  PLEA 

Their  demand  has  received  almost  uni- 
versal support.  Mr.  Balfour,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  Boghos  Nubar  Pasha,  Oct. 
12,  1918,  said:  "The  liberation  of  Ar- 
menia is  one  of  the  war  aims  of  the 
allied  powers."  Mr.  Clemenceau,  in  a 
letter  to  the  same,  of  July,  1918,  said: 
"  I  am  happy  to  confirm  to  you  that  the 
Government  of  the  republic,  like  that  of 
Great  Britain,  has  not  ceased  to  place 
the  Armenian  Nation  among  those  peoples 
whose  fate  the  Allies  intend  to  settle  ac- 
cording to  the  supreme  laws  of  humanity 
and  justice."  On  Dec.  10,  1918,  Senator 
Lodge  offered  the  following  resolution  in 
the  United  States  Senate: 


Resolved,  That  In  the  opinion  of  the 
Senate,  Armenia  (including  the  six  vila- 
yets of  Armenia  and  Cilicia),  Russian 
Armenia  and  the  northern  part  of  the 
province  of  Azerbaidjan,  Persian  Armenia, 
should  be  independ  nt,  and  that  it  is  the 
hope  of  the  Senate  that  the  Peace  Con- 
ference will  make  arrangements  for  help- 
ing Armenia  to  establish  an  independent 
republic. 

Senator  Thomas,  a  Democrat,  member 
of  the  Senate  Foreign  Relations  Commit- 
tee, said :  "  I  heartily  approve  of  the 
Lodge  resolution  and  of  every  resolution 
which  favors  Armenian  independence." 
June  22,  1919,  Judge  Hughes,  Elihu  Root, 
John  Sharp  Williams,  James  W.  Gerard, 
Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot,  and  four  other 
prominent  Armericans  cabled  Presi- 
dent Wilson  at  Paris :  "  We  believe  that 
without  regard  to  party  or  creed  the 
American  people  are  deeply  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  Armenian  people  and 
expect  to  see  the  restoration  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  Armenia."  On  Nov.  30, 
1918,  the  Italian  Parliament  adopted  a 
resolution  favoring  an  independent  Ar- 
menia. 

The  Greeks  and  Armenians  in  the 
Turkish  Empire,  though  for  centuries 
divided  by  jealousies,  have  been  brought 
together  by  their  common  need,  and  a 
memorandum,  signed  by  both  the  Greek 
and  Armenian  Patriarchs  of  Constanti- 
nople, was  laid  before  the  Paris  confer- 
ence asking  independence  for  the  Ar- 
menians in  Turkey  and  the  union  of 
Greek  Asia  Minor  with  the  Kingdom  of 
Greece. 

ARMENIA'S   NEED   OF   HELP 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  all  this  en- 
couragement, the  Armenians  feel  that 
they  have  by  no  means  won  their  case. 
A  recent  recrudescence  of  fhe  Young 
Turk  Party  in  Turkey  once  more  threat- 
ens a  Pan-Turanian  movement  and  the 
final  extinction  of  all  the  Armenians  in 
Turkey.  England  has  withdrawn  most 
of  her  forces  from  Asia  Minor.  Inevit- 
ably the  Armenians  look  chiefly  to  the 
United  States. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  if  Armenia 
be  made  independent  or  even  autonomous 
it  must  be  under  the  mandate  of  some 
power  to  assist  in  the  reorganization  of 
her  devastated  resources  and  to  defend 
her  from  the  attacks  of  Turks,  Kurds, 


144 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


and  Tartars.  England  and  France,  by 
secret  agreement  during  the  war,  largely 
portioned  between  them  Asia  Minor,  in- 
cluding much  of  Armenia;  if  either  of 
these  countries  should  accept  a  mandate 
for  a  united  Armenia,  the  other  would 
regard  the  agreement  as  having  been 
violated.  America  is  the  only  country 
that  can  aid  Armenia,  without  rousing 
suspicion  and  jealousy. 

The  proposition  is  sometimes  made 
that  for  political  and  religious  reasons 
Turkey  should  be  allowed  even  yet  to  re- 
tain nominal  suzerainty  over  Armenia; 


but  Armenians  declare  that,  after  cen- 
turies of  oppression,  ending  in  forty 
years  of  massacres  and  deportations  by 
the  Turks,  for  the  Armenians  to  be 
united  in  any  way  with  the  Turks  is  im- 
possible; it  would  give  rise  to  such  com- 
plications that  the  peace  could  not  be 
kept.  They  declare  that  Armenians, 
having  aided  and  perhaps  having  saved 
the  Entente  at  critical  periods,  the 
Entente  must  now  save  them,  and  that 
Armenia  needs  to  receive  aid  from  the 
United  States  or  perish  from  the 
earth. 


Dwindling  of  the  Turkish  Empire 

A  Tragic  Romance  of  History 


WHEN  Generals  Maude  and 
Allenby  captured  Bagdad  and 
Jerusalem  in  1917-18,  crushing 
the  resistance  of  the  last  re- 
maining Turkish  armies,  they  wrote 
practically  the  final  chapter  in  the  long, 
dark  history  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 
The  sketch  maps  on  the  four  succeeding 
pages  tell  at  a  glance  the  story  of  more 
than  four  centuries  of  Ottoman  impe- 
rialism. There  was  a  time,  after  the 
capture  of  Constantinople  by  Mohammed 
II.  in  1453,  when  all  Eastern  Europe, 
if  not  the  whole  Continent,  seemed  des- 
tined to  pass  under  the  Mussulman 
sword.  By  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century  almost  the  whole  of  Hungary, 
as  well  as  Transylvania,  Bukowina, 
Bessarabia,  most  of  modern  Rumania, 
Bosnia,  and  Serbia,  the  Balkan  Penin- 
sula, Greece,  Morea,  and  most  of  the 
Aegean  Islands  were  under  Turkish 
sway.  The  Black  Sea  was  practically 
an  Ottoman  lake,  and  the  Turkish  fleet 
in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  despite 
the  great  defeat  of  Lepanto  in  1572,  was 
a  formidable  power. 

The  failure  of  the  great  Moslem  as- 
sault on  Vienna  in  1683 — thanks  to 
the  sovereign  of  Poland — and  the  loss  of 
Budapest  in  1686,  marked  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ebbing  of  the  Turkish  tide, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  the  Ottoman 
frontier  has  been  slowly  pushed  back, 
until  now  the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris 


has  intimated  its  intention  to  confine 
Turkish  rule  to  a  small  region  in  Asia 
Minor  between  the  Black  Sea  and  the 
Mediterranean,  as  shown  on  the  fourth 
map  of  the  series. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  Austria  was  Turkey's  most  se- 
rious foe.  The  Hapsburgs  recovered 
Hungary,  Transylvania,  and  much  of 
Slavonia  and  Croatia.  By  1770  Turkey's 
second  great  European  competitor,  Rus- 
sia, had  definitely  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  By  1796  the  buffer  State  of  Po- 
land, which  had  done  some  of  the  most 
effective  fighting  against  the  Turkish 
invasion,  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  Russia 
was  claiming  the  right  to  protect  the 
Christian  subjects  of  the  Sublime  Porte. 
The  modern  phase  of  the  Turkish  ques- 
tion had  practically  begun. 

In  1830  the  Greek  war  of  independence 
ended  in  the  establishment  of  modern 
Greece — the  first  independent  State 
created  out  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Rus- 
sia, too,  was  still  advancing.  The  status 
of  Turkey  at  that  period  is  shown  in  the 
second  of  the  four  maps.  From  1873  to 
1876  a  series  of  revolts  against  Turkish 
musrule  in  the  Balkans  precipitated  the 
Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877,  which 
brought  the  Russian  Army  to  the  door 
of  Constantinople  and  the  British  fleet 
to  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  Other  wars  in 
the  succeeding  decades  nibbled  still  other 
portions  from  the  dwindling  empire  of 


DWINDLING  OF  THE  TURKISH  EMPIRE 


145 


Aif?AB/A/V 
S  £/). 


OTTOMAN    EMPIRE    IN    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY,     WHEN    IT    HAD    ATTAINED    ITS 

GREATEST  EXPANSION 


the  Sultans  until,  in  1908,  Bulgaria  re- 
nounced Turkish  suzerainty.  The  for- 
mation of  the  Balkan  League  by  Monte- 
negro, Serbia,  Bulgaria,  and  Greece  in 
1912  was  followed  promptly  by  the  first 
Balkan  war,  which  forced  Turkey,  al- 
ready weakened  by  a  war  with  Italy  in 
which  she  had  lost  Tripoli,  to  cede  to 
the  Balkan  allies  all  her  territory  north 
of  the  Enos-Media  line,  together  with 
Crete.  When  the  Balkan  States  quar- 
reled and  fought  the  second  Balkan  war 
in  1913,  Turkey  regained  Adrianople  and 
some  minor  shreds  of  what  she  had  lost, 
but  the  diminished  size  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  is  indicated  in  the  third  map  of 
the  accompanying  series. 

Finally,  Turkey's  entry  into  the  world 
war  on  the  side  of  the  Central  Powers 
in  1914  sealed  her  fate  and  made  the 
difference  between  the  third  and  fourth 
maps    presented    herewith.     Though    at 


this  writing  the  terms'  on  which  the 
Allies  will  make  peace  with  Turkey  are 
still  unsettled,  their  larger  aspects  have 
already  been  determined  by  events.  Gen- 
eral Maude's  conquest  of  Bagdad  and 
Mesopotamia  gave  that  region,  with  the 
sanction  of  an  international  mandate, 
into  the  hands  of  British  rulers  ;  the 
progress  made  there  in  the  last  year  is 
described  elsewhere  in  this  issue.  Gen- 
eral Allenby's  successful  campaign  in 
Palestine  likewise  determined  a  future 
under  British  control  for  that  historic 
region;  the  British  Government's  promise 
of  a  Zionist  refuge  there  for  the  perse- 
cuted Jews  of  Eastern  Europe  remains 
still  to  be  worked  out  into  tangible  form. 
Several  secret  treaties  made  early  in  the 
war  also  are  having  a  powerful  influence 
in.  reshaping  the  map  of  the  former  Otto- 
man Empire. 

In  1915  the  British  made  a  treaty  with 


146 


THE   NEW   YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


6*.       °BERlin 

VIENNA 
AUSTRIA0   B|ft 


^  u  s>   s 


\    A 


HUNGARf 


TURKISH   EMPIRE   IN    1833,    AFTER  THE   INROADS  OP  POLAND,    AUSTRIA,    AND   RUSSIA 

HAD   REDUCED   IT 


the  Shereef  of  Mecca,  now  known  as 
King  Hussein,  promising  him  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  new  Arab  kingdom  of 
Hedjaz  in  return  for  the  military  as- 
sistance which  he  and  his  son,  Emir 
Feisal,  were  to  give  and  did  give  in  the 
war  against  the  Turks.  This  Arab  king- 
dom, though  not  yet  delimited,  will  in- 
clude the  mass  of  the  population  south 
of  the  highlands  of  Anatolia  and  Ar- 
menia, and  in  the  regions  south  of  Syria 
and  Palestine,  between  the  seacoast  and 
the  desert.  The  original  promise  seems 
to  have  included  Bagdad,  Damascus,  and 
most  of  Syria  and  Mesopotamia;  the  ex- 
tent to  which  this  is  to  be  fulfilled  re- 
mains one  of  the  problems  puzzling  the 
Peace  Conference. 

Later  France  and  Great  Britain  made 
a  secret  treaty  which  divided  this  same 
area  into  spheres  of  influence,  with  the 


Haifa-Tekrit  line  dividing  them,  and 
with  France  controlling  the  territory 
north  of  that  line  and  Great  Britain  the 
region  south  of  it,  including  Palestine. 
When  the  Italians  entered  the  war  the 
Treaty  of  London  undertook  to  give  them 
a  sphere  of  influence  on  the  Black  Sea 
coast  in  Anatolia.  British  troops  at  the 
close  of  the  war  were  occuying  Syria,  as 
well  as  nearly  all  the  rest  of  the  regions 
involved  in  all  these  changes;  France, 
however,  had  protected  the  Syrian  Chris- 
tians ever  since  the  days  of  the  Crusades, 
and  had  very  considerable  interests  in 
that  country;  hence  there  followed  a 
rather  serious  misunderstanding  between 
the  two  nations  for  a  time,  until  a  sort 
of  modus  vivendi  was  arranged.  The 
French  Government  then  appointed  Gen- 
eral Gouraud  as  Commissioner  in  Syria 
and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  French 


DWINDLING  OF  THE  TURKISH  EMPIRE 


147 


BERUiN 
^t^  A  N  Y 

p,0*  qVICNNA       ^^. 

o 

BUDAPEST 


f^ 


s      S       I      A 


TRIPOLI 


°TEHERAH 

PERSIA 


/\    F"    R.    I     C    A 


TURKEY    IN    1913,    AFTER    THE    LOSS   OF   ITS    POSSESSIONS    IN   AFRICA    AND    IN   THE 

BALKANS 


Army  in  the  East.  He  organized  the 
French  forces  at  Saloniki  into  a  division, 
which  he  united  with  another  division  al- 
ready in  Syria  under  General  Hamelin, 
and  arrived  at  Beirut  on  Nov.  23,  1919, 
to  take  up  his  new  duties.  By  previous 
arrangement  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment his  troops  relieved  the  British 
forces  of  occupation  in  Syria,  and  now 
the  French  and  Arab  armies  are  in  con- 
trol of  the  chief  regions  tentatively  as- 
signed to  France  and  the  Hedjaz. 

But  the  problem  of  an  independent 
Armenian  State,  which  still  further  com- 
plicates the  rivalries  in  Asia  Minor,  and 
which  has  remained  unsolved  because  of 
the  long  delay  of  the  United  States  in 
determining  whether  or  not  to  assume  a 
mandate  for  that  region,  still  further 
puzzles  the  makers  of  the  new  map  of 
what  once  was  Turkey.     Nor  does  this 


exhaust  the  list  of  complications  and 
causes  of  possible  conflict.  The  Greeks, 
who  form  a  large  element  of  the  popula- 
tion along  the  Aegean  Sea,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Smyrna,  are  making  strong 
efforts  to  obtain  a  mandate  for  that  re- 
gion. Their  claims  are  contested  by  the 
Italians,  who  landed  at  Adalia  and  oc- 
cuped  the  seacoast,  and  who  have  clashed 
with  the  increasing  forces  which  Greece 
is  sending  to  protect  its  nationals. 

It  has  recently  become  known  that  in 
1917,  when  the  adhesion  of  Greece  to  the 
Entente  was  greatly  needed,  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  made  with  M.  Venizelos  a  secret 
treaty  promising  Greece  a  slice  of  Ana- 
tolia about  one-third  the  size  of  France. 
M.  Venizelos  sought  and  obtained  per- 
mission to  send  troops  across  the  Aegean 
last  May.  It  was  understood  that  his  in- 
tention was  to  occupy  only  Smyrna  and 


148 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


f*>^     VI|NNA  HONe/NRy        ^    ******  &.^>^ 

to..  BUDAPEST     jtf»*  --» 


\    ^ 


A  F  R  »   C  /\ 


SEA 


TURKEY'S     REDUCED     SIZE     AS     FORESHADOWED     BY     DISCUSSIONS    AT    THE     PEACE 

CONFERENCE  IN  PARIS 


the  immediate  neighborhood;  but  the 
Greeks  proceeded  immediately  to  push 
out  into  the  hinterland,  and  have  ever 
since  waged  war  on  the  whole  country 
around  Aidin  and  devastated  the  beau- 
tiful valley  of  the  Meander  River.  The 
Turks  offered  resistance  there,  and  for 
months  a  war  characterized  by  the  most 
cruel  methods  has  been  going  on.  The 
City  of  Aidin  has  been  pillaged  and 
burned,  and  the  garden  region  around  it 
has  been  laid  waste. 

There  remains  the  problem  of  Con- 
stantinople— whether  it  shall  be  inter- 
nationalized or  left  partly  in  the  hands 
of  the  Turks.  The  efforts  of  the  Turks 
themselves  for  continuance  of  power  also 
cannot  be  ignored,  as  they  have  had  a 
certain  degree  of  support  from  France. 

Such  is  a  bare  outline  of  the  complex 
situation  which  the  break-up  of  Turkey 
has  presented  for  the  solution  of  the 
Peace  Conference.  Pending  the  publi- 
cation of  the  treaty  that  shall  determine 


the  political  fate  of  the  remnant  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  the  best  official  sum- 
mary  of   the   case,   from   an   optimistic 
viewpoint,    is    that    given    by    Premier 
Lloyd    George   in   his    Guildhall   speech, 
Nov.  8,  1919.    He  told  his  audience: 
I  think  I  can  venture  to  say  that  there 
is  complete  agreement  among  all  the  Al- 
lies  on    the   fundamental   principles   of   a 
settlement  with  Turkey.     First  of  all,  we 
are  all  agreed  that  the  Turkish  misgov- 
ernment    in    lands    populated    by    Greeks, 
by  Arabs,  and  by  Armenians  shall  come 
to  an   end.     We  are  all  agreed   that   the 
gates  of  the  Black  Sea  must  be  free   to 
all   nations,    and    that   their  guardianship 
can  no  longer  be   intrusted  to  the  power 
that  betrayed  its   trust  and   closed    those 
gates  in  the  face  of  the  Allies  at  the  be- 
hest of  the  Prussian  military  power.     As 
to  all  other  questions   there  ought  to  be 
no  insuperable  difficulty  in   the  distribu- 
tion of  the   responsibility  among  the  Al- 
lies  for   guaranteeing   this   policy,    distri- 
bution  among  the   nations  whose   friend- 
liness has  borne  the  test,  of  a  great  war 
and   whose   continued   co-operation   is   es- 
sential for  the  peace  and  freedom  of  the 
world. 


Bagdad  Under  British  Rule 

How  Englishmen  Administered  the  City  of  Haroun  al  Raschid 
After  Driving  Out  the  Turks* 


THE  British  occupation  of  Mesopo- 
tamia began  immediately  after  the 
declaration  of  war,  with  an  ad- 
vance on  Basra,  from  which  the 
Turkish  armies  fled  so  hastily  that  all 
records  were  left  undamaged  and  public 
buildings  intact.  Soon  after  came  the 
advance  to  Nasiriyah  on  the  Euphrates, 
to  Amarah,  Kut,  and  Ctesiphon  on  the 
Tigris.  In  the  Spring  of  1917  General 
Maude  recaptured  Kut  and  marched  on 
Bagdad.  The  British  advance  on  Bag- 
dad, unlike  the  occupation  of  Basra,  had 
been  expected,  and  all  records  considered 
valuable  had  been  destroyed  or  removed 
by  the  Turks;  the  Arts  and  Crafts 
School  had  been  deliberately  bombed, 
and  fires  had  been  started  in  the  city. 
What  furniture  the  Turks  left  was  ran- 
sacked by  the  mob  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  departure  of  the  Turks  and 
the  arrival  of  the  British,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment offices  were  a  confusion  of 
broken  furniture,  dirt,  and  piles  of  pa- 
per. 

Order  was  at  once  restored  by  the 
Military  Governor,  but  for  some  time  it 
was  difficult  to  obtain  open  assistance 
from  the  inhabitants.  Too  vivid  was  the 
memory  of  the  butcheries  at  Kut,  when 
those  who  had  assisted  the  British  were 
brutally  massacred,  together  with  their 
families.  Those  officials  who  still  re- 
mained at  their  post,  as,  for  instance,  the 
officials  who  administered  the  public 
debt,  were  passively  resistant,  and  the 
British  were  obliged  practically  unaided 
to  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 

BAGDAD'S  POSITION 

The  capture  of  Bagdad  was  of  trans- 
cendent importance  to  Great  Britain.  It 
vindicated  British  prestige  in  the  East, 
which  had  undoubtedly  been  shaken  by 
the  failure  to  force  the  Dardanelles  and 
relieve  Kut-el-Amara.  It  meant  the  dis- 
ruption of  the  Turkish  Empire  in  Asia, 
the  liberation  of  Persia  from  the  Otto- 


man occupation  of  nearly  30,000  square 
miles  of  her  territory,  and  the  security  of 
the  Indian  frontier.  It  also  stilled  Mo- 
hammedan unrest  in  this  region  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  ultimate  Brit- 
ish victory  in  the  East.  For  Bagdad, 
situated  on  both  banks  of  the  River 
Tigris,  about  200  miles  north  of  the  con- 
fluence of  that  river  with  the  River 
Euphrates  and  about  400  miles  north  of 
Basra,  has  always  been  important  for 
its  position.  About  a  day's  journey 
from  the  treeless,  fertile  plain  of  Meso- 
potamia, in  which  Bagdad  lies  snugly 
within  its  fringe  of  orange  groves,  date 
palms,  and  pomegranate  gardens,  are  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  cities  of  Babylon 
and  Nineveh,  respectively  the  capitals  of 
the  Chaldean  and  Assyrian  Empires,  and 
the  Tower  of  Babel,  all  of  Biblical  fame. 
One  of  the  four  great  gates  of  the  city 
that  face  north,  south,  east,  and  west, 
the  Bab-ul  Muazzam,  an  open  square 
with  bazaars,  is  the  eastern  terminus  of 
the  overland  route  to  Aleppo  and  Europe, 
and  here  the  caravans  arrive  from  Cen- 
tral Arabia  and  pilgrims  set  out  for 
Kerbela.  Bagdad,  indeed,  has  always 
been  the  key  of  the  desert  route  to  Da- 
mascus and  Asia  Minor  and  the  en- 
trance to  the  waterways  leading  to 
Mosul  and  Armenia.  Germany  thought 
so  much  of  Bagdad's  position  that,  with 
Turkey's  consent,  she  made  it  one  of  the 
termini  of  her  Berlin-Bosporus-Bagdad 
Railway,  by  which,  in  the  event  of  future 
war,  she  could  reach  the  British  de- 
pendency of  India. 

A  PAGE  OF  HISTORY 

Bagdad  was  founded  by  Abu  Jaafe-el- 
Mansur,  the  first  of  the  Abbasia  Caliphs, 
in  762.  He  built  the  city  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Tigris,  on  the  place  which 


*  This  article  is  based  in  part  on  an  article, 
"  Turkish  Rule  and  British  Administration 
in  Mesopotamia,"  which  appeared  In  The 
Quarterly  Review  for  October,  1919. 


150 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the   Persians   had  named   Bagadata,  or 
the  "  Gift  of  God."    For  500  years  Bag- 
dad remained  the  seat  of  the  Caliphate, 
until,  in  1258,  Hulagu,  grandson  of  Gen- 
ghis Khan,  at  the  head  of  his  Mongol 
hordes,  put  it  to  the  sack.   At  its  zenith 
Bagdad  was  the  city  described  in  "  The 
Arabian  Nights,"  orientally  magnificent, 
under  the  rule  of  the  famous  Caliph  of 
romantic  memories,  Haroun  al  Raschid, 
or  Aaron  the  Just,  who  reigned  from  786 
to  809.     Tennyson  described  the  throne 
of  Haroun  as  follows: 
Six  columns,  three  on  either  side, 
Pure  silver,  underpropt  a  rich 
Throne  of  the  massy  ore,  from  which 
Down  droop'd,  in  many  a  floating  fold, 
Engarlanded  and  diaper' d 
With  inwrought  flowers,  a  cloth  of  gold. 
Thereon,  his  deep  eye  laughter  stirr'd 
With  merriment  of  kingly  pride, 
Sole  star  of  all  that  place  and  time, 
I  saw  him  in  his  goodly  prime, 
The  good  Haroun  al  Raschid. 

After  the  Mongol  invasion  Bagdad 
ceased  to  be  the  spiritual  home  of  Islam. 
Again,  in  1410,  the  city  was  sacked  by 
Tamerlane;  Suleiman  conquered  it  in 
1534,  and  the  Persians  in  1624.  On 
Christmas  Day,  1638,  the  city  surren- 
dered to  Murad  IV.,  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
and  it  remained  in  Turkish  hands  until 
March  11,  1917,  the  date  of  its  capture 
by  the  British. 

The  Turkish  administration  which  the 
British  replaced  had  been  in  the  hands 
of  a  Pasha,  assisted  by  a  council.  The 
rulers  were  the  tools  of  Constantinople, 
and  were  unpopular  with  the  Arabs  on 
account  of  religious  differences.  The 
population  consisted  of  Persians,  Jews, 
Turks,  Chaldeans,  Arabs,  Armenians, 
Greeks,  and  Levantines,  and  numbered 
about  200,000,  as  against  the  2,000,000 
of  the  time  of  the  Caliphs.  Of  these 
200,000,  about  120,000  were  Mohamme- 
dans, 60,000  Jews,  and  20,000  Christians, 
including  5,000  Armenians.  Turkish  and 
Arabic  were  the  main  languages  spoken. 

A   DISTRIBUTING    CENTRE 

In  ancient  times  Bagdad  was  a  most 
prosperous  city,  but  it  had  declined  in 
importance  under  the  inefficient  and 
slovenly  Turkish  rule.  Yet  it  had  long 
been  a  busy  forwarding  centre.  From 
Damascus   silks   and  embroideries  were 


brought  to  it  by  caravans  of  camels  and 
distributed  to  the  various  Persian  towns, 
and  Persian  rugs,  carpets,  fruits,  drugs 
and  other  commodities  were  sent  back  in 
exchange.  Goods  from  Europe  and  India 
were  transported  by  sea  to  Basra,  thence 
up-river  to  Bagdad  and  Mosul  in  the 
picturesque  dhows  of  which  we  read  so 
much  in  books  of  the  slave  trade.  Most 
of  the  business  of  the  city  was  conducted 
throught  the  Imperial  Ottoman  Bank, 
though  "  sarrafs  "  (small  Jewish  banks) 
also  received  their  quotas. 

When  the  British  occupied  the  city 
they  found  that  the  finger  of  time  had 
passed  lightly  over  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  town,  leaving  an  intact,  un- 
changed picture  of  the  east  of  ancient 
days.  The  irrigation  of  the  fields  was 
still  carried  on  in  primitive  fashion,  the 
water  being  drawn  from  the  river  by 
means  of  waterwheels  driven  by  teams 
of  horses;  the  men  still  spun  with  old- 
fashioned  looms  in  the  open  air,  the  pa- 
tient ox  still  trod  out  the  corn,  the  wo- 
men still  ground  the  grain  between  the 
upper  and  nether  millstones,  the  shep- 
herd still  led  his  flock  to  the  green  pas- 
tures. 

British  observers  saw  the  travelers 
coming  down  the  turbulent  Tigris  on 
rafts  composed  of  inflated  goatskins,  and 
Bible  scenes  rose  again  before  their  eyes 
as  they'  saw  the  Arab  ride  past  on  a 
steed  worthy  of  the  name,  the  goatherd 
surrounded  by  his  flock,  the  money- 
changers plying  their  trade  in  the  dusty 
streets,  the  Jews  shuffling  by,  with  their 
long  white  beards,  the  camels  swaying 
slowly  over  the  sands,  and  heard  the 
raucous  cries  of  the  water-sellers,  the 
patter  of  water-donkeys,  the  clatter  of 
vehicles  driven  at  top-speed.  But  under 
the  setting  sun  they  saw  the  Bagdad 
redolent  of  romance,  a  glorified  Bagdad, 
pervaded  with  the  atmosphere  of  mys- 
tery and  adventure  evoked  by  Sir,  Rich- 
ard Burton's  translation  of  "  The 
Arabian  Nights." 

Bathed  in  this  sunset  the  river  seemed 
to  be  a  stream  of  liquid  fire,  while  the 
domes  and  minarets  of  the  mosques  stood 
clearly  outlined  against  a  pale  blue  back- 
ground. 

In  the   coffee  gardens — collections  of 


BAGDAD  UNDER  BRITISH  RULE 


151 


MESOPOTAMIA  AND  THE  ADJOINING 
REGIONS  OP  THE  FORMER  TURKISH 
EMPIRE  NOW  UNDER  BRITISH  AD- 
MINISTRATION 


benches  under  the  shade  of  palm  trees — 
the  merchants  met  to  discuss  business, 
and  as  they  sat  cross-legged,  drank  the 
thick,  delicious  coffee  served  in  cups 
without  handles.  Beyond,  the  city  bazaar 
offered  a  feast  of  color.  The  gorgeous 
Eastern  dyes  made  vivid  splashes  of 
color;  the  gleam  of  silver  and  gilt- 
embroidered  goods  from  Damascus  caught 
the  eye. 

THE  BRITISH  RULE 

But  these  were  only  the  romantic  and 
picturesque  features  of  Bagdad.  When 
the  British  came  in  they  found  the  city 
almost  wholly  lacking  in  the  essentials 
of  good  government.  At  first  they  had 
to  play  their  civilizing  hand  alone,  and 
were  the  object  of  much  distrust  and 
suspicion.  The  Arabs  of  the  Euphrates 
had  never  been  much  governed,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  Sheiks  had  come  to 
Bagdad  and  been  personally  received  by 


the  British  Political  Officer,  and  had 
seen  and  heard  what  was  being  done 
under  British  rule,  that  real  progress 
was  possible. 

There  was  much  to  give  them  confi- 
dence. Bagdad,  from  a  picturesquely 
beautiful  but  disorderly,  unhygienic,  un- 
policed  and  drink-loving  city,  had  in  a 
very  short  time  become  orderly;  it  pos- 
sessed clean  streets,  electric  lighting,  a 
municipal  government  under  a  military 
Governor,  a  police  force,  night  watch- 
men, a  prison,  a  hospital,  and  even  a 
fire  brigade.  Religious  and  civil  tri- 
bunals had  been  established.  The  liquor 
laws  were  reformed,  and  all  drinking 
shops  licensed.  The  salt  monopoly  was 
suspended,  the  tobacco  supply  was  regu- 
lated officially  as  a  necessity  to  the 
Arab  population.  The  functions  of  the 
public    debt    were    taken    over    by    the 


152 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


British  authorities  in  such  a  way  as  to 
increase  confidence. 

Bagdad  had  always  prided  itself  upon 
its  learning,  its  libraries,  and  its  tradi- 
tions, and  education  was  a  problem  that 
required  immediate  attention.  An  edu- 
cation committee  was  appointed  consist- 
ing of  five  of  the  notables.  Of  eighty 
schoolmasters  who  applied  for  positions 
and  who  were  obliged  to  take  an  exami- 
nation, only  five  were  found  qualified  to 
teach,  and  these  five  had  been  head- 
masters. A  primary  school  was  opened 
at  once  under  these  five,  while  for  the 
remainder  an  advanced  class  was  started, 
and  lectures  in  Arabic,  geography,  his- 
tory, and  the  science  of  teaching  were 
arranged.  Fifteen  teachers  declined  to 
attend  this  course,  and  of  the  remaining 
sixty  only  twenty-seven  passed  the 
examination  held  at  the  end  of  the  first 
three  months.  Another  course  was  begun 
at  the  Normal  School,  private  schools 
were  reopened,  and  on  passing  inspection 
were  granted  sutstantial  financial  as- 
sistance. The  Boy  Scout  movement  was 
inaugurated,  Arabic  was  made  the  of- 
ficial language  and  the  vehicle  of  in- 
struction. English  also  was  taught,  and 
eagerly  enrolled  for.  Map  drafters  and 
engineers  were  trained  and  put  to  work. 
By  the,  Summer  of  1918  the  work  had 
become  so  heavy  that  an  education  de- 
partment under  a  director  was  estab- 
lished, and  the  Revenue  Office  was  re- 
lieved of  what  till  then  had  been  an 
additional  duty. 

All  this  was  not  without  influence  on 
the  Sheiks  of  the  agricultural  tribes,  but 
what  appealed  still  more  to  them  was  the 
attention  which  the  British  administra- 
tion paid  to  the  agriculturist.  The  oil- 
driven  pumping  plants,  of  which  there 
were  over  300  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Bagdad,  were  again  busy  on  the  banks. 
The  oil-fuel,  of  which  the  natives  had 
been  deprived  for  two  years,  was  pro- 
vided by  military  transport;  stolen  parts 
were  traced  and  recovered;  assistance 
was  given;  and  eventually  a  separate 
branch  of  the  military  workshop  was  es- 
tablished for  the  repair  of  agricultural 
machinery.  Seed,  including  that  of  the 
potato,  hitherto  unknown,  was  distri- 
buted, and  advice  on  cultivation  given. 
Side  by  side  with  these  tangible  evi- 


dences of  British  good-will  was  the  ever 
widening  influence  of  Sir  Percy  Cox, 
who  had  been  appointed  Chief  Political 
Officer  in  the  Autumn  of  1914.  "Kokus," 
as  his  name  was  Arabicized,  had  become 
a  hero;  songs  in  his  honor  were  sung  at 
the  camp-fire;  and  a  mythical  Saga  of 
his  doings  and  the  motives  therefor  was 
passed  on  from  Arab  to  Arab,  and  re- 
peated by  those  who  had  never  seen  him. 

MESOPOTAMIA'S   REVIVAL 

So  the  ancient  city  of  Bagdad  was 
transformed.  Elsewhere  throughout 
Mesopotamia  the  same  story  of  British 
achievement  could  be  told.  All  towns 
occupied  were  at  once  placed  under  mili- 
tary Governors,  districts  were  shaped, 
guarantees  were  exchanged  with  Sheiks, 
revenue  contracts  were  revised,  and 
courts  of  civil  justice  were  established. 
Sympathetic  treatment  when  the  crops 
were  bad  and  the  elimination  of  oppres- 
sive taxation  went  far  to  gain  native  con- 
fidence. Sheiks,  subject  to  Governmental 
control,  were  made  responsible  for  order 
among  their  tribes,  and  for  the  payment 
of  revenue.  Justice  was  summary,  and 
sentences  were  more  varied  and  effective 
than  those  found  in  the  Code.  A  public 
servant  found  stealing  Government  prop- 
erty, for  instance,  was  sentenced  to  carry 
through  the  bazaar  an  inscription  in 
either  hand,  one  reading:  "  With  this 
hand  I  receive  from  the  Government," 
the  other,  "  With  this  hand  I  steal  from 
the  Government  I  serve."  Dispensaries 
were  opened,  and  much  of  the  blindness 
that  curses  Mesopotamia  even  more 
grievously  than  India  was  relieved. 
Measures  for  the  training  of  competent 
teachers  were  taken,  and  as  these  became 
available  schools  in  which  Arabic  was 
the  medium  of  instruction  were  opened. 

The  general  situation  in  1917  through- 
out Irak  gave  reason  for  disquietude;  the 
agricultural  situation  was  serious,  and 
there  was  also  a  general  feeling '  of  in- 
security. Kerbala  and  Hillah  had  openly 
risen  against  the  Turk,  and  there  had 
been  pillage  and  massacre;  Nejef  was 
raw  with  irritation.  It  was  stated  that 
Turks  had  invaded  harems  on  the  plea 
of  searching  for  men  in  hiding  to  evade 
military  service.  The  populace  was  ner- 
vous of  all  authority.    The  British  mili- 


BAGDAD   UNDER  BRITISH  RULE 


153 


tary  situation  at  this  time,  also,  was 
none  too  secure  in  the  eyes  of  the  cal- 
culating Arab.  The  British  were  indeed 
at  Bagdad,  and  their  forces  were  estab- 
lished at  Falujah  on  the  Euphrates  and 
at  Samarra  on  the  Tigris,  but  Turkish 
guns  commanded  the  headworks  of  the 
five  canals  that  are  drawn  from  the 
Diyalah,  Ramadi  still  held  out,  and  there 
was  an  unsubdued  little  garrison  in  Di- 
waniyah. 

The  influence  of  the  Chief  Political  Of- 
ficer and  the  Revenue  Board,  however, 
soon  made  itself  felt.  The  canal  system, 
which  had  gone  to  pieces  during  the  war, 
was  repaired  and  made  available  for  ac- 
tive use;  an  agricultural  development 
scheme  was  devised  and  applied  with 
considerable  success;  meanwhile  military 
operations  were  continued  which  led  to 
the  capture  of  the  points  still  held  by  the 
Turks;  Diwaniyah  fell  in  August,  Ram- 
adi in  the  early  Autumn,  and  the  Turks 
were  also  driven  from  their  position  com- 
manding the  Diyalah  canals.  Relieved 
at  last  of  the  fear  that  the  Turks  would 
return  and  take  revenge,  the  Sheiks  came 
in  and  brought  their  submission,  and  the 
work  of  regeneration  throughout  Irak 
went  on  smoothly  and  without  obstruc- 
tion. 

AGRICULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  success  of  the  agricultural  devel- 
opment scheme  exceeded  all  expectations, 
for  it  produced  253,000  tons  of  crop  and 
50,400  tons  of  revenue.  By  October, 
1918,  49,000  tons  of  revenue  corn  had 
been  handed  over  to  the  army  for  its 
support;  by  February,  1919,  approxi- 
mately 80%  of  advances  had  been  repaid. 
The  total  area  under  cultivation  in  1917- 
18  was  calculated  at  1,000,000  acres,  of 
which  600,000  were  in  the  Bagdad  vila- 
yet.   It  was  proposed  for  the  1918-19  cul- 


tivation to  increase  this  to  1,500,000 
acres,  the  maximum  for  which  water 
could  be  made  available,  population 
found,  and  cattle  provided. 

Of  many  urgent  schemes  of  improve- 
ment considered,  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant was  the  provision  of  a  new  head  for 
the  Khalis  canal.  This  engineering  feat, 
which  involved  the  driving  of  a  passage 
through  the  rocks  of  the  Jabal  Mansuri- 
yah,  saved  a  valuable  cereal  and  garden 
area  of  over  100,000  acres  from  a  pre- 
carious situation,  a  bend  of  the  river 
having  dangerously  threatened  the  old 
headworks.  Two  additional  canals  made 
available  on  the  Euphrates  brought 
60,000  new  acres  under  cultivation. 
Plow  oxen  were  introduced  from  India, 
valuable  results  from  cotton  experiments 
and  tests  of  sugar,  beet  and  wheat  were 
obtained,  and  cattle  breeding  received 
great  attention. 

At  this  point  the  war  ended.  Both 
Irak  and  the  rich  province  of  Mosul  were 
provisionally  in  British  hands.  Mesopo- 
tamia was  a  country  of  great  promise, 
and  though  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  reconstruction  were  still  considerable, 
though  land  problems  and  the  adjust- 
ment of  rights  between  Arab  cultivators 
and  city  proprietors  called  for  skillful 
handling,  it  was  already  clear  that,  given 
continued  good  government,  the  future  of 
this  portion  of  Arabia  might  develop  a 
prosperity  reminiscent  of  the  semi- 
mythical  and  romantic  days  of  good  old 
Haroun  al  Raschid. 

Meanwhile  the  fate  of  Mesopotamia, 
and  of  Bagdad,  the  "  City  of  the  Gift  of 
God,"  has  remained  undecided  by  the 
Peace  Conference  at  Paris,  and  what  the 
future  will  bring  to  this  Arabic-Turkish 
country  in  the  way  of  government  no 
man  as  yet  can  tell. 


Persia  and  the  Young  Shah 

Picturesque  Scenes  Marking  the  Ruler's  Visit  to  London- 
The    Anglo-Persian    Agreement 


SULTAN  AHMED  SHAH  KAJAR, 
the  ruler  of  Persia — a  young  man 
of  only  21  years — arrived  in  London 
on  Oct.  31,  1919,  and  received  a 
welcome  of  international  significance,  in 
view  of  the  recent  agreement  between 
the  two  nations.  At  the  Victoria  Sta- 
tion a  large  company  of  British  royal- 
ty, statesmen  and  notables  awaited  the 
guest;  the  platform  had  been  reserved, 
carpeted  and  decorated  for  the  occasion. 
The  outer  walls  of  the  royal  waiting 
room  were  covered  with  crimson  cloth, 
and  on  each  side  of  the  doorway  leading 
from  the  platform  to  the  waiting  room 
were  banks  of  flowers  and  plants,  above 
which  floated  the  Persian  flag.  The  in- 
terior was  beautifully  decorated,  and  the 
station  yard  outside  was  hung  with  Brit- 
ish, Persian  and  other  national  flags. 
A  guard  of  honor  of  the  Coldstream 
Guards,  with  band,  was  posted  in  the  sta- 
tion yard;  a  sovereign's  escort  of  House- 
hold Cavalry  was  in  waiting  at  the  exit; 
and  the  King  sent  five  four-horse  open 
carriages  with  attendants  in  royal  scarlet 
to  convey  the  Persian  ruler  from  the 
station  to  Buckingham  Palace. 

As  the  time  of  arrival  drew  near,  dis- 
tinguished personages  began  to  arrive, 
and  took  up  their  positions  on  the  car- 
peted platform  in  readiness  to  meet  the 
Shah.  Among  these  were  included  the 
Prime  Minister,  Earl  Curzon  of  Kedles- 
ton,  Mr.  Balfour,  Viscount  Milner,  Mr. 
Shortt  and  other  Ministers;  the  Marquis 
of  Crewe,  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Sheriffs 
of  London,  the  Mayor  of  Westminster, 
Lord  Downham  (Chairman  to  the  Lon- 
don County  Council),  Earl  Haig  (Com- 
mander in  Chief,  Great  Britain),  Field 
Marshal  Sir  Henry  Wilson  (Chief  of  the 
Imperial  Staff),  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield 
(Master  of  the  Horse)  and  many  others. 
Presently  a  sharp  military  command 
and  the  playing  of  the  national  anthem 
indicated  to  those  inside  the  arrival  of  a 
member   of   the   royal   family.      It   was 


Prince  Arthur  of  Connaught,  who  almost 
immediately  joined  the  group  on  the  plat- 
form. Still  later  the  national  anthem 
again  was  played  as  the  King  arrived. 

When  the  Persian  ruler,  arriving  from 
Dover,  stepped  from  his  special  train, 
King  George  shook  hands  with  him  very 
cordially  and  said  a  few  words  of  warm 
welcome.  The  young  ruler,  who  has  a 
very  portly  figure  and  an  intelligent- 
looking  face,  wore  a  Persian  military  uni- 
form. A  notable  feature  of  his  dress 
was  an  Astrakhan  fez,  ornamented  in 
front  with  a  richly  jeweled  white  aigrette. 
The  King  presented  Prince  Arthur  of 
Connaught,  and  immediately  afterward 
the  Prime  Minister. 

The  next  few  minutes  were  occupied  in 
a  series  of  presentations  on  both  sides, 
and  then  the  visitor  and  the  members 
of  the  reception  party  passed  through 
the  royal  waiting  room  to  the  station 
yard.  The  guard  of  honor  gave  a  royal 
salute,  the  band  played  the  Persian  na- 
tional anthem  and  the  Shah  proceeded 
to  make  an  inspection  of  the  guard.  At 
the  close  of  this  ceremony  the  visitor 
stepped  into  the  leading  carriage  and 
was  driven  to  Buckingham  Palace  amid 
cheers  and  friendly  demonstrations  from 
the  crowds  in  the  streets. 

HONORS   AT  THE    GUILDHALL 

Among  the  many  honors  paid  to  the 
Persian  ruler  in  the  next  few  days  the 
most  important  were  those  at  the  Guild- 
hall on  Nov.  1,  when  the  Lord  Mayor 
presented  an  address  to  the  Shah  from 
the  City  of  London  and  entertained  him 
at  a  luncheon. 

On  arrival  at  the  Guildhall,  where  a 
guard  of  honor  was  furnished  by  the 
Grenadier  Guards,  the  Shah  was  re- 
ceived by  the  city  officials  and  a  proces- 
sion was  formed  to  the  library,  where 
the  presentation  ceremony  took  place. 
Headed  by  the  city  trumpeters,  in  their 
picturesque  golden  tabards,  the  proces- 


PERSIA  AND  THE  YOUNG  SHAH 


155 


sion  comprised  the  City  Marshal  and  the 
Under  Sheriffs,  the  Chairman  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Reception  Committee,  the 
Town  Clerk,  the  Sheriffs,  the  Recorder, 
the  royal  suites,  Prince  Arthur  of  Con- 
naught,  Prince  Albert,  the  sword  bearer 
and  mace  bearer,  the  Lord  Mayor,  in  his 
robes  of  black  and  gold,  with  Princess 
Arthur  of  Connaught,  and  the  Shah  with 
the  Lady  Mayoress.  His  Imperial  Ma- 
jesty, who  was  received  with  cheers, 
wore  a  blue  coat  with  scarlet  facings, 
and  a  fez  with  an  immense  diamond  and 
an  aigrette. 

LORD    MAYOR'S    ADDRESS 
The  Lord  Mayor,  rising  at  the  close  of 
the  luncheon  and  after  the  toast  of  the 
King  had  been  honored,  proposed  that  of 
the  Shah.    He  said: 

His  Imperial  Majesty  is  the  ruler  of  a 
people  whose  ancient  glories  are  without 
a  parallel  even  in  the  wonderful  history 
of  the  great  empires  of  the  East.  Five 
hundred  years  before  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  era,  the  power  established  by 
Cyrus  and  Darius  united  under  a  single 
sway  all  the  races  of  the  Near  and  Mid- 
dle East.  From  age  to  age  the  Persian 
national  genius  endured.  In  the  four- 
teenth century  the  vast  conquests  of 
Tamerlane  in  Asia  and  Eastern  Europe 
were  made ;  and  as  lately  as  the  eight- 
eenth century  Nadir  Shah  marched 
through  Northern  India  and  gave  the 
empire  of  the  moguls  its  deathblow.  The 
Persian  name  has  stood  not  merely  for 
conquest,  but  for  civilization  and  the 
things  of  the  mind.  Persian  poetry  is  the 
finest  flower  of  Oriental  culture.  The 
arts  in  Persia  have  known  periods  of  the 
most  splendid  development. 

With  such  memories  to  inspire  them  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  Persian  people  in 
recent  years  have  felt  more  and  more  the 
impulse  to  play  an  active  part  in  the  new 
life  which  has  opened  for  the  nations  of 
the  Middle  East.  The  talents  and  the 
gifts  of  character  which  have  made  so 
much  history  are  still  strong  in  the  Per- 
sian race ;  and  those  Englishmen  who 
have  most  deeply  studied  the  life  of  mod- 
ern Persia  are  the  most  fully  convinced 
that  a  future  of  new  greatness  lies  before 
it. 

That  is  a  prospect  in  which  Great  Brit- 
ain must  feel  the  keenest  and  most  sym- 
pathetic interest.  For  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  the  relations  between  the  two 
countries  have  been  of  cordial  friendship. 
The  great-grandfather  of  our  imperial 
guest  visitecTthis  country  on  three  occa- 
sions. His  grandfather  came  among  us 
in    1902.      Both    monarchs    received    the 


warmest  popular  welcome.  The  visit  of 
his  Imperial  Majesty  the  present  Shah 
takes  places  in  profoundly  changed  con- 
ditions and  under  still  more  favorable 
auspices.  Two  of  the  powers  which  were 
the  neighbors  of  Persia  are  today  in 
ruins ;  there  remains  Great  Britain,  so 
long  her  firmest  friend,  the  power  to 
which  the  Persian  State  has  always  been 
most  ready  to  turn  for  such  assistance 
and  counsel  as  we  were  able  to  give. 

The  Anglo-Persian  agreement,  so  hap- 
pily concluded  three  months  ago,  brings 
the  two  countries  into  a  more  intimate 
relationship  than  has  yet  existed,  and 
will  bring  about,  I  am  convinced,  a  yet 
closer  and  more  cordial  friendship.  With 
the  new  strength  and  security  which  it  is 
the  purpose  of  the  new  agreement  to  con- 
fer on  Persia,  she  will,  we  trust  and  be- 
lieve, play  that  important  r61e  in  the 
world  to  which  her  remarkable  history 
entitles  her. 

ANGLO-PERSIAN   AGREEMENT 

Lord  Curzon,  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  in  supporting  the  toast, 
said  many  complimentary  things  about 
the  gu«=st  of  honor,  and  at  length  referred 
to  the  Anglo-Persian  agreement,  which 
had  been  concluded  at  Teheran,  Persia, 
on  Aug.  9,  1919.  (See  November  Cur- 
rent History.)  The  London  Times  sum- 
marized Lord  Curzon's  statements  on  this 
subject  as  follows: 

What  did  we  desire  to  do  by  that  agree- 
ment? We  wished  to  assist  his  Majesty 
and  his  Government  in  the  restoration  of 
peace  and  order  to  his  country,  sadly 
vexed  and  agitated  by  the  disturbance  of 
the  recent  war.  We  wished  to  assist  him 
in  developing  the  resources  of  his  native 
land.  Those  resources  were  indeed  con- 
siderable ;  resources  both  above  and  below 
soil.  They  were  the  resources  of  trade 
and  the  resources  of  a  naturally  indus- 
trious and  capable  population.  What  Per- 
sia wanted  at  the  present  time  was  se- 
curity of  her  frontiers  to  prevent  their 
being  crossed  by  any  foe ;  and  internally, 
order  and  law,  the  authority  of  his 
Majesty  to  be  felt  in  every  quarter  of  his 
country ;  pacification  of  the  trade  routes 
along  which  she  carries  goods  in  ex- 
change for  produce  with  foreign  lands.  In 
this  respect  land  transport  and  communi- 
cation were  lamentably  difficult.  Then 
there  was  the  administration  of  justice 
for  her  people,  and,  above  all  (which  was 
the  secret  of  all  successful  administra- 
tion),  a  sound  and  economic  finance. 

If  his  Majesty's  Government  with  Great 
Britain's  friendly  assistance  could  develop 
the  resources  to  which  he  had  referred, 
Persia  had  a  great  future  before  her. 
Her    trade    could    develop    and    her    soil 


156 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


could  be  made  to  sustain  a  much  larger 
population  than  at  present.  There  was 
no  reason  why  Persia  should  not  recover 
a  great  and  resounding  position  as  one  of 
the  independent  Mussulman  nations  of  the 
world.  The  object  of  the  present  Govern- 
ment—as it  was  the  object  of  every 
patriotic  Eng'ishman— was  to  assist  Per- 
sia in  the  maintenance  of  her  inde- 
pendence and  integrity  and  to  render 
easy  the  execution  of  that  task.  I  recall 
— and  I  see  it  blazoned  on  one  of  the  flags 
at  the  end  of  this  hall— the  national  em- 
blem of  Persia.  It  is  the  Lion  and  the 
Sun.  May  we  not  find  in  that  juxta- 
position [concluded  Lord  Curzon]  a 
happy  omen ;  the  British  Lion  stands 
forth  as  the  proud  and  valiant  champion 
of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  Persia.  Over 
his  shoulders  rises  the  orb  of  the  steadily 
increasing  progress  and  prosperity  of 
Persia  itself. 

THE   SHAH'S   REPLY 

The  Shah,  who  responded  in  French, 
said  he  was  profoundly  touched  by  the 
welcome  accorded  to  him  in  this  ancient 
and  historic  hall.     He  continued: 

As.  representing  a  new  and  liberal 
regime  from  which  my  people  expect  a 
regeneration  of  the  country,  a  regenera- 
tion unhappily  retarded  up  to  now  by 
external  influences,  I  am  happy  to  take 
this  opportunity  to  refer  to  the  strong 
bonds  of  friendship  which  have  existed 
for  so  long  between  Persia  and  Great 
Britain.  This  moment  is  particularly  well 
chosen  for  the  strengthening  of  them, 
thanks  to  the  new  spirit  of  co-operation 
and  fraternity  between  the  peoples,  con- 
secrated by  the  League  of  Nations,  which 
guarantees  the  free  development  of  all 
countries  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  their 
independence  and  their  integrity. 

Not  only  does  Persia,  on  account  of  her 
great  riches,  open  a  vast  field  of  economic 
enterprise,  but,  thanks  to  her  geographical 
position  in  the  Middle  East,  she  affords 
the  easiest  access  to  the  immense  re- 
sources of  Central  Asia.  Even  as  Persia 
in  the  olden  days  was  the  most  direct 
road  between  the  West  and  the  East,  so 
today  she  will  provide  a  new  and  im- 
portant thoroughfare  between  neighboring 
countries  and  will  bring  to  the  heart  of 
Asia  the  civilizing  influence  of  the  West. 
She  will  serve  at  the  same  time  to  de- 
velop the  economic  relations  between  the 
Western  Hemisphere  and  that  part  of  the 
world. 

I  have  come  to  your  country  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  your  methods,  and  I 
intend  to  visit  some  of  those  great  indus- 
trial centres  for  which,  quite  rightly,  you 
are  famous  throughout  the  world.  The 
advancement  of  the  material  and  social 
progress  of  my  people  and  the  improve- 
ment of  their  position,  are  my  most  cher- 


ished wish,  and  I  am  confident  that  I 
shall  take  back  with  me  most  valuable 
suggestions  and  instructive  ideas  on  which 
we  can  base  our  program  of  reform  and 
reorganization. 

I  express  faithfully  the  feelings  of  my 
people  when  I  say  that  Persia  is  reso- 
lutely determined  to  co-operate  in  the 
establishment  of  law  and  order  in  the 
Middle  East,  a  condition  which  is  essen- 
tial to  economic  relations  and  commer- 
cial enterprises.  Persia  is  helped  in  this 
by  the  removal  of  certain  restrictions 
which  hitherto  had  hindered  international 
commerce  between  her  and  neighboring 
States.  For  myself  I  shall  take  every 
occasion  to  advance  commercial  relations 
by  or  with  my  country. 

As  a  consequence,  my  attention  is  spe- 
cially directed  to  the  importance  of  the 
improvement  of  the  communications  by 
the  construction  of  railways  and  the  im- 
provement of  roads  for  motor  transports 
— two  conditions  which  are  absolutely 
essential  for  the  development  of  our 
country.  My  earnest  desire  will  be  to 
assist  my  country  to  become  the  inter- 
mediary connecting  the  industrial  coun- 
tries of  the  West  with  those  of  the  Middle 
East,  which  are  possessed  of  such  vast 
natural  resources. 

After  attending  various  other  functions 
the  Shah  left  London  a  few  days  later 
to  visit  various  cities  of  the  British 
Isles,  including  Edinburgh. 

PERSIAN    RULER'S    CAREER 

Born  on  Jan.  20, 1898,  Ahmed  Shah  was 
a  boy  of  9  when  he  exercised  his  first  im- 
portant duty  of  statecraft.  As  heir-ap- 
parent he  added  his  signature  to  that  of 
his  father,  the  Shah  Mahomed  Ali,  to  the 
ratification  of  the  newly  written  Constitu- 
tion drawn  up  by  the  Majlis  (National 
Assembly)  on  Western  lines.  Within  two 
years  Mahomed  Ali  lost  his  throne  in 
consequence  of  his  futile  attempts  to 
stamp  out  the  constitutional  system  and 
to  regain  the  absolutism  of  his  ancestors. 
On  July  18,  1909,  Ahmed  Shah,  then  in 
his  twelfth  year,  was  proclaimed  sov- 
ereign, his  father  being  a  refugee  at  the 
Russian  Legation.  For  five  years  the  boy 
was  under  the  regency,  first  of  Azad-ul- 
Mulk,  a  member  of  the  royal  family,  and 
after  his  death  of  Nasir-ul-Mulk,  a 
man  of  European  education  and  high 
character. 

His  coronation  took  place'  with  im- 
pressive ceremonial  on  July  21,  1914,  so 
that  he  attained   ruling  powers  on  the 


PERSIA   AND   THE   YOUNG  SHAH 


157 


veiy  eve  of  the  great  war.  In  the  pre- 
ceding five  years  the  administration  was 
carried  on  largely  in  accordance  with  the 
views  of  the  Majlis,  though  considerably 
tempered  by  the  ominous  power  of  Rus- 
sian troops,  not  only  in  the  "  sphere  of 
influence  "  assigned  to  the  Czarist  Gov- 
ernment by  the  Anglo-Russian  Conven- 
tion of  1907,  but  also  in  the  "neutral 
sphere."  The  Teheran  Government  was 
most  impecunious  and  the  country  beyond 
the  reach  of  Russian  Cossacks  was  in  a 
state  of  continuous  turbulence. 

These  were  favorable  conditions  for 
Teutonic  intrigue,  which  had  long  been 
active  in  the  region  of  the  Persian  Gulf. 
German  and  Turkish  emissaries  did  their 
utmost  to  force  Persia  into  an  open,  or  at 
least  a  covert,  breach  of  the  neutrality 
Teheran  had  declared.  The  die  was  def- 
initely cast  by  the  action  of  the  young 
ruler  in  November,  1915,  when  there  was 
a  close  trial  of  strength  between  the 
hostile  powers.  Torn  by  conflicting  ad- 
vice, Ahmed  Shah,  a  mere  boy  of  17,  took 
a  strong  stand  for  the  Allies,  and  refused 
to  leave  Teheran  to  join  the  German, 
Austrian,  and  Turkish  emissaries  wait- 
ing for  him  six  miles  away.  But  fur- 
ther difficulties  were  created  by  the  sub- 
sequent collapse  of  Russia,  whose  troops 
had  dealt  harshly  with  the  Persians.  The 


situation  was  not  secure  from  the  allied 
point  of  view  until  the  overthrow  of  the 
military  prestige  of  the  Turk  put  an  end 
once  for  all  to  the  danger  of  Turkish 
aggression  across  the  border. 

Though  the  tendency  of  some  of  the 
greybeards  in  power  had  been  to  treat 
the  Shah  as  little  more  than  a  figure- 
head, he  showed  through  these  critical 
years  a  growing  capacity  for  statesman- 
ship. His  careful  education  at  Teheran, 
mostly  by  foreign  professors,  had  pro- 
vided him  with  keys  to  first-hand  study 
of  the  case  of  the  Allies. 

He  knows  English  and  Russian,  and 
talks  French  fluently  and  accurately, 
though  with  a  marked  accent.  He  has 
shown  himself  friendly  to  European  in- 
fluences. In  appearance  he  is  short  and 
stout.  He  is  a  good  lawn  tennis  player 
and  a  stanch  supporter  of  outdoor 
sports.  As  a  boy  he  was  much  attached 
to  his  father,  and  he  visited  him  in  his 
exile  at  Prinkipo  when  traveling  west- 
ward last  August.  He  has  had  some 
military  training  at  the  hands  of  young 
Persians  who  had  been  attached  to  the 
French  Army.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of 
his  intention  to  adhere  to  constitutional 
rule  or  of  the  popularity  he  has  attained, 
while  still  on  the  threshold  of  manhood, 
among  his  people. 


New  Republics  in  Europe 

The  Eastern  Europe  Review  gives  the  names  and  population  figures  of 
ten  new  Eastern  republics  as  follows: 

Esthonia — 47,500  square  kilometers,  1,750,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  93  per 
cent,  are  Esthonians. 

Latvia — 64,196  square  kilometers,  2,552,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  72  per 
cent  are  Letts. 

Lithuania — 125,000  square  kilometers,  6,000,000  inhabitants. 

White  Russia — 300,000  square  kilometers,  14,075,000  inhabitants,  of  whom 
70  per  cent,  are  White  Russians. 

Ukraine — 800,000  square  kilometers,  45,000,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  72  per 
cent  are  Ukrainians. 

Kouban — 85,000  square  miles,  3,500,000  inhabitants. 

North  Caucasia — 150,000  square  kilometers,  4,300,000  inhabitants. 

Azerbaidjan — 100,000  square  kilometers,  4,500,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  75 
per  cent,  are  Turko-Tartars. 

Georgia — 90,000  square  kilometers,  3,000,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  75  per 
cent,  are  Georgians. 

Armenia — 320,000  square  kilometers,  4,000,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  75  per 
cent  are  Armenians. 


Inner  Aspects  of  China's  Civil  War 

By  FELICIEN  CHALLAYE 

M.  Challaye,  a  French  publicist,  made  extended  visits  to  China  in  1917  and 
1919,  each  time  obtaining  interviews  with  party  leaders,  and  at  length  completing 
a  unique  and  illuminating  study  of  all  the  political  parties  of  new  China,  their 
inter-relations  and  programs,  and  the  profound  differences  that  have  long  caused 
the  republic  to  be  torn  by  civil  war.  The  results  were  contributed  to  the  Revue  de 
Paris,  Oct.  15,  1919,  in  an  article,  "Inner  Politics  in  China."  The  present  study, 
translated  and  abridged  for  CURRENT  History  from  that  article,  throws  new  light  on 
Chinese  parties  and  leaders,  the  forces  underlying  China's  declaration  of  war  on 
Germany,  and  the  main  political  events  of  the  civil  war  up  to  the  present  period. 


CHINESE  politics  resembles  Japa- 
nese politics  in  its  mingling  of  re- 
mote traditions  and  ancient  na- 
tional customs  with  institutions 
imitated  from  Europe  and  America. 
China,  however,  is  differently  situated  in 
time  and  space  from  Japan.  Its  civiliza- 
tion is  the  older,  but  the  introduction  of 
European  civilization,  apart  from  the 
coast  regions,  was  more  recent  in  China 
than  in  Japan,  and  it  still  remains  more 
limited. 

While  the  Japanese  Empire  remained 
faithful  to  tradition,  though  adhering 
to  a  Constitution,  China  suddenly 
leaped  from  the  most  retrogressive  form 
of  government  to  the  most  advanced — 
from  the  empire  to  the  republic.  The 
inner  politics  of  modern  China  is  the 
work  of  parties  created  on  the  European 
model,  opposing  really  modern  programs, 
but  struggling  bitterly  for  material  ad- 
vantages of  power,  at  the  risk  of  dis- 
organizing the  whole  country,  according 
to  the  most  immemorial  traditions  of 
Chinese  history. 

Three  fundamental  tendencies  are  ob- 
servable in  present-day  Chinese  political 
life,  two  of  which  correspond  to  organ- 
ized parties:  (1)  The  reactionary  ten- 
dency, represented,  above  all,  by  the 
Manchus,  who  regret  the  empire  and 
the  former  advantages  which  they  en- 
joyed; (2)  the  Shin-pu-tang,  or  Party 
of  Progress,  representing  the  tendency 
of  moderate  reform,  and  (3)  the  Kuo- 
min-tang,  or  Party  of  the  People,  repre- 
senting the  tendency  of  radical  and  revo- 
lutionary reform.  The  Shin-pu-tang  is 
the  successor  of  the  Reform  Party,  which, 


under  the  Manchu  rule,  through  the  pa- 
per of  its  principal  representative,  Kang 
Yu-wei,  demanded  a  constitutional  em- 
pire. The  Party  of  the  People  origi- 
nated in  the  secret  societies  which,  under 
the  direction  of  Sun  Yat-sen,  succeeded 
in  replacing  the  empire  by  the  republic. 
Besides  these  parties,  corresponding  to 
profound  and  enduring  tendencies,  and 
representing  an  opposition  of  ideas, 
there  are  two  other  groups,  representing 
powerful  interests:  (1)  The  military 
group,  called  in  the  North,  Pei-yang, 
and  (2)  the  Chiao-tung-si,  or  "  communi- 
cation "  group,  representing  particularly 
financial  and  material  interests. 

MANCHU  REACTIONARIES 

The  reactionaries,  first  of  all,  are  ad- 
herents of  the  past.  They  push  their  at- 
tachment to  tradition  so  far  that  they  re- 
fuse to  adopt  the  modern  organization  of 
the  political  party,  thus  depriving  them- 
selves of  a  useful  instrument  of  action. 
They  lament  the  past,  rather  than  seek 
to  revivify  or  reconstruct  it.  The 
restoration  of  the  monarchical  power, 
made  effective  at  the  beginning  of  July, 
1917,  by  General  Chang  Hsun,  gave  the 
reactionaries  more  disquietude  than  sat- 
isfaction. Distrustful  of  the  permanence 
of  this  new  empire,  and  fearing  the  se- 
rious consequences  to  themselves  of  the 
failure  of  this  bold  enterprise,  they  did 
nothing  to  support  the  General  who  had 
replaced  their  Emperor  on  his  throne. 
There  are  all  kinds  of  possibilities  in 
China,  and  even  the  most  clear-sighted 
hesitate  to  prophesy;  but  the  permanent 
restoration  of  a  Manchu  Empire  is  the 


INNER  ASPECTS  OF  CHINA'S  CIVIL   WAR 


159 


one  solution  which  all  agree  in  admitting 
is  the  most  improbable  of  all. 

PROGRESSIVE  PARTY 
The  Shin-pu-tang,  or  Progressive 
Party,  was  represented  mainly  by  Liang 
Chi-chao,  Minister  of  Finance,  when  I 
was  passing  through  Peking,  and  Tang 
Hua-lung,  then  Minister  of  the  Interior. 
Liang  Chi-chao  was  born  in  Kuang  Tung 
in  1863.  He  was  early  converted  to  the 
ideas  of  the  Reform  Party,  which  de- 
manded a  constitutional  monarchy,  and 
became  the  favorite  disciple  of  Kang 
Yu-wei.  Forced  to  flee  to  Japan  after 
the  abortive  coup  d'etat  of  1898,  he  pub- 
lished there  a  Chinese  paper  with  the  ob- 
ject of  spreading  the  new  revolutionary 
ideas.  He  returned  to  China  after  the 
revolution,  edited  a  paper  at  Tientsin, 
was  named  Vice  Minister  of  Justice  in 
the  first  Cabinet  of  President  Yuan 
Shih-kai,  but  declined  to  accept  office; 
he  became  Minister  of  Justice  in  the 
Hsiung  Hsi-ling  Cabinet  in  September, 
1913,  and  Minister  of  Finance  in  the 
Tuan  Chi-jui  Cabinet  of  April,  1916. 
He  is  not  only  an  influential  statesman, 
he  is  also  the  greatest  writer  of  con- 
temporary China,  one  of  the  greatest 
writers  of  modern  China,  the  author  of 
lyrics,  dramas,  criticisms,  and  philosoph- 
ical essays.  In  subject  matter  and  the 
abundance  and  diversity  of  his  ideas  he 
has  been  compared  to  Voltaire,  and  in 
matters  of  form,  for  his  light  and  ele- 
gantly simple  style,  to  Renan. 

Tang  Hua-lung  was  born  in  Hupe  in 
1873,  studied  law  in  Japan,  was  member 
and  then  President  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly  of  Hupe,  Vice  President  of  the 
National  Council,  Minister  of  Education, 
and  Minister  of  the  Interior.  I  had  the 
honor  of  being  received  by  both  of  these 
leaders  of  the  Progressive  Party,  in  a 
room  of  their  Ministry,  furnished  in  the 
European  style.  They  answered  my 
questions  courteously,  sipping  from  time 
to  time  their  tea.  I  give  below  a  sum- 
mary of  their  statements,  which  were 
completed,  on  certain  points,  by  some  of 
their  political  friends. 

The  Progressive  Party  is  strongly  re- 
publican. It  believes  in  utilizing  Euro- 
pean and  American  institutions,  but  only 
on  a  basis  of  adaptation  to  China's  tra- 


ditions and  conditions.  Universal  suf- 
frage is  only  the  far-off  goal,  dependent 
on  the  development  of  education,  which 
is  still  extremely  low.  A  Government 
centralized  like  that  of  France  is  advo- 
cated by  the  party.  The  United  States 
were  States  before  they  were  united, 
said  Mr.  Liang,  while  China  has  been 
unified  for  centuries.  The  decentraliza- 
tion of  the  revolution  led  to  anarchy. 
The  army  also  must  be  "  nationalized." 
This  has  already  been  begun  by  stand- 
ardizing uniforms,  arms  and  military 
grades.  A  limited  degree  of  decentrali- 
zation may  be  admitted  in  the  case  of 
educational  instruction  and  unimportant 
economic  matters  and  the  appointment 
of  small  local  functionaries.  Popular 
instruction  must  be  encouraged  on  a 
strong  democratic  basis.  The  monetary 
and  tax  system  must  be  improved. 

From  the  point  of  .view  of  forrijn  pol- 
icy, the  Shin-pu-tang  declares  itself  in 
favor  of  the  Entente.  Liang  Chi-chao  is 
proud  of  having  been  the  first  of  the 
Cabinet  to  call  for  the  intervention  of 
China  on  the  side  of  the  Allies.  China 
declared  war  on  Germany,  first,  because 
Germany  showed  herself  by  her  acts  "  the 
enemy  of  all  mankind,"  and  also  because 
the  rights  and  the  interests  of  China  are 
in  accord  with  the  essential  interests  and 
ideals  of  the  Allies.  The  latter,  he  de- 
clared, because  of  their  own  principles, 
will  be  obliged  to  guarantee  the  integ- 
rity and  independence  of  China. 

Such  is  the  program  which  the  lead- 
ers of  the  party  described  to  me.  The 
Shin-pu-tang  fundamentally  has  the  same 
ideal  as  the  Kuo-min-tang,  but  it  wishes 
to  realize  it  by  peaceful  means.  It  is 
the  party  of  the  juste  milieu,  which 
wishes  progress  along  the  lines  of  order. 
And  Liang  Chi-chao  sums  this  difference 
up  in  a  very  neat  metaphor:  "  The  old 
conservative  Mandarins  are  the  past. 
The  Kuo-min-tang  is  the  future.  But  the 
present  belongs  to  the  Shin-pu-tang." 

THE  PEOPLE'S  PARTY 
As  with  the  Ministers  of  the  Shin-pu- 
tang  and  their  friends,  so  also  I  entered 
into  touch  with  the  principal  representa- 
tives of  the  People's  Party,  the  Kuo- 
min-tang,  first  at  Peking  and  subse- 
quently at  Canton. 


160 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


At  Peking,  one  of  my  friends  brought 
together  one  evening  in  a  hotel  room 
four  former  Ministers,  the  leaders  of 
the  Opposition  Party,  who  at  that  time 
were  staying  in  the  capital.  I  also  saw 
several  times  the  main  representative  of 
an  important  tendency  of  the  Kuo-min- 
tang,  Mr.  Tsai  Yuan-pei.  Mr.  Tsai 
was  born  in  1867  in  Che-Kiang.  After 
brilliant  literary  studies  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Academy  of  Letters  of 
Peking  and  occupied  the  post  of  pro- 
fessor at  the  Shanghai  College,  the  Na- 
tional Institute  of  Shanghai,  and  the 
School  of  Modern  Languages  at  Peking. 
From  1908  he  studied  philosophy  and 
esthetics  in  the  universities  of  Berlin 
and  Leipzig.  On  his  return  to  China, 
after  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution,  he 
was  appointed  Minister  of  Education  in 
the  Provisional  Government  of  Nankin, 
and  then  in  the  first  republican  Cabinet. 
In  1913  he  went  to  France.  He  is  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Chinese  Society 
of  Rational  French  Education — whose 
object  is  to  diffuse  a  system  of  demo- 
cratic instruction  for  laymen  in  China  on 
the  French  model,  with  the  aid  of  France 
— and  the  Chinese  President  of  the 
Franco-Chinese  Educational  Society. 

Mr.  Tsai,  at  the  time  I  saw  him,  was 
rector  of  the  University  of  Peking.  He 
is  the  author  of  numerous  philosophical 
works  and  of  a  Utopistic  novel  called 
"  The  Dream  of  the  New  Year,"  in  which 
he  expounds  a  plan  for  the  constitution 
of  a  harmonious  society  based  on  univer- 
sal liberty.  Personally  he  belongs  to  a 
small  group  of  Chinese  who  practice 
austere  morality,  monogamy,  vegeta- 
rianism and  temperance. 

But  the  principal  representatives  of 
the  Kuo-min-tang  were  in  Canton.  It 
was  to  that  large  southern  city  that  the 
members  of  the  Chamber  dissolved  by 
the  Minister,  Tuan  Chi-jui,  withdrew, 
and  it  was  here  that  they  formed  a  new 
Parliament  at  the  instigation  of  their 
leader,  Sun  Yat-sen. 

SUN  YAT-SEN 

Dr.  Sun  Yat-sen  was  born  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Kuang-Tung  in  1866.  Educated 
in  the  College  of  Honolulu,  then  at 
Queen's  College  in  Hongkong,  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  European  culture,  he  stud- 


ied medicine  at  the  Canton  Hospital  and 
at  the  School  of  Medicine  of  Hongkong. 
He  was  especially  interested  in  political 
and  economc  problems,  accepted  the  bold- 
est solutions,  joined  the  secret  society, 
The  Triade,  and  was  appointed  its  Pres- 
ident. On  the  verge  of  being  arrested  at 
Canton  he  fled  to  New  York,  then  to 
London,  where  in  broad  daylight  he  was 
seized  and  imprisoned  by  members  of  the 
Chinese  Legation;  he  was  released  only 
on  the  intervention  of  the  English  au- 
thorities. He  lived  subsequently  in 
Japan,  in  Singapore,  at  Saigon,  in  Chi- 
nese circles  converted  to  revolutionary 
ideas.  It  was  he  who  formulated  the 
program  conceived  in  common. 

Sun  Yat-sen,  by  means  of  an  active 
propaganda,  prepared  the  revolution 
which  broke  out  at  the  end  of  1911.  On 
Dec.  29,  1911,  the  delegates  of  the 
provinces  which  proclaimed  indepen- 
dence named  Sun  Yat-sen  President  of 
the  republic.  But  the  revolutionists, 
fearing  that  the  triumph  of  the  republic 
could  not  be  effected  by  their  own  ef- 
forts, offered  the  permanent  Presidency 
to  Yuan  Shih-kai,  a  Mandarin  of  the  old 
regime  affiliated  with  the  republican 
cause,  who  accepted  office.  Sun  Yat-sen 
was  appointed  by  the  latter  Plenipoten- 
tiary Commissary  of  the  Railways  at  an 
annual  salary  of  $30,000.  Sun  Yat-sen 
refused  the  salary,  but  consented  to  un- 
dertake a  loan  for  the  railways.  In  this 
venture  he  lost  much  of  his  prestige,  and 
was  accused  of  having  "  sold  out  to  the 
tyrant."  He  opposed  Yuan  Shih-kai, 
however,  when  the  latter  openly  mani- 
fested his  desire  to  become  dictator  and 
even  Emperor.  Subsequently  he  also 
opposed  Tuan  Chi-jui,  whom  he  accused 
of  aiming  to  become  dictator.  He  then 
convoked  at  Canton  the  Parliament 
which  Tuan  Chi-jui  dissolved,  and  was 
named  General  in  Chief  of  the  republi- 
can armies  which  the  rebellious  provinces 
of  the  South  raised  against  the  Peking 
Government. 

Unable  to  see  Sun  Yat-sen  personally 
because  of  the  latter's  illness,  I  had  in- 
terviews with  his  Chief  of  Staff,  Gen- 
eral Hoang  Ta-wei,  with  the  former 
President  of  the  Senate,  Chang  Ki,  and 
other    eminent    representatives    of    the 


INNER  ASPECTS  OF  CHINA'S  CIVIL   WAR 


161 


Kuo-min-tang,  including  the  President  of 
the  Chamber  and  Wang  Chao-min,  cele- 
brated for  having  attempted  the  life  of 
the  Regent  under  the  empire.  The  prin- 
cipal tenets  of  the  party,  as  I  learned 
them  from  these  interviews,  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

AIMS  OF  PEOPLE'S  PARTY 

The  Kuo-min-tang,  combining  ele- 
ments which  we  might  call  radical  and 
socialist,  is  ardently  republican;  but  at 
the  present  time  China  is  not  a  republic, 
since  the  powers  do  not  proceed  from  the 
people,  since  the  Constitution  has  been 
violated,  since  the  Parliament  has  been 
illegally  dissolved.  "  We  have  no  proper 
form  of  government,"  General  Hoang 
said  to  me,  "  since  there  is  no  representa- 
tion of  the  people."  And  Chang  Ki  said 
to  me:  "The  Prime  Minister,  Tuan 
Chi-jui,  lived  in  Germany  at  the  time  of 
Bismarck;  he  has  preserved  a  keen  ad- 
miration for  the  man  and  his  country; 
he  is  an  autocrat,  a  Prussian  militarist, 
the  antithesis  of  a  democrat  in  the 
French  sense." 

First  of  all,  say  the  People's  Party, 
the  republic  must  be  actually  realized, 
the  provisional  Constitution  must  be  re- 
established, the  dissolved  Parliament 
which  was  spontaneously  created  in  Can- 
ton must  be  reconvened  officially  in 
Peking.  The  Constitution  to  be  re-estab- 
lished must  not  contain  the  clause  of  uni- 
versal suffrage.  The  Kuo-min-tang 
denies  that  it  intends  to  establish  uni- 
versal suffrage  immediately,  as  its  op- 
ponents declare.  The  imperial  regime 
has  lasted  too  long,  its  consequences  will 
endure  too  long:  the  Chinese  people  are 
not  sufficiently  enlightened.  Yet  even 
now  a  very  wide  degree  of  suffrage  may 
be  basically  established,  and  every  edu- 
cated man,  every  merchant,  every  rice- 
owner  should  have  the  right  to  vote,  at 
least  in  the  first  degree. 

The  leaders  of  the  Kuo-min-tang  pro- 
test energetically— and  those  of  Canton 
more  than  those  of  Peking — against  the 
accusation  of  federalism.  "  It  is  for  a 
united  China  that  we  are  struggling," 
the  members  of  the  Parliamentary  dele- 
gation told  me;  "we  are  all  Chinese,  we 
wish  to  remain  Chinese."    Not  the  North 


and  the  South,  but  the  partisans  of  the 
old  and  new  ideas  are  in  conflict.  It  is 
only  because  they  find  more  partisans 
in  the  southern  provinces  of  China  that 
the  republicans  have  established  their 
centre  of  activity  there.  But  they  are 
working  to  conquer  all  China,  and  they 
declare  that  they  desire  to  perpetuate  a 
united  China. 

With  regard  to  foreign  policy,  like  the 
Shin-pu-tang,  they  favor  the  Entente, 
condemn  Germany,  and  declare  for  the 
cause  of  right  as  opposed  to  despotism. 
All  the  leaders,  except  Sun  Yat-sen,  are 
in  sympathy  with  the  aims  and  aspira- 
tions of  the  Entente;  Sun  Yat-sen  inter- 
vened personally  against  the  declaration 
of  war,  and  is  considered  an  admirer 
and  partisan  of  Germany.  The  friends 
of  Dr.  Sun  reply  that  he  is  only  one 
member  of  the  Kuo-min-tang,  and  that 
on  this  point  he  represents  only  the  ideas 
of  a  very  limited  number  of  Germano- 
phil  Chinese.  On  the  larger  issues  the 
members  of  the  Kuo-min-tang  say: 
"  The  Shin-pu-tang  is  the  party  of  the 
minority  of  the  people;  we  are  the  party 
of  the  majority." 

Though  each  of  the  two  parties  just 
studied  has  a  program  of  its  own,  the 
two  groups  which  have  most  actual  in- 
fluence represent  interests  and  not  ideas. 
It  is  only  by  analogy  and  a  misuse  of 
words  that  they  are  also  called  parties. 
These  two  further  groups  are  respective- 
ly of  the  Military  "  Party  "  and  the  Com- 
munications "  Party." 

MILITARY  PARTY 

Under  the  convenient  title  of  the  Mili- 
tary Party  are  grouped  the  most  influ- 
ential Generals,  although  their  attitude 
is  often  quite  opposed,  and  it  is  quite  im- 
possible to  find  any  link  of  common  ideas. 
The  power  of  these  Generals  is  one  of 
the  characteristic  features  of  modern 
China,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  modern 
development.  There  have  occurred  con- 
stantly in  the  past  revolts  of  Generals 
seeking  to  make  themselves  independent 
of  the  Court  and  to  gain  power  to  satisfy 
their  ambitions  and  their  greed.  The 
republican  cause  was  won  by  Chinese 
Generals.  The  Generals  continue  to  ex- 
ert in  republican   China  a  predominant 


162 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


influence.  Their  armies,  even  though 
they  are  maintained  by  the  nation's  re- 
sources, are  less  in  the  service  of  the  na- 
tion's interests  than  in  the  service  of  the 
special  interests  of  their  leaders.  Often 
composed  of  former  brigands,  more 
feared  by  the  great  mass  of  the  popula- 
tion than  the  piratical  bands  that  infest 
the  country,  these  armies  are  the  "  great 
companies  "  of  modern  China.  They  af- 
ford an  excellent  means  of  pressure  on 
the  Government,  which  is  obliged  to  fur- 
nish their  leaders  with  the  funds  neces- 
sary for  their  support.  (These  leaders 
are  accused  of  drawing  sums  of  money 
for  a  greater  number  of  soldiers  than 
they  have  under  their  command  and 
pocketing  the  difference.)  The  Govern- 
ment makes  every  effort  to  obtain  the 
support  of  certain  of  these  Generals,  who 
hold  the  real  power,  and  the  latter  link 
their  fortune  with  the  fate  of  one  politi- 
cal personage  or  another. 

In  the  Pei-yang,  the  Military  Party  of 
the  North,  there  were  distinguished  in 
Peking  in  October,  1917,  the  partisans  of 
the  President  of  the  republic  and  those 
of  the  Prime  Minister.  The  President 
of  the  republic  was  Fong  Kuo-chang. 
Born  in  the  Province  of  Chih-li  in  1863, 
he  was  alternately  under  the  empire  di- 
rector of  the  College  of  Nobles,  director 
of  the  Military  Council,  and  chief  direc- 
tor of  the  General  Staff.  He  commanded 
the  First  Imperial  Army,  and  took  Han- 
yang from  the  revolutionists  on  Nov.  27, 
1911,  for  which  he  won  the  title  of 
Baron  and  the  command  of  the  Imperial 
Guard.  Under  the  republic  he  was 
named  head  of  the  Military  Council  of 
the  President.  He  abandoned  Yuan 
Shih-kai  when  the  latter  sought  to  be- 
come Emperor.  He  became  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic  in  October,  1916, 
and  succeeded  Li  Yuan-hong  as  Presi- 
dent when  the  latter  resigned  after  the 
coup  d'etat  of  July,  1917. 

The  President  of  the  Council  was  then 
General  Tuan  Chi-jui,  the  most  eminent 
personality  of  the  Military  Party  of  the 
North.  Born  in  the  Province  of  Anhui 
in  1865,  he  was  the  principal  military 
counselor  of  Yuan  Shih-kai  when  he  was 
Viceroy  of  Chih-li.  He  contributed  es- 
pecially to  modernize   and   organize   on 


European  lines  the  army  of  Northern 
China.  He  succeeded  Fong  Kuo-chang  at 
the  head  of  the  First  Army,  and  was  one 
of  the  principal  Generals  who  demanded 
the  Emperor's  abdication.  He  was  Min- 
ister of  War  in  the  first  Republican  Cab- 
inet, from  which  he  subsequently  re- 
signed. Charged  in  May,  1913,  by  Yuan 
shih-kai  with  the  Presidency  of  the 
Council,  he  renounced  office  after  two 
months  and  a  half  and  opposed  the  Pres- 
ident when  he  sought  to  become  Em- 
peror. They  say  at  Peking  that  he  was 
the  only  man  whom  Yuan  Shih-kai 
feared;  that  he  escaped  several  times 
attempts  made  upon  his  life;  some  say 
that  he  had  a  share  in  the  mysterious 
death  of  Yuan  Shih-kai.  In  April,  1916, 
he  became  Prime  Minister.  He  is  con- 
sidered a  convinced  republican,  and  even 
his  opponents  do  not  question  his  loyalty 
to  the  new  regime.  But  they  reproach 
him  with  "  despotism,"  "  militarism," 
tendencies  toward  dictatorship.  No  one 
denies  his  energy;  many  consider  him 
the  greatest  man  of  action  of  the  re- 
public, and  some  say  the  only  man  of 
action,  the  only  realizer  of  present-day 
China. 

In  the  south,  the  great  leaders  are 
General  Lu  Yun-ting — a  former  pirate 
master  of  a  powerful  army  and  Inspec- 
tor General  of  Kuang-Tung  and  Kuang- 
Si — and  General  Tang  Chi-yao,  the  mas- 
ter of  Yunnan,  the  successor  of  the  re- 
markable military  leader  and  good  re- 
publican, General  Tsai  Ngo.  These  im- 
portant leaders  are  accused  of  wishing 
to  establish  hereditary  fiefs  and  to  in- 
augurate a  species  of  military  feudalism 
under  the  name  of  republicanism. 

"  COMMUNICATIONS  "  GROUP 

The  party,  or  rather  group,  of  Com- 
munications, the  Chia-tung-si,  is  com- 
posed of  a  certain  number  of  politicians 
and  business  men  who  seek  to  enrich 
themselves  through  their  influence  on 
the  Government.  This  group  has  no 
fixed  program,  and  limits  itself  to  follow- 
ing the  dictates  of  its  own  interests.  A 
former  Deputy  of  Sze-chuen  gave  me 
this  definition  of  the  group:  "  It  is  a 
capitalistic  party:  it  steals  a  great  deal 
of  money."    The  means  of  action  of  the 


INNER  ASPECTS  OF  CHINA'S  CIVIL   WAR 


163 


group  is  the  Bank  of  Communications, 
from  which  its  name  is  derived.  It  was 
this  bank  which  loaned  the  President, 
Yuan  Shih-kai,  the  sums  necessary  for 
the  projected  restoration  of  the  empire, 
sums  which  the  republic  is  now  reim- 
bursing. 

Under  Yuan  Shih-kai  the  principal 
representative  of  the  group  was  Liang 
Cheu-yi,  born  in  in  Kuang-Tung  in  1858, 
who  was  alternately  in  charge  of  the 
Bureau  of  Communications,  the  railway 
service,  the  Bank  of  Communications, 
the  Ministry  of  Communications.  ■  He 
was  the  General  Secretary  and  financial 
agent  of  Yuan  Shih-kai.  He  compro- 
mised himself  to  such  an  extent  that  at 
the  death  of  the  dictator  he  was  com- 
pelled to  flee  to  Japan.  In  October, 
1917,  the  leader  of  the  group  was  Tsao 
Ju-lin,  born  in  1876  in  Kuang-Su,  one 
of  the  first  Chinese  students  who  studied 
in  Japan,  a  man  who  knows  Japanese 
thoroughly,  Vice  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  in  1913,  Minister  of  Communica- 
tions from  April,  1916.  I  do  not  believe 
that  there  is  a  more  unpopular  man  in 
China.  He  was  considered  by  many  as 
being  the  agent  of  the  Japanese  in  the 
Cabinet  of  Tuan  Chi-jui.  Certain  papers 
publish  the  sums  which  he  is  said  to  have 
received  from  them  (amounting  to  a 
million  dollars)  for  obtaining  for  the 
Japanese  company  the  German  and  Aus- 
trian ships  interned  by  China.  The  press 
coldly  announced  that  certain  members 
of  the  secret  society,  Rather  Death  Than 
Slavery,  had  arrived  at  Peking  to  kill 
Mr.  Tsao  and  his  accomplices,  who,  it 
was  said,  were  unable  to  protest  other- 
wise against  his  selling  China  out  to  the 
nationals  of  a  foreign  power. 

PARTIES  IN  POLITICS 

[After  having  thus  analyzed  the  ideas  and 
tendencies  of  the  various  parties  or  groups, 
M.  Challaye  studies  their  reciprocal  rela- 
tions in  the  complexity  of  Chinese  political 
life,  and  gives  an  interpretation  of  matters 
now  a  record  of  history  in  the  light  of  inter- 
party  oppositions  and  jealousies.  Briefly 
this  interplay  of  political  forces  may  be 
summed   up   as   follows:] 

The  decision  to  break  diplomatic  re- 
lations with  Germany,  after  her  failure 
to  answer  China's  protest  against  the 
submarine  war,  was  taken  by  the  Cabinet 


of  Tuan  Chi-jui  in  March,  1917,  at  the 
specific  request  of  the  leaders  of  the 
two  main  parties  in  the  Ministry,  Liang 
Chi-chao  of  the  Shin-pu-tang,  and  Chang 
Yu-tseng  and  Ku  Tsung-sui  of  the  Kuo- 
min-tang.  The  further  step  of  declaring 
war  officially  was  opposed  by  Dr.  Sun 
Yat-sen,  the  revolutionary  leader  of  the 
latter  party,  who,  influenced  by  Ger- 
many, as  some  charge,  or  at  least  by  his 
pro-German  sympathies,  as  well  as  by 
his  suspicions  of  Tuan  Chi-jui's  inten- 
tions of  becoming  dictator,  argued  pub- 
licly that  China  should  content  herself 
with  breaking  relations  and  should  not 
go  to  war,  and  addressed  an  appeal  to 
Lloyd  George,  invoking  the  fear  of  Chi- 
nese hatred  of  foreigners  and  a  Ma- 
hometan-Chinese outbreak. 

Tuan,  thereupon,  fearing  that  the  Kuo- 
min-tang  would  oppose  the  declaration  of 
war  on  Germany,  at  Sun  Yat-sen's  urg- 
ing, convoked  a  number  of  Generals  in 
Peking  in  May,  and  had  all  Parlia- 
mentary deputies  opposed  to  war  hissed 
down  by  his  paid  partisans.  The  Min- 
isters of  the  People's  Party  withdrew 
from  office,  but  the  Parliament,  moved 
by  opposition  to  Tuan's  projected  dicta- 
torship and  his  arbitrary  methods,  re- 
fused to  vote  the  declaration  of  war.  At 
this  juncture  the  President  of  the  Re- 
public stepped  in  and  dismissed  Tuan, 
and  called  on  Wu  Ting-fang  and  then  on 
Li  King-si  to  form  a  new  Cabinet,  there- 
by evoking  a  strong  protest  from  the 
Military  Governors,  who  demanded 
Tuan's  recall  and  the  dissolution  of 
Parliament  and  proclaimed  their  respec- 
tive provinces  independent.  An  advance 
on  Peking  and  the  restoration  of  the 
empire  was  also  threatened. 

COUP  OF  GENERAL  CHANG 

Then  came  the  coup  of  General  Chang 
Hsiun,  the  commander  of  the  imperial 
troops  during  the  revolution,  who  had 
withdrawn  with  30,000  men  to  the  fron- 
tiers of  Shantung,  Kuang-su,  and  Ngan- 
hoei,  and  who,  on  the  pretext  of  mediation 
between  the  President  and  the  rebellious 
Generals,  entered  Peking  with  several 
thousand  soldiers,  who  wore  the  queue 
and  smoked  opium  contrary  to  the 
edicts,  demanded  and  obtained  the  dis- 
solution  of   Parliament  from  the  Pres- 


164 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ident,  and  on  the  Ministers'  refusal  to 
approve  this  act  had  the  decree  counter- 
signed by  the  commander  of  gendarmes, 
whom  he  named  Premier  for  this  especial 
purpose.  Pushed  on  by  Germany,  who 
had  financed  his  expedition,  on  July  1 
General  Chang  proclaimed  Pu  Yi,  a  boy 
of  eleven  years,  Emperor  before  the 
frightened  Manchus.  This  coup,  however, 
ended  in  disastrous  failure;  Chang  was 
abandoned  by  all  his  supporters,  and 
Tuan  himself  at  the  head  of  a  large  army 
entered  Peking,  drove  Chang's  troops  out 
in  confusion,  and  Chang  himself  was 
forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  Dutch  em- 
bassy. 

Fong  Kuo-chang,  the  former  Vice 
President,  assumed  the  Presidency.  Tuan 
then  called  to  office  the  leaders  of  the 
Shin-pu-tang,  Liang  Chi-chao,  and  Tang 
Hua-long,  and  Tsao  Ju-lin  of  the  Com- 
munications group,  formed  a  Cabinet,  in 
which  he  himself  represented  the  Mili- 
tary Party  of  the  North,  on  a  coalition 
basis,  from  which  only  the  leaders  of  the 
People's  Party  were  excluded,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  rule  without  a  Parliament.  He 
pushed  through  the  declaration  of  war 
on  Germany,  which  was  made  on  Aug. 
14.  The  Kuo-min-tang,  however,  from 
the  middle  of  July  contested  his  author- 
ity, declared  his  Ministry  illegal,  and 
sent  an  appeal  to  France  and  other  dem- 
ocratic countries  to  aid  the  cause  of  the 
republicans  against  Chinese  military 
rule. 

THE   SOUTH   REVOLTS 

Subsequently,  on  Aug.  25,  1917,  Dr. 
Sun  Yat-sen,  supported  by  leaders  of  the 
navy,  convoked  the  dissolved  Parliament 
at  Canton;  a  military  Government  was 
organized,  and  Dr.  Sun  himself  was 
made  General  in  Chief  of  the  army  of 
opposition.  War  with  Germany  was  also 
approved  by  this  Canton  Government. 

The  arbitrary  procedure  of  Tuan, 
however,  led  the  new  President  to  estab- 
lish secret  relations  with  the  new  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  opposition  to  Tuan  be- 
came so  strong  in  various  quarters  that 
on  Nov.  17,  1917,  Tuan  was  virtually 
forced  to  hand  in  his  resignation.  The 
President  then  named  General  Chang 
Che-tseng  to  take  Tuan's  place,  who,  on 


taking  office,  naively  admitted  his  com- 
plete ignorance  of  the  duties  to  which  he 
had  been  assigned,  and  further  declared 
that  he  had  learned  that  all  things  were 
impossible  for  mankind.  One  of  his  most 
useful  acts  was  to  appoint  Lu  Cheng- 
hsiang,  a  distinguished  linguist  and  dip- 
lomat of  European  training,  as  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  The  tendency  of  the 
new  Cabinet  was  to  make  peace  with  the 
Southern  Government,  though  influenced 
by  the  Military  Party,  which  demanded 
war  to  the  bitter  end.  At  the  end  of 
December,  nevertheless,  the  President 
signed  a  decree  suspending  hostilities. 
Since  this  time  the  deadlock  between  the 
two  opposing  Governments  has  con- 
tinued, the  Peking  Government  declining 
to  recall  the  old  Parliament  and  the  Can- 
ton Government  refusing  to  admit  the 
election  of  a  new  Parliament. 

EFFORTS  TO  RECONCILE 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  confer- 
ence held  at  Shanghai  during  the  first 
months  of  1919  tried  to  reconcile  the 
political  parties  violently  opposed  in 
China.  Representatives  of  the  North  and 
South,  delegates  from  Peking  and  Can- 
ton, respectively,  tried  vainly  to  find  a 
ground  of  agreement  and  arrange  a  com- 
promise. Negotiations  were  alternately 
broken  off  and  resumed.  The  honest- 
minded  President,  Hsu  Chu-chang,  had 
made  every  effort  to  bring  about  an  un- 
derstanding indispensable  to  the  re-es- 
tablishment of  order  and  progress  in  the 
country,  and  the  great  allied  powers  had 
intervened  to  advise  the  reaching  of  such 
an  understanding.  Their  last  action  in 
this  regard  was  taken  in  August,  1919. 
The  Minister  of  Great  Britain  at  Peking, 
Sir  John  Jordan,  dean  of  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  at  that  time  handed  to  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Chinese  Republic  a  memor- 
andum in  which  Great  Britain,  the  United 
States,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan  ex- 
pressed their  wish  for  a  speedy  peace  be- 
tween the  North  and  the  South;  mean- 
while the  memorandum  voiced  the  hope 
that  hostilities  would  not  be  resumed. 

The  question  of  Shantung  might  have 
and  should  have  brought  about  an  un- 
derstanding between  the  Chinese  of  all 
parties.     The   solution   of  this   problem 


INNER  ASPECTS  OF  CHINA'S  CIVIL   WAR 


165 


offered  by  the  Peace  Conference  was 
troubling  China  deeply  when  I  crossed 
the  country  for  the  second  time  in  May, 
1919.  From  one  end  of  the  country  to 
the  other  the  Chinese  were  aroused  by 
this  decision.  In  all  legations  and  con- 
sulates of  friendly  nations  patriotic 
people  gave  utterance  to  novo!  protects. 
Manifestations  occurred  everywhere;  the 
boycott  of  all  Japanese  products  was 
everywhere  announced.  One  might  have 
believed  that  the  common  sorrow  would 
have  brought  the  conflicting  parties 
nearer.  On  the  contrary,  it  separated 
them  still  more:  the  defeat  of  the  Peking 
Government's  policy  exasperated  the 
Canton  Parliamentarians,  and  offered 
them  an  excellent  opportunity  to  renew 
their  opposition.     Meanwhile   China   i*e- 


mains  disunited  and  disorganized  by  this 
interparty  strife,  and  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  falling  a  victim  to  the  first 
strong  power  that  attacks  her  independ- 
ent existence  as  a  nation.  This  is  the 
greater  pity,  because  of  the  remarkable 
progress  that  China  has  made  in  the 
last  decades,  and  still  is  making,  despite 
the  heavy  handicap  of  a  dual  Govern- 
ment and  a  state  of  civil  war  between 
the  two  most  important  sections  of  the 
country.  The  younger  elements  of  all 
parties  and  sympathies  are  accomplish- 
ing this  evolution,  and  in  this  transfor- 
mation China  must  be  helped  by  the  mod- 
ern powers,  by  her  allies  of  Europe  and 
America,  and  even  by  Japan.  But  this 
assistance  must  free  and  not  enslave 
her.    China  must  have  her  chance. 


Forces  Behind  Japan's  Imperialism 

By  PUTNAM  WEALE 

[Author  op  "  The  Fight  for  the  Republic  in  China  *'] 


TO  have  an  adequate  appreciation 
of  Japanese  policy  today,  as  in 
the  past,  it  is  necessary  to  set 
down  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
canvas  one  fact  and  always  to  remem- 
ber it.  It  is  that  the  Clans  of  Choshu 
and  Satsuma,  which  carried  out  the  so- 
calleJ  Restoration  of  the  Meiji  Emperor 
in  1868,  not  only  fought  their  way  to 
power  solely  by  the  use  of  the  sword,  but 
are  today  as  solidly  intrenched  in  the 
old  Tokugawa  capital  as  they  were  half 
a  century  ago. 

It  is  indeed  no  exaggeration  to  declare 
that  the  power  of  the  clans  since  1905 
has  been  increased  and  that  they  hold 
the  imperial  family  and  the  Ministry  of 
the  day  so  firmly  in  their  grasp  that 
both  are  prisoners.  The  incumbents  of 
the  two  supreme  Cabinet  offices — su- 
preme in  the  sense  that  they  overtop 
the  others — the  Choshu  Minister  of  War 
and  the  Satsuma  Minister  of  the  Navy, 
not  only  have  the  right  of  audience  at 
any  time  but,  as  has  been  recently  dis- 
closed, have  established  since  1908  the 
iron  rule  that  no  civil  functionary  of  any 
description  may  be  present  when  they 
report  to  the  Emperor. 


As  an  additional  guarantee,  there  are 
the  old  regulations  which  prescribe  that 
both  appointees  shall  be  officers  on  the 
active  list,  thus  making  them  virtually 
independent  of  Cabinet  changes,  as  each 
new  Ministry  must  bargain  with  the 
army  and  navy  chiefs  before  an  office- 
holder is  provided.  The  Prime  Minister 
is  thus  quite  powerless  to  control  them. 
The  limited  intervention  in  Siberia  in 
1918  clearly  proves  this,  for  the  civil 
authorities  were  honest  in  their  arrange- 
ment with  the  United  States  to  send  only 
7,500  troops,  the  army  chiefs  of  their 
own  volition  deliberately  changing  this 
to  70,000  men  and  defying  the  Cabinet  to 
interfere. 

The  budgeting  for  both  services  is 
likewise  practically  independent  of  the 
civil  budget,  a  system  having  been 
evolved  whereby  expenditure  for  expan- 
sions of  the  services  is  spread  over  a 
long  period  of  years  and  placed  beyond 
the  control  of  the  Treasury,  large  addi- 
tional funds  often  being  spent  which  the 
Audit  Office,  established  under  the  Con- 
stitution, is  powerless  to  recover.  Inas- 
much as  the  only  authorities  in  practice 
superior    to    these    two    Ministers — the 


166 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Genro  or  Elder  Statesmen — are  mainly 
composed  of  military  clan  leaders  such 
as  Prince  Yamagata,  it  can  be  said  that 
there  is  today  in  full  vigor  in  Japan,  in 
spite  of  the  new  industrial  conditions,  a 
replica  of  the  Shogunate,  with  this  res- 
ervation— that  the  double-capital  system 
of  yore  has  been  abolished  and  all  power 
concentrated  at  the  gates  of  the  Imperial 
Palace  in  Tokio. 

NO  POPULAR  CONTROL 

The  franchise,  even  with  the  recent 
lowering  of  voters'  qualifications  to  the 
payment  of  direct  taxes  amounting  to 
$1.50  per  annum,  is  limited  to  3,500,000 
persons  out  of  a  total  population  of  60,- 
000,000,  the  device  of  the  direct-tax 
qualification  disfranchising  most  of  the 
modernized  urban  population  and  con- 
centrating the  vote  in  the  conservative 
country  districts,  tens  of  thousands  of 
educated  men  paying  no  direct  taxes  at 
all.  Furthermore,  the  Cabinet,  under  the 
Constitution,  is  not  responsible  to  the 
Diet;  that  is  to  say,  it  has  no  direct  re- 
sponsibility whatsoever  toward  the  peo- 
ple's representatives  in  the  lower  house, 
an  adverse  vote  simply  bringing  about  a 
forced  dissolution  of  the  whole  Diet  by 
imperial  rescript.  This  has  happened  so 
often  that  it  has  become  a  commonplace. 

Moreover,  by  an  article  deliberately  in- 
troduced into  the  Constitution,  it  is  spe- 
cifically provided  that  when  the  budget 
has  not  been  voted  by  the  Diet  the  budget 
of  the  preceding  year  is  automatically 
enacted  by  the  Ministry.  Thus  there  are 
three  deliberately  devised  checks  to  pre- 
vent the  people  from  exercising  control. 
A  Ministry  responsible  only  to  the  Em- 
peror; a  limited  franchise  concentrating 
the  vote  in  the  agrarian  districts;  a  de- 
vice whereby  the  essential  prerogative 
of  every  popular  chamber,  the  money 
power,  is  deliberately  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  Representatives.  *  *  *  Su- 
perimposed on  these  civil  disabilities  you 
have  an  all-powerful  military  autocracy 
of  the  nature  already  described. 

JAPAN'S   FOREIGN    POLICY 

The  foreign  policy  of  Japan  is  based 
on  power-politics  in  a  conscious  and 
well-thought-out  effort  to  crush  and  as- 
similate all  neighboring  peoples.    This  is 


the  considered  policy  in  Korea  in  spite  of 
the  great  passive  resistance  movement  of 
the  present  year  and  the  brutal  suppres- 
sion by  soldiery,  which  has  aroused  so 
much  indignation  throughout  the  world. 
Although  all  newspapers  in  the  Far  East 
now  agree  that  assimilation  of  the 
Korean  people  is  a  physical  and  moral 
impossibility,  the  Japanese  do  not  relax 
their  efforts  to  bludgeon  the  national 
consciousness  of  the  Koreans  into  insen- 
sibility, disregarding  the  argument  that 
it  would  be  child's  play  to  work  out  a 
system  whereby  "  the  subject-nation " 
would  be  conciliated  by  a  modified  form 
of  autonomy. 

In  reply  to  the  assertion  that  there  is 
"  a  civil  war  in  China  every  week,"  the 
plain  fact  is  that  there  has  been  very 
little  fighting  in  China  since  Yuan  Shih- 
kai  died,  three  and  a  half  years  ago,  the 
marshaling  of  the  rival  forces  of  north 
and  south  over  the  constitutional  issue 
having  been  attended  by  slight  blood- 
shed, comparatively  speaking,  the  great- 
est harm  being  economic  and  moral. 
When  we  remember  that  the  populations 
of  Europe  and  China  are  roughly  equal 
(440,000,000)  and  their  areas  practically 
the  same,  an  accurate  statistical  survey 
would  probably  show  that  in  spite  of  the 
armed  posture  of  the  northern  and  south- 
ern provinces  the  actual  loss  of  life  due 
to  battle  during  the  last  three  years  has 
been  smaller  per  hundred  million  than 
the  normal  loss  of  life  for  the  whole  of 
Europe  by  murder. 

But,  as  in  mediaeval  Italy,  armies 
manoeuvre  backward  and  forward  as 
"  political  gestures  "  rather  than  to  de- 
stroy their  fellows.  It  is  this  which  has 
been  largely  responsible  for  the  accounts 
of  battles  that  have  never  been  fought 
and  for  the  slaughter  of  thousands  who 
are  still  peacefully  living  the  lotus  life. 
And  that  this  sensational  journalism  has 
been  promoted  by  Japan  is  self-evident 
when  the  role  her  soldiers  play  as  ad- 
vance agents  is  duly  considered. 

INFILTRATION  TACTICS 

It  is  supremely  important  to  get  the 
idea  that  the  Japanese  soldier  is  an  ad- 
vance agent  firmly  fixed  to  understand 
that  the  tactics  followed  are  the  Luden- 


FORCES  BEHIND   JAPAN'S   IMPERIALISM 


167 


dorff  battle  tactics  of  the  period  March- 
July,  1918,  namely,  infiltration — i.  e., 
pushing  in  in  small  numbers  to  find  weak 
spots,  and  then  by  means  of  these  small 
groups  turning  the  main  positions.  For 
fifteen  years — ever  since  the  Russo-Jap- 
anese war — Japan  has  always  pushed 
soldiers  into  every  troubled  situation 
and  then  attempted  to  exploit  the  crisis 
politically,  commercially,  and  economic- 
ally in  any  way  that  has  seemed  feas- 
ible. Thus  she  maintains  today  in  Han- 
kow, 600  miles  up  the  Yangtze  River, 
one  infantry  battalion  with  machine-gun 
detachments  absolutely  illegally,  these 
men  having  been  landed  nearly  eight 
years  ago  during  the  revolution  of  1911- 
12,  although  a  few  days  before  they 
arrived  a  commission  of  foreign  naval  of- 
ficers at  that  port,  presided  over  by  the 
ranking  Japanese  Admiral,  had  officially 
announced  that  no  further  protection 
from  foreign  detachments  was  needed. 

The  files  of  the  State  Department  in 
Washington  can  be  consulted  for  offi- 
cial confirmation  of  this  singular  fact, 
which  in  an  almost  perfect  illustration 
of  the  working  of  Japanese  policy.  Had 
Great  Britain  protested  in  1912  at  this 
invasion  of  her  "  sphere  of  influence,"  as 
it  was  then  the  fashion  to  call  it,  Japan 
would  have  retreated,  pointing  to  the  de- 
cision of  the  Naval  Council,  presided  over 
by  her  Admiral,  as  the  binding  one  for 
her,  the  other  ieing  "  a  mistake."  But 
as  thei-e  was  no  British  protest,  the  in- 
fantry battalion  remains  in  1919  pre- 
cisely where  it  was  placed  in  1912.  And 
it  will  still  be  there  in  1929,  unless  China 
fights,  or  alternately  unless  the  world 
takes  the  Far  Eastern  problem  more 
seriously. 

JAPAN  POLITICALLY  ISOLATED 

And  this  is  precisely  why  the  Tokio 
War  Office  sent  70,000  men  to  Siberia 
instead  of  7,500,  as  had  been  agreed  upon 
at  Washington.  For  the  Japanese  Gen- 
eral Staff  is  so  hidebound  and  so  blinded 
by  its  power  that  it  has  not  yet  caught 
sight  of  the  fact  that  the  collapse  of  all 
the  military  empires  of  the  world  has 
automatically  isolated  Japan,  and  that 
exploiting  situations  by  this  method  of 
infrtration  may  yet  bring  an  ugly  cor- 
rective from  sea  power,   if  it  does  not 


lead  to  internal  explosions  owing  to  the 
growing  labor  crisis  in  Japan  due  to  the 
great   rise   in   prices. 

It  was  the  late  Herbert  Spencer  who 
many  years  ago  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Japanese  strongly  counseling  them  not 
to  allow  foreign  ownership  of  land  in 
Japan,*  as,  in  his  opinion,  if  they  did  so 
foreigners  would  gradually  buy  up  the 
country,  the  Japanese  being  weaker  than 
white  men  and  unable  to  resist  then- 
pressure  and  their  superior  organization. 
This  letter  is  the  secret  of  Japanese 
policy  in  China. 

For,  given  a  true  open  door  and  true 
equal  opportunity,  the  Japanese  know 
that  three  things  must  infallibly  occur 
in  China  before  many  years  have  passed: 
First,  that  Western  nations  will  supply 
capital  and  equipment  at  a  far  more 
rapid  speed  than  Japan  can  do,  and 
therefore  will  outstrip  her;  secondly,  that 
the  effect  of  this  will  be  that  in  open 
competition,  with  their  superior  banking 
and  industrial  facilities  and  their  abun- 
dant supplies  of  raw  materials,  Western 
nations  will  command  the  market  with 
better  and,  relatively  speaking,  cheaper 
goods;  third,  and  most  important,  that 
the  Chinese,  being  apt  pupils  and  good 
workers  by  hand  and  by  machine,  and 
very  excellent  accumulators  of  wealth, 
will  in  the  end  acquire  by  purchase  all 
established  Western  interests,  the  net 
effect  at  the  end  of  the  present  genera- 
tion— say  by  1940 — being  that  China, 
with  her  teeming  population,  which  is 
now  increasing  at  the  rate  of  38,000,000 
every  decennium,  will  be  the  dominating 
power  in  Eastern  Asia — commercially, 
economically,  politically. 

This  is  the  secret  of  Korea,  Manchuria, 
and  Shantung.  The  whole  policy  of 
Japan  since  1905  and  the  Russian  war 
has  been  a  last  desperate  mistaken  at- 
tempt to  be  saved,  as  she  thinks,  from 
being  cast  back  into  the  sea  by  climbing 
on  China's  back  and  holding  on  there 
like  grim  death.     Every  move  made  by 


*  The  Tokio  newspaper,  Nitchi  Nltchi,  an- 
nounced on  Dec.  6,  1919,  that  the  revised 
Land  Ownership  bill  to  be  offered  by  the 
Government  in  the  Diet  early  in  the  new 
year  removes  practically  all  limitations  on 
foreign  ownership  of  real  estate  in  Japan. 
The  new  law  is  announced  as  a  step  toward 
fuller  harmony  with  modern  international 
principles  — BD1TOK . 


168 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


her  during  the  world  war  to  prevent 
China  from  participating  in  the  struggle 
has  been  dictated  by  this  policy;  for  that 
Japan  is  destined  to  fall  back  in  the 
international  race  and  resume  the  posi- 
tion she  occupied  prior  to  1894  is  certain 
unless  there  are  great  revolutionary 
changes  in  her  constitutional  structure 
and  a  complete  destruction  of  her  mili- 
tarism. 

OVERFLOW   OF   POPULATION 

There  is  a  last  point,  which  has  some 
significance — the  implication  that  since 
Japan  is  excluded  from  directing  her 
emigration  to  the  white  man's  lands  she 
must  h.*ve  a  quid  pro  quo. 

This  statement  is  as  misleading  as  the 
rest,  for  the  assumption  is  that  her  pop- 
ulation must  overflow  in  some  direction. 
The  plain  fact  is  that  in  fifteen  years 
she  has  sent  less  than  350,000  emigrants 
to  Korea  and  that  in  other  eastern  re- 
gions, notably  Formosa,  Japanese  appear 
to  be  actually  decreasing.  Why  is  this? 
Because  it  is  the  presence  of  the  white 
man,  the  development  work  he  has  put 
in,  and  the  great  markets  and  high  wages 
in  his  countries,  which  are  attractive  to 
the  Japanese — not  the  land  as  land.  That 
is  to  say,  if  California  and  Australia 
were  today  totally  uninhabited,  no  Japa- 
nese of  any  sort  would  ever  think  of  go- 
ing to  them.  It  is  the  white  man  and 
his  wealth  that  form  the  attraction.  This 
magnet  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  over- 
spill of  Japanese  population,  which  is 
still  far  less  dense  than  in  many  indus- 
trialized  regions  of  Europe.     That  the 


Japanese  as  a  man  is  congenitally  disin- 
clined to  go  abroad  is  proved  by  the  em- 
bittering experience  of  the  colonization 
companies  in  Brazil  and  other  South 
American  countries. 

Finally,  China  is  changing,  not  fast 
but  slow  and  surely.  Her  commerce  and 
industries  are  creeping  up;  her  education 
is  improving;  the  student  classes  are  in- 
fluencing public  opinion  more  and  more; 
her  communications  are  on  the  eve  of 
a  vast  development.  This  year  her  com- 
merce will  exceed  $2,000,000,000  for  the 
first  time  in  her  history.  She  has  now 
fifty  complete  cotton  mills  on  order,  and 
when  these  are  added  to  the  seventy  al- 
ready working  a  chain  of  mills  from  Tien- 
tsin to  Shanghai  will  be  throbbing  with 
life,  and  the  cotton  industry  will  be  well 
established  in  the  cotton-growing  areas. 

China's  political  reorganization  depends 
upon  her  industrial  awakening;  it  is  the 
growth  of  the  coal  and  iron  trade,  now 
commencing  on  a  heavy  scale,  and  the 
building  of  railways  and  hard-surface 
roads  which  will  insure  her  stability  and 
her  peace,  much  more  than  making  of 
paper  constitutions  or  agreements  be- 
tween political  leaders.  It  has  been  in- 
dustrial backwardness,  the  absence  of 
modern  communications,  and  the  non- 
development  of  a  modern  credit  system, 
coupled  with  the  double-dealing  of  Japan, 
which  have  led  to  "  civil  wars  " — really 
armed  provincial  rioting.  To  talk  of 
Japan  as  the  master  of  the  destiny  of 
Asia  is  a  pre-war  conception  of  the 
period  1911-13,  remembering  that  Japan 
cannot  even  control  Korea. 


Torture  of  Prisoners  in  Korea 

Evils  Under  Japanese  Rule 

Dr.  Frank  W.  Schofield  contributed  to  the  Seoul  Press  in  October,  1919,  an 
article  in  regard  to  the  prevailing  custom  of  torturing  Korean  prisoners  to  make 
them  confess.  After  professing  his  faith  in  the  promises  of  reform  made  by  the 
present  Japanese  Governor  General  of  Korea,  and  after  remarking  that  the  higher 
officials  seemed  to  be  unaware  of  the  barbarous  methods  of  their  subordinates,  Dr. 
Schofield  continued: 


ONE  of  the  highest  officials  in  the 
Police  Department,  when  asked 
why  he  did  not  employ  torture  to 
find  out  who  had  burned  the  Christian 
churches,  absolutely  denied  the  existence 
of  torture  in  the  police  system  of  Korea. 
It  is,  therefore,  necessary  that  the  high 
officials  in  the  Police  and  Judiciary  De- 
partments should  be  made  fully  cognizant 
of  the  fact.  This  is  the  more  imperative 
because  of  the  attitude  of  the  under  offi- 
cials who  believe  torture  to  be  necessary. 
Recently  a  Judge  when  speaking  on  the 
subject  of  torture  said  that  he  deplored 
its  existence,  as  it  made  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  difficult  at  times,  yet  he 
continued,  "  Torture  is  an  old  Korean 
custom,  and  the  Korean  will  frequently 
only  tell  the  truth  when  placed  under 
torture."  The  fact  is  that  the  Koreans 
rarely  tell  the  truth  when  tortured,  but 
merely  say  what  the  torturer  demands 
of  them.     *     *     * 

For  the  information  of  those  officials 
who  are  unaware  of  the  existence  of 
torture  I  will  mention  a  few  of  the  most 
common  forms  used  by  the  police. 

Suspending  the  body  from  the  ceiling 
by  a  cord  tied  around  the  middle  finger, 
the  toes  just  touching  the  ground;  sus- 
pending in  a  similar  way  with  the  cord 
tied  around  the  wrists;  suspending  or 
merely  lifting  the  body  by  a  cord  tied  to 
the  wrists  after  the  hands  have  been  first 
tied  behind  the  back;  squeezing  the  body 
in  a  box,  the  sides  of  which  can  be  made 
to  draw  in  equally;  holding  in  a  fixed 
position  and  pouring  water  over  the  face 
until  the  person  almost  suffocates;  burn- 
ing the  body  with  red-hot  irons;  placing 
a  heavy  stick  above  the  ankles,  the  per- 
son being  in  a  kneeling  position,  and  two 
policemen  standing  one  on  either  end  of 
the  projecting  stick,  which  almost  causes 


dislocation  of  the  ankle  joints;  pricking 
the  body  with  small  sharp  splints;  twist- 
ing the  joints  till  they  almost  dislocate; 
placing  some  solid  object  between  the 
fingers  and  then  tightly  squeezing  the 
hand;  beating  over  the  head  and  body 
until  unconscious;  refusal  to  give  water 
until,  as  in  some  cases,  the  prisoner  is 
forced  to  drink  his  own  urine;  stripping 
of  women.  These  and  many  more  forms 
of  torture  which  the  Writer  has  not  been 
able  satisfactorily  to  verify  are  frequent- 
ly practiced  by  the  police  on  suspected 
criminals. 

The  strongest  argument  against  tor- 
ture is  that  it  is  inhumane  and  has  long 
since  been  abolished  in  all  civilized  coun- 
tries. In  what  other  civilized  country  ex- 
cept Japan  do  prisoners  constantly  state 
to  the  Judge  that  the  evidence  being 
brought  against  them  is  false  and  was 
extorted  under  torture?  Apart  from  be- 
ing inhumane,  torture  results  in  gross  in- 
justice. When  a  prisoner  is  under  tor- 
ture he  will  not  only  make  false  state- 
ments with  regard  to  himself,  but  also 
with  regard  to  other  innocent  people. 
While  I  was  informed  by  a  Judge  that 
few  innocent  people  are  filially  con- 
demned because  of  such  false  testimony, 
yet  many  suffer  detention  and  other  in- 
justices. Spies  and  torture  form  the 
stronghold  of  the  police  system  of  Korea, 
the  police  relying  upon  these  two  agen- 
cies instead  of  learning  the  native  lan- 
guage and  studying  the  methods  em- 
ployed by  European  detectives. 

In  closing  I  briefly  cite  two  cases 
which  have  been  satisfactorily  authenti- 
cated by  the  writer. 

In  one  case  a  young  man  of  about  19 
was  beaten  unconscious  three  times  in 
six  days  and  burned  once  with  a  red-hot 
iron.    This  was  done  to  make  the  young 


170 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


man  divulge  where  the  Independence 
newspaper  was  being  printed.  Having 
taken  an  oath  of  secrecy  he  refused  to 
tell.  When  I  last  saw  this  young  man 
he  was  a  physical  wreck. 

The  other  is  the  case  of  a  student  who 
had  been  arrested  no  less  than  three 
times  in  the  last  six  months  and  various 
charges  brought  against  him.  On  one 
occasion  the  police  found  a  letter  in  his 
pocket  which,  after  falsely  translating 
into  Japanese,  they  used  as  evidence 
against  him.  He  absolutely  denied  the 
truth  of  one  sentence  which  the  police 
had  added  to  the  letter,  stating  that  he 
was  connected  with  the  Independence 
movement.  He  demanded  that  the  origi- 
nal letter  be  produced,  so  that  he  could 
prove  his  innocence.  This  the  police  re- 
fused to  do,  and  continued  to  beat  him, 
trying  to  obtain  a  false  confession  that 
would  only  result  in  his  own  condemna- 
tion. After  beating  him  until  he  was 
unconscious  the  police  desisted,  realizing 
that  their  efforts  had  failed.  A  few  days 
later  they  tried  another  method;  the 
young   man  was   informed  that  a   for- 


eigner while  under  police  examination 
had  admitted  that  he — the  prisoner — was 
connected  with  the  Independence  move- 
ment. But  the  young  man  stood  firm, 
and,  although  severely  beaten,  refused  to 
tell  a  lie  that  would  most  likely  result  in 
his  imprisonment.  After  being  detained 
for  sixteen  days  and  beaten  three  times 
he  was  released  as  innocent. 

About  ten  days  ago — since  the  reform 
of  the  police  administration — he  was 
again  arrested  and  this  time  subjected  to 
torture.  He  was  made  to  kneel  on  the 
ground,  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back, 
then  a  cord  was  placed  around  his  wrists 
which  when  pulled  upward  by  the  police 
almost  caused  dislocation  of  the  shoulder 
joint.  The  man,  being  innocent,  received 
his  discharge  a  day  or  two  later. 

I  could  cite  several  cases  which  clearly 
show  that  instead  of  getting  the  truth 
the  torturer  generally  extorts  from  his 
victim  lies.  *  *  *  Ought  not  the  police 
system  to  be  further  reformed  so  that 
innocent  and  guilty  people  alike  might  be 
saved  from  the  terrible  cruelties  of  the 
police  *  preliminary  examination  "  ? 


REMEMBRANCE 

By  HAROLD  BEGBIE 

[On  the  first  anniversary  of  Armistice  Day,  Nov.  11,  1919,  every  city  and  village 
throughout  the  British  Isles  paid  a  unique  tribute  to  the  allied  dead.  At  the  stroke  of  11 
o'clock  everybody  stood  silent  and  uncovered  for  two  minutes,  wherever  he  happened  to  be. 
This  impressive  memorial,  known  as  "  the  great  silence,"  is  the  theme  of  Mr.  Begbie's  poem, 
which  appeared  that  day  in  The  London  Chronicle:] 


Stay  the  hammer,  stay  the  wheel, 
Stay  the  arm,  and  bow  the  head; 

Silently  let  every  place 

Take  the  roll-call  of  its  Dead. 


While  from  Heaven  fall  the  thoughts 
Of  our  loved  ones  and  our  brave, 

Blessing  work  they  left  to  us 
In  the  land  they  died  to  save. 


By  the  furnace,  at  the  forge, 
In  the  dark  mines  lantern-lit, 

These  two  moments  fall  like  drops 
Cooling  Dives  in  his  pit. 


Stay  the  thunder  of  the  mill, 
Stay  the  needle,  stay  the  pen; 

Britain  prays.    Arise,  and  make 
Work  her  seven-fold  Amen — 


Silent  lie  our  British  Isles 
On  the  bosom  of  the  sea, 

Silent  while  two  minutes  knit 
Time  into  Eternity. 


Work,  to  fill  their  parents'  store: 
Work,  to  clear  their    children's  way: 

Work,  to  make  their  dying  dreams 
The  sunrise  of  a  nobler  day. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
ON  CURRENT  EVENTS 


[Austrian  Cartoon] 


The  Hunger-Peace 


— From  Die  Muskete,  Vienna 
Take  a  ride,  Sir?" 


[American  Cartoon] 


The  Dawn  of  a  New  Day  Is  Often  a  Cold, 

Gray  Dawn 


■:'-'■;  -.-;■-  V-~  A".''.'  ■  \-'"'    ■■■-■'-  -■■.'■"«•<-■'  ■: 


^***^      /Pt^a-ryt*'  77&f*&~^ 


—From   The  Brooklyn  Eagle 


[Spanish  Cartoon] 

The  Profiteer  as  God  of  Provisions 


—Esquella,  Barcelona 

"  You  have  had  increases  in  wages.     You  have  gained  the  eight-hour  day. 
What  else  do  you  want?  " 


173 


[American  Cartoons] 


The  Adjournment  of 
Congress 


.^uJery; 


—Cincvrmati  Post 
"  That  hired   man's   quit   again,   and  the 
wood    ain't   sawed  !  " 


Columbia  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales 


—San  Francisco   Bulletin 
"  Good-bye,  Prince  Chap— I  hope  we  shall 
always    be    good    friends  "   'i^-fv    >*y.»ji 


0 


A  Pick  to  Open  the  Lock 


A  "Closed"  Shop 


—Dayton  News 


—Brooklyn  Eagle 


[English  Cartoon] 

The  Man  in  the  Middle 


—Pall  Mall  Gazette,  London 

Mr.  Mbddleclass  :    "  Well,  it's  not  much  protection  in  a  storm  like  this,  but 
I'll  have  to  put  the  old  gamp  up  again ! " 


[American  Cartoons] 


And  We  Also  Have  Class 
Unconsciousness ! 


One  of  Those  No  Limit 
Games 


Brooklyn  Eagle 


—New   York    Tribune 


175 


[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 


The  Collapsing  Peace 


.,•,..-■,.•    .     ■/::,..,;       ■ 


','■      .--:.  ■■•.;.-'. .    ■    .. 


— From  Nebclspalter,  Zurich 


176 


[German    Cartoon] 


The  Effect  in  Heaven 


—From    Lustige    Gesellschaft,    Berlin 

In  the  heavenly  spheres  they  are  all  holding  their  noses.     It  is  the  Peace 
Treaty  that   smells   to  heaven 


[Dutch   Cartoon] 

The  Downfall  of  Bolshevism 


—From    Be    Amsterdammer,    Amsterdam 
Atlas-Bolshevik  :    "  If  I  can't  keep  it  up  it  will  flatten  me" 


[American  Cartoon] 


Without  a  League  for  Peace 


-Dayton   Ncics 


o 

68 


a 


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PL. 

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■ 


[Austrian  Cartoon] 

Unpopular  Diplomacy 


"  What  is  all  that  noise?  "  -From  Figaro,   Vienna 

"  The  latest  Austrian  diplomats  are  shouting  their  revelations  about  Austria's 
having  begun  the  war  " 

Clemenceau:  "In  that  case  we  had  better  stiffen  the  Austrian  peace  terms" 

[Italian  Cartoon] 

Unnecessary  Trouble 


— From  II  ^20,  Florence 
Adjutant:    "What  steps  shall  we  take?"  Wilson:   "  I  have  come  to  starve  Italy" 

Pre*h)ent     Wilson:      "We     will     starve  Profiteer:      "Don't    trouble    yourself;     I 

Italy  "  am  attending  to  that  " 


[American  Cartoons] 


"A   Banner   With   This 
Strange  Device" 


A  Reckless  Performance 


—New    York    World 


—New   York   World 


While  He's  Keeping  Her  Out 


—From  The  New  York  Times 


[American  Cartoons] 

Marriage  on  the  Senate  Plan        "Aw-w,    Look   What   You 

Went  an'  Done!" 


/ 1  „,ii  «d^= 


\\  pui  ™'  — J*  '"r~       # 


-^~9 


— Detroit    News 


"Philadelphia  Evening  Ledger 


Unpalatable   Medicine 


Snip! 


'jf'Tlzfef- 


—San  Francisco   Chronicle 


San  Francisco  Chronicle 


[Spanish  Cartoon] 


[Dutch  Cartoon] 


An  Admirer 


The  Children  of 
Vienna 


— De   Notenkraker,   Amsterdam 


The  God  of  War  is  a  jealous  god. 
He  punishes  mankind  even  to  the 
second   and   third   generation. 


— Esquella,  Barcelona 
"  Thanks  to  thee,  Aviation,  the  Uni- 
versal    Graveyard    has    increased    its 
population  " 


187 


[German- Swiss   Cartoon] 

The  Erlkoenig  Up  to  Date 


—From  Nebelspalter,  Zurich 

Who    rides    so   late   through  the   night   so   wild? 

Wilson  it  is  with  his  young  Peace  child. 

Onward  he  hurries  with  his  little  pal — 
To  get  him  into  a  hospital! 


[German  Cartoon] 

France  and  Race  Suicide 


[Spanish  Cartoon] 

Mistress  of  the  World 


—Kladderadatsch,  Berlin 

Usquella,  Barcelona 

Clemenceau:        "France     expects     every  hunger    to    Militarism:     "Get     off    the 

stork  to  do  its  duty"  earth!      You've    had    your    turn— it's    mine 

now  " 


188 


[Spanish  Cartoon] 

Modern  Problems  and  Their  Solution 


THE  HOUS/A/6    PROBLEM 


THE  TAILOR  PROBLEM 


—From  Esquciidj  Barcelona 


[American  Cartoons] 


The  Red:   "Let's  Go  to  the     They    Can't    Get    By    With 


Bottom  First" 


That    Kind    of    Stuff 
With  This  Bird! 


—Brooklyn   Eagle 


—Central  Press  Association 


The  Quicker  and  Harder,  the 
Better 


0    O^febf7 


Liberty 


—New   Tribune,   Duluth 

St.  Louis  Republic'  Uncle    SaM:     "  Free-    but    wlth    reserva- 

tions.     Get   out!  " 


100 


PEACE   WITH   GERMANY 


Final    Exchange    of    Ratifications    on    January    10,    1920,  he 
Puts   the    Treaty    of    Versailles    Into    Operation — 
Other  Peace  Conference  Activities 


us- 
ed 


[Period  Ended  Jan.  20,  1920] 


ALMOST    exactly    fourteen    months 

/\  after  the  date  of  the  original 
JL  .^.armistice  with  Germany  the  Peace 
Conference  at  Paris  ended  its  long 
verbal  conflicts  with  the  German  dele- 
gates and  made  the  final  exchange  of 
ratifications  which  brought  complete 
peace  with  Germany  and  set  into  opera- 
tion all  the  complicated  machinery  of 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  including  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  United  States 
alone  of  the  great  powers  was  without  a 
representative  at  this  historic  ceremony 
— owing  to  the  Senate's  failure  to  ratify 
the  treaty. 

The  event  had  long  been  delayed, 
partly  by  the  Allies'  hope  that  America 
might  yet  come  in,  and  partly  by  the 
reluctance  of  the  German  delegates  to 
sign  the  protocol  articles  demanding 
reparation  for  the  scuttling  of  the  Ger- 
man battleship  fleet  at  Scapa  Flow. 
Agreement  on  this  point  was  finally 
reached,  however,  and  on  Jan.  10,  1920, 
the  allied  and  German  representatives 
met  in  the  Clock  Room  of  the  French 
Foreign  Office  at  Paris,  and  signed  the 
protocol  and  the  proces-verbal  which 
placed  the  final  seal  of  ratification  upon 
the  German  Peace  Treaty.  The  deposit 
of  these  documents  with  the  others  in 
the  French  Foreign  Ministry  archives 
completed  the  required  formalities.  After 
five  years  of  tragedy  and  many  months 
of  disputation,  Germany  was  again  at 
peace  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
was,  at  least  officially,  a  friendly  mem- 
ber of  the  family  of  nations. 

While  handling  this  main  problem  the 
Peace  Conference  had  been  busy  with 
other  matters  that  remained  to  be  settled 
before  peace  could  come  to  certain  por- 
tions of  Eastern  Epmnp  and  the  Near 
East.    Peace  trea  **y  and 

Turkey  still  reiart-y  out  the  unfulfilled 
terir  armistice.     The  Premiers 

and  tne  uernian  envoys  were  then  escort- 
ed to  the  Clock  Room,  where  the  diplo- 


the  final  ratification  of  the  Austrian  and  As 
Bulgarian  treaties  was  still  to  come,  and  of 
several  bitter  territorial  disputes  werand 
calling  for  settlement.  In  special  con^es- 
ferences  between  the  allied  and  Italiantre 
Premiers  a  substantial  adjustment  of 
the  Fiume  dispute  was  reached,  and  a  ^k 
draft  of  its  terms  was  forwarded  to  Bel-  t 
grade  for  Jugoslav  concurrence.  By  the  <j 
terms  of  this  agreement  the  Italian  char-  )f 
acter  of  Fiume  was  recognized,  but  theiy 
port  and  railways  were  internationalized  er 
under  the  League  of  Nations.  on 

Another  important  task  was  disposed5e, 
of  with  the  delivery  to  a  Hungarianed 
Peace  Delegation  headed  by  Count  Al-ed 
bert  Andrassy  of  the  terms  of  peactyd 
to  be  imposed  on  Hungary,  and  Counind 
Andrassy  took  this  treaty  draft  bacioi- 
with  him  to  Budapest  for  submission  t(er 
the  Hungarian  Parliament.  Various  a- 
other  questions  were  discussed  and  actecm, 
on  when  necessary.  The  question  oJa. 
peace  with  Turkey  was  still  deferred,  g 
though  important  discussions  of  this  per-[d 
plexing  problem  were  held  by  the  Su-jd 
preme  Council. 

Regarding  Russia,  the  policy  of  noncij 

interference  in  the  war  on  Bolshevism  QC! 

as 

was  approved  by  all  the  allied  nation  eir 
It  was  announced  on  Jan.   16,  furthe.5  _ 
more,  that  the  Supreme  Council  had  d  at 
cided  to  open  trade  relations  with  tl.on 
many   co-operative   societies   of   the   11, „ 
terior  of  Russia,  to  embrace  exchange  of 
clothing,  medicines  and  agricultural  ma- 
chines for  grain  and  flax;  this  change 
of  policy  in  the  partial  raising  of  th 
blockade  against  Soviet  Russia,  it  wa 
specifically  stated,  was  in  no  way  to  bt 
interpreted  as  a  change  of  policy  toward 
the  Soviet  regime. 

The  Scapa  Flow  negotiations  between 
the  allied  representatives  and  Baron  vo- 
Yi^rsner's   German  delegation   reinfor', 

f  --ii,ish  and 

Itaha\      ,  -  1  in  the   For- 

eign Ministry  for  consultation. 


192 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


by  a  special  German  shipping  commis- 
.  sion,  which  arrived  on  Dec.  15,  were  be- 
gun   anew   after    several    interruptions, 
and  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  solution  of 
all  outstanding  difficulties  looked  bright 
shortly  before  Christmas.    The  allied  ex- 
perts had  presented  figures  showing  that 
Germany  possessed  some  700,000  tons  of 
,  docks,  dredges  and  other  maritime  equip- 
ment.   The  Allies  demanded  400,000  tons 
of  it  in  payment  for  the   Scapa  Flow 
—fleet,    leaving    300,000    for    Germany's 
'"'.needs.     The  German  experts  said  Ger- 
many had   600,000   tons,   and   that   she 
needed  400,000.    It  was  the  German  con- 
tention that  the  allied  figures  included 
S.  80,000  tons  at  Danzig,  which  did  not  ex- 
1  1st,  and  20,000  tons  at  Hamburg,  equally 
v  mythical.      The    allied    diplomats    asked 
i  the  British   Government  about  the   ap- 
|  parent  discrepancy,  and  received  the  re- 
%  ply  that  the  British  figures  were  cor- 
rect. 

5  The  allied  note  bearing  on  this  ques- 
tion which  was  sent  to  Germany,  how- 
|;ever,  was  accompanied  by  a  promise  that 
;if  the  Germans  could  prove  that  they 
_jreally  needed  400,000  tons  the  Allies 
^would  reduce  their  demands  to  300,000, 
■^mt  would  retain  the  allied  experts'  total 
§of  700,000  tons  as  a  basis  for  calcula- 
tions. 

It   developed   that   the   difference  be- 
tween the  allied  and  German  estimates 
of  available  floating  dock  tonnage  would 
■  occasion   a  considerable   delay,   and  the 
"hope  of  winding  up  the  business  of  mak- 
ng  peace  by  Christmas  was  abandoned. 
The    Supreme    Council,    therefore,    ad- 
— turned  until  Dec.  26. 
jj  The  Supreme  Council  on  Dec.  27  de- 
cided to  send  an  allied  naval  commission 
J>  Hamburg  and  Danzig  to  review  the 
J*  Hied  estimates  on  German  dock  facili- 
cies  in  those  ports.     Further  action  was 
.   made  contingent  on  the  report  of  this 
"^commission.    Meanwhile  matters  of  sub- 
sidiary importance  were  taken  up. 

HITCH  OVER  PLEBISCITES 


m 


( 

_      The  council,  among  other  matters,  re- 

:.  ceived  information  of  the  results  of  the 

first  meeting  between  German  and  allied 

military  experts  to  discuss  arrangements 

^for     the     execution    of    the     Versailles 

^S^eaty.    It  appeared  that  on  the  first «   |_ 


change  of  views  the  railroad  material  of- 
fered by  the  Germans  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  allied  troops  to  plebiscite  districts 
was  considered  insufficient.  The  report 
of  these  negotiations  was  laid  before  the 
council  by  General  Weigand.  The  report 
stated  that  the  Germans  had  declared 
that  because  of  lack  of  material  it  was 
impossible  to  supply  the  six  trains  daily 
demanded  by  the  Allies,  and  that  they 
had  offered  four  trains  for  this  purpose. 

General  Weigand  subsequently  re- 
ported that  the  allied  and  German  mili- 
tary experts  had  reached  an  agreement 
on  this  question.  Difficulties,  however, 
arose  in  arranging  for  the  plebiscites  to 
be  held  in  Upper  Silesia,  Allenstein, 
Memel  and  other  territories.  Herr  von 
Simson,  head  of  a  special  delegation  sent 
by  Germany,  declared  that  he  had  no 
power  to  change  the  German  interpreta- 
tion of  these  arrangements. 

Meanwhile  the  Supreme  Council  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Marshal  Foch  stat- 
ing that  his  agents  had  observed  that  in 
Upper  Silesia,  one  of  the  main  plebiscite 
districts,  there  were  stationed  80,000 
German  soldiers,  including  large  num- 
bers of  the  former  troops  of  General  von 
der  Goltz,  who  had  made  trouble  in  the 
Baltic  Provinces  until  the  allied  powers 
forced  them  out.  In  this  letter  Marshal 
Foch  expressed  his  strong  belief  that  be- 
fore the  20,000  allied  soldiers  agreed 
upon  should  go  to  Upper  Silesia  to  con- 
duct the  plebiscite  it  was  expedient  that 
the  German  troops  be  withdrawn.  The 
Supreme  Council  approved  the  sugges- 
tion and  decided  to  ask  Germany  to  see 
that  this  was  done.  This  new  note  was 
dispatched  on  Jan.  2. 

SCAPA  FLOW  AGREEMENT 


Baron  von  Lersner  on  Dec.  30  asked 
the  Supreme  Council  to  put  into  writing 
the  verbal  assurance  given  him  by  M. 
Dutasta  that  if  the  Germans  proved 
their  figures  regarding  maritime  equip- 
ment the  Allies  would  reduce  their  de- 
mands by  100,000  tons.  M.  Dutasta  was 
authorized  to  reply  that  this  '  request 
would  be  complied  with,  and  the  German 
envoy  communicated  this  new  phase  to 
the  Berlin  Government. 

The  terms  of  the  Supreme  Council  for 

-gs»l    settlement   of-^      Scapa   Fi' 

ne, 

Uncle    Sam:     "Free,    "but   with    - 


tions.      Get   out! 


PEACE  WITH  GERMANY 


VJ3 


sinkings  were  handed  to  Baron  von 
Lersner  on  Jan.  5.  They  embodied  a 
diminution  of  125,000  tons  frem  the  400,- 
000  tons  of  naval  material  originally  de- 
manded from  Germany.  The  ultimate 
figure  conceded  by  the  Allies  was  275,- 
000  tons,  to  which  the  German  delegates 
agreed.  The  final  settlement  was  de- 
layed by  failure  of  the  Germans  to  fix 
terms  relating  to  the  plebiscite  arrange- 
ments. On  Jan.  6,  however,  on  the 
strength  of  an  assurance  given  by  Baron 
von  Lersner  that  Germany  would  consent 
to  the  signing  of  the  protocol,  the  Su- 
preme Council  announced  that  the  cere- 
mony of  exchanging  ratifications  would 
take  place  on  Jan.  10. 

One  last  difficulty  arose  over  a  re- 
quest from  Germany  that  the  allied 
forces  to  be  sent  into  Upper  Silesia  be 
reduced  one-fourth,  in  order  to  lower  the 
cost  for  Germany.  On  the  advice  of 
Marshal  Foch  the  council  granted  this 
request,  which  had  already  been  virtu- 
ally met  by  the  inability  of  25  per  cent, 
of  the  American  contingent  to  partici- 
pate in  any  such  activities,  owing  to  the 
Senate's  failure  to  ratify  the  treaty. 

THE    FINAL   CEREMONY 

In  order  to  have  everything  ready  for 
the  ceremony  M.  Clemenceau,  the  Su- 
preme Council,  and  the  various  commis- 
sions worked  feverishly  day  and  night. 
No  new  obstacles  arose,  and  on  Satur- 
day, Jan.  10,  the  final  act  of  the  great 
European  tragedy  was  staged.  Four- 
teen allied  and  associated  powers  on 
one  hand  and  Germany  on  the  other  met 
at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  in  the  Clock 
Hall  of  the  French  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs  to  consummate  the  ratification 
of  peace. 

The  representatives  of  England, 
France,  Italy,  and  Japan  had  already 
met  in  secret  session  with  the  two 
German  envoys,  Baron  Kurt  von  Lersner 
and  Herr  von  Simson,  in  the  office  of 
the  French  Foreign  Minister,  and  the 
Germans  had  signed  the  much-disputed 
protocol  binding  their  nation  to  pay  for 
the  sinking  of  the  German  fleet  at  Scapa 
Flow  and  to  carry  out  the  unfulfilled 
terms  of  the  armistice.  The  Premiers 
and  the  German  envoys  were  then  escort- 
ed to  the  Clock  Room,  where  the  diplo- 


mats of  nearly  all  the  nations  of  the 
world  had  assembled,  for  many  Ambas- 
sadors and  statesmen  had  been  invited 
to  attend  the  ceremony. 

Around  the  long,  green-covered  tables 
gathered  the  allied  Premiers  and  For- 
eign Ministers,  with  Germany's  repre- 
sentatives at  a  separate  small  table.  As 
they  were  designated  by  the  master  of 
ceremonies  they  rose  each  in  turn  and 
affixed  their  signatures  to  the  proces- 
verbal  spread  upon  a  stand  in  the  centre 
of  the  long  chamber. 

It  was  two  minutes  after  4  o'clock 
when  Premier  Clemenceau  took  his  seat, 
closely  followed  by  Premiers  Lloyd 
George  and  Nitti,  with  Baron  Matsui  of 
Japan  not  far  behind.  The  ceremony 
began  without  any  formality.  The  Master 
of  Ceremonies  called  the  name  of  Baron 
von  Lersner.  The  German  envoy  arose, 
and,  walking  quickly  to  the  stand,  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  document  that  ended 
the  war.  He  was  followed  by  Lloyd 
George,  and  then  by  Signor  Nitti  and 
Baron  Matsui.  The  delegates  of  the  fol- 
lowing nations  signed  in  the  order 
named:  Belgium,  Bolivia,  Brazil,  Gua- 
temala, Panama,  Peru,  Poland,  Siam, 
Czechoslovakia,  and  Uruguay.  America. 
China,  Greece,  and  Rumania,  not  having 
ratified  the  treaty  with  Germany,  did 
not  sign.  The  ceremony  of  signing  lasted 
until  about  4:16  o'clock. 

A  letter  from  the  Supreme  Council 
promising  Germany  in  writing,  as 
agreed,  that  the  Allies  would  reduce  their 
demand  for  maritime  equipment  to  275,- 
000  tons  to  pay  for  the  ships  sunk  at 
Scapa  Flow  was  then  handed  to  Baron 
von  Lersner.  This  done,  M.  Clemenceau 
rose  and  said: 

The  protocol  between  the  Allied  and 
Associated  Powers  and  Germany  has  been 
signed.  The  ratifications  of  the  treaty 
with  Germany  have  been  deposited.  From 
this  moment  the  treaty  enters  into  effect. 
It  will  be  enforced  in  all  its  terms. 

At  the  conclusion  of  M.  Clemenceau's 
remarks,  all  the  delegates  rose,  and  the 
Germans,  after  slight  hesitation,  led  the 
way  out,  with  no  attempt  to  greet  or  to 
hold  converse  with  any  of  the  other  dele- 
gates. Clemenceau  and  the  British  and 
Italian  Premiers  remained  in  the  For- 
eign Ministry  for  consultation. 


194 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  outstanding  comment  after  the 
ceremony  was  that  it  left  the  United 
States  the  only  great  power  still  tech- 
nically at  war  with  Germany.  The  al- 
lied Governments  did  not  even  have  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  Ambassador  Wal- 
lace at  the  ceremony.  The  American 
envoy  had  received  a  pressing  invitation 
to  attend,  and  had  telegraphed  to  Wash- 
ington for  instructions;  receiving  no  an- 
swer in  time  to  attend,  he  had  returned 
his  invitation  to  M.  Clemenceau. 

VON   LERSNER'S  COMMENTS 

Interviewed  after  the  ceremony,  Baron 
von  Lersner  said: 

I  am  naturally  happy  that  peace  has 
finally  become  effective.  My  great  regret 
is  that  the  United  States  is  the  only  coun- 
try with  which  Germany  is  still  in  a  state 
of  war.  I  hope,  however,  that  the  situ- 
ation will  soon  be  changed. 

Execution  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
imposes  on  Germany  the  heaviest  sacri- 
'  fices  ever  borne  by  a  nation  in  modern 
tlimes.  We  have  lost  in  the  west  and  in 
the  east  territories  that  belonged  to 
Prussia  for  many  centuries.  We  have 
assumed  enormous  economic  'Obligations. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  glad  that  peace  is  at 
last  re-established,  because  it  will  give 
back  to  Germany  her  beloved  sons  and 
prisoners  abroad. 

Regarding  the  execution  of  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  Germany  will  do  her  utmost. 
We  have  already,  even  without  being 
obliged  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  de- 
livered a  considerable  quantity  of  prod- 
ucts, including  two  and  one-half  million 
tons  of  coal  to  France,  and  1  can  say 
that  Germany  will  go  to  the  utmost  limit 
of  possibility  in  fulfilling  all  the  obli- 
gations she  has  incurred.  It  will  mean 
hard  times  for  Germany,  but  with  the 
recovery  of  our  ardor  for  labor  and  pro- 
duction we  hope  to  meet  every  emergency. 

The  recovery  of  our  economic  prosperity 
is  as  much  to  the  interest  of  the  Entente 
as  it  (is  to  us,  on  account  of  the  great 
economic  difficulties  that  threaten  all 
Europe.  It  is  obvious,  speaking  chiefly  of 
France,  that  her  economic  prosperity  de- 
pends upon  the  economic  recovery  of  Ger- 
many. 

Baron  von  Lersner  said  he  had  had 
several  very  satisfactory  conferences 
with  Louis  Loucheur,  French  Minister 
of  Reconstruction,  regarding  the  resump- 
tion of  trade  relations  between  Germany 
and  France,  and  added  that  he  hoped  the 
European  nations,  working  together, 
would  solve  the  great  economic  problems. 
The  most  thorny  remaining  problem  ap- 


peared to  him  to  be  the  question  of  the 
extradition  of  a  considerable  number  of 
German  officers,  officials,  and  soldiers 
to  be  tried  abroad  for  crimes  alleged  to 
have  been  committed  during  the  war.  In 
this  regard  he  said: 

I  do  not  want  to  give  up  all  hope  that 
among  the  Allies  the  conviction  will 
finally  prevail  that  by  availing  them- 
selves strictly  of  rights  conceded  in  the 
treaty  for  the  extradition  of  those  ac- 
cused they  may  cause  the  gravest  conse- 
quences not  only  for  Germany  but  for 
quiet  and  order  in  Europe  generally. 
We  pointed  out  two  months  ago  very 
frankly  to  the  Allies  the  harmful  conse- 
quences that  might  ensue  if  their  right 
to  demand  extradition  should  be  execut- 
ed literally.  At  the  same  time  we  sub- 
mitted written  suggestions  for  the  solu- 
tion of  the  delicate  problem. 

The  principal  features  of  this  proposition 
were  that  Germany  would  undertake  to 
arraign  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ger- 
many all  persons  accused  by  the  En- 
tente, would  except  all  such  from  the 
law  of  amnesty,  and  would  consent  to  the 
presence  of  the  representatives  of  the 
Entente  at  the  trials  as  public  prose- 
cutors, with  fullest  rights  of  control. 
Germany  in  the  meantime  has  enacted 
laws  to  this  end. 

The  Entente  did  not  accept  our  proposal 
before  peace  became  effective,  but  that 
does  not  preclude  serious  examination 
anew  of  the  problem  after  the  establish- 
ment of  peace.  Tour  conviction  must  be 
the  same  as  mine,  that  the  desire  of  the 
Entente  is  by  no  means  to  satisfy  re- 
venge, but  to  punish  the  guilty  with 
equity  and  justice. 

The  Entente  proposal  for  obtaining  this 
object,  however,  far  exceeds  the  demands 
made  by  Austria  upon  Serbia  for  the 
punishment  of  the  assassins  of  the  Arch- 
duke— demands  which  were  rejected  by 
Serbia,  with  the  approval  of  the  Entente. 
I  cannot  believe  that  our  former  adver- 
saries have  any  interest  in  compromising 
the  re-establishment  of  normal  life  in 
Germany  by  insisting  on  this  question  of 
extradition,  upon  availing  themselves  un- 
sparingly of  rights  the  real  end  of  which 

light  be  attained  otherwise. 

After  the  settlement  of  a  few  details 
concerning  the  execution  of  the  treaty 
Baron  von  Lersner  returned  to  Germany 
for  a  short  rest. 

TEXT  OF  PROCES-VERBAL 

The  proces-verbal  of  ratification  which 
the  allied  and  German  representatives 
signed  at  the  Foreign  Ministry  contained 
the  name  of  the  United  States,  though 


PEACE  WITH  GERMANY 


196 


the  Americans  did  not  sign.     The  text 
of  this  instrument  is  as  follows: 

Proces-verbal  of  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  signed  at  Versailles 
June  28,  1919,  between  the  United  States^ 
of  America,  the  British  Empire,  France, 
Italy,  Japan,  Belgium,  Bolivia,  Brazil, 
Cuba,  Ecuador,  Greece,  Guatema'  ■ ,  Haiti, 
Hedjaz,  Honduras,  Liberia,  Nicaragua, 
Panama,  Peru,  Poland,  Portugal,  Ru- 
mania, the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State, 
Siam,  Czechoslovakia,  and  Uruguay  on 
the  one  hand,  and  Germany  on  the  other 
hand,  as  well  as  of  the  following  acts: 

Protocol  signed  the  same  day  by  the 
same  powers,  arrangement  of  the  same 
date  between  the  United  States,  Belgium, 
the  British  Empire,  France,  and  Germany 
concerning  the  occupation  of  the  Rhine 
Provinces. 

In  the  execution  of  the  final  clauses 
of  the  treaty  of  peace  signed  at  Ver- 
sailles June  28,  1919,  the  undersigned  have 
met  at  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs 
at  Paris  to  proceed  to  deposit  ratifica- 
tions and  to  consign  them  to  the  French 
Government. 

Instruments  of  ratification  or  notice  of 
their  dispatch  by  four  principal  allied 
and  associated  powers— that  is  to  say,  the 
British  Empire  for  the  treaty  of  peace, 
protocol,  and  arrangement ;  France  for 
the  treaty  of  peace,  protocol  and  arrange- 
ment; Italy  for  the  treaty  of  peace  and 
protocol,  and  by  the  following  allied  and 
associated  powers:  Belgium  for  the  treaty 
of  peace,  protocol,  and  arrangement; 
Bolivia  for  the  treaty  of  peace  and  pro- 
tocol ;  Brazil  for  the  treaty  of  peace  and 
protocol;  Guatemala  for  the  treaty  of 
peace  and  protocol ;  Panama  for  the 
treaty  of  peace  and  protocol ;  Peru  for  the 
treaty  of  peace  and  protocol ;  Poland  for 
the  treaty  of  peace  and  protocol ;  Siam 
for  the  treaty  of  peace  and  protocol; 
Czechoslovakia  for  the  treaty  of  peace 
and  protocol,  and  Uruguay  for  the  treaty 
of  peace  and  protocol  have  been  produced 
and  after  being  examined  have  been 
found  in  good  and  true  form  and  are  con- 
fided to  the  French  Government  to  be 
deposited   in   its   archives. 

Conforming  to  the  provisions  of  the 
final  clauses  aforesaid,  the  French  Gov- 
ernment will  give  notice  to  the  contract- 
ing powers  of  the  deposit  of  ratifications 
at  another  time  by  States  which  are  sig- 
natories of  the  aforesaid  treaty,  protocol, 
and  arrangement,  but  which  have  not 
been  ready  to  proceed  today  to  this  for- 
mality. 

In  confirmation  of  which  the  under- 
signed approve  the  present  proces-verbal 
and  affix  their  seals. 

Done  at  Paris,  Jan.  10,  1920,  at  4:15 
o'clock. 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROTOCOL 

The  text  of  the  letter  which  the  Su- 
preme Council  handed  to  Baron  von 
Lersner  after  the  exchange  of  ratifica- 
tions was  as  follows: 

Now  that  the  protocol  provided  for  by 
the  note  of  Nov.  2  has  been  signed  by 
qualified  representatives  of  the  German 
Government,  and  .in  consequence  the  rati- 
fications of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  have 
been  deposited,  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  wish  to  renew  to  the  German 
Government  their  assurance  that,  while 
necessary  reparations  for  the  sinking  of 
the  German  fleet  in  Scapa  Flow  will  be 
exacted,  they  do  not  intend  to  injure  the 
vital  economic  interests  of  Germany.  On 
this  point,  by  this  letter,  they  confirm 
the  declarations  which  the  General  Sec- 
retary of  the  Peace  Conference  was 
charged  with  making  orally  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  German  delegation  on  Dec.  23. 
These  declarations  are  as  follows: 
First— The  General  Secretary  has  been 
authorized  by  the  Supreme  Council  to  as- 
sure the  German  delegation  that  the  In- 
terallied Commission  on  Control  and  the 
Commission  on  Reparations  will  conform 
with  the  greatest  care  to  the  statements 
in  the  note  of  Dec.  8  relative  to  safe- 
guarding the  vital  economic  interests  of 
Germany. 

Second— The  experts  of  the  allied  and 
associated  powers,  believing  that  part  of 
the  information  on  which  they  founded 
their  demand  for  400,000  tons  of  floating 
clocks,  floating  cranes,  tugs  and  dredgers 
may  have  been  inaccurate  on  certain 
points  and  details,  think  they  have  com- 
mitted an  error  as  concerns  80,000  tons  of 
floating  docks  at  Hamburg. 

If  the  Investigation  to  which  the  Inter- 
allied Commission  on  Control  will  proceed 
shall  show  that  there  has  really  been  an 
error,  the  allied  and  associated  powers 
will  be  prepared  to  reduce  their  demands 
proportionally  in  a"  manner  to  lower  them 
to  300,000  tons  in  round  numbers,  and 
even  below  that  if  the  necessity  of  such 
reduction  shall  be  demonstrated  by  con- 
vincing arguments.  But  most  complete 
facilities  should  be  accorded  to  author- 
ized allied  and  associated  representatives 
to  enable  them  to  make  all  necessary  in- 
quiries, with  a  view  to  verifying  the  Ger- 
man assertions,  before  any  reduction  from 
the  original  demands  of  the  protocol  can 
be  definitely  admitted  by  the  allied  and 
associated  powers. 

Third— The  allied  and  associated  Gov- 
ernments, with  reference  to  the  last  para- 
graph of  the  letter  which  contains  their 
reply,  do  not  consider  that  the  sole  act 
of  sinking  the  German  ships  at  Scapa 
Flow  constitutes  a  crime  of  war  for 
which  individual  punishment  will   be   •  \- 


196 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


acted   in   conformity  with  Article   228   of 
the  Peace  Treaty. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers  wish  to  point  out  that, 
without  losing  sight  of  the  vital  economic 
interestc  of  Germany,  they  have  presented 
a  demand  for  400,000  tons  on  the  inven- 
tory established  by  them. 

German  experts  have  furnished  details, 
which  we  will  verify,  and  which  give  a 
smaller  figure.  Consequently  there  will 
eventually  be  deducted  from  the  400,000 
tons  of  floating  docks,  cranes,  tugs  and 
dredgers  claimed  by  the  Allies  a  tonnage 
of  floating  docks,  which,  after  verifica- 
tion, we  will  recognize  as  figuring  by  mis- 
take on  the  interallied  inventory  and 
which  consequently  does  not  exist.  Nev- 
ertheless, such  deduction  shall  not  ex- 
ceed 125,000  tons. 

The  allied  and  associated  powers  add 
that  the  192,000  tons  proposed  by  the 
German  Government,  of  which  a  list  was 
handed  over  during  the  deliberations  of 
the  Technical  Commissions,  must  be  de- 
livered immediately.  For  the  balance  of 
the  tonnage,  as  shall  be  determined  by 
the  Commission  on  Reparations,  a  delay 
'  will  be  allowed  the  German  Government, 
which  cannot  exceed  thirty  months,  for 
delivery  of  the  total  amount. 

CLEMENCEAU. 

BITTERNESS  IN  GERMANY 

On  the  evening  of  ratification  the  bells 
of  London  were  pealing  in  celebration 
of  the  conclusion  of  peace.  Otherwise, 
neither  in  London  nor  in  Paris  were 
there  any  unusual  demonstrations  of  re- 
joicing; all  these  had  found  vent  on  the 
termination  of  armed  hostilities  and  the 
signing  of  the  treaty.  In  Berlin,  like- 
wise, the  event  aroused  no  special  inter- 
est. The  press  comments,  which  were 
not  given  first  place  in  the  various 
papers,  were,  however,  pervaded  with  a 
distinct  bitterness.  The  heading  chosen 
by  the  Lokal-Anzeiger  was  "  Under  the 
Knout  of  the  Enemy!"  The  Tagliche 
Rundschau  said :  "  This  peace  is  worse 
than  war!"  It  denounced  the  regula- 
tions of  the  Interallied  High  Commission 
for  the  Rhineland  as  a  breach  of  the  rat- 
ified treaty.  The  Berlin  Tageblatt  de- 
clared that  Germany  had  shown  political 
unwisdom  in  not  refusing  to  sign  the 
treaty.  Since  it  had  been  signed,  this 
paper  said,  Germany  had  only  one  course 
to  follow:  to  carry  out  the  treaty  to  the 
best  of  her  ability  and  to  strive  for  re- 
vision. The  Vossische  Zeitung  said:  "It 
is  not  the  written  word,  but  the  creative 


deed  that  can  remove  the  traces  of  physi- 
cal and  spiritual  damage  caused  by  the 
war.  For  Germany  the  first  duty  is  to 
honor  her  pledged  word  and  to  work  so 
determinedly  that  she  will  help  the 
world's  kultur  forward." 

Lord  Kilmarnock  left  London  on  Jan. 
12  for  Berlin  to  take  up  his  duties  as 
British  Charge  d'Affaires  in  the  German 
capital.  The  British  Government  had 
announced  its  intention  to  maintain  only 
a  legation  until  Germany  had  proved  her 
honest  intentions  of  carrying  out  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  when  the  Ambassa- 
dorship would  be  restored.  Germany 
was  not  expected  to  send  a  diplomatic 
representative  at  once.  German  affairs 
in  London  were  still  in  care  of  the  Swiss 
Legation,  which  had  taken  over  that  re- 
sponsibility at  the  departure  of  Prince 
Lichnowsky.  Sir  Harold  Stuart  had  been 
named  the  British  High  Commissioner 
for  the  Rhineland.  France  and  Belgium 
at  this  time  were  preparing  to  dispatch 
representatives  to  Berlin. 

POSITION  OF   UNITED  STATES 

The  Department  of  State  at  Washing- 
ton issued  a  statement  on  Jan.  10,  an- 
nouncing the  signing  of  the  proces-ver- 
bal,  as  agreed  upon  in  the  Treaty  of  Ver- 
sailles, and  added: 

Inasmuch  as  the  United  States  has  not 
ratified  the  treaty,  it  is  the  position  of 
this  Government  that  the  armistice  con- 
tinues in  full  force  and  effect  between 
the  United  States  and  Germany,  and  that 
accordingly  the  provisions  of  the  armistice 
of  Nov.  11,  1918,  as  well  as  the  provisions 
of  the  extensions  of  that  agreement,  re- 
main (binding  on  these  two  nations.  Notice 
of  this  was  given  to  the  German  Govern- 
ment by  the  United  States. 

Another  statement  issued  on  Jan.  13 
announced  that  the  United  States  had 
refused  to  accept  any  part  of  the  in- 
demnity to  be  paid  by  Germany  for  the 
destruction  of  the  German  fleet  at  Scapa 
Flow.  This  decision  was  based  on  the 
ground  that  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment objected  in  principle  to  the  settle- 
ment made  by  the  Supreme  Council.  An 
allotment  of  2  per  cent,  of  this  indemnity 
had  been  made  to  the  American  Govern- 
ment. Just  before  Frank  Polk,  the 
American  representative  at  the  Peace 
Conference,  left  Paris,  the  Allied   Gov- 


PEACE  WITH  GERMANY 


197 


ernments  drew  up  a  plan  for  reparation 
which  gave  Great  Britain  70  per  cent, 
and  divided  up  the  rest  among  the  other 
powers.  Mr.  Polk's  experts  estimated 
that  the  2  per  cent,  assigned  to  America 
would  give  this  country  one  German 
cruiser  and  one  U-boat.  It  was  further 
specified  that  America  must  sink  her 
share  received  after  one  year.  The 
share  of  maritime  equipment  would  have 
been  one  8,000-ton  dock.  Mr.  Polk  pro- 
tested against  this  apportionment,  re- 
fused to  give  his  consent  to  the  scheme, 
and  referred  the  matter  to  Washington. 

EXTRADITION  OF  KAISER 

After  the  ceremony  of  signing  the 
final  proces-verbal  had  been  accom- 
plished, the  Supreme  Council  resumed 
its  activities.  Despite  the  forebodings  of 
Baron  von  Lersner,  there  was  every  in- 
dication that  the  allied  Governments  in- 
tended to  insist  on  the  extradition  of  the 
German  officers  accused  of  atrocities  in 
Northern  France  and  Belgium,  as  well  as 
on  the  extradition  of  the  Kaiser  himself 
from  Holland.  On  Jan.  15  a  note  was 
drafted  to  the  Dutch  Government  asking 
for  this  extradition.  It  referred  to  Ar- 
ticle 227  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  and 
invited  Holland  to  join  the  allied  powers 
in  the  accomplishment  of  this  act.  Be- 
sides taking  up  the  text  of  the  demand 
•  on  Holland,  Premiers  Clemenceau,  Lloyd 
George,  and  Nitti  inspected  the  lists  of 
German  officers  and  soldiers  accused  of 
war  crimes.  This  list  comprised  880 
names,  of  which  330  were  those  of  men 
demanded  by  France.  The  list  had  been 
completed  at  a  meeting  held  on  Jan.  13 
by  Baron  Birkenhead,  Lord  Chancellor 
of  England;  Edouard  Ignace,  French 
Under  Secretary  for  Military  Justice, 
and  representatives  of  other  allied 
nations. 

INTEGRITY  OF  AUSTRIA 

The  Supreme  Council  profited  by  the 
visit  of  the  Austrian  Premier,  Herr  Ren- 
ner,  undertaken  to  discuss  Austria's 
financial  and  economic  situation,  to 
notify  the  Austrian  Republic  of  the  de- 
cisions reached  by  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers  concerning  the  separatist 
movements  which  had  shown  themselves, 
or  that  might   show   themselves   in   the 


future,  on  Austrian  territory.  A  letter 
bearing  on  this  question  was  addressed 
by  M.  Clemenceau  to  M.  Renner  on  Dec. 
16,  mentioning  specifically  the  Provinces 
of  Vorarlberg,  Salzburg,  Tyrol,  and 
Western  Hungary  as  secedent  units,  and 
assuring  Austria,  in  a  resolution  for- 
warded, of  the  allied  Governments'  in- 
tention to  oppose  all  such  separatist 
movements  and  to  see  that  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  Austrian  Republic  was 
not  impaired. 

The  question  of  commercial  relations 
between  Turkey  and  the  Central  Powers 
was  discussed  at  the  sessions  of  Jan.  5, 
and  it  was  decided  that  the  status 
created  by  the  armistice  should  continue 
until  peace  was  signed  with  Turkey.  By 
the  tei'ms  of  the  armistice,  such  relations 
were  prohibited. 

PEACE    TERMS    TO   HUNGARY 

The  long-awaited  Hungarian  Peace 
Delegation  arrived  in  Paris  on  Jan.  7.  It 
came  to  receive  the  treaty  with  Hungary, 
which  had  been  held  for  three  months 
pending  the  establishment  of  a  stable 
and  representative  Government.  The 
delegation,  made  up  of  sixty-four  mem- 
bers, was  headed  by  Count  Apponyi, 
who  stated  that  he  expected  to  take  the 
treaty  terms  back  with  him  to  Buda- 
pest, where  the  Hungarian  Parliament 
would  act  upon  them.  Count  Apponyi 
had  previously  described  the  scope  of  his 
mission  as  follows: 

We  are  going  to  Paris  with  the  hope  of 
obtaining  .the  .integrity  of  Hungary  for 
ourselves  and  for  the  future  of  Europe. 
Hungary,  intact,  has  been  a  barrier  In 
that  trouble-4>reeding  area  between  the 
Occident  and  the  Orient.  We  stood  firm 
for  1,000  years  against  invasions  from  the 
East  and  we  saved  the  West.  Remove  that 
barrier,  and  the  reservoir  of  evil  will  in- 
fect all  Europe.  *  *  *  If  the  integrity  of 
Hungary  is  refused,  I  will  have  to  ask 
that  the  disposition  of  the  people  be  sub- 
mitted to  themselves.  I  will  inquire 
whether  people  can  be  exchanged  like 
cattle.  There  are  400,000  Hungarians  un<l>  r 
the  Rumanians,  who  are  remaining  along 
the  Theiss  River,  laughing  at  the  Entente'.* 
orders.  We  will  never  submit  to  this.  If 
we  are  refused  a  plebiscite  to  decide  the 
fate  of  Hungary,  we  will  ask:  "Can 
one  believe  the  word  of  a  President  of 
the  United  States  in  the  future?  " 

On    Jan.    14    Count    Apponyi    sent    a 


198 


THE   NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


rather  aggressive  letter  to  M.  Dutasta, 
Secretary  General  of  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, demanding  to  know  where  America 
stood  with  regard  to  the  Hungarian 
treaty.  A  reply  was  sent  saying  that 
Ambassador  Wallace  would  represent  the 
United  States  at  the  Supreme  Council 
meeting  when  the  treaty  was  delivered. 

DELIVERY  OF  THE  TERMS 
The  terms  of  peace  between  the  allied 
and  associated  Governments  and  Hun- 
gary were  handed  to  the  Hungarian  del- 
egation in  the  afternoon  of  Jan.  15.  The 
Hungarians  were  given  fifteen  days  in 
which  to  present  their  reply. 

The  treaty  was  received  by  Count  Ap- 
ponyi  from  the  hands  of  the  Secretary 
General  in  the  office  of  the  French  For- 
eign Ministry,  in  the  presence  of  Pre- 
miers Clemenceau,  Lloyd  George,  and 
Nitti,  and  of  Ambassador  Wallace  and 
Baron  Matsui,  the  Japanese  Ambassador. 
Premier  Clemenceau  made  a  short  ad- 
dress, in  the  course  of  which  he  speci- 
fied the  time  allowed  Hungary  to  reply. 
He  added  that  the  council  had  unani- 
mously decided  to  grant  the  request  of 
Count  Apponyi  that  he  be  permitted  to 
explain  verbally  before  the  allied  coun- 
cil the  present  situation  of  the  Hun- 
garian Government,  provided  that  no 
discussion  ensue.  The  entire  ceremony 
of  the  presentation  of  the  treaty  lasted 
barely  five  minutes. 

The  Hungarian  peace  treaty  provides 
that  Hungary  shall  formally  waive  claim 
to  Fiume  and  all  the  former  Austro- 
Hungarian  territories  awarded  to  Italy, 
Rumania,  Jugoslavia  and  Czechoslovakia. 
Hungary  must  adhere  to  the  clauses  of 
the  treaty  with  Austria,  signed  at  St. 
Germain,  concerning  national  minorities. 
Under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  the  Hun- 
garian Army  must  not  exceed  35,000 
men,  with  guns  of  not  more  than  ten 
centimeter  calibre.  Hungary  assumes  a 
proportional  share  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  debt.  Most  of  the  remaining 
clauses  are  similar  to  those  of  the  treaty 
of  St.  Germain. 

A  special  economic  clause  provides 
that  an  arrangement  shall  be  made  for 
the  exchange  of  foodstuffs,  raw  mate- 
rials  and  manufactured   goods   between 


Austria  and  Hungary.  By  the  provision 
of  this  clause  Hungary  undertakes  not 
to  restrict  the  export  of  foodstuffs  to 
Austria,  and  insures"  to  Austrian  pur- 
chasers terms  as  favorable  as  those  given 
to  the  Hungarians. 

,       THE   FIUME   AGREEMENT 

It  was  announced  on  Dec.  18  that 
Premier  Nitti  and  Foreign  Minister 
Scialoia  had  been  invited  to  meet  Premier 
Lloyd  George  and  Premier  Clemenceau 
in  an  endeavor  to  settle  the  question  of 
Fiume.  On  Jan.  5  Signor  Nitti  arrived 
in  London  with  his  colleague,  Signor 
Scialoia.  After  conferences  with  mem- 
bers of  the  British  Government  they  left 
with  the  British  Premier  for  Paris.  On 
Jan.  11  the  Italian  envoys  discussed  with 
Lloyd  George  and  Clemenceau  the  whole 
Adriatic  problem.  The  Fiume  question 
was  particularly  difficult  because  of  the 
uncompromising  attitude  of  Gabriele 
d'Annunzio,  who  had  ordered  the  taking 
of  a  third  plebiscite  in  Fiume  and  who 
was  virtually  defying  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment, the  Peace  Conference,  and  the 
decisions  of  President  Wilson. 

Long  discussions  were  held,  and  on 
Jan.  15  Premier  Nitti  stated  in  Paris 
that  he  regarded  the  Adriatic  problem 
as  on  the  verge  of  settlement.  An  agree- 
ment, he  said,  had  been  reached  by  Italy, 
France  and  Great  Britain,  to  which  it 
was  hoped  that  the  United  States  would 
give  its  sanction.  The  details  of  this 
agreement  he  did  not  disclose.  He  ad- 
mitted that  Italy  had  made  important 
concessions  in  renouncing  sovereignty 
over  Fiume,  and  in  agreeing  that  it 
should  be  a  free  city  touching  on  Italian 
Istria.  Its  Italian  character,  however, 
was  to  be  recognized  and  its  port  and 
railway  facilities  were  to  be  placed  un- 
der the  League  of  Nations. 

When  asked  how  Italy  intended  to  oust 
d'Annunzio  from  Fiume,  he  replied  that 
this  was  easy,  but  was  non-committal  as 
to  the  means  to  be  employed.  The  agree- 
ment reached  was  sent  to  Belgrade  for 
Jugoslav  consideration,  with  an  itima- 
tion  that  if  it  were  not  accepted  the 
allied  Governments  would  insist  on  the 
execution  of  the  Treaty  of  London.  No 
answer  from  the  Jugoslav   Government 


PEACE  WITH  GERMANY 


199 


had  been  received  up  to  the  time  when 
this  issue  of  Current  History  went  to 
press. 

THE  RUSSIAN  QUESTION 

Another  big  question  was  the  policy  to 
be  adopted  toward  Russia.  In  an  impor- 
tant statement  made  by  Lloyd  George  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  Dec.  18  the 
British  Premier  disclosed  the  fact  that  all 
the  allied  representatives  in  Paris  had 
agreed  to  keep  hands  off  in  the  war 
against  the  Bolslieviki,  though  Japan  and 
the  United  States  were  negotiating  with 
a  view  to  future  action  should  the  Bol- 
shevist advance  progress  beyond  Lake 
Baikal. 

An  official  communique  was  issued, 
however,  by  the  Supreme  Council  on  Jan. 
16,  embodying  a  distinct  change  of  policy 
with  regard  to  trade  relations  with  Soviet 
Russia.  The  text  of  this  statement  is 
given  herewith: 

With  a  view  to  remedying  the  unhappy 
situation  of  the  population  in  the  interior 
of  Russia,  which  is  now  deprived  of  all 
manufactured  products  from  outside  of 
Russia,  the  Supreme  Council,  after  tak- 
ing note  of  the  report  of  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  consider  the  reopening  of  cer- 
tain trade  relations  with  the  Russian 
people,  has  decided  that  it  would  permit 
the  exchange  of  goods  on  the  basis  of 
reciprocity  between  the  Russian  people 
and  allied  and  neutral  countries. 

For  this  purpose  it  decided  to  give  facil- 
ities to  the  Russian  co-operative  organ- 
izations which  are  in  direct  touch  through- 
out Russia  so  that  they  may  arrange  for 
the  import  into  Russia  of  clothing, 
medidines,  agricultural  machinery  and  the 
other  necessaries  of  which  the  Russian 
people  are  in  sore  need,  in  exchange  for 
grain,  flax,  &c,  of  which  there  is  a  sur- 
plus supply. 

These  arrangements  imply  no  change  in 
the  policies  of  the  allied  Governments  to- 
ward the  Soviet  Government. 

OTHER     QUESTIONS     CONSIDERED 

In  a  response  to  a  communication  re- 
garding the  Eupen-Malmedy  districts  on 
the  frontier  between  Germany  and  Bel- 
gium, the  Council  on  Dec.  5  sent  a  reply 
saying  that  the  interpretation  of  the  Ger- 
man Government  regarding  these  dis- 
tricts, for  which  plebiscites  had  been  ar- 


ranged, conformed  neither  to  the  letter 
nor  to  the  spirit  of  Article  34  of  the 
Versailles  Treaty.  The  impartial  attitude 
of  Belgium  in  administering  this  pleb- 
iscite was  defended  by  the  council's  note. 

Measures  were  also  taken  to  send  allied 
troops  to  Slesvig  for  occupation  during 
the  plebiscite  in  this  territory.  Word 
came  from  Copenhagen  on  Jan.  13,  that 
Entente  ships  had  arrived  at  Flensborg, 
and  that  the  inhabitants  were  already  an- 
ticipating the  passing  of  Prussian  rule; 
the  gendarmerie  was  being  replaced  by 
natives,  and  German  County  Judges  were 
being  superseded  by  Danish  officials. 
The  International  Plebiscite  Commission 
was  scheduled  to  leave  Copenhagen  for 
Flensborg  on  Jan.  17.  The  Danish  cap- 
ital was  planning  a  warm  welcome  for 
the  allied  troops,  and  entertainment  com- 
mittees had  formulated  plans  for  parades 
of  foreign  and  Danish  troops,  and  other 
festivities.  On  Jan.  12,  President  Wilson 
received  a  cable  dispatch  from  King 
Christian  X.  thanking  him  for  his  part 
in  the  Slesvig  settlement,  whereby 
"  Danish  Slesvig  would  be  given  an  op- 
portunity to  be  reunited  with  its  old 
fatherland."  In  reply  President  Wilson 
congratulated  Denmark  on  this  result, 
which  he  characterized  as  "  one  of  the 
ideals  for  which  I  strove." 

Toward  the  end  of  December  the  Su- 
preme Council  received  a  memorandum 
from  the  Pan-Epirotic  Union  in  America, 
setting  forth  the  allegedly  Greek  char- 
acter of  the  City  of  Korytsa  in  Northern 
Epirus  (Albania),  in  opposition  to  claims 
made  on  Albania's  behalf  by  the  Pan- 
Albanian  Federation  in  America.  Besides 
allotting  Eastern  Galicia  to  Poland,  the 
council  early  in  December  approved  the 
draft  of  a  treaty  between  the  principal 
allied  powers,  Poland  and  Czechoslovakia, 
including  the  settlement  of  the  frontier 
of  the  two  latter  States.  Regarding  the 
Teschen  coal  fields,  the  council  adhered 
to  its  decision  of  Sept.  27,  1919,  for  the 
holding  of  a  plebiscite  there,  to  decide 
how  the  region  was  to  be  divided  between 
the  Poles  and  the  Czechoslovaks. 


League  of  Nations  Created 

World  Organization  for  International  Peace  Holds  Its  First 

Sessions  in  Paris 


WITH  the  proclamation  of  peace 
with  Germany,  which  occurred 
on  Jan.  10  in  Paris,  the  way  to 
the  initiation  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  whose  establishment  was  pro- 
vided for  explicitly  by  the  Versailles 
Treaty,  was  cleared  of  obstacles.  Presi- 
dent Wilson  had  accepted  the  duty  of 
calling  the  first  meeting,  and  on  Jan.  16 
he  sent  out  the  formal  call  to  the  prin- 
cipal nations  concerned,-  which  made  the 
League  a  reality. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  League  was 
held  in  the  Clock  Room  of  the  French 
Foreign  Ministry,  the  same  room  in 
which  the  Peace  Conference  had  met  and 
in  which  peace  had  been  proclaimed. 
This  new-born  League  of  Nations  faced 
problems  such  as  no  assembly,  national 
or  international,  has  ever  had  to  solve. 
Numerous  disputes  between  nations, 
large  and  small,  over  boundaries,  plebis- 
cites, right  of  free  determination  of  eth- 
nical minorities,  and  the  formidable 
task  of  issuing  and  controlling  mandates 
confronted  this  tribunal  at  its  birth.  And 
before  it,  in  the  future,  lay  all  the  pos- 
sibilities connected  with  the  object  for 
which  the  League  was  formed,  the  pre- 
vention of  war  among  the  races  and  na- 
tions of  mankind. 

PROBLEMS  DISPOSED  OF 

Some  of  its  problems  had  been  simpli- 
fied by  agreement.  After  long  confer- 
ences in  Paris,  the  allied  Ministers  had 
reached  a  quasi-agreement  with  the 
Italian  Premier  and  Foreign  Minister  re- 
garding the  internationalization  of 
Fiume.  By  decree  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil, the  district  of  East  Galicia  had  been 
given  to  Poland  for  a  provisional  period 
of  twenty-five  years.  Belgium  had  as- 
sumed control  of  the  plebiscite  in  the 
Eupen-Malmedy  regions  o.i  the  German 
frontier.  The  first  zone  of  Slesvig  had 
been  evacuated  by  the  Germans,  and 
allied  troops  had  been  dispatched  to  Den- 


mark to  control  the  plebiscite  there. 
Disputes  between  the  military  experts  of 
the  allied  nations  and  of  Germany  over 
the  providing  of  transportation  trains  for 
the  allied  troops  to  be  sent  to  East 
Prussia  and  other  districts  of  Germany 
where  plebiscites  were  to  be  held  had 
been  finally  settled  before  the  proclama- 
tion of  peace.  Various  mandates  had  al- 
ready been  assigned  to  certain  of  the 
powers  over  other  nations,  notably  to  the 
French  for  Syria,  to  the  British  for 
Persia,  to  the  Japanese  for  Shantung,  to 
the  Belgians,  British,  French,  Japanese, 
and  Australians  for  the  former  German 
colonies.  Yet  a  multiplicity  of  matters 
were  left  for  the  new  international  body 
to  resolve. 

QUESTIONS  OF  MEMBERSHIP 

The  question  of  the  adhesion  of  the 
neutral  nations  to  the  League  still  re- 
mained unsettled.  The  invitation  to  the 
thirteen  neutrals  named  in  the  annex  to 
the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations 
became  effective  from  the  coming  into 
force  of  the  Versailles  Treaty.  None  of 
the  nations  in  question  had  declined  to 
join  the  League,  though  several  had 
shown  a  disinclination  to  take  any  action 
until  ratification  by  the  United  States. 
A  few  had  ratified. 

Japan's  official  ratification  of  the 
treaty  and  covenant  was  received  by  the 
Secretariat  of  the  Peace  Conference  on 
Dec.  26.  It  was  transmitted  by  Baron 
Matsui,  the  Japanese  Ambassador  to 
Paris.  Up  to  Jan.  2  the  Secretariat  had 
received  the  ratifications  of  England, 
France,  and  Italy,  the  last-mentioned 
country  having  ratified  the  treaty  by 
imperial  decree.  The  failure  of  the 
United  States  to  ratify  had  no  effect 
upon  the  coming  into  force  of  the  treaty 
and  League  of  Nations,  but  the  League 
had  to  begin  its  life  without  an  Ameri- 
can representative. 

It  was  stated  in  Paris  on  Dec.  24  that 


LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  CREATED 


201 


Japan's  representatives  in  the  Supreme 
Council  had  objected  to  the  form  of  the 
mandates  under  which  Japan  would  ad- 
minister the  former  German  colonies  in 
the  Pacific  allotted  to  her  charge,  and 
that  time  had  been  asked  to  submit  the 
matter  to  the  Tokio  Government.  The 
details  to  which  the  Japanese  delegates 
objected  were  not  officially  disclosed, 
but  it  was  stated  semi-officially  that 
they  involved  the  question  of  Japanese 
migration  to  colonies  which  would  come 
under  the  Australian  mandate,  as  well 
as  the  economic  advantages  the  Japanese 
formerly  enjoyed  under  the  most-fa- 
vored-nation clause.  In  connection  with 
the  promulgation  of  the  Versailles 
Treaty,  however,  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment issued  an  imperial  rescript  which, 
in  referring  to  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant,  called  upon  all  Japanese  sub- 
jects to  work  **  for  the  attainment  of 
that  durable  peace  contemplated  by  the 
institution  of  the  League  of  Nations,  al- 
ways abiding  by  the  principle  of  univer- 
sal justice  and  following  the  path  of 
progress  in  the  world." 

SENTIMENT   FOR  LEAGUE 

Sentiment  for  the  league,  despite  the 
failure  of  the  United  States  to  ratify, 
had  grown  steadily  abroad,  especially  in 
Great  Britain.  The  momentous  signifi- 
cance of  the  new  institution  was  elo- 
quently set  forth  by  Mr.  Arthur  Bal- 
four and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
at  a  great  meeting  held  in  London  on 
Armistice   Day. 

The  attitude  of  America  was  de- 
plored. In  the  course  of  an  appeal  for 
the  ratification  of  the  League  covenant 
General  Smuts,  the  South  African  Prime 
Minister,  on  Nov.  17  urged  the  United 
States  to  give  its  official  sanction  to  the 
covenant,  which  he  characterized  as  "  the 
hope  of  the  world."  A  special  article 
was  devoted  to  the  American  situation  by 
Winston  Churchill  in  The  Illustrated  Sun- 
day Herald  of  Nov.  29,  in  which  he  ar- 
gued that  the  whole  idea  of  the  Leaguehad 
been  conceived  and  urged  upon  the  Peace 
Conference  by  America,  as  a  consequence 
of  which  the  whole  plan  for  peace  had 
been  affected,  and  that  a  half-way  policy 
on  America's  part  would  leave  Europe 
disrupted.    The  article  concluded  by  pre- 


dicting that  the  United  States  would 
eventually  ratify. 

As  a  result  of  the  sessions  of  the  third 
Congress  of  National  Associations,  which 
met  at  Brussels  on  Dec.  1,  all  national 
societies  for  the  establishment  of  the 
League  were  drawn  together  into  a  fed- 
eration, and  four  commissions,  one,  pre- 
sided over  by  M.  Albert  Thomas,  who 
had  been  appointed  Director  of  the  Inter- 
national Office  of  Labor  of  the  League, 
dealing  with  labor  and  international  edu- 
cation; a  second,  dealing  with  interna- 
tional law;  the  third,  with  disarmament, 
and  the  fourth,  to  deal  with  all  questions 
relative  to  the  composition  and  powers 
of  the  League. 

Information  reached  Washington  on 
Dec.  31  that  plans  had  been  perfected  to 
permit  the  extension  of  invitations  to 
certain  jurists  of  international  reputa- 
tion to  form  a  managing  committee  for 
the  elaboration  of  the  details  of  the  Per- 
manent Court  of  International  Justice 
and  the  definition  of  its  activities. 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  CALL 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Council  of 
the  League  of  Nations  was  set  in  the  call 
issued  by  President  Wilson  for  the  morn- 
ing of  Friday,  Jan.  16,  1920.  This  date 
was  fixed  immediately  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty  with  Germany  by  Pre- 
miers Clemenceau,  Lloyd  George,  and 
Nitti,  at  the  session  of  the  Supreme 
Council  on  Jan.  10.  Premier  Clemenceau 
then  notified  the  powers  concerned  to 
have  their  delegates  in  Paris  on  the  day 
set.  The  place  designated  for  the  first 
meeting  was  the  French  Foreign  Office. 

The  text  of  President  Wilson's  call  for 
this  first  meeting  was  addressed  to  the 
Governments  of  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  Japan,  Belgium,  Brazil,  and  Spain. 
The  invitations  were  telegraphed  through 
the  American  Embassies  to  the  respec- 
tive Foreign  Offices,  and  the  text  of  the 
call  was  given  out  publicly  by  Mr.  Lan- 
sing after  receiving  notice  of  delivery  to 
each  of  the  countries  called.  The  form 
was  the  same  in  all  cases,  except  for  the 
name  of  the  Government  addressed.  The 
invitation  to  Great  Britain,  typical  of 
all  the  rest,  was  as  follows: 

In    compliance    with   Article   V.    of   th>* 


202 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations,  which 
went  into  effect  at  the  same  time  as  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles  of  June  28,  1919,  of 
which  it  is  a  part,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  acting  on  behalf  of  those 
nations  which  have  deposited  their  instru- 
ments of  ratification  in  Paris  as  certified 
in  a  proces-verbal  drawn  up  by  the 
French  Government,  dated  Jan.  10,  1920, 
has  the  honor  to  inform  the  Government 
of  Great  Britain  that  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations 
will  be  held  in  Paris  at  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs  on  Friday,  Jan.  16,  at 
10 :30  A.  M. 

The  President  ventures  to  hope  that  the 
Government  of  Great  Britain  will  be  in 
a  position  to  send  a  representative  to  this 
first  meeting.  He  feels  that  it  is  unnec- 
essary for  him  to  point  out  the  deep 
significance  attached  to  this  meeting,  or 
the  importance  which  it  must  assume  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world. 

It  will  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  international  co-operation,  and  the 
first  great  step  toward  the  ideal  concert 
of  nations.  It  will  bring  the  League  of 
Nations  into  being  as  a  living  force  de- 
voted to  the  task  of  assisting  the  peoples 
of  all  countries  in  their  desire  for  peace, 
prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  President 
is  convinced  that  its  progress  will  accord 
with  the  noble  purposes  to  which  it  is 
dedicated. 

INAUGURATION  OF  LEAGUE 

On  Jan.  16,  1920,  the  League  of  Na- 
tions became  a  reality.  At  10:30  o'clock 
the  Executive  Council  of  the  League 
opened  its  first  meeting  in  the  Clock 
Room  of  the  French  Foreign  Ministry. 
At  one  end  of  the  salon,  tapestried  in 
crimson  and  gold,  around  a  green-cov- 
ered table,  gathered  nine  men  to  set  in 
motion  the  machineiy  of  this  unprece- 
dented experiment  in  government,  while 
a  hundred  or  more  diplomats  from  the 
four  corners  of  the  world  looked  on  at 
the  historic  event.  Only  the  chair  of  the 
United  States  was  empty.  Through  the 
windows  overlooking  the  Seine  shone 
bright  sunshine. 

The  nine  men  who  sat  about  the  table 
were  M.  Bourgeois,  in  the  centre;  on  his 
right,  Lord  Curzon;  next,  Ambassador 
Matsui  of  Japan;  then  M.  da  Conha 
for  Brazil  and  Premier  Venizelos  for 
Greece.  On  the  left  of  M.  Bourgeois  sat 
Signor  Ferraris  for  Italy,  Ambassador 
Quinones  de  Leon  for  Spain,  and  M.  Hy- 
mang   for    Belgium.      Across    the    table 


from  M.  Bourgeois  sat  Sir  Eric  Drum- 
mond,  Secretary  of  the  League. 

OPENING  ADDRESS 
In  his  speech  as  presiding  officer,  M. 
Leon  Bourgeois  opened  the  historic  ses- 
sion in  the  following  words: 

Today,  gentlemen,  we  are  holding  the 
first  meeting  of  the  council,  convened  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
task  of  presiding  at  this  meeting  and  of 
inaugurating  this  great  international  in- 
stitution should  have  fallen  to  President 
Wilson.  We  respect  the  reasons  which 
will  delay  the  final  decisions  of  our 
friends  in  Washington,  but  we  may  all 
express  the  hope  that  the  difficulties  wili- 
soon  be  overcome,  and  that  a  representa- 
tive of  the  great  American  Republic  will 
occupy  the  place  which  awaits  him 
among  us.  The  work  of  the  council  will 
then  assume  that  definite  character  and 
that  particular  force  which  should  be  as- 
sociated with  our  work. 

M.  Bourgeois  added  that  of  the  thir- 
teen neutrals  invited  to  become  members 
of  the  League,  Spain,  Argentina,  Uru- 
guay, Chile,  and  Persia  had  accepted. 
He  continued  as  follows: 

Jan.  16,  1920,  will  go  down  to  history 
as  the  date  of  the  birth  of  the  New 
World.  The  decision  to  be  taken  today 
will  be  in  the  name  of  all  the  States 
which  adhere  to  the  covenant.  It  will  -be 
the  first  decision  of  all  the  free  nations 
leaguing  themselves  together  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  to  sub- 
stitute right  for  wrong. 

M.  Bourgeois  then  made  a  plea  for 
patience  with  the  League.  If  the  world 
should  be  disappointed  in  its  first  achive- 
ment  it  must  remember  that  each  act, 
however  small,  was  great  in  its  signifi- 
cance. 

SPEECH  OF  LORD  CURZON 

Lord  Curzon  spoke  for  England,  and 
expressed  her  belief  in  the  League.  He 
said : 

Alone  through  the  League  can  we  hope  to 
insure  that  such  horrors  and  miseries  as 
the  world  has  experienced  in  the  last  five 
years  shall  not  be  repeated,  and  that  a  new 
era  of  international  relationship  shall 
dawri. 

The  League  of  Nations  is  an  expression  of 
the  universal  desire  for  a  saner  method  of 
regulating  the  affairs  of  mankind.  It  is 
not  a  mere  expression  in  platonic  language 
of  the  necessity  for  international  friendship 
and  good  understanding.  It  provides  the 
machinery  by  which  practical  effect  may  be 
given  to  these  principles. 


LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  CREATED 


203 


Lord  Curzon  concluded  his  address 
with  an  appeal  for  American  participa- 
tion in  the  League.  In  this  regard  he 
said : 

While  I  am  In  entire  accord  with  all  that 
M.  Bourgeois  has  said  I  should  wish  espe- 
cially to  express  my  full  concurrence  in  his 
observations  regarding  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  decision  must  be  her  own, 
but  if  and  when  the  United  States  elects  to 
take  her  place  in  the  new  council  chamber 
of  nations  a  place  is  waiting  for  her  and 
the  warmest  welcome  will  be  hers. 

Ambassador  da  Cunha  of  Brazil  laid 
emphasis  upon  the  honor  he  felt  in  being 
the  only  representative  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere  in  the  Council.     He  said  he 


felt  empowered  to  say  that  he  represent- 
ed not  only  Brazil,  but  the  Pan-American 
Union. 

Signor  Ferraris  said  that  Italy  entered 
in  the  best  spirit  into  the  work  of  the 
League,  and  that  the  Rome  Government 
had  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  great  project. 

The  English,  Japanese,  and  Belgian 
members  of  the  Sarre  Basin  Commission 
were  then  named.  France  and  Germany 
will  name  the  other  two.  This  business 
done,  London  was  chosen  as  the  next 
meeting  place,  and  M.  Bourgeois  de- 
clared the  meeting  adjourned. 


The  United  States  and  the  German  Peace  Treaty 


THE  German  Peace  Treaty  had  not 
been  brought  before  the  United 
States  Senate  for  further  considera- 
tion up  to  Jan.  20,  1920.  Its  status  re- 
mained unchanged  since  its  rejection  by 
the  Senate  on  Nov.  19,  1919.  There  were 
continual  conferences  between  groups  of 
Senators  in  an  endeavor  to  reach  a  com- 
promise agreement,  but  there  was  no 
word  from  President  Wilson. 

The  President's  first  and  only  public 
declaration  regarding  the  treaty  after 
the  beginning  of  his  illness  in  September 
was  in  the  form  of  a  letter  read  at  the 
Jackson  Day  dinner  in  Washington  on 
Jan.  8  to  representative  Democrats  who 
had  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try to  celebrate  the  anniversary.  In  this 
declaration  President  Wilson  came  out 
strongly  and  squarely  for  the  treaty  with- 
out any  textual  changes.  After  deplor- 
ing the  failure  of  this  country  "  to  effect 
the  settlements  for  which  it  had  fought 
throughout  the  war,"  he  said: 

None  of  the  objects  we  professed  to  be 
fighting  for  has  been  secured,  or  can  be 
made  certain  of,  without  this  nation's 
ratification  of  the  treaty  and  its  entry 
into  the  covenant.  This  nation  entered 
the  great  war  to  vindicate  its  own  rights 
and  to  protect  and  preserve  free  govern- 
ment. It  went  into  the  war  to  see  it 
through  to  the  end,  and  the  end  has  not 
yet  come.  It  went  into  the  war  to  make 
an  end  of  militarism,  to  furnish  guar- 
antees  to   weak    nations,    and   to   make  a 


just  and  lasting  peace.     It  entered  it  with 
noble  enthusiasm. 

He  said  the  maintenance  of  the  peace 
of  the  world  depended  upon  the  whole- 
hearted participation  of  the  United 
States,  the  "  one  nation  which  has  suf- 
ficient moral  force  with  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  guarantee  the  substitution  of 
discussion  for  war.  If  we  keep  out  of 
this  agreement,  if  we  do  not  give  our 
guarantees,  then  another  attempt  will  be 
made  to  crush  the  new  nations  of  Eu- 
rope." Referring  to  the  action  of  the 
Senate  he  wrote: 

I  have  asserted  from  the  first  that  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  of 
this  country  desire  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty,  and  my  impression  to  that  effect 
has  recently  been  confirmed  by  the  un- 
mistakable evidences  of  public  opinion 
given  during  my  visit  to  seventeen  of 
the  States. 

I  have  endeavored  to  make  it  plain  that 
if  the  Senate  wishes  to  say  what  the  un- 
doubted meaning  of  the  League  is  I  shall 
have  no  objection.  There  can  be  no  rea- 
sonable objection  to  interpretations  ac- 
companying the  act  of  ratification  itself. 
But  when  the  treaty  is  acted  upon,  I 
must  know  whether  it  means  that  we 
have  ratified  or  rejected  it. 

We  cannot  rewrite  this  treaty.  We 
must  take  it  without  changes  which  alter 
its  meaning,  or  leave  it,  and  then  after 
the  rest  of  the  world  has  signed  it,  we 
must  face  the  unthinkable  task  of  mak- 
ing another  and  separate  treaty  with  Ger- 
man y. 
But  no  mere  assertions  with  regard  to 


204 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  wish  and  opinion  of  the  country  are 
credited.  If  there  is  any  doubt  as  to 
what  the  people  of  the  country  think  on 
this  vital  matter,  the  clear  and  single 
way  out  is  to  submit  it  for  determination 
at  the  next  election  to  the  voters  of  the 
nation,  to  give  the  next  election  the  form 
of  a  great  and  solemn  referendum,  a 
referendum  as  to  the  part  the  United 
States  is  to  play  in  completing  the  set- 
tlements of  the  war  and  in  the  preven- 
tion in  the  future  of  such  outrages  as 
Germany  attempted  to  perpetrate. 

On  the  same  occasion  William  J.  Bryan, 
who  was  President  Wilson's  first  Secre- 
tary of  State  and  was  responsible  for 
his  first  nomination  for  the  Presidency 
— and  who  himself  had  been  three  times 
the  Democratic  nominee  for  President — 
delivered  an  address  in  which  he  directly 
joined  issue  with  the  President.  He 
argued  that  the  treaty  should  be  ratified 
without  delay;  that  there  should  be  com- 
promise on  the  part  of  the  Democratic 
Senators  if  necessary  to  bring  about  this 
outcome.  To  Mr.  Bryan  the  main  thing 
was  to  ratify  the  treaty  and  establish 
peace  with  Germany.  With  the  Republi- 
cans controlling  the  Senate,  he  held, 
theirs  should  be  the  responsibility,  and 
the  Democratic  minority  should  not  put 
obstacles  in  their  way.    He  added: 

We  cannot  afford,  either  as  citizens  or 
as  members  of  the  party,  to  share  with 
the  Republican  Party  responsibility  for 
further  delay.  We  cannot  go  before  the 
country  on  the  issue  that  such  an  appeal 
would  present. 

Neither  can  we  go  before  the  country 
on  the  issue  raised  in  Article  X.  If  we  do 
not  intend  to  impair  the  right  of  Con- 
gress to  decide  the  question  of  peace  or 
war  when  the  time  for  action  arises,  how 
can  we  insist  upon  a  moral  obligation  to 
go  to  war  which  can  have  no  force  or 
value  except  as  it  does  impair  the  inde- 
pendence of  Congress?  We  owe  it  to  the 
world  to  join  in  an  honest  effort  to  put  an 
end  to  war  forever,  and  that  effort  should 
be  made  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
A  majority  of  Congress  can  declare 
war.  Shall  we  make  it  more  difficult  to 
conclude  a  treaty  than  to  enter  a  war? 

The  President's  implied  suggestion  for 
a  referendum  was  not  indorsed  by  any 
of  the  Democratic  leaders;  it  was  main- 
tained that  to  submit  the  treaty  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  would  involve  a  fur- 
ther delay  of  fourteen  months  in  ratifi- 
cation, with  no  prospect  that  there  could 
be    elected    enough    Senators    favorable 


to  unconditional  ratification.  Senator 
Lodge,  leader  of  the  Republicans  and 
sponsor  for  the  reservations,  declared 
he  was  willing  to  let  the  matter  go  be- 
fore the  people,  and  this  position  was  in- 
dorsed by  the  Senators  who  were  op- 
posed to  the  treaty  in  any  form.  It  was 
clear,  however,  that  there  was  no  senti- 
ment of  any  importance  for  the  referen- 
dum, and  discussion  regarding  it  ceased 
in  a  few  days. 

Meanwhile  private  and  unofficial  dis- 
cussions between  the  Senators  continued. 
The  most  promising  development  came 
on  Jan.  15,  when  five  Democratic  lead- 
ers and  four  Republican  leaders  met  for 
a  round-table  discussion  in  an  endeavor 
to  reach  a  basis  of  compromise.  Both 
parties  announced  that  all  political 
phases  of  the  question  had  been  elimi- 
nated, and  that  the  treaty  was  being  ap- 
proached strictly  from  a  non-partisan 
point  of  view.  Considerable  progress 
was  made  toward  a  compromise,  the 
chief  stumbling  block  being  Article  X., 
wherein  the  military  and  naval  strength 
of  the  country  is  pledged  to  repel  exter- 
nal aggression  against  the  territory  of 
any  member  of  the  League.  It  was  con- 
ceded by  all  Senators  favorable  to  the 
treaty  that  it  could  not  be  ratified  with- 
out definite  reservations,  the  only  ques- 
tion being  how  broad  they  would  be. 

All  the  indications  on  Jan.  20  pointed 
to  an  ultimate  compromise,  which  would 
be  a  practical  acceptance  of  the  original 
reservations  with  the  clause  omitted 
which  required  a  formal  acceptance  of 
the  reservations  by  the  other  powers. 

An  interesting  side  light  on  the  senti- 
ment of  the  country  respecting  the  treaty 
was  a  referendum  ballot  by  410  colleges. 
Votes  were  cast  by  158,078  students  and 
professors.  As  originally  submitted,  the 
referendum  covered  six  propositions,  and 
43,125  ballots  in  eighty-nine  colleges  were 
registered  on  this  basis.  Later  the  refer- 
endum was  limited  to  four  propositions, 
114,953  votes  being  cast  in  311  colleges 
on  this  basis.  For  both  sets  of  proposi- 
tions, of  158,078  ballots,  61,494  favored  a 
compromise  to  permit  immediate  ratifi- 
cation, 48,232  opposed  any  reservations, 
27,970  expressed  themselves  for  the 
Lodge    program,    13,943    favored    killing 


THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  GERMAN  PEACE  TREATY      205 


the  treaty  and  the  League,  and  6,449 
would  negotiate  a  new  treaty  with  Ger- 
many. 

The  preponderant  vote  in  the  four 
proposition  basis  was  given  to  Proposi- 
tion 4,  favoring  a  compromise  between 


the  Lodge  and  the  Democratic  reserva- 
tions in  order  to  facilitate  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty.  This  received  a  com- 
bined Faculty  and  student  vote  of  44,789 
out  of  a  total  number  of  114,953  votes 
cast. 


IRELAND    AND    ENGLAND 

Official  Statement  by  Premier  Lloyd  George — Irish  Republi- 
cans Reject  Plan — Sinn  Fein  Wins  Elections 


FTP1HE    Sinn   Fein  movement,   seeking 
the    secession    of    Ireland    from 


1 


Great  Britain  and  the  establish- 
ment of  an  independent  republic, 
received  fresh  impetus  on  Jan.  15  at  the 
municipal  elections.  Coming  closely  on 
the  heels  of  the  proposal  for  home  rule, 
to  which  the  Lloyd  George  Government 
is  irrevocably  committed,  the  elections  in- 
dicated that  the  Irish  Republicans  do  not 
accept  the  home  rule  measure,  and  are 
stronger  for  complete  independence  than 
ever  before.  The  municipal  elections 
were  held  to  fill  1,470  vacancies;  the  Sinn 
Fein  won  422,  Labor  324,  Nationalists 
213,  Unionists  297.  The  Sinn  Feiners 
made  some  gains  in  Ulster  and  won  Dub- 
lin by  a  considerable  majority.  The  re- 
ports cover  1,256  of  the  1,470  vacancies; 
the  results  indicate  an  overwhelming 
sentiment  against  the  Unionists,  who  rep- 
resent the  present  Government. 

Mayor  Hylan  of  New  York  City,  who 
a  few  weeks  previously  had  conferred  the 
freedom  of  the  city  on  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  performed  a  similar  service  on 
Jan.  16  for  Eamonn  de  Valera,  who  was 
elected  President  of  the  proposed  Irish 
Republic  by  the  Sinn  Fein.  Mr.  de  Val- 
era has  been  in  the  United  States  for 
months  to  promote  the  cause  he  repre- 
sents. The  freedom  of  the  city  was  con- 
ferred on  him  at  the  City  Hall,  and  the- 
Mayor  lauded  the  independence  move- 
ment in  his  address.  The  exercises  were 
held  to  inaugurate  the  movement  to  raise 
a  fund  of  $10,000,000  in  this  country  to 
aid  the  Irish  Republicans.  The  first  sub- 
scription was  for  $1,000,  made  by  Arch- 
bishop Hayes  of  New  York;  it  was  an- 


nounced that  the  first  day's  subscriptions 
had  reached  $2,550,000,  and  that  the 
$10,000,000  would  be  easily  raised.  The 
subscribers  receive  certificates  to  be  ex- 
changed for  bonds  to  be  issued  when  the 
republic  is  established. 

On  Dec.  19  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
was  made  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  to 
kill  Lord  French,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  and  three  days  later  the  Prime 
Minister  outlined  the  new  home  "rule 
scheme  in  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

These  two  events  shaped  the  course  of 
Irish  history  through  the  month  under 
review.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
assault  on  Lord  French  was  denounced 
by  the  higher  Irish  clergy  as  both 
wicked  and  futile,  similar  attacks  under 
the  direction  of  the  Sinn  Fein  continued 
to  be  made  against  the  constituted  au- 
thorities. Counter-raids  were  made  upon 
Sinn  Fein  quarters,  particularly  in  Dub- 
lin, by  the  Constabulary  and  troops.  Sinn 
Fein  raids,  pricipally  in  County  Cork, 
were  made  upon  the  farms  of  known 
sympathizers  with  the  Home  Rule  bill, 
and  cattle  and  produce  were  carried  off 
or  destroyed. 

Meanwhile,  the  Irish  Unionists,  prin- 
cipally of  Ulster,  showed  their  antipathy 
toward  the  home  rule  plan  as  expound- 
ed by  the  Prime  Minister,  and  their  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  adopted  a  resolution 
on  Jan.  8  declaring  that  he  had  placed 
a  "  dangerous  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the 
declared  enemies  of  the  emph*e." 

Failing  to  gain  the  approbation  of  the 
Unionists  for  the   scheme,   the   Govern- 


206 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ment  promoters  turned  to  the  Irish  Na- 
tionalists, who  at  the  last  elections  were 
superseded  in  almost  every  seat  by  the 
Sinn  Fein,  practically  leaving  Ireland 
without  representation  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  as  the  Sinn  Fein  members  de- 
clined to  sit.  John  Dillon,  ex-leader  of 
Constitutional  Irish  Nationalism,  was 
approached  by  the  Blackrock  Urban  Dis^- 
trict  Council,  County  Dublin,  and  replied 
in  part  as  follows: 

The  military  Government  which  has 
been  placed  in  complete  control  of  Ireland 
by  the  policy  of  Sinn  Fein  is  determined, 
so  far  as  its  power  goes,  to  make  any 
constitutional  movement  in  Ireland  impos- 
sible, and  to  goad  the  people  to  acts  of 
violence  and  folly  and  to  crime  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  policy  of  providing  plausible 
grounds  for  still  further  developments  of 
military  rule,  and  with  a  view  to  defeat- 
ing any  attempt  to  arrive  at  a  rational 
and  friendly  settlement  of  the  Irish  ques- 
tion. 

I  am  convinced  more  firmly  than  ever 
that  the  object  aimed  at  by  the  Sinn  Fein 
is  unobtainable,  and  that  the  policy  of  the 
Sinn  Fein  leaders  has  been  disastrous  to 


the  Irish  cause,  and  is  bound,  if  perse- 
vered in,  to  lead  to  even  greater  disasters. 
To  throw  away,  in  the  face  of  able  and 
unscrupulous  enemies,  one  of  the  most 
effective,  if  not  the  most  effective  weapon 
ever  possessed  by  Ireland— an  Independent 
United  Party  in  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons— and  to  declare  war  against  the 
British  Empire  when  Ireland  had  no 
means  of  carrying  on  that  war  in  a  civil- 
ized or  decent  fashion,  was  foolish  in  the 
extreme. 

The  results  are  already  painfully  evi- 
dent, and  if  this  policy  be  persevered  in 
there  can,  in  my  judgment,  be  no  doubt 
that  it  is  bound  to  plunge  the  country 
deeper  and  deeper  in  chaos  and  disorder ; 
play  into  the  hands  of  the  military  party 
and  all  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Irish 
people,  and  alienate  from  the  cause  of 
Irish  nationality  the  sympathies  of  demo- 
cratic nations  throughout  the  world. 

Holding  these  views  as  I  do  most 
strongly.  I  am  unable  to  give  any  support 
to  the  Sinn  Fein  Party  now  in  control  of 
Irish  Nationalist  politics ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  face  of  the  last  election  and 
of  the  infamous  character  of  the  present 
Government  in  Ireland,  I  do  not  feel  free 
at  the  present  time  to  take  any  prominent 
part  in  any  attempt  to  reorganize  Ireland 
on  constitutional  lines. 


The  Home  Rule  Proposal 

The  British  Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  delivered  his  address  on  the 
Irish  problem  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  Dec.  22,  1919,  at  the  time  the  Government 
measure  for  Irish  Home  Rule  was  introduced.  He  went  at  length  into  the  whole 
Irish  question  and  analyzed  the  proposal  in  detail.  It  is  a  historic  utterance  of  much 
importance  and  for  that  reason  it  is  given  herewith  in  full: 


MR.  SPEAKER:  I  feel  I  have  a 
task  which  is  about  as  difficult 
a  one  as  any  Minister  has  ever 
been  presented  with  to  perform. 
It  is  to  attempt  to  compose  an  old  family 
quarrel — a  quarrel  which  has  engendered 
many  a  time  a  bloody  feud.  It  is  dif- 
ficult under  any  circumstances,  but  dif- 
ficult indeed  immediately  after  such  a 
disgraceful  outrage  as  was  perpetrated 
recently  in  Dublin.  [The  unsuccessful 
attempt  on  Dec.  19  to  assassinate  Gen- 
eral French,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland.] 
An  atmosphere  charged  with  a  reek  of 
attempted  assassination  is  not  a  favor- 
able one  in  which  to  promote  a  measure 
of  reconciliation. 

The  dastardly  attack  on  a  brave  Irish 
soldier — who  by  his  gallantry  had  added 
lustre  to  the  renown  of  his  race — is  not 
merely  one  of  the  most  cruel,  it  is  one 


of  the  most  foolish  incidents  in  the  his- 
tory of  political  crimes.  Unfortunate- 
ly, such  incidents  have  happened  be- 
fore. 

I  recall  the  time  when,  in  1882 
I  think  it  was,  Lord  Cavendish  had  been 
sent  over  to  Ireland  with  a  message  of 
peace  and  reconciliation,  came  that  ter- 
rible crime  at  the  mere  memory  of  which 
we  still  shudder.  The  history  of  Ireland 
is  full  of  untoward  incidents.  I  am  glad 
that  the  chiefs  of  the  Catholic  jChurch 
in  Ireland  have  lost  no  time  in  denounc- 
ing in  unmeasured  language  the  outrage. 
Experience  of  the  past  has  shown  us 
that  these  murder  societies  which  arise 
now  and  again  are  small  and  disreputa- 
ble. They  choose  opportunities  like  this 
because  they  do  not  seek  conciliation. 
They  want  to  make  reconciliation  im- 
possible, and  to  turn  back  when  we  had 


IRELAND  AND  ENGLAND 


207 


started  on  the  path  would  be  to  play 
into  their  hands. 

It  makes  the  task  of  statesmanship 
more  difficult,  but  it  also  makes  the  test 
of  statesmanship  more  real.  On  similar 
occasions  in  the  past  the  British  Parlia- 
ment has  declined  to  allow  its  judgment 
to  be  swept  away  even  by  honest 
indignation,  and  it  would  be  to  play  the 
game  of  these  miscreants  to  take  any 
other  course  now.  They  fortunately 
missed  the  object  of  their  crime.  They 
inflicted  a  serious  injury  alone  upon  the 
interests  of  the  country  they  were  pre- 
tending to  serve. 

I  should  like  to  review  shortly  the 
present  position  with  reference  to  self- 
government  for  Ireland.  The  first  fact 
the  House  will  take  note  of  is  that  there 
is  a  Home  Rule  act  on  the  statute  book. 
Unless  it  is  either  postponed  or  repealed 
or  altered,  it  comes  automatically  into 
operation  when  the  war  ceases.  That 
is  the  first  fact  the  House  will  take 
cognizance  of.  Legislation,  therefore,  is 
indispensable.  We  may  be  asked — 
"  Why  not  allow  it  to  come  into  opera- 
tion?" I  am  afraid  it  is  no  answer  to 
that  question  to  say,  "  Because  no  one 
wants  it."  There  is  no  section  in  Ireland 
that  wants  the  act  of  1914.  That  is  not 
a  sufficient  answer,  because,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  that  I  cannot  think  of  any  pro- 
posals that  you  can  put  forward  from 
this  court  which  would  be  in  the  least 
practicable  or  acceptable  to  British  opin- 
ion at  the  present  moment  or  which 
would  have  any  chance  of  acceptance 
now  in  the  present  condition  of  Ireland. 

We  must  get  that  fact  right  into  our 
minds.  Therefore  we  must  take  our  re- 
sponsibility and  propose  what  we  think 
is  right,  fair  and  just.  Settlement  will 
be  found  not  in  the  enactment,  but  in  the 
working.  But  there  are  two  reasons  why 
the  Act  of  1914  is  inapplicable.  The  first 
is,  it  is  not  workable  without  funda- 
mental alterations.  That,  I  think,  is  ac- 
knowledged on  all  hands.  The  second  is 
that  when  it  was  placed  on  the  statute 
book  its  promoters  gave  an  undertaking 
that  it  would  not  be  brought  into  opera- 
tion until  an  Act  of  Parliament  had  been 
carried  dealing  with  the  peculiar  position 
of  Ulster.  That  was  a  definite  under- 
taking given  with  the  assent  of  the  Irish 


Nationalist  representatives.  It  was  given 
by  Mr.  Asquith.  Therefore  we  cannot 
contemplate  allowing  the  Act  of  1914  to 
come  into  operation  without  changes 
adapted  to  the  changing  conditions,  and 
the  changes  "/hich  would  deal  with  the 
case  of  Ulster,  which  has  been  recognized 
by  the  leaders  of  all  parties  in  this  house. 
Now,  what  is  the  problem  we  have  to 
meet? 

TWO  BASIC  FACTS 

There  are  two  basic  facts  which  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  any  structure  you  are 
going  to  build  up  in  Ireland.  The  first 
is  this,  that  three-quarters  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Ireland  are  not  merely  governed 
without  their  consent,  but  they  manifest 
the  bitterest  hostility  to  the  Government. 
That  is  the  fact.  It  is  the  one  country 
in  Europe,  except  Russia,  where  the 
classes  who  elsewhere  are  on  the  side 
of  law  and  order  are  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  machinery  of  the  law.  What 
makes  this  more  serious  is  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  due  to  material  grievances.  I 
remember  when  it  used  to  be  argued  that 
if  you  improved  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions, if  you  got  rid  of  agarian  trouble, 
improved  housing,  if  you  created  a 
peasant  proprietorship  and  built  rail- 
ways, constructed  harbors,  and  did  every- 
thing possible  in  order  to  make  Ireland  as 
prosperous  as  conditions  would  allow,  all 
this  objection  to  British  rule  would  vanish. 
What  has  happened?  Ireland  has  never  been 
so  prosperous  as  she  is  today. 

Mr.  J.  Jones  (Lab.,  Silvertown)— She  has 
never  been  so  national. 

Prime  Minister— The  vast  majority  of  the 
cultivators  of  Ireland  are  the  possessors  of 
their  own  soil.  Houses  and  comfortable  cot- 
tages for  working  men  have  been  built  at 
the  expense  of  the  British  taxpayer. 

Men  who  traveled  through  Ireland  a  gen- 
eration ago  and  revisit  that  country  would 
not  know  it  today.  It  is  completely  trans- 
figured. The  fact  remains  that  Ireland  has 
never  been  so  alienated  from  British  rule  as 
it  is  today.  Therefore  the  grievance,  such 
as  it  is,  Is  not  a  material  one.  Irishmen 
claim  the  right  to  control  their  own  domestic 
concerns  without  interference  from  English- 
men, Scotsmen  or  Welshmen.  That  is  the 
fundamental  fact.  They  have  fought  for  it 
for  hundreds  of  years.  They  have  never 
held  it  so  tenaciously  as  they  do  today. 
Now,  what  is  the  second  fact?  It  is  also  8 
fundamental  one— that  there  you  have  a 
siderable  section  of  people  of  Ireland  who 
are    Just    as    opposed    to    Irish    rule    as    the 


208 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


majority  of  Irishmen  are  to  British  rule. 
Both  those  facts  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count—the first  perhaps  disagreeable  to  one 
body  of  members  of  the  House;  the  second 
equally  disagreeable  perhaps  to  another 
body.  It  is  not  our  business  to  seek  for 
agreeable  facts  for  anybody,  but  to  seek  for 
the  facts,  whether  they  are  agreeable  or 
otherwise.  In  the  Northeast  of  Ireland  you 
have  a  population— a  fairly  solid  population ; 
a  homogeneous  population— alien  in  race, 
alien  in  sympathy,  alien  in  religion,  alien  in 
outlook,  from  the  rest  of  the  population  of 
Ireland,  and  it  would  be  an  outrage  upon 
the  principle  of  self-government  to  place 
them  under  the  rule  of  the  remainder  of  the 
population. 

In  the  northeast  of  Ireland,  if  that  were 
done,  you  would  inevitably  alienate  the  best 
elements  from  the  machinery  of  law  and 
order.  I  do  not  say  it  would  produce  exact- 
ly the  same  results,  but  it  would  recreate 
exactly  the  same  condition  which  you  are 
trying  to  remedy  in  the  south  and  west. 

THE  CASE  OF  ULSTER:     TWO 
PRIESTS'  VIEWS 

This  point  is  so  important,  and  has  been 
challenged  on  such  a  scale,  and  the  case 
for  it  has  been  so  little  stated  outside  the 
United  Kingdom,  that  I  think  it  vital  that  I 
should  dwell  for  a  short  time  upon  it.  It  Is 
not  because  I  attach  less  importance  to  it 
than  I  do  to  the  first  proposition;  it  is  be- 
cause the  first  proposition  is  accepted,  out- 
side. In  the  Dominions,  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  European  countries,  the  sec- 
ond has  not  been  stated,  and  it  is  not  known. 
I  shall  state  it,  not  in  my  own  words,  but  in 
two  quotations  from  witnesses  who  certainly 
are  not  biased  in  favor  of  the  northeastern 
part  of  Ireland.  The  first  is  a  quotation 
from  a  very  remarkable  letter  written  in 
June,  1916,  by  Father  O'Flanagan,  a  very 
able  Irish  Catholic  priest.  He,  I  believe, 
afterward  became  Vice  President  of  Sinn 
Fein.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  holds  the 
position  still,  and  no  one  can  doubt  at  any 
rate  that  he  is  in  sympathy  with  Nationalist 
claims  in  Ireland.  This  is  what  he  says 
upon  this  particular  subject: 

"  If  we  reject  home  rule  rather  than  agree 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  Unionist  part  of 
Ulster,  what  case  have  we  to  put  before  the 
world?  We  can  point  out  that  Ireland  is  an 
island  with  a  definite  geographical  boundary. 
That  argument  might  be  all  right  if  you 
were  dealing  with  a  number  of  island  nation- 
alities that  had  these  definite  geographical 
boundaries.  Appealing  as  we  are  to  Conti- 
nental nations,  with  shifting  boundaries,  that 
argument  can  have  no  force  whatever.  Ni 
tional  and  geographical  boundaries  scarcely 
ever  coincided.  Geography  would  make  "»ne 
nation  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  H'.story  has 
made  two  of  them.  Geography  did  its  best 
to  make  one  nation  of  Norway  and  Sweden ; 
history  has  succeeded  in  making  two  of  them. 


Geography  has  scarcely  anything  to  say  upon 
the  number  of  nations  on  the  North  Ameri- 
can Continent ;  history  has  done  the  whole 
thing.  If  a  man  were  to  try  to  construct  a 
political  map  of  Europe  out  of  its  physical 
map  he  would  find  himself  groping  in  the 
dark  (well  do  we  know  that  who  attended 
the  Peace  Conference  in  Paris).  Geography 
has  worked  hard  to  make  one  nation  out  of 
Ireland ;  history  has  worked  against  it.  The 
island  of  Ireland  and  the  national  unit  of 
Ireland  simply  do  not  coincide.  In  the  last 
analysis  the  test  of  nationality  is  the  wish  of 
the  people.  A  man  who  settles  in  America 
becomes  an  American  by  transferring  his 
love  and  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 

"  The  Unionists  of  Ulster  have  never  trans- 
ferred their  love  and  allegiance  to  Ireland. 
They  may  be  Irelanders,  using  a  geograph- 
ical term,  but  they  are  not  Irishmen  in  the 
national  sense.  They  love  the  hills  of  Antrim 
in  the  same  way  that  we  love  the  hills  of 
Roscommon,  but  the  centre  of  their  political 
enthusiasm  is  London,  whereas  the  centre  of 
ours  is  Dublin.  We  claim  the  right  to  decide 
what  is  our  nation.  We  refuse  them  the 
same  right.  We  are  putting  ourselves  before 
the  world  in  the  same  light  as  the  man  in 
the  Gospel  who  was  forgiven  ten  thousand 
talents  and  proceeded  to  throttle  his  neighbor 
for  one  hundred  pence.  After  three  hundred 
years  England  has  tired  of  compelling  us  to 
love  her  by  force.  We  are  anxious  to  start 
where  England  left  off,  and  to  compel  Antrim 
and  Down  to  lcve  us  by  force." 

That  is  a  very  remarkable  letter.  I  quote 
it  not  merely  because  it  is  a  forcible,  preg- 
nant, eloquent  statement  of  the  case,  but  be- 
cause no  man  can  say  that  that  comes  from 
the  lips  of  a  reviler  of  Ireland  or  one  who 
has  no  sympathy  with  national  and  Catholic 
Ireland.  I  think  I  must  trouble  the  House 
with  one  other  short  quotation,  because  it  is 
so  much  better  that  this  testimony  should 
come  from  the  lips  of  those  whose  right  to 
speak  on  this  subject  cannot  be  challenged, 
and  whose  sentiments  toward  Ireland  cannot 
be  disputed  even  by  the  strongest  Nationalist. 
Now  I  will  give  another  quotation  from  an- 
other very  able  Irish  priest,  a  professor  of 
theology  in  Maynooth  College— Father  Mac- 
donald : 

"  Were  Ireland  made  a  republic,  fully  inde- 
pendent of  Great  Britain,  it  seems  to  me  that 
she  would  be  bound  to  allow  home  rule  for 
the  northeast  corner  on  the  principles  under- 
lying our  claim  for  home  rule  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  which  I  regard  as  well-founded. 
The  Protestants  of  Ulster  differ  from  the 
majority  of  the  race  of  the  island,  not  only 
in  religion,  but  in  race,  mentality,  culture 
generally.  They  are  at  once  homogeneous 
and  heterogeneous— homogeneous  in  their  dis- 
tricts and  heterogeneous  as  compared  with 
the  rest  of  Ireland.  A  minority  in  Ireland, 
they  are  a  majority  in  the  northeast  corner, 
and  therefore,  on  the  principles  we  have  been 
advocating,   are  entitled  to  home  rule." 


IRELAND  AND  ENGLAND 


209 


TO  FORCE  UNION  WOULD  PROMOTE 
DISUNION 

These  two  quotations  state  the  case  in  favor 
of  the  treatment  of  Ulster.  If  they  unite  they 
must  do  it  of  their  own  accord.  To  force 
union  is  to  promote  disunion.  There  may  be 
advantage  in  union.  I  do  not  deny  that  geo- 
graphically the  conditions  are  such  as  to 
make  it  desirable.  There  is  an  advantage 
in  mingling  races  and  religion  so  as  to  con- 
stitute a  variety  of  ideas,  so  as  to  have  a 
different  outlook,  and  there  is  undoubtedly 
an  advantage  in  having  industry  and  agri- 
culture working  sid^  by  side  in  the  same 
Parliament,  but  that  is  a  matter  for  these 
populations  themselves.  Lord  Durham  at- 
tempted to  force  Quebec  and  Ontario— Lower 
and  Upper  Canada— into  the  same  Parlia- 
ment. That  plan  had  to  be  abandoned.  Sep- 
arate Parliaments  had  to  be  given  them;  and 
it  was  only  after  that  was  done  that  federa- 
tion became  possible.  Keeping  them  togeth- 
er would  simply  have  created  antagonism. 

The  third  fundamental  condition  is  that 
any  arrangement  by  which  Ireland  could  be 
severed  from  the  United  Kingdom,  either 
nominally  or  in  substance  or  effect,  would 
be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  both.  You  have 
only  to  look  at  what  happened  in  the  late 
war  to  realize  what  would  have  happened 
if  Ireland  had  been  a  separate  unit.  A  hos- 
tile republic,  or  even  an  unfriendly  one, 
might  very  well  have  been  fatal  to  the  cause 
of  the  Allies.  The  submarine  trouble  wa.< 
difficult  enough  in  all  conscience.  There 
were  many  moments  when  we  were  full  of 
anxiety.  Our  experts  were  full  of  anxiety, 
not  of  fear,  for  they  were  men  of  great 
courage,  but  because  they  knew  the  diffi- 
culty. But  if  we  had  there  a  land,  one 
whose  harbors  and  inlets  we  had  no  con- 
trol of,  we  might  have  had  a  situation  full 
of  peril,  a  situation  which  might  very  well 
have  jeopardized  the  life  of  this  country.  The 
area  of  the  submarine  activity  might  have 
been  extended  beyond  the  limits  of  control. 
Britain  and  her  allies  might  have  been  cut 
off  from  the  Dominions  and  from  the  United 
States.  We  cannot  run  the  risk  of  a  possi- 
bility such  as  that,  and  it  would  be  equally 
fatal  to  the  interests  of  Ireland. 

IRELAND'S  BEST  CUSTOMER 

Irish  trade  interests  are  intertwined  with 
those  of  Great  Britain.  Britain  is  Ireland's 
best  customer.  If  Great  Britain,  with  all 
its  infinite  resources,  found  it  difficult  to 
govern  a  hostile  Ireland,  I  cannot  see  how 
Ireland  could  control  a  hostile  northeast. 
There  would  be  trouble;  there  would  be  mis- 
chief ;  there  might  be  bloodshed ;  and  then 
the  whole  black  chapter  of  misunderstand- 
ing between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  would 
be  rewritten  all  over  again.  We  must  not 
enter  upon  that  course,  whatever  the  cost; 
and  I  think  it  is  right  here,  in  the  face  of 
the  demands  put  forward  from  Ireland  with 
apparent  authority,   that  any  attempt  at  se- 


cession will  be  fought  with  the  same  deter- 
mination, with  the  same  resources,  with  the 
same  resolve,  as  the  Northern  States  of 
America  put  into  the  fight  with  the  Southern 
States.  It  is  important  that  it  should  be 
known  not  merely  throughout  the  world,  but 
in  Ireland  itself. 

Subject  to  these  three  conditions,  we  pro- 
pose that  self-government  should  be  con- 
ferred upon  the  whole  of  Ireland.  Our  plan 
is  based  upon  the  recognition  of  these  three 
fundamental  facts:  First,  the  importance  of 
not  severing  Ireland  from  the  United  King- 
dom; secondly,  the  opposition  of  Nationalist 
Ireland  to  British  rule;  thirdly,  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  population  of  Ulster  to  Irish  rule. 

The  first  involves  the  recognition  that 
Ireland  must  remain  an  integral  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  second  involves  the 
confirming  of  self-government  of  Ireland  in 
all  its  domestic  concerns.  The  third  in- 
volves the  setting  up  of  two  parliaments, 
and  not  one,  in  Ireland.  That  is  the  first 
proposal  we  recommend  to  Parliament. 
What,  then,  should  be  the  two  parliaments, 
two  legislatures,  set  up  in  Ireland? 

TWO  PARLIAMENTS 

I  will  deal  first  of  all  with  the  areas— one 
will  be  the  Parliament  of  Southern  Ireland 
and  the  other  will  be  the  Parliament  of 
Northeastern  Ireland.  There  are  four  alter- 
native proposals  which  have  been  discussed 
with  regard  to  boundaries.  The  first  is  that 
the  whole  of  Ulster  should  form  one  unit, 
the  other  three  provinces  to  form  another 
unit.  The  objection  to  that  is  that  this 
would  leave  large  areas  in  which  there  is  a 
predominant  Catholic  and  Celtic  population 
in  deep  sympathy  with  the  southern  popula- 
tion. 

The  second  suggestion  is  county  option. 
The  objection  to  that  is  that  it  would  leave 
solid  communities  of  Protestants  who  are  in 
complete  sympathy  with  the  northeastern 
section  of  Ireland  outside  under  a  Govern- 
ment to  which  they  are  rootedly  hostile.  It 
is  sometimes  impossible  to  avoid  that,  but 
it  is  desirable  to  avert  it  wherever  practica- 
ble, and  no  boundary  has  ever  been  fixed  in 
the  United  States  of  America  or  in  the  do- 
minions by  that  process. 

The  third  suggestion  is  that  the  six  north- 
eastern counties  should  form  a  unit.  There 
is  the  same  objection  to  that  because  there 
are  solid  Catholic  communities  in  at  least 
two  of  these  counties  which  are  cc-terminous 
with  the  southern  population,  and  it  would 
be  undesirable  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  northeastern  province  to  attach  them 
to  the  Ulster  Parliament.  The  fourth  sug- 
gestion is  that  we  should  ascertain  what  the 
homogeneous  northeastern  section  is  and 
constitute  it  into  a  separate  area— take  the 
six  counties  as  a  basis,  and  eliminate  wher- 
ever practicable  the  Catholic  counties,  while 
including  Protestant  communities  co-termi- 
nous  with  the  Catholic  counties,  and  produce 


210 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


an  area  as  homogeneous  as  it  is  possible  to 
achieve  under  these  circumstances. 

I  now  come  to  two  additional  features  in  the 
Government  proposals  which  differentiate 
them  from  the  act  of  1914  and  even  from  the 
American  precedent.  The  first  is  that  we 
propose  that  every  opportunity  should  be 
given  to  Irishmen,  if  they  desire  it,  to  es- 
tablish union,  but  the  decision  must  rest  with 
them  if  they  agree.  It  would  require  no  act 
of  the  Imperial  Parliament  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  accomplish  it.  But  there  are  two 
proposals  which  we  have  got  in  mind  to  at- 
tain that  object. 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  IRELAND 

The  first  is  that  there  should  be  consti- 
tuted from  the  outset  a  Council  of  Ireland 
consisting  of  twenty  representatives  elected 
by  each  of  the  two  Irish  legislatures.  This 
council  would  be  given  the  powers  of  private 
bill  legislation  from  the  outset,  but  other- 
wise we  propose  to  leave  to  the  two  Irish 
legislatures  complete  discretion  to  confer 
upon  it  any  powers  they  choose  within  the 
range  of  their  own  authority.  The  council, 
therefore,  will  not  only  serve  as  an  invaluable 
link  between  the  two  parts  of  Ireland— an  as- 
sembly of  the  leaders  of  the  North  and  South, 
wherever  they  may  come  together  and  dis- 
cuss the  affairs  of  their  common  country— 
but  it  constitutes  the  obvious  agency  upon 
which  the  two  parliaments,  witnout  surrend- 
ering their  own  independence,  may  secure 
that  certain  common  services  which  it  is 
highly  undesirable  to  divide  can  be  administ- 
ered jointly  as  a  single  Irish  service. 

The  Government  does  not  propose  in  the  bill 
to  lay  down  what  services  should  be  so  con- 
trolled. It  is  proposed  to  leave  this  matter 
to  be  settled  by  the  two  Irish  legislatures 
themselves  by  agreement.  Nothing  can  be 
done  except  by  agreement.  For  instance, 
take  transportation,  railways  and  canals. 
They  are  great  trunk  systems,  which  serve 
both  areas.  If  the  two  Irish  legislatures 
agree,  they  can  leave  the  control  to  this 
National  Irish  Council.  That  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  kind  of  subject  which  might  very 
well  be  delegated  by  the  two  Irish  legis- 
latures to  this  council,  which  represents  both 
and  which  can  only  be  delegated  by  agree- 
ment. Now  I  come  to  the  second  proposal  we 
have  put  forward,  with  a  view  to  enabling 
Ireland  to  attain  unity,  if  both  sections  de- 
sire it. 

We  propose  to  clothe  the  Irish  legislatures 
with  full  constituent  powers,  so  that  they 
would  be  able,  without  reference  to  the  Im- 
perial Parliament  and  by  identical  legislation, 
to  create  a  single  Irish  legislature,  discharg- 
ing all  or  any  of  the  powers  not  specifically 
reserved  to  the  Imperial  Parliament.  It 
would  then  rest  with  the  Irish  people  them- 
selves to  determine  whether  they  want  union 
and  how  they  want  union.  The  British 
Parliament  will  have  no  further  say  in  the 
matter.  If  the  Irish  elect  or  determine,  they 
can    return    a   majority    to    the    Irish    Parlia- 


ment, even  in  the  very  first  election,  to  bring 
about  a  union  of  the  North  and  South. 

The  Government  propose  that  certain  ad- 
ditional taxing  powers,  which  I  shall  refer 
to  later,  shall  be  handed  over  to  the  Irish 
Parliament  as  soon  as  the  Irish  Parliament 
agree  to  that.  With  regard  to  the  Irish  rep- 
resentation in  this  Parliament,  we  propose  to 
adhere  to  the  scheme  of  the  act  of  1914,  that 
is,  a  reduction  to  the  number  of  forty-two 
members  for  all  purposes. 

THE  FEDERAL  POWERS 

I  now  come  to  the  powers  of  these  two 
legislatures.  We  propose  to  proceed  on  the 
basis  of  the  act  of  1914— that  is,  reserving 
Federal  power  to  the  Imperial  Parliament 
and  leaving  the  rest  of  the  powers  to  the 
two  legislatures.  What  I  call  the  Federal  or 
Imperial  power,  which  is  reserved  for  this 
Parliament,  will  include  the  Crown,  peace 
and  war,  foreign  affairs,  army  and  navy  de- 
fense, treason,  trade*  outside  Ireland,  navi- 
gation including  merchant  shipping,  wireless 
and  cables,  coinage,  trade  marks,  lighthouses, 
higher  judiciary,  until  an  agreement  is  es- 
tablished by  the  two  Parliaments  as  to  how 
they  are  to  be  appointed. 

Sir  E.  Carson  (C.  U.,  Duncairn)— When  you 
say  the  higher  judiciary  do  you  mean  there 
is  to  be  a  different  judiciary  for  each  parlia- 
mentary area? 

Mr.  Lloyd  George— It  is  proposed  that  all 
the  Judges  should  be  appointed  by  the  Im- 
perial authorities  until  there  is  an  agreement 
between  the  two  Legislatures  as  to  their  ap- 
pointment.    I  do  not  mean  Magistrates. 

Sir  E.  Carson— I  am  referring  to  the  ques- 
tion  of  areas. 

Mr.  Lloyd  George— With  regard  to  the  area 
the  appointment  will  be  made  by  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  and  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament will  have  to  make  arrangements  as 
to  the  areas  to  which  they  will  be  allocated. 
These  powers  correspond  to  the  powers  pre- 
served wherever  there  is  a  Federal  Consti- 
tution, whether  in  America  or  on  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe. 

IRISH  PARLIAMENTS  POWERS 

The  powers  of  the  Irish  Parliament  will  bo 
very  considerable.  There  will  be  full  control 
over  education,  government  land,  all  roads 
and  bridges ;  transportation,  including  rail- 
ways and  canals;  old  age  pensions,  insur- 
ances—may I  say  that  under  the  act  of  1914 
they  were  reserved  for  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment—and municipal  affairs,  local  judici- 
aries, hospitals,  licenses,  all  the  machinery 
for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order,  with 
the  exception  of  the  higher  judiciary,  of  the 
army  and  navy,  and  housing. 

Mr.  A.  Henderson  (Lab.,  Widnes)— What  is 
the  position  of  the  two  Parliaments  in  regard 
to  labor  legislation? 

Mr.  Lloyd  George— Labor  is  not  a  reserved 
power,  and  labor  legislation  will  also  be 
dealt  with  by  the  local  Legislatures. 


IRELAND  AND  ENGLAND 


211 


I  come  now  to  the  question  of  constabu- 
lary. The  Irish  Legislature  must  be  respon- 
sible for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order. 
It  would  be  idle  to  set  up  a  Legislature  in 
a  country  with  administration  that  was  not 
responsible  for  the  administration  of  the  law. 
It  is  the  first  duty  of  any  Government. 
There  is  no  provincial  Legislature  in  the 
world  which  has  not  got  this  for  one  of  its 
primary  duties.  If  that  duty  is  not  dis- 
charged that  Government  has  no  right  any 
longer  to  remain  a  Government.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  should  happen.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  it  should  be  tolerated,  but  no 
administration  can  undertake  the  responsi- 
bility of  order  unless  the  machinery  of  main- 
taining order  is  placed  at  its  disposal.  It  is 
therefore  proposed  not  to  retain  the  control 
of  the  police  in  imperial  hanas  beyond  three 
years.  The  Government  proposes  to  give  se- 
curity to  all  members  of  the  police  force  and 
all  Irish  civil  servants  by  making  provision 
v/hereby  their  pension  rights  will  be  secured 
on  Irish  revenue  in  the  event  of  their  dis- 
missal or  resignation. 

I  now  come  to  the  Post  Office.  Under  the 
act  of  1914  that  was  an  Irish  service,  but  if 
Ireland  is  divided  into  two  areas  the  admin- 
istrative difficulties,  we  are  advised,  would 
be  so  serious  that  we  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion it  would  be  preferable  to  postpone 
the  transfer  of  the  Post  Office  to  Irish  con- 
trol until  such  time  as  the  two  Parliaments 
unite  in  asking  that  it  should  be  transferred 
to  the  control  of  the  Council  of  Ireland  or  of 
any  other  common  machinery  they  may  set 
up.  There  will  be  a  clause  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  rights  of  minorities  in  Ireland. 

Now  I  come  to  the  all-important  problem 
of  finance.  I  think  the  best  method  of  ap- 
proach would  be  that  I  should  take  the 
proposals  of  1914  as  the  basis  of  explanation. 
The  act  of  1914  transferred  no  existing  taxes. 
There  was  no  power  to  impose  new  taxes  if 
any  one  could  find  them,  but  they  must  not 
be  substantially  the  same  in  character  as 
any  imperial  taxes.  There  was  power  to 
vary  imperial  taxes  within  limitations. 
Home  rule  administration  was  financed  under 
that  act  by  a  lump  sum  taken  out  of  the 
Imperial  Exchequer.  There  was  also  a  pro- 
vision for  a  surplus.  To  deprive  Ireland  of 
the  right  of  taxation,  and  to  simply  give 
her  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  the  cost  of  the 
service  at  that  time,  without  any  margin, 
was  to  start  the  Parliament  bankrupt.  There 
was  a  surplus  of  £500,000,  which  was  reduced 
by  £50,000  a  year  until  it  reached  the  figure 
of  £200,000.  I  need  hardly  say  that  was 
obviously  an  inadequate  figure,  and  one  can 
say  now  that  surplus  was  like  the  sand 
castles,   which  have  disappeared. 

IRISHMEN"  AND  THE  WAR 

Since  then  we  have  had  a  great  war,  which 
has  produced  two-fold  consequences  which 
have  altered  the  whole  character  of  the  prob- 
lem.   The  first  is  that  the  national  debt  has 


increased;  and  the  second,  that  the  cost  of 
the  whole  of  the  services  has  doubled.  Tax- 
ation and  the  value  of  money  has  depre- 
ciated. Under  the  act  of  1914  there  was  no 
contribution  toward  the  maintenance  of  the 
empire.  That  was  a  supreme  injustice, 
especially  under  present  conditions,  to  the 
taxpayers  of  Great  Britain. 

Irishmen  throughout  the  world  are  bearing 
their  share  of  the  burdens  of  this  great  war. 
It  was  undertaken  in  order  to  emancipate  a 
small  Catholic  nationality  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe,  and  it  has  achieved  emancipation 
for  several  other  Catholic  nationalities.  Irish- 
men of  the  United  States  are  bearing  their 
burdens  in  consequence  of  the  wars— also  in 
Canada,  in  Australia,  and  in  Grat  Britain. 
I  am  sure  Irishmen  should  be  ashamed  not 
to  pay  their  share  of  the  burden  so  much  in 
sympathy  with  their  ideals. 

How  is  that  to  be  ascertained?  There  are 
two  alternative  methods  of  arriving  at  the 
contribution  to  imperial  taxation  and  the 
sum  available  for  Irish  loyal  services.  The 
first  was  that  of  the  1914  act,  which  was  to 
transfer  a  lump  sum  equal  to  the  cost  of  the 
services.  It  has  its  advantages,  but  there 
are  conspicuous  disadvantages,  to  which  at 
the  present  moment  great  weight  must  be 
attached.  In  the  first  years,  before  Ireland 
has  felt  her  way  and  expressed  her  content- 
ment with  this  experiment,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  machinery  for  the  en- 
forcement of  the  law  will  be  in  the  hands 
of  Irishmen— the  machinery  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  law  against  those  who  do  not  pay 
the  duties  or  taxes.  The  Government,  there- 
fore, suggests  another  method,  which  will 
give  the  Irish  Government  the  whole  advan- 
tage of  the  duties  and  taxes  raised  in  Ireland 
in  excess  of  a  fair  contribution  to  the  im- 
perial service.  Commission  after  commission 
has  been  appointed  to  ascertain  what  a  fair 
contribution  is. 

FINANCIAL  ARRANGEMENTS 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  no  fair  apportion- 
ment is  possible  as  long  as  the  expenditure 
is  abnormal.  Therefore  we  propose  to  take 
the  present  yield  of  existing  taxes  as  the 
basis,  and  for  a  short  period  of  two  years 
to  assume  that  a  fair  contribution  shall  be 
the  amount  contributed  after  deduction  of 
local  services.  In  the  year  1919-20  there  will 
be,  in  addition  to  that,  a  free  gift  in  order 
to  finance  the  Irish  Parliament,  or  rather  to 
give  it  a  margin  for  development  and  im- 
provement. 

I  think  the  best  plan  will  be  to  give  the 
actual  figures  by  way  of  illustration.  The 
total  estimated  revenue  for  1920  derived  from 
Ireland  is  £41,430,000.  Local  services,  includ- 
ing old  age  pensions  and  insurance,  come  out 
at  £12,750,000.  Reserve  services,  including 
police,  Post  Office,  and  Revenue  Department, 
bring  that  up  to  £19,550,000.  Now  the  House 
of  Commons  has  incurred  additional  liabili- 
ties during  this  session.  One  of  them  was 
incurred  on  Friday  last,  and  the  others  are 


212 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


in  respect  of  local  loans  in  Ireland,  old  age 
pensions,  education,  housing,  and  health  in- 
surance. Then  there  is  another  item  which 
the  House  must  take  into  account.  Under 
the  Irish  Land  Purchase  act  agreements 
have  already  been  entered  into  which,  in  the 
aggregate,  amount  to  £1,701,000,000  to  £1,702,- 
000,000.  It  is  an  imperial  obligation  which 
the  Government  has  undertaken  to  put 
through  on  terms  very  favorable  to  the  Irish 
tenants,  but  which,  under  present  conditions, 
is  extraordinarily  unfair  to  the  Exchequer. 
That  will  cost  another  £500,000,  which  brings 
the  total  of  Irish  expenditure  up  to  £23,500,- 
000.  If  you  deduct  that  from  the  total  reve- 
nue of  £41,500,000  that  will  leave  a  contribu- 
tion of  £18,000,000  toward  imperial  expendi- 
ture. 

This  is  the  amount  which  at  the  present 
moment,  taking  all  these  things  into  account, 
the  Treasury  derives  out  of  Ireland,  and 
which  can  be  applied  to  the  cost  of  the  na- 
tional debt,  the  army  and  navy,  to  trade, 
the  running  of  the  machinery,  and  war  pen- 
sions. Before  the  end  of  the  two  years' 
period  a  Joint  Exchange  Board  will  settle  a 
fair  contribution  for  the  future,  having  re- 
gard to  the  relative  taxable  capacity  of  North 
and  South  Ireland  and  the  United  Kingdom. 
In  the  south  it  will  hold  for  five  years.  The 
Joint  Exchequer  Board  will  consist  of  an 
equal  number  of  representatives  from  the 
United  Kingdom  and  the  two  Irish  Parlia- 
ments, with  an  independent  Chairman.  This 
method  does  justice  to  the  two  Governments 
in  Ireland.  It  is  based  upon  the  taxable  ca- 
pacity. There  are  means  of  revision.  There 
is  room  for  economy  in  local  services. 

BRITISH  FINANCIAL  AID 

Now  I  come  to  the  surplus,  which  we  pro- 
pose to  recommend  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
two  Irish  Parliaments  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
provement and  development  in  Ireland.  No 
doubt  there  are  many  services  which  stand 
greatly  In  need  of  it.  There  are  education, 
payment  of  teachers,  and  pensions.  No 
doubt  public  opinion  in  Ireland  expects  that 
a  sum  of  money  should  be  spent  in  industrial, 
economical,  and  agricultural  development. 

I  think  it  is  desirable  that  the  Imperial 
Parliament,  having  regard  to  the  past  of 
Ireland,  for  which  we  are  largely  responsible 
in  this  country,  should  deal  generously  with 
the  two  Irish  Legislatures,  so  that  they 
should  not  start  with  crippled  finances.  I 
believe  to  this  end  it  would  be  wise  expendi- 
ture for  Great  Britain  if  we  could  achieve 
contentment  in  Ireland  by  this  process.  We 
propose,  first  of  all,  to  deal  with  the  initial 
expenditure  which  the  two  Parliaments  must 
necessarily  incur  before  they  can  set  things 
going.  The  North  of  Ireland  will  need  new 
buildings.  It  is  proposed  that  there  should 
be  a  grant  to  each  Government  of  a  single 
sum  of  one  million  pounds  to  cover  the  initial 
expenses  of  setting  up  the  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment   within    the    two    areas,    but    there 


ought  also  to  be  a  provision  of  a  permanent 
character,  and  the  Government  have  pro- 
posed to  provide  this  sum  out  of  the  land  an- 
nuities in  Ireland.  These  annuities  at  present 
amount  to  three  million  per  annum. 

In  the  southern  part  of  Ireland  it  reaches  a 
figure  of  £2,440,000,  and  in  the  northern  part 
£560,000.  When  the  agreed  purchases  have 
been  completed  there  will  be  another  £600,000, 
but  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  make  an  appor- 
tionment between  the  North  and  the  South  of 
the  figure.  The  proposal  of  the  Government 
is  that  these  annuities  shall  be  handed  to  the 
Irish  Governments  as  free  gifts  for  the  pur- 
pose of  development  and  improvement  in 
Ireland,  that  these  Governments  shall  collect 
these  annuities  themselves  and  retain  them, 
and  that  the  Imperial  Government  should  un- 
dertake the  burden  which  is  now  cast  upon 
it  of  paying  interest  on  the  redemption  of 
stock. 

The  next  point  in  the  scheme  of  finance  is 
the  taxation  proposals.  Under  the  act  of 
1914  there  were  no  taxation  proposals.  It  is 
proposed  that  each  Irish  Parliament  should 
have  a  taxing  power,  broadly  speaking, 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  State  Legislatures 
of  the  United  States  of  America.  The  power 
of  taxation  is,  of  course,  limited.  The  rev- 
enue distributed  and  collected  by  the  Irish 
Legislatures  under  this  scheme  will  consist  of 
land  annuities,  death  duties,  stamps,  enter- 
tainment taxes,  licensing  duties,  and  any  new 
taxes  that  ingenuity  can  devise. 

The  resources  altogether  would  on  the  1920 
basis  amount  to  £6,250,000  per  annum  for  the 
whole  of  Ireland.  The  three  great  taxes— In- 
come tax,  including  excess  profits  and  super- 
tax, customs,  and  excise— would  be  levied 
and  collected  imperially.  I  will  give  you 
quite  shortly  the  considerations  which  have 
determined  our  Government  in  this  respect. 
The  first  is  that  the  Imperial  Government 
must  have  substantial  guarantee  for  the  pay- 
ments and  contributions;  the  second,  the  un- 
certainty and  difficulty  of  collecting  these 
taxes,  except  by  the  machinery  common  to 
the  whole  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

INCOME   TAX    AND   CUSTOMS 

If  income  tax  in  Ireland  were  transferred 
to  the  Irish  Legislature  no  one  would  suffer 
more  than  Ireland  herself,  but  the  Irish  Par- 
liaments may  levy  a  surcharge  by  way  of 
additional  income  tax.  That  corresponds  to 
the  power  which  is  given  to  the  State  in 
America.  I  say  quite  frankly  it  is  rarely  ex- 
ercised. The  Irish  Parliaments  may  give 
abatement  out  of  the  surplus  at  their  dis- 
posal. Now,  I  come  to  customs.  The  Gov- 
ernment proposed  to  follow  the  course  which 
I  believe  is  pursued  in  every  Federal  Con- 
stitution in  the  world.  This  is  not  merely  a 
question  of  customs,  but  of  barriers  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  of  trade,  industry, 
commerce,  and  considerations  which  might 
promote  friction  between  North  and  South 
and  between  Ireland  and  the  rest  of  the 
United  Kingdom. 


IRELAND  AND  ENGLAND 


213 


When  Ireland  is  united  it  will  be  open  to 
the  Imperial  Parliament  to  review  the  situa- 
tion and  consider  whether  it  would  be  possi- 
ble to  give  the  customs  to  a  United  Irish 
Parliament.  We  are  of  opinion  that  in  a 
divided  Ireland  it  would  be  quite  impracti- 
cable to  set  up  customs  barriers  between 
North  and  South.  With  regard  to  the  ex- 
c  is.  ,  we  should  have  been  glad  if  it  had  been 
possible  to  give  the  power  of  levying  excise 
duties  to  these  two  Legislatures,  because  ob- 
viously you  are  ruling  out  a  considerable 
source  of  revenue  by  not  transferring  it  to 
the  Irish  administration.  There  is  the  same 
difficulty  here  if  you  give  excise  duties  to 
the  two  Legislatures.  It  would  involve  cus- 
toms barriers  between  North  and  South,  and, 
certainly  until  union  is  achieved  between 
North  and  South  it  would  be  undesirable 
and  impracticable  to  give  power  with  regard 
to  the  excise  to  either  of  the  two  Legislatures. 

However,  the  position  is  this:  The  Irish 
Government  will  receive  and  retain  the  whole 
of  the  proceeds  of  all  taxes  levied  by  itself, 
the  whole  of  the  surplus  proceeds  of  all  taxes 
and  duties  levied  by  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment in  its  territories,  after  deducting  a  fair 
contribution  toward  imperial  expenditure. 
In  addition,  a  million  will  be  over  for  estab- 
lishment expenses  to  each  of  the  two  Legis- 
latures; and  lastly,  there  will  be  a  free  gift 
of  the  annuities,  resulting  from  the  land  al- 
ready sold  to  tenants.  Those  are  the  outlines 
of  the  proposals  which  the  Government  in- 
tends to  embody  in  a  bill,  and  to  submit  for 
the  consideration  of  Parliament  at  the 
earliest  opportunity. 

FOR  FAIR  CONSIDERATION 

I  would  appeal  not  only  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  but  to  Irishmen  and  to  all  con- 
cerned in  this  problem  to  give  these  pro- 
posals fair  consideration.  This  is  not  the 
time  to  waste  on  recriminations.  I  am  not 
sure  that  they  are  ever  useful;  in  fact,  I  am 
sure  that  they  are  not.  They  do  not  con- 
tribute to  the  settlement  of  any  problem,  and 
they  hinder  and  embarrass  the  settlement  of 
every  problem.  There  have  been  plenty  of 
mistakes  on  both  sides.  One  would  imagine, 
listening  to  one  side  of  the  story,  that  all 
the  mistakes  had  been  on  the  other.  It  is  not 
true.  No  race  or  country  attempting  to  gov- 
ern another  has  ever  succeeded  in  doing  it 
without  a  long  array  of  blunders,  and  we 
are  constantly  taunted  with  these  mistakes, 
up  to  this  hour.  I  am  not  concerned  to  deny 
the  charge.  Have  there  been  no  mistakes  on 
the  other  side?  Has  Irish  leadership  always 
been  blameless?  I  do  not  want  to  enter  even 
into  recent  debates.  There  have  been  mis- 
takes, there  have  been  follies,  there  have 
been  crimes  on  both  sides,  and  we  want  the 
chapter  to  be  closed  forever.  The  question 
is  not  who  is  to  blame,  but  how  are  we  to 
set  it  right,  and  that  is  not  easy  to  answer. 

The  worst  of  it  is  that,  looking  around,  I 
find  no  section  that  can  accept  anything  ex- 
cept the  impossible.     There  is  no  section  in 


Ireland  which  would  stand  up  and  say,  "  We 
accept  this  or  we  accept  that,"  except  some- 
thing you  cannot  put  through.  Under  those 
circumstances  the  British  Parliament  must 
accept  the  responsbility,  offering  what  wis- 
dom and  Justice  it  contains,  and  trusting  to 
the  working  of  those  two  attributes  to  win 
acceptance  and  success  at  the  end  in  solving 
the  problem.  It  is  important  that  both 
countries  should  realize  thoroughly  the  limi- 
tations of  acceptance.  What  is  our  limita- 
tion? Unless  Irishmen  in  Ireland  have  real 
control  of  their  purely  domestic  affairs  it  is 
idle  to  proceed.  Shams  exasperate,  they  pro- 
voke. Despair  is  the  mother  of  disorder. 
On  the  other  hand,  let  it  be  made  clear  that 
Britain  cannot  accept  separation.  It  would 
be  fatal  to  the  security  of  these  islands.  It 
might  be  fatal  to  this  country,  and  this  is  no 
time  to  imagine,  when  we  have  the  memories 
of  the  late  war,  that  Britain  can  be  com- 
pelled by  force  to  concede  anything  which  is 
either  unjust  to  her  own  people  or  to  any  one 
else— anything  which  would  be  fatal  to  her 
own  life  and  security.  A  man  that  could 
imagine  that  Britain  can  be  forced  cannot 
ha\  e  read  the  story  of  the  last  five  years. 

There  are  many  who  say,  and  I  must  say 
with  some  appearance  of  reason  and  sense, 
"  Is  this  the  time  to  propose  such  a  thing?  " 
My  answer  is,  "  There  never  has  been,  there 
never  will  be  a  perfectly  acceptable  time." 
Read  the  history  of  the  two  countries.  There 
Is  a  fatality  which  makes  them  eternally  at 
cross  purposes.  Sometimes  Ireland  demands 
too  much ;  sometimes,  when  Ireland  has 
been  reasonable,  England  has  offered  too  lit- 
tle. Sometimes,  when  Ireland  was  friendly, 
England  has  been  sullen ;  sometimes,  when 
England  has  been  friendly,  Ireland  has  been 
angry ;  and  sometimes,  when  both  Britain 
and  Ireland  seem  to  be  approximating  toward 
friendship,  an  untoward  incident  sweeps  them 
apart,   and  the  quarrel  begins  again. 

So  the  fitting  time  has*  never  been,  and 
never  will  be.  But  it  is  always  the  right 
time  to  do  the  right  things,  and  Britain  can 
afford  now,  more  than  ever  and  better  than 
ever,  to  take  the  initiative,  for  this  is  not  the 
time  when  any  one  can  suspect  Britain  of 
conceding  this  through  fear.  The  land  that 
destroyed  the  greatest  military  empire  in  the 
world,  largely  through  its  own  power,  no 
one  can  taunt  with  quailing  before  a  band  of 
wretched  assassins.  The  world  will  know.  If 
we  pursue  this  course,  that  we  enter  upon  it 
prompted  by  that  deep  sense  of  justice  which 
has  sustained  this  land  through  these  years 
of  suffering. 

Sir  Donald  Maclean  (L.,  Southern  Mid- 
lothian and  Peebles)  said  he  welcomed  most 
warmly  the  fact  that  throughout  the  speech 
of  the  Prime  Minister  there  was  an  entire 
absence  of  any  proposal  of  further  coercion 
of  Ireland.  For  four  or  five  years  there  had 
been  in  Ireland  nothing  but  a  series  of 
ghastly  blunders  on  the  part  of  the  Execu- 
tive in  Ireland.     When  the  Irish  Convention 


214 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


met  in  March,  1918,  by  common  consent, 
there  had  never  been  a  greater  agreement 
among  differing  men  on  this  question. 

Sir  E.  Carson— There  was  no  agreement  at 
all. 

Sir  D.  Maclean— I  do  not  mean  any  formal 
agreement,  but  I  will  not  press  it,  because  my 
right  honorable  friend  speaks  from  knowledge. 

Prime  Minist-r— I  am  sorry  I  must  meet 
that.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  report  was 
carried  by  a  minority  of  the  convention,  not 
by  a  minority  of  those  who  voted.  The 
members  from  Ulster  would  not  accept  the 
report,  the  Sinn  Feiners  would  not  accept 
it,  Mr.  William  O'Brien  would  not  accept  it, 
Mr.  Devlin  would  not  accept  it,  the  Catholic 
Bishops  did  not  accept  it,  and  now,  what 
is  the  good  of  pretending  that  there  was  any 
agreement?  If  there  was  any  agreement  at 
all,  It  was  in  rejecting  the  report. 

Sir  D.  Maclean  said  at  the  end  of  the  con- 
vention there  was  a  larger  amount  of  friend- 
ly interchanged  opinion  than  had  ever  hap- 
pened previously  in  regard  to  Ireland.  The 
outcome  of  the  Irish  Convention  was  most 
disappointing,  and  when  conscription  was  in- 
troduced the  mischief  done  was  very  great— 
a  complete  change  taking  place  in  the  polit- 
ical atmosphere  of  Ireland— and  the  friends 
of  Ireland  threw  up  their  hands  in  despair. 
The  position  in  which  they  found  themselves 
today  was  one  of  extreme  complexity  and 
difficulty.  So  far  as  he  was  concerned,  any 
influence  or  efforts  which  he  could  exercise 
to  press  forward  even  a  step  along  the  road 
would  not  be  lacking.  The  times  were  too 
serious  for  party  recrimination.  No  true 
friend  of  Ireland  or  of  England  desired  for 
one  moment  but  that  this  running  sore  should 
be  closed  and  a  fresh  start  made.  The 
proposals  of  the  Government  did  not  go  far 
enough.  If  they  were  to  be  useful  at  all, 
they  must  be  a  broad,  generous,  noble  gift 
which  these  proud  people  could  accept.  He 
hoped  no  more  repressive  measures  would  be 
attempted.  They  solved  the  difficulties  of 
South  Africa  by  a  broad  policy,  and  he 
urged  that  by  a  similar  open-handed  policy 
they  might  solve  that  in  Ireland. 

CARSON    MAKES   A   STATEMENT 

Sir  E.  Carson  (C.  U.,  Belfast,  Duncairn) 
said  he  had  completely  failed  to  grasp  what 
it  was  Sir  Donald  Maclean  wanted.  He  had 
spent  his  whole  life  in  fighting  this  question. 
The  real  reason  why  the  attempts  to  con- 
ciliate Ireland  had  failed  was  that  Irishmen 
themselves,  out  of  hatred  of  England,  had 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  government  of 
their  country  under  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
He  was  as  firmly  convinced  as  ever  that  a 
united  Parliament  was  still  the  best  solu- 
tion of  this  question  for  Ireland,  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  the  Empire.  They  would  make 
a  great  mistake  in  the  face  of  foreign  nations 
if  they  proceeded  in  this  matter  as  though 
Ireland  had  no  political  liberty  or  freedom 
at  all. 

]  laving  lived  through   the  history   of   three 


previous  Home  Rule  bills,  he  was  not  going 
to  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  present  pro- 
posal until  he  saw  it  in  print.  He  would  not 
even  go  to  Ulster  until  two  things  happened, 
one  being  to  see  the  bill  in  print  and  the 
other  being  that  he  was  assured  by  the 
Prime  Minister  that  he  meant  to  go  through 
with  the  bill  to  the  end.  Nothing  could  be 
more  damaging  than  that,  after  recommend- 
ing certain  proposals  to  be  embodied  in  a 
bill,  the  bill  should  be  afterward  aban- 
doned. The  admission  of  Ulster  as  a  sep- 
arate unity  was,  he  admitted,  a  great  ad- 
vance toward  a  settlement.  The  North  of 
Ireland  was  as  different  from  the  South  as 
it  was  possible  to  imagine.  He  appealed  to 
the  Government  to  keep  Ulster  under  the 
British  Parliament,  or  at  any  rate  to  leave 
over  the  question  of  a  separate  Parliament 
for  Ulster  until  the  whole  devolution  prob- 
lem came  up  for  consideration.  Why  put 
Ulster  under  a  separate  Parliament  which 
she  had  never  demanded  and  did  not  want? 
It  was  not  his  object  to  turn  down  the  Gov- 
ernment proposals.  When  he  saw  the  bill 
and  received  the  necessary  assurances  he 
would  go  over  to  Ulster  and  take  counsel 
with  those  with  whom  he  acted.  He  thought 
they  might  take  it  for  granted  that  Sinn 
Fein  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  bill. 
If  afterward  the  Sinn  Feiners  captured  the 
Irish  Parliament,  was  it  not  likely  that  the 
first  thing  they  would  do  would  be  to  pro- 
claim a  republic  in  Ireland  for  the  whole  of 
Ireland?  Being  in  the  position  of  a  Govern- 
ment they  would  be  able  to  resort  to  arms 
under  a  pretext,  and  was  it  not  likely  that 
they  would  immediately  proceed  to  try  and 
annex  Ulster?  Or  the  Sinn  Fein  Party  might 
refuse  to  take  any  part  in  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment, and  they  might  thus  have  no  Parlia- 
ment there  to  function.  He  maintained  that 
it  would  be  better  to  keep  Northeast  Ireland 
under  the  present  Parliament.  What  his 
followers  would  determine  he  could  not  say, 
but  he  would  advise  them  with  full  reason 
and  the  fullest  courage. 

Mr.  A.  Henderson  said  that  in  regard  to 
this  question  more  delay  meant  more  dan- 
ger. He  thought  Sir  E.  Carson  was  unnec- 
essarily gloomy  in  some  of  his  anticipation.-;. 
He  thought  the  Government  scheme  con- 
flicted with  sincere  aspirations  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  Irish  people  for  self-govern- 
ment. At  best  it  could  only  be  regarded  as 
a  half-hearted,  unsatisfying  compromise.  The 
Government  might  have  produced  a  scheme 
of  what  was  usually  described  as  dominion 
Home  Rule,  minus  the  army  and  navy,  but 
giving  to  the  respective  counties  what  was 
known  as  a  county  option.  Another  course 
which  he  would  have  preferred  to  see  fol- 
lowed was  to  see  an  Irish  Parliament  sum- 
moned under  the  late  act,  leaving  that  Par- 
liament to  work  out  its  own  constitution. 
The  present  proposals  would  be  regarded  in 
many  parts  of  Ireland  as  a  triumph  for  the 
dictatorship  of  the  minority. 


MAJOR  GEN.  LEONARD  WOOD 


Umg-time  friend  of  Colonel   Roosevelt,  now  Army  Department  Com- 
mander and  prominently  in  the  public  eye  and  thought 


t,lh  1 1.    Studio) 


SAMUEL  L.  ROGERS 


5S^ 


■  Hug 


Director  General  of  Fourteenth   Deee/inial  Census,   which   was  taken 
throughout  the    United    States   in  January,   1920 

(.{fS    Harrin   .(    l-Juiiii/i 


WALKER  D.  HINES 


— — 


Ikfa- 


Director  General  of  Railroads,  who  has  the  task  of  arranging  detail* 

for  return  of  lines  to  private  owners 

u{5    Horri*    i    E'iciny) 


-  GENERAL  JOSEPH  PILSUDSKY 


» ■ ■■ «  j" 


Provisional   President   of    Poland,   again    dominant  in   Polish    affairs 
since  Paderewski's   retirement  as  Premier 

(UndtricoDil  <t    Vnderuvmt) 


KING  BOfcIS  III. 
3EI 


Young   ruler   of   Bulgaria,   who   succeeded    to    the    throne   after   the 
abdication    of    his    father.    Ferdinand,    on    Oct.    4.    1918 


555BEHE 


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■  ■■■«._- 


PROMINENT  EUROPEAN  MINISTERS 


>HI  EC 


STEPHEN    FRIEDRICH 

former  Hungarian  Premier, 

now  War  Minister 


V1TTORIO    SCIALOJA 

Italian    Foreign    Minister 
and  Peace  Delegate 


M.  J.  POSKA 

ex-Foreign  Minister  of  Esthonia. 

Dorpat  Peace  Delegate 


COUNT  ALBERT  APPONYI 

Hungarian  Peace  Delegate 

at  Paris 


■  *""■ 


MONUMENT  TO  ALLIED  DEAD  IN  SWITZERLAND 


Beautiful  memorial  erected  at  Clarens-Montreux  in  honor  of  allied  sol- 
diers who  died  while  interned  in  the  Swiss  Republic 

<(j)    l, ih  nialioiKil) 


AMERICAN  SOLDIERS  AT  COBLENZ 


IIIUlB 


P®£$  -     '-y:;f:^^-~-  - ' 


. 


Members  of  our  army  of  occupation  grouped  on  the  mammoth  statue 
of  William   I.  which  overlooks  the  Rhine  and  Moselle 
(Tiwes  With    Wo, hi  Photos) 


i  JMMHC 


American  Aftermath  of  the  War 


Progress  in  Readjusting  Our  Military  and  Economic  Systems 

to  a  Peace  Basis 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 

THE  end  of  American  participation  Per 

in  the  war,  in  a  military  sense,  American  Armies.                  Number.    Cent. 

.  .1  .     -  .         '         .     .       Pursuit    pilots    184  31 

may  be  said  to  have  been  marked  observers                                     ..150           28 

by   the    final   withdrawal   of   the      observation   pilots    iori  18 

American    Expeditionary    Forces    from      Bombing  pilots  48  8 

French  soil  on  Jan.  9,  when  Brig.  Gen.      Balloon  fliers  4 

Connor  and  about  300  officers  and  men        Total  with  A   E   F ^  84 

left  Paris  for  the  United  States.    There  with  Britigh                                u           n 

remain,   it  is   true,   some   thousands   of  With  French  ................... .2*            -i 

American  volunteers  who  are  serving  as         With  Italian  3  i 

an  army  of  occupation  on  the  Rhine,  but  — 

neither  in  personnel  nor  in  organization  Total    a83 

are  these  a  part  of  the  A.  E.  F.  that  Of  the  583  casualties  36  per  cent,  con- 
made  history  in  1918.  sisted  of  deaths  in  combat,  while  11  per 
The  draft   army  that  was   raised   so  cent,  occurred  at  aerodromes.  The  record 
swiftly  and  trained  so  rapidly  is  a  thing  in  this  respect  follows: 

of  the  past,  and  the  United  States  mili-  Per 

.    ,  ,.  ,           ,    .                        ...        ,  Number.    Cent. 

tary  establishment  in  its  transition  form  Killed  in  combat  .                     ...208           36 

is   again   a  volunteer  creation.     In  the      Prisoners    145  2% 

last  eight  months  of  1919   the  regular      Wounded  in  action 1.32  22 

L      ..  ,  ,,.  Killed   in  action    41  7 

army — according  to  figures  made  public      Missing  in  action  29 

in  Washington  on  Jan.  6 — obtained  159,-      Injured  in  accident  25  1 

843    recruits.      Those    enlisting   for   one      Interned   3  1 

year  numbered  79,978  white  and  5,981  „     .                                            ~ 
colored,  while  the  number  enlisting  for 

three  years  was  69,854  white  and  4,030  ARMY  REORGANIZATION   BILLS 

colored.  _  . 

„-           .  .        ....          -                .        .  Sub-committees    of    the    Senate    and 

The  total  enlisting  for  service  m  „  ~  «.,.x  .  F*  . 
the  infantry  was  58,203,  or  only  36.4  *°USe  Committees  on  Military  Affairs 
per  cent,  of  the  total  needed.  In  other  have  reached  a  declslon  on  the  tentative 
branches  the  proportion  was  much  Army  Reorganization  bills  to  be  placed 
lower.  before  their  respective  committees.  The 
Revised  figures  furnished  by  the  War  chief  Point  of  difference  between  the 
Department  Dec.  29  show  that  the  Amer-  legislation  proposed  by  the  two  houses 
ican  flying  forces  abroad  sustained  583  is  that  the  Senate  measure  provides  for 
casualties  during  the  war.  The  figures  universal  military  service,  while  the 
show  the  number  of  casualties  among  House  bill  rejects  it. 
the  aviators  in  each  branch  of  the  air  The  legislation  agreed  on  by  the  Sen- 
service  and  also  among  American  fliers  ate  sub-committee  has  protection  from 
serving  with  the  allied  armies.  The  fig-  outside  attack  as  its  primary  purpose 
ures  include  the  killed  and  injured  in  fly-  and  provides  for  compulsory  military 
ing  accidents  at  the  aerodromes  in  the  training  for  youths  from  18  to  21  years 
zone  of  advance.  The  casualties  were  of  age  as  a  leading  feature.  In  its  tenta- 
distributed  as  follows:  tive  form  the  bill  calls  for  a  standing 


216 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


army  ef  280,000.  A  reserve  or  citizens' 
army  is  also  provided,  of  which  the  Na- 
tional Guard  would  be  a  part.  "  While 
the  bill  will  provide  for  compulsory  mili- 
tary training,"  Senator  Wadsworth  said, 
"  there  will  be  no  provision  made  for 
compulsory  military  service." 

The  House  bill  in  tentative  form  pro- 
vides for  an  army  of  not  more  than  318,- 
000  officers  and  men,  as  against  the  575,- 
000  recommended  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment, and  the  War  Department  estimates 
will  be  cut  to  $600,000,000,  a  decrease  of 
$382,800,000. 

REMOVAL  OF  OUR  DEAD 
It  was  reported  from  Paris  on  Jan.  3 
that  the  French  Government  had  granted 
permission  for  the  removal  to  the  United 
States  of  the  bodies  of  20,000  American 
soldiers  buried  in  France.  It  is  under- 
stood that  the  policy  of  the  American 
Government  will  be  to  remove  only  those 
bodies  requested  by  relatives  of  the  dead 
soldiers.  These  20,000  bodies  are  scat- 
tered in  600  cemeteries,  the  two  largest 
of  which  are  at  Brest,  where  there  are 
about  5,500  graves  of  men  who  died  of 
influenza  at  Brest  and  on  transports. 
Other  large  cemeteries  outside  the  army 
zone  are  at  Bordeaux,  Nantes,  St.  Na- 
zaire,  Tours,  Le  Mans,  and  other  service 
of  supply  centres. 

It  will  probably  be  a  year  before  the 
removal  of  these  bodies  begins,  as  the 
plan  is  first  to  remove  to  the  United 
States  the  bodies  of  about  1,000  Ameri- 
can soldiers  buried  in  Germany,  about 
200  of  whom  died  in  prison  camps.  The 
remainder  died  while  serving  with  the 
Army  of  Occupation.  There  are  500 
American  graves  in  Coblenz  alone. 

Seventy-six  Americans  are  buried  in 
Italy,  two  in  Holland  and  a  few  in  Aus- 
tria. The  American  dead  in  England 
will  be  removed  before  the  work  in  the 
French  cemeteries  begins.  Civil  em- 
ployes, many  of  them  veterans  of  the 
war,  will  aid  in  the  work.  One  company 
has  already  arrived  in  England,  where 
metal  caskets  to  receive  the  bodies  are 
new  being  sent  from  the  United  States. 
The  work  there,  it  is  expected,  will  prob- 
ably be  finished  by  next  Fall,  when  a 
start  will  be  made  on  the  exhumations 
in  Germany. 


Negotiations  between  the  French  and 
American  Governments  over  the  removal 
of  American  dead  from  the  big  military 
cemetery  at  the  front  are  continued,  but 
it  is  thought  probable,  if  this  is  agreed 
upon,  that  two  years  will  elapse  before 
the  task  is  undertaken. 

FRENCH      PURCHASES      OF      ARMY 
GOODS 

Brig.  Gen.  W.  D.  Connor,  Chief  of 
Staff  of  the  American  Department  of 
Supply,  stated  'on  Jan.  4  that  almost 
$800,000,000  had  been  realized  from  the 
sale  of  American  army  stock  remaining 
in  France  after  the  departure  of  Amer- 
ican troops  for  home.  General  Connor 
said  he  had  estimated  the  value  of  the 
stocks  at  $1,700,000,000,  and  declared  it 
would  have  cost  $75,000,000  to  take  them 
back  to  America.  The  United  States, 
therefore,  received  a  little  less  than  50 
cents  on  the  dollar  for  the  supplies  that 
were  sold. 

The  selling  of  army  stocks  was  the 
best  thing  the  American  Government 
could  do,  the  General  declared.  Had 
they  been  retailed  in  various  countries 
great  loss  would  have  been  entailed,  as 
the  expense  would  have  been  heavy. 
France  paid  $400,000,000  for  stocks  it 
took  over,  while  other  allies  and  smaller 
nations  purchased  supplies  for  $360,000,- 
000.  As  an  offset  against  the  stocks 
bought  by  France,  that  country  under- 
took to  pay  damage  claims  amounting 
to  nearly  1,000,000  francs  as  a  result  of 
American  operations  in  training  areas. 
When  the  American  army  went  to 
France  it  was  agreed  that  farms  and 
buildings  used  by  it  in  training  would 
be  left  in  the  same  condition  as  found. 
Miles  of  trenches  were  dug  and  build- 
ings were  demolished,  and  American 
forces  were  rushed  into  Germany  before 
the  land  could  be  restored  to  its  former 
condition. 

General  Connor  again  emphatically 
refuted  the  old  story  that  the  French 
made  the  American  army  pay  for  the 
trenches  it  occupied  in  France.  "  The 
whole  truth,"  he  said,  "is  that  the 
American  army  has  not  paid  a  cent  for 
any  ground  used  or  for  anything  de- 
stroyed at  the  front." 


AMERICAN  AFTERMATH  OF  THE  WAR 


m 


WAR  RISK  INSURANCE 
In  a  Washington  report  of  the  con- 
ference between  delegates  of  the  Amer- 
ican Legion  and  officials  of  the  War 
Risk  Insurance  Bureau  regarding  claims 
of  disabled  service  men  the  statement 
was  attributed  to  R.  G.  Cholmeley-Jones 
that  "only  23,400  of  the  324,900  claims 
for  compensation  for  disability  filed  with 
the  War  Risk  Bureau  up  to  Dec.  15  had 
been  settled  definitely."  Mr.  Cholmeley- 
Jones,  in  correcting  this  statement,  said: 
"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  up  to  Dec.  12, 
1919,  out  of  327,275  compensation  claims 
received  241,822  had  been  definitely  set- 
tled, including  awards  and  disallowances. 
There  remain  pending,  all  told,  85,453 
cases." 

The  House  bill  increasing  war  risk  in- 
surance allowances  of  American  soldiers, 
sailors,  and  marines  disabled  in  the  war 
was  passed  Dec.  19  by  the  Senate  with 
amendments  requested  by  the  American 
Legion.  The  House  was  expected  to  ac- 
cept the  Senate  amendments. 

The  measure  known  as  the  Sweet  bill 
was  passed  by  the  Senate  in  less  than 
five  minutes  and  without  a  record  vote. 
It  provides  for  additional  payments  to 
war  risk  beneficiaries  of  about  $80,000,- 
000  annually,  and  the  War  Risk  Insur- 
ance Bureau  was  authorized  to  make  De- 
cember payments  on  the  increased  basis. 
The  bill  also  provides  simplified  admin- 
istration of  the  war  risk  insurance  plan 
and  modifies  requirements  as  to  proof 
of  disability. 

THE  NAVAL  CONTROVERSY 

A  sharp  division  of  opinion  among 
navy  men  as  to  the  conferring  of  decora- 
tions was  revealed  on  Dec.  23  when  a 
letter  of  Admiral  W.  S.  Sims  to  Secre- 
tary Daniels  was  published  in  which  the 
Admiral  refused  to  accept  a  Distin- 
guished Service  Medal.  He  complained 
that  his  recommendations  as  commander 
of  the  fleet  overseas  were  not  followed, 
mentioning  particularly  the  work  of  his 
staff. 

Among  other  things  the  Admiral  as- 
serted that  "  the  commanding  officer  of 
a  vessel  that  is  sunk  by  a  submarine 
should  not  receive  the  same  reward  as 
the  commanding  officer  of  a  vessel  which 


sinks  a  submarine."  This  was  appar- 
ently a  reference  to  the  action  of  Secre- 
tary Daniels  in  awarding  a  Distinguished 
Service  Medal  to  Commander  David  W. 
Bagley,  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Daniels, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  destroyer 
Jacob  Jones  when  she  was  sunk  by  a 
German  submarine. 

Secretary  Daniels  gave  out  the  Ad- 
miral's letter  Dec.  23,  together  with  a 
reply  which  was  in  the  form  of  a  letter 
to  Senator  Page,  Chairman  of  the  Naval 
Affairs  Committee.  The  Secretary's 
statement  put  the  controversy  in  the 
form  of  the  old  navy  dispute  over  the 
relative  value  of  sea  duty  and  shore 
duty.  Secretary  Daniels  declared  that 
first  place  had  been  given  to  men  in  sea 
duty  and  in  contact  with  the  enemy.  In 
the  case  of  ships  sunk  by  submarines  the 
commander  got  the  higher  award  where 
his  conduct  was  meritorious. 

Captain  Raymond  Hasbrouck,  com- 
mander of  the  Minnesota,  confirmed  the 
report  that  he  had  declined  to  accept  the 
Navy  Cross  awarded  him  by  the  Navy 
Department.  He  said  that  he  "  thor- 
oughly concurred  "  in  the  views  of  Ad- 
miral Sims.  Captain  Hasbrouck  was  in 
command  of  the  transport  Covington 
when  she  was  sunk  on  July  1,  1918,  re- 
turning to  the  United  States  after  hav- 
ing landed  troops  in  Europe.  Six  men 
lost  their  lives. 

SECRETARY  DANIELS'S  STATEMENT 

It  became  evident  before  the  end  of 
the  Christmas  holidays  that  Congress 
would  take  up  the  naval  controversy  and 
make  a  sweeping  investigation  not  only 
of  the  awards,  but  of  the  whole  policy 
of  the  department.  Members  of  both  of 
the  naval  committees  were  determined  to 
conduct  such  an  investigation.  Secre- 
tary Daniels  asserted  on  Dec.  24  that  he 
welcomed  any  investigation  that  Con- 
gress might  wish  to  make  in  the  matter, 
and  that  he,  as  well  as  the  records  and 
officers  of  the  navy,  would  be  at  the  serv- 
ice of  any  Congressional  investigating 
body.  He  expressed  regret  that  the 
"  glory  of  the  achievements  of  the  navy 
in  the  world  war  were  being  spoiled  by 
petty  rivalries  of  some  officers  over  deco- 
rations." 


218 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Secretary  Daniels  stated  that  some 
4,000  officers  and  men  of  the  navy  had 
been  recommended  by  officers  from  Ad- 
miral down  for  D.  S.  M'.'s  or  naval 
crosses.  He  stated  that  every  recom- 
mendation that  had  been  received,  in- 
cluding those  that  had  been  submitted 
by  Admiral  Sims,  had  been  submitted 
to  the  board  of  which  Rear  Admiral 
Austin  M.  Knight,  former  President  of 
the  Naval  War  College,  now  a  retired 
officer,  is  Chairman.  This  board  went 
over  the  records  and  made  certain  rec- 
ommendations. The  Knight  board's  rec- 
ommendations were  followed  in  some  in- 
stances by  Secretary  Daniels  and  were 
rejected  or  modified  in  others.  Mr.  Dan- 
iels said  that  the  net  result  of  the  rec- 
ommendations of  the  board  and  the  ac- 
tion of  himself  upon  those  recommen- 
dations was  the  decision  so  far  to  award 
naval  crosses  to  about  1,400  officers  and 
men  and  Distinguished  Service  Medals 
to  about  120  officers. 

ADMIRAL  DECKER'S  RECALL 

Secretary  Daniels  announced  on  Dec. 
31  that  Rear  Admiral  Benton  C.  Decker, 
who  declined  a  Navy  Cross  awarded  him 
for  services  as  Naval  Attache  in  Madrid 
during  the  war,  was  withdrawn  from  his 
post  for  insubordination  to  Joseph  E. 
Willard,  Ambassador  to  Spain.  In  declin- 
ing the  Naval  Cross  Rear  Admiral  Deck- 
er had  declared  in  a  letter  to  Secretary 
Daniels  his  belief  that  his  services  had 
had  *he  effect  of  keeping  Spain  out  of 
the  war,  and  that  a  Naval  Cross  was  not 
commensurate  with  the  services  he  had 
rendered. 

Rear  Admiral  Decker  also  said  that  he 
thought  his  services  at  Madrid  were  su- 
perior to  those  of  any  dreadnought  com- 
mander or  any  officer  of  the  navy  who 
served  on  shore.  Secretary  Daniels  took 
issue  with  this  statement. 

"  I  did  not  consider,  that  Admiral 
Decker's  services  were  greater  than  those 
of  any  dreadnought,"  said  Mr.  Daniels. 
"  Nor  do  I  think  his  services  were  supe- 
rior to  those  of  Admiral  Benson  or  Ad- 
miral Sims,  both  of  whom  served  on 
shore  duty  of  a  most  important  charac- 
ter during  the  war."  He  added  that, 
while  he  had  no  doubt  that  Rear  Admi- 
ral Decker  had  tried  to  serve  his  country 


at  Madrid  according  to  the  dictates  of 
his  patriotism,  it  was  his  view  that  the 
officer  made  a  mistake  when  he  dis- 
agreed with  Ambassador  Willard. 

ADMIRAL  SIMS'S  TESTIMONY 

The  whole  naval  controversy  was  taken 
up  by  Congress  for  investigation  early  in 
the  new  year.  Admiral  Sims,  head  of 
the  Navy  War  College  and  formerly  in 
command  of  the  American  naval  forces 
in  European  waters,  asserted  on  Jan.  16 
before  the  Senate  Naval  Affairs  Sub- 
Committee  that  the  morale  of  the  navy 
had  been  "  shot  to  pieces "  because  of 
"  flagrant  injustices  "  in  conferring  dec- 
orations on  naval  officers.  The  Admiral 
resented  the  action  of  Secretary  Daniels 
and  the  Knight  Board  in  revising  recom- 
mendations as  to  decorations  submitted 
by  himself.  Recommendations  inserted 
by  Secretary  Daniels,  including  one  for 
his  brother-in-law,  Commander  David 
Worth  Bagley,  who  lost  the  destroyer  he 
commanded  in  a  fight  with  a  submarine, 
had  been  greeted  with  ridicule  through- 
out the  navy,  Admiral  Sims  asserted. 

"  When  such  recommendations  were 
made  regardless  of  my  explanations  that 
they  would  injure  the  morale  of  the  serv- 
ice, and  when  a  man  of  my  forty-five 
years'  experience  and  association  with 
naval  officers  states  that  will  be  the  ef- 
fect, you  can  imagine  why  the  morale  of 
the  navy  has  been  shot  to  pieces,  and  why 
there  is  no  navy  left,"  Admiral  Sims  said 
heatedly. 

He  contended  that  the  officers  immedi- 
ately in  command  should  make  recom- 
mendations for  awards.  They  alone  were 
in  a  position  to  appreciate  fully  the  rel- 
ative merits  of  heroic  actions,  he  insisted. 

As  these  pages  were  going  to  press 
the  naval  investigation  was  widening 
into  more  sensational  aspects,  which  will 
be  recorded  in  the  March  Current  His- 
tory. 

TRIBUTE   TO    OUR   SAILORS 

"  A  sum  of  £6,000,"  Secretary  Daniels 
announced  on  Jan.  6,  "  has  been  allocated 
to  the  American  people  from  the  fund 
recently  raised  by  popular  subscription 
in  Great  Britain  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Dover  patrol  and  the  part  it 


AMERICAN  AFTERMATH  OF  THE  WAR 


219 


played  in  safeguarding  the  English 
Channel  during  the  war.  Acceptance  of 
the  generous  offer  by  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment has  been  forwarded  through  the 
State  Department." 

The  memorial  will  take  the  form  of  a 
large  monolith,  erected  near  the  entrance 
of  New  York  Harbor  in  plain  view  of  in- 
coming and  outgoing  vessels. 

"  The  offer  was  made  to  the  American 
Ambassador  to  Great  Britain,"  Secre- 
tary Daniels's  statement  continued.  "  A 
committee,  headed  by  the  Lord  Mayor 
of  Dover,  called  on  him  and  made  a 
formal  tender  of  the  sum  with  no  re- 
striction as  to  the  use  to  be  made  of  it. 
The  memorial  there  to  the  Dover  patrol 
will  take  the  form  of  monuments  erected 
at  Dover  and  Calais,  respectively,  as  a 
tribute  to  the  English  and  French  forces. 

"  The  work  of  this  famous  patrol  was 
the  chief  factor  in  making  the  Channel 
the  graveyard  of  so  many  U-boats  and 
in  keeping  the  stream  of  troops  and  sup- 
plies moving  from  England  to  France. 
The  important  part  played  by  the  Amer- 
ican forces  in  this  was  the  work  of  the 
naval  air  force,  which  from  Dunkirk 
and  Killingholme  did  its  share  of  the 
patrol  work  in  all  sorts  of  weather, 
hourly  on  the  lookout  for  the  elusive 
submarines." 

NAVAL  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Admiral  Koontz,  Chief  of  Operations, 


recommended  to  the  House  Naval  Com- 
mittee on  Jan.  15  a  naval  force  of  638 
ships  as  compared  to  231  in  1916.  Ap- 
propriations for  1921  were  estimated  at 
$573,000,000,  as  compared  with  $613,- 
000,000  in  1920. 

The  navy  still  has  261  vessels  to  sell, 
Admiral  Koontz  said,  mostly  submarine 
chasers,  but  including  several  pre-dread- 
nought  battleships,  old  cruisers,  gunboats 
and  monitors,  in  order  to  get  down  to  the 
strength  estimated  to  be  necessaiy.  A 
general  "  housecleaning "  of  ships  of 
doubtful  military  value  is  in  progress,  he 
added,  the  force  to  be  retained  including 
17  dreadnoughts,  13  pre-dreadnoughts, 
8  armored  cruisers,  18  cruisers,  14  gun- 
boats, 299  destroyers,  141  submarines,  11 
destroyers'  tenders,  55  Eagle  boats,  36 
minesweepers,  2  minelayers,  5  submarine 
tenders,  4  hospital  ships,  3  fleet  repair 
ships  and  a  number  of  auxiliary  vessels. 

To  keep  this  force  at  sea  or  ready  to 
go,  with  only  65  per  cent,  complements, 
would  require  91,000  men,  Admiral 
Koontz  said.  Great  efforts  are  now  re- 
quired to  keep  going  on  less  than  half 
complements  for  all  ships,  he  added. 

"  There  are  ships  that  on  paper  are 
part  of  the  Pacific  fleet  that  are  still  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  because  we  simply 
cannot  get  men  enough  to  send  them  to 
sea,"  Admiral  Koontz  said,  adding  that 
the  navy  was  unable  to  bid  against  the 
Shipping  Board  and  private  companies. 


American  Chair  in  British  Universities 


THE  principal  educational  proposal  of 
the  British  program  for  the  ter- 
centenary celebration  of  the  Mayflower 
and  Pilgrim  Fathers,  in  response  to  an 
appeal  of  the  Anglo-American  Society, 
was  the  foundation  and  endowment  on  a 
basis  of  $100,000  of  a  chair  in  American 
history,  literature,  and  institutions  in  or- 
der to  promote  such  studies  in  all  the 
British  universities. 

This  endowment  was  offered  by  Sir 
George  Watson  on  Dec.  5  and  will  be 
named  for  the  donor,  despite  the  tat- 
ter's suggestion  that  it  should  bear  the 
name  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  In  a  letter 
conveying  the  offer  to  the  Duke  of 
Connaught  as   President   of  the  Anglo- 


American  Society  Sir  George  Watson 
characterized  the  foundation  as  a  perma- 
nent memorial  of  America's  loyal  part- 
nership with  the  British  Empire  during 
the  war,  of  historic  ties,  and  of  a  mutual 
effort  to  overcome  prejudice.  Especial- 
ly from  this  last  viewpoint  the  Prince 
of  Wales  wrote  to  Sir  George  Watson 
highly  commending  this  foundation  and 
saying  that  his  visit  to  America  had 
assured  him  that  there  existed  a  common 
underlying  sentiment  in  all  parts  of  the 
English-speaking  world.  Misunderstand- 
ings were  due  mainly  to  false  impres- 
sions, he  declared,  which  the  foundation 
projected  would  contribute  greatly  to 
dispel. 


Constitutional  Prohibition 


Advent  of  the  Permanent  Ban  on  Alcoholic  Drinks  Under  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment — Attempts  to  Fight  It 


NATIONAL  prohibition  by  consti- 
tutional amendment  became  ef- 
fective at  midnight  Jan.  16,  1920, 
throughout  the  United  States. 
The  Department  of  Justice  and  the 
Bureau  of  Internal  Revenue,  the  two 
Government  agencies  intrusted  with  the 
enforcement  of  the  law,  were  fully  pre- 
pared to  compel  the  rigid  enforcement 
of  the  all-embracing  act. 

The  inauguration  of  the  new  law,  as 
embodied  in  the  Eighteenth  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  and  in  the  Volstead 
act  providing  for  its  enforcement,  was 
not  attended  by  any  of  the  dire  conse- 
quences that  had  been  predicted.  The  va- 
rious steps  that  had  been  taken  by  the 
Federal  and  State  authorities  to  enforce 
wartime  prohibition  had  measurably 
prepared  the  way  for  the  more  drastic 
constitutional  amendment,  and  the  deci- 
sions of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
on  various  phases  of  the  legislation  were 
uniformly  so  favorable  to  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  act  that  the  public  was 
prepared  for  acquiescence,  and  the  new 
regulations  went  into  effect  throughout 
the  nation  without  a  hitch.  Everywhere 
reports  indicated  that  the  Federal 
agents  were  alert  for  any  violation,  and, 
on  the  whole,  the  law  was  very  closely 
observed. 

The  United  States  Supreme  Court  on 
Jan.  5  upheld  as  constitutional  the  war- 
time prohibition  law,  which  defines  bev- 
erages containing  one-half  of  1  per  cent, 
or  more  of  alcohol  as  intoxicating;  the 
Court  at  the  same  time  refused  to  vacate 
an  injunction  which  forbade  the  manu- 
facture of  2.75  per  cent.  beer.  While 
the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  did 
not  specifically  touch  upon  the  constitu- 
tional prohibition  amendment,  it  was  re- 
garded by  competent  legal  authorities  as 
indicating  a  favorable  attitude  of  the 
court  on  thev  alidity  of  the  amendment. 

Justice  Brandeis    read    the    majority 


opinion,  which  was  concurred  in  by  Jus- 
tices White,  Pitney,  McKenna  and 
Holmes.  The  minority  report  was  read 
by  Justice  McReynolds,  and  was  con- 
curred in  by  Justices  Day,  Van  Deventer 
and  Clarke.  Justice  Brandeis,  in  handing 
down  the  majority  opinion,  said: 

The  night  of  Congress  to  suppress  the 
liquor  traffic  is  not  an  implied  power, 
but  one  specifically  granted.  That  power 
has  not  ended  through  the  cessation  of 
hostilities. 

On  the  other  hand  Justice  McReynolds 
declared  that  as  the  Eighteenth  Amend- 
ment, which  carried  out  constitutional 
prohibition,  had  not  become  effective, 
Congress  had  no  general  power  to  pro- 
hibit the  manufacture  or  sale  of  liquor. 

The  Supreme  Court  on  Jan.  12  again 
indicated  its  attitude  when  it  denied,  for 
lack  of  jurisdiction,  motions  filed  on  be- 
half of  the  Retail  Liquor  Dealers'  Asso- 
ciation of  New  Jersey  seeking  permission 
to  institute  an  original  suit-to  determine 
the  constitutionality  of  the  prohibition 
amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution. 

The  order  denying  permission  to  bring 
the  New  Jersey  suit  was  made  orally  by 
Chief  Justice  White,  who  held  that  the 
motion  to  file  the  case  "  rested  upon  a 
plain  disregard  of  two  principles  of  ju- 
risdiction that  have  been  settled  from  the 
beginning."  One,  he  said,  was  that  a 
citizen  of  a  State  could  not  bring  a  suit 
against  the  State  without  its  consent, 
while  the  other  was  that  the  Federal 
Constitution  does  not  create  jurisdiction 
but  only  apportions  it,  and  accordingly 
under  the  Constitution  the  Supreme  Court 
had  no  jurisdiction  in  such  a  case  as  that 
from  New  Jersey. 

The  same  question  in  another  form 
came  before  the  Supreme  Court  in  a  peti- 
tion filed  by  the  Attorney  General  of 
Rhode  Island  in  behalf  of  that  State. 
The  Attorney  General,  in  attacking  the 
constitutionality  of  the   act,   questioned 


CONSTITUTIONAL  PROHIBITION 


HI 


the  validity  of  its  ratification  as  well  as 
of  the  passage  of  the  resolution  by 
Congress,  and  asserted  that  the  amend- 
ment was  an  interference  with  State  po- 
lice powers  and  was  "usurpatory,  un- 
constitutional, and  void." 

In  a  brief  filed  with  the  court  the 
Rhode  Island  Attorney  General  further 
argued  that  enforcement  of  national  pro- 
hibition would  affect  injuriously  the 
rights  of  Rhode  Island,  and  that  because 


(©    Harris  <£  Ewing) 
LOUIS  D.   BRANDEIS 
Justice  of  United   States   Supreme  Court 

the  defendants  named  in  the  case  are 
outside  the  boundaries  of  that  State  the 
Supreme  Court  was  the  proper  tribunal 
in  which  to  bring  the  suit. 

On  Jan.  18  the  Supreme  Court  decided 
to  permit  Rhode  Island  to  bring  this  suit, 
and  to  pass  upon  the  validity  of  both 
the  prohibition  amendment  and  the  en- 
forcement act. 

The  constitutionality  of  the  measure 
was  attacked  in  suits  filed  in  various 
other  States,  and  the  Supreme  Court  will 
have  before  it  the  clear  issue  whether 
the  amendment  was  legally  adopted  and 


whether  the  use  of  the  word  "  concur- 
rent "  in  the  amendment,  referring  to  its 
enforcement  by  State  as  well  as  Federal 
authorities,  implied  that  each  State  could 
fix  its  own  provisions  as  to  what  should 
constitute  an  intoxicating  beverage,  and 
how  the  law  should  be  enforced.  Gover- 
nor Smith  of  New  York,  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature,  recommended  that  the 
legislative  approval  of  the  amendment  by 
the  State  of  New  York  be  withdrawn; 
the  Governor-elect  of  New  Jersey  took 
a  similar  position  and  indicated  that  he 
would  favor  separate  State  action  as  to 
what  constituted  an  intoxicating  bever- 
age. The  Anti-Saloon  League  announced 
that  all  these  efforts  would  prove  fruit- 
less, and  that  the  law  was  on  the  statute 
books  to  remain  and  would  be  rigidly 
enforced. 

Some  excitement  was  produced  during 
the  holiday  season  by  a  number  of  deaths 
th-oughout  the  country,  chiefly  in  sec- 
tions of  Connecticut,  from  drinking  wood 
alcohol,  which  had  been  sold  surrepti- 
tiously as  whisky.  The  source  of  the 
supply  which  caused  fifty  or  more  deaths 
in  Connecticut  was  traced,  and  those  re- 
sponsible for  the  traffic  were  arrested  on 
the  charge  of  homicide. 

Sunday,  Jan.  18,  was  designated  as 
"  Law  and  Order "  Sunday,  which  the 
Federal  Government  through  the  Inter- 
nal Revenue  Commissioner  asked  the 
clergy  of  America  to  participate  in.  In 
his  proclamation,  issued  Jan.  1,  1920, 
Daniel  C.  Roper,  the  Commissioner, 
called  upon  the  people  of  America  to  ob- 
serve the  National  Prohibition  act.  He 
said: 

Whether  prohibition  is  a  wise  national 
policy  is  no  longer  a  question  for  debate 
or  contention  among  good  citizens.  This 
step  on  the  part  of  our  people  has  be<  n 
incorporated  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Constitution  of  our  country,  and  all  law- 
abiding  citizens  will  demand  its  observ- 
ance.   *    *    * 

It  is  not  for  the  success  of  the  Bureau 
of  Internal  Revenue  that  we  appeal,  but 
for  the  success  of  the  American  people 
in  sustaining  the  majesty  of  the  law  and 
the  honor  of  our  American  institutions. 
To  this  ond  we  need  for  this  law,  and 
for  all  our  laws,  an  aroused  public  con- 
ed) nee  with  respect  to  law  observance 
and  law  enforcement. 

I  observe  that  it  is  being  suggested  that 
Sunday.    Tan.    18,    1920,    be    net    apart    and 


222 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


designated  as  "  Law  and  Order  Sunday  " 
throughout  the  country.  I  sincerely  trust 
that  this  will  be  generally  observed ;  that 
clergymen  throughout  the  land  will  bring 
to  the  attention  of  their  congregations 
the  vital  importance  of  law  as  the  cor- 
nerstone of  Americanism.  Law  and  or- 
der has  always  found  in  the  clergy  its 
strongest  champions.  Their  clear  expres- 
sion of  right  and  their  ringing  challenge 
to  the  American  spirit  of  our  citizenship 
was  never  more  urgently  needed  than  it 
is  at  the  present  time. 

An  address  was  issued  Jan.  17,  signed 
by  1,000  pastors  of  more  than  twenty- 
five  denominations  from  every  one  of 
the  fifty-seven  counties  of  New  York 
State,  urging  the  public  to  aid  in  the 
observance  of  "  Law  and  Order  Sunday  " 
and  to  push  enrollment  in  the  "  Allied 
"  Citizens  of  America,  a  Statewide  sys- 
"  tern  of  local  organization  as  a  basis 
"  upon  which  all  law-abiding  citizens  can 
"  unite  to  uphold  the  supremacy  of  law, 
"  particularly    the    Eighteenth    Amend- 


"  ment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
"  States." 

The  advent  of  national  prohibition  was 
observed  in  various  ways  throughout  the 
country,  according  to  the  attitude  of  the 
celebrants.  In  many  cities  mass  meetings 
and  parades  were  held  to  celebrate;  the 
anti-prohibitionists  held  mock  funeral 
services  and  in  other  ways  expressed 
their  disapproval. 

Just  before  the  law  went  into  effect 
millions  of  gallons  of  whisky  were  ex- 
ported, but  at  the  time  of  its  execution 
there  still  remained  in  the  country  other 
millions  of  gallons  in  bonded  warehouses, 
which,  under  the  law,  cannot  now  be  ex- 
ported, and  can  be  sold  only  for  medici- 
nal purposes.  Hundreds  of  barrels  of 
liquor  belated  on  the  wharves  of  the  At- 
lantic seaboard  were  seized  by  the  Fed- 
eral authorities  the  morning  after  the 
law  had  become  effective. 


Returning  the  Railway  Lines 

President's  Proclamation  Relinquishing  Government  Owner- 
ship — Contest  Over  Cummins  and  Esch  Bills 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  announced 
on  Dec.  24  by  proclamation  that 
the  railroads  and  express  com- 
panies would  be  returned  to 
private  ownership  on  March  1,  1920. 
Accompanying  his  proclamation  was  the 
following  statement  by  Joseph  P.  Tu- 
multy, his  private  secretary: 

Last  May  in  his  message  to  the  Con- 
gress the  President  announced  that  the 
railroads  would  be  handed  over  to  their 
owners  at  the  end  of  this  calendar  year. 
It  Is  now  necessary  to  act  by  issuing  the 
proclamation.  In  the  present  circum- 
stances, no  agreement  having  yet  been 
reached  by  the  two  houses  of  Congress 
in  respect  to  legislation  on  the  subject, 
it  becomes  necessary  in  the  public  inter- 
est to  allow  a  reasonable  time  to  elapse 
between  the  issuing  of  the  proclamation 
and  the  date  of  its  actually  taking  effect. 
The  President  is  advised  that  the  rail- 
road  and   express    companies   are  not  or- 


ganized to  make  it  possible  for  fhem  to 
receive  and  manage  their  properties  if 
actually  turned  over  to  them  on  Dec.  31, 
and  if  this  were  done  it  would  raise 
financial  and  legal  complications  of  a 
serious  character.  The  railroad  and  ex- 
press companies  should  be  given  ample 
opportunity  to  adequately  prepare  for  the 
resumption  of  their  business  under  the 
control  and  management  of  their  own 
stockholders,  Directors,  and  officers. 

Therefore,  the  transfer  of  possession 
back  to  the  railroad  companies  will  be- 
come effective  at  12:01  A.  M.,  March  1, 
1920. 

TEXT    OF    PROCLAMATION 

The   President's  proclamation  was  as 
follows : 

WHEREAS,  in  the  exercise  of  authori- 
ty committed  to  me  by  law,  I  have  here- 
tofore, through  the  Secretary  of  War, 
taken  possession  of  and  have,  through  the 
Director   General   of  Railroads,    exercised 


RETURNING  THE  RAILWAY  LINES 


223 


control  over  certain  railroads,  systems  of 
transportation  and  property  appurtenant 
thereto  or  connected  therewith ;  including 
systems  of  coastwise  and  inland  trans- 
portation engaged  in  general  transporta- 
tion and  owned  or  controlled  by  said 
railroads  or  systems  of  transportation ; 
including  also  terminals,  terminal  com- 
panies and  terminal  associations,  sleeping 
and  parlors  cars,  private  cars  and  private 
car  lines,  elevators,  warehouses,  telegraph 
and  telephone  lines,  and  all  other  equip- 
ment and  appurtenances  commonly  used 
upon  or  operated  as  a  part  of  such  rail- 
roads and  systems  of  transportation ;  and 

WHEREAS,  I  now  deem  it  needful  and 
desirable  that  all  railroads,  systems  of 
transportation  and  property  now  under 
such  Federal  control  be  relinquished 
therefrom ; 

NOW,  THEREFORE,  under  authority 
of  Section  14  of  the  Federal  Control 
act  approved  March  21,  1918,  and  of  all 
other  powers  and  provisions  of  law  there- 
to me  enabling,  I,  Woodrow  Wilson,  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  re- 
linquish from  Federal  control,  effective 
the  1st  day  of  March,  1920,  at  12:01 
o'clock  A.  M.,  all  railroads,  systems  of 
transportation,  and  property,  of  whatever 
kind,  taken  or  held  under  such  Federal 
control  and  not  heretofore  relinquished 
and  restore  the  same  to  the  possession 
and  control  of  their  respective  owners. 

Walker  D.  Hines,  Director  General  of 
Railroads,  or  his  successor  in  office,  is 
hereby  authorized  and  directed,  through 
such  agents  and  agencies  as  he  may  de- 
termine in  any  manner  not  inconsistent 
with  the  provisions  of  said  act  of  March 
21,  1918,  to  adjust,  settle  and  close  all 
matters,  including  the  making  of  agree- 
ments for  compensation,  and  all  ques- 
tions and  disputes  of  whatsoever  nature 
arising  out  of  or  incident  to  Federal  con- 
trol, until  otherwise  provided  by  procla- 
mation of  the  President  or  by  act  of  Con- 
gress; and  generally  to  do  and  perform, 
as  fully  in  all  respects  as  the  President 
is  authorized  to  do,  all  and  singular  the 
acts  and  things  necessary  or.  proper,  in 
order  to  carry  into  effect  this  proclama- 
tion and  the  relinquishment  of  said  rail- 
roads, systems  of  transportation  and 
property. 

For  the  purposes  of  accounting  and  for 
all  other  purposes  this  proclamation  shall 
become  effective  on  the  1st  day  of  March, 
1920,  at  12:01  A.  M. 

IN  WITNESS  WHEREOF,  I  have  here- 
unto set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of 
the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  by  the  President,  through  Newton 
D.  Baker,  Secretary  of  War,  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  this  twenty-fourth  day 
of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 


thousand  nine  hundred  and  nineteen,  and 
of  the  independence  of  the  United  States 
of   America   the    one   hundred    and    forty- 
fourth.  WOODROW  WILSON. 
By  the  President: 

ROBERT   LANSING, 

Secretary  of  State. 
NEWTON  D.  BAKER, 

Secretary  of  War. 

CUMMINS  AND  ESCH  BILLS 
Meanwhile  both  houses  of  Congress 
had  for  some  time  been  at  work  to 
frame  the  law  under  which  the  railroads 
are  to  operate  under  private  ownership. 
The  House  of  Representatives  had 
passed  a  bill  prepared  by  Congressman 
John  J.  Esch  of  Wisconsin,  and  on  Dec. 
20  the  Senate  passed  the  bill  fathered 
by  Senator  Albert  B.  Cummins  of  Iowa, 
the  vote  standing  46  to  30.  At  the  same 
time  the  Senate  rejected  by  65  to  11  a 
substitute  bill  offered  by  Senator  La 
Follette  which  would  have  continued 
Government  operation  of  the  railroads 
for  two  years  in  accordance  with  oi*- 
ganized  labor's  demands.  The  Cummins 
bill  contains  a  provision,  strongly  op- 
posed by  labor,  forbidding  all  strikes 
of  railway  employes. 

Both  bills  were  referred  to  a  joint 
committee,  whose  difficult  task  it  is  to 
reconcile  the  wide  differences  between 
the  two  measures  and  to  fuse  them  into 
one  organic  law  that  can  meet  the  ap- 
proval of  the  majority  of  Congress  and 
of  the  people.  The  differences  are 
fundamental,  involving  many  bitterly 
contested  points,  and  well-informed 
Senators  expressed  the  opinion  that  final 
enactment  of  the  law  could  not  reason- 
ably be  expected  for  many  weeks  to 
come. 

By  Jan.  7  the  conferees  had  agreed 
upon  $300,000,000  as  the  amount  of  the 
revolving  fund  on  which  the  carriers 
would  be  allowed  to  borrow  during  the 
period  immediately  following  the  return 
of  the  roads  to  private  ownership.  The 
Cummins  bill  had  fixed  the  amount  at 
$500,000,000  and  the  Esch  bill  at  $250,- 
000,000.  The  most  knotty  problems  still 
faced  the  committee — the  guarantee  re- 
garding dividends,  the  control  of  rate 
making,  and  the  labor  section,  with  its, 
anti-strike  provision. 

The  Senate  and  House  bills  are  alike  in 
prescribing  exclusive  Federal  regulation 


224 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


of  capital  issues  and  expenditures,  and  in 
establishing  Federal  regulation  of  intra- 
state rates  affecting  interstate  com- 
merce. 

Among  major  differences  are  the  crea- 
tion of  a  transportation  board  and  a  new 
statutory  rule  of  rate  making,  to  guar- 
antee fixed  dividends,  both  proposed  only 
in  the  Senate  plan. 

The  transportation  board,  under  the 
Senate  bill,  would  determine  the  coun- 
try's transportation  needs  with  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission  being  di- 
rected to  grant  rates  sufficient  to  meet 
these  demands.  The  House  bill,  while 
directing  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission to  keep  informed  on  the  trans- 
portation needs,  facilities,  and  services, 
would  greatly  extend  the  commission's 
authority  and  not  make  it  subject  to 
order  from  another  Government  body. 

The  Senate's  rule  of  rate  making, 
guaranteeing  6  per  cent,  return  to  the 
carriers,  was  rejected  by  the  House, 
which  proposed  the  present  rule  that  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  shall 
fix  "  fair  and  reasonable  "  rates. 

Regarding  labor,  the  drastic  anti-strike 
provision  in  the  Senate  bill  is  opposed 
by  the  House  provision  for  voluntary 
mediation.  The  House  bill  sets  up  three 
boards  of  adjustment  during  Federal  con- 
trol, with  the  addition  of  three  appeal 
boards  to  consider  cases  in  event  of  fail- 
ure of  the  adjustment  boards.  On  all 
these  boards  employes  and  rail  owners 
would  have  equal  representation,  with  de- 
cisions to  be  made  by  majority  vote,  and 
without  any  machinery  or  law  for  com- 
pelling acceptance  of  rulings. 

With  respect  to  consolidation  and  com- 
petition, the  two  measures  differ  in  de- 
tail, but  with  some  agreement  in  general 
principle.  The  House  bill  permits  con- 
solidation or  merger  by  purchase,  lease, 
stock  control  of  two  or  more  carriers,  or 
the  pooling  of  their  earnings  and  facil- 
ities to  such  an  extent  as  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  shall  determine  to 
be  in  the  public  interest.  Federal  in- 
corporation is  required  by  the  Senate,  but 
not  by  the  House  measure.  The  Senate 
also  provided  that  twenty  to  thirty-five 
competing  systems  shall  be  planned  by 
the  Transportation  Board,  and  approved 


by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
such  consolidation  to  be  voluntary  within 
seven  years,  and  compulsory  thereafter. 

Important  provisions,  included  in  both 
bills,  are  designed  to  give  adequate  rev- 
enues and  capital  to  the  carriers  with 
their  renewed  private  operation.  Rates 
established  during  Government  control 
are  continued  until  changed  under  au- 
thority of  existing  law  by  both  bills, 
which  also  direct  the  carriers  to  apply 
for  rate  increases  within  sixty  days  after 
the  return  of  the  roads  to  their  owners. 

THE  ANTI-STRIKE  CLAUSE 

The  provision  of  the  Cummins  bill  for- 
bidding railway  labor  unions  to  strike 
has  caused  a  sharply  defined  issue  be- 
tween organized  labor,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  farmers  and  general  public  on 
the  other.  Representatives  of  the  four 
railroad  brotherhoods  and  heads  of  af- 
filiated trades  adopted  on  Dec.  29  a  reso- 
lution opposing  legislation  which  would 
make  strikes  of  railroad  workers  unlaw- 
ful. At  the  conclusion  of  a  five-hour 
session  President  Gompers  dictated  this 
statement : 

On  Friday  last  a  number  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  railroad  organizations, 
both  shopmen  and  the  train  service,  met 
at  my  office.  We  discussed  the  situation 
regarding  the  railroad  legislation,  and  I 
issued  an  invitation  to  the  executives  of 
the  ten  shopmen's  organizations  affiliat- 
ed with  the  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor and  to  the  four  railroad  brother- 
hoods, asking  them  to  meet  in  confer- 
ence with  me  here  today.  We  began  our 
meeting  at  3  o'clock  and  adjourned  after 
8.  The  entire  time  was  taken  up  with  a 
discussion  of  the  parliamentary  situation 
of  the  railroad  bills.  We  reached  these 
conclusions : 

That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  conference 
that  the  control  of  the  railroads  should 
be  exercised  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  for  a  period  of  not  less 
than  two  years,  in  order  that  a  proper 
test  may  be  made  as  to  Government  con- 
trol. 

That  such  test  has  not  been  given  a  fair 
opportunity  during  wartime  or  since. 

That  this  conference  is  opposed  to  legis- 
lation making  strikes  of  workers  unlaw- 
ful. It  is  the  sense  of  this  conference 
that  penalty  clauses  in  pending  legislation 
on  railroads  against  workers  ceasing  their 
employment  should  be  eliminated. 

That  the  conference  favors  the  enact- 
ment of  beneficial  features  of  the  bills 
which   tend   to   establish   better   relations 


RETURNING  THE  RAILWAY  LINES 


225 


between  the  employes  and  the  carriers. 

That  the  beneficial  clauses  should  be 
extended  to  the  sleeping1  car  and  Pullman 
Company  employes. 

While  there  were  many  animated 
speeches  and  general  discussion  of  the 
Cummins  Railroad  bill,  with  its  drastic 
anti-strike  provision,  it  was  said  that  the 
railway  men  were  of  one  mind  in  op- 
posing the  section  making  strikes  illegal. 
Before  and  after  the  conference,  how- 
ever, the  union  representatives,  discus- 
sing informally  the  railroad  situation, 
said  they  had  assurances  that  the  House 
would  not  accept  the  labor  section  of  the 
Cummins  bill. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  organized  farm- 
ers of  the  country  have  expressed  them- 
selves in  favor  of  the  anti-strike  clause. 
Their  attitude,  as  expressed  through  a 
referendum  vote  on  the  subject,  was  thus 
stated  on  Jan.  ,7  by  S.  J.  Lowell,  Master 
of  the  National  Grange : 

We  have  taken  a  referendum  of  the 
thirty-three  State  masters,  and  so  far  as 
replies  have  been  received,  they  are  unani- 
mously in  favor  of  retaining  the  anti- 
strike  provision.  The  Cummins  bill  pro- 
tects the  public's  right  to  say  to  any  or- 
ganization of  individuals  created  or  per- 
mitted under  the  laws  that  such  organ- 
izations shall  not  deliberately  create  con- 
ditions so  one  class  has  a  strangle  hold  on 
the  rest  of  the  public  and  then  proceed 
to  use  that  strangle  hold  under  the  guise 
of  individual  liberty. 

HINES  ADVOCATES  MERGERS 

In  an  address  before  the  Bar  Associa- 
tion of  New  York  City,  Jan.  7,  Walker 
D.  Hines,  Director  General  of  Railroads, 
advocated  compulsory  consolidation  of 
railroad  systems.  Pointing  out  what  he 
termed  the  almost  impossible  situation  of 
the  railroads  prior  to  Federal  control, 
owing  to  the  difficulty  of  financing  the 
lines,  Mr.  Hines  declared  that  past  ex- 
perience had  demonstrated  that  the  old 
system  will  not  succeed.  He  advocated 
the  establishment  by  Congress  of  a  gen- 
eral standard  of  rates  to  allow  earnings 
"  clearly  in  excess  of  a  reasonable  re- 
turn "  which  must  go  largely  to  provid- 
ing  adequate   reserves  to  take  care  of 


lean    years    and    to    provide    adequate 

stimulus  for  efficiency. 

It   was   a   grave   mistake,   Mr.    Hines 

said,  to  assume  that  capital  alone  could 

manage  the  situation.  He  continued: 
The  scheme  of  the  past  has  been  on 
that  false  theory,  and  the  result  has 
been  that  the  public  has  injected  itself 
into  the  management  through  all  sorts 
of  agencies  and  labor  has  injected  itself 
into  the  management  through  its  own  or- 
ganizations. We  have  all  three  elements 
participating  in  the  management  in  all 
sorts  of  ways,  and  yet  there  is  no  com- 
mon ground  on  which  these  three  ele- 
ments can  meet  and  exchange  views  and 
endeavor  to  reach  conclusions.  I  bell 
the  only  sort  of  management  which  can 
be  permanently  effective  is  one  which  pro- 
vides for  an  orderly  participation  at  the 
outset  of  all  three  of  these  interests  in- 
stead of  the  past  scheme  which  leaves 
each  interest  to  pursue  its  own  methods,  ' 
irrespective  of  the  others,  until  an  even- 
tual contract  is  established  in  some  form 
ol  controversy. 

Mr.  Hines  said  it  was  impossible  for 
these  consolidations  to  come  about  grad- 
ually by  voluntary  action. 

RAILROAD  DEFICIT 
The  Government  deficit  from  railroad 
operation  in  November  was  approximate- 
ly $64,500,000,  the  largest  of  the  year, 
according  to  figures  compiled  and  made 
public  Jan.  2  by  the  Bureau  of  Railway 
Economics.  Net  operating  income  for  the 
month  was  estimated  to  have  fallen  be- 
low $20,000,000,  which  the  Bureau  of 
Economics  declared  to  be  the  lowest  in 
thirty  years  when  computed  on  a  basis  of 
percentage  of  investment. 

Gross  revenues  for  the  month  were  es- 
timated at  close  to  $436,000,000.  This 
was  only  slightly  below  the  high  mark  of 
a  year  ago,  but  the  heavy  expenses,  due 
in  part  to  the  coal  strike,  which  also  re- 
duced the  revenues,  left  as  net  little  of 
the  operating  revenues. 

The  Government's  net  loss,  the  bureau 
estimated,  on  the  basis  of  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  figures,  had  reached 
$548,000,000  in  the  twenty-three  months 
of  railroad  operation.  The  bureau  placed 
the  loss  for  the  eleven  months  of  1919  at 
more  than  $331,000,000. 


The  Coal  Strike  Commission  at  Work 

Its  Personnel  and  Its  Task 


THE  strike  in  the  bituminous  coal  in- 
dustry was  ended  Dec.  10,  1919,  by 
acceptance  of  President  Wilson's 
plan  granting  14  per  cent,  immediate 
increase  of  wages  to  the  miners  and 
promising  the  appointment  of  a  special 
commission  to  adjust  other  points  in  the 
dispute  after  the  men  had  gone  to  work. 
President  Wilson  announced  the  person- 
nel of  this  commission  on  Dec.  22,  naming 
as  its  members  Henry  M.  Robinson  of 
Pasadena,  Cal. ;  John  P.  White,  former 
President  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  and  Rembrandt  Peale,  an 
independent  coal  operator.  All  three 
men  had  held  positions  in  the  Govern- 
ment service  during  the  war. 

It  was  the  task  of  this  commission  to 
determine  whether  the  miners'  wages 
should  be  still  further  increased,  and,  if 
so,  whether  the  price  of  coal  should  go 
higher.  The  mine  operators  at  once 
showed  some  distrust  of  the  commission 
by  challenging  President  Wilson's  public 
statement  that  they  had  "  agreed  to  and 
adopted "  the  plan  of  settlement  now 
being  carried  out.  The  miners,  on  the 
other  hand,  expressed  satisfaction  that 
Mr.  White,  representing  the  workers,  and 
Mr.  Peale,  representing  the  operators, 
both  were  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  coal  mining  situation. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  commission 
was  held  in  Washington  in  the  Cabinet 
room  of  the  executive  offices  on  Dec.  29. 
With  the  three  members  there  were  also 
Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson  and  Joseph  P. 
Tumulty,  Secretary  to  the  President.  By 
that  time  the  operators  had  decided  to 
co-operate  with  the  commission  to  the 
extent  of  furnishing  statistical  informa- 
tion covering  every  bituminous  mine 
field  in  the  country  when  called  for.  The 
mine  workers  held  a  convention  at  Co- 
lumbus on  Jan.  6,  where  the  attitude  of 
the  unions  was  finally  determined  in 
favor  of  full  and  final  acceptance  of  the 
agreement  which  their  leaders  had  made 
with  President  Wilson.  A  motion  to  de- 
feat the  acceptance  of  the  international 


officers'  action  was  submitted  to  a  refer- 
endum vote  of  the  convention  on  the  7th 
and  the  settlement  was  supported  by  the 
overwhelming  vote  of  1,634  to  221.  Act- 
ing President  Lewis  pointed  out  that 
throughout  the  forty  days'  strike  not  a 
single  life  had  been  lost. 

Meanwhile  the  commission  continued 
its  preliminary  sessions  at  Washington, 
and  on  Jan.  10  chose  Henry  M.  Robinson, 
representative  of  the  public,  as  Chair- 
man. At  this  meeting  T.  T.  Brewster, 
one  of  the  chief  mine  operators,  ap- 
peared and  presented  a  list  of  ten  ques- 
tions concerning  wages,  working  condi- 
tions and  coal  prices,  to  which  he  re- 
quested answers  before  being  pressed  for 
a  decision  as  to  the  operators'  future 
course.  Answers  were  promised  to  him. 
John  L.  Lewis,  for  the  mine  workers, 
announced  that  the  unions  were  prepared 
to  accept  the  decisions  of  the  commis- 
sion without  reservation. 

The  formal  sessions  of  the  commission 
began  on  Jan.  12,  and  from  that  time 
forth  a  flood  of  argument  and  fact  on 
both  sides  began  to  be  poured  out  in 
the  commission's  permanent  headquar- 
ters, which  had  been  established  in  the 
building  formerly  occupied  by  the  Fuel 
Administration.  On  the  13th  the  oper- 
ators of  the  Central  Competitive  Field 
agreed  to  accept  the  commission's  ver- 
dict in  all  particulars  except  one — they 
could  not  be  bound  by  a  decision  that 
would  fix  prices  beyond  the  life  of  the 
Lever  law,  they  said,  as  this  would  be 
illegal.  Six  spokesmen  for  the  mine 
workers  appeared  on  the  14th,  one  of 
them,  Frank  Farrington  of  the  Illinois 
Miners'  Union,  contending  that  living 
costs  in  Illinois  mining  centres'  had  ad- 
vanced from  110  to  178  per  cent,  since 
1914,  whereas  miners'  wages  had  in- 
creased only  from  $700  in  1913  to  $1,390 
in  1918.  In  the  light  of  these  figures 
he  said  the  miners'  claim  of  a  60  per 
cent,  increase  was  justified.  The  oper- 
ators had  another  inning  on  the  15th, 
and    the   work   of   the   commission   was 


THE  COAL  STRIKE  COMMISSION  AT  WORK 


227 


fairly  under  way  when  these  pages  went 
to  press. 

Secretary  McKinney  of  the  Southern 
Ohio  Coal  Exchange  estimated  that  the 
coal  strike  had  cost  the  country  a  total 
of  $126,000,000,  of  which  $60,000,000  was 
loss  in  miners'  wages,  $40,000,000  loss 
to  the  railroads,  and  $26,000,000  loss  to 
the  operators.  He  added  that  the  pro- 
duction of  coal  had  already  been  40,000,- 
000  tons  short  of  normal  before  the 
strike  began,  and  that  on  account  of  the 
strike  the  Ohio  mines  alone  lost  produc- 
tion to  the  extent  of  7,500,000  tons.  The 
coal  loss  for  the  entire  country  he  put 
at  1,000,000  tons  daily. 

An  echo  of  the  conflict  thus  being  ad- 
justed by  peaceful  methods  was  heard  in 
Indianapolis  on  Dec.  22  when  United 
States  Judge  A.  B.  Anderson  committed 
Alexander  Howat,  President  of  the  Kan- 
sas district  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  to  prison  for  contempt  in 
having  "  openly  and  defiantly  disobeyed 
the  law"  in  violation  of  a  court  injunc- 
tion against  furtherance  of  the  general 
strike.  Judge  Anderson  refused  to  con- 
tinue Howat's  bond  in  the  form  of  a  $10,- 
000  check  on  a  Kansas  bank,  and  sent 
him  to  jail.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  Judge  agreed  to  accept 
Howat's  promise  to  use  all  his  influence 
to  get  the  men  back  to  work,  and  set  him 
at  liberty  on  his  former  bond.     The  in- 


cident was  terminated  by  the  Kansas 
mine  workers'  officials  ordering  strikers 
protesting  against  the  imprisonment  of 
their  President  to  resume  work  on 
Dec.  24. 

A  Federal  court  order  of  importance 
issued  by  Judge  John  M.  Killits  at  Tol- 
edo, Ohio,  on  Dec.  27,  granted  a  perma- 
nent injunction  preventing  the  pickets  of 
labor  unions  from  interfering  with  work- 
ers in  the  Willys-Overland  Automobile 
Company.  Judge  Killits  declared  that 
striking  workers  who  had  remained  off 
the  payroll  since  the  labor  disturbances 
of  last  June  could  no  longer  be  classed  as 
employes.  He  also  ruled  that  the  court 
could  not  recognize  the  rights  of  individ- 
uals to  prolong  a  labor  controversy 
"  after  its  substance  had  fled."  At  the 
time  of  making  the  injunction  perma- 
nent 13,566  persons  were  at  work  in  the 
plant. 

The  strike  in  the  steel  mills,  which 
had  begun  on  Sept.  22,  and  which  had  at 
first  involved  367,000  men,  but  had  com- 
pletely failed  within  a  month,  was  offi- 
cially called  off  by  the  National  Com- 
mittee of  the  Steel  Workers'  Union  in  a 
session  held  at  Pittsburgh  on  Jan.  8.  At 
the  same  time  the  committee  accepted 
the  resignation  of  Secretary-Treasurer 
William  Z.  Foster,  who  had  been  a  lead- 
ing promoter  and  storm  centre  of  the 
strike,  to  take  place  Feb.  1. 


The  Second  Industrial  Conference 

Its  Plan  for  Reducing  Strikes 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  second  in- 
dustrial conference,  which  has  been 
in  session  at  intervals  in  Washing- 
ton since  Dec.  1,  and  whose  personnel  was 
given  in  last  month's  Current  History, 
made  an  important  statement  on  Dec.  28, 
setting  forth  a  tentative  plan  for  the  set- 
tlement of  labor  disputes.  It  proposed 
the  creation  of  new  Federal  machinery 
for  the  adjustment  of  differences  be- 
tween employers  and  employes. 

The  plan  provided,  in  brief,  for  the  es- 


tablishment of  a  National  Industrial  Tri- 
bunal and  Regional  Boards  of  Inquiry 
and  Adjustment.  The  National  Indus- 
trial Tribunal  would  consist  of  nine  mem- 
bers, to  be  appointed  by  the  President, 
but  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  with  head- 
quarters in  Washington,  and  it  would  be 
generally  an  appellate  tribunal.  The 
United  States  would  be  divided  into  in- 
dustrial regions,  probably  twelve,  with 
boundaries  similar  to  those  of  the  Fed- 
eral Reserve  districts,  and  there  would 


228 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


be  a  Regional  Board  of  Inquiry  and  Ad- 
justment set  up  in  each  district. 

Besides  submitting  this  plan  for  what 
it  described  as  "  new  machinery  of  demo- 
cratic representation  to  suit  the  condi- 
tions of  present  industry,"  the  confer- 
ence made  a  declaration  of  its  views  as 
to  Government  employes.  In  this  part 
of  the  statement — less  than  300  words — 
the  conference  took  a  firm  stand  against 
"  police  strikes  "  and  the  affiliation  of 
Government  public  safety  employes  with 
any  organization  that  uses  the  strike  as  a 
weapon. 

"  No  interference  by  any  group  of  Gov- 
ernment employes,  or  others,  with  the 
continuous  operation  of  Government 
functions  through  concerted  cessation  of 
work,  or  threats,"  declared  the  commis- 
sion, "  can  be  permitted." 

The  conference  members  thought  that 
Government  employes  should  have  the 
right  to  associate  for  mutual  protection, 
the  advancement  of  their  interests,  or 
the  presentation  of  grievances,  but  de- 
clared that  "  no  such  employes  who  are 
connected  with  the  administration  of 
justice  or  the  maintenance  of  public 
safety  or  public  order  should  be  per- 
mitted to  join  or  retain  membership  in 
any  organization  which  authorizes  the 
use  of  the  strike,  or  which  is  affiliated 
with  any  organization  which  authorizes 
the  strike."  The  conference  reserved 
judgment  on  the  question  whether  other 
classes  of  Government  employes  might 
affiliate  with  organizations  that  author- 
ize the  use  of  the  strike. 

The  statement  was  signed  by  William 
B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  Labor,  as  Chairman  of  the  conference; 
Herbert  Hoover,  former  Federal  Food 
Administrator,  as  Vice  Chairman;  Mar- 
tin H.  Glynn,  Thomas  W.  Gregory,  for- 
mer Attorney  General;  Richard  Hooker, 
Stanley  King,  Samuel  W.  McCall,  former 
Governor  of  Massachusetts;  Henry  M. 
Robinson,  Julius  Rosenwald,  Oscar  S. 
Straus,  Henry  C.  Stuart,  former  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia;  F.  W.  Taussig,  Will- 
iam 0.  Thompson,  Henry  J.  Waters, 
George  W.  Wickersham,  former  Attor- 
ney General,  and  Owen  D.  Young. 

This  conference  was  called  by  Presi- 
dent   Wilson    after    the    failure    of   the 


original  National  Industrial  Conference, 
which  met  under  the  Chairmanship  of 
Secretary  Lane,  last  October.  It  is  a 
smaller  and  more  compact  body,  and  con- 
tains no  distictively  labor  union  dele- 
gates. Its  plan  for  the  creation  of  new 
machinery  for  dealing  with  industrial 
disputes  was  advanced  for  consideration, 
study  and  constructive  criticism  by  in- 
terested individuals  and  organizations 
throughout  the  country. 

The  conference  pointed  out  that  its 
plan  did  not  propose  to  do  away  with  the 
ultimate  right  to  strike,  to  discharge,  or 
to  maintain  the  closed  or  the  open  shop. 
"  It  is  designed,"  the  statement  con- 
tinued, "  to  bring  about  a  frank  meeting 
of  the  interested  parties  and  cool  and 
calm  consideration  of  the  questions  in- 
volved, in  association  with  other  persons 
familiar  with  the  industry.  The  plan  is 
national  in  scope  and  operation,  yet  it  is 
decentralized.  It  is  different  from  any- 
thing in  operation  elsewhere.  It  is 
based  upon  American  experience  and  is 
designed  to  meet  American  conditions. 
To  facilitate  discussion,  the  plan  sub- 
mitted, while  entirely  tentative,  is  ex- 
pressed in  positive  form  and  made 
definite  as  to  most  details." 

When  the  Industrial  Conference  pub- 
lished its  plan,  Samuel  Gompers,  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Federation  of  La- 
bor, said  its  failure  to  recognize  definite- 
ly the  organizations  of  workers — trade 
unions — as  the  basis  for  representation 
was  a  fatal  omission,  while  Frank  Mor- 
rison, Secretary  of  the  federation,  noting 
the  absence  of  reference  by  the  confer- 
ence to  collective  bargaining  or  the  ne- 
cessity for  organizations  of  workers,  said 
any  one  who  would  avert  or  postpone  in- 
dustrial conflicts  could  not  ignore  these 
principles. 

Mr.  Gompers  declared  the  commission 
should  reconsider  the  question  of  definite 
recognition  of  trade  unions,  "  in  order 
to  make  possible  the  confidence  and  co- 
operation of  wage  earners,  which  can  be 
expressed  only  through  organizations  of 
their  own  making."    He  added: 

Any  plan  to  establish  or  maintain  any- 
thing like  fair  relations  between  workers 
and  employers  must  avoid  compulsory 
features.  The  mass  of  America's  workers 
are  American  citizens,  and  in  that  sover- 


THE  SECOND  INDUSTRIAL  CONFERENCE 


229 


eign  citizenship  they  are  free  men.  Any 
proposal  for  compulsory  labor  is  repug- 
nant to  American  sovereignty  and  citi- 
zenship. 

In  order  to  promote  constructive  and 
permanent  changes  that  will  eliminate 
causes  of  much  industrial  unrest,  the 
conference  should  consider  governmental 
agencies  to  provide  the  necessary  infor- 
mation and  a&sistance  in  securing  contin- 
uous   betterment    of    working    conditions. 


That  problem  must  ultimately  be  worked 
out  by  employers  and  employes,  but  the 
Government  should  advise  and  assist. 

It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that 
our  social  fabric  is  based  on  mutuality 
and  voluntary  institutions.  It  Is  some- 
thing not  yet  fully  understood  how  per- 
fectly safe  freedom  is. 

The  conference  reassembled  on  Jan.  12 
to  consider  any  constitutive  criticism 
that  had  been  submitted  to  it. 


Fighting  the  High  Cost  of  Living 

Dissolution  of  Packers'  Trust 


A  STATEMENT  made  public  Dec.  28 
by  the  National  Industrial  Confer- 
ence Board  showed  that  the  cost  of 
living  in  the  United  States  had  advanced 
more  than  80  per  cent,  since  July,  1914, 
and  5.8  per  cent,  since  July,  1919.  The 
figures  were  based  on  the  study  of  fam- 
ily budgets  reported  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  statistics,  supplemented 
by  reports  of  clothing  and  food  dealers, 
civic  organizations,  real  estate  agents, 
and  public  utility  corporations. 

Clothing  has  increased  most  in  price 
since  July,  1914,  the  percentage  being 
135,  according  to  the  board's  figures. 
Food  comes  next  with  an  advance  of  92 
per  cent.,  fuel,  heat  and  light  next  with 
48  per  cent.,  and  rent  38  per  cent. 

Food  had  advanced  only  1  per  cent,  in 
price  during  the  last  five  months,  the 
board  reported,  while  clothing  prices 
again  led  the  van  with  an  increase  of  15 
per  cent.  Rent  advanced  7.8  per  cent., 
and  fuel,  heat  and  light  4  per  cent.  Items 
listed  generally  as  sundries  advanced  75 
per  cent,  during  the  five-year  period,  and 
7  per  cent,  since  last  July.  Sundries 
include  carfare,  candy,  and  soda,  amuse- 
ments, insurance,  and  household  furnish- 
ings. Movie  admissions  advanced  more 
than  100  per  cent,  in  price.  It  also  costs 
nearly  double  to  furnish  a  house. 

THE  PACKERS*  AGREEMENT 
Among  the  month's  activities  to  com- 
bat high  prices  must  be  included — theo- 
retically   at    least — the    voluntary    sur- 
render   of   the    Chicago    packers    to    the 


Government's  anti-trust  pressure.  At- 
torney General  Palmer  announced  Dec. 
18  that  the  "  Big  Five  "—Armour  &  Co., 
Swift  &  Co.,  Morris. &  Co.,  Wilson  &  Co., 
and  the  Cudahy  Packing  Company — had 
agreed  to  retire  from  all  business  except 
that  of  meat  packing  and  dairy  products. 

Under  their  agreement  with  the  De- 
partment of  Justice,  the  packers  and 
their  subsidiaries  will  sell  all  their  hold- 
ings in  public  stock  yards,  stock  yard 
railroads  and  terminals,  and  their  in- 
terests in  market  newspapers  and  public 
cold  storage  warehouses,  and  will  forever- 
dissociate  themselves  from  the  retail 
meat  business  and  food  lines  unrelated 
to  meat  packing. 

The  proposed  Government  dissolution 
suit  will  not  be  pressed.  Under  agree- 
ment reached,  it  was  stated,  the  so- 
called  packing  monopoly  would  practi- 
cally end  its  activities,  except  as  meat 
packers,  by  disposing  of  its  holdings  in 
other  business,  and  thus  avert  the  dan- 
ger of  a  monopoly  in  foodstuffs.  The 
Department  of  Justice  held  that  the  de- 
cision was  a  complete  victoi-y  for  the 
Government  and  that  the  results  would 
be  more  satisfactory  than  any  it  could 
hope  to  obtain  by  a  long-drawn-out  suit. 

In  accepting  the  agreement  the  pack- 
ing companies  consented  to  the  entry  of 
an  injunction  decree  in  the  Federal  Dis- 
trict Court  under  which  the  terms  of 
settlement  are  to  be  worked  out.  Two 
years  are  allowed  for  them  to  comply 
with  the  terms  of  the  agreement. 

Under  the  injunction  deci-ee  the  "  Big 


230 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Five "  are  compelled,  as  stated  by  At- 
torney General  Palmer,  to  do  the  follow- 
ing things: 

1.  To  sell,  under  supervision  of  the 
United  States  District  Court,  preferably 
to  the  live-stock  producers  and  the  puta- 

.         lie,    all    their    holdings    in    public    stock 
yards. 

2.  To  sell,  under  the  same  supervision 
and  in  like  manner,  all  their  interest  in 
stock  yard  railroads  and  terminals. 

3.  To  sell,  under  the  same  supervision 
and  in  like  manner,  all  their  interests  in 
market  newspapers. 

4.  To  dispose  of  all  their  interests  in 
publie  cold  storage  warehouses,  except  as 
necessary  for  their  own  (meat  products. 

5.  To  dissociate  themselves  forever 
from  the  retail  meat  business. 

6.  To  dissociate  themselves  forever 
from  all  "  unrelated  lines,"  including 
wholesale  groceries,  fresh,  canned,  dried, 
or  salt  fish ;  fresh,  dried  or  canned  vege- 
tables ;  fresh,  crushed,  dried,  evaporated, 
or  canned  fruits ;  confectioneries,  syrups, 
soda-water  fountain  supplies,  &c,  mo- 
lasses, honey,  jams,  jellies,  preserves, 
•spices,  sauces,  relishes,  &c,  coffee,  tea, 
chocolate,  cocoa,  nuts,  flour,  sugar,  rice 
and  cereals  (with  an  exception  to  be 
noted),  bread,  wafers,  crackers,  biscuit, 
spangnetti,  vermicelli,  macaroni,  cigars, 
china,  furniture,  &c. 

7.  To  abandon  forever  ^the  use  of  their 
branch  houses,  route  cars  and  auto  trucks, 
comprising  their  distribution  system,  for 
any  other  than  their  own  meat  and  dairy 
products. 

8.  To  submlit  perpetually  to  the  juris- 
diction «of  the  United  States  District  Court 
under  an  injunction  forbidding  all  the  de- 
fendants from  directly  or  indirectly  main- 
taining any  combination  or  conspiracy 
with   each  other   or   any   other   person  or 

^  persons,  or  monopolizing,  or  attempting  to 
monopolize,  any  food  product  in  the 
United  States,  or  indulging  lin  any  unfair 
and  unlawful  practices. 

"  The  decree  further  provides,"  says 
Mr.  Palmer,  "that  jurisdiction  is  per- 
petually retained  by  the  court  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  such  other  action,  or 
adding  at  the  foot  of  the  decree  such 
other  relief,  if  any,  as  may  become  neces- 
sary or  appropriate  for  the  carrying  out 
and  enforcement  of  the  decree,  or  for  the 
purpose  of  entertaining  at  any  time  here- 
after any  application  which  the  parties 
may  make  with  respect  to  this  decree." 

PLAN  TO  CUT  LIVING  COST 

In  an  address  to  400  city  officials, 
heads  of  civic  organizations  and  club- 
women   of    Illinois,     Attorney    General 


Palmer  at  Chicago  on  Dec.  16  outlined 
the  plan  of  his  department  to  combat  the 
high  cost  of  living.  A  plea  for  the  as- 
sistance of  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
country  in  a  national  fight  against  high 
prices  was  made  by  Mr.  Palmer  at  the 
meeting,  which  was  called  by  Governor 
Frank  0.  Lowden.  Mr.  Palmer  laid  down 
the  following  program,  which,  if  carried 
out,  he  said,  would  do  much  to  deal  a 
deathblow  to  the  high  cost  of  living: 

1.  Organization  of  fair  price  committees 
in  every  city  and  county,  backed  by 
mayors  and  prosecuting  attorneys,  with 
the  commlittees  supporting  United  States 
District  Attorneys. 

2.  Organization  of  women  to  refuse  to 
'buy  anything  but  actual  necessities  until 
(prices  come  down. 

3.  Holding  of  "  conservation  "  and 
economy  meetings  in  every  community 
under  the  auspices  of  civic  bodies. 

4.  Influence  of  mayors  and  prosecutors 
to  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  warring  ele- 
ments to  prevent  factional  disturbances  in 
industry  and  particularly  to  bring  about 
an  industrial  peace  of  at  least  six  months' 
duration. 

5.  Hemobilization  of  the  Four-MSnute 
Men  to  deliver  "  work  and  save  "  ad- 
dresses in  theatres  each  night. 

On  Dec.  16  it  was  stated  in  "Washing- 
ton that  an  army  of  4,000,000  women 
representing  ten  national  organizations 
had  been  enlisted  by  the  savings  division 
of  the  Treasury  Department  in  a  cam- 
paign to  reduce  expenditures. 

Beginning  Jan.  1  and  extending  to 
April  1,  a  great  thrift  campaign  was  to 
be  conducted  in  an  effort  to  induce  wo- 
men to  keep  strict  accounts  of  their 
daily  expenditures  in  order  by  study  of 
them  to  eliminate  unnecessary  items.  Ac- 
cording to  the  plan,  amounts  saved  by 
this  means  would  be  invested  in  Govern- 
ment securities. 

Women's  organizations  which  have 
been  enlisted  in  the  campaign  include: 
The  Association  of  College  Alumnae, 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution, 
General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs, 
National  Catholic  War  Council,  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent- 
Teacher  Associations,  National  Council 
of  Jewish  Women,  National  Federation 
of  Business  and  Professional  Women's 
Clubs,  National  League  for  Women's 
Service,    Woman's    Department    of     the 


FIGHTING  THE  HIGH  COST  OF  LIVING 


231 


National     Civic     Federation,    and     the 
Y.  W.  C.  A. 

CO-OPERATIVE  SCHEME 
Failing  to  obtain  satisfactory  relief 
from  the  high  cost  of  living,  officials  of 
the  four  railway  brotherhoods  and  the 
railroad  shop  crafts  affiliated  with  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  at  a  meet- 
ing in  Chicago  on  Jan.  7  decided  on 
a  co-operative  plan  of  buying  and  dis- 
tribution, the  main  outlines  of  which  were 
published  Jan.  8.  They  announced  the 
formation  of  a  body  to  be  known  as  the 
All-American  Farmer- Labor  Co-operative 
Commission.  Warren  S.  Stone,  Grand 
Chief  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers  and  one  of  the  organizers  of 
the  Chicago  meeting,  is  General  Treas- 
urer of  the  Co-operative  Commission,  and 
other  officials  of  the  railway  employes' 
organizations  are  officers. 

Bert  M.  Jewell,  Acting  President  of  the 
railway  employes'  department  of  the 
Federation  of  Labor,  declared  that  "  an 
increase  in  pay  will  not  solve  the  prob- 
lem." He  asserted  that  higher  wages 
accompanied  by  a  proportionate  increase 
in  prices  result  in  a  "  vicious  circle," 
which  leaves  the  railroad  man  no  better 
off  after  the  increase  in  pay  than  he 
was  with  the  smaller  salary.  The  only 
way  to  deal  with  an  economic  situation 
was  with  economic  factoi-s. 

An  alliance  of  the  farmers,  the  or- 
ganized producers,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
the  laborers,  or  organized  consumers,  on 


the  other,  was  the  purpose  of  the  Co- 
operative Commission,  said  Mr.  Jewell, 
who  is  a  member  of  the  commission.  It 
aims  to  "  conduct  a  vigorous  campaign 
for  direct  dealing  between  farm  producers 
and  city  consumers,  and,  as  soon  as 
feasible,  between  city  producers  and 
farm  consumers." 

SUGAR  CONTROL  BILL 

Announcement  was  made  at  the  White 
House  on  Jan.  1  that  President  Wilson 
had  signed  the  McNary  Sugar  Control 
bill  on  Dec.  31.  The  statement,  which 
was  issued  by  Secretary  Tumulty,  read: 

The  President  has  signed  the  Sugar 
Control  bill.  This  bill  confers  discretion 
on  the  President  in  the  matter  of  pur- 
chasing sugar  from  Cuba.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  it  will  be  practicable  or  wise  for 
the  President  to  exercise  the  power  con- 
ferred so  far  as  the  purchase  and  dis-- 
tri  >ution  of  sugar  are  concerned.  Some 
of  the  Cuban  sugar  has  already  been 
purchased,  and  there  is  no  central  control 
over  sugar  in  Cuba,  as  there  was  last 
year,  and  it  might  therefore  be  impos- 
sible for  the  Government  now  to  step  in 
and  purchase  the  sugar  without  increas- 
ing the  price  to  the  consumer.  The  bill, 
however,  continues  the  licensing  power 
also,  and  this  power  may  be  used  to  as- 
sist in  controlling  profiteering  among  dis- 
tributers. Much  Cuban  sugar  is  coming 
in  now,  and  the  indications  are  that 
prices  have  reached  their  peak  and  that 
there  will  be  a  tendency  for  prices  to  fall 
in  the  next  few  weeks. 

Under  the  new  law  the  Sugar  Equali- 
zation Board  is  continued  in  power  for  a 
year. 


Deportation  of  Alien  Anarchists 

Shipload  Sent  to  Soviet  Russia 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  19,  1920] 


rthe  course  of  an  unprecedented 
campaign  against  Red  agitators 
in  the  United  States,  the  Washing- 
ton authorities  conducted  raids  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  and  arrested 
thousands  of  anarchistic  plotters.  A 
large  number  of  these  were  railroaded  to 
New  York  and  interned  at  Ellis  Island 
to  await  trial  and  deportation.     A  first 


shipload  of  such  agitators,  including  the 
anarchist  Emma  Goldman,  and  her  asso- 
ciate Berkman,  was  deported  back  to 
Soviet  Russia  via  Germany  and  Finland 
on  the  Buford,  the  so-called  Soviet  "ark." 
On  Dec.  18  some  twenty-seven  mem- 
bers of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World  had  been  convicted  by  a  Federal 
Jury   at    Kansas    City    on   four   counts, 


232 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


three  under  the  war  program,  including 
obstruction  of  recruiting  and  the  draft, 
and  a  fourth  under  the  law  forbidding 
curtailment  of  food  production.  Sen- 
tences given  were  from  three  to  nine 
years'  imprisonment,  with  fines  ranging 
from  $3,000  to  $10,000.  On  the  same 
date  a  train  arrived  at  Jersey  City  bear- 
ing sixty-one  prisoners  for  deportation 
who  had  been  arrested  in  San  Francisco, 
Seattle,  Chicago,  and  St.  Louis.  Drastic 
amendments  to  the  immigration  law  were 
adopted  in  the  House  on  Dec.  20,  provid- 
ing for  the  deportation  or  exclusion  of  all 
aliens  who  belonged  to  anarchistic 
classes,  for  control  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage press,  and  for  an  extensive  in- 
vestigation of  Russian  Soviet  prop- 
aganda in  the  United  States.  Mean- 
while the  Department  of  Justice,  under 
'Attorney  General  Palmer,  organized 
a  wide  campaign  against  the  agita- 
tors, issuing  special  instructions  to  gov- 
ern the  conduct  of  the  extensive  raids  on 
radicals  undertaken. 

One  unit  of  the  radical,  anti-Govern- 
ment press,  The  Call  of  New  York,  made 
an  appeal  against  the  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral's order  of  Nov.  13,  1917,  excluding 
that  paper  from  the  mails.  The  Postmas- 
ter's reply,  filed  on  Dec.  22,  asked  that 
The  Call's  case  be  dismissed  on  the 
ground  that  it  published  matter  favor- 
ing world  revolt  and  the  overthrow  of 
the  United  States  Government  and  tend- 
ing to  incite  "  arson,  murder,  or  assas- 
sination." A  large  number  of  excerpts 
proving  the  Postmaster's  charges  accom- 
panied his  reply. 

THE  SOVIET  "ARK" 

In  the  last  week  of  December  occurred 
the  deportation  of  249  alien  residents 
of  the  United  States  who  had  been  found 
guilty  of  revolutionary  agitation  against 
the  Government.  All  were  former  citi- 
zens of  Russia  who  had  been  arrested 
following  a  number  of  Federal  raids  on 
well  known  radical  centres.  On  the  eve 
of  their  deportation  back  to  Russia  the 
State  Department  cabled  to  all  foreign 
capitals  an  explanation  of  this  step,  in 
which  the  men  involved  were  defined  as 
"undesirable,"  a  "menace  to  law  and 
order "  and  "  opposers  of  government, 
decency,   and  justice."     While  enjoying 


the  protection  of  the  United  States,  this 
statement  said,  these  men  had  acted  in  a 
most  obnoxious  manner,  and  plotted  the 
overthrow  of  the  Government  whose 
benefits  they  enjoyed. 

Two  of  those  deported,  the  notorious 
Emma  Goldman  and  her  associate  Berk- 
man,  used  every  legal  means  to  resist  the 
decree  of  deportation,  but  met  with 
failure. 

On  Dec.  22  the  former  troop  transport 
chosen  for  the  deportation,  the  Buford, 
which  the  newspapers  dubbed  "  The 
Soviet  Ark,"  sailed  from  New  York  at 
dawn  with  the  249  agitators  on  board, 
destination  unknown,  but  supposed  to  be 
Finland.  A  guard  of  marines  went  with 
them,  and  revolvers  had  been  given  to 
125  men  of  the  crew,  in  case  of  trouble 
arising  during  the  trip.  The  deported 
persons  were  not  allowed  to  bid  their 
relatives  farewell,  and  riotous  scenes 
occurred  among  the  latter  when  tlv^y 
were  informed  of  this  decision  as  the 
Buford  was  about  to  sail.  The  ark 
carried  a  great  quantity  of  baggage  and 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  in  cash  be- 
longing to  those  deported.  Some  seemed 
happy  on  leaving;  others  threatened  and 
cursed.  A  radio  on  Dec.  26  reported 
that  the  ark  was  heading  toward  the 
Azores,  and  that  all  was  well.  On  Jan. 
8  the  Buford  had  reached  the  entrance 
to  the  Kiel  Canal. 

"ARK"  REACHES  FINLAND 

The  Buford  left  Kiel  late  on  Jan.  13 
for  Finland,  with  which  country  the  Uni- 
ted States  Government  had  made  ar- 
rangements for  transportation  to  the 
Russian  frontier.  The  ship  arrived  at 
Hango,  Finland,  on  Jan.  17,  after  a 
perilous  passage  through  former  mine 
areas,  and  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
the  undersirables  were  disembarked,  and 
marched  to  the  special  train  which  would 
carry  them  back  to  Russia. 

When  the  passengers  landed  they  were 
the  object  of  many  curious  gazers.  Emma 
Goldman,  in  conversing  with  a  reporter, 
denounced  the  deportation  as  "  unfair 
and  stupid,"  declaring  that  the  anarchist 
or  Bolshevist  idea  could  not  be  killed 
by  such  methods.  She  declared  that  she 
and  Alexander  Berkman  would  not  re- 
main in  Soviet  Russia,  but  would  return 


DEPORTATION  OF  ALIEN  ANARCHISTS 


2T3 


to  America  "  to  save  it."  The  train  that 
took  the  agitators  from  Hango  reached 
Viborg  the  following  day,  where  it  was 
sidetracked  to  await  the  British  prison- 
ers' relief  train.  In  anticipation  of  their 
arrival,  which  had  been  announced  by 
the  Finnish  Government,  the  Soviet  mili- 
tary forces  ceased  all  shooting  on  the 
front  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  train 
was  taken  to  Terijoki  (about  two  miles 
from  the  Soviet  frontier)  under  Finnish 
military  guards  and  American  marines. 
In  the  afternoon  of  Jan.  19  the  de- 
portees entered  Soviet  Russia  and  were 
received  by  a  delegation  which  included 
the  wife  of  Maxim  Gorky.  Laden  with 
suitcases  and  boxes  they  trudged  through 
the  deep  snow,  laughing  and  singing  rev- 
olutionary songs  as  they  neared  the  bor- 
der. Cheers  were  raised  by  the  Russians, 
waiting  for  them  on  the  other  side  of  the 
frozen  Systerbak  River,  which  separates 
the  Finnish  and  Bolshevist  lines.  Will- 
ing hands  helped  them  to  scramble  up  the 
steep  banks,  and  amid  the  ruins  of  the 
war- wrecked  town  of  Blelo-Ostrov,  over- 
looking the  stream,  the  Bolsheviki  gave 
the  exiles  a  vociferous  greeting.  The 
nature  of  their  reception  by  the  Soviet 
Government  was  still  uncertain. 

LEGISLATURE    EXPELS    SOCIALISTS 

Another  event  in  the  campaign  against 
persons  of  anti-governmental  tendencies 
was  the  exclusion  of  five  Socialist  mem- 
bers, duly  elected,  from  the  New  York 
State  Legislature.  Lined  up  before 
Speaker  Sweet  at  the  opening  session  of 
Jan.  7,  they  were  severely  arraigned  for 
their  adherence  to  a  party  whose  plat- 
form was  inimical  to  the  State  and  to  the 
country  alike,  and  then  excluded  pending 
an  investigation  by  the  Assembly  Judi- 
ciary Committee  on  their  qualifications 
for  membership.  The  excluded  men 
were  Samuel  A.  Dewitt,  Samuel  Orr, 
Charles  Solomon,  Louis  Waldman,  and 
August  Claessens.  This  action  of  the 
House,  which  created  a  sensation,  was 
taken  under  a  resolution  introduced  by 
Majority  Leader  Simon  L.  Adler  and 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  140  to  6.  In  the 
preamble  to  the  resolution  introduced 
was  included  the  fact  that  the  Socialist 
Party  had  taken  a  stand  in  direct  opposi- 


tion to  the  war,  even  after  the  United 
States  had  become  a  belligerent. 

The  unseated  Socialists  at  once  issued 
a  joint  protest  and  found  many  defend- 
ers, including  Governor  Smith,  Justice 
Hughes,  and  others  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  cause  which  they  represented,  but 
disapproving  of  the  method  by  which 
their  exclusion  had  been  effected.  Many 
articles  in  the  press  voiced  disapproval  of 
the  method  of  exclusion.  The  Socialist 
organization  in  New  York  City  at  once 
formulated  plans  for  the  defense  and  re- 
instatement of  the  excluded  members,  in- 
cluding an  appeal  for  aid  to  the  labor 
unions.  Charges  made  by  the  unseated 
Socialists  that  in  the  anti-radical  cam- 
paign of  the  Lusk  Investigation  Com- 
mittee, Soviet  papers  revealing  trade 
secrets  had  been  transmitted  to  the  Brit- 
ish Secret  Service  were  denied  categor- 
ically by  Senator  Lusk  in  person.  Sub- 
sequently the  barred  Socialists  reiterated 
these  charges.  The  Young  Republican 
Club  and  twelve  churches  on  Jan.  12  de- 
nounced the  action  of  the  State  Assem- 
bly, and  the  commotion  grew.  Speaker 
Sweet,  meanwhile,  in  his  reply  to  the  let- 
ter of  Justice  Hughes  criticising  the 
Legislature's  action,  again  condemned  the 
attitude  of  the  Socialist  Party  and 
promised  the  disbarred  Socialists  a 
"  square  deal." 

ANTI-RED    DRIVE   CONTINUES 

Meanwhile  the  Government's  campaign 
against  all  Red  agitators  continues. 
Some  200  Reds  were  taken  in  Chicago 
on  Jan.  1,.  and  the  authorities  of  this 
city  declared  their  intention  to  wipe  out 
all  sedition  in  their  boundary.  Raids 
from  coast  to  coast  were  published  on 
the  day  following.  Wholesale  arrests 
had  been  made  in  thirty-three  cities 
throughout  the  country;  the  total  number 
of  arrests  reached  nearly  2,000.  Thou- 
sands of  agitators  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  United  States  were  appre- 
hended. Raids  on  thirteen  radical  cen- 
tres of  New  York  occurred  on  Jan.  3, 
including  a  raid  on  the  offices  of  the 
radical  Russian  local  paper,  the  Novy 
Mir  (New  World) ;  800  warrants  had 
been  issued  in  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey alone.     At  the  same  date  some  800 


234 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


additional  Reds  were  arrested  in  New 
England,  and  quantities  of  radical  liter- 
ature and  several  Communal  charters 
were  seized.  The  Federal  authorities  had 
issued  in  all  some  4,000  warrants  and 
declared  that  they  would  serve  them  all. 
Out  of  5,000  arrests  Department  of  Jus- 
tice figures  showed  that  2,635  aliens 
were  held  on  evidence  thought  sufficient 
to  cause  their  deportation.  TJhis  number 
was  subsequently  increased  to  nearly 
3,000  "  perfect  cases."  Evidence  had 
been  revealed  that  the  aliens  had  de- 
liberately fomented  two  large  strikes,  the 
steel  and  coal  strikes,  with  a  view  to 
revolution,  had  conducted  widespread 
propaganda  among  laborers,  and  had  ac- 
cumulated a  large  fund  with  which  to 
bail  out  arrested  workers  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  revolutionary  cause. 

A  drastic  sedition  bill  was  presented 
to  the  House  on  Jan.  5  by  Representative 
Graham  of  Pennsylvania,  which  provided 
for  deportation  of  convicted  aliens,  as 
well  as  a  death  penalty  for  citizens 
proved  guilty  of  treason  against  the 
United  States  Government  or  who, 
through  riotous  incitements,  caused  the 
death  of  an  innocent  person. 

Among  the  papers  seized,  it  was 
stated  by  the  Federal   agents,   evidence 


had  been  obtained  of  the  collusion  of  C. 
A.  K.  Martens,  the  Soviet  "  Ambassa- 
dor "  to  the  United  States,  with  sub- 
versive agitators.  A  Federal  warrant 
on  this  ground  was  issued  on  Jan.  8,  at 
a  time  when  Martens  and  his  secretary, 
S.  Nuorteva,  and  other  assistants  were 
lodged  in  Washington  at  a  hotel  within 
three  blocks  of  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice. Martens  himself  could  not  be  found 
by  the  Federal  agents,  but  when  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  Senate  In- 
vestigation Committee  assurance  was 
given  by  Nuorteva  that  he  would  appear. 
The  subpoenas  served  involved  Martens 
himself,  Mr.  Nuorteva,  and  Gregory 
Weinstein,  chief  clerk  of  the  Soviet  Bu- 
reau, interned  at  Ellis  Island,  and  were 
devised  to  obtain  evidence  whether  the 
activities  of  Martens  in  the  United 
States  had  been  of  a  seditious  character 
or  not.  Meanwhile  the  Federal  warrant 
was  held  in  abeyance  and  Martens's  ar- 
rest deferred. 

It  was  stated  on  Jan.  5  that  Ellis  Isl- 
and was  overcrowded  with  arrested  Reds, 
who  numbered  nearly  2,000.  All  new  ar- 
rivals, it  was  stated,  would  be  sent  to 
Camp  Upton.  Meanwhile  legal  activities 
were  proceeding  to  expedite  the  trials 
and  deportation  of  all  proved  guilty. 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


French  Dead  Since  Armistice 

SIX  HUNDRED  French  officers  and 
28,000  men  died  in  the  year  following 
the  armistice  of  wounds  received  in 
battle,  according  to  the  Home  Sector,  the 
ex-soldiers'  magazine.  France's  total 
war  deaths,  according  to  the  most  recent 
official  statement  of  losses  issued  at 
Paris,  were  thereby  brought  to  1,383,000. 
It  was  further  shown  that  France  had 
suffered  half  her  casualties  in  the  first 
third  of  the  war,  and  up  to  two  months 
before  America  entered  it,  with  491,000 
casualties  from  August,  1914,  to  Feb- 
ruary, 1916.  The  most  dearly  won  vic- 
tory was  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne, 
with  a  total  loss  for  August  and  Septem- 


ber, 1914,  of  329,000.  By  adding  to  the 
number  of  dead,  1,383,000,  the  507,800 
prisoners  alive  at  the  close  of  the  war 
and  the  2,800,000  poilus  wounded  in  ac- 
tion, a  French  casualty  total  of  4,690,800 
is  obtained.  In  presenting  the  loan  bill 
before  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  on  Dec. 
29,  M.  Klotz,  French  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, made  the  statement  that  France 
had  mobilized  9,000,000  men  for  war.  The 
total  expense  of  the  war  had  been  220,- 

000,000,000  francs. 

*     *    * 

Germans  Severed  Cables 

IN  the  annual  report  of  the  Chief  Sig- 
nal   Officer    of    the    United    States 
Army,  Major  Gen.  George  O.  Squier  tells 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


235 


the  story  of  how  the  German  submarines, 
while  operating  off  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
succeeded  in  accomplishing  part  of  a  gi- 
gantic German-Austrian  plan  to  cut  all 
cables  and  destroy  all  high-power  radio 
stations  on  the  American  coast.  The 
army  was  informed  of  this  plot  by  the 
navy,  which  based  its  knowledge  on  relia- 
ble sources.  Two  submarine  cables  were 
cut  on  May  28,  1918,  at  a  point  about 
100  miles  from  New  York.  Both  the 
New  York-Canso,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the 
New  York-Panama  cable  failed  to  func- 
tion on  this  date.  Both  were  soon  re- 
paired. German  submarines  were  oper- 
ating at  this  time  off  the  coast.  Cable 
experts  established  the  fact  that  the 
cables  had  been  cut,  and  not  merely  worn 
out  or  damaged  by  ordinary  causes. 
*     *     * 

Italy's  Triumph  Over  Austria 
TT7HILE  Marshal  Foch  still  warns  the 
»  *  world  of  Germany's  future  men- 
ace to  France,  Italy  looks  with  satisfac- 
tion at  the  treaty  of  St.  Germain,  behold- 
ing to  the  east  the  accomplished  destruc- 
tion of  her  age-long  enemy,  Austria.  A 
contributor  to  the  Rassegna  Italiana  says 
in  this  connection: 

The  Treaty  of  St.  Germain,  which  con- 
secrates with  the  destruction  of  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire  the  vast  vic- 
tory of  our  arms,  was  signed  at  a  time 
when  the  indecent  tumult  of  Red 
demagogy  and  the  turpitude  of  the  neu- 
tral Giolittan  doctrine  raged  in  Italy 
over  that  monument  of  squalid  political 
mentality  known  as  the  Investigation  of 
Caporetto.  The  agitators,  in  stirring  up 
the  dregs  of  our  nation,  sought  to  cover 
up  the  significance  of  the  act  and  its 
effects.  They  also  sought,  profiting  by 
the  disorder  and  excitement  created  in 
the  minds  of  the  Italians  by  the  painful 
events  at  the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris, 
to  transform  our  indisputable  triumph 
into  an  essential  defeat.  But  the  Italian 
people  know  that,  although  a  coalition  of 
interests  opposes  the  realization  of  all 
Italy's  aspirations,  it  is  no  less  true  that 
the  victory  won  through  her  decision,  her 
sacrifice,  her  endurance,  is  infinitely 
great.  And  of  this  the  Treaty  of  St.  Ger- 
main is   proof. 

While  France  still  trembles  before  the 
slow  reorganization  of  her  implacable  ad- 
versary, we  Italians  can  look  both  toward 
the  east  and  toward  the  north  with  com- 
plete and  calm  assurance.  The  formidable 
empire  which  threatened  and  plotted 
again*   our  future  is  no  more.     To  the 


north  it  is  reduced  to  a  small,  unstable 
republic,  which  we,  from  the  strong  sum- 
mits of  the  Brennero,  look  down  upon 
watchfully,  and  which  perhaps  magnani- 
mous to  the  weak  and  vanquished  we 
may  even  protect.  Toward  the  east  it 
has  dissolved  into  a  series  of  little  States 
which  a  blind  and  absurd  diplomacy  has 
vainly  sought  to  confederate  for  a  little 
space.  And  though  our  Adriatic  situa- 
tion is  not  yet  fixed,  it  is  certainly  not 
Jugoslavia  that  can  frighten  us  in  the 
future !  So,  we  repeat,  we  may  now 
breathe  freely,  for  we  have  thrown  from 
off  our  shoulders  an  enormous  weight. 
With  full  freedom  of  movement  we  shall 
now  be  able  to  take  up  again  our  trium- 
phant way  of  world  expansion. 

After  asserting  that  the  Jugoslavs 
have  inherited  the  Austrian  traditions 
of  hostility  toward  Italy,  as  shown  at 
Paris  and  at  Zagreb  (Agram),  the  cap- 
ital of  Jugoslavia,  and  protesting  against 
the  decision  of  the  Peace  Conference  to 
throw  all  the  onus  of  reparation  on  Aus- 
tria and  Hungary,  although  the  Slavic 
elements  of  the  former  empire  fiercely 
and  consistently  fought  against  Italy  and 
her  allies,  this  writer  continues: 

Peace  in  the  Adriatic  still  remains, 
therefore,  in  abeyance.  But  with  the 
Treaty  of  St.  Germain  peace  in  the  Al- 
pine region  'has  been  solidly  established. 
The  question  of  the  Germans  of  Upper 
Adige  will  be  solved  by  the  generosity  of 
Italy.  Within  a  few  years  that  popula- 
tion of  diverse  races  like  the  Slavs  of 
Italian  Dalmatia,  will  be  glad  to  have 
our  aid  and  protection.  *  *  *  The  Alps 
will  always  remain  cur  natural  bulwark. 
They  will  be,  with  their  crests  and  for- 
midable ridges,  the  most  worthy  monu- 
ment for  that  resplendent  victory  which 
the  Treaty  of  St.  Germain  has  forever 
consecrated. 

*     *     * 

Belgium's  National  Heroine 

MLLE.  GABRIELLE  PETIT,  the 
Belgian  national  heroine,  who  suf- 
fered the  same  fate  as  Miss  Edith 
Cavell,  is  to  have  a  monument  erected  to 
her  memory  in  Brussels.  The  Ligue  des 
Patriotes  of  that  city  has  opened  a  pub- 
lic subscription  for  this  purpose,  and  the 
British  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  making 
an  appeal  for  support  of  the  movement, 
documented  with  a  short  history  of  Mile. 
Petit,  from  which  The  London  Times 
prints  the  following  extracts : 

At  her  mock  trial,  alone,  without  aid  of 
any  kind,  she  stood  up  and  faced  her 
Judges,  telling  them  to  put  an  end  to  such  a 


236 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


parody  of  justice.  To  the  question :  Why- 
did  you  enter  the  service  of  espionage?  She 
replied : 

"  From  hatred  of  your  system  and  from 
love  of  my  country.  But  I  am  not  a  spy 
like  your  spies.  You  have  no  business  to 
be  here  at  all.  You  have  broken  all  your 
promises  and  are  acting  against  every 
principle  of  right." 

"  If  you  are  pardoned  what  would  you 
do?" 

"  Begin  again." 

"  You   were  at  the   head   of  hundreds  of 
men,  who  are  your  agents?  " 
"  Don't  insult  me ;  you  know  I  am  inca- 
pable of  such  infamy." 

"  Your  crime  is  enormous.  You  have  been 
the  cause  of  the  loss  of  several  thousand 
German  soldiers." 

"  You  make  me  very  happy.  I  have  taken 
all  my  precautions,  and  the  service  will 
continue  just  as  though  I  were  there." 

"  You  will  be  pardoned  if  you  will  only 
give  some  indications  about  your  organiza- 
tion." 

"  No,  a  thousand  times,  no." 

Condemned  to  death  on  March  3,  1915, 
Gabrielle  Petit  was  not  executed  until  April 
1.  It  was  during  this  interminable  month 
that  her  brutal  persecutors  tried  by  every 
means  in  their  power  to  induce  her  to  be- 
tray her  accomplices,  but  all  to  no  pur- 
pose. 

She  refused  to  sign  a  petition  for  mercy, 
and  at  the  execution  insisted  upon  not  hav- 
ing her  eyes  bandaged.  With  head  erect, 
facing  the  firing  squad,  she  cried,  "  Viva 
la  Belgique,  Vive  le  R    *    *    *  " 

Foch  Divinely  Inspired 

IN  an  interview  published  in  Paris  on 
Jan.  1  Marshal  Foch  declared  that 
he  was  divinely  inspired  to  defeat  the 
Germans,  and  that  the  allied  victory- 
was  willed  by  God.  In  religion  Marshal 
Foch  is  a  devout  Catholic.  In  this  in- 
terview, written  by  the  Marshal's  friend, 
Andre  Demaricourt,  and  printed  in  the 
Echo  de  Paris,  the  French  commander 
describes  how  he  dreamed  of  revenge  on 
Germany  from  the  age  of  17. 

His  victories,  he  said,  were  won  by 
refusing  to  get  excited  and  "  smoking 
his  pipe."  The  war  was  a  war  of  Gov- 
ernments. Germany  had  the  advantage 
of  a  powerful  and  well-trained  army, 
but  the  handicap  of  the  Kaiser,  not  very 
intelligent,  a  bluffer,  a  man  of  hasty 
action,  and  a  bad  judge  of  his  acts.  The 
method  which  Marshal  Foch  followed 
most  successfully  was  to  do  his  work  on 
the  formula,  "  Sufficient  unto  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof."  He  allowed  himself 
only   two    emotions,   because   they   were 


agents  of  power,  the  two  opposed  ideas 
of  the  consequences  of  defeat  and  vic- 
tory. 

He  had  willed  victory.  To  attain  it 
he  had  always  remembered  that  funda- 
mental human  nature  never  changes. 
The  will  to  conquer  must  be  based  on 
confidence,  but  also  it  must  be  combined 
with  the  skillful  use  of  means.  The  two 
together  were  bound  to  be  irresistible  in 
the  long  run.  His  first  task  was  to  in- 
spire his  war-weary,  jaded  soldiers  with 
his  own  will  to  victory.  This  he  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing.  The  Marshal 
continued  as  follows: 

And  now  do  not  speak  to  me  of  glory 
or  the  beauty  of  enthusiasm.  They  are 
only  words.  Guard  yourself  in  France 
against  these  expressions.  They  are  use- 
less. They  are  lost  strength.  "  The  war 
is  finished."  That  is  one  expression  that 
is  good,  but  epithets  as  well  as  fancy 
phrases  are  worth  nothing.  Nothing  sur- 
vives except  acts,  because  acts  alone 
count. 

Here  is  one  act  that  gives  me  satisfac- 
tion. It  was  the  meeting  at  Rethondes. 
That  was  an  act.  That  act  marked  the 
decomposition  of  the  German  Empire,  and 
I  saw  Erzberger  with  rage  seize  his  pen 
and  sign  that  act.  And  then  I  was  con- 
tent to  have  willed  it  and  to  have  known 
how  to  employ  the  means,  for  the  busi- 
ness was  done. 

When  in  a  historic  moment  a  vision  is 
given  to  a  man  and  when  in  consequence 
he  finds  that  this  vision  has  determined 
movements  of  enormous  importance  in  a 
formidable  war,  I  believe  that  this  vision— 
and  I  think  I  had  it  at  the  Marne,  on  the 
Yser  and  on  March  26 — comes  from  a 
providential  power  in  the  hand  of  which 
one  is  the  instrument,  and  I  believe  that 
the  victorious  decision  was  sent  to  me 
from  on  high  by  a  will  superior  and  di- 
vine. 

*      *      * 

Franco-Italian  Pact 

IN  an  address  made  by  Camille  Bar- 
rere,  the  French  Ambassador  at 
Rome,  on  New  Year's  Day,  the  exist- 
ence of  a  secret  treaty  concluded  between 
France  and  Italy  in  1902  unknown  to  the 
Central  Powers  was  for  the  first  time 
publicly  revealed.  M.  Barrere  denied  that 
this  was  an  example  of  "  secret  diplo- 
macy "  and  pointed  out  the  unwisdom  of 
giving  out  public  negotiations,  perfectly 
legitimate  in  themselves,  such  as  this  de- 
fensive and  offensive  alliance  between 
France  and  Italy  was,  at  moments  when 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


237 


their  publication  would  have  had  unfor- 
tunate results.  M.  Barrere  continued  as 
follows: 

Proof  of  this  has  just  been  demonstrated 
in  a  striking  manner.  The  Franco-Italian 
agreement  of  1900,  eliminating  all  causes 
of  conflict  in  the  Mediterranean  and 
tracing  reciprocal  spheres  of  influence  in 
Africa,  was  followed  by  an  agreement  in 
1902  establishing  that  in  case  of  an  ag- 
gressive war  either  country  would  main- 
tain strict  neutrality,  even  in  case  one  of 
them  was  obliged  to  declare  war  to  de- 
fend her  honor  and  safety.  What  the  two 
Governments  agreed  to  contained  nothing 
clandestine,  nothing  which  could  not  be 
confessed.  But  if  we  recall  the  situation 
in  Europe  than  it  will  be  easily  under- 
stood that  knowledge  of  the  agreements 
by  those  who  had  an  interest  in  making 
them  ineffective  would  have  been  a  grave 
danger. 

France  still  wanted  peace  while  the 
Central  Powers  prepared  for  war.  If  the 
Teuton  powers  had  known  the  ties  about 
to  be  established  between  the  two  great 
Latin  peoples  they  would  have  done 
everything  to  break  them  off.  Such  an 
attempt  would  have  put  the  peace  of  the 
world  in  danger,  hastened  the  hour  in 
which  our  adversaries  determined  to  con- 
solidate their  hegemony  by  iron  and  fire. 
The  French  and  Italian  Governments 
were  therefore  wise  to  keep  their  agree- 
ments a  secret,  which  was  never  vio- 
lated. 

*      *      * 

Dunkirk's  Ordeal 

THE  courageous  part  played  by  the 
City  of  Dunkirk  on  the  English 
Channel  during  the  world  war  is  the 
subject  of  a  book  by  Henri  Malot, 
"  Dunkerque,  Ville  Heroique,"  recently 
published  in  France.  The  book  portrays 
the  dauntless  attitude  of  the  little  city's 
inhabitants  during  four  years  of  fero- 
cious bombardment.  The  Mayor  of  the 
city,  Henri  Terquem,  was  a  man  equal 
to  the  crisis,  and  his  sane  judgment  and 
unshakable  calm  were  of  infinite  value 
during  those  trying  years.  His  official 
notices,  many  of  which  M.  Malot  gives 
as  an  appendix  to  his  work,  show  all  the 
difficulties  he  had  to  meet,  and  how 
he  met  them. 

From  its  value  as  a  port  of  communi- 
cation with  England,  Dunkirk,  itself  once 
the  inveterate  enemy  of  England, 
naturally  became  the  object  of  incessant 
German  attack.  The  impossibility  of  cap- 
turing the  town  became  apparent  to  the 
Germans  after  the  battle  of  the  Yser  in 


October,  1914.  Its  destruction  was  then 
attempted  by  bombardments  which 
lasted  from  October  of  that  year  to  the 
October  following.  Airplane  attacks 
were  of  daily  occurrence,  until  defense 
by  gunfire  from  below  and  by  counter- 
attack in  the  air  was  organized. 

In  April,  1915,  shells  from  a  long- 
range  gun  on  the  land  side  began  to 
cause  heavy  damage  and  the  loss  of 
more  lives;  later,  bombardment  from  the 
sea  by  German  destroyers  was  resorted 
to  whenever  the  allied  fleet  could  be 
outwitted.  On  some  occasions  all  three 
methods  of  attack  were  used  against  the 
martyrized  town  at  the  same  time.  The 
month  of  September,  1917,  was  one  of 
the  most  trying  which  the  Dunkirkers 
had  to  endure. 

The  spirit  of  the  population  through- 
out was  one  of  calm  resolution.  All  per- 
sons whose  presence  was  unnecessary 
were  removed;  civic  activities,  largely 
increased  by  the  war,  were  continued; 
schools  and  institutions  remained  open; 
the  work  of  the  port  proceeded,  and 
retail  trade  was  vigorously  pursued.  No 
needless  risks  were  run,  but  it  soon  be- 
came a  tacit  obligation  to  clear  up  the 
debris  resulting  from  each  raid  and  each 
terrific  bombardment  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  to  go  on  with  work  as  before.  By 
their  fortitude,  under  trying  circum- 
stances, the  Dunkirkers  proved  them- 
selves both  good  Frenchmen  and  good 
Flemings,  and  well  deserved  the  ap- 
probation bestowed  on  their  town  by  a 
General  Order  of  the  French  Army  in 
the  phrase  Ville  heroique,  qui  sert 
d'exemple  a  toute  la  nation." 
*     *     * 

War  Memoirs 
A  NOTEWORTHY  aftermath  of  the 
**■  great  war  has  been  the  multiplicity 
of  war  memoirs  published  by  former  Gen- 
erals, statesmen,  and  diplomats.  This 
whole  series,  one  may  say,  was  begun  in 
England  by  Lord  French  in  his  sensa- 
tional and  much  attacked  book  "  1914," 
and  continued  with  scores  of  other  similar 
works,  such  as  "The  Grand  Fleet,"  by 
Lord  Jellicoe;  "  Memories  "  and  "  Rec- 
ords," by  that  original  and  temperament- 
al Admiral  of  the  navy,  Lord  Fisher,  and 
the  complete  collection  of  Lord  Haig's 
dispatches,     supplemented    by    his    own 


238 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


notes  and  provided  with  a  preface  by 
Marshal  Foch. 

But  it  was  not  only  the  victors  who  had 
to  explain  their  conduct  of  the  war.  The 
German  failure  and  defeat  have  been  dis- 
cussed in  detail  in  "  My  War  Memories," 
by  General  Ludendorff ;  in  "  Memoirs,"  by 
General  von  Hindenburg;  in  "  My  Mem- 
ories," by  Grand  Admiral  von  Tirpitz; 
"  Reflections  of  the  World  War,"  by  von 
Bethmann-Hollweg;  "  In  the  World  War," 
by  Count  Czernin;  "  General  Headquar- 
ters, 1914-16,  and  Its  Critical  Decisions," 
by  General  van  Falkenhayn,  and  a  series 
ef  memoirs  by  Dr.  Helfferich,  former 
Vice  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire. 

Some  of  these  memoir  writers  have 
made  vast  sums  from  the  sale  of  domes- 
tic and  foreign  rights  of  publication. 
Hindenburg,  for  instance,  received  4,000,- 
000  marks;  Ludendorff,  3,500,000;  Tir- 
pitz, 900,000;  Bethmann  Hollweg,  250,- 
000;  Falkenhayn,  180,000;  Helfferich, 
275,000.  At  the  end  of  December  both 
Admiral  von  Scheer,  who  asserts  that  he 
won  the  battle  of  Jutland,  and  Count  von 
Bernstorff  were  also  busily  engaged  upon 

their  memoirs. 

*     *     * 

GOTHEIN  ON  U-BOATS 

ONE  of  the  memoir  writers  included  in 
the  enumeration  given  above,  Dr. 
Helfferich,  then  Vice  Chancellor  of  the 
German  Empire,  in  September,  1916, 
spoke  certain  words  which  were  destined 
to  be  prophetic.    They  were: 

If  the  card  of  ruthless  U-fooat  war  is 
played,  and  it  is  not  a  trump-card,  then 
we  are  lost  for  centuries  to  come. 

The  card  was  played,  it  was  not  a 
trump  card,  and  Germany,  if  not  lost  for 
centuries  to  come,  must  expiate  her 
crimes  through  many  bitter  years.  On 
the  reasons  why  the  card  played  was 
not  a  trump  card,  an  article  in  the 
Achtuhr  Abendblatt  by  the  Reichstag 
Deputy  Gothein,  published  in  December, 
throws  considerable  light. 

The  main  cause  of  the  German  sub- 
marine failure,  says  Deputy  Gothein,  was 
the  quarrel  between  the  German  U-boat 
Inspection  Department  and  the  Arma- 
ment Department  of  the  Imperial  Minis- 
try of  Marine  over  the  calibre  of  the 
guns   with   which   the    submarines   were 


mounted.  The  U-boat  Inspection  de- 
manded guns  of  88  millimeter^;  the  Arm- 
ament Department,  jealous  of  its  prerog- 
atives, insisted  on  retaining  guns  of 
smaller  calibre.  The  Inspection  continued 
trying  to  get  the  guns,  but  even  Admiral 
von  Tirpitz  favored  the  smaller  calibre. 
The  Inspection  by  insistence  finally  in- 
duced a  change,  but  too  late  to  influence 
the  result. 

The  merchantmen  of  the  Entente  were 
armed  with  102  and  125  millimeter  guns, 
says  Deputy  Gothein,  yet  it  was  not  until 
1916  that  105s  were  allotted  to  German 
submarines.  When  the  Germans  discov- 
ered their  mistakes,  the  Allies  had  al- 
ready perfected  their  defensive  measures 
against  submarine  attack.  With  at  least 
88  millimeter  guns  from  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  Deputy  Gothein  declares  Ger- 
many could,  without  even  violating  inter- 
national law,  have  destroyed  so  much 
tonnage  that  England  would  soon  have 
been  eager  for  peace. 
*     *     * 

Rheims  Shelling  Wanton 

IN  reminiscences  of  the  first  battle  of 
the  Marne,  published  in  Berlin  toward 
the  end  of  December,  Lieut.  Gen.  Baron 
von  Hausen,  who  had  commanded  the 
Saxon  Third  Army,  admitted  that  Rheims 
Cathedral  was  damaged  by  German  shell 
fire  for  the  first  time  on  Sept.  4,  1914, 
when  the  Prussian  Guard  of  von  Buelow' 
bombarded  the  city  for  two  hours,  after 
it  had  been  occupied  an  entire  day  by 
von  Hausen's  Saxon  troops.  From  his 
own  statements,  however,  it  appears  that 
he  took  the  city  ahead  of  the  time  sched- 
uled by  von  Buelow,  and  did  not  notify 
the  latter  of  its  capture.  Ostensibly,  he 
says,  the  bombardment  was  ordered  be- 
cause of  the  failure  of  three  couriers  to 
the  city  to  return,  although  none  of  these 
couriers  had  actually  reached  the  city. 
After  the  bombardment  on  Sept.  4,  von 
Buelow  sent  word  that  he  had  imposed  a 
fine  of  50,000,000  francs,  which  would  be 
increased  to  100,000,000  if  the  couriers 
were  not  released  within  two  days.  Dis- 
cussing the  question  in  the  light  of  von 
Hausen's  memoirs,  the  Vossische  Zeitung 
threw  the  chief  guilt  "for  the  fearful 
act "  unquestionably  on  Lieut.  Gen.  von 
Hausen  for  his  failure  to  notify  von  Bue- 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


239 


low  of  the  city's  capture,  thus  exposing 
his  own  troops  in  Rheims  to  the  subse- 
quent bombardment. 

*     *     * 

Pershing  Denies  Life  Waste 

CHARGES  made  before  a  House  War 
Investigation  Committee  at  Wash- 
ington that  lives  of  American  soldiers 
had  been  wasted  in  needless  attacks  on 
armistice  day  were  absolutely  denied  by 
General  Pershing  in  a  letter  made  public 
on  Jan.  10,  addressed  to  a  Republican 
Representative.  General  Pershing  said 
that  the  American  forces  were  acting 
under  instructions  issued  by  Marshal 
Foch  to  all  allied  commanders  on  Nov. 
9,  1918,  and  that  orders  for  attack  were 
withdrawn  as  soon  as  possible  after  he 
was  advised  of  the  signing  of  the  armi- 
stice. He  also  said  statements  that 
American  troops  were  ordered  to  attack, 
while  French  divisions  remained  sta- 
tionary, were  wholly  erroneous.  The 
signing  of  the  armistice,  he  pointed  out, 
was  at  5  A.  M.,  the  exact  time  when  the 
92d  Division  charged.  On  Nov.  11  not 
only  the  Americans,  but  also  the  French, 
British,  and  Belgian  lines  attacked  and 
advanced.  Neither  the  French  nor  the 
American  military  authorities,  General 
Pershing  declared,  had  been  wasteful  of 
the  lives  under  their  command.  General 
Pershing's  letter  was  written  in  reply  to 
charges  contained  in  a  letter  to  the  same 
Representative  from  Captain  George 
K.  Livermore  of  Winchester,  Mass.,  for- 
merly Operations  Officer  of  the  167th 
Field  Artillery  Brigade  of  the  97th 
(negro)  Division. 

*     *     * 

China's  ex-President  Dies 

FORMER  PRESIDENT  FENG  KUO- 
CHANG  died  in  Peking  on  Dec.  30. 
In  a  circular  telegram  issued  from  his 
deathbed  to  warring  Governors  of  China 
he  urged  cessation  of  civil  strife  and 
reconciliation  between  the  factions  of 
the  north  and  south.  Feng  Kuo-chang 
had  won  considerable  fame  in  China  as 
a  General;  his  successes  in  suppressing 
two  revolutions  had  gained  for  him  the 
rank  of  Field  Marshal.  On  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  republic,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Chief  of  the  President's  Mili- 
tary   Council.     After   the   revolution   of 


1913,  when  he  received  his  Marshal's 
baton,  he  was  elected  Vice  President  of 
the  republic,  with  Li  Yuan-hung  as 
President.  On  the  latter's  resignation,  in 
1917,  Feng  Kuo-chang  became  Acting 
President,  and  retained  the  office  until 
the  regular  election  of  Shu  Shi-chang 
in  September,  1918.  When  the  Chinese 
Cabinet  declared  war  on  Germany  and 
Austria  in  August,  1917,  President  Feng 
approved  its  decision. 

*  *     * 

Radio  Station  at  Bordeaux 

IT  was  announced  on  Jan.  9  that  con- 
struction work  on  the  giant  Lafay- 
ette radio  station  at  Bordeaux,  which 
was  begun  about  two  years  ago,  was 
being  finished  at  the  request  and  at  the 
expense  of  France  by  the  American 
Navy.  When  completed  this  will  be  one 
of  the  most  powerful  wireless  stations  in 
the  world.  Its  original  object  was  the 
facilitation  of  communication  between 
the  United  States  and  the  American  Ex- 
peditionary Forces  in  France.  When  the 
armistice  was  signed  the  French  Govern- 
ment asked  the  United  States  Navy  to 
complete  the  station  because  it  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  plans  and  had  a  force 
of  experienced  workmen  on  the  spot. 

*  *     * 

Home  Rule  for  Malta 
T"1  HE  British  Government  has  decided 
-*-  to  give  the  inhabitants  of  Malta 
full  control  of  their  domestic  Govern- 
ment. This  decision  emerges  with  promi- 
nence, as  a  result  of  the  rioting  in  Malta 
in  the  Summer  of  1919.  The  step  was 
taken  with  the  full  agreement  of  the 
Governor,  General  Plumer,  who  arrived 
in  the  island  immediately  after  the  dis- 
orders had  occurred.  The  decision  was 
phrased  by  the  Under  Secretary  of  the 
Colonies  as  follows :  "  To  intrust  the 
people  of  Malta  with  full,  responsible 
control  of  their  purely  local  affairs." 
The  details  of  the  proposed  Maltese  Con- 
stitution still  remain  to  be  worked  out. 

*  *     *  i 

French  Demand  26,000  Dogs 
rnHE    French   Ministry   of   Agriculture 
■*-   on   Dec.    29   asked   the    Reparations 
Commission  to  demand  of  Germany  26,- 
000  dogs  which  Germany  took  away  from 


240 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


occupied  France.  M.  Noulens,  the  Minis- 
ter of  Agriculture,  contended  that  Ger- 
many should  be  forced  to  restore  the 
stolen  dogs,  and  that  in  cases  where  this 
was  impossible  they  should  be  compelled 
to  replace  them  by  dogs  of  equal  value. 
The  list  for  26,000  dogs  was  presented  at 
the  same  time,  and  M.  Nolens  announced 
that  he  was  working  out  a  plan  for  the 
allotment  by  French  Mayors  of  the  dogs 
that  Germany  must  restore  to  France. 
Among  those,  named  as  instigators  of 
such  thefts  were  General  von  Kluck  and 
Crown  Prince  Rupprecht  of  Bavaria. 

*  *     * 

Huns  and  French  Art 

IN  an  article  by  Mrs.  A.  Kingsley  Por- 
ter in  January  Architecture,  the 
malevolence  of  the  German  treatment  of 
French  works  and  monuments  of  art  is 
described.  Often  great  works  were  de- 
stroyed and  others  of  small  value  pre- 
served. At  St.  Quentin,  which  the  Ger- 
mans took  in  1914  and  held  until  1918, 
they  removed  the  stained  glass  windows 
and  took  them  to  Maubeuge.  The  thir- 
teenth century  choir  grilles  were 
wrenched  from  their  sockets  and  shipped 
to  Germany.  But  the  rose  window 
sketched  on  stone  by  Villard  de  Hone- 
court — a  treasure  six  centuries  old,  and 
the  most  interesting  antiquary  of  all — 
was  left  untouched.  The  blasts  in  forty- 
eight  holes  drilled  in  the  piers  and 
charged  with  dynamite,  for  some  reason 
were  never  exploded — a  German  mystery 

still  unexplained. 

*  *     * 

German  Army's  Collapse 

A  DOCUMENT  issued  by  the  German 
General  Staff  on  Oct.  31,  1918,  and 
published  in  Berne  on  Jan.  8,  1920,  dis- 
proves the  contention  of  von  Hindenburg 
and  Ludendorff  that  the  collapse  of  the 
German  Army  was  caused  by  the  front 
being  stabbed  from  behind,  that  is,  that 
Germany  collapsed  from  internal  revolu- 
tion.    This   document  reads  as  follows: 
The  beginning  of  our  retreat  dates  from 
Aug.   1,   1918,   from  Amiens  owing  to  the 
constant  pressure  of   the  armies  of  Gou- 
raud,   Mangin,   and  Degoutte. 

On  Aug.  8  the  First  French  Army,  un- 
der Debeney,  with  the  Fourth  British 
Army,  under  Rawlinson,  dealt  a  decisive 
blow  with  superior  forces  against  our 
southeastern  position  near  Moreuit,  when 


we  lost  all  our  heavy  artillery.  The 
enemy  here  succeeded  by  tremendous 
dash  in  breaking  through  our  front  and 
driving  us  back  on  Roye.  Similarly  we 
lost  Soissons.  In  three  days  we  had  to 
abandon  twenty-five  kilometers  of  front, 
thus  losing  Montdidier,  while  to  the 
north  the  British  troops  inflicted  a  simi- 
lar loss  on  us,  obliging  us  to  abandon 
Peronne,  &c. 

Our  exhausted  and  used-up  men,  inces- 
santly engaged  since  Spring  in  heavy 
fighting,  could  no  longer  hold  their  own 
against  these  united  exertions  of  the  ene- 
my, who  were  supported  by  fresh  Ameri- 
can and  British  troops.  One  blow  fol- 
lowed another,  and  loss  upon  loss  became 
inevitable  from  lack  of  reserves.  The 
question  of  an  armistice  was  daily  be- 
coming more  urgent. 

*  *      * 

Liquor  Control  in  Italy 

ITALIAN  pi-ohibitionists  in  Rome  on 
Jan.  2  claimed  their  first  notable 
achievement  in  Italy  in  the  issuance  of  a 
decree  by  which  the  sale  of  liquor  con- 
taining more  than  20  per  cent,  alcohol 
would  be  permitted  only  between  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  3  in  the  afternoon  on 
week  days,  and  until  4  on  Saturdays. 
Sales  by  this  decree  must  cease  at  noon 
on  Sundays  and  are  completely  pro- 
hibited on  holidays. 

*  *     * 

First  Australian  Envoy 

MARK  SHELDON,  Australia's  first 
permanent  Commissioner  to  the 
United  States,  arrived  in  New  York  in 
the  first  days  of  January.  A  man  of 
wide  knowledge  and  experience  in  Euro- 
pean matters  as  well  as  one  versed  in 
American  affairs,  his  personality  justi- 
fied his  appointment  by  Premier  Hughes. 
Formerly  Mr.  Sheldon  had  been  the  Man- 
aging Director  of  a  great  mercantile 
house  and  Vice  President  of  the  Sydney 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

*  *     * 

End  of  W.  A.  A.  C. 

IT  was  decided  toward  the  and  of  De- 
cember, 1919,  that  Queen  Mary's  Wom- 
an's Army  Auxiliary  Corps,  which  had 
rendered  most  valuable  service  during 
the  war  both  in  England  and  behind  the 
lines  in  France,  would  cease  to  exist 
as  an  organized  body  with  the  close  of 
the  old  year.  It  was  understood,  how- 
ever, that  a  small  detachment  would  be 
retained  in  connection  with  the  registra- 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


241 


tion  of  war  graves  in  France,  and  a  few 
others  for  administrative  work  in  Eng- 
land. 

*     *     * 

Ambassador  Grey  Departs 

VISCOUNT  GREY,  British  Ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States,  who  had 
arrived  on  Sept.  27,  sailed  back  to  Eng- 
land on  Jan.  3.  Because  of  the  illness  of 
President  Wilson  he  had  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  present  his  credentials  as  pro- 
visional Ambassador  to  the  United 
States.     In   a   shor-t   typewritten   state- 


ment  the   departing    envoy    left    behind 
him  a  message  of  good-will  toward  the 

United  States. 

*     *     * 

Paris  Births  and  Deaths 

A  LARGE  increase  in  the  birth  rate  for 
Paris  was  shown  by  statistics  for 
December,  the  rate  having  doubled  since 
the  beginning  of  1919.  The  percentage 
had  risen  from  approximately  10  to  18 
per  thousand.  The  number  of  deaths  had 
decreased  from  18  to  14  per  thousand. 
The  number  of  marriages  was  increasing. 


Mineral  Wealth  of  the   Sarre   Basin 

What  Germany  Has  Lost 


THE  terms  imposed  upon  Germany  by 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  which  went 
into  force  on  Jan.  10,  1920,  in- 
volve the  loss  of  70  per  cent,  of  her 
iron  ore,  a  third  of  her  coal,  20  per 
cent,  of  her  potash,  and  between  7,500,- 
000  and  8,000,000  of  her  pre-war  popu- 
lation. Nearly  all  the  loss  of  mineral 
wealth  is  in  the  Sarre  Basin,  whose  iron 
and  coal  mines  have  been  awarded  to 
France  as  indemnity  for  the  mines 
which  the  Germans  destroyed  in  the 
Briey  Basin  and  in  the  north  of  France. 
The  mining  and  industrial  region  of  the 
Sarre  Valley  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Merzig,  Tholey,  St.  Wendel;  on  the 
east  by  Frankenholz  and  St.  Ingbert; 
on  the  south  by  Sarreguemines,  Merlen- 
bach,  St.  Avoid,  Falkenberg,  (Faulque- 
mont;)  on  the  west  by  Bolchen  (Boulay) 
and  Hemmersdorf.  The  pit-coal  deposits 
run  northeast  and  southwest,  from 
Frankenholz  in  the  Bavarian  Palatinate 
to  Faulquemont,  and  are  prolonged 
through  Lorraine  to  Mousson;  hence  the 
coal  basin  of  the  Sarre  and  the  mineral 
basin  of  Briey  are  intimately  connected, 
both  economically  and  geologically;  one 
of  the  mining  enterprises  near  Spittel 
even  bears  the  double  name  of  Sarre  et 
Moselle. 

In  the  region  belonging  to  Rhenish 
Prussia,  comprising  Sarrebruck  City, 
Sarrebruck  County,  Merzig,  Sarrelouis, 
Ottweiler,  and  St.  Wendel,  the  basin  of 
the   Sarre  has   a   population  of  616,000 


souls,  mostly  workmen.  Under  the 
armistice  a  distinct  territory  was  or- 
ganized here  under  General  Andlauer, 
commanding  the  18th  French  Division. 
He  administers  it  through  officers  who 
control  the  German  civil  officials. 

As  early  as  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  coal  pockets  of  the  Sarre 
were  exploited,  though  in  an  elemen- 
tary way,  by  the  Princes  of  Nassau- 
Sarrebriick,  then  masters  of  the  country, 
who  saw  here  a  means  of  augmenting 
their  revenue. 

Later  the  Imperial  Government  had 
methodical  studies  made  by  its  en- 
gineers, while  it  exploited  some  mines 
and  opened  up  others.  It  was  pre- 
paring a  general  plan  of  concessions 
when  the  events  of  1814  occurred.  Prus- 
sia, enlightened  especially  by  a  large 
manufacturer,  Henry  Roecking,  claimed 
these  mines;  half  of  them  were  taken 
by  the  first  treaty  of  Paris;  the  second 
treaty,  signed  in  1815,  transferred  to 
Germany  the  remainder;  furthermore, 
all  the  studies  and  plans  made  by  French 
engineers  were  demanded  and  received. 
"  So,"  says  Gustave  Babin,  "  there  was 
taken  from  us  a  possession  which  had 
been  ours  since  Louis  XIV.  and  the 
Treaty  of  Ryswick."  . 

The  majority  of  the  Sarre  mLes  are 
fiscal  mines  belonging  to  the  State  and 
exploited  by  it,  two  belonging  to  Ba- 
varia and  twelve  to  Prussia;  the  Frank- 
enholz concession,  however,  belongs  to  a 


242 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


THE    SARRE    COAL    BASIN.    WHICH    PASSES    FROM    GERMANY    TO    FRANCE    UNDER    THE 
PEACE  TREATY.     THE  SHADED  PORTION  INDICATES  THE  CHIEF  MINING  DISTRICT. 


French  company;  Hostenbach  in  the 
Rhine  province,  and  three  others  in 
Lorraine,  La  Houve,  La  Petite  Rosselle, 
and  Sarre  et  Moselle  also  are  exceptions. 
In  1913  the  coal  production  of  the  basin, 
according  to  documents  communicated  to 
the  International  Geological  Congress, 
totaled  16,600,000  tons.  The  present 
production  falls  befow  this,  a  diminution 
due  to  the  unsettled  conditions  of  the 
last  few  months  of  war.  The  quality  of 
the  coal  produced  is  mediocre;  from  the 
viewpoint  of  industry  it  furnishes  a  type 
of  coke  which  can  be  used  in  furnaces  of 
small  dimensions  only. 

The  coal  deposits  of  the  Sarre  led  to 
the  creation  of  flourishing  industries, 
which  have  undergone  great  develop- 
ment during  the  last  four  years;  Sarre- 
bruck  in  1870  possessed  only  7,000  in- 
habitants; today  it  has  120,000.  Metal- 
lurgy is  the  most  important  of  these  re- 
gional industries;  glassmaking  and 
ceramics  come  next.  Pre-war  statistics 
showed  a  population  of  45,000  workmen 
and   56,000  miners;   to  these  should  be 


added  the  16,500  mineworkers  of  Petite 
Rosselle,  Sarre  et  Moselle,  and  La  Houve, 
making  a  sum  total  of  about  100,000 
workmen.  The  whole  country  is  one 
vast  factory. 

An  article  in  Die  Woche  of  March  8, 
1919,  from  the  pen  of  Professor  Her- 
mann Oncken  of  Heidelberg,  attacked 
vigorously  the  French  contention  that 
historical  precedents  justified  annexa- 
tion of  the  Sarre  Basin  to  France.  From 
the  viewpoint  of  self-determination  of 
nations,  he  declared,  there  could  be  no 
question  that  the  French  demand  was 
unjust,  as  the  district  was  wholly  Ger- 
man in  race  and  speech.  As  for  his- 
torical precedent,  the  Sarre  district  had 
been  German  from  the  ninth  century; 
French  possession  was,  so  to  speak, 
merely  an  interruption  of  German  own- 
ership, and  proved  to  be  temporary. 

No  mention  was  made  in  this  article  of 
the  French  claim  that  France  needs  the 
coal  mines  of  the  Sarre  to  make  good 
the  destruction  of  her  coal  mines  by  the 
Germans  in  the  north  of  France. 


Feeding  Hungry  Europe 

Extensive  Relief  Measures 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  20,  1920] 


TRGENT  and  pitiful  appeals  for  aid 
^  for  the  inhabitants  of  Poland,  Aus- 
tria, Armenia,  were  made  late  in  Decem- 
ber and  throughout  January.  The  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  announced  on  Jan.  4  that, 
out  of  a  fund  of  $30,000,000  available  for 
its  work  in  1920,  $15,000,000  had  been  set 
aside  for  European  relief,  $13,750,000  for 
use  at  home,  and  $1,250,000  for  complet- 
ing its  programme  in  Siberia. 

Carter  Glass,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, on  Jan.  10,  in  a  letter  sent  to  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  appealed  for 
an  appropriation  of  $150,000,000  to  aid 
the  starving  inhabitants  of  Poland, 
Armenia,  and  Austria,  giving  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  distressing  situation 
existing  in  those  countries.  Norman 
Davis,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, presented  additional  details  of  con- 
ditions which,  he  said,  must  be  reme- 
died to  prevent  actual  starvation  and  the 
spread  of  Bolshevism.  He  read  to  the 
committee  excerpts  from  private  reports 
received  from  American  agents  which 
bore  out  his  statements. 

Secretary  Glass,  appreciating  the  op- 
position to  extending  direct  financial  aid 
to  the  war-torn  countries,  recommended 
that  the  assistance,  go  through  the  grain 
corporation,  which  could  use  its  fund  of 
nearly  $1,000,000,000  to  extend  aid 
through  credits  or  gifts  where  necessary. 
This  recommendation  seemed  to  meet 
with  the  approval  of  the  committee. 

The  fund  and  food  would  be  divided 
as  follows:  Armenia,  7,500  tons  of  flour 
and  other  necessities  at  a  cost  of  $500,- 
000  monthly;  Austria,  $100,000,000,  with 
a  probable  reduction  to  $70,000,000  due 
to  assistance  by  Great  Britain;  Poland, 
300,000  tons  of  grain  at  a  cost  of  $50,- 
000,000;  other  parts  of  Europe,  $25,000,- 
000. 

Norman  Davis  told  the  committee  that 
this  country  must  continue  to  supply 
food  to  these  three  countries  until  the 
next  harvest.     Austria  and   Poland,   he 


said,  could  furnish  satisfactory  security 
for  food  furnished  them,  but  in  the  case 
of  Armenia  the  aid  must  be  in  the  na- 
ture of  charity,  as  that  country  is  with- 
out funds  or  means  of  establishing  cred- 
its. Food  is  also  needed  in  parts  of  Italy, 
Hungary,  and  Czechoslovakia,  he  said. 
Mr.  Davis  added: 

The  United  States  has  a  surplus  of  food 
and  is  the  only  nation  that  can  prevent 
the  famine.  Great  Britain,  in  a  formal 
note  to  the  United  States,  has  promised 
to  co-operate  to  the  full  exent  of  its 
ability,  which  probably  will  be  mainly 
in  supplying  ships  to  transport  the  sup- 
plies, as  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy 
already  have  lent  Austria  $48,000,000. 

The  condition  in  Austria  is  so  desperate 
that  she  is  willing  to  mortgage  her  for- 
ests, the  tobacco  monopoly,  the  water 
power  facilities,  and  even  the  collection 
of  customs,  to  obtain  food.  The  Treasury 
does  not  believe  that  customs  should  be 
taken  because  it  would  cause  great  delay 
to  economic  rehabilitation. 

SUMMARY  OF  THE  SITUATION 

Herbert  Hoover  appeared  before  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee  on  Jan.  12 
and  strongly  indorsed  Secretary  Glass's 
recommendation.  The  financial  problem 
of  feeding  Europe  is  "  getting  smaller  all 
the  time,"  Mr.  Hoover  informed  the  com- 
mittee, explaining  that  the  need  this 
Winter  was  centred  in  ten  or  twelve 
large  cities  in  Austria,  Poland,  and  Ar- 
menia. Most  of  Europe,  he  said,  was 
in  shape  to  feed  itself,  or  get  its  bread- 
stuffs  through  private  financial  chan- 
nels. 

Private  charities  in  the  United  States 
are  sending  five  or  six  million  dollars' 
worth  of  food  abroad  monthly  and  by 
the  end  of  January  3,000,000  American 
families  with  relatives  in  Central  and 
Eastern  Europe  would  be  able  to  buy 
"  food  drafts  "  from  banks  in  the  Dnited 
States.  These  drafts  are  exchangeable 
abroad  for  a  barrel  of  flour  or  other 
food  to  supplement  that  now  being  ra- 
tioned by  authorities,  and  will  serve  as 
a  substitute  for  cash  remittances. 


244 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


"  Remittance  of  money  is  the  height 
of  folly,"  Mr.  Hoover  declared,  explain- 
ing that  with  food  distribution  under 
Government  control  one  might  have 
plenty  of  cash  but  still  be  unable  to  ob- 
tain additional  food.  He  predicted  that 
from  five  to  eight  million  dollars  a  month 
would  be  spent  in  this  country  for  "  food 
drafts." 

The  Children's  Fund,  an  organization 
that  is  feeding  2,500,000  children  of  Eu- 
rope, is  back  of  the  "  food  draft "  plan, 
Mr.  Hoover  said,  adding  that  it  also  was 
aided  by  banks  and  other  private  chari- 
ties, including  the  Red  Cross,  the  Com- 
mittee for  Relief  in  the  Near  East,  and 
the  Jewish  Joint  Distribution.  Foreign 
Governments  have  agreed  to  the  plan, 
which  also  has  been  approved  by  the 
Treasury  and  the  Federal  Reserve 
Board. 

By  aiding  Poland  with  food,  and  help- 
ing ten  or  twelve  European  cities  escape 
starvation  this  Winter,  Mr.  Hoover  said 
the  United  States  would  "  build  up  se- 
curity for  its  $10,000,000,000  lent 
abroad  "  as  well  as  perform  a  humani- 
tarian service. 

While  the  $100,000,000  famine  fund 
provided  last  year  is  almost  exhausted, 
approximately  $88,000,000  will  be  repaid 
"  within  two  or  three  years,"  Mr.  Hoover 
said.  He  declared  $12,000,000  had  been 
spent  for  "  sheer  charity,"  in  feeding 
under-nourished  children. 

All  Europe  is  on  rations,  Mr.  Hoover 
continued,  but  with  the  Grain  Corpora- 
tion in  charge,  no  new  appropriation 
was  necessary.  The  corporation's  $150,- 
000,000  capital  is  intact  and  it  has  prof- 
its of  $50,000,000. 

The  committee  took  no  action  up  to 
Jan.  20,  but  indicated  that  the  $150,000,- 
000  relief  would  be  recommended  and 
would  meet  with  Congressional  approval. 

EUROPEAN    EXCHANGE 

The  exchange  rates  of  sterling,  francs 
and  marks  showed  further  declines  dur- 
ing January.  The  pound  sterling  on  Jan. 
16  fell  to  $3.68%,  which  was  within  3% 
cents  of  the  minimum  established  in  De- 
cember, 1919 ;  francs,  marks  and  lire  also 
displayed  weakness,  the  quotations  on 
Jan.   16  being  as  follows:   Francs,   11.62 


to  the  dollar  (normal,  5.18.13);  lire, 
13.70;  marks,  1.77  (normal,  23.83); 
rubles,  2.75  cents  (normal,  51.44). 

Various  suggestions  were  offered  to 
remedy  the  serious  exchange  situation. 
Sir  George  Paish,  an  English  financier, 
visited  the  United  States  and  urged  an 
international  bond  issue  ranging  from  ten 
to  thirty  billion  dollars  to  refund  the 
war  debts  and  restore  international 
credits.  This  suggestion  met  so  hostile 
a  reception  that  the  British  Government 
issued  a  statement  disclaiming  any  re- 
sponsibility for  it,  and  asserting  that 
Great  Britain  would  seek  no  further 
financial  credits  in  this  country. 

MR.  HOOVER'S  STATEMENT 

Herbert  Hoover  issued  a  statement  on 
Jan.  7,  in  which  he  said: 

I  disagree  emphatically  with  the  state- 
ment being  circulated  by  European  propa- 
gandists, both  as  to  the  volume  of  Euro- 
pean financial  needs  from  the  United 
States  and  as  to  their  suggestions  that  the 
great  bulk  of  these  needs  cannot  be  met 
by  ordinary  commercial  credits  and  that 
therefore  our  Treasury  needs  to  be  fur- 
ther drawn  upon  for  new  loans. 

Aside  from  some  secondary  measures  by 
our  Government,  the  problem  is  one  of 
ratification  of  peace  and  ordinary  business 
processes,  and  not  one  of  increasing  our 
burden  of  taxation.  Our  taxes  are  now 
600  per  cent,  over  pre-war  rates.  We 
simply  cannot  increase  this  burden. 
Rather,  the  problem  is  one  of  early  re- 
duction. 

By  'secondary  measures  I  mean  that 
some  dozen  cities  in  central  and  southern 
Europe  need  breadstuffs  on  credit  from 
the  Grain  Corporation  to  prevent  actual 
starvation,  and  that  the  Allies  are  ask- 
ing for  temporary  delay  in  paying  in- 
terest on  our  Government  loans  to  them. 
The  Allies  cannot  pay  this  year,  in  any 
event.  The  actual  situation  varies  with 
every  country  in  Europe,  and  generalities 
are  not  worth  print  paper.  The  Euro- 
pean neutral  countries  have  made  money 
from  the  war,  and  have  asked  no  fa- 
vors and  given  none. 

Outside  of  interest  to  the  Allies,  Great 
Britain  states  that  she  wants  nothing  but 
commercial  credits.  These  she  can  al- 
ways obtain  if  she  puts  up  her  ample 
collateral  assets  in  South  America,  China. 
&c.  France  also  has  unpledged  foreign 
assets  that  would  cover  most  of  her 
important  needs. 

It  would  also  appear  that  the  70,000,000 
people  of  prosperous  nations  who  have  not 
suffered  in  the  war  should  also  aid  in 
European    relief.      The    American    people 


PRESENT-DAY  GERMANY:    AN  INSIDE   VIEW 


245 


are  now  finding  $7,000,000  a  month  in 
charity  for  feeding  3.000.000  children  and 
fighting  disease.  If  we  contribute  the 
bread  supply  on  Government  credit  to 
these  starving  oitlee  plus  business  credits, 
we  will  be  doing  our  share  of  world  re- 
sponsibility. 

INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCE 

A  call  was  issued  Jan.  15  and  simulta- 
neously presented  to  the  Governments  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  Switzer- 
land, Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden  and 
the  United  States — also  to  the  Repara- 
tion Commission  and  the  United  States 
Chamber  of  Commerce — asking  for  the 
immediate  appointment  of  an  inter- 
national economic  conference.  It  was 
signed  by  leading  bankers,  financial  ex- 
perts, commercial,  and  industrial  lead- 
ers in  the  countries  named. 

The  memorandum  took  issue  squarely 
with  the  scheme  attributed  to  Sir  George 
Paish,  of  an  international  credit  arrange- 
ment in  which  all  the  leading  Govern- 
ments should  take  active  parts.  Quite 
the   opposite  position   was   assumed   by 


emphasizing  the  necessity  of  encourag- 
ing to  the  greatest  extent  possible  "  the 
supply  of  credit  and  the  development 
of  trade  through  normal  channels." 

The  proposed  conference  will  be  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  the  leading 
countries,  both  belligerent  and  neutral, 
of  Europe,  the  Central  European  coun- 
tries, Japan,  and  the  chief  exporting 
countries  of  South  America.  These  rep- 
resentatives, it  is  further  purposed,  will 
bring  with  them  all  pertinent  informa- 
tion, and  it  is  expected  that  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  conference  recommendations 
will  be  made  as  to  what  measures  may 
best  be  taken  in  the  various  countries 
in  order  to  revive  and  maintain  inter- 
national commerce. 

Italy  floated  a  new  popular  tax  loan  in 
January  which  reached  the  enormous 
total  of  10,000,000,000  lire. 

Belgium  offered  a  $25,000,000  loan  in 
this  country  on  Jan.  15,  and  it  was  fully 
subscribed  the  first  day.  It  was  in  the 
form  of  one  and  five  year  notes,  yielding 
6  and  7  per  cent.,  respectively. 


Present-Day  Germany:  An  Inside  View 

By  OTTO  H.  LUKEN,  A.  M. 

This  survey  of  conditions  in  Germany  is   based  on  personal  observations  in 
that  country  during  September,  October,  and  November,  1919. 


ON  entering  Germany  every  traveler 
has  to  submit  to  a  searching  ex- 
amination in  a  separate  cell,  in 
order  to  prove  that  he  carries 
with  him  no  Russian  money  or  Bolshevist 
literature,  or  other  things  dangerous  to 
Germany's  tranquillity.  A  similar  search 
on  leaving  is  to  reveal  whether  contrary 
to  the  Government's  order  the  traveler 
tries  to  take  out  of  the  country  more 
than  1,000  marks. 

Trains  arrive  usually  several  hours 
late,  unless  the  distance  covered  is  very 
short.  One  hour  before  the  time  of  de- 
parture you  may  be  greeted  by  an  an- 
nouncement stating  that  all  tickets  for 
that  particular  train  have  been  sold.  If 
you  are  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  a 
ticket  you  may  rejoice  if  it  only  secures 
standing  space,  be  that  even  in  the  toilet 


room.  If  you  wish  to  secure  hotel  ac- 
commodations you  will  have  to  make  the 
reservation  several  days  in  advance,  un- 
less you  follow  the  example  of  a  Nor- 
wegian friend  of  mine,  who,  upon  being 
told  at  a  leading  hotel  in  Berlin  that  no 
room  would  be  vacant  for  several  days, 
produced  ten  pounds  of  Norwegian  but- 
ter and  was  at  once  given  a  good  room. 

Almost  everything  is  extremely  cheap 
in  Germany,  measured  in  American 
money.  For  a  shave  I  paid  40  pfen- 
nigs (1  cent),  for  an  eight-day  marble 
clock  $1,  for  a  pair  of  fine  shoes,  made 
to  measure,  $5.  An  American  business 
man  whom  I  met  in  Germany  spoke  of 
buying  a  linen  factory  in  Bohemia  as  if 
that  were  an  every-day  business  trans- 
action. Many  people  in  the  United  States 
who  have  relatives  in  Germany  have  sent 


246 


THE  NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


them  packages  of  things  which  they 
think  cannot  be  bought  in  Germany. 
They  do  not  realize  that  practically 
everything  can  be  had  in  Germany  at 
prices  below  ours,  owing  to  the  low  value 
of  the  German  mark.  Even  American  food- 
stuffs are  sold  cheaper  in  Germany  than 
in  the  United  States,  becavse  they  were 
shipped  to  Europe  when  the  mark  was 
worth  more  and  when  prices  in  America 
were  lower  than  they  are  now;  further- 
more, the  German  Government  sells 
many  American  foodstuffs  to  the  popula- 
tion at  a  loss. 

The  Fatherland  Corporation,  managed 
by  Mr.  Viereck,  has  established  a  "  Feed 
and  Clothe  Germany "  department  and 
issued  a  circular  showing  the  various 
combinations  of  merchandise  that  may 
be  sent  to  that  country  through  the  com- 
pany. It  would  be  worse  than  poor 
economy  to  send  many  of  these  articles 
to  Germany  at  this  time.  For  instance, 
such  things  as  shoes,  gloves,  collars,  &c, 
which  the  Viereck  corporation  proposes 
to  ship,  were  purchased  by  the  writer  in 
Germany  at  prices  much  lower  than  New 
York  prices.  The  time  may  come  when 
the  necessities  of  life  will  be  more  ex- 
pensive in  Germany  than  they  are  over 
here,  but  for  the  present  if  a  man  wants 
to  do  a  service  to  his  relatives  abroad  he 
ought  to  send  money  instead  of  mer- 
chandise. The  relatives  can  buy  every- 
thing in  Germany,  only  they  are  afraid 
to  pay  what  seem  to  them  high  prices, 
though  these  prices  are  lower  than  in 
America. 

During  the  war  the  people  were  asked 
to  let  the  Government  have  all  their  gold 
and  silver  coin  and  jewelry.  Many  thefts 
reported  in  the  press  have  shown  that 
very  large  amounts  of  gold  and  silver 
have  been  hoarded  nevertheless.  Large 
quantities  of  gold,  jewelry,  and  silver- 
ware are  still  to  be  seen  in  many  house- 
holds. 

SCARCITY   OF   HOUSES 

Living  accommodations  all  over  Ger- 
many are  so  scarce  that  in  many  cities 
families  occupying  more  than  a  certain 
number  of  rooms  have  to  take  in  lodgers. 
The  rent  contracts  are  under  the  control 
of  special  boards.  Building  material  is 
wanting  for  lack  of  coal.    In  the  Berlin 


town  jail  cells  are  being  rented.  The 
number  of  Germans  who  have  migrated 
from  former  German  provinces  (from 
Posen  alone  60,000)  has  ( greatly  in- 
creased the  lack  of  housing  accommoda- 
tion. 

In  most  cities  tips  have  been  abolished 
in  accordance  with  an  agreement  be- 
tween the  employers'  associations  and 
the  waiters'  unions.  Placards  on  the 
walls  of  restaurants  and  cafes  say  that 
10  per  cent,  will  be  added  to  the  guest's 
bill  and  that  the  waiters  must  not  ac- 
cept any  tip  under  penalty  of  instant 
dismissal.  Yet  it  has  become  the  fashion, 
nevertheless,  to  give  tips  as  before  in 
addition  to  the  10  per  cent,  increase,  in 
order  to  secure  decent  service.  In  hotels 
25  per  cent,  is  added  to  the  bill,  but  the 
usual  tips  are  generally  still  accepted 
by  the  employes. 

In  addition  to  the  small  paper  cur- 
rency issued  by  the  nation  and  the  loan 
banks,  down  to  1  mark,  the  individual 
cities  and  Chambers  of  Commerce  have 
issued  paper  of  denominations  as  low  as 
10  pfenigs,  equal  to  one-fourth  of  one 
cent  in  American  currency.  This  small 
currency  is  accepted  only  in  the  cities 
where  it  has  been  issued.  For  lack  of 
small  change,  postage  stamps  are  every- 
where given  in  payment.  The  City  of 
Buxtehude  has  issued  some  curious  cur- 
rency. According  to  an  old  story  there 
once  took  place  at  Buxtehude  a  race 
between  a  hare  and  a  porcupine,  and  the 
Buxtehude  paper  money  depicts  the 
moment  when  the  porcupine  is  winning 
the  race.  An  old-time  German  proverb 
and  a  picture  of  the  famous  Buxtehude 
dogs  that  bark  with  their  tails  form 
part  of  the  same  currency. 

INCREASE  OF  CORRUPTION 

The  four  and  a  half  years  of  war  have 
brought  about  both  the  physical  and 
moral  ruin  of  the  German  Nation.  Crime, 
corruption,  and  gambling  ar,e  at  their 
height.  The  streets  in  Berlin  are  lined 
with  street  vendors  and  beggars  in  uni- 
form. A  policeman  is  very  seldom  to 
be  seen.  Every  one  tries  to  fill  his  own 
pocket  and  pushes  the  search  of  amuse- 
ment to  the  extreme.  The  former  pro- 
verbial German  honesty  has  disappeared. 
There  is  hardly  a  German  who  does  not 


PRESENT-DAY  GERMANY:    AN  INSIDE   VIEW 


247 


admit  breaking  the  laws,  by  obtaining 
foodstuffs  in  some  illicit  manner,  by 
hiding  them  contrary  to  Government 
order,  and  so  on.  Officialdom  has  become 
thoroughly  corrupt.  The  theatres  and 
moving  pictures  show  the  dirtiest  plays, 
their  advertisements  always  placing  the 
erotic  moment  in  the  foreground.  News- 
papers are  sold  in  the  streets  on  the 
strength  of  such  headlines  as  "  The 
Fancy  Costume  Dance  of  the  Homo- 
sexuals," "  The  Protest  Meeting  of  the 
Prostitutes,"  and  the  like. 

The  Government  recently  stated  before 
the  National  Assembly  that  within  a  few 
weeks  thirty-one  bands  of  counterfeiters 
had  been  discovered.  The  Prussian  bud- 
get for  the  current  year  provides  for  an 
amount  of  160,000,000  marks  (25,000,000 
more  than  in  1918)  to  pay  for  reimburse- 
ment of  freight  stolen  on  the  State  rail- 
ways, and  the  German  Postal  Department 
has  so  far  paid  80,000,000  marks  to  the 
owners  of  property  stolen  while  in  the 
mails.  In  Berlin  when  wanting  to  call 
for  protection  at  night  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  call  "  Ueberf  all  "  (assault) .  Many 
of  the  men  in  uniform  begging  excite  the 
pity  of  the  passers-by  by  their  constant 
nodding  of  the  head,  which,  unless  simu- 
lated, is  the  result  of  shell-shock.  A  court 
proceeding  recently  established  the  fact 
that  these  beggars  take  in  300  to  400 
marks  in  four  hours'  daily  "  work."  Al- 
though their  condition  is  curable  by  the 
use  of  the  electric  current ,  the  men 
prefer  to  make  a  good  living  by  begging 
rather  than  submit  to  the  somewhat 
painful  cure. 

When  reading  the  facts  brought  out 
during  the  month  of  October  in  the 
Munich  court  proceedings  dealing  with 
the  atrocities  committed  by  the  workmen 
when  Munich  was  a  Soviet  republic,  and 
by  the  Government  soldiers  after  the  de- 
feat of  the  Soviet  Government,  a  man 
who  has  heretofore  doubted  the  reports 
of  German  atrocities  during  the  war  can- 
not do  otherwise  than  change  his  opinion. 

STRONG  CLASS  FEELING 

Education  and  science  are  to  be  made 
more  democratic,  yet,  although  the  sons 
of  the  noblemen  rubbed  shoulders  in  the 
trenches  with  the  sons  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
and  the  members  of  a  feudal  students' 


corps  with  the  sons  of  the  peasants  and 
laborers,  the  gulf  between  them  is  as 
wide  as  ever.  The  monocle  of  the 
"  cavalier  "  and  the  uniform,  swords,  and 
scars  of  the  arms-students  continue  to 
emphasize  their  old-time  arrogance.  The 
extremely  strong  feeling  against  Jews  in 
Germany  is  astonishing  for  one  who  has 
not  been  there  since  the  war  started. 

Dr.  Karl  Muck,  the  former  leader  or 
the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra,  was 
greeted  on  his  return  with  enthusiastic 
ovations  by  Berlin  musical  audiences. 
Dr.  Muck  tried  hard  to  evade  internment 
in  the  United  States  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  a  Swiss  citizen,  but  upon  his  ar- 
rival in  Germany  he  was  feted  as  a 
German  patriot  and  martyr.  He  is  now 
engaged  again  as  leader  of  the  Berlin 
Philharmonic  Orchestra.  In  a  news- 
paper interview  he  stated  that  he  was 
an  Austrian. 

HATRED  OF  FRANCE 

Although  in  the  beginning  of  the  war 
the  Germans  hated  the  English  more 
than  any  of  their  other  enemies,  the 
tide  has  turned  and  it  is  now  the  French 
that  have  aroused  the  Germans'  most 
hostile  feeling.  The  writer  has  met 
quite  a  few  men  in  Germany  who  had 
been  in  the  trenches  and  been  wounded 
severely,  and  yet  who  stated  that  they 
would  not  hesitate  a  moment  volunteer- 
ing in  case  there  should  be  another  war 
with  France.  The  French  members  of 
the  allied  military  supervising  council  in 
Berlin  are  hated  most  thoroughly.  The 
United  States  and  England  have  already 
returned  all  Germans  held  as  prisoners 
of  war.  France,  on  the  other  hand,  re- 
fused to  give  them  up  until  after  the 
German  Government  had  complied  with 
certain  promises,  which  was  finally  done 
on  Jan.  10.  Meanwhile,  the  Government, 
through  misleading  press  reports,  has 
made  the  people  believe  that  it  was 
France's  malice  which  kept  the  prisoners 
in  France.  Unfortunately,  the  French 
authorities  in  the  occupied  district?  have 
seen  fit  to  employ  more  rigorous 
measures  with  the  inhabitants  than 
those  used  by  the  British  and  American 
authorities.  x 

Americans  are  not  at  all  disliked  in 
Germany,  with  the  exception   of  Presi- 


248 


THE   NEW  YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


dent  Wilson,  who  is  universally  con- 
demned for  not  having  insisted  on  the 
Fourteen  Points.  It  is  astonishing  to  see 
what  an  amount  of  misinformation  about 
the  United  States  is  printed  in  some  of 
the  leading  German  newspapers.  Men 
like  Georg  von  Skal  and  Henry  F.  Urban 
and  other  writers  living  among  us,  who 
are  the  American  correspondents  of  Ger- 
man papers,  are  doing  their  best  to  dis- 
credit the  United  States  through  abusive 
articles,  painting  us  as  the  land  of  the 
most  reactionary  Government,  and  what 
not. 

Germany's  economic  life  is  rather  un- 
promising. Only  greatly  increased  pro- 
duction will  cover  her  own  needs  and 
procure  foreign  credits  abroad  through 
exportation;  but  as  it  now  is,  many  fac- 
tories are  idle  and  many  industrious 
hands  are  unemployed.  The  late  harvest 
and  the  early  frost  in  the  Autumn  of 
1919  brought  new  dangers  and  compli- 
cated the  problem  of  nourishing  the 
people. 

On  April  1,  1920,  the  Bavarian  and 
Wiirttemberg  postal  administrations  will 
be  taken  over  by  the  empire.  Philatelists 
will  thus  see  some  species  of  stamps  dis- 
appear. Also  the  railroads  of  the  various 
States  will  soon  be  transferred  to  the 
nation,  the  Constitution  requiring  that 
they  be  taken  over  not  later  than  April 
1,  1921.  The  task  of  the  National  Minis- 
ter of  Transportation  will  be  exceedingly 
difficult.  Before  the  war  the  German 
railroads  were  held  up  to  the  world  as 
an  example  of  State  efficiency.  Today 
they  are  in  a  most  deplorable  condition. 
The  deficit  of  the  Prussian  railways 
alone  will  amount  to  700,000,000  marks 
for  the  current  year.  It  is  planned  to 
electrify  the  entire  system  within  thirty 
years.  So  far  only  about  200  miles  have 
been  electrified. 

Another  great  task  will  be  the  amend- 
ing of  several  judicial  codes  made  neces- 
sary, partly  by  the  changed  status  of 
the  women  and  partly  by  the  demand 
of  the  Social  Democrats  that  the  Judges 
be  chosen  by  the  people.  However,  this 
demand  will  probably  lead  only  to  a 
reform  of  the  jury  system,  and  not  to 
the  abolishing  of  the  professional  Judges 
appointed  for  life. 

The  parties  forming  the  Government 


are  the  Centre,  the  German  Democratic 
Party,  and  the  Social  Democratic  Party. 
The  Centre  has  always  been  only  half 
democratic.  It  is  formed  of  Catholics, 
whose  religion  greatly  influences  their 
parliamentary  decisions.  The  Centre 
Party's  conservative  elements,  consisting 
of  members  of  the  higher  clergy,  of  the 
nobility,  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  of  the 
farming  class,  however,  are  clever 
enough  to  realize  that  a  Government  of 
the  parties  of  the  Right  would  not  be 
possible  without  a  strong  army,  the 
establishment  of  which  would  not  be 
tolerated  by  the  Allies.  The  German 
Democratic  Party  owes  its  existence  to 
the  revolution.  One  of  its  members, 
Hugo  Preuss,  is  the  author  of  the  Ger- 
man Constitution.  The  Social  Democrats 
are  the  majority  Socialists,  those  Social- 
ists who  supported  the  Government  dur- 
ing the  war. 

At  the  right  of  the  Centre  stand  the 
German  National  People's  Party  and  the 
German  People's  Party.  The  former  con- 
tains the  old  Conservatives — those  who 
are  mainly  responsible  for  the  way  the 
war  was  carried  on.  They  are  strongly 
anti-Semitic  and  openly  advocate  the 
establishment  of  another  Hohenzollern 
monarchy.  From  political  meetings  they 
send  greetings  to  the  Kaiser  at  Ameron- 
gen,  and  the  Kreuzzeitung  recently  pub- 
lished a  reply  of  thanks  from  his  "  all- 
highest  "  Majesty.  Also  monarchists, 
although  not  quite  so  strongly  as  the 
German  Nationals,  is  the  German  Peo- 
ple's Party,  composed  mainly  of  former 
National  Liberals,  the  representatives  of 
capital. 

To  the  left  of  the  Social  Democrats 
are  the  Independent  Social  Democrats, 
the  Communists  and  the  Syndicalists. 
The  Majority  Socialists  act  in  accordance 
with  Eduard  Bernstein's  interpretation 
of  Karl  Marx  that  capital  is  not  to  be 
considered  the  arch  enemy  of  the  work- 
ing class.  They  work  hand  in  hand  with 
the  other  democratic  parties  and  are  the 
mainstay  of  the  present  Government. 
Ebert,  the  nation's  President;  Bauer,  the 
Chancellor;  Miiller,  the  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  Noske,  the  Secre- 
tary of  Defense,  are  some  of  its  most 
prominent  members.  The  Independent 
Socialists,  with  the  exception  of  a  small 


PRESENT-DAY   GERMANY:    AN  INSIDE   VIEW 


249 


group  led  by  Kautsky,  look  upon  the 
workmen's  councils  as  the  ideal  basis  of 
government.  Like  the  Communists  they 
wish  to  transplant  the  Russian  system, 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,  to 
Germany. 

During  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Independent  Socialists  on  Dec.  1  the 
membership  was  stated  to  have  increased 
from  300,000  to  750,000,  and  the  number 
of  the  independent  Socialist  newspapers 
to  be  fifty-five.  Although  they  have 
only  twenty-two  seats  in  the  National 
Assembly,  as  against  the  165  seats  of 
the  Majority  Socialists,  recent  events 
have  proved  them  to  be  a  force  to  be 
reckoned  with. 

The  German  National  People's  Party 
(the  conservatives)  claim  also  a  large 
increase  in  their  membership.  This 
should  not  be  surprising,  as  people  who 
are  disgusted  with  the  present  state  of 
affairs  easily  come  to  the  opinion  that 
under  a  conservative  Government  condi- 
tions would  be  entirely  different.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Independent  Social- 
ists' claim  of  increased  membership  is 
probably  the  result  of  the  Majority  So- 
cialists having  changed  from  a  purely 
radical  party  to  a  reform  party,  which, 
although  not  guilty  of  having  brought 
about  the  war,  yet  supported  the  war. 
Those  to  the  left  of  the  Majority  Social- 
ists want  to  see  a  complete  overthrow  of 
affairs. 

Germany  needs  a  strong  Government 
supported  by  a  nation  which  believes 
that  the  masses  can  be  brought  into 
order.  However,  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  a  people:  there  are  only  individuals 
who  think  of  themselves  alone.  There  is 
a  minimum  of  altruism  and  a  maximum 
of  egotism.  The  only  strong  man  in  the 
Government  is  the  Minister  of  Defense, 
Noske.  The  Secretary  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, Hermann  Muller,  a  former  labor 
union  leader  and  party  journalist,  al- 
though a  very  capable  and  honest  man, 
will  hardly  be  able  to  bring  about  the 
necessary  reform  in  his  department.  So 
far  no  important  appointments  or 
changes  in  the  personnel  have  been  made 
which  would  indicate  that  the  system 
of  diplomacy  of  the  past  is  to  be  dis- 
continued. On  the  contrary,  in  this  de- 
partment, as  well  as  in  others,  the  Social- 


ist chiefs  have  in  many  respects  adopted 
the  manners  and  customs  of  their  pred- 
ecessors. Only  a  month  ago  one  of  the 
most  influential  councilors  of  Bethmann 
Hollweg  and  one  of  the  most  industrious 
and  loyal  agents  of  his  system,  the  Privy 
Councilor,  Dr.  Riezler,  was  appointed 
Cabinet  Chief  of  the  German  President. 
The  National  Assembly  is  now  regu- 
larly installed  in  the  former  Reichstag 
building.  The  place  is  habitable  again 
since  the  lice  which  once  forced  the  As- 
sembly to  hold  its  meetings  in  one  of  the 
auditoriums  of  Berlin  University  have 
been  starved  to  death. 

INQUIRY  INTO  THE  RESPONSIBILITY 
FOR  THE  WAR 

The  National  Assembly  has  appointed 
a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  war.  One  of  its  sub- 
committees has  had  several  meetings  and 
the  leading  men  of  the  old  regime  have 
had  to  appear  before  it.  Everyone  read- 
ing the  statements  and  answers  of  these 
men  before  the  committee  must  have 
asked  himself,  How  was  it  possible  for 
Germany,  with  such  leaders,  to  carry  on 
the  war  for  more  than  four  years?  The 
statements  of  Bethmann  Hollweg,  Luden- 
dorff,  Tirpitz,  show  that  there  was  an 
intense  hatred  between  the  leaders, 
which  made  co-operation  very  difficult. 
We  Americans  have  underestimated  the 
good  intentions  of  Count  Bernstorff 
while  German  Ambassador  at  Washing- 
ton. He  tried  his  best  to  induce  the 
German  Government  to  abstain  from 
starting  the  ruthless  submarine  war. 
Ludendorff,  the  man  who  controlled 
Bethmann  Hollweg  and  Hindenburg  and 
the  rest,  has  not  convinced  anyone 
through  the  statements  before  the  com- 
mittee of  his  surpassing  greatness. 
Quite  the  contrary.  He  practically  called 
Bernstorff  a  liar  and  displayed  his 
hatred  of  the  Ambassador.  Bernstorff 
retained  his  composure  and  showed  a 
gentlemanly  reserve  throughout. 

We  should  expect  that  the  Germ4 1  peo- 
ple, after  seeing  how  their  great  empire 
was  destroyed  through  acts  of  the  utmost 
foolishness  and  the  blindness  of  Beth- 
mann Hollweg  and  the  other  leaders, 
would  show  anger  and  fury;  but  on  the 
contrary,  when  Hindenburg  was  in  Ber- 


250 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


lin  to  appear  before  the  committee,  he 
was  feted  as  a  demigod.  Ever  since  the 
battle  of  Tannenberg  he  has  been  the 
great  hero  of  the  Germans.  The  Ger- 
man Nationals  used  the  occasion  for  a 
political  demonstration  against  the  Gov- 
ernment, against  the  republic  and  for 
the  re-establishment  of  the  monarchy. 
Admiral  von  Tirpitz,  one  of  the  men  of 
the  old  regime,  in  his  memoirs  has  laid 
bare  all  the  deficiencies  of  that  system 
of  government. 

THE  ARMY 

According  to  the  Peace  Treaty  the 
German  Army  is  to  be  reduced  to  200,000 
men  within  three  months  after  the  ex- 
change of  ratifications  [which  took  place 
Jan.  10]  and  to  100,000  men  after  April 
1,  1920.  In  addition  to  200,000  men  in 
the  interior  there  was  in  October  a 
force  of  200,000  on  the  eastern  border, 
Chancellor  Bauer  declared.  In  recalling 
the  men  from  the  Baltic  States  in  com- 
pliance with  the  request  of  the  allied 
governments,  the  German  Government 
did  not  act  honestly.  In  August  it  de- 
clared that  it  had  no  further  means  of 
inducing  the  mutinous  troops  to  return; 
yet  in  September  it  found  new  means  of 
coercion  against  these  soldiers.  When 
finally  in  October  their  pay  was  stopped, 
the  officers  and  men  declared  deserters, 
and  General  von  der  Goltz  recalled — 
measures  which  should  have  been  taken 
months  previously — it  was  too  late,  as 
many  of  those  troops  had  organized 
themselves  as  the  West  Russian  Army.  In 
spite  of  all  possible  official  measures  the 
enlistments  for  this  army  were  con- 
tinued all  over  Germany  with  little  risk 
of  interference.  In  this  connection  at- 
tention might  be  called  to  a  recent  re- 
port in  the  New  York  papers  of  Noske's 
having  personally  received  the  leader  of 
the  Russian  West  Army,  Colonel  Avalov- 
Bermondt.  It  seems  that  the  Germans 
expect  the  Russian  Army  to  become  so 
Germanized  that  if  necessary  it  can  form 
the  basis  of  Germany's  military  power  in 
case  of  a  future  conflict  of  arms  with 
France. 

Under  the  names  of  civic  guards  and 
temporary  volunteers  the  authorities  are 
organizing  a  kind  of  militia  distinct  from 
the  national  army.     There  is,  of  course, 


great  danger  that  this  militia  may 
simply  become  a  pretext  under  which  the 
terms  of  the  Peace  Treaty  may  be  evaded, 
inasmuch  as  the  strength  of  these  civic 
guards  is  rather  large.  For  instance,  the 
civic  guard  of  the  city  of  Hamburg  con- 
sists of  34,000  men.  Allot  to  all  the 
other  large  cities  of  Germany  a  corre- 
sponding number  of  militia,  and  we  have 
quite  a  sizable  army  not  provided  for 
in  the  Peace  Treaty.  It  must  be  said, 
however,  that  at  present  and  until  there 
is  a  stable  government  in  Germany,  such 
a  militia  is  needed,  in  order  to  keep 
order  and  prevent  rioting. 

The  national  army,  unfortunately,  is 
not  what  we  ought  to  expect  it  to  be  in 
a  democratic  state  controlled  by  social- 
ists. Of  nineteen  commanders  there  are 
fifteen  noblemen  and  four  bourgeois. 
And  the  former  gulf  between  officers 
and  privates  has  again  appeared.  It 
also  has  become  known  that  a  system  of 
reporting  on  personal  political  tendencies 
has  been  built  up  in  the  military  hier- 
archy. Open  show  of  republican  senti- 
ment is  being  frowned  upon  by  the  staff 
officers.  That  the  army,  then,  took 
an  active  part  in  the  political  demon- 
stration of  the  friends  of  a  monarchy  on 
the  occasion  of  Hindenburg's  visit  to 
Berlin,  as  above  mentioned,  is  not  sur- 
prising, but  very  regrettable,  the  more  so 
as  the  Secretary  of  Defense,  Noske,  is  a 
Socialist.  Noske  has  often  been  taken 
to  task  by  fellow  Socialists,  but  he  is 
such  a  good  orator  that  he  always  wins 
his  opponents  to  his  side  when  called 
upon  to  defend  his  actions  before  socialis- 
tic gatherings. 

FINANCIAL   SITUATION 

Before  the  war  the  debt  of  the  German 
Empire  amounted  to  5,000,000,000  marks. 
According  to  a  statement  of  Mr.  Erz- 
berger,  the  Secretary  of  Finance,  Ger- 
many's debt  on  April  1,  1920,  a  will  be 
212,000,000,000  marks.  This  figure  does 
not  include  any  war  indemnity  which  the 
Allies  may  impose  upon  Germany.  Be- 
fore the  war  the  total  wealth  of  Ger- 
many was  estimated  at  300,000,000,000 
marks.  For  interest  Germany  will  have 
to  pay  10,000,000,000  marks  a  year, 
which  is  about  one-fourth  of  the  esti- 
mated    national     income     of     Germany 


l'Ui:SENT-DAY   GERMANY:    AN   INSIDE   VIEW 


251 


before  the  war.  To  produce  income  a 
national  inheritance  and  estate  tax  has 
been  introduced.  Taxes  on  capital,  in- 
come, turn-over,  &c,  are  further  to  im- 
prove Germany's  financial  straits.  Before 
the  war  the  income  taxes  took  12  to  15 
per  cent,  of  the  citizen's  income.  In  the 
future  it  will  be  10  to  60  per  cent. 

The  intended  tax  of  llA  per  cent,  on 
all  business  turned  over  tends  to  benefit 
those  producers  that  for  instance  pur- 
chase their  raw  material  abroad  and  sell 
their  finished  product  direct  to  the  con- 
sumer, as  the  large  electrical  manufac- 
turing concerns  do.  The  consumer  who 
buys  a  motor  from  an  electrical  engineer, 
on  the  other  hand,  may  pay  a  multiple 
turn-over  tax,  as  not  only  the  engineer's 
turn-over,  but  also  the  turn-over  of  the 
motor  manufacturer  and  of  the  wire 
manufacturer  and  the  other  manufactur- 
ers from  whom  the  motor  manufacturer 
bought  the  supplies  needed   are  taxed. 

In  order  to  render  evasion  of  the  taxes 
on  capital  and  income  more  difficult  the 
banks  have  to  submit  to  the  Government 
certain  half-yearly  reports  in  regard  to 
the  accounts  of  their  clients.  Many 
Germans,  in  order  to  evade  the  tax  laws, 
have  already  transferred  a  large  part 
of  their  capital  to  a  foreign  country,  by 
way  of  remittance  or  exporting  securi- 
ties or  merchandise.  In  order  to  check 
this  flight  of  capital  stringent  measures 
have  been  taken  by  the  Government.  The 
banks  are  not  allowed  to  remit  abroad 
any  but  small  amounts  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  authorities.  A  man  leaving 
the  country  must  not  take  with  him 
more  than  1,000  marks  and  no  metallic 
money. 

Capitalists  in  foreign  countries  will  in 
the  future  think  twice  before  investing 
in  German  securities,  as  an  affidavit 
showing  that  the  security  is  their  prop- 
erty will  be  required  before  a  German 
bank  will  cash  the  coupons.  Germans 
cannot  cash  their  coupons  unless  their 
securities  are  registered  with  the  Gov- 
ernment or  deposited  with  a  bank.  The 
result  has  been  and  will  be  that  German 
securities  are  sent  abroad,  so  that  the 
coupons  may  be  cashed  by  a  citizen  of 
another  country  upon  his  affidavit  of 
ownership  but  in  reality  for  the  benefit 
of  the  German   owner;   many  will   pre- 


fer to  invest  their  money  in  mortgages 
instead  of  securities,  and  others  will  in- 
vest in  foreign  securities  abroad. 

Like  France  and  some  other  countries, 
Germany  has  issued  a  lottery  loan  of 
5,000,000,000  marks  on  a  rather  attrac- 
tive plan.  The  bonds  are  for  1,000  marks 
each.  Every  second  bond  drawn  is  drawn 
with  a  premium  of  at  least  1,000  marks. 
Twice  a  year  2,500  premiums  amounting 
to  25,000,000  marks  will  be  drawn.  Ten 
premiums  of  1,000,000  .marks  each  will 
be  drawn  yearly,  so  that  at  the  end  of 
eighty  years,  when  all  the  bonds  will 
have  been  retired,  the  nation  will  have 
created  800  millionaires.  Think  of  a 
socialistic  government  creating  million- 
aires by  law. 

In  addition  to  any  premium  he  may 
receive  the  owner  of  a  bond  will  receive 
5  per  cent,  interest  from  the  date  of 
issue  till  the  date  of  the  drawing.  He 
does  not  receive  any  compound  interest, 
this  being  used  by  the  nation  for 
premiums.  The  bonds  have  also  been 
provided  with  certain  tax  exemptions. 
As  they  do  not  yield  a  fixed  yearly  in- 
come they  are  not  suitable  for  an  in- 
vestor v/ho  needs  the  interest  every  year. 
For  the  Government  this  type  of  loan  is 
extremely  favorable.  As  is  the  case 
with  every  lottery  loan,  the  payments 
for  interest  and  amortization  are  con- 
siderably more  favorable  than  in  the 
case  of  a  loan  with  half-yearly  interest 
coupons.  Furthermore,  the  amortization 
plan  is  such  as  to  slip  the  large  annuity 
payments  onto  the  later  generations.  The 
main  burden  will  fall  on  the  decade  be- 
tween 1940  and  1950. 

This  first  small  loan  after  the  ending 
of  the  war  is  only  a  feeler  put  out  by 
the  Government.  The  loan  had  to  be 
made  attractive,  and  a  concession  was 
made  to  the  passion  for  gambling  now 
so  prevalent.  Some  months  ago  a  law 
was  passed  in  Prussia  permitting  book- 
makers to  carry  on  their  hitherto  illegal 
profession  on  the  payment  of  a  license 
fee.  < 

LABOR  PROBLEMS 

Section  165  of  the  German  Constitu- 
tion provides  for  the  establishment  of 
such  employes'  committees  as  will  tend 
to  make  the  employes  equal   factors  in 


252 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  working  contract.  They  are  to  agree 
with  the  employer  on  the  conditions  of 
work  and  to  co-operate  with  him  in  the 
administration  of  the  employes'  welfare 
work.  Their  wishes  and  complaints  are 
to  be  submitted  to  the  employer  through 
chosen  representatives  with  certain 
rights.  The  employes  are  expected  to 
co-operate  further  in  the  general  pro- 
motion of  their  trade  and  they  are  to 
have  a  deciding  voice  whenever  general 
questions  come  up  concerning  their  trade. 
To  provide  for  the  practical  working 
out  of  these  stipulations  as  laid  down 
in  the  Constitution,  a  bill  formally 
creating  employes'  committees  has  been 
placed  before  the  national  assembly.  Ac- 
cording to  its  provisions  the  following 
reasons  are  not  considered  good  and  suf- 
ficient ground  for  the  dismissal  of  an 
employe  by  the  employer  without  con- 
sent of  the  employes'  council:  that  the 
employe  refuses  to  do  permanent  work 
of  a  kind  different  from  that  for  which 
he  was  originally  engaged;  allegation  of 
political,  military,  religious  or  labor 
union  activity  on  the  part  of  an  em- 
ploye; and  any  cause  not  made  impera- 
tive by  the  condition  in  the  plant  which 
would  seem  to  impose  an  unfair  hard- 
ship upon  any  employe.  But  engaging 
of  new  employes  by  the  employer  does 
not  require  the  approval  of  the  employes' 
committee.  If  in  disputed  cases  the  lat- 
ter and  the  employer  cannot  come  to  an 
agreement,  the  decision  of  the  settlement 
board  may  be  called  for.  If  this  board 
decides  that  the  dismissal  is  uncalled  for 
and  the  employer  insists  on  it,  the  latter 
has  to  pay  an  indemnity  to  the  employe 
amounting  to  one-twelfth  of  the  yearly 
remuneration  of  the  employe  for  each 
year  such  employe  has  lasted,  with  a 
maximum  of  six-twelfths. 

POWERS  OF  EMPLOYES 

One  or  two  delegates  of  the  employes' 
committees  are  to  have  a  voice  in  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Boards  of  Directors  of  the 
stock  companies.  All  concerns  employing 
100  or  more  office  men  or  500  or  more 
laborers  must  show  their  yearly  balance 
sheets  to  the  employes'  council,  and  must 
also  submit  to  it  quarterly  statements 
regarding  conditions,  progress  and  pros- 
pects of  the  business,  as  well  as  furnish 


certain  data  concerning  wages  and  con- 
ditions of  labor.  It  does  seem  to  be  a 
mistake  to  invest  these  committees  with 
a  voice  in  the  management.  As  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employes  the  commit- 
tees are  practically  the  opponents  of  the 
employer.  The  more  the  concern  earns 
the  better  are  the  chances  of  the  work- 
men for  an  increase  in  their  wages,  yet 
their  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  enter- 
prise is  not  so  profound  as  that  of  the 
employer,  who  has  his  money  invested  in 
it.  If  the  business  fails,  the  employe 
can  find  another  position;  the  employer, 
on  the  other  hand,  loses  not  only  his  cap- 
ital, but  also  his  reputation  and  stand- 
ing. For  this  reason  the  management 
itself  ought  to  be  left  to  the  employer. 
Also  the  inspection  of  the  balance  sheet 
and  other  data  by  the  employes'  council 
is  a  rather  dangerous  thing.  Although 
these  delegates  are  to  keep  strictly  confi- 
dential any  information  thus  obtained, 
they  could  easily  impart  knowledge  which 
in  the  hands  of  outsiders  may  prove 
very  dangerous  to  the  prosperity  or 
standing  of  the  concern,  or  to  its  ability 
to  compete. 

The  Constitution  means  to  strengthen 
German  industry  by  having  the  employes 
co-operate.  Instead  of  giving  the  latter 
a  deciding  influence  in  the  management 
of  the  individual  plant,  such  provisions 
ought  to  be  made  as  would  enable  them 
to  render  service  in  the  promotion  of  the 
productivity  of  the  entire  line  of  industry 
that  they  are  working  in.  The  German 
State  is  in  urgent  need  of  a  solid  indus- 
trial system.  Each  individual  plant  must 
be  made  as  productive  as  possible,  to 
yield  as  high  an  amount  of  taxes  as  pos- 
sible. 

The  activity  of  representatives  of  labor 
in  the  management  of  the  individual 
plant  will  hinder  rather  than  promote 
the  productivity  of  the  enterprise.  The 
employe  in  the  individual  plant  is  more 
interested  in  high  wages  than  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  his  plant  to  help  in  the  indus- 
trial and  financial  improvement  of  the 
State.  In  settling  questions  of  policy 
concerning  the  entire  industry  or  line  of 
business  the  representatives  of  labor 
ought  to  be  given  a  voice,  to  the  benefit 
of  both  the  workmen  and  the  State.  Both 


PRESENT-DAY   GERMANY:    AN   INSIDE   VIEW 


the  National  Association  of  German  In- 
dustry, which  is  the  leading  employers' 
association  of  Germany,  and  the  Social 
Democrats  held  meetings  of  protest,  bu* 
the  bill  was  passed  on  Jan.  18  by  a  vote 
of  213  to  64. 

[This  is  the  bill  which  caused  the  riots 
before  the  Reichstag  Building  which  are 
recorded  elsewhere  in  these  pages.] 

Submitting  the  balance  sheet  to  the 
employes  has  been  called  the  end  of  the 
labor  union  idea.  This  idea  is  based  on 
an  equal  wage  for  all  those  employed 
in  the  same  trade.  The  inspection  of  the 
balance  sheet  by  the  employes,  however, 
will  promote  the  inclination  to  base  the 
wage  demands  on  the  amount  of  profits 
of  the  individual  plant.  The  tendency 
will  be  to  increase  the  wages  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  formation  of  new  capital. 
The  spirit  of  enterprise  will  be  restricted 
thereby,  to  the  detriment  of  the  nation. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  October  of 
the  largest  German  labor  union,  the  Ger- 
man Metal  Workers'  Society,  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Central  Association  of 
the  Iron  and  Metal  Workers  of  Hungary 
reported  about  the  fight  of  the  Hun- 
garian workingmen  against  the  results 
of  the  Soviet  Republic.  Labor,  he  stated, 
had  lost  everything;  the  industries  had 
been  ruined  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
would  scarcely  be  possible  to  re-establish 
them,  and  the  labor  movement  had  suf- 
fered to  such  a  degree  that  thirty  years 
would  be  needed  to  rebuild  it.  In  spite 
of  this  warning,  the  meeting,  which  was 
controlled  by  labor  men  belonging  to  the 
Independent  Socialist  Party,  placed  it- 
self on  record  in  favor  of  the  soviet  sys- 
tem. It  passed  resolutions  tending  to 
make  the  society  a  revolutionary  indus- 
trial body  and  resulting  in  a  break  with 
the  working  kartel  between  the  employ- 
ers' organizations  and  the  employes'  or- 
ganizations, established  in  November, 
1918,  after  struggles  extending  over 
decades.  This  kartel  agreement,  by  the 
way,  contains  a  section  by  which  the  em- 
ployers' organizations  bind  themselves  to 
discontinue  supporting  the  so-called  yel- 
low labor  unions,  which  are  company 
unions  such  as  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Brotherhood. 

The  capacity  of  labor  is  still  far  below 


that  of  pre-war  days.  At  the  annual 
meeting  in  October  of  the  Laurahuette, 
one  of  the  largest  German  coal  and  iron 
works,  President  Hilger  mentioned  that 
the  mining  capacity  per  man  and  shift 
had  sunk  from  1.4  tons  before  the  war 
to  0.4  ton,  and  only  very  lately  it  has 
risen  to  0.6  ton.  In  addition  to  the  lack 
of  desire  to  work  and  the  shortening  of 
the  working  day  to  eight  and  seven 
hours,  he  blames  the  lack  of  proper 
nourishment.  He  adds  that  the  work- 
men carry  on  too  much  politics,  the  Lau- 
rahuette alone  having  twenty-five  em- 
ployes' committees  with  199  ordinary  and 
368  substitute  members.  The  recent  an- 
nual report  of  the  Harpen  Corporation, 
another  large  coal  mining  concern,  states 
that  the  daily  hours  of  actual  work  of  a 
miner  amount  to  five  only. 

The  strike  in  October  of  the  Berlin 
metal  workers  gave  a  good  picture  of 
the  current  aversion  to  work,  and  a 
member  of  the  Work  Committee  of  the 
Gi-eat  Berlin  Street  Railway  Company 
made  the  remark  (also  as  late  as  Oc- 
tober last)  that  labor  was  interested  in 
"  decreasing  the  output  of  the  German 
factories  as  much  as  possible,  so  as  to 
eliminate  capitalism."  In  view  of  such 
recent  utterances,  is  it  astonishing  to 
see  other  countries  somewhat  loath  to 
grant  credits  to  the  German  Nation? 

Piece  work  in  the  large  plants  was 
abolished  through  the  revolution,  and  the 
drone  receives  the  same  wage  as  the 
industrious.  In  some  plants  piece  work 
has  been  reintroduced;  yet  on  the  whole 
organized  labor  is  opposed  to  it.  A  vote 
in  November  of  the  shipyards'  employes 
showed  this  result:  for  the  reintroduc- 
tion  of  piece  work,  29,210  votes;  against 
it,  35,677  votes.  The  German  workman 
refuses  to  work  as  hard  as  he  used  to 
before  the  war.  He  would  rather  not 
work  at  all,  and  tries  to  live  at  the 
Government's  expense.  The  National 
Labor  Department  stated  at  the  end  of 
November  that  the  Government  ( vas  sup- 
porting 550,000  unemployed.  The  total 
amount  of  money  paid  to  unemployed 
for  the  year  1919  will  be  1,000,000,000 
marks. 

A  citizens'  organization  called  the 
Technical     Emergency     Aid     has     been 


254 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


created  to  provide  for  the  continued 
maintenance  of  essential  plants  by  means 
of  emergency  work.  Essential  plants  are 
those  whose  activity  is  necessary  for 
daily  life,  such  as  gas,  water,  and  elec- 
tric  works,   railroads,   postal   and   tele- 


graph service,  mining  and  agriculture. 
In  case  of  trouble  threatening  the  main- 
tenance of  any  of  these  industries,  the 
Emergency  Aid  is  not  to  carry  on  any 
productive  work,  but  is  to  maintain  the 
service. 


Germany's  Struggle  With  Radicalism 

Proclamation  of  Peace   Followed  by   Riots   and 
Bloodshed  in  Berlin — Grappling  With  Discontent 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  18,  1920] 


THE  labor  unrest  which  culminated  in 
riot  and  bloodshed  in  front  of  the 
Reichstag  Building  on  Jan.  13  had 
been  evident  all  over  Germany  long 
before  the  close  of  the  year.  Twenty-five 
thousand  State  employes,  comprising  the 
clerical  staffs  of  the  Government  offices, 
on  Dec.  28  marched  through  Unter  den 
Linden  past  the  Chancellery  in  a  silent 
demonstration  on  behalf  of  their  demand 
for  a  substantial  increase  in  wages.  A 
new  era  of  strikes  and  lockouts  had  set  in 
earlier  than  was  expected.  Crime  was 
on  the  increase.  The  unparalleled  rise  in 
food  prices  had  been  followed  by  enor- 
mous wage  demands;  one  Berlin  company 
reported  that  the  increases  called  for  by 
its  striking  employes  would  aggregate 
34,000,000  marks. 

A  new  strike  on  the  railways  had 
reached  such  a  pass  by  Jan.  12  that  the 
Government  suspended  the  freedom  of 
the  press,  the  right  of  assembly,  and  the 
right  to  strike.  President  Ebert  urged 
the  strikers  to  resume  work  immediately 
on  behalf  of  the  400,000  returning  war 
prisoners,  "  whom  your  action  on  the 
threshold  of  the  homeland  is  shutting  out 
from  their  wives  and  families." 

THE  REICHSTAG  RIOT 
The  Independent  Socialists,  ever 
watchful  for  an  opportunity  to  under- 
mine the  Government,  seized  upon  the 
new  strike  epidemic  to  organize  a  Revo- 
lutionary Council  of  Government,  with 
a  Provisional  Chief  Committee  of  thirty- 
three  members. 

When  the  Shop  Councils  bill,  a  Gov- 


ernment measure  placing  workmen's 
councils  under  State  control,  came  up  for 
a  second  reading  in  the  upper  house  of 
the  Reichstag  on  Jan.  13  the  Communist 
organ,  Die  Freiheit,  appealed  to  fifteen 
labor  unions  to  protest  by  stopping 
work  at  noon  and  assembling  in  front 
of  the  Reichstag  at  3  o'clock.  For  three 
hours  straggly  lines  of  men,  women,  and 
children  marched  through  the  streets  to 
the  common  centre.  As  the  crowd  grad- 
ually filled  the  wide  Konigsplatz  between 
the  Reichstag  and  Tiergarten,  only  an 
occasional  fiery  orator  beneath  a  red 
flag  sustained  interest.  As  many  began 
to  drift  homeward  others  took  their 
places,  so  that  while  the  number  of  par- 
ticipants was  estimated  at  100,000  not 
more  than  50,000  were  at  one  time  be- 
fore the  building. 

As  the  mob  increased,  the  radicals  in 
the  front  ranks  tried  to  force  their  way 
into  the  Reichstag  building.  With  only 
a  handful  of  troops  opposing  them,  they 
tore  away  rifles  from  the  defenders, 
knocked  the  soldiers  down,  kicked  their 
heads  and  chests,  and  threw  the  helpless 
over  the  balustrade  to  the  concrete  pave- 
ment eight  feet  below. 

At  first  the  soldiers  refrained*  from 
using  their  arms,  but  comrades  coming 
to  the  rescue  fired  over  the  heads  of  the 
mob.  In  turn  they  were  attacked.  The 
reserves  were  then  ordered  out,  and 
used  machine  guns.  Forty  thousand  rad- 
icals fled.  Some  ten  thousand  remained. 
A  second  round  of  machine-gun  fire, 
aided  by  bombs,  finally  drove  off  the 
last  of  the  rioters,  who  departed  drag- 


GERMANY'S  STRUGGLE  WITH  RADICALISM 


255 


ging   away   their   wounded.      The    total 
casualties  were  42  killed  and  105  injured. 

PLOT  OF  THE  RADICALS 

It  was  afterward  learned  that  there 
had  been  a  deliberate  radical  plot  to  rush- 
the  Reichstag  and  assassinate  or  im- 
prison all  but  the  Independent  Socialist 
members.  The  big  oak-paneled  door 
which  gives  access  to  the  west  wing  of 
the  Reichstag  building  was  smashed  dur- 
ing the  attempted  rush.  It  was  the 
prompt  resistance  of  the  Public  Security 
troops  on  guard  that  prevented  ingress, 
which  would  have  resulted  in  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Chamber  by  the  mob. 
Through  this  door  a  large  calibre  bullet 
fired  from  the  ranks  of  the  mob  found 
its  way  and  also  passed  through  a  sec- 
ond door  into  the  lobby,  crowded  with 
members. 

The  Reichstag  had  temporarily  ad- 
journed amid  great  confusion,  Pi-esident 
Fehrenbach  being  obliged  to  leave  the 
chair,  as  he  was  unable  to  control  the 
situation.  Members  of  various  parties 
engaged  in  violent  recriminations,  and 
members  of  the  Cabinet  left  the  Cham- 
ber. A  shot  fired  from  a  point  directly 
in  front  of  the  Bismarck  Monument  en- 
tered the  huge  glass  door  leading  to  the 
lobby,  which  was  crowded  with  agitated 
Deputies. 

Dr.  Karl  Heine,  Prussian  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  speaking  in  the  Assembly 
the  next  day,  assumed  full  responsibility 
for  the  protective  measures  adopted  and 
accused  the  Independents  of  having  in- 
cited the  masses  to  disorder.  The  speech 
was  noisily  interrupted  by  the  Independ- 
ents. 

Chancellor  Bauer  said :  "  I  regard  it 
as  my  duty  to  express  in  the  name  of 
the  Government  my  thanks  to  the  '  safety 
police.'  They  opened  fire  only  after  they 
had  been  attacked  by  criminal  elements 
in  the  crowd  and  brutally  maltreated  and 
killed  with  their  own  arms.  Signals  were 
given  to  storm  the  Reichstag  building 
by  the  Independents  waving  their  hand- 
kerchiefs. Had  the  mob  succeeded  in 
penetrating  the  building  a  second  St. 
Bartholomew's  night  would  have  ensued." 

The  police  obtained  evidence  of  a  wide- 
spread radical  conspiracy  and  later  made 
numerous  arrests  of  persons  implicated. 


Unfortunately  they  could  not  arrest  the 
two  principally  guilty  ones,  Frau  Zietz 
and  Herr  Zeubell,  as  members  of  the  Na- 
tional Convention  enjoy  immunity, 
though  as  proved  by  many  witnesses  they 
and  other  independent  members  directed 
the  attack  from  the  windows  and  tried 
to  persuade  the  guards  not  to  shoot,  but 
to  open  the  doors  and  admit  the  mob. 

The  Shop  Councils  measure,  which  had 
been  the  ostensible  occasion  of  the  riots, 
was  passed  by  the  National  Assembly  on 
Jan.  18.    The  vote  was  213  to  64. 

FINANCIAL  DIFFICULTIES 

Herr  Erzberger's  costly  and  tremend- 
ous campaign  to  put  over  his  premium 
bond  loan  in  December  had  been  partly- 
foiled.  Instead  of  the  anticipated  5,- 
000,000,000  marks  subscription,  the 
amount  offered  fell  considerably  short  of 
4,000,000,000.  A  striking  feature  of  the 
loan  was  that  nearly  80  per  cent,  of  the 
subscribers  took  only  small  amounts  of 
1,000  marks  or  under,  in  spite  of  alluring 
posters  bearing  such  headlines  as  "  How 
to  become  a  millionaire."  The  actual 
millionaires  for  the  most  part  held  aloof, 
being  distrustful  of  Erzberger's  financial 
policy,  and  finding  more  profitable  use 
for  their  capital. 

This  financial  stress  divided  the  coun- 
try into  two  distinct  classes  of  rich  anil 
poor,  the  former  middle  class  having 
been  swept  away.  Thus,  where  before 
the  war  a  German  middle  class  family 
could  livd  comfortably  on  1,800  marks  a 
year,  now  an  income  of  even  3,500  marks 
provided  scarcely  a  bare  existence,  since 
prices  of  everything  had  risen  from  200 
per  cent,  upward.  The  distress  which 
this  situation  forced  upon  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  working  people  in  a  sim- 
ilar manner  precipitated  a  strike  of  all 
the  Berlin  restaurant,  saloon,  and  hotel 
keepers  on  Dec.  18.  Numerous  com- 
plaints had  reached  the  Government  that 
while  families  of  workingmen  were  de- 
prived of  decent  food,  luxurious  meals  at 
profiteering  prices,  through  illicit  trade, 
could  be  obtained  at  the  resorts  or  those 
with  purchasing  means.  The  Govern- 
ment having  decided  to  enforce  the  anti- 
profiteering  law,  bearing  severe  penalties 
of  prison  and  fine,  restaurant  and  hotel 
proprietors  commenced  a  two  days'  strike. 


256 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


During  this  retaliatory  demonstration 
many  visitors  in  Berlin  went  hungry, 
since  not  even  a  cup  of  coffee  could  be 
purchased.  Hotel  guests  enjoyed  the 
unique  tribulation  of  watching  the  wait- 
ers fare  sufficiently  as  usual,  while  serv- 
ice of  meals  was  denied  to  patrons. 

A  Berlin  message  of  Dec.  24  stated 
that  the  German  Government  had  chosen 
a  new  coat  of  arms  for  the  republic.  It 
consisted  of  a  black  eagle  on  a  gold  and 
yellow  background  without  other  orna- 
mentation. The  crown  and  other  imperial 
emblems  were  discarded. 

A  GLOOMY  CHRISTMAS 

The  high  Christmas  festivity  for  which 
all  Germany  was  formerly  famous  was 
epitomized  as  a  Christmas  only  for  the 
rich  in  1919.  While  crowds  thronged  the 
streets  of  Berlin,  it  required  a  long  purse 
to  purchase  seasonable  articles  formerly 
within  the  reach  of  the  comparatively 
poor.  Christmas  trees  were  scarce  and 
dear.  The  smallest  candle  cost  25  cents, 
and  a  box  of  crackers  $2.  Disappoint- 
ment was  the  lot  of  the  majority  of  chil- 
dren; a  small  ordinary  doll  was  priced  at 
$4;  there  was  an  almost  complete  absence 
of  toy  engines  and  railway  trains,  and 
the  revolutionary  father  now  doubted  the 
appropriateness  of  presenting  his  boys 
with  toy  soldiers. 

The  press  bade  adieu  to  the  departing 
year  with  such  phrases  as:  "Twelve 
months  of  domestic  decay,"  "  The  black- 
est and  most  disastrous  year  in  German 
history,"  "  Spirit  weariness."  In  a  vein 
of  serious  admonition  President  Ebert 
issued  an  appeal  to  the  German  people  on 
Dec.  31  as  follows:  , 

In  the  year  just  ended  chaos  was  averted 
and  the  unity  of  the  empire  was  main- 
tained and  consolidated.  Under  the 
pressure  of  a  reckless  force  we  were  com- 
pelled to  conclude  a  peace  threatening  the 
honor  and  welfare  of  our  nation  and  plac- 
ing the  fruits  of  our  work  of  past  and 
future  years  at  the  mercy  of  foreigners. 

The  year  which  begins  must  decide 
whether  Germany,  despite  all  difficulties, 
will  maintain  herself  as  a  nation  and 
State  and  develop  her  economic  life  on  a 
sound  basis  or  whether,  through  internal 
quarrels,  she  will  definitely  collapse  and 
bury  the  hopes,  even  of  her  future  gener- 
ations. 

With  these  prospects  of  our  fate  be- 
fore   my    eyes,    I    urge    all    those    calling 


themselves  Germans,  in  view  of  the  com- 
mon danger,  to  close  their  ranks  in  order 
that  each  according  to  his  capacity  may 
help  to  the  utmost  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Fatherland. 

BITTERNESS  OVER  THE  TREATY 

News  of  the  final  ratification  of  the 
Peace  Treaty  on  Jan.  10  was  received  in 
Berlin  almost  without  signs  of  public  in- 
terest. Telegrams  and  articles  concern- 
ing it  in  the  evening  papers  were  not 
even  given  the  pride  of  place.  The  press 
comments,  however,  were  generally  bit- 
ter, though  not  all  for  the  same  reason. 
Among  the  most  prominent  papers  the 
Lokal-Anzeiger  accorded  it  the  heading: 
"  Under  the  Knout  of  the  Enemy."  The 
Tagliche  Rundschau  thundered:  "  This 
Peace  Is  Worse  Than  War!  "  The  Tage- 
blatt  likened  the  Peace  Treaty  to  the  edi- 
fice of  force  erected  by  the  Pan  Germans, 
which  fell  to  the  ground.  "  History  does 
not  end  with  ratification,"  prophesied  the 
Tageblatt,  "  when  Valliant  threw  a  bomb 
into  the  French  Chamber  the  President 
cried  out:  'The  sitting  continues!  '  And 
so  the  world's  history  goes  on — the  sit- 
ting continues."  This  paper  declared 
that  Germany  had  two  duties:  "  To  carry 
out  the  treaty  to  the  best  of  her  ability 
and  strive  for  revision."  The  Deutsche 
Allgemeine  Zeitung  remarked:  "  It  would 
be  unworthy  to  look  sorrowfully  back- 
ward and  useless  to  seek  scapegoats  on 
whom  to  cast  responsibility  for  our  na- 
tional misfortune." 

On  Jan.  11  the  Government  issued  this 
proclamation  to  the  German  inhabitants 
of  the  territories  being  separated  from 
Germany: 

The  unhappy  issue  of  the  war  has  left 
us  defenseless  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  an 
opponent  who  is  imposing  upon  us,  in  the 
name  of  peace,  the  heaviest  of  sacrifices, 
the  first  of  which  is  the  renunciation  of 
German  territories  in  the  east,  west  and 
north,  without  regard  to  the  principles  of 
self-determination,  by  which  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  our  German  countrymen  are 
being  placed  under  foreign  domination. 

German  Brothers  and  Sisters :  Not  only 
in  the  hour  of  farewell,  but  forever, 
mourning  for  our  loss  will  fill  our  hearts. 
We  vow"  to  you,  on  behalf  of  the  entire 
German  people,  that  we  will  never  forget 
you.  Tou,  on  your  part,  will  not  forget 
your  common  German  Fatherland — of  that 
we  are  sure. 


GERMANY'S  STRUGGLE  WITH  RADICALISM 


257 


Whatever  is  possible  for  us  to  do  to 
preserve  to  you  the  mother  language,  the 
German  character  and  the  inward  spir- 
itual union  of  the  homeland  will  be  done. 
We  will  unceasingly  urge  that  promises' 
given  in  the  treaty  shall  be  kept.  Our 
sympathy,  our  care,  our  ardent  love  will 
unfailingly  be  yours. 

Across  all  frontier  barriers  German  na- 
tionality remains  one  entity.  Be  strong 
with  us  in  the  belief  that  the  German 
people  will  not  perish,   but  on  hard-won 


liberal  foundations  will  rise  to  the  highest 
political,    economic   and   social   culture. 

Countrymen :  A  hard  injustice  was  done 
you  and  us  by  forcible  separation.  The 
right  of  self-determination  has  been  re- 
fused the  German  population.  But  we  do 
not  abandon  hope.  You,  too,  one  day  will 
be  granted  this  national  fundamental 
right.  We  will,  therefore,  despite  all  pain, 
call  to  one  another,  full  of  hope  and  con- 
fidence in  this  hour  of  parting.  We  will 
truly  ever  stand  together  with  our  entire 
strength  for  the  right  of  our  nationality. 


Paul  Deschanel  as  President  of  France 

By  WALTER  LITTLEFIELD 


ON  Jan.  17  Paul  Deschanel,  who  since 
1912  had  been  constantly  President 
of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  was 
elected  President  of  the  Third  French  Re- 
public by  the  Deputies  and  Senators 
united  as  a  National  Assembly,  or  Con- 
gress, at  Versailles.  Of  the  926  electors 
889  cast  their  votes  with  the  following 
result: 

M.    Deschanel 734 

Charles  Jonnart 66 

Premier   Clemenceau    56 

L6on    Bourgeois 6 

Captain    Jacques    Sadoul 1 

Scattered     3 

Blank  and  void  ballots 23 

At  the  caucus  of  the  Assembly  held 
on  the  previous  day  the  vote  had  been : 

M.    Deschanel 408 

Premier   Clemenceau 389 

M.    Jonnart 4 

M.    Bourgeois 3 

Marshal   Foch 1 

President    Poincare 16 

Had  the  caucus  followed  precedent 
there  would  have  been  every  likelihood 
of  Premier  Clemenceau  being  elected. 
But  it  did  not  follow  precedent,  nor  did 
he  desire  to  have  his  long  and  active 
career  of  nonconstructive  and  construc- 
tive statesmanship  thus  honorably  deco- 
rated. There  had  been  some  doubt  abroad 
as  to  the  latter,  but  none  in  France,  par- 
ticularly among  his  intimates.  When  the 
result  of  the  caucus  became  known  M. 
Clemenceau  reminded  a  group  of  Min- 
isters, who  had  asked  him  to  remain  as 
a  candidate,  that  he  had  already  in- 
formed them  of  his  reluctance  to  remain 
passive,    but   had   done   so   through   the 


pressure  of  his  friends.  He  added  that 
he  had  given  them  the  names  of  three 
men,  one  of  whom  he  would  prefer  to  see 
ident.  The  three  were  MM.  Deschanel, 
Dubost,  and  Barthou.  He  did  not 
then  repeat  his  preference,  but  advised 
his  supporters  to  vote  for  the  re-election 
of  President  Poincare.  The  latter  de- 
clined, and  the  "  Father  of  Victory," 
alias  "The  Tiger,"  then  said:  "Now 
my  role  is  finished."  Thus  almost  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  French  Presi- 
dential elections  the  caucus  indicated 
what  was  actually  to  happen  on  the  fol- 
lowing day. 

France  and  a  very  large  part  of  the 
world  would  have  liked  to  see  M.  Clem- 
enceau President — some  because  he  would 
then  have  been  practically  removed  from 
active  politics,  others  because  they  would 
like  to«6ee  how  he  might  defy  tradition 
and  confuse  law  by  striving  to  be  a  Chief 
Executive  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name, 
others  still  because  they  wished  him  to 
receive  what  should  be  and  what  he  could 
make  the  greatest  honor  within  the  gift 
of  France. 

Once  Le  Temps  urged  Casimir-Perier, 
when  President,  to  "do  something."  At 
the  end  of  a  long  reply  he  wrote: 

"  Among  all  the  powers  which  appear 
to  be  attributed  to  him  there  is  onl  -  one 
the  President  of  the  republic  is  able  to 
exercise  freely  and  personally;  this  is  to 
preside  at  national  ceremonies." 

Every  other  act  has  to  be  counter- 
signed by  some  Minister,  and  the  Minis- 
ters are  individually  and  collectively  re- 


258 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


sponsible  to  the  Chamber,  where  an  ad- 
verse vote  may  throw  one  or  all  out  of 
office.  Some  French  publicists  have  al- 
ways declared  that  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent has  powers  of  almost  limitless  po- 
tentialities; it  only  remains  for  the  right 
man  to  discover  them.  There  are  others 
who  declare  that  President  Poincarehas 
gone  further  toward  their  discovery 
than  any  of  his  predecessors.  They  have 
said  that  he  has  done  so  "  by  exercising 
the  high  functions  of  his  office  fearlessly 
and  yet  with  just  moderation  and  free 
from  the  dominating  influence  of  others, 
#  thus  winning  the  admiration  and  loyalty 
of  all  classes  of  citizens  of  the  great  and 
valiant  nation  of  which  he  is  the  honored 
Executive." 

The  only  thing  which  may  possibly 
qualify  this  prospect  looming  before  M. 
Deschanel  is  the  fact  that  M.  Briand, 
several  times  Premier,  has  ready  the 
project  of  a  law  to  make  the  potential 
powers  of  the  President  active.  Still  M. 
Deschanel  may  have  craved  the  office 
without  looking  beyond  its  traditional 
>  functions.  As  we  have  seen,  he  has 
sought  it  before.  The  traditional  func- 
tions may,  therefore,  be  the  beginning 
and  end  of  his  ambition. 

At  any  rate,  he  comes  to  the  Elysee  a 
gentleman  capable  of  making  the  Court 
there  shine  as  it  has  never  shone  under 
any  of  his  predecessors.  His  dress, 
•  speech,  and  manners  are  aristocratic, 
and  he  has  a  charming  and  beautiful 
wife,  whose  salon  has  long  been  the 
most  exclusive  in  Paris.  He  is  an  ora- 
tor, a  scholar,  and  an  author  of  distinc- 
tion. He  is  also  an  Academician.  Un- 
fortunately, his  labor  during  the  war  is 
buried  in  the  secret  archives  of  the 
Chamber  whose  President  he  was,  and 
his  public  speeches  during  that  period, 
his  rulings  in  the  legislative  body,  were 
so  overshadowed  by  what  was  vital  to 
the  nation  as  to  have  passed  quite  unno- 
ticed. And  yet,  if  they  had  not  been 
"  correct "  there  would  probably  have 
been  sufficient  sensation  about  them. 

Paul  Eugene  Louis  Deschanel  was 
born  in  Brussels  in  1856,  where  his 
father,  Emile  Deschanel,  the  Senator 
and  professor  at  the  College  de  France, 


had  been  exiled  in  1851  by  "  Napoleon 
le  Petit."  That  exile  ended  in  1859,  and 
father  and  son  returned  to  France.  (In 
France,  one  may  have  been  born  in  a 
foreign  land  and  still  be  President.) 
Young  Deschanel  studied  law,  and  then 
decided  on  a  political  career,  preferring 
to  enter  the  bureaucracy  rather  than  the 
Legislature — a  predilection  which  has 
shaped  in  the  main  his  entire  career. 
From  187G  he  served  as  secretary,  first 
to  Deshayes  de  Marcere  and  then  to 
the  famous  "Jules  Simon,"  the  real 
father  of  The  Hague  Congress. 

In  October,  1885,  he  was  elected  Deputy 
for  Eure-et-Loire  and  by  his  oratory  and 
administrative  ability  soon  began  to 
shape  the  destinies  of  the  Progressive 
Republican  group.  All  during  the  early 
part  of  his  career,  like  Clemenceau,  he 
was  both  an  Anglophobe  and  a  Russo- 
phobe. His  attitude  was  an  uncompro- 
mising in  regard  to  the  French  with- 
drawal from  Egypt  in  1882  and  the  fan- 
cied humiliation  of  the  Marchand  fiasco 
at  Fashoda  in  1899  as  it  was  against  the 
Russian  anti-Semitic  pogroms  and  the 
emptying  of  French  stockings  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Grand  Dukes. 

In  1896  he  was  elected  Vice  President 
of  the  Chamber  and  henceforth  confined 
himself  more  to  domestic  politics,  begin- 
ning a  prolonged  struggle  with  the  Left, 
with  periodical  compromises,  however,  as, 
for  example,  when  the  Left  took  up  the 
vindication  of  Dreyfus  and  the  separa- 
tion of  Church  and  State  in  the  first 
decade  of  the  present  century.  He  was 
first  elected  President  of  of  the  Chamber 
in  June,  1896,  was  re-elected  and  defeated 
several  times  until  1912,  when  he  began 
an  interrupted  career  as  presiding  officer 
of  that  body. 

His  wife  is  the  daughter  of  Rene  Brice, 
Deputy  from  Ille-et-Vilaine,  and  the 
granddaughter  of  Camille  Doucet,  for 
many  years  the  perpetual  Secretary  of 
the  French  Academy.  His  best-known 
books  are  "  Orators  and  Statesmen," 
"  Sketches  of  Women,"  "  Decentraliza- 
tion," "  The  Social  Question,"  "  Domestic 
and  Foreign  Politics,"  and  numerous  vol- 
umes of  speeches. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 

Survey  of  Important  Events  and   Developments   in   Various 
Nations,  Great  and  Small 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  19,  1920] 


THE  BALKANS 

THE  presentation  of  the  Hungarian 
treaty  of  peace  to  the  magnate 
Magyar  delegates  at  Paris  early 
in  the  new  year  apparently  cre- 
ated no  excitement  in  the  Balkans,  for 
both  Rumania  and  Jugoslavia  had  known, 
since  they  had  been  told  by  the  Supreme 
Council  as  early  as  Oct.  24,  1919,  ex- 
actly what  territory  they  might  expect 
from  the  new  Magyar  Republic.  The 
Bulgarian  Sobranje  amid  internal  disor- 
ders which,  however,  had  little  to  do  with 
international  affairs,  quietly  ratified  the 
Treaty  of  Neuilly  on  Jan.  12,  together 
with  the  special  treaty  in  regard  to  the 
emigration  of  nationals  between  Bulgaria 
and  Greece,  which  had  also  been  signed 
by  the  delegates  of  these  nations  at 
Neuilly  on  Nov.  27.  Meanwhile,  Balkan 
propaganda  as  well  as  diplomatic  ex- 
changes showed  a  new  lining  up  of  the 
little  nations  of  the  peninsula — a  co- 
hesion of  Bulgaria  and  Greece,  and  of 
Jugoslavia  and  Rumania.  In  the  popular 
press  of  Bulgaria  and  Greece,  however, 
the  conflict  over  the  disposition  of  Thrace 
still  raged. 

BULGARIA — An  anti-dynastic  revolt 
aided  by  industrial  strikes  began  on  Jan. 
5  and  practically  ended  on  Jan.  11  with- 
out loss  of  life  by  the  uncompromising 
but  rational  action  of  the  troops.  Re- 
ports, however,  came  from  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  that  100  persons  had  been 
killed  at  Sofia;  these  reports  were  subse- 
quently denied  at  the  Bulgar  capital. 
According  to  Bulgar  Government  or- 
gans the  demonstrations  were  organized 
by  the  friends  of  the  proscribed  enemies' 
of  Premier  Stambuliwski,  who  were  mak- 
ing every  effort  to  escape  punishment 
for  following  the  ex-Czar  Ferdinand  into 
the  war  on  the  side  of  Germany.  There 
was  no  foundation  for  Bolshevism,  but 
in   the   industrial   unrest,   they  thought, 


there  was  sufficient  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  dynasty,  and  with  the  dynasty 
would  go  the  new  Agrarian  Government. 
Indeed,  a  dispatch  from  Copenhagen, 
dated  Jan.  7,  showed  that  they  had  hair 
succeeded,  that  the  Stambuliwski  Gov- 
ernment had  resigned  and  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  a  Cabinet  under  the  leadership 
of  Dr.  S.  Deneff,  former  Premier  and 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  But  no 
confirmation  of  this  came  from  Sofia. 
The  official  press  of  Athens  having  de- 
clared that  the  Musulman  population  of 
Xanthie,  Eastern  Thrace,  had  welcomed 
the  advent  of  the  Greek  army  of  occupa- 
tion, the  Echo  of  Bulgaria,  published  at 
Sofia,  on  Dec.  16,  published  in  facsimile 
a  note  in  Turkish  written  by  the  Mayor 
of  Xanthie,  Tahir  Effendi,  saying  that 
the  Musulmans  went  into  mourning  ^nd 
draped  their  houses  in  black  when  the 
Greeks  came. 

GREECE— The  censorship  still  domi- 
nated Greece,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
secure  through  the  regular  channels  any 
news  of  the  exact  situation  there,  where 
the  friends  of  ex-King  Constantine  from 
their  headquarters  in  Geneva  manage  to 
get  through  their  paper,  the  Echo  of 
Greece.  As  to  the  alleged  plot  against 
M.  Venizelos,  although  certain  officers  of 
the  old  regime  were  either  arrested  or 
placed  under  strict  surveillance  in 
Athens,  the  affair  practically  became  a 
journalistic  duel  between  the  Constantine 
organ  and  the  Journal  of  the  Hellenes, 
in  which  the  President  of  the  Council 
himself,  to  judge  from  his  speeches  and 
interviews,  took  merely  academic  inter- 
est. 

The  condition  of  Greek  finances  was. 
for  the  first  time  since  the  war,  ex- 
pounded by  M.  Negropontis,  Minister  of 
Finance,  before  Parliament  on  Dec.  27. 
His  statement  reduced  to  tabular  form 
was  as  follows  for  1918-19,  in  drachmai, 


260 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  normal  value  of  the  drachma  being 
about  20  cents,  now  worth  a  little  more 
than  half: 
Revenue — 

From  Customs 450,269,284 

From  loans  798,421,989 

Expenditures    1,241,714,338 

The  loans  include  700,000,000  drachmai 
supplied  by  the  Allies.  His  estimate  for 
the  current  year  1919-20  was: 

Revenue    . .  .1,147,669,394 

Expenditures    1,541,330,749 

He  declared  that  the  growth  of  the 
revenue,  chiefly  from  the  proceeds  of  the 
new  income  tax,  proved  that  the  national 
economic  situation  was  prosperous.  His 
policy  included  the  flotation  of  internal 
loans  for  national  needs  and  of  foreign 
loans  for  productive  needs,  chiefly  with 
the  aim  of  realizing  the  value  of  the  po- 
tential riches  of  the  country. 

JUGOSLAVIA— In  spite  of  the  unset- 
tled condition  of  the  Adriatic  question 
and  the  political  crisis  at  Belgrade  be- 
tween the  Serbs  and  Croats,  reports  of 
American  agents  from  various  parts  of 
the  country  show  a  revival  of  industry 
and  a  feverish  effort  for  reconstruc- 
tion. In  Serbia  there  was  a  great  need 
of  skilled  agricultural  labor  and  of  teach- 
ers to  instruct  the  unskilled,  of  tools  and 
machinery,  but  of  no  more  alleged  phil- 
anthropic missions  bringing  propaganda 
and  food  for  the  voluntarily  idle.  In 
Croatia  and  Slovenia  many  savings 
banks  had  doubled  the  amount  of  their  de- 
posits every  month  since  Summer;  those 
of  Petrinia  and  Agram  were  said  to  have 
received  large  letters  of  credit  from 
American  firms,  and  mining  properties 
were  being  rapidly  bought  up.  There  was 
also  great  activity  in  the  timber  indus- 
tries of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  and  a 
syndicate  to  utilize  the  water  power  of 
the  Frebinjica  River  with  the  construc- 
tion of  a  great  central  electric  power  sta- 
tion was  formed  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Belgrade  Government,  just  in  time  to 
prevent  the  whole  enterprise,  in  the 
shape  of  a  concession,  going  to  an 
American  company. 

RUMANIA — In  the  preceding  number 
of  Current  History  only  an  incomplete 
list  of  the  new  Rumanian  Cabinet  organ- 
ized  on   Dec.   9   could  be   secured.    The 


completed   and  corrected  list  is   as  fol- 
lows: 
ALEXANDER     VAIDA-VOEVOD,     Premier 

and  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
General  FOFOZA  AVERESCU,  Interior. 
General  NASCARU,  War. 
Dr.    AUREL    VLADA,    Finance    and    Acting 

Minister  of  Labor  and  Industry. 
Dr.  VICTOR  VORTESCU,  Transportation. 
OCT  AVI  AN  COGA,  Religion  and  Education. 
Dr.   MICHAEL  POPOVICI,   Public  Works. 
JOHN  JELIVAN,  Justice. 
INCULETZ  RALIPA,  STEFAN  CIPOP.  and 

Professor   Dr.    CANTACUZENE,    without 

portfolios. 

M.  Vaida-Voevod,  who  was  with  M. 
Bratiano  in  Paris  as  the  representative 
of  the  Transylvania  Council,  publicly 
announced  that  the  first  duty  of  the 
Cabinet  would  be  to  see  that  the  treaty 
of  St.  Germain  was  signed.  This  was 
done  on  Dec.  7,  two  days  before  the  Cab- 
inet had  actually  been  completed.  Aside 
from  this  duty  the  Cabinet  will  repre- 
sent the  parliamentary  bloc  composed  of 
members  of  the  National  Party  of  Tran- 
sylvania, Bukovina,  and  Bessarabia,  and 
of  the  Peasants,  and  Nationalist-Demo- 
cratic groups. 

The  circumstances  which  led  up  to  the 
formation  of  the  Vaida-Voevod  Govern- 
ment were  as  follows:  After  his  return 
from  Paris  M.  Bratiano  had  succeeded 
in  blocking  all  entente  between  his  Gov- 
ernment and  the  Peace  Conference, 
through  his  favor  with  the  King,  to 
whom  he  had  declared  that  a  firm  front 
would  cause  the  conference  to  back 
down.  To  make  this  front  firmer  he  in- 
augurated the  "  Cabinet  of  Generals," 
described  in  the  November  number  of 
Current  History,  led  by  his  old  friend, 
General  Vaitoiano. 

To  his  decisive  influence  between 
Bucharest  and  Paris  is  due  the  extraor- 
dinary fact  that  after  the  Vaitoiano 
Cabinet  announced  its  resignation  in 
Parliament  it  was  actually  instigated  by 
M.  Bratiano  to  send  a  reply  to  the  ulti- 
matum of  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Paris  Conference,  which  was  full  of  re- 
criminations against  the  attitude  of  the 
Entente  toward  Rumania  and  wound  up 
with  the  memorable  declaration  that  the 
Rumanian  Government  would  not  sign 
the  treaty  with  Austria — the  treaty  of 
St.  Germain. 

This  attempt  to  break  off  relations  at 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


261 


Paris  by  what  amounted  to  a  coup  d'etat 
against  Parliament  by  Bratiano  and  his 
military  friends  was  frustrated  by  repre- 
sentatives of  Great  Britain,  France,  and 
Italy  at  Bucharest,  who  advised  General 
Vaitoiano,  especially  as  his  reply  to  the 
ultimatum  had  been  ex  post  facto,  to  re- 
consider what  would  be  regarded  by  the 
world  as  a  most  extraordinary  proceed- 
ing— the  spectacle  of  a  Government  pre- 
tending to  negotiate  when  no  longer  in 
office. 

On  the  night  of  Dec.  2,  as  the  ulti- 
matum reached  the  hour  of  expiration 
and  no  new  Government  had  been  formed, 
the  allied  mission  prepared  to  leave  Bu- 
charest. At  the  eleventh  hour  the  King, 
by  directing  M.  Vaida-Voevod  to  form  a 
Cabinet,  saved  the  situation  and  prevent- 
ed a  rupture  with  the  Conference,  which 
the  evening  papers  of  the  capital  had  al- 
ready announced  as  having  taken  place. 

BELGIUM  AND  HOLLAND 

On  Dec.  23  M.  Hymans,  the  Belgian  For- 
eign Minister,  in  a  speech  in  the  Parlia- 
ment at  Brussels,  explained  that  the  nego- 
tiations with  The  Hague  would  leave  Bel- 
gium in  a  better  position  with  regard  to 
control  of  the  Scheldt,  of  the  Ghent-Ter- 
neuzen  Canal,  and  of  the  traffic  from 
Antwerp  to  the  Meuse  and  the  Rhine  hin- 
terland, but  that  in  a  military  way  the 
security  of  Belgium  would  probably  re- 
main seriously  imperiled  by  the  non  pos- 
sumus  of  the  Dutch.  This  was  confirmed 
on  Jan.  13  by  an  agreement  reached  be- 
tween the  Belgian  and  Dutch  negotiators. 
Two  commissions  were  to  be  formed,  one 
for  the  Scheldt,  to  sit  at  Brussels,  and 
one  for  the  Ghent-Temeuzen  Canal,  to 
sit  at  Ghent.  The  military  project  will 
be  laid  before  the  League  of  Nations  by 
Belgium. 

Another  Belgian-Dutch  dispute  in- 
volves a  change  in  the  frontier  not  con- 
templated by  the  Peace  Conference.  In 
this  Holland  took  the  initiative.  It  con- 
cerns the  twin  towns  of  Baerle  and  the 
quantity  of  Dutch  land  owned  and  cul- 
tivated in.  the  vicinity  by  Belgians  and 
the  quantity  of  Belgian  land  owned  and 
cultivated  in  the  same  vicinity  by  Dutch- 
men. Baerle  is  situated  on  the  railway 
line    from    Turnhout   to    Tilburg,    about 


midway  between  the  two  towns.  Com- 
pletely separated  from  the  Province  of 
Antwerp  by  Dutch  territory,  it  is  di- 
vided into  two  districts,  Baerle-Hertog, 
which  is  Belgian,  and  Baerle-Nassau, 
which  is  Dutch.  The  situation  is  further 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  topo- 
graphical division  of  the  towns  is  most 
irregular — the  Belgian  portion,  for  mu- 
nicipal purposes,  being  linked  up  with 
the  hamlet  of  Zondereygen,  which  is  com- 
pletely isolated  within  the  Province  of 
Antwerp.  Baerle-Hertog  has  1,400  in- 
habitants, and  Baerle-Nassau  2,600,  in- 
cluding the  hamlets  of  Casterle  and 
Uliooten,  which  are  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  centre. 

The  Dutch  project  is  to  rectify  the 
frontier  line  so  that  the  political  boun- 
dary shall  conform  to  the  changes  in 
land  ownership  which  have  gradually 
taken  place. 

Le  Peuple,  the  first  Belgian  Labor 
paper  to  be  published  in  the  French  lan- 
guage, celebrated  its  thirty-fifth  anni- 
versary. Its  first  serial  was  Emile 
Zola's  "  Germinal,"  the  right  to  publish 
which  was  conveyed  in  a  letter  from  the 
author  dated  Nov.  15,  1885,  reading: 

Take  "  Germinal  "  and  reproduce  it.  I 
ask  nothing,  because  your  paper  is  poor, 
and  because  you  defend  poor  people.  Good 
luck  to  you.  EMILE  ZOLA. 

In  1885  the  paper  was  written  by  one 
man,  set  up  and  printed  by  five,  and  had 
a  circulation  of  150.  Its  capital  con- 
sisted of  a  few  ten-franc  shares.  Its 
circulation  on  its  thirty-fifth  anniversary 
was  half  a  million,  and  its  influence  at 
the  November  election  is  judged  from 
the  fact  that  it  delivered  645,000  Labor 
votes,  as  compared  with  620,000  Catholic 
and  310,000  Liberal,  and  that  Labor 
gained  thirty  seats  in  the  Chamber,  with 
four  Labor  Ministers  in  the  Coalition 
Government,  and,  for  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  Belgium,  a  Laborite  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber.  { 

Heavy  purchases  of  railway  freight 
cars  have  been  met  abroad  principally 
in  France;  orders  for  375  locomotives 
have  been  placed  in  the  United  States, 
125  in  England,  and  175  within  the  coun- 
try. Some  of  those  ordered  in  England 
were  filled  in  December.    The  great  via- 


262 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


duct,  300  fet  in  length  and  60  feet  wide, 
on  the  Ostend-Brussels  line,  entirely  de- 
stroyed by  the  Germans,  has  been  re- 
built, as  well  as  all  the  necessary  bridges 
of  the  Scheldt  and  Lys,  likewise  de- 
stroyed. The  German  mark  was  com- 
pletely retired  and  the  circulation  of 
francs  destored. 

THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE 

On  Jan.  15  it  was  authoritatively  re- 
ported from  London  that  his  Majesty's 
Government,  apprehensive  of  the  hold 
Bolshevist  propaganda  was  taking  in 
India,  would  lead  the  newly  established 
League  of  Nations  in  overt  war  on  Soviet 
Eussia.  The  next  day  it  was  officially 
announced  and  confirmed  that  the  Su- 
preme Council,  on  the  initiative  of  the 


KABUL^: 


j:.^  ,,-<9oFTSAirbEMAH 

IKoRAf  *\         Sc»Le  or  Milc» 

*ral»**y  ■•  o  so 


ypl3>) 


SCENE    OF   THE    FIGHTING   BETWEEN    THE 

BRITISH-INDIAN    TROOPS    AND    THE 

MAHSUD    AND    WAZIRIS 

British  Government  had,  on  the  contrary, 
decided  to  raise  the  blockade  of  Russia 
and  to  barter  products  with  the  co-opera- 
tive societies  there,  while  still  maintain- 
ing the  attitude  of  the  Entente  toward 
the  Moscow  Government. 

The  exact  character  of  this  new  policy 
and  its  general  effect  among  Govern- 
ments and  peoples  and  in  the  press  had 
not  become  known  with  any  definite  de- 
tails by  Jan.  19.  The  events  which  pre- 
ceded it  and  may  have  directly  or  indi- 


rectly inspired  it,  however,  are  upon  rec- 
ord. As  far  back  as  Nov.  8  the  Prime 
Minister,  speaking  at  the  Lord  Mayor's 
banquet  in  London,  had  expressed  the 
view  that  peace  with  Russia  was  most 
desirable.  The  organ  of  the  Pan-Rus- 
sian Governments,  La  Republique  Russe, 
printed  in  Paris,  opened  in  its  issue  of 
Dec.  19  a  long  article  on  the  subject 
with  the  words:  "  The  curtain  rises  on 
the  decisive  act  of  international  politics. 
Official  representatives  of  Lloyd  George 
and  of  Lenin  are  negotiating  peace." 
Advices  from  the  States  of  Caucasus 
showed  that  the  Bolshevist  creed  had 
penetrated  Persia;  from  Turkestan  that 
it  had  obtained  an  influence  in  Afghan- 
istan and  was  the  instigator  of  the  re- 
newal of  the  war  on  the  Indian  North- 
west Frontier. 

In  the  United  Kingdom  the  Labor 
Party,  which  had  placed  itself  on  record 
as  being  opposed  to  armed  intervention 
in  Russia,  won  several  seats  at  by-elec- 
tions. The  negotiations  of  the  Govern- 
ment with  the  coal  miners  and  with  the 
railroad  men  made  slow  progress. 
Equally  slow  was  the  progress  of  the 
Government  in  instituting  reforms  in 
Egypt,  India,  and  Ireland  in  the  face  of 
attempted  assassination  of  British  offi- 
cials and  of  Nationalist  propaganda,  the 
speciousness  and  distribution  of  which 
had  never  been  equaled  in  history.  The 
elections  in  the  Union  of  South  Africa, 
handled  by  the  indomitable  General 
Smuts,  had  indeed  been  a  victory  for  the 
empire  and  against  the  establishment  of 
a  Dutch  republic;  in  Australia  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Commonwealth  had  won 
over  the  Laborites,  and  the  farmers  and 
the  Hughes  Government  was  safe.  In 
Malta  Lord  Milner,  coming  over  from 
Cairo,  announced  home  rule  for  the  isl- 
and. 

All  these  conflicting  events  probably 
had  a  strong  influence  in  pressing  the 
British  Government  to  take  the  initiative 
in  raising  the  blockade  of  Soviet  Russia. 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM— December 
established  a  new  record  for  British 
trade,  making  1919  unequaled:  The  total 
exports  for  the  year  showed  an  inci*ease 
of  nearly  £300,000,000  over  1918,  while 
total  imports  were  £315,000,000  over  the 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


263 


preceding  year.  Numerous  contractions 
of  Government  expenditures  were  an- 
nounced, showing  on  the  average  a  50  per 
cent,  reduction  over  those  of  1918  and  an 
estimated  reduction  of  60  per  cent,  for 
1920.  Unionist  politicians  charged  that 
Labor's  victories  at  the  by-elections 
were  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Liberal 
Party  was  bent  on  overthrowing  the  Coa- 
lition, and  not  to  any  new  strength  of  La- 
bor. Lord  Chancellor  Birkenhead  propos- 
ed the  formation  of  a  National  Party  for 
the  purpose  of  stimulating  organization 
among  the  supporters  of  the  Coalition 
and  to  prevent  a  premature  return  to  old 
party  questions  at  the  expense  of  post- 
bellum  problems  of  Empire. 

On  Jan.  4  various  mass  meetings  of 
railroad  men  rejected  the  Government's 
offer  of  an  advance  of  wages,  which 
averaged  100  per  cent,  higher  than  the 
pre-war  rate.  Negotiations  were  still 
proceeding  on  Jan.  19.  Preliminary  at- 
tempts for  a  permanent  arrangement 
with  the  coal  miners  were  also  proceed- 
ing. The  output  of  coal  under  the  ar- 
rangement reached  last  Summer  amount- 
ed to  nearly  6,000,000  tons  for  the  last 
four  weeks  in  December. 

EGYPT— An  attack  by  a  student  on 
the  life  of  the  Prime  Minister,  Yussuf 
Wahba  Pasha,  took  place  on  Dec.  14,  but 
the  news  was  not  made  public  in  London 
until  the  20th. 

The  Milner  Mission  gained  one  victory 
and  suffered  one  defeat.  It  won  over 
that  part  of  the  Nationalist  Party  head- 
ed by  Rouchdi  Pasha,  Ahmed  Mazloun 
Pasha,  and  Yeshen  Sarawat  Pasha  for 
negotiation,  while  the  delegation  which 
visited  Paris  still  remained  obdurate. 
Its  defeat  was  when  the  mission  at- 
tempted to  open  conversations  with  the 
Grand  Mufti,  the  head  of  Egyptian  Mos- 
lems on  Jan.  2,  and  failed.  The  Mufti 
closed  the  interview  by  saying: 

As  religious  chief  I  can  only  say  and  af- 
firm that  it  is  impossible  to  convince  the 
nation  of  the  utility  of  a  thing  of  which  I 
myself  an  unconvinced.  The  entire  nation 
claims  its  independence,  and  it  would 
therefore  be  useless  to  speak  in  any  other 
language.  I  do  not  forget  your  power, 
but  if  Egyptians  bend  today  before  force 
they  will  seize  the  first  occasion  to  re- 
volt. The  guarantee  of  force  is  not 
nal. 


A  statement  signed  by  Lord  Milner 
had  been  addressed  to  the  Nationalist 
delegation  on  Dec.  29.    It  read: 

The  British  Mission,  struck  with  the 
existence  of  a  widespread  belief  that  the 
object  of  its  coming  is  to  deprive  Egypt 
of  rights  hitherto  possessed  by  h^r, 
states  that  there  is  no  foundation  what- 
ever for  that  belief. 

The  British  Government  sent  the  mis- 
sion out,  with  the  approval  of  the  British 
Parliament,  to  reconcile  Egyptian  aspira- 
tions with  Great  Britain's  special  inter- 
ests in  Egypt  and  with  the  maintenance 
of  the  legitimate  rights  of  foreign  resi- 
dents. We  are  convinced  that  with 
good-will  on  both  sides  this  object  can 
be  attained.  It  is  the  sincere  desire  of 
the  mission  to  see  the  relations  between 
Great  Britain  and  Egypt  established  on  a 
basis  of  friendly  accord  and  to  put  an 
end  to  friction,  thus  enabling  Egyptians 
to  devote  their  wholj  energies  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  country  under  self -gov- 
erning institutions. 

In  pursuance  of  this  task  the  mission 
desirt  s  to  hear  all  the  views  of  repre- 
sentatives of  bodies  or  individuals  having 
the  welfare  of  the  country  at  heart.  All 
opinions  may  be  freely  expressed  to  the 
mission.  There  is  no  wish  to  restrict  the 
area  of  discussion,  nor  need  any  man  fear 
that  he  will  compromise  his  convictions 
by  appearing  before  it.  He  will,  on  the 
contrary,  be  no  more  compromised  by 
expressing  his  opinions  than  the  mission 
will  be  compromised  by  hearing  them. 
Without  a  perfectly  frank  discussion  it 
will  be  difficult  to  put  an  end  to  misun- 
derstanding and  arrive  at  an  agreement. 

The  next  day  the  Cairo  local  commit- 
tee of  the  delegation  replied  as  follows: 

The  committee  would  have  liked  Lord 
Milner' s  statement  to  have  been  clearer 
and  more  explicit  and  to  have  contained 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  complete  inde- 
pendence of  Egypt,  but  all  it  does  is  to 
widen  the  area  of  discussion,  as  it  does 
not  limit  expressions  of  opinion  within 
the  bounds  required  by  acceptance  of  the 
Protectorate.  This  widening  of  the  dis- 
cussion shows  that  the  English  are  con- 
vinced that  the  Egyptians  categorically 
refuse  the  Protectorate,  and  does  not  al- 
lay the  fears  of  the  Egyptians  arising 
from  recent  British  political  pronounce- 
ments. 

Lord  Milner's  statement,  as  it  standi 
is  not  sufficient  to  induce  the  nation  to 
reverse  its  attitude.  Moreover,  political 
methods  of  argument  would  not  permit 
deliberations  between  the  mission  and  the 
nation  as  a  whole.  As  far  as  the  Egyp- 
tian demands  are  concerned,  these  are  al- 
ready known  the  world  over,  and  can  be 
summarized  in  the  phrase,  "  Complete  in- 
dependence."    To   reconcile  Egypt's  inde- 


264 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


pendence  with  the  interests  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  foreigners  in  Egypt,  the  discus- 
sion can  only  be  with  the  delegation, 
and  the  discussions  must  not  encroach 
on  the  sacred  rights  of  Egypt.  Long  live 
Egypt !     Long  live  Independence  ! 

Like  Ireland,  Egypt  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  appendages  of  the  empire. 
On  Dec.  28  the  final  statement  of  ac- 
counts for  1918-19  was  published  in 
Cairo;  it  showed  an  increase  of  $20,000,- 
000  in  revenue  and  $500,000  in  expendi- 
ture over  the  estimates.  The  totals  are  in 
Egyptian  pounds,  the  normal  value  of 
the  £E  being  $4.98,  as  follows: 

Revenue    £E  27,661,289 

Expenditure    £E  23,384,326 

Surplus    £E    4,276,963 

Of  the  surplus,  £67,304  representing 
Government  seigniorage  of  coinage  dur- 
ing the  year,  has  been  carried  to  the  sil- 
ver reserve  fund  to  meet  a  possible  loss 
on  the  eventual  recall  of  the  extra  silver 
issued  during  the  war,  which  now  stands 
at  £1,452,561,  the  balance  of  the  surplus 
being  passed  to  the  general  reserve, 
which,  on  April  1,  1919,  stood  at  £10,979,- 
838,  as  compared  with  £5,103,549  on 
April  1,  1914.  A  note  accompanying  the 
statement  gave  warning  that  the  surplus 
cannot  be  taken  as  the  true  index  of  the 
country's  budgetary  position,  although  it 
certainly  demonstrates  its  increased 
prosperity. 

Some  of  the  Nationalist  propaganda 
published  by  the  Egyptian  delegation  fol- 
lows in  scheme  and  format  the  pamphlets 
issued  by  the  Allies  describing  German 
atrocities  in  Belgium  and  occupied 
France.  One  publication  called  "  White 
Book  "  has,  aside  from  the  official  corre- 
spondence, several  pages  on  heavy  paper 
showing  half-tone  reproductions  of  photo- 
graphs purporting  to  reveal  the  victims 
of  British  flagellation. 

With  the  Nationalist  agitation  going 
on  in  the  cities  of  Lower  Egypt,  advices 
arrived  in  London  on  Dec.  22  of  the  de- 
feat of  the  British  columns  in  the  Sudan, 
which  took  place  last  October,  continued 
through  the  year,  and  caused  the  evacua- 
tion of  a  large  area  of  territory.  Two 
British  officers,  Majors  Stigand  and 
White,  and  about  forty  others  were  killed 
in  various  engagements. 

The  British  Government  stated  that  the 


affair  was  entirely  isolated  from  the  re- 
volts in  Lower  Egypt. 

INDIA. — Just  as  the  Indian  Home  Rule 
bill  had  passed  through  its  third  reading 
in  the  British  House  of  Commons  the  all- 
India  Caliphate  Conference  at  Delhi 
adopted,  on  Jan.  2,  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

That  the  conference  enjoins  upon  Indian 
Moslems  as  a  religious  duty  the  obligation 
to  abstain  from  participation  in  the  forth- 
coming victory  celebrations. 

That  in  the  event  of  a  settlement  with 
Turkey  not  being  concluded  to  the  satis- 
faction of  Mussulmans,  a  progressive  boy- 
cott of  British  goods  be  inaugurated  by 
Indian  Moslems,  and  that  there  shall  be  a 
gradual  cessation  of  co-operation  with  the 
Government. 

That  a  deputation  should  as  soon  as 
possible  proceed  to  England,  and  if 
necessary  to  the  United  States,  to  lay  the 
true  sentiments  of  Mussulmans  before  re- 
sponsible British  Ministers. 

The  fighting  on  the  northwest  frontier 
assumed  proportions  never  equaled  in 
the  war  last  Summer  between  the  reg- 
ular troops  of  Afghanistan  and  the 
British-Indian  army.  The  principal 
scene  of  action  was  the  mountainous 
country  west  of  Mandanna  Kach,  where 
heavy  forces  of  the  Mahsuds  and  Wazi- 
ria  had  secured  strong  positions.  In  the 
fighting  on  Dec.  19  the  British  lost  in 
killed,  wounded,  and  missing  about  200, 
including  13  officers  killed  or  missing. 
From  Dec.  21  until  the  end  of  the  year 
the  British  had  a  total  casualty  list  of 
nearly  1,000.  Meanwhile,  various  re- 
ports were  that  some  of  the  Mahsuds 
had  surrendered  and  that  the  Waziris 
were  returning  home,  this  effect  having 
been  principally  brought  about  through 
British  bombing  airplanes. 

Native  Indian  Nationalists,  princi- 
pally Moslems,  used  as  propaganda  the 
evidence  presented  before  the  Hunter 
Commission,  which  investigated  at  Bom- 
bay the  disturbances  which  began  at 
Punjab  last  April,  and  during  which  the 
troops  fired  on  the  mob,  killing  several 
natives. 

The  Chief  Inspector  of  Mines  in  India 
issued  his  report  for  1918.  In  that  year 
nearly  20,000,000  tons  of  coal  were 
mined,  being  14.55  per  cent,  over  that  of 
1917;  the  output  of  mica  was  51,572 
hundredweight,  as  against  35,896  in  the 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


265 


previous  year;  manganese,  415,357  tons, 
a  decrease  of  16.43  per  cent.;  wolfram, 
72,189  hundredweight,  as  compared  with 
79,312  hundredweight  in  1917,  a  decrease 
of  8.98  per  cent.;  gold  fell  off  from  22,- 
991  ounces  to  19,916,  copper  from  20,108 
tons  to  only  3,619,  and,  finally,  the  out- 
put of  gems  showed  a  decrease,  being 
164,115  karats,  as  compared  with  198,- 
200  karats  in  1917.  Toward  the  close  of 
the  year  the  demand  for  rubies  and  sap- 
phires at  Paris  greatly  increased. 

FRANCE 

The  two  most  important  events  in 
France,  the  promulgation  of  the  Treaty 
of  Versailles  and  the  election  of  Paul 
Deschanel  as  President  of  the  republic, 
are  dwelt  upon  elsewhere. 

As  is  customary,  the  Cabinet  resigned 
after  the  Presidential  election  and  M. 
Miller  and  was  intrusted  with  forming  a 
new  one.  All  but  the  post  of  Minister 
of  Pensions  had  been  filled  by  Jan.  19, 
as  follows: 

Premier  and  Foreign  Minister— ALEXAN- 
DRE MILLERAND. 

Minister  of  Justice— M.  L'HOPITEAU. 

Interior— JULES  STEEG. 

War— ANDRE  LEFEVRE. 

Marine— M.  LANDRY. 

Commerce — M.   ISAAC. 

Agriculture— HENRI    RICARD. 

Finance —  FREDERIC  FRANCOIS-MAR- 
SAL. 

Colonies— ALBERT    SARRAUT. 

Fublic  Works— YVES  LE  TROCQUER. 

Public  Instruction— ANDRE  HONORAT. 

Labor— PAUL  JOURDAIN. 

Hygiene  and  Social  Welfare— M.  BRETON. 

Pensions— ANDRE  MAGINOT. 

Liberated  Regions— JEAN  OGIER. 

M.  Jourdain  was  Minister  of  Labor  in 
the  Clemenceau  Cabinet  and  M.  Le  Troc- 
quer  was  Under  Secretary  of  State  for 
the  Liquidation  of  Stocks.  These  are  the 
only  members  of  the  Clemenceau  Minis- 
try retained.  M.  Frangois-Marsal  is 
manager  of  the  Banque  Union  Paris- 
ienne.  Captain  Andre  Tardieu  refused 
to  retain  the  portfolio  of  Minister  of 
Liberated  Regions. 

Unlike  the  elections  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  held  on  Nov.  16,  the  elections 
to  the  Senate  of  two-thirds  of  the  300 
total  on  Jan.  11  showed  a  return  of  old 
favorites,  like  President  Poincare,  Ste- 
phen Pichon,  Leon  Bourgeois,  C.  C.  A. 


Jonnard,  Jules  Pams,  Ribot  and  Clemen- 
tel.  The  Senatorial  election  had  an  im- 
portant bearing  on  the  coming  trial  of 
the  former  Premier,  Joseph  Caillaux, 
charged  with  intriguing  to  bring  about  a 
premature  and  dishonorable  peace.  The 
trial  by  the  Senate  as  a  High  Court  had 
been  set  for  Jan.  14.  That  would  only 
have  allowed  the  new  Senators  three  days 
in  which  to  study  the  voluminous  evi- 
dence in  the  case.  So  when  the  case 
came  up  on  the  14th  it  was  decided  to 
postpone  the  trial  until  Feb.  17. 

The  rising  of  the  Seine  and  the  strike 
of  the  chorus  of  the  Paris  Opera  cov- 
ered about  the  same  period — Dec.  30- 
Jan.  16.  The  chorus,  which  in  the  mean- 
time had  been  joined  by  the  dancers  and 
the  business  staff,  finally  accepted  the 
management's  proposal  for  an  increase 
in  v  ages  and  one  extra  performance  a 
week.  The  Seine  before  it  subsided  cut 
off  several  of  the  suburban  railway  lines, 
but  fell  short  of  the  maximum  reached 
in  1910  by  eight  feet. 

On  Dec.  31  the  indebtedness  of  France 
was  fixed  by  M.  Klotz,  the  Minister  of 
Finance,  at  203,860,000,000  francs  or  at 
the  normal  rate  of  exchange  a  trifle  over 
$40,772,000,000.  The  finding  of  this  vast 
sum  is  the  problem  facing  the  new  Gov- 
ernment and  the  new  Chamber,  for  on 
its  solution  depends  the  whole  future  of 
France.  In  other  words,  the  Govern- 
ment must  extract  from  the  pockets  of 
39,500,000  persons,  constituting  the 
French  population,  an  average  of  5,161 
francs  each.  The  ordinary  French 
revenue  of  the  year  preceding  the  war 
showed  a  total  of  a  trifle  over  $1,000,- 
000,000.  Thus,  if  the  whole  revenue  of 
the  State  as  calculated  on  a  pre-war 
basis  were  devoted  to  the  reduction  of 
the  debt,  France  (even  leaving  interest 
out  of  account)  would  not  be  free  from 
indebtedness  in  less  than  forty  years. 
The  expenditures  of  1913-14,  however, 
were  a  trifle  under  $1,000,000,00(1 
exactly  4,738,603,534  francs,  but  then  Vhe 
franc  was  worth  more  than  twice  what 
it  is  today. 

ITALY 

What  may  have  inspired  Signor  Nitti, 
the  Italian  Premier,  to  second  the  British 
Prime  Minister  in  advocating  before  the 


266 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Supreme  Council  a  raising  of  the  block- 
ade of  Soviet  Russia,  was  a  wireless  mes- 
sage which  the  Italian  Government  had 
received  from  M.  Tchitcherin,  the  Bol- 
shevist Foreign  Minister,  on  Jan.  1,  pro- 
posing a  resumption  of  relations  between 
Rome  and  Moscow,  and  pointing  out 
that  the  Soviet  Government  was  able  to 
open  the  Black  Sea  route  to  Italy.  But 
Signor  Nitti  then  abided  by  the  decision 
of  the  Italian  Chamber  made  on  Dec.  13, 
which  had  declined  to  recognize  Soviet 
Russia  by  a  vote  of  289  to  124. 

The  sixth  loan  (5  per  cent.)  floated 
since  Italy  entered  the  war  was  opened 
for  subscriptions  on  Dec.  26,  and  the  total 
on  that  day  surpassed  all  previous  rec- 
ords, being  between  $150,000,000  and 
$200,000,000.  Great  enthusiasm  was  re- 
ported. 

In  pursuance  of  the  Government's 
financial  program,  announced  on  Nov. 
26,  Signor  Schanzer,  Minister  of  the 
Treasury,  made  his  financial  statement 
concerning  the  details  on  Dec.  16.  For 
the  financial  year  1918-19  the  expendi- 
ture had  been  32,599,000,000  lire  and  the 
revenue  9,498,000,000  lire,  or  at  the  nor- 
mal rate  of  exchange  respectively  $6,519,- 
800,000  and  $1,899,600,000.  The  esti- 
mates for  1919-20  were:  Expenditure, 
9,535,000,000  lire;  revenue,  7,491,000,000 
lire.  In  the  period  from  Nov.  1,  1918, 
to  Oct.  31,  1919,  extraordinary  expendi- 
ture amounting  to  20,811,000,000  lire  had 
been  met  to  the  extent  of  12,195,000,000 
from  extraordinary  revenue,  and  as  re- 
gards the  remaining  8,616,000,000  by 
means  of  Treasury  bonds. 

Prince  von  Bulow,  the  former  German 
Chancellor,  and  the  special  envoy  at 
Rome,  who  had  labored  to  keep  Italy  out 
of  the  war  in  the  Winter  of  1914-15,  took 
up  his  old  residence  at  the  Villa  Malta, 
Rome,  on  Dec.  20,  but  on  Jan.  5,  just 
five  days  before  the  Versailles  Treaty 
was  promulgated,  he  was  requested  to 
leave  the  Eternal  City,  and  departed  for 
Lucerne. 

M.  Barrere,  who  for  twenty-three  years 
has  been  the  French  Ambassador  at  the 
Quirinal,  made  an  important  diplomatic 
disclosure  at  a  reception  he  gave  the 
French  colony  on  Dec.  31,  which  threw 
light  upon  the  French  and  Italian  Yellow 


and  Green  Books.  He  said  that  in  1900 
and  1902  he  had  negotiated  defensive 
treaties  with  Italy  as  an  offset  to  the 
Triple  Alliance,  which  Italy  realized  she 
could  not  be  an  active  partner  to  in  case 
Germany  went  to  war  with  both  France 
and  Great  Britain. 

He  said  that  the  treaty  of  1900  elimi- 
nated every  cause  of  conflict  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  traced  the  Italo-French 
spheres  of  influence  in  Africa.  The  treaty 
of  1902  added  the  stipulation  that  in  case 
of  aggressive  war  against  either  France 
or  Italy,  the  other  would  observe  the 
strictest  neutrality,  which  would  also  be 
maintained  if  one  or  the  other  were  con- 
strained by  provocation  to  declare  war 
for  the  defense  of  its  honor  and  security. 

The  United  States  Trade  Commissioner 
at  Rome,  H.  C.  MacLean,  made  a  report 
on  the  new  measures  adopted  by  Italy 
against  unemployment,  which  practically 
amount  to  an  insurance  against  hard 
times  of  about  a  quarter   pay. 

SPAIN 

With  little  abatement  the  struggle  of 
the  Spanish  employers'  organization 
against  syndicalism  represented  by  the 
General  Federation  of  Labor  with  head- 
quarters at  Barcelona  continued.  Lock- 
out succeeded  strike,  and  strike  and  as- 
sassination succeeded  lockout.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  year  there  was  a  revolt 
against  the  mysterious  executive  council 
of  the  Federation  by  professional  mem- 
bers, who  discovered  that  the  pecuniary 
benefits  they  had  expected  to  derive  from 
the  organization  were  not  forthcoming, 
for  the  financial  affairs  since  the  depar- 
ture of  the  German  organizers  sixteen 
months  ago  had  been  in  somewhat  of  a 
tangle  with  large  sums  mysteriously  dis- 
appearing. 

On    Jan.    10    the    Radical    Republican 
leader,  Alejandro  Lerroux,  took  the  Fed- 
eration,  which   is   said   to   dominate   by 
assassination,  as  well  as  the  Employers' 
Association,  which  is  said  to  attempt  to 
dominate  by   lockout,   to   task,   and   de- 
clared in  the  Cortes  that  both  organiza- 
tions were  outside  the  law.    He  said: 
They  have  the  same  faults  and  the  same 
merits.       The    employers    were    laborers 
themselves    twenty    years    ago,    or    their 
fathers  before  them  were,   and  their  code 


AMONG   THE   NATIONS 


267 


w&£  the  same  as  that  of  the  workers.  The 
rinjiloyers  first  attacked  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment and  then  decided  to  make  that 
Government  an  instrument  to  suppress,  in 
many  cases  outside  the  law,  all  progres- 
sive and  liberal  ideas.  Juries  which  were 
afraid  to  punish  the  true  culprits  are  re- 
sponsible for  much  of  the  disorder  in  Bar- 
celona, and  as  a  result  crime  has  fol- 
lowed crime.  As  a  Liberal-Democrat,  if 
I  were  the  Government,  I  would  suppress 
juries,  because  when  people  do  not  make 
the  right  use  of  liberty  they  have  no  right 
to  have  it.  The  final  thing  that  Spain 
needs  to  do  is  to  give  the  impression  that 
there  is  justice  in  the  land,  and  that 
movement  must  come  from  the  highest 
places.  Spain  also  needs  discipline, 
which  I  am  sorry  is  lacking  both  among 
the  civil  and  military  classes.  *  *  •  The 
Government  should  not  attack  everybody 
indiscriminately,  make  arrests  blindly  and 
close  all  social  centres,  but  should  find 
the  real  culprits  and  punish  them,  which 
it  can  do  if  it  uses  all  its  force. 

The  Government  headed  by  the  new 
Premier  Salazar  contemplated  two  rem- 
edies for  the  constant  interruption  of 
business  on  one  hand  and  the  terrorist 
campaign  on  the  other.  On  Jan.  13  El 
Sol  of  Madrid  announced  that  under  the 
influence  of  the  employers  a  strong 
Monarchist  Party  was  being  formed  by 
the  Liberal  and  Conservative  leaders  to 
bring  a  stable  Government  into  power 
which  should  effectually  oppose  the  Rod.s 
and  their  policy  of  terror.  On  the  other 
hand,  on  Jan.  17,  a  bill  calling  for  the 
compulsory  syndication  of  all  industries, 
trades  and  professions,  affecting  both 
employers  and  employes,  was  approved 
by  the  Senate  and  sent  to  the  Chamber. 
The  bill  is  in  the  nature  of  a  co-operative 


formula  with  the  Government  as  the 
chief  directing  agency  over  both  employ- 
ers and  employes. 

TURKEY 

The  first  sitting  of  the  new  Turkish 
Parliament,  held  early  in  the  new  year, 
showed  that  the  majority  had  a  Commit- 
tee of  Union  and  Progress,  of  Nation- 
alist character.  With  this  backing  the 
Sultan  issued  a  series  of  statements 
pointing  out  that  he  would  never  consent 
to  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire. 
Added  to  this  were  several  events  which 
constantly  made  the  position  of  the  In- 
terallied Commission  at  Constantinople 
more  difficult,  if  not  hazardous,  and 
the  work  of  the  Supreme  Council  at  Paris 
void  of  result.  The  revolt  of  the  Arab 
tribes  against  the  British  Army  of  Oc- 
cupation in  Upper  Mesopotamia,  the 
establishment  of  a  Moslem-Bolshevist 
administration  in  Kurdistan  by  the  pro- 
scribed Enver  Pasha — the  first  in  his- 
tory— and  finally  the  large  concentration 
of  Turkish  troops  under  Mustapha  Ke- 
mal,  the  Nationalist  leader,  on  the 
French  front  in  Syria,  the  Greek  front  in 
Smyrna,  and  the  Italian  front  in  the 
Adalia  region. 

On  the  other  hand,  Prince  Feisal,  who 
represents  the  Arab  Kingdom  of  Hedjaz 
abroad,  recognized  the  French  mandate 
over  Syria  in  return  for  French  recogni- 
tion of  an  Arab  State  to  include  Aleppo, 
Horns,  and  Hamah,  under  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Prince,  with  the  assistance  of 
French  officials.  [For  further  matter 
on  the  situation  in  Turkey  see  Page  270.] 


Austria  Facing  Starvation 

Suffering  in  Vienna 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


ALL  reports  from  Central  Europe 
L  pointed  to  the  near  approach  of  a 
catastrophe  unless  relief  of  food  and 
coal  could  be  furnished  by  the  Entente 
Allies.  Contributing  agencies  to  the 
threatened  calamity  in  Austria  were 
noted  in  disorganization  of  the  railroads, 
depreciation  of  the  currency  to  a  point 
where  the  crown  was  worth  almost  noth- 


ing as  a  purchasing  power  in  outside 
markets,  and  the  hoarding  of  money  oM 
tained  by  the  peasants  in  enormous  prices 
for  their  commodities.  In  view  of  these 
conditions  the  Supreme  Council  at  Paris 
voted  on  Dec.  17  a  loan  of  $70,000,000  to 
Austria;  Chancellor  Renner  had  asked  for 
$100,000,000. 

On  Dec.  28  Herbert  Hoover  requested 


2(J8 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Cardinal.  Gibbons  to  obtain  from  Pope 
Benedict  an  appeal  to  the  American  peo- 
ple urging  them  to  do  everything  possi- 
ble to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  in- 
habitants in  various  countries  of  Europe, 
particularly  Austria. 

The  Christmas  season  in  Vienna  was  a 
period  of  cold,  darkness,  and  hunger. 
Owing  to  a  coal-saving  suspension  of 
railway  passenger  traffic  the  city  was 
isolated.  The  foundation  of  whatever 
celebration  might  be  indulged  in  was 
upon  a  two-pound  loaf  per  week,  with 
half  a  pound  of  flour  or  some  equiva- 
lent. With  the  exception  of  apples,  food- 
stuffs were  simply  not  to  be  seen  in  the 
windows.  As  timber  was  rated  at  its 
combustible  value,  the  smallest  Christ- 
mas tree  cost  100  crowns,  while  candles 
cost  8  crowns  if  available.  In  contrast 
with  the  destitution  of  the  very  means 
of  life  was  the  abundance  of  articles  of 
luxury  —  jewelry,  leather,  expensive 
clothing,  and  ornate  editions  in  book 
shops.  But  these  were  at  prices  far  be- 
yond the  reach  of  any  one  other  than 
profiteers  and  foreigners. 

A  Vienna  dispatch  of  Jan.  6  stated  that 
the  Government  had  increased  the  price 
of  bread  to  3  crowns  96  heller  per  loaf 
(normally  about  80  cents).  It  was  inti- 
mated that  the  next  advance  would  be  to 
5  crowns  per  loaf.  Urgent  appeals  to  the 
American  people  to  render  aid  to  the 
stricken  country  came  in  dispatches  of 
Jan.  9  from  Baron  Eichoff,  head  of  the 
Austrian  peace  delegation,  and  from 
United  States  Ambassador  Wallace. 

The  following  pathetic  letter,  written 
in  Vienna  on  Dec.  12  by  Mariane  Brandt, 
formerly  a  prima  donna  contralto  of  the 
Metropolitan  Grand  Opera  Company, 
gives  a  glimpse  of  the  appalling  situation 
in  that  stricken  city: 

Dearest,  True  Friend— Tour  sweet  and 
consoling  letter  reached  me,  and  I  thank 
you  wrdh  full  heart  for  it.  But  please  do 
not  send  anything  else  than  your  good 
words.  I  did  not  receive  what  you  kindly 
sent  me ;  they  steal  all  eatables  from  the 
cars.  Three  other  friends  have  already 
written  to  me  that  they  had  sent  some- 
thing to  me  also,  and  nothing  arrived. 
This  is  a  dreadful  time;  all  good  seems 
to  have  vanished,  and  only  thieves,  rob- 
bers and  murderers  are  in  the  world. 

Some  friends  sent  money  to  me  through 
bank.     Some  others  spoke  to  Mrs.  Kreisler 


about  our  misery  and  Mr.  Kreisler  sent 
$100,  which  I  can  pay  back  to  him  as  soon 
as  I  can  get  my  fortune.  It  was  welcome 
to  me  in  the  moment,  but  I  do  not  spend 
more  of  it  than  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
live.  We  have  already  learned  to  be  con- 
tented with  very  little. 

If  you  would  read  an  old  Austrian  cook 
book  you  would  not  believe  that  it  was 
ever  possible  to  cook  in  suoh  a  prodigal 
way,  with  butter,  eggs,  cream,  &c.  Last 
week  we  got  twelve  dekagrammes  of 
frozen  meat  (less  than  one-fifth  of  a 
pound)  the  person.  My  butcher  gave  me 
more,  but  it  is  too  dry  to  eat  and  the 
bouillon  has  a  bad  taste. 

But  more  than  with  the  food  we  suffer 
with  the  cold.  There  is  no  wood  or  coal 
to  be  got,  and  the  temperature  of  the 
rooms  is  43  to  45  (Fahrenheit).  The  days 
are  foggy  and  rainy.  There  is  no  light, 
as  you  are  not  permitted  to  burn  more  gas 
or  electricity  than  they  give  you,  and  are 
highly  punished  if  you  do.  Frozen  hands 
and  feet  and  my  stiff  leg  are  the  conse- 
quences. They  want  help  and  credit  from 
America ;  the  Entente  will  not  give  it. 

Dearest  friend,  I  am  so  grateful  to  you 
and  those  people  who  remember  me  still  in 
America.  I  have  also  some  pupils  in  New 
York  who  wrote  to  me,  and  if  all  America 
would  be  like  these  we  would  have  help 
dn  our  misery.  It  is  so  humiliating  to  be- 
come such  beggars  as  we  are  now,  when 
formerly  Austria  was  such  a  happy,  rich 
country. 

I  wait  for  my  death  quietly.  I  am  old 
enough  and  had  a  rich  life,  for  which  I 
thank  God  every  day. 

A  Vienna  message  of  Jan.  9  stated 
that  the  Government  anticipated  12,000,- 
000,000  crowns  would  be  realized  from 
the  partial  confiscation  of  private  for- 
tunes, and  that  it  was  hoped  Holland 
would  grant  a  loan  of  30,000,000  flor- 
ins for  the  purchase  of  food. 

The  complete  text  of  the  note  putting 
the  ban  of  the  Supreme  Council  on  the 
separatist  activities  of  several  of  the 
Austrian  provinces,  which  was  handed  to 
Dr.  Karl  Renner,  the  Austrian  Chancel- 
lor, on  Dec.  17,  during  his  visit  to  Paris, 
was  as  follows: 

The  attention  of  the  allied  and  associat- 
ed powers  has  been  directed  to  a  certain 
agitation  that  is  threatening  the  cohesion, 
and  even  the  integrity,  of  the  territory  of 
Austria  from  several  sides.  The  steps 
undertaken  by  the  Vorarlberg  Landtag 
to  induce  the  Vienna  Government  to  rec- 
ognize the  right  of  self-determination  of 
that  province  coincide  with  those  move- 
ments which  are  calculated,  be  it  in  the 
Salzburg  district  or  in  the  Tyrol,    to  in- 


AUSTRIA   FACING  STARVATION 


urn 


elude  them  In  the  economic  sphere  of 
neighboring  States,  and  with  the  agita- 
tion aroused  in  the  former  western  dis- 
tricts of  Hungary  In  favor  of  holding  a 
plebiscite,  which  Is  not  provided  for  In  the 
treaty  according  these  districts  to  Aus- 
tria. 

The  allied  and  associated  powers  are 
of  the  opinion  that  if  the  separatist  forces 
should  succeed  in  breaking  through  at 
any  one  of  these  points,  such  separa- 
tion would  entail  the  complete  dissolution 
of  the  Austrian  State  and  could  destroy 
the  equilibrium  of  Central  Europe.  The 
allied  and  associated  powers,  therefore, 
do  not  wish  to  allow  the  existence  of 
any  doubt  as  to  their  intentiton  to  main- 
tain and  carry  out  the  territorial,  or  any 
other,  provisions  of  the  Peace  Treaty  of 


St.  Germain.  Impelled  by  this  Idea,  the 
Supreme  Council  today  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  which  It  Is  determined 
to  carry  out,  and  which  I  have  the  honor 
to  transmit  in   its  name : 

"  Impelled  by  the  desire  to  make  safe 
the  existence  of  Austria  within  the  bor- 
ders laid  out  for  it,  and  determined  to 
make  effective  the  provisions  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  of  St.  Germain,  the  allied  and 
associated  powers  declare  that  they  will 
oppose  all  attempts  calculated  to  injure 
the  integrity  of  Austrian  territory,  or 
that,  in  conflict  with  the  regulations  of 
Article  28  of  the  above-mentioned  treaty, 
injure  the  political  or  industrial  indepen- 
dence of  Austria  in  any  way,  either 
directly   or  indirectly." 

CLEMENCEAU. 


Execution  of  Hungarian  Communists 

New  Government's  Vigorous  Action 

[Period  Ended  Jan,  15,  1920] 


AD  VICES  from  Hungary  stated  that 
J\^  Herr  Huszar,  the  Hungarian  Pre- 
mier, estimated  the  Communist 
regime  had  cost  the  country  18,000,000,000 
kronen  (normally  about  $3,600,000,000), 
and  that  the  Rumanian  inroads  had  taken 
36,000,000,000  kronen.  These  losses,  he 
added,  had  produced  a  desperate  finan- 
cial situation  confronting  the  National 
Assembly. 

Executions  of  Communist  terrorists 
were  proceeding  apace.  Joseph  Cserny 
and  thirteen  others  were  put  to  death  on 
Dec.  19.  Another  Communist  attempt  to 
overthrow  the  Government  was  discov- 
ered by  the  military  authorities,  accord- 
ing to  a  Budapest  message  of  Dec.  28. 
Considerable  indignation  was  aroused  in 
Budapest  on  Jan.  3  by  the  action  of  the 
head  of  the  Allied  Military  Mission  in 
endeavoring  to  prevent  the  execution  of 
nine  Communists  on  the  ground  that  the 
executions  might  create  unfavorable 
opinion  in  Great  Britain  and  France. 
The  Hungarian  Government  protested 
against  this  interference  with  her  inter- 
nal affairs  in  re-establishing  public 
safety,  hanged  the  Communists,  and 
promptly  began  a  fresh  trial  of  Hau- 
bicht,  former  Bolshevist  military  com- 
mander at  Budapest,  charged  with  two 
murders   and  high  treason. 


On  the  other  hand,  a  Berne  message  of 
Jan.  5  stated  that  Switss  and  British 
citizens  arrived  from  Budapest  declared 
that  the  barbarity  of  the  new  Hungarian 
rulers  was  as  ruthless  as  that  of  their 
Bolshevist  predecessors.  These  wit- 
nesses asserted  that  whoever  was  sus- 
pected of  the  slightest  leanings  toward 
socialism  was  imprisoned,  tortured,  and 
finally  executed.  Public  executions  had 
become  a  daily  spectacle  in  Budapest,  for 
which  tickets  were  sold  at  several  hun- 
dred kronen  each,  and  yet  tickets  were 
always  too  few.  The  National  Zeitung 
of  Basle  said:  "The  most  fearful  atroc- 
ities of  the  wars  of  religion  are  being 
repeated  in  the  Hungarian  capital."  The 
number  of  victims  already  executed  was 
estimated  at  5,000,  many  of  whom  were 
old  men,  women,  and  children. 

On  Jan.  7  Count  Apponyi  arrived  in 
Paris  to  receive  the  Hungarian  peace 
treaty,  which  had  been  waiting  three 
months  for  an  accredited  Hungarian 
plenipotentiary.  Count  Apponyi  was  ac- 
companied by  sixty-four  assistants.  Be- 
fore leaving  Budapest  he  had  stated  t.iat 
part  of  his  mission  was  to  discover 
whether  Hungary  should  make  a  sepa- 
rate peace  with  the  United  States.  The 
treaty  was  handed  to  him  the  following 
Tuesday  and  he  departed  with  it  to 
Budapest. 


The  Problem  of  Turkey 

Survey  of  the  Rival  Claims  of  Territory  and  Power  in  Turkey. 
Which  Menace  Peace  in  the  Near  East 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


THE  ever-renascent  problem  of 
what  to  do  with  Turkey  still  vexes 
the  Peace  Conference  at  Paris  and 
the  world  at  large.  The  new 
political  situation  which  arose  in  Tur- 
key early  in  October,  1919,  through  the 
occupation  of  Konieh,  an  important  rail- 
road centre  virtually  domonating  South- 
ern Asia  Minor,  by  Mustapha  Kemal, 
and  through  the  fall  of  the  Turkish 
Cabinet  under  Damad  Ferid  Pasha  and 
the  substitution  of  a  new  Cabinet  headed 
by  Ali  Riza  Pasha,  one  of  whose  mem- 
bers, the  Minister  of  War,  Djemal  Pasha, 
was  a  political  ally  of  Mustapha,  was 
generally  interpreted  in  foreign  capitals 
as  a  symptom  of  the  coming  separation 
of  Asia  Minor  from  the  central  power 
at  Constantinople,  and  of  an  increase  of 
power  for  the  party  of  the  Young  Turks. 
After  setting  up  a  Turkish  Nationalist 
Government  at  Konieh,  Mustapha  Kemal 
issued  a  proclamation  promising  safety 
to  the  lives  and  property  of  all  persons 
without  distinction  of  race  or  religion, 
and  mentioning  the  Armenians  specifi- 
cally, demanding  the  application  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  fourteen  principles  to 
Turkey;  he  also  declared  that  his  forces 
and  other  supporters  of  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment would  fight  to  the  death  to  re- 
sist foreign  intervention. 

AIMS  OF  MUSTAPHA 

Toward  the  middle  of  October  the 
progress  of  Mustapha  KemaPs  movement 
became  clearly  evident:  the  important 
cities  of  Brussa  and  Adrianople,  among 
others,  had  joined  the  movement,  which 
was  growing  steadily.  In  an  interview 
given  at  this  time,  the  Turkish  National- 
ist leader  again  declared  that  the  lives 
and  property  of  the  Armenians  would 
be  respected,  and  made  an  attack  upon 
the  British,  who,  he  declared,  having 
1/ieviously  acquired  Egypt,  Arabia,  and 


Mesopotamia  (the  Persian  protectorate 
was  announced  later),  was  now  seeking 
the  remnants  of  Turkey.  Mustapha 
Pasha  said: 

It  is  our  aim  to  secure  the  development 
of  Turkey  as  she  stood  at  the  time  of  the 
armistice.  We  have  no  expansionist  plans. 
It  is  our  conviction  that  Turkey  can  be 
made  rich  and  prosperous  if  we  get  a 
good  Government.  Our  Government  has 
been  weakened  through  foreign  interfer- 
ence and   intrigues. 

Mustapha  Kemal  denied  that  he  was 
working  with  Enver  Pasha,  the  former 
War  Minister,  and  declared  that  the  lat- 
ter's  policies  had  injured  Turkey;  he 
further  denied  that  the  Nationalists  were 
seeking  to  preserve  Anglo-French  in- 
vestments in  Turkey.  British  money,  on 
the  contrary,  he  asserted,  was  being  sent 
to  destroy  Turkey.  The  tendency  shown 
by  Mustapha  Kemal  at  this  time  was 
one  of  conciliation  with  the  Turkish  Cen- 
tral Government  and  toleration  of  the 
idea  of  an  independent  Armenian  Re- 
public. 

CONFLICT  WITH  GOVERNMENT 

A  month  later,  however,  it  became  ap- 
parent that  friction  had  arisen  between 
Mustapha  Kemal  and  Constantinople: 
on  Nov.  9  the  Turkish  Government  sent 
a  quasi-ultimatum  to  Mustapha  and  the 
Nationalist  organization,  complaining 
that  the  Nationalists  were  interfering 
with  the  liberty  of  the  elections  and  were 
replacing  Government  officials  at  will 
in  Anatolia,  and  demanding  that  the  or- 
ganization adhere  to  its  legitimate  pur- 
pose of  national  defense.  It  declared 
that  if  its  demands  were  not  granted  the 
Government  would  resign.  To  this 
ultimatum,  however,  Mustapha  Kemal, 
whose  headquarters  were  in  Sivas,  paid 
but  little  heed,  and  his  independent  atti- 
tude grew  more  pronounced  with  the  ex- 
tension of  his  power  in  Anatolia.     Hi? 


THE  PROBLEM  OF   TURKEY 


271 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


forces  were  estimated  at  300,000  men. 
To  the  Greeks  in  the  vilayet  of  Aidin 
and  the  Italians  at  Adalia,  as  well  as  to 
the  Christian  elements  of  Asia  Minor 
generally,  his  presence  occasioned  much 
alarm,  especially  in  view  of  the  threaten- 
ing attitude  of  lawless  bands  of  Turks 
and  Kurds  in  Armenia. 

CASE  OF  ARMENIA 

Regarding  Armenia  especially,  M. 
Venizelos,  the  Greek  Premier,  said  in 
Paris  early  in  the  Fall: 

The  Turks   do  not  consider  themselves 
beaten.     In   Asia   Minor,    as   well   as   in 
Armenia,  they  take  every  opportunity  of 
demonstrating:     it.       Great     numbers    of 
former    Turkish    soldiers,    organized    into 
comitadjis  (roving  bands)   invade  unoccu- 
pied territory  and  fall  upon  the  unarmed 
populations.     Unless  the  status  of  Turkey 
is  soon  settled,  and  Armenia  occupied  by 
ji    mandatovy    State,    there    will    be    no 
Armenians    left    within    their    territorial 
boundaries. 
•    On  Oct.  10  the  necessity  for  a  detach- 
ment of  preferably  American  troops  to 
guard  railways  in  Armenia,  make  high- 
ways safe,  protect  relief  work  against 
the    Kurdish    and    Tatar    bands,    and 
strengthen  the  morale  of  the  little  Ar- 
menian army  of  10,000  men  was  empha- 
sized by  Colonel  William  Haskell,  head 
of  the  Allied  High  Commission  in  Ar- 
menia.     Cabling    from    Tiflis    Colonel 
Haskell  said: 

After  an  inspection  just  completed,  I 
find  that  relief  measures  in  Armenia  are 
complicated  by  the  fact  that  while  the 
Government  of  Armenia  is  in  sympathy 
with  Denikin  and  the  anti-Bolshevist 
movement,  the  districts  of  Georgia  and 
Azerbaidjan  are  hostile.  The  Tatars,  as- 
sisted by  the  Turks,  have  compelled  the 
Armenian  population  to  abandon  Igdir 
and  are  pressing  Kars  and  Erivan.  This 
warfare  has  largely  increased  the  number 
of  refugees  to  be  taken  care  of,  and  also 
makes  shipments  of  food  supplies  from 
the  Kuban  district  uncertain.  Railroad 
communication  from  Nakhechivan  to  Per- 
sia has  been  interrupted,  and  there  is 
no  immediate  prospect  that  traffic  will  be 
resumed.  I  estimate  that  there  are  800,000 
destitute  Armenians  who  will  require  as- 
sistance until  next  year's  harvest. 

CLAIMS   OF   GREECE 

The  defeat  of  Turkey  by  the   Allies 

brought  with  it  many  conflicting  claims 

to  territory  in  Asia  Minor.     Apart  from 

the  evacuation  of  Western  Thrace  by  the 


Bulgarians,  in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  the  peace  treaty  (excluding 
Mussulman  districts,  which  fell  to  Bul- 
garia), Greece  demanded  the  right  to 
protect  her  nationals  at  Smyrna,  and 
was  allowed  to  send  troops  to  Aidin.  Con- 
flicts between  these  forces  and  the  re- 
sisting Turks  led  to  such  severe  repres- 
sions on  the  part  of  the  Greeks  that  the 
Peace  Conference  found  itself  obliged  to 
take  cognizance  of  the  complaints  of  the 
Turkish  Government,  which  alleged  that 
atrocities  had  been  committed.  Mean- 
while bands  composed  of  Circassians, 
Yuruks  and  sundry  adventurous  Mos- 
lems, which  disclaimed  connection  with 
the  movement  further  east  directed  by 
Mustapha  Kemal,  were  formed  in  the 
Smyrna  hinterland  to  combat  the  Greek 
"invaders."  These  bands  were  said  to 
be  loyal  to  the  Sultan  and  to  number 
some  15,000  men. 

Greek  activities  in  Anatolia  were  dis- 
cussed in  detail  in  a  report  of  the  inter- 
national military  commission  composed 
of  Generals  representing  England, 
France,  and  Italy,  and  headed  by  Ad- 
miral Mark  Bristol.  This  report  was 
unanimous  after  forty  sittings.  A  por- 
tion of  its  contents,  cabled  to  the  United 
States  on  Jan.  1,  presented  an  indictment 
of  the  Greeks  in  their  measures  of  occu- 
pation of  this  Turkish  territory. 

REPORT  OF  COMMISSION 
The  report  said  in  part: 

The  conditions  of  security  in  the  Vilayet 
of  Aidin,  and  at  Smyrna  in  particular, 
did  not  justify  the  occupation  of  the 
Smyrna  forts  in  accordance  with  Article 
VII.    of  the    armistice   conditions. 

The  internal  conditions  in  the  vilayet 
did  not  call  for  the  landing  of  allied 
troops  at  Smyrna.  On  the  contrary,  since 
the  Greek  landing  the  situation  has  been 
disturbed  because  of  the  state  of  war 
existing  between  the  Greek  troops  and 
the    Turkish    irregulars. 

*  *  *  No  resistance  to  the  landing  was 
organized  by  the  Turkish  authorities ; 
the  shots  fired  by  the  Turks  were  only 
isolated  cases.  *  *  *  On  the  road  which 
they  [the  Greeks]  traversed  between  the 
Konak  Square  and  the  transport  Patris, 
where  they  were  imprisoned,  the  first 
convoy  of  prisoners,  including  officers 
and  soldiers  as  well  as  the  Vali  and  other 
officials,  were  made  the  objects  of  acts 
of  brutality  by  the  crowd  which  accom- 
panied them,  and  even  by  some  of  the 
Greek  soldiers  who  were  escorting  them. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF   TURKEY 


273 


All  the  prisoners  were  robbed.  All  were 
forced  to  shout,  "  Zlto  Venlzelos !  "  and 
to  march  with  hands  raised.  With  one 
or  two  exceptions,  the  Greek  officers 
showed  no  effort  to  restrain  their  men. 
During  May  15  and  16  Greek  troops  arbi- 
trarily arrested  2,500  persons,  including 
children  under  16  years  of  age.  *  •  * 
There  were  numerous  acts  of  violence  and 
pillage.  Numerous  women  were  violated. 
Some  assassinations  were  committed. 
While  most  of  these  acts  were  committed 
by  civilian  Greeks,  the  soldiers  took  part 
in  them,  and  the  military  authorities  were 
slow  in  taking  action  to  put  a  stop  to 
them.    *    *    * 

The  Colonel  in  command  of  the  Greek 
occupation  forces  on  May  21  received  a 
telegram  from  Venlzelos  at  Pari?  ordering 
the  extension  of  Greek  occupation. 

A  large  number  of  Turks,  men,  women, 
and  children,  who  tried  to  escape  from  the 
quarter  that  was  burning  (at  Aldin)  were 
killed  without  cause  by  the  Greek  soldiers. 
*  *  *  The  Greeks  evacuated  the  city 
on  the  night  of  June  29  after  having  com- 
mitted numerous  crimes  and  acts  of 
brutality.  *  *  *  The  reoccupation  of 
Aidin  was  ordered  by  the  Greek  Com- 
mander in  Chief  in  spite  of  the  strict 
orders  to  the  contrary  of  the  Entente  rep- 
resentative. The  Greek  authorities  acted 
in  conformity  with  the  formal  orders  sent 
from  Paris  by  Venizelos  on  July  2.  This 
order  did  not  permit  any  Intervention  by 
the  Entente  representative  in  this  con- 
nection.   •    *    * 

Losses  resulting  from  conflict  between 
Greeks  and  Turks  in  the  Meander  Valley 
are  estimated  at  $33,000,000  by  fires  at 
Aidin  and  $6,000,000  by  damage  to  crops. 

The  commission  further  recommended 
that  the  Greek  troops  be  replaced  by 
allied  troops  much  fewer  in  number,  and 
that  Greek  troops,  if  allowed  to  co-oper- 
ate, should  be  kept  from  contact  with 
the  Turkish  National  forces.  It  further 
declared  its  opinion  that  Turkish  Na- 
tional sentiment  would  never  accept  this 
annexation  to  Greece,  and  that  the  Turks 
would  resist  military  compulsion  to  force 
them  to  do  so. 

VENIZELOS  PROTESTS 

The  findings  of  this  commission  were 
attacked  by  M.  Venizelos,  on  the  ground 
that  the  commission  had  no  Greek  mem- 
bers and  had  examined  no  Greek  wit- 
nesses. In  Paris  on  Nov.  15  he  asked 
the  Supreme  Council  to  declare  the  re- 
port null  and  void,  and  to  rule  that 
another  investigation  be  conducted.  In 
this  connection  he  said: 


When  the  Greeks  landed  at  Smyrna  they 
were  immediately  surrounded  by  en- 
thusiastic crowds,  which  followed  them, 
cheering  and  welcoming  them,  and  ad- 
vanced from  the  port  to  the  city  proper, 
without  having  occupied  the  strategic 
points  of  the  city.  Turks  and  Greeko- 
phobe  residents  fired  from  windows  upon 
the  troops.  The  evening  previous  the 
Turks  had  issued  proclamations  protest- 
ing against  Greek  occupation,  and  had 
opened  the  Jails  and  freed  several  hun- 
dred criminals,  who  armed  themselves  at 
Turkish  commissaries,  and  began  robbing 
and  looting,  causing  the  whole  trouble. 

We  have  been  accused  of  trying  to 
change  the  ethnographic  face  of  the 
region.  I  can  say  that  out  of  the  200,000 
Greeks  expelled  by  the  Turks  since  1014 
not  one  in  fifteen  has  returned  to  the 
-country,  owing  to  the  fact  that  their 
houses  have  been  burned  or  are  occupied 
by  Turks  whom  the  Greek  command  is 
unwilling  to  expel  until  homes  are  pro- 
vided for  them  elsewhere. 

M.  Venizelos  expressed  surprise  that 
the  Supreme  Council  should  revert  to 
incidents  of  the  landing  in  its  expression 
that  the  occupation  of  Smyrna  was  only 
temporary.     He  said: 

When  we  were  asked  by  President  Wil- 
son and  Premiers  Lloyd  George  and 
Clemenceau  to  occupy  Smyrna  there  was 
no  mention  of  temporary  occupation.  If 
it  had  been  a  matter  of  a  mandate  for 
policing,  a  larger  nation  would  have  been 
called  upon.  We  are  too  small  a  nation 
to  do  any  policing  of  other  countries. 
But  it  was  our  understanding  that  we 
should  occupy  a  country  which  has  been 
Greek  for  3.000  years  pending  final  settle- 
ment of  the  question,  which  would  give 
us    title    to    the    district. 

We  seek  no  mandate;  we  seek  to  enter 
our  home.  I  should  like  to  have  the 
question  decided  finally  once  for  all,  as 
the  occupation  is  causing  Greece  much 
expense  which  she  is  unable  to  bear  in- 
definitely. 

CONFLICT   INTENSIFIED 

The  conflict  between  the  Greeks  and 
the  Turks  in  this  region,  meanwhile,  con- 
tinued. Movements  of  Greek  troops  were 
resisted  by  Turkish  detachments,  and 
bitter  fighting  occurred.  The  Greek- 
forces  were  reported  to  number  70,0(Vj 
men,  who  were  being  used  through  De- 
cember to  occupy  and  defend  that  part 
of  the  territory  which  they  wish  to 
annex  to  Smyrna.  The  Turks,  who  were 
in  large  majority  within  and  around  this 
occupied  area,  continued  obstinately  to 
resist  all  Greek  advances.     The  Vilayet 


274 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


of  Aidin  had  been  repeatedly  devastated 
by  embittered  warfare.  It  was  stated 
on  Jan.  2  that  Mustapha  Pasha  was 
concentrating  his  Nationalist  forces 
against  the  Greeks  near  Aidin,  as  well 
as  moving  a  large  accumulation  of  Turk- 
ish and  captured  Russian  arms  from 
Erzerum  westward. 

The  Sultan  of  Turkey,  in  his  throne 
speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  on  Jan.  12,  declared  Smyrna 
"  inseparable  from  the  Turkish  Empire." 
A  week  earlier  the  Constantinople  papers 
published  the  main  outlines  of  a  note  of 
protest  that  had  been  addressed  to  the 
Peace  Conference  by  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment. The  note  held  that  interfer- 
ence with  Turkish  independence  would 
mean  endless  chaos  in  the  Near  East. 
As  an  alternative  the  Sublime  Porte 
offered  the  reformation  of  Turkey  with 
the  help  of  a  single  power  and  its  ex- 
perts. Popular  sympathy  with  this  plan 
was  expressed  widely  through  the  Turk- 
ish press  and  through  mass  meetings. 

ITALIAN  CLAIMS 
Immediately  to  the  south  of  Smyrna 
the  Italians  have  occupied  a  considerable 
area,  with  Adalia  as  their  port.  They 
control  the  railway  to  Konia  and  thence 
to  Adalia,  which  is  part  of  the  new 
region  occupied  by  them.  The  so-called 
Nationalist  and  anti-Greek  bands  have 
shown  a  more  friendly  disposition  toward 
the  Italians,  whose  aid  they  have  sought 
to  enlist  against  the  Greeks.  The  dis- 
orders that  attended  the  Italian  occupa- 
tion of  this  district  were  also  formally 
investigated  by  a  Peace  Conference  Com- 
mission, and  the  Italians  did  not  escape 
without  blame. 

FRENCH  CLAIMS  IN  SYRIA 
East  of  the  Greek  and  Italian  dis- 
tricts is  the  Syrian  territory  allotted  to 
the  French,  which  borders  on  the  inde- 
pendent Arab  State  under  Emir  Feisal, 
son  of  King  Hussein  of  the  Hedjaz.  Here 
also  there  have  been  conflicts,  both  be- 
tween the  Allies  themselves  and  be- 
tween the  native  Arab  rulers.  Strained 
feeling  between  the  British,  whose  troops 
occupied  Syria  provisionally,  and  the 
French,  who  suspected  the  British  of 
wishing  to  supplant  them  in  this  chosen 
area,  was  finally  appeased;  the  British 


moved  their  soldiers  out,  and  the  French 
forces  took  their  place. 

The  situation  in  this  whole  region 
toward  the  end  of  December  was  as  fol- 
lows: General  Gouraud,  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  French  forces,  had  relieved 
with  his  troops  the  British  military  posts 
in  the  districts  of  Marsaitab  and  Urfa, 
but  the  administration  of  these  districts 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Turkish 
authorities.  The  eastern  area  of  occu- 
pation, including  Damascus  and  Aleppo, 
had  been  put  under  the  administration 
of  Emir  Feisal.  All  the  British  forces 
had  been  withdrawn  from  Syria,  and  the 
British  military  administration  of  that 
country  was  at  an  end. 

CONFLICT  WITH  ARABS 

Regarding  the  original  promises  made 
to  King  Hussein  and  the  Emir  Feisal  in 
respect  to  the  independence  of  Arabia 
and  the  annexation  of  part  of  Syria,  the 
differences  between  the  Arabian  French 
authorities  were  provisionally  composed. 
That  the  Arab  National  feeling  would 
create  difficulties  for  France,  however, 
was  indicated  on  Jan.  12,  when  it  was  re- 
ported that  serious  fighting  had  occurred 
between  French  and  Syrian  volunteers, 
with  many  casualties  on  both  sides,  at 
Alexandretta  and  other  points  of  de- 
markation  in  the  French  zone  in  Damas- 
cus. The  Arabs  had  organized  a  Na- 
tional Defense  Committee,  which  was  en- 
forcing compulsion  of  military  service, 
and  had  issued  a  manifesto  against  for- 
eign intervention  in  any  form.  Rival 
political  and  religious  organizations  were 
uniting,  and  the  force  of  the  movement 
was  said  to  be  considerable. 

INTERNAL  DISPUTES 

Regarding  internal  politics,  Emir 
Feisal  and  his  rival,  the  Arab  Sheik 
Ibn  Saud,  had  both  presented  rival  claims 
at  Paris  and  London,  but  no  settlement 
had  been  reached.  As  for  Palestine, 
Emir  Feisal  had  repeatedly  declared  that 
it  should  fit  into  the  framework  of  the 
new  Arabian  Empire,  whose  nationals 
far  outnumbered  the  Jews  in  Palestine, 
and  denied  the  right  of  the  future  Jewish 
Nation  to  exercise  predominance.  It  was 
the  Arab  intention,  he  declared,  to  build 
up    an    Arabian    Empire,    to   consist   of 


THE  PROBLEM  OF   TURKEY 


275 


Mesopotamia,  Syria,  and  Palestine.  No 
distinguishable  boundary,  he  said,  sepa- 
rated Palestine  from  Syria,  with  which 
it  must  be  united,  as  Syria  with  Arabia. 
A  special  situation,  meanwhile,  exists 
in  the  north,  where  the  people  of  the 
Lebanon  under  their  Emir  repudiate 
both  the  rule  of  Turkey  and  that  of 
every  foreign  power,  openly  declaring 
for  a  protectorate  under  France. 

QUESTION  OF  MANDATE 

The  multiple  disputes  to  be  appeased, 
and  the  inflammability  of  the  national, 
racial,  religious  and  political  tendencies 
in  all  these  diverse  segments  of  what 
remains  of  Turkey  have  given  the 
statesmen  of  the  allied  nations  in  Paris 
deep  cause  for  solicitude.  Great  Britain 
and  France  fully  a  year  ago  recognized 
their  own  inability  to  undertake  control 
of  either  the  whole  or  a  part  of  Turkey; 
Britain  had  not  financial  resources,  and 
her  disinterestedness  was  subject  to  ques- 
tion because  of  her  extensive  Asiatic 
possessions;  France  had  never  shown 
capacity  for  colonial  administration,  and 
was  exhausted  financially.  In  view  of 
these  mutual  incapacities,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  delegating  either  Greece  or 
Italy  to  undertake  the  formidable  task 
involved,  the  two  chief  allies  in  Europe 


asked  the  United  States  to  assume  the 
mandate  over  European  Turkey  and  Ar- 
menia, and  have  been  waiting  ever  since 
for  the  American  decision. 

Many  prominent  Americans,  including 
Henry  Morgenthau,  former  Ambassador 
to  Turkey,  have  argued  in  favor  of  the 
acceptance  of  such  a  mandate,  but  there 
have  been  no  indications  that  the  Wash- 
ington Government  favored  it;  the  atti- 
tude of  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
Senate  is  unmistakably  opposed  to  enter- 
ing into  adventures  which  might  embroil 
the  United  States  in  the  quarrels  either 
of  Europe  or  of  Asia.  The  opinions  ar- 
rived at  by  the  members  of  the  special 
investigating  committee  headed  by  Gen- 
eral Harbord  have  been  already  men- 
tioned. The  attitude  of  the  Turkish 
Government  itself  has  been  consistently 
one  of  maintaining  the  status  quo,  with 
or  without  American  intervention,  and 
an  urgent  desire  to  expedite  the  signing 
of  peace  before  Turkey  falls  to  pieces. 
Turkish  public  sentiment,  at  last  reports, 
was  crystallising  in  favor  of  an  Amer- 
ican mandate,  to  be  withdrawn  when 
Turkey  was  able  to  stand  on  her  own 
feet.  At  Paris,  meanwhile,  the  British 
and  French  were  stated  semi-officially 
to  have  at  last  united  in  favor  of  allow- 
ing the  Turk  to  remain  in  Europe. 


BOLSHEVISM    IN    EUROPE 

Aspects  of  the  New  Power  That  Has  Established  Itself  by  Arms 
in  Russia  and  Threatens  War  on  the  World 


MANY  varying  phases  of  Bolshe- 
vism, including  an  analytical 
study  of  its  methods,  Lenin's  of- 
ficial statement  of  its  aims,  the 
story  of  its  worldwide  campaign  to  over- 
turn all  other  Governments  by  propa- 
ganda, and  an  account  of  the  military 
triumphs  and  peace  efforts  of  the  Mos- 
cow leaders,  will  be  found  in  the  follow- 
ing fifty  pages  of  this  magazine.  An 
important  feature  of  this  interesting 
array  is  the  luminous  comparison  of  the 
Soviet  Constitution  with  the  United 
States  Constitution  made  by  Hon.  Bur- 
ton L.  French,  member  of  Congress  from 
Idaho,  on  page  313  et  seq.  Another, 
which  touches  the  theme  indirectly,  is 
the  historical  sketch  of  the  new  Republic 
of  Georgia  in  the  Caucasus  (page  281), 
written  by  Dr.  W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  who  was 
connected  with  the  American  Relief  Com- 
mission in  Asia  Minor.  The  Supreme 
Council  at  Paris  formally  recognized  the 
Georgian  Republic  about  the  middle  of 
January,  at  the  same  time  giving  a  sim- 
ilar honor  to  Azerbaidjan,  another  new 
republic  in  the  Caucasus,  southeast  of 
Georgia  and  extending  to  the  borders  of 
Persia.  So  far  as  these  republics  have 
any  strength  it  will  be  a  barrier  to  the 
onward  march  of  Russian  Bolshevism. 

The  success  of  the  Soviet  Government 
in  overcoming  the  armies  of  Denikin  in 
South  Russian  and  of  Kolchak  farther 
east  in  Siberia,  in  view  of  the  avowed 
purpose  of  Lenin  and  Trotzky  to  spread 
revolutionary  doctrines  in  the  Caucasus, 
Persia,  Afghanistan,  Mesopotamia,  and 
India,  produced  a  profound  impression  in 
Great  Britain,  and  it  was  announced  on 
Jan  16  that  there  was  possibility  of  for- 
mal military  operations  by  the  British 
Government  against  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment of  Russia. 

Winston  Spencer  Churchill,  Secretary 
for  War ;  Walter  Hume  Long,  First  Lord 
of  the  Admiralty;  Earl  Beatty,  com- 
mander of  the  Grand  Fleet,  and  Field 


Marshal  Sir  Henry  H.  Wilson,  Chief  of 
the  Imperial  Staff,  left  London  on  the 
night  of  Jan.  15  for  Paris,  having  been 
hurriedly  summoned  for  a  consultation 
with  Premier  Lloyd  George  and  other 
British  officials  then  in  Paris,  on  im- 
portant military  and  naval  matters. 

The  Bolshevist  military  successes  re- 
ported up  to  Jan.  16  gave  the  Soviet 
Government  virtual  mastery  of  the  whole 
of  European  Russia.  Odessa  was  prac- 
tically in  its  possession,  giving  the  Reds 
full  control  of  the  southern  coast  regions. 
Their  victories  in  the  Don  country  gave 
them  enormous  supplies  of  food,  raw 
material,  coal,  rolling  stock,  and  oil.  The 
entire  Caucasus  region  was  seriously 
threatened  by  their  occupation  of  Trans- 
Caspia.  A  large  Bolshevist  element  ex- 
ists in  Baku.  The  Soviet  Government, 
having  established  itself  on  the  Caspian 
and  Black  Seas,  could  obtain  important 
recruits  from  the  region,  placing  the  new 
Republics  of  Georgia  and  Azerbaidjan 
at  their  mercy;  this  would  give  them 
free  access  to  operations  in  Persia,  Meso- 
potamia, Afghanistan,  and  India.  The 
Bolsheviki  opened  fifty  propaganda 
schools  at  Tashkent,  near  the  Afghanis- 
tan frontier,  where  Oriental  languages 
are  being  taught  to  their  agents,  who 
will  be  sent  to  teach  the  Soviet  doctrines 
in  India,  China,  and  all  the  Moslem 
countries. 

CHANGE  OF  ALLIED  POLICY 
An  important  reversal  of  the  policy 
of  the  Allies  toward  Russia  was  decided 
upon  by  the  Supreme  Council  oin  Paris 
on  Jan.  16.  The  session  was  attended  by 
the  Premiers  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Italy.  The  new  policy  was  officially 
announced  in  a  statement  which  appears 
in  full  on  page  199.  It  was  to  the  effect 
that  the  Allies  would  lift  the  blockade 
and  would  trade  with  the  Russian  peas- 
ants, though  continuing  their  former  at- 
titude toward  the  Bolshevist  Government. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  EUROPE 


277 


The  only  official  explanation  of  the  move 
was  that  it  was  intended,  by  reaching 
the  people,  to  weaken  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment; but  the  feeling  persisted  that 
it  was  indicative  of  early  negotiations 
with  Moscow  for  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties and  an  ultimate  solution  of  the  Rus- 
sian problem.  It  was  construed  to  mean 
an  end  of  the  proposed  military  oper- 
ations against  the  Soviet  Government  by 
Great  Britain. 

The  Russian  Co-operative  Society,  with 
which  the  Allies  are  to  deal,  is  composed 
of  a  number  of  co-operative  unions  and 
is  said  to  represent  20,000,000  Russians. 
In  June  of  last  year  Secretary  of  War 
Baker  signed  contracts  with  representa- 
tives of  the  society  covering  the  sale  of 
$15,000,000  worth  of  surplus  army  cloth- 
ing and  textiles.  In  greeting  the  delega- 
tion which  waited  upon  him  in  Washing- 
ton Mr.  Baker  spoke  of  the  sincere  de- 
sire of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
to  be  of  any  possible  assistance  to  the 
people  of  Russia,  and  explained  that  it 
was  the  hope  that  when  Russia  had  re- 
established its  Government  the  "  ancient 
bond  of  friendship  between  the  two  na- 
tions would  be  found  strengthened." 

AMERICAN  WITHDRAWAL 
On  the  same  day  that  the  announce- 
ment was  made  of  a  change  of  policy  by 
the  Supreme  Council,  Secretary  of  State 
Lansing  made  a  public  statement  re- 
garding the  decision  of  the  United 
States  to  withdraw  all  American  forces 
from  Siberia  on  Feb.  1,  1920,  along  with 
the  American  experts  in  charge  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  and  Chinese  Eastern 
Railway.  The  official  announcement 
also  stated  that  by  co-operation  of  the 
British  and  American  Governments  10,- 
000  Czechoslovak  troops  would  be  em- 
barked at  Vladivostok  on  Feb.  1.  The 
reason  impelling  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment to  this  action  was  that  the  de- 
feat of  the  Kolchak  forces  by  the  Bolshe- 
viki  had  rendered  it  inadvisable  for  the 
United  States  to  assume  the  undertak- 
ing which  further  co-operation  would 
require. 

A  further  reaction  from  these  devel- 
opments was  a  change  of  Great  Britain's 
attitude  toward  the  Sultan  of  Turkey. 
The  French  and  Italians  had  previously 


desired  that,  in  deference  to  the  wishes 
of  their  Moslem  subjects,  the  Sultan  be 
permitted  to  continue  his  residence  at 
Constantinople  as  the  head  of  the  Moslem 
Church.  The  British,  on  the  other  hand, 
favored  excluding  the  Turks  entirely 
from  Europe.  The  turn  of  events  in 
January  altered  the  situation,  and  it  was 
reported  on  Jan.  16  that  the  British  had 
receded  from  their  position  and  had  de- 
cided that  the  Caliphate  should  remain 
at  Constantinople. 

It  was  reported  from  Soviet  headquar- 
ters on  Jan.  16  that  Admiral  Kolchak, 
head  of  the  All-Russian  Government  in 
Siberia,  had  been  captured  and  his  anti- 
Bolshevist  armies  practically  extermi- 
nated; the  remnants  of  his  Siberian 
army,  numbering  6,000,  had  laid  down 
their  arms.  The  same  report  said  that 
General  Semenov,  who  had  been  desig- 
nate 1  as  Kolchak's  successor,  had  been 
defeated  at  Irkutsk,  leaving  that  last 
centre  of  anti-Bolshevist  activity  in  the 
hands  of  the  Reds.  At  the  same  time 
the  Soviet  Government  announced  that 
any  future  sentences  of  death  would  be 
imposed  upon  enemies  only  when  ap- 
proved by  the  All-Russian  Extraordi- 
nary Commission. 

COMMUNIST  METHODS 

Walter  Duranty,  in  a  cablegram  of 
Jan.  13  from  Riga  to  The  New  York 
Times,  in  which  Current  History  Mag- 
zine  enjoys  the  right  of  joint  publication, 
describes  how  the  Communists  control 
Soviet  Russia  as  follows: 

The  whole  machinery  of  the  Government 
and  army  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Com- 
munist minority,  about  5  per  cent,  of  the 
total,  whose  adms  and  aspirations  are  no 
less  foreign  to  -those  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  population  than  was  the  case  with  the 
imperialist  policy  of  the  Czarlst  regime. 
Everything— literally  everything—is  run  by 
the  Communists. 

To  each  regiment  there  is  attached  a 
commissar,  who  'is  really  the  civil  au- 
thority appointed  by  the  Extraordinai  r 
Commission  of  Moscow  and  responsible 
only  thereto.  In  theory  the  commissar  has 
no  military  standing  and  cannot  give  mili- 
tary orders,  but  he  has  power  to  dismiss, 
tmpulson  or  execute  the  regimental  com- 
mander if  he  thinks  fit  to  do  so.  Each 
battalion  in  the  regiment  has  an  assistant 
commissar  attached  to  it.  Each  compact 
has  what  is  called  an  organizer,  who  I 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


sort  of  subordinate  commissar.  Naturally 
all  these  are  Communists.  Below  the  or- 
ganizers there  are  the  Communist  non- 
coms  and  the  rank  and  file  in  the  pro- 
portion of  one  to  every  half  dozen  men 
or  so.  These  are  really  secret  police  or 
spies.  No  one  is  supposed  to  know  they 
are  Communists  and  they  do  their  utmost 
to  seem  ordinary  soldiers.  Thus  parallel 
to  the  military  organization  of  the  regi- 
ment or  other  unit  there  is  a  network  of 
civilian  control  and  an  espionage  system 
reaching  right  up  from  the  platoon 
through  the  regimental,  divisional  and 
army  staff  to  the  Moscow  headquarters  of 
the  Extraordinary  Commission. 

Through  this  network  the  Communists 
hold  Russia  in  a  grip  of  blood.  The 
slightest  incautious  word  is  immediately 
reported,  and  drastic  action  follows.  One 
boy  of  18  told  how  somebody  had  grum- 
bled about  the  worthlessness  of  Soviet 
money  as  compared  with  the  Czar's 
rubles  in  the  old  days.  A  week  later  he 
disappeared,  and  it  was  learned  later  that 
he  had  been  condemned  to  four  years  in 
a  convict  prison.  Even  though  the  sol- 
diers gradually  come  to  learn  the  identity 
of  the  majority  of  the  Communist  spies— 
and  it  is  startling  to  see  how  very  eager 
they  are  to  denounce  them  when  captured 
—they  live  in  a  continual  atmosphere  of 
espionage  and  terror. 

Most  feared  of  all  is  the  "  lying  tri- 
bunal," a  body  delegated  by  the  Ex- 
traordinary Commission  to  administer 
"  justice "  in  the  army  with  absolutely 
unlimited  powers.  This  tribunal  will  de- 
scend suddenly  upon  a  regiment,  coming 
no  one  knows  whence  or  when.  Even 
the  Commissars  and  Communists  tremble 
when  it  is  present,  for  they  have  many 
enemies,  as  they  are  well  aware,  and 
who  can  tell  what  secret  influence,  in- 
trigue or  corruption  may  destroy  him? 

The  tribunal's  sittings  are  the  merest 
farce.  Death  is  the  penalty  in  seven 
cases  out  of  ten,  for  life  in  Russia,  never 
very  expensive,  is  cheaper  than  bread  to- 
day. This  is  almost  literally  true.  At 
least,  in  the  4th  Company  of  the  2d 
Bolshevist  Regiment  a  Sergeant  was  exe- 
cuted by  the  Flying  Tribunal  on  the 
denunciation  of  an  Assistant  Commissar, 
to  whom  he  had  declined  to  sell  half  a 
pound  of  sugar.  The  terms  of  the  de- 
nunciation ran :  "  This  man  spoke  con- 
temptuously of  the  Soviet  currency,  and 
declared  he  wished  God  would  strike  dead! 
the  whole  pack  of  Communist  spies  and 


traitors."  No  witnesses  were  called. 
The  Flying  Tribunal  doesn't  bother 
about  such  trifles,  and,  despite  his  de- 
nials, the  soldier  was  shot  on  the  Com- 
missar's unsupported  testimony. 

Not  the  least  terrible  part  of  the  system 
is  the  appalling  secrecy  with  which  it 
works.  Officers  and  men  vanish  one  day 
from  the  midst  of  their  comrades.  Some- 
times it  is  learned  later  that  they  have 
been  shot  or  punished  by  order  of  the  lo- 
cal commissar;  sometimes  they  are  held 
in  prison  until  the  arrival  of  the  Flying 
Tribunal.  But  always  the  result  is  the 
same— death  or  a  long  term  of  imprison- 
ment. 

Against  this  system  no  revolt  is  pos- 
sible. No  man  knows  with  whom  he  may 
safely  speak,  far  less  plot,  to  throw  off 
the  yoke.  What  is  more,  the  commissars, 
who  are  generally  workmen  devoid  of 
military  knowledge,  have  the  power  to 
punish  what  they  consider  to  be  military 
faults  or  derelictions.  Thus  the  company 
commander  in  the  3d  Regiment  was  sent 
to  the  penitentiary  for  ten  years  by  the 
Flying  Tribunal  on  the  report  of  an  as- 
sistant" commissar  that  he  deliberately 
sacrificed  Communist  lives.  What  ac- 
tually happened  was  that  he  ordered  a 
platoon  to  outflank  and  attack  a  Lettish 
machine-gun  post.  The  Sergeant  in  charge 
of  the  platoon  was  known  to  be  a  Com- 
munist and  he  declined  to  risk  his  skin. 
The  Captain  promptly  put  him  under  ar- 
rest and  led  the  attack  himself,  saying, 
"  If  I'm  shot  trying  to  take  the  post  it 
will  save  me  from  being  shot  by  the  Com- 
munists. But  if  I  take  it  they  must  admit 
I'm  right." 

He  did  take  the  post  with  one  man 
slightly  wounded,  but  he  had  overesti- 
mated the  generosity  of  the  Flying  Tri- 
bunal. 

Of  course  a  great  majority  of  these 
officers  and  non-communist  troops  are 
serving  unwillingly.  They  are  ordered  into 
the  army  and  know  if  they  try  to  evade 
the  draft  or  escape  their  families  will  pay 
the  penalty  with  their  lives.  Neither 
women  nor  children  are  spared.  One 
youngster— a  Reval  Communist  this— told 
the  examining  officer  at  headquarters 
that  he  found  spy  work  too  hateful,  that 
he  applied  for  a  different  Job  and  was 
told  that  if  he  did  not  stick  to  the  work 
or  if  there  was  any  reason  to  doubt  the 
genuineness  of  his  activity  not  -only  he 
but  his  two  young  sisters  in  Petrograd 
would  be  shot. 


Poland's  Fight  on  Bolshevism 

Rule  in  Galicia  and  Ukraine 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


THE  resignation  of  Jan  Ignace  Pade- 
rewski  as  Premier  of  Poland  oc- 
curred on  Dec.  7  under  circumstances 
which  were  described  in  the  January 
Current  History.  New  light  was  shed 
on  that  event  by  Dr.  George  Barthel, 
Acting  Consul  General  of  Poland  to  the 
United  States,  in  a  public  statement  is- 
sued on  Jan.  5,  which  read: 

The  resignation  of  Mr.  Paderewskl 
came  as  a  result  of  conditions  which  re- 
quired a  Coalition  Government,  in  which 
Mr.  Paderewskl  had  a  guiding  hand.  His 
successor,  Leopold  Skulski,  is  his  friend, 
and  took  office  at  Mr.  Paderewski's  sug- 
gestion. Mr.  Paderewskl  realized  that 
his  work  was  done  and  that  his  capacities 
did  not  permit  him  to  undertake  further 
conduct  of  Polish  affairs;  that  the  time 
had  come  for  Poland  to  appoint  a  Parlia- 
mentary Cabinet.  Mr.  Paderewskl  is  ex- 
hausted, and  he  as  well  as  his  co-workers 
knew  that  his  health  demanded  the  rest 
he  is  taking  in  Switzerland. 

General  Pilsudski,  the  President,  has 
been  Chief  of  State  and  the  policies  he 
inaugurated  are  being  carried  out  without 
change.  Mr.  Skulski,  successor  to-  Mr. 
Paderewskl,  was  formerly  Mayor  of  Lodz 
and  a  famous  engineer  and  parliamen- 
tarian. Mr.  Patek,  the  Foreign  Minister, 
was  formerly  Minister  to  Bohemia.  W. 
Grabski,  Minister  of  Finance,  is  the  best 
known  agrarian  economist  in  Poland,  and 
Mr.  Wojciechowski,  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, Is  an  expert  in  co-operative  socie- 
ties, of  which  there  are  500  in  Poland 
with  500,000  members. 

In  an  article  printed  in  the  Corriere 
d'ltalia  on  Dec.  29,  Cardinal  Karkawski, 
Archbishop  of  Warsaw,  stated  that  Po- 
land had  her  entire  army  marshaled 
along  the  Russian  frontier.  Poland's 
strength,  however,  he  added,  was  lim- 
ited, and  could  not  stand  alone  against 
the  Bolshevist  menace,  which  showed  no 
sign  of  becoming  less.  France  and  Italy, 
he  declared,  understood  the  desperate  na- 
ture of  the  battle  that  Poland  was  fight- 
ing to  protect  Westernn  civilization  from 
the  Red  invasion,  but  England  not  so 
well.  Conditions  of  anarchy  and  aggres- 
sion in  Russia,  he  asserted,  would  last  at 
least  twenty-five  years. 


Meanwhile  the  fighting  Poles  contin- 
ued to  stem  the  Bolshevist  tide.  Their 
alliance  with  the  Lettish  Army  in  the  at- 
tack on  Dvinsk,  and  the  occupation  of 
that  city  by  the  combined  Lettish  and 
Polish  troops,  was  a  good  augury  of  the 
friendly  relations  established  by  the  new 
republic  with  its  weaker  and  still  unrec- 
ognized sister  nation.  The  capture  of 
Dvinsk  by  the  Poles  and  Letts  straight- 
ened out  the  line  of  those  forces,  and 
gave  them  direct  rail  communication  be- 
tween Poland  and  Riga.  The  Poles  in- 
timated their  willingness  to  accept  a 
Lettish  Governor  for  the  captured  city. 
It  was  announced  on  Jan.  6  that  the  com- 
bined forces  had  advanced  for  strategic 
reasons  slightly  beyond  the  line  of  the 
River  Dulna.  The  Poles  held  the  lower 
quarter  of  the  line,  and  were  repairing 
the  railroad  that  runs  due  east  along  the 
north  bank  of  the  Dvina;  the  remainder 
was  annexed  to  the  Lettish  front. 

The  Poles  undertook  a  considerable 
task  in  Southwest  Russia  in  occupying 
and  policing  territory  evacuated  by  Gen- 
eral Denikin  and  not  yet  invaded  by  the 
Reds.  The  aim  of  the  Polish  Govern- 
ment, as  set  forth  in  Warsaw  on  Jan.  9, 
was  to  stabilize  the  situation  in  that  re- 
gion in  an  effort  to  prevent  Bolshevism 
from  finding  a  foothold  there.  The  evac- 
uated regions  were  reported  to  be  in- 
fested with  bands  of  robbers  who  had 
been  sacking  and  burning  villages,  rob- 
bing inhabitants,  and  holding  many  vic- 
tims for  ransom.  The  entire  line  of  the 
Kamenetz  -  Podolsk  -  Proskurov  -  Staro- 
konstantin  railroad  had  been  taken  over 
by  the  Polish  military  authorities.  The 
Polish  High  Command  had  undertaken 
the  work  of  carrying  out  the  programiof 
occupation  for  all  the  territory  tributary 
to  this  system. 

M.  Tchitcherin,  Bolshevist  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  on  Dec.  26  addressed  an 
offer  to  the  Polish  Government  to  begin 
immediate  peace  negotiations.  The  Poles 
were   asked  to   name   a  convenient   time 


280 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


and  place.  Meanwhile,  however,  from 
various  sources  Poland  had  information 
that  the  Red  authorities  were  planning  a 
great  offensive  against  Poland  next 
Spring,  which  was  being  organized  by 
Leon  Trotzky,  Soviet  Minister  of  War, 
extensive  recruitments,  including  Chinese 
troops,  were  being  made,  and  the  raw 
material  thus  gathered  was  being  trained 
in  the  Bolshevist  military  schools. 

In  Paris,  M.  Patek,  the  new  Foreign 
Minister  of  Poland,  declared  on  Dec. 
28  that  he  knew  for  a  certainty  that  the 
Bolsheviki  would  open  such  an  offensive 
in  the  Spring.    He  said: 

I  have  come  to  Paris  and  am  going  to 
London  to  push  a  plan  for  the  effective 
collaboration  of  Poland  and  the  Allies. 
The  moment  will  come  soon,  I  hope,  when 
we  can  discuss  a  political  alliance  with 
France  and  England.  But  for  the  mo- 
ment it  is  extremely  urgent  to  -make  a 
strong  military  alliance.  All  the  allied 
policy  with  regard  to  Russia  is  founded 
upon  this  base. 

It  has  been  decided  at  London  not  to 
make  peace  with  the  Bolsheviki.  It  has 
also  been  decided  not  to  make  war  on 
them.  But  this  policy  of  passivity  on  the 
part  of  the  Allies  does  not  prevent  the 
Bolsheviki  from  adopting  a  policy  of  ac- 
tivity. I  come  to  say  to  the  Allies  that 
the  Spring  holds  for  us  surprises.  Now 
is  the  time  to  get  ready  for  them. 

Next  Spring  we  know  with  certainty  the 
Bolshevist  armies  will  march  against  us. 
We  shall  be  entirely  alone  before  this 
offensive,  for  the  news  of  the  situation 
of  the  armies  of  Kolchak  and  Denikin  is 
not  favorable.  In  Poland  no  one  thinks 
of  shirking  the  role  assigned  to  us  by 
the  Allies,  by  history  and  by  our  geo- 
graphical position.  Our  policy  can  be  ex- 
pressed in  two  words— stand  fast.  But  if 
we  are  to  resist  successfully,  the  Allies 
must  give  us  the  material  means.  The 
fate  of  Poland,  the  peace  of  Europe,  and 
the  success  of  the  Russian  policy  of  the 
Allies  hang  upon  the  measures  which  are 
taken   today. 

Black  crepe  was  hung  inside  and  out- 
side of  every  Ukrainian  Greek  Catholic 
Chuch  in  the  United  States  on  Dec.  28 
by  order  of  the  head  of  this  Church,  as  a 
demonstration  of  the  grief  of  the  Ukra- 
inians over  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Council  at  Paris  awarding  East  Galicia 
to  Poland  under  a  mandate  for  twenty- 
five  years.  Masses  for  those  who  fell 
in  the  cause  of  Ukrainian  independence 
were    celebrated    in    all    the    churches. 


Prayers  were  read  for  the  future  free- 
dom of  the  occupied  districts.  It  was 
announced  that  meetings  of  protest  would  f 
be  held  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and 
Canada,  and  that  funds  would  be  raised 
to  keep  up  the  struggle  of  the  Ukrainian 
people  against  "  enslavement "  by  the 
Poles. 

On  the  same  date  the  third  general 
Carpatho-Russian  Congress  opened  its 
sessions  to  obtain  support  for  the  claim 
of  Carpatho-Russia  to  freedom  from  Po- 
land. The  President  of  the  league,  in  an 
address  of  welcome  to  the  400  delegates, 
said  the  congress  would  protest  against 
the  injustice  done  by  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence to  Eastern  Galicia  and  the  northern 
part  of  Bukovina,  and  would  ask  the 
American  Government  and  the  American 
people  for  support.  The  Carpatho-Rus- 
sian delegation  in  Paris,  he  said,  had 
demanded  that  Eastern  Galicia,  with 
Lemkovschina,  should  be  reunited  with 
Russia,  and  until  that  country  recovered 
from  its  unsettled  condition  that  those 
provinces  should  be  ruled  by  an  inter- 
allied commission  with  an  American  Gov- 
ernor at  its  head. 

Representing  the  same  national  reac- 
tion, Julian  Batchinsky,  diplomatic  rep- 
resentative in  America  of  the  Ukrainian 
Republic,  on  Dec.  8  addressed  to  Secre- 
tary Lansing  an  appeal  and  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil regarding  the  disposition  of  East 
Galicia. 

According  to  a  report  to  the  Warsaw 
Diet  the  region  occupied  by  the  Poles  in 
White  Russia,  Lithuania,  and  Ukrainia 
comprises  189,320  square  kilometers  and 
8,260,000  inhabitants,  some  of  whom  are 
under  Bolshevist  control.  In  this  terri- 
tory all  Polish  nationals  were  in  favor  of 
Poland's  rule.  The  Greek  Orthodox 
Church  was  to  be  given  a  special  exarch 
and  a  church  constitution.  There  were 
1,863  Polish  national  schools,  566  Ukra- 
inian schools,  and  eight  White  Russian 
schools,  excluding  high  schools,  technical 
schools,  and  seminaries.  The  University 
of  King  Stephen  Batory  in  Vilna  had 
been  reopened  by  President  Pilsudski. 
All  Roman  Catholic  Churches  confiscated 
by  the  former  Russian  Government  had 
been  restored  to  the  people.  From  this 
territory  some  14,000  volunteers  had  en- 


POLAND'S  FIGHT   ON  BOLSHEVISM 


281 


tered  the  Polish  Army,  of  whom  3,000 
were  not  Poles.  The  General  Commis- 
sariat had  received  for  the  administra- 
tion of  these  districts  a  credit  of  192,- 
000,000  rubles,  of  which  some  100,000,000 
had  been  expended. 

A  report  to  the  American  Red  Cross 
at  Warsaw,  made  public  on  Dec.  22, 
stated  that  Major  F.  B.  Yowell  of  Wash- 
ington and  Lieutenant  Paul  van  Heck  of 
Hoboken,  N.  J.,  after  spending  nearly  a 
month  behind  the  Bolshevist  lines  in 
Russia,  had  just  brought  1,200  emaciated 


and  hungry  refugees  back  to  their  native 
land.  This  was  the  largest  repatriation 
train  ever  brought  into  Poland  by  the 
American  Red  Cross.  The  location  of 
Poland  between  hostile  armies,  which 
forced  people  in  large  areas  to  evacuate 
their  homes  again  and  again,  was  given 
as  the  cause  of  the  large  number  of 
Polish  refugees.  The  Red  Cross  esti- 
mates the  total  number  thus  driven  from 
their  homes  as  at  least  1,000,000.  More 
than  2,000,000  civilians  have  died  in  Po- 
land since  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 


The  Republic  of  Georgia  in  the  Caucasus 

By  Dr.  W.  D.  P.  BLISS 


THE  Republic  of  Georgia,  proclaimed 
May  26,  1918,  is  a  mountain  re- 
public. It  lies  immediately  south 
of  and  including  large  portions  of  the 
Caucasus  range,  which  has  a  higher 
average  altitude  than  the  Alps  of  Switz- 
erland. Though  it  has  only  50,400 
square  miles,  or  scarcely  more  than  the 
State  of  New  York,  it  is,  nevertheless, 
three  times  as  large-  as  Switzerland, 
larger  than  Greece,  Bulgaria,  Serbia  or 
Poland,  and  larger  than  Belgium,  Hol- 
land, and  Denmark  combined.  Of  this 
area,  however,  about  40  per  cent,  is  still 
covered  by  nearly  virgin  forests,  with 
scarcely  18  per  cent,  as  yet  under  culti- 
vation, while  its  population  of  2,883,257 
is  smaller  than  that  of  any  of  the  coun- 
tries above  named,  smaller  even  than 
that  of  Denmark  or  of  crowded  Belgium 
or  Holland.  To  the  Georgian,  however, 
this  only  means  that  under  free  institu- 
tions Georgia  has  room  for  broad  devel- 
opment and  a  large  future. 

But  Georgia  also  inherits  a  proud 
past— certainly  2,000,  probably  3,000, 
years  of  independence.  No  country  in 
Europe  or  in  Western  Asia  has  that 
record,  unless  it  be  Norway  and  Sweden 
in  Europe  and  Persia  in  Western  Asia. 
Georgia  had  her  own  Kings  when  Eng- 
land, France,  Spain,  Greece,  the  Balkan 
Provinces,  and  portions  of  Germany, 
Austria,  and  Rumania  were  Roman 
provinces.     Compared  with  the  Russian 


Empire,  Georgia,  as  a  kingdom,  is  a 
thousand  years  the  elder.  According  to 
tradition,  its  ancient  capital,  Mtskhet, 
net  far  from  Tiflis,  the  modern  capital, 
was  founded  by  Mtskhetos,  son  of  Kar- 
thlos  (from  whom  Georgians  derive  the 
name  Karthli,  by  which  they  call  them- 
selves), who  was  the  son  of  Thergamos, 
grandson  or  great-grandson  of  Japheth, 
the  son  of  Noah.  We  know,  at  least, 
that  though  the  territory  was  conquered 
by  a  General  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
Prince  Pharna  of  the  royal  Karthlian 
race  threw  off  the  Macedonian  yoke  and 
made  the  country  independent  in  302 
B.  C.  From  that  time,  though  often  in- 
vaded and  temporarily  occupied  by  Ar- 
menians, Persians,  Romans,  Greeks, 
Arabs,  Mongols,  Tatars,  and  Turks, 
Georgia  had  never  been  without  its  own 
Kings  till  1802,  when  it  was  annexed  to 
the  Russian  Empire,  closing  at  least 
2,104  years  of  independence. 

The  Georgian,  too,  has  the  pride  of 
conquest,  the  Kingdom  of  Georgia  at 
times  having  extended  its  rule  far  be- 
yond the  boundaries  of  the  present  re- 
public. Its  widest  extension  was  about 
1200  A.  D.,  under  a  Queen,  Tamara,  per- 
haps the  greatest  name  in  Georgian  his- 
tory, who  ruled  from  the  Caspian  Sea  to 
Trebizond  in  Asia  Minor. 

Another  historical  element  which 
greatly  affects  Georgia  today  is  the  fact 
that    she    accepted    Christianity    in    the 


282 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


fourth  century,  the  first  converts,  it  is 
said,  being  made  by  a  nun,  St.  Nina. 
The  national  church  has  played  a  large 
part  in  Georgia,  bringing  the  nation  into 
touch  with  the  Armenian  Church  and 
that  of  Constantinople.  Almost  the  first 
step  taken  toward  establishing  Georgia's 
independence  in  1918  was  an  appeal  of 
the  Georgian  Holy  Synod  to  the  Provi- 
sional Government  of  Russia  to  annul  the 
union,  which  had  been  forced  upon 
Georgia,  with  the  Russian  Orthodox 
Church  and  to  allow  it  to  have  its  own 
Georgian  Catholicos,  or  Primate,  at 
Tiflis.    This  appeal  was  granted. 

RACES  OF   THE  REPUBLIC 

One  unfavorable  inheritance  from 
Georgian  history,  which  affects  the  coun- 
try today,  is  the  number  of  separate 
races  within  its  limits.  Though  having 
its  own  Kings  down  to  1802,  Georgia 
was  repeatedly  invaded  by  different  na- 
tions, and  each  invasion  left  representa- 
tives behind  it.  Perhaps  no  other  coun- 
try in  the  world  has  such  a  variety  of 
races,  languages  and  religions  in  so 
small  an  area  as  Georgia.  The  main 
races  are  Georgians,  Armenians,  Tatars, 
Persians,  Russians  and  Turks;  but  there 
are  also  Circassians,  Lazes,  Kurds, 
Lesghians,  Jews,  even  Germans,  and 
some  French.  The  Georgians  themselves, 
too,  have  many  subdivisions,  among 
which  are  the  Karthlians,  or  Georgians 
proper;  the  Imeritians,  Gurians,  Svane- 
tians,  Mingretians  and  other  lesser  divi- 
sions. All  these  diverse  elements  live 
side  by  side,  often  in  the  same  towns  or 
villages,  yet  each  has  its  own  language 
or  dialect,  and  its  own  religion,  customs 
and  traditions. 

This  diversity  is  due  in  part  to  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Georgian  character. 
Very  rarely  was  a  Georgian  King  able  to 
unite  his  whole  realm.  One  King,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  formally  divided  his 
realm  among  his  three  sons,  who  in  turn 
divided  their  principalities,  so  that  at  one 
time  there  were  twenty-six  Princes  rul- 
ing in  Georgia.  The  descendants  of 
these  many  lines  of  Princes  all  claimed 
princely  titles,  so  that  a  Russian  joke 
declares  every  Georgian  a  noble. 

What  has  produced  the  republic  and 
forced  the  people  into  a  political  unit  is 


their  persecution  by  the  Russian  bureau- 
cratic Government.  No  other  word  than 
persecution  can  describe  the  treatment  of 
the  Georgians  by  the  Russian  Imperial 
Government. 

Georgia  submitted  to  Russia  in  order 
to  protect  herself  from  the  Persian  in- 
vasions under  Aga  Mohammed  Khan. 
The  reigning  King,  George  XIII.,  made 
over  his  dominions  to  the  Czar  Alex- 
ander 1.,  in  1799,  and  Russia  proclaimed 
the  annexation  of  Georgia  to  the  Rus- 
sian Empire  in  1802.  Nevertheless,  por- 
tions of  the  Georgian  Kingdom  were  not 
acquired  by  Russia  till  much  later;  Ime- 
ritia  not  till  1810;  the  Mingretian  coast 
not  till  1828. 

But  Russia  violated  every  condition 
upon  which  Georgia  surrendered  herself. 
The  Georgians  were  to  retain  their  own 
Kings;  there  has  been  no  King  in  Georgia 
since  Georgia  became  Russian.  They 
were  to  have  their  own  national  church; 
their  church  was  wholly  subjugated  to 
the  Russian  Holy  Synod  and  $350,000,- 
000  of  Georgian  church  property  con- 
fiscated. The  Georgians  were  to  serve 
only  in  their  own  national  militia;  they 
were  conscripted  into  the  Russian  Army 
and  made  to  serve  anywhere  in  the  em- 
pire. Education  in  the  schools  was  to  be 
in  the  Georgian  language.  Instead  the 
use  of  the  Georgian  language  in  the 
schools  was  forbidden.  The  local  admin- 
istration was  to  be  Georgian  and  Georgian 
was  to  be  the  official  language;  Russian 
was  made  the  official  language,  and  Rus- 
sian bureaucrats  ruled  everywhere. 

END  OF  RUSSIAN  RULE 
Nevertheless,  Georgia  remained  sub- 
missive. Not  till  1905,  when  the  Rus- 
sian revolution  reached  the  Caucasus, 
did  Georgia  make  any  serious  effort  at 
independence;  the  uprising,  however, 
was  mercilessly  put  down  by  the  Rus- 
sian Cossacks;  Nicholas  II.  was  said  to 
have  given  express  orders  that  no  mercy 
be  shown.  In  Guria,  inland  from  Batum, 
all  the  villages  were  burned,  the  crops 
destroyed,  the  inhabitants  killed  or 
driven  into  the  mountains;  women  and 
girls  were  collected  in  groups,  the  Colonel 
of  a  Chersonese  Regiment  (the  33d) 
declaring  that  the  Czar  wanted  loyal 
subjects  for  breeding. 


THE  REPUBLIC  OF  GEORGIA  IN  THE  CAUCASUS 


m 


^^.«^K  U   B  A   N 


XS^JUKMUM  .KALE 


TURKEr 

ASIA 


s     *     *.-_  ■  ~n"-*r<aiit*&*A  E  R I  v  A  in  *  <E^  ^?i*i  -?■      r>?^?^> 


THE   CAUCASUS    REGION.    WHERE   THE    NEW   GEORGIAN    REPUBLIC    IS    ATTEMPTING    TO 
ESTABLISH     ITS     PLACE    AMONG     THE    INDEPENDENT    NATIONS    OF    THE     WORLD 


Considering  this  record,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  Georgia  in  the  war 
did  not  enthusiastically  support  the  Rus- 
sian cause  and  only  took  such  part  as 
was  forced  upon  her.  In  1914  Georgia 
suffered  from  the  first  Turkish  suc- 
cesses, when  the  Turks,  under  Enver 
Bey,  came  within  a  three  days'  march 
of  Tiflis,  the  capital.  But  General 
Winter,  on  whose  severity  Russia  can 
always  count,  checked  the  Turkish  ad- 
vance, and  in  1915  the  tables  were 
turned  when  the  Russians  entered  Turk- 
ish territory  and  occupied  Erzerum  and 
Trebizond.  Georgia,  however,  could  do 
little  more  than  watch  the  varying  for- 
tunes of  the  war,  finding  little  to  choose 
between  friend  and  foe. 

But  on  March  15,  1917,  the  President 
of  the  Duma  in  Petrograd  telegraphed  to 
the  Town  Council  of  Tiflis  that  the 
Czar  had  abdicated — the  same  Nicholas 
II.  who  had  ordered  that  no  mercy  be 
shown  to  Georgia.  The  Georgians,  how- 
ever, took  no  immediate  revolutionary 
action,  but  supported  the  Provisional 
Government  instituted  by  the  Duma. 
The  Mayor  of  Tiflis,  Khatissian,  an 
Armenian,  sent  a  circular  letter  to 
twenty-eight  cities  of  the  Caucasus,  ask- 
ing the  authorities  to  preserve  order  till 
they  could  receive  instructions  from 
Petrograd.  The  Town  Council  of  Tiflis, 
with  members  added  to  it  representing 
the  different  nationalities,  undertook  to 


preserve  order.  The  representatives  of 
the  old  Russian  bureaucracy  were  ar- 
rested. On  March  20  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas  Nicholaievitch,  who  had  been 
made  Viceroy  of  the  Caucasus,  left 
Tiflis  and  thus  ended  the  old  Russian 
rule. 

STEPS  TOWARD   INDEPENDENCE 

The  five  Caucasian  members  of  the 
Russian  Duma  came  from  Petrograd  to 
organize  an  administration.  Meanwhile 
Georgian  Socialists  undertook,  instead,  to 
organize  Georgian  Soviets.  No  declara- 
tion of  Georgian  independence  was  made 
at  this  time,  though  steps  were  taken  in 
this  direction.  The  first  step  was  to 
make  the  Georgian  Church  independent 
of  the  Russian  Holy  Synod.  Other  mea- 
sures looked  toward  the  formation  of  a 
national  army,  the  nationalization  of  the 
schools,  the  establishment  of  Georgian 
law  courts,  the  opening  in  Tiflis,  Jan. 
1,  1918,  of  a  university,  the  language  of 
which  was  to  be  Georgian.  On  Nov. 
22,  1917,  a  further  and  decisive  step  was 
taken,  when  a  Georgian  National  Assem- 
bly elected  a  National  Council. 

Formal  declaration  of  independent  e, 
however,  was  still  deferred,  while  all 
eyes  were  watching  the  outcome  of  the 
drama  enacted  at  Petrograd,  first  by 
the  Provisional  Government  of  the  Duma, 
and  then  in  the  struggle  between  the 
supporters  of  Kerensky  and  the  Bolshe- 


284  THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


viki.  At  last  the  Kerensky  Government 
fell,  and  the  Bolsheviki  came  into  power, 
making  peace  with  Germany  March  3, 
1918,  in  the  Brest-Litovsk  treaty,  which 
handed  over  Batum  and  considerable 
Georgian  territory  to  Turkey.  Then 
Georgia  and  the  Caucasus  generally  felt 
that  it  was  time  to  act  in  self-defense. 

GENESIS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 

The  first  measure,  however,  was  not 
to  declare  independent  Georgia,  but  an 
independent  federated  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus,  established  April  9,  1918,  with 
a  temporary  government  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  Georgians,  Ar- 
menians, and  Tatars  in  the  Caucasus. 
The  Georgian  Socialist,  Tchkhenheti,  was 
chosen  President.  This  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus  did  not  endure. 

The  Turks,  losing  ground  before  the 
British  advance  in  Syria,  believed  that 
they  could  recoup  themselves  by  gain- 
ing territory  in  the  disorganized  Cau- 
casus. They  therefore  undertook  an 
offensive  directed  principally  against 
Armenia  and  Georgia,  and  succeeded  in 
winning  Baku,  Batum,  and  extensive 
territory.  Chaos  and  a  reign  of  terror 
resulted.  Georgia  appealed  to  Germany 
to  restrain  her  Turkish  allies,  and  final- 
ly, encouraged  by  Germany,  withdrew 
from  the  federated  Caucasian  Republic, 
and  May  26,  1918,  the  Georgian  National 
Council  proclaimed  the  Republic  of 
Georgia,  this  declaration  of  independ- 
ence being  ratified  by  a  National  Con- 
stituent Assembly  March  12,  1919.  The 
Tatars  and  Armenians  followed  two 
days  later  by  declaring  the  Republic  of 
Azerbaidjan  and  the  Republic  of  Arme- 
nia. 

Nevertheless,  the  war  with  Turkey 
went  on.  The  Armenians,  being  more 
exposed  than  the  Georgians  to  the 
Turkish  offensive,  made  the  chief  re- 
sistance, till,  defeating  the  Turks  in 
June,  an  armistice  was  signed  between 
Turkey,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Re- 
publics of  Georgia,  Armenia  and  Azer- 
baidjan on  the  other.  Georgia  thus 
found  herself  independent  and  at  peace. 

FIRST  YEAR  OF  REPUBLIC 

On  the  26th  of  May,  1919,  the  Re- 
public   of   Georgia    celebrated    the    com- 


pletion of  its  first  year  of  life,  and  had 
every  reason  for  congratulation  as  to  its 
record  and  its  achievements.  To  create 
and  establish  a  new  republic  under  the 
conditions  in  which  the  Government 
found  itself  was  no  easy  task.  There 
were  enemies  without  and  within. 

In  the  Spring  of  1919,  bands  of  Turks 
were  still  attacking  in  the  vicinity  of 
Akhaltsikh  and  Akhalhalak,  west  and 
southwest  of  Tiflis,  and  had  to  be  sup- 
pressed and  repulsed  with  serious  fight- 
ing. In  the  northwest,  too,  suddenly  the 
All-Russia  Volunteer  Army,  under  Gen- 
eral Denikin,  entered  Georgian  territory 
in  the  vicinity  of  Gagri,  on  the  Black 
Sea,  and  had  to  be  dispossessed  by  the 
new  Georgian  Army. 

Between  the  republics  of  the  Caucasus 
itself,  however,  while  there  were  serious 
differences  as  to  boundaries  and  on 
other  points,  agreements  were  gradually 
made  without  fighting,  and  on  April  27 
there  met  in  Tiflis  the  first  conference 
of  the  republics  of  the  Caucasus,  to 
consider  such  topics,  common  to  all,  as 
railroads,  postal  and  telegraph  service, 
finances,  customs,  boundaries,  common 
defense  r gainst  outside  foes,  legal  and 
judicial  matters  and  the  problem  of  the 
very  numerous  refugees  within  their 
borders.  There  was  manifest  a  marked 
desire  for  co-operation,  with  a  general 
recognition  of  the  mutual  interests  of 
the  republics,  a  position  amounting  al- 
most to  federation,  a  representative 
from  each  republic  presiding  in  turn. 
Conditions  in  the  Caucasus,  it  is  true, 
were  still  too  chaotic  for  the  permanent 
solving  of  these  problems;  but  the  re- 
publics today  at  least  are  not  fighting. 

INTERNAL  PROBLEMS 

The  machinery  of  government,  local 
and  national,  in  the  Republic  of  Georgia 
had  to  be  created  almost  de  novo,  but 
the  difficult  task  seems  to  have  been 
accomplished  with  great  success.  From 
the  first,  the  republic  adopted  an  ultra- 
democratic  basis.  The  members  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly  which  ratified  the 
act  of  independence  were  elected  by  the 
direct,  equal,  universal,  secret  and  pro- 
portional voting  of  both  sexes.  All  races 
and  peoples  were  represented,  there 
being  chosen  109  Social  Democrats   (So- 


THE  REPUBLIC  OF  GEORGIA  IN  THE  CAUCASUS 


285 


cialists),  9  National  Democrats,  8  Social 
Federalists,  and  5  Socialist  Revolution- 
aries, so  that  the  republic  may  be  char- 
acterized as  one  of  moderate  socialism. 
The  President  of  the  republic  is  Noah 
Zhordania. 

Georgia  is  not  Bolshevist.  There  was 
an  effort  to  establish  Soviets,  but  in 
April,  1918,  the  special  Transcaucasian 
Commission  issued  an  order  for  each 
nationality  to  establish  town  or  village 
councils,  and  in  Georgia  this  was  largely 
done.  It  is  on  this  basis  that  the  re- 
public rests.  A  satisfactory  financial 
system  has  been  worked  out.  The  paper 
ruble  of  the  Caucasus  has,  it  is  true, 
little  exchange  value,  but  it  meets  the 
emergency,  and  a  system  of  taxation  has 
been  developed,  mainly  of  direct  taxes. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  indirect  taxes 
will  bring  in  61,000,000  rubles,  or  about 
four  times  as  much  as  in  1917,  and  the 
direct  taxes  90,000,000  rubles,  or  eight 
times  as  much  as  in  1917. 

ALL  LAND  NATIONALIZED 

Agrarian  reform  has  played  a  large 
part  in  working  out  the  new  system.  All 
land  in  the  State  has  been  nationalized, 
being  taken  from  the  owners  without 
compensation;  but  such  portions  as  it 
was  believed  they  could  profitably  culti- 
vate have  been  given  back  to  the  original 
owners  in  fee  simple,  while  the  balance 
has  been  divided  among  peasant  pro- 
prietors or  is  used  for  school  or  other 
public  purposes.  All  marks  of  nobility 
have  been  canceled,  and  the  former  no- 
bility have  largely  tendered  their  lands 


for  school  purposes.  Thus  the  country 
has  a  very  wide  distribution  of  land  for 
all. 

All,  however,  is  not  harmony.  The 
Georgian  is  prone  to  fight.  A  story  i> 
told  of  the  Police  Commissioner  of  Tiflis 
consulting  an  English  Commissioner  as 
to  how  to  stop  fights  in  the  street.  The 
English  Commissioner  suggested  taking 
away  arms  from  the  fighters.  The  Po- 
lice Commissioner  answered  that  he  had 
tried  that  the  other  night.  He  had  taken 
arms  from  two  fighters  and  found  that 
one  was  the  Commissioner  of  Education 
and  the  other  Commissioner  of  Finance. 
[The  titles  in  this  story  are  altered.] 

Industry  and  agriculture,  under  the 
old  Russian  bureaucracy,  were  little  en- 
couraged, so  that  there  is  great  need  of 
development  for  both;  but  the  natural 
resources  and  opportunities  of  Georgia 
are  great.  Railroads  starting  from 
Batum  and  Poti,  on  the  Black  Sea,  and 
connected,  through  Baku,  with  the  Rus- 
sian railway  system,  pass  through  Tiflis, 
southwest  to  Erzerum,  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  southeast  to  Tauris,  in  Persia;  so 
that  Georgia  becomes  the  commercial 
approach  to  all  Central  Asia.  Georgia 
is  rich  in  copper,  manganese,  and  "  white 
coal  " ;  there  is  also  gold  and  argentif- 
erous lead,  antimony  and  tin,  with  im- 
portant beds  of  peat.  There  are  numer- 
ous mineral  springs.  Sulphur  is  every- 
where, while  mountain  timber  is  scarcely 
touched.  With  peace  at  home,  the  Geor- 
gian Republic  awaits  only  a  world  peace 
to  enter  upon  unquestioned  prosperity. 


The  Lettish  Witches'  Caldron 

By  MAJOR  GEN.  COUNT  VON  DER  GOLTZ 

[Former    Commander   of    German    Forces    in    the    Baltic    States] 

Special  interest  attaches  to  this  article  because  it  is  written  by  the  General 
who  commanded  the  German  forces  remaining  in  the  Baltic  States  of  Russia  after 
the.  armistice,  and  a  part  of  whose  army — the  "  Iron  Brigade  " — attacked  Riga 
under  Colonel  Bermondt  and  was  finally  driven  home  ignominiously  by  the  Letts 
after  heavy  fighting.  The  article  gives  the  German  viewpoint  and  explanation  of 
the  Baltic  situation,  both  in  the  printed  words  and  in  what  may  be  read  between 
the  lines.  It  lias  been  translated  for  CURRENT  History  from  the  Berlin  magazine 
Die  Woche  of  Nov.  1,  1919. 


WHEN  on  a  dull  morning  of  Dec. 
16, 1918,  the  last  German  troop- 
ships left  the  port  of  Helsing- 
fors,  there  resounded  in  the 
German  soldiers'  ears  from  25,000 
throats  an  enthusiastic  "  Hoch  Deutsch- 
land !  "  and  "  Auf  Wiedersehen !  "  The 
Finns  had  become  attached  to  their 
liberators,  not  only  because  the  latter 
had  freed  them,  but  also  because  in  the 
course  of  their  eight  months'  stay  in 
Finland  these  conscientious,  upright 
German  soldiers  had  won  their  high 
esteem  as  human  beings,  and  also 
because  the  German  troops,  despite  the 
direct  danger  of  contamination  by  way 
of  the  sea,  had  held  themselves  aloof 
from  the  revolution  and  from  military 
Soviets,  and  had  thus  prevented  the  Ger- 
man revolution  from  being  carried  into 
Finland.  All  Finns  were  united  in  this 
affection  for  Germany,  whatever  their 
descent  or  the  political  faction  to  which 
they  belonged. 

It  was  therefore  not  surprising  that 
when,  a  month  later,  I  came  to  occupy 
my  post  as  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
military  forces  of  Courland,  I  held  the 
preconceived  opinion  that  I  should  be 
able  to  win  for  Germany  the  favor  of 
all  anti-Bolshevist  circles  in  the  country. 
I  believed  that  the  common  struggle 
against  the  common  foe,  viz.,  Bolshevism, 
would  unite  us  with  the  population,  and 
that  gratitude  on  the  part  of  the  liber- 
ated people  would  win  Germany  new 
friends.  Immediately,  therefore,  I  called 
on  the  Lettish  Ministers  and  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  people.  But  no  re- 
sponse came  from  the  people,  and  even  in 


German  circles  there  was  doubt  concern- 
ing the  success  of  my  activities.  I  can 
still  see  the  smile  of  the  Military  Chap- 
lain there,  an  intelligent  and  patriotic 
man,  as  I  explained  to  him  that  I  wanted 
to  stand  above  all  party  considerations, 
especially  those  affecting  relations  be- 
tween the  Letts  and  the  German  Baits, 
and  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  friend- 
ship of  the  whole  people  for  Germany 
should  be  built  up  upon  such  an  attitude 
of  impartiality. 

Some  points  of  difference  soon  arose 
over  such  questions  as  policing,  con- 
scription, &c. ;  but  all  this  could  have 
been  overcome,  if  the  German  General 
Staff  and  the  Lettish  Government  could 
have  found  some  common  ground  of 
agreement,  and  if  both  sides  had  sincere- 
ly desired  to  wage  war  on  Bolshevism. 
But  this  ground  was  lacking.  From 
speeches  of  the  Ministers,  from  procla- 
mations to  the  people,  I  soon  saw  un- 
mistakably that  some  of  the  Ministers 
were  themselves  more  or  less  Bolshe- 
vistic in  tendency,  and  that  almost  all 
hated  the  Baits  and  the  Germans  of 
Germany  more  than  they  did  the  Bolshe- 
viki,  and  were  attacking  them  in  the 
most  insidious  and  secret  ways,  making 
fair  promises  to  their  faces  and  doing 
the  exact  opposite  behind  their  backs. 

HATRED  OF   THE  LETTS 

What  was  the  reason  for  this  hatred 
against  the  Baits?  They  had  ruled  over 
the  Letts  for  600  years,  and  all  the  Baits, 
not  merely  the  one  per  cent,  of  Barons 
among  them,  felt  toward  the  Letts  like 
conquerers,   and   despised   them  because 


THE   LETTISH    WITCHES'   CALDRON 


287 


of  their  low  state  of  culture  and  their 
lack  of  sincerity.  This  haughty  attitude 
toward  the  Letts  had  reached  such  pro- 
portions that  the  Germanization  of  this 
people  would  have  met  with  disapproval. 
The  Letts  were  even  forbidden  to  speak 
German,    and   undoubtedly    this    was    a 


MAJOR  GEN.  COUNT  VON  DER  GOLTZ 

great  hindrance  when  they  first  grew 
conscious  of  their  unity  and  wished  to 
become  an  independent  people.  Thus 
from  of  old  the  Baits  and  Letts  stood 
opposed  to  each  other  as  peoples,  the 
former  as  conquerors,  the  latter  as  con- 
quered. Only  in  the  last  generations 
did  the  latter  migrate  to  the  cities  and 
begin  competition  with  the  Baits  in 
skilled  professions.  They  still  possessed 
no  culture  of  their  own;  their  whole 
culture  embodied  in  the  Lettish  language 
was  purely  Germanic  in  origin. 

On  this  foundation,  then,  the  hatred  of 
the  Letts  developed,  and  especially  since 
the  revolution  of  1905,  suppressed  by 
Russians  and  Baits  at  the  cost  of  much 
bloodshed,  the  sparks  glimmered  beneath 


tho  ashes.  When  in  1917  the  Russian 
revolution  began  again,  the  Letts  became 
the  bodyguard  of  Lenin  and  Trotzky  in 
Russia,  furnished  them  their  best  troops, 
and  protected  the  leaders  of  the  revolu- 
tion in  Moscow  and  Petersburg. 

And  when,  after  the  German  revolu- 
tion, the  German  troops  streamed  back 
to  Germany  in  disorder,  Bolshevism 
flamed  up  everywhere  in  Esthonia, 
Latvia,  and  Courland,  and  the  whole  land 
went  Bolshevist.  This  continued  until 
our  German  volunteers  brought  the  Red 
hordes  to  a  halt  just  before  Libau.  The 
Lettish  Ministers,  who  had  begged  for 
the  protection  of  these  German  volun- 
teers, now  grew  hostile  after  the  most 
critical  danger  from  the  Bolsheviki  had 
been  overcome.  Instead  of  being  thank- 
ful to  the  Germans,  who  under  my  com- 
mand had  won  back  Courland  as  far  as 
Riga,  they  showed  only  hatred  for  Ger- 
many, although  they  were  repeatedly 
assured  that  Germany  pursued  no  im- 
perialistic aims  in  this  region,  and  was 
only  interested  in  preventing  East  Prus- 
sia from  becoming  Bolshevized. 

BALTIC   BARONS'   HOPES 

It  is  comprehensible  in  these  circum- 
stances that  the  fulfillment  of  my 
original  plan  to  stand  above  all  partisan- 
ship became  much  more  difficult.  The 
circles  on  which  I  wished  to  base  myself 
lacked  the  required  political  unity,  due 
especially  to  the  fact  that  the  Baits,  in 
view  of  the  increasing  hostility  of  the 
Lettish  attitude,  hoped  for  safety  and 
support  for  the  perpetuation  of  their 
Germanism,  not  only  as  against  Bolshe- 
vism, but  also  as  against  the  Letts.  Thus 
it  happened  that  the  war  against  Bolshe- 
vism developed,  in  Bait  psychology,  into 
a  war  for  Germanism.  It  went  without 
saying,  however,  that  these  Germans,  in 
view  of  the  changed  conditions,  could 
never  return  to  Germany,  that  no  ques- 
tion of  an  extension  of  German  bounda- 
ries was  concerned,  and  that  the  German 
Baits,  who  had  preserved  their  Go 
culture  among  Letts  and  Russians  for 
600  years,  wished  only  to  perpetuate  it. 

This,  however,  was  necessary  not  only 
because  of  Germanism,  but  also  because 
of  the  state  of  culture  in  these  regiona 
generally.      If    the    Baltic    intelligentsia 


288 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


should  be  annihilated,  the  country  would 
be  destitute  of  all  wisdom  and  culture. 
The  Letts  could  not  offer  a  substitute, 
although  they  had  a  few  prominent  men, 
such  as  the  subsequent  Minister  Nedra 
and  others,  who,  besides  possessing 
culture,  had  also  heart  and  character. 
But  such  men  were  far  too  few  to  be 
significant.  The  great  mass  of  the  people 
stands  very  low  in  respect  to  culture  and 
morality.  A  very  large  per  cent,  are 
Bolshevistic,  and  the  rest  are  split  up 
into  innumerable  small  factions.  The 
only  thing  that  holds  the  people  together 
is  a  blind  hatred  of  the  Baits  and  Ger- 
mans. 

LOW  GERMAN  MORALE 

It  must,  of  course,  be  admitted  that 
four  years  of  war,  with  all  the  inevitable 
consequences,  could  not  create  an  atti- 
tude of  friendliness  toward  the  Germans, 
and  that  above  all  the  German  revolu- 
tion had  turned  the  remnants  of  the 
Eighth  Army — which  had  remained  in 
Courland — into  such  a  disorderly  horde 
that  they  had  become  an  actual  source  of 
fear  to  the  population.  Even  the  first 
volunteer  units  had  sunk  to  the  same 
low  condition  of  morale  which  the  revo- 
lution had  produced  in  Germany  gener- 
ally, and  I  and  my  officers  succeeded 
only  gradually  in  transforming  these  sol- 
diers again  into  conscientious  and  honor- 
able men,  obedient  to  their  commanders. 
But  even  after  this  had  been  accomp- 
lished, the  Letts  characteristically  at- 
tacked certain  isolated  defects  publicly, 
and  in  unseemly  language  abused  the 
troops,  which,  for  a  volunteer  unit 
formed  after  the  revolution,  had  become 
quite  efficient. 

In  these  circumstances  our  relations 
with  the  Ullmannis  Ministry  became 
tenser  and  tenser.  It  was  clear  to  me, 
nevertheless,  that  the  adoption  of  violent 
measures  against  this  Ministry  was  im- 
possible, as  this  would  only  produce  new 
hatred  for  Germany.  I  therefore  warned 
the  Baits  against  all  violent  and  purdiy 
military  action,  and  hence  bore  no  re- 
sponsibility for  the  military  outbreak  of 
April  16.  I  was  all  the  more  surprised 
by  it,  in  that  only  the  day  before  I  had 
held  a  council  to  discuss  the  way  in 
which  we  could  legally  change  our  rela- 


tions with  the  Lettish  Ministry.  The 
new  Nedra  Ministry,  however,  kept  its 
full  independence,  both  in  regard  to  the 
German  occupation  forces  and  the  Eng- 
lish demands,  and  in  my  opinion  was  a 
worthy    representative    of    the    Lettish 


COLONEL   AVALOV-BERMONDT 

people  under  the  most  difficult  circum- 
stances. 

ATTITUDE   OF    THE    ENGLISH 

Even  before  this  Ministry  came  into 
power,  both  English  and  American  com- 
missions arrived,  with  whom  it  was  my 
wish  to  enter  into  the  most  favorable 
relations  possible.  I  succeeded  in  this 
with  the  Americans  most  completely,  but 
the  English,  after  the  first  peaceful  and 
harmonious  interview,  soon  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Letts.  The  reason  for  this 
was  very  simple.  The  English  repre- 
sentatives were  interested  in  business, 
and  wished  to  establish  a  commerce  in 
flax  and  wood.  It  was  clear  that  to  at- 
tain this  object  they  were  bound  to  win 
the  favor  of  the  Letts,  and  understand- 
able that  their  relations  with  the  Ger- 
mans soon  became  strained. 

Ullmannis,  on  his  part,  tried  to  use 
the  English  as  a  counterbalance- against 
the  Germans,  and  soon  stood  ready  to 
purchase  good  business  at  the  cost  of 
Lettish  independence,  and  to  make  of 
Latvia  an  English  colony  under  the  pro- 
tecting mantle  of  a  provisional  inde- 
pendence. The  English  ambition  to  win 
new  colonies  in  this  region  became  more 
pronounced  when  General  Gough  became 


THE   LETTISH    WITCHES'   CALDRON 


the  head  of  the  Interallied  Commission. 
England's  object  was  to  dominate  the 
Russian  Baltic  ports,  to  give  inde- 
pendence provisionally  to  the  Lettish 
people,  who  were  unfit  for  all  Govern- 
ment, and  thus  cut  off  the  future  Russia 
from  the  sea. 

As  it  was  clear  to  the  English  that  the 
Letts  would  immediately  become  Bolshe- 
vistic after  the  evacuation  of  the  German 
troops,  they  sought  in  the  Baltic  Land- 
wehr,  in  the  Northwestei-n  Army  of 
Yudenitch,  and  in  those  Lettish  troops 
of  Ballod  that  could  be  used,  a  means  of 
setting  up  a  defensive  wall  against  Rus- 
sian Bolshevism  and  to  constitute  a  police 
force  to  secure  inner  peace  and  order. 
These  troops,  which  were  planned  to  be 
completely  in  the  English  service,  were 
to  make  the  presence  of  the  German 
troops  unnecessary. 

The  German  Border  State  policy  of  the 
year  1918  was  undoubtedly  a  blunder; 
but  so  also  was  the  English  policy,  for  it 
is  clear  that  Russia,  already  recuperat- 
ing, and  bound  to  rise  again  sooner  or 
later,  can  under  no  consideration  allow 
the  English  to  occupy  the  Baltic  coast, 
and  that  this  policy  must  inevitably  lead 
to  a  war  between  Russia  and  England. 

GERMAN  INTEREST  IN  BALTIC 

The  German  interest  in  this  question  is 
as  follows:  Every  form  of  imperialism, 
in  view  of  the  present  weakness  of  Ger- 
many, is  out  of  the  question.  It  would 
be  quite  unthinkable,  even  for  the  great- 
est Chauvinists,  that  extensions  of  terri- 
tory could  be  won  for  Germany,  as 
against  England,  in  this  region.  It 
is  therefore  ridiculous  nonsense  to  assert 
that  Germany's  support  of  von  Ber- 
mondt's  undertaking  was  occasioned  by 
a  desire  to  annex  Russian  territory  to 
Germany.  But  Germany,  as  well  as  Rus- 
sia, is  interested  in  keeping  Bolshevism 
away  from  its  boundaries,  and  wishes 
Russia  to  be  healed,  in  order  that  Ger- 
many may  again  enter  into  peaceful 
trade  relations  with  her.  It  would  be 
foolish  for  Germany,  through  an  imper- 
ialistic policy  in  the  East,  to  lose  her 
new  friend.  The  relations  now  being 
established  between  Germany  and  the 
future  Russia,  therefore,  are  of  a  purely 
pacific  and  economic  nature,  and  if  Eng- 


lish Imperialism  did  not  cherish  bound- 
less ambitions,  the  English  would  find 
no  objection  to  such  relations. 

The  intelligent  Lettish  element  also 
favors  these  relations.  Not  only  the  up- 
right upper  circles,  but,  above  all,  the  popu- 
lation of  the  country,  who  wish  peace  and 
order  to  be  restored  to  the  land,  and 
even  the  jingoistic  Lettish  factions  should 
content  themselves  with  the  promise  of 
a  cultural  autonomy,  inasmuch  as  a  real 
independence  can  never  be  won  by  this 
small  land,  destitute  of  intellectual  ele- 
ments, of  outside  aid,  lacking  coal  and 
industry,  and  with  no  considerable  reve- 
nues, in  opposition  to  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment, which  needs  its  harbors.  The 
future  belongs  to  the  great  powers,  and 
it  is  probable  that  from  the  Balkanization 
of  Europe  a  peaceful  amalgamation  of 
all  these  small  States  must  occur,  assum- 
ing that  the  Entente  in  its  imperialism 
will  permit  the  peaceful  development  of 
Europe. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  MILITARISM 

At  the  present  time  all  the  small  States 
are  making  war  on  one  another.  The 
Entente  has  lately  turned  the  Letts, 
Esthonians,  and  Lithuanians  against  von 
Bermondt  and  his  undertaking,  with  the 
obvious  intention  of  embarrassing  the 
retreat  of  the  troops  still  loyal  to  Ger- 
many, so  that  Germany's  peaceful  in- 
tention to  evacuate  these  regions  is  threat- 
ened with  destruction  by  the  warlike  pur- 
pose of  these  small  peoples.  It  looks, 
therefore,  as  though  in  Eastern  Europe, 
and  perhaps  through  the  whole  world, 
the  development  of  militarism,  despite 
the  war-weariness  of  the  peoples,  has  by 
no  means  reached  its  end,  and  that  the 
League  of  Nations  was  devised  only  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  German 
Michel  and  the  pacifists  of  all  countries, 
and  under  this  cover  to  attain  the  im- 
perialistic objects  of  the  Allies  more  com- 
pletely. But  this  troubles  many  promi- 
nent circles  in  Germany  not  at  a'l;  on 
the  contrary,  they  have  only  one  wish, 
namely,  to  be  "  admitted "  to  this  so- 
called  League  of  Nations,  whose  object, 
however,  is  to  effect  Germany's  destruc- 
tion. 

The  war  of  peoples  which  I  have  de- 
scribed, and  which  by  no  means  appears 


290 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


to  have  reached  its  end,  can  be  prevented 
in  the  future  only  when  the  conquerors 
of  the  world  war  at  last  perceive  that 
no  further  danger  threatens  them  from 
the  conquered,  and  that  all  civilized  na- 
tions have  the  same  objects  of  inner 
policy  and  culture,  to  make  an  end  of 
the  menace  of  Bolshevism  from  Russia, 
in  order  that  the  world  may  not  fall  a 


victim  to  criminality  and  ignorance.  Ap- 
parently, however,  the  fear  of  conquered 
Germany  is  still  so  great  in  England  and 
France  that  these  countries  are  losing 
sight  of  their  great  cultural  opportunity, 
namely,  after  the  victorious  ending  of 
the  world  war  to  become  the  leaders  of 
the  world  in  a  common  war  against 
Bolshevism. 


Cruelty  on  Both  Sides  in  Russia 

By  WILLIAM  J.  ARCHER 

[Councilor    of   the    Siamese   Legation    in    London] 


THE  extreme  form  of  the  revolution- 
ary movement  called  Bolshevism 
stands  condemned,  not  because  of 
its  atrocities,  but  by  virtue  of  the 
fact  that  it  is  an  attempt  at  class 
rule,  odius  to  every  believer  in  de- 
mocracy. Many  writers  against  Bol- 
shevism have  committed  a  grave  blunder 
by  resting  their  case  on  lurid  accounts  of 
atrocities.  Proofs  of  such  stories  are  in- 
controvertible, and  the  indignation  is 
legitimate,  but  closer  investigation  would 
have  shown  that  the  stinging  anathemas 
hurled  at  Lenin  and  Trotzky  might  with 
equal  justice  have  been  launched  against 
the  anti-Bolshevist  forces.  It  is  not  the 
Reds  alone  who  torture,  for  wherever  the 
Russian  marches,  and  whatever  party 
conducts  military  operations,  their  move- 
ments are  stained  by  deeds  that  shock 
Western  people. 

Human  nature  is  not  the  same  in  every 
clime,  and  there  is  some  truth  in  the  say- 
ing, "  Scratch  the  Russian  and  you  find 
a  Tartar."  It  seems  as  natural  for  the 
Russian  to  torture  his  foe  as  for  the 
Prussian,  and  both  have  Oriental  charac- 
teristics which  find  little  sympathy  in 
Western    civilization. 

Admiral  Kolchak's  soldiers  in  war  are 
cruel.  The  Bolsheviki  are  cruel,  and 
there  were  credible  reports  received  in 
Siberia  that  General  Denikin's  soldiers 
were  not  saints.  Two  instances  will  suf- 
fice to  show  the  variation  in  the  point  of 
view  of  the  East  and  the  West.  Near 
one  camp  where  I  was  stationed  two  Rus- 
sian officers  had  their  noses  slit  and 
their  ears  cut  off,  in  addition  to  other 
nameless   mutilations.     If  we   base   our 


attacks  on  Bolshevism,  on  atrocities,  the 
case  is  lost,  not  because  the  stories  are 
not  true,  but  because  they  are  not  pe- 
culiar to  the  Bolsheviki.  Let  me  recite 
a  few  instances  of  atrocities  on  the  part 
of  the  anti-Bolsheviki  from  a  long  list  in 
my  possession.  The  facts  are  reliable, 
and  were  obtained  by  a  member  of  one 
of  our  British  commissions.  After  the 
coup  d'etat  in  November  last  year,  by 
which  Admiral  Kolchak  became  supreme 
ruler,  there  was  a  reign  of  terror  estab- 
lished throughout  Siberia.  Villages  were 
burned  and  leading  Socialists  tortured 
and  murdered.  One  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous cases  was  that  of  Fomin,  who 
had  played  a  prominent  part  in  freeing 
Siberia  from  Bolshevism.  On  his  dead 
body  there  were  more  than  a  dozen 
sword  wounds.  Eight  well-known  social 
workers  and  literary  men  were  murdered 
at  Omsk,  although  the  Minister  of  Jus- 
tice, Starrinkevitch,  personally  guaran- 
teed their  safety. 

In  Nerchinsk,  a  punitive  force,  sent  to 
arrest  the  caretaker  of  the  Zemstvo 
building,  who  was  accused  of  being  a  Bol- 
shevik, arrested  and  shot  instead  the 
President  of  the  Zemstvo.  In  Kansk,  the 
town  Mayor,  Stepanoff,  a  Moderate  So- 
cialist, was  hanged,  after  being  arrested 
by  Ataman  Krasilnikov,  and  the  record 
of  the  brutal  and  disgusting  crimes  of 
Semenov,  Kulmikov,  and  Ivanov-Rinov 
— Kolchak's  Generals — would  fill  pages, 
and  many  of  their  victims  were  tortured 
and  mutilated  before  being  shot.  I  give 
these  instances  in  support  of  the  view 
that  atrocities  are  not  peculiar  to  any 
party  in  Russia  and  Siberia. 


Soviet  Russia's  Peace  Drive 


Moscow  Government,  Successful  in  War,  Seeks  Peace  With 
Baltic  States — Armistice  With  Esthonia 

[Period  Ended  Jan.  15,  1920] 


j  I  ^HE  Soviet  Government  of  Russia, 
triumphant  over  the  anti-Bol- 
JL  shevist  armies  on  all  fronts,  with 
the  army  of  Yudenitch  scattered 
and  demoralized,  with  General  Denikin 
retreating  further  and  further  in  South 
Russia,  with  Admiral  Kolchak's  armies 
in  full  flight  toward  Irkutsk,  Kolchak 
himself  virtually  self-deposed  and  his 
Government  threatened  by  internal  re- 
volt, continued  violent  assaults  upon  the 
Esthonian  front  in  December  and  Janu- 
ary, while  conducting  peace  negotiations 
with  Esthonian  delegates  at  Dorpat.  Ne- 
gotiations at  this  historic  conference,  the 
first  official  discussion  of  peace  which 
the  Bolsheviki  had  been  able  to  secure 
with  any  of  their  enemies,  were  repeat- 
edly threatened  with  failure,  owing  main- 
ly to  the  demands  of  the  Bolshevist  en- 
voys regarding  strategic  boundaries. 

These  difficulties,  however,  were  over- 
come, and  an  armistice  of  one  week,  au- 
tomatically renewable  from  week  to 
week,  was  finally  signed  on  the  last  day 
in  December.  The  negotiations  of  the 
Soviet  envoy,  Litvinov,  with  the  British 
representatives  at  Copenhagen,  regard- 
ing an  exchange  of  prisoners,  were  inter- 
rupted by  the  British  representative's  de- 
parture to  London  for  consultation  and 
report,  and  subsequently  resumed.  They 
were  still  continuing  when  these  pages 
went  to  press. 

Despite  the  military  successes  won  by 
the  Red  Army,  conditions  in  Soviet  Rus- 
sia continued  unfavorable  in  respect  to 
food,  fuel  and  economic  questions,  and 
the  anxiety  of  the  Bolshevist  authorities 
to  extend  their  peace  campaign  to  all 
their  external  enemies,  exclusive  of  Deni- 
kin and  Kolchak,  was  made  clearly  mani- 
fest in  various  directions.  Bolshevist 
propaganda  in  the  East  continued  un- 
abated, and  the  agitator,  Karl  Radek,  be- 
fore his  departure  from  Berlin  to  Dor- 


pat,  boasted  that,  unless  the  Entente 
made  peace  with  Soviet  Russia,  Eng- 
land's Eastern  Empire  would  be  under- 
mined in  every  country  to  which  Bol- 
shevist propaganda  could  penetrate. 

THE   BALTIC   SITUATION 

After  the  routing  by  the  Letts  of 
the  German-Russian  forces  of  Colonel 
Avalov-Bermondt  and  the  evacuation  of 
Courland  by  the  German  troops  formerly 
under  General  von  der  Goltz  (see  the 
latt.  r's  article,  Page  285),  the  Baltic  sit- 
uation underwent  much  clarification.  Up 
to  Nov.  30,  5,000  military  men  and  2,000 
Russian  fugitives  who  fought  under 
Avalov-Bermondt  in  the  attack  on  the 
Lettish  capital  had  crossed  the  frontier. 
For  the  time  being  they  were  billeted 
in  the  war  prisoner  camp  at  Neissen,  in 
Silesia,  and  subsequently  were  trans- 
ferred to  Danzig,  Nauen,  and  Grabow, 
Posen.  Some  8,000  of  the  Russian  sol- 
diers expressed  a  desire  to  be  sent  to 
the  northern  front  to  fight  the  Bolshe- 
viki, and  Herr  Noske,  German  Minister 
of  Defense,  stated  that  this  desire  would 
probably  be  granted. 

The  German  forces  of  the  Iron  Di- 
vision, which,  under  General  Bischoff, 
took  part  in  the  attack  on  Riga,  com- 
pletely disregarded  the  orders  of  Gen- 
eral Niessel,  head  of  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission, that  they  should  leave  the  coun- 
try by  fixed  routes  and  by  railway  only; 
in  direct  opposition  to  these  orders  the 
Iron  Division  marched  from  Shavli  to 
Memel,  at  which  place,  as  well  as  at 
Heidekrug,  billets  had  been  prepared  for 
it,  and  there  remained.  As  Memel  wt»s 
German  territory,  the  Interallied  Com- 
mission could  not  enforce  its  removal-^ 
to  Central  Germany,  although  its  pres- 
ence in  such  proximity  to  the  Baltic  na- 
tions gave  the  latter  much  anxiety.  Ac- 
cording to  information  received  by  Mr. 


292 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Duranty,  German-Bait-Bolshevist  propa- 
ganda was  continuing  in  the  Baltic 
region  devised  to  upset  the  Lettish  Gov- 
ernment and  to  gain  the  objects  which 
the  Bermondt  and  von  der  Goltz  adven- 
tures had  failed  in  securing,  namely,  Ger- 
man predominance  in  the  Baltic. 

LATVIA   AGAINST    BOLSHEVISM 

The  Latvian  Ministry,  which  had 
shown  conservative  tendencies  since  its 
organization,  made  strong  efforts  to 
combat  Bolshevism  both  on  the  front 
and  within  its  borders.  It  bent  its  ef- 
forts toward  finding  food  and  work  for 
the  unemployed.  Latvia's  task  at  home 
was  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  de- 
struction and  removal  of  machinery  and 
materials  in  the  invasions  to  which  the 
country  had  been  subject.  It  was  stated 
on  Dec.  17  from  Riga  that  an  English 
syndicate  had  arranged  to  make  a  loan 
to  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  and  also  that 
private  American  enterprise  had  placed 
food  supplies  and  goods  to  the  value  of 
several  million  dollars  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Latvian  Union  of  Co-operative  So- 
cieties. 

Meanwhile  the  Latvian  military  de- 
fense against  the  onslaughts  of  the  Red 
Army  showed  no  slackening,  though  the 
campaign  was  much  hampered  by  lack  of 
food  and  the  extreme  cold.  The  Letts 
were  able  nevertheless  to  reinforce  their 
front,  which  they  held  firmly  at  the  end 
of  December,  while  a  second  army  was 
maintained  in  Courland,  where  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Iron  Division  at  Memel  gave 
the  Letts  much  ground  for  anxiety. 
From  defense  the  first  of  these  two 
armies  soon  passed  to  offense,  and  on 
Jan.  5  had  succeeded  in  breaking  the 
Bolshevist  front  along  the  Dvina,  with 
the  capture  of  booty  and  a  considerable 
number  of  prisoners.  .  Two  divisions  of 
Letts,  supported  by  Baltic  landwehr,  par- 
ticipated in  these  operations,  in  which, 
after  heavy  fighting,  the  Dvina  was 
crossed.  They  then  revealed  their  inten- 
tion to  make  Dvinsk  their  objective  and 
thus  clear  East  Lettland  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki;  in  this  project  they  were  sup- 
ported by  the  Polish  Army  on  their  right 
wing. 


DVINSK  CAPTURED 

With  almost  startling  ease  the  Dvinsk 
objective  was  attained,  and  this  impor- 
tant city  was  occupied  by  Lettish  and 
Polish  troops  the  same  day.  Large  quan- 
tities of  stores  and  materials  were  taken, 
including  an  armored  train.  Meanwhile 
the  Letts  announced  openly  in  the  Riga 
press  that  the  operation  begun  so  suc- 
cessfully was  "  for  the  liberation  of  Let- 
gal  en  "  (East  Lettland).  The  loss  of 
Dvinsk  was  admitted  by  Moscow  on  Jan. 
6;  the  Lettish  and  Polish  Armies  were 
then  advancing  along  the  Pskov  Railway. 
Rail  communication  between  Riga  and 
Dvinsk  was  at  once  reopened.  The  Letts 
again  began  a  heavy  attack  Jan.  9  in 
the  direction  of  Regziza,  the  capital  of 
Letgalen  Province,  and  were  continuing 
it  when  these  pages  went  to  press. 

The  population  of  Dvinsk  gave  the  oc- 
cupying troops  an  enthusiastic  welcome. 
Conditions  in  Dvinsk  were  bad;  typhus 
and  other  epidemics  were  prevailing,  and 
people  were  dying  daily  in  the  streets. 
The  necessity  of  obtaining  food  supplies 
for  the  population  gave  the  Letts  much 
cause  for  anxiety.  The  military  situa- 
tion underwent  practically  no  change, 
but  the  Lettish  military  command  ascer- 
tained that  six  new  Bolshevist  regiments 
had  been  released  from  the  Esthonian 
front,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  armi- 
stice agreement  between  Esthonia  and 
the  Soviet  Government,  and  had  been 
transferred  to  the  Lettish  front,  on  the 
trunk  line  between  Pskov  and  Dvinsk, 
foreshadowing  new  fighting  for  the 
Letts  against  heavy  odds. 

A  BALTIC  ALLIANCE 

An  offensive  and  defensive  alliance 
was  concluded  at  Kovno  toward  the  end 
of  December  between  Latvia  and  Lithu- 
ania for  the  purpose  of  resisting  future 
Bolshevist  attacks  from  the  west  and 
east.  The  terms  of  this  alliance  provided 
that  the  two  armies  should  have  a  joint 
commander  and  a  joint  General  Staff. 
Both  the  Letts  and  Lithuanians  refused 
definitely  to  negotiate  with  the  Bol- 
shevist envoys  at  the  Dorpat  Conference, 
though  each  had  sent  representatives  in 
the  capacity  of  observers.     The  Lettish 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  PEACE  DRIVE 


293 


Premier,  M.  Ulmanis,  on  Dec.  24,  dis- 
cussed hopefully  the  possibility  of  an 
extension  of  such  a  Baltic  alliance  to 
Esthonia,  Finland,  and  Poland. 

YUDEN1TCH  UNWELCOME 
General  Yudenitch  arrived  at  Riga  on 
Dec.  20.  He  was  accompanied  by  Gen- 
eral Etievant,  the  French  military  repre- 
sentative, through  whom  Marshal  P'och's 
communications  of  the  wishes  of  the 
Allies  were  given  to  the  Esthonian  Gov- 
ernment. It  was  no  secret  that  their 
visit  concerned  the  possibility  of  estab- 
lishing the  Yudenitch  forces  at  a  point 
within  striking  distance  of  Petrograd, 
yet  not  in  Esthonia,  as  the  presence  of 
anti-Bolshevist  forces  there  at  a  time 
when  Esthonia  was  conducting  peace  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Bolsheviki  would 
prove  extremely  embarrassing. 

The  relations  of  General  Yudenitch 
with  the  Esthonian  Government,  in  view 
of  the  circumstances,  soon  became 
strained.  The  Supreme  Council  on  Dec. 
4  sent  a  note  to  that  Government,  asking 
that  it  cease  disarming  the  Yudenitch 
soldiers  who  had  crossed  its  boundaries, 
and  that  it  permit  the  reorganization  of 
the  whole  army  on  Esthonian  soil.  To 
this  note  the  Esthonians  replied  on  Dec. 
13,  declaring  such  a  procedure  impos- 
sible, in  view  of  their  negotiations  with 
the  Bolsheviki.  A  week  later  (Dec.  20) 
General  Yudenitch  sent  a  communication 
to  the  Allies  asking  that  he  be  allowed 
within  seven  days  to  occupy  a  position 
on  the  Latvian  front  and  there  reorgan- 
ize his  army.  In  this  note  he  declared 
that  his  relations  with  the  Esthonian 
Government  were  such  that  his  position 
at  Narva  had  become  untenable. 

M.  Ulmanis,  the  Lettish  Premier,  on 
Dec.    22    stated    officially    that    Latvia 
could  not  give  her  consent  to  the  transfer 
of  Yudenitch  to  Lettish  soil,  saying: 
This   would    mean   that   our   Internal   as 
well  as  International  position  would  bo  in 
danger.      First,    General   Yudenitch   would 
be    followed    by    the    Bolsheviki,    and    we, 
therefore,  would  have  to  face  an  Immedi- 
ate offensive  from  the  Red  Army  on  our 
front.       Second,     much     more     SangWOUQ 
would    be    the    opposition    of    our    people, 
Frankly,  to  Invite  General  Yudenitch  Is  to 
Invite  trouble.     Everything  we  possess  and 
our   whole    edifice   would    be   jeopardized. 
We  cannot  take  such  a  risk. 


ALLIED  COMMISSION  DEPARTS 
The  Interallied  Commission  had  vir- 
tually completed  the  task  for  which  it 
was  sent  to  the  Baltic  by  Dec.  18.  The 
chief  object,  the  evacuation  of  the  Baltic 
by  the  German  soldiers  of  the  army  of 
von  der  Goltz,  and  their  return  to  German 
territory,  had  been  attained.  Regarding 
the  removal  of  the  Iron  Brigade  from 
Memel,  General  Cheney,  the  American 
military  representative,  declared  that  the 
Interallied  Commission  had  no  power,  as 
Memel,  pending  the  plebiscite,  still  re- 
mained German  soil.  Assurances,  how- 
ever, he  said,  had  been  given  by  the 
German  Government  that  these  troops 
would  be  withdrawn.  Subcommissions 
were  to  remain  some  time  longer  in  the 
Baltic  to  assess  damages  of  all  kinds  in- 
flicted by  the  army  of  von  der  Goltz,  in- 
cluding the  Iron  Brigade;  these  damages 
were  to  be  included  in  the  reparations 
which  Germany  must  pay.  General 
Cheney  emphasized  the  bad  behavior  of 
the  Germans  during  the  evacuation. 
"  They  acted  in  true  Hun  style,"  he  de- 
clared. Both  the  German  forces  proper 
and  the  German-Russian  forces  of  Col- 
onel Avalov-Bermondt  had  indulged  in 
widespread  looting,  and  departed  laden 
down  with  plunder  of  all  kinds.  So  se- 
rious had  been  these  infractions  of  all 
agreements  that  the  commission,  on  its 
way  back  to  Paris,  laid  before  the  Ger- 
man Government  in  Berlin  a  full  and  de- 
tailed complaint  of  looting  and  various 
outrages  committed  by  German  officers, 
with  the  names  of  the  offenders.  The 
German  Government  promised  to  restore 
the  stolen  property  and  to  punish  those 
responsible. 

THE  DORPAT  CONFERENCE 
The  historic  negotiations  at  Dorpat  be- 
tween representatives  of  Esthonia  and 
the  Soviet  Government,  begun  on  Dec.  6, 
were  carried  through  December,  with 
numerous  delays  and  interruptions,  and 
finally  were  concluded  successfully  on 
the  eve  of  the  new  year. 

In  opening  these  negotiations  the  Es- 
thonian Government  issued  the  following 
explanation  and  defense: 

The  Esthonian  people  havlnp  wnsvd  war 
against    the   Bolsheviki   for   more    than    a 


294 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


year,  and  having  driven  them  out  of  their 
country,  must  now  resume  their  peaceful 
occupations.  Last  September,  with  the 
consent  of  the  Constituent  Assembly,  ne- 
gotiations were  opened  with  the  Soviet 
Government.  It  is  now  quite  clear  that 
tiie  other  Governments  of  the  border 
States  are  prepared  to  begin  negotiations. 
The  Government  hopes  that  the  great 
allied  powers,  who  have  aided  us  so  far, 
will  understand  our  position.  Esthonia 
desires  to  bring  about  the  cessation  of 
hostilities.  Other  relations  with  the  Soviet 
Government  will  be  settled  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  future  relations  between  the 
Allies  and  the  Soviet  Government. 

The  President  of  the  Esthonian  peace 
delegation  was  M.  J.  Poska,  late  Minis- 
ter for  Foreign  Affairs;  the  other  mem- 
bers were  M.  Piip,  Foreign  Minister; 
General  Soots,  Chief  of  the  Esthonian 
General  Staff,  and  Messrs.  Seljamaa  and 
Pueman,  members  of  the  Constituent 
Assembly.  The  President  of  the  Bol- 
shevist delegation  was  M.  Joffe,  former 
Soviet  Ambassador  to  Germany;  Herr 
Krassin,  a  recent  convert  to  Bolshevism, 
who  formerly  represented  at  Petrograd 
the  German  firm  of  Schuchardt  & 
Schutte,  and  who  had  repeatedly  voiced 
strong  conviction  of  the  necessity  of 
making  peace  even  at  the  cost  of  sacri- 
fices by  Soviet  Russia;  M.  Litvinov,  in 
the  intervals  of  his  negotiations  at 
Copenhagen,  and  Karl  Radek,  the  Bol- 
shevist agitator,  who  was  released  from 
virtual  internment  in  Berlin  to  attend 
the  conference. 

A   CURIOUS   SITUATION 

At  the  very  moment  when  the  Soviet 
envoys  were  asserting  their  desire  for 
peace,  the  Red  forces  were  attacking  the 
Esthonians  fiercely  on  the  Narva  front. 
To  understand  this  situation  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  solution  of  the 
questions  of  boundary  and  military 
guarantees  was  conceived  only  as  pro- 
visional, and  that  Esthonia  and  Soviet 
Russia  remained  potential  enemies  until 
the  making  of  a  permanent  and  definitive 
peace.  The  necessity,  meanwhile,  of 
maintaining  the  military  front  explains 
the  importance  attached  to  the  fixing  of 
boundaries. 

This  question  of  strategical  boundaries 
was  one  of  the  thorny  points  of  discus- 
sion, and  twice  almost  brought  about  the 


disruption  of  the  conference.  Esthonia 
demanded  undivided  control  of  the 
Gulf  of  Narva,  as  well  as  the  Gulf  of 
Luga,  both  extremely  valuable  for  the 
defense  of  Petrograd.  The  Soviet  en- 
voys not  only  rejected  these  claims,  but 
through  M.  Kostisev,  a  former  Major 
General  in  the  Czar's  army,  proposed 
shifting  the  front  west  from  Kunda  Bay, 
about  sixty  miles  west  of  Narva,  to  Lake 
Peipus.  These  excessive  demands  were 
repudiated  by  M.  Krassin.  Then  the 
Bolshevist  delegation  made  a  series  of. 
boundary  proposals,  first  naming  the 
west  bank  of  the  Narva  and  then  the 
east  bank.  Later  they  proposed  to  con- 
sider the  Narva  as  the  provisional 
frontier,  and  to  arrange  for  a  plebiscite 
in  disputed  territory  between  the  Narva 
and  Luga  Rivers  after  the  war.  The 
Esthonians  refused  to  evacuate  such  ter- 
ritory, and  a  deadlock  was  reached 
again. 

A  strenuous  attempt  to  conclude  an 
agreement  by  Christmas  failed  in  a  con- 
ference lasting  late  into  Christmas  morn- 
ing, because  of  the  refusal  of  the  Bol- 
shevist envoys  to  concede  Esthonia's 
right  to  fortify  part  of  the  Narva  front. 
This  difficulty  was  eventually  solved  by 
removing  Esthonia's  frontier  ten  kilo- 
meters east  of  the  Narva  River,  both 
parties  agreeing  that  the  Gulf  of  Fin- 
land should  be  neutral  water.  The 
frontier  further  south  was  fixed  at  ten 
kilometers  east  of  Lake  Peipus,  crossing 
Lake  Peipus  and  Lake  Pskov,  and  run- 
ning thence  southward  to  the  east  of 
Isborsk.  The  Esthonian  military  line 
was  left  approximately  intact. 

Soviet  Russia  renounced  all  sovereign 
rights  over  Esthonia.  The  text  of  this 
clause,  most  important  for  Esthonia, 
haunted  by  the  constant  fear  of  the  im- 
perialistic intentions  of  Denikin,  Kol- 
chak,  and  the  Allies,  was  as  follows: 

In  accordance  with  the  prlncipfes  pro- 
claimed by  the  Soviet  Russian  Govern- 
ment of  the  right  of  all  peoples  to  a  free 
determination  of  their  nationality,  even 
to  the  complete  secession  from  the  State 
to  which  they  belong,  Russia  recognizes 
without  reservation  the  independence  of 
the  Esthonian  State  and  freely  abdicates 
for  all  time  all  the  sovereign  rights  which 
belonged  to  Russia  with  respect  to  Estho- 
nia's land  and  people  in  accordance  with 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  PEACE  DRIVE 


iur, 


ESTHONIA   AND    THE   BALTIC   REGION    CONCERNED    IN   THE    ARMISTICE   WITH    SOVIET 
RUSSIA    SIGNED    AT    DORPAT    ON    DEC.    31,    1919 


former  State  orders,  as  well  as  those 
rights  given  under  International  treaties. 
Esthonian  land  and  people  shall  have  no 
obligations  whatever  with  respect  to  Rus- 
sia because  of  the  former  connections  of 
Esthonia  with  Russia. 

ARMISTICE  SIGNED 

Thus  having  found  a  basis  of  mutual 
adjustment,  the  delegates  of  the  two 
countries  met  on  Dec.  31  to  sign  a  pre- 
liminary armistice.  The  delegates  were 
seated  at  a  large,  round  table,  with  the 
respective  heads  of  each  delegation,  M. 
Poska  and  M.  Joffe,  in  the  centre,  and 
the  two  delegations  facing  each  other. 
The  formalities  took  only  twenty  minutes. 
The  clerical  staff,  which  included  many 
young  women,  chatted  unconcernedly  at 
tables  in  the  corners.  M.  Joffe,  wearing 
a  red  insignia  on  the  lapel  of  his  frock 
coat,  offered  the  only  color  in  the  gath- 
ering. The  armistice  itself,  as  signed, 
was  only  for  one  week,  automatically  re- 
newable from  week  to  week,  with  full 
power  on  the  part  of  either  Government 
to  denounce  it  within  twenty-four  hours' 
notice.  A  full  armistice,  or  preliminary 
peace,  was  subject  to  Esthonia's  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  which  was  not 
scheduled  to  meet  until  the  end  of  Jan- 
uary. Thus  Soviet  Russia  was  virtually 
put  on  probation  for  one  month. 


Under  the  armistice,  as  signed,  the 
Esthonians  were  not  required  to  eject 
from  their  territory  soldiers  who  had 
fought  under  General  Yudenitch  in  his 
abortive  campaign  against  Petrograd 
until  after  the  peace  treaty  between  Es- 
thonia and  Soviet  Russia  should  be  rati- 
fied. This  excited  much  surprise  on  the 
part  of  the  allied  representatives.  The 
Bolshevist  envoys,  however,  admitted 
that  they  had  made  great  concessions  re- 
garding frontiers  and  military  guaran- 
tees. M.  Joffe  himself  declared  at  Dor- 
pat  the  day  following  the  signing:  "  I 
far  exceeded  the  latitude  allowed  by  the 
Moscow  Government,  and  expect  to  be 
called  to  account  for  it  when  I  return, 
but  we  have  shown  that  we  are  able  to 
make  peace." 

According  to  advices  received  by  the 
State  Department  at  Washington  on 
Dec.  31,  the  Governments  of  Esthonia, 
Latvia,  and  Lithuania  had  asked  the 
Governments  of  Poland  and  Finland  to 
join  them  in  a  conference  at  Helsingfors 
with  a  view  to  discussing  plans  for  mili- 
tary defense  against  the  Bolsheviki. 
Finland  had  agreed  to  join  this  confer- 
ence; Poland  had  not  decided,  but  the 
probabilities  were  favorable.  Esthonia's 
part  in  such  a  conference  remained  open 


296 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


to  doubt,  owing  to  the  signing  of  the 
armistice  with  the  Soviet  Government. 

THE  DENIKIN  DEBACLE 

The  Reds'  military  successes  against 
Denikin  in  the  south  continued  uninter- 
ruptedly throughout  December  and  Jan- 
uary. The  Denikin  forces  were  retreat- 
ing continuously  from  about  Dec.  10;  be- 
tween that  date  and  Dec.  18  they  had 
been  compelled  to  fall  back  another  fifty 
miles  on  a  wide  front.  By  this  time 
Poltavia,  Kharkov,  and  Kiev  had  been 
taken  by  the  Bolsheviki,  and  Odessa  was 
aimed  at.  The  Bolshevist  success  was  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  the  fighting  in 
other  sectors  had  so  slackened  that  they 
were  able  to  rush  heavy  reinforcements 
south.  The  Bolsheviki  were  committing 
atrocities  in  Kursk  and  other  occupied 
towns,  and  throngs  of  refugees  fled  from 
their  advance. 

The  army  of  Denikin  strove  desperate- 
ly to  prevent  the  Reds  from  cutting 
their  way  through  the  Donetz  coal  basin 
to  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Caucasus. 
Small,  sporadic  successes  were  won,  but 
the  Red  cavalry  drove  the  Denikin 
forces  back  again  on  a  wide  front.  Cos- 
sack units  under  Mamontov  and  Chelno- 
kov  were  defeated  by  the  Soviet  troops, 
and  over  a  thousand  Cossacks  killed. 
Much  booty  was  captured.  Rostov,  on 
the  Don,  was  partly  evacuated,  and  the 
civilian  population  of  Odessa  began  to 
flee. 

On  Jan.  1  the  Bolsheviki  announced 
the  capture  of  Ekaterinoslav  and  a  point 
15  miles  to  the  northeast.  The  Bol- 
sheviki at  this  time  were  advancing  to- 
ward Taganrog,  Denikin's  headquarters. 
The  position  of  Denikin  was  daily  becom- 
ing more  critical.  The  Donetz  coal  basin 
was  lost,  less  than  100  miles  from  the 
coast;  the  left  flank  of  the  Caucasus 
army  was  imperiled,  and  the  Red  forces 
were  within  eighty  miles  of  Krasnovodsk 
in  the  Transcaspian  territory. 

On  the  west  the  port  of  Mariupol,  on 
the  Sea  of  Azov,  sixty-three  miles  west 
of  Taganrog,  was  captured  by  the  vic- 
torious Red  troops,  and  subsequently 
Taganrog  itself;  the  Denikin  forces  fled 
on  steamers  and  by  foot  along  the  coast. 
The   Bolsheviki   were   advancing    at   all 


points.      Strong    defensive    preparations 
were  being  made  at  Odessa. 

KOLCHAK  RULE  SHAKEN 

After  the  loss  of  his  capital  and  the 
rout  of  his  armies  by  the  Bolsheviki, 
Admiral  Kolchak  appointed  M.  Pepelaiev 
Premier  of  the  All-Russian  Government 


SCENE  OP  BOLSHEVIST  SUCCESSES  AGAINST 
DENIKIN    IN    SOUTH   RUSSIA 

and  charged  him  to  form  a  new  Cabinet. 
M.  Pepelaiev  was  a  Constitutional  Dem- 
ocrat (Cadet),  a  former  member  of  the 
Fourth  Duma,  a  member  of  Lvov's  Gov- 
ernment during  the  revolution,  who  re- 
signed on  Kerensky's  accession  to  power 
and  became  a  common  soldier.  When 
the  Bolshevist  coup  d'etat  occurred  he  at 
once  took  an  anti-Soviet  attitude,  and 
was  sent  to  Ufa,  in  Siberia,  to  build  up  a 
new  Government.  The  Cabinet  formed 
by  him  was  as  follows: 

Premier  and  Minister  of  Home  Affairs,  M. 
Pepelaiev. 

Vice  Premier  and  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, M.  Tretiakov. 

Finance,  M.  Bouriskin. 

Trade,   M.   Okorokov. 

Agriculture,  M.  Petrov. 

Labor,  M.   Shoumilovsky. 

Communications,    M.   Oustrougov. 

War,  M.  Khan j  in. 

Public   Instruction,   M.    Preobrajensky. 

Provisional  Head  of  the  Ministry  of  Jus- 
tice, M.  Morozov. 

State  Controller,  M.  Krasnov. 

Chief  Manager  of  Affairs,  M.  Guins. 

The  program  published  by  the  new 
Premier  included  the  emancipation  of 
the  system  of  military  administration  of 
the  country;   a  severe  struggle  against 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  PEACE  DRIVE 


•Ml 


all  abuses  and  injustice,  no  matter  by 
whom  committed;  an  extension  of  the 
competency  of  the  future  legislative 
State  and  Country  Assembly;  close  rela- 
tion between  the  Government  and  peo- 
ple and  co-operation  with  the  Opposi- 
tion and  all  the  healthy  elements  of  so- 
ciety united. 

From  Irkutsk  other  projects  of  reform 
in  the  Kolchak  administration  were  an- 
nounced. The  Siberian  people  were  to 
have  a  representative  Parliament,  a 
Sobor  (Assembly),  to  consist  only  of 
elected  members  and  to  possess  legisla- 
tive powers.  Elections  were  begun  in 
the  various  provinces  toward  the  end  of 
December.  Despite  these  far-reaching 
projects  of  reform,  the  smoldering  fires 
of  discontent  in  Siberia  against  the  Kol- 
chak Government  were  not  quenched,  and 
finally  burst  forth  in  a  conflagration 
which  threatened  the  existence  of  the 
new  Government  at  Irkutsk  and  the  per- 
sonal safety  of  Kolchak  himself. 

MILITARY  SITUATION 

The  military  situation  of  the  Kolchak 
Government  grew  steadily  worse.  At 
the  capture  of  Novo  Nikolaevsk  on  Dec. 
13,  10,000  soldiers  and  500  officers  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Bolsheviki,  accord- 
ing to  official  Soviet  claims.  Booty 
taken  by  the  Reds  included  a  section  of 
the  American  Red  Cross,  the  Ufa  branch 
of  the  State  Bank,  with  40,000,000  rubles 
in  Siberian  Bank  notes,  and  masses  of 
other  stores.  Evacuation  of  the  City  of 
Tomsk,  Western  Siberia,  made  necessary 
by  the  Bolshevist  advance,  began  on  Dec. 
16.  A  Moscow  wireless  on  Dec.  26  an- 
nounced the  capture  of  Tomsk  and  seven 
other  towns  in  Siberia.  Part  of  Kol- 
chak's  army  had  been  destroyed  and  the 
Red  Army  had  pushed  on  from  Novo 
Nikolaevsk  to  Taiga,  on  the  main  line  of 
the  Trans-Siberian  Railway;  the  road  to 
Irkutsk,  the  seat  of  the  new  Kolchak 
Government,  was  thus  laid  open.  Polish 
troops  caught  west  of  Taiga  about  Dec. 
23  fought  desperately  to  make  their  way 
eastward.  The  American  consular  offi- 
cials were  safe.  Bolshevist  gains  were 
won  also  on  the  Amur  line  in  Eastern 
Siberia,  and  Blagoveschensk  was  com- 
pletely cut  off. 


REVOLT   IN   IRKUTSK 

It  was  announced  on  Dec.  25  that  Ad- 
miral Kolchak,  in  consequence  of  ill- 
health,  had  relinquished  the  military 
command  to  General  Semenov,  the  Cos- 
sack leader,  whom  he  had  appointed 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Irkutsk, 
Transbaikal,  and  Amur  military  districts. 
Under  this  appointment  all  other  military 
leaders  were  to  be  subordinate  to  the 
new  commander. 

Kolchak  himself,  harassed  on  the  mili- 
tary front  by  the  incessant  onslaught  of 
the  ever-advancing  Bolsheviki,  had  also 
to  face  rebellion  from  within.  It  was  re- 
ported on  Dec.  27  that  800  Revolutionary 
Socialist  soldiers  of  the  Kolchak  Army 
had  formed  a  "  Committee  Government  " 
at  Irkutsk  and  had  taken  possession  of 
the  Irkutsk  Station  on  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railway.  This  coup  was  accomplished 
during  the  absence  of  the  new  Premier, 
M.  Pepelaiev,  who  had  gone  to  consult 
Kolchak  at  his  headquarters,  Taiga,  re- 
garding the  composition  of  his  new  Cab- 
inet. M.  Tretiakov,  the  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  was  also  absent  from 
Irkutsk  at  the  time,  as  he  had  gone  to 
meet  General  Semenov  in  the  Baikal  re- 
gion. 

After  the  capture  of  Taiga,  Kolchak's 
whereabouts  remained  uncertain.  Irkutsk 
was  virtually  in  a  state  of  siege. 
Martial  law  was  declared  following  the 
uprising  of  social  revolutionary  troops. 
The  pontoon  bridge  across  the  Angara 
River  had  been  cut,  and  American  Red 
Cross  boats  were  the  only  means  of  com- 
munication. The  revolutionary  forces 
were  in  virtual  control  of  the  railroad 
from  Irkutsk  westward  to  Krasnoyarsk, 
and  a  report  from  the  Japanese  Military 
Department  on  Jan.  9  declared  that 
Irkutsk  was  wholly  occupied  by  the  revo- 
lutionary forces,  and  that  Kolchak's 
army  had  been  completely  dispersed. 

JAPAN  STIRRED 

Stirred  by  the  victorious  advance  of 
the  Red  armies,  by  the  crumbling  of 
Kolchak's  power,  and  by  the  constant 
Bolshevist  attacks  upon  the  Trans-Sibe- 
rian line,  Japan  took  measures  to  cope 
with  the  menace  of  the  new  situation 
created  by  the  adoption  of  a  new  mili- 


298 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


tary  and  political  policy.  The  Japanese 
Publicity  Bureau  at  Vladivostok  on  Dec. 
18  announced  that  in  future  Japan  would 
give  all  her  efforts  to  guarding  the  rail- 
road, as  opposed  to  her  previous  policy 
of  giving  help  to  the  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment and  relegating  the  guarding  of  the 
road  to  secondary  importance.  Japan 
had  reached  at  this  date  a  tentative 
agreement  with  the  United  States  based 
solely  upon  this  policy,  which  had  been 
consistently  followed  by  the  American 
military  officials  in  Siberia. 

The  main  question  was  how  to  resist 
the  repeated  Bolshevist  raids  upon  the 
railway  line.  In  September  and  October 
436  distinct  raids  on  points  held  by 
Japanese  troops  had  occurred,  and  these 
raids  were  increasing  in  frequency  and 
importance.  Japan,  therefore,  consider- 
ing the  situation  precarious,  faced  the 
necessity  of  increasing  her  military 
forces  in  Siberia,  whatever  decision  the 
United  States  might  make  regarding  co- 
operation. Above  all,  the  Japanese 
wished  to  stem  the  tide  of  Bolshevism 
that  was  washing  across  Siberia  right  to 
the  borders  of  Korea,  across  which  and 
the  narrow  straits  separating  Japan 
from  the  mainland  of  Asia  it  could 
easily  penetrate.  On  Jan.  8  it  was  an- 
nounced that  Japan,  realizing  the  se- 
riousness of  this  menace,  had  stationed 
her  soldiers  at  Lake  Baikal,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  resisting  all  Bolshevist 
advance  beyond  that  point. 

AMERICAN  FORCES   RECALLED 

Transported  4,000  miles  from  the  far 
western  front  in  Russia,  more  than  200 
wounded  American  soldiers  arrived  in 
Vladivostok  about  Dec.  23  and  were  re- 
ceived in  the  American  Red  Cross  hos- 
pital, which  had  been  taken  over  from 
the  British  naval  authorities. 

The  United  States  Army  transport  Lo- 
gan left  Vladivostok  on  Dec.  28  for  the 
United  States,  bearing  842  soldiers.  Only 
fifty- three  drafted  American  soldiers 
were  left  in  Siberia;  thirty  of  these  were 
on  their  way  to  Vladivostok  from  the 
railway  zone;  others  were  still  in  hos- 
pitals. 

It  was  announced  at  Washington  on  Jan. 
12  that  President  Wilson  had  decided  to 


recall  the  American  Expeditionary  Force 
in  Siberia  under  Major  Gen.  William  S. 
Graves,  and  that  Japan  had  been  offi- 
cially notified  of  the  fact  through  the 
American  Ambassador  at  Tokio.  Our 
troops  were  to  be  brought  home  as  soon 
as  they  had  finished '  assisting  the 
Czechoslovak  contingents  and  the  Stevens 
Siberian  Railway  Mission  to  leave  the 
country.  All  the  72,000  Czechoslovak,. 
Polish,  Jugoslav,  and  Rumanian  troops 
were  to  be  got  out  of  Siberia  in  the 
quickest  possible  time.  The  Czech  re- 
public had  asked  the  United  States  to 
take  care  of  the  transportation  of  32,000 
of  its  50,000  men,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  foreign  troops  were  to  be  removed 
by  Great  Britain,  the  expense  of  re- 
patriation to  be  borne  in  each  case  by 
the  home  Governments  of  the  soldiers. 

There  were  approximately  9,000  Amer- 
ican regulars  in  Siberia,  all  the  drafted 
men  having  been  replaced.  The  units  in- 
cluded the  27th  Infantry,  the  31st  In- 
fantry, General  Graves's  Headquarters 
Staff,  the  53d  Telegraph  Battalion,  and 
several  hospital  units.  The  task  of 
bringing  these  men  home,  with  the 
Czechs  as  well,  was  intrusted  to  Major 
Gen.  Frank  L.  Hines,  Director  of  Army 
Transportation.  The  army  transport 
Edellyn,  the  first  of  a  small  fleet  as- 
signed for  the  work,  left  New  York  on 
Jan.  16  for  Vladivostok  via  the  Panama 
Canal;  the  President  Grant  and  the 
America  were  to  follow  in  a  few  days. 

The  news  that  all  allied  troops  were 
to  be  on  their  way  home  before  March 
1  caused  a  sensation  in  Siberia,  both 
among  the  repatriated  soldiers  and 
among  the  Russian  elements  which  would 
thus  lose  their  support.  Measures  for 
the  protection  of  Japan  ag  inst  the 
eastward-moving  wave  of  Bolshevist 
power  were  undertaken  at  once  by  the 
Tokio  Government,  which  proposed,  with 
the  consent  of  the  United  States,  to  in- 
crease its  military  forces  in  Siberia. 

IN  SOVIET  RUSSIA 

The  internal  economic  weakness  in 
Soviet  Russia,  which  explained  the 
eagerness  of  the  Bolshevist  Government 
to  make  peace  with  its  enemies,  contin- 
ued and  increased.  Extreme  measures 
were  being  taken  to  meet  the  fuel  fam- 


SOVIET  RUSSIA'S  PEACE  DRIVE 


KM 


ine;  wooden  houses  were  being  razed  for 
fuel  and  barges  were  being  demolished. 
Great  scarcity  of  food  prevailed.  Little 
work  was  to  be  had,  owing  to  the  closing 
down  of  numerous  factories  and  indus- 
trial firms.  Steps  were  taken  to  send 
workmen  to  different  towns  in  the  in- 
terior, though  the  industrial  conditions 
at  these  places  were  no  more  favorable. 
According  to  the  Pravda  the  number  of 
employes  in  Petrograd's  factories  had 
been  decreased  approximately  67  per 
cent,  in  two  years.  According  to  the 
same  authority  the  number  of  schools 
in  the  former  capital,  owing  to  the  fuel 
scarcity,  was  to  be  cut  down  two-thirds 
and  the  curriculum  curtailed. 

The  Red  terror  continued.  The  arrest 
of  900  persons,  including  some  French 
and  English  nationals,  was  reported  in 
Petrograd  on  Dec.  19.  Of  those  arrested 
350  were  executed,  following  trial  by  a 
revolutionary  tribunal.  On  Dec.  10  the 
well-known  literary  critic  Edmund 
Gosse  published  a  letter  in  The  London 
Times  appealing  in  behalf  of  Countess 
Aleksandra,  youngest  daughter  of  Count 
Tolstoy,  who  had  just  been  arrested  in 
Moscow  and  was  in  imminent  danger  of 
execution.  Word  was  received  in  Berlin 
on  Jan.  6  of  the  execution  of  Admiral 
Sakhimev,  who  fought  brilliantly  against 
the  German  fleet  in  1917. 

According  to  an  official  note  published 
in  the  Bolshevik  organ,  Izvestia,  14,000 
persons  were  shot  by  the  Bolsheviki  of 
Russia  in  the  first  three  months  of  1919 
by  order  of  the  Extraordinary  Commit- 
tee at  Moscow. 

Karl  Radek,  who  had  been  sent  on  a 
special  mission  to  Germany  before  his 
departure  as  a  peace  delegate  to  Dorpat, 


insisted  on  the  Soviet  desire  for  peace. 
In  this  connection  he  said: 

If  we  cannot  have  peace  we  will  fight 
to  a  finish.  We  are  suffering  from  hun- 
ger in  Russia,  but  the  Entente  cannot 
starve  us  out.  If  the  war  keeps  on  we 
will  set  the  Near  and  Far  East  on  fire. 
We  will  stir  up  such  trouble  In  Turkey. 
Afghanistan,  Turkestan.  Kurdistan,  Per- 
sia, and  India  that  England  will  not 
have  another  quiet  moment.  It  is  no  se- 
cret that  I  have  been  negotiating  with  the 
Young  Turks.  And  we  will  form  an  al- 
liance with  the  devil  himself,  if  neces- 
sary, to  fight  the  Entente  until  it  gi 
us  peace. 

Advices  received  in  London  on  Jan.  8 
from  the  Middle  East  indicated  that 
these  threats  were  not  empty  words. 
Southeastward  by  way  of  the  Cam  a 
toward  Persia,  eastward  and  southward 
by  way  of  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Caspian,  and  in  all  directions  southward 
from  the  Siberian  Railway  Red  forces 
and  propagandists  were  overrunning 
Southwestern  and  Central  Asia. 

Among  their  objects  were  control  of 
the  Caspian,  the  seizure  of  the  oil  fields, 
the  invasion  of  Persia  from  two  direc- 
tions, the  occupation  of  Turkestan  and 
Transcaspia,  and  anti-British  penetra- 
tion on  a  great  scale  toward  Afghanis- 
tan and  India.  [See  article  on  page  302.] 

A  Soviet  wireless  message  received  in 
London  on  Jan.  1  flashed  New  Year's 
greetings  to  the  world.  This  message, 
after  celebrating  1919  as  a  year  of  vic- 
tory for  the  Soviet  Government,  said: 

In  1020  we  shall  attain  a  victorious  end 
of  civil  war.  Siberia,  the  Ukraine,  the 
Don  region,  and  the  Caucasus  desire 
Soviets.  There  will  also  be  Soviets  at 
Berlin.  Washington,  Paris,  and  London. 
Soviet  authority  will  be  supreme  through- 
out the  world. 


Patriarch's  Letter  to  Lenin  and  Trotzky 


r[E  evils  of  Red  rule  in  Russia  were 
restated  by  the  Patriarch  of  Moscow 
and   All-Russia,   M.  Tikhon,    in   the 
following    encyclical    letter,    which    was 
made  public  by  the  Russian  Liberation 
Committee  in  London  on  Nov.  26,  1919: 

"  They  that  take  up  the  sword  shall  perish 
by  the  sword."     St.    Matthew,  xxvl..   .VJ. 
This    prophecy   of   Christ    wo    address    unto 


you,  the  present  rulers  of  the  destinies  of  our 
country,  styling  yourselves  "  The  People's 
commissars."  You  are  holding  the  State 
power  in  your  hands  and  are  prepar- 
ing to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the 
October  revolution.  1017,  but  the  torrenta  of 
blood  of  your  brothers,  mercilessly  killed  at 
your  bidding,  compel  us  to  speak  unto  you 
the  bitter  word  of  truth. 

In    seizing    power    and    inviting    the   people 
to    place    their    confidence    in    you,    what    did 


300 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


you  promise  them  and  how  did  you  fulfill 
your  promise? 

"  Verily  you  have  given  them  a  stone  in- 
stead of  bread,  and  a  serpent  in  place  of 
fish."      St.    Matthew,    vii.,    9-10. 

You  promised  to  a  people  worn  out  by  san- 
guinary war  to  give  them  peace  "  without 
annexations  and  indemnities." 

What  conquests  could  you  renounce,  you, 
who  have  brought  Russia  to  a  shameful 
peace,  the  humiliating  conditions  of  which 
even  you  dared  not  fully  publish?  In  place 
of  annexations  and  contributions  our  great 
Motherland  herself  is  conquered,  humiliated, 
and  dismembered.  You  have  robbed  the 
fighting  men  of  all  they  lately  gallantly 
fought  for.  You  have  taught  those  who 
a  short  while  ago  were  brave  and  invinci- 
ble to  give  up  the  defense  of  their  country 
and  flee  from  the  battlefield.  You  have 
quenched  in  their  hearts  the  inspiring  con- 
sciousness that  "  greater  love  hath  no  man 
than  this,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friend."  You  have  replaced  the  Motherland 
by  a  soulless  Internationale,  although  you 
yourselves  know  full  well  that  where  the  de- 
fense of  their  native  country  was  concerned 
the  proletarians  of  all  lands  were  its  loyal 
sons  and'not  traitors.  Having  refused  to  de- 
fend your  country  from  external  foes,  you 
are  nevertheless  continually  organizing 
armies.  Against  whom  are  you  leading 
them?  You  have  divided  the  whole  people 
into  enemy  camps  and  have  hurled  them  into 
fratracide  unheard  of  for  its  cruelty.  You 
have  openly  exchanged  the  love  of  Christ  for 
hatred,  and  instead  of  giving  peace  have 
artificially  kindled  class  war.  And  there 
seems  no  end  to  the  war  originated  by  you, 
for  you  aspire  by  the  hands  of  Russian 
workers  and  peasants  to  bring  about  the 
triumph  of  the  phantom  of  world  revolution. 

It  was  not  that  Russia  needed  the  shame- 
ful peace  with  the  external  enemy,  but  that 
you  desired  to  break  completely  our  internal 
peace.  Nobody  feels  safe;  all  live  in  con- 
stant fear  of  perquisition,  robbery,  arrest, 
execution ;  hundreds  of  defenseless  people 
are  seized  daily,  and  lie  for  months  rotting 
in  foul  prisons,  are  executed  without  inves- 
tigation or  trial,  even  without  the  sim- 
plified method  of  trial  established  by  you. 
Not  only  are  those  executed  who  are  found 
guilty  toward  you,  but  also  those  whom  you 
well  know  to  be  innocent,  and  who  were 
merely  taken  as  "  hostages  "  ;  these  unfor- 
tunate people  are  killed  in  vengeance  for 
crimes  committed  not  by  their  relatives  or 
friends,  but  frequently  by  your  own  ad- 
herents or  by  persons  sympathizing  with 
your  own  views.  Innocent  Bishops,  priests, 
monks,  and  nuns  are  shot  on  a  wholesale, 
vague  and  indefinite  accusation  of  "  counter- 
revolution." This  inhuman  existence  is 
made  still  harder  for  the  orthodox  believers 
by  their  being  be.^ft  of  the  last  consolation 
before  death— the  taking  of  the  holy  com- 
munion—and by  the  bodies  of  those  slain  be- 


ing refused  to  their  relatives  for  Christian 
burial. 

Does  not  all  this  represent  the  culmination 
of  aimless  cruelty  on  the  part  of  those  who 
pose  as  the  benefactors  of  humanity,  and 
have  themselves,  as  they  say,  suffered  much 
from   cruel  authorities? 

But  you  are  not  content  with  having 
smeared  the  hands  of  the  Russian  people 
with  the  blood  of  their  brethren ;  by  conceal- 
ing it  under  different  terms,  such  as  con- 
tributions, requisitions,  nationalizations,  you 
have  pushed  them  toward  the  most  open  and 
shameless  robbery. 

You  have  incited  them  to  destroy  and  seize 
the  land,  farms,  works,  factories,  houses, 
cattle,  to  loot  money,  furniture,  clothes.  At 
first  wealthy  people  were  robbed  on  the  pre- 
tense of  their  being  "  bourgeoisie,"  then 
hard-working  and  well-to-do  peasants,  be- 
cause they  were  supposed  to  be  "  kulaki," 
thus  increasing  the  number  of  paupers,  al- 
though you  cannot  but  know  that  by  ruining 
multitudes  of  private  citizens  you  are  de- 
stroying national  wealth  and  ruining  the 
country.  By  tempting  the  ignorant  people 
with  the  possibility  of  easily  acquired  loot, 
you  have  befogged  their  consciences  and 
dulled  the  consciousness  of  sin,  but  whatever 
names  you  give  to  iniquities— murder,  ag- 
gression, and  rapine  will  always  remain  sin 
and  crime,  crying  out  to  Heaven  for  ven- 
geance. 

You  promised  liberty. 

Great  is  the  gift  of  liberty— if  it  is  right- 
fully understood  as  freedom  from  evil,  which 
does  not  oppress  others,  does  not  merge  into 
aggression  or  self-will.  But  that  is  the  lib- 
erty which  you  did  not  give:  your  liberty 
consists  in  encouraging  the  evil  passions  of 
the  mob,  in  leaving  murders  and  pillage  un- 
punished. All  manifestations  either  of  true 
civic  or  of  the  higher  spiritual  freedom  have 
been  ruthlessly  suppressed. 

Is  that  liberty,  when  no  one  dares  to  ob- 
tain food  for  himself,  to  change  one's  dwell- 
ing, to  move  from  town  to  town?  Is  that 
liberty  when  families  and  sometimes  all  the 
inhabitants  of  a  house  are  evicted  and  their 
property  thrown  out  in  the  street,  and  when 
all  citizens  are  artificially  divided  into  cate- 
gories, of  which  some  are  destined  to  famine 
and  plunder?  Is  that  liberty  when  no  one 
dares  to  state  openly  one's  opinion  out  of 
fear  of  being  accused  of  counter-revolution? 
Where  are  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press?  Where  the  freedom  of  Church  preach- 
ing? Have  not  many  brave  Church  preach- 
ers already  paid  the  price  of  their  blood— 
the  blood  of  martyrs?  The  voice  of  social 
and  State  discussion  is  suppressed,  the  press, 
with  the  exception  of  the  narrow  pro-Bolshe- 
vist section,  is  completely  strangled. 

Particularly  hard  and  cruel  is  the  suppres- 
sion of  liberty  and  faith.  Not  a  day  passes 
but  the  most  monstrous  calumnies  against 
the  Church  of  God,  angry  blasphemy  and 
sacrilege    appear    in   your   press.     You    mock 


PATRIARCH'S    LETTER    TO    LENIN    AND    TROTZKY 


801 


the  servants  of  the  Church,  you  force  Bish- 
ops to  dig  trenches  (Hermogen,  Bishop  of 
Tobolsk),  and  set  priests  to  perform  th< 
meanest  tasks.  You  have  laid  your  hands 
upon  the  inheritance  of  the  Church,  gatlx  ired 
together  by  generations  of  the  faithful,  and 
have  not  hesitated  to  violate  their  last  will 
and  testament. 

You  have  closed  monasteries  and  chapels 
for  no  cause  or  reason  whatsoever.  You 
have  closed  the  entrance  to  the  Moscow 
Kremlin— that  sanctuary  of  the  people.  You 
have  destroyed  the  parish-time,  that  old 
order  of  Church  community;  you  are  sup- 
pressing the  brotherhoods  and  other  philan- 
thropic and  educational  institutions.  You 
disperse  church  and  diocesan  meetings,  in- 
terfere with  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church,  you  evict  sacred  images  from 
the  schools,  and,  by  forbidding  religious 
teaching,  you  deprive  the  children  of  the 
spiritual  nourishment  so  indispensable  to  a 
Christian  upbringing. 

"  And  what  shall  I  more  say?  For  the 
time  would  fail  me  "  (Hebrews,  xl.,  32),  to 
describe  all  the  calamities  which  have  befal- 
len our  mother  country.  I  will  not  speak  of 
the  disruption  of  the  once  mighty  Russia, 
of  the  complete  disorganization  of  transport, 
of  the  unheard-of  disruption  of  the  food  sup- 
ply, of  the  cold  and  famine  which  threaten 
to  bring  death  to  the  towns,  of  the  absence 
of  all  necessities  in  the  villages.  That  is 
patent  to  all  eyes.  Yea,  we  are  passing 
through  terrible  times,  and  the  memory  of 
your  power  will  remain  for  a  long  time  un- 
effaced  out  of  the  people's  soul,  for  in  it 
you  have  darkened  the  image  of  God  and 
imprinted  that  of  the  beast.  The  words  of 
the  prophet  are  being  realized:  "  Their  feet 
run  into  evil,  and  they  make  haste  to  shed 
innocent  blood;  their  thoughts  are  thoughts 
of  iniquity,  wasting  and  destruction  are  in 
their  path."     Isaiah,    lix.,    5-7. 

We  know  that  our  denunciation  will  only 
kindle  your  wrath  and  indignation,  that  you 
will  only  seek  in  them  a  pretext  for  accusing 
us  of  defiance  of  your  authority,  but  as  the 
"  pillar  of  your  wrath  "  rises  ever  higher, 
the  greater  will  be  the  evidence  of  the  jus- 
tice of  our  denunciations. 

It   is  not  our  business  to  Judge  of  earthly 


powers ;  any  power    I  \  ouM 

receive  our  blessing  if  it  appeared  as  "  th<> 
Judgment  of  God  "  for  the  good  of  the  peo- 
pt<  ,  ;uk1  was  not  a  terror  to  good  works,  but 
to  the  evil.     (Romans,  xiil.,  3.) 

But  now  unto  you,  who  use  your  power  for 
persecution  of  your  brethren  and  the  exter- 
mination of  the  innocent,  our  word 
of  persuasion:  Celebrate  the  anniversary  of 
your  coming  into  power  by  liberating  Ui<; 
prisoners,  by  ceasing  bloodshed,  aggression, 
ruin,  persecution  of  tin-  faith;  turn  from  de- 
struction toward  the  restoration  of  law  and 
;  give  the  people  the  longed-for  and 
merited  rest  from  civil  war.  But  now  the 
blood  of  the  rlgh'eous  which  you  have  shed 
shall  be  required  of  you  (St.  Luke,  xi..  61), 
"  and  you  that  have  taken  the  sword  shall 
perish  by  the  sword."  (St.  Matthew,  xxvi.. 
52.) 

(Signed)  TIKHON, 

Patriarch  of  Moscow  ami  All-Ru- 

A  few  weeks  after  the  publication  or 
this  scathing  arraignment  the  Bolshevist 
Government  at  Moscow  announced  that 
Patriarch  Tikhon  had  issued  a  second 
«  ncyclical  reversing  his  attitude,  recog- 
nizing the  authority  of  the  Soviet,  and 
ii  viting  all  believers  to  obey  Soviet  laws. 
It  added  that  a  new  clerical  party  had 
been  organized  among  the  officials  of 
the  Orthodox  Church  with  a  program  for 
(1)  close  co-operation  with  the  Soviet 
power;  (2)  instruction  for  the  masses 
in  all  Bolshevist  measures,  and  (3)  a 
campaign  against  the  old  traditions  of 
the  reactionary  clergy. 

Appearances  indicated  that  if  the  Pa- 
triarch did  issue  such  a  retraction  it 
was  not  done  as  a  free  agent.  An  earlier 
report  from  Taganrog  had  stated  that  he 
had  been  arrested,  together  with  other 
ecclesiastics,  many  of  whom  had  been 
shot,  and  when  the  Moscow  wireless  an- 
nounced the  new  encyclical  a  fortnight 
later  there  was  no  evidence  to  show  that 
it  had  not  been  signed  under  compulsion. 


The  Bolshevist  World-Offensive 


How  the  Moscow  Reds   are   Spreading   Their  Revolutionary 
Doctrines   Through   a  Worldwide   Propaganda 


IENIN  and  his  followers  in  Moscow, 
confronted  by  the  economic  failure 
^  of  their  system  in  their  own  fac- 
tories, have  sought  to  lay  the 
blame  on  the  allied  blockade,  and  have 
repeatedly  declared  that  the  ultimate  suc- 
cess of  Bolshevism,  even  in  Russia,  de- 
pended upon  the  forcing  of  the  same  sys- 
tem upon  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  this 
belief  they  began  a  year  ago  to  devote 
large  sums  to  a  widely  ramifying  propa- 
ganda for  the  undermining  and  over- 
throw of  other  Governments,  primarily  in 
Asia,  but  later  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  paid  agents  of  the  Moscow  Commu- 
nists have  long  been  at  work  in  Swe- 
den, Finland,  Denmark,  Germany,  Swit- 
zerland, France,  and  even  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States.  All  these  coun- 
tries have  taken  steps  to  get  rid  of  them. 
Countries  as  far  distant  as  Argentina 
and  Brazil  have  been  forced  into  cam- 
paigns for  the  arrest  and  deportation  of 
these  agitators. 

The  importance  attached  to  this  prop- 
aganda by  the  Moscow  dictators  was  in- 
dicated in  a  statement  made  by  the  Com- 
missary of  Foreign  Affairs  to  Dr.  T.  H. 
Fokker,  the  Dutch  Consul  General  at 
Kiev.  In  an  interview  with  an  Amster- 
dam editor  in  December  Dr.  Fokker  said : 

The  Commissary  for  Foreign  Affairs 
(M.  Tchitcherin)  frankly  declared  to  me 
that  he  attached  much  more  importance 
to  the  exportation  of  parcels  of  propa- 
ganda matter  than  to  the  importation  of 
foodstuffs — much  more.  Perhaps  it  will 
now  be  understood  why  some  people  are 
anxious  that  the  blockade  of  "  poor  Rus- 
sia "  should  be  stopped  at  once.  *  *  * 
All  countries  should  strictly  watch  against 
the  spreading  of  this  dangerous  propa- 
ganda; everywhere  the  peoples  should  be 
carefully  informed  of  the  dangers  which 
threaten  them  through  Bolshevism. 

With  the  opening  of  peace  negotiations 
between  Soviet  Russia  and  Esthonia  the 
Bolshevist  authorities  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity to  prepare  a  new  campaign.  It 
was   revealed  in   Helsingfors   on   Dec.   2 


that  Litvinov,  the  Bolshevist  envoy,  took 
with  him  to  Copenhagen  30,000,000  rubles 
in  Duma  notes  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing Soviet  propaganda  while  ostensibly 
negotiating  with  a  British  envoy. 

BOLSHEVIST  "SCRAPS  OF  PAPER" 

The  Russian  Division  of  the  State  De- 
partment at  Washington  prepared  and 
made  public  at  the  beginning  of  1920  a 
"  Memorandum  on  Certain  Aspects  of  the 
Bolshevist  Movement  in  Russia,"  which 
contains  many  Bolshevist  documents,  all 
showing,  as  Secretary  Lansing  pointed 
out  in  the  preface,  that  "  the  purpose  of 
the  Bolsheviki  is  to  subvert  the  existing 
principles  of  government  and  society  the 
world  over,  including  those  countries  in 
which  democratic  institutions  are  already 
established."  The  documents  include  va- 
rious utterances  of  the  Moscow  leaders 
indicating  that  they  do  not  mean  to 
cease  their  revolutionary  offensive  even 
though  they  may  promise  to  do  so  in  a 
treaty  of  peace.  After  the  expulsion  of 
the  Bolshevist  Ambassador  Joffe  from 
Berlin,  Tchitcherin  boasted  of  the  mill- 
ions of  rubles  taken  to  Berlin  for  propa- 
ganda purposes  (official  note  to  German 
Foreign  Office  in  Izvestia,  Dec.  26, 
1918).  Another  illustration  of  the 
"  scrap-of -paper  "  attitude  of  the  Bolshe- 
viki toward  treaties  is  contained  in  a 
signed  article  (Izvestia,  Jan.  1,  1919)  on 
"  Revolutionary  Methods,"  in  which  Joffe 
says: 

Having  accepted  this  forcibly  imposed 
treaty  (Brest-Litovsk),  revolutionary  Rus- 
sia, of  course,  had  to  accept  its  second 
article,  which  forbade  "  any  agitation 
against  the  State  and  military  institu- 
tions of  Germany."  But  both  th^  Rus- 
sian Government  as  a  whole  and  its  ac- 
credited representative  in  Berlin  never 
concealed  the  fact  that  they  were  not 
observing  this  article  and  did  not  intend 
to  do  so. 

And  this  agitation  continued  even  after 
the  Bolsheviki  had  signed  with  Germany, 
Aug.  27,  1918,  the  so-called  supplement- 


THE  H0LSHEV1ST    WORLD-OFFENSIVE 


so:; 


ary  treaties  of  Brest-Litovsk,  which  were 
not  signed  like  the  original  treaty  under 
seeming  duress,  but  were  actively  sought 
for  and  gladly  entered  upon  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki. 

William  Phillips,  Assistant  Secretary 
of  State,  recently  wrote  in  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Harvard  Liberal  Club: 

Bad  faith  Is  the  avowed  essence  of  Bol- 
shevist diplomacy,  and  its  avowed  ulterior 
purpose  is  to  obtain  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity for  the  spread  of  its  subversive 
doctrines.  It  ts  only  necessary  to  quote 
the  following  extract  from  a  speech  made 
by  Zinoviev,  President  of  the  Petrograd 
Soviet,  on  Feb.  2,  1910,  on  the  subject  of 
the  Prince's  Island  proposal: 

"  We  are  willing  to  Bign  an  unfavorable 
peace  with  the  Allies.  It  would  only  mean 
that  we  should  put  n  >  trust  whatever  in 
the  bit  of  paper  we  should  sign.  W« 
should  use  the  breathing  space  so  obtained 
in  order  to  gather  our  strength  in  order 
that  the  mere  continued  existence  of  our 
Government  would  keep  up  the  world- 
■  ide  propaganda  which  Soviet  Russia  has 
been  carrying  on  for  more  than  a  year." 

ACTIVITIES    IN    UNITED   STATES 

The  Bolshevist  world-offensive  was 
carried  into  the  United  States  in  the  lat- 
ter half  of  1919,  resulting  finally  in  the 
arrest  and  deportation  of  hundreds  of 
agitators  in  this  country  who  were  at- 
tempting to  follow  the  revolutionary  in- 
structions received  from  Moscow.  The 
Red  literature,  it  was  learned,  was  being 
brought  from  Russia  by  couriers. 

Shortly  before  Christmas  a  Bolshevist 
conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  Latvian  Gov- 
ernment was  discovered  by  the  Lettish 
authorities  at  Volmar,  near  Riga,  and 
100  persons  implicated  were  arrested; 
among  these  was  a  Russian  sailor,  on 
whom  were  found  large  sums  of  money 
and  jewels  of  great  value  concealed  in 
the  soles  of  his  boots,  together  with  a 
letter  from  one  of  Lenin's  closest  satel- 
lites addressed  to  the  Bolshevist  "com- 
rades "  of  America.  This  sailor  had 
been  a  considerable  time  in  Latvia  await- 
ing an  opportunity  to  sail  for  the  United 
States;  indignant  letters  found  upon  him 
complained  of  the  delay.  Lying  in  hiding 
in  an  old  house,  he  finally  sent  a  woman 
messenger  to  Moscow  to  demand  instruc- 
tions; the  apprehension  of  this  MMIM- 
as  she  was  attempting  to  pass  the 


linos,   led   to   the  arrest  of   the   courier 
himself. 

The  letter  to  American  "comra<! 
found  on  this  courier's  person 
signed  by  Buharin,  Chief  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  Bureau  of  the  Communist 
International,  and  by  Bersin,  alias  Win- 
ter, a  Bolshevik  of  Lettish  origin.  More 
than  any  argument  it  showed  the  essen- 
tial aims  of  the  Red  leaders. 

TEXT  OF  BOLSHEVIST  LETTER 
The  text  of  this  remarkable  document 
is  given  herewith: 

Dear  Comrades,  permit  us  to  give  you 
a  full  resume  of  our  advice  and  instruc- 
tions regarding  current  work  in  America. 

1.  We  firmly  believe  that  after  the  ex- 
pulsion of  a  number  of  sections  of  certain 
nationalities  from  the  American  Socialist 
Party  the  time  has  come  to  organize  in 
the  United  States  a  Communist  Party, 
which  will  proceed  to  get  officially  in 
tout-     with  the  Communist  Internal  anal. 

We  firmly  believe  also  that  this  party 
could  be  organized  from,  firstly,  the  So- 
cialist Propaganda  League;  secondly,  the 
extremer— and  now  excluded— elements  of 
the  American  Socialist  Party;  thirdly, 
the  extremer  elements  of  the  Socialist 
Labor  Party,  which,  as  we  are  well 
aware,  it  is  most  important  to  split,  as  its 
actions  are  contrary  to  our  aims,  and 
fourthly,  the  International  Workers  of 
the  World,  whose  principle  on  non-political 
action  will  disappear  as  it  comes  to  rec- 
ognize the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat 
and  Soviet  rule.  The  organization  of  this 
party  should  be  effected  in  Moscow. 

2.  V'e  firmly  believe  that  one  of  the 
most  important  aims  at  present  is  the  or- 
ganization of  communist  small  nucleus 
« •  -litres  among  soldier?  and  sailors— as  a 
fighting  section  to  carry  on  energetic 
propaganda  in  organizing  Soviets  of  sol- 
diers and  sailors,  and  in  preaching  fa- 
natical hostility  [the  Russian  word  means 
literally  persecution]  toward  officers  and 
Generals. 

3.  Such  orga  nations  of  workmen  So- 
viets as  already  exist  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  degenerate  Into  philanthropic  or 
cultural  associations.  We  are  much  afraid 
that  in  America  there  is  Just  this  danger. 
Therefore  we  strongly  emphasize  that  un- 
til the  Soviets  have  gr'  the  upper  hand 
they  must  regard  themselves  as  militant 
[the  word  is  underlined]  units  of  the  fight 
for  national  control  and  proletariat  dicta- 
torship. There  must  not  be  an  inch 
yielded  from  this  standpoint.  [All  the  last 

:> me    is  underlined    in   the   original.] 
The   organization   of  strikes  and   of  un- 
employed   and   the   fomenting   of  insum-c- 
tions—  that    is    the    task    appointed.      Sec- 
ondly,   it    is    niccs  Im    1 1»« •    utmost 


304 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


precautions  against  the  splitting  up  of  the 
proletariat  among  the  already  existing 
national  political  parties.  Therefore  di- 
rect your  energies  along  the  lines  of  de- 
veloping the  movement  to  establish  So- 
viets of  workers  of  different  political 
views. 
The  general  platform  will  be  as  follows : 

(a)  Down  with  the  Senate  and  Con- 
gress. 

(b)  Down  with  capitalists  in  the  fac- 
tories. Long  live  the  management  of  the 
factories  by  the  workers. 

(c)  Down  with  speculators.  All  organi- 
zations of  food  and  supply  to  be  in  the 
workers'  hands. 

Everywhere  it  is  necessary  sharply  to 
emphasize  the  idea  of  seizing  the  whole 
machinery  of  economic  administration  by 
the  working  class,  and  to  direct  toward 
this  object  propaganda  and  agitation— 
by  an  outcry  against  the  high  cost  of 
living. 

It  Is  desirable  to  spread  hostility  [again 
the  Russian  word  persecution]  toward 
Wilson  as  a  two-faced  criminal  as  well 
as  toward  his  League  of  Nations. 

Regarding  intervention,  you  already 
know  what  to  do,  but  we  ask  you  to  stress 
the  factor  of  our  economic  strangulation 
—and  not  only  ours,  but  Hungary's  pre- 
viously—and also  to  rub  in  the  fact  that 
western  democrats  are  acting  as  our  ex- 
ecutioners. 

5.  It  is  of  supreme  importance  to  pay 
the  closest  attention  to  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  This  must  be 
smashed  in  pieces— [last  three  words  are 
underlined]— by  active  work  in  collabora- 
tion with  the  International  Workers  of 
the  World  to  bring  about  strike  move- 
ments and  revolution. 

6.  It  is  most  necessary  to  develop  prop- 
aganda to  instill  into  the  minds  of  the 
workers  the  paramount  necessity  for 
arming — [this  word  is  underlined].  Rev- 
olutionary soldiers  who  are  demobilized 
should  not  give  up  their  rifles. 

As  a  more  general  platform : 

(A)  An   international   Socialist  republic. 

(B)  Frighten  every  one  with  the  bogey 
of  new  wars  being  prepared  by  the  capi- 
talists. 

(C)  Use  the  utmost  efforts  to  oppose 
the  organization  of  White  Guards.  This 
should  be  done  in  most  ruthless  and  vio- 
lent manner. 

7.  Work  for  the  centralization  and  com- 
bination of  your  endeavors.  Don't  give 
them  any  opportunity  to  smash  you  sep- 
parately.  Organize  conspirative  commit- 
tees. 

With   Communistic  greetings. 

(Signed)  Bureau  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Communist  International. 
BUHARIN     AND     J.     BERSIN,     ALIAS 
WINTER. 


MARTENS  INVOLVED 

This  document  of  specific  instructions 
for  revolutionary  activities  in  the  United 
States  was  accompanied  by  a  general 
letter  of  advice  from  the  Third  Com- 
munist International  of  Moscow — a  letter 
of  interest  chiefly  because  it  contained 
a  mention  of  Ludwig  A.  C.  Martens,  the 
Soviet  "Ambassador"  to  the  United 
States,  whose  connection  with  subversive 
propaganda  has  been  charged  repeatedly 
by  the  Lusk  Legislative  Committee, 
which  is  investigating  seditious  activities 
in  New  York.  After  devoting  some 
space  to  advice  against  factional  quar- 
rels the  letter  concluded  as  follows: 

Much  depends  upon  your  work  in  Amer- 
ica. The  International  Bureau  insists 
upon  the  union  of  all  groups  on  the 
Soviet  platform.  Party  work  should  pro- 
ceed conjointly  and  in  close  touch  with 
the  work  of  the  Soviets.  Anarchists, 
former  Mensheviks,  Social  Revolutiona- 
ries, Intelligentsia,  &c,  willing  to  work 
with  the  Soviets,  should  be  permitted  to 
co-operate.  There  must  be  no  division  or 
split. 

The  Embassy  and  Comrade  Martens  are 
not  subordinate  to  any  organization. 
Organizations  are  advised  to  work  in  full 
contact  with  the  Embassy  which  is  re- 
sponsible only  to  the  All-Russian  Central 
Committee  of  Soviets.  There  can  be  no 
question  as  to  control  of  the  Embassy 
by  local  organizations. 

In  addition  to  this  letter  we  are  sending 
all  kinds  of  information  and  propaganda 
literature  which  should  be  published  at 
once. 

With  friendly   greetings. 

(Signed)  A.  MENSHMY, 

J.  A.  BERSIN. 

In  the  course  of  his  testimony  before 
the  Lusk  Committee,  most  of  whose  ques- 
tions he  refused  to  answer,  Martens  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  in  regular  communi- 
cation with  Moscow  through  special 
couriers,  whose  identity  and  whereabouts 
he  refused  to  disclose,  and  that  he  had 
received  through  this  agency  from  the 
Soviet  Government  the  sum  of  $90,000 
since   March,   1919. 

NATURE  OF  PROPAGANDA 

An  example  of  the  propaganda  litera- 
ture shipped  into  the  United  States  by 
the  Communist  International  of  Moscow 
and  disseminated  here  by  Socialist  and 
Communist  organizations  is  found  in  the 
following  extract  from  a  Lenin-Trotzky 


THE  BOLSHEVIST   WORLD-OFFENSIVE 


906 


manifesto,  which  was  among  the  papers 
seized  by  the  Lusk  Committee: 

It  is  our  task  now  to  sum  up  the  prac- 
tical revolutionary  expense  of  the  work- 
ing class  and  to  further  hasten  the  com- 
plete victory  of  the  Communist  revolu- 
tion. Civilian  war  is  forced  upon  the 
laboring  classes  by  their  arch  eneim 
The  working  class  must  answer  blow  for 
blow.  The  Communist  parties,  far  from 
conjuring  up  civil  war  artificially,  ratlur 
Strive  to  shorten  its  duration  as  much  as 
possible.  It  has  become  an  iron  neces- 
sity to  minimize  the  number  of  its  vic- 
tims, and  above  all  to  secure  victory  for 
the  proletariat.  This  makes  necessary 
the  disarming  of  the  bourgeoisie  at  the 
proper  time,  the  arming  of  the  laborers, 
and  the  formation  of  a  Communist  army 
such  as  the  Red  Army  of  Soviet  Russia. 
Conquest  of  the  political  power  means  not 
merely  a  change  in  personnel,  but  anni- 
hilation of  the  enemies'  apparatus  of  the 
Government.  The  revolutionary  era  com- 
pe)a  the  proletariat  to  make  use  of  the 
means  of  battle  which  will  concentrate 
its  entire  energies,  namely,  mass  action, 
with  its  logical  resultant,  direct  conflict 
with  the  Government  machinery  In  open 
combat.  All  other  methods,  such  as  revo- 
lutionary use  of  bourgeois  parliamentar- 
ism, will  be  of  only  secondary  signifi- 
cance. Long  live  the  international  re- 
public of  the  proletarian  councils. 

PROPAGANDA   IN  ASIA 

The  most  serious  results  of  the  Bol- 
shevist propaganda  have  been  apparent 
in  Asia,  where  the  Reds'  efforts  to  stir 
up  revolution  have  been  aimed  at  India. 
Their  method  of  operating  in  the  Near 
and  Far  East  through  paid  agitators  was 
thus  described  by  a  Swedish  correspond- 
ent of  The  London  Morning  Post: 

"With  the  help  of  the  untold  wealth  In 
gold,  silver,  and  jewels,  during  centuries 
hoarded  up  in  holy  Russia's  thousands  of 
convents,  churches,  and  palaces,  they 
have  succeeded  in  setting  the  whole  world 
rocking,  and  have  made  the  Mohamnn- 
<).in  world  boil  with  sedition  from  far- 
away Afghanistan  to  Egypt.  •  •  •  And 
if  you  negotiate,  how  will  you  keep  thorn 
to  their  engagements,  how  will  you  pre- 
vent their  poisoning  the  whole  Intellectual 
atmosphere  of  our  time? 

The  religious  situation  in  Russia  itself 
gave  the  Reds  an  opening  in  the  East. 
There  are  over  20,000,000  Mohammedans 
in  Russia,  concentrated,  for  the  most 
part,  on  the  Volga,  in  the  Ural  region, 
in  Turkestan,  and  the  Eastern  Caucasus. 
Lenin  took  due  note  of  the  fact  that  dur- 
ing the   last   twenty    years    a    national 


movement  had  been  developed  among 
these  Russian  Mohammedans,  finding  ex- 
pression in  a  new  literature  and  in  re- 
ligious and  social  reforms,  including  the 
emancipation  of  women.  This  national 
movement  was  strongly  affected  by  Rus- 
sian literature  and  by  Russian  political 
tendencies,  and  for  that  reason  was  more 
advanced  than  the  corresponding  national 
movement  in  other  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries. 

The  participation  of  Turkey  in  the  war 
against  Russia  had  been  a  severe  test  of 
the  loyalty  of  the  kinsmen  of  the  Turk- 
in  Russia,  and  not  all  the  national  lead- 
ers had  proved  superior  to  temptation. 
German  and  Turkish  influences  had 
made  themselves  strongly  felt  in  the 
Russian  Mohammedan  movement  during 
the  war,  and  more  particularly  during 
the  revolution. 

The  establishment  of  a  Tatar  Republic 
with  Turkish  aid  revealed  the  extent  to 
which  the  German  and  Turkish  agitators 
had  been  operating  to  open  a  way  from 
the  Black  Sea  into  Central  Asia.  It  was 
this  Russo-Mohammedan  movement, 
backed  by  Germany  and  Turkey,  that 
Lenin  seized  as  a  lever  for  provoking  a 
revolution  in  the  Mohammedan  East,  to 
be  turned  into  Bolshevist  channels  and 
used  as  a  weapon  against  Great  Britain, 
the  ultimate  object  of  attack. 

TATAR  PROPAGANDA 

Taking  full  advantage  of  their  occupa- 
tion of  the  Mohammedan  districts  of 
Russia,  the  Bolsheviki,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Lenin,  began,  therefore,  a  violent 
agitation.  Never  had  there  been  such 
propaganda  among  the  Tatars.  N< 
had  there  been  so  many  Tatar  new 
pers  on  the  Volga  and  in  the  Urals, 
where  all  the  Tatar  press  soon  consisted 
only  of  subsidized  Bolshevist  sheets.  Ag- 
itators traveled  about  in  towns  and  vil- 
lages making  speeches,  founding  Moham- 
medan communist  centres,  preaching  re- 
volt. It  was  not  all  plain  sailing  for 
the  Bolsheviki.  Turkestan  has  sim- 
mered constantly  with  revolt  against  the 
despotism  of  the  Red  Government.  ■ 
Harold  Williams  has  repeatedly  noted  in 
his  cables,  and  if  there  were  many  Mo- 
hammedans mobilized  in  the  Rod  A  inn- 
there  were  also  many  loyal   Mohammo.- 


306 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


dans  from  the  Caucasus  fighting  with 
the  green  ribbon  and  emblem  of  the 
crescent  in  the  ranks  of  Denikin's  army, 
and  whole  units  of  Siberian  Tatars  bore 
arms  under  Kolchak.  But  the  danger 
was  there,  and  it  has  constantly  in- 
creased, rather  than  diminished. 

The  Bolsheviki  dream  of  arousing  not 
merely  a  part,  but  the  whole  of  Asia. 
The  appearance  of  an  Afghan  mission  in 
Moscow,  received  with  high  honors;  the 
intensive  propaganda  work  conducted  via 
Tashkent,  in  Afghanistan,  which,  much 
to  the  alarm  of  its  neighbors,  has  be- 
come almost  an  outpost  of  Bolshevism 
in  the  East,  are  merely  isolated  symp- 
toms of  a  vast  movement  to  harass  and 
embarrass  Great  Britain.  The  capture 
of  Kazandjik  in  the  Transcaspian  region, 
reported  on  Dec.  11,  produced  a  serious 
situation  for  Great  Britain  in  Asia,  and 
a  month  later  the  capture  of  Samarkand 
and  Krasnovodsk,  the  gateway  to  Turkes- 
tan, emphasized  the  threat  against  India. 
A  wedge  had  been  driven  between  the 
forces  of  Denikin  and  Kolchak,  and  Bol- 
shevism was  holding  out  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship  to  Pan  Turanianism  in  the 
name  of  a  common  hostility  to  Western 
democracy. 

The  success  of  the  Bolshevist  forces 
in  the  trans-Caspian  region  brought  Mos- 
cow into  closer  relations  with  Afghanis- 
tan, whither  a  special  Soviet  mission  had 
already  proceeded,  and  emphasized  the 
threat  of  trouble.  To  shake  the  British 
rule  in  India  by  "  bolshevizing  Islam  "  is 
one  of  Trotzky's  avowed  objects.  Great 
Britain  has  thus  far  refused  to  be 
bluffed  into  lifting  the  Russian  blockade, 
and  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  Bol- 
shevist propaganda  can  do  what  German 
propaganda  failed  to  do  during  the  world 
war. 

BOLSHEVISM    IN   PERSIA 

Meanwhile,  Lenin  looked  for  other  open- 
ings. How  eagerly  the  Bolshevist  Govern- 
ment of  Russia  seized  upon  the  news  of 
the  negotiation  of  the  Anglo-Persian 
treaty  as  an  excuse  for  trying  to  stir 
up  revolution  in  Persia  is  shown  by  the 
full  text  of  the  message  from  Moscow 
circulated,  via  Turkestan,  among  the 
Persian  masses.     This  message  from  the 


Soviet  Foreign  Office,  which  was  widely 
circulated  in  Persia  during  the  closing 
months  of  1919,  read  as  follows: 

To  the  Workers  and  Peasants  of  Persia ! 

During  the  entire  nineteenth  century  you 
were  treated  like  an  enslaved  people  by  the 
Russian  and  English  Governments,  while 
they  profited  by  the  fact  that  the  once  so 
mighty  Persian  people  had  reached  the 
greatest  degree  of  misery  and  degradation 
under  the  intolerable  yoke  of  its  despotic 
Shah  and  of  its  lying  and  pleasure-seeking 
rulers.  The  English  robbers  and  the  agents 
of  Czarism,  continually  lusting  after  con- 
quests, degraded  you  to  an  even  greater  de- 
gree of  slavery. 

In  Russia  there  ruled  the  intolerable  power 
of  the  autocratic  Czar,  in  England  there 
reigned,  and  still  reigns  today,  the  power  of 
a  handful  of  capitalist  robbers.  Between  the 
two  principal  competitors,  Russia  and  Eng- 
land, there  existed  only  one  difference  re- 
garding Persia,  and  it  was  merely  over  the 
best  way  to  plunder  your  country  and  to 
hold  it  under  the  yoke.  Then  came  the  day 
when  the  Persian  masses  arose  and,  in  an 
undaunted  manner,  attempted  to  shake  off 
the  shackles  of  the  intolerable  autocratic 
power  of  the  Shah  and  of  the  feudal  blood- 
suckers and  oppressors  that  had  held  sway 
for  centuries.  The  leaders  in  the  battle  for 
the  freedom  of  Persia  ended  their  lives  on 
the  scaffold  at  Teheran  and  in  Tabriz. 

But  the  great  Russian  revolution  broke 
out.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Soviet 
Government  of  Russia  was  a  declaration  to 
the  effect  that  every  nation,  be  it  great  or 
small,  be  it  independent  or  attached  to  an- 
other State,  must  be  free  to  dispose  of  itself 
and  must  not  be  forcibly  bound  to  any 
other  power.  So  far  as  Persia  was  concerned, 
Comrade  Trotzky  solemnly  assured  the  Per- 
sian people,  in  his  note  of  Jan.  14,  1918,  that 
all  the  secret  treaties  between  Russia  and 
England  and  other  countries  regarding  Per- 
sia were  abrogated  and  that  the  Russian  peo- 
ple wanted  to  return  to  Persia  everything 
that  had  been  taken  away  from  it  by  the 
Czar's  Generals.  The  Persian  Government, 
for  its  part,  declared  all  such  treaties  null 
and  void.  It  seemed  as  if  a  new,  free  life 
was  about  to  begin  for  the  Persian  people. 

But  it  did  not  turn  out  that  way.  In  the 
Spring  of  1918  the  English  gradually  occu- 
pied all  of  Persia.  The  English  promised  to 
evacuate  Persia  as  soon  as  the  Turks  were 
definitely  expelled  from  the  country,  and  to 
compensate  the  nation  for  all  the  requisitions 
made  by  the  English  troops.  The9  English 
Government's  note  of  March  12,  containing 
these  promises,  was  published  in  the  Persian 
newspaper  Baab  on  March  14.  The  English 
promised,  although  no  one  had  asked  them 
to  do  it,  to  help  the  Persian  people  in  the  re- 
building of  its  collapsed  economic  life.  In- 
stead of  this,  they  made  the  Persian  popula- 
tion their  slaves. 

Since  the  English  capitalists,  together  with 


THE   BOLSHEVIST   WORLD-OFFENSIVE 


307 


of  France  and  America,  have  destroyed 
their  world  rival,  German  imperialism,  and 
are  now  celebrating  their  victory,  the  capi- 
talists of  England  consider  it  a  favorable 
to  lay  their  hand  upon  the  whole  Per- 
lOmplre  for  good  and  all.  Thus  Persia 
luded  from  the  list  of  free  nations.  Her 
people  are  no  longer  free,  for  her  own  depots 
get  money  from  England  and  have  become 
England's  paid  servants.  As  a  heavy  burden 
will  they  lay  their  hand  upon  the  Persian 
people,  but  in  to  doing  they  will  still  remain 
the  prey  of  that  still  greater  wild  beast  of 
the  world.  English  capitalism,  which  wants 
to  suck  the  last  drop  of  blood  from  the 
Persian    people. 

BOLSHEVISM  IN  CHINA 

As  far  away  as  China  the  Bolshevist 
tentacles  have  stretched.  Agitation  began 
in  the  outlying  regions,  especially  in 
Mongolia   and    Manchuria,    as   early   as 

1918.  It  was  mainly  due  to  this  agita- 
tion that  China  again  resumed  her  rule 
over  Outer  Mongolia,  which  she  had 
nominally  abdicated  in  1913,  when  she 
had  granted  that  region  autonomy.  The 
so-called  tripartite  agreement  between 
China,  Outer  Mongolia  and  Russia  in 
1915  had  brought  no  real  improvement  of 
China's  position  toward  this  former  de- 
pendency, and  in  1918,  with  the  spread 
of  Bolshevism  and  general  disorder, 
China  began  to  be  seriously  alarmed  for 
the  safety  of  Peking.  In  this  attitude 
the  dignitaries  of  Urga  insisted  upon  the 
need  of  troops  to  guard  the  Siberian 
frontier.  On  June  23,  1919,  the  Outer 
Mongolian  Government  invoked  the  help 
of  Chinese  troops  to  prevent  the  crisis 
which  was  being  created  by  the  Buriats 
and  their  bandit  allies.    Since  November, 

1919,  Outer  Mongolia  has  again  come 
under  the  protection  of  Chinese  sover- 
eignty, and  for  this  restoration  of  an 
integral  portion  of  her  territory  China 


has,    indirectly,    the    influence    of    the 
Bolshevist  propaganda  to  thank. 

The  Soviet  Government  has  its  agita- 
tors in  China  as  well  as  in  Siberia,  but 
there  have  been  no  convincing  indica- 
tions as  yet  that  China  can  be  persuaded 
to  accept  the  doctrines  of  Bolshevism, 
though,  with  the  defeat  and  continuing 
retreat  of  the  Kolchak  armies,  and  the 
withdrawal  of  Kolchak  from  power,  the 
Bolshevist  menace  draws  ever  closer. 

JAPAN  AND  THE  REDS 

Concerning  Japan's  attitude  to  the  ad- 
vance of  Bolshevism  in  the  Far  East, 
Premier  Kei  Hara,  in  an  interview  given 
on  Dec.  25,  made  the  following  important 
statement : 

While  Japan  hopes  to  harmonize  her 
military  action  in  Siberia  with  that  of 
America,  and  to  square  it  with  the  gen- 
eral anti-Bolshevist  policy,  under  no  cir- 
cumstances can  she  permit  the  Red  in- 
fluence, as  long  as  it  remains  dangerous, 
to  touch  her  borders.  The  Japanese  can- 
not afford  to  permit  this  dangerous  in- 
fluence to  touch  her  territory,  and  we 
must  protect  ourselves  against  it  as  we 
would  against  a  great  scourge.  The  col- 
lapse of  the  Kolchak  Government  indi- 
cates that  Japan  and  the  Allies  are  de- 
ceived as  to  the  Red  weakness.  Just  what 
will  happen  no  one  knows,  nor  can  the 
Allies'  future  policy  in  European  Bolshe- 
vist Russia  be  prophesied,  but  Japan's 
own  position  must  be  clear:  a  Moscow 
Government  determined  to  spread  its 
doctrines  over  the  world  and  to  bring 
revolution  everywhere  must  not  touch  on 
our  borders. 

The  Premier  further  indicated  that 
Japan,  with  America's  consent,  was 
ready  to  take  military  action  in  the  mat- 
ter. His  words  made  clear  his  Govern- 
ment's determination  not  to  permit  any 
considerable  advance  of  the  Reds  beyond 
the  region  of  Lake  Baikal. 


Program  of  the  "Third  International 


i-> 


Moscow  Manifesto  Urging  Members  in  All  Democratic  Countries  to 
Seize  Power  by  Violent  Methods 


THE  members  of  the  Communist  Party 
and  the  Communist  Labor  Party  in 
the  United  States  have  openly  pro- 
claimed their  allegiance  to  the  radical 
body  known  as  the  Third  International, 
which  was  organized  at  a  convention  held 
in  Moscow  the  first  week  of  March,  1919. 
The  members  of  the  Socialist  Party  in 
this  country  are  also  voting  in  a  refer- 
endum to  decide  the  question  whether 
they  shall  affiliate  with  the  Moscow  body 
or  call  for  the  reorganization  of  the  So- 
cialist parties  of  the  world  in  a  new  in- 
ternational. In  view  of  these  facts  in- 
terest attaches  to  a  circular  letter  sent 
out  from  Moscow  to  all  the  parties  ad- 
hering to  the  Third  International,  giving 
the  views  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
that  organization  on  the  moot  question 
of  parliamentary  vs.  "  direct "  action,  in 
other  words,  violence. 

As  is  shown  by  the  text  of  this  mani- 
festo, which  reached  the  United  States 
via  German  Communist  papers  and  was 
printed  in  the  New  Yorker  Volkszeitung, 
the  Moscow  leaders  have  practically  no 
use  for  parliamentary  action,  except  as  a 
spectacular  means  of  agitation,  and  they 
welcome  the  support  of  anarchistic  agi- 
tators and  I.  W.  W.  bodies,  while  brand- 
ing such  prominent  Socialist  leaders  as 
Karl  Kautsky  in  Germany,  Jean  Longuet 
in  France,  and  Morris  Hillquit  in  America 
as  potentially  anti-Socialist. 

So  far  as  this  Bolshevist  message  ap- 
plies to  America  it  is  a  declaration  of 
war  on  the  United  States  Government 
and  a  call  to  American  Communists  to 
use  both  secret  and  violent  methods  to 
overthrow  the  present  republic  and  found 
in  its  place  a  dictatorship  of  labor  coun- 
cils. The  passages  advising  the  betrayal 
of  parliamentary  responsibilities  especial- 
ly are  of  timely  interest.  The  message 
reads  as  follows: 

Dear  Comrades: 

The  present  phase  of  the  revolutionary 
movement  has,  along  with  other  questions, 
very   sharply  placed   the  question   of  parlia- 


mentarism upon  the  order  of  the  day's  dis- 
cussion. In  France,  America,  England,  and 
Germany,  simultaneously  with  the  aggrava- 
tion of  the  class  struggle,  all  revolutionary 
elements  are  adhering  to  the  Communist 
movement  by  uniting  among  themselves  or 
by  co-ordinating  their  actions  under  the  slo- 
gan of  Soviet  power.  The  anarchist-syndi- 
calist groups  and  the  groups  that  now  and 
then  call  themselves  simply  anarchistic  are 
thus  also  joining  the  general  current.  The 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  In- 
ternational welcomes  this  most  heartily. 

In  France  the  syndicalist  group  of  Comrade 
Pericat  forms  the  heart  of  the  Communist 
Party ;  in  America,  and  also  to  some  extent 
in  England,  the  fight  for  the  Soviets  is  led 
by  such  organizations  as  the  I.  W.  W.  (In- 
dustrial Workers  of  the  World).  These 
groups  and  tendencies  have  always  actively 
opposed  the  parliamentary  methods  of  fight- 
ing. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  elements  of  the 
Communist  Party  that  are  derived  from  the 
Socialist  parties  are,  for  the  most  part,  in- 
clined to  recognize  action  in  Parliament,  too. 
(The  Loriot  group  in  France,  the  members  of 
the  A.  S.  P.  in  America  [possibly  meaning 
the  American  Socialist  Party],  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Labor  Party  in  England,  &c.)  All 
these  tendencies,  which  ought  to  be  united  as 
soon  as  possible  in  the  Communist  Party  at 
all  cost,  need  uniform  tactics.  Consequently, 
the  question  must  be  decided  on  a  broad 
scale  and  as  a  general  measure,  and  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national turns  to  all  the  affiliated  parties 
with  the  present  circular  letter,  which  is 
especially  dedicated  to  this  question. 

The  universal  unifying  program  is  at  the 
present  moment  the  recognition  of  the  strug- 
gle for  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  in 
the  form  of  the  Soviet  power.  History  has 
so  placed  the  question  that  it  is  exactly  on 
this  question  that  the  line  is  drawn  between 
the  revolutionary  proletariat  and  the  oppor- 
tunists, between  the  Communists  and  the 
social  traitors  of  every  brand.  The  so-called 
Centre  (Kautsky  in  Germany,  Longuet  in 
France,' the  I.  L.  P.  and  some  elements  of  the 
B.  S.  P.  in  England,  Hillquit  in  America)  is, 
in  spite  of  its  protestations,  an  objectively 
anti-Socialist  tendency,  because  it  cannot, 
and  does  not  wish  to,  lead  the  struggle  for 
the  Soviet  power  of  the  proletariat. 

On  the  contrary,  those  groups  and  parties 
which  formerly  rejected  any  kind  of  political 
struggle  (for  example,  some  anarchist 
groups)  have,  by  recognizing  the  Soviet 
powpr,  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat, 
really  abandoned  their  old  standpoint  as  to 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  "  THIRD  INTERNATIONAL 


b09 


political  action,  because  they  have  recognized 
tin  idea  of  the  seizure  of  power  by  the  work- 
ing class,  the  power  that  is  necessary  for  the 
suppression  of  the  opposing  bourgeoisie. 
Thus,  we  repeat,  a  common  program  for  the 
struggle  for  the  Soviet  dictatorship  has  been 
found. 

The  old  divisions  in  the  international  labor 
movement  have  plainly  outlived  their  time. 
The  war  has  caused  a  regrouping.  Many  of 
the  anarchists  or  syndicalists  who  rejected 
parliamentarism  conducted  themselves  Just 
as  despicably  and  treasonably  during  the  five 
years  of  the  war  as  did  the  old  leaders  of  the 
Social  Democracy,  who  always  have  the 
name  of  Marx  on  their  lips.  The  unification 
of  forces  is  being  effected  in  a  new  manner: 
fiome  are  for  the  proletariat  revolution,  for 
the  Soviets,  for  the  dictatorship,  for  mass 
action,  even  up  to  armed  uprisings — the  oth- 
ers are  against  this  plan.  This  is  the  princi- 
pal question  of  today.  This  is  the  main  cri- 
terion. The  new  combinations  will  be  formed 
according  to  these  labels,  and  are  being  so 
formed  already. 

In  what  relation  does  the  recognition  of 
the  Soviet  idea  stand  to  parliamentarism? 
Right  here  a  sharp  dividing  line  must  be 
drawn  between  two  questions  which  logi- 
cally have  nothing  to  do  with  each  other: 
The  question  of  parliamentarian*  as  a  de- 
sired form  of  the  organization  of  the  State 
and  the  question  of  the  exploitation  of  par- 
liamentarism for  the  development  of  the 
revolution.  The  comrades  often  confuse 
these  two  questions,  something  which  has 
an  extraordinarily  injurious  effect  upon  the 
entire  practical  struggle.  We  wish  to  dis- 
cuss each  of  these  questions  in  its  order, 
and  make   all   the  necessary  deductions. 

What  is  the  form  of  the  proletarian  dic- 
tatorship? We  reply:  The  Soviets.  This 
has  been  demonstrated  by  an  experience 
that  has  a  worldwide  significance.  Can 
the  Soviet  power  be  combined  with  par- 
liamentarism? No,  and  yet  again  no. 
It  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  ex- 
isting parliaments,  because  the  parlia- 
mentary machine  embodies  the  concentrated 
power  of  the  bourgeoisie.  The  deputies,  the 
Chambers  of  Deputies,  their  newspapers,  the 
system  of  bribery,  the  secret  connections 
of  the  parliamentarians  with  the  leaders  of 
the  banks,  the  connection  with  all  the  ap- 
paratuses of  the  bourgeois  State— all  these 
are  fetters  for  the  working  class.  They 
must  be  burst.  The  governmental  machine 
of  the  bourgeoisie,  consequently  also  the 
bourgeois  Parliaments,  are  to  be  broken, 
disrupted,  destroyed,  and  upon  their  ruins 
is  to  be  organized  a  new  power,  the  power 
of  the  union  of  the  working  class,  the 
Workers'  Parliaments;  i.  e..  the  Soviets. 

Only  the  betrayers  of  the  workers  can 
deceive  the  workers  with  the  hope  of  a 
"  peaceful  "  social  revolution  along  the  lines 
of  parliamentary  reforms.  Such  persons  are 
the  worst  enemies  of  the  working  class,  and 


a  most  pitiless  struggle;  must  be  waged 
against  them;  no  compromise-  with  them  is 
permissible.  Therefore,  our  slogan  for  any 
bourgeois  country  you  may  choose  is: 
"  Down  with  the  Parliament!  Long  live  the 
power  of  the  Soviets!" 

Nevertheless,  the  question  may  be  put  this 
way:  "  Very  well,  you  deny  the  power  of 
the  present  bourgeois  Parliaments;  then  why 
don't  you  organize  new,  more  democratic 
Parliaments  on  the  basis  of  a  real  uni- 
versal suffrage?"  During  the  Socialist  revo- 
lution the  struggle  "has  become  so  acute  that 
the  working  class  must  act  quickly  and  reso- 
lutely, without  allowing  its  class  enemies 
to  enter  into  its  camp,  into  its  organization 
of  power.  Such  qualifications  are  only 
found  in  the  Soviets  of  workers,  soldiers, 
sailors  and  peasants,  elected  in  the  fac- 
tories and  shops,  in  the  country  and  in  th<i 
barracks.  So  the  question  of  the  form  of 
the  proletarian  power  is  put  this  way.  Now 
the  Government  is  to  be  overthrown:  Kings, 
Presidents,  Parliaments,  Chambers  of  Depu- 
ties, National  Assemblies,  all  these  institu- 
tion are  our  sworn  enemies,  that  must  be 
destroyed. 

Now  we  take  up  the  second  basic  ques- 
tion :  Can  the  bourgeois  Parliaments  be 
fully  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  developing 
the  revolutionary  class  struggle?  Logically, 
as  we  just  remarked,  this  question  is  by  no 
means  related  to  the  first  question.  In  fact: 
A  person  surely  can  be  trying  to  destroy 
any  kind  of  organization  by  joining  it  and 
by  "  utilizing "  it.  This  is  also  perfectly 
understood  by  our  false  enemies  when  they 
exploit  the  official  Social  Democratic  par- 
ties, the  trade  unions,  and  the  like,  for  their 
purposes. 

Let  us  take  the  extreme  example:  The 
Russian  Communists,  the  Bolshevik!,  voted 
in  the  election  for  the  Constituent  Assembly. 
They  met  in  its  hall.  But  they  came  there  to 
break  up  this  Constituent  within  twenty-four 
hours  and  fully  to  realize  the  Soviet  power. 
The  party  of  the  Bolshevik!  also  had  its 
Deputies  in  the  Czar's  imperial  Duma.  Did 
the  party  at  that  time  "  recognize  "  the 
Duma,  as  an  ideal,  or  at  least  an  endurable, 
form  of  government?  It  would  be  lunacy  to 
assume  that.  It  sent  its  representatives 
there  so  as  to  proceed  against  the  apparatus 
of  the  Czarist  power  from  that  side,  too,  and 
to  contribute  to  the  destruction  of  that  same 
Duma.  It  was  not  for  nothing  that  the  Czar- 
ist Government  condemned  the  Bolshevist 
"  parliamentarians "  to  prison  for  "  high 
treason."  The  Bolshevist  leaders  were  also 
carrying  on  an  illegal  work,  although  they 
temporarily  made  use  of  their  "  inviola- 
bility "  in  welding  together  the  masses  for 
the  drive  against  Czarism. 

But  Russia  was  not  the  only  place  where 
that  kind  of  "  parliamentary  "  activity  was 
carried  on.  Look  at  Germany  and  the  activi- 
ties of  Liebknecht.  The  murdered  comrade 
was  the  perfect  type  of  a  revolutionist.    Was 


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THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


there,  then,  something  nonrevolutionary  in 
the  fact  that  he,  from  the  tribune  of  the 
accursed  Prussian  Landtag,  called  upon  the 
soldiers  to  rise  against  the  Landtag?  On  the 
contrary.  Here,  too,  we  see  the  complete  ad- 
missibility and  usefulness  of  his  exploitation 
of  the  situation.  If  Liebknecht  had  not  been  a 
Deputy  he  would  never  have  been  able  to 
accomplish  such  an  act;  his  speeches  would 
have  had  no  such  echo  as  they  had.  The 
example  of  the  Swedish  Communists  in  Par- 
liament also  convinces  us  of  this.  In  Sweden 
Comrade  Hoglund  played,  and  plays,  the 
same  r61e  that  Liebknecht  played  in  Ger- 
many. Making  use  of  his  position  as  a  Dep- 
uty, he  assists  in  destroying  the  bourgeois 
parliamentary  system ;  no  one  else  in  Sweden 
has  done  as  much  for  the  cause  of  the  revolu- 
tion and  the  struggle  against  the  war  as  our 
friend. 

In  Bulgaria  we  see  the  same  thing.  The 
Bulgarian  Communists  have  successfully  ex- 
ploited the  tribune  of  Parliament  for  revolu- 
tionary purposes.  At  the  recent  elections 
they  won  seats  for  forty-seven  Deputies. 
Comrades  Blagoieff,  Kirkoff,  Kolaroff,  and 
other  leaders  of  the  Bulgarian  Communist 
Party  understand  how  to  exploit  the  parlia- 
mentary tribune  in  the  service  of  the  proleta- 
rian revolution.  Such  "  parliamentary 
work  "  demands  peculiar  daring  and  a  spe- 
cial revolutionary  spirit ;  the  men  there  are 
occupying  especially  dangerous  positions; 
they  are  laying  mines  under  the  enemy 
while  in  the  enemy's  camp;  they  enter  Par- 
liament for  the  purpose  of  getting  this  ma- 
chine in  their  hands  in  order  to  assist  the 
masses  behind  the  walls  of  the  Parliament 
in   their  work  of  blowing  it  up. 

Are  we  for  the  maintenance  of  the  bour- 
geois "  democratic  "  Parliaments  as  the 
form  of  the  administration  of  the  State? 

No,  not  in  any  case.  We  are  for  the 
Soviets. 

But  we  are  for  the  full  utilization  of  these 
Parliaments  for  our  Communist  work— as 
long  as  we  are  not  yet  strong  enough  to 
overthow  the  Parliament. 

Yes,  we  are  for  this — in  consideration  of 
a  whole  list  of  conditions.  We  know  very 
well  that  in  France,  America  and  England 
no  such  parliamentarians  have  yet  arisen 
from  the  mass  of  the  workers.  In  those 
countries  we  have  thus  far  observed  a  pic- 
ture of  parliamentary  betrayal.  But  this  is 
no  proof  of  the  incorrectness  of  the  tactics 
that  we  regard  as  correct !  It  is  only  a 
matter  of  there  being  revolutionary  parties 
there,  like  the  Bolsheviki  or  the  German 
Spartacists.  As  soon  as  there  is  such  a 
party,  everything  can  become  quite  differ- 
ent. It  is  particularly  necessary:  (1)  that 
the  deciding  centre  of  the  struggle  should 
lie  outside  Parliament— strikes,  uprisings 
and  other  kinds  of  mass  action;  (2)  that 
the  activities  in  Parliament  be  confined  with 
this  struggle ;  (3)  that  the  deputies  also 
perform  illegal  work;  (4)  that  they  act  for 
the    Central    Committee    and    subject    to    its 


orders;  (5)  that  they  do  not  heed  the  par- 
liamentary forms  in  their  acts— have  no  fear 
of  direct  clashes  with  the  bourgeois  major- 
ity,   "  talk   past   it,"    &c. 

The  matter  of  taking  part  in  the  elections 
at  a  given  time,  during  a  given  electoral 
campaign,  depends  upon  a  whole  string  of 
concrete  circumstances,  which  in  each  coun- 
try must  be  particularly  considered  at  each 
given  time.  The  Russian  Bolsheviki  were 
for  boycotting  the  elections  for  the  first  Im- 
perial Duma  in  1906;  and  these  same  per- 
sons were  for  taking  part  in  the  elections 
for  the  second  Imperial  Duma,  when  it  had 
been  shown  that  the  bourgeois-agrarian 
power  would  still  rule  in  Russia  for  many 
a  year.  In  the  year  1918,  before  the  election 
for  the  German  National  Assembly,  one 
section  of  the  Sparticists  was  for  taking 
part  in  the  elections,  the  other  was  against 
it;  but  the  party  of  the  Sparticists  remained 
a   unified  Communist   Party. 

In  principle  we  cannot  renounce  the  utliza- 
tion  of  parliamentarism.  The  party  of  the 
Russian  Bolsheviki  declared  in  a  special 
resolution  in  the  Spring  of  1918,  at  its  Con- 
gress, when  it  was  already  in  power,  that 
the  Russian  Communists,  in  case  the  bour- 
geois democracy  in  Russia  through  a 
peculiar  combination  of  circumstances 
should  once  more  get  the  upper  hand,  might 
be  compelled  to  return  to  the  utilization  of 
bourgeois  parliamentarism.  Room  for 
manoeuvring  is  also  to  be  allowed  in  this 
respect. 

The  comrades'  principal  efforts  are  to  con- 
sist in  the  work  of  mobilizing  the  masses ; 
establishing  the  party,  organizing  their  own 
groups  in  the  unions  and  capturing  them, 
organizing  Soviets  in  the  course  of  the  strug- 
gle, leading  the  mass  struggle,  agitation  for 
the  revolution  among  the  masses — all  this  is 
of  first  line  importance;  parliamentary  ac- 
tion and  participation  in  electoral  campaigns 
are   only   helps   in   this   work,    no   more. 

If  this  is  so— and  it  undoubtedly  is  so— then 
it  is  a  matter  of  course  that  it  doesn't  pay 
to  split  into  factions  over  this  now  sec- 
ondary question.  The  practice  of  parlia- 
mentary prostitution  was  so  disgusting  that 
even  the  best  comrades  have  prejudices  re- 
garding this  question.  These  ought  to  be 
overcome  in  the  course  of  the  revolutionary 
struggle.  Therefore,  we  urgently  appeal  to 
all  groups  and  organizations  which  are  car- 
rying on  a  real  struggle  for  the  Soviets  and 
call  upon  them  to  unite  firmly,  even  despite 
lack  of  agreement  on   this   question. 

All  those  who  are  for  the  Soviets  and 
the  proletarian  dictatorship  wish  to  unite  as 
soon  as  possible  and  form  a  unified  Com- 
munist  Party. 

With  Communist  greetings, 

G.     ZINOVIEV, 
President,   Executive  Committee,   Communist 
International. 

Sept.    1.    1919. 


Lenin's  Statement  of  His  Aims 


The   Policy   of   the   Bolshevist   Government   at  Home   and  Abroad 

Expounded   by  Its  Leader 


NIKOLAI  LENIN,  the  chief  dictator 
of  Soviet  Russia,  gave  an  inter- 
view in  Moscow  last  Autumn  to 
an  American  journalist  after  exacting  a 
written  promise  that  his  statements 
would  be  published  "  in  more  than  100 
newspapers  of  the  United  States."  In 
his  answers  to  five  questions  propounded 
by  the  interviewer  Lenin  formulated  the 
existing  political  program  of  the  Bol- 
shevist Government.  The  version  here 
presented  appeared  in  the  Swedish  Bol- 
shevist paper  Folkets  Dagblad  Politiken, 
and  was  translated  by  The  London  Morn- 
ing Post  in  its  issue  of  Nov.  27,  1919. 
For  convenience  Current  History  places 
each  question  immediately  before  Lenin's 
answer,  which  follows  in  smaller  type. 
The  first  question  and  reply  are  as 
follows : 

1.  Modifications,  if  any,  of  original 
Bolshevist  program  of  internal,  foreign, 
and  economic  policy: 

The  program  of  the  Soviet  Government 
has  never  been  a  program  of  reforms,  but 
only  a  revolutionary  one.  Reforms  are 
merely  concessions  granted  by  the  gov- 
erning classes  on  the  condition  that  their 
rule  shall  remain  in  power.  Revolution  . 
is  a  throwing  over  of  the  ruling  classes. 
That  is  why,  whereas  a  program  of  re- 
forms generally  includes  a  large  number 
of  special  clauses,  our  program,  which  is 
revolutionary,  contains  as  its  principal 
basis  one  and  only  clause:  To  throw  over 
the  yoke  of  the  capitalists  and  landown- 
ers, to  break  their  power  and  liberate  the 
working  masses  from  their  exploiters. 
We  have  never  for  a  single  moment 
wavered  from  this  program.  The  special 
measures  aiming  at  the  realization  of  this 
program  have,  it  is  true,  often  been  modi- 
fied or  revised.  A  complete  list  of  such 
modifications  and  revisions  would  fill  a 
whole  book.  Therefore  I  will  limit  myself 
to  the  statement  that  there  exists  also 
another  general  point :  Our  Governmental 
policy,  which  has  given  occasion  for  the 
greatest  number  of  modifications  in  the 
sphere  of  special  measures,  viz.,  the 
breaking  of  the  resistance  put  up  by  the 
exploit,  is.  After  the  revolution  of  the  L'."«th 
of  October-7th  of  November,  1017.  \v.  did 
not  suppress  a  single  bourgeois  paper, 
and  there  was  not  the  slightesi  question 


of  any  sort  of  terror.  We  not  only  set 
free  several  Ministers  of  the  Kerensky 
Cabinet,  but  even  let  General  Krasnov 
out  of  prison,  who  immediately  took  up 
arms  against  us.  Only  after  the  exploit- 
ers, that  is  to  say  the  capitalists,  began  to 
organize  open  resistance  against  us,  we 
in  our  turn  started  systematically  to 
break  down  this  resistance,  having  re- 
course even  to  terror. 

This  was  the  answer  of  the  proletariat 
to  the  assistance  the  bourgeoisie  accorded 
to  the  plot  hatched  against  us  in  con- 
junction with  the  capitalists  of  Germany, 
England,  Japan,  America,  and  France, 
and  which  aimed  at  the  restoration  of  the 
power  of  the  exploiters  in  Russia.  Then 
came  the  bribing  of  the  Czechoslovaks 
with  English  and  French  capital ;  later 
still  the  support  of  French  and  German 
nv.ney  given  to  Yudenitch,  Denikin  and 
C«_  One  of  the  latest  plots,  which  has 
called  for  a  similar  "  modification  "—the 
sharp  reign  of  terror  applied  lately  to  the 
bourgeoisie  in  Petrograd— was  organized 
by  the  bourgeoisie  in  order  to  hand  over 
Petrograd  to  the  enemy;  also  the  attempt 
made  by  a  conspiracy  of  officers  to  take 
possession  of  the  fortress  of  Krasnaya 
Gorka,  and  the  attempts  by  English  and 
French  capitalists  to  bribe  the  personnel 
of  the  Swiss  Legation  and  officials  of  the 
Soviet  Government,  &c. 

2.  The  tactical  policy  of  the  Soviet 
Government  toward  Afghanistan,  India, 
and  other  Moslem  countries  outside  Rus- 
sia's frontiers: 

The  policy  of  the  Soviet  Government  re- 
garding Afghanistan,  India,  and  other 
Moslem  countries  outside  Russia  is  iden- 
tical with  our  tactics  regarding  the 
numerous  Moslem  and  other  non-Russian 
nationalities  living  within  Russia's  bor- 
ders. So,  for  instance,  we  have  giv.-n 
the  Bashkir  masses  the  possibility  to 
found  an  autonomous  republic  of  their 
own  within  Russia ;  we  favor  In  every 
way  the  free  and  independent  develop- 
ment of  all  nationalities,  and  encourage 
the  circulation  and  spreading  of  litera- 
ture published  in  the  spoken  languages  of 
these  nationalities;  on  the  other  hand, 
we  translate  into  every  one  of  these  lan- 
guages and  spread  with  all  means  in  our 
possession  our  Soviet  Constitution,  which 
has  the  misfortune  to  appeal  to  more 
than  one  thousand  million  inhabitants  of 
this  planet,  belonging  to  the  oppressed 
•  nationalities  deprived  of  their  rights  and 


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THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


inhabiting  the  colonies  and  vassal  States 
of  the  Western  powers.  Our  Constitution 
appeals  to  these  millions  a  great  deal 
more  than  the  "  democratic  "  Constitu- 
tions of  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
which  support  the  private  ownership  of 
land  and  capital,  and  consolidate  the 
power  of  a  handful  of  "  civilized  "  capi- 
talists to  oppress  the  workers  of  their 
own  countries,  and  also  hundreds  of  mill- 
ions of  human  beings  in  their  Asiatic, 
African,  and  other  colonies. 

3.  The    political    and    economic    aims 

pursued  in  relation  to  the  United  States 

and  Japan: 

As  regards  the  United  States  and  Japan, 
our  aims  are  first  of  all  political ;  to  resist 
the  cynical  and  criminal  attack  of  these 
countries  on  Russia ;  an  attack  which  has 
all.  the  distinctive  qualities  of  highway 
robbery,  and  the  only  aim  of  which  is  to 
serve  the  capitalists  of  these  aforesaid 
countries.  We  have  repeatedly  and  sol- 
emnly offered  these  two  countries  to 
make  peace,  but  they  have  not  even  an- 
swered us,  and  continue  to  wage  war  on 
us  by  helping  Kolchak  and  Denikin,  by 
plundering  the  regions  of  Murmansk  and 
Archangel,  by  trying  to  grab  East  Siberia, 
where  the  Russian  peasants  are  showing 
heroic  resistance  to  the  American  and 
Japanese  brigands.  Our  political  and 
economic  aims  continue  to  be  the  same 
regarding  all  countries,  the  United  States 
and  Japan  included ;  a  brotherly  union 
with  the  workers  in  all  lands  without  ex- 
ception. 

4.  Peace     conditions     with     Kolchak, 
Denikin,  and  Yudenitch: 

The  conditions  on  which  we  are  ready 
to  make  peace  with  Denikin,  Kolchak,  and 
Yudenitch  have  been  specified  by  us  sev- 
eral times  in  writing  in  precise  and  ex- 
plicit terms.  These  conditions  have  been 
communicated  by  us  to  several  people, 
and  specially  to  Mr.  Bullitt,  who  nego- 
tiated with  us,  and  with  me  personally  in 
Moscow,  on  behalf  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  were  repeated  in 
our  letter  to  Fr.  Nansen,  &c.  It  is  not  our 
fault    if    the    Government    of    the    United 


States  and  others  are  afraid  to  publish 
these  documents  in  their  entirety  and 
prefer  to  keep  them  secret  from  their 
peoples.  I  limit  myself  to  repeating  our 
principal  conditions :  We  are  ready  to 
repay  all  debts  to  France  and  other  coun- 
tries, on  the  understanding  that  the  peace 
will  be  an  effective  peace  and  not  merely 
a  peace  of  words— that  is  to  say,  that  this 
peace  will  be  formally  and  officially 
signed  by  all  the  allied  and  associated 
powers— because  Denikin,  Kolchak,  Yude- 
nitch and  Co.  are  only  mere  puppets  in 
the  hands  of  the  Governments  of  these 
powers. 

5.  Message  to  the  American  people: 

Compared  with  feudalism,  capitalism,  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  has  been  a  step 
forward  on  the  way  toward  "  freedom," 
"  equality,"  "  democracy,"  and  "  civiliza- 
tion." But,  nevertheless,  capitalism 
always  was  and  remains  a  system  of 
"  paid  slavery,"  where  thousands  of 
millions  of  workers  and  peasants  have 
remained  for  ages  in  a  servile  state  under 
the  yoke  of  a  minority  of  modern  slave- 
owners, landlords,  and  capitalists.  The 
bourgeois-democracy  has  merely  slightly 
altered  the  form  of  this  economic  slavery ; 
as  compared  with  feudalism,  the  bour- 
geois-democracy has  managed  to  cleverly 
mask  this  slavery,  but  it  has  not,  and  is 
unable  to,  alter  the  substance  of  this 
slavery. 

Capitalism  has  become  the  greatest  and 
most  powerful  peril  to  the  development  of 
humanity.  It  has  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  a  clique  of  multi-millionaires  and  mill- 
ionaires, who  compel  the  masses  to 
slaughter  each  other  in  order  to  solve  the 
question  which  group  of  robbers— the  Ger- 
man or  the  Franco-English  one— shall  to- 
day gain  possession  of  the  imperialistic 
plunder,  own  all  the  colonies,  hold  the 
ruling  financial  interests,  and  get  all  the 
mandatory  powers  over  the  oppressed 
nationalities. 

Details  of  Lenin's  pi'opaganda  cam- 
paign to  undermine  and  overthrow  the 
United  States  Government  and  many 
other  existing  Governments  are  given 
elsewhere  in  these  pages. 


The  Soviet  System  and  Ours 

An  Analysis  and  Deadly  Parallel 

By  BURTON  L.  FRENCH* 

Congressman  From  Idaho 


WHAT  is  the  Soviet  system  of 
government,  and  do  we  want 
it?  A  Government  has  no  right 
to  exist  save  only  as  it  serves 
the  highest  interests  of  the  people  who 
make  up  the  Government  and  who  come 
into  contact  with  it.  Now,  if  the  Soviet 
system  is  better  than  ours,  by  all  means 
let  us  adopt  it;  let  us  lay  aside  the 
experiment  in  government  that  we  have 
tried  for  over  100  years  and  take  over 
the  Soviet  system  that  promises  so  much. 
It  is,  then,  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
comparison  of  the  essential  principles  of 
the  Soviet  system  with  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  the  representative  system  such 
as  we  know  it  in  America  that  I  want 
to  consider  the  question. 

In  January,  1918,  the  group  of  Rus- 
sian people  headed  by  Lenin  and  Trotzky 
adopted  what  might  be  called  a  declara- 
tion of  rights,  and  on  July  10,  1918,  the 
All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  formally 
adopted  a  constitution,  and  this  instru- 
ment recites  that  the  bill  of  rights  is 
part  of  the  organic  law.  These  docu- 
ments are  the  basic  foundation  of  the 
Soviet  Government.  The  form  of  gov- 
ernment is  known  as  Soviet,  and  the 
active  leaders  in  its  support  are  Bolshe- 
vists. 

Strangely  enough,  a  good  many 
writers  seem  to  assume  that  the  only 
unique  feature  of  the  Soviet  Government 
is  group  representation.  For  instance, 
Oswald  G.  Villard,  in  a  paper  in  the  of- 
ficial organ  of  the  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science,  The  Annals,  for  July, 
1919,  on  the  "  Need  of  Social  Reorganiza- 
tion in  America,"  said: 

There  is  something  attractive  in  group 
representation,  which  is  what  the  Soviet  is. 

Again  he  says: 

Tet  the  other  day  one  of  our  own  Amer- 
ican officials  at  Paris  solemnly  assured 
the  newspaper  men  that  if  the  Soviet 
type  of  government  were  made  really 
representative,  he  saw  no  reason  why  it 


should  not  be  as  democratic  as  any  Gov- 
ernment, if  not  more  so.  It  was  only  to 
the  men  who  were  running  the  present 
unfair  and  undemocratic  Soviet  Govern- 
ment in  Russia  that  our  Government  ob- 
jected, he  declared. 

I  desire  to  discuss  group  representa- 
tion under  the  Soviet  Government  a  little 
later  on,  and  I  think  before  I  get  through 
it  will  be  quite  clear  that  group  repre- 
sentation is  a  mere  feature  of  the  Soviet 
form  of  government.  It  is  merely  the 
sugar-coating  to  the  pill. 

The  American  official  referred  to  by 
Mr.  Villard  says  if  the  Soviet  type  of 
government?  were  made  "  really  repre- 
sentative, it  would  be  as  democratic  as 
any  Government,  if  not  more  so."  You 
might  as  well  say  that  if  black  were 
made  white  it  would  be  white.  The  fact 
of  the  business  is  there  is  absolutely  no 
philosophy  by  which  the  Soviet  form  of 
government  can  be  made  representative 
unless  the  fundamental  principles  on 
which  it  rests  shall  be  transformed  and 
changed  as  completely  as  the  changes  of 
elements  would  be  in  color  to  make  black 
white. 

STRUCTURE  OF  THE  SYSTEM 

From  an  examination  of  the  Soviet 
Constitution,  it  appears  that  the  execu- 
tive authority  is  combined  with  the  legis- 
lative, and  there  is  no  mention  of  a 
judiciary.  Also  it  will  be  seen  that  Rus- 
sia for  its  government  is  divided  into 
units  of  various  sizes,  just  as  is  the 
United  States.  We  have  the  country  as 
a  whole — States,  counties,  and  other  local 
units,  such  as  districts,  precincts,  or 
parishes,  or  urban  units,  such  as  cities, 
towns,  and  villages,  depending  upon  the 

•The  striking  analysis  of  the  Russian 
Soviet  system  of  government  here  given  to 
Current  History  readers  was  formally  pre- 
sented to  the  National  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  a  speech  delivered  by  Congressman 
French  on  Dec.  9,   1919. 


314 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


State.  Then  we  have  the  different  bodies 
chosen  to  govern  in  these  units.  So  in 
Russia. 

Russia,  considered  as  a  whole,  is 
divided  into  regions,  provinces,  counties, 
and  rural  and  village  units.  Then  we 
have  the  governing  body  for  each  unit. 
This  governing  body  is  known  as  a 
Soviet.  There  is  no  magic  in  the  word 
"  Soviet."  It  merely  means  a  council. 
It  means  a  legislative  or  deliberative 
body.  It  might  as  well  be  called  a  coun- 
cil, a  congress,  or  a  parliament.  In  Rus- 
sia there  are  several  different  Soviets — 
the  local  rural,  the  rural,  the  village  or 
urban,  the  county,  the  provincial,  the 
regional,  and  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets.  These  may  correspond  to  de- 
liberative bodies  of  our  precincts,  our 
counties,  our  States,  and  our  nation. 

Now,  so  far  there  is  nothing  incon- 
gruous. But  how  are  the  Soviets  elected? 

SOVIETS—HOW  ELECTED 
In  the  first  place,  instead  of  the  people 
voting  by  parties  or  by  groups  represent- 
ing public  opinion,  they  vote,  at  least 
theoretically,  by  trades  or  crafts.  This 
point  I  want  to  discuss  later.  But  for 
whom  do  they  vote?  For  members  of 
the  All- Russian  Congress  of  Soviets? 
No.  For  members  of  the  regional  or  pro- 
vincial Soviet?  No.  For  members  of  the 
county  Soviet?  No.  For  members  of  the 
local  Soviet?  Yes.  That  is,  the  people 
voting  by  trades  elect  members  of  the 
particular  craft  to  which  they  belong  to 
•the  local  Soviet.  Now,  this  is  all  the 
part  the  people  themselves  have  in  this 
much  heralded  government. 

The  people,  then,  or,  I  shall  say,  those 
of  the  people  who  have  the  franchise,  in 
theory  have  the  right  to  vote  for  the 
members  of  the  local  Soviet.  The  local 
Soviet  in  the  cities  is  called  the  urban 
Soviet;  in  the  country  it  is  called  the 
rural  local  Soviet. 

Now,  this  represents  the  final  respon- 
sibility that  is  placed  upon  the  people. 
There  probably  never  was  devised  a 
clearer  way  to  show  the  contrast  between 
two  objects  being  compared  than  to  do  as 
Portia  did  when  she  said,  "  Look  on  this 
picture  and  then  on  this."  Having  that 
in  mind,  I  am  going  to  try  to  examine 
the   Russian   Government  by   placing  it 


alongside  of  the  Government  of  your  own 
country.  Let  me  then  direct  your  atten- 
tion to  the  different  units  of  government 
as  they  exist  in  Russia  and  the  corre- 
sponding units  of  government  as  they 
exist  in  the  United  States. 

COMPARISON   OF   LEGISLATIVE 
BODIES 

I  want  you  to  consider  first  the  legis- 
lative bodies  that  exist  in  Russia  and 
the  subdivisions  of  government  under 
Russia  and  the  legislative  bodies  that 
exist  in  the  United  States  from  our 
Federal  Government  through  the  States 
on  down  to  the  officers  elected  in  our 
precincts,  villages,  and  towns. 

LEGISLATIVE       BODIES        OF       RUSSIA 

(UNDER   SOVIET   SYSTEM)    AND   THE 

UNITED     STATES— HOW     CHOSEN 

The   deadly  parallel 


Russia 

1.  All-Russian     Con- 
gress of  Soviets. 
Members     are 

chosen  by  mem- 
bers of— 

(a)  Urban    Soviets. 

(b)  Provincial  So- 
viets (but  pro- 
vincial Soviet  is 
not  elected  by 
the  people). 

2.  Regional    Soviet. 
Members      are 

chosen  by— 

(a)  Urban  Soviets. 

(b)  County  Soviets 
(but  the  county 
Soviet  is  not 
elected  by  the 
people). 

3.  Provincial    Soviet. 
Members   are 

chosen   by   mem- 
bers of— 

(a)  Urban  Soviets. 

(b)  Rural  Soviets 
(but  the  rural 
Soviet  is  not 
elected  by  the 
people). 

4.  County  Soviet. 
Members    are 

chosen  by   mem- 
bers  of— 
(a)  Urban      Soviets 
(in  cities  of  not 
more    than    10,- 
000). 


United  States 
Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives, 
Elected   by   direct 
vote  of  people. 


No  governmental  sub- 
division to  corre- 
spond (would  be 
like  a  group  of 
States,  as  New 
England  States). 


State  Legislatures, 
Elected  by  the  di- 
rect vote  of  the 
people. 


County    Commissions 
or  similar  offices, 
Elected  by  the  di- 
rect vote  of  the 
people. 


THE  SOVIET  SYSTEM   AND   OURS 


$16 


Russia 
(b)  Rural  Soviets 
(but    the    rural . 
Soviets  are   not 
elected    by    the 
people). 

5.  Rural  Soviet. 
Members    are 

chosen  by  mem- 
bers  of— 

(a)  Village  Soviets 
(of  less  than 
1,000   people). 

(b)  R  u  r  a  1  local 
Soviets  (the  peo- 
ple allowed  to 
vote  for  village 
and  local  Soviet 
members). 

6.  Local  Soviet. 

(a)  Rural  local 
Soviet.  Elected 
by  part  of  the 
people. 

(b)  Urban  Soviet. 
Deputies  elected 
by  part  of  the 
people.     - 


United  States 


No  corresponding 
governmental  sub- 
division. (It  is  less 
than  a  county  and 
more  than  a  town- 
ship.) 


Precinct,       township, 
or    other    local    or- 
ganization, 
Officers  elected  by 
the  people. 
City,    town,   and  vil- 
lage offices. 
Elected      by      the 
people. 

The  parallel  to  which  I  have  called 
your  attention  is  most  striking.  Take 
first  the  highest  legislative  body  in  the 
United  States — the  Congress.  It  is  made 
up  of  Senators  and  Representatives 
elected  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  people. 
For  over  a  hundred  years  we  chose  our 
Senators  in  indirect  manner;  that  is,  the 
Senators  were  elected  by  members  of  the 
Legislature  who  themselves  were  elected 
by  the  people. 

RUSSIAN   VOTER'S    LIMITATIONS 

In  Russia  the  highest  legislative  body 
is  known  as  the  All-Russian  Congress  of 
Soviets.  Do  the  people  vote  for  the  mem- 
bers of  that  body?    Not  at  all. 

The  farmer  in  Russia  votes  for  his 
rural  local  Soviet  member,  and  when  he 
casts  that  ballot  his  power  as  a  voter 
has  come  to  an  end.  The  members .  of 
that  local  Soviet  vote  to  elect  members 
to  the  rural  Soviet;  the  members  of  the 
rural  Soviet  then  vote  to  elect  members 
to  the  Provincial  Soviet;  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Provincial  Soviet  vote  to  elect 
members  to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of 
Soviets. 

In  other  words,  as  the  Senator  of  the 
United  States  in  the  olden  times  used 
to  be  once  removed  from  the  American 
voter,  the  members  of  the  All-Russian 


Congress  of  Soviets  are  three  timet 
moved  from  the  Russian  farmer.  The 
city  voter  is  trusted  more  than  the 
farmer,  for  he  votes  direct  for  his  urban 
representative,  who  in  turn  votes  for  the 
member  of  the  All-Russian  Congress  of 
Soviets. 

In  Russia  the  political  organization 
that  is  less  than  the  entire  nation  is  what 
is  known  as  a  region.  It  would  cor- 
respond in  the  United  States  to  a  group 
of  States  such  as  the  New  England 
States  or  the  Pacific  Coast  States.  In 
the  United  States  we  have  no  political 
organization  that  presides  over  or  is  re- 
sponsible to  a  group  of  our  States.  The 
State  itself  is  the  only  unit  above  the 
county  between  the  county  and  the  Fed- 
eral Government.  However,  under  the 
Russian  Soviet  system  the  members  of 
the  legislative  body  known  as  the  regional 
Soviet  are  chosen  not  by  the  people  but 
by  the  urban  and  county  Soviets,  the 
uiban  Soviet  members  being  elected  in 
the  cities  by  the  direct  vote  of  those  of 
the  Russian  people  who  ai'e  permitted 
the  ballot,  while  the  county  Soviets  are 
twice  removed  from  the  farmer,  who 
again  cannot  be  trusted  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  voting  for  so  much  as  a 
county  officer  in  Russia.  Each  body 
has  charge  of  and  elects  its  own  officers. 

The  next  political  unit  in  Russia  is  the 
province.  This  unit  corresponds  with 
the  State  under  our  own  system.  In 
Russia  the  Provincial  Soviet,  a  legisla- 
tive body,  is  made  up  of  members  elected 
by  whom?  The  people?  Not  at  all.  It 
is  made  up  of  members  elected,  first,  by 
the  urban  Soviets,  who  are  elected  by  the 
people,  and  by  the  rural  Soviets,  who  are 
once  removed  from  the  people.  In  the 
United  States  our  State  legislatures  are 
elected  by  whom?    By  the  people. 

In  the  translation  of  the  Constitution 
of  Russia  that  I  have,  the  word  "county" 
is  used  as  the  English  equivalent  of  the 
Russian  word,  and  it  corresponds  with 
a  small  section  of  country  similar  to  the 
county  in  our  own  Government.  In  the 
United  States  the  persons  who  are  in- 
trusted with  the  supervision  of  county 
affairs  are  the  County  Commissioners. 
These  officers  are  elected  by  the  people 
just  as  are  our  Senators  and  members 


316 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


of  the  House,  and  just  as  are  members 
of  the  Legislatures.  In  Russia  we  find 
that  the  members  of  the  county  Soviet 
are  not  chosen  by  the  people;  they  are 
chosen  by  the  urban  Soviets  and  by  the 
rural  Soviets. 

We  pass  to  the  organizations  that  are 
less  than  the  county  Soviet,  and  we  find 
rural  Soviets  made  up  of  members  who 
are  elected  not  by  the  people  but  by  two 
groups,  first,  the  village  voter,  from  vil- 
lages whose  population  is  less  than  1,000 
people,  and  by  the  rural  local  Soviet.  In 
the  cities  of  more  than  10,000  people  we 
find  urban  Soviets.  The  members  of  the 
urban  Soviets,  the  members  of  the  village 
Soviets,  and  the  members  of  the  local 
rural  Soviets  receive  their  franchise 
direct  from  the  people.  This  is  Russia. 
This  is  the  Soviet  system. 

OUR  CONSTITUTION 

The  struggle  for  liberty,  the  struggle 
for  the  right  to  participate  in  govern- 
ment, is  one  that  is  close  to  the  life 
thought  of  English-speaking  people.  It 
is  close  to  the  life  thought  of  the  Amer- 
ican people.  As  we  search  the  traditions 
that  tell  of  the  struggles  for  parlia- 
mentary government  in  Great  Britain  we 
go  back  to  the  time  when  Magna  Charta 
was  wrested  from  King  John.  We  go 
back  to  the  time  when  Edward  the  First, 
I  believe,  called  together  the  noblemen  of 
Great  Britain  in  repeated  conclaves  that 
could  be  considered  a  forerunner  of  the 
legislative  bodies  of  today  in  Great 
Britain.  And  then  we  drafted  our  own 
Constitution,  written  by  the  lifeblood  of 
the  bravest  of  our  land  and  amid  the 
suffering  of  all  our  people.  We  drafted 
such  a  Constitution  as  would  reserve  to 
the  people  themselves  the  right  to  cast 
their  votes  for  the  members  of  the  most 
numerous  branch  of  their  national  rep- 
resentative body  and  made  only  once  re- 
moved from  the  people  the  Senate,  and 
within  the  last  six  years  that  one  bar- 
rier that  has  stood  between  the  people 
and  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  has 
been  broken  down,  and  today  the  Amer- 
ican people  vote  not  only  for  their  pre- 
cinct and  village  and  city  officers  as  do 
the  Russian  people,  whose  power  is  ex- 
hausted with  such  vote,  but  our  people 
vote  as  well   for   their  county  officers, 


they  vote  for  their  State  officers,  and 
for  the  officers  that  represent  them  in 
the  great  legislative  bodies  of  all  the 
States  and  of  the  United  States. 

There  never  was  a  system  applied  to 
any  large  country  that  was  more  free, 
more  democratic  than  is  the  system  ap- 
plied in  the  United  States,  and  there 
never  was  a  system  under  which  the  peo- 
ple could  hold  their  representatives  to 
greater  responsibility  than  in  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  hand,  there  never 
was  a  representative  system  in  any  gov- 
ernment that  is  worthy  of  the  name  so 
tyrannical  and  so  calculated  to  separate 
the  people  from  their  right  to  participate 
in  government  as  the  system  that  has 
been  devised  by  the  Soviet  rulers  of 
Russia. 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICERS 

Now  let  us  pass  on  to  the  executive 
officers  in  Russia  and  the  executive  offi- 
cers in  the  United  States.  For  com- 
parison I  have  again  presented  what  I 
have  called  the  deadly  parallel.  The 
executive  officers  of  all  Russia  are  what 
are  termed  in  the  Constitution  the  com- 
missars. 

Russia  United  Stetes 

1.  The  executive  of-         The     President     is 
ficers    of    all    Russia      elected     by     electors 
are  chosen  by  the  All-      chosen  by  the  direct 
Russian   Executive      vote  of  the  people  to 
Committee,    which   is      vote  for  a  particular 
chosen    by    the    All-      person. 
Russian   Congress   of 
Soviets,     which    is 
chosen   by  provincial 
and  urban  Soviets,  &c. 

(In  Russia  the  chief         (In    the    United 
executive      is      three      States   the   President 
times    removed    from      is  once  removed  from 
the    city    voter    and      the   people), 
five    times    removed 
from    the    rural 
voter). 

2.. Regional  and  pro-  Governors  areelect- 

vincial   executive   of-      ed  by   direct  vote  of 
ficers  are  chosen  by      the    people, 
the     respective 
Soviets,  which  them- 
selves are  not  chosen 
by  the  people. 

The  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets 
is  necessarily  a  very  large  body  and  it 
is  an  unwieldly  body.  For  the  purpose, 
then,  of  close  executive  administration 
the  Constitution  provides  that  there  shall 
be  an  executive  committee  appointed  of 


THE  SOVIET  SYSTEM   AND   OURS 


317 


200  members.  This  executive  committee 
is  chosen  by  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets.  As  the  congress  itself  is 
once  removed  from  the  city  dweller  and 
three  times  removed  from  the  country 
dweller,  the  committee  chosen  by  the  con- 
gress is  two  times  and  four  times,  re- 
spectively, removed  from  these  groups 
of  Russian  people. 

This  committee  then  selects  another 
committee  of  seventeen  members,  which 
is  called  the  council  of  people's  commis- 
sars, each  member  of  which  presides  over 
another  committee  chosen  by  the  council 
and  which  exercises  the  function  of  a 
Cabinet  department  of  the  Government. 
The  Chairman  of  each  committee  is  the 
chief  executive  of  the  particular  depart- 
ment to  which  the  business  of  the  com- 
mittee pertains.  The  Chairman  of  the 
Foreign  Affairs  Committee  and  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Army 
and  the  Navy  become  necessarily  the 
most  important  members  of  the  Russian 
Government,  and  the  Chairmanship  of 
the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  is  the 
office  that  is  now  filled  by  Lenin.  It  is 
by  virtue  of  being  Chairman  of  this 
commissariat  that  Mr.  Lenin  l.as  become 
what  we  popularly  call  the  Premier,  the 
head  of  the  Russian  Government.  The 
Chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Mili- 
tary Affairs  is  the  office  filled  by 
Trotzky. 

Mr.  Lenin,  then,  is  responsible  not  to 
the  people,  not  to  the  country,  not  to  the 
State  or  province.  He  is  responsible  to 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  All- 
Russian  Congress  of  Soviets,  which  in 
turn  is  responsible  to  the  congress.  He 
is  from  three  to  five  times  removed  from 
the  voting  power  of  the  people  of  Russia. 

Contrast  this,  if  you  please,  with  the 
Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States. 
The  President,  it  is  true,  is  not  elected  by 
a  direct  vote  of  the  people,  but  by 
electors  who  are  chosen  with  the  specific 
duty  of  voting  for  a  particular  candidate 
for  President.  For  more  than  a  hundred 
years  we  have  followed  this  system  and 
no  man  has  ever  failed  to  vote  for  the 
candidate  for  President  for  whom  he  was 
chosen  to  cast  his  ballot.  It  is  practi- 
cally the  same  as  the  people  themselves 
voting  direct  for  President.  No  choice 
is  given  to  the  elector.     He  becomes  a 


sort  of  living  ballot  typifying  the  vote 
of  the  people.  He  expresses  the  voice, 
the  wish  of  the  people.  Is  it  possible 
that  any  thoughtful  person  can  contrast 
this  system  with  the  system  that  obtains 
in  Russia  and  find  that  the  system  in 
Russia  is  more  democratic? 

But  how  about  organizations  that  are 
less  extensive  than  all  of  Russia?  As  I 
said,  we  have  no  political  organization 
that  corresponds  to  the  regional  organi- 
zation that  exists  in  Russia,  and  I  shall 
say  in  passing  merely  that  the  executive 
officers  of  the  regional  organization  in 
Russia  are  appointed  by  the  regional 
Soviet  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  the 
officers  of  all  Russia  are  appointed  by 
the  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets.  But 
the  title  "  people's  commissar "  belongs 
only  to  an  officer  of  all  Russia  and  may 
not  be  used  by  an  officer  of  a  lesser 
unit. 

We  then  pass  to  the  Provincial  Gov- 
ernment, which  corresponds  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  States.  In  the  United  States 
the  Chief  Executive  of  every  State  is 
chosen  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  people. 
Not  so  in  Russia.  The  executives  of  each 
province  are  chosen  by  and  are  respon- 
sible to  the  provincial  Soviet,  which,  as 
I  have  already  indicated,  is  a  body  that 
is  not  elected  by  the  people. 

I  shall  not  pursue  the  matter  further 
with  the  lesser  organizations  in  Russia, 
other  than  to  say  that,  while  the  people 
in  the  United  States  vote  for  their  execu- 
tive officers  in  precinct,  in  village,  and 
in  county,  all  the  executive  officers,  from 
the  local  Soviet  through  the  urban  and 
village  Soviets  up  to  the  county  Soviets, 
are  chosen  not  by  the  people  but  by  the 
Soviets  themselves  of  the  region  over 
which  they  are  expected  to  preside. 

REPRESENTATION 

From  what  I  have  said  we  need  not 
be  surprised  in  turning  to  the  basis  of 
representation  in  the  legislative  bodies 
of  Russia  under  the  Soviet  system  to 
find  that  this  basis  of  representation  is 
such  as  to  place  as  much  of  the  respon- 
sibility as  possible  in  the  groups  of  labor- 
ers who  are  organized  by  trades  and  in 
the  hands  of  soldiers  and  sailors  and 
as  little  as  possible  in  the  hands  of  the 
farmers. 


318 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


I  have  prepared  again  what  I  have 
called  the  deadly  parallel  and  again  I 
want  you  to  "  look  on  this  picture  and 
then  on  this  " — the  one  being  the  method 
of  apportioning  representation  to  the 
legislative  bodies  in  Russia  and  the  other 
the  method  of  apportioning  representa- 
tion to  the  legislative  bodies  in  the 
United  States: 

BASIS     OF    REPRESENTATION    IN    THE 
LEGISLATIVE    BODIES    OF    RUSSIA 
(UNDER  SOVIET  SYSTEM)   AND 
THE    UNITED    STATES. 
The   deadly   parallel 
Russia  United  States 

Senate 
Two  Senators  elected 
from  each  State. 


House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 
Rep  resentatives 
chosen  from  States 
on  basis  of  popula- 
tion (farmers  shar- 
ing equally  in  gov- 
ernment with  city 
population). 


No    similar    body    In 
United  States. 


Ail-Russian  Congress 
of   Soviets. 
Members      chosen 
by- 

1.  Urban  Soviets 
(cities   and   towns). 

(One  member  elect- 
ed for  every  25,000 
voters). 

2.  Provincial  Soviets 
(representing  urban 
and  country  popula- 
tion). 

(One  member  elect- 
ed for  every  125,000 
inhabitants). 

Regional 

Regional  Soviet  is 
made  up  of— 

1.  One  representa- 
tive for  every  5,000 
city   voters ;    and 

2.  One  representa- 
tive for  every  25,000 
inhabitants  of  the 
county. 

Provincial 
Provincial   Soviet  is 
made  up   of— 

1.  One  representa- 
tive for  every  2,000 
voters  in  the  city ; 
and 

2.  One  representa- 
tive for  every  10,000 
inhabitants  of  rural 
districts. 

In  Russia  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  people  are  farmers,  and  only  six  of 
the  fifty  provinces  have  any  consider- 
able population  engaged  in  nonrural  in- 
dustries. Lenin  and  Trotzky  when  they 
seized  control  knew  that  if  they  were  to 
retain  their  control  and  pass  it  on  to 
others  capable  of  thinking  along  similar 
lines  it  would  be  necessary  for  them  to 
work  out  a  system  by  which  the  crafts- 
men and  the  men  in  the  army  and  navy 


State 

State  Senators  ap- 
portioned by  counties 
or  on  basis  of  popu- 
lation. 

State  representa- 
tives apportioned  on 
basis  of  population. 


would  have  an  unfair  and  undue  share  in 
the  representation  in  the  legislative 
bodies.  Accordingly  we  find  the  Con- 
stitution solemnly  declaring  that  one 
member  to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of 
Soviets,  if  he  shall  represent  city  people, 
shall  be  elected  for  every  25,000  voters, 
and  if  he  represents  provincial  people — 
the  farmers — one  member  shall  repre- 
sent 125,000  inhabitants.  The  Constitu- 
tion uses  the  word  "  voter "  as  applied 
to  the  city  dweller,  but  "  inhabitant "  as 
applied  to  the  country.  The  reason  is 
plain.  The  farmer  must  be  disfranchised. 
Remember,  now,  that  both  men  and  wo- 
men in  Russia  over  18  years  of  age 
under  certain  conditions  may  vote. 
In  the  city  is  where  we  find  the 
large  groups  of  men  and  women 
who  are  working  in  factories  or 
in  mines  and  mills  and  who  are  unat- 
tached. In  and  near  the  city  is  where  we 
find  the  soldiers.  This  is  where  we  find 
the  sailors.  In  the  cities  of  Russia  we 
will  find  the  very  people  for  whose  in- 
terest the  Soviet  Government  exists,  and 
it  is  for  that  reason  that  the  Constitution 
is  so  drafted  as  to  give  the  city  dweller 
of  Russia  a  greater  representation  in 
their  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets 
than  is  given  to  the  farmers. 

FURTHER   DISCRIMINATIONS 

Notice  further  that  the  population  of 
the  city  is  figured  in  with  the  population 
of  the  country  for  the  basis  of  province 
representation,  thus  giving  an  additional 
double  representation  to  the  city. 

Now,  when  you  go  to  the  regional  unit 
in  Russia,  you  find  the  same  principle 
applied.  One  representative  to  the  city 
dweller  is  given  to  every  5,000  voters, 
while  the  county  as  a  whole  is  given 
one  representative  for  every  25,000  in- 
habitants. 

Notice  again  that  the  city  population 
is  included  in  making  up  the  county  pop- 
ulation, and  thus  has  an  additional  double 
representation.  And  when  you  go  to  the 
provincial  unit  the  city  dweller  is  given 
one  representative  in  the  provincial  So- 
viet for  every  2,000  voters,  while  the 
farmers  are  given  one  representative  for 
every  10,000  inhabitants. 

Examine  the  Constitutions  of  all  coun- 
tries that  pretend  to  be  civilized  and  you 


THE  SOVIET  SYSTEM   AND   OURS 


819 


will  not  find  a  more  flagrant  abuse  in 
the  organic  act  of  apportionment  of  rep- 
resentation among  the  people  than  you 
will  find  in  the  Constitution  of  the  So- 
viet Government  of  Russia.  Do  those 
who  urge  that  system  in  the  United 
States  propose  to  disfranchise  the  farm- 
ers of  the  United  States?  Is  that  part 
of  their  theory?  Or  shall  we  assume, 
as  I  have  assumed,  that  those  who  have 
carelessly  spoken  words  of  approval  of 
the  Soviet  system  are  not  aware  of  the 
plan  that  they  have  so  lightly  indorsed? 

I  have  pointed  out  that  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment is  organized  so  as  to  deliberate- 
ly eliminate  the  farmer.  And  I  now 
come  to  another  instance  in  point.  I 
have  said  that  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets  is  chosen  by  the  urban  Soviets 
and  the  provincial  Soviets.  But  the 
urban  Soviets  are  elected  by  city  folks 
alone,  while  city  and  country  folks  unite 
to  elect  the  provincial  Soviets.  That 
gives  the  city  people  double  representa- 
tion and  cuts  down  correspondingly  the 
representation  of  the  country. 

The  same  principle  applies  to  the 
regional  Soviet.  The  members  of  the 
regional  are  elected  by  the  urban  and 
county  Soviets.  The  city  voters  elect  the 
urban  Soviets  and  then  through  the 
urban  Soviets  have  a  part  in  electing 
the  county  Soviets.  The  v.-hole  scheme 
is  devised  and  worked  out  to  take  away 
from  the  farming  communities  political 
power  and  to  vest  it  in  the  hands  of 
soldiers  and  sailors  and  craft  groups. 

CLASS  AGAINST  CLASS 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of 
the  Russian  Constitution  is  that  which 
has  to  do  with  representation  from  the 
standpoint  of  political  units  or  groups 
of  people  through  which  may  be  had 
an  expression  of  opinion. 

In  all  kinds  of  orderly  government 
heretofore  men  have  been  intrusted  with 
responsibility  because  they  have  stood 
for  a  policy;  their  position  might  be  af- 
firmative or  it  might  be  negative,  but  at 
least  their  position  was  comparable. 

This  is  the  system  that  obtains  in 
France,  Italy,  Great  Britain,  Switzer- 
land, Canada,  New  Zealand,  Australia, 
and  in  the  United  States.  It  is  the  sys- 
tem   that   it   seems   commends   itself   to 


thoughtful  people  everywhere.  There 
are  variations  in  the  terms  through 
which  the  system  is  worked  out,  but, 
after  all,  the  one  principle  is  held  in 
view  that  people  should  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  acting  as  units  of  thought.  This 
principle  is  applied  in  the  county  when 
the  issue  is  whether  or  not  a  system  of 
county  roads  shall  be  built.  It  is  applied 
in  the  State  on  State  issues,  and  it  Is 
applied  in  the  National  Government.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  people  of  our  great  land 
have  learned  to  think  on  big  subjects  as 
well  as  upon  little  subjects.  We  have 
learned  to  think  on  issues  that  confront 
the  nation  and  the  world  as  well  as 
issues  that  confront  the  precinct  and 
the  county. 

In  Russia,  it  is  solemnly  set  forth  in 
the  Constitution  that  the  representation 
accorded  to  the  people  shall  come  from 
the  class  to  which  they  belong.  That  is, 
a  group  of  carpenters  in  a  city  shall  elect 
a  carpenter  to  the  Soviet,  the  blacksmiths 
shall  elect  a  man  who  can  swing  a  ham- 
mer, the  painters  shall  elect  one  of  their 
own  group,  while  the  farmers  shall  elect 
a  farmer. 

Here  is  a  distinctive  feature  of  the 
Soviet  system,  and  let  us  analyze  it. 
What  does  it  mean?  It  means  selfish 
interest,  pure  and  simple.  It  means  self- 
interest  magnified  to  the  nth  power.  It 
means  that  the  carpenter  as  he  considers 
a  candidate  for  the  urban  Soviet,  shall 
have  in  mind  not  Russia,  but  a  province 
of  Russia,  not  a  county,  but  a  little 
group  of  carpenters  in  the  particular 
community  which  selects  a  member  to  the 
urban  Soviet.  It  means  that  the  black- 
smith will  not  think  of  the  interests  of 
carpenters  or  peasants,  that  he  will  not 
think  of  the  interests  of  all  Russia,  or 
the  regional  or  provincial  group,  but  that 
he  will  think  of  the  interests  selfishly  of 
those  who  work  at  the  forge.  It  means 
that  the  farmer  will  shut  his  eyes  to  the 
well-being  of  everything  else  in  his  coun- 
try and  think  of  nothing  but  the  welfare 
of  the  farmer  of  Russia. 

It  means  in  its  last  analysis  selfishness 
to  a  degree  unheard  of,  and  it  means 
disintegration  of  national  sentiment  and 
of  national  power.  No  people  can  be 
taught  to  look  in  and  not  out  without 


320 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


becoming  narrow,  selfish,   suspicious  of 
others. 

OUR  REPRESENTATIVE  SYSTEM 

Now,  it  is  urged  in  behalf  of  this  sys- 
tem that  every  trade  and  craft  is  thereby 
given  representation,  but  let  us  look  a 
little  further.  I  have  already  shown  from 
the  Constitution  that  the  people  vote 
merely  for  the  members  of  the  urban 
Soviet  in  the  city  and  the  rural  local 
Soviet  in  the  country.  These  people,  it 
is  true,  are  limited  in  their  choice  of 
representation  to  a  member  of  the  craft 
to  which  they  belong,  but  when  the  local 
Soviet  elects  to  the  county  Soviet  or 
when  the  county  and  urban  Soviets  elect 
to  the  provincial  or  regional  Soviet  or 
when  the  regional  and  urban  Soviets 
elect  to  the  All-Russian  Congress  of 
Soviets  there  is  absolutely  no  limitation 
in  their  choice  and  the  members  of  the 
county  Soviet  under  the  Russian  Con- 
stitution could  all  be  carpenters  or  black- 
smiths, and  so  could  the  members  of  the 
provincial,  the  regional,  and  the  AU- 
Russian  Congress  of  Soviets.  What,  then, 
becomes  of  the  Government  that  recog- 
nizes each  trade  group?  Under  that 
system  how  can  there  be  a  more  gener- 
ous distribution  of  people  in  legislative 
bodies  from  among  the  trades  than  there 
is  under  our  own  system  in  our  State,  in 
our  nation? 

Our  system  means  that  every  carpen- 
ter, that  every  blacksmith  will  have  in 
view  the  broad  vision  of  his  country,  of 
his  State,  of  his  county,  and  that  every 
American  citizen  will  be  able  to  assume 
the  responsiiblity  of  citizenship  that 
recognizes  something  broader  and  larger 
than  the  selfish  interests  that  are 
wrapped  around  the  particular  profes- 
sion or  trade  or  craft  with  which  he 
happens  to  be  identified. 

THE    FRANCHISE 

In  a  Government  that  has  been  herald- 
ed so  widely  as  being  the  most  profound 
experiment  in  democracy  that  has  ever 
been  undertaken,  we  would  naturally  ex- 
pect that  the  franchise  would  be  along 
lines  that  would  recognize  all  mankind 
embraced  within  the  citizenship  of  the 
nation  as  standing  upon  an  equal  footing. 
The  United  States  has  for  many  years 


adhered  to  that  principle.  It  was  that 
principle  largely  for  which  our  fathers 
died  when  they  established  our  Govern- 
ment, and  yet  that  principle  seems  foreign 
to  the  way  of  thinking  of  Lenin  and 
Trotzky  as  they  shaped  the  Russian 
Constitution. 

Now,  may  I  draw  the  deadly  parallel 
of  the  franchise  as  it  exists  in  Russia 
under  the  Soviet  system  according  to 
the  Constitution  and  as  it  exists  in  the 
United    States : 

THE   FRANCHISE    UNDER    THE    SOVIET 

SYSTEM     IN     RUSSIA     AND     IN 

THE    UNITED    STATES 


RUSSIA. 

1.  The  franchise  ex- 
tends to  all  over  18 
years  of  age  who 
have  acquired  the 
means  of  living 
through  labor  that  ia 
productive  and  use- 
ful to  society  and 
also  persons  engaged 
in  housekeeping  for 
the  former. 

2.  Soldiers  of  the 
army  and  navy. 

3.  The  former  two 
classes  when  inca- 
pacitated. 

Disfranchised  and 
not  eligible  for  of- 
fice: 

1.  Persons  who  em- 
ploy hired  labor  in 
order  to  obtain  from 
it  an  increase  in 
profits. 

2.  Persons  who 
have  an  income 
without  doing  any 
work,  such  as  inter- 
est from  capital,  re- 
ceipts from  property, 
&c. 

3.  Private  mer- 
chants, trade  and 
commercial  brokers. 

4.  Monks  and 
clergy  of  all  denom- 
inations. 

5.  Employes  and 
agents  of  the  former 
police,  the  gendarme 
corps,  and  the  Czar's 
secret  service ;  also 
members  of  the  for- 
m  e  r  reigning  d  y- 
nasty. 

6  and  7.  Persons 
unfit  on  account  of 
mental  ailment  or 
criminal    record. 


UNITED   STATES. 

The  franchise  ex- 
tends to  men  in  all 
States  (and  women 
in  many  States,  and 
soon  in  all)  who  are 
citizens  and  over  21 
years  of  age,  less 
those  disfranchised 
on  account  of  illit- 
eracy, mental  ail- 
ment, or  criminal 
record. 


THE   SOVIET   SYSTEM   AND    OURS 


321 


Bear  in  mind  the  liberal  franchise  with 
which  the  American  Nation  meets  her 
citizens  and  let  me  ask  you  to  con- 
template the  franchise  that  is  handed 
out  to  the  people  of  Russia.  All  people 
of  Russia  who  are  18  years  of  age  or 
over  who  have  acquired  the  means  of 
living  through  labor  that  is  productive 
and  useful  to  society  and  persons  en- 
gaged in  housekeeping  in  behalf  of  the 
former  are  entitled  to  the  franchise.  Who 
else?  The  soldiers  of  the  army  and 
navy.  Who  else?  Any  of  the  former 
two  classes  who  have  become  incapaci- 
tated. 

THOSE   WHO   CANNOT  VOTE 

Now  turn  to  the  next  sections  of  the 
Russian  Constitution  and  see  who  are 
disfranchised. 

The  merchant  is  disfranchised;  minis- 
ters of  all  denominations  are  disfran- 
chised; and  then,  while  condemning  the 
Czar  for  tyranny,  the  Soviet  Constitu- 
tion solemnly  declares  that  those  who 
were  in  the  employ  of  the  Czar  or  had 
been  members  of  certain  military  and 
police  groups  and  the  members  of  the 
families  of  those  who  had  ruled  in  Rus- 
sia for  many  generations  shall  be  denied 
suffrage. 

Persons  who  have  income  from  capital 
or  from  property  that  is  theirs  by  reason 
of  years  of  frugality,  industry,  and  thrift 
are  penalized  by  being  denied  the  right 
to  vote.  They  are  placed  in  the  class 
with  criminals,  while  the  profligate,  the 
tramp  who  works  only  enough  to  obtain 
the  means  by  which  he  can  hold  body 
and  soul  together,  is  able  to  qualify 
under  the  Constitution  of  Russia  and  is 
entitled  to  a  vote.  Under  this  system  in 
the  United  States  the  loyal  men  and 
women  who  bought  Liberty  Bonds  in 
their  country's  peril  would  be  disfran- 
chised while  the  slacker  would  have  the 
right  of  suffrage. 

Persons  who  employ  hired  labor  in 
order  to  obtain  from  it  an  increase  in 
profits  may  not  vote  or  hold  office. 
Under  that  system  the  manufacturer 
who  furnishes  employment  for  a  thou- 
sand men  would  be  denied  the  ballot, 
while  those  in  his  employ  could  freely 
exercise  the  right  of  franchise.  Under 
that  system  the  farmer  who  hires  a  crew 


of  men  to  help  him  harvest  his  crop  is 
denied  the  franchise.  Under  that  system 
the  dairyman  who  hires  a  boy  to  milk 
his  cows  or  to  deliver  milk  is  denied  the 
franchise. 

The  farmer  is  discriminated  against, 
especially  in  the  fixing  of  the  groups  of 
people  who  are  disfranchised  under  this 
last  provision  to  which  I  have  directed 
attention. 

Does  the  soldier  employ  labor?    No. 

Does  the  sailor  employ  labor?    No. 

Does  the  craftsman  employ  labor?  Not 
generally. 

In  the  cities  those  who  are  interested 
in  industrial  lines  are  very  few  in  com- 
parison with  the  craftsmen,  the  soldiers, 
and  the  sailors;  but  how  about  the  coun- 
try? We  know  that  every  successful 
farmer  now  and  then  needs  to  employ  ad- 
ditional labor.  He  needs  to  employ  it 
when  he  puts  in  his  crop;  sometimes  he 
employs  it  when  he  is  caring  for  the 
crop;  usually  he  must  employ  it  when 
the  harvest  season  is  on.  Now,  what 
does  this  mean?  It  means  that  in  all 
Russia  every  farmer  who  has  gumption 
enough  to  continue  his  business  along 
such  lines  as  make  it  necessary  that  he 
employ  so  much  as  one  man  to  help  him 
in  his  work  when  the  services  of  that 
man  are  of  assistance  in  increasing  the 
income  of  the  farmer  is  disfranchised. 

No;  the  whole  scheme,  with  all  the 
other  iniquities  that  I  have  indicated,  is 
a  deliberate  plan  to  eliminate  the  farm- 
ers, the  peasants  of  Russia,  from  a  share 
in  their  Government. 

But  this  provision  of  the  Constitution 
is  more  deadly  still.  It  crushes  out  all 
progress,  all  ambition.  The  carpenter 
who  would  like  to  take  a  contract  and 
employ  men  to  help  him  in  his  work 
must  forfeit  his  right  to  vote.  The  black- 
smith who  is  enterprising  and  puts  a 
second  forge  and  anvil  into  his  shop  and 
employs  a  helper  must  forfeit  his  fran- 
chise. The  farmer  who  is  frugal  and 
thrifty  and  industrious,  and  who  em- 
ploys another  man  to  help  him  put  in 
his  crop  or  tend  it  or  harvest  it,  thereby 
loses  his  right  to  vote.  In  other  words, 
here  is  a  system  that  chains  men  down; 
here  is  a  system  that  makes  men  slaves; 
here  is  a  system  that  puts  a  premium  on 


322 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


sloth  and  indolence  and  stupidity,  and 
chains  the  hands  of  him  who  would 
arise. 

OTHER  AMAZING  FEATURES 

The  Constitution  of  Russia  adopts  the 
declaration  of  rights  as  part  of  the  or- 
ganic act  to  the  extent  that  changes  have 
not  been  made  by  the  Constitution.  Ex- 
amining them — the  Constitution  and  the 
declaration  of  rights — we  find  other 
most  astonishing  doctrines  in  the  Soviet 
fundamental  law.  I  shall  not  discuss, 
but  merely  mention  only  a  few  of  them. 
They  do  not  pertain  so  much  to  the 
structure  of  government  as  they  do  to 
the  economic  and  social  conditions  sur- 
rounding the  people  under  the  Soviet 
system : 

1.  Private  ownership  of  land  is  abol- 
ished. (No  compensation,  open  or  secret, 
is  paid  to  the  former  owner.) 

2.  Civil  marriage  alone  is  legal. 

(a)  By  act  of  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets  a  marriage  may  be  accomp- 
lished by  the  contracting  parties  declar- 
ing the  fact  orally  or  by  writing  to  the 
Department   of  Registry   of  Marriage. 

(b)  Divorce  is  granted  by  petition  of 
both  or  either  party  upon  proof  alone  that 
divorce   is  desired. 

3.  The  teaching  of  religious  doctrines  is 
forbidden  in  private  schools  as  well  as  in 
schools  that  are  public. 

4.  No  church  or  religious  society  has  the 
right  to  own  property.  (The  Soviet  lead- 
ers boldly  proclaim  the  home  and  the 
church  as  the  enemies  of  their  system, 
and  from  the  foregoing  it  would  seem  that 
they  are  trying  to  destroy  them.) 

5.  Under  the  general  authority  granted 
to  the  Soviets  by  the  Constitution  in- 
heritance of  property  by  law  or  will  has 
been  abolished. 

These  amazing  features  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  enacted  under  the 
Constitution  speak  more  eloquently  than 
any  words  that  could  be  used  to  amplify 
them  in  portraying  the  hideousness  of  a 
system  of  government  that,  if  permitted 
to  continue,  must  inevitably  crush  out 
the  home  in  large  part  by  the  flippancy 
with  which  marriage  and  divorce  are 
regarded,  by  the  refusal  of  permitting 
the  land  to  be  held  in  private  ownership, 
and  by  refusing  the  parent  the  right  at 
death  to  pass  on  to  his  wife  or  to  his 
children  the  fruits  of  years  of  toil. 
Furthermore,  the  Constitution  has  gone 
as   far  as  it   seems  it  could   go   in  the 


effort  to  wipe  out  religious  thought  and 
to  make  Russia  an  atheistic  nation.  No 
church  or  religious  society  may  own 
property,  and  religious  doctrines  which 
could  properly  be  barred  from  public 
schools  may  not  be  taught  in  even  a  pri- 
vate school.  That  means  that  the  home, 
shattered  and  wrecked  as  it  is,  shall  be 
the  only  centre  in  which  religious  ideas 
may  be  reasonably  considered  and  there 
can  be  no  general  and  systematic  com- 
parison of  religious  views,  or  culture,  re- 
finement, and  purity  of  life  attained 
through  their  general  consideration. 

A  PYRAMID  OF  TYRANNY 

If  what  I  have  said  in  analyzing  the 
Russian  Soviet  Constitution  is  amazing; 
if  the  disfranchisement  of  the  people  by 
arrangement  of  representation  in  thw 
Soviets  and  by  the  withholding  of  suf. 
frage  is  startling;  if  the  provisions  to 
which  I  have  just  referred  pertaining  to 
the  ownership  of  land,  inheritance,  limi- 
tations on  religious  teachings  are  hideous, 
there  is  one  feature  still  that  is  impos- 
sible in  connection  with  a  Government  of 
people  who  would  be  free. 

I  refer  to  the  language  of  the  Con- 
stitution that  specifically  provides  that 
in  a  pyramidal  manner  the  power  of 
each  Soviet  increases  from  the  small  unit 
to  the  higher  until  in  the  All-Russian 
Congress  of  Soviets  complete  and  abso- 
lute authority  has  been  conferred.  This 
feature  of  the  system  is  so  amazing 
that  I  want  you  to  read  the  three  sec- 
tions of  the  Constitution  which  confer 
this  tyrannous  power: 

Section  12.  The  supreme  power  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Re- 
public belongs  to  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets,  and,  in  periods  between  the 
convocation  of  the  congress,  to  the  All- 
Russian  Central  Executive  Committee. 

Section  50.  Besides  the  above-mentioned 
questions  (broad  powers  conferred  speci- 
fically in  Section  49),  the  All-Russian 
Congress  and  the  All-Russian  Central 
Executive  Committee  have  charge  of  all 
other  affairs  which,  according  to  their 
decision,    require    their    attention. 

Section  62.  The  Congress  of  Soviets  and 
their  executive  committees  have  the  right 
to  control  the  activity  of  the  local  Soviets 
(i.  e.,  the  regional  congress  controls  all 
Soviets  of  the  respective  regions ;  the  pro- 
vincial, of  the  respective  province,  with 
the  exception  of  the  urban  Soviets,  &c.) ; 
and    the    regional    and    Provincial    Con- 


THE   SOVIET   SYSTEM   AND    OURS 


389 


gresses  and  their  executive  committees, 
in  addition,  have  the  right  to  overrule 
the  decisions  of  the  Soviets  of  their  dis- 
tricts, giving  notice  in  important  cases  to 
the  central   Soviet  authority. 

What  I  have  said  in  analyzing  the 
Russian  Soviet  system  is  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  the  Constitution  is  ad- 
hered to  and  that  the  provisions  of  the 
Government,  such  as  they  are,  are  faith- 
fully followed  throughout  Russia.  Dis- 
graceful and  tyrannical  as  the  system 
would  be  were  it  carried  out  according 
to  the  letter  of  the  Soviet  Constitution, 
the  cold,  bare  fact  is  that  the  Soviet  Con- 
stitution is  not  respected  by  those  who 
are  trusted  with  responsibility  under  it. 

In  a  system  in  which  the  executive 
authority  is  so  far  removed  from  the 
people,  the  executives  have  not  hesitated 
in  their  arbitrary  rule  to  exercise  this 
function  of  government.  All  over  the 
part  of  Russia  that  is  dominated  by  the 
Soviet  Government  terrorism  prevails, 
and  the  terrorism  emanates  from  the 
central  authority  of  Government  as  it  is 
represented  in  Lenin  and  Trotzky. 

THE  SYSTEM  IN  PRACTICE 

I  have  talked  with  man  after  man  who 
has  come  back  from  Russia  and  each 
tells  the  same  story.  Not  only  are  elec- 
tions set  aside  and  not  only  are  the 
people  dominated  in  this  high-handed 
way,  but  all  who  dare  to  stand  in  the 
path  of  the  all-powerful  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Russian  Government  are 
dealt  with  most  ruthlessly.  Men  and 
women  are  murdered  by  the  officers  of 
the  Government  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  they  are  opposed  to  the  Soviet  sys- 
tem. Indeed,  more  than  that,  the  rela- 
tives of  men  who  have  had  the  courage 
of  their  convictions  have  been  murdered 
because,  forsooth,  they  happened  to  have 
kinsmen  who  were  brave  enough  to  stand 
out  in  their  communities  against  the  Rus- 
sian system.  This  high-handed  system 
of  butchery  and  death  that  has  prevailed 
for  more  than  two  years  has  been  car- 
ried on  to  such  an  extent  that  in  large 
part  the  educated,  the  thoughtful,  the 
well-trained  men  and  women  of  Russia 
have  been  exterminated  or  have  been 
driven  from  the  country.  These  are  not 
idle  tales;  these  are  the  reports  and 
statements  that  come  to  us  from  those 


who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  close 
observation  in  Russia,  no  matter  whether 
they  have  been  Russians  themselves  or 
citizens  of  other  countries  who  have  had 
the  opportunity  or  the  dread  privilege  of 
spending  months  in  Russia  during  the 
regime  of  Lenin  and  Trotzky. 

More  than  that,  the  very  system  has 
reflected  itself  upon  the  industrial  life 
of  Russia.  It  was  ushered  in  as  a  sys- 
tem that  would  be  the  panacea  for  labor 
disturbances,  that  would  mean  equality 
among  the  people  of  Russia,  but  what 
has  been  the  result?  Before  the  system 
was  adopted,  even  in  spite  of  two  or 
three  years  of  war  in  which  Russia  had 
been  constantly  engaged,  her  factories 
were  operating,  her  railroads  were  be- 
ing administered,  her  cities  filled 
with  populous  throngs,  and  albeit  the 
hardship  of  war  was  present,  Russia  was 
a  live  nation,  but  what  is  the  situation 
today?  Factories  have  been  closed  or 
destroyed  until  at  this  time  there  is  only 
a  small  percentage  of  factories  and  mills 
of  Russia  in  operation  in  comparison 
with  those  that  were  running  only  two 
years  ago  at  the  beginning  of  the  Soviet 
regime. 

The  whole  history  of  Russia  for  the 
last  two  years  has  been  that  of  a 
saturnalia  of  financial,  of  social,  of  in- 
dustrial ruin,  with  all  that  those  words 
imply.  Worse  still  than  that:  following 
Lenin  and  Trotzky  into  authority  rode 
the  four  horsemen  of  the  Apocalypse — 
War,  Famine,  Pestilence,  and  Death — 
and  the  population  of  Petrograd,  the 
capital  of  Russia,  has  been  reduced  in 
two  years  from  more  than  2,000,000  to 
between  500,000  and  750,000  people  today. 
The  population  of  other  fair  cities  and 
splendid  country  settlements  has  been 
woefully  chastised.  Famine,  hunger, 
disease — these  are  raising  havoc  in  all 
the  parts  of  Russia  that  are  under  the 
rule  of  the  Soviet;  and  through  the  curse 
of  that  despotic  system — the  brute  force 
of  Bolshevism  that  is  masking  in  the 
name  of  democracy — untold  thousands  of 
that  brave  people  are  forfeiting  their 
lives  because  they  stand  for  law  and 
order  and  decency  in  government. 

THE  ARRAIGNMENT 
What,    then,    is    my    arraignment    of 


324 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


Sovietism  according  to  the  Soviet  Con- 
stitution? 

1.  The  people  have  no  direct  vote  or 
voice  in  government,  except  the  farmers 
in  their  local  rural  Soviets  and  the  city 
dwellers   in  their  urban   Soviets. 

2.  The  rural,  county,  provincial,  regional, 
and  all-Russian  Soviets  are  elected  indi- 
rectly, and  the  people  have  no  direct  vote 
in  the  election. 

3.  The  people  have  no  voice  in  the  elec- 
tion of  executive  officers  of  the  highest 
or  lowest  degree. 

4.  There  is  no  mention  of  justice  or 
judicial  officers  in  the  Constitution. 

5.  The  people  are  very  largely  disfran- 
chised. 

6.  The  farmer  of  Russia  is  discriminated 
against : 

(a)  Equal  representation  is  denied  him. 

(b)  He  may  vote  for  only  the  members 
of  the  local  rural  Soviet,  not  for  rural, 
county,  provincial,  regional,  or  All-Rus- 
sian Congress  of  Soviets. 

(c)  The  farmer  who  employs  any  profit- 
able labor  is  disfranchised. 

(d)  The  city  voter  has  a  double  voice  in 
electing  the  regional  and  all-Russian 
Soviets. 

7.  The  system  raises  class  against  class ; 
the  voters  vote  by  trade  and  craft  groups 
instead  of  on  the  basis  of  thought  units. 

(a)  This  means  rank  selfishness. 

(b)  It  kills  national  and  even  provincial 
and  county  interest  or  loyalty. 

8.  The  system  strikes  a  blow  at  the 
church  and  the  home. 

9.  The  system  is  pyramidal  and  means 
highly  centralized  and  autocratic  power. 

A    WORD    IN    CONCLUSION 

No;  the  Soviet  system  of  government 
cannot  be  defended.  It  is  against  the 
interests  of  the  very  man  for  whom  it  is 


supposed  to  have  been  established — the 
laboring  man.  He  is  the  man  most  of 
all  who  must  suffer  under  any  kind  of 
government  or  system  that  is  wrong. 
He  is  the  man  who  would  be  out  of 
bread  within  the  shortest  time.  He  is 
the  man  whose  family  would  be  destitute 
of  clothing  in  the  shortest  time.  He  is 
the  man  whose  family  will  suffer  most 
through  disease,  famine,  and  pestilence 
in  the  shortest  time. 

As  it  is  against  the  best  interest  of 
the  laboring  man,  so  it  is  against  the 
best  interest  of  all  our  people,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  overwhelming  mass 
of  people  of  this  country  and  all  coun- 
tries is  made  up  of  laboring  people. 

For  what  did  our  boys  fight  at  St. 
Mihiel,  the  Argonne,  and  Belleau  Wood? 
Was  it  for  the  Soviet  system  of  govern- 
ment? No;  a  thousand  times  no.  Rather 
it  was  for  a  system  of  government  where 
the  ideals  of  free  peoples  prevail,  where 
there  is  freedom  of  religious  worship, 
where  there  is  no  stricture  upon  the  con- 
science of  man,  where  there  is  liberty 
of  voice  and  the  press,  where  justice  is 
administered  to  all  alike,  and  where  the 
people,  regardless  of  race  or  creed,  re- 
gardless of  religious  or  political  thought, 
may  have  the  right  of  an  equal  share 
in  the  responsibilities  of  government. 
They  fought  and  they  died  for  America, 
whose  Government  in  warp  and  woof  was 
created  for  the  people,  is  of  the  people, 
and  is  maintained  by  the  people  of  our 
splendid  land. 


What  Bolshevism  Would  Mean  in  America 

Senate    Committe's  Report 

The  United  States  Senate  passed  a  resolution  on  Feb.  U,  1919,  directing  a 
judiciary  sub-committee  to  investigate  Bolshevist  propaganda  in  the  United  States. 
This  committee  made  a  thorough  inquiry,  calling  witnesses  from  both  the  friends 
and  the  opponents  of  the  Soviet  system,  and  at  length  formulated  an  elaborate  re- 
port, the  substance  of  which  appeared  in  the  Congressional  Record  of  Dec.  12,  1919. 
The  salient  features  of  that  official  report  are  as  follows: 

CONFISCATION  on  a  wholesale  scale 
has  been  used    [in   Soviet  Russia] 
as  a  means  of  undertaking  to  create 
and  maintain  tangible  assets  that  could 
be  used  as  the  economic  foundation  upon 
which  could  be  built  the  industrial  and 


financial  superstructure  of  the  Bol- 
shevist State.  By  constitutional  edicts 
and  by  a  series  of  decrees  issued  by  the 
dictatorship  all  land,  forests,  and  natural 
resources  of  Russia  have  been  confis- 
cated by  the  Government  in  order  that 


WHAT    BOLSHEVISM    WOULD    MEAN    IN    AMERICA 


the  Bolshevist  Government  may  become 
the  landlord  of  the  entire  population  and 
exercise  the  control  incident  thereto. 
Where  a  man  shall  live  and  toil  and  till 
the  soil  is  determined  by  the  State,  and 
the  right  to  determine  the  nature  and 
extent  of  each  man's  domicile,  and  the 
power  to  compel  the  migration  of  the 
peasant  from  the  locality  of  his  birth  or 
adoption,  even  to  the  extent  of  separating 
families  as  the  population  of  the  various 
communities  expands  or  contracts,  is  ex- 
ercised by  the  Bolshevist  Government 
through  the  laws  which  it  has  decreed 
for  the  control  of  the  people. 

The  alleged  purpose  of  the  seizure  of 
land  by  the  Government  was  that  tLe  right 
to  the  land  might  be  transferred  to  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  people  of  Russia,  in 
order  that  the  individual  Russian  peasant 
might  become  the  unrestrained  and  un- 
restricted architect  of  his  own  future 
economic  development,  but  the  methods 
adopted  by  the  Bolsheviki  have  merely 
transferred  the  landlordship  from  the 
large  landowners,  and  in  many  instances 
from  the  peasant  group  themselves,  to 
the  Bolshevist  Government,  and  the  pres- 
ent control  by  that  Government  is  not 
confined  to  the  land  itself,  as  was  the 
control  of  the  landowners  under  the  old 
regime,  but  extends  as  well  to  the  per- 
sons and  even  the  tools,  implements,  and 
products  of  the  peasants.  The  aged  and 
infirm  are  deprived  of  all  right  to  utilize 
and  enjoy  during  their  declining  years 
the  soil  their  efforts  may  have  enriched, 
because  their  physical  strength  makes 
them  powerless  to  perform  all  of  the 
labor  incident  to  its  full  cultivation. 
They,  thereupon,  become  mere  pension- 
ers of  the  State. 

This  system  guarantees  to  the  peasant 
only  the  present  enjoyment  of  a  given 
piece  of  land,  and  consequently  only  war- 
rants him  in  so  utilizing  the  beneficence 
of  the  State  in  according  him  the  right 
to  use  the  same  as  to  insure  the  maxi- 
mum present  production  to  the  exclusion 
of  a  scientific  development  that  will 
enure  to  future  advantage.  In  other 
words,  an  uncertain  tenure  is  naturally 
accompanied  by  an  exploitation  rather 
than  by  a  systematic  development  of  the 
leasehold  interest.  Under  this  system  the 


peasant  can  never  become  the  owner  of 
the  land  he  tills  or  of  any  other  land.  To 
aid  in  the  system  and  to  establish  a  larger 
control  of  peasant  activities  by  the  Gov- 
ernment the  principle  of  confiscation  has 
also  been  invoked  in  the  case  of  all  live 
stock  and  all  agricultural  implements, 
and  as  a  consequence  these  essential  in- 
struments of  land  cultivation,  these  chat- 
tels necessary  to  the  production  of  both 
meat  and  vegetable  foodstuffs,  have  be- 
come, without  regard  to  the  rights  of 
former  owners  or  the  advantage  to  the 
individual  of  future  ownership  therein, 
the  property  of  the  Bolshevist  Govern- 
ment, and  the  only  right  thereto  that  the 
peasant  can  in  the  future  acquire  is  a 
use  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as 
the  Government  may  prescribe. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  dictator- 
ship, however,  required  the  adoption  of 
some  constructive  policy  that  would 
finance  it.  It  was  necessary  to  maintain 
at  least  a  color  of  legitimacy,  an  appear- 
ance of  honest  business  methods,  in  sup- 
porting its  so-called  Red  Army  and  in 
securing  control  of  the  articles  necessary 
to  sustain  life.  Further  than  that,  it  was 
desirable  to  devise  ways  and  means  by 
which  service  in  the  Red  Army  and  em- 
ployment in  nationalized  enterprises 
might  appear  sufficiently  attractive,  and 
at  the  same  time  give  an  appearance  of 
prosperity  to  the  Government  itself,  in 
order  that  hope  as  well  as  fear  might 
assist  in  maintaining  the  Bolshevist  Gov- 
ernment. The  policy  adopted  was  the 
printing  of  unlimited  amounts  of  fiat 
paper  money  unsecured  by  any  reserve. 
This  naturally  furnished  to  the  Govern- 
ment a  cash  capital  limited  only  by  the 
capacity  of  the  printing  presses  of  the 
Government,  which,  in  turn,  had  been 
confiscated  and  nationalized.  Already  it 
is  estimated  that  a  sum  in  excess  of  30,- 
000,000,000  rubles  has  been  put  into 
circulation.  This  has  created  a  ridiculous- 
ly inflated  circulating  medium  of  no  ma- 
terial value  to  the  public,  but  of  enforced 
value  to  the  Government. 

Every  activity  of  the  Bolshevist  Gov- 
ernment indicates  clearly  the  antipathy 
of  the  Bolsheviki  toward  Christianity 
and  the  Christian  religion.  Its  program 
is  a  direct  challenge  to  that  religion.  The 


32(5 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Christian  Church  and  Bolshevism  cannot 
both  survive  the  program  that  is  being 
developed  by  the  Russian  dictatorship 
and  which  it  is  undertaking  to  extend 
throughout  the  world.  Not  only  have 
they  confiscated  all  church  property,  real 
and  personal,  but  they  have  established 
the  right  of  anti-religious  propaganda  as 
a  constitutionally  recognized  institution. 
Church  and  school  have  been  divorced 
even  to  the  extent  of  suppressing  the 
Sunday  school,  and  the  teaching  of  all  re- 
ligious doctrines  in  public,  either  in 
schools  or  educational  institutions  of  any 
kind,  is  expressly  forbidden.  Religion 
can  only  be  taught  or  studied  privately. 
All  church  and  religious  organizations 
are  prohibited  from  owning  property  of 
any  kind.  All  recognition  of  a  Supreme 
Being  in  both  Governmental  and  judicial 
oaths  is  abolished.  The  clergy  and  all 
servants  or  employes  of  church  bodies 
are  expressly  disfranchised  and  deprived 
of  all  right  to  hold  public  positions.  The 
full  significance  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Bolsheviki  toward  Christianity  is  most 
fully  manifested  in  the  fact  that,  though 
by  Russian  custom  and  decree  under  the 
old  regime,  every  newspaper  or  peri- 
odical published  on  Easter  Sunday  in  the 
Russian  Empire  was  required  to  carry 
the  headline,  "  Christ  Is  Risen,"  on 
Easter  Sunday  in  1918,  all  Bolshevist 
papers  substituted  for  this  sacred  senti- 
ment the  headline  and  slogan,  "  One 
Hundred  Years  Ago  Today  Karl  Marx 
Was  Born."  Thus  the  issue  has  been 
framed  between  the  gospel  of  Karl  Marx 
and  the  teachings  of  Christ.  We  reiterate, 
therefore,  that  Bolshevism  and  the  Chris- 
tian religion  cannot  both  survive. 

Bolshevism  accords  to  the  family  no 
such  sacred  place  in  society  as  modern 
civilization  accords  to  it.  Conflicting  re- 
ports have  been  passing  current  during 
the  last  few  months  relative  to  the 
nationalization  of  women  by  the  new 
Russian  Government.  Two  or  three  local 
Soviets  have  apparently  thus  degraded 
the  womanhood  of  their  particular  dis- 
tricts, but  the  Central  Government  has 
refrained  from  adopting  any  such  policy 
in  the  whole  nation.  They  have,  how- 
ever, promulgated  decrees  relating  to 
marriage  and  divorce  which  practically 


establishes  a  state  of  free  love.  Their 
effect  has  been  to  furnish  a  vehicle  for 
the  legalization  of  prostitution  by  per- 
mitting the  annulment  of  the  marriage 
bonds  at  the  whim  of  the  parties,  recog- 
nizing their  collusive  purposes  as  a 
ground  for  the  severance  of  the  matri- 
monial state. 

The  freedom  of  the  press  and  of 
speech,  though  heralded  by  the  advocates 
of  Bolshevism  as  necessary  to  the  in- 
telligent participation  of  the  people  in 
popular  government,  has  been  abrogated 
in  Russia,  and  by  the  usual  confiscatory 
method  of  the  accepted  formula  all  of  the 
mechanical  devices  and  materials  neces- 
sary for  the  publication  of  periodicals 
and  all  places  of  meeting  and  public 
assemblage  have  been  seized  by  the  Bol- 
shevist Government. 

To  make  the  control  more  complete  and 
effective  the  publication  of  all  advertise- 
ments, whether  in  regularly  published 
periodicals  or  on  handbills  or  programs, 
is  made  a  monopoly  of  the  Government. 
As  a  consequence  the  people  of  Russia 
are  deprived  of  all  facts,  literature,  and 
public  expression  through  the  medium  of 
the  press  or  public  meetings,  except  such 
as  is  approved  by  the  dictatorship  and 
has  been  passed  by  its  censorship. 

In  the  attempted  establishment  of  an 
educational  system  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  much  difficulty  would  arise  because 
of  the  large  pecentage  of  illiteracy  that 
afflicts  Russia,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  this  system  is  largely  on  paper  and 
of  little  practical  value.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  however,  that  under  this  system 
age  rather  than  attainment  determines 
the  admissibility  of  the  student  to  a 
given  school  or  grade,  and  that  to  re- 
quire the  production  of  evidence  of  the 
qualification  of  a  student  for  such  ad- 
mission is  a  criminal  offense.  This  again 
reflects  the  Bolshevist  theory  that  equali- 
zation can  be  accomplished  by  dictatorial 
decrees. 

The  apparent  purpose  of  the  Bolshevist 
Government  is  to  make  the  Russian  citi- 
zen, and  especially  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, the  wards  and  dependents  of  that 
Government.  Not  satisfied  with  the  de- 
gree of  dependency  incurred  by  the  eco- 
nomic and  industrial  control  assumed  by 


WHAT   BOLSHEVISM    WOULD    MEAN    IN    AMERICA 


'Ml 


its  functionaries,  it  has  destroyed  the 
natural  ambition  and  made  impossible  of 
accomplishment  the  moral  obligation  of 
the  father  to  provide,  care  for,  and  ade- 
quately protect  the  child  of  his  blood  and 
the  mother  of  that  child  against  the  mis- 
fortunes of  orphanhood  and  widowhood. 
To  accomplish  this  it  has  by  decree  ex- 
pressly abolished  and  prohibited  all  right 
of  inheritance,  either  by  law  or  will. 
Upon  death  all  of  the  decedent's  estate  is 
confiscated  by  the  State,  and  all  heirs 
who  are  physically  incapable  of  working 
become  pensioners  of  the  State  to  the  ex- 
tent that  the  assets  confiscated  by  the 
Government  make  such  pensions  possible. 

Insurance  of  all  kinds  has  been 
nationalized,  the  assets  of  insurance  com- 
panies confiscated,  and  the  business  of 
insuring  life,  property,  accident,  old  age, 
and  unemployment  made  a  State  mo- 
nopoly. In  the  attempted  liquidation  of 
existing  companies  and  associations  the 
liquidating  representatives  of  the  Gov- 
ernment seem  only  concerned  in  securing 
possession  and  record  of  all  their  assets 
and  fail  to  recognize  the  propriety  of  ac- 
curately adjusting  their  liabilities.  As  a 
consequence,  those  insured  and  the  bene- 
ficiaries under  existing  policies  find 
themselves  without  the  protection  for 
which  they  have  been  paying  premiums. 

The  salient  features  which  constitute 
the  program  of  Bolshevism,  as  it  exists 
today  in  Russia  and  is  presented  to  the 
rest  of  the  world  as  a  panacea  for  all  ills, 
may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

1.  The  repudiation  of  democracy  and 
the  establishment  of  a  dictatorship. 

2.  The  confiscation  of  all  land  and  the 
improvements  thereon. 

3.  The  confiscation  of  all  forests  and 
natural  resources. 

4.  The  confiscation  of  all  live  stock  and 
all  agricultural  Implements. 

5.  The  confiscation  of  all  banks  and 
banking-  institutions  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  State  monopoly  of  the  banking- 
business. 

6.  The  confiscation  of  all  factories, 
mills,  mines  and  industrial  institutions 
and  the  delivery  of  the  control  and  opera- 
tion thereof  to  the  employes  therein. 

7.  The  confiscation  of  all  churches  and 
all  church  property,  real  and  personal. 

8.  The  confiscation  of  all  newspapers 
and  periodicals  and  all  mechanical  facili- 
ties and  machinery  used  in  the  publica- 
tion thereof. 


9.  The  seizure  and  confiscation  of  all 
public  meeting  places  and  assembly  halls. 

10.  The  confiscation  of  all  transporta- 
tion and  communication  systems. 

11.  The  confiscation  of  the  entire  estate 
of  all  decedents. 

12.  The  monopolizing  by  the  State  of 
all  advertisements  of  every  nature, 
whether  in  newspapers,  periodicals,  hand- 
bills or  programs. 

13.  The  repudiation  of  all  debts  against 
the  Government  and  all  obligations  due 
the  non-Bolshevist  elements  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

14.  The  establishment  of  universal  com- 
pulsory military  service,  regardless  of  re- 
ligious scruples  and  conscientious  objec- 
tions. 

15.  The  establishment  of  universal  com- 
pulsory labor. 

16.  The  abolition  of  the  Sunday  school 
and  all  other  schools  and  institutions  that 
teach  religion. 

17.  The  absolute  separation  of  churches 
and  schools. 

18.  The  establishment,  through  marriage 
and  divorce  laws,  of  a  method  for  the 
legalization  of  prostitution,  when  the 
same  is  engaged  in  by  consent  of  the 
parties. 

19.  The  refusal  to  recognize  the  exist- 
ence of  God  in  its  Governmental  and  judi- 
cial proceedings. 

20.  The  conferring  of  the  rights  of  citi- 
zenship on  aliens  without  regard  to  length 
of  residence  or  intelligence. 

21.  The  arming  of  all  so-called  "  toil- 
ers "  and  the  disarming  of  all  persons 
who  had  succeeded  in  acquiring  property. 

22.  The  discrimination  in  favor  of  resi- 
dents of  cities  and  against  residents  of 
the  rural  districts  through  giving  resi- 
dents of  cities  five  times  as  much  voting 
power  as  is  accorded  to  residents  of  rural 
districts  in  such  elections  as  are  permit- 
ted. 

23.  The  disfranchisement  of  all  persons 
employing  any  other  person  in  connection 
with  their  business. 

24.  The  disfranchisement  of  all  persons 
receiving  rent,  interest  or  dividends. 

25.  The  disfranchisement  of  all  mer- 
chants, traders  and  commercial  agents. 

26.  The  disfranchisement  of  all  priests, 
clergymen  or  employes  of  churches  and 
religious  bodies. 

27.  The  denial  of  the  existence  of  any 
inalienable  rights  in  the  individual  citizen. 

28.  The  establishment  of  a  judicial  sys- 
tem exercising  autocratic  power,  convict- 
ing persons  and  imposing  penalties  in 
their  absence  and  without  opportunity  to 
be  heard,  and  even  adopting  the  death 
penalty  for  numerous  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. 

29.  The  inauguration  of  a  reign  of  fear, 

terrorism  and  violence. 

• 

This  is  the  program  that  the  revolu- 


328 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


tionary  elements  and  the  so-called  "  par- 
lor Bolsheviki "  would  have  this  country 
accept  as  a  substitute  for  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  which  recognizes 
that  "  all  men  are  created  equal,"  and 
that  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  "  are  the  inalienable  rights  of 
all  its  citizens.     *     *     * 

With  a  view  of  concretely  illustrating 
just  what  this  new  social  order  would  ac- 
complish if  transplanted  into  the  political, 
educational,  industrial,  and  religious  life 
of  the  United  States  attention  is  invited 
to  the  following  unavoidable  conse- 
quences : 

1.  The  application  of  force  and  violence, 
the  shedding  of  blood  and  the  destruction 
of  life  and  property,  the  common  inci- 
dents of  all  revolutions,  and  all  this  to 
destroy  a  democratic  form  of  government, 
under  which  the  majority  can  secure  just 
the  kind  of  government  that  it  desires. 
The  advocacy  of  revolutionary  methods 
is  an  admission,  therefore,  that  minority 
rather  than  majority  rule  is  the  goal 
sought  to  be  attained. 

2.  To  make  possible  the  control  of  the 
minority  as  the  dictators  of  the  majority, 
the  disfranchisement  of  millions  of  sub- 
stantial, patriotic  citizens  who  would  fall 
in  the  so-called  bourgeois  or  capitalistic 
class.  This  would  deprive  of  the  right  to 
participate    in    affairs    of    government— 

(a)  Millions  of  farmers,  merchants  and 
.manufacturers,  both  large  and  small,  em- 
ploying persons  in  the  conduct  of  their 
business,  and  all  professional  and  busi- 
ness men  utilizing  the  services  of  a  clerk, 
bookkeeper  or  stenographer. 

(b)  All  persons  receiving  interest  on 
borrowed  money  or  bonds,  rent  from  real 
estate  or  personal  property,  and  dividends 
from  stock  of  any  kind. 

(c)  All  traders,  merchants  and  dealers, 
even  though  they  do  not  employ  another 
person  in  the  conduct  of  their  business. 

(d)  All  preachers,  priests,  janitors  and 
employes  of  all  churches  and  religious 
bodies. 

It  is  apparent,  with  the  millions  of  per- 
sons falling  into  these  several  classes, 
disfranchised  and  deprived  of  all  right  to 
participate  in  the  affairs  of  government, 
accompanied  with  the  immediate  enfran- 
chisement of  all  aliens  who  do  not  fall 
within  these  prohibited  classes,  and  the 
opening  of  the  doors  of  all  prisons  and 
penitentiaries,  the  domination  of  the  crim- 
inal and  most  undesirable  alien  elements 
of  the  country  would  be  a  comparatively 
easy  matter.  To  simplify  the  question  of 
this  control,  however,  the,  substantial 
rural  portion  of  the  population  would  be 


further  suppressed  and  restricted,  and 
under  the  revolutionary  formula  the  vot- 
ing power  of  the  cities  would  be  five  times 
as  great  as  that  of  the  rural  communi- 
ties, the  ratio  of  representation  in  cities 
being  one  to  every  25,000  of  the  popula- 
tion, while  that  of  the  rural  districts 
would  be  only  one  to  every  125,000  of  the 
population.  In  the  United  States  the 
rural  population  under  the  1910  census 
was  considerably  in  excess  of  the  urban. 
We  must  also  remember  that  the  applica- 
tion of  the  formula  would  include  the  dis- 
arming of  all  disfranchised  classes  and 
the  arming  to  the  teeth  of  these  criminal 
and  alien  elements. 

3.  It  would  result  in  the  confiscation  by 
the  Government  thus  constituted  of  the 
land  of  the  United  States,  including  6,361,- 
502  farms,  of  which  62.1  per  cent.,  or 
3,948,722  farms,  are  owned  in  fee  by  the 
farmers  who  cultivate  them,  and  repre- 
sent the  labor  and  toil  of  a  lifetime.  On 
the  farms  of  the  United  States  there  are 
improvements,  machinery  and  live  stock 
to  the  value  of  $40,991,449,090  (census  of 
1910),  all  of  which  would  be  confiscated 
with  the  land.  The  confiscation  program 
would  include  the  more  than  275,000  man- 
ufacturing establishments,  'including  the 
$22,790,980,000  of  invested  capital,  much 
of  which  is  owned  by  the  small  investor, 
whose  livelihood  depends  upon  the  success 
of  the  respective  enterprises.  The  con- 
fiscation would  also  include  203,432  church 
edifices.  Forests  aggregating  555,000,000 
acres  would  be  seized  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  an  annual  product  of  $1,375,- 
000,000  would  come  under  the  control  of 
the  dictatorship.  Dwellings  to  the  num- 
ber of  17,805,845,  of  which  9,093,675  are 
owned  in  fee,  witlf  5,984,248  entirely  free 
from  debt,  would  be  confiscated  and  the 
owners  dispossessed  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
Government. 

4.  Although  clamoring  loudly  for  a  free 
and  unrestricted  press,  the  revolutionary 
program  would  require  the  seizure  and 
confiscation  of  the  22,896  newspapers  and 
periodicals  in  the  United  States,  together 
with  all  mechanical  equipment  necessary 
for  their  publication,  and  a  control  and 
ownership  of  the  public  press  by  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

5.  Complete  control  of  all  banking  in- 
stitutions and  their  assets  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  revolutionary  program,  and 
the  31,492  banks  in  the  United  States 
would  be  taken  over  by  the  Government 
and  the  savings  of  millions,  including 
11,397,553  depositors  drawing  interest  on 
accounts  in  savings  banks,  and  conse- 
quently belonging  to  the  so-called  bour- 
geois or  capitalistic  class,  jeopardized. 

6.  One  of  the  most  appalling  and  far- 
reaching  consequences  of  an  application  of 
Bolshevism  in  the  United  States  would  be 
found  in   the  confiscation  and  liquidation 


WHAT    BOLSHEVISM    WOULD    MEAN    IN    AMERICA 


3*9 


of  its  life  insurance  companies.  There 
la  'J<>  i  •  i  d  nt.  more  life  insuran 
force  in  this  country  than  in  all  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  nine-tenths  of  it  Is 
mutual  insurance.  Almost  50,000,000  life 
insurance  policies,  representing  nearly 
$30,000,000,000  of  Insurance,  the  substan- 
tial protection  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren of  the  nation,  would  be  rendered 
valueless. 

7.  The  atheism  that  permeates  the  whole 
Russian  dictatorship  is  clearly  reflected 
in  the  activities  of  their  revolutionary 
confreres  In  the  United  States,  and  In 
their  publications  they  have  denounced 
our  religion  and  our  God  as  "  lies."  This 
gives  added  significance  to  the  revolu- 
tionary attitude  toward  the  Christian 
Church   and   the   Christian  religion.     The 


prohibition  of  religious  schools  and  the 
teaching  or  studying  of  religion,  except 
in  private,  would  necessitate  the  aboli- 
tion of  194,7."i9  Sunday  schools  in  the 
United  States  and  a  great  number  of 
seminaries,  colleges  and  universities;  19,- 
10  Sunday  school  scholars  would  be 
deprived  and  prevented  from  enjoying 
the  institution  that  has  become  an  im- 
portant part  of  their  lives  and  is  one  of 
the  great  moral  influences  of  the  nation. 
Catholic  schools,  colleges  and  seminaries 
to  the  number  of  6,681  would  be  sup- 
pressed. Church  property  of  the  value  of 
f  1,676,600,582  would  be  confiscated  and 
41,926,854  (census  of  1916)  members  of 
227,487  church  organizations  would  be 
subjected  to  the  domination  of  an  atheist 
dictatorship. 


The  Retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army 

By  CAPTAIN  G.  GORDON-SMITH 

[Royal  Serbian  Army] 

The  retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army  across  Albania  was  one  of  the  greatest  and 
most  tragic  episodes  of  the  world  ivar,  but  at  the  same  time  it  is  the  one  of  which 
the  public  knoivs  least.  This  is  due  to  the  fart  that  from  the  beginning  of  October, 
1915,  till  the  middle  of  December,  King  Peter's  army  was  practically  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Captain  Gordon-Smith  was  the  only  English-speaking  cor- 
respondent who  accompanied  the  Serbian  Army  from  the  Danube  to  Durazzo.  He 
has  compiled  the  following  account  of  its  fateful  Odyssey,  partly  from  material 
placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  Headquarters  Staff  and  partly  from  his  own  observa- 
tions during  the  retreat. 

IN  the  whole  history  of  the  world  war  through  Northern  Albania  from  the  left 

there  is  no  episode  which  reaches  a  bank    of    the    Sitnitza   to    the    Adriatic, 

greater  degree  of  tragedy  than  the  Before     the     Austro-Germano-Bulgarian 

retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army  through  attack   in   October,    1915,   the  vacancies 

Albania.    In  the  annals  of  warfare  there  caused  by  the  heavy  losses  in  the  first 

is  no  military  enterprise  to  compare  to  period  of  the  war,  (August,  1914,  to  Oc- 

it.     Napoleon's  passage  of  the  Alps,  the  tober,  1916,)  and  by  the  ravages  of  the 

only  similar  military  exploit,  was  volun-  epidemic  of  typhus,  had  been  filled.     On 

tarily  undertaken  by  him,  after  elaborate  account    of    the    immense    front    to    be 

and  painstaking  preparations  for  its  sue-  guarded,  every  effort  was  made,  in  the 

cessful  carrying  out.    The  retreat  of  the  lull  in  the  fighting  which  followed  the 

Serbs  was  imposed  on  an  army  exhausted  repulse  of  the  second  Austrian  invasion, 

by  months  of  ceaseless  combat,  with  pro-  to  complete  the  infantry  and  especially 

visions    and    munitions    at    their   lowest  the  artillery  units,  to  create  new  units, 

ebb,    by    an    enemy    three    times    their  and  instruct  the  personnel, 

superior   in   number,    provided   with   an  At  a  cost  of  sacrifices  of  every  kind, 

artillery  of  crushing  superiority  and  a  the   Serbian    Army,   on   the  eve   of   the 

practically  unlimited  supply  of  war  ma-  Austro-Germano-Bulgarian    attack,    was 

terial  and  munitions.  made  up  as  follows: 

It   is   difficult,    even   now,    to   obtain        Officers  inscribed   10,000 

, ,  ,,     ,  *    .i  Officers   present    8,897 

exact  data   as   to   the  effectives  of  the  Non-commission.-d  officers  and  sol- 
Serbian  Army  when  it  began  its  retreat           diers  inscribed  532.000 


330 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Present  with  the  colors 411,700 

Horses    inscribed    75,400 

Horses  present    71,200 

Oxen   inscribed    75,400 

Oxen  present   65,200 

These  effectives  were  made  up  of  the 
three  "  bans "  (or  classes)  of  the  Na- 
tional Army,  with  a  corresponding 
amount  of  reserve  personnel  as  well  as 
animals   and   baggage   train. 

EFFECTIVES    REDUCED    ONE-HALF 

The  desperate  defense  of  the  northern 
front,  where  the  enemy  disposed  of 
greatly  superior  forces,  especially  in 
heavy  artillery,  and  the  bloody  struggle 
against  the  Bulgarians  on  the  eastern 
front,  had  caused  the  Serbian  Army 
very  heavy  losses.  In  the  continual  com- 
bats, night  and  day,  from  Sept.  23  up 
to  the  last  desperate  sortie  at  Kossovo, 
combats  in  which  the  Serbs  retreated 
from  one  sector  to  anothei  on  the  two 
fronts,  the  losses  in  men,  killed  and 
wounded,  increased  continually,  so  that 
the  original  effectives  were  reduced  by 
half. 

The  fatigues  and  the  commissariat 
difficulties  in  the  course  of  forty  days' 
fighting  had  exhausted  the  troops,  even 
before  the  beginning  of  the  retreat 
toward  the  south.  It  was,  therefore,  to 
be  expected  that  there  would  be  a  still 
greater  percentage  of  loss  in  men,  ma- 
terial, and  animals,  in  the  difficult  con- 
ditions of  movement  and  of  provisioning 
the  army  in  a  mountainous,  sterile  coun- 
try wanting  in  roads  of  any  kind. 

The  agricultural  wealth  of  Serbia  had 
allowed  of  all  the  units,  permanent  and 
temporary,  being  well  supplied  with  rid- 
ing horses  and  pack  and  draft  animals. 
The  continual  fatigue  of  the  operations 
of  the  army  in  the  mountainous  country 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  Serbia  had, 
however,  greatly  exhausted  these,  espe- 
cially the  draft  animals.  But  in  spite  of 
this,  at  the  moment  of  the  retreat  from 
Kossovo,  the  army  still  disposed  of  a 
large  number  of  animals  and  convoys. 
There  was,  however,  little  consolation  in 
this,  in  view  of  the  impossibility  of 
wheeled  vehicles  traversing  the  moun- 
tains of  Montenegro  and  Albania.  But 
the  draft  animals  could  at  least  be  used 
as  pack  horses. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  of 


1915  the  Serbian  Army  was  well  pro- 
vided with  arms  and  ammunition,  at 
least  as  regarded  the  medium  armament 
such  as  the  enemy  had  hitherto  had  at 
his  disposition.  But  on  the  northern 
front  the  German  troops  appeared  with 
heavy  artillery  of  the  most  formidable 
description  (38  and  35.8  centimeter 
guns)  against  which  the  Serbian  artillery 
was  completely  insufficient.  The  largest 
calibre  of  the  Serbian  artillery  was 
rapid-fire  15-centimeter  howitzers,  (two 
batteries,)  some  batteries  of  12-centi- 
meter howitzers,  and  some  long  guns  of 
the  same  calibre. 

There  was  an  abundant  field  artillery, 
due  to  the  fact  that  all  the  guns  cap- 
tured from  the  Austrians  had  been 
pressed  into  service;  but  there  was  a 
great  want  of  mountain  guns.  In  com- 
parison with  the  penury  of  munitions 
during  the  retreat  to  the  Kolubara  in 
the  previous  campaign,  the  quantity  of 
artillery  munitions  was  sufficient.  The 
infantry  was  also  well  armed  with  Ser- 
bian and  Russian  rapid-fire  rifles.  This 
artillery  was  used  right  up  to  the  last 
moment  when  the  retreat  into  Monte- 
negro and  Albania  began.  Desperate  ef- 
forts were  made  to  save  at  least  a  small 
part  of  it,  but  the  success  was  not  great. 
As  regards  clothing  and  camping  ma- 
terial, the  Serbian  Army  was  but  poorly 
provided.  This  had  disastrous  conse- 
quences during  the  retreat.  The  fact 
that  the  troops  were  forced  to  sleep  in 
the  open  during  the  cold  weather,  with 
torn  uniforms  and  broken  boots,  wore 
down  the  strength  of  even  the  strongest 
among  them.  Those  of  feeble  constitu- 
tion succumbed. 

SHORTAGE  OF  FOOD 

When  it  was  driven  from  the  valleys 
of  the  Morava  and  the  Toplitza,  the  Ser- 
bian Army  lost  its  main  sources  of  food 
supply.  The  intendance  had,  however, 
succeeded  in  forming  a  temporary  pro- 
vision base  at  Kossovo,  which  was  in- 
creased to  a  certain  degree  from  the 
local  resources.  Six  days  before  the  re- 
treat from  the  left  bank  of  the  Sitnitza 
there  were  2,000  tons  of  food  for  the 
army.  According  to  the  calculations  of 
the  Headquarters  Staff  there  was  only 
food  for  nine  days  after  the  real  retreat 


THE  RETREAT  OF   THE  SERBIAN  ARM) 


into  Albania  began.  Of  forage  there  was 
even  a  smaller  quantity,  so  that  the  ani- 
mals were  destined  to  perish. 

It  must  further  be  remembered  that 
all  the  vehicles  had  to  be  destroyed  on 
account  of  the  impossibility  of  transport- 
ing them  over  mountains  on  which  there 


consequences.  Hunger  was  the  great 
enemy,  and  the  question  of  provisioning 
the  army  dominated  all  others. 

The  efforts  made  by  the  Serbian  Gov- 
ernment and  the  General  Headquarters 
to  induce  the  nearest  ally — Italy — to 
establish  a  provision  base  on  the  coast 


I    A     /-      HUNGARY       /  * 

■LBELORADgte^  T*l%.  ;'         & 

y 

/atx 


GRE  B-HC  E 

/  S^LO.IJIKj!V 


STAGES    IN    RETIREMENT    OF    SERBIAN    ARMY:      THE    DECEMBER 

LINE,    AT   THE    ALBANIAN    BORDER.    SHOWS    THE   LAST 

STAND     BEFORE     THE     FINAL     RETREAT 


were  no  roads,  and  also  that,  on  account 
of  the  exhaustion  of  the  pack  animals, 
the  quantity  of  food  and  forage  trans- 
ported had  to  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
In  addition  to  this  the  army  was  ac- 
companied by  thousands  of  the  civil  popu- 
lation fleeing  before  a  ruthless  enemy. 
They,  too,  had  to  receive  a  minimum 
ration.  As  there  was  no  possibility  of 
procuring  food  from  the  poverty-stricken 
population  of  Montenegro  .°nd  Albania, 
the  army,  during  its  retreat,  had  to 
suffer   starvation   with    all    its   terrible 


did  not  give  satisfactory  results.  Such 
treatment  of  the  Serbian  Army,  which, 
in  the  interest  of  all,  had  made  such  ter- 
rible sacrifices,  remains  inexplicable  and 
completely  unjustifiable. 

The  depots  of  provisions  which,  rely- 
ing on  this,  the  Headquarters  Staff  had 
promised  to  the  troops,  remained  a  vain 
promise.  This  not  only  caused  bitter 
disappointment  to  the  troops  during  the 
retreat,  and  for  a  certain  time  after- 
ward, but  it  also  led  to  their  extreme 
exhaustion,  to  sickness  and  to  death.   As 


332 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


a  result  the  men  lost  much  of  their  con- 
fidence in  their  chiefs. 

THE   SITUATION    DESPERATE 

After  the  attempt  to  pierce  the 
Katchenik  toward  Uskub  and  Saloniki  in 
order  to  establish  the  liaison  with  the 
Allies — an  attempt  made  too  late  and 
doomed  to  fail — the  Serbian  Army  aban- 
doned Kossovo  and  on  the  9th,  10th,  and 
11th  of  November  retired  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  Sitnitza. 

Thanks  to  the  desperate  resistance  at 
Katchenik  and  at  the  Kondyul  Pass,  the 
Serbian  Army  managed  to  gain  time. 
This  rendered  the  retreat  possible  and 
caused  the  failure  of  the  attempt  of 
the  Germano-Austro-Bulgarian  army  to 
force  it  to  capitulate.  But  at  the  same 
time  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  that 
things  would  take  a  turn  favorable  to 
the  Serbs. 

The  attack  of  fresh  Bulgarian  forces 
on  the  extreme  rear  of  the  Serbian  Army, 
the  rupture  of  communications  between 
Nish-Uskub-Saloniki,  and  the  rupture  of 
the  liaison  with  the  Allies,  brought  the 
army  into  a  most  critical  situation,  which 
lasted  more  than  a  month.  All  the  ef- 
forts of  the  Serbian  Army  had  one  aim, 
that  of  maintaining  itself  in  its  positions, 
coute  que  coute,  and  this  gave  time  for 
the  help  promised  from  Saloniki  to  arrive 
and  bring  about  a  change  in  the  situa- 
tion. Unfortunately,  the  circumstances 
which  would  have  brought  this  about 
were  not  within  the  control  of  the  Ser- 
bian Army  and  its  high  command.  The 
longer  the  resistance  on  the  northern 
front  was  prolonged,  the  more  difficult 
became  the  situation. 

At  the  last  moment,  when  the  army 
was  forced  to  fall  back  from  Kossovo, 
the  General  Headquarters  saw  that  the 
retreat  across  the  mountains  of  Monte- 
negro and  Albania,  which,  up  to  this 
moment,  had  been  regarded  as  a  possible 
eventuality,  had  became  inevitable.  It 
was  necessary  to  accept  the  temporary 
loss  of  the  national  territory  and  to 
leave  nothing  undone  to  conserve  the  liv- 
ing force  of  the  army.  But  the  execu- 
tion of  the  plan  met  with  almost  insur- 
mountable difficulties. 

In  the  abandonment  of  Kossovo  the 
private    soldier    saw    the    final    loss    of 


Serbia,  which  he  would  have  to  leave 
at  the  price  of  unheard  of  fatigues  and 
unspeakable  sacrifices.  Not  being  abl« 
to  understand  the  exigencies  of  the  situa- 
tion, exhausted  by  incessant  combats  and 
marches,  day  and  night,  under  the  most 
painful  conditions,  he  only  saw  the  brutal 
reality  of  the  moment.  He  saw  no  help 
come,  and,  forced  continually  to  make 
superhuman  efforts,  he  ended  by  losing 
all  hope. 

In  the  course  of  four  years  of  war  the 
Serbian  soldier  accomplished  exploits 
which  have  a  permanent  place  in 
history.  But  this  same  Serbian  soldier, 
who  had  given  such  wonderful  proof  of 
his  military  worth  and  valor,  felt  an 
intense  moral  depression  at  the  moment 
of  the  retreat  from  Kossovo.  Kossovo 
spelled  for  him  the  most  glorious,  though 
at  the  same  time  the  most  tragic,  episode 
in  the  history  of  his  country.*  The  aban- 
donment of  this  historic  battlefield,  on 
which  the  Czar  Lazar,  five  centuries 
before,  had  died  fighting  for  Serbia's 
freedom,  was  a  terrible  blow  to  him.  It 
was  on  this  historic  spot  that  he  had 
hoped  to  receive  the  long  promised  aid 
and  succor  from  the  Allies  and  at  last 
turn  the  tide  of  invasion.  In  quitting 
Serbian  territory  he  abandoned  his 
family,  with  the  prospect  of  losing  all 
contact  with  his  country  for  a  long  time 
and  being  forced  to  live  on  foreign  soil; 
he  felt  as  if  he  were  committing  a  crime 
in  going,  and  a  certain  number,  indeed, 
abandoned  the  army  and  returned  to 
their  homes. 

WILD  REGION  TRAVERSED 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  weak  de- 
tachments operating  in  the  New  Terri- 
tories, the  main  body  of  the  army  had  to 
retreat  through  Montenegro  and  Albania. 
The  mountainous  country  to  be  traversed 
included  the  whole  complex  of  the  Alba- 
nian Alps.  It  is  the  most  savage  region 
of  the  whole  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  for 
that  reason  has  remained  inaccessible  to 
European  culture.  . 

The  army  had,  therefore,  to  force  its 

•On  the  Plain  of  Kossovo  ("  Field  of  the 
Blackbirds  ")  the  Sultan  Murad  I.  destroyed 
the  mediaeval  Serbian  Empire  by  defeating 
and  killing  the  Serbian  King  Lazar  in  a 
great  battle  in  1389. 


THE   RETREAT   OF    THE  SERBIAN   ARMY 


passage  through  this  region,  of  which 
the  mean  altitude  is  over  6,000  feet,  and 
which  is  without  any  means  of  communi- 
cation. There  were  only  a  few  wretched 
mountain  pathways  for  men  and  pack 
animals,  running  through  deep  valleys 
alternating  with  steep  and  abrupt 
ascents,  amid  rocks  and  snow  and  ice. 
Here  and  there  there  was  an  attempt  at 
a  road,  but  these  always  ran  into  mere 
sheep  paths.  The  cloud-capped  summits 
of  the  mountains,  walls  of  vertical  rock 
cut  by  deep  precipices,  lay  between  the 
army  and  the  sea.  The  only  good  route 
was  the  road  from  Andriyeritza  to 
Podgoritza  in  Montenegro,  but  in  order 
to  reach  the  former  village  the  whole  of 
the  Albanian  Alps  had  to  be  traversed, 
across  Mount  Jlieb.  In  addition  the 
march  had  to  be  made  in  November,  one 
of  the  coldest  months  in  the  year. 

This  wretched  country  is  inhabited  by 
men  of  a  rough  and  inhospitable  race, 
who  received  the  Serbs  with  sullen  hos- 
tility. At  first  they  made  no  active  re- 
sistance to  the  passage  of  the  troops,  but 
when  they  observed  the  state  of  exhaus- 
tion of  tht  men  they  began,  animated  by 
the  desire  for  loot,  to  attack  the  various 
columns.  In  a  word,  the  Serbian  Army 
had  to  carry  out  its  retreat  under  the 
worst  possible  conditions,  having  con- 
stantly before  its  eyes  the  possibility  of 
total  annihilation. 

DISPOSITION  OF  TROOPS 

On  Nov.  12  the  greater  part  of  the 
army  was  assembled  to  the  west  of  the 
plain  of  Kossovo,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Sitnitza.  Its  extreme  right  wing  was 
covered  by  the  Char  Mountain,  (Kodja 
Balkans,)  its  extreme  left  wing  by  the 
River  Ibar,  to  the  northwest  of  Mitro- 
vitza.  The  principal  line  of  defense 
began  in  the  northern  ramification  of  the 
Kodja  Balkans,  passing  by  the  summits 
of  Mounts  Neredinka,  Ribarska,  and 
Tchetchvitza,  and  reaching  to  the  Souba. 

Some  weak  detachments  of  Serbian 
troops  operated,  on  the  other  hand,  with 
the  French  troops  in  the  New  Territories 
and  barred  the  march  of  the  enemy  in 
the  direction  of  Prilep-Monastir  and 
Gestwar-Kitchevo-Monastir. 

On  Nov.  12  the  troops  holding  the  left 
bank  of  the  Sitnitza  began  to  give  way 


under  the  pressure  of  strong  bodies  of 
Bulgarian  troops.  The  historic  City  of 
Prisrend  was  their  chief  objective.  The 
troops  of  the  New  Territories  which  were 
covering  the  Ferizovitch-Prisrend  front 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  Bulgarian  attack. 
On  the  rest  of  the  front  only  a  few  \ 
detachments  of  the  Austro-Germano-Bul- 
garian  troops  succeeded  in  crossing  to 
the  left  bank  of  the  Sitnitza. 

The  fundamental  idea  for  the  retreat 
was  to  debouch  as  soon  as  possible 
toward  the  sea  and  leave  between  the 
Serbian  troops  and  the  enemy  a  country 
difficult  to  cross,  which  would  allow  the 
Serbian  Army  to  be  re-formed  and  re- 
organized in  Albania,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  a  small  rearguard  force  which 
would  close  the  routes  to  the  pursuing 
enemy. 

This  plan  demanded  that  the  move- 
ment should  be  carried  out  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  on  the  widest  possible  front, 
to^  ard  the  Scutari-El  Basan-Durazzo 
lint .  The  ulterior  action  of  the  Serbian 
Army  was  to  be  determined  according  to 
the  political  and  military  situation. 

PLAN  OF  THE  RETREAT 

Taking  into  consideration  the  general 
grouping  of  the  Serbian  forces  on  Nov. 
12  and  the  directions  which  might  be 
taken,  the  retreat  was  conceived  in  the 
following  fashion: 

1.  The  First,  Second,  and  Third  Armies 
and  the  troops  of  the  defense  of  Bel- 
grade, that  is  to  say,  the  main  body 
of  the  Serbian  Army,  were  to  re- 
treat via  Petch-Andriyevitsa-Podgoritsa- 
Scutari.  The  retreat  of  this  force  to 
Andriyevitsa  was  to  take  place  under 
the  direction  of  the  First  Army,  which, 
with  this  object,  was  to  occupy  positions 
at  Rojai  to  cover  the  routes  which  led 
from  the  Mitrovitsa-Novi  Bazar-Sienitsa 
front  via  Rojai  and  Borane  to  Andriye- 
vitsa. 

The  routes  which  the  troops  were  to 
utilize  were  the  following: 

(a)  Second  Army,  the  route  Petch-Rou- 
govo-Velika-Andriyevitsa  and  beyond. 

(b)  Third  Army,  the  troops  of  the  de- 
fense of  Belgrade,  and  the  First 
Army,  the  route  Petch-Rajai-Eorane- 
Andriyevitsa  and  beyond. 

2.  The  troops  of  the  New  Territories 


334 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


were  to  take  the  following  route:  (a) 
Gjis-Kovitsa-Vezirov  Most,  (b)  Prisrend- 
Lioum  Koula-Spas-Fleti-Puka  toward 
Scutari  and  Alessio. 

The  mission  of  this  latter  group  was 
to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  Army  of  the 
Timok  as  long  as  that  army  had  not 
begun  its  movement  of  retreat,  and  then 
to  retire  in  its  turn.  After  crossing  the 
Drin  and  the  Black  Drin  this  group  was 
to  halt  on  the  Tvhafasai-Tchafa  Moure- 
Mali-Doise-Orochi-Maya- Masse  -  Tchafa 
Koumoule-Floli-Gouri  line  and  cover,  with 
sufficient  force,  all  the  routes  which, 
from  Djikovitsa-Prisrend  and  the  valley 
of  the  Black  Drin,  lead  to  Scutari, 
Alessio,  and  the  valley  of  the  River 
Matcha.  Its  base  was  to  be  Scutari  and 
Alessio. 

During  the  retreat  this  force  was  to 
protect  itself  by  adopting  a  rational 
order  of  march.  This  central  group  had, 
in  a  general  fashion,  its  flanks  protected ; 
but  it  had  to  assure  its  protection  itself, 
for  during  its  passage  through  the  most 
savage  parts  of  Northern  Albania  it 
was  exposed  throughout  its  entire  march 
to  attack  by  the  Albanians. 

ARMY   OF   THE   TIMOK 

3.  The  Army  of  the  Timok  was  ordered 
to  retreat  via  Prisrend-Lioum  Koula- 
Pitchkopeys-Debar. 

All  the  troops  still  operating  in  the 
New  Territories  (detachment  of  the 
Vardar,  detachment  of  Tetovo,  detach- 
ment of  Albania  and  the  detachment  of 
Prisrend)  were  placed  under  the  orders 
of  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the 
Timok.  The  mission  of  this  group  was 
to  establish  itself  solidly  in  the  Gostwar 
and  Prilep  region,  and,  in  liaison  with 
the  French  troops,  assure  the  liaison 
with  Saloniki  as  long  as  possible. 

The  remainder  of  the  troops  of  the 
Army  of  the  Timok  were  to  remain  on 
the  Prilep-Brod-Kitchovo-Gostwar  line 
as  long  as  the  French  troops  were  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Czerna  Reka,  near 
Krivolak,  and  as  long  as  the  enemy  did 
not  attack  them  with  such  superior  forces 
as  to  threaten  their  lines  of  communica- 
tion in  the  direction  of  Prisrend-Debar. 
This  group  had  its  base  at  Monastir.  In 
case  the  Army  of  the  Timok  should  not 
be  able  to  hold  this  line,  or  in  case  the 


French  should  retire  toward  Sf-loniki,  the 
Army  of  the  Timok  was  to  retire  in  the 
direction  of  El  Bassan-Tchiafa-Sane- 
Krstatz  -  Mali  Privalit -  Kaptin  -  Tchiaf  a 
Boultchitz-Tchiafa  Sai,  with  the  mission 
of  covering  the  routes  from  Stougo  and 
Debar  toward  El  Bassan-Tirana  and  the 
valley  of  the  Matcha.  In  this  case  this 
group  would  make  Durazzo  its  base. 

The  General  Headquarters  had  asked 
the  commanders  of  these  groups  to  keep 
in  constant  telegraphic  communication, 
but  from  the  first  day  of  the  operations 
this  was  found  to  be  impossible.  The 
character  of  the  country  did  not  allow 
of  any  other  means  of  communication,  so 
that  the  commanders  of  these  groups 
were,  during  the  whole  movement,  left 
to  themselves.  All  they  could  do  was  to 
conform  to  the  general  directions  laid 
down  by  General  Headquarters. 

Foreseeing  the  necessity  of  a  retreat 
through  Montenegro  and  Albania,  the 
General  Headquarters  had,  as  early  as 
Nov.  9,  given  orders  to  direct  all  the 
convoys  and  the  heavy  artillery  of  all 
the  armies  toward  Montenegro  by  the 
Petch-Rojai-Borane  route.  If  this  was 
found  impracticable  all  the  convoys  and 
artillery  were  either  to  be  destroyed  or 
buried.  The  horses  and  oxen  drawing 
the  guns  and  wagons  were  to  be  utilized 
as  pack  animals. 

GENERAL  SITUATION 

A  realization  of  the  general  situation 
of  the  Serbian  Army  at  this  moment  will 
give  an  exact  picture  of  the  conditions 
under  which  the  retreat  began. 

In  the  first  place  a  very  great  number 
of  troops  were  sent  by  the  same  routes. 
The  character  of  the  country  to  be  tra- 
versed and  the  number  of  the  troops  did 
not  allow  of  any  other  solution  of  the 
problems.  But  these  routes  did  not  lend 
themselves  to  the  march  of  organized 
bodies  of  troops,  and  enormous  difficul- 
ties were  experienced,  especially  for  the 
convoys  (oxen  and  draft  animals.) 

On  the  other  hand  the  enemy  was  al- 
ready exercising  a  strong  pressure,  espe- 
cially in  the  direction  of  Prisrend,  while 
the  Albanian  population  had  assumed 
such  a  threatening  attitude  that  an 
attack  by  it  might  be  expected  at  any 
moment.     The  army  was  only  in  posses- 


THE  RETREAT  OF   THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


335 


SCENE  OF  FINAL  RETREAT  OF  SERBIAN  ARMY  ACROSS  ALBANIA  TO  THE  ADRIATIC. 
HEAVY  BROKEN  LINE  ON  RIGHT  SHOWS  LAST  STAND  IN  DECEMBER.  HEAVY  LINE 
NEAR  THE  COAST  SHOWS  WHERE  THE  AUSTRIANS  HAD  TAKEN  MT.  LOVCHEN  AND 
CETINJE    IN    MONTENEGRO,    CUTTING    OFF    EGRESS    BY    THAT    ROUTE 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


sion  of  rations  for  several  days,  and  it 
was  on  this  minimum  quantity  of  food 
that  it  would  have  to  subsist  until  it 
reached  the  Adriatic.  The  transforma- 
tion of  the  army  service  corps  for  service 
in  the  mountains  required  time.  An  at- 
tempt to  pass  on  the  convoys  and  artil- 
lery sent  to  Petch  across  Mount  Jlieb 
proved  that  the  idea  was  impracticable. 
One  division  which  had  succeeded  in  pass- 
ing two  guns  without  their  limbers  by 
that  mountain  took  two  whole  days  for 
the  task. 

Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  supply  convoys  and  the  for- 
mation of  entire  armies  in  column  forma- 
tion required  time,  while,  ^on  the  other, 
the  troops  were  threatened  with  starva- 
tion and  the  advance  of  the  enemy  called 
for  speedy  action.  When  to  these  diffi- 
culties was  added  the  exhaustion  of  the 
men  it  was  not  difficult  to  foresee  that 
the  army  which  had  in  the  past  shown 
such  admirable  military  qualities  would 
arrive  on  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic  in  a 
condition  which  inspired  both  pity  and 
admiration. 

Such  were  the  dispositions  of  the 
Headquarters  Staff  for  the  retreat  of 
the  army  through  Albania  and  Monte- 
negro. 

CONDITIONS   IN   PRISREND 

During  the  last  days  of  the  retirement 
on  Prisrend  I  and  a  French  colleague, 
M.  Paul  Du  Bochet,  the  correspondent  of 
the  Petit  Parisien,  had  been  first  with 
the  division  of  Timok  and  later  with  the 
combined  division.  We  reached  Prisrend 
on  Thursday,  Nov.  23,  and  found  it  a 
cosmopolitan  city.  Hundreds  of  French 
aviators,  automobilists,  engineers  and 
Red  Cross  units,  Russian,  British,  Greek, 
and  Rumanian  doctors  and  nurses,  and 
English  sailors  of  the  naval  gun  batter- 
ies were  everywhere  in  evidence.  The 
blue  and  crimson  uniforms  of  the  Royal 
Guard  showed  that  King  Peter  was  also 
in  Prisrend.  As  the  members  of  the 
Government,  the  Crown  Prince,  the  Com- 
mander in  Chief,  and  the  Headquarters 
Staff  had  also  arrived,  all  that  was  left 
of  the  elements  of  Government  in  Serbia 
was  assembled  within  the  walls  of  the 
ancient  Albanian  city. 

The  one  question  on  everybody's  lips 


was,  "  would  it  be  an  unconditional  sur- 
render? "  in  which  case  we  would  all  find 
ourselves  German  prisoners  forty-eight 
hours  later;  or  would  the  King,  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  army  leave  Serbian 
territory  and  take  refuge  in  Albania? 
The  final  councils  did  not  last  long.  On 
Nov.  24  the  supreme  resolution  was 
taken.  The  King,  army,  and  Govern- 
ment would  refuse  to  treat  with  the 
enemy  and  would  leave  for  Albania. 

To  this  resolution  several  factors  con- 
tributed. One  of  the  chief  was  Serbia's 
loyalty  to  her  allies.  She  had  under- 
taken not  to  sign  a  separate  peace,  and 
she  held  to  her  word  to  the  last.  She 
might  be  defeated,  she  was  not  con- 
quered. Another  factor  was  the  dynastic 
one.  It  was  certain  that  one  of  the  first 
conditions  of  peace  which  Germany,  and 
especially  Austria,  would  have  exacted 
would  have  been  the  abdication  of  King 
Peter.  It  was  equally  certain  that  M. 
Pashitch  and  the  other  members  of  the 
Government  would  have  been  arrested 
and  probably  exiled  for  life  from  Serbia. 
There  was,  therefore,  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  surrender,  and  as  long  as  King 
Peter,  his  Government  and  his  army 
escaped  the  clutches  of  their  enemies, 
Serbia  was  unconquered.  The  Treasury 
had  long  been  placed  in  safety  abroad, 
so  that  there  was  no  want  of  funds  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  Government  and 
army  in  exile. 

BURNING  THE  ARCHIVES 
When  I  reached  Headquarters  the  first 
thing  I  noticed  was  a  score  of  soldiers 
burning  the  archives,  staff  maps,  &c,  a 
clear  proof  that  the  journey  to  Scutari 
was  resolved  on.  During  lunch  I  learned 
the  last  preparations  that  had  been  made. 
M.  Pashitch  and  the  members  of  the 
Government  were  leaving  for  Scutari 
with  a  military  escort  the  following  day. 
The  next  day  the  King  and  the  royal 
household  with  the  Royal  Guard  would 
start,  and  on  the  third  day  Fjeld  Marshal 
Putnik  and  the  Headquarters  Staff 
would  leave  for  Scutari.  As  I  and  my 
French  colleague  of  the  Petit  Parisien 
were  attached  to  the  Headquarters,  Col- 
onel Mitrovitch  told  me  he  had  reserved 
a  pack  horse  for  our  baggage.  All  that 
was  left  of  bread  and  biscuits  would  also, 


THE  RETREAT  OF   THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


337 


-we  were  told,  be  distributed  the  night 
before  the  march  started. 

It  was  a  curious  sensation  to  look 
around  the  large  mess  room,  with  its  hun- 
dreds of  brilliant  uniforms  worn  by  the 
men  who  had  fought  five  victorious  cam- 
paigns, and  to  think  that  in  forty-eight 
hours  they  would  be  in  exile,  camping 
among  the  snows  of  the  Albanian  moun- 
tains, with  the  splendid  armies  they  had 
commanded  shrunk  to  150,000  men,  de- 
prived of  everything  that  goes  to  make 
an  army  in  the  field.  Grief  and  bitter- 
ness were  written  on  many  a  face;  many 
■would  have  preferred  to  be  in  the  fight- 
ing line  and  to  have  died  at  the  head  of 
their  men,  rather  than  have  seen  this 
tragic  hour. 

One  thing  is  certain,  no  reproach  could 
be  made  to  the  Serbian  Army;  it  had 
done  its  duty,  and  more  than  its  duty. 
It  had  fought  with  desperate  courage 
against  overwhelming  odds,  and  if  the 
armed  strength  of  Serbia  was  crushed, 
her  honor  at  least  was  intact. 

On  the  day  of  my  arrival  I  paid  a 
visit  to  the  citadel,  perched  on  the  hill 
on  the  slopes  of  which  Prisrend  is  built. 


Here  are  the  last  traces  of  the  strong- 
hold erected  by  the  Emperor,  Stephen 
Doushan,  the  Serbian  Charlemagne.  At 
my  feet  flowed  the  Bistritza,  rushing  in 
a  torrent  down  through  the  town.  To 
the  east,  at  the  extremity  of  a  gorge  be- 
tween towering  mountains,  I  could  see 
the  snow-covered  peaks  of  the  Shar 
range,  which  formed  a  lofty  barrier  be- 
tween us  and  the  Bulgarians  at  Tetovo. 
To  the  left  appeared  the  City  of  Prisrend, 
a  vast  agglomeration  of  Turkish  and 
Albanian  houses  from  which  emerged 
the  graceful  minarets  of  its  fifty 
mosques.  Among  these  one  could  dis- 
tinguish the  belfry  of  the  single  Greek 
Orthodox  Church.  In  an  obscure  corner 
was  hidden  a  small  Catholic  chapel,  the 
priest  of  which  was  subventioned  by  the 
Austrian  Government. 

In  the  afternoon  arrived  the  news  that 
the  route  from  Dibra  to  Monastir  had 
been  cut,  as  the  Bulgarians  were  at 
Prilep  and  advancing  on  Monastir.  This 
extinguished  the  last  hope  of  some  part 
of  the  Serbian  Army  reaching  the  town 
to  take  train  through  Greece  to  Saloniki. 
It  was  the  "  debacle  "  all  along  the  line. 


[To   be   Continued] 


Retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army 

[October,    191.r>] 
By   E.    STRACHAN   ROGERS 

0  well-loved  land,  where  every  pleasant  farm 
Produced  from  fertile  soil  an  ample  yield, 
And  every  cheerful  toiler  in  the  field 
Sat  by  his  fire  at  night  secure  from  harm: 
Then,  when  the  cry  of  warfare  rent  the  calm, 
How  valiantly  did  each  his  weapons  wield, 
Still  fighting  on  as  the  warm  blood  congealed, 
Amid  the  din  of  battle's  wild  alarm. 

At  the  last  stand  were  they  not  heroes  all, 
Preferring  exile  to  a  base  defeat? 
So  through  the  horrors  of  the  long  retreat 
The  Serbian  Army  stumbled  dauntlessly 
Across  high  mountain-bars,  till  they  could  fall, 
Some  living  and  some  dead,  beside  the  sea. 


General  Pershing's  Final  Report 

Complete  Official  Story  of  the  American  Operations  in  the 

World  War 

[Second  Half] 

The  first  half  of  General  Pershing's  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War  appeared 
in  the  January  Current  History.  It  covered  all  the  military  operations  of  the 
First  Army  to  the  day  of  the  armistice.  The  remaining  portion  tells  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Second  Army  in  France,  of  American  troops  in  Italy  and  Russia,  of  the 
Third  Army  in  Germany,  the  return  of  our  forces  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
achievements  of  the  various  army  services.  It  completes  the  official  text  of  the  most 
important  military  document  on  our  share  in  the  world  war. 


UNDER  the  instructions  issued  by 
me  on  Nov.  5,  for  operations  by 
the  Second  Army  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Briey  Iron  Basin,  the 
advance  was  undertaken  along  the  entire 
front  of  the  army  and  continued  during 
the  last  three  days  of  hostilities.  In  the 
face  of  the  stiff  resistance  offered  by 
the  enemy,  and  with  the  limited  number 
of  troops  at  the  disposal  of  the  Second 
Army,  the  gains  realized  reflected  great 
credit  on  the  divisions  concerned.  On 
Nov.  6  Marshal  Foch  requested  that  six. 
American  divisions  be  held  in  readiness 
to  assist  in  an  attack  which  the  French 
were  preparing  to  launch  in  the  direction 
of  Chateau-Salins.  The  plan  was  agreed 
to,  but  with  the  provision  that  our  troops 
should  be  employed  under  the  direction 
of  the  commanding  General  of  the  Second 
Army. 

This  combined  attack  was  to  be 
launched  on  Nov.  14,  and  was  to  consist 
of  twenty  French  divisions  under  General 
Mangin  and  the  six  American  divisions 
under  General  Bullard.  Of  the  divisions 
designated  for  this  operation  the  3d,  4th, 
29th,  and  36th  were  in  army  reserve,  and 
were  starting  their  march  eastward  on 
the  morning  of  Nov.  11,  while  the  28th 
and  35th  were  being  withdrawn  from 
line  on  the  Second  Army  front. 

ACTIVITIES  ON  OTHER  FRONTS 

During  the  first  phase  of  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  battle,  American  divisions  were 
participating  in  important  attacks  on 
other  portions  of  the  front.  The  2d  Army 


Corps,  Major  Gen.  Read  commanding, 
with  the  27th  and  30th  Divisions  on  the 
British  front,  was  assigned  the  task,  in 
co-operation  with  the  Australian  Corps, 
of  breaking  the  Hindenburg  line  at  Le 
Gateau,  where  the  St.  Quentin  Canal 
passes  through  a  tunnel  under  a  ridge. 
In  this  attack,  carried  out  on  Sept.  29 
and  Oct.  1,  the  30th  Division  speedily 
broke  through  the  main  line  of  defense 
and  captured  all  its  objectives,  while 
the  27th  progressed  until  some  of  its  ele- 
ments reached  Gouy.  In  this  and  later 
actions,  from  Oct.  6  to  10,  our  2d  Corps 
captured  over  6,000  prisoners  and  ad- 
vanced about  .twenty-four  kilometers. 

On  Oct.  2-5  our  2d  and  36th  Divisions 
assisted  the  Fourth  French  Army  in  its 
advance  between  Rheims  and  the  Ar- 
gonne.  The  2d  Division  completed  its 
advance  on  this  front  by  the  assault  of 
the  wooded  heights  of  Mont  Blanc,  the 
key  point  of  the  German  position,  which 
was  captured  with  consummate  dash  and 
skill.  The  division  here  repulsed  violent 
counterattacks,  and  then  carried  our 
lines  into  the  village  of  St.  Etienne,  thus 
forcing  the  Germans  to  fall  back  before 
Rheims  and  yield  positions  which  they 
had  held  since  September,  1914.  On  Oct. 
10  the  36th  Division  relieved  the  2d,  ex- 
ploiting the  latter's  success,  ai\d  in  two 
days  advanced,  with  the  French,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty-one  kilometers,  the 
enemy  retiring  behind  the  Aisne  River. 

In  the  middle  of  October,  while  we 
were  heavily  engaged  in  the  Meuse- 
Argonne,  Marshal   Foch   requested  that 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


881 


two  American  divisions  be  sent  imme- 
diately to  assist  the  Sixth  French  Army 
in  Belgium,  where  slow  progress  was 
being  made.  The  37th  and  91st  Divi- 
sions, the  latter  being  accompanied  by 
the  artillery  of  the  28th  Division,  were 
hurriedly  dispatched  to  the  Belgian  front. 
On  Oct.  30,  in  continuation  of  the 
Flanders  offensive,  these  divisions  entered 
the  line  and  attacked.  By  Nov.  3  the  37th 
Division  had  completed  its  mission  by  rapidly 
driving  the  enemy  across  the  Escaut  River 
and  had  firmly  established  itself  on  the  east 
bank,  while  the  91st  Division,  in  a  spirited 
advance,  captured  Spitaals  Bosschen,  reached 
the   Scheldt,    and   entered   Audenarde. 

OUR  TROOPS  IN  ITALY 

The  Italian  Government  early  made  re- 
quest for  American  troops,  but  the  critical 
situation  on  the  western  front  made  it 
necessary  to  concentrate  our  efforts  there. 
When  the  Secretary  of  War  was  in  Italy 
during  April,  1918,  he  was  urged  to  send 
American  troops  to  Italy  to  show  America's 
interest  in  the  Italian  situation  and  to 
strengthen  the  Italian  morale.  Similarly  a 
request  was  made  by  the  Italian  Prime  Minis- 
ter at  the  Abbeville  conference.  It  was 
finally  decided  to  send  one  regiment  to  Italy 
with  the  necessary  hospital  and  auxiliary 
service,  and  the  332d  Infantry  was  selected, 
reaching  the  Italian  front  in  July,  1918. 
These  troops  participated  in  action  against 
the    Austrians    in    the    Fall    of    1918    at    the 


crossing  of  the  Plave  River  and  In  the  final 
pursuit  of  the  Austrian  Army. 

ON  THE  RUSSIAN  FRONT 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  War 
Council  that  allied  troops  should  be  sent  to 
co-operate  with  the  Russians,  either  at  Mur- 
mansk or  Archangel,  against  the  Bolsh<  \  ist 
forcee,  and  the  British  Government,  through 
its  Ambassador  at  Washington,  urged  Amer- 
ican participation  in  this  undertaking.  On 
July  23,  1918,  the  War  Department  directed 
the  dispatch  of  three  battalions  of  infantry 
and  three  companies  of  engineers  to  join  the 
allied  expedition.  In  compliance  with  these 
instructions  the  339th  Infantry,  the  1st  Bat- 
talian,  310th  Engineers,  337th  Field  Hospital 
Company,  and  337th  Ambulance  Company 
were  sent  through  England,  whence  they 
sailed   on  Aug.  26. 

The  mission  of  these  troops  was  limited  to 
guarding  the  ports  and  as  much  of  the  sur- 
rounding country  as  might  develop  threaten- 
ing conditions.  The  allied  force  operated 
under  British  command,  through  whose 
orders  the  small  American  contingent  was 
spread  over  a  front  of  about  450  miles.  From 
September,  1918,  to  May,  1919,  a  series  of 
minor  engagements  with  the  Bolshevist  forces 
occurr.  d,  in  which  eighty-two  Americans 
were  killed  and  seven  died  of  wounds. 

In  April,  1919,  two  companies  of  American 
railroad  troops  were  added  to  our  contingent. 
The  withdrawal  of  the  American  force  com- 
menced in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1919,  and 
on  Aug.  25  there  was  left  only  a  small  de- 
tachment of  graves  registration  troops. 


The  Allied  Advance  Into  German  Land 


In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  armi- 
stice, the  Allies  were  to  occupy  all  German 
territory  west  of  the  Rhine,  with  bridge- 
heads of  thirty  kilometers'  radius  at  Cologne, 
Coblenz,  and  Mayence.  The  zone  assigned 
the  American  command  was  the  bridgehead 
of  Coblenz  and  the  district  of  Treves.  This 
territory  was  to  be  occupied  by  an  American 
army,  with  its  reserves  held  between  the 
Moselle  and  Meuse  rivers  and  the  Luxemburg 
frontii  r. 

The  instructions  of  Marshal  Foch,  issued 
on  Nov.  16,  contemplated  that  two  French 
infantry  divisions  and  one  French  cav- 
alry division  would  be  added  to  the 
American  forces  that  occupied  the  Coblenz 
bridgehead,  and  that  one  American  division 
would  be  added  to  the  French  force  occupy- 
ing the  Mayence  bridgehead.  As  this  ar- 
rangement presented  possibilities  of  misun- 
derstanding due  to  difference  of  views  re- 
garding the  government  of  occupied  territory, 
it  was  represented  to  the  Marshal  that  each 
nation  should  be  given  a  well-defined  terri- 
tory of  occupation,  employing  within  such 
territory   only   the  troops   of  the   commander 


responsible  for  the  particular  zone.  On  Dec. 
9  Marshal  Foch  accepted  the  principle  of  pre- 
serving the  entity  of  command  and  troops, 
but  reduced  the  American  bridgehead  by 
adding  a  portion  of  the  eastern  half  to  the 
French   command   at   Mayence. 

Various  reasons  made  It  undesirable  to 
employ  either  the  First  or  Second  Army  as 
the  army  of  occupation.  Plans  had  been 
made  before  the  armistice  to  organize  a  third 
army,  and  on  Nov.  14  this  army,  with  Major 
Gen.  Joseph  T.  Dickman  as  commander,  was 
designated  as  the  army  of  occupation.  Tlv 
3d  and  4th  Army  Corps  staffs  and  troops, 
less  artillery,  the  1st,  2d,  3d.  4th,  32d,  and 
42d  Divisions  and  the  66th  Field  Artillery 
Brigade  were  assigned  to  the  Third  Army. 
This  force  was  later  increased  by  the  addi- 
tion of  the  7th  Corps,  Major  Gen.  William 
M.  Wright  commanding,  with  the  5th,  89th. 
and   90th   Divisions. 

IN  WAKE  OF  RETREAT 

The     advance     toward     German     territory 

began  on  Nov.  17  at  ."i    \.   M.,  six  days  after 

signing  the  armistice.    All  of  the  allied  forces 


340 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


from  the  North  Sea  to  the  Swiss  border 
moved  forward  simultaneously  in  the  wake 
of  the  retreating  German  armies.  Upon  ar- 
rival at  the  frontier  a  halt  was  made  until 
Dec.  1,  when  the  leading  elements  of  all 
allied  armies  crossed  the  line  into  Germany. 
The  Third  Army  headquarters  were  estab- 
lished at  Coblenz  and  an  advance  general 
headquarters  located  at  Treves.  Steps  were 
immediately  taken  to  organize  the  bridgehead 
for  defenses  and  dispositions  were  made  to 
meet  a  possible   renewal   of  hostilities. 

The  advance  to  the  Rhine  required  long, 
arduous  marches,  through  cold  and  inclement 
weather,  with  no  opportunity  for  troops  to 
rest,  refit,  and  refresh  themselves  after  their 
participation  in  the  final  battle.  The  army 
of  occupation  bore  itself  splendidly  and  ex- 
hibited a  fine  state  of  discipline  both  during 
the  advance  and  throughout  the  period  of 
occupation. 

The  zone  of  march  of  our  troops  into  Ger- 
many and  the  line  of  communications  of  the 


Third  Army  after  reaching  the  Rhine  lay 
through  Luxemburg.  After  the  passage  of 
the  Third  Army,  the  occupation  of  Luxem- 
burg, for  the  purpose  of  guarding  our  line  of 
communications,  was  intrusted  to  the  5th 
and  33d  Divisions  of  the  Second  Army.  The 
City  of  Luxemburg,  garrisoned  by  French 
troops  and  designated  as  the  headquarters 
of  the  allied  Commander  in  Chief,  was  ex- 
cluded from   our  control. 

Upon  entering  the  Duchy  of  Luxemburg 
in  the  advance,  a  policy  of  noninterference 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Grand  Duchy  was  an- 
nounced. Therefore,  when  the  French  com. 
mander  in  the  City  of  Luxemburg  was  given 
charge  of  all  troops  in  the  Duchy,  in  so  far 
as  concerned  the  "  administration  of  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Luxemburg,"  my  instruc- 
tions were  that  our  troops  would  not  be  sub- 
ject to  his  control.  Later,  at  my  request,  and 
in  order  to  avoid  possible  friction,  Marshal 
Foch  placed  the  entire  Duchy  in  the  Amer- 
ican zone. 


Return  of  Troops  to  the  United  States 


On  the  day  the  armistice  was  signed,  the 
problem  of  the  return  of  our  troops  to  the 
United  States  was  taken  up  with  the  War 
Department,  and  on  Nov.  15  a  policy  recom- 
mended of  sending  home  certain  auxiliaries 
so  that  we  could  begin  to  utilize  all  available 
shipping  without  delay.  On  Dec.  21  the  War 
Department  announced  by  cable  that  it  had 
been  decided  to  begin  immediately  the  return 
of  our  forces,  and  continue  as  rapidly  as 
transportation  would  permit.  To  carry  this 
out,  a  schedule  for  the  constant  flow  of 
troops  to  the  ports  was  established,  having 
in  mind  our  international  obligations  pending 
the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 

While  more  intimately  related  to  the  func- 
tions of  the  services  of  supply  than  to  opera- 
tions, it  is  logical  to  introduce  here  a  brief 
recital  of  the  organizations  created  for  the 
return  of  our  troops  to  America.  Prior  to  the 
armistice  but  15,000  men  had  been  returned 
home.  Although  the  existing  organization 
was  built  for  the  efficient  and  rapid  handling 
of  the  incoming  forces,  the  embarkation  of 
this  small  number  presented  no  difficulties. 
But  the  armistice  suddenly  and  completely 
reversed  the  problem  of  the  services  of  sup- 
ply at  the  ports  and  the  handling  of  troops. 
It  became  necessary  immediately  to  reor- 
ganize the  machinery  of  the  ports,  to  con- 
struct large  embarkation  camps,  and  to 
create  an  extensive  service  for  embarking 
the  homeward-bound  troops. 

THE  CAMP  AT  BREST 

Brest,  St.  Nazaire,  and  Bordeaux  became 
the  principal  embarkation  ports,  Marseilles 
and  Le  Havre  being  added  later  to  utilize 
Italian  and  French  liners.  The  construction 
of  the  embarkation  camps  during  unseason- 
able   Winter    weather    was    the    most    trying 


problem.  These,  with  the  billeting  facilities 
available,  gave  accommodation  for  55,000  at 
Brest,  44,000  at  St.  Nazaire,  and  130,000  at 
Bordeaux.  Unfortunately  the  largest  ships 
had  to  be  handled  at  Brest,  where  the  least 
shelter  was   available. 

To  maintain  a  suitable  reservoir  of  men 
for  Brest  and  St.  Nazaire,  an  embarkation 
centre  was  organized  around  Le  Mans,  which 
eventually  accommodated  230,000  men.  Here 
the  troops  and  their  records  were  prepared 
for  the  return  voyage  and  immediate  de- 
mobilization. As  the  troops  arrived  at  the 
base  ports,  the  embarkation  service  was 
charged  with  feeding,  reclothing,  and  equip- 
ping the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  passed 
through,  which  required  the  maintenance  of 
a  form  of  hotel  service  on  a  scale  not  hitherto 
attempted. 

On  Nov.  16  all  combat  troops,  except  thirty 
divisions  and  a  minimum  of  corps  and  army 
troops,  were  released  for  return  to  the  United 
States.  It  was  early  evident  that  only 
limited  use  would  be  made  of  the  Ameri- 
can division,  and  that  the  retention  of 
thirty  divisions  was  not  necessary.  Marshal 
Foch  considered  it  indispensable  to  maintain 
under  arms  a  total,  including  Italians,  of  120 
to  140  divisions,  and  he  proposed  that  we 
maintain  thirty  divisions  in  Prance  until 
Feb.  1,  twenty-five  of  which  should  be  held 
in  the  zone  of  the  armies,  and  that  on  March 
1  we  should  have  twenty  divisions  in  the 
zone  of  the  armies  and  five  ready  to  embark. 
The  plan  for  March  1  was  satisfactory,  but 
the  restrictions  as  to  the  divisions  that  should 
be  in  France  on  Feb.  1  could  not  be  ac- 
cepted, as  it  would  seriously  interfere  with 
the    flow    of   troops    homeward. 

In  a  communication  dated  Dec.  24  the 
Marshal  set  forth  the  minimum  forces  to  be 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


341 


furnished  by  the  several  allies,  requesting 
the  American  Army  to  furnish  twenty-two  to 
twenty-five  divisions  of  infantry.  In  the  same 
note  he  estimated  the  force  to  be  maintained 
after  the  signing  of  the  preliminaries  of  peace 
at  about  thirty-two  divisions,  of  which  the 
American   Army   was   to   furnish  six. 

TRANSPORTATION   PROBLEMS 

In  reply  it  was  pointed  out  that  our  prob- 
lem of  repatriation  of  troops  and  their  de- 
mobilization was  quite  different  from  that 
of  France  or  Great  Britain.  On  account  of 
our  long  line  of  communications  in  France 
and  the  time  consumed  by  the  ocean  voyage 
and  travel  in  the  United  States,  even  with 
the  maximum  employment  of  our  then  avail- 
able transportation,  at  least  a  year  must 
elapse  before  we  could  complete  our  demobili- 
zation. Therefore,  it  was  proposed  by  me 
that  the  number  of  American  combat  divi- 
sions to  be  maintained  in  the  zone  of  the 
armies  should  be  reduced  on  April  1  to  fif- 
teen divisions  and  on  May  1  to  ten  divisions, 
and  that  in  the  unexpected  event  that  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  should  not  be  signed 
by  May  1  we  would  continue  to  maintain  ten 
divisions  in  the  zone  of  the  armistice  until 
the  date  of  signature. 

The  allied  Commander  in  Chief  later  re- 
vised his  estimate,  and  on  Jan.  24  stated 
to  the  Supreme  War  Council  that  the  Ger- 
man demobilization  would  permit  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  allied  forces  to  100  divisions,  of 
which  the  Americans  were  requested  to  fur- 
nish fifteen.     In   reply  it  was  again  pointed 


out  that  our  problem  was  entirely  one  of 
transportation,  and  that  such  a  promise  waa 
unneceaaaxy,  inasmuch  as  it  would  probably 
be  the  Summer  of  1919  before  we  could  re- 
duce our  forces  below  the  number  asked.  We 
were,  therefore,  able  to  keep  our  available 
ships  filled,  and  by  May  19  all  combat  divi- 
sions except  five  still  in  the  army  of  occu- 
pation were  under  orders  to  proceed  to  ports 
of  embarkation.  This  provided  sufficient 
troops  to  utilize  all  troop  transports  to  in- 
clude July  1"). 

The  President  had  Informed  me  that  it 
would  be  necessary  for  us  to  have  at  least 
one  regiment  in  occupied  Germany,  and  left 
the  details  to  be  discussed  by  me  with 
Marshal  Foch.  My  cable  of  July  1  sum- 
marizes  the   agreement   reached : 

"  By  direction  of  President,  I  have  dis- 
cussed with  Marshal  Foch  questions  of  forces 
to  be  left  on  the  Rhine.  Following  agreed 
upon :  The  4th  and  5th  Divisions  will  be 
sent  to  base  ports  immediately.  The  2d  Divi- 
sion will  commence  moving  to  base  ports  on 
July  15,  and  the  3d  Division  on  Aug.  15. 
Date  of  relief  of  1st  Division  will  be  decided 
later.  Agreement  contemplates  that  after 
compliance  by  Germany  with  military  condi- 
tions to  be  completed  within  first  three 
months  after  German  ratification  of  treaty 
American  force  will  be  reduced  to  one  regi- 
ment of  infantry  and  certain  auxiliaries.  Re- 
quest President  be  informed  of  agreement." 

As  a  result  of  a  later  conference  with  Mar- 
shal Foch  the  3d  Division  was  released  on 
Aug.  3  and  the  1st  Division  on  Aug.  15. 


Enormous  Task  of  the  Supply  Services 


In  February,  1918,  the  line  of  communica- 
tions was  reorganized  under  the  name  of  the 
service  of  supply.  At  that  time  all  staff 
services  and  departments,  except  the  Adju- 
tant General's,  the  Inspector  General's,  and 
the  Judge  Advocate  General's  Departments, 
were  grouped  for  supply  purposes  under  one 
co-ordinating  head,  the  commanding  general 
services  of  supply,  with  a  general  staff 
paralleling,  so  far  as  necessary,  the  General 
Staff    at    General    Headquarters. 

The  principal  functions  of  the  services  of 
supply  were  the  procurement,  storage,  and 
transportation  of  supplies.  These  activities 
were  controlled  in  a  general  way  by  the 
commanding  general  services  of  supply,  the 
maximum  degree  of  independence  being  per- 
mitted to  the  several  services.  This  great 
organization  was  charged  with  immense 
projects  in  connection  with  roads,  docks, 
railroads,  and  buildings;  the  transportation 
of  men,  animals,  and  supplies  by  sea, 
rail,  and  inland  waterways ;  the  operation  of 
iph  and  telephone  systems;  the  control 
and  transportation  of  replacements ;  the  hos- 
pitalization necessary  for  an  army  of  2.000,000 
nun :  the  reclassification  of  numerous  offi- 
cers   and    men ;    the    establishment    of    leave 


areas  and  of  welfare  and  entertainment 
projects;  the  liquidation  of  our  affairs  In 
France,  and  the  final  embarkation  of  our 
troops  for  home. 

The  growth  of  the  permanent  port  per- 
sonnel, the  location  near  the  base  ports  of 
certain  units  for  training,  and  other  con- 
siderations led  to  the  appointment  of  a  ter- 
ritorial commander  for  the  section  around 
each  port,  who,  while  acting  as  the  repre- 
sentative  of  the  commanding  general  services 
of  supply,  was  given  the  local  authority 
of  a  district  commander.  For  similar 
reasons  an  intermediate  section  commander 
and  an  advance  section  commander  were  ap- 
pointed. Eventually  there  were  nine  base 
sections,  including  one  in  England,  one  in 
Italy,  and  one  comprising  Rotterdam  and 
Antwerp,  also  one  intermediate  and  one  ad- 
vance   section 

The  increasing  participation  of  the  Ameri- 
can Expeditionary  Forces  in  active  operations 
necessitated  the  enlargement  of  the  respon- 
sibilities and  authority  of  the  commanding 
general  services  of  supply.  In  August.  ifflB, 
he  was  charged  with  complete  responsibility 
for  all  supply  matters  in  the  serv* 
supply,  and  was  authorised  to  correspond  by 


342 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


cable  directly  with  the  War  Department  on 
all  matters  of  supply  not  involving  questions 
of   policy. 

In  the  following  discussion  of  the  services 
of  supply  the  subjects  of  co-ordination  of 
supply  at  the  front,  ocean  tonnage,  and  re- 
placements are  included  for  convenience, 
though  they  were  largely  or  entirely  under 
the  direct  control  of  general  staff  sections  at 
my   headquarters. 

CO-ORDINATION  OF  SUPPLY 

Our  successful  participation  in  the  war 
required  that  all  the  different  services  imme- 
diately concerned  with  the  supply  of  combat 
troops  should  work  together  as  a  well- 
regulated  machine.  In  other  words,  there 
must  be  no  duplication  of  effort,  but  each 
must  perform  its  functions  without  interfer- 
ence with  any  other  service.  The  Fourth  Sec- 
tion of  the  General  Staff  was  created  to  con- 
trol impartially  all  these  services,  and,  under 
broad  lines  of  policy,  to  determine  questions 
of  transportation  and  supply  in  France  and 
co-ordinate  our  supply  services  with  those  of 
the  Allies. 

#  This  section  did  not  work  out  technical 
details,  but  was  charged  with  having  a  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  existing  conditions  as  to 
supply,    its   transportation,    and   of   construc- 

«  tion  affecting  our  operations  or  the  effi- 
ciency of  our  troops.  It  frequently  happened 
that  several  of  the  supply  departments  de- 
sired the  same  site  for  the  location  of  in- 
stallations, so  that  all  plans  for  such  facili- 
ties had  to  be  decided  in  accordance  with  the 
best  interests  of  the  whole. 

In  front  of  the  advance  depots  railroad 
lines  and  shipments  to  troops  had  to  be 
carefully  controlled,  because  mobility  de- 
manded that  combat  units  should  not  be 
burdened  with  a  single  day's  stores  above  the 
authorized  standard  reserve.  Furthermore, 
accumulations  at  the  front  were  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  destruction  or  capture  and 
might  indicate  our  intentions.  E°ch  combat 
division  required  the  equivalent  of  twenty- 
five  French  railway  car  loads  of  supplies  for 
its  daily  consumption  to  be  delivered  at  a 
point  within  reach  of  motor  or  horse-drawn 
transportation.  The  regular  and  prompt  re- 
ceipt of  supplies  by  combatant  troops  is  of 
first  importance  in  its  effect  upon  the  morale 
of  both  officers  and  men.  The  officer  whose 
mind  is  pre-occupied  by  the  question  of  food, 
clothing,  or  ammunition  is  not  free  to  de- 
vote his  energy  to  training  his  men  or  to 
fighting  the  enemy.  It  is  necessary  that 
paper  work  be  reduced  to  an  absolute 
minimum  and  that  the  delivery  of  supplies 
to  organizations  be  placed  on  an  automatic 
basis  as   far   as  possible. 

THE    REGULATING   STATIONS 

The  principle  of  flexibility  had  to  be  borne 
in  mind  in  planning  our  supply  system  in 
order  tnat  our  forces  should  be  supplied,  no 
matter  what  their  number,  or  where  they 
might  be  called  upon  to  enter  the  line.     This 


high  degree  of  elasticity  and  adaptability 
was  assured  and  maintained  through  the 
medium  of  the  regulating  station.  It  was 
the  connecting  link  between  the  armies  and 
the  services  in  the  rear,  and  regulated  the 
railroad  transportation  which  tied  them  to- 
gether. The  regulating  officer  at  each  sta- 
tion was  a  member  of  the  Fourth  Section  of 
my  General  Staff,  acting  under  instructions 
from  his   chief   of  section. 

Upon  the  regulating  officer  fell  the  re- 
sponsibility that  a  steady  flow  of  supply  was 
maintained.  He  must  meet  emergency  ship- 
ments of  ammunition  or  engineering  ma- 
terial, sudden  transfers  of  troops  by  rail,  the 
hastening  forward  of  replacements,  or  the 
unexpected  evacuation  of  wounded.  All  the 
supply  services  naturally  clamored  to  have 
their  shipments  rushed  through.  The 
regulating  officer,  acting  under  special  or 
secret  instructions,  must  declare  priorities  in 
the  supply  of  things  the  army  needed  most. 
Always  informed  of  the  conditions  at  the 
front,  of  the  status  of  supplies,  and  of  mili- 
tary plans  and  intentions,  nothing  could  be 
shipped  to  the  regulating  station  or  in  front 
of  the  advance  depots  except  on  his  orders. 
The  chiefs  of  supply  services  fulfilled  their 
responsibilities  when  they  delivered  to  the 
regulating  officer  the  supplies  called  for  by 
him,  and  he  met  his  obligation  when  these 
supplies  were  delivered  at  the  proper  rail- 
heads at  the  time  they  were  needed.  The 
evacuation  of  the  wounded  was  effected  over 
the  same  railroad  lines  as  those  carrying  sup- 
plies to  the  front ;  therefore,  this  control  had 
also  to  be  centralized  in  the  regulating 
officer. 

LOCATION    IMPORTANT 

The  convenient  location  of  the  regulating 
stations  was  of  prime  importance.  They  had 
to  be  close  enough  to  all  points  in  their  zones 
to  permit  trains  leaving  after  dusk  or  during 
the  night  to  arrive  at  their  destinations  by 
dawn.  They  must  also  be  far  enough  to  the 
rear  to  be  reasonably  safe  from  capture. 
Only  two  regulating  stations  were  actually 
constructed  by  us  in  France,  Is-sur-Tille  and 
Liffol-le-Grand,  as  the  existing  French  facili- 
ties were  sufficient  to  meet  our  requirements 
beyond  the  reach  of  those  stations. 

As  far  as  the  regulating  officer  was  con- 
cerned, supplies  were  divided  into  four  main 
classes.  The  first  class  constituted  food, 
forage,  and  fuel  needed  and  consumed  every 
day ;  the  second,  uniforms,  shoes,  blankets, 
and  horse  shoes,  which  wear  out  with  reason- 
able regularity ;  the  third,  articles  of  equip- 
ment which  require  replacement  at  irregular 
intervals,  such  as  rolling  kitchens,  rifles,  and 
escort  wagons ;  the  fourth  clase  covered 
articles  the  flow  of  which  depended  upon 
tactical  operations,  such  as  ammunition  and 
construction  material.  Articles  in  the  first 
class  were  placed  on  an  automatic  basis,  but 
formal  requisition  was  eliminated  as  far  as 
possible    for    all    classes. 

In  order  to  meet  many  of  the  immediate 
needs  of  troops  coming  out  of  the  line  and  to 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


relieve  to  some  extent  the  great  strain  on 
the  railheads  during:  active  fighting-,  a  system 
of  army  depots  was  organized.  These  depots 
were  supplied  by  bulk  shipment  from  the 
advance  depots  through  the  regulating 
stations  during  relatively  quiet  periods. 
They  were  under  the  control  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  supply  services  of  the  armies  and 
required  practically  no  construction  work, 
the  supplies  being  stored  In  open  places  pro- 
tected only  by  dunnage  and  camouflage 
tarpaulins. 

The  accompanying  diagram  illustrates 
graphically  the  supply  system  which  sup- 
ported our  armies  in  France.  The  services 
of  supply  can  be  likened  to  a  great  reservoir 
divided  into  three  main  parts— the  base  de- 
pots, the  intermediate  depots,  and  the  ad- 
vance depots.  The  management  of  this 
reservoir  is  in  charge  of  the  commanding 
General,  services  of  supply,  who  administers 
it  with  a  free  hand,  controlled  only  by  general 
policies  outlined  to  him  from  time  to  time. 
Each  of  the  supply  and  technical  services 
functions  independently  in  its  own  respective 
sphere ;  each  has  its  share  of  storage  space 
in  the  base  depots,  in  the  intermediate 
depots,  and  in  the  advance  depots.  Then 
comes  the  distribution  system,  and  here  the 
control  passes  to  the  chief  of  the  Fourth 
Section  of  the  General  Staff,  who  exercises 
his  powers  through  the  regulating  stations. 

PURCHASING  AGENCY 

The  consideration  of  requirements  in  food 
and  material  led  to  the  adoption  of  an 
automatic  supply  system,  but,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  foodstuffs,  there  was  an  actual 
shortage,  especially  in  the  early  part  of  the 
war,  of  many  things,  such  as  equipment  per- 
taining to  land  transportation  and  equipment 
and  material  for  combat.  The  lack  of  ocean 
tonnage  to  carry  construction  material  and 
animals  at  the  beginning  was  serious. 
Although  an  increasing  amount  of  shipping 
became  available  as  the  war  progressed,  at 
no  time  was  there  sufficient  for  our  require- 
ments. The  tonnage  from  the  States  reached 
about  seven  and  one-half  million  tons  to  Dec. 
31,  1918,  which  was  a  little  less  than  one- 
half  of  the  total  amount  obtained. 

The  supply  situation  made  it  Imperative 
that  we  utilize  European  resources  as  far  as 
possible  for  the  purchase  of  material  and 
supplies.  If  our  services  of  supply  depart- 
ments had  entered  the  market  of  Europe  as 
purchasers  without  regulation  or  co-ordina- 
tion, they  would  have  been  thrown  into  com- 
petition with  each  other,  as  well  as  with 
buyers  from  the  allied  armies  and  the  civil 
populations.  Such  a  system  would  have  cre- 
ated an  unnatural  elevation  of  prices,  and 
would  have  actually  obstructed  the  procure- 
ment of  supplies.  To  meet  this  problem  from 
the  standpoint  of  economical  business 
management,  directions  were  given  in  August, 
1917,  for  the  creation  of  a  General  Purchas- 
ing   Board    to    co-ordinate    and    control    our 


purchases  both  among  our  own  services  and 
among  the  Allies  as  well.  The  supervision  and 
direction  of  this  agency  was  plac<  1  b 
hands  of  an  experienced  business  man,  and 
every  supply  department  in  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  was  represented  on  the 
board.  Agents  were  stationed  In  Switzer- 
land, Spain,  and  Holland,  besides  the  allied 
countries.  The  character  of  supplies  included 
practically  the  entire  category  of  necessities, 
although  the  bulk  of  our  purchases  consisted 
of  raw  materials  for  construction,  ordnance, 
air  equipment,  and  animals.  A  total  of  about 
10,000,000  tons  was  purchased  abroad  by  this 
agency  to  Dec.  31,  1918,  most  of  which  was 
obtained  in  France. 

The  functions  of  the  purchasing  agency 
were  gradually  extended  until  they  included 
a  wide  field  of  activities.  In  addition  to  the 
co-ordination  of  purchases,  the  supply  re- 
sources of  our  allies  were  reconnoitred  and 
intimate  touch  was  secured  with  foreign 
agencies ;  a  statistical  bureau  was  created 
which  classified  and  analyzed  our  require- 
ments ;  quarterly  forecasts  of  supplies  were 
issued ;  civilian  manual  labor  was  procured 
and  organized ;  a  technical  board  undertook 
the  co-ordination,  development,  and  utiliza- 
tion of  the  electric  power  facilities  in  France ; 
a  bureau  of  reciprocal  supplies  vised  the 
claims  of  foreign  Governments  for  raw  ma- 
terials from  the  United  States,  and  a  general 
printing  plant  was  established.  Some  of 
these  activities  were  later  transferred  to 
other  services  as  the  latter  became  ready  to 
undertake  their  control. 

The  principles  upon  which  the  usefulness 
of  this  agency  depended  were  extended  to 
our  allies,  and  in  the  Summer  of  1918  the 
general  purchasing  agent  became  a  member 
of  the  Interallied  Board  of  Supplies.  This 
board  undertook,  with  signal  success,  to  co- 
ordinate the  supply  of  the  allied  armies  in 
all  those  classes  of  material  necessities  that 
were  in  common  use  in  all  the  armies.  The 
possibility  of  immense  savings  were  fully 
demonstrated,  but  the  principles  had  not  be- 
come of  general  application  before  the  armi- 
stice. 

OCEAN  TONNAGE 

Following  a  study  of  tonnage  requirements 
an  officer  was  sent  to  Washington  in  Decem- 
ber, 1917,  with  a  general  statement  of  the 
shipping  situation  In  France  as  understood 
by  the  allied  Maritime  Council.  In  March, 
1918,  tonnage  requirements  for  transport  and 
maintenance  of  900,000  men  in  France  by 
June  30  were  adopted  as  a  basis  upon  which 
to  calculate  supply  requisitions  and  the  al- 
location of  tonnage. 

In  April  the  allied  Maritime  Transport 
Council  showed  that  requirements  for  1918 
greatly  exceeded  the  available  tonnage.  Fur- 
ther revisions  of  the  schedule  were  required 
by  the  Abbeville  agreement  in  May,  under 
which  American  infantry  and  machine-gun 
units  were  to  be  transported  in  British  ship- 


3U 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


ping,  and  by  the  Versailles  agreement  in 
June. 

In  July  a  serious  crisis  developed,  as  the 
allotment  for  August  made  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  by  the  Shipping  Con- 
trol Committee  was  only  575,000  deadweight 
tons,  afterward  increased  to  700,000,  whereas 
803,000  tons  (not  including  animals)  were 
actually  needed.  It  was  strongly  urged  by 
me  that  more  shipping  be  diverted  from 
trades,  and  that  a  larger  percentage  of  new 
shipping  be  placed  in  transport  service. 

Early  in  1918  a  scheme  had  been  proposed 
which  would  provide  priority  for  essential 
supplies  only,  based  upon  monthly  available 
tonnage  in  sight.  Although  it  was  the  un- 
derstanding that  calls  for  shipping  should  be 
based  upon  our  actual  needs,  much  irregu- 
larity was  found  in  tonnage  allotments. 

REPLACEMENTS  OF  PERSONNEL 

Under  the  original  organization  project 
there  were  to  be  two  divisions  in  each  corps 
of  six  divisions,  which  were  to  be  used  as 
reservoirs  of  replacements.  One-half  of  the 
artillery  and  other  auxiliaries  of  these  two 
divisions  were  to  be  utilized  as  corps  and 
army  troops.  They  were  to  supply  the  first 
demands  for  replacements  from  their  orig- 
inal strength,  after  which  a  minimum  of 
3,000  men  per  month  for  each  army  corps 
in  France  was  to  be  forwarded  to  them  from 
the  United  States.  It  was  estimated  that  this 
would  give  a  sufficient  reservoir  of  person- 
nel to  maintain  the  fighting  strength  of  com- 
bat units,  provided  the  sick  and  wounded 
were  promptly  returned  to  their  own  units 
upon  recovery. 

The  32d  and  41st  Divisions  were  the  first 
to  be  designated  as  replacement  and  depot 
divisions  of  the  1st  Army  Corps,  but  the  sit- 
uation soon  became  such  that  the  32d  Divi- 
sion had  to  be  employed  as  a  combat  division. 
For  the  same  reason  all  succeeding  divisions 
had  to  be  trained  for  combat,  until  June  27, 
when  the  need  for  replacements  made  it  nec- 
essary to  designate  the  83d  as  a  depot  di- 
vision. 

1.  By  the  middle  of  August  we  faced  a 
serious  shortage  of  replacements.  Divisions 
had  arrived  in  France  below  strength,  and 
each  division  diverted  from  replacement  to 
combat  duty  increased  the  number  of  divi- 
sions to  be  supplied,  and  at  the  same  time 
decreased  the  supply. 

On  Aug.  16  the  War  Department  was  cabled 
as  follows : 

"  Attention  is  especially  invited  to  the  very 
great  shortage  in  arrivals  of  replacements 
heretofore  requested.  Situation  with  refer- 
ence to  replacements  is  now  very  acute.  Un- 
til sufficient  replacements  are  available  in 
France  to  keep  our  proved  divisions  at  full 
strength  replacements  should,  by  all  means, 
be  sent  in  preference  to  new  divisions." 

At  this  time  it  became  necessary  to  trans- 
fer 2,000  men  from  each  of  three  combat 
divisions    (the    7th,    36th,    and    81st)    to    the 


First  Army  in  preparation  for  the  St.  Mihiel 
offensive. 

By  the  time  the  Meuse-Argonne  offensive 
was  initiated  the  replacement  situation  had 
become  still  more  acute.  The  infantry  and 
machine-gun  units  of  the  84th  and  86th  Di- 
visions, then  in  the  vicinity  of  Bordeaux, 
were  utilized  as  replacements,  leaving  only 
a  cadre  of  two  officers  and  twenty-five  men 
for  each  company.  To  provide  immediate 
replacements  during  the  progress  of  the  bat- 
tles new  replacement  organizations  were 
formed  in  the  zone  of  operations ;  at  first  as 
battalions  and  later  as  regional  replacement 
depots. 

2.  On  Oct.  3  a  cable  was  sent  the  War  De- 
partment reading  as  follows: 

"  Over  50,000  of  the  replacements  requested 
for  the  months  of  July,  August,  and  Septem- 
ber have  not  yet  arrived.  Due  to  extreme 
seriousness  of  replacement  situation  it  is 
necessary  to  utilize  personnel  of  the  84th  and 
86th  Divisions  for  replacement  purposes.  Com- 
bat divisions  are  short  over  80,000  men.  Vi- 
tally important  that  all  replacements  due, 
including  55,000  requested  for  October,  be 
shipped  early  in  October.  If  necessary,  some 
divisions  in  United  States  should  be  stripped 
of  trained  men,  and  such  men  shipped  as  re- 
placements at  once." 

Altogether  seven  divisions  had  to  be  skele- 
tonized, leaving  only  one  man  per  company 
and  one  officer  per  regiment  to  care  for  the 
records.  As  a  further  measure  to  meet  the 
situation  the  authorized  strength  of  divisions 
was  reduced  in  October  by  4,000  men,  thus 
lowering  the  strength  of  each  infantry  com- 
pany to  approximately  174  men.  The  thirty 
combat  divisions  in  France  at  that  time 
needed  103,513  infantry  and  machine-gun  re- 
placements, and  only  66,490  were  available. 

Attention  of  the  War  Department  was  in- 
vited on  Nov.  2  to  the  fact  that  a  total  of 
140,000  replacements  would  be  due  by  the 
end  of  November,  and  the  cable  closed  by 
saying: 

"  To  send  over  entire  divisions,  which  must 
be  broken  up  on  their  arrival  in  France  so 
we  may  obtain  replacements  that  have  not 
been  sent  as  called  for  is  a  wasteful  method, 
and  one  that  makes  for  inefficiency ;  but  as 
replacements  are  not  otherwise  available, 
there  is  no  other  course  open  to  us.  New 
and  only  partially  trained  divisions  cannot 
take  the  place  of  older  divisions  that  have 
had  battle  experience.  The  latter  must  be 
kept  up  numerically  to  the  point  of  effi- 
ciency.   *    *    *" 

REMOUNTS  • 

The  shortage  of  animals  was  a  serious 
problem  throughout  the  war.  In  July,  1917, 
the  French  agreed  to  furnish  our  forces  with 
7,000  animals  a  month,  and  accordingly  the 
War  Department  was  requested  to  discon- 
tinue shipments.  On  Aug.  24,  however,  the 
French  advised  us  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible    to     furnish     the    number    of    animals 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


originally  stated,  and  Washington  was  again 
asked  to  supply  animals,  but  none  could  be 
sent  over  until  November,  and  then  only  a 
limited  number. 

Early  in  1918,  after  personal  intervention 
and  much  delay,  the  French  Government 
made  requisition  on  the  country,  and  we  were 
able  to  obtain  50,000  animals.  After  many 
difficulties  the  purchasing  board  was  suc- 
cessful in  obtaining  permission,  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1918,  to  export  animals  from  Spain, 
but  practically  no  animals  were  received  un- 
til after  the  armistice. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  reduce  animal 
requirements— by  Increased  motorization  of 
artillery  and  by  requiring  mounted  officers 
and  men  to  walk— but  in  spite  of  all  these 
efforts  the  situation  as  to  animals  grew 
steadily  worse.  The  shortage  by  November 
exceeded  106,000,  or  almost  one-half  of  all 
our  needs.  To  relieve  the  crisis  in  this  re- 
gard, during  the  Meuse-Argonne  battle.  Mar- 
shal Foch  requisitioned  13,000  animals  from 
the  French  armies  and  placed  them  at  my 
disposal. 

RECLASSIFICATION 

An  important  development  in  the  Services 
of  Supply  was  the  reclassification  system 
for  officers  and  men.  This  involved  not  only 
the  physical  reclassification  of  those  par- 
tially fit  for  duty,  but  also  the  reclassifica- 
tion of  officers  according  to  fitness  for  spe- 
cial duties.  A  number  of  officers  were  found 
unsuited  to  the  duties  on  which  employed. 
An  effort  was  made  to  reassign  these  offi- 
cers to  the  advantage  of  themselves  and 
the  army.  A  total  of  1,101  officers  were  re- 
classified in  addition  to  the  disabled,  and 
270  were  sent  before  efficiency  boards  for 
elimination.  Nine  hundred  and  sixty-two 
wounded  or  otherwise  disabled  officers  were 
reclassified,  their  services  being  utilized  to 
release  officers  on  duty  with  the  Services  of 
Supply  who  were  able  to  serve  with  combat 
units. 

CONSTRUCTION 

Among  the  most  notable  achievements  of 
the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  was  the 
large  program  of  construction  carried  out  by 
our  engineer  troops  in  the  Services  of  Sup- 
ply and  elsewhere.  The  chief  projects  were 
port  facilities,  including  docks,  railroads, 
warehouses,  hospitals,  barracks,  and  stables. 
These  were  planned  to  provide  ultimately 
for  an  army  of  4,000,000,  the  construction 
being  carried  on  coincident  with  the  growth 
of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces. 

The  port  plans  contemplated  160  new  berths, 
including  the  necessary  facilities  for  dis- 
charge of  cargo,  approximately  one-half  of 
which  were  completed  at  the  time  of  the 
armistice.  Construction  of  new  standard- 
gauge  railroad  track  amounted  to  1,002  miles, 
consisting  mainly  of  cut-offs,  double  tracking 
at  congested  points,  and  yards  at  ports  and 
depots.  Road  construction  and  repair  con- 
tinued until  our  troops  were  withdrawn  from 


the  several  areas,  employing  at  times  up- 
ward of  10,000  men,  and  often  using  90.000 
tons  of  stone  per  week. 

Storage  requirements  necessitated  large 
supply  depots  at  the  ports  and  in  the  inter- 
mediate and  advance  sections.  Over  2,000,- 
000  square  feet  of  covered  storage  was  se- 
cured from  the  French,  but  it  was  necessary 
to  construct  approximately  20,000,000  square 
feet  additional.  The  base  hospital  centres 
at  Mars  and  Mesves,  each  with  4,000-bed  con- 
valescent camps,  are  typical  of  the  large 
scale  upon  which  hospital  accommodations 
were  provided.  The  hospital  city  at  Mars, 
of  700  buildings,  covered  a  ground  space  of 
thirty-three  acres  and  included  the  usual 
road,  water,  sewerage,  and  lighting  facilities 
of  a  municipality. 

Advantages  of  economy  and  increased  mo- 
bility caused  the  adoption  of  the  system  of 
billeting  troops.  Billeting  areas  were  chosen 
near  the  base  ports,  along  the  line  of  com- 
munications, and  in  the  advanced  zone,  as 
strategical  requirements  dictated.  The  sys- 
tem was  not  altogether  satisfactory,  but 
with  the  number  of  troops  to  be  accommo- 
dated no  other  plan  was  practicable.  De- 
mountable barracks  were  used  for  shelter  to 
supplement  lack  of  billets,  16,000  barracks 
of  this  type  being  erected,  particularly  at 
base  ports  where  large  camps  were  neces- 
sary. Stables  at  remount  stations  were  built 
for  43,000  animals.  Other  construction  in- 
cluded refrigerating  plants,  such  as  the  one 
at  Gievres  with  a  capacity  of  6,500  tons  of 
meat  and  500  tons  of  ice  per  day ;  and  me- 
chanical bakeries  like  that  at  Is-sur-Tille 
with  a  capacity  of  800,000  pounds  of  bread 
per  day.  If  the  buildings  constructed  were 
consolidated,  with  the  width  of  a  standard 
barrack,  they  would  reach  from  St.  Nazaire 
across  France  to  the  Elbe  River  in  Ger- 
many, a  distance  of  730  miles. 

In  connection  with  construction  work  the 
Engineer  Corps  engaged  in  extensive  for- 
estry operations  producted  200.000,000  feet  of 
lumber,  4,000.000  railroad  ties,  300,000  cords 
of  fuel  wood,  35,000  pieces  of  piling,  and 
large  quantities  of  miscellaneous  products. 

TRANSPOTATION   CORPS 

The  Transportation  Corps  as  a  separate  or- 
ganization was  new  to  our  army.  Its  exact 
relation  to  the  supply  departments  was  con- 
ceived to  be  that  of  a  system  acting  as  a 
common  carrier  operating  its  own  ship  and 
rail  terminals.  The  equipment  and  operation 
of  port  terminals  stands  out  as  a  most  re- 
markable achievement.  The  amount  of  ton- 
nage handled  at  all  French  ports  grew  slow- 
ly, reaching  about  17.000  tons  daily  at  the 
end  of  July,  1918.  An  emergency  then  de- 
veloped as  a  result  of  the  critical  military 
situation,  and  the  capacity  of  our  terminals 
was  so  efficiently  increased  that  by  Nov.  11 
45,000   tons  were  being  handled  daily. 

The  French  railroad,  both  in  management 
and  material,  had  dangerously  deteriorated 
during  the  war.    As  our  system  was  super- 


346 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


imposed  upon  that  of  the  French  it  was  nec- 
essary to  provide  them  with  additional  per- 
sonnel and  much  material.  Experienced 
American  railroad  men  brought  into  our  or- 
ganization in  various  practical  capacities  the 
best  talent  in  the  country,  who,  in  addition 
to  the  management  of  our  own  transporta- 
tion, materially  aided  the  French.  The  rela- 
tion of  our  Transportation  Corps  to  the 
French  railroads  and  to  our  own  supply  de- 
partments presented  many  difficulties,  but 
these  were  eventually  overcome  and  a  high 
state  of  efficiency  established. 

It  was  early  decided  as  expedient  for  our 
purposes  to  use  American  rolling  stock  on 
the  French  railroads,  and  approximately  20,- 
000  cars  and  1,500  standard  gauge  locomo- 
tives were  brought  from  the  United  States 
and  assembled  by  our  railroad  troops.  We 
assisted  the  French  by  repairing  with  our 
own  personnel  57,385  French  cars  and  1,947 
French  locomotives.  The  lack  of  rolling 
stock  for  allied  use  was  at  all  times  a  seri- 
ous handicap,  so  that  the  number  of  cars 
and  locomotives  built  and  repaired  by  us  was 
no  small  part  of  our  contribution  to  the  allied 
cause.    * 

QUARTERMASTER  CORPS 

The  Quartermaster  Corps  was  able  to  pro- 
vide a  larger  tonnage  of  supplies  from  the 
United  States  than  any  of  the  great 
supply  departments.  The  operations  of  this 
corps  were  so  large  and  the  activities  so  nu- 
merous that  they  can  best  be  understood  by 
a  study  of  the  report  of  the  commanding 
General,    Services  of  Supply. 

The  Quartermaster  Corps  in  France  was 
called  upon  to  meet  conditions  never  before 
presented,  and  it  was  found  advisable  to 
give  it  relief.  Transportation  problems  by 
sea  transport  and  by  rail  were  handled  by 
separate  corps  organized  for  that  purpose 
and  already  described.  Motor  transport  was 
also  placed  under  an  organization  of  its  own. 
The  usual  routine  supplies  furnished  by  this 
department  reached  enormous  proportions. 
Except  for  the  delay  early  in  1918  in  obtain- 
ing clothing  and  the  inferior  quality  of  some 
that  was  furnished,  and  an  occasional  short- 
age in  forage,  no  army  was  ever  better  pro- 
vided for.  Special  services  created  under  the 
Quartermaster  Corps  included  a  remount 
service,  which  received,  cared  for,  and  sup- 
plied animals  to  troops ;  a  veterinary  serv- 
ice, working  in  conjunction  with  the  remount 
organization ;  an  effects  section  and  baggage 
service,  and  a  salvage  service  for  the  recov- 
ery and  preparation  for  reissue  of  every  pos- 
sible article  of  personal  equipment.  Due  to 
the  activities  of  the  salvage  service  an  esti- 
mated saving  of  $85,000,000  was  realized,  ton- 
nage and  raw  material  were  conserved,  and 
what  in  former  wars  represented  a  distinct 
liability  was  turned  into  a  valuable  asset. 

The  graves  registration  service,  also  under 
the  Quartermaster  Corps,  was  charged  with 
the  acquisition  and  care  of  cemeteries,  the 
identification   and  reburial  of  our  dead,  and 


the  correspondence  with  relatives  of  the  de- 
ceased. Central  cemeteries  were  organized 
on  the  American  battlefields,  the  largest 
being  at  Romagne-sous-Montfaucon  and  at 
Thiaucourt  in  the  Woevre.  All  territory  over 
which  our  troops  fought  was  examined  by 
this  service,  and,  generally  speaking,  the  re- 
mains of  our  dead  were  assembled  in  Amer- 
ican cemeteries,  and  the  graves  marked  with 
a  cross  or  six-pointed  star  and  photograph. 
A  few  bodies  were  buried  where  they  fell  or 
in  neighboring  French  or  British  cemeteries. 
Wherever  the  soldier  was  buried  his  identifi- 
cation tag,  giving  his  name  and  army  serial 
number,  was  fastened  to  the  marker.  A  care- 
ful record  was  kept  of  the  location  of  each 
grave. 

SIGNAL  CORPS 

The  Signal  Corps  supplied,  installed,  and 
operated  the  general  service  of  telephone  and 
telegraph  communications  throughout  the 
zone  of  armies,  and  from  there  to  the  rear 
areas.  At  the  front  it  handled  radio,  press, 
and  intercept  stations;  provided  a  radio  net- 
work in  the  zone  of  advance,  and  also  man- 
aged the  meteorological,  pigeon,  and  general 
photographic  services.  Our  communication 
system  included  a  cable  across  the  English 
telephone  and  telegraph  lines  on  our  own 
telephone  and  telegraph  lines  on  our  owj» 
poles,  and  the  successful  operation  of  a  sys- 
tem with  115,500  kilometers  of  lines. 

The  quantity  and  importance  of  gasoline- 
engine  transportation  in  this  war  necessi- 
tated the  creation  of  a  new  service  known 
as  the  Motor  Transport  Corps.  It  was.  re- 
sponsible for  setting  up  motor  vehicles  re- 
ceived from  America,  their  distribution,  re- 
pair, and  maintenance.  Within  the  zone  of 
the  Services  of  Supply,  the  Motor  Transport 
Corps  controlled  the  use  of  motor  vehicles, 
and  it  gave  technical  supervision  to  their 
operation  in  the  zone  of  the  armies.  It  was 
responsible  for  the  training  and  instruction 
of  chauffeurs  and  other  technical  personnel. 
Due  to  the  shortage  of  shipments  from 
America,  a  large  number  of  trucks,  automo- 
biles, and  spare  parts  had  to  be  purchased 
in  France.  , 

RENTING,  REQUISITION 

A  renting,  requisition,  and  claims  service 
was  organized  in  March,  1918,  to  procure 
billeting  areas,  supervise  the  quartering  of 
troops  with  an  organization  of  zone  and  town 
Majors,  and  to  have  charge  of  the  renting, 
leasing,  and  requistioning  of  all  lands  and 
buildings  required  by  the  American  Expe- 
ditionary Forces.  Under  the  provisions  of 
an  act  of  Congress,  approved  in  April,  1918, 
the  Claims  Department  was  charged  with 
the  investigation,  assessment,  and  settle- 
ment of  all  claims  "  of  inhabitants  of  France 
or  any  other  European  country  not  an  enemy 
or  ally  of  an  enemy  "  for  injuries  to  persons 
or  damages  to  property  occasioned  by  our 
forces.  The  procedure  followed  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  the   law   and   practice   of  the 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


country  in  question.  The  efficient  adminis- 
tration of  this  service  had  an  excellent  effect 
upon  the  people  of  the  European  countries 
concerned. 

The  various  activities  of  the  Services  of 
Supply  which,  at  its  heighth  on  Nov.  11,  1918, 
reached  a  numerical  strength  in  personnel  of 
008,312,  including  23,772  civilian  employes, 
can  best  be  summed  up  by  quoting  the  tel- 
egram sent  by  me  to  Major  Gen.  James  G. 


Harbord,  the  commanding  General,  Services 
of  Supply,  upon  my  relinquishing  personal 
command  of  the  First  Army: 

"  I  want  the  S.  O.  S.  to  know  how  much 
the  First  Army  appreciated  the  promi 
spouse  made  to  every  demand  for  men,  equip- 
ment, supplies,  and  transportation  nee 
to  carry  out  the  recent  operation.-.  Hearty 
congratulations.  The  S.  O.  S.  shares  the 
success  with  it." 


Ordnance  and  Other  Departments 


Our  entry  into  the  war  found  us  with  few 
of  the  auxiliaries  necessary  for  its  conduct 
in  the  modern  sense.  The  task  of  the  Ord- 
nance Department  in  supplying  artillery  was 
especially  difficult.  In  order  to  meet  our 
requirements  as  rapidly  as  possible,  we  ac- 
cepted the  offer  of  the  French  Government 
to  supply  us  with  the  artillery  equipment  of 
75's,  155-millimeter  howitzers,  and  155  G.  P. 
F.  guns  from  their  own  factories  for  thirty 
divisions.  The  wisdom  of  this  course  was 
fully  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that,  although 
we  soon  began  the  manufacture  of  these 
classes  of  guns  at  home,  there  were  no  guns 
of  American  manufacture  of  the  calibres 
mentioned  on  our  front  at  the  date  of  the 
armistice.  The  only  guns  of  these  types  pro- 
duced at  home  which  reached  France  before 
the  cessation  of  hostilities  were  109  75  mili- 
meter  guns.  In  addition,  24  8-inch  howitzers 
from  the  United  States  reached  our  lines 
and  were  in  use  when  the  armistice  was 
signed.  Eight  14-inch  naval  guns  of  Ameri- 
can manufacture  were  set  up  on  railroad 
mounts,  and  most  of  these  were  successfully 
employed  on  the  Meuse-Argonne  front  under 
the  efficient  direction  of  Admiral  Plunkett 
of  the  navy. 

AVIATION 

In  aviation  we  were  entirely  dependent 
upon  our  allies,  and  here  again  the  French 
Government  came  to  our  aid  until  our  own 
program  could  be  set  under  way.  From  time 
to  time  we  obtained  from  the  French  such 
airplanes  for  training  personnel  as  they  could 
provide.  Without  going  into  a  complete  dis- 
cussion of  aviation  material,  it  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  state  that  it  was  with  great  dif- 
ficuly  that  we  obtained  equipment  even  for 
training.  As  for  up-to-date  combat  airplanes, 
the  development  at  home  was  slow,  and  we 
had  to  rely  upon  the  French  who  provided  us 
with  a  total  of  2,676  pursuit,  observation, 
and  bombing  machines.  The  first  airplanes 
received  from  home  arrived  In  May,  and  al- 
together we  received  1,379  planes  of  the  De 
Haviland  type.  The  first  American  squadron 
completely  equipped  by  American  production, 
including  airplanes,  crossed  the  German  lines 
on  Aug.  7,  1918.  As  to  our  aviators,  many 
of  whom  trained  with  our  allies,  it  can  be 
said    that   they   had    no   superiors    in    daring 


and  in  fighting  ability.  During  the  battles 
of  St.  Mihiel  and  Meuse-Argonne  our  avia- 
tors excelled  all  others.  They  have  left  a 
record  of  courageous  deeds  that  will  ever  re- 
main a  brilliant  page  in  the  annals  of  our 
army. 

TANKS 

In  the  matter  of  tanks,  we  were  compelled 
to  rely  upon  both  the  French  and  the  Eng- 
lish. Here,  however,  we  were  less  fortunate 
for  the  reason  that  our  allies  barely  had  suf- 
ficient tanks  to  meet  their  own  requirements. 
While  our  Tank  Corps  had  limited  oppor- 
tunity, its  fine  personnel  responded  gallantly 
on  every  possible  occasion  and  showed 
courage  of  the  highest  order.  We  had  one 
battalion  of  heavy  tanks  engaged  on  the  Eng- 
lish front.  On  our  own  front  we  had  only 
the  light  tanks,  and  the  number  available 
to  participate  in  the  last  great  assault  of 
Nov.  1  was  reduced  to  sixteen  as  a  result 
of  the  previous  hard  fighting  in  the  Meuse- 
Argonne. 

CHEMICAL  WARFARE 

The  chemical  warfare  service  represented 
another  entirely  new  departure  in  this  war. 
It  included  many  specialists  from  civil  life. 
With  personnel  at  a  high  order,  it  developed 
rapidly  into  one  of  our  most  efficient  auxil- 
iary services.  While  the  early  employment 
of  gas  was  in  the  form  of  clouds  launched 
from  special  projectors,  its  use  later  on  in 
the  war  was  virtually  by  means  of  gas  shells 
fired  by  the  light  artillery.  One  of  the  most 
important  duties  of  the  chemical  wa 
service  was  to  insure  the  equipment  of  our 
troops  with  a  safe  and  comfortable  mask 
and  the  instruction  of  the  personnel  in  the 
use  of  this  protector.  Whether  or  not  gas 
will  be  employed  in  future  wars  is  a  matter 
of  conjecture,  but  the  effect  is  so  deadly 
to  the  unprepared  that  we  can  never  afford 
to  neglect  the  question. 

ADMINISTRATION 

The  general  health  of  our  armies  under 
conditions  strange  and  adverse  in  many  ways 
to  our  American  experience  and  mode  of  life 
was  marvelously  good.  The  proportionate 
number  of  men  incapacitated  from  other 
causes    than    battle    casualties    and    injuries 


348 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


was  low.  Of  all  deaths  in  the  American  Ex- 
peditionary Forces  (to  Sept.  1,  1919)  totaling 
81,141,  there  were  killed  in  action  35,556.  died 
of  wounds  received  in  battle,  15  "ISO;  other 
wounds  and  injuries,  5,669,  and  died  of  dis- 
ease, 24,786.  Therefore,  but  little  over  two- 
sevenths  the  total  loss  of  life  in  the  Ameri- 
can Expeditionary  Forces  was  caused  by 
disease. 

Our  armies  suffered  from  the  communi- 
cable diseases  that  usually  affect  troops. 
Only  two  diseases  have  caused  temporarily 
excessive  sick  rates,  epidemic  diarrhoea  and 
influenza,  and  of  these  influenza  only,  due 
to  the  fatal  complicating  pneumonia,  caused 
a  serious  rise  in  the  death  rate.  Both  pre- 
vailed in  the  armies  of  our  allies  and  enemies 
and  in  the  civilian  popidation  of  Europe. 

Venereal  disease  has  been  with  us  always, 
but  the  control  was  successful  to  a  degree 
never  before  attained  in  our  armies  or  in 
any  other  army.  It  has  been  truly  remark- 
able when  the  environment  in  which  our  men 
lived  is  appreciated.  The  incidence  of  vene- 
real disease  varied  between  30  and  60  per 
1,000  per  annum,  averaging  under  40.  Up 
to  September,  1919,  all  troops  sent  home  were 
free  from  venereal  disease.  The  low  per- 
centage was  due  largely  to  the  fine  char- 
acter of  men  composing  our  armies. 

Hospitalization  represented  one  of  the  larg- 
est and  most  difficult  of  the  medical  prob- 
lems in  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces. 
That  the  needs  were  always  met  and  that 
there  was  always  a  surplus  of  several  thou- 
sand beds,  were  the  results  of  great  effort 
and  the  use  of  all  possible  expedients  to 
make  the  utmost  of  resources  available.  The 
maximum  number  of  patients  in  hospital  on 
any  one  day  was  193,026,  on  Nov.  12,  1918. 

Evacuation  of  the  sick  and  wounded  was 
another  difficult  problem,  especially  during 
the  battle  periods.  The  total  number  of  men 
evacuated  in  our  armies  was  214,467,  of 
whom  11,281  were  sent  in  hospital  trains 
to  base  ports.  The  number  of  sick  and 
wounded  sent  to  the  United  States  up  to 
Nov.  11,  1918,  was  14,000.  Since  the  armistice 
103,028  patients  have  been  sent  to  the  United 
States. 

The  army  and  the  Medical  Department 
was  fortunate  in  obtaining  the  services  of 
leading  physicians,  surgeons,  and  specialists 
in  all  branches  of  medicine  from  all  parts 
of  the  United  States,  who  brought  the  most 
skillful  talent  of  the  world  to  the  relief  of 
our  sick  and  wounded.  The  Army  Nurse 
Corps  deserves  more  than  passing  comment. 
These  women,  working  tirelessly  and  de- 
votedly, shared  the  burden  of  the  day  to  the 
fullest  extent  with  the  men,  many  of  them 
submitting  to  all  the  dangers  of  the  battle- 
front. 

RECORDS,  PERSONNEL 

New  problems  confronted  the  Adjutant 
General's  Department  in  France.  Our  great 
distance  from  home  necessitated  records, 
data,   and   executive  machinery  to   represent 


the  War  Department  as  well  as  our  forces 
in  France.  Unusually  close  attention  was 
paid  to  individual  records.  Never  before 
have  accuracy  and  completeness  of  re- 
ports been  so  strictly  insisted  upon.  Expe- 
dients had  to  be  adopted  whereby  the  above 
requirements  could  be  met  without  increasing 
the  record  and  correspondence  work  of  com- 
bat units.  The  organization  had  to  be  elas- 
tic to  meet  the  demands  of  any  force  main- 
tained in  Europe. 

A  statistical  division  was  organized  to  col- 
lect data  regarding  the  special  qualifications 
of  all  officers  and  to  keep  an  up-to-date 
record  of  the  location,  duties,  health,  and 
status  of  every  officer  and  soldier,  nurse, 
field  clerk,  and  civilian  employe,  as  well  as 
the  location  and  strength  of  organizations. 
The  central  records  office  at  Bourges  re- 
ceived reports  from  the  battlefront,  evacu- 
ation camps,  and  base  hospitals,  convales- 
cent leave  areas,  reclassification  camps,  and 
base  ports,  and  prepared  for  transmission  to 
the  War  Department  reports  of  individual 
casualties.  Each  of  the  299,599  casualties 
was  considered  as  an  individual  case.  A 
thorough  investigation  of  the  men  classed  as 
"  missing  in  action "  reduced  the  number 
from  14,000  to  the  signing  of  the  armistice 
to  twenty-two  on  Aug.  31,  1919. 

In  addition  to  printing  and  distributing  all 
orders  from  general  headquarters,  the  Ad- 
jutant General's  Department  had  charge  of 
the  delivery  and  collection  of  official  mail, 
and  finally  of  all  mail.  The  motor  dispatch 
service  operated  twenty  courier  routes,  over 
2,300  miles  of  road,  for  the  quick  dispatch 
and  delivery  of  official  communications. 
After  July  1,  1918,  the  military  postal  express 
service  was  organized  to  handle  all  mail, 
official  and  personal,  and  operated  169  fixed 
and  mobile  post  offices  and  a  railway  post 
office  service. 

While  every  effort  was  exerted  to  main- 
tain a  satisfactory  mail  service,  frequent 
transfers  of  individuals,  especially  during 
the  hurried  skeletonizing  of  certain  combat 
divisions,  numerous  errors  in  addresses, 
hasty  handling,  and  readdressing  of  mail  by 
regimental  and  company  clerks  in  the  zone 
of  operations,  and  other  conditions  incident 
to  the  continuous  movement  of  troops  in  bat- 
tle, made  the  distribution  of  mail  an  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  problem. 

INSPECTION,  DISCIPLINE 

The  Inspector  General's  Department,  act- 
ing as  an  independent  agency  not  responsible 
for  the  matters  under  its  observation,  made 
inspections  and  special  investigations  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  commanders  informed  of 
local  conditions.  The  inspectors  worked  un- 
ceasingly to  determine  the  manner  in  which 
orders  were  being  carried  out,  in  an  effort 
to  perfect  discipline  and  team  play. 

The  earnest  belief  of  every  member  of  the 
expeditionary  forces  in  the  justice  of  our 
cause  was  productive  of  a  form  of  self-im- 
posed   discipline    among    our    soldiers,    which 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


3i9 


must  be  regarded  as  an  unusual  development 
of  this  war,  a  fact  which  materially  aided 
us  to  organize  and  employ  In  an  Incredibly 
short  space  of  time  the  extraordinary  fight- 
ing machine  developed  in  France. 

Our  troops  generally  were  strongly  imbued 
with  an  offensive  spirit  essential  to  success. 
The  veteran  divisions  had  acquired  not  only 
this  spirit,  but  the  other  elements  of  fine  dis- 
cipline. In  highly  trained  divisions,  com- 
manders of  all  grades  operate  according  to 
a  definite  system  calculated  to  concentrate 
their  efforts  where  the  enemy  is  weakest. 
Straggling  is  practically  eliminated ;  the  in- 
fantry, skillful  In  fire  action  and  the  em- 
ployment of  cover,  gains  with  a  minimum  of 
casualties;  the  battalion,  with  all  of  its  ac- 
companying weapons,  works  smoothly  as  a 
team  in  which  the  parts  automatically  as- 
sist each  other ;  the  artillery  gives  the  In- 
fantry close  and  continuous  support ;  and  un- 
foreseen situations  are  met  by  prompt  and 
energetic  action. 

This  war  has  only  confirmed  the  lessons 
of  the  past.  The  less  experienced  divisions, 
while  aggressive,  were  lacking  in  the  ready 
skill  of  habit.  They  were  capable  of  power- 
ful blows,  but  their  blows  were  apt  to  be 
awkward— teamwork  was  often  not  well  un- 
derstood. Flexible  and  resourceful  divisions 
cannot  be  created  by  a  few  manoeuvres  or 
by  a  few  months'  association  of  their  ele- 
ments. On  the  other  hand,  without  the  keen 
intelligence,  the  endurance,  the  willingness, 
and  enthusiasm  displayed  in  the  training 
area,  as  well  as  on  the  battlefield,  the  suc- 
cessful results  we  obtained  so  quickly  would 
have  been  utterly  impossible. 

MILITARY  JUSTICE 

The  commanders  of  armies,  corps,  divisions, 
separate  brigades,  and  certain  territorial  dis- 
tricts, were  empowered  to  appoint  general 
courts-martial.  Each  of  these  commanders 
had  on  his  staff  an  officer  of  the  Judge  Ad- 
vocate General's  Department,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  render  legal  advice  and  to  assist  In 
the  prompt  trial  and  just  punishment  of 
those  guilty  of  serious  Infractions  of  dis- 
cipline. 

Prior  to  the  signing  of  the  armistice  seri- 
ous breaches  of  discipline  were  rare,  con- 
sidering the  number  of  troops.  This  was 
due  to  the  high  sense  of  duty  of  the  soldiers 
and  their  appreciation  of  the  seriousness  of 
the  situation.  In  the  period  of  relaxation 
following  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  infrac- 
tions of  discipline  were  naturally  more  nu- 
merous, but  not  even  then  was  the  number 
cf  trials  as  great  in  proportion  to  the  strength 
of  the  force  as  is  usual  In  our  service. 

It  was  early  realized  that  many  of  the 
peace-time  methods  of  punishment  were  not 
the  best  for  existing  conditions.  In  the  early 
part  of  1918  it  was  decided  that  the  award 
of  dishonorable  discharge  of  soldiers  con- 
victed of  an  offense  involving  moral  turpi- 
tude  would   not   be   contemplated    except   in 


the  most  serious  cases.  To  remove  these 
soldiers  temporarily  from  their  organizations, 
division  commanders  were  authorized  to  form 
provisional  temporary  detachments  to  which 
such  soldiers  could  be  attached.  These  de- 
tachments were  retained  with  their  battalions 
so  that  offenders  would  not  escape  the  dan- 
gers and  hardships  to  which  their  comrades 
were  subjected.  Wherever  their  battalion 
was  engaged,  whether  in  front-line  trenches 
or  in  back  areas,  these  men  were  required 
to  perform  hard  labor.  Only  in  emergency 
were  they  permitted  to  engage  in  combat. 
Soldiers  in  these  disciplinary  battalions  were 
made  to  understand  that  if  they  acquitted 
themselves  well  they  would  be  restored  to 
full  duty  with  their  organizations. 

All  officers  exercising  disciplinary  powers 
were  imbued  with  the  purpose  of  these  in- 
structions and  carried  them  into  effect.  So 
that  nearly  all  men  convicted  of  military 
offenses  in  combat  divisions  remained  with 
their  organizations  and  continued  to  perform 
their  duty  as  soldiers.  Many  redeemed 
themselves  by  rendering  valiant  service  in 
action  and  were  released  from  the  further 
operation  of  their  sentences. 

To  have  the  necessary  deterrent  ef'ect  upon 
the  whole  unit,  courts-martial  for  serious 
offenses  usually  imposed  sentences  consider- 
ably heavier  than  would  have  been  awarded 
in  peace  times.  Except  where  the  offender 
earned  remission  at  the  front,  these  sen- 
tences stood  during  hostilities.  At  the  sign- 
ing of  the  armistice  steps  were  at  once  taken 
to  reduce  outstanding  sentences  to  the  stan- 
dards of  peace  time. 

PROVOST  MARSHAI 

On  July  20,  1917,  a  Provost  Marshal  Gen- 
eral was  appointed  with  station  in  Paris,  and 
later  the  department  was  organized  as  an 
administrative  service  with  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal General  functioning  under  the  first  sec- 
tion, General  Staff.  The  department  was 
developed  into  four  main  sections— the  mili- 
tary police  corps  which  served  with  divisions, 
corps,  and  armies,  and  in  the  sections  of 
the  service  of  supply;  the  prisoner  of  war 
escort  companies,  the  criminal  investigation 
department,  and  the  circulation  department. 
It  was  not  until  1918  that  the  last-mentioned 
department  became  well  trained  and  efficient. 
On  Oct.  15,  1918,  the  strength  of  the  corps 
was  increased  to  1  per  cent,  of  the  strength 
of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  and 
Provost  Marshals  for  armies,  corps,  and  di- 
visions  were   provided. 

The  military  police  of  the  American  Expe- 
ditionary Forces  developed  into  one  of  the 
most  striking  bodies  of  men  in  Europe. 
Wherever  the  American  soldier  went,  there 
our  military  police  were  on  duty.  They 
controlled  traffic  in  the  battle  zone,  in  all 
villages  occupied  by  American  troops,  and  in 
many  cities  through  which  our  traffic  flowed  ; 
they  maintained  order,  so  far  as  the  Ameri- 
can soldiers  were  concerned,  throughout 
France   and   in   portions   of   England,    Italy, 


350 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


Belgium,  and  occupied  Germany.  Their  smart 
appearance  and  military  bearing  and  the  in- 
telligent manner  in  which  they  discharged 
their  duties  left  an  excellent  impression  of 
the  typical  American  on  all  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact. 

APPRECIATION 

In  this  brief  summary  of  the  achievements 
of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces  it 
would  be  impossible  to  cite  in  detail  the 
splendid  ability,  loyalty,  and  efficiency  that 
characterized  the  service  of  both  combatant 
and  non-combatant  individuals  and  organ- 
izations. The  most  striking  quality  of  both 
officers  and  men  was  the  resourceful  energy 
and  common  sense  employed,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances,  in  handling  their  problems. 

The  highest  praise  is  due  to  the  com- 
manders of  armies,  corps,  and  divisions,  and 
their  subordinate  leaders,  who  labored  loyally 
and  ably  toward  the  accomplishment  of  our 
task,  suppressing  personal  opinions  and  ambi- 
tions in  the  pursuit  of  the  common  aims ; 
and  to  their  staffs,  who  developed,  with  bat- 
tle experience,  into  splendid  teams  without 
superiors  in  any  army. 

To  my  chiefs  of  staff— Major  Gen.  James 
G.  Harbord,  who  was  later  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  services  of  supply,  and  Major 
Gen.  James  W.  McAndrew— I  am  deeply  in- 
debted for  highly  efficient  services  in  a  post 
of  great  responsibility. 

The  important  work  of  the  staff  at  general 
headquarters  in  organization  and  administra- 
tion was  characterized  by  exceptional  ability 
and  a  fine  spirit  of  co-operation.  No  chief 
ever  had  a  more  loyal  and  efficient  body  of 
assistants. 

The  officers  and  men  of  the  services  of 
supply  fully  realized  the  importance  of  their 
duties,  and  the  operations  of  that  vast 
business  system  were  conducted  in  a  manner 
which  won  for  them  the  praise  of  all.  They 
deserve  their  full  share  in  the  victory. 


The  American  civilians  in  Europe,  both  in 
official  and  private  life,  were  decidedly 
patriotic  and  loyal,  and  invariably  lent  en- 
couragement and  helpfulness  to  the  armies 
abroad. 

The  various  societies,  especially  their  wom- 
en, including  those  of  the  theatrical  profes- 
sion, and  our  army  nurses,  played  a  most 
important  part  in  brightening  the  lives  of  our 
troops  and  in  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  our 
sick  and  wounded. 

The  navy  in  European  waters,  under  com- 
mand of  Admiral  Sims,  at  all  times  cordially 
aided  the  army.  To  our  sister  service  we 
owe  the  safe  arrival  of  our  armies  and  their 
supplies.  It  is  most  gratifying  to  record  that 
there  has  never  been  such  perfect  under- 
standing between  these  two  branches  of  the 
service. 

Our  armies  were  conscious  of  the  support 
and  co-operation  of  all  branches  of  the 
Government.  Behind  them  stood  the  entire 
American  people,  whose  ardent  patriotism 
and  sympathy  inspired  our  troops  with  a 
deep  sense  of  obligation,  of  loyalty,  and  of 
devotion  to  the  country's  cause  never  equaled 
in  our  history. 

Finally  the  memory  of  the  unflinching  forti- 
tude and  heroism  of  the  soldiers  of  the  line 
fills  me  with  greatest  admiration.  To  them 
I  again  pay  the  supreme  tribute.  Their  de- 
votion, their  valor,  and  their  sacrifices  will 
live  in  the  hearts  of  their  grateful  country- 
men. 

In  closing  this  report,  Mr.  Secretary,  I 
desire  to  record  my  deep  appreciation  of  the 
unqualified  support  accorded  me  throughout 
the  war  by  the  President  and  yourself.  My 
task  was  simplified  by  your  confidence  and 
wise  counsel.  I  am,  Mr.  Secretary, 
Very  respectfully, 

JOHN   J.    PERSHING. 
General,     Commander    in    Chief,    American 

Expeditionary   Forces. 


About  General  Pershing's  War  Map 

By   CARSON   C.   HATHAWAY 


THE  treasure  of  the  collection  of 
world  war,  relics  which  is  being 
installed  in  the  National  Museum  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  is  the  official  battle 
map  used  by  General  John  J.  Pershing 
and  his  staff  during  the  war  with  Ger- 
many. The  room  in  which  the  map  hung 
has  been  reproduced  just  as  it  was  in 
Chaumont,  France,  the  headquarters  of 
General  Pershing.  Platform,  matting, 
chairs,  side  walls,  and  the  sliding  door 


were  brought  from  France  and  installed 
by  members  of  the  staff. 

The  map  itself  is  a  huge  affair,  cov- 
ered with  hundreds  of  colored  pushpins 
representing  the  location  of  the  allied 
and  enemy  forces  at  the  time  of  the  sign- 
ing of  the  armistice  on  Nov.  11,  1918. 
When  the  map  was  not  being  examined  a 
sliding  door  was  drawn  across  its  face, 
so  that  no  information  from  it  could  be 
obtained  by  spies. 

Interesting  data  appear  on  the  map, 


GENERAL  PERSHING'S  FINAL  REPORT 


351 


which  gives  at  a  glance  the  relative 
strength  of  the  contending  armies.  The 
first  table  gives  the  status  of  United 
States  divisions: 

, In  Line  — ->     , In  Rpspitp ■>  Ttl. 

Army               Fresh  Tired  Total  Fresh  Tired   Total  Dlv. 

First    4         5         9  2         6         8       17 

Second    ....  2         2         4  2         2         4         8 


Total    6 

Detached    . .  1 


U 

3 


12 
2 


IT. 


Grand   total.  7         9       16         4       10       14       30 
The  second  table  discloses  the  status 


of  the  divisions  on  the  western  front  at 
the  time  of  the  signing  of  the  armis- 
tice: 


Arm}' 

Fresh 

Tired 

Total 

Fresh 

Tired 

Total 

I»1V. 

U.    S 

.    7 

9 

16 

4 

10 

14 

30 

French     . . . 

.19 

17 

36 

19 

53 

72 

108 

English    ... 

.  5 

24 

29 

6 

29 

35 

til 

Belgian    ... 

.  3 

1 

4 

2 

1 

3 

< 

1 

1 

1 

1 

•_> 

Portuguese 

2 

•« 

2 

2 

Total  Allies.35       51       86       33       94     127     213 
Total  enemy 
(German). 47       97     144         2       39       41      L8S 


CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM  READERS 

Current  History  undertakes  in  this  department  to  publish  such  open  letters  as  it  con- 
siders of  general  interest.  No  letter  will  be  used  without  the  name  and  address  of  the 
writer.  On  controversial  questions  it  will  be  the  aim  to  give  all  sides  an  equal  chance  at 
representation;  Current  History,  however,  continuing  its  established  policy  of  recording 
events  without  editorial  comment  or  bias,  disclaims  responsibility  for  opinions  contained 
in  these  letters. 


SECRET  TREATY  OF  LONDON 

To  the  Editor  of  Current  History. 

In  my  article  in  the  November  Current 
History  on  the  genesis  of  the  secret  treaty 
of  London  I  considered  that  I  proved  three 
things.  The  first  was  that  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment, in  the  Spring  of  1915,  was  per- 
fectly willing,  under  certain  conditions,  to 
guarantee  to  the  Central  Powers  her  per- 
manent neutrality.  The  second  was  that 
when  it  failed  to  reach  agreement  with 
Austria-Hungary  it  accepted  the  offers  made 
by  the  Entente  Powers  to  take  up  arms 
against  Germany  and  Austria  and  executed 
a  secret  treaty,  one  of  the  clauses  of  which 
contains  a  formal  renunciation  of  Flume  as 
an  Italian  city.  The  third  was  that  this 
treaty  was  executed  by  Italy  and  the  Entente 
Powers  after  a  protest  from  Serbia  voiced 
by  M.  Pashitch,  the  Serbian  Premier,  in  the 
sitting  of  the  Skupchtina,  eleven  days  before 
the  secret  treaty  was  signed.  Nothing  in  the 
article  in  reply  to  mine  by  Captain  Ales- 
sandro  Sapelli  in  the  same  issue  of  your 
magazine  has  done  anything  to  change  my 
viewpoint. 

Captain  Sapelli  begins  by  saying  that 
"  Captain  Gordon-Smith  does  not  employ  au- 
thentic documents."  He  declares  that  the 
note  by  Baron  Sonnino  on  April  8,  1915,  is 
a  "perverted  translation."  I  have  done  too 
much  translation  in  my  life  not  to  realize 
how  justified  is  the  Italian  proverb  "  tra- 
duttore,  traditore,"  but  that  generally  refers 
to  the  reproduction  of  literary  style.  In  the 
present  instance  we  have  to  do  with  facts, 
not  literary  style.  I  therefore  beg  to  ask 
the  categorial   question:     Did   the   document 


quoted  by  me  correctly  represent  the  condi- 
tions on  which  Italy  was  willing  to  guaran- 
tee her  neutrality  to  the  Central  Powers  for 
the  duration  of  the  war  or  did  it  not?  If 
the  version  I  quote  contains  any  essential 
error  in  fact,   what  is  that  error? 

Captain  Sapelli  declares  that  I  designated 
this  document  as  "  a  German-Italian  agree- 
ment." This  is  an  evident  exaggeration.  What 
I  stated  was  that  the  "  Consulta  and  the 
Wilhelmstrasse  reached  an  agreement,"  and 
that  the  terms  of  this  agreement  were  re- 
hearsed in  the  note  by  Baron  Sonnino  which 
I  quoted. 

I  never  pretended  that  this  note  constituted 
a  written  agreement  between  Italy  and  Ger- 
many; if  it  had,  it  would  have  borne  the 
signature  of  Prince  Billow  as  well  as  that  of 
Baron  Sonnino.  Besides,  there  could  be  no 
formal  signed  agreement,  as  Germany  had 
no  power  to  sign  any  document  on  behalf  of 
Austria-Hungary.  All  Prince  Bulow  did  was 
to  act  as  "  the  honest  broker  "  between  the 
Ballplatz  and  the  Consulta.  I  was  in  Italy 
at  the  time  these  negotiations  were  being 
carried  on,  and  it  was  notorious  that  the 
most  active  part  in  them  was  in  the  hands  of 
Prince  Billow.  This  is,  I  think,  proved  by 
the  dispatch  from  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Ambassador  to  his  Government  quoted  by 
Captain  Sapelli,  as  Baron  Macchio  simply  re- 
ports what  Baron  Sonnino  said  to  Prince 
Bulow.  But  all  these  details  are  beside  the 
question.  The  matter  at  issue  is,  "  Did 
Baron  Sonnino's  note  of  April  8,  1915,  state 
the  terms  on  which  Italy  was  willing  to 
guarantee  her  permanent  neutrality  to  the 
Central   Powers?  "     I   maintain    it   did,    and 


352 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


nothing  adduced  by  Captain  Sapelli  has  made 
me  change  my  mind. 

My  version  of  the  secret  treaty  is,  it  ap- 
pears, open  to  the  same  objection  as  the  note 
of  Baron  Sonnino.  In  what  way  is  this 
version  of  the  treaty  "  unauthentic  "  ?  Cap- 
tain Sapelli  declares  "it  is  based  on  a  Rus- 
sian translation  from  the  French  original  in 
the  Russian  imperial  archives."  If  the  Rus- 
sian translation  is  correct,  what  more  au- 
thentic source,  in  Heaven's  name,  could  we 
ask  than  the  French  original  in  the  Russian 
imperial   archives? 

But  how  can  Captain  Sapelli  judge  whether 
or  not  this  version  is  exact  when  he  declares 
that  "  the  authentic  text  of  the  Treaty  of 
London  should  be  known  only  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  its  signatories."  He  regards  its 
secrecy,  even  in  the  year  of  grace  1919,  as 
so  sacrosanct  that  he  expresses  astonishment 
that  "  President  Wilson  in  his  '  memorandum 
concerning  the  question  of  Italian  claims  on 
the  Adriatic  '  presented  to  the  Italian  dele- 
gation at  Paris  on  April  4,  1919,  should  have 
shown  a  singular  knowledge  of  the  details 
of  the  treaty.  *  *  *  That  mystery  must 
be  cleared  up  some  day." 

If  words  mean  anything  this  means  that 
Captain  Sapelli  is  of  opinion  that  President 
Wilson,  head  of  the  American  delegation  to 
the  Peace  Conference,  had  no  right  to  know 
the  contents  of  the  secret  treaty.  When  one 
sees  such  theories  advanced  one  asks  one's 
self  if  one  is  dreaming.  The  secret  of  the 
Treaty  of  London  is  today  the  secret  de 
Polichinelle.  The  persistent  refusal  of  the 
Governments  party  to  it  to  publish  the  text 
is  only  calculated  to  create  the  impression 
that  we  do  not  even  yet  know  the  worst,  and 
that  it  contains  some  other  clauses  which, 
for  some  reason  or  other,  shun  the  light  of 
day. 

Captain  Sapelli  again  brings  forward  the 
old  Italian  argument  that  Italy  only  ex- 
cluded Fiume  from  the  list  of  Italian 
desiderata  under  pressure  from  Russia.  What 
her  reasons  for  the  exclusion  were  became  a 
matter  of  indifference  the  instant  she  signed 
the  treaty. 

Captain  Sapelli,  in  conclusion,  makes  the 
extraordinary  assertion  that  Seibia  "  dictates 
arrogantly  to  Europe  today  with  her  self- 
assumed  mandate  of  Jugoslavia."  This  state- 
ment is  in  keeping  with  his  assertion  that 
Italy  today  suffers  from  the  "  disloyalty,  in- 
justice, and  contempt  of  her  allies."  Harsh 
words,    mon   Capitai/ne ! 

G.    GORDON-SMITH. 

Serbian   Legation,   Washington,    D.    C. 

D'ANNUNZIO'S    CLAIMS 

To  the  Editor  of  Current  History. 

In  your  issue  of  December,  1919,  I  see  that 
d'Annunzio  says  it  is  useless  to  argue  over 
the  claims  which  Italy  is  making  on  Slo- 
venian soil.  My  national  conscience,  how- 
ever, forces  me  to  make  a  few  observations 
regarding  his  perfectly   absurd  statements. 

The    Peace    Conference    assigned    the    City 


of  Danzig  to  Poland  because  Poland  needed 
a  seaport ;  every  State  needs  a  seaport  for  its 
commerce,  just  as  a  human  body  needs  lungs. 
I  cannot  understand  how  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence can  regard  the  present  arrangement  on 
the  Adriatic  as  part  of  a  just  and  righteous 
peace,  when  it  betrays  the  rights  of  more 
than  half  a  million  people  of  pure  Jugoslavic 
blood.  Little  Jugoslavia  at  present  has  no 
chance  for  a  single  good  harbor  on  the 
Adriatic  littoral ;  the  only  ones  she  had 
were  taken  from  her  by  force — by  Italy. 
That  is  what  has  come  of  the  promise  of 
justice  in  the  Treaty  of  Versailles. 

Now  comes  the  comedian,  d'Annunzio,  and 
says:  "With  Idria  in  our  hands,  Gorizia 
remains  protected.  If  it  be  taken  away  from 
us  Gorizia  remains  exposed  to  the  Jugoslav 
guns.  Italy  has  no  raw  materials.  If  she 
possessed  Idria  she  would  have  at  least  one, 
mercury,  in  which  the  district  is  rich."  If 
Italy  has  no  raw  materials,  has  she  then  the 
right  to  go  and  steal  the  little  mercury 
which  Jugoslavia  possesses,  and  which  is 
almost  a  hundred  miles  beyond  the  real 
Italian  border?  It  is  as  if  I,  not  having  a 
dollar  in  my  pocket,  were  to  assert  the  right 
to  go  and  steal  a  dollar  from  my  neighbor. 
D'Annunzio  might  as  justly  come  to  the 
United  States  and  seize  a  coal  district  on 
the  plea  that  Italy  has  no  coal  mines.  That 
is  the  kind  of  justice  the  Italian  annexation- 
ists have  shown  in  occupying  our  Jugoslav 
littoral   along  the  Adriatic. 

But  I  still  believe  in  the  two  sisters,  Justice 
and  Right,  and  if  they  do  not  come  along 
today  or  tomorrow,  they  will  surely  come 
some  day,  and  then  Italy  will  get  what 
she  deserves.  JOHN  JERICH. 

Belvidere,   111.,  Dec.  25,  1919. 

THE  AUSTRIAN  RED  BOOK 

To  the  Editor  of  Current  History. 

In  the  December  number  of  your  esteemed 
periodical  I  find  an  article  entitled  "  Origin 
of  the  World  War  "  (Pages  455-460),  being 
the  official  minutes  of  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Council  that  decided  to  force  war  on  Serbia. 
Since  I  happen  to  have  upon  my  desk  an 
original  copy  of  the  new  Austrian  Red  Book, 
upon  which  your  article  is  based,  and  since 
you  apparently  had  at  your  disposal  only 
second-hand  information,  I  take  the  liberty 
of  writing  to  you  and  of  calling  attention  to 
some   errors  in  your  article. 

In  the  first  place,  the  so-called  Austrian 
Red  Book  was  not  "  written  by  a  pub- 
licist named  Dr.  Roderich  Gooss,  with  the 
approval  of  the  present  Austrian  Gov- 
ernment." I  do  not  wish  to  aeny  that  a 
Dr.  Roderich  Gooss  had  something  to  do 
with  the  publication  of  the  volume,  but  he 
surely  did  not  write  it,  since  the  book  con- 
tains, besides  a  "  Vorwort "  of  t^n  short 
lines,  nothing  but  original  documents  found 
in  the  archives  of  the  Ballplatz.  Further- 
more, it  was  not  published  "  with  the  ap- 
proval "  of  the  present  Austrian  Government, 
but  rather  by  that  Government ;  it  bears  the 


CONTRIBUTIONS  FROM  READERS 


56$ 


imprint  of  the  "  Republic  of  Austria.  Depart- 
ment for  Foreign  Affairs,"  and  was  printed 
in  the  State  Printing  Office  at  Vienna.  In 
other  words,  it  is  an  official  publication  of 
the  present  Government.  Moreover,  up  to 
now  only  one-third  of  the  entire  work  has 
appeared;  Parts  II.  and  III.  are  to  be  pub- 
lished later. 

You  seem,  furthermore,  to  be  under  the 
impression  that  the  title  of  the  work  Is  "  The 
Vienna  Cabinet  and  the  Origin  of  the  World 
War."  This  is  incorrect.  An  exact  render- 
ing of  the  title  page  of  the  original  volume, 
which   lies  before  me,   reads : 

Republic  of  Austria, 
Department   for    Foreign   Affairs. 
DIPLOMATIC   DOCUMENTS   ON   THE  AN- 
TECEDENTS OF  THE  WAR  OF  1914. 
Supplements  and  Appendices  to  the  Austro- 
Hungarian    Red    Book    [1914] 
PART  I. 
July  23  to  July  28,  mi.',. 

Vienna,    1919. 
State    Printing    Office. 

Being  a  philologist  and  a  professional  trans- 
lator, may  I  add  also  a  few  remarks  In 
criticism  of  your  translation?  It  is  a  rather 
poor  piece  of  work.  A  few  examples  from  a 
page  chosen  at  random,  Page  457,  will  suf- 
fice. In  Column  1,  paragraph  beginning 
"This  main  question."  we  read:  "This 
main  question  had  now  become  timely  after 
two  months  "  (my  italics).  The  original 
reads  (Page  30,  Rotbuch) :  "  Diese  Haupt- 
frage  sei  durch  zwei  momente  gerade  jetzt 
aktuell  geworden,"  which  in  English  means: 
"  This  principal  question  has  just  now  be- 
come timely  because  of  two  factors." 

In  the  next  paragraph  we  read,  in  the  sen- 
tence: "  Count  Tisza  certainly  ought—,"  the 
past  tense  ran  the  risk,  which  is,  by  virtue 
of  the  translator's  strange  practice  of  throw- 
ing the  whole  report  into  indirect  discourse, 
or  rather  past  time,  quite  unintelligible.  It 
should  read :  will  run  the  risk. 

The  sentence  at  the  top  of  Column  2  (Page 
157),  beginning,  "  All  those  things  were 
details,"  does  violence  to  the  King's  English, 
for  the  pronoun  it  ("as  to  whether  it  was 
to  come  to  warlike  action  ")  has  no  antece- 
dent whatever,  being  an  unfortunate  school- 
boy translation  of  the  German  impersonal 
"  dass  es  zum  Harideln  kommen  soil  "  (Page 
31,  Rotbuch),  i.  e.,  "  that  action  should  be 
taken,"  and  the  adverb  there  ("  and  there 
the  interest  ")  in  the  same  sentence  Is  also 
rather  vague  in  meaning. 

In  the  next  paragraph  the  bewildering  it 
("  Therefore,  today,  it  should  be  decided  in 
principle  that  it  should  and  will  come  to 
action  "—correct  to:  "That  action  should 
and  will  be  taken  '*)  Is  repeated. 

Finally,  I  question  your  statement  that  the 
document  which  you  publish  is  the  "  most 
important  "  one  in  the  Red  Book.  There  are 
others  in  the  volume  that  to  my  mind  possess 
quite  as  much  Interest  for  the  historian  as 
the  one  in  question. 

I  have  written  to  you  at  such  great  length 


not  in  order  to  be  pestilent,  but  In  tip-  Inter- 
est of  accuracy  and  truth,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that  you  will  not  take  my  letter 
amiss.  EDWIN  H.  ZEYDEL,  (PH.  D.) 

107  Mason  Street.   Cherrydale,  Va.,   Dec.  27, 
1919. 

AN  APPRECIATION 

To  the  Editor  of  Current  History. 

I  wish  to  take  a  few  moments  of  your 
time  to  express  to  you  my  appreciation  of 
Current  History.  After  thirty  years  of  wad- 
ing through  editorial  comment  and  opinion 
for  the  events  of  the  day,  or,  worse  still, 
trying  to  construct  these  events  from  the 
junk  heaps  of  the  digests,  it  is  a  genuine 
pleasure  to  turn  to  a  magazine  like  Current 
History. 

I  have  taken  all  American  and  English 
periodicals  that  pretend  to  cover  the  current 
events  and  found  none  the  equal  of  your 
magazine.  I  approve  of  the  attention  you 
give  to  the  various  Cabinet  changes  in  the 
several  nations,  both  large  and  small,  as  the 
Cabinets  give  the  student  an  idea  of  the 
trend  of  affairs  in  foreign  lands,  just  as 
our  own  Presidential  elections  are  the  key- 
note to  the  political  movements  here.  Until 
the  publication  of  Current  History  I  could 
find  no  account  of  Cabinet  changes  in  the 
smaller  nations  until  the  British  Annual 
1 '.agister  was  out  in  the  year  following. 
•  *  *  I  would  also  appreciate  a  short 
necrological  list  in  your  magazine  each 
month.  EUGENE  MAUPIN. 

Journal  of  Agriculture  Office,  Lentner,   Mo., 
Dec.  30,  1919. 

HAITI  DEFENDED 
To  the  Editor  of  Current  History. 

I  have  just  read  an  article  on  "  Haiti  and 
the  American  Occupation  "  in  the  December 
issue  of  your  esteemed  review,  and  am  writ- 
ing to  say  that  your  editorial  note  at  the 
end  of  the  article  contains  a  great  mistake. 
Major  W.  W.  Buckley  of  the  U.  S.  M.  C.  is 
quoted  as  saying  that  "  before  Admiral  Ca- 
perton  landed  marines  at  Port-au-Prince  in 
July,  1915,  it  was  not  safe  for  white  men  to 
go  into  the  interior  of  Haiti,  and  even  in  the 
coast  towns  it  was  well  to  be  in  touch  with 
a  legation,"  and  as  adding  "  that  now  white 
men  are  seldom  attacked  even  by  bandits." 

Time  and  again  erroneous  statements  of 
that  sort  have  been  published  about  my 
country;  I  do  not  ask  for  correction  when 
they  appear  in  light  magazines  whose  motto 
seems  to  be  "  More  fun  than  truth."  But 
I  think  that  yours  is  a  serious  magazine, 
written  for  people  who  are  interested  in  cur- 
rent history,  who  want  truth  more  than  fic- 
tion, and  this  determines  me  to  write  to  you 
that  I  doubt  Major  Buckley  made  the  state- 
ment quoted  above.  It  is  my  experience  that 
reporters  with  preconceived  ideas,  con- 
sciously or  not,  lend  their  own  notions  to  the 
interviewed  and  make  him  say  what  he 
never  meant. 

Never,   in   112   years   of  absolute   self-gov- 


354 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ernment  of  Haiti  by  the  Haitians,  did  it 
happen  once  that  a  foreigner,  white  or  col- 
ored, male  or  female,  was  attacked  or  mo- 
lested or  robbed,  let  alone  murdered.  Not 
one  single  case,  I  repeat ;  and  allow  me  to 
say  that  there  are  few  countries  in  the  whole 
world,  if  any,  that  can  show  such  a  record. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  should  be  said  to 
the  praise  of  the  Haitian  people  and  placed 
to   its   credit. 

Highwaymen  never  existed  in  Haiti,  and 
foreigners  from  all  lands  used  to  go  from 
end  to  end  of  the  country,  through  deserted 
roads,  by  day  and  night,  feeling  safer  than 
one  would  in  New  York,  Paris,  or  London, 
if  in  those  large  cities  there  were  no  police. 
And  the  wonder  is  that  there  was  practically 
no   police   in   Haiti. 

The  banditry  existing  now,  to  which  Major 
Buckley  alluded,  is  political  banditry  of  the 
Villa  type,  and  is  a  kind  of  Bolshevism.  It 
existed  before  the  American  occupation,  be- 
ing then  dormant,  now  active.  It  is  true 
that  Haitians  were  sometimes  molested,  rob- 
bed or  murdered  by  those  bandits,  but  once 


more  I  emphatically  declare  that  never  a 
white  man  had  to  suffer  at  their  hands, 
positively  never. 

Hundreds  of  travelers— French,  English, 
and  American— have  written  about  Haiti ; 
many  found  fault  with  the  country  and  took 
pleasure  in  blackening  the  Black  Republic ; 
very  few  wrote  with  a  charitable  and  under- 
standing heart,  but  not  a  single  one  ever 
said  that  it  was  not  safe  to  go  into  the  in- 
terior of  Haiti.  All  agree,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  Haitians  are  a  most  hospitable  and 
inoffensive  people,  and  that  in  disturbed 
times,  during  our  civil  wars,  while  the  lives 
and  property  of  Haitians  were  endangered, 
the  lives  and  property  of  foreigners  were  al- 
ways sacred  to  all  classes  of  Haitians. 

This  Is  the  truth,  and  I  hope  that  you  will 
be  kind  enough  to  place  it  before  your  read- 
ers. I  am  sure  no  one  will  find  that  I  have 
exaggerated  in  the  least. 

CHARLES  MORAVIA, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Haiti. 
Legation    de    la    R6publique    d'Haiti,    Wash- 
ington,  Jan.  8,   1920. 


Jutland  Casualties 


SURGEON  REAR  ADMIRAL  SIR 
ROBERT  HILL,  Medical  Director 
General,  Royal  Navy,  in  his  opening  ad- 
dress as  President  of  the  newly  created 
War  Section  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Medicine,  on  Nov.  12  gave  an  interesting 
retrospective  view  of  naval  medical  con- 
ditions, and  authoritatively  presented  for 
the  first  time  the  casualties  of  the  hattle 
of  Jutland.  In  this  famous  naval  hattle 
were  engaged  six  battleships,  six  battle 
cruisers,  three  cruisers,  six  light  cruis- 
ers, two  flotilla  leaders,  and  seventeen 
destroyers.  The  total  personnel  of  the 
Grand  Fleet  was  about  sixty  thousand. 
The  total  casualties  were  6,014  killed  and 
674  wounded,  or  about  11.14  per  cent.,  as 
compared  with  9.51  per  cent,  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Trafalgar. 

The  following  description  of  the  way 
in  which  the  wounded  were  cared  for 
medically  during  this  battle,  as  written 
by  the  medical  officers  of  the  Lion,  one 
of  the  battle  cruisers  engaged,  was  read 

by  Sir  Robert  Hill: 

Nearly  all  the  casualties  occurred  within 
the   first  half  hour.     A  few  cases   found 


their  way  to  the  foremost  station,  but  the 
great  majority  remained  on  the  mess 
deck.  During  the  first  lull  the  medical 
officers  emerged  from  their  stations  to 
make  a  tour  of  inspection.  The  scenes 
that  greeted  us  beggar  description.  Most 
of  the  wounded  had  already  been  dressed 
temporarily.  Tourniquets  had  been  ap- 
plied in  one  or  two  instances.  But  we 
were  able  to  remove  these  later.  Hem- 
orrhage on  the  whole  was  less  than  we 
anticipated  *  *  *  The  battle  was 
thrice  renewed  during  the  evening,  but  in 
the  lulls  all  the  wounded  were  carried  to 
the  mess  deck.  *  *  *  At  7:30  A.  M.  on 
June  1  we  were  informed  that  it  would  be 
safe  to  bring  the  wounded  up  from  below. 
The  Vice  Admiral's  and  Captain's  cabins 
were  cleaned,  dried,  and  thoroughly  venti- 
lated. The  Captain's  bathroom  was  rigged 
as  an  operating  theatre,  and  by  8:45 
we  began  *  *  *  In  all  fifty-one  cases 
were  dealt  with,  and  a  general  anaes- 
thetic, chloroform  and  ether  in  equal 
parts,  was  administered  to  twenty-eight 
*  *  *  Only  urgent  operations  were  at- 
tempted. Our  work  was  severely  handi- 
capped by  having  44  per  cent,  of  casual- 
ties among  the  medical  officers  and  sick 
berth  staff.  The  Lion  had  ninety-five 
killed  and  fifty-one  wounded,  representing 
11.87  per  cent,  of  complement. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
ON  CURRENT  EVENTS 

fa]i  i  mi mil  lllllllll  llllll  ■■■■■■■III nil iiillllllllllll ■ i  n  i  ii  i  iiniMHii  illinium  i  ii  i  ii  inn  ii  ii  i  m  mi Illlllllllll fT| 


[English  Cartoon] 


Old  Rhyme— New  Reason 


—From  The  Passing  Show,  London 


Who    killed    Cock    Robin? 

"  I,"  said  Senator  Lodge; 
"  It  was  my  little  Dodge ! 

I  killed  Cock  Robin!  " 


Who  saw  him   die? 

"  I,"  said  the  fly; 
"  It  does  make  mo   cry 

I    saw    him    die !  " 


Who'll   toll   the   bell? 

"  I,"   said  John  Bull: 
"  I'll  give  it  a  pull ! 

I'll    toll    the    boll  :  •' 


1 1  ii  i  n  in mi iiiiii 


ii  ii  li  in I ■ mi 

355 


1 1 ii  1 1 1 1  p  1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  <  1 1 1 1 H 


[7|||[IIIIIMIIIIMIMIIIIIIIIUIHMMI Illll 


■llllllllllll     llllllllllllllltllllllllllllV] 


[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 

The  League  of  Nations 

(Picture  of  the  future) 


1.  Switzerland:     "In  my  little  house  it  is  not  safe  for  the  coming  storm. 
I  will  go  into  that  fine  new  building  " 


2.  Cloak  Room:    "Hand  over  your 
umbrella,  &c. !  " 


3.  The  lightning  comes! 


4.  "Ah!  If  only  I  had  kept  my  umbrella" 


-Nebelspatter,   Zurich 


W 


llllllllllllllllll t lllllll 1111111 IIIIIIIIIIIMIt III 


II  HUM  II 1 1 II I II  III  I II  III  I  III  II I  III  II I II  III  I  Illll  HUH  I  Ml  III  || 


356 


■ Q 


P1iiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiilliliiiiiiiiiilliliiilliliilMlilliiliiliiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniuitiimiiiimiiinmiii[^] 

[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 
f  E 

Pandora's  Box 


—From   Nebelspalter,   Zurich 
Father  Time:    "If  I  could  only  close  the  confounded  thing!  " 


0"1"11"""1 IIIMIHI Illllll Mill I IMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIII Ml I I Illllllltlll HI IIMlQ 

357 


|T| minium niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 


iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifT) 


[English   Cartoons] 


Jilted!  and  No  Wonder! 


—From  John  Bull,  London 


The  Flower 


A  Disappointed  Sculptor 


— World,  London 
Pygmalion  Wilson:  "  Confound  it!  I  don't 
believe  she  will  ever  come  to  life!  " 


—Star,  London 


l^|l  II I II I Ill  III  III  II    IIIIIIIIIIIMIUIMIIIIIIII  lllltll 


■  I  I  I  ■ I  I  II  I  I  t  I  1  1  I  I  II  I  II  I ■  I  f  III  I  II  If  I 

358 


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IMIIttt«ltllltt«l»lllt 


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[American  Cartoon] 

Delayed ! 


I  English   Cartoon] 
United  They  Stand,  Divided—? 


—Los  Angeles  Times 


—The  People,  London 
Fond  Mother  Wilson:     "  O!  please  don't 
try    to    separate    'em,    Sir.      I'm    sure    the 
opera'or   will  kill   'em   both  " 


[English  Cai-toon] 

A  Disappointment 


—From  The  Westminster  Gazrttr 
President  Wilson  :     "  I  thought  I  could  trust  you  with  it !  " 


["■frniHuninnminiinntinnit 


•0 


359 


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[American  Cartoon] 


The  Bargain  Counter 


—From  The  Detroit  News 
"  No,  thanks,   I'm  just  looking " 


QlM  mill  nil  1 1 ••■■■■■Illllllllllllllllllllllllllll Illlllllll Minn I inllilllllllilliuilllllllll n I  III  III  III Illiillipl 

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Caesar  II.  Before  Fiume 


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The   history   of  the  world   to  bend 
To  make  it  milt  my  wanted  end. 

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— Simplicissimus ,  Munich 

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ican Bubble ! 


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The  Modern  Humpty- 

Dumpty  Doesn't  Fall  So 

Easily 


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The  Cheerful  Giver 


— Central  Press  Association 
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— San  Francisco  Chronicle 


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"Don't  Laugh  at  That— I  Made  a  Mistake  Once!" 


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374 


PUNISHING  WAR  CRIMINALS 

Holland  Refuses   Extradition   of   ex-Kaiser — Allies   Agree   to 
Trial  of  890  Others  at  Leipsic 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  18,  1920]        «* 


THE  determination  of  the  allied  and 
associated  powers  to  punish  those 
responsible  for  Germany's  in- 
humane and  illegal  methods  of 
waging  war  had  been  fully  formulated 
as  early  as  April  6,  1919,  in  the  report 
of  the  Crimes  and  Penalties  Commission 
of  the  Peace  Conference.  This  commis- 
sion's long  and  detailed  report,  submitted 
after  months  of  painstaking  investiga- 
tion, was  the  basis  of  the  Allies'  extradi- 
tion demands.  A  summary  of  it  follows 
this  article. 

These  demands  for  the  punishment  of 
German  war  criminals  were  embodied 
among  the  many  provisions  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  after 
the  final  exchange  of  ratifications  (Jan. 
10,  1920).  The  allied  demand  on  Hol- 
land for  the  extradition  of  the  ex-Kaiser, 
Holland's  note  of  refusal  and  the  allied 
counter-reply  are  treated  fully  a  little 
later  in  the  present  article.  Great  as 
was  the  commotion  created  by  this  de- 
mand, it  was  far  surpassed  when  the 
Allies  demanded  that  Germany  should 
sanction  the  extradition  of  890  war  crim- 
inals, whose  names,  with  an  enumeration 
of  the  crimes  charged  against  them, 
were  delivered  to  Baron  Kurt  von  Lers- 
ner,  head  of  the  German  Peace  Dele- 
gation in  Paris,  on  Feb.  3.  Von  Lersner, 
on  examining  the  list,  which  made  up  a 
large  volume,  became  highly  incensed, 
and  returned  it  to  Premier  Millerand 
with  a  note,  which  read  in  part  as  fol- 
lows: 

I  remind  your  Excellency  of  my  con- 
sistently reported  declaration  that  no 
German  functionary  would  be  disposed  to 
be  in  any  way  instrumental  in  the  re- 
alization of  their  extradition.  I  should 
be  instrumental  in  it  if  I  were  to  forward 
to  the  German  Government  the  note  of 
your  Excellency.  I  therefore  send  it 
back  forthwith. 

Baron  von  Lersner  at  once  telegraphed 
his  resignation  to  the  German  Govern- 


ment. It  was  accepted,  and  he  left  for 
Germany.  The  Council  of  Premiers  met 
to  discuss  von  Lersner's  refusal  to  trans- 
mit the  list  and  to  determine  the  pro- 
cedure to  be  followed  in  presenting  it  to 
the  German  Government.  An  unofficial 
copy  of  the  list  reached  Berlin  on  Feb. 
4.  The  names  in  what  the  Germans  at 
once  began  to  call  "  The  Book  of  Hate," 
it  was  learned,  had  been  made  up  from 
data  supplied  by  Great  Britain,  Belgium, 
France,  Italy,  Poland,  Rumania  and 
Jugoslavia.  Japan  asked  no  extraditions, 
nor  did  the  United  States.  Great  Brit- 
ain's list  contained  only  97  names, 
France's  334,  Italy's  29,  Belgium's  334, 
Poland's  51,  Rumania's  41  and  the  Jugo- 
slavs' 4. 

The  names  were  divided  into  classes: 
Those  responsible  for  the  policies  of  the 
war,  with  those  responsible  for  the  en- 
forcement of  these  policies,  are  on  one 
list,  and  those  accused  of  cruelty  to  the 
prisoners  of  war  and  of  submarine  atro- 
cities are  on  another  list.  In  the  origi- 
nal form  as  handed  to  von  Lersner,  both 
lists,  together  with  the  summary  and  in- 
dictments, filled  100  pages  of  a  book 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  long  and  a  foot 
wide. 

HIGH  OFFICIALS  DEMANDED 

Von  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorff  were 
covered  by  an  indictment  from  both 
France  and  Belgium,  charging  them  with 
cruelty  of  administration  in  Belgium, 
and  the  deportations  from  both  Belgium 
and  North  France.  England  asked  for 
Admiral  von  Tirpitz  because  of  the  ruth- 
less submarine  warfare  waged  at  his  be- 
hest, and  also  for  Admiral  von  Capelle. 
She  also  demanded  the  extradition  of 
von  der  Lancken  for  the  shooting  of 
Edith  Cavell,  a  demand  joined  in  by  Bel- 
gium. 

France  asked  for  the  following:     The 


374 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


German  Crown  Prince,  for  cruelty; 
Prince  Eitel  Friedrich,  for  theft  and  dev- 
astation; Prince  August  of  Hohenzol- 
lern;  Generals  von  Moltke,  von  der  Mar- 
witz  (Commander  of  the  Fourth  German 
Army  in  the  Argonne),  von  Kluck  and 
Falkenhayn,  and  Prince  Rupprecht  of 
Bavaria. 

Rumania  asked  for  Marshal  von 
Mackensen. 

Italy  asked  for  28  Germans,  of  whom 
five  are  Generals.  The  Italian  Govern- 
ment divided  its  accusations  into  two 
lists,  one  covering  atrocities  of  submarine 
warfare  and  the  other  the  mistreatment 
of  prisoners  of  war.  Eleven  naval  Lieu- 
tenants held  responsible  for  ruthless  sub- 
marine sinkings  were  listed. 

The  majority  of  the  accused  were  army 
men,  though  the  list  also  included  navy 
men  and  civilians.  Twelve  Admirals, 
two  High  Seas  Fleet  commanders,  30 
U-boat  Captains,  a  great  number  of 
Army  Generals  and  many  active  or  petty 
officers  were  included.  The  former 
German  Chancellor,  von  Bethmann  Holl- 
weg,  was  among  those  listed. 

The  publication  of  this  list,  even  in  a 
garbled  form,  in  Berlin,  created  an  un- 
precedented sensation.  All  the  officials 
of  the  Government  declared  unanimously 
that  the  surrender  of  the  800  men  ac- 
cused was  a  "  physical  impossibility," 
and  intimated  that  no  German  Govern- 
ment could  enforce  it  and  remain  in 
power.  An  official  statement  issued  on 
Feb.  5  declared  that  compliance  was  im- 
possible. 

Meantime  the  Council  of  Ambassadors 
at  a  meeting  held  in  Paris  on  Feb.  5 
decided  to  send  the  list  officially  to  the 
Berlin  Government  by  courier,  with  a 
covering  note,  in  which  would  be  incorpo- 
rated the  a  priori  principle  that  the  Ger- 
man Government  must  accept  the  list  of 
accused  Germans,  and  thus  recognize  con- 
cretely that  they  offended  against  the 
laws  of  war.  That  done,  the  Allies 
would  consider  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation.  The  proposed  note  was 
drafted  and  cabled  to  London  and  Rome 
for  the  approval  of  the  British  and 
Italian  Premiers.  The  list  and  note  were 
finally  transmitted  on  Feb.  7.  The  same 
night  the  official  list  of  the  accused  was 


issued    by    the    French    Foreign    Office 
without  comment. 

GERMANY   RECEIVES   LIST 

The  allied  list  of  war  criminals  and 
the  covering  letter  were  handed  to  Pre- 
mier Bauer  at  9  o'clock  in  the  evening 
of  Feb.  7  by  M.  Marcilly,  the  French 
Charge  d'Affaires.  A  letter  from  the 
French  Premier  accompanied  the  note 
and  list,  explaining  the  method  of  trans- 
mission as  due  to  the  resignation  of 
Baron  von  Lersner.  Premier  Bauer  ex- 
pressed the  German  Government's  offi- 
cial disapproval  of  von  Lersner's  action. 
The  covering  note  stated  that  not  all 
Germans  guilty  of  infractions  of  the  laws 
of  warfare  were  included  in  the  list,  but 
that  for  practical  reasons  only  those 
were  cited  to  whom  the  greatest  respon- 
sibility attached.  Amnesty,  however, 
was  not  extended  to  any  other  culprits 
subsequently  convicted  and  apprehended. 
Possession  of  all  German  documentary 
evidence  and  access  to  the  archives  were 
demanded  by  the  allied  Governments  to 
facilitate  prosecution.  In  the  supple- 
mentary note  replying  to  the  German 
communication  of  Jan.  25,  which  ex- 
plained Germany's  reasons  for  declining 
to  carry  out  the  extradition  provision, 
Premier  Millerand  said  he  assumed  that 
Germany  would  not  attempt  to  evade  a 
treaty  obligation  to  which  its  signature 
had  been  affixed. 

The  list  and  covering  letters  were  dis- 
cussed by  the  German  Cabinet  on  Feb. 
8,  and  on  the  following  day  the  Commit- 
tee on  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  National 
Assembly  met  to  consider  the  whole  sit- 
uation,    while    the    Pan-German    press 
raged  in  frenzy.     Chancellor  Bauer  on 
Feb.  9  issued  the  following  statement: 
The  Government  will  stand  or  fall  with 
the    contention    that    the    extradition    of 
those  blacklisted  £or  trial  by  an  Entente 
court   is    a    physical   and    moral    impossi- 
bility.     Nevertheless,  the  Government  has 
no  intention  of  disavowing:  the  obligations 
accepted    by    the    signing-    of    the    Peace 
Treaty,   but   still  hopes   that  the   Entente 
will  judiciously  devise  some  plan  making 
the  punishment  of   the   real  culprits  pos- 
sible  in   a  manner  that  will  not   outrage 
all  feelings  of  decency  and  tend  only  to 
create    sympathy    among    the    people    for 
even  those  blacklisted  persons  who  really 
deserve  ruthless  prosecution. 


PUNISHING   WAR  CRIMINALS 


375 


To  that  end  Germany's  diplomatic  rep- 
resentative leaves  for  Paris  tonight,  hop- 
ing that  some  understanding:  may  be 
reached,  based  upon  our  note  of  Jan.  25. 

It  was  reported  meanwhile  from  Basle, 
Switzerland,  that  Admiral  von  Capelle, 
former  Minister  of  the  German  Navy, 
had  crossed  the  frontier  on  Feb.  7. 
Baron  von  der  Lancken,  Civil  Governor 
of  Brussels  during  the  German  occupa- 
tion, responsible  for  the  death  of  Edith 
Cavell,  had  arrived  f .  om  Munich. 
Former  Crown  Prince  Rupprecht  of 
Bavaria  was  staying  at  Davos.  Anxiety 
was  growing  in  Swiss  official  circles  that 
many  others  of  those  accused  might  enter 
Switzerland  to  evade  apprehension.  No 
Swiss  law  prohibiting  the  entrance  of 
political  fugitives  existed. 

CROWN  PRINCE'S  OFFER 

While   the    German    Government   was 
still  engaged    in    consideration    of    the 
question  of  extradition,  Prince  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  the  ex-Crown  Prince,  added  a 
dramatic    feature    to    the    international 
spectacle   by   transmitting   to    President 
Wilson   direct,    instead    of   through   the 
ordinary  Governmental  channels,  a  cable 
note  in  which  he  offered  himself  as  a 
substitute  for  the  890  German  war  crim- 
inals accused.       Dated  from  Wieringen 
Island  on  Feb.  9,  this  note  was  received 
the  same  day  by  the  American  President. 
The   text   as   given  out  in   Washington 
was  as  follows: 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
North  Aanerioa,  Mr.  Wilson,  Washing- 
ton: 
Mr.     President:    The    demand    for    the 
delivery  of  Germans  of  every  walk  of  life 
has  again  confronted  my  country,   sorely 
tried  by  four  years  of  war  and  one  year  of 
severe    internal    struggles,    with    a    crisis 
that  Is  without  a  precedent  In  the  history 
of  the  world  as  affecting  the  life  of  the 
people.     That  a  Government  can  be  found 
in   Germany  which   would    carry   out   the 
demanded    surrender  is   out  of   the   ques- 
tion;   the   consequences   to   Europe  of  an 
enforcement   of   the    demand    by   violence 
are  incalculable,  hatred  and  revenge  would 
be    made    eternal.      As    the    former    suc- 
cessor to  the  throne  of  my  German  Fath- 
erland, I  am  willing  at  this  fateful  hour 
to  stand  up  for  my  compatriots.      If  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  want  a  vic- 
tim, let  them  take  me  instead  of  the  900 
Germans,  who  have  committed  no  offense 


other  than   that  of  serving  their  country 
during  the  war.  WILHELM. 

Wieringen  Island,  Feb.  9,  1920. 

In  an  interview  published  in  the  Am- 
sterdam Telegraaf,  Major  von  Mulheim, 
the  Adjutant  of  the  former  Crown 
Prince,  stated  that  the  latter  had  acted 
on  the  impulse  of  the  moment  on  hearing 
of  the  return  of  Baron  von  Lersner  from 
Paris  and  of  the  serious  situation  which 
had  arisen  in  Berlin  in  consequence  of 
the  allied  demands.  Dutch  newspapers 
described  the  Prince's  action  as  a  "  beau- 
tiful gesture." 

ACCEPT  GERMAN  TRIAL 
The  dilemma  in  which  the  German 
Government  was  placed  by  the  Entente 
demand,  facing,  as  it  declared,  a  revolu- 
tion if  it  sought  to  execute  the  demand 
for  extradition,  was  resolved  by  the  En- 
tente Premiers  themselves,  in  their  re- 
ply to  the  German  note  of  Jan.  25,  which 
had  made  the  counterproposal  that  the 
accused  Germans  should  be  tried  by  Ger- 
many herself  in  the  National  Court  at 
Leipsic.  In  this  reply,  made  public  in 
London  on  Feb.  16,  it  was  stated  that  the 
Allies  had  carefully  considered  the  Ger- 
man note  of  Jan.  25.  The  note  con- 
tinued: 

The  Powers  observe,  in  the  first  place, 
that  Germany  declares  herself  unable  to 
carry  out  the  obligations  imposed  on  her 
by  Articles  228  to  230,  which  she  signed. 
They  reserve  to  themselves  the  power  to 
employ  in  such  measure  and  form  as  they 
may  judge  suitable  the  rights  accorded  to 
them  in  this^vent  by  the  treaty. 

The  Allies'  note,  however,  the  German 
Government's  declaration  that  they  are 
prepared  to  open  before  the  court  at  Leip- 
sic penal  proceedings  without  delay— sur- 
rounded by  the  most  complete  guarantees 
and  not  affected  by  the  applications  of 
all  judgments,  procedure  or  previous  de- 
cisions of  German  civil  or  military  tri- 
bunals—before the  Supreme  Court  at  Leip- 
sic against  all  Germans  whose  ex/tradi- 
tion the  allied  and  associated  Powers 
have  the  intention  to  demand. 

The  prosecution  which  the  German  Gov- 
ernment itself  proposes  immediately  to 
institute  in  this  manner  is  compatible 
with  Article  228  of  the  Peace  Treaty,  and 
is  expressly  provided  for  at  the  end  of  its 
first  paragraph 

Faithful  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
treaty,  the  Allies  will  abstain  from  inter- 
vention in  any  way  in  the  procedure  of 
the  prosecution  and  the  verdict  in  order 
to  leave  to  the  German  Government  com- 


376 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


plete  and  entire  responsibility.  They  re- 
serve to  themselves  the  right  to  decide  by 
*he  results  as  to  the  good  faith  of  Ger- 
many, the  recognition  by  her  of  the 
crimes  she  has  committed,  and  her  sincere 
desire  to  associate  herself  with  their  pun- 
ishment. 

They  will  see  whether  the  German  Gov- 
ernment, who  have  declared  themselves 
unable  to  arrest  the  accused  named  or  to 
deliver  them  for  trial  to  the  Allies,  are 
actually  determined  to  judge  them  them- 
selves. 

At  the  same  time  tfhe  Allies,  dn  the  pur- 
suance of  trutlh  and  justice,  have  decided 
to  intrust  to  a  mixed  interallied  commis- 
sion the  task  of  colledtJing,  publishing  and 
communicating  to  Germany  details  of  the 
charges  brought  against  each  of  those 
whose  guilt  shall  have  been  established  by 
Itiheir  investigations. 


Finally,  the  Allies  would  formally  em- 
phasize that  procedure  before  a  jurisdic- 
tion such  as  is  proposed  can  in  no  way 
annul  the  provisions  of  Articles  228  to 
230  of  the  treaty. 

The  Powers  reserve  to  themselves  the 
right  to  decide  whether  the  proposed  pro- 
cedure by  Germany  which,  according  to 
her,  would  assure  to  the  accused  all  guar- 
antees of  justice,  does  not  in  effect  bring 
about  their  escape  from  the  just  punish- 
ment of  their  crimes.  In  this  event  the 
Allies  would  exercise  their  right  to  Its 
full  extent  by  submitting  the  cases  to 
their  own  tribunal. 

Germany's  reply  was  still  being  con- 
sidered by  the  Berlin  Government  when 
this  issue  of  Current  History  went  to 
press. 


Holland's  Refusal  to  Surrender  the  ex-Kaiser 


The  demand  of  the  Allies  that  Holland 
should  surrender  the  person  of  the  ex- 
Kaiser  to  be  tried  for  high  crimes  under 
Article  227  of  the  Versailles  Treaty  ar- 
rived at  The  Hague  on  Jan.  17,  1920. 
The  text  of  the  note,  made  public  in  Paris 
on  the  19th,  was  as  follows: 

Paris,  Jan.  15. 
In  notifying,  by  these  presents,  the 
Netherlands  Government  and  Queen  of 
the  text  of  Article  227  of  the  Treaty  of 
"Versailles,  a  certified  copy  of  which  is 
annexed,  which  came  into  force  on  Jan. 
10,  the  powers  have  the  honor  to  make 
known,  at  the  same  time,  that  they  have 
decided  to  put  into  execution  without  de- 
lay this  article.  [Article  227  publicly  ar- 
raigns William  II.  of  Germany  for  a  su- 
preme offense  against  international  mo- 
rality and  the  sanctity  of  treaties,  and 
declares  that  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  will  address  a  request  to  the 
Netherlands  Government  for  his  surren- 
der, in  order  that  he  may  ^e  placed  on 
trial.] 

Consequently,  the  powers  address  to  the 
Government  of  the  Netherlands  an  offi- 
cial demand  to  deliver  into  their  hands 
"William  of  Hohenzollern,  former  Emperor 
of  Germany,  in  order  that  he  may  be 
judged. 

Individuals  residing  in  Germany, 
against  whom  the  allied  and  associated 
powers  have  brought  charges,  are  to  be 
delivered  to  them  under  Article  228  of  the 
Peace  Treaty,  and  the  former  Emperor, 
if  he  had  remained  in  Germany,  would 
(have  been  delivered  under  the  same  con- 
ditions by  the  German   Government. 

The  Netherlands  Government  is  con- 
versant with  the  incontrovertible  reasons 
which    imperiously    exact    that    premedi- 


tated violations  of  international  treaties, 
as  well  as  systematic  disregard  of  the 
most  sacred  rules  and  rights  of  nations, 
should  receive  as  regards  every  one,  in- 
cluding the  highest-placed  personalities, 
special  punishment  provided  by  the  Peace 
Congress.  The  powers  briefly  recall, 
among  so  many  crimes,  the  cynical  viola- 
tion of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  and 
Luxemburg,  the  barbarous  and  pitiless 
system  of  hostages,  deportation  en  masse, 
the  carrying  off  of  young  girls  from  the 
City  of  Lille,  who  were  torn  from  their 
families  and  delivered  defenseless  to  the 
worst  promiscuity,  the  systematic  devas- 
tation of  entire  regions  without  military 
utility,  the  submarine  war  without  re- 
striction, including  inhuman  abandonment 
of  victims  on  the  high  seas,  and  innumer- 
able acts  against  noncombatants  com- 
mitted by  German  authority  in  violation 
of  the  laws  of  war. 

Responsibility,  at  least  moral,  for  all 
these  acts  reaches  up  to  the  supreme 
head  who  ordered  them,  or  made  abusive 
use  of  his  full  powers  to  infringe,  or  to 
allow  infringement,  upon  the  most  sacred 
regulations  of  human  conscience. 

The  powers  cannot  conceive  that  the 
Government  of  the  Netherlands  can  re- 
gard with  less  reprobation  than  them- 
selves the  immense  responsibility  of  the 
former  Emperor. 

Holland  would  not  fulfill  her  interna- 
tional duty  if  she  refused  to  associate 
herself  with  other  nations  as  far  as  her 
means  allow  in  undertaking,  or  at  least 
not  hindering,  chastisement  of  the  crimes 
committed. 

In  addressing  this  demand  to  the  Dutch 
Government,  the  powers  believe  it  their 
duty  to  emphasize  its  special  character. 
It  is  their  duty  to  insure  the  execution  of 


PUNISHING  WAR  CRIMINALS 


377 


Article  227  without  allowing  themselves 
'to  be  stopped  by  arguments,  because  it  is 
not  a  question  of  a  public  accusation  with 
juridical  character  as  regards  its  basis, 
but  an  act  of  high  international  policy 
imposed  by  the  universal  conscience,  la 
which  legal  forms  have  been  provided 
solely  to  assure  to  the  accused  such  guar- 
antees as  were  never  before  recognized  in 
public  law.  The  powers  are  convinced 
that  Holland,  which  has  always  shown  re- 
spect for  the  right,  and  love  of  justice, 
having  been  one  of  the  first  to  claim  a 
place  in  the  League  of  Nations,  will  not 
ibe  willing  to  cover  by  her  moral  authority 
ithe  violation  of  principles  essential  to  the 
solidarity  of  nations,  all  of  which  are 
equally  interested  in  preventing  the  re- 
turn of  a  similar  catastrophe. 

It  is  to  the  highest  interest  of  the 
Dutch  people  not  to  appear  to  protect  the 
principal  author  of  this  catastrophe  by 
allowing  him  shelter  on  her  territory,  and 
also  to  facilitate  his  trial,  which  Is 
claimed  by  the  voices  cf  millions  of  vic- 
tims. CL.EMEi.CEAU. 

This  demand  stirred  the  Dutch  people 
deeply,  the  prevailing  opinion  being  that 
it  should  be  refused  on  the  ground  of 
the  international  law  of  asylum  for  po- 
litical refugees,  established  before  the 
war,  and  entirely  apart  from  any  sym- 
pathy for  the  former  German  Emperor. 
This  was  the  attitude  adopted  by  the 
Government  in  its  reply  to  the  Allies. 

HOLLAND'S  ANSWER 

The  reply  of  the  Dutch  Government 
was  dispatched  from  The  Hague  on  Jan. 
22.  It  firmly  rejected  the  Allies'  de- 
mand.   The  text  follows: 

By  verbal  vote,  dated  Jan.  15,  1920, 
given  to  the  envoy  of  the  Queen  at  Paris, 
the  Powers,  referring  to  Article  227  otf 
the  Treaty  of  Versailles,  demand  that  the 
Government  of  Holland  give  Into  their 
hands  William  of  Hohenzollern,  former 
Emperor  of  Germany,  so  that  he  may  be 
tried. 

Supporting  this  demand,  they  observe 
that  if  the  former  Emperor  had  remained 
In  Germany  the  German  Government 
would,  under  the  terms  of  Article  228  of 
the  Treaty  of  Peace,  have  been  obliged  to 
deliver  Mm. 

In  citing  as  premeditated  violations  of 
international  treaties,  as  well  as  a  sys- 
tematic disregard  of  the  most  sacred 
rules  of  the  rights  of  man,  a  number  of 
acts  committed  during  the  war  by  Ger- 
man authority,  the  Powers  place  the  re- 
sponsibility, at  least  morally,  upon  the 
former  Emperor. 

They  express  the  opinion  that  Holland 
would  not  fulfill  her  international  duty  if 


«he  refused  to  associate  herself  with 
them,  within  the  limit  of  her  ability,  to 
pursue,  or  at  least  not  to  impede,  the 
punishment  of  crimes  committed. 

They  emphasize  the  special  character 
of  their  demands,  which  contemplate,  not 
a  juridical  accusation,  but  an  act  of  high 
international  policy,  and  they  make  an 
appeal  to  Holland's  respect  of  law  and 
love  of  justice  not  to  cover  with  her 
moral  authority  violation  by  Germany  of 
the  essential  principles  of  the  solidarity 
of  nations. 

The  Queen  has  the  honor  to  observe, 
first,  that  obligations  which  for  Germany 
could  have  resulted  from  Article  228  of 
the  treaty  of  peace  cannot  serve  to  de- 
termine the  duty  of  Holland,  which  is  not 
a  party  to  the  treaty. 

The  Government  of  the  Queen,  moved 
by  imprescriptible  reasons,  cannot  view 
the  question  raised  by  the  demand  of  the 
Powers,  except  from  the  point  of  view  of 
its  own  duty.  It  was  absolutely  unoon- 
nect"d  with  the  origin  of  the  war  and  has 
maintained,  and  not  without  difficulty, 
its  n  utrality  to  the  end.  It  finds  itself 
then  face  to  face  with  facts  of  the  ^-ar 
in  a  position  different  from  that  of  the 
Powers. 

It  rejects  with  energy  all  suspicion  of 
wishing  to  cover  with  its  sovereign  right 
and  its  moral  authority  violations  of  the 
essential  principles  of  the  solidarity  of 
nations,  but  it  cannot  recognize  an  inter- 
national duty  to  associate  itself  with  this 
act  of  high  international  policy  of  the 
Powers. 

If  in  the  future  there  should  be  insti- 
tuted by  the  society  of  nations  an  inter- 
national jurisdiction,  competent  to  judge 
in  case  of  war  deeds,  qualified  as  crimes 
and  submitted  to  its  jurisdiction  by  stat- 
ute antedating  the  acts  committed.  It 
would  be  fit  for  Holland  to  associate  her- 
self with  the  new  regime. 

The  Government  of  the  Queen  cannot 
admit  in  the  present  case  any  other  duty 
than  that  imposed  upon  it  by  the  laws  of 
the  kingdom  and  national  tradition. 

Now,  neither  the  constituent  laws  of 
the  kingdom,  which  are  based  upon  the 
principles  of  law  universally  recognized, 
nor  the  age-long  tradition  which  has  made 
this  country  always  a  ground  of  refuge 
for  the  vanquished  in  international  con- 
flicts, permit  the  Government  of  Holland 
to  defer  to  the  desire  of  the  Powers  by 
withdrawing  from  the  former  Emperor 
the  benefit  of  its  laws  and  this  tradition. 

Justice  and  national  honor,  which  it  is 
our  sacred  duty  to  respect,  oppose  this. 
The  Netherlands  people,  moved  by  the 
sentiments  to  which  in  history  the  world 
has  done  justice,  could  not  betray  the 
faith  of  those  who  have  confided  them- 
selves to  their  free  institutions. 

The  Government  of  the  Queen  is  pleased 
to  believe  that  the  powers  will  recognize 


378 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  good  grounds  of  these  considerations, 
which  rise  above  any  consideration  of 
personalities  and  which  seem  to  it  so 
peremptory  that  they  could  not  reason- 
ably give  rise  to  wrong  interpretations. 

CONFLICTING  OPINIONS 

In  Holland  the  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment was  everywhere  commented  upon 
with  approval.  While  a  further  ex- 
change of  notes  was  anticipated,  it  was 
held  that  in  refusing  to  deliver  the  ex- 
Kaiser  Holland  had  maintained  the  dig- 
nity of  her  sovereign  rights,  and  from 
this  position  she  could  not  recede  how- 
ever unfortunately  it  might  affect  her 
relations  with  the  Allies.  On  the  other 
hand  a  certain  degree  of  annoyance  was 
expressed  that  the  ex-Kaiser  should  have 
entangled  Holland  in  the  dispute,  and 
some  journals  intimated  that  he  ought  to 
return  to  Germany  and  face  his  accusers 
on  the  soil  whence  he  had  set  out  to  van- 
quish them. 

In  Germany  the  press  almost  unani- 
mously praised  Holland's  decision.  Public 
opinion  in  both  Italy  and  Switzerland  up- 
held Holland's  course,  though,  as  illus- 
trating general  opinion  of  the  Kaiser 
personally,  a  Swiss  paper  said :  "  The 
Grand  Royal  European  Poseur  who  at- 
tempted to  dominate  the  world  now  be- 
comes a  simple  military  deserter.  Let 
him  alone  with  his  ignominy."  In  Eng- 
land opinion  took  sides  along  party  lines. 
One  side  held  that  Lloyd  George  was 
determined  that  no  legal  quibble  should 
stand  in  the  way  of  justice.  Another 
held  that  advantage  should  be  taken  of 
any  opportunity  to  draw  the  curtain 
upon  a  "  solemn  farce." 

ALLIES  PRESS  HOLLAND 

The  Council  of  Premiers  on  Feb.  14 
forwarded  its  reply  to  Holland's  note  of 
refusal  to  surrender  the  ex-Kaiser.  The 
note  was  signed  by  Premier  Lloyd 
George  for  the  Council.  Couched  in  dip- 
lomatic but  impressive  terms,  this  com- 
munication pointed  out  to  Holland  the 
enormity  of  the  ex-Kaiser's  crimes,  of 
which  the  Dutch  note  had  made  no  men- 
tion, and  the  menace  to  the  peace  of 
Europe  of  his  presence  so  near  the  bor- 
ders of  Germany.  The  text  of  the  Coun- 
cil's note  is  given  herewith: 

The  immense  sacrifices  made  in  the  gen- 


eral interest  by  the  powers  during  the  war 
entitle  them  to  ask  the  Netherlands  to  re- 
consider its  refusal,  based  on  tlbe  weighty, 
but  entirely  personal,  considerations  of  a 
State  which  held  aloof  from  the  war  and 
cannot  perhaps  appreciate  quite  accurately 
all  the  duties  and  dangers  of  the  present 
hour. 

The  obligations  of  the  powers  toward 
dtiher  nations,  the  gravity  of  the  question 
concerned,  as  well  as  the  very  grave 
political  effects  to  which  relinquishment  of 
the  claims  of  justice  against  the  ex-Em- 
peror would  give  rise,  all  constrain  them 
to  uphold  and  renew  their  demand. 

The  powers  do  not  ask  the  Queen's  Gov- 
ernment to  depart  from  its  traditional 
policy,  but  to  consider  that  the  nature  of 
their  request— which  does  not  in  their 
opinion,  depend  solely,  or  even  mainly,  on 
Dutch  municipal  law— has  not  been  ade- 
quately appreciated. 

No  question  of  prestige  is  at  stake,  and 
the  Powers  pay  as  much  heed  to  the  con- 
scientious sentiments  of  a  State  with 
limited  interest  as  to  the  mature  decision 
of  great  powers,  but  cannot  wait  for  the 
creation  of  a  world  tribunal  competent  to 
examine  international  crimes  before  bring- 
ing to  trial  the  responsible  author  of  the 
catastrophe  of  the  great  war. 

It  is  precisely  this  contemplated  trial 
which  would  prepare  the  way  for  such  a 
'tribunal  and  demonstrate  the  unanimity 
of  feeling  animating  the  conscience  of  the 
nations  of  the  world.  The  Powers  wish  to 
point  out  that  the  League  of  Nations  has 
not  yet  reached  a  state  of  development 
sufficient  to  allow  any  application  to  it, 
or  to  a  tribunal  of  any  kind  created  by  it, 
meeting  with  that  prompt  satisfaction 
which  is  surely  essential. 

[Section  is  missing.] 

It  does  not  appear  to  consider  that  it 
shares  with  other  civilized  nations  the 
duty  of  securing  the  punishment  of 
crimes  against  justice  and  the  principles 
of  humanity— crimes  for  which  William  of 
HOhenzollern  undeniably  bears  a  heavy 
responsibility. 

The  note  of  Jan.  15  was  sent  in  the 
name  of  the  Allies,  twenty-five  in  num- 
ber, who  were  signatories  to  the  treaty 
of  peace  and  the  collective  mandataries 
of  a  majority  of  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  world.  It  is  impossible  to  disregard 
the  •collective  force  of  this  request,  which 
is  the  expression  not  only  of  the  feeling 
of  indignation  of  the  victims,  but  of  the 
demand  for  justice  made  by  the  con- 
science of  humanity  as  a  whole. 

The  Netherlands  Government  surely  has 
not  forgotten  that  the  policy  and  personal 
actions  of  the  man  required  for  judgment 
by  the  powers  have  cost  the  lives  of  ap- 
proximately 10,000,000  men,  murdered  in 
their  prime,  and  have  been  responsible 
for  the  mutilation  or  shattered  health  of 
three    times    as    many,    the   laying   waste 


PUNISHING   WAR  CRIMINALS 


379 


and  the  destruction  of  millions  of  square 
miles  of  territory  in  countries  formerly 
industrious,  peaceable  and  happy,  and  the 
piling  up  of  war  debts  running  into  bil- 
lions, the  victims  being  men  who  had  de- 
fended their  freedom,  and  Incidentally  that 
of  Holland. 

The  economic  and  social  existence  of  all 
these  nations  has  been  thrown  Into  con- 
fusion, and  they  are  now  Jeopardized  by 
famine  and  want— the  terrible  results  of 
that  war  of  which  William  II.  was  the 
author. 

The  Allies  cannot  conceal  their  surprise 
at  finding  In  the  Dutch  reply  no  single 
word  of  disapproval  of  the  crimes  com- 
mitted by  the  Emperor,  crimes  which  out- 
rage the  most  elementary  sentimerits  of 
humanity  and  civilization,  and  of  which, 
In  particular,  so  many  Dutch  nationals 
themselves  have  been  the  innocent  victims 
on  the  high  seas.  To  help  bring  to  justice 
the  author  of  such  crimes  plainly  accords 
with  the  aims  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

How  can  any  one  fail  to  be  impressed 
by  the  reactionary  manifestations  which 
(have  followed  the  refusal  of  Holland,  and 
the  dangerous  encouragement  to  all  those 
who  are  opposing  the  just  chastisement  of 
the  culprits  and  their  exemplary  con- 
demnation, whatever  their  social  position. 

Holland,  whose  history  tells  of  long 
■struggles  for  liberty,  who  has  suffered 
so  grievously  through  disregard  for  jus- 
tice, could  not  place  herself  by  such  a 
narrow  conception  of  her  duties  outside 
of  the  comity  of  nations.  A  duty,  which 
none  can  avoid  for  national  reasons,  how- 
ever weighty  they  may  be,  Is  to  unite  in 
order  to  mete  out  exemplary  punishment 
to  responsible  authors  of  the  disasters 
and  abominations  of  the  war  and  endeav- 
or to  revive  conceptions  of  solidarity  and 
humanity  in  the  German  Nation,  which  is 
etill  unconvinced  of  the  falsity  of  the  ten- 
ets of  its  Government,  who  professed  that 
might  was  right  and  success  condoned 
crime. 

It  was  from  this  point  of  view,  and  not 
exclusively  from  a  national  standpoint, 
that  the  Powers  requested  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Queen  to  hand  over  William 
of  Hohenzollern,  and  from  this  point  of 
view  they  now  renew  that  request  The 
Powers  desire  to  remind  the  Government 
of  the  Netherlands  that  if  it  should  per- 
sist in  its  attitude  of  detachment  toward 
the  presence  of  the  imperial  family  on  its 
territory  so  close  to  Germany  it  would 
assume  direct  responsibility  both  for  shel- 
tering from  the  claims  of  justice  and  for 
<3*at  propaganda  which  is  so  dangerous  to 
Europe  and  the  whole  world. 

It  is  indisputable  that  the  permanent 
7>nsence  of  the  ex -Emperor,  under  inef- 
fectual supervision,  a  few  kilometers  dis- 
tance from  the  Gorman  frontier,  where 
ho  continues  the  centre  of  active  and  in- 
creasing    intrigues,     constitutes     for    ithe 


Powers  who  have  made  superhuman  sacri- 
fices to  destroy  this  mortal  danger  a 
menace  which,  they  cannot  be  called  upon 
to  accept.  The  rights  they  possess  in  vir- 
Itue  of  the  most  express  principles  of  the 
law  of  nations  entitle  them  and  make  it 
their  duty  to  take  such  measures  as  are 
required  for  their  own  security. 

The  Powers  cannot  conceal  the  painful 
impression  made  upon  them  by  the  re- 
fusal of  the  Dutch  Government  to  hand 
over  the  ex-Emperor  to  them  without  any 
consideration  of  the  possibility  of  recon- 
ciling the  scruples  of  Holland  wfth  some 
effectual  precautionary  measures  to  be 
taken  either  on  the  spot  or  by  holding 
the  ex-Emperor  at  a  distance  from  the 
scene  of  his  crimes,  making  it  Impossible 
for  him  to  exert  his  disastrous  influence 
in  Germany  in  the  future. 

Although  a  proposal  of  this  nature  would 
not  correspond  fully  to  the  request  of  the 
Powers,  it  would  at  least  have  afforded 
proof  of  those  feelings  which  Holland 
cannot  but  possess. 

The  Powers  urge  upon  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernment in  the  most  solemn  and  pressing 
manner  the  importance  attaching  to  fresh 
consideration  of  the  question  put  before 
her.  They  desire  that  it  may  be  clearly 
understood  how  grave  the  situation  might 
become  if  the  Netherlands  Government 
were  not  in  a  position  to  give  those  as- 
surances which  the  safety  of  Europe  so 
imperatively  demands. 

This  was  understood  as  an  intimation 
that  the  Allies  would  consider  favorably 
an  offer  from  Holland  to  intern  the  ex- 
Kaiser  and  be  responsible  for  his  acts. 
Holland's  reply  was  still  awaited  when 
these  pages  went  to  press. 

PRUSSIAN  BILL  OF  SETTLEMENT 
WITH  THE  EX-KAISER 

What  was  termed  one  of  the  most 
amazing  documents  of  the  time  was  re- 
vealed on  Feb.  4  by  the  printing  of  a  bill 
regarding  the  settlement  of  claims  be- 
tween William  Hohenzollern  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Prussia.  The  bill  was 
drawn  up  in  due  form  for  presentation 
in  the  Prussian  National  Assembly.  It 
was  promptly  denounced  as  "a  master- 
piece of  old  Prussian  efficiency  "  on  be- 
half of  "  the  man  who  ruined  Germany." 

Under  the  terms  of  the  bill  the  ex- 
Kaiser  would  receive  100,000,000  marks 
(normally  $25,000,000)  from  the  nation, 
free  from  the  proposed  capital  tax.  His 
civil  list  of  about  $415,000  a  month  would 
also  be  paid  for  seventeen  months  from 
the  day  he  ran  away  to  Holland.       In 


380 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


addition  there  would  be  handed  over  to 
him  175,000,000  marks'  worth  of  indus- 
trial shares,  mortgages  and  other  invest- 
ments. While  the  ex-Kaiser  consented 
to  relinquish  all  castles  and  lands  be- 
longing to  the  State,  he  would  retain 
eight  castles,  eighty-three  villas,  and 
many  houses  in  Berlin,  Potsdam,  Kiel  and 
elsewhere,  together  with  forests  here  and 
there  and  various  other  kinds  of  property 
sprinkled  over  Germany.  In  view,  how- 
ever, of  a  possible  return  of  the  Hohen- 
zollern  family  to  Germany  the  State  gen- 
erously provided  three  more  residences 
rent-free  on  life  tenures — the  castle  and 
park  of  Homburg,  the  Cecillenhof  Palace, 
and  the  Marmorpalais.  The  clause  in 
the  agreement  which  made  this  grant 
read: 

It  is  in  keeping  with  the  wish  of  mem- 
bers of  the  <royal  house  [not  ex-royal,  be 
it  noted]  thaJt  the  castles  which  they  pre- 
fer in  the  event  of  a  return  to  Germany 
be  placed  at  their  disposal  for  their  life- 
time. As  the  fulfillment  of  this  desire  is 
net    against    any    State    interests,    three 


castles    [mentioning  those   above   referred 
to]  are  placed  at  their  service. 

By  the  provisions  of  this  bill  the  ex- 
Kaiser  would  retain  the  Prussian  royal 
jewels,  and  the  State  would  possess  the 
comparatively  valueless  royal  insignia. 
Wilhelm  also  agreed  to  hand  over  the 
royal  opera  houses  in  Berlin,  Hanover, 
Cassel  and  Wiesbaden,  with  their  debts, 
while  all  his  faithful  retainers  would  be 
taken  care  of  by  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment. Finally,  he  kept  one  mausoleum 
at  Potsdam  for  himself  and  family. 

The  ex-Kaiser  had  expected  the  re- 
fusal of  his  extradition  by  Holland.  He 
continued  to  occupy  his  time  chiefly  in 
inspecting  progress  of  alterations  in  the 
mansion  and  grounds  of  what  he  seemed 
to  regard  as  a  permanent  residential 
estate  at  Doom.  Somewhat  mysterious 
activity  in  which  he  had  been  recently 
engaged  was  disclosed  as  a  plan  to 
erect  a  small  hospital  at  Amerongen  as 
a  memorial  of  his  residence  there. 


Basis  of  the  Extradition  Demand 

Report  of  the  Crimes  and  Penalties  Commission  Which  Laid 
Down  the  Principles  of  Indictment 


THE  report  of  the  Commission  on 
the  Responsibility  of  the  Authors 
of  the  War  and  on  the  Enforce- 
ment of  Penalties  was  presented 
to  the  plenary  session  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference at  Paris  on  April  28,  1919.  The 
main  commission  was  to  inquire  into  and 
report  upon  the  following  points: 

(1)  The  responsibility  of  the  authors  of  the 
war. 

(2)  The  facts  as  to  breaches  of  laws  and 
customs  of  war  committed  by  the  forces  of 
the  German  Empire  and  its  allies  on  land, 
on  sea  and  In  the  air. 

(3)  The  degree  of  responsibility  for  those 
offenses  attaching  to  particular  members  of 
the  enemy  forces,  including  members  of  the 
general  staffs  and  other  individuals,  however 
highly  placed. 

(4)  The  constitution  and  procedure  of  a 
tribunal  appropriate  for  the  trial  of  those 
offenses. 

(5)  Any  other  matters  cognate  or  ancillary 
to  the  above  which  may  arise  in  the  course 
of   the   inquiry   and   which   the    commission 


finds  it  useful  and  relevant  to  take  into 
consideration. 

The  nations  represented  on  this  main 
commission  were  the  United  States  (Mr. 
Lansing*  and  Major  Brown  Scott),  Great 
Britain  (Sir  Gordon  Hewart  or  Sir 
Ernest  Pollock  and  Mr.  Massey,  Prime 
Minister  of  New  Zealand),  France,  Italy, 
Japan,  Belgium,  Greece,  Poland,  Ru- 
mania and  Serbia. 

The  report  of  the  commission  gave  in 
succinct  form  a  summary  of  the  proof  of 
the  allied  contention  that  tha  war  was 
the  result  of  a  deliberate  plot  on  the  part 
of  the  Central  Empires.  In  no  case  were 
statements  made  which  were  not  sup- 
ported by  evidence  of  an  official  nature, 
drawn   either   from   the   official   "  rain- 


♦Secretary  of  State  Lansing  did  not  con- 
cur in  the  decision  to  demand  extradition  of 
the  accused,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  no 
sanction  in  international  law.— Editor  Cur- 
rent History. 


BASIS  OF  THE  EXTRADITION  DEMAND 


381 


bow "  papers  of  the  allies  or  of  the 
enemy  States  themselves.  The  report 
showed  signs  of  conflicting  tendencies  be- 
tween the  American  and  Japanese  dele- 
gates on  one  side,  and  the  rest  of  the 
members  of  the  commission  on  the  other. 
In  fact  the  Americans  signed  the  report 
only  subject  to  very  important  reserva- 
tions, in  which  they  pronounced  against 
the  trial  of  the  ex-Kaiser  before  an  inter- 
national tribunal  on  moral  charges,  hold- 
ing that  moral  offenses  could  be  visited 
only  with  moral  penalties,  and  disagreed 
with  the  rest  of  their  colleagues  in  in- 
cluding in  the  scope  of  their  inquiry 
breaches  against  the  "  laws  of  human- 
ity." 

SUMMARY  OF  REPORT 

The  first  chapter  of  the  report  dealt 
with  the  responsibility  of  the  authors  of 
the  war.  The  commission,  having  exam- 
ined a  number  of  official  documents  re- 
lating to  the  origin  of  the  world  war  and 
to  the  violations  of  neutrality  and  of 
frontier  which  accompanied  its  inception, 
"  has  determined  that  the  responsibility 
for  it  lies  wholly  upon  the  powers  which 
declared  war  in  pursuance  of  a  policy 
of  aggression,  the  concealment  of  which 
gives  to  the  origin  of  this  war  the  charac- 
ter of  a  dark  conspiracy  against  the 
peace  of  Europe.  This  responsibility 
rests,  first,  upon  Germany  and  Austria; 
secondly,  on  Turkey  and  Bulgaria.  The 
responsibility  is  made  all  the  graver  by 
reason  of  the  violation  of  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium  and  Luxemburg,  which  Prus- 
sia had  herself  guaranteed.  It  is  in- 
creased with  regard  to  both  France  and 
Serbia  by  the  violation  of  their  frontiers 
before  the  declaration  of  war." 

The  commission,  having  examined 
the  question  of  moral  responsibility  for 
the  outbreak  of  the  war  and  for  the  vio- 
lations of  neutrality  which  accompanied 
it,  then  discussed  in  its  report  the  viola- 
tions of  the  laws  and  customs  of  war  by 
land,  sea  and  air.  The  commission  ex- 
amined great  masses  of  documentary  evi- 
dence of  unimpeachable  character  and  it 
declared : 

In  spite  of  the  explicit  regulations  of  es- 
tablished   customs   and   the   clear   diet  a 
of  humanity  Germany  and  her  allies  have 
piled  outrage  upon  outrage.    •    *    *    It  is 
impossible  to  imagine  a  list  of  cases  so 


diverse  and  so  painful.  Violations  of  the 
rights  of  combatants,  of  the  rights  of  ci- 
vilians, and  of  the  rights  of  both  are  mul- 
tiplied in  this  list  of  the  most  cruel  prac- 
tices whiah  primitive  barbarism,  aided 
by  all  the  resources  of  modern  science, 
could  devise  for  the  execution  of  a  sys- 
tem of  terrorism  carefully  planned  and 
carried  out  to  the  end.  Not  even  prison- 
ers or  bounded,  or  women  or  children 
have  been  respected  by  belligerents  who 
deliberately  sought  to  strike  terror  into 
every  heart  for  the  purpose  of  repressing 
all  resistance. 

THIRTY-TWO  CATEGORIES  OF  CRIME 

The  commission  drew  up  a  list  of  thir- 
ty-two different  categories  of  crime  per- 
petrated by  enemy  belligerents  and  it 
commented  thus  upon  that  list: 

It  constitutes  the  most  striking  list  of 
crimes  that  has  ever  been  drawn  up,  to 
thf:  eternal  shame  of  those  who  committed 
th.  m.  The  facts  are  established.  They 
are  numerous  and  so  vouched  for  that 
they  admit  of  no  doubt  and  they  cry  for 
just 

The  list  is  as  follows: 

<1)  Murders  and  massacres;  systematic 
terrorism. 

(2)  Putting  hostages  to  death. 

(3)  Torture  of  civilians. 

(4)  Deliberate  starvation  of  civilians. 

(5)  Rape. 

(6)  Abduction  of  girls  and  women  for 
the  purpose  of  enforced  prostitution. 

(7)  Deportations    of  civilians. 

(8)  Internment  of  civilians  under  inhu- 
man conditions. 

(0)  Forced  labor  of  civilians  in  connec- 
tion with  the  military  operations  of  the 
enemy. 

(10)  Usurpation  of  sovereignty  during 
military  occupation. 

(11)  Compulsory  enlistment  of  soldiers 
among  the  inhabitants  of  occupied  terri- 
tory. 

(12)  Attempts  to  denationalize  the  in- 
habitants of  occupied  territory. 

(13)  Pillage. 

(14)  Confiscation  of  property. 

(15)  Exaction  of  illegitimate  or  of  exor- 
bitant   contributions    and    requisitions. 

(16)  Debasement  of  the  currency  and  is- 
sue of  spurious  currency. 

(17)  Imposition  of  collective  penalities. 

(18)  Wanton  devastation  and  destruction 
of  property. 

(19)  Deliberate  bombardment  of  unde- 
fended places. 

(20)  Wanton  destruction  of  religious, 
charitable,  educational  and  historic  build- 
ings and  monuments. 

(21)  Destruction  of  merchant  ships  and 
passenger  vessels  without  warning  and 
without  provision  for  the  safety  of  pas- 
sengers or  crew. 


382 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


(22)  Destruction  of  fishing  boats  and  of 
relief  ships. 

(23)  Deliberate  bombardment  of  hos- 
pitals. 

(24)  Attack  on  and  destruction  of  hos- 
pital ships. 

(25)  Breach  of  other  rules  relating  to  the 
Red  Cross. 

(26)  Use  of  deleterious  and  asphyxiating 
gases. 

(27)  Use  of  explosive  or  expanding  bul- 
lets and  other  Inhuman  appliances. 

(28)  Direct/ions  to  give  no  quarter. 

(29)  Ul-treatmen/t  of  wounded  and  pris- 
oners of  war. 

(30)  Employment  of  prisoners  of  war  on 
unauthorized  works. 

(31)  Misuse  of  flags  of  truce. 

(32)  Poisoning  of  wells. 

The  conclusions  of  the  commission  on 
the  criminal  acts  of  the  enemy  were: 

(1)  The  war  was  carried  on  by  the  Cen- 
tral Empires,  together  with  their  allies, 
Turkey  and  Bulgaria,  by  barbarous  or 
illegitimate  methods  in  violation  of  the 
established  laws  and  customs  of  war  and 
the  elementary  laws  of  humanity. 

(2)  A  commission  should  be  created  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  and  classifying 
systematically  all  the  information  al- 
ready had  or  to  be  obtained,  in  order 
to  prepare  as  complete  a  list  of  facts  as 
possible  concerning  the  violations  of  the 
laws  and  customs  of  war  committed  by 
the  forces  of  the  German  Empire  and  its 
allies  on  land,  on  sea,  and  in  the  air  in 
the  course  of  the  present  war. 

PERSONAL  RESPONSIBILITY 
The  third  point  submitted  to  the  com- 
mission was  to  define  the  degree  of  re- 
sponsibility for  offenses  attaching  to 
particular  members  of  the  enemy  forces. 
The  conclusion  of  the  commission,  which 
was  not  reached  without  a  great  deal  of 
discussion  was  that — 

All  persons  belonging  to  enemy  coun- 
tries, without  distinction  of  rank,  includ- 
ing chiefs  of  States,  who  have  been 
guilty  of  offenses  against  the  laws  and 
customs  of  war  or  the  laws  of  humanity, 
are  liable  to  criminal  prosecution. 

The  weightiest  points  of  international 
law  were  balanced  against  the  arguments 
of  common  sense  and  justice  in  the 
course  of  the  discussion  which  led  to  the 
adoption  of  the  above  conclusion.  It  was 
urged  by  some  members  of  the  commis- 
sion that  the  heads  of  States  ought  to 
enjoy  immunity  by  reason  of  their  posi- 
tion. The  commission,  however,  "  desires 
to  state  expressly  that  in  the  hierarchy  of 
persons  in  authority  there  is  no  reason 


why  rank,  however  exalted,  should  in 
any  circumstances  protect  the  holder  of 
it  from  responsibility  when  that  respon- 
sibility has  been  established  before  a 
properly  constituted  tribunal.  This  ex- 
tends even  to  the  case  of  heads  of 
States."  The  commission  rejected  the 
plea  of  immunity  raised  on  the  ground 
that  this  privilege  is  one  of  practical  ex- 
pedience in  municipal  law  and  is  not 
fundamental. 

"  However,"  continued  the  report, 
"  even  if,  in  some  countries,  a  sovereign 
is  exempt  from  being  prosecuted  in  a 
national  court  of  his  own  country,  the 
position  from  an  international  point  of 
view  is  quite  different."  The  extension 
of  the  privilege  of  immunity  beyond  the 
national  limits  would,  the  report  points 
out,  lay  down,  the  principle  that  the 
grossest  outrages  against  international 
law  and  custom  and  against  the  laws  of 
humanity  could  be  committed  without 
fear  of  punishment.    The  report  added : 

Such  a  conclusion  would  shock  the  con- 
science of  civilized  mankind.  In  view  of 
the  grave  charges  which  may  be  pre- 
ferred against— to  take  one  case— the  ex- 
Kaiser,  the  vindication  of  the  principles 
of  the  laws  and  customs  of  war  and  the 
laws  of  humanity  which  have  been  vio- 
lated would  be  incomplete  if  he  were  not 
brought  to  trial  and  if  other  offenders 
less  highly  placed  were  punished. 

Moreover,  the  trial  of  the  offenders 
might  be  seriously  prejudiced  if  they  at- 
tempted and  were  able  to  plead  the  su- 
perior orders  of  a  sovereign  against 
whom  no  steps  had  been  taken  or  were 
being  taken.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
the  ex-Kaiser  and  others  in  high  author- 
ity were  cognizant  of,  and  could  at  least 
have  mitigated,  the  barbarities  committed 
during  the  course  of  the  war.  A  word 
from  them  would  have  brought  about  a 
different  method  in  the  action  of  their 
subordinates  on  land,  at  sea,  and  in  the 
air.  "We  desire  to  say  that  civil  and 
military  authorities  cannot  be  relieved 
from  responsibility  by  the  mere  fact  that 
a  higher  authority  might  have  been  con- 
victed of  the  same  offense.  If  will  be 
for  the  court  to  decide  whether  a  plea  of 
superior  orders  is  sufficient  to  acquit  the 
person  charged  from  responsibility. 

THE  TRIBUNAL 

The  report,  having  thus  established 
the  case  against  the  enemy,  then  pro- 
ceeded to  deal  with  the  constitution  and 
procedure  of  a  tribunal  for  their  trial.  It 
quoted  effectively  a  declaration  made  by 


BASIS  OF  THE  EXTRADITION  DEMAND 


383 


the  German  delegate  to  The  Hague  Con- 
ference in  1907,  when,  speaking  of  the  use 
of  submarine  mines,  he  said : 

Military  operations  are  not  governed 
solely  by  the  stipulations  of  international 
law.  There  are  other  factors.  Conscience, 
good  sense,  and  the  sense  of  duty  imposed 
by  the  principles  of  humanity  will  be  the 
surest  guides  for  the  conduct  of  sailors, 
and  will  constitute  the  most  effective 
guarantee  against  abuses.  The  officers 
of  the  German  Navy,  I  loudly  proclaim 
it,  will  always  fulfill  in  the  strictest 
fashion  the  duties  which  emanate  from 
the  unwritten  law  of  humanity  and  civili- 
zation. 

The  report  then  declared  that  the  pub- 
lic conscience  insists  upon  a  punishment 
which  will  make  it  clear  that  it  is  not 
permitted  cynically  to  profess  a  disdain 
for  the  most  sacred  laws  and  the  most 
formal  undertakings  "  which,  in  spite  of 
the  lip  service  Of  von  Bieberstein  to  hu- 
manity, is  what  is  charged  against  the 
enemy." 

In  the  consideration  of  the  first  class 
of  offenses,  which  includes  the  violation 
of  Belgian  neutrality,  legal  views  would 
appear  to  have  carried  the  day,  and  the 
report  did  not  recommend  any  prosecu- 
tion of  the  authors  of  the  war  and  con- 
tented itself  with  the  suggestion  that  the 
conference  should  confine  its  action  in 
this  respect  to  uttering  a  formal  con- 
demnation of  those  responsible  for  ac- 
tions which  were  described  in  the  report 
itself. 

The  commission  recognized  the  right, 
according  to  international  law,  of  the  bel- 
ligerents to  try  individuals  who  are  al- 
leged to  be  guilty  of  such  crimes  as  are 
enumerated  in  the  list  of  thirty-two  cat- 
egories of  offenses  set  out  in  the  report, 
if  those  persons  have  been  taken  prison- 
ers or  have  "  otherwise  fallen  into  "  their 
power.  Each  belligerent  can  set  up  an 
appropriate  tribunal  before  which  to 
bring  them  to  justice,  but  the  commis- 
sion urged  that  all  such  cases  should  be 
brought  before  a  single  tribunal. 

A    "HIGH    TRIBUNAL" 

Quite  apart  from  misdeeds  of  this  na- 
ture, however,  there  remained  a  number 
of  charges  which  the  report  urged  should 
be  tried  by  a  high  tribunal  to  be  estab- 
lished. 

Those  charges  were: 


(a)  Against  persons  belonging  to  enemy 
countries  who  have  committed  outrages 
against  a  number  of  civilians  and  soldiers 
of  the  several  allied  nations,  such  as  out- 
rages committed  in  prison  camps  where 
prisoners  of  war  of  several  nations  were 
congregated,  or  the  crime  of  forced  la- 
bor in  mines  where  prisoners  of  more 
than  one  nationality  were  forced  to  work. 

(b)  Against  persons  of  authority  belong- 
ing to  enemy  countries  whose  orders  were 
executed,  not  only  in  one  area  or  on  one 
battle  front,  but  whose  orders  affected  the 
conduct  of  operations  against  several  of 
the  allied  armies. 

(c)  Against  all  authorities,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, belonging  to  enemy  countries,  how- 
ever high  their  position  may  have  been, 
without  distinction  of  rank,  including  the 
heads  of  States,  who  ordered  or,  with 
knowledge  thereof  and  with  power  to  in- 
tervene, abstained  from  preventing  or 
taking  measures  to  prevent  or  putting  an 
end  to  or  repressing  violations  of  the  laws 
or  customs  of  war  (it  being  understood 
thai  no  such  abstention  should  constitute 
a  defense  for  the  actual  perpetrators). 

(d)  Against  such  other  persons  belong- 
ing to  enemy  countries  as,  having  regard 
to  the  character  of  the  offense  or  the  law 
of  any  belligerent  country,  it  may  be  con- 
sidered advisable  not  to  proceed  before  a 
court  other  than  the  high  tribunal  which 
it  is  proposed  to  set  up. 

It  was  suggested  in  the  report  that  of- 
fenses falling  under  these  four  classifi- 
cations should  be  tried  by  a  high  tribunal  , 
composed  of  three  representatives  ap- 
pointed by  each  of  the  five  great  powers 
and  of  one  representative  appointed  by 
each  of  the  following  Governments:  Bel- 
gium, Greece,  Poland,  Portugal,  Ruma- 
nia/ Serbia  and  Czechoslovakia. 

The  law  to  be  applied  by  this  tribunal 
should  be  the  "  principles  of  the  law  of 
nations  as  they  result  from  the  usages 
established  among  civilized  peoples,  from 
the  laws  of  humanity,  and  from  the  dic- 
tates of  public  conscience." 

The  court  would  be  empowered  to  sen- 
tence any  accused  person  found  guilty  to 
such  penalty  as  may  be  provided  for  by 
legislation  of  any  country  represented  on 
the  tribunal  or  in  accordance  with  the 
national  legislation  of  the  accused  per- 
son. The  court  should  determine  its  own 
procedure,  and  should  have  power  to  sit 
in  divisions  of  not  less  than  five  mem- 
bers, and  to  request  any  national  court 
to  assume  jurisdiction  for  the  purpose  of 
inquiry,  trial,  or  judgment. 


384 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


An  international  prosecutor  would  be 
created  (if  the  commission's  plan  be 
adopted)  by  the  creation  of  an  Interna- 
tional Prosecuting  Commission  of  five 
members,  of  whom  one  each  should  be 
nominated  by  the  Governments  of  the 
United  States,  the  British  Empire, 
France,  Italy  and  Japan,  and  for  the  as- 
sistance of  which  any  other  Government 
may  delegate  a  representative.  National 
courts  would  not  be  enabled  to  proceed 
with  the  prosecution  of  any  individual 
who  had  been  selected  for  trial  before 
this  tribunal,  and  no  trial  or  sentence  by 
a  national  court  should  bar  trial  or  sen- 
tence before  this  international  court. 

The  conclusions  of  the  report  on  this 
point  recommended  that  in  the  Peace 
Treaty  the  enemy  be  called  upon  to  rec- 
ognize  the   jurisdiction   of  the  national 


and  the  high  tribunals,  and  that  any 
measures  of  amnesty  which  they  (the 
enemy  countries)  may  pass  shall  not  ap- 
ply to  individuals  guilty  of  offenses 
against  the  customs  of  war  or  the  laws 
of  humanity.  They  also  urged  that  the 
enemy  countries  should  be  called  upon  in 
the  treaty  to  agree  to  surrender  any  per- 
son "  wanted "  by  the  Allies  for  trial, 
and  to  furnish  the  allied  Governments 
with  all  the  information  they  may  re- 
quire on  points  dealing  with  criminal  of- 
fenses. 

They  also  proposed  that  the  five 
States  represented  on  the  prosecuting 
commission  should  jointly  approach  neu- 
tral Governments  with  a  view  to  obtain- 
ing the  surrender  for  trial  of  persons 
within  their  territories  who  are  charged 
by  such  States  with  crimes  of  war. 


End  of  the  Peace  Conference 

Its  Functions  Transferred  to  a  Council  of  Ambassadors  and  a  Council 

of  Premiers 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


rTtflE  Peace  Conference  closed  its  long 
I  and  historic  sessions  in  the  month 
under  review.  Before  its  last  meet- 
ing a  warm  and  sincere  tribute  was  paid 
by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  Mr.  Hugh  C. 
Wallace,  the  American  Ambassador,  to 
the  retiring  President  of  the  Conference, 
M.  Clemenceau.  After  discussion  of*  the 
best  method  of  continuing  the  interallied 
diplomatic  activities  of  the  dissolving 
congress,  it  was  decided  to  divide  the 
work  still  remaining  to  be  done  between 
a  Council  of  Ambassadors  and  a  Council 
of  Premiers,  the  former  to  deal  with 
all  routine  matters  concerning  peace  and 
to  be  empowered  to  control  the  execution 
of  the  Peace  Treaty;  the  latter  to  deal 
with  all  large  issues  of  international 
policy  and  to  formulate  the  principles 
governing  matters  of  immediate  concern. 
This  change  did  not  occur  until  Jan. 
21.  During  the  last  week  in  January 
and  the  first  two  weeks  in  February,  the 
machinery  of  these  two  new  councils  was 
put  into  running  order,  and  little  was 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  definite  de- 


cisions. The  most  dramatic  develop- 
ments of  the  month — the  raising  of  the 
blockade  of  Soviet  Russia  with  a  view 
to  reopening  trade  (Jan.  16),  the  demand 
on  Holland  for  the  extradition  of  the 
Kaiser  for  trial,  and  the  presentation  of 
a  list  of  890  Germans  accused  of  war 
crimes  to  the  Ebert  Government,  accom- 
panied by  a  similar  demand  for  extradi- 
tion, under  specific  provisions  of  the 
Peace  Treaty — were  all  either  decided  or 
carried  out  by  the  Supreme  Council  be- 
fore its  dissolution. 

Five  important  documents  affecting 
the  work  of  the  interallied  commissions 
of  Silesia  and  the  evacuation  of  Upper 
Silesia,  Danzig  and  other  Geilnan  Polish 
territories  were  signed  by  the  Allies  and 
Germany  on  Jan.  9  in  Paris.  Three  other 
documents  affecting  German-Polish  ar- 
rangements were  signed  at  the  same  time 
by  the  representatives  of  Germany  and 
Poland. 

The  Supreme  Council  of  the  Peace  Con- 
ference ended  its  long  and  arduous  labors 
on  Jan.  21.    Before  the  council  was  final- 


END  OF  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 


385 


MAP  SHOWING  FREE  CITY  OF  DANZIG,  WITH  INTERNATIONALIZED  AREA,  AND  EAST  AND 
WEST  PRUSSIA,  WHOSE  ALLEGIANCE  TO  POLAND  OR  TO  GERMANY  WAS  TO  BE  DECIDED 
BY  A  PLEBISCITE  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH  THE  TERMS  OF  THE  GERMAN  PEACE  TREATY 


ly  adjourned,  Lloyd  George  asked  that 
the  following  statement  be  entered  upon 
the  minutes: 

Conscious  of  the  inestimable  services 
which  M.  Georges  Clemenceau,  President 
during  more  than  a  year  of  the  Peace 
Conference,  has  rendered  the  cause  of 
peace,  and  grateful  to  him,  as  we  are, 
for  the  dignity,  impartiality  and  wisdom 
with  which  he  has  conducted  our  delib- 
erations, we,  his  colleagues,  desire  to  ex- 
press to  him  our  unalterable  esteem,  as 
well  as  our  hope  that  in  the  calm  of  his 
retirement  he  may  live  long  enough  to 
see  his  incomparable  work  bear  fruit  for 
the  glory  of  France  and  the  renewal  of 
the  prosperity  of  the  world. 

The  American  Ambassador,  who  fol- 
lowed Mr.  Lloyd  George,  expressed  simi- 
lar good  wishes.  M.  Clemenceau,  in 
thanking  the  council  for  its  expressions 
of  esteem,  spoke  as  follows: 

If  Great  Britain,  the  United  States, 
Italy  and  Japan  remain  united,  there  is 
a  guarantee  of  peace  which  exceeds  all 
those  guarantees  which  can  be  put  on 
paper.  If  one  day  these  nations  are 
separated  I  dare  not  think  of  the  mis- 
fortunes which   may   result 

We  arrived  here  somewhat  discon- 
certed by  the  gravity  of  the  problems 
eet   and    the    difficulty    of    settling   them. 


"When  fighting  the  enemy  all  necessarily 
were  in  agreement,  each  joyfully  giving 
his  life  for  his  country.  But  it  is  not 
necessarily  the  same  when  one  meets 
to  calculate  and  realize  the  fruits  of 
victory  and  to  settle  each  one's  share. 

We  have,  however,  tried  to  accomplish 
that  difficult  task,  and  it  may  truly  be 
said  that  I  have  never  presided  over  your 
meetings.  They  were  not  presided  over. 
We  exchanged  thoughts,  strictly  speak- 
ing. We  never  experienced  difficulties  In 
our  discussions,  and  the  President  never 
had  to  exercise  his  powers.  We  have 
been  friends  charged  with  a  great  duty— 
to  make  peace,  to  prolong  the  state  of 
peace,  first  of  all  between  ourselves,  while 
increasing  the  chances  of  peace  for  hu- 
manity. 

We  have  all  defended  what  we  be- 
lieved to  be  the  interest  of  our  countries, 
but  never  has  the  necessity  of  a  common 
understanding  been  lost  sight  of.  I  fur- 
ther believe  that  we  all  are  agreed  today 
to  say  that  the  special  interests  of  each 
nationality  must  be  considered  and  re- 
spected. There  cannot  be  a  tranquil  Eu- 
rope if  the  rights  of  each  one  is  not  rec-  ' 
ognizcd. 

I  have  been  sometimes  reproached  for 
making  too  many  concessions.  The  same 
reproach  has  been  made  against  othor 
heads  of  Governments,  but  I  am  calm  in 
the  knowledge,  as  I  am  sure  you  all  are, 
of  never   having    been    guided    in    0 


386 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


pression  of  my  opinions  or  in  the  con- 
clusions we  have  reached  except  by  the 
single  idea  that  the  nations  which  shed 
so  much  blood  had  the  right,  first  of  all, 
to  have  their  national  claims  satisfied, 
and  then  to  have  those  claims  reconciled 
each  to  the  other  and  embodied  in  one 
great  peace  inspired  by  common  interest. 

I  shall  not  lose  sight  of  the  peace  we  are 
completing  and  shall  continue  to  follow 
its  progress  until  my  last  breath.  I  shall 
try  by  all  good  wishes,  at  least,  to  do  all 
in  my  power  for  the  solidarity  of  that 
peace.  For,  indeed,  if  by  misfortune  the 
elements  of  discord  should  arise  among 
you,  how  terrible  the  thought  that  the 
best  blood  of  the  civilized  world,  the 
blood  of  our  soldiers,  should  be  shed  in 
vain  for  hopes  that  would  not  be  real- 
ized. 

I  will  not  believe  that  such  an  eventu- 
ality is  possible.  I  know  the  sentiments 
of  my  friend,  M.  Millerand.  I  know  that 
he,  as  I,  is  convinced  that  an  alliance  for 
a  lasting  understanding  must  be  main- 
tained between  all  the  peoples  represented 
here. 

After  shaking  hands  warmly  with  all 
present,  M.  Clemenceau,  very  much 
moved,  left  forever  the  Foreign  Minis- 
ter's private  office  where  daily  for  more 
than  a  year  he  had  toiled  for  the  great- 
ness of  his  country  and  the  peace  of  the 
world.  He  left  soon  afterward  for 
Egypt,  despite  warnings  telegraphed  him 
by  certain  Egyptian  nationalists,  in- 
censed by  his  attitude  toward  Egyptian 
independence,  that  his  life  would  not  be 
safe  in  that  country.  Before  departure 
he  turned  over  the  Ministry  of  War  to 
Andre  Lefevre,  the  new  War  Minister, 
and  also  transferred  his  powers  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  of  Ministers  to  M. 
Millerand,  his  successor  as  Premier. 

TREATY  BECOMES  OPERATIVE 
By  Germany's  ratification  of  the  pro- 
tocol and  treaty  the  provisions  of  this  his- 
toric agreement  were  made  effective, 
either  immediately  or  at  the  expiration 
of  a  prescribed  interval  of  time.  The 
time  table  of  those  provisions  to  be  car- 
ried out  was  as  follows: 

Jan.  10  (the  date  of  signing)  .—The  fol- 
lowing appointments  were  due  to  be 
made :  The  appointment  of  the  Govern- 
ing Commission  of  the  Saar  Valley;  the 
commission  to  superintend  the  evacua- 
tion of  Upper  Silesia  by  German  troops; 
the  allied  commissions  of  control  for 
carrying  out  the  naval,  military,  and  air 
clauses ;  the  Repatriation  of  Prisoners 
Commission  ;  the  Reparations  Commission  ; 


the  Danube  and  Rhine  Commissions ;  the 
International   Labor   Office. 

The  handing  over  to  France  of  all  coal 
deposits  in  the  Saar  district ;  the  delivery 
to  the  Allied  Commission  of  Control  of  all 
naval  and  military  air  material,  and  the 
first  deliveries  of  coal  to  Belgium  and 
France. 

Jan.  20.— Slesvig  Plebiscite  Commission 
appointed;  Germans  to  evacuate  the  ple- 
biscite area. 

Jan.  25.— Frontier  commissions  begin 
work  on  the  new  frontiers  of  Belgium, 
the  Sarre  Basin,  Czechoslovakia,  Poland, 
and  Danzig.  Germans  must  evacuate  the 
district  of  East  Prussia  ;  commissions  take 
over  this  district  and  the  districts  of 
Stuhm,  Rosenburg,  and  Marienburg, 
<which  the  Germans  have  also  to  evacuate 
on  this  date. 

Jan.  31.— The  Central  Rhine  Commission 
to  appoint  a  manager  for  the  Ports  of 
Kehl  and  Strasbourg. 

Feb.  10.— Germany  must  surrender  all 
war  .criminals  and  hand  over  all  subma- 
rines, submarine  docks,  and  salvage  ves- 
sels. Germany  must  transfer  to  such  au- 
thority as  the  powers  may  designate  gold 
deposited  in  the  Reichsbank  relating  to 
the  issue  of  Turkish  Government  currency 
notes  and  the  service  of  the  Turkish  and 
Austro-Hungarian  loans.  Germany  must 
hand  over  all  specie,  securities,  &c,  re- 
ceived under  the  Treaties  of  Bucharest 
and  Brest-Litovsk. 

March  10. — Reparations  Commission's 
lists  to  be  handed  to  Germany.  Germany 
must  reduce  her  armaments,  fortifica- 
tions, and  armies  to  the  stipulated  num- 
bers. Germany  must  reduce  her  fleet  to 
6  battleships,  6  light  cruisers,  12  destroy- 
ers, and  12  torpedo  boats,  and  her  naval 
personnel  to  15,000  men ;  hand  over  to  the 
Allies  8  named  battleships,  8  named  cruis- 
ers, 42  modern  destroyers,  and  50  mod- 
ern torpedo  boats ;  hand  over  all  air  ma- 
terial ;  deliver  to  the  Allies  all  merchant 
ships  over  1,600  ton,  one-half  of  all  ships 
between  1,000  and  1,600  tons,  and  one- 
quarter  of  her  steam  trawlers  and  fishing 
boats. 

April  10.— Clearing  house  for  the  collec- 
tion of  enemy  debts  to  be  established. 
Insurance  settlement  commissions  to  be 
set  up.  "Wireless  stations  to  be  regulated 
by  the  Allies.  Deliveries  on  account  of 
cattle,  &c,  due  to  France  and  Belgium 
to  be  completed.  Gas  and  explosive  man- 
ufacture secrets  to  be  disclosed  to  the 
Allies.  Assessment  to  be  made  of  Ger- 
many's ability  to  pay,  and  arrangements 
to  be  made  for  spreading  over  a  period  of 
years  the  sum  of  £5,000,000,000. 

July  10.— Labor  Commission  of  Inquiry 
to  be  nominated. 

Other  provisions  were  the  following : 

The  German  Government  is  to  hand 
over  archives,  registers,  plans,  &c,  of  the 


END  OF  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 


387 


.    VIENNA 

AUSTRIA    • 


SKETCH    MAP    OP    GERMANY,    SHOWING    LEIPZIG.    WHERE    WAR    CRIMINALS    ARE    TO    BE 
TRIED,  AND  LOCATION  OF  SILESIA  AND  TESCHEN,  WHERE  PLEBISCITES  ARE  TO  BE  HELD 


territory  ceded  to  Belgium,  and  will  re- 
store the  documents  removed. 

The  construction  of  fortifications  and 
the  maintenance  or  assembly  of  armed 
forces,  either  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  or  on  the  right  bank  for  a  distance 
of  fifty  kilometers  (about  thirty  miles) 
east  of  the  river  is  forbidden. 

Archives,  registers,  plans,  &c,  concern- 
ing Alsace-Lorraine  are  to  be  handed 
over. 

Alsace-Lorrainers  are  to  be  placed  in 
possession  of  all  property,  rights,  and  in- 
terests in  German  territory  which  be- 
longed to  them  on  Nov.   11,   1918. 

The  arrangements  of  1902  regarding  the 
new  Chinese  customs  tariff  and  of  1905 
regarding  Whang-Poo  are  to  be  put  in 
force. 

The  number  and  calibres  of  the  guns 
constituting  the  armament  of  the  forti- 
fied works,  military  and  naval,  which 
Germany  is  to  retain  are  to  be  notified. 

Mine -sweeping  vessels  are  to  be  kept 
equipped  until  the  work  of  sweeping  is 
completed.  Surface  Warships  outside  the 
German  ports  are  to  be  handed  over. 

Auxiliary  ships  are  to  be  disarmed. 

Mine-sweeping  is  to  be  carried  out  in 
certain  areas  of  the  North  Sea. 

Information  is  to  be  given  regarding 
armament   of   fortified    works,    fortresses, 


and  naval  fortresses  situated  within  a 
zone  of  fifty  kilometers  from  the  German 
coast. 

Germany  is  to  restore  all  objects,  bonds, 
and  documents,  the  property  of  allied 
subjects,  retained  by  the  German  authori- 
ties. 

The  high  contracting  parties  will  com- 
municate to  one  another  reciprocally  all 
information  regarding  the  dead. 

Germany  is  to  issue  special  bonds  for 
the  benefit  of  Belgium. 

Germany  is  to  issue  100,000,000,000 
marks'  worth  of  bonds  for  purposes  of 
reparation. 

The  treaties  and  conventions  enu- 
merated in  Article  282  to  287  will  be 
put  in  force. 

The  allied  and  associated  powers  will 
benefit  by  the  advantages  accorded  by 
treaties  to  third  powers  since  August, 
1914. 

Germany  will  cancel  or  suspend  war 
measures  affecting  goods,  rights,  and  in- 
terests. 

All  the  contracting  parties  will  re-estab- 
lish rights  in  Industrial,  literary,  and  ar- 
tistic property. 

The  European  Danube  Commission  will 
resume  its  activities  (Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  Rumania  being  repre- 
sented). 


388 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


The  Mannheim  Convention  of  1868  (re- 
lating to  the  Rhine)  will  again  be  put 
into  force. 

The  Berne  Convention  on  the  transport 
of  goods  by  railway  will  be  removed. 

REPARATIONS  COMMISSION 

Endowed  with  tremendous  responsibili- 
ties and  large  powers,  the  Reparations 
Commission,  under  its  new  President,  M. 
Jonnart,  appointed  by  Premier  Millerand 


MAP  OF  UPPER  SILESIA,  WHOSE  PEOPLE  MUST  DECIDE 
BY  VOTE  WHETHER  THEY  WILL  BELONG  TO  GERMANY 
OR  POLAND.  THE  ADJOINING  REGION  OP  TESCHEN  MUST 
CHOOSE  BETWEEN  POLAND  AND  CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 
BOTH    REGIONS    CONTAIN    RICH    COAL   MINES 


on  Jan.  22,  organized  in  February  a 
legal  committee  to  aid  it  with  advice  in 
interpretation  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles. 
The  countries  represented  officially 
were:  France,  by  M.  Fromageot;  Great 
Britain,  by  William  Finlay;  Italy,  by 
Senator  Bensa,  and  Belgium,  by  M.  Marx. 
The  United  States  was  represented  unof- 
ficially by  Hugh  A.  Dayne,  who  was 
Judge  Advocate  with  General  Pershing, 
and  later  Counsel  to  the  War  Prisoners' 
Commission  in  Switzerland;  Colonel 
James  A.  Logan,  Jr.,  successor  of  Her- 
bert Hoover,  and  Albert  Rathbone, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury.  This  committee,  after  its  crea- 


tion, sat  three  or  four  times  a  week  to 
consider  questions  put  before  it  by  the 
commission,  covering  a  range  of  subjects 
almost  as  wide  as  the  scope  of  the  treaty 
itself.  All  questions  were  examined  with 
the  greatest  care.  The  deliberations  were 
divided  between  questions  of  interpreta- 
tion of  the  treaty  and  questions  of 
international  law.  The  official  proceed- 
ings were  held  in  French. 

A  request  by  the  Repara- 
tions Commission  for  per- 
mission to  appoint  an  Ameri- 
can as  the  expert  head  of 
the  commission's  accountancy 
division  was  denied  by  the 
Treasury  Department  of  the 
United  States  on  Jan.  24,  on 
the  ground  that  the  Peace 
Treaty  had  not  been  ratified 
by  the  American  Senate. 

RUSSIAN-BALTIC 
PROBLEMS 

The  announcement  by  the 
Supreme  Council  of  its  inten- 
tion to  permit  a  partial  rais- 
ing of  the  blockade  of  Soviet 
Russia  and  the  resumption  of 
trade  through  the  Russian 
Co-operative  Societies,  with 
its  effect  on  the  Bolshevist 
authorities,  has  been  treated 
of  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 
(See  Page  452.)  This  an- 
nouncement was  issued  im- 
mediately after  the  publica- 
tion of  a  communique1  by  the 
British  War  Department,  re- 
fleeting  the  views  of  Winston 
Churchill,  the  British  Secretary  for  War, 
which  were  known  to  be  opposed  to  those 
of  the  Premier,  warning  the  country  of 
the  menace  of  the  spread  of  Bolshevism 
to  Western  Europe. 

The  Prime  Ministers  took  up  the  ques- 
tion of  Poland  on  Jan.  15.  ffhe  Poles 
during  the  previous  weeks  had  occupied 
considerable  territory  beyond  the  Polish 
boundaries  belonging  properly  to  Russia. 
The  council  notified  M.  Patek,  the  Polish 
Minister  at  Paris,  that  it  could  not  sup- 
port a  policy  of  expansion,  and  requested 
him  to  warn  the  Polish  Government  to 
evacuate  all  Russian  territory  and  thus 
avoid   giving   cause   for   attack   by  the 


END  OF  THE  PEACE  CONFERENCE 


389 


Bolshevist  Government.  This  M.  Patek 
refused  to  do,  voicing  Poland's  insistence 
on  the  regaining  of  her  historical  bound- 
aries, as  opposed  to  those  fixed  by  the 
Supreme  Council.  One  of  the  problems 
which  the  new  councils  still  have  to  re- 
solve is  the  policy  to  be  adopted  in  case 


the   Red  Army  pursued  the  Poles  into 
Poland. 

It  was  in  the  desire  to  avert  a  disaster 
of  this  kind  that  the  council  gave  its 
sanction  to  the  peace  negotiations  pro^ 
posed  to  the  Poles  by  the  Bolshevist 
Government. 


New  Crisis  in  Adriatic  Problem 

How  Compromise  Between  Italy  and  Jugoslavia  Was  Reached  by 
Premiers  and  Rejected  by  President  Wilson 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  16,  1920] 


SHORTLY  before  the  end  of  1919  M. 
Clemenceau,  still  French  Premier, 
said  of  the  situation  in  the  Adriatic: 
"  Only  when  this  problem  is  solved  can 
we  begin  to  breathe  freely."  Negotia- 
tions earnestly  continued  through  the 
following  three  weeks  were  finally  pro- 
ductive of  a  compromise  agreement, 
which  embodied,  as  admitted  by  the 
Italian  Premier  on  Jan.  15,  the  complete 
Italianization  of  Istria  as  far  as  Fiume, 
Italian  renouncement  of  sovereignty 
over  Fiume,  and  its  establishment  as  a 
free  city  of  Italian  character,  with  its 
port  and  railway  internationalized  under 
the  League  of  Nations.  This  agreement 
was  taken  by  the  Prince  Regent  to  Bel- 
grade for  Jugoslav  consideration,  with 
a  covering  note  which  made  acceptance 
alternative  only  with  the  execution  of 
the  Treaty  of  London,  by  the  terms  of 
which  Italy  would  annex  in  Istria,  Dal- 
matia  and  the  isles  all  the  territories 
promised  her  by  the  London  pact  of  1915. 
Pending  receipt  of  the  Jugoslav  reply 
the  Fiume  question  was  emphasized  in 
Paris  on  Jan.  17  by  the  passing  of  an 
airplane  from  Fiume  which  scattered 
over  the  city  a  cloud  of  small  green 
papers  in  which  GaLriele  d'Annunzio  sent 
a  greeting  "  to  the  Latin  brothers  of  the 
Italians  "  at  a  moment  when  "  the  out- 
worn politicians  are  trying  to  raise 
against  young  France  a  headstrong  old 
chief  (Clemenceau),  who  does  not  appre- 
ciate and  wounds  the  freshest  forces  of 
the  new  life."  The  message  continued: 
"  If  the  injustice  against  Italian  Fiume 


and  the  Italian  towns  of  Dalmatia  is  con- 
summated, a  combat  is  inevitable,  and 
blood  must  be  shed." 

Meanwhile  this  compromise  agreement, 
which,  it  was  learned  later,  had  been 
agreed  upon  by  Premiers  Lloyd  George 
and  Clemenceau  on  Jan.  5  and  accepted 
by  Premier  Nitti  on  Jan.  7,  was  sent  to 
President  Wilson  at  Washington  for  his 
consideration  and  approval.  On  the  eve 
of  his  departure  from  Paris  at  this  date, 
the  Italian  Premier  expressed  the  ut- 
most optimism  regarding  settlement. 
Italy,  he  said,  had  shown  great  modera- 
tion in  giving  up  the  islands  and  the 
whole  of  Dalmatia  except  Zara,  and  in 
agreeing  to  the  internationalization  of 
the  port  and  railway  of  Fiume,  thus  pro- 
tecting the  Jugoslavs'  interests  in  a  sea 
outlet.  No  Italian  Government,  he  de- 
clared, could  do  more  and  live,  and  if  the 
Jugoslavs  rejected  the  Italian  proposals 
they  would  be  taking  a  serious  respon- 
sibility. 

The  Jugoslav  reply  reached  Paris  on 
Jan.  20.  The  Belgrade  Government  ac- 
cepted six  of  the  allied  propositions,  but 
by  insistence  on  a  seventh,  which  re- 
fused to  change  the  frontier  line  outlined 
by  President  Wilson,  brought  new  uncer- 
tainty and  tenseness  into  the  situation. 
The  Jugoslav  proposals  were  as  follows: 

(1)  The  Jugoslavs  renounce  all  claim 
to  sovereignty  over  Fiume,  and  accept 
the  Internationalization  of  the  town,  the 
town  to  be  under  the  sovereignty  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  which  will  appoint 
the  diplomatic  representatives. 

(2)  The  Jugoslavs  also  agree  that  the 
town  of  Zara  in  Dalmatia   shall   become 


390 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


an  independent  State  under  the  League  of 
Nations,  under  the  same  conditions  as 
the  town  of  Fiume. 

(3)  The  Jugoslavs  consent  to  the  an- 
nexation by  Italy  of  the  islands  of  Lus- 
sin  and  Pela-Grossa. 

(4)  The  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs,  Croats, 
and  Slovenes  recognizes  the  right  of  Ital- 
ians of  Dalmatia,  who  number  thousands, 
to  retain  their  Italian  nationality  with- 
out quitting  Jugoslav  territory. 

(5)  The  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs,  Croats, 
and  Slovenes  consents  to  the  acquired 
rights  of  Italian  subjects  as  regards 
their  industrial  enterprises  in  Dalmatia 
being  guaranteed  by  an  international 
agreement. 

(6)  The  Jugoslavs  accept  the  demilitari- 
zation of  the  Adriatic  Isles,  providing 
that  the  island  of  Lissa,  which  is  essen- 
tially Slav  and  economically  attached  to 
Dalmatia,  be  retained  by  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Serbs,   Croats  and  Slovenes. 

(7)  The  Government  of  Belgrade,  how- 
ever, refuses  to  consent  to  any  change  in 
the  frontier  line  outlined  by  President 
Wilson,  either  on  the  Senozziche-Karin- 
thia  side  or  on  the  Volosca-Abbazia  side. 

The  council  took  cognizance  of  this  re- 
ply, which  was  voted  inconclusive  and  in- 
definite. The  Italian  Premier  declared 
that  Italy  had  offered  her  utmost  con- 
cessions, and  that  if  these  were  not  ac- 
cepted her  only  recourse  was  to  insist 
on  the  execution  of  the  pact  of  London. 
The  last  act  of  the  Supreme  Council  be- 
fore dissolving  (Jan.  20)  was  to  summon 
the  Jugoslav  Government  to  send  a  defin- 
itive reply  by  or  before  Jan.  24  as  to 
whether  or  not  it  accepted  the  compro- 
mise agreement  already  submitted.  It 
was  announced  on  Jan.  23  that  the  time 
period  for  reply  had  been  extended  to 
Jan.  27  at  the  request  of  the  Jugoslav 
Foreign  Minister,  M.  Trumbitch. 

The  Jugoslavs'  second  note,  in  reply  to 
what  was  virtually  the  ultimatum  of 
Jan.  20,  reached  Paris  on  Jan.  28.  Though 
framed  in  conciliatory  language,  it  re- 
jected the  Adriatic  compromise  plan  pro- 
posed, and  sought  again  to  continue  ne- 
gotiations along  the  line  of  the  proposals 
made  by  President  Wilson  in  1919.  Stress 
was  laid  by  the  Belgrade  Government  on 
the  point  that  it  had  no  official  knowl- 
edge of  the  pact  of  London,  proposed  as 
an  alternative  solution  of  the  problem. 

With  this  reply,  the  question  whether 
further  negotiations  were  permissible 
was  referred  to  the  French  and  British 
Premiers,  who  had  drafted  the  ultima- 


tum, Italy  meanwhile  reiterating  her  re- 
fusal to  make  further  offers,  and  insist- 
ing that  her  only  recourse  now  lay  in  the 
execution  of  the  London  pact,  which  Pre- 
mier Nitti  on  Feb.  7  declared  to  the 
Italian  Chamber  of  Deputies  he  was  en- 
tirely prepared  to  carry  out,  even  though 
it  made  necessary  the  ousting  of  d'An- 
nunzio  from  Fiume  by  the  Italian  Gov- 
ernment. 

The  question  was  seriously  considered 
during  the  following  fortnight,  and  on 
Feb.  12  the  French  and  British  Ministers 
in  Belgrade,  acting  on  the  oi'der  of  the 
Council  of  Premiers,  communicated  to  the 
Serbian  Government  the  text  of  the 
treaty  of  London,  and  insisted  upon  Ser- 
bia's accepting  unchanged  the  Franco- 
British  proposals  of  settlement.  The  sit- 
uation was  complicated  by  public  senti- 


CARNIOLA 


UNDER  ALLIED   PLAN  ISTRIA  WOULD  BE 
ITALIAN,    AND    FIUME    INTERNATIONAL 

ment:  meetings  of  protest  were  being 
held  throughout  the  country,  and  ener- 
getic resolutions  were  voted,  asking  the 
Government  to  be  firm  in  defending  the 
national  territory. 

Into  this  situation,  like  the  explosion 
of  a  bombshell,  as  it  was  described  in 
Paris  and  London,  was  projected  an  offi- 
cial note  from  President  Wilson,  which 
was  delivered  to  the  French  Foreign  Of- 
fice on  Feb.  14,  and  which  notified  the 
British,  French  and  Italian  Governments 
that  if  they  settled  the  Adriatic  problem 
without  the  concurrence  of  Washington, 
the  United  States  might  have  to  consider 
withdrawing  the  treaty  of  Versailles 
from  Senate  consideration,  and  that  the 
Anglo-American-French  pact  would  also 


NEW  CRISIS  IN  ADRIATIC  PROBLEM 


391 


have  to  be  dropped;  in  short,  the  United 
States  would  withdraw  from  all  partici- 
pation in  European  affairs. 

In  the  semi-official  analysis  of  the  note 
published  by  the  Paris  Temps,  Mr.  Wil- 
son was  said  to  have  declared  that  he 
could  not  approve  the  terms  of  the  com- 
promise agreement  of  Jan.  20,  and  that 
he  objected  particularly  to  giving  the 
Jugoslavs  the  choice  between  this  plan 
and  the  execution  of  the  Treaty  of  Lon- 
don; he  also  pointed  out  the  considerable 
divergence  between  this  scheme  and  that 
framed  in  London  in  December  by  Pre- 
miers Lloyd  George  and  Clemenceau  with 
the  collaboration  of  the  American  repre- 
sentative. The  President's  note  was  re- 
ceived with  a  storm  of  criticism  in  the 
French,  and  partly  also  in  the  British, 
press.  The  reply  of  the  British,  French 
and  Italian  Premiers  had  not  been  sent 
up  to  the  time  when  these  pages  went  to 
press. 

It  was  reported  from  Trieste  on  Feb. 
5  that  armed  bands  of  Slavs  were  waging 
guerrilla  warfare  on  the  Italians  of  Intria. 
Italian  carabineer  outposts  had  been  at- 
tacked, and  armed  clashes  had  occurred. 
The  Italian  commander  in  Istria  had 
taken  the  necessary  precautions. 

In  Fiume  Gabriele  d'Annunzio  still 
reigned  supreme.     A  Government  mer- 


chant ship  bearing  stores  and  2,000,000 
lire  for  the  Italian  army  of  occupation 
in  Albania  had  put  into  Fiume,  and  d'An- 
nunzio had  sequestrated  both  money  and 
supplies.  Two  torpedo  boats  bound  from 
Ancona  to  Pola  with  munitions  and  food- 
stuffs for  the  Italian  naval  forces,  as 
well  as  an  Italian  destroyer,  also  bound 
for  Pola,  were  similarly  seized.  Guns 
and  bombs  had  been  stolen  and  sent  to 
Fiume.  An  Italian  officer,  General  Ni- 
gra, stationed  in  Istria,  who  had  criticised 
d'Annunzio  severely,  was  kidnapped  by  a 
number  of  d'Annunzio's  officers  on  Jan. 
28  and  brought  to  Fiume;  several  of  the 
kidnappers  were  arrested  by  the  Govern- 
ment on  Feb.  2.  In  a  dramatic  scene  on 
Feb.  9  General  Nigra  was  released  by 
d'Annunzio  to  the  flourish  of  trumpets, 
following  grandiloquent  speechmaking 
and  cordial  handshakings. 

Stringent  laws  had  been  passed  by 
d'Annunzio's  Government  against  falsifi- 
cation of  the  city's  money,  of  which  more 
than  40,000,000  lire  had  been  counter- 
feited. The  publication  of  all  newspapers 
without  the  consent  of  the  insurgent 
leader  and  his  staff  had  been  forbidden. 
Preparations  were  going  on  for  the  con- 
scription of  five  classes  of  Fiume  citizens 
for  "  defense  of  the  city." 


From  Flanders  Fields 

[To  the  United  States  Senate] 
By  FRANCIS  JAMES  MacBEATH,  in  The  New  York  World 


In  Flanders  Fields  we  restless  lie. 
It  seemed  a  little  thing  to  die 
If  death  could  make  life  safe  for  you, 
And  give  the  freedom  that  we  knew 
To  all  who  'neath  oppression  sigh. 

But  dreams,  like  life,  may  go  awry. 
The  little  men  fate  tosses  high 
To  us  and  honor  seem  untrue 
In  Flanders  Fields. 

For  selfish  policies  they  vie, 
Content  a  world  to  crucify 
If  they  can  but  our  work  undo— 
Afraid  to  see  the  Crusade  through. 
Better  than  that,  peace  'neath  the  skjj 
In   Flanders  Fields! 


Financing  Hungry  Europe 

Important  Letter  by  Secretary  Glass  Calls  a  Halt  on  Further 
Government  Loans  for  That  Purpose 


FINANCIAL  and  industrial  leaders  in 
America,  Great  Britain,  France, 
Holland,  Switzerland,  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway  issued  a  call  on  Jan. 
15,  1920,  for  an  international  commercial 
and  financial  conference  to  endeavor  to 
find  a  remedy  for  the  "  chaos  in  the 
world."  The  appeal  was  addressed  to 
the  respective  Governments.  That  to  the 
American  Government  was  also  ad- 
dressed to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
the  United  States.  The  proposal  indi- 
cated that  delegates  from  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, Japan,  Italy,  all  the  neutrals  of 
Europe  and  the  chief  exporting  countries 
of  South  America  would  also  be  invited 
to  send  delegates. 

The  purpose  of  the  conference  is  to 
recommend  a  feasible  plan  of  co-opera- 
tive assistance.  The  call  was  issued 
simultaneously  in  Europe  and  America; 
it  was  identical  in  all  respects,  except 
that  the  European  call  included  one 
clause  that  was  omitted  from  the  Amer- 
ican text — a  clause  which  hinted  at  a 
move  for  the  cancellation  of  war  debts 
between  nations,  or  an  invitation  to  the 
United  States  to  cancel  its  $10,000,000,- 
000  in  loans  to  European  Governments. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Glass  on 
Jan.  29  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  setting  forth  the  attitude 
of  the  Treasury  as  to  extending  further 
Government  aid  to  Europe.  He  made  it 
clear  that  the  Treasury  was  opposed  to 
granting  further  governmental  aid  be- 
yond the  previously  announced  sugges- 
tion with  respect  to  the  extension  of  in- 
terest payments  on  existing  loans  and  to 
the  supplying  of  relief  for  certain  por- 
tions of  Europe. 

MAIN   POINTS  OF  LETTER 

The  Secretary's  letter  disclosed  the 
fact  that  since  the  armistice,  Nov.  11, 
1918,   the   financial   assistance   extended 


to  foreign  Governments  aggregated 
$4,226,584,688.41.  The  Secretary  added: 
The  Governments  of  the  world  must  now 
get  out  of  banking  and  trade.  Loans  of 
Government  to  Government  not  only  in- 
volve additional  taxes  or  borrowings  by 
the  lending  Government,  with  the  infla- 
tion attendant  thereon,  but  also  a  contin- 
uance by  the  borrowing  Government  of 
control  over  private  activities,  which  only 
postpones  sound  solutions  of  the  prob- 
lems. 

•  The  Treasury  is  opposed  to  govern- 
mental control  over  foreign  trade  and 
finance  and  even  more  opposed  to  private 
control.  It  is  convinced  that  the  credits 
required  for  the  economic  restoration  and 
revival  of  trade  must  be  supplied  through 
private  channels;  that  as  a  necessary 
contribution  to  that  end  the  Governments 
of  the  world  must  assist  in  the  restora- 
tion of  confidence,  stability  and  freedom 
of  commerce  by  the  adoption  of  sound 
fiscal  policies,  and  that  the  Reparations 
Commission  must  adopt  promptly  a  just 
and  constructive  policy.    *    *    * 

The  existing  worldwide  inflation  of  cur- 
rency, credit  and  prices  is  a  consequence 
of  the  fact  that  for  a  period  of  four  or 
five  years  the  peoples  of  this  earth  have 
been  consuming  and  destroying  more  than 
they  have  produced  and  saved,  and 
against  the  wealth  so  destroyed  the  war- 
ring nations  have  been  issuing  currency 
and  evidence  of  indebtedness.  The  conse- 
quence of  the  world's  greatest  war  is  pro- 
found and  inescapable.  It  has  affected 
all  the  nations  of  the  civilized  world, 
those  who  participated  actively  in  the  war 
and  those  who  did  not.  The  inflation 
exists  in  the  neutral  countries  of  Europe 
and  in  the  Orient.  It  exists  where  there 
was  no  war  debt,  where  the  war  debt  was 
badly  handled,  and  to  some  degree  where 
the  war  debt  was  well  handled. 

CALLING  HALT  ON  LOANS 

Secretary  Glass  called  attention  to  the 
steps  taken  in  this  country  to  remove 
governmental  control  and  to  restore  in- 
dividual initiative  and  free  competition 
in  business.    He  continued: 

Rightly  or  wrongly,  a  different  policy 
has  been  pursued  in  Europe.  European 
Governments  have  maintained,  since  the 
cessation    of    hostilities,    embargoes    upon 


FINANCING  HUNGRY  EUROPE 


393 


the  export  of  gold.  The  rectification  of 
the  exchanges  now  adverse  to  Europe 
lies  primarily  in  the  hands  of  European 
Governments.  The  normal  method  of 
meeting  an  adverse  internatfonal  balance 
is  to  ship  gold.  The  refusal  to  ship  gold 
prevents  the  rectification  of  an  adverse 
exchange.  The  need  of  gold  embargoes 
lies  In  the  expended  currency  and  credit 
structure  of  Europe.  Relief  would  be 
found  in  disarmament,  resumption  of  in- 
dustrial life  and  activity,  the  imposition 
of  adequate  taxes  and  the  issue  of  ad- 
equate domestic  loans. 

The  American  people  should  not,  in  my 
opinion,  be  called  upon  to  finance,  and 
would  not,  in  my  opinion,  respond  to  a 
demand  that  they  finance  the  require- 
ments of  Europe  in  so  far  as  they  result 
from  the  failure  to  take  these  necessary 
steps  for  the  rehabilitation  of  credit. 

Such  things  as  international  bond  is- 
sues, international  guarantees,  and  in- 
ternational measures  for  the  stabiliza- 
tion of  exchange  are  utterly  impracti- 
cable so  long  as  there  exist  inequalities 
of  taxation  and  domestic  financial  poli- 
cies in  the  various  countries  involved; 
and  when  these  inequalities  no  longer 
exist  such  devices  will  be  unnecessary. 

It  is  unthinkable  that  the  people  of  a 
country  which  has  been  called  upon  to 
submit  to  so  drastic  a  program  of  taxa- 
tion as  that  adopted  by  the  United  States, 
which  called  for  financing  from  current 
taxes  a  full  one-third  of  the  war  expen- 
ditures, including  loans  to  the  Allies, 
should  undertake  to  remedy  the  inequal- 
ities of  exchange  resulting  from  a  less 
drastic  policy  of  domestic  taxation 
adopted  by  the  other  Governments  of  the 
world.  The  remedy  for  the  situation  is 
to  be  found  not  in  the  manufacture  of 
bank  credit  in  the  United  States  for  the 
movement  of  exports,  a  process  which 
has  already  proceeded  too  far,  but  In  the 
movement  of  goods,  of  investment  se- 
curities, and  in  default  of  goods  or  se- 
curities then  of  gold,  into  this  country 
from  Europe;  and  in  order  that  such  se- 
curities may  be  absorbed  by  investors  our 
people  must  consume  less  and  save. 

ASSUMING  EARTH'S  BURDENS 

The  United  States  could  not,  if  it  would, 
assume  the  burdens  of  all  the  earth.  If 
cannot  undertake  to  finance  the  require- 
ments of  Europe,  because  it  cannot  shape 
the  fiscal  policies  of  the  Governments  of 
Europe.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  cannot  tax  the  American  people 
to  meet  the  deficiencies  arising  from  the 
failure  of  the  Governments  of  Europe  to 
balance  their  budgets,  nor  can  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  tax  the 
American  people  to  subsidize  the  business 
of  our  exporters.  It  cannot  do  so  by  di- 
rect measures  of  taxation,  nor  can  it  look 
with  composure  upon  the  manufacture  of 


bank  credit  to  finance  our  exports  when 
the  requirements  of  Europe  are  for  work- 
ing capital  rather  than  for  bank  credits. 

Lamentable  as  would  be  the  effects 
upon  our  industrial  life  and  upon  Europe 
itself  of  the  continued  maintenance  of  an 
exchange  barrier  against  the  importation 
into  Europe  of  commodities  from  the 
United  States,  this  country  cannot  con- 
tinue to  extend  credits  on  a  sufficient 
scale  to  cover  our  present  swollen  trade 
balance  against  Europe,  while  paying 
cash  (gold  and  silver)  to  the  countries  of 
Central  and  South  America  and  the  Far 
East,  with  which  it  has  an  adverse  bal- 
ance on  its  own  and  international  ac- 
count. 

The  consequence  of  the  maintenance 
by  Europe  of  this  barrier  will  be  to  force 
the  United  States  to  do  business  with 
.  those  countries  with  which  it  is  able  to 
dol  business  on  a  cash  basis.  •  *  *  If 
the  peoples  and  Governments  of  Europe 
live  within  their  incomes,  increase  their 
production  as  much  as  possible  and  limit 
their  imports  to  actual  necessities,  foreign 
credits  to  cover  adverse  balances  would 
most  probably  be  supplied  by  private  in- 
vestors and  the  demand  to  resort  to  such 
impracticable  methods  as  Government 
loans  and  bank  credits  woujd  cease.    »    *    * 

If  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  States  considers  it  advisable  and 
desirable  to  designate  representatives  to 
attend  an  unofficial  conference,  the  Treas- 
ury does  not  desire  to  offer  any  objection, 
provided  the  scope  and  character  and 
limitations  of  such  a  conference  as  well 
as  the  impossibility  of  United  States  Gov- 
ernment action  are  clearly  understood. 

FALL  IN  EXCHANGE  RATES 

The  first  effect  of  this  important  an- 
nouncement was  an  unprecedented  de- 
cline in  foreign  exchange.  On  Feb.  4  it 
reached  its  minimum:  Pounds  sterling 
fell  in  New  York  to  $3.19,  a  discount  of 
over  30  per  cent,  on  the  normal  rate; 
francs  were  quoted  as  low  as  15.15  to  the 
dollar,  and  lire  18.82  to  the  dollar.  The 
security  markets  were  seriously  affected, 
and  wide  declines  occurred  in  all  stocks, 
as  well  as  in  commodities  and  cotton. 
The  latter  was  affected  by  the  impres- 
sion that  England  would  put  an  embargo 
on  imports  to  stabilize  exchange.  This 
rumor  proved  unfounded. 

A  few  days  after  Secretary  Glass's 
announcement  a  statement  was  made  by 
R.  C.  Lindsay,  the  British  Charge 
d'Affaires  in  Washington,  in  which  he 
declared : 

In  view  of  repeated  allegations  In  the 
press  that  the  British  Government  desires 


394 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


to  borrow  large  sums  in  the  United  States, 
his  Majesty's  Government  states  that,  as 
has  been  explained  more  than  once  in  the 
British  Parliament,  it  is  entirely  contrary 
to  the  policy  of  the  British  Treasury  to 
incur  a  fresh  indebtedness  in  the  United 
States.  Since  June,  1919,  the  whole  ex- 
penditure of  the  British  Government  in 
the  United  States  was  financed  without 
fresh  borrowing-,  and  the  first  steps  have 
been  taken  to  reduce  outstanding  in- 
debtedness. The  loan  issued  in  the  market 
on  Nov.  1,  1919,  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment was  issued  for  the  purpose  solely  of 
meeting   maturing    indebtedness. 

Some  confusion  seems  to  have  arisen  out 
of  the  fact  announced  in  the  press  both 
in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
that  the  British  Government  has  invited 
the  co-operation  of  the  Governments  of 
other  countries,  and  in  particular  of  the 
United  States,  with  them  in  joint  action 
for  further  measures  of  relief  and  recon- 
struction in  the  suffering  parts  of  Europe. 
Any  such  measures  if  finally  agreed  upon 
must  obviously  involve  no  further  borrow- 
ings by  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom 
from  the  United  States,  but  further  ad- 
vances by  the  United  Kingdom  as  well 
as  by  the  United  States  and  such  other 
countries  as  take  part  in  the  joint  action 
contemplated  to  countries  requiring  as- 
sistance. 

The  exchange  situation  improved  dur- 
ing February,  with  substantial  recoveries 
in  sterling,  lire  and  francs,  but  they  were 
still  at  a  considerable  discount  late  in  the 
month,  and  no  approach  to  normal  rates 
was  expected  for  some  time. 

The  British,  French,  and  other  Euro- 
pean Governments  took  steps  to  arrange 
for  the  international  conference,  and  it 
was  announced  that  delegates  from  the 
United  States  Chamber  of  Commerce 
would  attend,  but  not  as  representatives 
of  the  Government.  It  was  expected  that 
the  conference  would  meet  in  March. 

The  Ways  and  Means  Committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  Jan.  31 
reported  unanimously  a  bill  authorizing 


the  United  States  Grain  Corporation  to 
expend  $50,000,000  for  food  supplies  for 
the  suffering  in  Europe.  This  action  was 
taken  over  the  protests  of  the  Republi- 
can Steering  Committee,  which  opposed 
any  relief,  and  after  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts by  several  Democratic  members 
of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  to 
report  a  bill  authorizing  $125,000,000,  the 
full  amount  requested  by  Secretary 
Glass.  Amendments  limiting  the  amount 
to  $100,000,000  and  $75,000,000  were  de- 
feated by  overwhelming  votes.  Repub- 
lican leaders  stated  on  Feb.  16  that  their 
investigations  had  found  public  opinion 
in  the  United  States  little  favorable  to 
the  passage  of  this  bill,  and  that  early 
action  in  Congress  in  its  favor  was  im- 
probable. 

The  British  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer announced  on  Feb.  12  that,  de- 
spite the  difficulties  of  the  financial 
situation  of  the  United  Kingdom  with 
regard  to  foreign  exchange,  the  British 
Government  had  informed  the  United 
States  Government  that  over  and  above 
the  £12,500,000  voted  this  year  they 
were  prepared  to  contribute  a  further 
sum  for  European  relief,  not  exceeding 
half  the  sum  to  be  contributed  by  the" 
United  States,  and  not  exceeding  £10,- 
000,000  in  all. 

The  Canadian  Government  had  also 
intimated  its  desire  to  make  a  contri- 
bution, and  the  British  Government  was 
confident  that  other  Governments,  both 
allied  and  neutral,  would  also  co-operate 
in  dealing  with  what  might  be  truly 
called  the  desperate  needs  of  certain 
parts  of  Europe. 

Official  figures  given  out  Jan.  30 
show  that  the  national  debt  of  Great 
Britain  on  April  1,  1919,  totaled  $39,- 
405,000,000. 


PAUL  DESCHANEL 
3t 


Elected  President  of  France  on  Jan.  17,  1920,  after  being  for  eieht 


ALEXANDRE  MILLERAND 


New  Premier  of  France,  succeeding  Clemenceau  both  in  that  office 
and  as  leader  of  peace  negotiations 


"*■     -•  -  -»- --  ■»    ./.    r- 


LE(5N  BOURGEOIS 


Elected  President  of  French  Chamber  of  Deputies  and  first  presiding 
officer  of  the  League  of  Nations 


DAVID  FRANKLIN  HOUSTON 


New   Secretary  of  the  United   States   Treasury,   succeeding   Carter 

Glass  4 


EDWIN  T    MEREDITH 


Newly  appointed  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  succeeding  D.  F.  Houston 

HarrU  <t  Kvcino) 


SIR  ROBERT  LAIRD  BORDEN 


Premier  of  Canada,  notable  for  his  energy  and  efficiency  during  the 


MATTHIAS  ERZBERGER 


German   Minister   of   Finance,   who   was   seriously   wounded   by   an 


PROMINENT  FIGURES  IN  THE  IRISH  PROBLEM 


Lord  French,  Lord  Lieutenant  and 
Governor  General  of  Ireland 


an   MacPherson,   Chief  Secretary 
for  Ireland 


{{  Eamonn  de  Valera,  "President  of  Irish   Republic,"    (centre,)   being 

received  by  Mayor  Hylan  of  New  York  at  the  City  Hall 


i  jiiiii: 


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TYPES  OF  DEPORTED  RADICALS 


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Characteristic  group  of  "  Reds  "  arrested  in  New  York  and  ordered 
deported  by  the  Department  of  Justice 


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held    at    Deer    Island,    near   Boston 


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VIEWS  OF  FIUME  THE  BEAUTIFUL 


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5H5 


Governor's  palace,  occupied  by  Captain  Gabriele  d'Annunzio  as  resi- 
dence and  heart  mi  arters.    Insert  shows  latest  photo  of  d'Annunzio 


Waterfront  of  Fiume  as  seen  from  one  of  d'Annunzio's  ships  guard- 
ing the  harbor 


as 


(Photos    ©    International) 


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THE  TREATY  OF  VERSAILLES 


Elaborately  tooled  binding  of  Italy's 
copy 


England's  copy,  decorated  with  the 
royal  coat  of  arms 


pon  i*n  gcff  Wrto^  «»n>CTW)dft<n 

I  irorhm  flirt,  crhiare  id),  6afe 
id)  t>oi  Dcrtraa.&i&VrotoMI  ""&  W» 
Ctrrinbarung  bcfiatiijc,  uni>  wrfprcd*, 
Jlf  frflilloi  unB  mi*fl'Wcn  :«  Iflffot- 

->«criin,  ton  ?-3>ili  1919. 

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Facsimile   of  page  bearing  signa-  Last    page    of   the    German   copy, 

tures  of  Poincare  and  Pichon  sisrned   by   Ebert   and    Bauer 

Above  are  shown  specimens  of  signatures  and  bindings  of  the 
official  copies  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  prepared  for  the  individual 
Governments.  Each  copy  is  in  the  language  of  its  respective  nation, 
and  all  are  masterpieces  of  decorative  book  binding,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  German  copy,  which  is  bound  in  plain  black  leather 

(Photon     !P>     Vnrirrii  4>oil    ,f     I'ndrruxmUi 
■'■■■■J'"1'  *•  -■■■■^.; 


FRANCE'S  TRIBUTE  TO  AMERICAN  DEAD 


»*/*s~ 


Symbolic   document  to   be   presented   by   President   Poincare   of 
France  to  the  family  or  relative  of  each  deceased  American  soldier. 

The  inscription  reads:     "To  the  memory  of  of  the  U.   S.  of 

Amprira.   who  died  for  liberty  durincr  the  great  war.     The  homaere 


The  Senate  and  the  Peace  Treaty 

New  Aspect  of  the  Long  Deadlock  on  Ratification  Is  Produced 
by  Lord  Grey's  Open  Letter 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  18,  1920] 


THE  United  States  Senate  had  not 
ratified  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
Germany  when  these  pages  went 
to  press,  but  the  month  had 
brought  about  developments  which  had 
somewhat  altered  the  situation.  Late  in 
January  a  series  of  bipartisan  confer- 
ences was  held  by  seven  leading  Sena- 
tors— four  Democrats  and  three  Repub- 
licans— representing  the  views  of  oppos- 
ing groups  respecting  the  treaty,  and 
some  progress  was  made  on  minor  reser- 
vations; no  agreement,  however,  could  be 
reached  on  Article  X.,  which  guarantees 
the  territorial  integrity  of  all  members 
of  the  League  of  Nations  against  for- 
eign aggression.  A  compromise  was 
reached  on  a  modified  preamble,  whereby 
the  reservations  as,  adopted  would  not 
require  specific  acceptance  by  the  pow- 
ers, their  silent  acquiesence  being  deemed 
sufficient. 

The  Lodge  reservation  on  mandates 
had  been  accepted  by  the  Democrats,  as 
had  that  on  domestic  questions,  with 
merely  phraseological  changes;  a  change 
had  been  proposed  and  was  being  con- 
sidered on  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  soften- 
ing the  tone  of  that  reservation;  a  mild 
substitute  for  the  reservation  on  the  ap- 
pointment of  American  representatives 
to  the  League  had  been  tentatively  adopt- 
ed; the  Lodge  reservation  on  the  Repara- 
tions Commission  had  been  accepted,  as 
had  that  on  League  expenses,  with  a 
slight  change  in  wording;  a  substitute 
had  been  agreed  on  as  to  disarmament; 
the  Lodge  provisions  on  the  treatment  of 
nationals  of  covenant-breaking  States, 
under  Article  XVL,  and  of  Americans 
under  certain  treaty  provisions,  had  been 
accepted,  and  a  substitute  had  been  dis- 
cussed for  the  fourteeenth  reservation — 
that  on  voting  power.  On  Shantung  a 
slight  modification  was  made,  while  on 


the  labor  reservation  no  change  was  in- 
dicated. 

FAILURE  OF  CONFERENCES 

It  was  announced  on  Jan.  30  that  the 
bipartisan  conferences  had  ended  in  fail- 
ure. Senator  Lodge  then  made  the  fol- 
lowing announcement: 

Speaking:  for  myself  alone,  I  have  only 
this  to  say,  that  I  was  unable  to  agree 
to  any  change  in  reservations  Nos.  2  and 
5  dealing  with  Article  X.  and  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  In  my  opinion  reservation  No.  2, 
which  provides  that  we  shall  assume  no 
obligation  of  any  kind  under  Anticle  X. 
except  the  one  mentioned  in  the  treaty, 
that  we  should  ourselves  respect  the 
boundaries  of  other  nations,  cannot 
possibly  permit  of  change. 

The  change  proposed  in  reservation  No. 
5  in  regard  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was 
an  absolutely  vital  one  because  it  was 
asserted  as  an  official  interpretation  by 
the  representatives  of  Great  Britain  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  under  the  treaty  was 
to  be  interpreted  by  the  League.  To  this  I 
for  one  could  never  assent,  and  'n  view  of 
the  statement  made  in  Paris  by  the  Brit- 
ish delegation,  to  which  I  have  referred, 
I  regard  the  line  which  it  was  proposed  to 
strike  out  as  absolutely  necessary. 

The  United  States  has  always  interpreted 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  alone.  It  is  our 
policy.  No  one  else  has  ever  attempted 
to  interpret  it,  and  it  is  something  which 
in  my  Judgment  ought  never  to  be  per- 
mitted even  by  the  most  emote  impli- 
cation. 

If  we  should  strike  out  that  phrase  now 
after  it  has  been  accepted  by  the  Senate 
it  would  lead  to  a  direct  inference  that 
we  left  that  question  open.  The  right  to 
interpret  the  Monroe  Dootrine  pertaining 
to  the  United  States  alone  must  never  be 
open  to  question. 

TREATY  AGAIN  CONSIDERED 

Notice  was  given  in  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber on  Jan.  31  that  on  Tuesday,  Feb.  10, 
Senator  Hitchcock  would  move  to  bring 
up  the  treaty  in  the  Senate  for  con- 
sideration. This  move  on  the  part  of  the 
Democrats    was    countered    by   the    Re- 


396 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


publicans  when  Senator  Lodge  served 
notice  that  he  would  ask  unanimous  con- 
sent to  bring  the  treaty  again  before  the 
Senate  for  consideration.  In  accordance 
with  this  notice  the  Senate  on  Feb.  9, 
acting  on  motion  of  Senator  Lodge,  sus- 
pended the  rules  and  permitted  recon- 
sideration of  the  treaty  by  a  vote  of  63 
to  9.  The  nine  negative  votes  were  cast 
by  the  so-called  irreconcilables,  who  are 
opposed  to  the  treaty  in  any  form,  viz.: 
Senators  Borah,  Brandegee,  France, 
Gronna,  Knox,  McCormick,  Norris,  Poin- 
dexter,  and  Sherman.    Senators  Johnson 


VISCOUNT   GREY 

of  California,  La  Follette  and  Fall,  Re- 
publicans, and  Senators  Reed  and  Gore, 
Democrats,  all  of  whom  are  irrecon- 
cilables, were  absent. 

VISCOUNT  GREY  UPHOLDS  THE 
RESERVATIONS 

Meanwhile  the  treaty  situation  was 
profoundly  affected  by  a  letter  written 
for  publication  in  The  London  Times  of 
Jan.  31  and  republished  simultaneously 
in  The  New  York  Times,  by  Viscount 
Grey  of  Fallodon,  Special  Ambassador  of 
Great  Britain  to  the  United  States.  Lord 
Grey  had  spent  four  months  in  the 
United  States,  returning  to  England  in 
January.     During  his  stay  here  he  had 


been  unable  personally  to  meet  the  Presi- 
dent, on  account  of  the  latter's  illness, 
but  it  was  known  that  he  was  in  close 
conference  with  Senators  representing 
all  shades  of  opinion  on  the  treaty  ques- 
tion, and  was  engaged  in  sounding  the 
best  public  sentiment  in  the  country  on 
treaty  issues.  His  letter  was  regarded 
as  a  unique  departure  from  diplomatic 
procedure.  Though  in  his  letter  Lord 
Grey  dissociated  himself  from  his  official 
role,  it  was  clear,  and  subsequently  vir- 
tually acknowledged,  that  his  views  had 
previously  been  laid  before  the  British 
Cabinet,  and  that  their  publication  had 
had  Governmental  sanction  as  represent- 
ing the  guiding  lines  along  which  British 
policy  would  be  formulated  when  the 
question  came  before  it. 

EFFECT  AT  WHITE  HOUSE 

While  no  specific  statement  regarding 
the  letter  emanated  from  the  White 
House,  the  declarations  of  the  secretary 
to  the  President  indicated  that  Mr.  Wil- 
son was  not  at  all  pleased  by  the  action 
of  Viscount  Grey,  and  there  was  a  broad 
hint  that  the  views  of  the  British  Am- 
bassador should  first  have  been  com- 
municated to  him  in  writing,  instead  of 
being  first  made  public  through  the 
press.  Lord  Grey's  mission  to  this  coun- 
try was  to  confer  with  President  Wilson 
on  the  treaty  situation  and  on  the  rela- 
tions of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  growing  out  of  the  world  war. 
While  he  never  had  an  opportunity  to 
present  his  credentials  to  President  Wil- 
son, he  was  received  by  the  Secretary  of 
State.  He  is  now  regarded  by  the  State 
Department  as  on  leave  of  absence,  no 
notification  having  been  given  to  this 
Government  that  he  would  not  return. 
After  publication  of  the  letter,  the  im- 
pression prevailed  at  Washington  that, 
owing  to  the  President's  displeasure, 
Lord  Grey,  if  he  wished  to  return,  would 
not  be  acceptable  during  the  present  Ad- 
ministration. 

In  the  Senate  the  effect  of  Lord  Grey's 
letter  was  to  stimulate  action  on  the 
treaty,  and  it  was  believed  at  the  mid- 
dle of  February  that  definite  and  final 
disposition  of  the  question  would  be 
made  before  March  1. 

Lord  Grey's  letter  was  as  follows: 


THE  SENATE  AND   THE  PEACE   TREATY 


397 


Nothing,  It  seems  to  me,  is  more  desir- 
able in  international  politics  than  a  geod 
understanding  between  the  democracy  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  democracies  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
self-governing  dominions,  and,  I  hope, 
we  may  add  Ireland,  on  the  other.  Noth- 
ing would  be  more  disastrous  than  a  mis- 
understanding and  estrangement. 

There  are  some  aspects  of  the  position 
in  the  United  States  with  regard  to  the 
League  of  Nations  which  are  not  wholly 
understood  in  Great  Britain.  In  the  hope 
that  as  a  result  of  my  recent  stay  in 
Washington  I  may  be  able  to  make  that 
position  better  understood,  I  venture  to 
offer  the  following  observations.  They 
represent  only  my  own  personal  opinion 
and  nothing  more,  and  they  are  given 
simply  as  those  of  a  private  individual. 

In  Great  Britain  and  the  allied  countries 
there  is  naturally  impatience  and  disap- 
pointment at  the  delay  of  the  United 
States  in  ratifying  the  Peace  Treaty  and 
the  covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations. 
It  is  perhaps  not  so  generally  recognized 
here  [in  England]  that  there  is  also  great 
impatience  and  disappointment  in  the 
United  States.  Nowhere  is  the  impasse 
caused  by  the  deadlock  between  the  Pres- 
ident and  the  Senate  more  keenly  re- 
gretted than  in  the  United  States,  where 
there  is  a  strong  and  even  urgent  desire 
in  the  public  opinion  to  see  a  way  out  of 
that  impasse  found  which  will  be  both 
honorable  to  the  United  States  and  help- 
ful to  the  world.  It  would  be  well  to  un- 
derstand the  real  difficulties  with  which 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have  been 
confronted.  In  the  clear  light  of  right 
understanding  what  seemed  the  disagree- 
able features  of  the  situation  will  assume 
a  more  favorable  and  intelligent  aspect. 

"NO  CHARGE  OF  BAD  FAITH" 

Let  us  first  get  rid  of  one  possible  mis- 
understanding. No  charge  of  bad  faith  or 
repudiating  signatures  can  be  brought 
against  the  action  of  the  United  States 
Senate.  By  the  American  Constitution 
it  is  an  independent  body,  an  independent 
element  in  the  treaty-making  power.  Its 
refusal  to  ratify  the  treaty  cannot  expose 
either  itself  or  the  country  to  a  charge  of 
toad  faith  or  repudiation. 

Nor  is  it  fair  to  represent  the  United 
States  as  holding  up  the  treaty  solely 
from  motives  of  party  politics  and  thereby 
sacrificing  the  interests  of  the  other  na- 
tions for  this  petty  consideration. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  party  politics 
and  personal  animosities  in  the  United 
States.  An  American  who  saw  much  of 
England  between  1880  and  1890  said  that 
the  present  conditions  of  politics  in  the 
United  States  reminded  him  of  what  he 
had  observed  in  London  when  Gladstone 
first    advocated    home    rule    for    Ireland. 


Nor  is  it  true  to  say  that  the  United 
States  is  moved  solely  by  self-interest  to 
the  disregard  of  higher  ideals.  In  the 
Party  politics  and  personal  animosities 
arising  out  of  them  operate  in  every  dem- 
ocratic country.  They  are  factors  vary- 
ing from  time  to  time  in  degree,  but 
always  more  or  less  active,  and  they 
operate  upon  every  public  question  which 
is  at  all  controversial.  They  are,  how- 
ever, not  the  sole  or  even  the  prime  cause 
of  the  difficulty  in  the  United  States 
about  the  League  of  Nations. 

United  States,  as  In  other  countries,  there 
are  cross-currents  and  backwiaters  in  the 
national  life  and  motives.  When  the 
nation  was  roused  by  the  war  these 
cross-currents  and  backwaters  were  swept 
into  the  main  stream  of  action  and  ob- 
literated, as  they  were  in  other  countries. 
With  the  reaction  to  peace  and  more  nor- 
mal conditions  they  are  again  apparent, 
as  they  are  in  other  countries.  But  an 
American  might  fairly  reply  that,  where- 
as the  self-interest  of  other  countries  which 
have  conquered  in  the  war  is  now  appar- 
ent in  the  desire  to  secure  special  terri- 
torial advantages,  the  self -interest  of  the 
United  States  takes  the  less  aggressive 
ifonm  of  desiring  to  keep  itself  free  from 
undesirable  entanglements,  and  that  it 
does  not  lie  with  other  countries  to  re- 
proach the  United  States. 

It  would  be  well,  therefore,  for  the  rea- 
sons both  of  truth  and  expediency,  to 
■concentrate  our  attention  on  the  real  un- 
derlying causes  of  the  Senate's  insistence 
upon  reservations  in  ratifying  the  cove- 
nant of  the  League  of  Nations. 

FORCE  OF  AMERICAN  TRADITION 

1.  There  is  in  the  United  States  a  real 
conservative  feeling  for  the  traditional 
policy,  and  one  of  those  traditions  conse- 
crated by  the  advice  of  Washington  is  to 
abstain  from  foreign  and  particularly 
from  European  entanglements.  Even  for 
nations  which  have  been  used  to  Euro- 
pean alliances  the  League  of  Nations  is 
felt  to  be  something  of  a  new  departure. 

This  is  still  more  true  for  the  United 
States,  which  has  hitherto  held  aloof  from 
all  outside  alliances.  For  the  League  of 
Nations  is  not  merely  a  plunge  into  the 
unknown,  but  a  plunge  into  something  of 
wlhidh  historical  advice  and  traditions 
have  hitherto  positively  disapproved.  It 
does  ndt  say  that  it  will  not  make  this 
new  departure.  It  recognizes  that  world 
conditions  have  changed,  but  it  desires 
time  to  consider,  to  feel  its  way  and  to 
act  with  caution.  Hence  this  desire  for 
some  qualification  and  reservation. 

2.  The  American  Constitution  not  only 
makes  possible,  but  under  certain  con- 
ditions renders  inevitable,  a  conflict  be- 
tween Executive  and  Legislatures.  It 
would  be  possible,  as  the  covenant  of  the 
League   of   Nations   stands,   for   a   Presi- 


398 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


dent  in  some  future  years  to  commit  the 
United  States  through  the  American  rep- 
resentative on  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  to  a  policy  of  wihich  the  Legis- 
lature at  that  time  might  disapprove. 

The  contingency  is  one  which  cannot 
arise  in  Great  Britain,  where  the  Govern- 
ment is  daily  responsible  to  the  repre- 
sentative authority  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons and  where  in  case  of  a  conflict  be- 
tween the  House  of  Commons  and  the 
Government  the  latter  must  either  immedi- 
ately give  way  or  public  opinion,  must  de- 
cide between  them  and  assert  itself  by  im- 
mediate general  elections. 

This  contingency  is  therefore  not  present 
to  our  minds,  and  in  ratifying  the  League 
of  Nations  we  have  no  need  to  make  any 
reservations  to  provide  for  a  contingency 
which  cannot  arise  in  Great  Britain. 

But  in  the  United  States  it  is  other- 
wise. The  contingency  is  within  the  re- 
gion of  practical  politics.  They  have 
reason,  and,  if  they  so  desire,  the  right 
to  provide  against  it.  Reservations  with 
this  object  are  therefore  an  illustration 
not  only  of  party  politics,  but  of  a  great 
constitutional  question  which  constantly 
arises  between  the  President  and  the 
Senate,  and  it  would  be  no  more  fair  to 
label  this  with  the  name  of  party  poli- 
tics than  it  would  be  to  apply  that  name 
to  some  of  the  great  constitutional 
struggles  which  arose  between  the  House 
of  Commons  and  the  executive  authority 
In  Great  Britain  in  the  days  before  the 
question  had  finally  been  settled  in  favor 
of  the  House  of  Commons. 

CALLS  OUR  HELP  ESSENTIAL 

What,  then,  may  we  fairly  expect  from 
the  United  States  in  this  great  crisis  of 
world  policy — for  a  crisis,  indeed,  it  is? 
If  the  participation  of  the  United  States 
was  enormously  helpful  in  securing  the 
victory  in  the  critical  months  of  1918,  its 
help  will  be  even  more  essential  to  secure 
stability  in  peace.  Without  the  United 
States  the  present  League  of  Nations  may 
become  little  better  than  a  league  of  the 
Allies  for  armed  self-defense  against  a 
revival  of  Prussian  militarism  or  against 
a  sinister  sequel  to  Bolshevism  in  Rus- 
sia. Bolshevism  is  despotism,  and  despot- 
isms have  a  tendency  to  become  militar- 
istic, as  the  great  French  Revolution 
proved.  The  great  object  of  the  League 
of  Nations  is  to  prevent  future  wars  and 
to  discourage  from  the  beginning  the 
growth  of  aggressive  armaments  which 
would  lead  to  war. 

For  this  purpose  it  should  operate  at 
once  and  begin  here  and  now,  in  the  first 
years  of  peace,  to  establish  a  reputation 
for  justice,  moderation  and  strength. 
Without  the  United  States  it  will  have 
neither  the  overwhelming  physical  nor 
moral  force  behind  it  that  it  should  have, 
or,  if  it  has  the  physical  force,  it  will  not 


have  the  same  degree  of  moral  force,  for  it 
will  be  predominately  European,  and  not 
a  world  organization,  and  it  will  be 
tainted  with  ail  the  interracial  jealousies 
of  Europe.  With  the  United  States  in 
the  League  of  Nations  war  may  be  pre- 
vented and  armaments  discouraged,  and 
it  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  the  fretful 
nations  of  the  world  to  disturb  genuine 
peace.  Without  the  League  of  Nations 
the  old  order  of  things  will  revive,  the 
old  consequences  will  recur,  there  will 
again  be  some  great  catastrophe  of  war, 
in  which  the  United  States  will  again 
find  itself  compelled  to  intervene,  for  the 
same  reason  and  at  no!  less  or  even 
greater  cost  than  in  1917. 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  American  people  are  prepared  or  wish 
to  withdraw  their  influence  in  world  af- 
fairs. Americans  differ  among  themselves 
as  to  whether  they  could  or  ought  to  have 
entered  ,the  war  sooner  than  they  did. 
It  is  neither  necessary  nor  profitable  for 
foreigners  to  discuss  this  point  now. 
What  is  common  to  all  Americans  and  to 
all  foreigners  who  know  the  facts  is  the 
unselfish,  wholehearted  spirit  in  which 
the  American  Nation  acted  when  it  came 
into  the  war.  The  immediate  adoption 
of  compulsory  military  service  and,  even 
more,  the  rationing  of  food  and  fuel  in 
those  millions  and  millions  of  households 
over'  such  a  vast  area,  not  by  compul-- 
sion  but  toy  purely  voluntary  action  in 
response  to  an  appeal  which  had  no  com- 
pulsion behind  it,  is  a  remarkable  and 
even  astonishing  example  of  national 
spirit  and  idealism. 

That  spirit  is  still  there.  It  is  as  much 
a  part  of  the  nature  and  possibilities  of 
the  American  people  as  any  other  char- 
acteristic. It  is  not  possible  for  such  a 
spirit  to  play  such  a  part  as  it  did  in 
the  war  and  then  to  relapse  and  be  ex- 
tinguished altogether.  It  would  be  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  th^t  because  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  Sltates  wish  to  limit 
their  obligations  they  therefore  propose 
to  themselves  to  play  a  small  part  in  the 
League  of  NaJtions.  If  they  enter  the 
League  as  willing  partner  with  limited 
obligations,  at  may  well  be  that  American 
opinion  and  American  action  inside  the 
League  will  be  much  more  fruitful  than  if 
they  entered  as  a  reluctant  partner  who 
felt  that  her  hand  had  been  forced.  It 
is  in  this  spirit,  in  this  hope,  ,and  in  this 
expectation  that  I  think  we  should  ap- 
proach, and  are  justified  in  approaching, 
consideration  of  American  reservations. 

FOR  "MATERIAL  QUALIFICATIONS* 

I  do  not  deny  that  some  of  them  are 
material  qualifications  of  the  League  of 
Nations  as  drawn  up  at  Paris  or  that 
they  must  be  disappointing  to  those  who 
are  wiith  that  covenant  as  it  stands  and 
are  even  proud  of  it,  but  those  who  have 


THE  SENATE  AND   THE  PEACE   TREATY 


399 


had  the  longest  experience  of  political  af- 
fairs and  especially  of  treaties  know  best 
how  often  it  happens  that  difficulties 
which  seem  most  formidable  in  antici- 
pation and  on  paper  never  arise  in  prac- 
tice. I  think  this  is  likely  to  be  par- 
ticularly true  in  the  working  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  difficulties  and 
dangers  which  the  Ame-'oars  foresee  in 
it  will  probably  never  arise  or  be  felt 
by  them  when  they  are  once  in  the 
League.  And  in  the  same  way  the  weaken- 
ing and  Injury  to  the  League  which  some 
of  its  best  friends  apprehend  from  the 
American  reservations  would  not  be  felt 
in  practice. 

If  the  outcome  of  the  long  controversy 
in  the  Senate  has  been  to  offer  co-opera- 
tion in  the  League  of  Nations  it  would  be 
the  greatest  mistake  to  refuse  that  co- 
operation because  conditions  are  attached 
to  it,  and  when  that  co-operation  is  ac- 
cepted let  it  not  be  accepted  in  a  spirit  of 
pessimism. 

The  most  vital  considerations  are  that 
representatives  should  be  appointed  to  the 
Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  by  all 
the  nations  that  are  members  of  the 
Council,  that  these  representatives  should 
be  men  who  are  inspired  by  the  ideals 
for  which  we  entered  the  war,  and  that 
these  representatives  should  be  instructed 
and  supported  in  that  same  spirit  of 
equity  and  freedom  by  the  Governments 
and  public  opinion  of  the  countries  who 
are  now  partners  in  peace.  If  that  be  the 
spirit  in  which  the  Council  of  the  League 
of  Nations  deals  with  the  business  that 
comes  before  it  there  need  be  no  fear 
that  the  representative  of  the  United 
States  on  that  Council  will  not  take  part 
in  realizing  the  hopes  with  which  the 
League  has  been  founded. 

DOMINIONS'  RIGHT  TO  VOTES 

There  is  one  particular  reservation 
which  must  give  rise  to  some  difficulty  in 
Great  Britain  and  self-governing  domin- 
ions. It  is  that  which  has  reference  to  the 
six  British  votes  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  self-governing 
dominions  are  full  members  of  the 
League.  They  will  admit,  and  Great 
Britain  can  admit,  no  qualification  what- 
ever of  that  right.  Whatever  the  self- 
governing  dominions  may  be  in  the  theory 
and  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  they 
have  in  effect  ceased  to  be  colonies  in  the 
old  sense  of  the  word.  They  are  free 
communities,  independent  as  regards  all 
their  own  affairs,  and  partners  in  those 
which  concern  the  empire  at  large. 

It  is  a  special  status,  and  there  can  be 
no  derogation  from  it.  To  any  provision 
which  makes  it  clear  that  none  of  the 
British  votes  can  be  used  in  a  dispute 
likely  to  lead  to  rupture  in  which  any 
part  of  the  British  Empire  is  involved,  no 


exception  can  be  taken.  That  is  only  a 
reasonable  interpretation  of  the  covenant 
as  it  now  stands.  If  any  part  of  the 
British  Empire  is  involved  in  a  dispute 
with  the  United  States,  the  United  States 
will  be  unable  to  vote  and  all  parts  of  the 
British  Empire,  precisely  because  they  are 
partners,  will  be  parties  to  that  dispute 
and  equally  unable  to  vote.  But  as  re- 
gards this  right  to  vote  where  they  are 
not  parties  to  the  dispute  there  can  be 
no  qualification,  and  there  is  very  en- 
eral  admission  that  the  votes  of  the  self- 
governing  dominions  would  in  most  cases 
be  found  on  the  same  side  as  that  of  the 
United  States. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  in  the 
United  States  there  is  any  tendency  to 
grudge  the  fact  that  Canada  and  the 
other  self-governing  dominions  of  the 
British  Empire  have  votes,  but  any  per- 
son with  the  smallest  understanding  of 
public  audiences  must  realize  the  feeling 
created  by  the  statement  that  the  United 
States  with  several  million  more  English- 
speaking  citizens  than  there  are  in  the 
whole  of  the  British  Empire  has  only  one 
to  six  votes.  I  am  not  concerned  to  dis- 
cuss here  how  this  problem  of  equality  of 
voting  may  be  adjusted  in  practice.  It 
will  not  be  important.  In  sentiment  and 
political  feeling  it  is  a  very  powerful 
factor.  We  can  neither  give  way  about 
the  votes  for  the  self-governing  domin- 
ions nor  can  we  ignore  the  real  political 
difficulty  in  the  United  States. 

It  may  be  sufficient  to  observe  that  the 
reservation  of  the  United  States,  as  far 
as  known  at  the  time  of  writing,  does  not 
in  any  way  challenge  the  right  of  the  self- 
governing  dominions  to  exercise  their 
votes,  nor  does  it  state  that  the  United 
States  will  necessarily  reject  the  decision 
to  which  these  votes  have  been  cast.  It  is 
therefore  possible,  I  think  it  is  even  more 
than  probable,  that  in  practice  no  dispute 
will  ever  arise.  Our  object  is  to  main- 
tain the  status  of  the  self-governing  do- 
minions, not  to  secure  a  greater  British 
than  American  vote,  and  we  have  no  ob- 
jection in  principle  to  Increase  of  the 
America  vote. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GREY   OF  FALLODON. 

The  letter  was  indorsed  by  the  British 
and  French  press  with  practical  unanim- 
ity. It  was  regarded  as  greatly  strength- 
ening the  position  of  the  Senators  who 
were  supporting  strong  reservations. 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  ATTITUDE 

President  Wilson  had  expressed  him- 
self to  Senator  Hitchcock  regarding  res- 
ervations in  a  letter  written  Jan.  26,  five 
days  before  the  Grey  letter  was  pub- 
lished.   In  this  communication  the  Presi- 


400 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


dent  had  definitely  asserted  that  certain 
reservations  would  be  acceptable  to  him. 
In  referring  to  the  proposed  modification 
in  the  reservation  on  Article  X.  he  wrote : 
To  the  substance  of  it  I,  of  course,  ad- 
here.   I    am    bound    to,    like    yourself.    I 
am  solemnly  sworn  to  obey  and  maintain 
the    Constitution    of    the    United    States. 
But  I  think  the  form  of  it  very  unfortu- 
nate.   Any  reservation  or  resolution  stat- 
ing that  "  the  United  States  assumes  no 
obligation  under  such  and  such  an  article, 
unless  or  except,"  would,  I  am  sure,  chill 
our    relationship    with    the    nations    with 
which  we  expect  to  be  associated  in  the 
great     enterprise     of      maintaining     the 
world's  peace. 

That  association  must  in  any  case,  my 
dear  Senator,  involve  very  serious  and 
fan-reaching  implications  of  honor  and 
duty  which  I  am  sure  we  shall  never  in 
fact  be  desirous  of  ignoring.  It  is  the 
more  important  not  to  create  the  impres- 
sion that  we  are  trying  to  escape  obliga- 
tions. 

But  I  realize  that  negative  criticism  is 
not  all  that  is  called  for  in  so  serious  a 
matter.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  add, 
therefore,  that  1  have  once  more  gone 
over  the  reservations  proposed  by  your- 
self, the  copy  of  which  I  return  herewith, 
and  am  glad  to  say  that  I  can  accept 
them  as  they  stand. 

I  have  never  seen  the  slightest  reason  to 
doubt  the  good  faith  of  our  associates  in 
the  war,  nor  ever  had  the  slightest  reason 
to  fear  that  any  nation  would  seek  to 
enlarge  our  obligations  under  the  cove- 
nant of  the  League  of  Nations,  or  seek 
to  commit  us  to  lines  of  action  which 
under  our  Constitution  on'y  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  can  in  the  last 
analysis  decide. 

May  I  suggest  that  with  regard  to  the 
possible  withdrawal  of  the  United  States 
it  would  be  wise  to  give  to  the  President 
the  right  to  act  upon  a  resolution  of  Con- 
gress in  the  matter  of  withdrawal?  In 
other  words,  it  would  seem  to  be  per- 
missible and  advisable  that  any  resolu- 
tion giving  notice  of  withdrawal  should 
be  a  joint  rather  than  a  concurrent  reso- 
lution. 

I  doubt  whether  the  President  can  be 
deprived  of  his  veto  power  under  the  Con- 
stitution, even  with  his  own  consent.  The 
use  of  a  joint  resolution  would  permit 
the  President,  who  is,  of  course,  charged 


by  the  Constitution  with  the  conduct  of 
foreign  policy,  to  merely  exercise  a  voice 
in  saying  whether  so  important  a  step 
as  withdrawal  from  the  League  of  Na- 
tions should  be  accomplished  by  a  ma- 
jority or  by  a  two-thirds  vote. 

The  Constitution  itself  providing  that 
the  legislative  body  was  to  be  consulted 
in  treaty-making  and  having  prescribed 
a  two-thirds  vote  in  such  cases,  it  seems 
to  me  that  there  should  be  no  unneces- 
sary departure  from  the  method  there 
indicated. 

I  see  no  objection  to  a  frank  statement 
that  the  United  States  can  accept  a  man- 
date with  regard  to  any  territory  under 
Article  XIII.,  Part  1,  or  any  other  pro- 
vision of  the  treaty  of  peace,  only  by  the 
direct  authority  and  action  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States. 

The  chief  issue  over  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty  when  its  consideration  was 
resumed  was  on  the  words  "  by  any 
other  means,"  inserted  in  the  Lodge  res- 
ervation. The  original  reservation  pro- 
vided that  the  United  States  assumed  no 
obligation  to  preserve  the  territorial 
integrity  and  political  independence  of 
nations  by  the  employment  "  of  its  mili- 
tary or  naval  forces,  or  the  economic 
boycott,"  unless  Congress  should  first  so 
provide.  The  new  Lodge  reservation 
adds  after  the  word  "  boycott  "  the  words 
"  or  by  any  other  means,"  which  would 
exclude  moral  pressure  or  financial  as- 
sistance. The  Adminis'  ^tion  Democrats 
argue  that  the  inclusion  of  these  words 
would  practically  prevent  the  enforce- 
ment of  any  decree  of  the  League  of  Na- 
tions, as  it  would  involve  possible  long 
delays  awaiting  any  Congressional  action 
on  any  steps  that  might  be  necessary  to 
prevent  war.  The  Republicans  maintain 
that  they  are  opposed  to  any  action 
whatsoever  involving  this  country  in  the 
affairs  of  other  nations,  either  by  moral, 
financial  or  military  measures,  unless 
Congress  first  so  provides.  It  was  on 
this  point  that  the  fate  of  the  treaty 
rested  when  the  present  pages  went  to 
press. 


League  of  Nations  Council  in  Session 


First  Business   Meeting 
[Period  Ended  Feb.  16,  1920] 


THE  French  Government  devoted  Jan. 
30  to  the  holding  of  solemn  assem- 
blies in  honor  of  the  birth  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  Meetings  of  this 
kind  were  held  in  various  college  halls 
at  Paris  and  in  the  public  schools 
throughout  France.  Speakers  at  each 
meeting  explained  the  need  and  possibili- 
ties of  such  a  society  of  peoples.  At  the 
Sorbonne,  in  the  presence  of  President 
Poincare  and  his  destined  successor,  Paul 
Deschanel,  leading  men  in  politics,  re- 
ligion, science  and  sociology  spoke  elo- 
quently in  favor  of  the  League.  The 
main  address  was  delivered  by  Leon 
Bourgeois,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Council  of  the  League  and  French 
member  of  the  commission  that 
drafted  the  covenant.  In  tracing  the  de- 
velopment of  the  League  idea  M.  Bour- 
geois said: 

President  Wilson,  by  his  messages  and 
his  personal  efforts,  offered  the  means  of 
realizing  this  idea  in  a  great  international 
convention.  Whatever  defects  there  may- 
be in  it,  the  compact  of  April  28,  1919, 
has  sealed  between  the  free  peoples  a 
solemn  agreement  for  the  union  of  all, 
for  the  safety  and  Independence  of  all. 

Commenting  on  the'  absence  of  Amer- 
ican representatives  at  the  first  meeting 
of  the  League,  M.  Bourgeois  declared 
that  the  member-nations  were  all  waiting 
and  hoping  for  the  entry  of  the  United 
States  in  the  near  future.  The  imme- 
diate task,  he  pointed  out,  was  to  prevent 
the  conquered  powers,  who  had  not  recog- 
nized the  rightfulness  of  victory  nor  the 
equity  of  the  sentence  imposed  in  its 
name,  from  disturbing  the  new-gained 
peace.  Not  with  a  spirit  of  hatred  and 
persecution,  but  with  strict,  stern  justice, 
Germany  must  be  made  to  feel  that  she 
is  powerless  to  revolt,  must  be  made  to 
understand  that  the  force  of  right  has 
become,  and  will  remain,  supreme. 

In  an  address  delivered  by  Paul  Appell, 
Honorary  Dean  of  the  Society  of  Science, 
the  assembly  was  warned  that  only  two 
ways  lay  open   to  humanity — establish- 


ment of  the  new  conception  of  right 
which  finds  expression  in  the  League,  or 
self-destruction  in  war.  A  new  war  be- 
tween great  nations,  he  said,  would  mean 
the  annihilation  of  a  hundred  million  men 
with  new  weapons  that  could  destroy  in 
a  few  hours  the  most  powerful  cities, 
blot  out  life  in  entire  countries,  leaving 
behind  only  peoples  destitute  of  moral 
ideals,  believing  only  in  force  and  re- 
turning to  organized  barbarism. 

LEAGUE  MEETS  IN  LONDON 
The  council  of  the  League  of  Nations 
assembled  in  the  Picture  Gallery  of  St. 
James's  Palace,  London,  on  Feb.  11,  and 
began  its  first  business  session.  Mem- 
bers of  the  press  and  diplomats  of  all 
nations  were  present  as  spectators  of  a 
great  event. 

The  council  table  was  placed  at  one 
end  of  a  long  roam  hung  with  portraits 
of  Kings  and  Queens  of  England.  Just 
above  the  delegates  hung  the  portrait  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the 
room  was  an  early  portrait  of  Queen 
Victoria.  Otherwise  the  gallery  was 
severely  plain.  On  the  big  hearth  blazed 
a  cheerful  fire,  and  the  centre  was  occu- 
pied by  chairs  for  the  invited  guests. 

Half  an  hour  before  noon  the  secre- 
taries and  diplomats  arrived,  one  by  one. 
After  a  short  but  animated  discussion 
as  to  who  should  preside,  M.  Bourgeois 
took  the  chair  at  the  red  morocco  table 
at  the  end  of  the  hall,  before  which  the 
members  of  the  council  sat  in  gilded 
chairs,  with  Mr.  Balfour,  who  had  short- 
ly before  been  appointed  the  British  rep- 
resentative on  the  League  Executive 
Council,  and  Baron  Matsui  of  Japan  on 
his  right,  and  Sir  Eric  Drummond,  Sec- 
retary General,  and  Signor  Ferraris  of 
Italy  on  his  left.  Next  to  Signor  Fer- 
raris around  the  corner  of  the  table  sat 
Paul  Hymans  of  Belgium  and  Count 
Quinones  de  Leon  of  Spain;  facing  these 
at  the  other  end  of  the  table  sat  Casteo 
da  Cunha  of  Brazil  and  Kaki  Amanos  of 
Greece. 


402 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Mr.  Balfour  rose  and  made  a  brief 
speech  of  welcome,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  voiced  regret  at  the  absence  of  Amer- 
ica. After  the  translation  of  his  words 
into  French,  M.  Bourgeois,  as  President 
of  the  session,  made  reply.  He  outlined 
the  Agenda,  which  included  the  hearing 
of  certain  representations  of  Switzerland 
concerning  the  conditions  of  her  entry 
into  the  League,  and  the  appointment  of 
the  Sarre  Basin  Commission  and  of  the 
High  Commissioner  for  Danzig.  He  then 
asked  the  council  to  vote  Mr.  Balfour 
into  the  chair. 

The  council  intrusted  to  M.  Bourgeois 
the  framing  of  a  plan  for  the  permanent 
court  of  international  justice  under 
Article  XIV.  of  the  League  covenant,  as 
well  as  consideration  of  the  proposed  list 
of  international  jurists  to  be  invited  to 
form  a  committee  to  prepare  plans  for 
the  constitution  of  the  court.  It  also 
charged  Count  Quinones  de  Leon,  Span- 
ish Ambassador  to  France,  with  con- 
sideration of  the  duties  of  the  League 
relating  to  transit,  ports,  waterways  and 
railways;  Dr.  Da  Cunha,  the  Brazilian 
Ambassador,  with  the  constitution  of  an 
international  body  for  dealing  with 
health  problems,  and  Baron  Matsui,  the 
Japanese  Ambassador,  with  the  framing 
of  the  League's  guarantee  of  the  Polish 
Minorities  Treaty. 

Mr.  Balfour  announced  that  the  actual 
deliberations  of  the  council  would  take 
place  in  private,  but  would  be  announced 
at  a  later  meeting.  The  meeting  was 
then  adjourned  sine  die. 

The  third  meeting  of  the  League  oc- 
curred on  Jan.  13.  A  resolution  admit- 
ting Switzerland  under  certain  conditions 
was  passed,  and  it  was  announced  that 
the  League  would  call  an  international 
conference  to  study  the  financial  crisis 
and  seek  means  of  mitigating  its  danger- 
ous consequences.  Twelve  international 
jurists  were  nominated  as  a  commission 
to  consider  the  establishment  of  an  in- 
ternational court.  One  of  those  nomi- 
nated was  Elihu  Root.  Of  his  inclusion 
Mr.  Balfour  said  in  a  brief  speech  that 
Mr.  Root,  for  one  reason  or  another 
might  find  himself  unable  to  accept  the 
invitation,  but  that  he  desired  to  put  on 
formal  record  the  fact  that  Mr.  Root 
would   always  be  welcome  in  whatever 


stage  of  the  deliberations  he  felt  he 
might  participate.  The  Polish  Minorities 
Treaty  was  placed  under  the  guarantee 
of  the  League,  and  a  Sarre  Basin  Com- 
mission was  appointed,  consisting  of  M. 
Rault,  member  of  the  French  Council  of 
State,  Chairman;  Alfred  von  Boch, 
Landrath  of  Saarlouis  for  Saar,  Count 
de  Moltke  Hvidtfeldt  for  Denmark,  and 
Major  Lambert  for  Belgium.  The  ap- 
pointment of  a  fifth  member  was  de- 
ferred. Each  member  was  to  receive 
100,000  francs  yearly,  and  the  Chairman 
was  to  receive  an  extra  50,000  francs  for 
entertaining. 

The  fourth  meeting  of  the  League  was 
fixed  for  March  15  at  Rome. 

NEUTRALS    TO   JOIN  LEAGUE 

At  a  conference  held  in  Copenhagen 
on  Feb.  4  the  Scandinavian  Premiers 
and  Foreign  Ministers  decided  to  accept 
the  invitation  to  join  the  League  of  Na- 
tions. The  decision  was  arrived  at,  it 
was  stated,  in  the  conviction  that  small 
countries  were  unable  to  maintain  an  in- 
dependent attitude  on  foreign  policy  out- 
side the  League.  The  Norwegian  Cabi- 
net on  Feb.  14  decided  to  ask  the  consent 
of  Parliament  for  Norway's  participation 
in  the  League  of  Nations.  None  of  the 
national  assemblies  of  the  Scandinavian 
nations,  however,  had  actually  voted  ac- 
ceptance up  to  the  time  this  issue  of 
Current  History  went  to  press. 

The  report  from  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Second  Chamber  of  the  Dutch 
Parliament  to  examine  the  League  cove- 
nant and  to  draft  a  bill  providing  for 
Holland's  adhesion  was  published  at  The 
Hague  on  Feb.  3.  This  report  favored 
Holland's  entering  the  League.  The  re- 
port stated  that,  though  Holland,  by 
joining,  would  lose  part  of  her  ancient 
liberty,  this  would  be  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  the  fact  that  if  she  refused 
to  join  she  might  be  isolated  an(*  ex- 
cluded from  the  social  life  of  other  coun- 
tries. A  small  minority  of  the  committee 
opposed  the  entry  of  Holland,  holding 
that  the  League  was  formed  by  "  im- 
perialistic powers,"  excluded  a  large  part 
of  Europe  and  Asia,  and  "  contained  the 
germs  of  future  wars." 

The  application  of  Switzerland  for 
membership  in  the  League,  under  guar- 


LEAGUE  OF  NATIONS  COUNCIL  IN  SESSION 


403 


antees  recognizing  her  peculiar  interna- 
tional situation,  was  granted  by  the 
Council  at  its  third  session,  held  in  Lon- 
don privately  on  Feb.  13.  For  more  than 
a  century  Switzerland  has  had  her  neu- 
trality recognized  in  Europe  on  the  un- 
derstanding that  she  would  prevent  any 
other  country  from  invading  her  borders. 
Despite  this  special  status,  which  pre- 
vented her  from  fulfilling  all  the  usual 
obligations  under  the  League,  and  the 
fact  that  her  Constitution  made  it  impos- 
sible for  her  to  give  her  adhesion  within 
the  time  limit  required  by  the  covenant, 
the  League  Council  passed  a  resolution  of 
admission  which,  though  it  recognized 
the  unique  situation  referred  to,  required 
Switzerland  to  co-operate  Li  commercial 
and  financial  measures  against  covenant- 
breaking  States,  and  to  defend  her  own 
territory  under  every  circumstance.  In 
return  she  was  absolved  from  taking  part 
in  any  military  action  and  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  allowing  foreign  troops  to  pass 
through  her  borders. 

Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Switzer- 
land and  Holland  were  represented  at  the 
conference  which  opened  at  The  Hague 
on  Feb.  16  to  discuss  the  formation  of  an 
international  court  of  justice.  The  con- 
ference aimed,  by  the  examination  and 
comparison  of  plans  already  drawn  by 
commissions  of  experts  from  other  coun- 
tries, to  establish  a  uniform  plan  for  a 
permanent  tribunal  such  as  was  pro- 
vided for  by  Article  XIV.  of  the  cove- 
nant of  the  League  of  Nations. 

An  official  memorandum,  sent  by  the 
South  American  Republic  of  Salvador  to 


the  United  States  Government  and  made 
public  by  the  Washington  State  Depart- 
ment on  Feb.  7,  asked  for  a  new  defini- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  light 
of  Article  XXI.  of  the  League  covenant. 
After  laudation  of  the  aims  of  the  cove- 
nant and  of  the  advantages  hitherto 
accruing  to  Pan-America  from  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  itself,  the  memorandum  con- 
tinued : 

Since,  however,  the  covenant  of  the 
League  of  Nations  does  not  set  forth  nor 
determine  the  purposes  nor  fix  a  definite 
criterion  of  international  relationship  in 
America,  and  since,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  doctrine  will  be  forthwith  trans- 
formed—in view  of  the  full  sanction  of  the 
nations  of  the  world— into  a  principle  of 
universal  public  law,  juris  et  de  jure,  I 
request  that  your  Excellency  will  be  good 
enough  to  give  the  authentic  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  it  is  un- 
derstood in  the  present  historical  move- 
ment and  in  its  future  application  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  which 
must  realize  that  my  Government  is  keen- 
ly desirous  of  securing  a  statement  which 
shall  put  an  end  to  the  divergence  of 
views  now  prevailing  on  the  subject, 
which  it  is  recognized  by  all  is  not  the 
most  propitious  in  stimulating  the  ideals 
of  true  Pan-Americanism. 

It  was  officially  stated  at  Washington 
on  Feb.  9  that  no  new  interpretation  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  considered  nec- 
essary, and  that  the  request  of  Salvador 
would  have  to  be  answered  in  the  nega- 
tive. Pending  the  receipt  of  the  answer 
of  the  United  States,  Salvador,  and  other 
South  American  nations  as  well,  had 
postponed  action  regarding  their  adhe- 
sion to  the  League. 


Repatriating  German  War  Prisoners 

End  of  Their  Long  Ordeal 


rriHE  fate  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  war  prisoners  who  were  held  by 
various  former  belligerents,  and 
whose  repatriation  was  eagerly  awaited 
by  their  friends,  continued  to  be  a  seri- 
ous problem  fifteen  months  after  the 
fighting  had  ceased.  There  were  still 
400,000  German  prisoners  in  France  at 
the  time  of  the  final  exchange  of  rati- 
fications on  Jan.  10,  1920,  360,000  being 


in  the  liberated  regions  and  30,000  in  the 
interior,  of  whom  5,300  were  officers. 
The  German  Government  had  ?ent  these 
unfortunates  the  following  Christmas 
greeting  on  Dec.  25: 

On  the  day  when  the  folks  at  home  miss 
most  sorely  tneir  sons  detained  as  pris- 
oners of  war,  the  National  Government, 
In  the  name  of  the  entire  German  people, 
sends  the  greetings  of  the  Fatherland  to 
(fee     prisoners    of    war.      The     Christmas 


404 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


holiday  unites  every  German  family. 
Therefore  it  has  been  in  the  most  intimalte 
circles  a  day  to  remember  all  uhose  who 
are  sorely  missed  and  whose  arrival  is 
awaited  impatiently  and  longingly. 

This  year  has  been  worse  than  aM  those 
that  have  gone  before  in  repeatedly  disap- 
pointed hopes  for  the  prisoners,  as  well 
as  for  the  Fatherland  longing  for  their 
return.  The  numerous  and  constantly  re- 
peated efforts  of  the  National  Government 
to  bring  about  the  return  of  the  prisoners 
before  the  ratification  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
have,  unfortunately,  produced  only  partial 
successes.  In  the  meantime,  the  beginning 
of  the  final  compleltion  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  has  come  so  near  that  the  day  of 
deliverance  will  soon  dawn  for  those  still 
being  hold  back. 

The  National  Government  declares  again 
at  this  time  thalt  it  will  not  give  up  its 
unceasing  efforts  to  have  all  the  German 
prisoners  of  war  and  civilian  prisoners 
still  held  in  Europe  and  overseas  returned 
to  their  homes  as  quickly  as  possible  until 
the  last  man  is  back  home  again.  It  asks 
all  the  prisoners  to  have  faith  in  this,  and, 
after  all  the  long  sufferings  and  hardships 
they  have  so  bravely  endured,  also  to 
endure  in  patience  the  short  space  of  time 
that  still  separates  them  from  the  day  of 
their  homecoming. 

The  Na/      val   Government: 
BAUER,     SCHIFFER,    DR.    BELL,    DR. 
DAVID     ERZBERGER,     DR.     GESS- 
LER,       GIESBERTS,       KOCH,       DR. 
MATER,  NOSKE,  SCHLICKE, 

SCHMIDT. 

Immediately  after  the  exchange  of 
ratifications  France  set  to  work  to  re- 
patriate all  German  prisoners  in  accord- 
ance with  plans  previously  drawn  up. 
The  War  Prison  Committee  met  the  Ger- 
man delegate  in  Paris  on  Jan.  10  and  11, 
the  French  Director  General  of  Trans- 
port, representatives  of  the  War  Minis- 
try and  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern 
Railways  being  present  the  second  day, 
with  all  the  German  experts.  It  was  stated 
that  liberation  of  the  prisoners  would 
begin  as  soon  as  Germany  supplied  the 
rolling  stock.  It  was  agreed  that  seven 
trains,  with  a  carrying  capacity  of  1,000 
men,  would  be  sent  daily,  and  that  they 
would  bring  the  prisoners  back  by  way 
of  Cologne,  Coblenz,  Mayence  and  Kehl. 
Inhabitants  of  the  Rhine  would  be  lib- 
erated first.  Those  in  the  interior  would 
be  repatriated  via  Switzerland.  Island 
prisoners  would  be  taken  off  by  German 
ships.  The  period  of  repatriation  was  es- 
timated to  cover  about  forty-five  days. 
Austrian  prisoners  would  be  concentrated 


at  Lyons  before  final  departure.  The 
1,000  Turkish  and  3,000  Bulgarian  pris- 
oners were  to  be  embarked  from  Mar- 
seilles. The  first  trainload  of  German 
prisoners  arrived  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  on 
Jan.  21.  Other  trains  from  various  cities 
were  leaving  daily.  German  boats  were 
arriving  at  Havre,  Rouen  and  St.  Na- 
zaire  to  take  their  quota. 

Admiral  von  Reuter,  the  commander 
of  the  German  fleet  at  Scapa  Flow,  who 
gave  the  order  for  scuttling  the  ships  in 
June,  was  set  free  by  the  British  authori- 
ties on  Jan.  28.  He  arrived  at  Wilhelms- 
haven  on  Jan.  31  and  was  greeted  by 
thousands  assembled  along  the  water- 
front,  which   was   brilliantly   decorated. 

The  fate  of  the  130  British  prisoners  in 
Russia  was  decided  by  an  agreement 
signed  at  Copenhagen  on  Feb.  12  by 
James  O'Grady,  representing  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  Maxim  Lrfcvinov,  representing 
the  Russian  Soviet  Government.  By  this 
agreement  British  war  prisoners  in 
Russia  and  Russian  war  prisoners  in 
England  were  to  be  released  at  once. 
Great  Britain  was  to  furnish  the  neces- 
sary transportation.  It  was  also  arranged 
that  the  Archangel  Government  should 
exchange  Bolshevist  prisoners  for 
"  White "  prisoners  held  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki. 

The  International  Red  Cross  on  Dec. 
25  sent  out  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  the 
prisoners  of  war  in  Siberia,  declaring 
that  200,000  prisoners  were  living  with- 
out shelter  and  virtually  without  clothing 
and  proper  food.  Typhus  was  raging 
among  them.  It  was  stated  in  Geneva  at 
International  Red  Cross  headquarters  on 
Jan.  27  that  nearly  375,000  of  the  500,000 
Austro-Hungarian  prisoners  in  Siberia 
had  perished  from  typhus  and  smallpox. 
The  rest  had  been  kept  alive  only  by  the 
efficient  work  of  Japanese,  American 
and  English  doctors  assigned  to  different 
towns  along  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway. 
It  was  stated  at  Rome  on  Jan.  1  that  the 
Pope,  after  the  receipt  of  a  special  appeal 
from  Gustave  Ador,  former  Swiss  Presi- 
dent and  now  President  of  the  Red  Cross, 
had  appealed  to  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment on  behalf  of  the  prisoners  of  all 
nationalities  in  Siberia. 


American  War  Casualties 

Total   Deaths   in   the   American   Army    77,118 — The    Naval 
Controversy — New  Air  Policy 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


THE  Adjutant  General  of  the  United 
States  Army  on  Feb.  7  gave  out 
the  final  revised  figures  of  Amer- 
ican losses  in  the  war.  They  showed 
that  the  total  casualties  were  302,612, 
with  deaths  numbering  77,118.  Prior 
figures,  based  on  weekly  summaries 
issued  by  the  War  Department,  had 
given  the  total  as  293,061,  with  77,635 
deaths.  The  revised  figures  were  as 
follows : 

Killed  in  action  ! 34,248 

Died  of  disease 23,430 

Died  of  wounds 13,700 

Died  of  accident 2,019 

Drowned    300 

Suicide   272 

Murder  or  homicide 154 

Executed  by  sentence  of  General  Court- 
Martial 10 

Other   known    causes 489 

Causes  undetermined   1,839 

Presumed  dead    650 

Total  dead  77,118 

Prisoners  unaccounted  for 15 

Prisoners  died   147 

Prisoners  repatriated 4,270 

Total  prisoners   4,432 

Wounded  slightly   91,189 

Wounded  severely   83,390 

Wounded,  degree  undetermined 46,480 

Total  wounded  221,050 

Missing  in  action 3 

Grand  total 302,612 

New  York  led  the   list  of  casualties 
with  a  total  of  40,222.     In  detail  these 

were: 

Officers.  Men.  Total. 

Killed  in  action 254  4,528  4,782 

Died  of  disease 70  1,888  1,958 

Died  of  wounds 84  1,755  1,839 

Died   of  accident 44  162  206 

Drowned  0  42  42 

Suicide    10  37  47 

Murder  or  homicide 1  16  17 

Oth§r  known    causes 3  40  43 

Cause  undetermined   5  188  193 

Presumed  dead  5  64  69 

Total 476       8,720       9,196 


PRISONERS 

Unaccounted  for  0  7  7 

Died    5  26  31 

Repatriated    37  802  839 

Total 42  835  877 

WOUNDED 

Slightly   487  11,989  12,476 

Severely    472  10,561  11,033 

Degree   undetermined 244  6,396  6,640 

Total 1,203      28,946     30,149 

HONORS  TO  PRIVATES 

Statistics  made  public  by  the  War  De- 
partment on  Feb.  10  showed  that  en- 
listed men  received  63  per  cent,  of  the 
medals  awarded  for  service  in  the  world 
war.  To  enlisted  men  went  fifty-seven 
out  of  the  total  of  seventy-eight  Con- 
gressional Medals  of  Honor  awarded, 
while  3,593  out  of  the  5,109  Distinguished 
Service  Crosses  conferred  were  given  to 
enlisted  men.  All  of  the  641  Distin- 
guished Service  Medals  awarded  for 
meritorious  service  and  not  for  acts  of 
valor  were  conferred  on  officers.  The 
30th  Division,  which,  with  the  27th  Di- 
vision, broke  the  Hindenburg  line,  re- 
ceived twelve  Medals  of  Honor,  or  15  per 
cent,  of  all  that  were  awarded. 

UNIVERSAL   TRAINING 

It  was  reported  from  Washington  on 
Feb.  3  that  Republican  leaders  in  the 
House  had  decided  that  universal  train- 
ing should  be  eliminated  from  the  mili- 
tary bill.  They  held  that  the  country, 
in  the  present  state  of  finances,  was  op- 
posed to  expending  $700,000,000  a  year 
for  compulsory  training,  or  about  $1,125,- 
000,000  to  maintain  an  army  with  com- 
pulsory training  in  operation.  Repre- 
sentative F.  W.  Mondell,  Republican 
floor  leader,  headed  the  opposition  to 
compulsory  training,  and  indications 
were  that   it   would   be  defeated  in  the 


406 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


House.     Mr.  Mondell  stated  the  case  in 
these  words: 

The  Secretary  of  War  has  recom- 
mended an  army  of  570,000  men,  to  cost 
nearly  $1,000,000,000.  Nobody  outside  of 
the  General  Staff  and  the  Administration 
is  considering  any  such  establishment. 
The  committee  of  the  House  and  Senate 
is  likely  to  provide  for  a  regular  estab- 
lishment somewhere  between  225,000  and 
275,000  officers  and  men,  line  and  staff. 
At  the  present  cost  this  would  involve 
appropriations  of  from  $425,000,000  to 
$475,000,000.  This  force  could  not  be  re- 
duced by  any  system  of  military  train- 
ing. The  tendency  would  be  to  in- 
crease it. 

A  system  of  universal  compulsory  mili- 
tary training,  such  as  has  been  proposed, 
would  cost  at  least  $700,000,000  per  year, 
after  the  first  year.  This  total  is  much 
more  than  our  entire  average  annual 
Federal  expenditures  for  all  purposes 
prior  to  our  entry  into  the  European  war. 
At  a  time  when,  on  the  basis  of  present 
estimates,  we  are  facing  a  deficit  of 
nearly  $3,000,000,000,  such  expenditures 
are,   of  course,   unthinkable. 

Rejecting  President  Wilson's  advice, 
House  Democrats  in  caucus  Feb.  9  adopt- 
ed by  a  vote  of  106  to  17  resolutions  op- 
posing the  passage  by  this  Congress  of 
legislation  for  universal  compulsory  mili- 
tary training.  The  President's  views 
were  presented  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to 
Secretary  Baker,  which  was  read  to  the 
caucus  by  Representative  Charles  P. 
Caldwell  of  New  York,  a  member  of  the 
Military  Committee.  In  this  letter  Mr. 
Wilson  urged  that  it  was  inadvisable  that 
any  party  action  be  taken  at  this  time  on 
universal  training,  when  the  National 
Convention  was  so  near.  He  spoke  in 
favor  of  the  principle  of  universal  train- 
ing. The  caucus  was  apparently  de- 
termined from  the  outset  to  have  its  way 
despite  the  President's  counsel. 

NEW  AIR  POLICY 

On  Jan.  22  Mr.  Baker,  Secretary  of 
War,  put  into  effect,  as  far  as  the  army 
was  concerned,  the  new  army-navy  policy 
relating  to  aircraft,  which  had  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Joint  Army  and  Navy 
Board  on  Aeronautics,  as  well  as  by 
Secretaries  Baker  and  Daniels.  Under 
this  policy  aircraft  to  be  used  in  wartime 
operations  are  to  be  designated  army 
aircraft,  navy  aircraft  and  marine  air- 
craft.   Army  aircraft  will  be  provided  by 


the  War  Department  and  manned  only 
by  army  personnel.  Navy  aircraft  will 
be  provided  by  the  Navy  Department  and 
manned  by  navy  personnel.  Marine  air- 
craft will  be  provided  by  the  Navy  De- 
partment and  manned  by  the  marine  air 
personnel,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  Naval 
Air  Service. 

Specific  functions  have  been  mapped 
out  for  each  of  these  branches  of  the  Air 
Service.  Army  aircraft  will  carry  out 
operations  from  bases  on  shore  as  an 
arm  of  the  mobile  army,  or  against 
enemy  aircraft  in  defense  of  all  shore 
establishments  and  also  alone  or  in  co- 
operation with  other  arms  of  the  army, 
or  with  the  navy,  against  enemy  vessels 
engaged  in  attacks  on  the  coast. 

The  function  of  navy  aircraft  will  be 
to  conduct  operations  from  mobile  float- 
ing bases  or  from  naval  air  stations  on 
shore,  as  an  arm  of  the  fleet,  or  for 
overseas  scouting,  as  well  as  to  protect 
coastal  communications  or  operations 
against  enemy  establishments  on  shore 
when  such  operations  are  conducted  in 
co-operation  with  other  types  of  naval 
forces,  or  alone  when  their  mission  is 
primarily  naval.  The  functions  normally 
assigned  to  army  aircraft  will  be  per- 
formed by  the  marine  aircraft  when  the 
operations  are  in  connection  with  an  ad- 
vance base  in  which  operations  of  the 
army  are  not  represented. 

OUR  DEAD   ABROAD 

More  than  two-thirds  of  the  nearest 
relatives  of  the  American  soldier  dead 
abroad  who  have  been  asked  by  the  War 
Department  to  indicate  whether  they 
wish  to  have  the  bodies  brought  home 
from  Europe  have  asked  for  the  return 
of  the  bodies  to  the  United  States.  The 
Adjutant  General  of  the  army  has  sent 
out  cards  to  the  next  of  kin  of  soldiers 
requesting  to  know  their  desires  as  to  the 
disposal  of  bodies.  There  were  74,770 
cards  sent  out,  and  so  far  63,708  answers 
have  been  received.  The  classification 
of  the  requests  made  by  the  next  of  kin 
in  these  answers  is: 

Num-  P.c.of 
ber.    Total. 

Requests  for  return  to  TJ.  S 43,900       68.9 

Requests  for  retention  in  Europe.  10,400       30.6 
Requests    for    reburials    in    other 

countries  than  U.  S 300         0.5 


AMERICAN  WAR  CASUALTIES 


407 


Under  a  new  ruling  issued  by  R.  G. 
Cholmeley-Jones,  Director  of  the  Bureau 
of  War  Risk  Insurance,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
war  risk  term  insurance,  regardless  of 
how  long  it  may  have  lapsed,  may  be 
reinstated  any  time  before  July  1,  1920. 
The  only  conditions  are: 

1.  Two  monthly  premiums  on  the 
amount  of  insurance  to  be  reinstated 
must  accompany  the  application. 

2.  The  applicant  must  be  in  as  good 
health  as  at  the  date  of  discharge  or  at 
the  expiration  of  the  grace  period,  which- 
ever is  the  later  date,  and  so  state  in 
the  application. 

The  new  ruling  is  the  most  important 
liberalization  of  war  risk  insurance  since 
the  passage  of  the  Sweet  bill,  and  is 
designed  for  the  special  benefit  of  serv- 
ice men  who  failed  to  reinstate  their 
insurance  prior  to  the  new  law  and  who 
have  been  discharged  more  than  eighteen 
months.  Men  who  have  been  discharged 
less  than  eighteen  months  may  still  rein- 
state their  lapsed  term  insurance  at  any 
time  within  eighteen  months  following 
the  month  of  discharge  by  complying 
with  the  same  conditions. 

NAVAL  AWARDS  INQUIRY 

Admiral  W.  S.  Sims,  President  of  the 
Naval  War  College  at  Newport  and  for- 
merly in  command  of  the  American  naval 
forces  in  European  waters,  startled  the 
country  on  Jan.  17  by  a  series  of  state- 
ments regarding  the  policy  and  conduct 
of  the  Navy  Department  during  the  war. 
He  charged  that,  on  leaving  Washington 
for  London  just  prior  to  the  actual  dec- 
laration of  war,  he  was  told  by  a  person 
in  authority  at  the  Navy  Department: 
"  Don't  let  the  British  pull  the  wool  over 
your  eyes.  It  is  none  of  our  business  pull- 
ing the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire.  We 
would  as  soon  fight  the  British  as  the 
Germans."  Coupled  with  this  assertion 
was  the  charge  that  inefficiency  and  de- 
lay in  the  Navy  Department  at  Washing- 
ton actually  prolonged  the  war. 

Some  of  the  statements  of  Admiral 
Sims  were  made  by  him  in  oral  testi- 
mony before  a  sub-committee  of  the  Sen- 
ate Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  con- 
ducting an  inquiry  into  the  awards  of 
medals  and  other  decorations  to  United 
States   naval  officers   and  enlisted  men 


for  their  services  in  the  war.  Other 
statements  were  contained  in  a  long 
memorandum  prepared  by  Admiral 
Sims  and  presented  to  Secretary  Daniels, 
which  Admiral  Sims  read  to  the  sub-com- 
mittee. This  memorial  teemed  with  criti- 
cism of  the  conduct  of  the  war  by  the 
naval  administration. 

REJOINDER  BY  MR.  DANIELS 

The  testimony  of  Admiral  Sims  drew 
from  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Daniels  on 
Jan.  18  the  following  letter  to  Senator 
Page  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Naval 
Affairs : 

I  observe  that  Rear  Admiral  Sims  on 
Saturday  read  to  a  sub-committee  of  the 
Naval  Affairs  Committee  of  the  Senate 
a  copy  of  a  paper  recently  sent  to  the 
department,  which  he  entitled  "  Certain 
Naval  Lessons  of  the  Great  War."  The 
original  of  this  has  been  referred  to  the 
General  Board  of  the  Navy  for  action. 

At  the  proper  time  and  in  the  proper 
way  any  fair-minded  investigator  will  be 
convinced  that  the  allegations  reflecting 
upon  the  vigorous,  effective  and  success- 
ful prosecution  of  the  war,  so  far  as  the 
Navy  Department  and  the  entire  navy 
are  concerned,  are  based  upon  opinions 
which   are   without  justification. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  to 
comment  on  the  letter  as  a  whole,  but  one 
passage  is  of  such  a  nature,  having  a 
bearing  as  it  does  upon  international  re- 
lations, that  I  wish  to  say  that  never  to 
Rear  Admiral  Sims  did  I  say:  "  Don't 
let  the  British  pull  the  wool  over  your 
eyes.  It  Is  none  of  our  business  pulling 
their  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire.  We  would 
as  soon  fight  the  British  as  the  Ger- 
mans." 

In  the  latter  part  of  March,  1917,  after 
relations  had  been  broken  off  with  Ger- 
many and  the  American  Navy  had  begun 
to  arm  merchant  ships,  Rear  Admiral 
Sims  was  summoned  to  Washington.  He 
was  informed  by  me  that  he  had  been  se- 
lected to  go  to  London  as  special  and 
confidential  representative  of  the  Navy 
Department.  He  was  given  explicit  ver- 
bal instructions  to  visit  the  American 
Ambassador  at  London,  to  get  in  touch 
with  the  British  Admiralty,  to  investigate 
the  sinkings  by  submarines  and  the  situ- 
ation generally  and  inform  the  Navy  De- 
partment fully.  Of  course,  his  mission 
was  confidential,  as  the  United  States 
was  then  a  neutral. 

At  that  time  Congress  had  not  declared 
war.  Rear  Admiral  Sims  was  cautioned 
to  perform  no  act  and  to  make  no  public 
statement  that  could  commit  this  country 
to  any  course  pending  declaration  of  the 
country's  policy  by  the  President  and  the 
Congress.     In  this  connection  I  reminded 


408 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


him  of  the  statement  in  his  Guildhall 
speech  in  England,  when  he  was  a 
younger  man,  for  which  he  was  repri- 
manded by  President  Taft:  "  If  the  time 
ever  comes  when  the  British  Empire  is 
seriously  menaced  by  an  external  enemy, 
it  is  my  opinion  that  you  can  count 
upon  every  man,  every  dollar,  every  drop 
of  blood  of  your  kindred  across  the  sea." 
I  told  him  he  was  selected  not  because 
of  this  speech,  but  in  spite  of  it,  believing 
he  would  exercise  the  discretion  and  di- 
plomacy which  the  confidential  nature  of 
his  mission  necessitated  and  that  his  wide 
acquaintance  with  naval  leaders  abroad 
would  facilitate  his  obtaining  for  the  de- 
partment at  first  hand  the  information 
desired  by  this  Government. 

It  is,  I  am  sure,  superfluous  to  add  that 
I  did  not  use  the  words  which  I  have 
quoted  above,  relating  to  other  Govern- 
ments, or  any  words  that  could  convey 
like  meaning. 

ADMIRAL  KNIGHT'S  VIEWS 

Rear  Admiral  Austin  M.  Knight,  on 
Jan.  23,  before  the  Senate  sub-commit- 
tee investigating  decoration  awards,  sug- 
gested legislation  that  should  differenti- 
ate between  decorations  awarded  for 
"  valor  "  and  for  "  meritorious  and  dis- 
tinguished service."  Admiral  Knight 
suggested  that  Congress  revise  the  entire 
medal  legislation  and  create  a  decoration 
to  be  given  only  for  valor  in  cases  where 
the  act  of  heroism  was  not  remarkable 
enough  to  warrant  awarding  a  Medal  of 
Honor.  At  present,  he  said,  the  navy 
cross  was  awarded  for  heroism  when  the 
act  was  not  sufficient  to  earn  a  Medal 
of  Honor  and  for  distinguished  service 
when  the  service  was  not  important 
enough  to  warrant  a  Distinguished  Serv- 
ice Medal. 

"  Thus,"  he  added,  "  when  you  see  a 
naval  officer  wearing  a  navy  cross  you 
do  not  know  whether  he  got  it  for  valor 
or  distinguished  service,  and  in  fact  the 
only  medal  we  have  that  stands  only  for 
valor  is  the  Medal  of  Honor." 

The  Admiral  suggested  as  a  temporary 
expedient  that  the  Navy  Department 
authorize  the  wearing  of  a  clasp  marked 
"  for  valor  "  on  all  navy  crosses  awarded 
for  heroism. 

Chairman  Hale  of  the  sub-committee 
said  the  Admiral's  suggestions  would 
be  given  careful  consideration  and  would 
be   included    in    the   committee's   report 


with  a  view  to  framing  legislation  along 
the  lines  suggested. 

Discussing  Secretary  Daniels's  order 
that  the  board  reconsider  all  awards  and 
submit  a  new  report,  Admiral  Knight 
said :  "  The  board  will  modify  its 
former  report  as  it  deems  necessary  and 
make  changes  if  they  are  found  desir- 
able. We  hope  to  render  a  new  report 
within  a  few  weeks." 

Admiral  Knight  took  issue  with  Secre- 
tary Daniels's  contention  that  command- 
ing officers  of  ships  sunk  or  seriously 
damaged  by  the  enemy  should  receive 
the  Distinguished  Service  Medal  when- 
ever their  conduct  was  meritorious. 
"  Officers  who  lose  their  ships,"  the  Ad- 
miral told  the  sub-committee,  "  should 
never  be  so  rewarded  unless  they  take  of- 
fensive action  against  the  enemy  or  suc- 
ceed in  saving  their  ship  through  un- 
usual ability."  He  said  that  in  the  case 
of  Commander  D.  W.  Bagley,  Secretary 
Daniels's  brother-in-law,  no  decoration 
was  recommended  in  connection  with  the 
sinking  of  the  destroyer  Jacob  Jones,  be- 
cause Commander  Bagley  did  not  engage 
the  enemy.  A  navy  cross  was  recom- 
mended for  the  officer,  he  said,  for  good 
seamanship  displayed  in  taking  off  the 
crew  and  passengers  of  the  torpedoed 
British  steamer  Orama. 

DANIELS  ON  STAND 

On  Feb.  3  Secretary  Daniels,  before 
the  Senate  Naval  sub-committee,  made 
formal  answer  to  criticism  by  Rear  Ad- 
miral Sims  and  others  of  the  policy  fol- 
lowed in  awarding  war  decorations.  The 
Secretary's  testimony  for  the  most  part 
was  confined  to  a  prepared  statement,  in 
which  he  took  up,  point  by  point,  state- 
ments before  the  sub-committee  by  Ad- 
miral Sims,  and  dwelt  at  considerable 
length  on  the  two  major  disagreements 
voiced  by  the  Admiral,  namely,  the 
awarding  of  decorations  to  officers  who 
lost  their  ships  through  submarine  at- 
tacks or  by  mines  and  the  relative  im- 
portance of  shore  and  sea  duty. 

On  'the  controverted  point  of  impor- 
tance of  sea  service  as  compared  to  serv- 
ice ashore  Mr.  Daniels  said  he  had  not 
and  would  never  "  approve  a  disparity 
between  awards  given  men  who  served 


AMERICAN  WAR  CASUALTIES 


409 


on  shore  as  compared  with  the  men  who 
went  to  sea."  Admiral  Sims,  he  asserted, 
probably  advocated  high  awards  for 
many  officers  who  served  on  staff  duty 
ashore  and  few  awards  for  officers  who 
went  to  sea,  because  "  most  of  Admiral 
Sims's  duty  in  the  navy  has  been  on 
shore." 

Turning  to  the  second  fundamental 
difference  between  his  views  and  those 
of  Admiral  Sims,  Secretary  Daniels  read 
at  length  from  accounts  of  naval  actions 
during  all  the  wars  the  United  States  had 
been  engaged  in  to  support  his  conten- 
tion that  the  policy  of  decorating  brave 
officers,  even  though  they  lost  their 
ships,  was  established  early  in  American 
naval  history  and  always  had  been  fol- 
lowed. 

Concluding  his  testimony  with  a  denial 
of  Admiral  Sims's  charge  that  "navy 
morale  has  been  shot  to  pieces  through 
the  method  followed  in  awarding  hon- 
ors," Secretary  Daniels  declared  that 
there  was  nothing  the  matter  with  the 
morale  of  the  navy  except  a  shortage  of 
enlisted  men  in  many  ratings  and  insuf- 
ficient pay  for  the  officers  and  men  left, 
making  a  plea  for  immediate  legislation 
that  would  increase  navy  pay  to  a  status 
"  at  least  comparable  with  the  pay  given 
men  holding  positions  of  similar  respon- 
sibility in  civilian  life."  The  Secretary 
said  that  if  such  action  were  taken  the 
country  would  "  soon  learn  that  there  is 
nothing  the  matter  with  the  navy." 

NAVAL  PEACE  STRENGTH 

Rear  Admiral  Taylor,  chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Construction  and  Repairs,  told 
the  House  Naval  Committee  on  Jan.  31 
that  approximately  940  warships  would 
be  the  peace-time  strength  of  the  Amer- 
ican Navy  after  July  1,  1920.    This  will 


be  three  times  the  number  in  commission 
when  the  United  States  declared  war  on 
Germany,  but  the  comparative  tonnage 
will  be  only  about  one  and  one-half  times 
as  great. 

A  number  of  improvements  based  on 
the  lessons  learned  in  the  war  are  to  be 
made  on  the  dreadnoughts  and  other 
craft.  The  first-line  ships,  Admiral 
Taylor  said,  are  to  be  equipped  with  air- 
plane platforms  built  over  the  forward 
turrets  and  extending  over  the  bows  of 
the  vessels,  so  that  aircraft  may  rise 
from  all  of  them  when  at  sea.  Small 
land  airplanes  will  be  used,  and  in  re- 
turning after  a  flight  they  will  alight  on 
the  water,  being  kept  afloat  by  collaps- 
ible air  bags  until  they  can  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  platform.  Other  changes  to 
be  made  in  the  dreadnoughts  will  include 
improved  fire  and  searchlight  controls, 
details  of  which  were  withheld  for  mili- 
tary reasons.  These  alterations,  to- 
gether with  the  repairs  necessary  to  the 
940  vessels,  will  cost  about  $27,900,000. 

HIGHER  NAVY  PAY 
By  a  vote  of  311  to  10  a  bill  was  passed 
by  the  House  on  Jan.  23  increasing  the 
pay  of  all  enlisted  men  in  the  navy  by 
approximately  one-third.  The  increase, 
retroactive  to  Jan.  1  last,  would  continue 
until  July  1,  1921.  No  increase  for  offi- 
cers was  allowed  by  the  bill,  though  this 
may  be  provided  for  later.  The  measure 
was  intended  simply  to  hurry  pay  relief 
for  enlisted  men,  who  are  leaving  the 
navy  at  an  alarming  rate.  The  increase 
for  men  was  estimated  at  $10,000,000.  The 
navy  is  short  forty  to  forty-five  thou- 
sand men  on  its  normal  strength.  A 
majority  of  the  ships  are  tied  up  for 
lack  of  personnel,  particularly  all  of  the 
Pacific  Fleet  being  held  at  Mare  Island 
and  Bremerton. 


Returning  the  Railroads 

Essential  Features  of  the  New  Law  Under  Which  the  Roads 
Will   Operate — New   Labor   Demands 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


THE  imminent  return  of  the  rail- 
roads to  private  ownership  and 
management,  the  date  for  which 
had  been  fixed  by  Presidential 
proclamation  as  March  1,  brought  the 
question  prominently  before  Congress 
and  hastened  the  preparation  of  the 
Railroad  bill,  which  is  a  combination  of 
the  Esch  and  Cummins  measures  framed 
respectively  in  the  House  and  the  Senate. 
(See  February  Current  History.)  The 
clause  prohibiting  strikes  of  railway  em- 
ployes under  legal  penalty  was  elimi- 
nated from  the  bill  in  deference  to  the  de- 
termined opposition  of  the  labor  element. 
A  guaranteed  return  to  the  stockholders 
of  5%  per  cent,  annually  was  tentatively 
agreed  upon. 

Final  agreement  on  reorganization 
legislation  was  reached  by  the  House  and 
Senate  conferees  on  Feb.  16.  Aside 
from  textual  changes,  the  general  fea- 
tures of  the  compromise  bill  followed  the 
lines  agreed  upon,  with  the  exception  of 
the  labor  provision,  which  was  modified 
so  as  to  provide  for  a  Federal  Appeal 
Board  appointed  by  the  President,  to  con- 
sist of  nine  members  equally  divided  be- 
tween the  employes,  the  employers  and 
the  public.  Submission  of  all  disputes  of 
combined  labor  and  employer  boards 
must  be  made  to  the  Federal  Board 
before  a  cessation  of  work  occurs.  This 
new  provision  was  presented  by  Director 
General  Hines  and  was  accepted  by  the 
conference.  The  labor  delegates  sought 
to  oppose  legislation  making  the  calling 
of  strikes  unlawful,  and  put  themselves 
on  record  as  having  never  indorsed  or 
approved  of  either  the  Esch  or  the  Cum- 
mins bill,  except  that  part  of  the  Esch 
bill  known  as  the  Anderson  amendment. 
Railway  employes  pressed  vigorously 
their  demand  for  a  further  increase  in 
pay  before  the  roads  were  returned  to 
their  owners.   The  railway  shopmen  and 


maintenance  of  way  employes  were  es- 
pecially insistent,  and  in  furtherance 
of  their  demands  called  a  strike  for  Feb. 
17.  After  prolonged  conferences  Direc- 
tor General  Hines  declined  to  yield  and 
referred  the  entire  matter  to  President 
Wilson. 

LOSS  OF  FEDERAL  CARRIERS 

According  to  official  calculations  made 
public  Jan.  31,  operation  of  the  railroads, 
Pullman  lines,  express  companies  and 
waterways,  unified  under  Federal  con- 
trol, had  cost  the  nation  approximately 
$700,000,000.  Figures  of  the  Railroad 
Administration  revealed  a  net  loss  of 
$594,200,000  from  railroad  operation 
alone  in  the  two-year  period.  Statistics, 
gathered  from  official  sources  as  to  op- 
erating costs  of  the  Pullman  lines  and 
waterways  and  express  companies  while 
operated  by  the  Government,  showed  the 
addition  of  $100,000,000  to  the  transpor- 
tation loss. 

Heavy  losses  in  November  and  De- 
cember were  charged  to  the  coal  strike 
in  a  statement  by  the  Railroad  Adminis- 
tration. A  deficit  of  $111,500,000  was 
shown  for  those  two  months  after  the 
two  months'  proportion  of  the  annual 
rental  was  paid.  December  revenues 
were  said  to  be  about  $12,700,000  above 
actual  operating  expenses,  while  the 
revenues  for  November,  according  to 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  fig- 
ures, exceeded  actual  operating  ex- 
penses by  approximately  $19,000,000. 
The  monthly  share  of  the  annual  rental 
has  been  computed  generally  at  $75,- 
000,000. 

The  statement  showed  that  of  a  loss 
of  $349,200,000  for  the  twelve  months  of 
1919  $228,700,000  came  during  the  first 
six  months,  when  there  was  "  a  prolonged 
slump  in  freight  business  following  the 
signing  of  the  armistice."    It  added  that 


RETURNING   THE  RAILROADS 


411 


"  if  the  rate  increase  which  went  into 
effect  in  June,  1918,  had  become  effec- 
tive the  previous  January,  the  loss  for 
the  two  years  would  probably  not  have 
exceeded  $104,000,000." 

RAILROAD   PAYMENTS   FIXED 

E.  Marvin  Underwood,  general  counsel 
of  the  Railroad  Administration,  stated 
in  his  annual  report  to  Director  General 
Hines  on  Jan.  27  that  compensation  con- 
tracts between  the  Railroad  Administra- 
tion and  232  railroads  under  Government 
control  had  been  signed  Jan.  1.  These 
involved  $717,153,182,  or  71  per  cent,  of 
the  total  annual  rental  of  $917,000,000 
paid  by  the  Government  to  the  com- 
panies. 

Claims  for  special  compensation  in  ad- 
dition to  the  standard  return  had  been 
filed  by  124  roads,  the  agreements  being 
$92,318,789.  Thirty-five  of  these  had 
been  allowed  in  part,  the  total  being 
$7,493,618,  while  sixty-seven,  totaling 
$45,686,276,  had  been  denied  and  eight, 
totaling  $553,754,  had  been  withdrawn, 
leaving  still  pending  fourteen,  totaling 
$9,224,288. 

Mr.  Underwood  said  that  negotiations 
with  the  railroad  corporations  as  to 
many  additional  compensation  contracts 
for  the  standard  return  were  being  ac- 
tively pushed.  He  said  also  that  in  ad- 
dition to  the  standard  contracts  there 
had  been  133  co-operative  contracts  ex- 
ecuted between  the  Railroad  Adminis- 
traction  and  smaller  railroads,  mostly 
short  lines. 

Describing  the  work  of  the  claims  and 
property  protection  section,  Mr.  Under- 
wood declared  gratifying  progress  had 
been  made  in  avoiding  loss  and  damage 
claims  presented.  He  asserted  that  for 
all  railroads  under  Federal  control  the 
number  of  unsettled  claims  on  hand  had 
decreased  from  806,707  on  April  1,  1919, 
to  465,722  on  Nov.  1,  1919.  During  the 
same  period  2,439,692  claims  were  pre- 
sented and  2,780,677  were  disposed  of. 

5'/2  PER  CENT.  DIVIDENDS 

Under  an  agreement  reached  by  the 
House  and  Senate  conferees  on  the  Rail- 
road bill,  Feb.  7,  a  return  of  5%  per 
cent,  would  be  guaranteed  to  stockhold- 
ers by  the  Government  for  a  period  of 


two  years.  In  announcing  the  agree- 
ment Chairman  Cummins  of  the  Senate 
managers  said  the  rewritten  section  pro- 
vided that  after  the  two-year  period  the 
percentage  of  return  would  be  fixed  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
which  would  be  authorized  to  fix  rates 
so  as  to  yield  that  return. 

With  the  agreement  on  this  section 
the  conferees  completed  their  work  on 
the  bill,  and  Senator  Cummins  said  their 
report  would  probably  be  ready  for  Con- 
gress by  Feb.  16.  Leaders  hoped  to  com- 
plete final  enactment  of  the  bill  before 
the  railroads  were  returned  to  private 
control  on  March  1. 

The  aggregate  value  of  the  properties 
used  in  transportation  would  be  deter- 
mined by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission according  to  the  bill,  the  deter- 
mination being  by  traffic  districts.  These 
districts  would  be  used  as  groups  for  rate 
making  and  in  territories  where  the 
roads  earned  an  equivalent  of  the  guar- 
anteed return,  no  increase  in  rates  would 
be  necessary.  Similarly  the  rates  would 
be  raised  to  make  up  a  deficit  in  districts 
where  the  roads  failed  to  earn  the  5^ 
per  cent.  Figures  on  the  probable  ag- 
gregate value  of  the  roads  are  not  avail- 
able yet.  The  outstanding  capitaliza- 
tion and  bonded  indebtedness  of  all  the 
roads  amount  to  approximately  $19,000,- 
000,000,  on  which  a  5^  per  cent,  return 
would  be  $1,045,000,000. 

The  guaranteed  return  to  the  roads 
under  Government  control  has  been  about 
$900,000,000  annually,  based  on  the 
three-year  period  just  prior  to  the  time 
the  Government  took  charge,  individual 
roads  receiving  varying  returns. 

Distribution  of  earnings  in  excess  of 
the  guaranteed  return  is  also  provided  in 
the  bill.  One-half  of  1  per  cent,  would 
be  available  for  unproductive  improve- 
ments. Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  excess 
over  6  per  cent,  would  go  to  the  roads 
earning  such  excess,  while  the  remain- 
ing half  would  be  put  into  a  contingent 
fund  administered  by  the  commission 
and  used  to  purchase  equipment  for 
rental  to  the  weaker  roads,  which  could 
also  obtain  loans  from  the  fund. 

President  Wilson,  on  Feb.  13,  conferred 
at   the   White   House   with   a   committee 


412 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


representing  the  railroad  workers  in 
their  plea  for  increased  wages.  A  strike 
of  the  railway  shopmen  and  mainte- 
nance of  way  employes  had  been  called 
for  Feb.  17.  The  meeting  of  the  President 
and  the  committee,  consisting  of  Timothy 
Shea,  Acting  President  of  the  Brother- 
hood of  Firemen  and  Enginemen;  B.  M. 
Jewell,  President  of  the  Railway  Em- 
ployes' Department  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor,  and  E.  J.  M anion,  Pres- 
ident of  the  Order  of  Railway  Telegra- 
phers, took  place  under  the  south 
portico  of  the  "White  House,  the  Pres- 
ident being  in  his  wheel  chair.  They 
chatted  for  a  few  moments  and  then  the 
committee  received  a  typewritten  copy  of 
the  President's  statement.  There  fol- 
lowed a  discussion  of  the  labor  situation 
for  about  ten  minutes. 

The  President  outlined  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  the  proper  procedure,  and 
asserted  that  his  decision  was  unalter- 
able. He  said,  first,  that  he  should  en- 
deavor to  obtain  justice  for  the  men 
through  an  adjustment  tribunal  which 
would  probably  be  set  up  in  pending 
legislation.  In  the  event  of  Congress 
failing  to  provide  for  a  tribunal,  the 
President  would  name  a  commission  of 
his  own  to  deal  with  the  specific  matter 
in  hand. 

Further  than  this,  the  President  prom- 
ised to  appoint  at  once  a  committee  of 
experts  to  consider  facts  at  hand  and 
make  recommendations.  This  committee 
was  to  be  named  whether  Congress  estab- 
lished a  permanent  adjustment  tribunal 
or  not. 

To  this  proposition  the  employes  did 
not  give  their  unqualified  approval.  They 
sought  to  brush  aside  the  possibility  of 
the  final  decision  as  to  wages  and  work- 
ing conditions  being  made  by  a  perma- 
nent tribunal  to  be  created  by  Congress, 
and  asked  that  the  President  name  a 
separate  tribunal,  representative  of  the 
corporations,  employes  and  Government, 
possibly  along  the  lines  of  the  present 
coal  commission  of  three,  whose  decisions 
should  be  binding.  They  said,  however, 
that  they  would  submit  the  President's 
proposal  to  the  meeting  of  committees  of 
their  organizations,  to  be  held  on  Feb.  23. 


The  committee  stated  that  the  reduc- 
tion in  living  costs  which  labor  had  hoped 
for  had  not  materialized,  and  that,  so  far 
as  they  could  see,  Congress  had  passed 
little  legislation  which  would  serve  to  aid 
in  the  fight  against  the  high  level  of 
prices.  They  affirmed  the  opinion  that 
Congress  had  failed  to  pursue  a  course 
which  would  in  any  way  militate  against 
what  they  termed  the  "  capitalistic  in- 
terests." The  committee  contended  that 
any  lasting  change  for  betterment  in  the 
general  situation  could  not  be  attained  un- 
der present  conditions;  that  fundamental 
reforms  were  necessary  and  higher 
wages  imperative  unless  there  was  defi- 
nite action  to  end  existing  evils. 

In  the  main  the  President  supported 
the  Director  General  of  Railroads,  Mr. 
Hines,  in  his  decision  that  heavy  ad- 
vances in  wages  at  this  time  were  im- 
practicable; but  he  promised  to  try  to 
bring  about  a  betterment  of  conditions. 

Following  closely  upon  this  conference 
with  the  President,  plans  for  the  formu- 
lation of  a  definite  program  to  combat 
high  living  costs  were  revealed  by  union 
officials  on  Feb.  15.  It  was  stated  that 
the  feeling  was  strong  among  the  rail- 
road union  members  that  Government 
action  to  reduce  high  prices  had  not  been 
effectual,  and  that  though  the  wage  de- 
mands of  the  2,000,000  railroad  workers, 
at  the  request  of  the  workers,  would  be 
held  in  abeyance,  immediate  action  would 
be  taken  to  secure  relief  before  the  gen- 
eral conference  of  union  committees  to 
meet  in  Washington  on  Feb.  23.  It  was 
intimated  that  the  new  program  would 
consist  of  recommendations  to  Congress, 
which  all  organized  labor  would  support, 
and  the  hope  was  expressed  that  by  its 
adoption  the  more  radical  union  elements 
which  demanded  immediate  action  with 
regard  to  wages,  before  the  President's 
proposal  of  a  wage  commission  had  ma- 
terialized, could  be  more  effectually  held 
in  control. 

The  railroad  executives  were  asked  by 
Director  General  Hines  on  Feb.  16  to 
send  a  committee  to  Washington  for  con- 
ference concerning  President  Wilson's 
proposal  to  create  a  joint  commission  to 
hear  the  wage  demands  of  the  union  rail- 
road workers. 


Secretary  Lansing's  Resignation 

Other  Cabinet  Changes 


ROBERT  LANSING,  Secretary  of 
State,  retired  from  office  Feb.  13, 
1920,  under  sensational  circum- 
stances. The  correspondence  preceding 
his  resignation  revealed  the  fact  that 
this  latest  Cabinet  change  was  tanta- 
mount to  an  abrupt  dismissal  of  his  chief 
Cabinet  officer  by  the  President,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  seeking  to  usurp  the 
President's  authority  during  the  latter^s 
illness.  The  first  letter  to  Mr.  Lansing, 
written  by  the  President  on  Feb.  7,  in- 
quired whether  it  was  true  that  during 
his  illness  the  Secretary  of  State  "  had 
frequently  called  the  heads  of  the  Execu- 
tive Departments  of  the  Government  into 
conference,"  intimating  that  he  regarded 
such  proceeding  as  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution.  The  Secretary  replied  on 
Feb.  9  acknowledging  that  he  had  re- 
quested the  Cabinet  to  meet  for  informal 
conference.  This  step,  he  said,  had  been 
taken  after  several  members  of  the  Cabi- 
net had  agreed  that  conferences  were 
necessary  on  account  of  the  President's 
illness;  the  object  had  been  only  to  hold 
informal  assemblages  to  confer  on  the 
"  difficult  and  vexatious  questions  tnat 
had  arisen,"  and  that  required  attention; 
he  added  that  if  this  action  had  forfeited 
the  confidence  of  his  chief,  his  resigna- 
tion would  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
President. 

President  Wilson  replied  on  Feb.  11 
with  a  severe  letter  in  which  he  rebuked 
the  Secretary  for  "  assumption  of  Presi- 
dential authority."  He  reminded  the  Sec- 
retary that  "  no  action  could  be  taken 
without  me  by  the  Cabinet,"  and  that  the 
Cabinet  should  have  awaited  his  pres- 
ence before  holding  any  meetings.  He 
referred  to  the  fact  that  his  judgments 
at  Paris  had  been  adopted  by  the  Secre- 
tary with  "  increasing  reluctance,"  and 
added :  "  Since  my  return  to  Washing- 
ton I  have  been  struck  by  the  number  of 
matters  in  which  you  have  apparently 
tried  to  forestall  my  judgment  by  formu- 
lating action,  and  merely  asking  my  ap- 
proval when  it  was  impossible  to  form  an 
independent   judgment."     He   closed   by 


stating  that  he  would  accept  the  resigna- 
tion. This,  he  added,  will  "  afford  me  an 
opportunity  to  select  some  one  whose 
mind  would  more  willingly  go  along  with 
mine." 

Secretary  Lansing  on  Feb.  12  replied 
tendering  his  resignation.  In  this  letter 
he  stated  that  since  January,  1919,  he 
had  been  conscious  that  the  President 
was  no  longer  disposed  to  welcome  his 
advice  in  matters  pertaining  to  foreign 
relations.  He  added  that  he  would  have 
resigned  then,  but  did  not  desire  to  take 
a  step  that  might  be  misinterpreted 
abroad  and  at  home;  he  stated  that  on 
his  leturn  in  July,  1919,  he  would  have 
resigned,  but  again  deferred  action  on 
account  of  the  treaty  fight  in  the  Senate, 
and  subsequently  withheld  it  on  account 
of  the  President's  illness;  he  challenged 
the  imputation  that  he  had  aV  pted  to 
usurp  the  President's  authority  in  calling 
the  Cabinet  together  during  his  illness, 
and  reaffirmed  his  belief  that  this 
step  was  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
Administration.  He  disagreed  with  the 
statement  that  he  had  "  tried  to  fore- 
stall "  the  President's  judgment,  stating 
that  he  conceived  it  to  be  the  "jnction  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  to  advise  with 
the  President  and  express  opinions  on 
any  matters.  "  I  have  been  surprised 
and  disappointed  at  the  frequent  disap- 
proval of  my  suggestion^,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  have  never  failed  to  follow  your  de- 
cisions, however  difficult  it  made  the 
conduct  of  foreign  affairs." 

The  President  replied  on  Feb.  13,  ac- 
cepting the  resignation,  "to  take  effect 
at  once." 

Under  Secretary  of  State  Frank  L. 
Polk  assumed  the  duties  of  the  office 
temporarily.  Under  the  law  the  Presi- 
dent has  thirty  days  in  which  to  fill  the 
vacancy. 

The  incident  produced  universal  sur- 
prise, followed  by  almost  unanimous  con- 
demnation of  the  President's  method  of 
procedure.  This  feeling  was  expressed 
as  freely  by  newspapers  and  publicists  of 
the  President's  party  as  by  members  of 


414 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  opposing  parties.  Franklin  K.  Lane, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  who  was  going 
out  of  office  on  March  1,  stated  that  the 
meetings  of  the  Cabinet  had  been  sug- 
gested by  several  Secretaries  as  neces- 
sary. Former  Secretary  Redfield,  who 
had  recently  resigned,  strongly  support- 
ed Secretary  Lansing  in  his  action,  and 
other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  un- 
derstood to  feel  that  the  rebuke  admin- 
istered to  Secretary  Lansing  should  be 
equally  shared  by  them,  as  they  were 
all  of  one  mind  over  the  propriety  of  his 
action.  The  resignation  created  a  simi- 
lar amount  of  comment  in  Europe,  near- 
ly all  of  a  like  tenor. 

The  facts  came  out  after  the  resigna- 
tion that  Secretary  Lansing  had  not  been 
in  accord  with  the  President  in  many  of 
his  positions  at  Paris;  that  he  had  fa- 
vored separating  the  League  of  Nations 
covenant  from  the  treaty;  that  he  had 
not  been  consulted  by  the  President  at 
Paris  except  at  intervals,  and  that  he 
had  not  been  invited  to  important  confer- 
ences; also  that  Colonel  House  was 
shown  preference  in  receiivng  the  confi- 
dence of  the  President. 

Mr.  Lansing  was  the  American  mem- 
ber and  Chairman  of  the  commission 
appointed  by  the  Peace  Conference  to 
determine  what  disposition  should  be 
made  of  those  accused  of  violating  the 
laws  of  war  and  of  committing  other 
crimes.  Mr.  Lansing  was  opposed  to 
requiring  Germany  to  assent  that  the 
ex-Kaiser  should  be  tried  for  crimes 
against  the  laws  of  war  unless  evidence 
should  be  obtained  that  he  had  commit- 
ted these  crimes  personally  or  had  per- 
sonally given  directions  for  committing 
them.  He  maintained  that  to  take 
any  other  course  would  be  to  establish 
a  new  principle  of  international  law. 

In  this  position  Mr.  Lansing  was  op- 
posed by  a  majority  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  commission,  who  asked  the 
Peace  Conference  to  take  a  more  radical 
course  toward  the  ex-Kaiser  and  the 
German  officials. 

The  Peace  Conference  followed  the 
lead  of  the  majority  of  the  commission, 
but  gave  partial  assent  to  Mr.  Lansing's 
minority  views  in  conceding,  as  it  did 
in  the  Peace  Treaty,  that  the  provision 


for  bringing  the  Kaiser  and  other  Ger- 
mans to  trial  was  a  departure  from  in- 
ternational practice. 

The  Cabinet  sessions  called  by  Secre- 
tary Lansing  during  President  Wilson's 
illness,  concerning  which  the  latter  pro- 
tested in  forcing  the  resignation  of  his 
Secretary  of  State,  were  instituted  on 
Oct.  14,  about  two  weeks  after  the  Presi- 
dent was  stricken  following  his  return 
from  the  Western  speaking  tour  on  the 
Peace  Treaty  issue. 

At  the  time  Secretary  Lansing  called 
the  first  meeting  there  was  genuine 
alarm  about  the  President's  condition, 
and  it  was  deemed  by  Mr.  Lansing  and 
other  Cabinet  advisers  that,  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  Government,  the  condition 
of  the  President  should  be  known  to  his 
department  heads.  Just  at  that  time 
there  was  agitation  over  the  probable 
necessity  of  calling  upon  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent to  assume  the  Presidency.  Cabinet 
members  had  been  besieged  upon  that 
point,  particularly  from  members  of  Con- 
gress who  were  uneasy  over  the  situa- 
tion. 

When  Secretary  Lansing  called  the 
Cabinet  to  meet  on  Oct.  14  it  was  un- 
derstood to  have  been  with  the  approval 
of  the  President.  Certainly  it  was  not 
done  without  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Tu- 
multy, Secretary  to  the  President,  who 
was  in  constant  touch  with  Mr.  Lansing 
and  who  was  regarded  at  least  as  being 
in  touch  with  the  President  through  Dr. 
Grayson. 

Members  of  the  Cabinet  supposed  that 
the  President  was  kept  fully  informed 
regarding  the  meetings  held,  as  they 
were  attended  not  only  by  Mr.  Tumulty 
on  numerous  occasions  but  also  by  Dr. 
Grayson.  Besides  the  President's  illness, 
when  the  first  meeting  was  called  the 
coal  strike  had  been  ordered,  and  it  was 
considered  incumbent  upon  the  Govern- 
ment to  act  in  the  matter.  "During  the 
coal  strike  crisis  the  Attorney  General 
attended  the  Cabinet  conferences  and 
then  conferred  directly  with  the  Presi- 
dent; the  Attorney  General  stated  that 
he  had  outlined  to  the  President  what  the 
Cabinet  had  done,  and  added  that  the 
President  approved.  During  the  Mexi- 
can crisis  Secretaiy  Lansing  favored  def- 


SECRETARY  LANSING'S  RESIGNATION 


415 


inite  action,  but  the  President  did  not 
approve,  and  he  declined  to  receive  the 
Secretary  of  State  at  any  time  during 
his  illness. 

OTHER   CABINET   CHANGES 

David  F.  Houston  of  Missouri  was 
nominated  by  President  Wilson  on 
Jan.  27  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, to  succeed  Carter  Glass  of  Virginia, 
appointed  Senator  from  that  State.  At 
the  same  time  Edwin  T.  Meredith  of 
Iowa  was  nominated  to  succeed  Mr. 
Houston  as  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 
Still  another  Cabinet  change  came  on 
Feb.  7  when  the  President  accepted  the 
resignation  of  Franklin  K.  Lane,  for  nearly 
seven  years  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  Houston  had  been  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  since  the  beginning  of  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  first  term.  He  was  born 
in  North  Carolina  in  1866,  was  educated 
at  South  Carolina  College  and  at  Har- 
vard, taught  ancient  languages  at  the 
former  college,  was  Superintendent  of 
Schools  at  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Political  Science  at  Harvard, 
and  Dean  of  the  Faculty,  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College  of  Texas  and  President  of  the 
University  of  Texas,  and  was  Chancellor 
of  Washington  University  at  St.  Louis 
when  appointed  to  the  Cabinet.  He  was 
one  of  the  members  of  the  committee 
that  organized  the  Federal  Reserve  Bank- 
ing system.  He  was  also  active  in  the 
organization  of  the  Federal  Farm  Loan 
Bureau.  During  the  controversy  in  the 
Cabinet  over  the  Lusitania  case  he  was 
credited  with  standing  with  Secretary 
Garrison  and  Secretary  Lane  in  com- 
bating the  efforts  of  William  Jennings 
Bryan  to  prevent  the  use  of  drastic 
measures  against  Germany. 

Mr.  Meredith  is  the  youngest  man  ap- 
pointed to  the  Cabinet  by  President 
Wilson.  He  is  43  years  of  age.  He  is 
the  editor  of  Successful  Farming,  which 
he  founded  in  1902,  and  lives  at  Des 
Moines.  He  ran  for  Senator  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  in  1914,  but  was  de- 
feated, and  was  an  unsuccessful  candi- 
date for  Governor  in  1916.  During  the 
war  he  was  a  member  of  the  Treasury 
Board  of  Advisors.     He  telegraphed  his 


acceptance  of  the  President's  appoint- 
ment from  Miami,  Fla.,  on  Jan.  26, 
and  at  once  started  for  Washington.  He 
is  considered  a  specialist  in  agriculture; 
Mr.  Houston,  on  the  other  hand,  has  won 
for  himself  celebrity  in  the  field  of 
economics. 

Mr.  Lane's  letter  of  resignation  stated 
that,  having  served  the  public  for  twenty- 
one   years,   he   now   felt   an   imperative 
call  to  other  duties.     His  expressions  of 
warm  friendship  for  the  President  called 
forth  the  following  reply  on  Feb.  7: 
My  dear  Mr.  Secretary:    I  need  not  tell 
you  with  what  regret  I  accept  your  resig- 
nation  as   Secretary   of   the   Interior,   for 
our  association  has  been  very  delightful. 
I  have  admired   the  spirit  in   which  you 
devoted   yourself   to    the    duties    of   your 
department,  as  I  am  sure  that  all  atten- 
tive observers  have,   but  the  reasons  you 
give    for    your    retirement    leave    me    no 
cnoke  but  to  acquiesce,  and  I,  of  course, 
accept  your  suggestion  that  the  resigna- 
tion   take    effect    on    the    1st    of    March, 
since  that  will  serve  your  convenience. 

May  I  not  add  how  sincerely  I  hope  that 
your  future  career  will  be  as  full  of 
honorable  success  as  your  past?  My  best 
wishes  will  follow  you  throughout  all  the 
years  that  apparently  must  now  separate 
us,  and  I  beg  to  subscribe  myself. 
Cordially  and  sincerely  your  friend, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 
Nine    resignations   from   the   Cabinet 
have  taken  place  during  the  Administra- 
tions of  President  Wilson.     They  are  as 
follows : 

Attorney  General  McReynolds— Appointed 
to  tihe  Supreme  Court. 

Seoretary  of  War  Garrison— Disagreement 
with  the  President. 

Secretary  of  State  Bryan— Disagreement 
with  the  President. 

Secretary  of  Treasury  McAdoo— To  increase 
(his  income. 

Attorney  General  Gregory— To  increase  his 
Income. 

Secretary  of  Treasury  Glass— Appointed 
Senaltor. 

Seoretary  of  Interior  Lane— To  accept  a 
business  call. 

Seoretary  of  Commerce  Redfield— To  accept 
a  business  call. 

Secretary  of  State  Lansing— Disagreement 
with  the    I't(  >M.  Dt 

President  Wilson,  however,  does  not 
set  the  record  for  Cabinet  changes.  The 
following  number  took  place  in  other  Ad- 
ministrations: Grant  18,  Roosevelt  18, 
Jackson  14,  Madison  12,  Washington  10. 


CURRENT    HISTORY    IN    BRIEF 


[Period  Ended  Feb.  18,  1920] 


Why  Workers  are  Restless 

DETERMINED  to  learn  at  first  hand 
the  causes  of  the  present  industrial 
unrest  in  the  United  States,  Whiting 
Williams,  Director  of  Personnel  of  the 
Hydraulic  Pressed  Steel  Company  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  left  his  desk  and  for 
seven  months  worked  as  a  laborer  in  the 
steel  mills,  coal  mines,  and  on  ore  dumps. 
On  Jan.  23  Mr.  Williams,  in  a  public  ad- 
dress, defined  three  primary  causes  of 
the  discontent,  saying : 

Three  things  on  the  worker's  mind  are: 
the  pre-eminent  importance  of  holding  a 
job ;  the  terrible  danger  of  being  forced 
into  joblessness ;  the  unholy  alliance  be- 
tween tiredness  and  temper,  between 
fatigue  of  body  and  mind,  which  gives 
opportunity  for  agitators  to  work  upon 
the  feelings  and  sensibilities  of  the  worker, 
and  the  almost  complete  ignorance  of  the 
average  worker  as  to  the  plans,  purposes, 
ideals,  and  character  of  his  employer. 

The  worker  is  told  little  or  nothing  of 
these  things.  As  a  result,  he  uses  his 
head  and  makes  deductions.  He  sees 
prodigal  waste  of  materials  about  the 
shop,  perhaps,  and  decides:  "This  com- 
pany cares  for  nothing  but  big  money. 
What  do  my  small  wages  matter?  "  And 
he  proceeds  to  "  soldier  "  on  the  job. 
The  longer  I  worked  in  the  mills  the  less 
I  did,  because  of  the  "  underground  "  in- 
structions, a  tap  on  the  shoulder  with 
such  behests  as,  "  Lots  of  time,"  "  Take 
it  easy,"  "  Don't  kill  yourself,"  "  Twelve 
hours,"  &c.  The  ignorance  of  the  worker 
regarding  the  company's  principles  and 
purposes,  the  result  of  lack  of  interest  by 
the  company  in  its  workers,  causes  lack 
of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  workers, 
which  costs  the  company  money  in  inef- 
ficient  work. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  conclude  that  all 
workers  are  radicals.  The  latter  are  a 
small  minority,  but  they  have  a  lead 
on  the  employer  group,  chiefly  because 
they  have  been  industriously  engaged  in 
putting  salt  on  the  raw  spots  among  the 
workers,  thus  taking  advantage  of  idle- 
ness, fatigue,   and   soreness. 

Cause  of  the  President's  Illness 

DR.  HUGH  H.  YOUNG  of  Johns  Hop- 
kins Hospital  at  Baltimore,  one  of 
the  physicians  in  attendance  on  President 
Wilson,  on  Feb.  10  gave  the  first  expla- 


nation of  the  President's  illness.  He  de- 
clared that  in  October  last  the  Presi- 
dent's case  was  diagnosed  as  cerebral 
thrombosis  (clot  in  a  blood  vessel),  which 
caused  a  slight  paralysis  of  the  left  arm 
and  leg,  "  but  that  at  no  time  was  his 
brain  power  or  the  extreme  vigor  and 
lucidity  of  his  mental  processes  in  the 
slightest  degree  abated."  He  added  that 
the  clot  was  being  absorbed  and  that  the 
President  was  obtaining  the  full  use  of 
the  parts  affected.  On  Feb.  18  it  was 
announced  by  the  physicians  in  charge 
that  the  President  had  practically  re- 
covered and  would  be  able  to  assume  his 
full  duties  without  any  danger  of  a  re- 
currence of  the  attack. 
*     *     * 

Trials   of   War  Criminals   in    France 

IN  the  last  week  of  1919  a  sentence  of 
ten  years'  imprisonment,  fifteen  years' 
exclusion  from  residence  in  France,  and 
a  fine  of  $2,000,000  was  passed  by  a 
court-martial  sitting  at  Amiens  on  a 
German  officer  named  Robert  Roechling. 
An  officer  during  the  war,  Roechling 
was  manager  of  the  great  works  at 
Karlshuette,  in  Germany,  and,  with  his 
brother  Hermann,  was  one  of  the  great 
German  steel  magnates.  Hermann  Roech- 
ling, who  did  not  appear  before  the 
court,  was  sentenced  to  the  same  punish- 
ment. Together  the  two  brothers  during 
the  war  carried  out  the  systematic  de- 
struction of  the  great  ironworks  of 
Briey,  Rehon,  La  Chiers,  Micheville,  and 
Longwy,  in  the  East  of  France,  in  order 
to  do  away  with  their  competition.  Of 
the  material  which  was  destroyed,  8,000,- 
000  tons  was  removed  in  the  course  of 
two  years  to  Karlshuette,  where,  how- 
ever, it  was  subsequently  blown  up  by 
Roechling's  orders  just  before  the  arrival 
of  the  French  in  December,  1918. 

Of  six  French  officers  tried  by  court- 
martial  at  Mayence  for  having  diverted 
into  Germany  material  intended  for  the 
invaded  provinces,  five  were  condemned 
to  prison  for  periods  ranging  from  five 
months   to   two   years.      The   sixth   was 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


417 


acquitted.  The  Germans  implicated  were 
sentenced  to  similar  terms  of  imprison- 
ment, with  a  fine  in  addition. 

Georges  Gaston  Quien,  who  was  sen- 
tenced by  a  French  court  last  Septem- 
ber to  die  for  the  betrayal  of  Edith 
Cavell  to  the  Germans,  and  whose  case 
had  been  appealed,  was  sentenced  on 
Jan.  30  to  twenty  years'  imprisonment 
for  communicating  with  the  enemy.  The 
charge  of  betrayal  of  Miss  Cavell  was 
abandoned  at  the  second  trial.  Lieuten- 
ant Funck,  an  Austrian,  who  was  em- 
ployed during  the  war  in  a  Paris  bank, 
but  who  acted  as  a  spy  and  reported  to 
the  Germans  points  at  which  shells  of 
the  enemy's  long-range  guns  fell,  was 
executed  on  Feb.  2.  Another  spy,  Louis 
Guaspare,  made  revelations  to  the  au- 
thorities just  before  the  time  set  for  his 
execution,  and  received  a  provisional  re- 
prieve. 

*     *     * 

The  War  on  Opium 

IN  a  letter  published  in  The  London 
Times  on  Jan.  3,  Mrs.  Washburn 
Wright,  leader  of  the  crusade  against 
opium  and  kindred  drugs  so  successfully 
conducted  by  her  late  husband,  Dr. 
Hamilton  Wright,  calls  attention  to  the 
urgent  necessity  of  carrying  into  effect 
the  provisions  of  the  Opium  Convention 
of  1912  and  the  special  protocol  drawn 
up  at  the  third  International  Opium  Con- 
ference held  at  The  Hague  in  June,  1914. 
There  is  an  article  in  the  Peace  Treaty 
with  Germany  which  makes  provision  for 
dealing  with  the  opium  problem,  and  all 
the  signatories  have  agreed  to  bring  the 
1912  convention  into  force  and  to  pass 
the  necessary  legislation  "without  delay," 
and  in  any  case  within  a  year  of  the 
treaty's  ratification,  supervision  of  these 
international  agreements  to  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  League  of  Nations.  Mrs. 
Wright  points  out,  however,  that  if 
legislation  is  to  be  passed  within  the 
period  prescribed,  it  must  be  begun  at 
once.  The  United  States  has  already 
set  the  example  by  passing  a  law  in  pur- 
suance of  the  1912  convention,  but  this 
action,  says  Mrs.  Wright,  is  of  very 
limited  value  until  the  rest  of  the  powers 
pass   similar   legislation. 

The  present  position,  according  to  Mrs. 


Wright,  is  that  immense  and  increasing 
quantities  of  noxious  drugs  are  being 
smuggled  into  China,  more  particularly 
morphine  and  heroin.  Some  of  this 
traffic,  she  declares,  originates  in  Eng- 
land and  some  in  the  United  States. 
Japan  is  charged  with  dealing  extensive- 
ly in  illicit  drugs,  and  with  deriving  a 
large  profit  from  this  traffic.  The  Japan- 
ese Government  has  denied  any  official 
responsibility,  but  Japan  herself,  it  is 
alleged,  is  the  chief  distributing  centre 
for  the  drugs  smuggled  into  Chinese 
ports.  The  Koreans  have  charged  Japan 
with  deliberately  distributing  drugs  in 
Korea  for  the  purpose  of  degrading  the 
population  and  thus  weakening  their  re- 
sistance to  Japanese  penetration. 

Mrs.  Wright's  praise  of  the  Chinese 
Government  for  prohibiting  opium  and 
burring  all  existing  supplies  is  seriously 
qualified  by  an  editorial  writer  of  The 
London  Times,  who  says: 

Tho  Chinese  authorities  have  had  dra- 
matic bonfires  of  opium  and  opium  uten- 
sils in  order  to  impress  the  Western  na- 
tions, but  have  winked  at  the  renewal  of 
poppy  cultivation  on  an  extensive  scale 
in  their  own  provinces.  It  is  now  clear 
that  opium  is  being  widely  manufactured 
and  consumed  in  many  provinces.  Many 
provincial  Governors  are  now  a  law  unto 
themselves.  The  Governors  need  money, 
and  are  not  too  nice  about  how  it  Is 
obtained.  The  consequence  is  that  the 
consumption  of  home-grown  opium  has 
increased  enormously  in  all  parts  of 
China,  in  addition  to  the  traffic  in  im- 
ported drugs.  The  British  and  American 
Governments  presented  at  Peking  in  April 
last  a  remonstrance  regarding  the  re- 
newal of  opium  cultivation.  The  Chinese 
Government  replied  at  the  end  of  October 
with  a  categorical  denial  which  is  in  con- 
flict with  the  independent  evidence  now 
available.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  olear 
duty  of  other  powers  Is  to  do  their  utmost 
to  prevent  the  exportation  of  noxious 
drugs  to  China,  and  we  trust  that  in  all 
countries  the  requisite  legislation  will  be 
passed  "  without  delay,"  as  the  Peace 
Treaty  prescribes. 

*      *      * 

First  Japanese  Avtatrdc 
TV/I" UCH  attention  and  interest  has  been 
■"-!■  excited  in  Japan,  says  the  Japanese 
Chronicle,  by  the  appearance  of  the  first 
feminine  Japanese  aviator,  Miss  Seiko 
Hyoto,  aged  20  years,  who  has  just 
entered  the  Ito  Aviation  School  with  the 
object  of  pioneering  in  this  new  field  for 


418 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  sake  of  Japanese  women.  The  inten- 
tion of  Miss  Hyoto  to  become  an  aviatrix 
was  formed  ten  years  ago,  when  she 
found  an  airplane  design  among  her 
father's  papers.  Despite  the  opposition 
of  her  family,  she  went  to  Tokio  to  study 
flying,  but  money  difficulties  compelled 
her  return.  She  subscribed,  however,  for 
the  transcripts  of  lectures  published  by 
the  Japan  Aviation  School,  and  studied 
aviation  with  all  her  energies.  She 
finally  went  to  Osaka  and  tried  her  for- 
tune again.  Moved  by  her  unshakable 
resolution,  her  family  sent  her  money 
and  she  entered  the  school  in  December. 
The  Japanese  press  has  given  her  much 

attention. 

*     *     * 

Bolshevism  Through  Dostoievsky 

IN  the  December  issue  of  the  Mercure 
de  France  is  a  remarkable  article  by 
M.  J.  Kessel,  in  which,  after  studying 
the  chief  characteristics  of  the  abnormal 
heroes  of  Dostoievsky,  the  author  seeks 
to  establish  a  psychological  and  racial 
bond  between  this  company  of  half  in- 
sane epileptics  and  amoral  megalomaniacs 
and — the  Bolsheviki!  Se  non  e  vero,  the 
anti-Bolsheviki  might  say,  e  ben  trovato. 
To  the  student  of  Russian  psychology  the 
comparison  and  equation  is  far  more 
illuminating  than  it  could  be  to  the  casual 
reader.  In  opening  his  study  M.  Kessel 
says: 

Bolshevism,  a  barbarous  word,  literal 
transcription  itself  of  a  Russian  barbar- 
ism, has  been  passionately  discussed. 
*  *  *  In  Russia  it  has  taken  on  a  spe- 
cial, morbid  character.  It  has  suddenly- 
revealed  cruelties,  aberrations  of  which 
the  great  Russian  people,  traditionally 
known  for  its-  mildness,  seemed  incapable. 
It  has  instilled  terror  with  its  mad  and 
bloody  rush  of  dense  human  masses  be- 
hind hollowly  flapping  flags,  with  its 
organized  destruction.  It  has  surprised 
the  world  above  all  by  its  chaotic  long- 
evity and  by  the  small  resistance  that  It 
encountered    from    the    beginning. 

This  character  of  collective  malady  must 
be  clarified  by  the  study  of  the  Russian 
nature,  its  deep  instincts  and  its  habits 
of  thought.  Acid  which,  thrown  on  lime, 
produces  an  immediate  reaction,  would 
have  no  effect  on  granite.  The  acid  we 
know ;  it  is  the  Bolshevist  system,  as  ex- 
pounded by  its  theorists.  The  foundation 
on  which  it  acts  has  hitherto  remained 
practically  unknown.  In  the  given  case, 
it  is  clear  that  for  frenzied  illusions  to 
have  had  the  power  of  the  Biblical  burn- 


ing bush  and  within  a  few  weeks  to  have 
shaken  a  whole  people  and  a  whole  faith, 
they  must  have  found  an  appropriate  men- 
tality, something  troubled,  passionate, 
bruised,  ready  to  accept  everything  and 
pay  it  back  tenfold,  that  is,  the  Russian 
psychosis,  as  it  developed  throughout  the 
nineteenth   century. 

The  psychosis  of  Dostoievsky.  Now  that 
Russian  Bolshevism  makes  us  think  of  a 
dance  of  madmen,  now  that  all  Russia 
is  a  free  field  for  adventures  and  folk 
obsessed,  Dostoievsky  the  epileptic,  the 
Sadist,  the  lover  af  criminals  and  neuro- 
tics, is  perhaps  more  realistic,  and  cer- 
tainly more  real  than  the  great  Tolstoy, 
the  serene  psychologist  of  "  Anna 
Karenina  "   and   "  War  and  Peace." 

M.  Kessel  then  takes  up,  one  by  one, 
the  best-known  characters  of  Dostoi- 
evsky— Baskolnikov,  Ivan  Karamazov, 
and  his  brother  Mitka,  Svidrigailov, 
Peter  Verkhovensky,  and  others  less 
well-known,  and  from  all  he  deduces  the 
psychological  elements  seen  today  in  the 
half  insane  logic  of  the  Bolshevist  lead- 
ers, and  in  the  frenzied  red  furies  of  the 
Bolshevist  multitude,  evacuated  of  the 
idea  of  the  Russian  God,  and  given  free 
rein  to  the  maddest  and  crudest  instincts 
of  the  Slavic  character.  Of  this  insane 
multitude  Dostoievsky  said  almost  pro- 
phetically : 

Where  will  it  stop,  this  mad,  inexorable 
gallop?  Until  now  other  nations  have 
stepped  aside  from  its  path,  either  in 
terror  or  disgust.  But  the  day  will  come 
when  they  will  cease  to  stand  aside,  and 
they  will  build  a  strong  barrier  before 
the  mad  course  of  our  unchained  fury  to 
save  themselves,  their  culture  and  their 
civilisation. 

*      *      * 

War  Zone  Pilgrimages 

FRANCE  is  already  preparing  to  re- 
ceive the  enormous  throngs  of  tour- 
ists whose  influx  she  expects  in  1921, 
and  who  will  visit  her  historic  battle- 
fields and  demolished  towns.  M.  Claveille, 
Minister  of  Public  Works,  on  Dec.  31 
introduced  in  the  French  Chamber  a  bill 
to  authorize  the  Office  National  de 
Tourisme  to  borrow  30,000,000  francs 
(about  $6,000,000  at  the  pre-war  rate  of 
exchange)  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
the  broad  stretch  of  country  over  which 
the  conflict  raged,  including  the  erection 
of  camps,  hotels  and  restaurants,  and  the 
creation  of  motor-car  services  through- 
out the  battle  zone.    The  National  Tour- 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


419 


ing  Office  will  farm  out  to  companies  or 
private  individuals  these  camps,  hotels, 
&c,  and  will  be  authorized  to  pay  out  of 
its  receipts  its  working  expenses  and 
annuities  on  loans.  Out  of  the  residue, 
25  per  cent,  will  be  allotted  to  the  de- 
vastated communes.  Hotel  and  transport 
tariffs  will  be  fixed  by  agreement  with 
the  Minister  of  Public  Works. 

Another  scheme — of  American  origin 
— is  the  erection  of  a  chain  of  hotels  in 
the  American-British  battle  zones,  each 
hotel  to  have  at  least  two-thirds  of  its 
available  rooms  set  aside  for  American 
and  British  tourists.  The  undertaking 
has  been  financed  at  $10,000,000  by 
wealthy  business  men  from  the  United 
States.  The  two  largest  hotels  of  this 
chain  will  be  near  Chateau-Thierry  and 
Ypres.  Guides  to  the  battlefields  will  be 
supplied. 

The  women  relatives  of  American  sol- 
diers who  died  in  France  are  to  be  spe- 
cially provided  for  under  the  direction 
of  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  of  Paris.  Rooms 
have  already  been  engaged  by  this  or- 
ganization at  the  Hotel  Petrograd  in  the 
French  capital,  and  plans  have  been 
made  for  providing  the  mothers  and  sis- 
ters, who  come  to  visit  the  graves  of 
their  dead,  with  comfortable  quarters, 
helping  them  with  baggage  and  pass- 
ports, and  facilitating  the  finding  of  the 
graves  they  seek.  Arrangements  have 
also  been  made  to  have  these  relatives 
shown  special  attention  when  visiting 
cemeteries.  At  some  of  the  larger  bury- 
ing places,  where  hotel  accommodations 
are  still  lacking,  rest  houses  have  been 
erected.  At  Romagne,  barracks  were 
given  by  the  American  Army  and  fur- 
nished by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.. 
*     *     * 

The  French  Birth  Rate 

THE  problem  of  the  ever-diminishing 
birth  rate  of  France  has  become  more 
acute  with  the  great  losses  due  to  the 
war.  The  question  has  seemed  so  vital 
to  the  Government  that  steps  have  been 
taken  to  study  the  situation  and  to  find 
a  remedy,  or  remedies,  to  overcome  the 
danger  to  the  country's  future  existence. 
President  Poincare  on  Jan.  27  issued  a 
decree  creating  a  natality  division  of 
the  Ministry  of  Health,  this  bureau  being 


empowered  to  deal  solely  with  France's 
need  for  more  children.  M.  Brenton, 
Chief  of  the  Ministry  of  Health,  on  the 
same  day  presented  a  report,  which  read 
in  part  as  follows: 

The  lowness  of  the  French  birth  rate, 
which  becomes  worse  each  year,  endan- 
gers the  existence  of  the  nation.  For  a 
long:  time  before  the  war  France  lacked 
men.  French  soil  is  one  of  the  most  fertile 
in  the  world,  but  is  one  of  the  least  pro- 
ductive because  of  lack  of  labor.  Because 
of  the  lack  of  men  industry  in  France  is 
obliged  to  depend  more  on  immigration 
than  any  other  European  country.  The 
war  in  depriving  France  of  2,000,000  young 
men  has  increased  still  more  the  danger 
which  threatens  the  nation. 

We  have  often  studied  this  situation, 
which  is  unique  with  France;  we  have 
recognized  that  it  is  not  due  to  one  cause, 
but  to  a  multiplicity  of  causes.  There- 
fore, to  combat  it  we  must  not  resort  to 
one  remedy,  but  to  many  remedies,  some 
of  a  moral  nature,  others  of  a  national 
and  economic  nature. 

We  must  not  Intrust  this  grave  ques- 
tion, the  gravest  of  all  that  confront  us, 
to  a  temporary  commission,  irregularly 
convoked,  but  to  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion meeting  at  fixed  periods  and  equipped 
with  sufficient  means  of  inquiry  and  pub- 
licity. 

The  decree  issued  by  the  French 
President  provides  that  this  council  shall 
consist  of  thirty  members,  and  shall  meet 
monthly.  One  of  its  duties  will  be  "  to 
examine  all  measures  which  may  combat 
depopulation,  increase  the  birth  rate,  de- 
velop puericulture,  and  protect  and  honor 
large  families." 

*     *     * 
First  Jewish  Ship 

rpHE  first  Jewish  ship  in  the  Mediter- 
•*■  ranean,  owned  by  Jews,  manned  by 
Jews,  and  flying  the  Jewish  flag,  was 
launched  at  Jaffa  late  in  January.  As 
the  blue-white  flag  of  Zion  flew  up  the 
mast,  two  Italian  warships  in  the  har- 
bor gave  official  recognition  to  the 
Jewish  colors  by  saluting  them.  The 
vessel,  a  former  German  craft,  was  pur- 
chased to  ply  along  the  Palestine  coast, 
making  the  ports  of  Beirut,  Tyre,  Haifa, 
Jaffa,  Gaza,  and  several  ports  in  Egypt. 
It  was  renamed  Hecholutz,  the  Pioneer. 
Permission  had  been  gained  from  the 
British  Government  to  fly  the  Jewish 
colors.  The  wife  of  the  English  com- 
mandant at  Jaffa   raised   the  flag  and 


420 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


launched  the  boat,  expressing  the  hope 
that  next  year  the  Jewish  Zionists  might 
possess  a  large  merchant  marine  on  the 
Mediterranean.  The  establishment  of 
such  a  fleet  was  being  worked  out  in 
conjunction  with  harbor  improvements 
at  Haifa  by  Zionist  engineers,  who 
planned,  through  the  $10,000,000  now 
being  raised  by  the  Palestine  Restoration 
Fund  campaign,  to  convert  Haifa  into 
the  leading  harbor  and  most  important 
city  of  the  entire  Near  East,  whose  com- 
mercial and  maritime  prosperity  will  be 
carried  on  through  Jewish  merchantmen. 

*  *     * 

State  Socialism  in  Queensland 

THE  extensive  experiment  in  State 
Socialism  undertaken  by  Queensland, 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  Australian 
States,  has  proved,  according  to  a  writer 
in  The  New  York  World,  to  be  a  com- 
plete failure.  The  State  established  its 
own  butcheries,  liquor  saloons  and  fisher- 
ies, operated  the  railroads,  coal  and  car- 
bide mines,  but  met  in  every  direction 
with  financial  loss.  Taxation,  which  had 
been  $5.79  per  capita,  jumped  the  first 
year  (1916)  to  $8.68,  in  1917  to  $9.46,  in 
1918  to  $10.54,  and  in  1919  to  $16.20. 
Meanwhile  Queensland  has  had  a  greater 
percentage  of  strikes  than  any  other 
Australian  State,  many  of  them  in  the 
State's  own  enterprises.  Official  figures, 
according  to  this  writer,  show  that  the 
cost  of  living  in  Queensland  is  higher 
than  in  any  other  State  of  the  Australian 

Union. 

*  *     * 

New    Zealand   Non-Prohibition 

THE  results  of  the  New  Zealand 
referendum  poll  on  prohibition,  taken 
collaterally  with  the  Parliamentary  elec- 
tions in  December,  were  stated  officially 
on  Jan.  9  to  be  as  follows: 
For  continuance  of  present  liquor  laws.  .240,998 

For  State  purchase  and  control 32,148 

For  prohibition    270,178 

The  votes  cast  for  prohibition  were 
thus  2,968  short  of  the  absolute  majority 
required  to  carry  any  of  the  three  points 
at  issue.  The  present  licensing  system 
was  therefore  continued.  The  prohibition- 
ists announced  that  they  would  continue 
the  fight,  and  if  necessary  would  ask  the 
new  Parliament  to  amend  the  electoral 


law  in  such  wise  that  a  definite  majority 
verdict  one  way  or  another  could  be 
obtained. 

*  *     * 

Training  Disabled  Men 

IT  was  stated  in  the  British  Parliament 
on  Dec.  23,  1919,  that  in  England, 
Wales  and  Scotland  there  were  20,000 
disabled  soldiers  and  sailors  on  the  wait- 
ing list  for  industrial  training.  About 
13,000  were  being  trained  in  private 
workshops  and  factories;  20,000  had  al- 
ready been  trained,  and  a  large  addi- 
tional number  of  applications  were  ex- 
pected and  provided  for.  The  spirit  of 
employers  was  generally  good,  and  a 
royal  proclamation  had  been  of  material 
assistance  in  helping  to  find  permanent 
places  for  the  soldiers  trained. 

*  *     * 

Largest  Naval   Ship 

CROWDS  of  spectators  lined  the  bank 
of  the  Clyde  River  at  many  points 
on  Jan.  10  to  witness  the  launching  of 
the  new  British  battle  cruiser  Hood,  the 
largest  naval  vessel  of  the  world.  The 
new  dreadnought  is  860  feet  long,  with 
a  displacement  of  41,200  tons,  and  a 
designed  speed  of  31  knots.  Its  main 
armament  consists  of  eight  15-inch  guns. 
The  Hood,  according  to  an  Admiralty 
statement,  cost  £6,500,000;  three  others 
of  the  same  type,  which  had  been  partly 
constructed,  were  scrapped  after  the 
signing  of  the  armistice. 
*     *     * 

New  Ambassador  to  Rome 

ROBERT  UNDERWOOD  JOHNSON 
of  New  York,  editor  of  the  Century 
Magazine  from  1909  to  1913,  an  author 
and  poet,  originator  of  the  memorial  to 
Keats  and  Shelley  in  Rome,  was  ap- 
pointed on  Feb.  11  as  Ambassador  to 
Rome  to  succeed  Thomas  Nelson  Page  of 
Virginia,  who  resigned  several  months 
ago. 

*  *     * 

Gallipoli  Graves  Damaged 

CERTAIN  British  cemeteries  in  Galli- 
poli, where  so  many  British  soldiers 
were  sacrificed  in  vain,  have  been  serious- 
ly damaged  by  vandals,  and  the  British 
High    Commissioner    at    Constantinople 


CURRENT  HISTORY  IN  BRIEF 


421 


has  called  the  attention  of  the  Ottoman 
Minister  of  War  to  this  desecration.  The 
commissioner  stated  that  he  had  caused 
disciplinary  action  to  be  taken  in  cases 
in  which  Turkish  soldiers  were  the  of- 


desecration,  and  to  facilitate  the  work 
of  the  Graves  Registration  Units,  the 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army  of  the 
Black  Sea  had  begun  the  sending  of  Ser- 
bian guards  into  the  area  to  protect  the 


fenders.      To    prevent    further    acts    of      graves. 

Ireland  in  Revolt 

A    Tense    Situation 


THE  serious  situation  in  Ireland  was 
frankly  acknowledged,  both  by  the 
King  and  by  the  Premier,  in  their 
respective  addresses  at  the  opening  of 
Parliament,  on  Feb.  10,  1920.  All  the 
developments  during  "late  January  and 
February  indicated  that  the  home-rule 
proposal  outlined  by  Lloyd  George,  which 
was  printed  in  full  in  the  February 
Current  History,  was  unsatisfactory  to 
all  groups  of  the  Irish  people,  and  would 
require  complete  revision.  The  Premier 
announced  that  the  bill  was  undergoing 
changes,  and  would  be  introduced  during 
the  week  of  Feb.  16-23. 

Declarations  made  by  spokesmen  for 
an  English  labor  delegation,  on  comple- 
tion of  a  ten-day  tour  of  Ireland,  were  to 
the  effect  that  the  desire  for  an  inde- 
pendent republic  was  widespread,  and 
frankly  expressed,  but  the  Labor  Party, 
while  believing  that  the  fullest  measure 
of  home  rule  should  be  granted,  going 
much  further  than  the  proposals  in  the 
pending  Government  bill,  indicated  that 
it  would  oppose  complete  separation  from 
the  empire;  it  asserted  that  it  would 
favor  a  measure  according  home  rule  in 
all  domestic  and  excise  questions,  but 
held  that  foreign  relations  should  be  kept 
under  control  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment. 

Eamonn  de  Valera,  who  was  elected 
by  the  Sinn  Fein  organizations  as  the 
"  President  of  the  Irish  Republic,"  made 
a  public  statement  at  New  York  on  Feb. 
7  which  was  regarded  as  opening  the 
way  for  an  adjustment  of  the  question. 
He  declared  that  England  might  grant 
Ireland  her  independence,  and,  under  a 
policy  similar  to  that  of  the  American 
Government  regarding  the  independence 
of  Cuba,  make  it  impossible    for    any 


nation  to  obtain  a  military  foothold  on 
the  politically  independent  island. 

All  the  traditional  enmity,  the  state- 
ment said,  would  be  wiped  out  by  the 
granting  of  independence  to  Ireland,  be- 
cause there  would  be  no  longer  cause  for 
Irishmen  to  hate  England.  It  added  that 
"  an  independent  Ireland  would  see  its 
own  independence  in  jeopardy  the  mo- 
ment it  saw  the  independence  of  Britain 
seriously  threatened,"  and  that  "  mutual 
self-interest  would  make  the  peoples  of 
these  two  islands,  if  both  independent, 
the  closest  possible  allies  in  a  moment  of 
real  national  danger  to  either." 

The  statement  charged  that  England's 
real  motive  in  preserving  the  present  re- 
lation with  Ireland  is  not  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  security  of  England,  but  "  the 
perpetuation  of  her  present  commercial 
monopoly  "  and  the  "  perpetuation  of  her 
domination  of  the  seas  by  control  of  the 
great  Irish  harbors." 

This  declaration  was  not  indorsed  by 
the  extreme  wing  of  the  Clan-na-Gael  in 
the  United  States,  and  was  mildly  criti- 
cised by  the  editor  of  The  Gaelic  Ameri- 
can, the  spokesman  for  the  extremists, 
who  affirmed  that  anything  short  of 
complete  independence  would  be  unac- 
ceptable to  the  Irish  people  and  would 
alienate  American  support. 

The  situation  in  Ireland  was  extremely 
tense  during  February,  the  entire  coun- 
try being  practically  in  a  state  of  sullen 
insurrection  and  virtually  under  martial 
law.  The  result  of  the  Sinn  Fein  vic- 
tories at  the  local  elections  was  mani- 
fested when  the  local  boards  met  to  or- 
ganize on  Jan.  30.  At  Dublin,  in  order 
to  express  open  defiance  of  British  con- 
trol, the  flag  of  the  Irish  Republic  was 
unfurled  from  the  tower  of  the  Munic- 


422 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ipal  Buildings,  next  door  to  Dublin  Cas- 
tle, the  seat  of  British  authority,  and  it 
fluttered  the  entire  day  in  full  view. 

Without  a  single  dissentient  vote  Al- 
derman Tom  Kelly  was  elected  Lord 
Mayor.  Kelly  had  been  for  nearly  two 
months  in  Wormwood  Scrubs  Prison.  He 
was  secretly  arrested  at  night  and  taken 
to  England  on  a  ship  of  war.  By  58 
votes  to  14  the  Corporation  refused  to 
send  any  names  forward  to  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  for  the  office  of  High  Sher- 
iff. Sinn  Fein  Chairmen  were  elected  at 
Cork,  Waterford,  Tipperary,  Sligo,  Dro- 
gheda  and  Limerick.  In  Derry  a  Roman 
Catholic  Mayor  was  elected  for  the  first 
time  in  300  years.  When  Alderman 
O'Doherty  took  his  seat,  Nationalists 
sang  "  God  Save  Ireland,"  and  American 
and  green  flags  were  waved.  Mayor 
O'Doherty  in  his  address  declared  that 
flags,  if  they  were  of  an  insulting  char- 
acter, would  not  be  permitted  to  fly  from 
the  Derry  Guildhall  in  future.  He  added 
that  a  long  and  painful  chapter  in  the 
history  of  the  country  had  been  closed. 

In  Cork  Alderman  Thomas  McCurtain, 
who  was  Captain  of  the  local  Sinn  Fein 
Volunteers,  was  appointed  Lord  Mayor. 
The  Sinn  Fein  "  Soldiers'  Song  "  was  sung 
in  the  Council  Chamber  and  a  resolu- 
tion was  carried  declaring  the  Corpora- 


tion's allegiance  to  Dail  Eirann.  The 
Council  declined  to  appoint  a  Sheriff,  as 
that  would  necessitate  an  oath  swearing 
allegiance  to  the  King.  Limerick  also 
declined  to  nominate  a  Sheriff,  and  when 
the  Sinn  Fein  Mayor  toook  his  seat  the 
"  Soldiers'  Song  "  was  sung.  At  Dro- 
gheda  the  new  Mayor  himself  refused  to 
take  the  oath. 

The  British  Government  was  quick  to 
act.  At  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Jan. 
31  troops  were  turned  out  and  raided 
and  arrested  every  Sinn  Fein  official  in 
Dublin,  Limerick,  .Thurles  and  else- 
where who  had  committed  any  act  or 
uttered  words  of  sedition  and  rebellion. 
The  prisoners  were  gathered  in  Dublin 
for  transportation  to  England  on  British 
warships.  The  arrest  of  all  the  leaders 
throughout  the  country  forestalled  a 
crisis  that  seemed  impending  from  the 
action  of  the  local  boards,  and  prevented 
any  organized  open  outbreak  prior  to 
the  disposition  of  the  new  home-rule 
proposal.  Meanwhile  the  whole  island 
was  seething  with  excitement,  and  there 
were  numerous  clashes  between  the  peo- 
ple and  the  police,  with  a  number  of  fa- 
talities, but  up  to  Feb.  18  the  firm  exe- 
cution of  martial  law  supported  by  the 
presence  of  an  immense  body  of  troops 
prevented  any  general  uprising. 


Norway  Acquires  Spitzbergen 

Most  Northerly  Coal  Field  in   the   World    Awarded   to   Norwegian 
Government  by  Supreme  Council 


rIE  Spitzbergen  Archipelago,  400 
miles  north  of  Hammerfest,  in  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  was  placed  under  the 
sovereignty  of  Norway  by  the  Peace 
Conference  on  Feb.  9,  1920,  when 
an  international  treaty  to  that  effect 
was  signed  in  the  Clock  Hall  of  the  For- 
eign Ministry  at  Paris.  Hugh  C.  Wal- 
lace, the  American  Ambassador  to 
France,  signed  for  the  United  States;  H. 
A.  Bernhoft,  Danish  Minister  to  France, 
for  Denmark;  Alexandre  Millerand,  the 
French  Premier,  for  France;  Carlo  Fer- 
raris, Italian  representative  in  the 
League    of    Nations,    for    Italy;    Baron 


Matsui,  Japanese  Ambassador  to  France, 
for  Japan;  Baron  Wedel  Jarisberg,  Nor- 
wegian Minister  to  France,  for  Norway; 
Jonkheer  J.  Louden  for  the  Netherlands 
and  Count  Ehrensvaard,  Swedish  Minis- 
ter to  France,  for  Sweden.  The  Earl  of 
Derby,  British  Ambassador  to  France, 
temporarily  absent,  affixed  his  signature 
the  next  day. 

Spitzbergen  for  hundreds  of  years  has 
been  a  country  without  political  organ- 
ization or  connection  with  any  of  the 
world's  nations.  For  a  century  it  had 
been  a  favorite  landing  station  for  arctic 
expeditions  and  whaling  fleets.     A  land 


NORWAY  ACQUIRES  SP1TZBERGEN 


428 


of  vast  glaciers,  snow-clad  mountains, 
and  rich  coal  fields,  it  was  a  camping 
place  for  half  a  dozen  enterprising  na- 
tionalities that  went  there  to  conduct 
mining  operations  on  their  local  claims, 
or  to  hunt  the  fur-bearing  animals  that 


SPITSBERGEN  ARCHIPELAGO,  NOW  UNDER 
THE    NORWEGIAN    GOVERNMENT 

abounded  on  the  islands,  or  to  carry  on 
manufacturing  enterprises.  The  Ger- 
mans held  a  coal  district  and  maintained 
a  scientific  station  at  Ebeltofthafen;  the 
English  had  several  sections  in  the  coal 
fields  and  elsewhere,  and  Norway,  Swe- 
den, and  Russia  all  had  coal  claims  on 
the  west  coast,  which  they  were  working. 
Each  community  was  a  law  unto  itself, 
but  for  several  years  there  had  been 
urgent  attempts  to  arrange  a  definite 
political  status  for  the  islands;  in  fact, 
a  treaty  on  the  subject  was  in  process  of 
negotiation  when  the  great  war  broke 
out  in  1914.  Now  at  last  the  Peace  Con- 
ference has  completed  the  work,  appa- 
rently to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody. 
The  Norwegians  claimed  the  adminis- 


trative control  of  the  archipelago  by 
right  of  discovery,  and  by  right  of  occu- 
pation and  development  of  its  coal  re- 
sources. They  allege  that  Norsemen  dis- 
covered the  archipelago;  that  it  was  men- 
tioned in  the  sagas  as  early  as  1194  un- 
der the  name  of  Svalbard,  and  that  Nor- 
wegian whalers  have  kept  up  the  connec- 
tion ever  since  then.  The  Dutch  sailors, 
Jakob  van  Heemskerck,  Jan  Corneliszoon 
Rip  and  William  Barents,  were  supposed 
to  have  discovered  the  islands  in  1596, 
taking  them  to  be  p?^  of  Greenland,  and 
naming  them  New  Land.  For  two  centu- 
ries the  Dutch  used  the  islands  as  hunt- 
ing grounds  for  seal  and  walrus,  chang- 
ing the  name  to  Spitsbergen,  from  its 
sharp-pointed  mountains.  This  name  has 
since  been  accommodated  to  German 
spelling.  There  is  a  strong  sentiment  for 
reviving  the  old  Norse  name  Svalbard 
(cold  mountain)  for  the  archipelago.  In 
1630  England  formally  annexed  the  isl- 
ands, all  except  a  small  portion  perma- 
nently occupied  by  the  Dutch,  but  she 
urged  no  claims  on  them  in  1914,  when 
the  international  conference  met  in  Chris- 
tiania  to  settle  the  status  of  Spitzbergen. 
The  most  productive  of  the  coal  mines 
are  at  Advent  Bay,  about  the  middle  of 
the  west  coast,  where  there  is  also  a 
wireless  station.  These  mines  were  pros- 
pected by  Norwegians,  developed  by  the 
American  Longyear  Company,  and  after- 
ward sold  to  Norwegians.  Norwegian 
coal  holdings  thus  came  to  exceed  all 
others,  though  next  in  importance  comes 
those  of  the  Swedes,  who  are  carrying  on 
considerable  coal-mining  operations  a 
little  further  south.  There  are  said  to  be 
deposits  of  iron  ore  in  the  islands.  Five 
hundred  workingmen  passed  the  Winter 
of  1918-19  in  Spitzbergen,  all  Norwe- 
gians, except  sixty  Swedes.  Since  1908 
the  Norwegian  Government  has  subsi- 
dized voyages  of  exploration  there,  with 
the  results  of  full  and  valuable  maps,  in- 
cluding the  only  ones  that  have  ever  been 
made  of  the  interior,  and  extensive  litera- 
ture on  the  geography,  history  and  min- 
eralogy of  Spitzbergen.  The  Norwegians 
also  maintain  the  wireless  telegraph  sta- 
tion and  a  postal  service,  the  only  con- 
nection with  the  outside  world.  The  area 
is  about  28,000  square  miles.     The  Nor- 


424 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


wegian  Government  will  levy  taxes,  but 
only  to  devote  the  proceeds  to  the  needs 
of  the  islands,  which  must  not  be  used 
for  military  purposes. 

Under  the  Norwegian  sovereignty  es- 
tablished by  the  treaty  all  private  inter- 
ests already  existing  in  Spitzbergen  will 
remain  intact,  and  provision  is  made  for 


the  free  entry  of  any  foreign  enterprises 
that  desire  to  take  part  in  developing 
the  resources  of  the  islands.  The  Ger- 
man mines  were  taken  over  by  the  Eng- 
lish during  the  war,  and  the  German 
scientific  station  was  destroyed,  but  it  is 
hoped  that  the  latter  will  in  time  be  re- 
established. 


Slesvig  and  the  First  Plebiscite 

Victory    for  Denmark 


ONE  of  the  first  of  the  plebiscites, 
or  popular  votes,  provided  for 
under  the  German  Peace  Treaty 
was  that  of  the  northern  zone  of  Slesvig, 
the  province  which  Germany  had  wrested 
from  Denmark  in  1864  and  annexed  as 
part  of  Schleswig-Holstein.  The  vote  was 
held  on  Feb.  10  and  proved  to  be  an 
overwhelming  victory  for  the  Danes. 
Official  returns,  published  two  days  later 
by  the  International  Commission,  showed 
75,023  votes  for  the  return  of  the  zone 
to  Denmark,  as  against  25,087  for  its 
retention  by  Germany.  As  some  10  per 
cent,  of  the  voting  Germans  at  once  re- 
turned to  their  homes  in  Germany, 
whence  they  had  come  at  the  urging  of 
the  Berlin  Government,  the  International 
Commission  stated  on  Feb.  12  that  the 
Danes  were  about  85  per  cent,  of  the 
population. 

The  result  was  greeted  by  the  Germans 
with  charges  of  unfairness  and  with 
some  violence.  A  German  climbed  to  the 
roof  of  the  hotel  in  Flensburg  where  the 
Interallied  Commission  was  staying,  tore 
down  the  English  and  French  flags,  pull- 
ing the  French  one  to  pieces,  and  hoist- 
ing German  flags  instead.  Denmark,  on 
the  other  hand,  rejoiced  over  the  result 
of  the  plebiscite.  In  the  Council  of  State 
at  Copenhagen  on  Feb.  11  King  Christian 
recalled  with  emotion  how  his  grand- 
father fifty-six  years  ago  had  voiced  the 
sorrow  of  the  Danes  over  the  dismember- 
ment of  their  country.    He  added: 

It  is  my  happy,  if  undeserved,  fortune 
to  see  this  glorious  day.  Humbly 
thanking  God  and  in  fond  remembrance 
of  those,  dead  and  living,  who  fought  to 
preserve  Danish  Slesvig,   I  send  the  first 


greeting  of  welcome  to  my  returning  com- 
patriots, whose  love  of  their  mother 
country  has  only  been  strengthened  by 
their  long  and  trying  period  of  alienation 
from  her. 

BEFORE  THE  PLEBISCITE 

King  Christian  X.  of  Denmark  had 
cabled  to  President  Wilson  on  Jan.  12, 
1920,  the  deep  gratitude  of  the  Danish 
nation  for  the  part  played  by  the  United 
States  in  bringing  about  the  Treaty  of 
Versailles,  containing  the  provision  that 
Danish  Slesvig  should  have  "  an  oppor- 
tunity to  be  united  to  its  Fatherland." 
The  Allied  Plebiscite  Commission,  which 
had  been  sitting  in  Copenhagen  since 
August,  1919,  entered  Flensburg  on  Jan. 
26  to  oversee  the  voting  which  consti- 
tuted this  "  opportunity."  Allied  troops 
were  present  to  enforce  fair  play.  The 
commission  received  an  enthusiastic  wel- 
come from  the  Danish  portion  of  the 
population,  as  did  the  allied  troops  of 
occupation  at  Handerslev  and  other 
cities.  At  Flensburg  the  reception  was 
marred  by  German  assaults  on  persons 
displaying  Danish  flags.  Stones  were 
thrown  and  some  Danes  injured.  Many 
arrests  were  made,  and  the  German  police 
was  replaced  by  Danish  and  allied  po- 
licemen. 

The  commission  issued  orders  pro- 
hibiting public  officials  and  preachers 
from  electioneering,  and  forbidding  aliens 
to  participate  in  such  activities  on  pain 
of  deportation.  This  was  to  prevent  the 
influx  of  professional  agitators  from 
Germany  and  Denmark.  The  British 
troops  occupying  Flensburg  found  it 
necessary  to  deport  the  Mayor  of  that 


SLESVIG  AND  THE  FIRST  PLEBISCITE 


425 


city  for  his  activity  in  behalf  of  German 
interests.  The  Dannebrog  was  hoisted  all 
over  the  province.  Feeling  ran  high,  both 
factions  waging  a  vigorous  contest,  with 
the  use  of  every  political  trick  to  gain 
the  desired  end.  Attempts 
of  the  rival  factions  in 
the  country  districts  to  cap- 
ture each  other's  meetings 
resulted  in  some  broken 
heads,  but  the  Allies  kept 
the  situation  so  v/ell  in  hand 
that  serious  violence  was 
prevented. 

Ten  days  after  the  sign- 
ing of  the  peace  protocol 
German  troops  had  to  leave 
the  province.  German  of- 
ficials rapidly  abandoned 
the  northern  zone,  where 
the  first  vote  was  to  be 
taken,  and  where  there  was 
no  possible  doubt  that  the 
Danes  would  win.  Still 
there  the  Germans  strove 
to  secure  as  large  a  minor- 
ity as  possible  in  the  hope 
that  every  vote  would  help 
to  save  Flensburg,  which  is 
in  the  southern  zone,  where 
the  second  vote  was  to  take 
place  five  weeks  after  the 
first.  The  northern  zone 
was  to  vote  as  a  unit  and 
the  southern  zone  by  com- 
munes. If  the  northern 
zone  voted  a  return  to 
Denmark — a  foregone  con- 
clusion— the  southern  zone 
was  to  vote  five  weeks 
later.  The  first  zone  was  to  vote  three 
weeks  after  the  ten  days'  notice  given 
the  German  authorities  to  leave  both 
zones  after  the  signing  of  the  peace 
protocol,  the  day  finally  set  being  Tues- 
day, Feb.  10,  1920. 

CONTEST  OVER  FLENSBURG 

When  the  plebiscite  was  first  ordered 
the  Danes  protested  against  extending 
the  boundary  line  too  far  southward. 
Denmark  did  not  wish  a  return  of  that 
part  of  the  territory  taken  away  in  1864 
which  is  racially  German.  Some  objec- 
tion was  made  even  against  the  return 
of   Flensburg,    which,   however,    became 


the  storm  centre  of  the  campaign.  Fifty- 
five  years  of  Prussianizing  had  removed 
all  evidence  of  Danish  life,  but  the  Danes 
of  the  district  assert  that  it  is  essen- 
tially Danish,  though  the  German  lan- 


TO  VOTE    FOR 

^.  UNION  WITH 
-V^j  GERMANY  Ol? 
DENMARK 


SHADED    PORTION    ABOVE    UPPER    BLACK    LINE    TS    ZONE 

THAT   VOTED  FEB.    10   TO   REJOIN   DENMARK.      REMAINING 

SHADED   ZONE    WILL   HOLD   A   PLEBISCITE    IN    MARCH 


guage  was  forced  upon  the  population. 
Moreover,  the  Danes  became  more  and 
more  swayed  by  the  economic  importance 
of  Flensburg,  which  is  the  chief  city  and 
seaport  of  the  province.  Economic  ele- 
ments in  the  situation  made  it  difficult 
if  not  impossible  to  settle  the  Slesvig 
question  along  national  lines.  It  became 
evident  that  many  Germans  preferred 
going  under  the  rule  of  Denmark  to  re- 
maining subject  to  Germany;  they  also 
wished  to  escape  the  war-indemnity  taxa- 
tion of  Germany.  German  shipping  com- 
panies of  Flensburg  had  given  up  their 
ships  to  the  Allies,  and  hoped  by  becom- 
ing Danish  to  recover  them. 


426 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Then  there  is  the  superior  value  of 
the  Danish  krone  over  the  depreciating 
German  mark.  The  Danish  Government 
has  promised  to  do  all  that  is  possible 
to  protect  returning  Danes  from  losses, 
but  this  question  of  valuation  has  not 
been  settled.  Premier  Zahle,  whose 
Ministry  guided  Denmark  through  the 
dangers  threatened  by  the  world  war,  ex- 
plained before  his  resignation  (March  1, 
1919)  that  to  redeem  the  mark  at  par 
was  an  impossibility.  Trade  and  in- 
dustry are  almost  paralyzed  by  the  un- 
settled conditions,  and  food  and  fuel  are 
scarce,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Danish  Government  to  relieve  the  dis- 
tress in  the  province. 

The  commission  agreed  to  fix  the 
boundary  line  according  to  "  geographi- 
cal and  economic  considerations."  The 
flexibility  of  this  phrase  gave  rise  to 
the  hope  on  the  part  of  the  Slesvig 
Danes  that  Flensburg  would  be  awarded 
to  Denmark  whether  the  Germans  got  a 
majority  of  the  votes  or  not.  Though 
the  Danish  Government  specified  that 
Flensburg  was  not  to  be  returned  unless 
the  inhabitants  clearly  indicated  a  desire 
for  V:,  there  was  agitation  throughout 
Denmark  and  Slesvig  to  redeem  it  from 
Germany.  It  was  argued  that  Flens- 
burg, though  forcibly  Germanized,  is  an 
old  Danish  town,  a  stronghold  of  Danism, 
and  belongs  economically  with  the 
agricultural  hinterland  of  North  Slesvig. 
The  feeling  increased  that  the  boundary 
should  be  fixed  at  the  Eider  River.  This 
stream  was  the  southern  boundary  of 
Denmark  fixed  by  King  Canute  the 
Great  in  an  agreement  with  Kaiser  Kon- 
rad  II.  of  Germany  in  1027,  and  there  it 
remained  until  1864,  when  Germany 
seized  Slesvig. 

HISTORIC  DANISH  WALL 

In  the  campaign  in  South  Slesvig 
much  use  has  been  made  of  the  senti- 
ment and  historical  associations  that 
centre  about  the  Dannevirke  (Danes' 
work).  This  great  wall  was  built  in  pre- 
historic times  by  the  Danes  as  a  defense 
against  the  Holsteiners  and  other  Ger- 
mans, who  are  referred  to  in  the  sagas 
as  Huns.  Extending  from  the  forks  of 
the  Trae  River  to  the  Slie  Fjord,  about 


eight  miles  long,  the  wall  is  still  a  strik- 
ing feature  of  the  landscape,  and  has  al- 
ways been  the  symbol  of  Danish  national 
entity.  Around  it  centre  the  sacred 
memories  of  over  a  thousand  years,  with 
all  the  imponderable  values  of  national 
sentiment,  love,  and  pride  in  heroic  an- 
cestry and  epic  deeds. 

Attacks  on  this  wall  by  the  "  Huns  " 
drove  the  neighboring  tribes  to  gather 
around  King  Dan,  who  founded  the  king- 
dom which  was  called  after  him  Dan- 
mark  (Dan's  field  or  land).  Toward 
the  end  of  the  ninth  century  Queen 
Thyra  caused  the  construction  on  the 
same  site  of  a  new  wall  thirty  to  forty- 
eight  feet  high  and  thirty  feet  thick  at 
the  top,  built  of  earth,  stones  and  tim- 
bers. The  steep  southern  side  was  pro- 
tected by  palisades,  and  for  every  hun- 
dred feet  there  was  a  bastion  tower.  Be- 
low the  palisades  was  a  moat  nine 
fathoms  deep  and  ten  wide.  In  its  whole 
length  there  was  only  one  place  where 
the  moat  could  be  passed  and  only  one 
passage  through  the  mound.  This  was 
called  Karlegat  or  Viglidsdor  ("  Carls' 
Gate  "  or  "  Warriors'  Door  ").  The  wall 
has  since  been  reinforced  and  extended 
by  various  Danish  monarchs. 

The  land  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Dannevirke,  with  the  Trae  River  and  its 
marshes  at  its  western  end  and  the  Slie 
Fjord  at  its  eastern  end,  and  on  the 
south  by  the  Eider  River  was  in  olden 
days  a.  dense  forest  called  Morkved 
(Mirkwood)  or  Jernved  (Ironwood).  But 
the  Eider  River  was  then,  as  now,  the 
border  line  between  the  old  Danish  prov- 
ince, South  Jutland,  and  the  German 
province  Holstein.  Even  to  this  day  the 
Germans  call  part  of  this  territory  Dan- 
ischwald,  the  Danish  Forest. 

The  name  Slesvig  was  given  to  the 
province  from  the  city  of  the  same  name 
on  a  vig  (small  bay)  of  the  Slie  Fjord, 
and  means  the  She's  Vig  (Cf.  Old  Norse 
vik — English  wick).  The  Gei-man  form 
Schleswig  has  no  meaning.  As  Slesvig 
has  always  been  ethnically  Danish  and 
Holstein  ethnically  German,  there  is  no 
such  country  as  Slesvig-Holstein.  Hence 
the  bitter  hatred,  on  the  part  of  the  Dan- 
ish Slesvigers,  of  the  artificial  union  of 
the  two  provinces. 


Rumania  and  "Greater  Rumania 


w 


Survey  of  Regions  Claimed  by  the  Bucharest  Government — 
How  Much  the  Peace  Conference  Has  Granted 


BY  the  Rumanian  elections  of  No- 
vember, 1919,  the  old  Kingdom  of 
Rumania  brought  under  one  Lib- 
eral (de  facto)  Government  Min- 
isterial and  Parliamentary  representation 
both  its  antebellum  territory  and  the 
territory  of  the  "  Reunion."  On  Nov.  21 
the  Grand  Parliament  of  "  Greater  Ru- 
mania "  was  convoked  to  sanction  the 
reunion  of  Bessarabia,  Bukowina,  Tran- 
sylvania, the  Banat  of  Temesvar,  Oltenia, 
Maramuresh,  Ardjal,  Crish  and  Dobrudja, 
all  countries  which  the  Rumanians  of 
the  old  kingdom  overran  after  the  armi- 
stice and  wrested  from  Russia,  Austria- 
Hungary  and  Bulgaria.  In  all  these 
regions,  except  Dobrudja,  Rumania  had 
pluralities  of  irredentist  Rumanian  popu- 
lation, which,  on  the  coming  of  the  troops 
from  the  mother  country,  revolted  against 
their  several  masters  and  threw  in  their 
lot  with  the  old  kingdom.  Thus  Rumania 
seemed  to  realize  her  wildest  dreams  of 
national  unification,  which  raised  her,  in 
population,  area,  and  natural  resources, 
to  the  rank  of  a  great  power. 

Of  course  there  was  national  jubilation 
on  the  part  of  those  of  Rumanian  race, 
but  by  this  action  Rumania  came  into 
disagreement  with  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  with  whom,  however,  the 
Rumanians  continued  in  alliance  with  the 
conciliatory  attitude  which  they  still 
maintain.  The  Supreme  Council  ordered 
the  Rumanians  out  of  Hungary  when 
they  were  in  Budapest  levying  indemni- 
ties for  the  damage  done  when  the  Aus- 
trians  and  Germans  overran  old  Rumania 
during  the  war.  The  Rumanians  obeyed 
this  order  to  the  extent  of  leaving  the 
Hungarian  capital  and  withdrawing  their 
troops  beyond  the  Theiss,  but  they  re- 
tained their  hold  on  Transylvania,  a  few 
Hungarian  counties  west  of  Transylvania 
and  north  of  the  Banat,  and  the  eastern 
part  of  the  latter. 

The  Peace  Conference  refused  to  sanc- 
tion their  annexation  of  Torontal,  the 


westernmost  of  the  three  counties  of  the 
Banat.  The  Entente  powers  have  since 
sanctioned  the  Rumanian  possession  of 
Dobrudja,  but  have  not  yet  acted  on  the 
question  of  her  retaining  the  rest  of  her 
"  Reunion  "  territories.  The  uncertainties 
arising  out  of  this  situation  are  bitterly 
complained  of  by  the  Rumanians,  who 
attribute  to  it  the  slowness  of  their  eco- 
nomic recovery,  the  suspension  of  many 
of  their  industries,  and  their  inability 
to  put  into  execution  their  proposed 
agrarian  and  other  internal  reforms.  Bol- 
shevism was  repudiated  at  the  November 
elections. 

BANAT  OF  TEMESVAR 

The  Banat  of  Temesvar  (pronounced 
Temeshvar)  is  a  district  in  the  southeast 
of  Hungary,  consisting  of  the  three  coun- 
ties on  the  Danube,  Krasso-Szoreny, 
Temes,  and  Torontal.  The  latter  county 
is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Theiss 
River.  Because  of  the  183,000  unredeemed 
Serbs  in  Torontal,  the  Entente  proposes 
to  award  this  county  to  Serbia.  The  Ru- 
manians complain  bitterly  of  this,  citing 
their  waived  claim  to  that  part  of  the 
Timok  Valley  in  Serbia  which  is  mostly 
Rumanian  in  population. 

The  term  banat  (Hungarian  Bdnzdg) 
means  generally  a  frontier  province  cor- 
responding to  the  German  Mark,  and  the 
old  English  March  (cf.  the  Marches  of 
Wales).  This  was  governed  by  a  ban, 
the  Hungarian  equivalent  of  the  German 
markgraf  and  the  old  English  Lord 
Marcher.  The  other  banats  which  ex- 
isted in  Hungary  until  swept  away  by 
the  Turkish  wars  were  those  of  Slavonia, 
Bosnia,  and  Croatia.  But  when  the  word 
Banat  is  used  without  qualification  it 
always  indicates  the  Banat  of  Temesvar, 
which  strangely  came  by  this  title  after 
the  peace  of  Passarovitz  (1718),  though 
it  was  never  governed  by  a  ban.  The 
area  is  11,263  square  miles.  It  is  bound- 
ed on  the  south  by  the  Danube,  on  the 


428 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


west  by  the  Theiss,  on  the  north  by  the 
Maros  Rivers,  and  on  the  east  by  the 
Transylvanian  Alps.  It  is  mountainous 
in  the  east  and  southeast,  while  in  the 
north,  west,  and  southwest  it  is  flat  and 
in  some  places  marshy. 

The  climate  is  generally  healthy,  except 
in  the  marshy  parts.  It  is  well  watered 
and  one  of  the  most  fertile  farming  dis- 
tricts of  former  Hungary,  producing 
great  quantities  of  wheat,  oats,  rye, 
barley,  maize,  flax,  hemp,  and  tobacco. 
The  products  of  its  vineyards  are  of  ex- 
cellent quality.  It  is  a  good  game  coun- 
try and  the  rivers  swarm  with  fish.  In 
the  mountains  the  mineral  wealth  is 
great,  including  coal,  iron,  copper,  tin, 
lead,  and  zinc.  Even  in  the  Roman  period 
it  was  famous  for  its  mineral  springs, 
especially  the  sulphur  springs  at  Me- 
hadia,  then  known  as  the  Baths  of  Her- 
cules (Thermae  Herculis).  In  1900  the 
Banat  had  a  population  of  1,431,329.  Ac- 
cording to  nationality  there  were  578,789 
Rumanians,  362,487  Germans,  351,938 
Serbians,  and  170,124  Magyars.  The  chief 
city  is  Temesvar,  in  the  north-central 
part,  on  the  Alte  Bega  River,  which  had 
in  1900  a  population  of  53,033.  Other 
cities  of  importance  are  Versecz  (25,199), 
Lugos  (16,126),  Nagybeczkerek  (26,407), 
Nagyikinda  (24,843),  and  Panczova 
(19,044). 

HISTORY  OF  THE  BANAT 

The  Turks  conquered  the  Banat  in 
1552,  and  ruled  it  as  a  province  until 
1716,  when  they  were  driven  out  by 
Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy.  After  the 
peace  of  Passarovitz,  two  years  later,  it 
received  the  title  of  Banat,  and  re- 
mained under  a  military  administration 
until  1751,  when  Maria  Theresa  gave 
it  a  civil  administration.  When  the 
Turks  were  driven  out  the  district  was 
found  to  be  nearly  depopulated,  having 
become  a  desolate  wilderness  of  heath, 
forest,  and  marsh.  Rumanians  poured 
in  great  numbers  into  this  region,  set- 
tling the  Hungarian  plain  almost  as  far 
westward,  in  some  places,  as  the  Theiss. 
Count  Claudius  Mercy  (1666-1734),  who 
was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Banat  in 
1720,  took  numerous  measures  for  its  re- 
generation,  draining  .the  marshes   near 


the  Theiss  and  the  Danube,  and  building 
canals  and  roads  at  great  cost  of  labor. 
German  artisans,  Serbs,  Magyars,  and 
other  settlers  were  attracted  to  the  dis- 
trict, and  trade  and  agriculture  were  en- 
couraged. Maria  Theresa  further  de- 
veloped the  Count's  measures,  colonizing 
the  crownland  with  German  peasants 
and  founding  many  villages,  besides  en- 
couraging the  exploitation  of  the  min- 
eral resources.  In  1779  the  Banat  was 
again  incorporated  with  Hungary.  After 
the  revolution  of  1848-49  the  Banat  and 
another  county  (Bacz)  were  separated 
from  Hungary,  and  the  Banat  was  made 
a  distinctive  Austrian  crownland,  but 
was  again  incorporated  with  Hungary  in 
1860.  The  city  of  Temesvar  became  a 
town  in  the  thirteenth  century,  but  was 
destroyed  by  the  Tatars  in  1242.  It  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Turks  in  1552, 
from  whom  Prince  Eugene  delivered  it  in 
1716.  In  1849  it  successfully  warded  off 
the  attack  of  Veczy  and  his  Hungarian 
insurgents.  On  Aug.  9,  1849,  the  Aus- 
trians  under  Haynau  defeated  the  Hun- 
garians under  Bern  and  Dembinski,  near 
Temesvar.  In  the  city  stands  a  Gothic 
column  forty  feet  high,  by  Max,  erected 
to  these  defenders  of  1849.  The  city 
consists  of  an  outer  town  and  an  inter- 
esting inner  town,  or  "  fortress."  Among 
the  notable  structures  are  the  comman- 
der's palace,  an  immense  barracks,  the 
Greek  Bishop's  palace,  a  Catholic  cathe- 
dral built  by  Maria  Theresa,  a  Greek 
Catholic  cathedral,  and  an  arsenal 
housed  in  the  castle  built  by  Hunyady 
in  1442.  The  population  is  mainly  Ger- 
man Catholic. 

Up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  world  war 
the  Rumanians  of  the  Banat  belonged 
mainly  to  the  peasant,  town  proletariat, 
and  other  lower  classes,  and  were  in  a 
backward  condition,  culturally  and  so- 
cially. The  ruling  and  business  classes 
and  the  intellectual  classes  were  Ger- 
mans and  Magyars,  who  regarded  the 
Rumanians  with  haughty  contempt. 

THE  DOBRUDJA 

The  peninsula  projection  of  the  Bulga- 
rian uplands,  thrusting  northward  be- 
tween the  Danube  River  on  the  west  and 
the  Black  Sea  on  the  east,  known  as  the 
Dobrudja,  is  of  little  intrinsic  value.    It 


RUMANIA   AND  "GREATER  RUMANIA" 


1*0 


G*L/C/ 


X 


% 


B  ULG  A  R  I  A 


SHADED  PORTIONS  INDICATE   TOTAL  OP  NEW  TERRITORY  CLAIMED  BY  RUMANIA.      THE 

PEACE  CONFERENCE   SANCTIONED   RUMANIA'S   RIGHT  TO  THE  DOBRUDJA  AND  PART  OF 

THE    BANAT.      THE    OTHER    CLAIMS    ARE    STILL    IN    ABEYANCE 


consists  of  a  ridge  of  bare  hills  and  pla- 
teaux, and  barren,  wind-swept  downs, 
whereby  the  Danube  is  forced  to  make 
its  great  bend  northward  from  Silistria, 
until  it  rounds  the  Dobrudja  hills  and 
breaks  a  marshy  way  to  the  Black  Sea. 
Turco-Tatars  roam  these  uplands  with 
their  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats,  and  herds 
of  half-wild  swine  find  pannage  there. 
A  few  Bulgarian  peasants  tilled  the  scat- 
tered patches  of  fertile  soil. 

The  region  had  no  importance  until 
the  Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877.  Then 
Russia  took  it  from  the  Turks  and  thrust 
it  upon  Rumania,  in  enforced  exchange 
for  the  fertile  Rumanian  province  of 
Bessarabia,  between  the  Dnieper  and 
Pruth  Rivers  and  the  Black  Sea.  The 
Rumanians  resented  this  robbery,  and 
could  see  little  use  to  be  made  of  the 
barren  Dobrudja,  which  was  without  any 
Rumanian  population.  In  making  the 
best  of  this  bad  bargain,  however,  Ru- 
mania, under  the  pressure  of  her  expand- 
ing commerce  after  1878,  discovered  that 
Dobrudja's  principal  harbor,  Constanza, 
afforded  a  much-needed  short-line  com- 


mercial outlet  to  the  Black  Sea.  When 
Bucharest,  the  Rumanian  capital,  was 
connected  by  railroad  with  Constanza, 
the  latter  became  a  flourishing  seaport, 
Rumania's  chief  economic  outlet  to  the 
world. 

The  nearness  of  Constanza  to  the  Bul- 
garian frontier,  however,  made  Rumania 
dissatisfied  with  the  situation,  which  ex- 
posed her  seaport  to  capture  in  case  of 
war.  By  her  intervention  in  the  second 
Baltic  war  of  1913,  Rumania  remedied 
this  strategic  defect  by  forcing  Bulgaria 
to  cede  to  her  the  Danube  fortress  of 
Silistria  and  a  strip  of  territory  extend- 
ing southeast  to  the  port  of  Baltchik,  on 
the  Black  Sea.  This  cession  of  nearly 
3,000  square  miles  put  the  Bulgarian 
frontier  out  of  easy  striking  distance  to 
Dobrudja,  and  made  the  Rumanian  fron- 
tier a  menace  to  the  Bulgarian  port  of 
Vama.  This  infuriated  Bulgaria,  who 
promptly  made  use  of  the  -opportunity 
for  revenge  afforded  her  by  the  world 
war.  In  the  Autumn  of  1916,  when  Ru- 
mania entered  the  war  on  the  Entente 
side,  Bulgaria,  as  the  ally  of  Germany, 


430 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


overran  Dobrudja.  This  Bulgaria  held 
until  Rumania  struck  back  after  the 
armistice  was  signed,  and  by  this  coup 
brought  the  Dobrudja  again  under  her 
own  sovereignty. 

ORIGIN   OF   THE   RUMANIANS 

Speaking  a  language  more  like  the 
ancient  Latin  than  any  other  living 
tongue,  looking  like  Southern  Italians, 
though  separated  from  the  nearest 
Italic  population  by  hundreds  of  miles  of 
territory  peopled  by  stocks  utterly  alien, 
the  Rumanians  form  a  racial  cultural 
puzzle.  Ethnologists  accept  as  probable 
the  picturesque  tradition  of  the  Ru- 
manians, who  believe  themselves  to  be 
descendants  of  the  Roman  colonists 
planted  in  this  part  of  the  lower  Danube, 
known  as  the  ancient  Dacia,  in  the  sec- 
ond century  A.  D.  When  the  irruption 
of  barbarian  hordes  compelled  Rome  to 
abandon  Dacia,  at  the  end  of  the  third 
century,  a  portion  of  the  Romanized 
Dacians  are  supposed  to  have  taken 
refuge  in  the  Carpathian  fastnesses  of 
the  present  Transylvania,  there  preserv- 
ing the  Latin  language  and  traditions. 
Historical  certainty  of  their  movements 
dates  from  the  early  Middle  Ages,  when 
the  modern  Rumanians  descended  from 
the  Transylvanian  Mountains  into  those 
wide  plains  north  of  the  Danube  which 
now  make  up  the  antebellum  Kingdom 
of  Rumania.  They  moved  under  pres- 
sure from  the  west  by  the  warlike 
Magyars  (of  Finnish  stock),  who  had 
settled  the  great  plains  of  Hungary,  and 
a  branch  of  the  Magyars,  called  the 
Czechlers,  had  become  dominant  In 
Transylvania. 

In  the  lower  Danubian  plains  the  Ru- 
manian colonists  gradually  formed  them- 
selves into  two  States,  Wallachia  in  the 
south,  and  Moldavia,  including  the  recent 
Russian  province  of  Bessarabia,  in  the 
north.  These  Rumanian  principalities 
underwent  many  devastations  from  the 
Turks,  who,  after  their  conquest  of  the 
Balkan  Peninsula  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, compelled  Wallachia  and  Moldavia 
to  accept  a  status  of  autonomous  vas- 
salage to  the  Ottoman  Empire.  As  the 
Turkish  power  declined  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century,  the  principalities,  being 


the  natural  high  road  from  Russia  to 
the  Balkans,  suffered  much  from  the 
passing  to  and  fro  of  the  Russian  armies 
invading  the  Balkans. 

But  in  this  period  the  Rumanians 
awoke  to  full  racial  consciousness, 
threw  off  the  Turkish  suzerainty,  and  in 
1859,  notwithstanding  Russian  opposi- 
tion, Wallachia  and  Moldavia  united, 
forming  the  independent  Kingdom  of  Ru- 
mania though  real  independence  of  Tur- 
key was  not  obtainable  until  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war  of  1877.  Though  Rumania 
rendered  valuable  assistance  to  Russia 
against  the  Turks,  Russia  regarded  Ru- 
mania as  a  stumbling  block  to  her  am- 
bitions in  the  Balkans  and  in  Constanti- 
nople. Russia  considered  her  seizure  of 
Bessarabia  as  a  preliminary  step  to  her 
intended  annexation  of  all  Rumania, 
when  the  time  should  be  ripe. 

PROSPECTS  FOR  STABILITY 

That  tract  of  country  between  the 
Dnieper  and  Pruth  Rivers  and  the 
Black  Sea,  a  goodly  continuation  of  the 
Russian  "  black  earth "  belt  so  famous 
for  its  fertility,  has  for  centuries  been 
overwhelmingly  Rumanian  in  population, 
as  have  Transylvania,  Southern  Bu- 
kowina,  and  the  eastern  plains  of  Hun- 
gary. 

The  racial  solidarity  secured  by  the 
recent  formation  of  the  kingdom  of 
Greater  Rumania  would  seem  on  the  face 
of  it  to  go  a  long  way  toward  solution 
of  the  Balkan  questions  by  removing  the 
age-long  Balkan  curse  of  irredentism. 
What  casts  the  shadow  of  doubt  on  this 
solution  is  the  characteristic  incompe- 
tence, politically  and  economically  speak- 
ing, of  the  Rumanian  race.  The  Ru- 
manians have  never  been  noted  for  ethi- 
cal energy  of  character,  for  business  or 
industrial  efficiency,  or  for  political  or- 
ganization and  responsibility,  They  are 
a  temperamental,  easy-going,  light- 
hearted,  thriftless  people,  fond' of  music 
and  of  the  gayeties  of  life,  and  have 
shown  bigoted  hostility  to  the  superior 
thrift  of  the  Armenians,  Jews  and 
Greeks,  who  control  the  retail  business 
of  Rumania;  they  have  imposed  ironclad 
legal  handicaps  upon  these  aliens,  in- 
cluding a  law  forbidding  their  ownership 


RUMANIA   AND  "GREATER  RUMANIA" 


4.')1 


of  land.  From  habit  and  the  natural  fer- 
tility of  their  soil  they  are  good  farmers 
and  graziers;  also,  they  are  good  horse- 
men and  good  individual  fighters.  But  all 
the  industrial  and  large  business  life  of 
their  country  has  been  carried  on  by  Ger- 
man, Russian,  and  other  foreign  capital. 
The  oil  and  other  mineral  wealth  of 
Rumania  and  Transylvania  are  great,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  Banat — coal,  iron,  tin, 
zinc,  copper,  lead,  mercury,  sulphur  and 
arsenic.  The  gold  mines  of  Rumania  and 
Transylvania  are  the  richest  in  Europe. 
Rumania  is  a  successful  stock-raising 
country  also.    Greater  Rumania  is  poten- 


tially a  great  power  in  the  hands  of  a 
people  who  may  not  know  how  to  use  it 
withSut  danger  to  neighboring  countries. 
Transylvania  and  the  Banat  are  removed 
as  a  natural  bulwark  from  the  Hun- 
garians, a  fact  that  causes  dangerous 
rancor.  The  loss  of  Bessarabia  causes 
much  bitterness  in  the  Ukraine. 

Rumania  delivered  the  Jews  from  all 
legal  and  political  disabilities  by  a  decree 
in  June,  1919,  and  was  compelled,  after 
long  hesitation,  to  agree  to  the  treaty 
protecting  minorities,  which  is  printed  on 
Pages  531-4  of  this  issue  of  Current 
History. 


The  Balkans  and  Turkey 

Dangerous  Rivalry  Between  Greece  and  Bulgaria  Over  Turkish 
Territory — Sultan  Regaining  Ground 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


PROCRASTINATION  between  Paris 
and  Budapest  over  the  signing  of 
the  Treaty  of  Neuilly  passed  almost 
unnoticed  in  the  Balkan  Chancel- 
leries. Rumania  on  Feb.  5  had  ordered 
the  withdrawal  of  her  troops  to  the 
frontier  between  Hungary  and  Transyl- 
vania as  designated  in  the  treaty;  the 
Russian  Soviet  troops  on  the  frontier  of 
Bessarabia  were  attempting  to  arrange 
a  protocol  with  the  Rumanian  Govern- 
ment, the  pourparlers  for  which  began 
on  Jan.  28,  and  Jugoslavia  was  princi- 
pally concerned  with  the  settlement  of 
the  Adriatic  question;  elsewhere  in  the 
Balkans,  however,  a  new  policy  was 
rapidly  being  developed  on  account  of 
the  Entente's  delay  over  the  settlement 
of  the  Turkish  problem.  This  revealed 
that  Bulgaria  and  Greece  were  becoming 
rivals  over  the  settlement  of  this  prob- 
lem, just  as  they  were  over  the  destina- 
tion of  Macedonia  and  Thrace,  which  is 
now,  particularly  in  Bulgarian  opinion, 
incorporated  in  the  larger  and  more  in- 
tricate problem  of  Turkey. 

Both  Government  utterances  and  the 
press  of  Bulgaria  and  Greece  showed 
that  each  nation  was  bent  on  exerting 
itself  to  convince  the  Entente  that  only 


by  its  mastery  of  Constantinople  could 
the  problem  of  the  nationalities,  for 
centuries  under  Turkish  rule  in  Asia 
Minor,  be  solved.  The  argument  of  each 
was  developed  along  different  lines :  That 
of  Bulgaria  was  historical,  anti-British 
and  pro-French;  that  of  Greece  was 
based  on  future  exigencies  and  was  both 
pro-British  and  mildly  anti-French. 

The  material  which  M.  B Hand's  paper 
L'Eclair  of  Paris  published  on  Feb.  11, 
purporting  to  show  that  last  September 
Great  Britain,  through  under  officials, 
had  attempted  to  negotiate  a  separate 
treaty  with  Turkey,  was  obtained  from 
Sofia.  In  La  Macedoine  of  Sofia  was 
also  revealed  an  alleged  bargain  that 
Britain  in  November,  1915,  had  at- 
tempted to  make  with  Bulgaria,  by 
which,  it  was  said,  Bulgaria  would  have 
received  for  her  desertion  of  Germany 
all  that  she  could  capture  from  Turkey 
in  Europe  and  the  guarantee  that  Mace- 
donia would  become  an  independent  State 
with  its  capital  at  Saloniki. 

In  Athens  London  press  articles  which 
attempted  to  outline  the  future  British 
policy  in  Asiatic  Turkey  were  reproduced 
with  favorable  comment;  those  of  Paris 
outlining   the    projected    French    policy, 


432 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


with  unfavorable  comment.  Further, 
the  line  of  argument  is  shown  by  the 
assertion  that  while  Bulgarian  domiifance 
in  Turkey  in  Europe  would  keep  the 
tide  of  Bolshevism  out  of  Asia,  Greek 
dominance  with  British  support  there 
would  keep  the  Turk  from  interfering 
in  European  affairs  while  Great  Britain 
could  keep  him  in  his  place  in  the  Asiatic 
hinterland. 

CONFLICTING   ATTITUDES 

Typical  of  the  Bulgarian  argument  is 
the  following  from  La  Macedonie: 

If  the  way  for  Saloniki  is  blocked  for 
Austria  in  the  present  condition,  it  is 
open  for  her  successor — Jugoslavia.  The 
road  to  Constantinople  will  still  remain 
open  for  Russia,  and  it  is  not  difficult 
to  foresee  how  will  be  met  the  possession 
of  these  two  Mediterranean  points  by  two 
large  Slavonic  States.  It  is  obvious, 
therefore,  that  there  is  danger  of  new 
conflicts  if  the  great  conquerors  do  not 
timely  correct  their  erroneous  solutions. 
The  discussion  of  the  Turkish  question  Is 
a  most  opportune  moment  for  a  correc- 
tion of  this  kind.  The  creation  of  an  in- 
dependent Macedonia  would  result  not 
only  in  putting  an  end  to  national  an- 
tagonism in  the  Balkans,  but  would  be 
a  beginning  for  a  fortunate  liquidation  of 
the  Eastern  problem.  An  independent 
Macedonia,  internationally  controlled,  will 
bar  the  appearance  of  many  new  con- 
flicts, and  thus  will  save  much  blood- 
shed and  wealth. 

Typical  of  the  Greek  point  of  view  is 
an  article  by  Colonel  Prantzes,  the  Greek 
military  attache  at  London,  in  Le  Journal 
des  Hellenes,  in  which  he  points  out  that 
in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  Constanti- 
nople is  destined  to  play  the  same  role 
as  that  played  by  Gibraltar  in  the  West- 
ern. There  are  three  gates  to  the  Med- 
iterranean, he  writes;  Gibraltar  and  the 
Suez  Canal  are  already  in  the  hands  of 
England ;  the  third,  Constantinople,  must 
be  equally  secured  for  civilization.  This 
can  only  be  done  by  Greece  under  British 
guidance  and  aid. 

English  civilization  would  soon  acquire 
such  a  powerful  influence  over  Greeks, 
Armenians  and  Kurds  that  it  would  not 
take  long  to  found  a  State  sufficiently 
strong  to  play  satisfactorily  its  allotted 
part,  especially  as  the  repopulation  of 
those  countries  by  such  prolific  races 
would  not  be  long  delayed. 

Turkey  and  Bulgaria,  undeniably  two  of 
our  future  enemies,  must  be  placed  in 
such  a  position  that  it  will  be  impossible 


for  them  to  attack  us  in  the  rear.  Such 
a  result  cannot  be  effected  by  half  meas- 
ures. It  can  be  obtained  only  by  the 
application  of  such  means  as  are  dictated 
to  us  by  the  elementary  instincts  of 
self-preservation,  measures  which,  thanks 
to  the  actual  ethnological  conditions,  are 
In  accordance  with  the  legitimate  rights 
of  the  peoples  concerned. 

BERLIN-ATHENS    CORRESPONDENCE 

A  curious  phase  of  anti-Greek  propa- 
ganda was  noticed.  The  Echo  of  Bul- 
garia, issued  at  Sofia,  published  the  corre- 
spondence between  Berlin  and  Athens  in 
1916-17,  including  the  letters  written  by 
the  German  Kaiser,  his  sister,  Queen 
Sophia,  and  his  brother-in-law,  King 
Constantine,  with  the  idea  of  showing 
that  at  the  time  the  letters  were  written 
the  majority  of  the  Greeks  were  on  the 
side  of  Germany,  and  that  the  Greek 
army  was  about  to  attack  the  rear  of  the 
Entente  army  in  Macedonia.  Hence,  it 
was  argued,  the  position  of  Greece  was 
exactly  like  that  of  Bulgaria,  only  the 
former  by  the  coup  d'etat  of  Venizelos, 
managed  by  the  French,  ultimately  lined 
up  with  the  Entente.  The  Sofia  paper 
presented  the  correspondence  as  a  great 
revelation,  saying  that  the  documents 
had  been  secured  from  the  Gazette  de 
Lausanne.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
were  originally  published  in  the  Greek 
White  Book  last  Summer,  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  the  treason  of  King  Con- 
stantine and  his  German  wife. 

The  Sofia  press,  having  seen  the  dis- 
patches from  Vienna  telling  of  revolts 
against  the  Bulgarian  Government, 
strikes  and  attacks  on  King  Boris,  and 
the  establishment  of  communication  be- 
tween the  Russian  Bolsheviki  and  those 
in  Bulgaria,  declared  that  all  these 
stories  were  merely  lies  calculated  to 
prevent  the  rehabilitation  of  Bulgaria 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Entente.  Sofia  mail 
advices,  however,  showed  that  there 
were  serious  strikes  in  Bulgaria.  Bourt- 
zev,  the  Russian  revolutionist,  who  now 
conducts  the  Obchtee  Delo  and  the  Cause 
Commune  at  Paris,  passed  through  Sofia 
in  the  middle  of  January  and  was  inter- 
viewed by  the  Echo  of  Bulgaria.  He  was 
quoted  as  saying: 

Personally  I  know  nothing  about  these 
Buigar  Bolsheviki.  They  are  not  in  evi- 
dence.      But     Bolsheviki     are     the     same 


THE    BALKANS    AND    TURKEY 


133 


everywhere.  The  strike  which  they  are 
now  maintaining  Is  both  a  misfortune 
and  a  crime  for  Bulgaria.  If  it  succeeds. 
Bulgaria  will  be  plunged  into  a  sea  of 
itears  and  will  probably  perish.  I  cor- 
dially welcome  the  words  which  the 
President  of  the  Council,  If.  Stambolisky ; 
flung  at  the  Communists  of  the  Sobranje: 
"  I  fear  you  not,  and  I  will  fight  you  to' 
the  end."  *  •  ♦  Before  long  I  hope  we 
shall  see  an  alliance  between  a  new-iborn 
Russia  and  a  recovered  Bulgaria. 

The  Sofia  papers  also  reprinted  with 
enthusiasm  the  articles  in  the  Prague 
press  inviting  a  rapprochement  between 
Czechoslovakia  and  Bulgaria — a  move- 
ment begun  by  the  Narodna  Politica. 
Editorial  opinion,  while  resigned  to  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace  by  the 
Sobranje,  declared  that  the  Entente 
would  soon  become  convinced  of  the  im- 
possibility of  the  country's  carrying  out 
the  economic  and  military  conditions, 
while,  as  to  the  territorial,  the  interests 
of  the  Entente  would  soon  show  the  ne- 
cessity for  rectification. 

SITUATION  IN  GREECE 

The  fact  that  there  were  diplomatic 
exchanges  between  the  Bulgarian  Pre- 
mier, Stamboliisky,  and  Venizelos,  the 
Greek  Premier,  over  the  suggested  sur- 
render of  Thrace  on  the  part  of  the  lat- 
ter for  the  friendship  of  the  former 
toward  Hellas  caused  a  revival  of  the 
charges  of  Bulgar  perfidy  in  the  Greek 
press,  save  in  the  Echo  de  Grece,  which 
made  political  capital  out  of  it  for  ex- 
King  Constantine,  whose  cause  it  still 
fights  from  far-off  Switzerland.  Once 
in  a  while  the  royal  press  bureau  there 
has  managed  to  get  some  of  its  stuff  in 
circulation  through  press  agencies.  As, 
for  example,  the  declaration  of  ex-Queen 
Sophia  on  Feb.  2  that  she  blamed  Presi- 
dent Wilson  for  the  misfortunes  of  her- 
self and  of  Greece,  and,  on  Feb.  6,  when 
an  interview  with  the  former  Greek  Min- 
ister, Elio  Panas,  obtained  by  the  Gior- 
nale  dTtalia  in  Rome,  was  widely  circu- 
lated. M.  Panas  was  quoted  as  saying 
that  civil  war  in  Greece  could  only  be 
avoided  by  the  prompt  restoration  of 
Constantine,  and  that  for  this  eventu- 
ality he  had  received  assurances  of  the 
support  of  the  Vatican  against  Venizelos 
— assurances  which  the  organ  of  the  Vat- 


ican, the  Osservatore  Romano,  vehement- 
ly repudiated  on  the  following  day. 

ANGLO-FRENCH  RIVALRY 

Aside  from  the  Bulgar  and  Greek  aspi- 
rations in  regard  to  the  Entente's  ulti- 
mate settlement  of  the  Turkish  problem, 
this  proclaimed  disinterested  article  ap- 
peared in  the  Preporetz  of  Sofia: 

The  certain  refusal  of  the  United  States 
to  assume  the  mandate  over  Turkey  or 
any  part  thereof  obliges  Prance  and  Eng- 
land to  seek  another  solution.  Not  wish- 
ing to  show  their  different  conceptions  of 
<thls  question,  these  two  powers  are  seek- 
ing an  understanding  between  themselves 
before  allowing  the  debate  to  become  pub- 
lic. It  was  not  so  very  long  ago  that  the 
English  were  for  maintaining  Constanti- 
nople under  the  authority  of  the  Sultan. 
They  now  seem  to  have  changed  that  point 
of  view. 

T  e  French,  on  the  other  hand,  are  for 
maintaining  the  Turkish  Government  on 
the  J  Bosporus.  This  rivalry  between  the 
English  and  the  French  has  for  its  object 
the  domination  of  the  (remainder  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  so  formidable  in  days 
gone  by.  In  the  speeches  of  statesmen 
and  in  the  press  each  <side  sets  forth  its 
policy  with  elevated  motives— .the  mainte- 
nance of  peace,  the  protection  of  Chris- 
tians, &c. 

But  all  this  does  not  prevent  us  from 
observing  that  the  diplomats  who  are 
gathered  around  the  green  table  pay  lit- 
tle heed  either  to  the  rights  or  the  pros- 
perity of  the  peoples  concerned,  but  are 
principally  concerned  with  the  iron,  cop- 
per, coal,   oil,  and  cotton. 

Whatever  may  be  its  details,  we  are  in 
the  presence  of  a  rivalry  between  France 
and  England  on  the  subject  of  the  Bos- 
porus and  the  Dardanelles  which  recalls 
•that  over  Egypt,  which  terminated  in 
complete  domination  by  England. 

For  years  Great  Britain  would  suffer 
no  change  in  the  political  entity  of  Tur- 
key, although  vast  territorial  changes  in 
her  territorial  entity  were  going  on.  The 
object  was  to  keep  Russia  out  of  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean,  where  Czardom 
would  have  arrived  had  the  Turk  been 
driven  out  of  Europe.  First  the  Russo- 
British  Treaty  of  1907  caused  England 
to  change  her  policy;  then  the  overthrow 
of  Czardom  ten  years  later  caused  her  to 
ratify  that  change.  Now  the  rise  of 
Soviet  Russia  has  caused  her  to  recon- 
sider both  her  change  of  policy  and  the 
ratification  thereof.  With  the  United 
States    as    mandatary    for    Turkey    she 


434 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


could  have  remained  tranquil.  Bolshe- 
vism would  have  been  kept  out  of  the 
Levant  and  the  Turks  there  would  have 
been  restrained  from  either  joining  them 
or  creating  revolutions  on  their  own  ac- 
count. India  would  have  remained  un- 
menaced,  both  without  and  within.  And 
all  the  parties  to  the  partial  partition  of 
Turkey  in  Asia — Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy  and  Greece — would  have  felt  se- 
cure in  their  several  spheres  of  adminis- 
tration. 

DEMANDS  OF   MOSLEMS 

Great  Britain,  with  her  millions  of  Mos- 
lem subjects,  has  a  moral  obligation 
bound  up  in  the  political  exigency  to 
settle  the  problem  which  is  also  more  or 
less  bound  up  with  the  material  interests 
of  France,  Italy  and  Greece.  Taking  ad- 
vantage of  this  moral  obligation,  the 
Turkish  Government  increased  its  pres- 
sure to  have  the  status  quo  ante-bellum 
maintained,  while  from  the  Moslem  heads 
in  India  poured  into  Downing  Street  pe- 
titions, manifestoes,  memorials  and 
propaganda  of  all  sorts  demanding  that 
the  Sultain  remain  in  Constantinople  as 
Caliph  of  the  Faithful,  whatever  dispo- 
sition be  made  of  the  political  capital  of 
the  Turkish  Empire. 

In  the  middle  of  January  unofficial 
telegrams  received  at  Stamboul  from 
Western  Europe,  stating  that  the  scheme 
to  transfer  the  Turkish  Government 
from  Constantinople,  which  would  re- 
main the  seat  of  the  Caliphate,  was  likely 
to  be  accepted  by  the  Peace  Conference, 
caused  much  anxiety  in  Turkish  as  well 
as  foreign  residential  circles.  While  the 
former  resented  the  projected  solution, 
the  latter  did  not  believe  it  practical. 
Both  pointed  out  that  no  Anatolian  city, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  Brusa,  to 
which  the  Turkish  Government,  fearing 
an  attack  by  Greece  and  the  allied  fleets, 
prepared  to  remove  in  the  Spring  of 
1915,  contains  buildings  suitable  for  the 
Government  and  its  official  entourage. 
They  also  asked  why,  if  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment at  Constantinople  with  the 
straits  open  could  be  controlled  by  a 
mandatary  or  mandataries,  should  it  be 
transferred  to  Anatolia,  where  it  would 
be   far   more   difficult   to  control   if  it 


misbehaved  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
militant  Nationalists  like  those  who  were 
causing  all  the  trouble  now. 

In  arguing  that  both  the  political  and 
religious  Governments  should  remain  in 
statu  quo  the  Turkish  press  declared 
that  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  Turkey  time  and  again  came 
to  the  aid  of  France  when  near  to  being 
overwhelmed  by  the  Hapsburgs,  and  that 
in  1857  Turkey  opened  Egypt  to  the 
passage  of  British  troops  to  crush  the 
great  Indian  mutiny. 

PLEA  FOR  THE  SULTAN 

Emir  Ali,  an  Indian  Privy  Councilor 
who  has  held  several  high  offices  in  the 
British  Government  at  Bengal,  wrote  in 
a  memorial  on  the  subject: 

Maintenance  of  the  temporal  authority 
of  the  Sultan  is  necessary.  His  temporal 
and  spiritual  power  cannot  be  separated. 
Moslems  were  assured  in  the  late  war 
that  the  Caliphate  would  not  be  inter- 
fered with  and  that  Constantinople, 
Thrace  and  the  homeland  of  the  Turkish 
race  would  remain  in  their  hands;  and 
on  this  assurance  Mohammedan  troops 
bore  their  full  share  of  the  fighting  in 
various  regiments.  During  the  Russo- 
Turkish  war  of  1877-78.  when  the  Rus- 
sians got  to  San  Stefano,  some  twelve 
miles  or  so  from  Constantinople,  there 
was  great  excitement  in  India.  I  well  re- 
member how  high  feeling  ran  among  Mo- 
hammedans. 

Concerning  Mecca  and  Medina,  it  would 
be  most  unwise,  in  the  interests  of  the 
empire,  to  claim  or  to  exercise,  directly 
or  indirectly,  a  protectorate  over  them. 
While  the  administration  of  these  sacred 
cities  might  be  left  to  the  autonomous 
government  of  the  Hedjaz,  the  Sherif 
Hussein  should  receive  the  usual  inves- 
titure from  the  Sultan-Caliph. 

The  authority  of  the  Sultan  himself  is 
based  upon  a  formal  deed  of  assignment 
executed  in  1517  by  the  Caliph  Al-Mu- 
tawakil  Alaa-Allah,  who  transferred  the 
Caliphate  to  the  Ottoman  conqueror, 
Selim  I.  The  transfer  was  carried  out 
with  all  the  rites  demanded  by  the  law, 
and  the  Ottoman  Caliph  duly  received 
the  homage  of  the  Sherif  of  Mecca,  who 
presented  him  with  the  keys  of  the 
Kaabah.  From  that  moment  to  this  the 
Caliphate  has  remained  the  rightful  herit- 
age of  the  House  of  Othman. 

Another  memorial  signed  by  a  number 
of  high-placed  Moslems,  together  with 
Lord  Lamington,  Lord  Amphill,  Earl  of 
Denbigh,  General  Dickson,  Admiral  Fre- 
mantle  and  other  British  notables,  was 


THE   BALKANS   AND    TURKEY 


presented  to  the  British  Prime  Minister 
on  Jan.  16.  It  was  over  1,000  words  in 
length,  and  appealed  for  the  Turkish 
people  that  they  "  may  be  granted  the 
blessing  of  peace  and  freedom  under  the 
sovereignty  of  their  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral head,  the  Sultan."  "  The  main- 
tenance of  the  whole  of  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire in  the  homeland  of  the  Turkish  race, 
with  its  capital  Constantinople,"  it  was 
pointed  out,  was  promised  as  a  condition 
of  a  just  and  lasting  peace.  Reference 
was  also  made  to  the  underlying  principle 
of  self-determination  promised  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  and  accepted  by  the  Allies 
as  applicable  to  enemy  countries. 

TURKISH    ARMY    MOBILIZING 

Reports  coming  to  the  Interallied  Mis- 
sion at  Constantinople  as  well  as  obser- 
vations made  in  the  capital  itself  showed 
that  thousands  of  able-bodied  Turks  were 
leaving  the  coast  towns  for  the  interior 
of  Anatolia,  where  it  was  said  they  were 
being  enrolled  in  the  Nationalist  Army  of 
Mustapha  Kernel.  Reports  of  agents 
reaching  the  mission  charged  that  the 
Turkish  Minister  of  War,  Djemal  Pasha, 
was  not  only  conversant  with  this  move- 
ment, but  was  actually  aiding  it,  and 
that  with  the  complete  mobilization  of 
the  Turkish  army  a  simultaneous  rising 
of  the  Young  Turks  in  Constantinople 
and  an  attack  upon  the  Levantine  hinter- 
lands held  by  the  British,  French,  Greeks, 
and  Italians  would  take  place. 

About  the  middle  of  January  General 
Gouraud,  who  commanded  the  French 
forces  in  Syria,  estimated  at  between 
15,000  and  20,000,  mostly  Senegalese, 
asked  for  reinforcements,  and  between 
25,000  and  30,000  men  were  sent  from 
Marseilles.  Reinforcements  were  also 
dispatched  by  their  respective  Govern- 
ments to  the  British  in  Palestine,  to  the 
Greeks  in  Smyrna,  and  to  the  Italians  in 
the  Adalia  region.  The  agreement 
reached  by  Emir  Feisal  and  the  Peace 
Conference  announced  in  Current  His- 
tory last  month  seemed  to  have  had  little 
effect  in  stopping  the  attacks  made  by 
Turkish  and  Arab  bands  upon  the  land 
convoys  between  the  zones  occupied  by 
the  different  Allies.  The  attack  upon 
General  Gouraud's  train  and  the  capture 


of  his  Chief  of  Staff  by  Syrian  volun- 
teers early  in  January  were  followed  a 
month  later  by  the  reported  murder  of 
three  American  relief  workers. 

DECISION  ON  CONSTANTINOPLE 

It  was  announced  on  Feb.  15  that  an 
agreement  had  been  reached  by  the  Su- 
preme Allied  Council  to  permit  the  Sul- 
tan to  maintain  his  Court  in  Constanti- 
nople, but  that  Turkey  must  give  guar- 
antees, especially  relative  to  the  Darda- 
nelles, and  must  not  have  an  army,  ac- 
cording to  a  statement  by  Premier  Mil- 
lerand.  The  Allies  will  maintain  vigor- 
ous military  and  naval  control  over  the 
Straits  of  the  Dardanelles.  The  ex- 
perts assembled  in  London  weie  to  begin 
at  once  to  formulate  the  methods  of 
control. 

In  the  first  week  of  February  several 
reports  were  received  from  Constanti- 
nople by  news  agencies  that  2,000  Ar- 
menians had  been  massacred  by  the 
Turks  at  Marash  and  Aintab,  sixty  miles 
northeast  of  Aleppo.  The  French  War 
Office  reported  an  engagement  between 
Turkish  National  forces  and  a  French 
detachment  in  that  region,  but  nothing 
more. 

The  Fourth  Turkish  Parliament  met 
on  Jan.  12,  but  did  not  have  a  quorum 
for  several  days.  Only  seventy-two  Dep- 
uties out  of  132  listened  to  the  Sultan's 
speech  from  the  throne.  He  complained 
bitterly  that  since  the  armistice  the  Allies 
had  without  right  occupied  Turkish  terri- 
tory. "  The  reverses  of  war,"  he  said, 
"  cannot  affect  a  nation's  right  to  politi- 
cal existence."  He  then  outlined  the  new 
reform  scheme  and  particularly  empha- 
sized the  point  of  the  protection  of 
minorities.  The  deplorable  financial  and 
industrial  condition  of  Turkey  and  her 
dire  need  for  assistance  from  abroad 
were  also  expatiated  on.  Already,  on 
Jan.  8,  the  Grand  Vizier  had  handed  the 
text  of  the  reform  measure  to  the  allied 
representatives.  It  is  said  that  they 
made  reports  to  their  respective  Govern- 
ments to  the  effect  that  whatever  may 
be  expert  opinion  on  the  measure  per  se, 
the  present  Government  had  neither  the 
power  nor  the  inclination  to  put  it  into 
effect. 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


Survey  of  Important  Events  and  Developments  in  Various 
Nations,  Great  and  Small 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


AUSTRIA 

OF  all  the  new  Central  European 
countries  none  is  in  such  a  des- 
perate plight  economically  and  fi- 
nancially as  Austria.  Day  by  day 
and  week  by  week  heartrending  tales  of 
cold,  hunger,  disease  and  death  have 
poured  into  the  capitals  of  Europe.  At 
the  end  of  January  Frederic  C.  Penfield, 
former  American  Ambassador  to  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, declared  that  if  relief  did 
not  come  to  Austria  soon  a  quarter  of 
the  population,  and  practically  all  the 
children,  would  die  before  the  coming 
Spring.  He  described  the  former  light- 
hearted  capital  as  "  Dying  Vienna,"  a 
capital  without  a  country,  without  ma- 
terial resources,  without  food  or  coal, 
transportation  facilities  or  money.  Re- 
ports from  Vienna  dated  Jan.  27  con- 
firmed this  description.  The  food  distress 
remained  unrelieved,  and  public  discon- 
tent was  growing.  The  announcement 
that  three  ounces  of  meat  would  be  of- 
fered for  sale  at  the  central  market 
brought  a  surging  mob  of  60,000  people, 
many  of  whom,  in  the  frantic  rush  to 
purchase,  fainted  or  were  thrown  down 
and  trampled  by  the  crowd. 

The  fuel  distress,  aggravated  by  the 
exceedingly  cold  weather,  was  equally 
acute.  A  shudder  went  through  Vienna 
on  Jan.  18  when  it  was  announced  that 
the  authorities  would  suspend  the  street 
car  service  owing  to  the  lack  of  coal. 
Theatres,  concert  halls,  and  other  places 
of  amusement  were  closed  for  lack  of 
heating.  Electric  and  gas  power  was  cut 
off  after  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  re- 
sulting in  a  lack  of  employment  in  the 
factories.  Every  source  of  coal  supplies 
had  been  cut  off  by  the  strike  or  trans- 
port difficulties.  Much  had  been  hoped 
from  the  Chancellor's  visit  to  Prague, 
but  he  returned  with  nothing  definite 
accomplished  in  the  way  of  fuel  relief 


from  the  Czechs,  though  he  brought  back 
promises  of  negotiations.  Meantime  the 
people  of  Vienna  and  Austria  generally 
shivered  in  their  homes.  Influenza  and 
pneumonia  were  rife. 

One  of  the  most  serious  problems  was 
the  welfare  of  Austrian  children.  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  American  Relief  Com- 
mittee for  German  Children,  on  examina- 
tion of  Vienna  school  children  shortly 
prior  to  Jan.  19,  found  that  97  per  cent, 
of  them  were  suffering  from  lack  of  food. 
This  committee's  relief  fund  had  reached 
an  aggregate  of  $200,000.  Food  pur- 
chased to  the  value  of  $100,000  by  the 
Herbert  Hoover  Relief  Committee  was 
distributed  in  Austria  as  well  as  in  Ger- 
many through  the  Society  of  Friends  or- 
ganization directed  from  Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile  the  Austrian  Government 
continued  its  undertaking  of  sending 
children  abroad  to  countries  that  pledged 
themselves  to  provide  for  them.  Almost 
6,000  of  these  half -starving  children  left 
Vienna  on  Jan.  22  en  route  for  Holland 
and  Italy,  making  a  total  of  28,000  Aus- 
trian children  sent  out  of  the  country. 
Many  came  from  the  poorest  working- 
men's  homes.  Altogether  it  was  esti- 
mated that  there  were  300,000  underfed 
children.  Of  these  the  Americans  were 
feeding  120,000,  the  Dutch,  Italians, 
Swiss  and  Scandinavians  had  pledged 
themselves  to  take  a  total  of  60,000,  still 
leaving  two-fifths  of  the  child  popula- 
tion uncared  for.  An  extension  in  Amer- 
ican relief  plans  as  announced  on  Jan. 
28  to  bring  relief  to  275,000  children,  re- 
duced this  remainder.  As  a  result  of  the 
refusal  of  prospective  mothers  to  bring 
new  children  into  such  misery  the  birth 
rate,  according  to  official  statistics,  was 
decreasing  alarmingly. 

The  Government  was  further  crushed 
by  its  enormous  debt,  including  about  50,- 
000,000,000  kronen  allotted  from  the  old 


AMONG    THE  NATIONS 


4:37 


monarchy's  debt,  and  some  10,000,000,000 
kronen  incurred  since  the  creation  of  the 
republic  to  last  July.  The  current  budget 
also  showed  a  deficit  of  from  8,000,000,- 
000  to  10,000,000,000  kronen  additional.  All 
State  enterprises,  including  the  railways, 
were  showing  a  deficit  in  similar  propor- 
tions. The  country  was  being  flooded 
with  paper  money,  worthless  abroad  and 
of  little  value  at  home.  Mines,  banks,  and 
other  industries  were  being  taken  over 
by  French  and  Italian  capitalists.  And 
Austria's  sole  recourse  was  to  add  to  the 
already  crushing  national  debt  by  con- 
tracting large  loans  abroad,  in  which  the 
Government  saw  its  only  salvation.  It 
was  for  this  purpose  alone  that  Dr.  Ren- 
ner  had  gone  to  Paris  to  lay  Austria's 
desperate  situation  before  the  allied  Gov- 
ernments. On  their  decision  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  people  were  anxiously 
waiting.  An  unsubstantiated  report  that 
the  United  States  would  open  a  credit  of 
$20,000,000  caused  wild  jubilation  in  Vi- 
enna. 

It  was  stated  in  Vienna  on  Jan.  15 
that  a  general  assembly  of  the  Provincial 
Diet  to  frame  a  Constitution  for  submis- 
sion to  the  Central  Government  would 
be  held  soon.  The  obtaining  of  the 
widest  possible  degree  of  autonomy  was 
envisaged.  Especially  antagonistic  to 
the  Central  Government  were  the 
Provinces  of  Vorarlberg  and  Tyrol, 
whose  attempts  to  secede  and  join,  the 
one  Switzerland,  the  other  Germany,  had 
been  defeated  by  the  decision  of  the 
Paris  conference.  Tyrol  announced  that 
it  would  never  cease  working  for  union 
with  Germany.  A  Government  counter- 
plan  of  creating  a  small  upper  house  to 
include  two  elected  representatives  from 
each  province  had  been  coldly  received 
in  the  provinces. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  army  bill 
before  the  National  Assembly  on  Jan.  21 
the  personnel  of  the  army  was  limited  to 
1,500  officers,  2,000  noncommissioned  of- 
ficers and  30,000  men,  who  were  to  serve 
six  years  in  active  service  and  six  on  the 
reserve  list.  Both  soldiers  and  officers 
were  forbidden  to  marry  and  obliged  to 
waive  all  political  rights  while  in 
service.  Trade  and  agricultural  instruc- 
tion were  provided. 


Austrian  guards  and  customs  em- 
ployes had  been  posted  along  the  Swiss 
frontier  to  prevent  the  passing  of  gems 
and  articles  of  historic  value  taken  from 
the  museum  of  Vienna,  which  was 
looted  some  time  ago  of  material  worth 
$5,000,000.  It  was  said  that  many  fam- 
ilies had  grown  rich  by  the  smuggling 
of  contraband  between  Switzerland  and 
Vorarlberg. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

During  January  and  February  the  of- 
ficial internal  and  external  policy  of 
Czechoslovakia,  as  outlined  by  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  new  republic  and  by  Dr. 
E.  Benes,  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, in  London  on  Dec.  4,  was  applied 
consistently.  The  more  important  points 
of  the  Constitution,  now  published,  are  as 
follows : 

The  President  of  the  republic  will  not 
•be  eligible  for  office  for  more  than  two 
consecutive  terms,  and  will  enjoy  legal 
immunity  except  in  case  of  high  treason. 
The  Constitution  provides  for  the  sepa- 
ration of  Church  and  State. 

Parliament  will  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
a  Diet. 

The  Czech  language  will  be  the  official 
language,  and  will  be  an  obligatory  sub- 
ject in  all  elementary  schools.  In  all 
districts  containing  a  national  minority 
which  represents  at  least  20  per  cent,  of 
the  local  population,  this  minority  will  be 
granted  the  right  of  using  its  own  lan- 
guage in  all  official  transactions  and  of 
having  it  taught  in  the  schools. 

As  outlined  by  Dr.  Benes,  the  external 
policy  of  the  Czechoslovak  State  was  one 
of  economic  concilation  and  assistance  to 
its  Central  European  neighbors.  In  full 
realization  of  the  ecnomic  distress  of 
Austria  and  Hungary,  particularly,  and 
of  the  inability  of  the  Allies,  because  of 
transportation  difficulties,  to  relieve  the 
pressing  food  and  fuel  needs  of  Central 
Europe,  Czechoslovakia  had  conceived  its 
mission  to  be  peculiarly  that  of  an  inter- 
mediary agency,  and  was  ready  to  offer 
her  large  supplies  of  coal,  sugar,  and 
manufactured  products  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency. This  policy  had  been  approved 
by  both  the  French  and  British  Govern- 
ments, and  Dr.  Benes  intimated  that  a 
combined  loan  of  $125,000,000  would  be 
made  his  Government  to  support  the  ob- 
ject sought. 


438 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


By  Jan.    10   Dr.   Benes   was   back   in 
Prague,  and,  with  M.  Tusar,  the  Prime 
Minister,    received    officially    Dr.    Karl 
Renner,  the  Austrian  Chancellor,  and  his 
Ministers,  who  had  come  to  Prague  to 
discuss   with   the   Czechoslovak    Govern- 
ment the  international  situation  affect- 
ing the  two  new  States.    Dr.  Renner  re- 
turned to  Vienna,  following  an  interview 
with  President  Masaryk  on  Jan.  12.    An 
official   communique  stated  that  it  had 
been  agreed  that  the  foreign  policy  of 
both  States  would  be  based  on  the  peace 
terms  of  the  St.   Germain  Treaty,  and 
would  envisage  the  following  objects : 
To  assure  the  democratic  and  free  insti- 
tutions   prevailing    within    both    nations, 
and    the    complete    independence    of    both 
republics  externally. 

To  reject  any  attempts  whatsoever  at 
restoring  the  former  political  conditions 
or  at  establishing  new  State  alliances. 

To  bring  about  an  economic  co-opera- 
tion in  accordance  with  the  interests  of 
both  States  for  the  purpose  of  re-estab- 
lishing a  national  economic  status  and 
mutual  relationships. 

The  conferences  of  the  Ministers  and 
State  Secretaries  with  the  technical  ex- 
perts in  the  committees  were  at  once 
initiated. 

Further  details  of  the  agreement,  sub- 
sequently published,  were:  The  unre- 
stricted import  and  export  of  goods,  sub- 
ject to  a  mere  declaration;  the  settlement 
of  mutual  indebtedness  by  a  special  com- 
mission; an  increase  in  the  deliveries  of 
coal,  and  reciprocity  in  regard  to  sugar 
exchange. 

Cession  of  the  coal  territory  of  Teschen 
to  Czechoslovakia  by  the  Poles  without 
a  plebiscite,  in  return  for  which  Poland 
would  be  rewarded  with  certain  lands 
east  of  the  Polish  boundaries,  was  an- 
nounced on  Jan.  30  in  newspaper  reports 
from  Prague. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Reform  Priests' 
Association,  held  on  Jan.  10,  it  was  re- 
solved by  140  votes  to  66  to  separate  from 
Rome  and  to  establish  a  Czech  National 
Church,  which  would  take  over  the  in- 
stitutions, rights,  and  possessions  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Sensational  charges  that  Czechoslova- 
kia had  fallen  under  Bolshevist  influ- 
ences were  contradicted  in  toto  by  Don- 
ald L.  Breed  in  an  article  published  in 
New  York  on  Feb.  1.    The  Government 


was  Socialistic  but  not  radical,  said  Mr. 
Breed,  and  Muna,  Lenin's  chief  propa- 
gandist in  the  country,  was  publicly  rid- 
iculed in  the  concert  halls  and  cabarets 
of  Prague.  Every  means  was  being  taken 
by  the  Government  to  increase  the  in- 
dustrial product,  and  the  workmen  were 
encouraged  to  work  more  than  the  eight 
hours  prescribed  by  the  National  Assem- 
bly the  year  before.  Food  profiteers  were 
being  penalized.  The  unemployment  wage 
allotted  by  the  Government,  vitally  nec- 
essary in  the  early  days  of  the  new  re- 
public's existence,  had  been  practically 
abolished,  and  Czechoslovak  industry, 
after  a  long  and  painful  season  of  war 
and  Austrian  mismanagement,  was  again 
in  the  ascendant. 

GERMANY 

The  critical  financial  and  economic 
situation  in  Germany  continued  to  oc- 
cupy the  public  mind  in  January  and 
February,  producing  an  intensified  de- 
gree of  pessimism  despite  certain  miti- 
gating factors.  Mainly  fear  of  the  im- 
mediate future  centred  on  the  fall  of 
the  mark  to  the  unprecedentedly  low 
value  of  1  cent  in  American  money, 
thus  cutting  off  importations  of  needed 
raw  materials  for  German  factories 
from  the  United  States;  this  drop  in  ex- 
change also  cut  off  the  food  imports 
needed  to  avert  threatened  starvation  for 
a  large  proportion  of  the  German  peo- 
ple. There  was  also  the  coal  shortage 
problem.  Emphasis  was  laid  on  the  re- 
cent grant  by  Holland  of  a  credit  loan  of 
200,000,000  guilders  as  the  only  way  in 
which  other  countries,  especially  Ameri- 
ca, could  save  Germany  from  plunging 
into  the  well-nigh  hopeless  condition  of 
Austria  and  Poland. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  stability  of  the 
Ebert  Government,  its  patient  though 
successful  policy  in  defeating  all  the  at- 
tacks of  the  Radicals  and  Reactionaries, 
together  with  the  willingness  of  the  Ger- 
man people  to  work  out  their  national 
salvation  if  guided  by  at  least  a  gleam 
of  promise,  gave  point  to  the  opinion 
that  Germany  might  be  able  to  overcome 
her  hour  of  desperation  provided  her 
financial  and  economic  stress  were  re- 
lieved from  without. 


AMONG    THE  NATIONS 


•i:j:> 


These  elements  become  pronounced  in 
the  trend  of  events.  The  fall  in  ex- 
change caused  a  serious  panic  among 
business  men  and  the  public  generally. 
This  led  to  the  payment  of  enormous 
prices  for  gold  and  silver  as  an  "  iron 
reserve "  against  the  day  of  collapse. 
At  the  height  of  the  scramble  500  paper 
marks  were  paid  for  one  20-mark  gold 
piece.  In  Berlin  speculators  in  the 
precious  metals  posted  themselves  in 
front  of  the  National  Bank  building  and 
began  to  bid  against  the  Government  in 
its  efforts  to  induce  citizens  to  part  with 
hoarded  treasure  on  patriotic  grounds. 
It  was  estimated  that  500,000,000  marks 
in  silver  coin  still  remained  in  hiding. 
Curious  instances  of  the  wild  ideas  of 
exchange  were  noted  in  Berlin  on  Feb.  2. 
Some  of  the  leading  jewelers  closed  their 
doors,  fearful  that  foreigners  would  pur- 
chase the  few  valuables  left  in  the  coun- 
try for  next  to  nothing.  Others  closed 
simply  because  the  prices  asked  stag- 
gered American  or  other  foreign  buyers, 
and  no  business  could  be  done.  Similar- 
ly, thrifty  country  folk,  unable  to  real- 
ize the  depth  to  which  the  mark  had 
sunk,  made  bad  bargains  with  their 
stock  in  gold.  At  a  village  near  Magde- 
burg a  wealthy  peasant  woman  grasped 
at  a  horse  priced  3,000  marks — in  gold — 
completely  failing  to  understand  that  she 
had  really  paid  150,000  marks  at  current 
paper  rates  for  the  animal. 

Regarding  food  conditions  a  compe- 
tent ally  investigator  presented  facts 
and  figures  demonstrating  the  slow 
torture  of  undernourishment  from  which 
the  German  masses  suffered.  In  show- 
ing how  rations  had  dwindled  he  pointed 
out  that  during  the  last  twelve  months 
of  the  war  the  weekly  ration  per  head 
was: 

Bread— 2,000  grams  (4  lbs.  6%  oz.) 
Fresh  Meat— 150  grams  (5%  oz.) 
Butter  and  Margarine— 60  grams  (1%  oz). 
Potatoes— 2,500  grams   (5  lbs.  8  oz.) 
Milk— l-10th  litre  (l-6th  pint). 

The  writer  went  on  to  state  that,  soon 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  armistice,  the 
bread  ration  was  raised  to  2,300  grams 
(5  pounds,  1  ounce) ;  the  meat  ration  to 
200  grams  (7  ounces) ;  the  ration  of  food 
fats  to  100  grams  {ZVz  ounces.)  Im- 
ports   from    America    also    permitted    a 


weekly  distribution  of  125  grams  (4*/6 
ounces)  of  bacon,  50  grams  of  lard  (1% 
ounces),  and  125  grams  (4%  ounces)  of 
wheat  flour  per  head.  Later  on  the  only 
foods  rationed  were  flour,  meat,  fat, 
milk,  and  sugar.  Circumstances,  how- 
ever, had  changed  for  the  worse  in  the 
last  few  weeks.  A  drastic  reduction  on 
an  already  trivial  milk  ration  had  taken 
place.  It  was  now  40  per  cent,  less  than 
the  milk  ration  of  1918.  The  meat  ration 
of  1918  had  been  reduced  by  half,  owing 
to  the  number  of  cattle  having  much  di- 
minished, and  to  the  thin  and  impov- 
erished condition  of  the  stock.  All  arti- 
ficial manures  or  cattle  foods  had  been 
denied  to  the  farmer  for  several  seasons. 
The  ration  of  fats  for  the  whole  popula- 
tion is  now  30  per  cent,  less  than  the  ra- 
tion allowed  twelve  months  ago. 

This  state  of  things  was  attributed  to 
the  low  value  of  the  mark,  which  forcibly 
restricted  the  purchase  of  meat,  flour, 
and  other  necessaries  abroad,  to  disinte- 
gration of  the  transport  system,  shortage 
of  harvests,  and  labor  troubles.  The  only 
remedy  suggested  was  that  of  the  Ger- 
man Food  Controller.  He  estimated  that 
to  provide  40,000,000  undernourished 
German  people  with  50  grams  (194 
ounces)  of  food  fats,  meat,  and  flour 
daily  for  300  days  would  necessitate  the 
purchase  abroad  of  600,000  tons  of  food 
fats,  600,000  tons  of  meat,  and  600,000 
tons  of  flour. 

These  figures  were  impressively  illu- 
minated from  a  seafaring  point  of  view, 
so  far  as  Hamburg  was  concerned,  by 
Captain  Adrien  Zeeder  of  the  American 
liner  Manchuria,  the  first  passenger  ves- 
sel flying  the  American  flag  to  make  the 
Port  of  New  York  from  Germany.  Cap- 
tain Zeeder  said  that  shipping  was  at  a 
low  ebb  in  Hamburg,  with  many  of  Ger- 
many's merchant  marine  starving  for 
something  to  do. 

The  people  in  Hamburg  were  glad 
the  war  was  over,  and  bore  no  ani- 
mosity toward  Americans.  They  worked 
ten  hours  a  day  at  the  docks  for 
24  marks,  but  could  not  buy  any  sub- 
stantial food  because  of  the  cost.  Men 
working  in  the  hold  of  the  Manchuria 
were  so  ravenous  for  real  food  that  they 
cut  slices  of  frozen  meat  off  quarters 


440 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


with  an  axe,  and  ate  it  without  cooking 
or  a  pinch  of  salt.  "  It  took  eight  full 
days,"  he  explained,  "  to  discharge  5,500 
tons  of  cargo  from  the  Manchuria,  which 
could  have  been  done  in  New  York  in 
forty-eight  hours.  This  slowness  was  due 
to  the  lack  of  strength  among  the  Ger- 
man longshoremen  and  their  low  spirits. 
*  *  *  There  was  little  meat  or  butter 
and  practically  no  coal."  Captain  Zeeder 
added  that  the  Elbe  would  have  to  be 
dredged  before  shipping  in  its  harbor 
could  become  normal  again,  because  the 
sand  had  choked  up  the  channel  during 
the  war.  The  Manchuria  had  managed  to 
reach  Hamburg  because  strong  west 
winds  had  driven  the  water  up  from  the 
mouth  and  held  it  there. 

The  lack  of  coal  in  Hamburg,  referred 
to  by  Captain  Zeeder,  was  merely  an  ex- 
ample of  a  similar  condition  throughout 
the  country.  Robert  Schmidt,  Minister  of 
National  Economy,  in  speaking  of  it, 
said :  "  The  six-hour  day  means  suicide. 
The  word  coal  is  written  in  sinister  let- 
ters across  the  whole  situation.  Produc- 
tion has  fallen  by  50  per  cent,  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  peace  time,  and  it 
cannot  be  distributed  owing  to  the  lack 
of  transportation  and  the  very  bad  con- 
dition of  engines  and  rolling  stock.  So 
factories  are  shut  down  one  by  one."  The 
acuteness  of  the  situation  on  Feb.  2  was 
marked  by  even  wealthy  people  in  Ber- 
lin's West  End  flats  sitting  down  to  din- 
ner wrapped  in  furs.  "  Lack  of  coal," 
said  Herr  Koch,  Home  Secretary, 
"  threatens  to  bring  down  our  whole  eco- 
nomic situation." 

BELGIUM  AND  HOLLAND 

The  complete  sovereignty  of  Belgium 
over  the  former  Prussian  regions  of 
Eupen  and  Malmedy  was  proclaimed  as 
dating  from  Jan.  10,  and  on  Jan.  22  Gen- 
eral Baltia,  Belgian  High  Commissioner, 
made  his  solemn  entry  into  Malmedy, 
where  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  he  read,  first 
in  German  and  then  in  French,  a  proc- 
lamation to  the  population  setting  forth 
the  promises  of  the  Belgian  Government 
to  the  people.  These  consisted  of  re- 
ligious freedom,  standardized  labor,  and 
educational  systems  similar  to  those  of 
Belgium.  Military  service,  he  said,  would 


not  be  required  for  four  years,  and  he 

concluded: 

In  return  for  these  advantages  the  Bel- 
gian Government  requires  of  you  that 
you  be  faithful  to  the  King  and  the 
Belgian  dynasty  and  that  you  obey  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  Belgian 
people. 

For  our  part  [added  General  Baltia]  we 
promise  you,  in  exchange  for  your  loyalty 
and  your  fidelity,  an  absolute  devotion, 
which  we  shall  derive  from  our  common 
Ardennes  origin  [the  General  is  a  Luxem- 
burger  by  origin],  a  complete  impartiality 
and  toleration.  Give  us  your  frank  and 
loyal  confidence. 

Although  Belgium's  chief  exports  had 
not  reached  50  per  cent,  of  what  they 
were  in  1913,  other  products  helped  to 
make  up  the  balance  in  1919.  In  1913  the 
imports  were  $900,000,000  and  the  ex- 
ports $700,000,000;  in  1919  they  were,  re- 
spectively, $860,000,000  and  $360,000,000. 
The  Antwerp  trade  since  last  September 
increased  at  an  average  of  20,000  tons  a 
month  until  December  when  the  increase 
was  73,356  tons.  The  total  figure  for  the 
year  was  5,300,876  tons.  The  total  ex- 
port figures  were: 

Tons. 

France    25,230,125 

Holland   10,313,550 

Great  Britain  9,186,000 

Germany     3,304,000 

Italy    6,893,000 

There  were  strikes  among  savings 
bank  employes,  postmen  and  school 
teachers,  but  these  were  all  settled;  in 
some  cases  the  strikers,  having  made 
their  demonstration,  returned  to  work  to 
show  "  their  spirit  of  patriotism  and  self- 
denial  ";  in  others  the  trouble  was  ended 
by  arbitration,  or  by  the  Administra- 
tion's refusing  point-blank  to  discuss 
arbitration,  in  the  case  of  the  bank  em- 
ployes. 

On  Jan.  25  a  group  of  bankers  decided 
to  subscribe  50  per  cent,  of  the  national 
loan  of  $500,000,000,  and  the  Government 
decided  to  take  over  all  municipal  loans, 
and  in  future  to  assist  in  financing  the 
various  communities  surrendering  them. 

On  Jan.  31  the  Dutch  press  printed  the 
text  of  the  treaty  between  Belgium  and 
Holland.     The  principal  provisions  read: 

Holland  and  Belgium  are  to  have  joint 
control  of  navigation  on  the  Scheldt  River. 
The  question  of  the  movement  of  Belgian 
warships      from      Antwerp      and      other 


AMONG   THE  NATIONS 


441 


problems  likely  to  result  in  the  event  of 
war  are  left  to  the  future  decision  of  the 
League  of  Naltions. 

Both  countries  agree  to  the  principle 
that  the  mouth  of  the  Scheldt  shall  be 
free  and  open  water.  Two  new  large 
canals  are  to  be  constructed  at  tne  earliest 
moment  to  give  Belgium  an  equal  outlet 
to  the  sea  (one  from  Antwerp  to  Holland 
connecting  with  the  Nor'th  Sea,  and  the 
other  from  the  Rhine  to  uie  Meuse  to  the 
Scheldt  at  Antwerp,  connecting  Antwerp 
with  the  German  Rhine,  the  latter  to  be 
constructed  within  seven  yeaTs). 

An  additional  number  of  existing  canals 
are  to  be  deepened  to  accommodate  larger 
ships.  In  general,  each  country  is  to  pay 
the  expense  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance within  its  own  borders,  and  cus- 
toms, quarantine  and  pilotage  regulations 
are  to  be  made  as  uniform  as  possible. 

With  reference  to  the  German  Rhine 
canal  Holland  agrees  that  no  new  condi- 
tions shall  be  imposed  other  than  those 
already  in  effect  on  traffic  to  Germany. 

BRITISH  EMPIRE 

The  intentions  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment in  regard  to  Soviet  Russia  remained 
as  much  of  an  engima  as  ever,  but  the 
speeches  of  the  Prime  Minister  were  gen- 
erally interpreted  to  mean  that  he  was 
seeking  a  modus  vivendi  for  trade,  if  it 
could  be  obtained  by  anything  short  of  a 
formal  recognition  of  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment. Following  the  tentative  re-eF+:ib- 
lishment  of  peace  between  the  latter  and 
Esthonia,  other  States  formerly  in  the 
Russian  Empire  were  making  a  rap- 
prochement toward  the  same  end — Lat- 
via, Lithuania  and  Ukrainia — and  Poland 
was  advised  by  the  Entente  to  make 
peace  if  the  status  of  its  territory  could 
be  guaranteed  thereby. 

The  situation  brought  out  vehement 
denunciations  in  the  Russian  anti-Bolshe- 
vist press  printed  abroad,  which  declared 
that  as  Bolshevism  was  not  a  State  or 
Government,  but  merely  a  propaganda, 
no  peace  could  be  made  with  it  without 
acknowledging  its  dominance;  that  it  was 
absurd  to  suppose  trade  could  be  had 
with  the  Russian  co-operative  societies, 
since  no  such  sAieties  now  existed,  and 
those  which  were  called  co-operative  were 
under  Soviet  Commissioners. 

THE  UNITED  KINGDOM— A  chance 
word  dropped  by  Lord  Birkenhead,  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  caused  the  news  to  be 
cabled  to  this  country  that  he  had  ad- 


vised the  resurrection  of  the  National 
Party  in  order  to  preserve  the  coalition 
from  deflection  and  to  fight  labor.  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  Lord  Ampthill,  dated 
Jan.  21,  he  repudiated  this.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Labor  Party,  hearing  that  the 
middle  class  workers  were  organizing 
(that  is,  those  who  belonged  neither  to 
the  capitalist  class  nor  to  the  proleta- 
riat), invited  their  leaders  to  a  confer- 
ence^— an  invitation  which  was  rejected. 
The  press  throughout  the  kingdom  gave 
considerable  support  to  the  idea  of  a 
middle-class  organization,  as  it  would  be 
by  nature  conservative  and  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  power  between  the  capitalists  and 
the  hand  workers,  and  thus  tend  to  pre- 
vent industrial  and  commercial  ruptures 
and  disturbances  which  caused  a  falling 
off  in  production. 

On  Jan.  27  George  Barnes,  Minister 
without  portfolio,  resigned,  thereby  mak- 
ing the  final  withdrawal  of  labor  from 
the  Coalition  Government.  The  by- 
elections,  which,  because  of  the  recent 
Laborite  victories,  brought  about,  it  was 
charged,  by  the  Unionists  through  the 
Liberals  insisting  on  having  candidates 
where  Coalition  Unionists  could  easily 
have  been  elected,  reached  the  height  of 
interest  on  Jan.  21,  when  former  Pre- 
mier Asquith  accepted  the  invitation  to 
stand  for  Paisley  on  the  principles  of  the 
old  Liberal  Party.  The  result  of  the 
election,  which  was  held  Feb.  14,  was  not 
announced  until  Feb.  25 — too  late  for 
record  in  this  issue  of  Current  His- 
tory. Paisley  since  1832  has  had  an 
unbroken  Liberal  representation.  In  the 
last  general  election,  however,  the  Lib- 
eral candidate,  Sir  John  McCallum,  won 
by  only  106  votes  over  the  Laborite.  He 
declined  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the 
coalition  and  declared  he  would  stand 
as  a  free  Liberal.  Then  he  was  pushed 
aside  to  make  room  for  Mr.  Asquith's 
candidature. 

It  was  Mr.  Asquith's  second  by-elec- 
tion. The  first  was  in  the  Spring  of 
1914,  when  he  offered  himself  for  re- 
election for  East  Fife  on  taking  over  the 
duties  of  Secretary  of  State  for  War, 
while  still  Prime  Minister,  during  the 
Curragh  crisis.  He  was  then  returned 
unopposed.    Paisley  was  only  the  second 


442 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


seat  for  which  he  has  stood,  as  he  sat 
without  a  break  for  East  Fife  from  1886 
to  the  last  election.  At  Bromley  and 
Ashton  Coalition  Unionists  won  in  by- 
elections  by  diminished  pluralities.  At 
Spen  Valley  a  Laborite  won. 

On  Jan.  15  the  National  Union  of  Rail- 
waymen  accepted  the  Government's  offer 
on  the  wage  question,  which  covered  the 
following  points: 

The  Government  have  adhered  to  the 
principle  of  standard  rates  based  on  an 
average,  and  also  to  that  of  a  sliding 
scale  according  to  the  cost  of  living. 

The  increase  of  war  wage  contained  in 
the  proposals  for-  adults  in  the  concilia- 
tion grades  is  to  be  extended  to  grades 
not  hitherto  included,  and  an  increase  of 
2s.  6d.  is  made  to  boys  and  girls  under  18 
years  of  age. 

Cases  of  individual  hardship  will  be 
gone  into. 

The  Government  expressed  readiness  to 
make  retrospective  payment  on  the  terms 
originally  promised,  but  pointed  out  that 
the  delay  which  would  ensue  was  the 
reason  for  their  offer  of  a  fixed  sum. 

The  men  to  whom  was  lefit  the  decision 
as  to  the  farm  of  retrospective  pay  ac- 
cepted  the  fixed  sum. 

The  Government  are  ready  to  extend  the 
principle  in  their  proposals  to  Ireland, 
with  modifications  for  narrow  gauge  and 
road  railways. 

The  movement,  advocated  by  some  Lib- 
erals and  all  Laborites,  for  the  nationali- 
zation of  the  coal  mines  of  the  kingdom 
came  to  a  head  on  Feb.  11  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  when  a  motion  in  favor  of 
nationalization  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of 
329  to  64. 

EGYPT— On  Jan.  19,  Arian  Yusuf 
Saad,  who  was  found  guilty  of  attempt- 
ing the  assassination  of  the  Egyptian 
Premier  last  December,  was  sentenced  to 
ten  years'  hard  labor.  On  the  same  day 
the  Milner  Mission,  after  a  fortnight's 
investigation  at  Alexandria,  departed  for 
Cairo.  As  a  result  of  the  visit  a  fusion 
was  expected  to  take  place  between  the 
mixed  and  the  Consular  Courts  in  regard 
to  commercial  and  civil  matters  as  well 
as  in  regard  to  jurisdiction  in  criminal 
matters  and  matters  of  personal  status 
heretofore  exercised  by  the  Consular 
Courts,  while  the  religious  courts  would 
be  left  untouched.  For  such  a  reform 
which  will  meet  the  native  complaints 
the  consent  of  the  capitulatory  powers 
will  be  necessary,  but  no  opposition  was 


expected  on  the  part  of  foreign  com- 
munities. 

The  schools  were  closed  in  Cairo  on 
account  of  refractory  pupils  and  three 
trains  were  derailed,  including  the  Luxor- 
Cairo  Express,  but  without  loss  of  life. 
Aside  from  these  cases  and  some  isolated 
assaults  on  soldiers  the  Nationalist  re- 
volt confined  itself  to  propaganda. 

The  Egyptian  Government  approved 
the  appointment  of  a  Commission  of  In- 
quiry into  the  scheme  of  irrigation 
throughout  the  Nile  basin,  evolved  by 
the  Egyptian  Public  Works  Department, 
and  into  the  rival  scheme  projected  by 
the  designer  of  the  Assouan  dam,  Sir 
William  Willcocks.  The  former  includes 
the  construction  of  a  huge  reservoir  some 
twenty-five  miles  south  of  Khartum  and 
of  a  dam  at  Senaar,  about  150  miles  from 
that  point,  in  order  to  form  a  reserve  for 
the  flooding  of  the  area  between  the 
Blue  and  White  Niles,  known  as  the 
Gezirth.  ,  Sir  William  would  utilize  a 
large  depression  in  the  Bahr  El  Ghazal 
region,  which,  he  says,  is  a  giant  natural 
reservoir  and  could  be  used  to  supply 
Egypt  "  to  the  day  of  doom  "  and  the 
Sudan  "  for  many  generations." 

INDIA — In  spite  of  the  dispersal  of 
the  Mahsuds  on  the  northwest  frontier 
after  an  engagement  with  the  British 
Derejat  column  on  Jan.  10,  in  which  the 
latter  lost  380  and  the  enemy  330  in 
casualties  of  all  sorts,  isolated  skirmish- 
ing continued,  but  without  any  approach 
to  these  losses. 

According  to  advices  from  Bombay  the 
news  of  Bolshevist  domination  of  Turke- 
stan profoundly  moved  India.  The  Bom- 
bay correspondent  of  The  London  Times 
wrote: 

A  survey  of  the  military  situation  car- 
ries the  conviction  that  Indial  is  im- 
mensely strong  if  the  commands  are  given 
to  young  Generals  versed  in  modern  war. 
The  public  will  not  stint  the  Government 
for  money  if  the  nature  of  the  Bolshevist 
menace  is  brought  home  to  the  people, 
but  a  much  more  vigorous  campaign  is 
necessary  if  the  few  Indian  Nationalists 
who  are  coquetting  with  Bolshevism  are 
to  be  effectively  countered. 

A  more  drastic  police  also  is  required  to 
remedy  social  injustice  and  lighten  the 
cost  of  living,  for  India  is  now  groaning 
under  rampant  profiteering.  Any  relaxa- 
tion  of    the    food    control    would    be    im- 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


i  U 


mediately  followed  by  an  unprincipled 
cornering  of  supplies,  producing  an  at- 
mosphere of  Justifiable  discontent,  favor- 
able to  the  spread  of  the  Bolshevist  creed. 
The  natural  conservatism  of  the  Indian 
temperament  is  a  deadly  enemy  of  Bol- 
shevist ideas,  but  it  would  be  overborne 
by  the  burden  of  the  cost  of  living,  which 
demands  immediate  redress. 

Up  to  Jan.  20  there  were  no  disorders 
in  the  great  cotton  mill  strike  involving 
200,000  workers  in  the  Bombay  Presi- 
dency, but  on  that  day,  the  eighteenth 
of  the  strike,  rioters  began  to  hold  up 
vehicles  and  assault  pedestrians,  and  the 
troops  thereupon  fired  into  one  crowd, 
killing  one  and  wounding  several.  The 
mill  owners  were  prepared  to  grant  the 
ten-hour  day  and  a  50  per  cent,  advance 
in  wages  demanded,  stipulating,  how- 
ever, that  the  workers  should  not  strike 
again  without  a  warning  period  in  which 
differences  might  be  adjusted  without  a 
strike.  This  the  strikers  declined  to 
agree  to. 

IRELAND — Aside  from  the  continua- 
tion of  violence  and  outrage  organized 
jy  the  Sinn  Fein  and  counter-raids  by 
the  constabulary  two  interesting  events 
took  place  in  Ireland.  On  Jan.  30,  when 
the  new  Municipal  Council  met  in  Dub- 
lin, with  42  Sinn  Fein  members  out  of  80, 
the  flag  of  the  "  Irish  Republic "  was 
hoisted  on  the  City  Hall.  On  Feb.  12,  at 
the  Royal  Albert  Hall,  London,  a  Sinn 
Fein  demonstration,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  police,  was  held  demanding 
self-determination  for  Ireland.  Promi- 
nent on  the  platform  was  Mrs.  Despard, 
sister  of  Lord  French,  the  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant of  Ireland,  whom  the  Sinn  Fein  at- 
tempted to  assassinate  on  Dec.  19. 

On  Jan.  24  Dublin  Castle  issued  a  re- 
port showing  that  between  May  1,  1916, 
and  Dec.  31,  1919,  1,529  outrages  were 
attributed  to  the  Sinn  Fein  movement — 
134  in  Ulster,  429  in  Leinster,  including 
Dublin;  205  in  Connaught  and  761  in 
Munster.  The  character  of  the  outrages 
was  designated  as  follows: 
Murders  of  military,  police  and  offi- 
cials        18 

Murders   of  civilians 2 

Firing  at  police 50 

Firing  at  military 13 

Firing   at   civilians 14 

Assaults    on    police 46 

Assaults  on  civilians IV 


Raids,  &c,  for  arms  on  police 20 

Raids,  &c,  for  arms  on  military 67 

.   &c,  for  arms  on  Civilian* 502 

Incendiary  fires  To 

Injury  to  property   278 

Firing  into  police  dwellings 3 

Firing  into  civilian  dwellings 38 

Threatening  letters 180 

Miscellaneous   210 


RAILWAYS.  j    ttf 

.    Existing       /  Q 
— -•  Proposed   )  *j 

y  .•..-•oo 


MAP  SHOWING  RAILWAY  THROUGH 
PORTUGUESE  EAST  AFRICA,  WHICH 
WILL.  GIVE  BRITISH  NYASALAND  AN 
OUTLET  TO  THE  INDIAN  OCEAN.  THE 
ROAD  WILL  OPERATE  UNDER  A  BRITISH 
GUARANTEE 


NYASALAND  AND  NIGERIA— The 
first  instance  of  a  British  official  guar- 
antee being  given  in  respect  to  a  railway 
traversing  foreign  territory  in  order  to 
reach  the  coast  and  provide  an  ocean 
gateway  for  an  inland  British  possession 
came  about  with  the  completion  of  the 
arrangements  for  the  Beira  -  Zambezi 
Railway,  which,  starting  from  Nyasaland, 
is  to  cross  Portuguese  East  Africa  and 
reach  the  coast  at  the  Lorenco  Marquez 
town  of  Beira. 

In  1912  Northern  and  Southern  Nigeria 
were  amalgamated,  thus  forming  the 
largest  of  the  British  Crown  colonies  and 
protectorates.  It  is  one-third  the  size 
of  British  India,  and  has  a  population  of 
16,000,000  or  17,000,000.    The  first  report 


444 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


on  Nigeria  was  issued  in  the  form  of  a 
White  Paper  on  Jan.  26.  The  author  is 
Sir  F.  D.  Lugard. 

The  report  says  that  while  "  cordially 
recognizing  mission  activity  in  pagan 
areas,  the  Government  has  desired  to  dis- 
courage propaganda  in  Moslem  districts." 

Discussing  the  question  of  slavery  and 
free  labor,  Sir  F.  D.  Lugard  says  that  the 
sudden  abolition  of  the  institution  of  do- 
mestic slavery  would  have  produced  so- 
cial chaos,  and  the  wholesale  assertion  of 
their  freedom  if  they  choose;  that  the 
discouraged.  Generally  speaking,  there 
are  no  slaves  in  the  Moslem  States  who 
are  not  well  aware  that  they  can  assert 
their  freedom  if  they  choose;  that  the 
native  courts  deal  liberally  and  impar- 
tially with  all  cases,  and  that  the  mas- 
ters not  only  acquiesce,  but  increasingly 
recognize  the  advantages  of  free  labor, 
while  all  persons  under  18  years  of  age 
are  free  born. 

FRANCE 

Jean  Longuet,  grandson  of  Karl  Marx, 
and  leader  of  the  Socialist  Party  in 
France,  who  visited  the  United  States 
last  Autumn,  qualified  the  defeat  of  the 
Socialists  at  the  last  general  election 
by  the  following  statement,  issued  Jan. 
15: 

I  pray  for  a  similar  defeat  for  us  at 
every  election.  It  is  true  that  instead  of 
the  101  Socialists  elected  to  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  at  the  election  before  the  last 
we  have  now  sixty-eight.  But  it  is  also 
true  that  instead  of  only  1,125,000  Social- 
ist votes— the  number  that  elected  the 
101  Socialist  Deputies— at  the  last  elec- 
tion we  received  1,700,000  votes.  *  *  * 
We  not  only  increased  in  quantity  of 
votes  but  in  quality.  The  one  and  a  quar- 
ter million  votes  that  elected  the  101 
Socialist  Deputies  just  before  the  war 
had  a  considerable  number  of  merely 
protesting  elements  among  them,  so- 
called  radicals,  who  cannot  be  "considered 
Socialists  at  all.  At  the  last  election, 
however,  thanks  to  the  fire  tests  of  war 
and  our  support  of  the  cause  of  Soviet 
Russia,  these  people  were  purged  out  of 
our  vote,  and  what  remained  was  pure 
metal.  We  have  now,  therefore,  a  clear 
mandate  for  our  representatives— Social- 
ism. 

To  the  list  of  Ministers  of  the  Mille- 
rand  Cabinet,  announced  Jan.  19,  should 
be  added  the  names  of  nine  Under  Sec- 
retaries of  State  as  follows: 


Presidence  du  Conseil — M.   Reibel. 

Finance— M.   E.   Brousse. 

Provisions — M.   R.   Thoumyre. 

Ports     and     Merchant     Marine— M.     Paul 

Bignon. 
Hydraulic  Power — M.   Borrel. 
Post  and  Telegraphs — M.  L.  Deschamps. 
Agriculture — M.  Queuille. 
Air  Depantment — M.  P.  E.  Flandin. 
Professional  Tuition — M.    Coupajt. 

On  Jan.  22  M.  Millerand  outlined  his 
program  to  the  Chamber  and  suffered  a 
moral  defeat.  The  latter  was  not  on  ac- 
count of  his  program,  but  because  of  the 
presence  of  M.  Steeg  as  Minister  of  the 
Interior  in  the  new  Government,  excep- 
tion to  whom  was  taken  by  Leon  Daudet, 
who  charged  that  .Steeg  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  M.  Malvy,  the  exiled  states- 
man, in  defeatist  propaganda.  The  vote 
of  confidence  in  the  most  significant 
division  of  the  day  was  as  follows: 

Of  the  595  members  present  only  275 
voted  for  the  Government  and  297  re- 
fused to  vote  at  all,  while  23  were  more 
positive  in  their  opposition.  Those  who 
abstained  included  180  members  of  the 
Entente  Republicaine,  70  Socialists,  and 
47  members  drawn  from  other  parts  of 
the  Chamber.  All  the  members  of  the 
old  Clemenceau  Government,  as  well  as 
former  Premiers  Barthou,  Briand,  and 
Viviani,  voted  for  the  Government. 

In  answer  to  the  Daudet  attack  on  M. 
Steeg,  M.  Millerand  said: 

I  am  in  complete  political  accord  with 
the  last  Cabinet,  the  head  of  which  did 
not  hesitate  to  strike  hard  against  the 
leaders  of  "  defeatism."  We  are  not 
men  of  one  party.  We  invite  the  co- 
operation of  all  in  the  service  of  France, 
We  shall  be  bound  to  no  person.  We  are 
a  Government  of  concord,  and  we  mean 
to  pursue  a  bold  and  sweeping  social 
policy. 

A  resolution  proposed  by  M.  Daudet 
condemning  the  choice  of  M.  Steeg  as 
Minister  of  the  Interior  was  rejected 
by  383  against  14,  and  an  Order  of  the 
Day  declaring  that  the  Chamber  ap- 
proved the  statement  of  M.  Millerand  ex- 
plaining the  Steeg  appointment  was 
adopted  by  272  votes  against  23.  Sub- 
sequently the  firm  standing  of  the  Mil- 
lerand Government  was  confirmed.  The 
Steeg  question  came  up  again  on  Jan. 
30,  when  the  vote  for  the  Government 
was  510  to  70,  and  on  Feb.  6,  its  foreign 


AMONG  THE  NATIONS 


445 


policy  was   sustained  by  a  vote  of  518 
to  68. 

The  French  custom  that  the  General 
who  is  destined  to  command  the  armies 
in  time  of  war  should  in  peace  be  placed 
at  the  head  of  the  General  Staff  was  fol- 
lowed when  the  new  Minister  of  War,  on 
Jan.  25,  reorganized  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil of  War,  with  himself,  M.  Andre 
Lefevre,  as  President;  Marshal  Petain  as 
Vice  President;  General  Buat,  Chief  of 
the  General  Staff,  and  Marshals  Foch 
and  Joffre,  together  with  nine  Divisional 
Generals. 

On  Feb.  12  Raoul  Peret  was  elected 
President  of  the  Chamber  by  372  of  the 
425  votes  cast,  thus  succeeding  Paul 
Deschanel,  elected  President  of  the  Re- 
public on  Jan.  17. 

On  Feb.  1,  M.  Maginot,  Minister  of 
Pensions,  announced  that  660,000  war 
pensions  had  been  liquidated,  but  that 
nearly  five  times  as  many  still  remained 
to  be  settled,  1,975,000  being  pensions 
for  those  disabled,  700,000  for  widows 
and  550,000  for  dependents.  No  pen- 
sions due  civilian  victims  of  the  war  had 
been  settled. 

On  Jan.  27  M.  Poincare,  then  President, 
issued  a  decree  creating  a  Supreme 
Council  of  Natality  under  M.  Breton, 
Minister  of  Health  and  Social  Welfare. 
On  this  subject  M.  Breton  reported  as 
follows  to  the  Cabinet: 

The  lowness  of  the  French  hirth  rate, 
■which  becomes  worse  each  year,  endan- 
gers the  existence  of  the  nation.  For  a 
long  time  before  the  war  France  lacked 
men.  French  soil  is  one  of  the  most  fer- 
tile in  the  world,  but  is  one  of  the  least 
productive  because  of  lack  of  labor.  Be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  men  industry  in 
France  is  obliged  to  depend  more  on  im- 
migration than  any  other  European  coun- 
try. The  war  In  depriving  France  of 
2,000,000  young  men  has  increased  still 
more  the  danger  which  threatens  the 
nation. 

We  have  often  studied  this  situation, 
which  is  unique  with  France;  we  have 
recognized  that  it  is  not  due  to  one  cause, 
but  to  a  multiplicity  of  causes.  There- 
fore, to  combat  it  we  must  not  resort  to 
one  remedy,  but  to  many  remedies,  some 
of  a  moral  nature,  others  of  a  national 
and    economic   nature. 

We  must  not  intrust  this  grave  ques- 
tion, the  gravest  of  all  that  confront  us, 
to  a  temporary  commission,  irregularly 
convoked,  but  to  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion meeting  at  fixed  periods  and  equipped 


with  sufficient  means  of  inquiry  and  pub- 
licity. 

A  council  will  give  its  advice  upon  ques- 
tions proposed  by  the  Ministry  or  upon 
those  which  belong  upon  its  caleii'! 
It  will  prepare  projects  of  law  decrees 
and  circulars  which,  it  believes,  should 
be  presented  to  the  Minister,  It  can  call 
In  authorities  for  consultation. 

ITALY 

The  alternative  of  having  President 
Wilson  and  Jugoslavia  accept  the  Adri- 
atic decision  of  the  Premiers  of  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Italy — reached  on 
Jan.  20 — or  the  application  of  the  Treaty 
of  London  of  April  26,  1915,  was  believed 
by  Italian  authority  to  refer  only  in  so 
far  as  the  Adriatic  question  was  con- 
cerned, since  other  parts  of  the  treaty 
had  already  been  liquidated  or  were  in 
the  course  of  settlement.  For  example, 
it  was  not  believed  possible  that  the  ques- 
tion of  the  concessions  in  Africa  would 
be  reopened  if  the  decision  of  Jan.  20 
were  to  be  rejected  at  Washington  and 
Belgrade.  The  African  concessions  to 
Italy  include  an  expansion  of  Libya, 
Eritrea  and  Italian  Somaliland,  as  ex- 
plained in  detail,  with  maps,  on  pages 
482-4. 

By  Jan.  20  a  railway  strike,  the  most 
extensive  in  the  history  of  the  Peninsula, 
reached  its  greatest  expansion.  It  had 
begun  on  Jan.  15.  Not  a  wheel  turned 
on  Jan.  20.  On  that  and  the  following 
days  hundreds  of  strikers  were  arrested 
and  the  principal  cities  were  placed  un- 
der military  law.  The  causes  of  the 
walk-out  were  very  complicated,  includ- 
ing a  demand  on  the  part  of  the  strikers 
for  higher  wages,  fewer  hours  of  work, 
and,  most  important  of  all,  Government 
recognition  of  the  unions.  The  Govern- 
ment offered  bonuses  and  reduced  time 
of  labor,  but  declined  to  recognize  the 
unions. 

The  strike  was  not  popular,  and  for- 
mer soldiers  volunteered  in  large  num- 
bers to  break  it.  On  Feb.  4  the#  strike 
ended  by  a  complete  victory  for  the  Gov- 
ernment. On  the  same  day  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  Sixth  National  Loan 
(5  per  cent.,  opened  Dec.  26)  had  reached 
over  $2,500,000.  On  the  same  day  also 
there  was  the  greatest  uproar  among 
Deputies  that  the  Chamber  had  witnessed 


446 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


in  recent  years.  Socialists  and  Catholics 
flew  at  each  other  until  Signor  Orlando, 
President  of  the  Chamber,  suspended  the 
sitting.  The  clash  was  precipitated  by  a 
Socialist  Deputy,  Signor  Pandebliano, 
who  accused  the  Government  officials  of 
hoarding  oil. 

On  Jan.  24  the  American  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts  at  Rome,  closed  since  Italy  en- 
tered the  war,  resumed  its  normal  work. 

On  Feb.  6  former  Deputy  Mondello  re- 
ceived credentials  as  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary and  started  for  the  United 
States  on  a  special  mission. 

SPAIN 

On  Jan  24  the  Spanish  Government 
took  energetic  action  against  the  strikes 
and  the  coercive  measures  practiced  by 
the  General  Federation  of  Labor  and 
against  the  lockouts  resorted  to  by  em- 
ployers, all  of  which  had  produced  a  con- 


dition of  anarchy  in  Barcelona  and,  to  a 
smaller  degree,  in  other  cities.  The  dis- 
solution of  the  federation  was  ordered, 
the  employers  were  commanded  to  ter- 
minate the  lockouts,  and  the  threat  was 
made  that  labor  would  be  requisitioned 
by  the  authorities  for  public  works  and 
for  transport  of  necessaries.  Although 
independent  of  the  movement  of  the  fed- 
eration, which  is  not  a  political  organ- 
ization, a  sign  of  the  times  was  noted  in 
the  municipal  elections  on  Feb.  7,  which, 
in  a  large  majority  of  places,  elected  So- 
cialist candidates.  The  Government's  ac- 
tion of  Jan.  24  broke  up  certain  guilds 
of  the  federation,  particularly  those  in 
public  service  and  of  the  professional 
class;  it  enabled  numbers  of  small  em- 
ployers and  workmen  to  shake  off  the 
Employers'  Congress  on  one  hand  and 
the  federation  of  syndicates  on  the 
other. 


Turkey's  Coercion  by  Germany 


THE  proceedings  of  the  secret  Par- 
liamentary committee  investigating 
the  acts  of  the  Turkish  wartime  Minis- 
ters were  published  toward  the  end  of 
January  in  Constantinople,  revealing 
new  details  of  Turkey's  severance  of 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  United 
States. 

According  to  this  evidence,  the  Ameri- 
can Ambassador  on  April  4,  1917,  in- 
formed the  Turkish  Finance  Minister 
that  the  State  Department  at  Washing- 
ton saw  no  cause  for  a  break,  as  rela- 
tions were  friendly.  The  Ambassador 
said  that  no  cause  for  a  break  existed, 
unless  Germany  compelled  Turkey  to 
forward  secret  reports  bearing  on  the 
United  States.  Germany  at  first  pre- 
ferred that  Turkey  should  not  break 
with  America,  according  to  the  Ambas- 
sador, but  later  suddenly  changed  her 
attitude. 

On  April  7  the  Austrian  Ambassador 
informed  the  Sublime  Porte  that  Austria 
was  breaking  relations  with  the  United 
States,    and    insisted    upon    immediate 


action  by  Turkey.  Most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet  were  afraid  of  burn- 
ing all  their  bridges  on  the  hope  of  Ger- 
man victory.  The  Germans  made  the 
pretext  that  military  intelligence  leaked 
through  the  American  Embassy,  but  the 
real  reason  for  urging  the  break  was 
said  to  be  the  desire  to  diminish  Tur- 
key's opportunities  for  a  future  separate 
peace. 

Turkey,  through  the  Turkish  Ambassa- 
dor at  Berlin,  notified  Herr  Zimmer- 
mann,  the  German  Foreign  Secretary, 
that  Turkey  was  unable  to  break  rela- 
tions with  the  United  States,  citing  only 
military  reasons.  The  German  Minister 
was  not  satisfied,  and  replied  that 
America  would  not  declare  war  if  Turkey 
broke  of  relations.  Germany  insisted, 
and  Turkey  complied,  eventually,  after 
delaying  the  matter  for  a  time  by  de- 
manding that  Bulgaria  act  first. 

The  secret  reports  show  that  the  Cabi- 
net successfully  resisted  the  German  de- 
mand for  the  seizure  of  all  American 
institutions  after  the  departure  of  the 
American  Ambassador. 


Hungary  and  the  Treaty  of  Neuilly 

Peace  Terms  Imposed  by  the  Allies  Cause  Consternation  and 
Protest — Elections    Foreshadow    a    New    Monarchy 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1D20] 


THE  new  Hungarian  Government  un- 
der Premier  Huszar  began  its 
career,  facing  many  problems  by- 
no  means  easy  of  solution,  among 
others  that  of  ratifying  the  Peace  Treaty 
between  the  allied  Governments  and  the 
Magyar  Republic,  which  Count  Apponyi, 
head  of  the  Hungarian  peace  delegation, 
brought  back  to  Budapest  from  Neuilly 
soon  after  the  middle  of  January.  The 
main  features  of  the  treaty  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

Hungary  recognizes  the  full  indepen- 
dence of  the  State  of  Serbs,  Croats  and 
Slovenes  and  the  Czechoslovak  State :  the 
frontiers  between  Hungary  and  the  State 
of  the  Serbs.  Croats  and  Slovenes  and 
Rumania  will  be  determined  by  a  commis- 
sion composed  of  seven  members,  five  of 
whom  will  be  appointed  by  the  principal 
allied  and  associated  powers,  one  by  the 
interested  State  and  one  for  Hungary. 

Hungary  renounces  in  favor  of  Italy, 
the  State  of  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slovenes, 
Rumania  and  the  Czechoslovak  State  all 
rights  and  claims  on  the  territory  of  the 
former  Austro-Hungarlan  Monarchy  rec- 
ognized as  being  an  integral  part  of  these 
States. 

Rumania  accepts  the  dispositions  that 
the  principal  allied  and  associated  powers 
judge  necessary  for  the  protection  in  Ru- 
mania of  the  interests  of  the  inhabitants 
who  differ  from  the  majority  of  the  pop- 
ulation by  race,  language  or  religion. 
She  agrees  also  to  clauses  framed  for  the 
protection  of  the  freedom  of  transit  and 
an  equitable  regime  for  the  trade  of  other 
nations. 

The  Czechoslovak  State  undertakes  not 
to  erect  any  military  works  on  the  part 
of  its  territory  situated  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Danube  to  the  south  of  Bratislava- 
Hungary  renounces  all  rights  and  claims 
to  Flume  and  the  adjacent  territory  be- 
longing to  the  former  Hungarian  King- 
dom and  comprised  within  the  bounda- 
ries which  will  be  ultimately  fixed,  and 
she  undertakes  to  recognize  the  stipula- 
tions which  will  be  made  on  this  sub- 
ject- 
Hungary  renounces  in  favor  of  Austria 
all  her  rights  in  territories  of  the  old 
Hungarian  Kingdom  situated  beyond  the 
boundaries  fixed  today. 


The  military  clauses  are  identical  witn 
those  contained  in  the  treaty  of  Sain*  Ger- 
main, except  on  two  points.  The  total  num- 
ber of  the  Hungarian  military  forces  is  fixed 
at  35,000  men.  No  heavy  guns  are  permitted 
—that  is  to  say,  guns  of  a  larger  calibre  than 

105  millimeters. 

As  to  reparations,  the  provisions  are  the 
same  as  those  in  the  treaty  of  Saint  Ger- 
main, except  that  Hungary  is  to  give  the 
allied  powers  an  option  on  the  annual  de- 
livery of  railway  coal  for  the  period  of  five 
years,  the  amount  to  be  fixed  by  the  Repa- 
rations Commission,  and  the  coal  to  go  to 
the  State  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slovenes. 

Regarding  the  proportion  and  character  of 
the  financial  obligations  of  Hungary  which 
will  be  borne  by  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene 
State,  Rumania  and  Czechoslovakia,  by  vir- 
tue of  territory  placed  under  their  sover- 
eignty, these  will  be  decided  upon  In  con- 
formity with  the  financial  clauses  of  the 
present  treaty,  which  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  Treaty  of  Saint  Germain,  except 
for  two  additions. 

The  provisions  by  which  Hungary  must  un- 
dertake to  support  the  allied  armies  of  oc- 
cupation In  her  territory  are  not  to  apply  to 
military  operations  subsequent  to  Nov.  3, 
1918,  without  the  consent  of  the  principal  al- 
lied and  associated  powers.  In  this  case 
the  Reparations  Commission  will  fix  the 
share  of  the  expense  to  be  borne  by  Hun- 
gary. 

On  the  other  hand.  It  Is  laid  down  that  the 
Hungarian  Government  must  guarantee  to 
pay  in  addition  to  the  Hungarian  public 
debt,  part  of  the  Austrian  debt  represent- 
ing her  contribution  to  the  general  debt  of 
Austria-Hungary. 

The  economic  clauses  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  Treaty  of  Saint  Germain,  except 
as  to  some  points  of  detail  concerning  eco- 
nomic relations  between  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary. 

EFFECT  IN  HUNGARY 

Publication  of  these  terms  caused  an 
uproar  in  Hungary.  A  statement  issued 
by  Count  Apponyi  on  his  arrival  in 
Vienna,  implying  that  the  treaty  in  the 
form  dictated  would  never  be  signed, 
read  in  part  as  follows: 

Concerning  internal  physical  conditions 
of  Hungary,  we  have  been  pillaged  of 
everything.    In    the    first    place,    we    had 


448 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


the  hardships  of  war;  secondly,  we  had 
two  Communist  administrations  when  all 
our  money  was  spent  abroad  for  propa- 
ganda; and,  thirdly,  the  Rumanians 
robbed  us  of  manufacturing  machinery, 
even  printing  plants  and  railroad  equip- 
ment, so  that  we  now  have  but  twenty- 
seven  locomotives. 

Our  agricultural  interests,  which  the 
Central  European  powers  ruined  by  tak- 
ing away  our  live  stock,  are  in  a  condi- 
tion of  general  devastation  beyond  the 
River  Theiss. 

I  tried  to  make  Premier  LJoyd  George 
and  others  see  that  it  was  in  the  general 
interest  of  humanity  to  assist  us  and  that 
cutting  us  up  was  an  economic  crime. 
Under  the  terms  of  this  treaty  we  should 
have  no  wood,  lumber,  coal. 

The  Hungarian  press  declared:  "  The 
treaty  condemns  us  to  ruin."  "  It  is  an 
injustice  that  cries  to  Heaven."  "  It  is 
annihilating."  "  It  is  bound  to  fall  to  the 
ground  of  its  own  weight."  In  a  speech 
delivered  on  Jan.  19  Premier  Huszar 
said: 

Hungary's  coffin  is  being  built  at 
Neuilly.  "We  are  impotent,  but  never  for 
a  moment  will  we  renounce  our  claims. 
"We  will  wait  until  we  are  strong  again, 
and  then  convert  our  enemies  ly  diplo- 
macy—not by  arms— confident  in  our  his- 
toric powers  of  resistance  and  endurance. 

The  military  terms  of  the  treaty  were 
denounced  as  impossible  by  Hungary's 
military  representative  at  Neuilly,  who 
asserted  in  a  memorandum  to  the  En- 
tente plenipotentiaries  that  the  army  of 
35,000  men  allowed  by  the  treaty  was 
insufficient  to  maintain  order  in  the  in- 
terior in  view  of  the  conditions  obtaining, 
or  to  protect  the  frontiers  against  the 
Bolsheviki  and  insure  the  execution  of 
the  obligations  which  the  treaty  de- 
manded. Count  Apponyi,  who  was  en- 
gaged in  writing  Hungary's  answer,  said 
in  Budapest  on  Jan.  27: 

There  are  sixty  absurdities  in  the  pro- 
posed treaty.  One  of  these  takes  away 
all  our  wood  and  iron  ore,  while  another 
demands  that  we  give  wood  and  ore  to 
the  Austrians.  As  for  the  economic  con- 
ditions, we  know  that  we  can  never  fulfill 
them. 

Daily  demonstrations  occurred  in 
Budapest  at  the  end  of  January  against 
this  "peace  without  honor";  parades 
were  organized,  in  which  the  Cross  of 
St.  Stephen  was  borne  amid  the  singing 
of  the  national  anthem,  and  patriotic 
plays  were  given  at  the  theatres. 


ALLIES  EXTEND  THE  TIME 

A  request  for  an  extension  of  time  to 
consider  the  treaty  terms,  on  the  ground 
that  most  of  the  delegates  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Hungarian  Assembly,  which 
would  not  meet  until  Feb.  7,  was  granted 
on  Jan.  31,  the  limit  being  extended  first 
to  Feb.  12,  then  to  Feb.  20.  Count  Ap- 
ponyi and  his  colleagues  on  the  peace 
delegation  left  Budapest  for  Paris  on 
Feb.  10,  in  company  with  General  Band- 
holtz,  the  United  States  Military  repre- 
sentative; on  his  departure  Count  Ap- 
ponyi expressed  regret  that  America  had 
no  voice  in  the  peace  negotiations,  and 
declared  that  only  a  plebiscite  could 
justly  determine  the  national  boundaries 
of  Hungary.  He  stated  that  he  would 
make  the  request  for  such  a  plebiscite 
his  principal  plea.  Hungary,  he  said  in 
Vienna,  would  never  recognize  the  rights 
of  conquerors  to  annex  forcibly  Hun- 
garian territory.  It  was  his  intention  to 
show  that  forceful  annexation  was  the 
aim  of  the  powers.  He  complained  bit- 
terly of  the  methods  of  "  secret  diplo- 
macy" followed  in  Paris,  by  which  he 
had  been  prevented  from  visiting  his 
relatives  or  seeing  newspaper  corre- 
spondents, implying  that  the  Council  of 
Powers  was  afraid  to  face  the  light  of 
publicity  in  its  predetermined  intention 
to  seize  Hungarian  land. 

The  second  extension  of  time  was 
granted  by  the  Allies  when  the  Hun- 
garian delegates  at  Paris  presented  a 
500-page  letter  contending  that  the 
treaty  as  it  stood  contained  such  funda- 
mental and  grave  errors  that  "  it  should 
be  totally  rejected."  The  delegation  was 
allowed  eight  more  days  in  which  to 
prepare  details  of  a  treaty  such  as  it  had 
outlined  in  this  long  letter.  The  con- 
quered were,  in  fact,  proposing  terms  to 
the  conquerors.  The  willingness  of  the 
Allies  to  hear  their  plea  was  understood 
to  be  due,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  ac- 
knowledged wrong  done  to  Hungary  by 
the  Rumanian  Army,  which  had  looted 
the  country  and  was  still  occupying  one- 
third  of  it  in  defiance  of  seventeen  sepa- 
rate Peace  Conference  ultimatums. 

Brig.  Gen.  H.  H.  Bandholtz,  an  Amer- 
ican who  had  been  six  months  in  Buda- 
pest as  a  member  of  the  Interallied  Com- 


HUNGARY  AND  THE  TREATY  OF  NEUILLY 


449 


NEW  FRONTIERS 
OF  HUNGARY 

Territory  lost 
to  Hungary 


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HUNGARY  AS   IT  WILL  BE  UNDER  THE  TREATY   OF  NEUILLY 


mission  of  Control,  stated  in  Paris  on 
Feb.  12  that  the  Rumanian  Army  was 
still  on  the  Theiss  River,  where  it  had  no 
right  to  be,  since  the  boundary  fixed  by 
the  Peace  Conference  was  fifty  miles 
further  east.  He  said  that  wherever 
they  had  been  in  Hungary  the  Ruma- 
nians had  taken  away  almost  everything 
movable  under  the  guise  of  requisitions. 
He  was  largely  instrumental  in  carrying 
out  the  Peace  Conference  order  that  ac- 
count be  kept  of  everything  the  Ruma- 
nians took  away.  In  Budapest  he  left  an 
indexed  record  of  all  that  went  across 
the  Theiss  River  bridges.  One  item  was 
35,000  freight  cars.  This  record  was 
kept  by  the  Peace  Conference  for  the 
purpose  of  charging  against  Rumania's 
share  of  the  war  indemnities  all  the 
goods  she  took  out  of  Hungary. 

Rumania  asserts  that  what  she  took 
was  only  in  repayment  for  what  was 
taken  from  her,  but,  as  General  Band- 
holtz  points  out,  Rumania  has  put  Hun- 
gary in  a  position  where  she  cannot  pro- 
duce or   pay  her  indemnity.     Rumania 


has  made  Hungary  a  liability  for  the  rest 
of  Europe  rather  than  an  asset. 

SENTIMENT   FOR  A   MONARCHY 

Returns  of  the  elections  to  the  Hun- 
garian National  Assembly,  held  in  the 
week  beginning  Jan.  25,  showed  a  sweep- 
ing defeat  for  the  Socialist  elements,  the 
Nationalists  and  Peasant  Party  electing 
a  great  majority  of  the  members.  Ap- 
proximately 95  per  cent,  of  the  votes 
were  cast  for  a  monarchical  form  of 
government.  The  Premier,  on  Jan.  29, 
declared  that  Hungary  would  undoubt- 
edly be  a  monarchy,  and  that  the  new 
King  would  be  chosen  immediately  after 
the  National  Assembly  convened.  It 
would,  however,  he  stated,  be  premature 
to  mention  the  names  of  those  considered 
for  the  throne.  The  Royalist  Party  was 
divided  into  two  factions,  one  favoring  a 
native  Hungarian,  the  other  a  member  of 
a  foreign  dynasty,  as  the  new  ruler. 
Archduke  Joseph  declared  in  Budapest  on 
Jan.  30  that  it  would  be  a  dangerous  ex- 
periment to  establish  a  monarchy  in  Hun- 


450 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


gary  while  the  rest  of  the  world  was  in 
such  a  state  of  revolutionary  unrest.  A 
formal  announcement  that  the  allied  Gov- 
ernments would  not  permit  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Hapsburg  dynasty  in  Hun- 
gary, was  issued  by  the  Council  of  Am- 
bassadors in  Paris  on  Feb.  2. 

Further  trials  of  former  terrorists  un- 
der the  Bela  Kun  regime  were  announced 
in  Budapest  to  begin  on  Feb.  2.  Sensa- 
tional reports  that  the  new  Hungarian 
Government  had  executed  as  many  as 
5,000  persons  charged  with  terrorism 
were  emphatically  denied  by  Count  Ap- 


ponyi  on  Jan.  31.     In  this  connection  he 
said: 

I  have  implicit  confidence  in  the  Judges, 
who  are  moving  so  slowly  that  there  have 
been  only  twenty-seven  executions  for 
murder  so  far,  which  is  a  small  number 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  Com- 
munists billed  several  thousand  persons. 
Nobody  is  being  arrested  for  opinions, 
bult  for  acts. 

'Hungary  is  in  a  sitate  of  self-defense 
against  the  Red  terror,  just  as  America, 
which  is  deporting  Bolsheviki.  With  semi- 
Bolshevist  Governments  at  "Vienna  and 
Prague,  and  also  agents  coming  in  from 
Russia,  all  preparing  to  subvert  the  peace 
of  Europe,  we  are  bound  to  be  careful. 


Poland  and  Bolshevist  Peace 


Isolation  of  the  New  State  Leads  to  Consideration  of  Peace 
Negotiations  With  Soviet  Russia 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


WITH  the  defeat  of  the  army  of 
General  Yudenitch  on  the  Pe- 
trograd  front,  the  rout  of  the 
Siberian  forces  of  Admiral  Kol- 
chak  and  the  driving  back  of  General 
Denikin  in  the  South,  the  Moscow  Gov- 
ernment turned  its  attention  to  those  Bal- 
tic States  which  were  still  in  arms 
against  it.  Latvia  and  Lithuania,  both 
small  and  relatively  weak  States,  still 
held  firm  against  the  Bolsheviki,  but 
the  larger  State  of  Esthonia,  lured  by 
offers  of  recognition  of  its  autonomy, 
accepted  the  Soviet  peace  overtures,  and 
finally  concluded  an  armistice,  which  de- 
veloped into  peace.  By  this  defection  of 
Esthonia,  Poland,  the  most  powerful  of 
the  border  States,  was  left  practically 
isolated;  its  population  was  suffering 
from  typhus  and  other  epidemics  due  to 
hunger,  cold,  lack  of  food,  clothing  and 
vital  necessities,  and  in  this  crisis  its 
army  was  left  to  stem  the  Bolshevist  tide 
practically  alone. 

Indications  came  from  various  quar- 
ters that  the  allied  nations,  as  well  as  the 
United  States,  realized  fully  the  serious- 
ness of  the  situation  which  Poland  faced 
under  the  threat  of  an  announced  Bolshe- 
vist drive  in  the  Spring,  the  danger  from 


which  seemed  so  -extreme  to  the  new 
Polish  Foreign  Minister,  M.  Patek,  that 
immediately  after  assuming  office  he  left 
Warsaw  to  lay  an  appeal  for  assistance 
before  the  allied  representatives  in  Paris 
and  London. 

It  was  declared  by  General  Tasker  H. 
Bliss  on  Jan.  15,  before  the  House  Ways 
and  Means  Committee,  that  Poland  was 
"  the  only  bulwark  against  Bolshevism." 
Secretary  Baker  supplemented  this  with 
a  statement  that  definite  plans  for  fur- 
nishing Poland  with  war  materials  and 
food  to  aid  in  checking  the  westward 
spread  of  Bolshevism  were  being  con- 
sidered by  the  United  States  and  by  the 
allied  Governments.  He  said  our  Gov- 
ernment favored  such  action;  to  furnish 
food  and  supplies  to  Poland  would  be  to 
protect  civilization.  Both  Mr.  Baker  and 
General  Bliss  joined  in  urging  the  im- 
mediate grant  of  the  $150,000,000  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Hoover  for  the  relief  of 
Poland  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  The 
official  attitude  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment toward  the  granting  of  such  aid 
to  Poland  was  set  forth  in  an  authorized 
statement  by  Secretary  Baker,  published 
on  Jan.  21,  in  which  he  emphasized  the 
understanding  that  such  assistance  would 


POLAND  AND  BOLSHEVIST  PEACE 


451 


be  conditioned  wholly  on  the  defensive 
and  nonimperialistic  attitude  of  the  Po- 
lish Government. 

The  Polish  military  situation  toward 
the  end  of  December  was  as  follows: 
Poland's  army,  under  the  supreme  com- 
mand of  General  Pilsudski,  head  of  the 
Polish  Government,  was  holding  a  long 
front,  extending  from  Marienburg  in  the 
province  of  Livonia,  along  the  Dvina, 
across  Poland,  and  through  Ukrainian 
territory  to  the  Rumanian  frontier.  Po- 
land was  negotiating  with  the  Ukrainian 
Government  to  establish  a  military  alli- 
ance with  that  republic.  The  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Letts,  who  had  shown  bril- 
liant military  capacity  in  evicting  the 
Russo-German  forces  of  Colonel  Avalov- 
Bermondt,  and  in  driving  the  Bolsheviki 
out  of  Letgalen  (Eastern  Latvia),  was 
also  being  sought.  American  help  for 
the  Polish  Army  in  the  way  of  clothing 
reached  Poland  on  Feb.  1,  when  100  car- 
loads of  war  materials,  including  a  large 
supply  of  underwear,  socks  and  sweaters 
supplied  by  the  American  Red  Cross, 
and  army  uniforms  for  300,000  men,  ar- 
rived. It  was  said  that  American  uni- 
forms were  being  worn  by  most  of  the 
Polish  Army  at  the  front,  of  which  some 
70,000  men  were  estimated  to  be  natu- 
ralized Americans. 

Toward  the  beginning  of  February, 
after  an  attempted  concentration  by  the 
Bolsheviki  of  large  numbers  of  Soviet 
troops  north  of  the  Dvina  River  had  been 
prevented  by  attacks  of  Polish  units, 
both  the  Polish  and  the  Bolshevist 
armies  were  compelled  to  abandon  mili- 
tary operations,  owing,  it  was  said,  to  un- 
favorable weather  conditions. 

It  was  learned  in  London  on  Feb.  2 
that  the  Polish  Government,  subject  to 
approval  by  the  Allies,  was  considering 
an  offer  of  peace  made  to  Poland  by 
Lenin,  Trotzky  and  Foreign  Minister 
Tchitcherin.  This  offer  had  been  made 
by  Moscow  wireless  in  the  last  week  of 
January,  and  embodied  overtures  toward 
a  friendly  settlement  of  all  disputes  and 
outstanding  difficulties  between  Soviet 
Russia  and  Poland.  M.  Sapieha,  the 
Polish  Minister  to  London,  stated  that 
the  decision  as  to  this  offer  would  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Polish  Diet  after  it  heard 


the  result  of  M.  Patek's  discussions  in 
London  and  Paris. 

It  was  asserted  in  the  offer  that  the 
Soviet  Government,  from  the  first,  had 
recognized  the  independence  and  sover- 
eignty of  the  Polish  Republic,  and  that 
this  action  would  be  confirmed  at  the 
February  meeting  of  the  Supreme  Exec- 
utive Committee  of  the  Soviet.  Further, 
it  was  declared  there  was  no  territorial, 
economic,  or  other  question  which  could 
not  be  solved  peacefully  by  negotiations, 
concessions,  and  mutual  agreement,  such 
as  were  being  arranged  with  Esthonia. 

Poland's  formal  reply  to  the  Soviet 
Government  was  sent  on  Feb.  6  by  M. 
Patek.   It  was  as  follows: 

The  Polish  Government  acknowledges 
the  receipt  of  the  wireless  declaration  of 
the  Government  of  the  Russian  Soviet  Re- 
public, dated  Jan.  29,  1920.  That  declara- 
tion will  be  considered,  and  the  answer 
will  be  communicated  to  the  Russian 
Sovit  t   Government. 

In  the  meantime  the  Polish  Foreign 
Office  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  to  such  ne- 
gotiations. The  Polish  Minister  to  the 
United  States,  Prince  Casimir  Lubomir- 
ski,  had  announced  in  Washington  on 
Feb.  3  that  the  Polish  Diet  would  sign 
a  peace  treaty  with  the  Moscow  authori- 
ties if  they  would  guarantee  that  Bol- 
shevist propaganda  would  not  be  carried 
on  in  Poland  and  other  European  coun- 
tries. 

POLAND  WEDDED  TO  THE  SEA 

The  modest  seaside  village  of  Putzig 
on  the  Baltic  coast  was  the  scene  of  a 
unique  ceremony  on  Feb.  11,  when  a  de- 
tachment of  Polish  cavalry,  with  Gen- 
eral Haller  at  its  head,  rode  fetlock  deep 
into  the  sea  as  part  of  a  historic  cere- 
mony symbolizing  the  fact  that  Po- 
land's writ  once  more  runs  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  that  its  ancient  kingdom  is 
regained. 

Early  in  the  morning  Polish  troops, 
completing  the  occupation  of  the  "  cor- 
ridor," which  separates  West  Prussia 
from  the  free  city  of  Danzig,  reached 
Putzig,  where  shortly  afterward  arrived 
General  Haller,  who  commanded  the  Po- 
lish legion  which  won  its  spurs  in  France, 
and  a  number  of  members  of  the  Polish 
Parliament    from    Warsaw.     From    the 


452 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


wide  countryside  tens  of  thousands  of 
people  assembled  to  welcome  the  war- 
riors whose  deeds  helped  to  bring  them 
freedom. 

At  every  half  mile  along  the  scores  of 
miles  of  approaching  avenues  garlands 
were  stretched  across  the  roads  from 
tree  to  tree,  and  in  every  village  the 
school  children  threw  floral  greetings  be- 
neath the  horses'  hoofs.  At  Putzig  was 
formed  a  long  cavalcade  which  moved 
toward  the  Strand.  Varicolored  and  pict- 
uresque were  the  human  elements  in  the 
scene.  Three  companies  of  marine  in- 
fantry in  British  khaki,  with  naval  caps, 
kept  the  lines.  Behind  were  aligned  sev- 
eral squadrons  of  cavalry  with  their  pen- 
nons and  infantry  in  French  horizon 
blue  and  steel  helmets.  Here  and  there 
were  Catholic  priests  in  gorgeous  vest- 
ments, and  Polish  societies,  each  carrying 
a  multicolored  banner. 

Filling  the  great  space  of  greensward 
behind  were  tens  of  thousands,  all  in  the 
decorous  black  of  Polish  Sabbath  and 
high  holiday  wear. 

In  this  strange  drama  one  figure,  that 
of  General  Haller  on  horseback,  detached 


itself,  and  then  rode  down  to  the  beach 
into  the  sea,  where  there  closed  around 
him  a  group  of  staff  officers.  The  Gen- 
eral paused  a  moment,  looked  with  a 
gaze  that  seemed  to  pierce  the  mist  over 
the  face  of  the  waters,  then  turned 
toward  the  assembled  multitude,  and  in 
a  few  ringing  sentences  told  how  after 
138  years  Poland  had  once  again  re- 
turned to  the  sea. 

Then  the  horses  splashed  their  way 
back  to  dry  land.  The  riders  dis- 
mounted, and  closed  around  the  flag- 
staff. Officers  made  a  way  for  a  dozen 
color  bearers,  each  holding  aloft  the 
standard  of  a  Polish  regiment.  The  Po- 
lish marine  flag  was  dedicated  by  a  Cath- 
olic Bishop  and  was  hoisted.  Simulta- 
neously great  guns  roared  out  a  salute, 
whose  thunder  must  have  been  carried 
to  the  Prussian  side. 

Once  more  General  Haller  stepped  for- 
ward, drew  from  his  finger  a  golden 
ring  and  threw  it  far  out  into  the  water, 
saying  as  he  did  so: 

*  As  Venice  so  symbolized  its  marriage 
with  the  Adriatic,  so  we  Poles  symbolize 
our  marriage  with  our  dear  Baltic  Sea." 


/ 


0 


Russia  a  Problem  for  the  Allies 


Soviet  Government,  Triumphant  on  All  Fronts,  Rejects  Trade 
With  Entente  Nations  Unless  Based  on  an  Armistice 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


IN  the  first  six  weeks  of  1920  the  Mos- 
cow Government  consolidated  its  suc- 
cesses on  all  former  anti-Bolshevist 
fronts  except  East  Lettland.  The 
Yudenitch  army,  utterly  demoralized, 
disintegrated  by  wholesale  desertions  to 
the  Soviet  Army,  was  eliminated  as  a 
military  factor;  the  Kolchak  army, 
driven  headlong  toward  the  east,  was 
forced  to  abandon  Siberia  to  the  Bol- 
shevist forces;  Kolchak  himself  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Reds  and  put  to  death  in 
Irkutsk;  Vladivostok  was  seized  by  a 
group  of  revolutionists,  and  a  Soviet  re- 
public was  set  up  in  Kamchatka  and 
Sakhalin.  The  Bolshevist  campaign  in 
Turkestan  and  Transcaspia  was  carried 


on  energetically,  and  Krasnovodsk  was 
captured;  the  Bolsheviki  won  new  suc- 
cesses in  the  Caspian,  Don  and  Black 
Sea  regions,  and  Denikin's  forces  were 
crowded  back  into  a  small  area  between 
Odessa,  which  the  Red  Army  entered  on 
Feb.  8,  and  a  point  on  the  railway  line 
southwest  of  Tsaritsin. 

After  a  month's  armistice  "with  Es- 
thonia,  renewable  from  week  to  week, 
peace  was  finally  signed  with  the  Estho- 
nian  Government  on  Jan.  29,  and  peace 
overtures  were  made  to  Poland;  these 
offers,  with  the  sanction  of  the  allied 
Governments,  were  seriously  considered 
by  the  Polish  Government,  the  difficul- 
ties of  whose  position,  in  face  of  famine, 


RUSSIA  A  PROBLEM  FOR  THE  ALLIES 


453 


cold,  epidemics,  and  the  threat  of  an 
overwhelming  Bolshevist  invasion  in  the 
Spring,  were  fully  recognized  by  the  En- 
tente Powers. 

The  most  surprising  development  of 
the  month  under  review  was  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  Allies  that  they  in- 
tended to  raise  the  blockade  of  Soviet 
Russia  and  to  resume  trade  through  the 
Russian  Co-operative  Societies,  whose 
representatives  in  Paris  and  London  had 
declared  direct  trading  without  recogni- 
tion of  the  Soviet  Government  to  be 
feasible.  Like  other  attempted  solutions 
of  the  Russian  problem,  including  the 
famous  Prinkipo  Conference,  this  project 
died  before  it  was  born;  Lenin  and 
Trotzky  promptly  made  it  apparent  that 
any  trade  with  the  Russian  people  with- 
out recognition  of  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment would  be  combated.  The  Co- 
operative representatives  in  Paris  soon 
admitted  that  they  had  not  been  able  to 
obtain  the  expected  sanction  of  the  Mos- 
cow authorities  to  a  trade  arrangement, 
and  the  latter  declared  officially  that 
they  would  sink  all  allied  vessels  at- 
tempting to  initiate  trade  without  the 
prior  conclusion  of  an  armistice. 

The  disbanded  troops  of  General  Yude- 
nitch  in  Esthonia  were  reported  in  the 
middle  of  January  to  be  in  a  sorry  plight, 
ragged,  hungry,  ravaged  by  epidemic,  the 
object  of  Esthonian  hostility,  demoral- 
ized by  Bolshevist  propaganda,  leading 
to  constant  desertions  to  the  Reds.  Gen- 
eral Rodzianko,  who  commanded  them 
under  Yudenitch,  left  for  England  to  lay 
their  case  before  the  British  Government. 
General  Yudenitch  himself,  as  the  result 
of  a  private  feud  with  Colonel  Balakho- 
vitch,  was  arrested  as  a  reactionary,  but 
subsequently,  following  an  allied  protest 
to  Esthonia,  was  released. 

NEW  BALTIC  CONFERENCE 
A  new  Baltic  conference,  composed  of 
representatives  of  Esthonia,  Latvia,  Li- 
thuania and  Poland,  was  opened  at  Hel- 
singfors  on  Jan.  15.  The  two  main  ob- 
jects of  discussion  were  the  danger  of  a 
Czarist  Russia  and  the  possibility  of  a 
joint  union  of  the  Baltic  States  to  resist 
the  advance  of  Bolshevism.  This  confer- 
ence from  the  start  met  with  great  diffi- 
culties;   first,    because   of   the   hostility 


which  had  arisen  between  Poland  and 
Lithuania  over  alleged  Polish  encroach- 
ments on  Lithuanian  territory,  especially 
in  Vilna  and  Grodno,  and,  secondly,  be- 
cause of  the  unwillingness  of  Esthonia 
to  bind  herself  not  to  conclude  peace  with 
the  Bolshevist  authorities.  It  was  stated 
on  Jan.  20  that  the  only  result  of  the  con- 
ference was  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mission to  work  out  a. scheme  of  defen- 
sive alliance.  The  Lithuanians  withdrew 
soon  after  the  conference  began,  declaring 
that  they  would  not  sit  in  council  with  the 
Poles.  The  Poles  asserted  their  intention 
of  waging  war  on  Soviet  Russia,  while 
Esthonia's  delegates  upheld  their  coun- 
try's right  to  make  peace  with  the  Lenin 
Government  after  the  expiration  of  the 
Dorpat  armistice.  It  was  surmised  that 
Esthonia's  sole  motive  in  taking  part  in 
the  Helsingfors  conference  was  the  gain- 
ing of  a  stronger  position  in  the  Dorpat 
negotiations;  it  was  subsequently  stated 
that  the  Bolshevist  envoys  at  Doi-pat, 
alive  to  the  possibilities  of  such  a  defen- 
sive alliance  as  that  discussed  at  Helsing- 
fors, had  accepted  certain  important  feat- 
ures of  Esthonia's  peace  terms  which 
they  had  previously  rejected. 

ESTHONIA'S  PEACE  TREATY 

A  separate  peace  between  Esthonia 
and  the  Bolshevist  Government  was  con- 
cluded at  Dorpat  on  Jan.  29.  The  treaty 
provided,  inter  alia,  that  no  concession 
made  to  Esthonia  should  be  made  a 
precedent  when  other  border  States  came 
to  negotiate;  Esthonia,  on  her  part,  stipu- 
lated that  any  rights  or  privileges  given 
to  such  other  States  should  automatically 
also  accrue  to  herself.  Diplomatic  and 
commercial  relations  were  to  be  resumed 
forthwith.  A  commercial  treaty  was  to 
be  entered  into  on  the  basis  of  the  most- 
favored-nation  clauses.  Esthonia  was 
prohibited  from  exacting  taxes  or  duties 
on  goods  arriving  in  her  ports  for  Soviet 
Russia  or  tolls  in  transit.  The  right  to 
use  the  Narova  River  waterfalls  was 
given  to  the  Soviet  Republic,  which  in 
turn  lent  Esthonia  16,000,000  rubles  in 
gold  and  gave  her  concessions  for  the 
construction  of  a  railway  from  Reval  to 
Moscow,  materials  for  building  the  line, 
and  300  locomotives.   Both  the  Esthonian 


454 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


and  Bolshevist  delegates  at  Dorpat 
showed  great  jubilation  over  the  making 
of  peace,  and  celebrated  the  event  with 
banquets  and  speeches. 

The  Letts  meanwhile,  though  discon- 
certed by  the  announcement  of  the  abor- 
tive scheme  to  trade  with  Russia,  definite- 
ly refused  to  make  peace  with  the  Soviets 
and  proceeded  with  their  nationalist  pro- 
gram of  clearing  Latvia,  especially  Let- 
galia  (East  Lettland),  of  Bolshevist 
forces.  In  a  statement  issued  by  the 
Lettish  Legation  in  London  on  Feb.  9  it 
was  definitely  announced  that  this  object, 
after  hard  and  continuos  fighting,  had 
been  attained.  All  suggestions  of  peace 
with  the  Soviets  were  deferred  by  the 
Letts  until  a  new  conference  of  Baltic 
States  could  be  called  in  April. 

LITHUANIA'S  STATUS 

The  Lithuanians  were  reported  on  Jan. 
21  to  be  so  resentful  toward  Poland  for 
occupying  Lithuanian  territory  that  at 
the  Helsingf ors  Conference  they  proposed 
an  alliance  of  Esthonia,  Latvia,  and 
Lithuania  against  the  Poles.  It  was  when 
this  proposal  was  rejected  that  they  with- 
drew from  the  discussions.  It  was  stated 
that  this  smallest  of  the  Baltic  States 
was  contemplating  an  armistice  with  the 
Bolshevist  Government.  Meanwhile  her 
national  claims  for  recognition  as  a  re- 
public were  rejected  by  the  United  States. 
In  Washington,  on  Feb.  9,  Secretary  of 
State  Lansing  made  public  the  text  of 
two  official  communications  in  which  the 
United  States,  replying  to  requests  of 
the  Lithuanian  Government,  had  refused 
to  grant  provisional  recognition  to  Lithu- 
ania. The  first  letter  was  dated  Oct.  15; 
the  second,  dated  Jan.  7,  declined,  on  the 
ground  of  nonrecognition,  to  attribute  a 
diplomatic  status  to  Lithuanian  agents 
in  Washington.  The  same  policy  had  been 
adopted  in  regard  to  Ukrainia,  Esthonia, 
and  other  would-be  independent  repub- 
lics set  up  on  former  Russian  territory. 

Alarming  internal  conditions  were  re- 
ported from  Esthonia  and  the  other  Bal- 
tic States  on  Jan.  17;  over  12,000  were 
stricken  with  typhus  in  Esthonia  alone, 
and  it  was  estimated  toward  the  end  of 
January  that  there  were  1,000,000  cases 
of  this  disease  throughout  the  Russian 


border  States.  Large  numbers  of  the 
sick  in  Esthonia  were  former  members  of 
the  Yudenitch  Army. 

The  conference  held  between  Litvinov, 
the  Bolshevist  delegate,  and  Mr.  O 'Grady, 
the  British  representative,  in  Copenha- 
gen, remained,  after  protracted  negotia- 
tions, in  a  virtual  state  of  deadlock,  the 
British  representative  declaring  the  So- 
viet demands  regarding  prisoners  to  be 
impossible;  Great  Britain  refused  to  yield 
to  the  Bolshevist  demand  that  the  ex- 
change of  prisoners  be  extended  to  other 
countries  where  Russian  prisoners  were 
interned.  Arrangements  to  send  warm 
clothing  and  food  to  the  British  prisoners 
in  Soviet  Russia,  however,  were  con- 
cluded. The  negotiations  were  compli- 
cated on  Jan.  22,  when  Litvinov  appealed 
to  his  Government  to  transfer  the  discus- 
sions to  another  country,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  virtually  every  hotel  in  Copen- 
after  hard  and  continuous  fighting,  had 
hagan  had  refused  to  reecive  him.  An 
agreement  was  finally  reached,  however, 
on  Feb.  12,  by  which  all  prisoners  on  both 
sides  were  to  be  released  at  once.  Great 
Britain  agreed  to  furnish  transportation. 

REDS  WIN  IN  SOUTH 
Soon  after  the  beginning  of  January  a 
swift  and  startling  change  took  place  in 
the  military  situation  in  South  Russia. 
The  steady  advance  of  the  Bolsheviki  in 
the  Donetz  Basin  had  made  it  necessary 
for  General  Denikin  to  remove  the  gen- 
eral headquarters  and  the  allied  missions 
from  Taganrog,  on  the  Sea  of  Azov,  and 
the  political  centre  from  Rostov,  on  the 
Don.  The  retreat  of  the  Denikin  armies 
was  partly  forced  by  the  skillful  use  of 
cavalry  under  the  Bolshevist  leader,  Bu- 
denni,  and  partly  was  the  result  of  re- 
bellion in  Denikin's  rear.  Rostov  fell  on 
Jan.  9;  10,000  prisoners  and  vast  stores 
of  booty  were  taken.  General  Denikin 
and  his  staff  left  for  Novorossisk  the 
night  before.  On  Jan.  7,  the  Russian 
Christmas  Day,  Denikin  had  come  to  Ros- 
tov and  attended  services  at  the  cathe- 
dral; even  then  the  sound  of  gunfire 
could  be  distinctly  heard  to  the  north  of 
the  town.  The  volunteer  army  was  hold- 
ing the  line  from  Nikopol  to  Melitopol, 
north  of  the  Crimea.  These  positions 
also  fell  shortly  prior  to  Jan.  15,    Despite 


RUSSIA  A  PROBLEM  FOR  THE  ALLIES 


455 


BLACK   LINE   SHOWS    EXTENT   OF   REGION    CONTROLLED   BY    SOVIET   RUSSIA   SINCE    ITS 
MILITARY     SUCCESSES     AGAINST     KOLCHAK     AND     DENIKIN 


Denikin's  desperate  attempts,  the  Soviet 
advance  could  not  be  stayed;  place  after 
place  was  captured,  and  soon  Denikin 
had  taken  refuge  in  Yalta,  in  the  Crimea. 
The  Moscow  Government,  on  Feb.  8,  de- 
clared that  Bolshevist  troops  had  entered 
Odessa,  which  had  been  partly  evacuated, 
many  of  the  sick  and  refugees  being 
taken  on  board  British  warships.  A 
large  part  of  the  Denikin  garrison  had 
surrendered.  A  portion  of  Denikin's 
army  was  retreating  southward;  another 
portion,  headed  north,  was  being  pro- 
tected by  the  long-distance  fire  of  British 
warships. 

On  the  eastern  flank  the  Bolshevist 
success  was  also  pronounced,  the  Denikin 
forces  being  driven  southwest  from  Tsa- 
ritsin.  In  the  Transcaspian  region,  de- 
spite British  bombardments  from  the  sea, 
the  City  of  Krasnovodsk,  on  the  Caspian, 
said  to  be  the  key  to  Persia  and  India, 
was  taken  by  the  Bolsheviki. 

DEBACLE  IN  SIBERIA 

As  a  result  of  the  rout  of  the  Kolchak 
armies  along  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway 


all  resistance  to  the  Red  Army  ceased 
before  the  end  of  January.  Despite  bom- 
bardment by  armored  trains  of  General 
Semenov,  successor  of  Kolchak  as  Su- 
preme Commander,  Irkutsk,  the  last 
refuge  of  the  former  Kolchak  Govern- 
ment, remained  in  the  hands  of  in- 
surgents, whose  Bolshevist  sympathies 
were  later  to  be  evidenced  in  the  case  of 
Kolchak.  The  allied  missions  were  as- 
sured of  their  safety  by  the  arrival  of  a 
Japanese  battalion  which  occupied  the 
Irkutsk  Station  shortly  prior  to  Jan.  2. 
When  the  missions  left  Irkutsk  on  Jan.  5 
virtually  all  the  Kolchak  Government 
troops  had  joined  the  insurgents.  The 
Moscow  Government  issued  a  statement 
that  Kolchak  had  been  taken  prisoner, 
and,  in  common  with  all  other  captured 
anti-Bolshevist  Generals,  would  be  court- 
martialed  and  shot. 

EXECUTION  OF  KOLCHAK 
It  was  later  learned  by  the  Entente 
Governments  that  the  person  of  Admiral 
Kolchak  had  been  surrendered  to  the  Bol- 
sheviki  by   General   Janin,   the   Czecho- 


456 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


slovak  commander  in  Siberia.  This  news 
produced  a  stir  in  Paris  and  London. 
Premier  Millerand  on  Jan.  28  telegraphed 
to  General  Janin.  demanding  an  expla- 
nation and  ordering  him  to  take  steps  to 
secure  Kolchak's  liberation.  Reports  from 
Harbin  declared  that  Czech  reports  on 
the  situation  at  Irkutsk,  telegraphed  to 
General  Janin  at  Verkhnie-Udinsk,  where 
Kolchak  was  staying,  had  induced  him  to 
consent  to  the  latter's  surrender.  The 
Czechs  asserted  that  it  was  a  choice  be- 
tween surrendering  one  man  and  a  con- 
flict in  which  they  themselves  were  likely 
to  be  completely  annihilated.  The  re- 
quest made  by  the  Japanese  to  turn 
Kolchak  over  to  them  for  protection  was 
refused,  and  a  similar  request  made  of 
the  insurgents  at  Irkutsk,  to  whom  he 
was  first  delivered,  was  also  rejected.  A 
profound  sensation  was  caused  through- 
out the  Far  East  by  the  news  that  Kolchak 
had  been  given  up,  and  one  Russian  offi- 
cer challenged  General  Janin  to  a  duel. 

After  a  silence  of  two  weeks  concern- 
ing the  fate  of  Admiral  Kolchak  the 
British  Government  received  official  con- 
firmation of  the  rumors  of  his  execution. 
The  Admiral,  with  one  of  his  Ministers, 
M.  Pepelaiyev,  had  been  shot  at  Irkutsk 
at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Feb.  7. 
The  revolutionary  committee  at  Irkutsk 
had  decided  at  2  A.  M.  that  both  officials 
should  be  executed.  The  meagre  infor- 
mation on  the  subject  indicated  that  the 
Reds  had  hastened  the  shooting  of  their 
prisoners  in  the  belief  that  forcible 
efforts  were  to  be  made  for  their  rescue. 

REVOLTS  SPREAD  TO  PACIFIC 
The  spirit  of  revolt  against  the  former 
Kolchak  regime  grew  ever  more  pro- 
nounced, and  was  combined  with  the 
parallel  development  of  Bolshevism.  On 
Jan.  10  a  bloodless  revolution  broke  out 
at  Petropavlovsk  in  Kamchatka  Penin- 
sula, where  the  military,  in  league  with 
the  population,  arrested  all  officers  and 
civil  officials,  and  set  up  a  Soviet. 
Revolution  broke  out  anew  in  Eastern 
Siberia  at  the  end  of  January;  the  report 
sent  to  Washington  by  General  Graves, 
the  American  commander,  stated  that 
the  revolutionaries  had  entered  Vladi- 
vostok; no  attempt  had  been  made  to  at- 
tack the  allied  troops,  who  were  patrol- 


ing  the  streets  to  maintain  order.  The. 
insurgents  were  not  identified  by  Gen- 
eral Graves  as  Bolsheviki,  and  the  revo- 
lution, it  was  stated,  would  not  interfere 
with  the  departure  of  American  troops 
from  Vladivostok,  which  had  begun  in 
January.  The  country  outside  the  city, 
however,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki, whose  power  was  growing  daily; 
from  a  point  west  of  Irkutsk,  where  the 
Czech  forces  were  hemmed  in  on  both 
sides  by  Reds  and  forced  to  do  battle  at 
great  odds,  to  the  far-off  peninsula  of 
Kamchatka  and  the  island  of  Sakhalin, 
the  capture  of  whose  capital,  Alexan- 
drovsk,  by  Siberian  Bolsheviki,  threaten- 
ing Japan,  was  reported  on  Feb.  9,  the 
ever-increasing  menace  of  the  spread  of 
Bolshevism  could  not  be  denied. 

THREAT  TO  JAPAN 

With  the  fall  of  the  capital  of  the 
island  of  Sakhalin,  ceded  in  part  to 
Japan  after  the  Russo-Japanese  war,  the 
Bolshevist  threat  to  Japan  became  clear- 
ly crystallized.  On  Jan.  25  the  Japanese 
Premier,  after  receiving  from  the  Ameri- 
can Government  on  Jan.  16  its  decision 
to  withdraw  its  armed  forces  from  Si- 
beria, stated  in  answer  to  interpellations 
in  the  Japanese  Diet  that  the  position  of 
Japan  in  the  Far  East  was  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  Jap- 
anese forces  was  impossible.  A  state- 
ment issued  by  the  Japanese  Publicity 
Bureau  of  Vladivostok,  summarizing 
Japanese  press  comment,  said: 

Single-handed  opposition  to  the  Bolshe- 
viki in  Siberia  is  an  exceedingly  heavy 
burden  on  Japan,  both  in  a  military 
sense  and  financially.  However,  it  is  un- 
thinkable that  Japan  would  withdraw  her 
forces  from  Siberia  and  thus  abandon  to 
the  Reds  country  contiguous  to  her  own 
territory.  *  *  *  With  the  important  rail- 
way centres  guarded,  Japan  can  follow 
the  trend  of  events  and  of  popular  feeling 
and  can  form  a  definite  policy  accord- 
ingly. 

In  this  guarding  of  railway  communi- 
cations, General  Graves,  the  American 
commander,  was  co-operating  with  the 
Japanese.  From  the  railway  sectors  a 
part  of  the  American  forces  in  process 
of  withdrawal  had  been  moved  toward 
Vladivostok,  but  assurances  were  given 
Japan  that  no  further  withdrawals  would 


RUSSIA  A  PROBLEM  FOR  THE  ALLIES 


4.-.: 


be  made  until  Japan  was  able  to  replace 
those  removed.  The  first  American  con- 
tingent sailed  on  Jan.  17  for  Manila.  It 
was  stated  in  Tokio  on  Jan.  20  that  the 
Advisory  Diplomatic  Council  had  decided 
also  to  withdraw  its  forces  as  soon  as 
practicable,  in  approval  of  the  Cabinet 
decision  not  to  stem  the  Bolshevist  tide 
in  Siberia  alone. 

ALLIED  TRADE  WITH  RUSSIA 

The  great  problem  left  unsolved  was 
the  policy  to  be  adopted  by  the  allied 
nations  in  dealing  with  the  people  of 
Russia  without  recognizing  the  Bol- 
shevist regime.  The  official  announce- 
ment of  the  scheme  of  reopening  trade 
with  Russia  through  the  Co-operative 
Societies,  as  published  on  Jan.  16,  was 
followed  by  a  period  of  doubt,  especially 
in  Scandinavia  and  the  Baltic  States;  but 
the  various  statements  implying  that  the 
Co-operatives'  representatives  in  Russia 
had  gained  Moscow's  consent  to  such 
trade  were  soon  contradicted  by  the 
Soviet  Government's  threat  to  sink  all 
ships  attempting  to  bring  cargoes  with- 
out the  preliminary  conclusion  of  an 
armistice  with  the  Bolshevist  Govern- 
ment, and  by  the  action  of  I-enin  and 
Trotzky  in  seizing  absolute  control  of 
the  Co-operatives'  organization  in  Russia. 
The  Co-operative  officials  in  Paris  on  Jan. 
24  admitted  that  their  hopes  of  gaining 
the  Soviet  Government's  sanction  of  the 
project  had  not  materialized.  By  Feb.  6 
the  situation  had  developed  to  the  point 
where  it  was  a  choice  between  peace  with 
the  Soviets  and  no  trade  relations  with 
Russia.  Despite  this  unfavorable  out- 
look, Premier  Millerand  on  that  date, 
before  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  main- 
tained anew  that  trade  with  Russia  did 
not  mean  the  making  of  peace;  this  view 
was  confirmed  by  an  important  state- 
ment made  by  Lloyd  George  before  the 
House  of  Commons  on  Feb.  10. 

STATEMENT  OF  BRITISH  PREMIER 
In  a  long  and  interesting  explanation 
of  the  Government's  policy  the  British 
Premier  said  that  he  agreed  with  the 
view  that  Europe  could  not  be  restored 
without  putting  Russia,  with  all  her 
strength  and  resources,  "into  circulation." 
He  continued : 


Until  assured  that  the  Bolshevik!  1. 
dropped  the  methods  of  barbarism  in 
favor  of  civilized  government,  no  civilized 
community  In  the  world  Is  prepared  to 
make  peace  with  them.  Further,  there  is 
no  established  Government  possessing  tip- 
right  to  speak  for  the  whole  of  European 
Russia.  We  failed  to  restore  Russia  to 
sanity  by  force.  I  believe  we  can  save 
her  by  trade. 

Commerce  has  a  sobering  Influence. 
There  is  nothing  to  fear  from  a  Bol- 
shevist invasion  of  surrounding  countries 
or  the  Middle  East,  because  the  Bol- 
shevlki  cannot  organize  a  powerful  army. 
I  believe  that  trading  will  bring  to  an  end 
the  ferocity,  rapine  and  cruelties  of  Bol- 
shevism more  surely  than  any  other 
method,  and  Europe  badly  needs  what 
Russia  is  able  to  supply  but  cannot  sup- 
ply with  contending  armies  moving  across 
the  borders. 

The  dangers  are  not  all  In  Russia;  they 
are  here  at  home.  I  speak  with  knowl- 
edge, with  apprehension  and  responsi- 
bility, and  I  warn  the  House  that  in  the 
face  of  things  which  may  happen  we  must 
use  every  legitimate  weapon.  We  must 
fight  anarchy  with  abundance. 

This  statement  was  received  in  the 
allied  countries,  as  well  as  in  the  United 
States,  with  the  keenest  interest,  but  with 
considerable  mystification  as  to  how  the 
reopening  of  trade  could  be  accomplished 
without  recognition  of  the  Bolshevist 
regime.  The  existence  of  a  certain  cur- 
rent of  feeling  in  favor  of  a  resumption 
of  United  States  trade  with  Russia  was 
evidenced  by  a  meeting  at  New  York  on 
Feb.  2  of  more  than  a  hundred  represen- 
tatives of  American  business  firms,  who 
had  organized  the  American  Commercial 
Association  to  Promote  Trade  with  Rus- 
sia. The  Executive  Committee  of  this 
new  organization  was  directed  to  start 
mandamus  proceedings  in  the  Federal 
courts  if  Secretary  of  State  Lansing  con- 
tinued to  refuse  permission  for  a  resump- 
tion of  commerce  with  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment. It  had  been  previously  stated  by 
L.  C.  A.  K.  Martens,  the  so-called  Soviet 
Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  that  a 
large  number  of  American  business  firms 
had  accepted  Soviet  trade  offers  through 
his  embassy.  At  the  meeting  of  the  new 
association  a  strong  feeling  that  Great 
Britain  was  preparing  to  gain  commercial 
advantage  in  Russia  before  the  United 
States  lifted  the  trade  embargo  was  re- 
peatedly expressed. 


Bolshevist  Horrors  in  Odessa 

By  the  Rev.  R.  COURTIER-FORSTER 

[Former  British   Chaplain  at  Odessa  and  the  Black   Sea  Ports] 

In  a  series  of  articles  published  in  The  London  Times,  Dec.  8-10,  1919,  the 
Rev.  R.  Courtier-Forster  gave  a  vivid  picture  of  the  atrocities  committed  by  the 
Bolsheviki  at  Odessa  during  his  stay  in  that  city,  crimes  paralleled  only  in  the 
persecution  of  Nero's  time.  The  essential  portions  of  these  articles,  here  presented, 
paint  an  appalling  picture  of  human  degeneracy,  and  take  on  a  fresh  interest  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  Odessa  has  again  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Reds. 


DO  English  people  really  imagine 
that  the  published  accounts  of 
the  appalling  atrocities  and 
brutal  tyranny  of  the  Bolshevist 
rule  in  Russia  are  an  exaggeration?  Be- 
fore God  I  wish  I  could  believe  they  are 
not  true  to  the  actual  facts.  Could  I  but 
find  them  untrue,  I  would  speak  for  the 
Bolshevists  from  end  to  end  of  England. 
Unhappily,  I  have  spent  nearly  a  year  in 
Soviet  Russia,  and  was  in  the  hapless 
country  over  seven  years  before  that. 

While  I  was  still  British  chaplain  of 
Odessa  the  city  was  deluged  with  blood. 
When  the  Bolshevist  elements,  grafting 
on  to  their  main  support  the  4,000  crim- 
inals released  from  the  city  jails,  at- 
tempted to  seize  the  town,  people  of  edu- 
cation, regardless  of  social  position,  of- 
fered what  armed  resistance  was  in  their 
power.  Workmen,  shop  assistants,  sol- 
diers, professional  men,  and  a  handful 
of  officers  fought  for  liberty  through  the 
streets  of  the  great  port  for  three  days 
and  nights  against  the  bloody  despotism 
of  the  Bolshevists.  Tramcars  were  over- 
turned to  make  barricades,  trenches  dug 
in  the  streets,  machine  guns  placed  in 
the  upper  windows  of  houses  to  mow 
the  thoroughfares  with  fire.  The  place 
became  an  inferno.  The  Bolsheviki  were 
victorious.  On  capturing  the  Odessa 
Railway  Station,  which  had  been  de- 
fended by  a  few  officers  and  a  number 
of  anti-Bolshevist  soldiers,  the  Bolshe- 
vists bayoneted  to  death  the  nineteen 
wounded  and  helpless  men  laid  on  the 
waiting  room  floor  to  await  Red  Cross 
succor. 

Scores  of  other  men  who  fell  wounded 
in  the  streets  also  became  victims  to  the 
triumphant  Bolshevist  criminals.  The  ma- 


jority of  these  wretched  sufferers  com- 
pletely disappeared.  Inquiries  at  the  hos- 
pitals and  prisons  revealed  the  fact  that 
they  were  not  there,  and  no  trace  of 
them  was  to  be  found.  A  fortnight  later 
there  was  a  terrible  storm  on  the  Black 
Sea,  and  the  bodies  of  the  missing  men 
were  washed  up  on  the  rocks  of  Odessa 
breakwater  and  along  the  shore;  they 
had  been  taken  out  to  sea  in  small  boats, 
stones  tied  to  their  feet,  and  then 
dropped  over  alive  into  deep  water.  Hun- 
dreds of  others  were  captured  and  taken 
on  board  the  Almaz  and  the  Sinope,  the 
largest  cruisers  of  the  Black  Sea  Fleet. 
Here  they  became  victims  of  unthinkable 
tortures. 

VICTIMS    ROASTED    ALIVE 

On  the  Sinope  General  Chormichoff 
and  some  other  personal  friends  of  my 
own  were  fastened  one  by  one  with  iron 
chains  to  planks  of  wood  and  pushed 
slowly,  inch  by  inch,  into  the  ship's 
furnaces  and  roasted  alive.  Others  were 
tied  to  winches,  the  winches  turned  until 
the  men  were  torn  in  two  alive.  Others 
were  taken  to  the  boilers  and  scalded 
with  boiling  steam;  they  were  then  moved 
to  another  part  of  the  ship  and  ven- 
tilating fans  set  revolving  that  currents 
of  cold  air  might  blow  on  the  scalds  and 
increase  the  agony  of  the  torture.  The 
full  names  of  seventeen  of  the  Sinope 
victims  were  given  me  in  writing  by 
members  of  their  families  or  their  per- 
sonal friends.  These  were  lost  later  when 
my  rooms  were  raided,  my  papers  seized, 
and  I  myself  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison. 

The  house  in  the  Catherine  Square,  in 
which  I  was  first  in  captivity,  afterward 


BOLSHEVIST  HORRORS  IN  ODESSA 


»-.•< 


became  the  Bolshevists'  House  of  Torture 
in  which  hundreds  of  victims  were  done 
to  death.  The  shrieks  of  the  people  being 
tortured  to  death  or  having  splinters  of 
wood  driven  under  the  quick  of  their 
nails  were  so  agonizing  that  personal 
friends  of  my  own  living  more  than  a 
hundred  yards  away  in  the  Voroutsoffsky 
Pereoluk  were  obliged  to  fasten  their 
double  windows  to  prevent  the  cries  of 
anguish  penetrating  into  the  house.  The 
horror  of  the  surviving  citizens  was  so 
great  that  the  Bolshevists  kept  motor 
lorries  thundering  up  and  down  the  street 
to  drown  the  screams  of  agony  wrung 
from  their  dying  victims. 

This  House  of  Torture  remains  as 
much  as  possible  in  the  condition  in 
which  the  Bolsheviki  left  it,  and  is  now 
shown  to  those  who  care  to  inspect  its 
gruesome  and  blood-bespattered  rooms. 

There  are  people  who  maintain  that, 
with  theatres  open  and  electric  trams 
running,  anarchy  does  not  exist,  and  that 
life,  in  Soviet  Russia  is  both  secure  and 
pleasant.  I  did  not  find  it  so.  There  is 
a  halting  place  for  the  electric  cars  at 
the  corner  of  Kanatnaya  and  Greches- 
kaya.  Returning  from  the  town  at  11:30 
one  morning  I  encountered  a  frightened 
group  at  this  point.  Inquiry  revealed  the 
fact  that  the  Reds  had  just  murdered  two 
unprotected  and  defenceless  women  wait- 
ing for  the  tram,  to  go  into  the  city 
shopping.  Their  crime  was  that  both 
clothes  and  manners  showed  them  to  be 
"Bourjouie."  Also  in  the  Kanatnaya 
one  morning  a  working  woman  was  shot 
for  the  sport  of  the  thing  while  running 
across  the  road  to  purchase  a  bottle  of 
milk  for  her  children.  Her  body  was 
lying  by  the  curb  as  I  came  by,  the  bottle 
smashed,  and  milk  and  blood  streaming 
down  the  gutter.  The  house  door  stood 
open,  her  two  little  children  crying  with 
grief  and  terror  at  the  entrance. 
TREATMENT   OF    WOMEN 

Week  by  week  the  newspapers  pub- 
lished articles  for  and  against  the  na- 
tionalization of  women.  In  South  Russia 
the  proposal  did  not  become  a  legal 
measure,  but  in  Odessa  bands  of  Bol- 
sheviki seized  women  and  girls  and  car- 
ried them  off  to  the  Port,  the  timber 
yards  and  the  Alexandrovsky  Park  for 


their  own  purposes.  Women  used  in  this 
way  were  found  in  the  mornings  either 
dead  or  mad  or  in  a  dying  condition. 
Those  found  still  alive  were  shot.  One 
of  the  most  awful  of  my  own  personal 
experiences  of  the  New  Civilization  was 
hearing  at  night  from  my  bedroom  win- 
dows the  frantic  shrieks  of  women  being 
raped  to  death  in  the  park  opposite — 
screams  of  shrill  terror  and  despair  re- 
peated at  intervals  until  they  became 
nothing  but  hoarse  cries  of  agony  like 
the  death  calls  of  a  dying  animal.  This 
happened  not  once,  or  twice,  but  many 
times.  Never  to  the  day  of  my  death 
shall  I  forget  the  horror  of  those  dread- 
ful shrieks  of  tortured  women,  and  one's 
own  utter  powerlessness  to  aid  the  vic- 
tims or  punish  the  Bolshevist  devils  in 
their  bestial  orgies. 

To  be  decently  clothed  and  washed  was 
a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  Bolshevist 
proletariat.  Both  men  and  women  were 
stopped  in  the  streets  of  Odessa,  robbed 
of  their  boots,  stripped  of  their  clothes 
and  sent  home  naked  through  the  frost 
and  snow.  So  many  hundreds  of  people 
were  treated  in  this  manner  under  the 
Soviet  rule,  that  the  satirical  paper  of 
South  Russia,  the  Scourge,  brought  out 
a  full-page  cartoon  representing  one  of 
the  chief  streets  of  the  city  with  a  naked 
man  and  woman  departing  hand  in  hand 
up  the  road  while  a  group  of  unkempt 
Bolsheviki  with  men's  trousers  and  wo- 
men's underclothes  fluttering  on  their 
arms  were  seeen  running  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Beneath  was  the  satirical  ob- 
servation, "In  Odessa  the  World  Finds 
Paradise  Anew."  For  this  reflection  on 
the  glorious  New  Civilization  of  the  So- 
viets, the  windows  of  the  Scourge  offices 
were  smashed  and  the  paper  fined. 

By  this  time  the  devastating  corrup- 
tion of  the  Holy  Revolution  had  so 
spread  that  I  saw  open  acts  of  indecency 
being  committed  in  broad  daylight  in  the 
parks  and  public  gardens.  These  are  but 
a  few  experiences  from  the  mass  of 
events  crowded  into  my  life  in  Soviet 
Russia. 

That  any  professing  Christian  of  any 
denomination  in  the  whole  globe  should 
feel  or  express  sympathy  with  the  Bol- 
sheviki of  Russia,  can  only  be  due  either 


460 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


to  lack  of  accurate  information  or  to 
deliberate  deception  by  clever  propa- 
ganda. The  paucity  of  first-hand  infor- 
mation as  to  what  is  really  happening 
in  Soviet  Russia  has  enabled  the  Bolshe- 
viki  to  conceal  the  ghastly  persecution  of 
the  Christians  which  is  being  carried  out 
with  the  utmost  ferocity. 

DESTROYING  CHRISTIANITY 

.  It  is  repeatedly  said  "Bolshevism  is 
solely  concerned  with  economics.  It  has 
nothing  to  do  with  religion."  This  is 
absolutely  untrue.  The  horrors  of 
heathen  Rome  and  the  episodes  of  the 
Coliseum  have  been  brilliantly  imitated 
and  excelled  by  the  Reds  in  Russia. 

The  first  objective  of  Bolshevism  is  the 
complete  elimination  of  every  form  of 
Christianity  from  the  world  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  worldwide  atheism.  Of 
course  this  will  be  denied,  as  everything 
else  which  is  inconvenient  is  denied.  The 
fact  remains.  The  ideals  of  Christianity 
are  diametrically  opposed  to  the  brutal 
practices  of  Bolshevism,  therefore  Chris- 
tianity is  recognized  as  its  most  danger- 
ous foe,  and  is  treated  accordingly. 

It  was  the  martyrdom  of  the  two  Met- 
ropolitans and  the  assassination  of  so 
many  Bishops  and  the  killing  of  various 
Christian  ministers  of  religion,  regard- 
less of  denomination  or  school  of  thought, 
that  proved  the  undoing  of  the  Scourge 
[newspaper].  Russian  Orthodox  clergy, 
Protestant  Lutheran  pastors,  Roman 
Catholic  priests  were  tortured  and  done 
to  death  with  the  same  light-hearted  in- 
discrimination in  the  name  of  toleration 
and  freedom.  Then  it  was  that  the 
Scourge,  seeing  the  last  remnants  of 
liberty  ground  under  the  heel  of  a 
tyranny  more  brutal  in  its  methods  than 
a  mediaeval  torture  chamber,  published 
another  full-page  cartoon  representing 
Moses  descending  from  the  burning 
mount,  bringing  in  his  arms  the  tables 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  to  humanity, 
and  being  stoned  to  death  by  a  mob  of 
workmen's  and  soldiers'  deputies. 

Marriages  were  tumultuously  inter- 
rupted by  bands  of  propagandists,  de- 
termined to  compel  the  people  to  abandon 
Christian  marriage  and  accept  the  new 
civil  contract  which  has  been  introduced. 


My  own  man  servant  was  obliged  to  drive 
into  the  country  to  be  married  at  a  way- 
side church,  where  the  wedding  party 
might  pass  unobserved. 

The  Bolshevists  have  attempted  to 
bring  about  the  abolition  of  Sunday  as 
the  weekly  day  of  rest  on  account  of  its 
age-long  association  with  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  Christ.  The  virulence  of  the  Red 
hatred  of  everything  Christian  seeks  to 
substitute  Monday  for  the  old  hallowed 
day.  In  the  Spring  of  1918  the  attempt 
was  temporarily  crowned  with  success. 
The  last  Sunday  in  April  was  peremp- 
torily ordered  to  be  erased  from  the  cal- 
endar as  a  rest  day.  Works,  factories, 
and  shops  were  commanded  to  carry  on 
their  business  as  on  other  days  of  the 
week.  The  streets  of  Odessa  were 
thronged  with  crowds  of  truculent,  jubi- 
lating Reds  making  a  great  parade  of 
work.  The  following  Wednesday,  May  1, 
was  substituted  for  the  condemned  Sun- 
day, and  duly  observed  as  the  festival  Of 
the  Holy  Revolution.  On  this  day  all 
workshops,  houses  of  business,  and  fac- 
tories were  strictly  forbidden  to  work; 
even  bread  was  not  allowed  to  be  baked. 
I  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining 
anything  to  eat. 

PERSECUTIONS    INCREASE 

The  brutal  persecution  of  the  Church 
increased.  After  the  torture  and  mar- 
tyrdom of  many  priests  and  several 
Bishops,  a  demonstration  of  protest  was 
made  by  the  Christians  of  Odessa.  The 
Archbishop  of  Kherson  and  the  Bishop  of 
Nikolaiev  took  part  in  the  procession.  I 
marched  with  the  other  demonstrants. 
Two  hundred  Christian  soldiers  in  uni- 
form presented  themselves  at  the  cathe- 
dral and  requested  permission  to  carry 
the  banners.  Forty  thousand  of  the 
faithful  assembled.  An  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt was  made  by  the  Reds  to  wreck 
the  solemn  march. 

As  the  procession  moved  down  one  of 
the  main  thoroughfares  I  inquired  of  a 
group  of  sullen  Bolshevist  sailors  from 
the  Black  Sea  Fleet  why  they  no  longer 
uncovered  their  heads  as  the  Arch- 
bishop's procession  passed.  The  answer 
was  given  with  morose  rage,  "  We  would 
kill  all  the  clergy  in  the  procession,  but 


BOLSHEVIST  HORRORS  IN  ODESSA 


4«il 


we  do  not  wish  to  even  soil  our  hands 
with  the  blood  of  such  vermin  as  Christ's 
priests." 

In  many  places  the  persecution  of  the 
Church  is  carried  out  with  terrible  fury. 
Outrages  and  affronts  were  offered  to 
the  Christians  on  every  hand.  At  the 
women's  hotel  at  Odessa  University  the 
Ikon  was  torn  down  from  the  wall  of 
the  common  room  amid  a  wild  scene  of 
ribald  jesting  and  jeers,  and  the  ubiqui- 
tous Red  Flag  was  triumphantly  hung 
over  the  place  reserved  for  the  sacred 
picture.  In  one  part  of  my  Chaplaincy 
alone,  sixty  priests  were  driven  from 
their  parishes  as  a  result  of  the  anti- 
Christian  propaganda. 

BLOOD-SOAKED   TYRANTS 

The  persecution  developed  with  unex- 
ampled ferocity.  In  the  monastery  near 
Kotlass,  all  the  monks  and  the  Prior 
were  shot.  In  Perm  Archbishop  An- 
dronik  was  buried  alive.  This  ghastly 
fate  caused  such  horror  among  the  cowed 
and  terror-stricken  peasants  that  the 
heroic  Vassili,  Archbishop  of  Tchernigov, 
greatly  daring,  made  the  journey  to 
Moscow  to  make  representations  respect- 
ing the  tragedy  of  Archbishop  Andronik. 
It  was  a  splendid  venture  gloriously 
made,  but  the  Archbishop  could  look  for 
no  mercy  from  the  blood-soaked  tyrants 
who  have  made  "  Freedom  of  Mind  "  a 
byword  for  the  most  despotic  tyranny  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  The  history  of  the 
journey  will  live  in  the  annals  of  the 
Russian  Church  forever.  Archbishop 
Vassili  shared  the  martyrdom  of  his 
brother.  With  his  two  companions  he 
was  hacked  to  pieces. 

The  long  list  of  Christians  martyred 
at  the  hand  of  the  Bolsheviki  has 
grown  to  a  volume  of  names.  The  saintly 
Archbishop  Feofan  found  death  only 
through  an  agony  of  refined  torture.  He 
was  reduced  to  a  dying  condition  and 
then  dipped  through  a  hole  bored  in  the 


frozen  river  and  drowned  in  the  Kama. 
Fifty  priests  were  also  tortured  with 
every  fiendish  cruelty,  and  then  done  to 
death. 

When  the  town  of  Yuriev  (Dorpat) 
was  taken  an  orgy  of  Christian-slaying 
took  place.  They  who  look  for  mercy, 
or  pity,  or  justice  from  the  Bolsheviki 
look  in  vain.  The  unhappy  and  venerable 
Bishop  Platon  was  seized  at  midnight  in 
his  house,  and,  clad  only  in  his  night 
apparel,  dragged  with  insults  from  his 
bed.  Barefoot,  the  Bishop  and  17  com- 
panions were  driven  with  unspeakable 
brutality  to  the  cellars  of  the  house  and 
hacked  to  pieces  with  axes  for  the  cause 
of  glorious  "freedom  of  mind"  and  the 
enlightenment  of  a  benighted  world,  too 
obtuse  to  appreciate  the  benefits  of  the 
New  Civilization  conferred  upon  it  by  the 
Bolshevist  proletariat. 

ORGY   OF   SLAUGHTER 

After  the  ghastly  massacres  at  Dorpat 
and  Walk  I  was  shown  photographs  of 
the  martyred  ministers  of  religion  lying 
in  the  snow;  Russian  Orthodox  clergy, 
Protestant  Lutheran  pastors,  Roman 
Catholic  priests,  all  done  to  death  with 
the  utmost  impartiality  in  the  outraged 
name  of  "  liberty."  Never  has  the 
world  seen  a  more  ghastly  and  cynical 
travesty  of  the  great  term.  The  mar- 
tyrs for  Christ  had  their  eyes  torn  from 
their  heads;  their  noses  were  slashed  off 
with  knives  and  their  cheeks  gouged  out 
with  bayonets. 

When  the  history  of  the  Bolshevist  per- 
secution to  eradicate  Christianity  from 
Russia  comes  to  be  written,  the  Christian 
world  will  stand  aghast  at  the  crimes 
committed  in  the  attempt  to  stamp  out 
the  love  of  Christ  from  the  heart  of  the 
Russian  nation.  Lenin  and  Trotzky  may 
well  chuckle  from  within  the  recesses  of 
the  polluted  Christian  churches,  as  of  the 
Kremlin,  as  they  make  peace  overtures 
to  a  duped  world. 


IWhat  the  War  Did  for  Canada 


By  WILLIAM  BANKS 


NATIONAL  confidence  and  national 
consciousness  are  Canada's  great- 
est gains  from  the  war.  They 
are  reflected  in  the  activities  and 
thoughts  of  the  people  since  August, 
1914.  They  are  the  basis  of  the  under- 
takings embarked  upon  and  the  stock- 
taking that  has  followed  the  brief  period 
of  uncertainty  at  the  end  of  active  hos- 
tilities. Anxiety  as  to  what  was  to  be 
done  with  the  elaborate  industrial  or- 
ganization that  was  built  for  war  pur- 
poses only  has  long  ago  given  way  to 
wonder  that  there  should  have  been  any 
doubt. 

Confidence  was  rooted  deep  when, 
within  two  months  after  the  declaration 
of  war,  Canada's  first  expeditionary 
force  of  33,000  men  sailed  for  England, 
complete  in  every  detail  down  to  the 
ammunition  for  the  artillery  units.  That 
was  considered  to  be  no  mean  accomplish- 
ment in  a  country  whose  regular  forces 
numbered  only  3,000  men,  and  whose 
voluntary  militia  organization  had  lightly 
trained  not  more  than  60,000  men  that 
year.  National  consciousness  was  of 
slower  growth.  It  came  with  revelations 
that,  in  striving  for  material  develop- 
ment and  advantage,  Canada  had  not 
paid  enough  attention  to  the  Canadianiz- 
ing  of  many  foreign-speaking  immi- 
grants and  to  the  social  conditions  of 
large  masses  of  the  people  generally.  It 
had  its  ramifications  in  regard  to  the 
relations  between  Britain  and  Canada, 
and  between  Canada  and  other  nations 
outside  of  the  British  Empire. 

PRIME  MINISTER'S  WORDS 

Both  national  confidence  and  con- 
sciousness were  voiced  by  the  Prime 
Minister,  Sir  Robert  Borden,  in  his  in- 
sistence upon  Canada  having  distinct 
representation  at  the  Peace  Conference, 
having  a  part  in  the  shaping  of  the 
Peace  Treaty,  and  having  her  own  rep- 
resentatives sign  it-^He  elaborated  his 
views  later  in  the  v.  (  sti,  idian  Parliament 
when    in   reply   to    some   questions    and 


criticisms  by  the  Hon.  W.   S.   Fielding, 
a  noted  Liberal  leader,  he  said: 

His    suggestion    was    that    the    Govern- 
ment of  the  United  Kingdom  can  impose 
their  will  upon  us  without  respect  to  our 
desire.      If    such    is    the    opinion    of    the 
honorable   member  he   is   thinking   in   the 
terms  of  one  hundred  years  ago. 
On    another    occasion,    explaining    in 
Parliament    his    attitude    at    the    Peace 
Conference,  he  used  these  words: 

On  behalf  of  my  country  I  stood  firmly 
upon  this  solid  ground,  that  in  this,  the 
greatest  of  all  wars  in  which  the  world's 
liberty,  the  world's  justice,  in  short  the 
world's  future  destiny  was  at  stake, 
Canada  had  led  the  democracies  of  both 
the  American  continents.  Her  resolve  had 
given  inspiration,  her  sacrifices  had  been 
conspicuous,  her  effort  was  unabated  to 
the  end.  The  same  indomitable  spirit 
which  made  her  capable  of  that  effort  and 
sacrifice  made  her  equally  incapable  of 
accepting  at  the  Peace  Conference,  in  the 
League  of  Nations,  or  elsewhere,  a  status 
inferior  to  that  accorded  to  nations  less 
advanced  in  their  development,  less  amply 
endowed  in  wealth,  resources  and  popula- 
tion, no  more  complete  in  their  sover- 
eignty, and  so  far  less  conspicuous  in 
their    sacrifice. 

RE-ESTABLISHING   BUSINESS 

At  this  time,  however,  questions  of 
trade  and  commerce  have  first  place  in 
the  thought  of  the  majority.  It  cannot 
be  fairly  charged  that  the  Government 
has  been  slow  to  give  aid  and  seek  oppor- 
tunity in  this  respect.  Within  a  few 
days  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice  a 
Canadian  trade  commission  under  Lloyd 
Harris,  a  business  man  of  wide  experi- 
ence and  great  driving  power,  was  lo- 
cated in  spacious  offices  in  London,  with 
a  big  fund  at  its  disposal  and  practical 
carte  blanche  as  to  its  operations.  While 
one  of  its  members  was  always  on  hand 
in  London  with  a  capable  staff,  others 
were  in  France  and  Belgium  and  other 
European  countries,  gathering  informa- 
tion with  which  to  guide  the  Canadian 
manufacturer  and  the  Canadian  farmer 
in  the  disposal  of  still  more  of  their  goods 
and  produce. 

The  fruits  of  the  commission's  activity 


WHAT  THE   WAR  DID  FOR  CANADA 


of  twelve  months  are  still  being  reaped. 
Credits  to  France,  Belgium,  Rumania, 
and  Greece,  aggregating  $100,000,000, 
were  granted  by  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment. To  date  these  have  been  taken 
advantage  of  to  the  extent  of  somewhat 
less  than  $40,000,000,  and  business  to  the 
latter  amount  has  been  placed  in  Canada. 
It  is  not  so  satisfactory,  one  may  admit, 
as  cash  transactions,  nor  is  it  every- 
where regarded  with  the  assurance  that 
the  large  business  formerly  done  with 
Britain  on  a  credit  basis  is.  But  the 
trade  commission  and  the  Government 
believe  the  securities  to  be  ample  and 
the  future  opportunities  for  expansion 
of  trade  in  Europe  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  arrangements. 

The  war  has  witnessed  Canada's  pass- 
ing from  a  debtor  to  a  creditor  nation  in 
a  trade  sense.  In  the  five-year  period, 
1910  to  1914,  the  excess  of  imports  over 
exports  aggregated  $1,000,424,000.  In 
the  succeeding  five  years  the  excess  of 
exports  totaled  $1,371,284,000.  The  fa- 
vorable balance  was  due  chiefly  to  ex- 
ports to  Britain.  This  is  a  bald  way  of 
saying  that  the  war  made  Canada  an 
exporting  country.  The  question  her 
people  ask  is  whether  she  can  retain  that 
position  in  peace  times.  They  think  she 
can.  The  figures  and  facts  available 
give  support  to  their  belief.  The  new 
industries  born  of  the  war  stress  and  the 
readjustment  period  are  finding  them- 
selves. Canada's  exports  for  the  calen- 
dar year  1919  were  valued  at  $1,294,920,- 
372  and  the  imports  at  $941,000,700.  Of 
the  exports  official  figures  show  that 
only  $37,745,750  were  sold  on  credits,  a 
big  change  from  the  war  years,  when 
sales  to  Britain  were  being  largely  fi- 
nanced in  that  way. 

There  is  one  drawback  that  has  its  ef- 
fect on  the  exchange  situation,  namely, 
the  imports  from  the  United  States. 
These  totaled  $740,580,225  last  year, 
against  an  export  of  $454,686,294.  The 
United  States  indeed  is  responsible  for 
nearly  80  per  cent,  of  Canada's  imports. 
From  Sir  Harry  Drayton,  Minister  of 
Finance,-  down  to  the  humblest  ward 
politician  the  people  are  being  urged  to 
help  out  the  exchange  situation  by  pur- 
chasing less  from  the  big  Republic  and 
bending  their  efforts  to  exporting  more. 


TWO  BILLIONS  OF  DEBT 

There  is  this  also  to  be  considered: 
The  debt  of  Canada  before  the  war  stood 
at  the  moderate  figure  of  $336,000,000. 
The  latest  careful  estimate  is  that  it  will 
total  over  $2,000,000,000  by  the  end  of 
March,  when  the  fiscal  year  closes.  A 
consolation  is  that  some  $1,700,000,000  of 
this  is  in  domestic  loans,  involving  the 
payment  of  a  little  over  $100,000,000  a 
year  in  interest  to  the  Canadian  people. 
Revenues  will  fall  far  short  of  meeting 
the  expenditures,  however,  the  totals  for 
the  nine  months  ending  with  December 
giving  the  financiers  some  food  for  more 
thought.  The  country's  income  for  that 
period  was  $253,964,722.  The  expendi- 
tures for  ordinary  services  and  the  ordi- 
nary capital  outlays  were  $269,931,089, 
while  war  costs  amounted  to  $239,709,- 
184,  making  a  grand  total  of  $509,640,- 
273.  The  war  outlay  was,  in  fact, 
heavier  for  the  nine  months  of  1919  than 
in  tho  corresponding  period  of  1918.  The 
cost  of  bringing  the  armies  home,  of  the 
generous  gratuities  for  the  men,  and  of 
restoring  them  to  civil  life,  vied  with 
that  of  actual  war  conditions.  The  peak 
has  been  passed  in  this  item,  however, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  the  di- 
rect war  outlay  will  have  ceased  to  be 
an  important  charge,  though  for  decades 
to  come  the  pension  bill  and  the  interest 
on  the  war  debt  will  be  a  reminder  to 
Canada  of  its  share  in  the  great  conflict. 

To  those  in  authority  and  to  the  poli- 
ticians may  be  left  the  arguments  over 
the  steps  to  be  taken  to  increase  the 
revenues  of  the  countiy.  They  are  bat- 
tling over  them  now.  Sir  George  Foster, 
the  acting  Prime  Minister,  put  one  view 
of  the  present  situation  bluntly  enough 
in  a  recent  nonpolitical  address  to  the 
Canadian  Club  of  Montreal.  It  was  of 
no  use  to  "  damn  the  Government "  or 
"  damn  the  capitalists,"  he  said,  in  re- 
gard to  the  prevailing  unrest  and  the 
high  cost  of  living.  Thei*e  were  no  short 
cuts  to  reconstruction.  Neither  strikes, 
nor  acts  of  Parliament,  nor  the  over- 
throw of  the  present  economic  system 
could  effect  it.  The  only  remedy  was  to 
work  harder  and  produce  more. 

Apart  from  the  new  industries  that 
are  based  on  private  capital  and  enter- 


464 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


prise,  the  most  outstanding  illustration 
of  Canada's  confidence  in  her  future  and 
in  the  quality  of  her  people  was  the  ac- 
quisition in  wartime  of  the  system  now 
known  as  the  Canadian  National  Rail- 
ways. The  Canadian  Northern  was  the 
first  to  be  taken  in,  and  negotiations  are 
now  nearing  completion  for  the  acquir- 
ing of  the  stock  and  control  of  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railway,  Parliament  having  au- 
thorized the  Government  to  take  such 
action.  Added  to  the  original  Govern- 
ment-owned line,  built  as  part  of  the 
Canadian  confederation  compact  and 
serving  the  maritime  provinces,  the  sys- 
tem will  have  a  mileage  of  22,375,  in- 
cluding 1,881  miles  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway  in  the  United  States.  An  in- 
vestment of  more  than  $1,300,000,000  is 
represented  in  this  mileage,  which  serves 
every  province  in  the  country  and  prac- 
tically all  the  great  ports. 

The  reasons  for  the  embarkation  by 
Canada  on  such  a  gigantic  system  of 
public  ownership  are  complicated  and 
have  aroused  bitter  controversies.  The 
fact  now  is  that  the  ratification  of  the 
Grand  Trunk  agreement,  which  it  is 
hoped  will  be  announced  at  the  coming 
session  of  Parliament,  will  give  the 
Canadian  National  Railways  the  biggest 
mileage  in  the  country.  Upon  its  effi- 
cient use  and  management  Canadians 
hope  for  as  great  an  expansion  in  de- 
velopment and  trade  as  has  atttended  the 
unceasing  efforts  of  its  only  rival,  the 
privately  owned  and  always  profitable 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway. 

GOVERNMENT  STEAMSHIP  LINE 

It  was  clear  that  a  railway  system 
of  magnitude  owned  by  the  people  could 
not  hope  to  compete  with  a  wide-awake 
private  road  whose  ships  insured  con- 
tinuous carriage  for  overseas  consign- 
ments, unless  it  could  also  offer  similar 
advantages.  There  has  come  into  being, 
therefore,  a  fleet  of  Government-owned 
steamers  that  is  being  rapidly  enlarged, 
and  is  expected  by  the  end  of  the  present 
year  to  aggregate  300,000  deadweight 
tons.  Under  the  somewhat  cumbersome 
name  of  the  Canadian  Government  Mer- 
chant Marine  twenty-five  steel  ships  are 
already  in  service.  They  ply  to  Britain, 
Australia,  and  New  Zealand,  the  West 


Indies,  South  America,  and  Cuba.  A 
Mediterranean  service  is  now  being  ar- 
ranged, and  one  to  South  Africa  is  under 
consideration.  Hon.  C.  C.  Ballantyne, 
Minister  of  Marine,  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  so  far  there  has  been 
a  handsome  profit  on  the  operation  of 
these  ships,  and  that  the  Government 
is  now  considering  the  addition  of  several 
15,000-ton  passenger  ships  to  its  fleet. 
To  the  freighters  already  in  commission 
or  on  the  stocks  a  number  of  others  will 
be  added,  contracts  having  been  let  for 
sixty  in  all,  including  the  finished  ships. 
The  total  cost  to  the  country  of  these 
will  be  about  $70,000,000. 

All  these  ships  were  built,  or  are  being 
built,  in  Canada,  at  ten  different  ship- 
yards. If  the  Government  does  decide 
on  the  building  of  the  passenger  vessels 
mentioned,  they  also  will  be  constructed 
in  Canadian  shipyards,  which,  since  the 
days  when  wooden  ships  were  the  only 
kind  known,  have  never  experienced  a 
boom  equal  to  that  of  the  war  period 
and  since. 

It  is  the  hope  of  those  directly  con- 
cerned, as  well  as  of  all  who  wish  for 
continued  Canadian  prosperity,  that  ship- 
building will  become  a  stable  industry  of 
the  country.  It  was  the  building  of  sub- 
marines, armed  trawlers  and  drifters, 
lighters  and  other  vessels  for  the  British, 
French,  Italian  and  Russian  Govern- 
ments that  pointed  the  way.  War  was  a 
great  price  to  pay  for  the  revival  of  the 
shipbuilding  industry;  peace  may  place 
it  on  a  permanently  sound  basis. 

A  corollary  of  the  development  in  ship- 
building is  the  completion  in  Sydney, 
Nova  Scotia,  of  a  private  plant  for  the 
manufacture  of  steel  ship  plates.  These 
have  never  been  made  in  Canada,  and 
the  output  of  the  plant  is  expected  to 
be  sufficient  to  meet  the  demands  of 
the  country  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
What  this  means  is  shown  in  the  fact 
that  a  shipbuilding  plant  in  Toronto 
lately  had  to  close  down  in»  large  part 
for  some  days  because  it  could  not  get 
from  Pittsburgh  the  desired  supply  of 
plates  when  required.  It  was  war  demand 
that  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  steel 
plate  plant,  which  will  now  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  peace. 

Instances  of  that  kind  might  be  multi- 


WHAT  THE  WAR  DID  FOR  CANADA 


plied.  Amherstburg,  in  Ontario,  is  the 
home  of  a  $4,000,000  plant  for  the  manu- 
facture of  soda  ash,  the  first  of  its  kind 
in  Canada.  This  establishment  was  begun 
during  the  war  and  with  the  idea  of 
catering  to  war  contracts.  Industry  in 
normal  lines  now  claims  its  attention  and 
output.  At  Ojibway  another  new  con- 
cern, a  steel  corporation,  has  already  ex- 
pended $2,000,000  on  its  ore  dock  and 
furnace  foundations.  Its  enterprise  is 
planned  on  a  huge  scale,  the  acreage  it 
has  bought  being  counted  upon  to  afford 
decent  housing  for  20,000  people  in  ad- 
dition to  space  for  its  mills. 

British  officialdom,  which  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  war  doubted  the 
ability  of  Canada  to  make  supplies  of 
any  kind,  was  certain  that  airplanes 
could  not  be  made  in  the  country;  but 
more  than  2,500  airplanes  for  training 
purposes  were  produced  in  the  Do- 
minion. In  its  latest  months  of  useful- 
ness the  national  plant  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Imperial  Munitions  Board 
was  turning  out  bombing  planes  for  the 
United  States  Navy.  One  concern  en- 
gaged in  airplane  making  during  the 
war  has  succeeded  in  turning  its  estab- 
lishment into  a  manufactory  for  grama- 
phones,  the  tremendous  Canadian  demand 
for  which  has  been  largely  met  by  United 
States  makers. 

STEEL  AND  PAPER  MILLS 

In  Toronto  a  national  plant  for  forg- 
ings,  part  of  the  imperial  and  Canadian 
governments'  organization  for  making 
war  munitions,  contains  some  of  the  most 
modern  of  electrical  devices.  After  the 
armistice  was  signed  it  seemed  likely  to 
become  a  dead  loss,  but  it  has  been  pur- 
chased by  a  British  tin  plate  corpora- 
tion, which  is  spending  $5,000,000  in  en- 
larging the  plant,  and  expects  to  turn  out 
enough  black  and  galvanized  sheets  to 
supply  the  whole  of  Canada.  One  of  the 
indirect  influences  in  attracting  the 
Britishers  to  the  location  was  the  im- 
mense harbor  improvement  plans  under 
way  at  Toronto,  persistently  carried  on, 
though  on  a  reduced  scale,  during  the 
war,  and  now  resumed  with  vigor. 
Toronto  itself  is  investing  large  sums  in 
the  project,  and  is  reaping  returns  in 
the  shape  of  new-made  land  with  water 


front  sites  for  new  industries  already 
beginning  to  arrive.  To  be  the  Chicago 
of  Canada  is  Toronto's  ambition. 

A  Montreal  firm  which  during  the 
war  concentrated  its  efforts  on  machin- 
ery for  the  making  of  munitions  is  now 
producing  machinery  for  use  in  paper 
mills.  This  is  another  new  venture  for 
Canada.  There  has  been  a  steady  ad- 
vancement also  in  the  making  of  all 
classes  of  paper  in  the  country.  For  the 
first  time  papers  of  the  highest  grades 
are  being  successfully  produced  and  are 
finding  a  good  home  market  in  competi- 
tion with  the  importations  upon  which 
the  country  depended  in  the  pre-war 
days.  In  regard  to  newsprint,  mills  of 
Canada  find  it  almost  impossible  to  keep 
up  with  the  demand  from  the  United 
States.  With  this  development  there  has 
been  an  awakening  to  the  importance  of 
conserving  the  timber  resources,  an  effect 
which  all  the  academic  preaching  of 
former  years  had  failed  to  produce.  It 
is  based  on  the  hope  of  making  the  news- 
print industry  a  lasting  one. 

IMPETUS   TO  AGRICULTURE 

Throughout  the  war  there  was  a  re- 
markable development  in  every  branch 
of  agriculture.  Indeed,  in  spite  of  the 
expansion  of  manufactures  then  and 
since,  the  products  of  the  wheat,  live 
stock,  and  dairy  farms  still  lead  in 
Canada's  exports.  It  is  here  and  in  the 
wealth  of  its  forests  and  mineral  areas 
that  many  people  think  Canada's  future 
as  a  trading  countiy  lies.  Sir  George 
Paish,  fresh  from  his  self-imposed  mis- 
sion of  trying  to  arouse  the  United 
States  to  the  needs  of  Europe,  has  vis- 
ited the  Dominion  to  suggest  to  its  peo- 
ple that  their  duty  is  to  raise  and  ship  to 
the  old  lands  foodstuffs  in  far  greater 
quantities  than  they  have  yet  done,  and 
all  the  raw  materials  they  can  handle. 
The  war  has  been  responsible  for  a  closer 
study  of  agricultural  conditions,  and  for 
a  back-to-the-land  movement  with  sane 
and  sensible  methods  as  its  foundation. 
Not  the  least  helpful  of  these  is  the 
Government's  land  settlement  plans  for 
returned  soldiers,  including  those  who 
served  in  the  imperial  forces. 

It  would  not  be  surprising  to  find  that 
this  attention  to  agriculture  and  condi- 


466 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


tions  of  rural  life  will  be  considered  in 
years  to  come  as  making  the  inaugura- 
tion of  one  of  the  greatest  economic  and 
social  reforms  that  Canada  has  known. 
It  is  not  dependent  upon  the  Federal 
Government  alone.  All  the  provincial 
Governments  are  displaying  a  practical 
interest  that  is  finding  its  way  into  ac- 
tion, particularly  on  matters  relative  to 
the  education  and  future  of  the  children 
in  the  rural  sections.  Some  of  the 
provinces  are  on  the  eve  of  changes  in 
this  respect  that  are  long  overdue,  and 
that  have  been  forced  by  the  develop- 
ments of  the  last  few  years. 

Good  roads,  too,  in  the  rural  districts 
especially,  are  at  last  beginning  to  re- 
ceive the  attention  their  importance 
deserves.  To  aid  in  the  spread  of  the 
good  roads  gospel  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment voted  $20,000,000  in  the  midst  of 
war-cost  demands,  to  be  divided  among 
the  provinces  as  supplementary  to  the 
millions  the  latter  will  themselves  spend 
on  these  links  with  the  main  arteries  of 
transportation. 

THE  FRANCHISE  FOR  WOMEN 

The  extension  of  the  franchise  to 
women  on  the  same  terms  as  to  men, 
with  the  right  to  election  to  the  House 
of  Commons,  is  a  Canadian  wartime  re- 
form the  effect  of  which  may  be  left  to 
a  future  decision.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  in  many  of  the  more  progressive 
sections  of  the  country  it  has  been  a 
splendid  encouragement  to  women  en- 
gaged in  social  reform  work.  A  number 
of  the  provinces  had  women's  franchise 
on  their  statute  books  before  the  Federal 
Government  adopted  it,  and  a  few  of 
them  have  women  members  in  their 
Legislatures.  As  in  some  other  coun- 
tries, the  ardent  battlers  for  woman's 
suffrage  have  waged  a  long  campaign. 
The  efforts  of  themselves  and  their  sis- 
ters in  the  war  work  and  its  many  off- 
shoots earned  them  the  right  to  vote. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  in  what  branch  of 
work  the  women  excelled,  and  foolish  to 
dogmatize  as  to  the  extent  the  experi- 
ences they  gained  will  mold  the  ideals 

:■    ideas    of    the  generations  to  come. 

L    forgetting  their  devotion  to  and 

&a     !    v14  "%«   Red   Cross   Society  and 
Australia,  an..         ,,       . .  .  , 

tions,  the  opinion  may  be 


ventured  that  their  best  work  was  done 
in  connection  with  the  Canadian  Patri- 
otic Fund  and  the  various  regimental  as- 
sociations, the  latter  formed  of  relatives 
of  men  on  service.  Some  $50,000,000  was 
raised  by  the  Patriotic  Fund  by  volun- 
tary subscriptions  for  supplementing  the 
allowances  granted  by  the  Government 
to  the  dependents  of  soldiers.  It  was 
administered  locally  through  committees 
serving  gratuitously.  Many  women  were 
on  these  committees,  and  their  work 
took  them  to  the  homes  and  brought 
them  into  constant  association  with  the 
wives  and  children  of  the  men  in  khaki. 
The  same  was  true  of  the  work  carried 
on  for  the  respective  regiments  by  the 
regimental  associations.  The  conser 
quence  was  that  hundreds  of  women,  as 
well  as  men,  gained  much  first-hand 
knowledge  of  how  other  people  lived. 

THE  HOUSING  PROBLEM 

They  are  the  people  who  today  are 
generally  found  at  the  forefront  of  the 
efforts  to  solve  the  housing  problem, 
which  is  a  real  one  in  most  of  the  cities 
and  towns  of  Canada.  To  the  fact  that 
there  was  very  little  house  building  dur- 
ing the  war  must  be  added  the  truth  that 
many  houses  that  served  as  such  are  not 
now  fit  for  human  beings  to  live  in.  The 
cost  of  materials  is  so  high,  however, 
that  many  who  would  like  to  build  for 
themselves  cannot  finance  the  initial 
transactions.  To  help  to  relieve  the  situ- 
ation the  Canadian  Government,  backed 
by  public  opinion,  has  appropriated  $25,- 
000,000  to  provide  houses  for  working- 
men.  Not  as  a  gift.  The  money  is  lent 
direct  to  the  provincial  Governments, 
who  in  turn  lend  it  at  low  rates  for 
twenty  years  to  municipalities  that  will 
co-operate  with  them  in  securing  homes 
at  the  actual  cost  of  building  and  land 
acquired  at  a  fair  value.  The  plan  is 
working  very  well  so  far,  though  some 
of  the  larger  municipalities  have  not 
always  waited  for  the  application  of  the 
Government  scheme  and  have  started 
"  on  their  own." 

Before  the  Government  plan  of  as- 
sistance in  house  building  was  in  opera- 
tion thousands  of  people  had  been  driven 
by  the  constantly  increasing  rents  to  be- 
gin to  buy  their  homes.    To  that  move- 


WHAT  THE  WAR  DID  FOR  CANADA 


107 


ment  the  combination  of  Government 
and  municipal  aid  has  given  a  great 
fillip.  The  war  will  get  the  credit  of 
making  Canadians  more  than  ever  a  peo- 
ple of  home  owners. 

INCREASE    IN   SAVINGS 

It  is  still  the  fashion  to  paint  the  allied 
countries  as  having  plunged  into  an  orgy 
of  extravagance  following  the  restraints 
of  the  years  of  conflict.  Canada  is  not 
exempt  from  this  criticism;  but  if  there 
is  flaunting  prodigality  on  the  part  of 
the  comparatively  few,  there  is  a  strong 
strain  of  canniness  in  the  actions  of  the 
many.  The  savings  deposits  in  the  banks 
in  December  of  1919  aggregated  $1,138,- 
086,691,  an  increase  for  the  year  of  $179,- 
613,134,  and  that  despite  the  large  with- 
drawals for  investment  in  the  Victory 
Loan  of  last  Fall.  Since  November, 
1918,  there  have  been  established 
throughout  Canada  1,000  branches  or 
agencies  of  the  country's  chartered 
banks,  and  there  are  now  over  4,300  of 
these  branches  in  all. 

Another  proof  that  not  all  are  living 
high  on  the  gains  made  from  the  war  is 
afforded  by  the  unparalleled  new  busi- 
ness written  by  the  life  insurance  com- 
panies of  the  country  for  the  year,  total- 
ing $560,000,000.  The  highest  previous 
record  was  $313,251,556  in  1918.  Life 
insurance  in  Canada  now  reaches  well 
over  two  billions,  of  which  36  per  cent, 
is  in  United  States  companies.  For  the 
immense  new  business  of  1919,  G.  Cecil 
Moore,  a  Canadian  expert,  gives  credit 
to  several  influences,  among  them  the 
observation  of  the  people  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  insurance  companies 
stood  the  strain  of  the  "  flu  "  epidemics 
and  the  payments  arising  out  of  war 
casualties,  the  soldiers'  insurance  under- 
taken by  many  Canadian  municipalities, 
"  and  the  colossal  insurance  scheme  of 
the  American  Government  "  for  its  sol- 
diers. 

Even  in  Canada  there  are  some  who 
regard  prohibition  as  not  having  proved 
particularly  beneficial  in  wartime,  and 
who  look  upon  its  retention  by  a  major- 
ity of  the  provinces  to  this  date  as  being 
nothing  to  cheer  for.  The  bulk  of  public 
opinion  has  shown  by  its  votes  that  it 
favors  it,  however,  and  the  majority  of 


people  are  convinced  that  it  is  one  of  the 
most  vital  of  economic  and  social  re- 
forms. Another  generation  will  be  in  a 
better  position  to  review  dispassionately 
its  merits  and  demerits. 

DEPORTING  THE  UNDESIRABLES 

Several  occurrences  among  the  foreign- 
born  population  of  the  country  since  1914 
have  revealed  causes  for  anxiety  as  to 
Canada's  immigration  policy,  an  anxiety 
reflected  in  some  changes  already  being 
carried  out,  now  that  the  tide  of  new- 
comers is  again  setting  in.  The  recent 
raids  on  the  "  Reds  "  in  the  United  States 
brought  forth  an  official  statement  that 
in  the  last  twelve  months  1,000  undesir- 
able enemy  aliens  had  been  depoited. 
These  include  100  of  the  most  active 
"  Reds  "  in  the  West,  who  were  quietly 
gathered  up  by  the  Royal  Northwest 
Mounted  Police  in  Winnipeg  during  the 
general  strike  there  last  Summer.  It 
has  been  decided  to  keep  up  the  barriers 
against  Germans,  Austrians,  Turks,  and 
Bulgarians. 

For  the  present,  encouragement  is 
given  only  to  farmers,  farm  laborers  and 
selected  domestics,  and  as  the  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  newcomers  are  English- 
speaking  there  is  no  anxiety  regarding 
them.  Of  the  91,420  immigrants  in  the 
last  nine  months,  British  and  Irish  people 
numbered  47,585,  and  those  from  the 
United  States  38,711.  The  latter  are  said 
to  be  mostly  farmers  who  have  sold  their 
lands  at  high  prices  in  the  Middle  West- 
ern States  and  are  bent  upon  taking  up 
the  cheaper  land  still  available  in  the 
Canadian  West. 

It  is  in  regard  to  large  numbers  of 
foreigners  already  in  the  country,  how- 
ever, many  of  whom  have  remained 
ignorant  of  the  English  language,  or  of 
modes  of  living  other  than  their  own, 
that  misgiving  arises.  The  Social  Service 
Council  of  Canada  has  urged  upon  the 
people  and  all  the  Governments  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  seeing  that  in  the  future 
these  newcomers  are  not  left  to  shift  for 
themselves  without  an  attempt  being  made 
to  teach  them  elementary  outlines  of 
Canadian  customs  and  laws,  and  enough 
English  to  enable  them  to  understand 
what  they  should  do  if  they  want  to  be- 
come citizens  in  the  real  meaning  of  the 


468 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


word.  The  Toronto  Globe,  in  a  com- 
mendatory editorial  on  the  measure 
passed  by  the  United  States  Senate  and 
aiming  at  the  Americanization  of  all 
those  within  its  borders,  has  this  to 
say: 

The  proposal  to  make  all  aliens  living 
in  the  country  (the  United  States)  learn 
its  language  is  neither  hysterical  nor  un- 
just. It  is  sound  national  business.  It 
is  a  constructive  step  toward  the  solution 
of  many  of  the  social  and  industrial  prob- 
lems which  confront  the  Anglo-Saxon 
nations  of  the  New  World. 

It  proceeds  to  say  that  the  action  taken 
"  on  the  other  side  of  the  line "  may 
well  commend  itself  to  the  consideration 
of  the  provinces  in  Canada  where  educa- 
tion is  a  matter  of  provincial  jurisdic- 
tion. The  signs  indicate  that  this  is  to 
be  done  in  conjunction  with  the  Dominion 
Government  when  the  latter's  immigra- 
tion policy  is  worked  out  in  the  light  of 
the  knowledge  of  late  experiences. 

The  war  has  brought  to  Canada  a 
realization  that  it  should  endeavor  to 
find  within  its  own  borders  inducements 
for  the  retention  of  the  scientifically 
trained  men  and  women  who  are  drift- 
ing, largely,  to  the  United  States  on 
their  graduation  from  the  colleges  and 


laboratories  of  the  country.  Men  like 
Professor  J.  C.  McLennan  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Toronto,  who  was  loaned  to  the 
British  Admiralty  during  the  war,  and 
as  a  result  of  whose  efforts  helium  gas 
was  discovered  in  Canada,  some  of  it 
being  shipped  overseas  in  time  to  be  of 
usa  in  the  conflict,  are  leading  in  the 
agitation  to  educate  the  people  to  the 
need  of  science  and  industry  walking 
hand  in  hand  in  the  Dominion. 

Much  more  could  be  said  of  the  changes 
and  the  gains  that  war  and  its  aftermath 
have  brought  to  and  promise  for  Canada. 
Its  church  life  and  work  might  furnish 
a  theme;  but,  as  elsewhere,  that  is  a 
subject  bristling  with  controversy.  In 
a  general  way  it  can  be  said  that  the 
Church  has  striven  and  is  striving  harder 
now  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  and  to 
fulfill  its  mission  to  humanity. 

After  the  long  night  of  war  Canada 
hopes  for  an  unbroken  day  of  peace. 
She  is  confident  of  herself  and  her 
future,  and  is  not  blindly  ignorant  of  the 
many  difficulties  that  her  people  must 
meet.  Canada  will  be  true  to  herself  and 
to  the  golden  hearts  who  made  her 
famous  on  the  fields  of  France  and 
Belgium. 


New  Postage  Stamps — Thousands  of  Them 

Products  of    New-Born    States 


THE  new  postage  stamps  issued  in 
1919,  the  first  year  of  peace  after 
the  world  war,  were  more  numer- 
ous and  of  infinitely  greater  variety 
than  those  of  any  other  year  since 
the  first  adhesive  stamp  came  into  ex- 
istence, eighty  years  ago.  Since  1840, 
when  Great  Britain  led  the  way  with  the 
"  Penny  Black,"  an  unused  specimen  of 
which  is  now  worth  about  $10,  over  30,- 
000  varieties  of  stamps  have  been  issued 
by  the  Governments  of  the  world,  and 
about  2,500  of  these  appeared  in  1919,  as 
part  of  the  aftermath  of  the  war.  Many 
of  these  were  issued  by  new  States — in 
fact,  the  only  man  now  likely  to  pass  a 
successful  examination  on  all  the  new 
nations  of  Europe  is  the  one  whose  hobby 
is  philately. 


The  stamps  of  1919  are  in  themselves 
a  vivid  chronicle  of  great  events — for 
those  who  have  mastered  their  meanings 
— and  they  embrace  many  types  hitherto 
unknown  to  collectors.  A  correspondent 
of  The  London  Times  has  been  at  pains 
to  describe  the  most  interesting  issues  of 
that  year,  including  special  series  repre- 
sentative of  victory,  peace,  war,  armis- 
tice, reconstruction,  conquest  of  the  air, 
&c.  Some  of  the  most  valued  stamps  are 
those  issued  in  a  hurry  by  new  Govern- 
ments, which  adopted  the  easy  method  of 
printing  a  new  design  over  the  stamp  al- 
ready in  use. 

Newfoundland  led  the  way  on  Jan.  1, 
1919,  says  this  writer,  with  a  notable  set 
of  stamps  commemorating  the  exploits  of 
her  soldier  and  sailor  sons  in  the  war, 


NEW  POSTAGE  STAMPS— THOUSANDS  OF  THEM 


inscribed  "Trail  of  the  Caribou,"  and 
blazoned  with  the  regimental  crest,  a 
caribou  head,  after  the  design  of  a  Co- 
lonial artist.  Alternate  values  bore  the 
battle  honors  of  the  military  contingent 
and  the  remainder  the  motto  "  Ubique," 
coupled  with  the  name  of  the  Royal 
Naval  Reserve. 

During  January  appeared  also  the  first 
definitive  stamp  issues  of  the  new-born 
free  States  of  Europe — Czechoslovakia, 
with  its  picturesque  allegory  of  dawn 
rising  over  the  Hradschin  of  Prague  (by 
Alfonse  Mucha) ;  Poland,  with  its 
crowned  white  eagle  and  equestrian  por- 
trait of  King  Sobieski;  Jugoslavia,  with 
its  caryatid  of  Victory  and  Croat  sailor 
proclaiming  freedom  from  the  masthead; 
while  from  Fiume  came  on  Jan.  28  au- 
tonomous postage  stamps  of  pictorial  de- 
sign by  the  artist,  Giovanni  Rubinovich, 
issued  by  the  National  Council,  and  elo- 
quent of  the  Italian  sympathies  of  its 
populace.  In  Turkey  the  abortive  pic- 
torial stamps  prepared  in  anticipation  of 
Essad  Pasha's  ill-fated  invasion  of 
Egypt  were  finally  placed  in  circulation 
toward  the  end  of  January,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  a  three-line  overprint  signify- 
ing "  Souvenir  of  the  Armistice — 30 
Dulkaada  1334"  (Oct.  30,  1918). 

A  figure  of  Victory  flanked  by  tro- 
phies of  flags  of  the  allied  nations 
formed  the  design  of  a  much  criticised 
commemorative  stamp  issued  by  the 
United  States  Post  Office  on  Feb.  13, 
1919. 

About  this  time  postage  stamps  came 
into  use  in  the  newly  constituted  Baltic 
States  of  Latvia  (Lettland),  Lithuania, 
and  Esthonia,  whose  resources  were  in 
course  of  development  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  British  military  mission.  For 
the  most  part  their  first  stamps  were  of 
an  extremely  primitive  nature,  locally 
designed  and  printed  on  paper  of  vary- 
ing types  and  textures  by  reason  of  the 
acute  shortage  of  regular  printing  paper. 
The  stamps  of  Latvia,  with  the  device 
of  three  ears  of  wheat  in  a  sunburst, 
were  originally  impressed  at  Riga  on 
the  backs  of  German  Staff  maps,  and 
subsequently  at  Libau  on  writing  and 
cigarette  paper.  Lithuania's  first  issue 
was  printed  at  Vilna  and  Grodnow  from 


ordinary  printers'  type  on  coarse  white 
paper,  and  when  at  length  a  more  elabor- 
ate design  representing  St.  Michael  on 
horseback  was  obtained  from  Berlin  the 
stamps  had  to  be  printed  temporarily  on 
thick  gray  paper  that  had  previously 
been  employed  for  printing  German 
bread  tickets. 

The  first  aerial  crossing  of  the  Atlan- 
tic in  May  was  marked  by  the  use  of 
special  postage  stamps  provided  by  the 
Newfoundland  postal  authorities  in  lim- 
ited numbers  for  franking  the  mails  car- 
ried by  the  competitors  for  The  London 
Daily  Mail  prize.  A  three-cent  stamp  of 
the  current  type  overprinted  "  First 
Transatlantic  Air  Post — April,  1919," 
was  affixed  to  the  ninety-five  letters 
forming  the  mail  intrusted  to  Hawker 
and  Grieve  on  their  plucky  attempt, 
which  were  rescued  from  the  sea,  while 
the  Alcock-Brown  post  bore  stamps  of 
the  15  cent  denomination  of  the  1897 
series  surcharged  "Transatlantic  Air 
Post — One  Dollar."  Stamps  of  several 
values  bearing  a  distinguishing  imprint 
were  likewise  prepared  in  connection  with 
the  Raynham-Martinsyde  venture,  but  as 
this  met  with  disaster  at  the  outset  were 
never  used.  The  development  of  the  air 
post  also  produced  aerial  stamps  from 
Switzerland,  Tunis,  Japan,  Colombia,  and 
Germany. 

BOLSHEVIST  ISSUES 

The  red  hand  of  Bolshevism  has  not 
failed  to  leave  its  imprint  on  the  stamps 
of  those  countries  that  have  come  under 
its  spell.  The  establishment  of  Bela 
Kun's  Red  Republic  at  Budapest  was  the 
cause  of  the  overprinting  with  distin- 
guishing inscriptions  of  the  Hungarian 
stamps  in  use  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, notably  at  Arad  under  French  oc- 
cupation, in  the  Serbian-controlled  Banat 
of  Temesvar,  in  Transylvania  under  Ru- 
manian occupation,  and  at  Szegedin, 
where  the  independent  Magyar  Govern- 
ment of  Count  Karolyi  was  installed. 
Paper  shortage  brought  to  a  premature 
conclusion  the  printing  of  the  distinctive 
stamps  of  the  Bolshevist  administration 
with  their  unprepossessing  portraits  of 
the  Socialist  leaders,  Marx,  Petofi,  En- 
gels,  Doza,  and  Martinovics,  the  unre- 
stricted sale  of  which  was  intended  to 


470 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


bring  grist  to  the  mill  of  State.  They 
were  superseded  by  former  Hungarian 
types  of  1916,  overprinted  "  Magyar 
Tanacs  Koztarsasag"  (Hungarian  Red 
Republic)  until  the  overthrow  of  Bela 
Kun  and  the  re-establishment  of  the 
Hungarian  State  by  the  Allied  Commis- 
sion. In  Bavaria  and  Wurttemberg  the 
establishment  of  Soviet  republics  was 
signalized  by  the  addition  of  the  word 
"Volkstaat"  or  "Friestaat"  on  their 
contemporary  postage  stamps.  The  in- 
troduction of  free  postage  by  the  Bolshe- 
vist Government  of  Russia  rendered  un- 
necessary the  issue  of  some  weird  post- 
age stamps  in  advanced  futurist  designs 
symbolical  of  Labor  in  all  its  phases,  pre- 
pared by  the  State  Printing  Works  at 
Petrograd. 

The  Transcaucasian  Republic  of 
Georgia  was  added  to  the  roll  of  stamp- 
issuing  countries  on  May  26,  when  a  set 
of  four  stamps  made  its  debut  with  a 
hieroglyphic  reproduction  of  the  national 
arms  depicting  St.  George  crossing  the 
Black  Mountains.  Some  curious  stamps 
adorned  with  a  vignette  of  a  large  tree 
were  issued  about  the  same  period  by  the 
Provisional  Government  of  the  Black  Sea 
port  of  Batum,  under  British  military 
control.  Three  separate  series  of  pro- 
visional postage  stamps  issued  at  Aivaly, 
Smyrna,  and  Rodosto  resulted  from  the 
Greek  occupation  of  Asia  Minor  by  the 
mandate  of  the  Paris  Conference. 

The  deliverance  of  Riga  from  the  Bol- 
sheviki  was  duly  commemorated  on  June 
6  in  the  issue  by  the  Lettish  Government 
of  a  set  of  three  celebration  stamps  por- 
traying the  reunion  of  Lettonia  and  Riga. 
The  anti-Bolshevist  campaign  in  both 
North  and  South  Russia  is  denoted  by 
the  stamps  of  General  Denikin's  Govern- 
ment, inscribed  "  Russian  Union,"  and 
issued  at  Sebastopol  in  June,  the  curious 
typeset  adhesives  of  the  Northwest  Rus- 
sian Army  which  appeared  at  Reval  later 
in  the  year,  and  Finnish  stamps  over- 
printed "  Aunus  "  for  use  in  the  district 
of  Olnonetz  after  the  Soviet  forces  had 
been  compelled  to  retire. 

PEACE  STAMPS 

Japan  was  first  in  the  field  with 
"  Peace"  commemorative  stamps,  issued 
on  July  1,  in  designs  by  S.  Okada  and 


Yuki,  representing  doves,  and  beauti- 
fully engraved  by  the  Government  Print- 
ing Bureau  at  Tokio.  Uruguay  followed 
suit  on  July  17  with  a  handsome  vignette 
of  Bartholdi's  Statue  of  Liberty  on  a 
series  of  six  special  stamps  inscribed 
"  Paz— 1914-1919."  On  Aug.  1  Switzer- 
land added  her  quota  of  three  "  Peace  " 
stamps  in  attractive  symbolical  designs 
by  native  artists.  From  Jamaica  came 
on  July  3  a  single  l^d  stamp  recess 
printed  in  apple-green,  commemorative 
of  the  departure  of  the  West  Indian  con- 
tingent for  the  battlefields  of  France  and 
Flanders. 

Changes  in  the  stamps  of  Far  Eastern 
countries  have  been  brought  about  by  the 
phenomenal  rise  in  the  value  of  silver, 
including  the  overprinting  for  the  first 
time  of  the  stamps  sold  by  the  United 
States  postal  agency  in  Shanghai.  The 
first  postage  stamps  of  the  German  Re- 
public, in  futurist  designs  symbolical  of 
the  rebirth  of  the  Teutonic  nation,  were 
issued  on  the  occasion  of  the  National 
Assembly  at  Weimar  in  July.  Austria 
has  likewise  been  provided  with  a  com- 
plete new  series  of  postage  stamps,  de- 
signed by  Josef  Franz  Jenner,  and  com- 
prising four  different  types.  Czar  Boris 
figures  on  the  latest  Bulgarian  issue, 
while  Turkey  has  been  compelled  to  re- 
sort to  provisional  surcharging  pending 
the  preparation  of  her  new  stamps. 

An  interesting  set  of  commemorative 
postage  stamps  marked  the  opening  of 
the  first  Polish  Diet  in  Warsaw.  Among 
the  appropriate  designs  was  a  stamp  por- 
trait of  President  Paderewski.  Czecho- 
slovakia, the  youngest  nation  of  Europe, 
celebrated  her  first  birthday  on  Oct.  28 
by  the  issue  of  allegorical  postage  stamps 
sold  in  aid  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
fallen  soldiers. 

THE  LEICESTER  EXHIBITION 

The  first  public  stamp  exhibition  in 
Great  Britain  since  1914  was  held  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  year  by  the 
Leicester  and  Nottinghamshire  Philatelic 
Societies.  The  collection  shown  was 
valued  at  more  than  $60,000  and  included 
most  of  the  types  described  above.  This 
exhibit  was  especially  rich  in  new  Rus- 
sian stamps.  Before  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment inaugurated  a  free  postage  system 


NEW  POSTAGE  STAMPS— THOUSANDS  OF  THEM 


47! 


for  Russia  the  Bolsheviki  were  respon- 
sible for  several  stamps  of  such  a  weird 
Futurist  type  that  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  what  they  are  meant  to  repre- 
sent. All  one  can  be  certain  about  is 
that  there  has  been  an  attempt  to  sym- 
bolize labor,  and  that  one  stamp  shows  a 
miner  and  another  a  sickle  and  no  more 
than  two  ears  of  corn.  A  third  may  de- 
pict a  factory,  but  surely  such  a  factory 
never  existed. 

Saarin  was  among  the  artists  who  pre- 
pared a  series  of  stamps  for  Kerensky's 
Government,  but  of  these  only  one,  show- 
ing a  sword  cutting  a  chain,  was  issued 
to  the  public.  Since  then  Romanoff 
stamps  have  been  overprinted  with  va- 
rious designs  indicating  liberty.  The 
Ukraine  has  given  philatelists  a  task  by 
overprinting  old  stamps  with  a  design, 
now  generally  described  as  the  Ukrai- 
nian trident,  taken  from  the  arms  of  the 
Grand  Duke  St.  Vladimir  of  Kiev. 

The  Leicester  exhibit  included  a  number 
of  Lettland  stamps,  which  are  more  in- 
teresting because  of  the  paper  on  which 
they  are  printed  than  because  of  their 
design.    When  the  republic  was  formed 


paper  was  so  scarce  that  the  stamps 
were  printed  on  the  back  of  war  maps 
the  Germans  had  left  behind.  These 
stamps  used  to  command  tremendous 
prices,  but  early  buyers  threw  money 
away,  as  it  is  possible  now  to  obtain 
complete  sheets  on  different  maps  at 
quite  reasonable  rates.  Lettland's  sec- 
ond issue  was  on  lined  paper,  and  the 
third  was  on  thin  cigarette  paper. 
Lithuania  also  has  supplied  a  permanent 
record  of  the  shortage  of  paper  during 
the  war  by  printing  stamps  on  paper  of 
the  kind  previously  used  for  bread 
tickets.  The  exhibit  also  included  stamps 
of  the  Don  Cossacks,  Georgia,  Poland, 
Czechoslovakia,  Jugoslavia,  Fiume,  and 
of  Finland,  the  counti-y  which  before  the 
war  used  Russian  stamps  slightly  altered 
by  the  inclusion  of  a  few  dots  in  the  de- 
sign. Now  Finland  proclaims  her  inde- 
pendence by  stamps  showing  a  lion 
tramping  on  the  Russian  sword.  Turkey 
was  represented  by  stamps  intended  to 
be  used  after  the  invasion  of  Egypt  and 
kept  from  becoming  waste  paper  by  an 
overprint  which  interpreted  means 
"  Souvenir  of  the  Armistice." 


French  Memorial  Diplomas" 


FRANCE  is  expressing  her  gratitude 
to  the  112,422  American  soldiers  who 
died  on  French  battlefields  by  a  memorial 
diploma  which  was  presented  to  the  next 
of  kin  by  the  American  Legion,  in  co- 
operation with  the  Army  Recruiting  Of- 
fices, on  Washington's  Birthday,  Feb.  22, 
1920. 

These  diplomas  were  sent  by  the 
French  High  Commission  to  the  Adju- 
tant General's  Office  for  distribution,  and 
the  recruiting  officers  and  Legion  posts 
have  been  busy  since  November  finding 
the  addresses  of  the  next  of  kin.  This 
memorial  is  designed  to  supplement  the 


special  message  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment embodied  in  a  pamphlet  addressed 
"  To  the  Homeward  Bound  Americans," 
which  was  not  completed  in  time  for  dis- 
tribution before  our  troops  sailed  for 
home.  The  diploma  bears  an  engraving  of 
a  group  adapted  from  the  famous  bas- 
relief  of  "  La  Marseillaise  "  on  the  Arc 
de  Triomphe  in  Paris.  This  group  is 
placed  on  a  cenotaph,  on  which  is  en- 
graved, in  French,  the  tribute  of  France's 
homage,  with  President  Poincare's  signa- 
ture. The  whole  is  reproduced  in  the 
rotogravure  section  of  this  issue  of 
Current  History. 


The  Retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army 

[Last  Half] 
By  CAPTAIN  G.  GORDON-SMITH 

[Royal  Serbian  Abut] 

Captain  Gordon-Smith,  the  only  English-speaking  eyewitness  of  the  historic 
retreat  of  the  Serbian  Army  across  the  mountains  of  Albania  to  the  Adriatic,  here 
concludes  his  stirring  narrative  of  that  little-known  chapter  of  the  history  of  the 
war.  This  portion  of  the  story  embodies  the  thrilling  climax  of  the  drama  which 
marked  the  lowest  ebb  of  Serbia's  fortunes. 


FROM  Nov.  24  to  26,  1915,  we  were 
occupied  in  making  preparations 
for  our  departure  from  Prisrend. 
The  Headquarters  Staff,  headed 
by  Field  Marshal  Putnik,  numbered,  with 
its  escort,  over  300  persons  with  more 
than  400  riding  and  baggage  horses.  The 
aged  Voivode  was  a  martyr  to  asthma 
and  unable  to  mount  on  horseback  or 
face  the  bitter  cold  of  the  Albanian 
mountains.  It  is,  however,  utterly  im- 
possible to  traverse  the  mountain  roads 
in  a  wheeled  vehicle  of  any  sort;  a  sedan 
chair  was  constructed,  in  which  the  vet- 
eran leader  could  be  carried  across  the 
mountains  on  the  shoulders  of  Serbian 
soldiers. 

The  French  in  Prisrend,  consisting  of 
the  aviation  and  other  units,  numbering 
altogether  nearly  250  officers  and  men, 
resolved  to  cross  the  mountains  by  the 
same  route  as  the  Headquarters  Staff, 
starting  the  day  before  it,  immediately 
behind  the  King  and  the  royal  household. 
This  detachment  was  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Fournier,  the  French  Military 
Attache,  having  as  his  Lieutenant  Major 
Vitrat,  the  head  of  the  French  Aviation 
Section.  This  section  had  rendered  im- 
mense services  to  the  Serbian  Army 
throughout  the  whole  retreat.  Major 
Vitrat  is  an  officer  who  would  do  credit 
to  any  army.  I  have  rarely  met  a  man 
of  more  decision  of  character,  and  cer- 
tainly none  of  greater  courage.  His  ex- 
ample inspired  the  Aviation  Corps  from 
its  pilots  to  the  last  of  its  transport 
chauffeurs. 

The  French  detachment  was  composed 
of  three  sailors  from  the  naval  gun 
battery  of  Belgrade,  94  automobile  mech- 
anicians, 125  officers  and  men  of  the 
Aviation  Section,  and  five  wireless  op- 


erators. The  personnel  was  utilized  ac- 
cording to  its  aptitudes.  A  commission 
for  the  purchase  of  the  necessary  pack 
animals  was  formed  of  two  observing 
officers  of  the  Aviation  Section,  one  a 
Captain  of  hussars  and  the  other  a  Cap- 
tain of  artillery.  The  officers  brought 
together  what  money  they  still  possessed 
for  the  purchase  of  the  provisions  neces- 
sary for  the  journey,  a  matter  of  18,000 
francs. 

This  proved  the  most  difficult  part  of 
the  organization,  as  food  and  fodder 
were  becoming  rare.  A  certain  amount 
of  com  for  the  seventy  pack  horses  of 
the  expedition  was  found  at  a  price  of 
one  franc  the  "  oka  "  (the  Turkish  "  oka  " 
is  about  three  pounds)  and  ten  sheep 
which  accompanied  the  column  and  were 
killed  and  eaten  as  occasion  required. 

SICK  SENT  BY  AIRPLANE 

The  next  difficulty  was  the  question 
of  transport  of  half  a  dozen  sick  men 
in  the  detachment.  Horses  for  their 
transport  could  not  be  found,  and  it  was 
out  of  the  question  that  they  could  be 
carried  on  stretchers  by  their  comrades. 
Colonel  Fournier  solved  the  difficulty  by 
ordering  their  transport  by  airplane.  The 
section  still  possessed  six  machines  ca- 
pable of  flying,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
for  two  and  a  half  months  they  had  been 
exposed  night  and  day  without  shelter  to 
wind,  rain  and  snow.  On  Thursday,  Nov. 
25,  the  six  airplanes  started  off  across 
the  mountains  on  their  flight  to  Scutari. 
This  was  the  first  time  in  military  an- 
nals that  the  airplane  had  been  pressed 
into  the  ambulance  service;  but  the  in- 
novation was  most  successful,  the  ma- 
chines arriving  in  Scutari  in  less  than 
half  the  number  of  hours  that  it  took 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


the  rest  of  the  detachment  days  in  its 
maich  across  the  snow-clad  hills. 

It  was,  indeed,  with  a  certain  envy 
that  we  watched  the  start  of  these  am- 
bulance-airplanes when  we  remembered 
the  difficult  task  that  lay  before  us  be- 
fore we  could  rejoin  them  in  Scutari. 
Du  Bochet  and  I  arranged  to  travel  with 
the  French  column,  and  handed  to  Major 
Vitrat  the  list  of  provisions  which  we 
could  contribute  to  the  common  stock. 
The  first  etape,  that  from  Prisrend  to 
Lioum-Koula,  is  along  a  fairly  good 
road.  It  was  resolved  to  send  on  the 
pack  animals  the  day  before  and  to 
cover  the  thirty  kilometers  to  Lioum- 
Koula,  which  is  the  last  village  on  Ser- 
bian territory,  in  the  automobiles  of  the 
Aviation  Corps.  As  the  road  from  this 
point  onward  is  a  mere  sheep  track 
across  the  mountains,  utterly  imprac- 
ticable for  wheeled  vehicles,  the  automo- 
biles would  there  be  destroyed  in  order 
to  prevent  their  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

BURNING  THE  AUTOMOBILES 

It  was  7  in  the  morning  of  Friday, 
Nov.  26,  when  we  started  on  our  march 
across  the  mountains  to  Scutari.  De- 
spite the  depressing  circumstances,  the 
aviation  detachment  was  in  high  spirits 
at  the  prospect  of  returning  to  France 
after  a  year  of  hardship  in  Serbian  cam- 
paigning. At  Lioum-Koula  we  were  te 
destroy  the  automobiles,  preliminary  to 
starting  on  our  120-mile  tramp.  We 
had,  however,  to  begin  the  ceremony 
prematurely,  as  six  miles  from  the  start 
one  of  the  motors  gave  out.  As  there 
was  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  re- 
pair it,  the  vehicle,  a  ten-ton  motor 
lorry,  was  run  by  hand  into  a  field  along- 
side the  road,  flooded  with  petrol  and 
set  on  fire.  An  instant  later  it  was 
blazing  merrily  while  the  irrepressible 
younger  spirits  of  the  detachment  exe- 
cuted a  war  dance  round  it,  solemnly 
chanting  Chopin's  "  Funeral  March." 

But  it  was  at  Lioum-Koula  that  we  had 
the  grand  feu  ^artifice.  Near  a  bridge 
across  the  Drin  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  drops  precipitously  nearly  150  feet. 
One  after  another  the  huge  motors  were 
drenched  with  petrol  and  set  on  fire.  The 
chauffeurs  steered  straight  for  the  preci- 


pice, jumping  clear  as  the  cars  shot  over. 
The  immense  lorries  rolled  crashing  to 
the  bottom,  where  they  formed  a  blazing 
pile. 

Twelve  hours  later  I  saw  a  crowd  of 
500  wretched  Austrian  prisoners  gathered 
around  the  ruins.  They  had  crawled  down 
to  warm  themselves  and  to  roast  chunks 
of  meat  cut  from  dead  horses  at  a  blaze 
that  had  cost  the  French  Republic  a  quar- 
ter of  a  million  francs.  The  rest  of  the 
landscape  was  blotted  out  by  the  whirling 
blizzard  through  which  the  fiery  tongues 
of  flame  were  darting.  Every  now  and 
then  the  explosion  of  a  benzine  tank 
would  scatter  the  Austrians,  but  the 
temptation  of  warmth  proved  too  much 
for  them  and  they  soon  returned. 

DEPARTURE  OF  TROOPS 

Five  minutes  after  the  last  car  was 
over  the  precipice  Major  Vitrat  formed 
up  hia  men,  told  off  his  advance  and 
rear  guards,  gave  the  word,  "  En  avant, 
marche!"  and  the  column  swung  off 
through  the  driving  snow  on  the  first 
Hape  of  its  long  march.  We  had  intend- 
ed accompanying*it  to  Scutari,  but  found 
that  the  bullock  wagon  with  our  baggage 
and  our  pack  horse,  which  had  left  Pris- 
rend the  previous  day,  had  failed  to  ar- 
rive. It  did  not  put  in  its  appearance 
until  5  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  as  a 
violent  snowstorm  was  then  raging  I  did 
not  care  to  tackle  the  mountain  ascent 
in  the  dark  to  try  to  find  the  French 
bivouac.  There  was,  therefore,  nothing 
for  us  to  do  but  to  join  the  Headquarters 
Staff. 

The  event  of  the  day  was  the  arrival 
of  the  Voivode  Putnik.  The  veteran 
Field  Marshal,  a  victim  of  asthma,  prac- 
tically had  not  left  his  room  for  two 
years.  A  seven  days'  mountain  journey 
in  a  sedan  chair,  carried  by  four  soldiers, 
must  have  been  a  terrible  experience  for 
him;  but  the  capture  of  their  beloved 
Voivode  by  the  Germans  would  have  been 
regarded  by  the  Serbians  as  a  national 
disaster. 

The  next  day  it  was  still  snowing,  and 
the  start  for  Scutari  was  delayed  another 
twenty-four  hours.  As  two  years  be- 
fore, during  the  Albanian  campaign,  the 
Serbians  had  demolished  all  the  houses 


474 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


SCENE  OF  FINAL  RETREAT  OF  SERBIAN  ARMY  ACROSS  ALBANIA  TO  THE  ADRIATIC. 
THE  AUSTRIANS  HAD  TAKEN  MT.  LOVCHEN  AND  CETINJE  IN  MONTENEGRO,  CUTTING 
OFF  EGRESS  BY  THAT  ROUTE  « 


in  Lioum-Koula  except  four,  accommoda- 
tion was  limited.  I  found  lodgings  in  a 
huge  ammunition  tent.  The  genderme 
in  charge  objected  to  my  smoking  cigar- 
ettes, which  he  said  was  strictly  for- 
bidden by  the  regulations,  but  he  said 


nothing  about  the  score  of  guttering 
candles  burning  on  cartridge  boxes,  or 
the  spirit-lamp  on  a  box  labeled  "  shells," 
over  which  the  wife  of  the  Colonel  was 
preparing  tea.  When  I  drew  his  atten- 
tion to  this  he  declared  the  regulations 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


475 


were  silent  on  the  subject  of  candles  and 
spirit-lamps,  but  distinctly  mentioned 
cigarettes. 

A  CAPTAIN'S  EXPERIENCES 

All  day  and  night  the  troops  bound  for 
El-Bassan  poured  through  Lioum-Koula. 
As  we  had  nothing  to  do,  I  went  out  for 
a  walk  about  five  miles  along  the  road. 
Every  five  hundred  yards  or  so  I  came 
on  dead  bodies  of  men  who  had  suc- 
cumbed to  cold  or  exhaustion.  Coming 
back  I  encountered  Captain  Piagge,  an 
English  officer  in  Serbian  service,  whom 
I  had  met  at  the  Pristina  Railway  Sta- 
tion when  he  was  leaving  to  take  part  in 
the  last  desperate  effort  to  advance  on 
Uskub.  When  I  had  last  seen  him  his 
machine-gun  section  numbered  about 
eighty-four  men.  At  Lioum-Koula  it  had 
dwindled  to  twenty-six.  He  had  all  his 
guns  intact,  however,  and  delivered  them, 
as  I  afterward  heard,  safely  at  El-Bas- 
san. 

The  sufferings  of  the  Sei-bians  in  the 
Katchanik  Mountains  had,  he  told  me, 
been  terrible.  His  section,  after  passing 
the  whole  day  in  the  blizzard  at  Pristina 
Station,  had,  at  midnight,  with  the  tem- 
perature far  below  zero,  been  embarked 
on  open  trucks  for  its  six  hours'  journey 
to  the  fighting  line.  The  men  had  noth- 
ing to  eat  except  some  maize  bread  and 
a  few  raw  cabbages.  As  soon  as  they 
left  the  train  they  had  started  on  their 
march  into  the  mountains.  At  first  they 
were  successful,  driving  the  Bulgarians 
from  one  mountain  ridge  after  another. 
But  fatigue  and  privations  soon  told 
their  tale,  and  in  forty-eight  hours  his 
men  had  fought  themselves  to  a  stand- 
still and  nothing  was  left  but  retreat  on 
Prisrend. 

The  sight  presented  by  Lioum-Koula 
on  the  eve  of  departure  was  unique.  On 
the  mountain  side  for  miles  nothing 
could  be  seen  but  endless  fires.  They 
were  made  by  the  burning  of  the  thou- 
sands of  ox-wagons,  which  were  unable 
to  go  further,  as  the  road  for  vehicles 
ceases  at  Lioum-Koula.  Fortunately  the 
snowstorm  had  ended  and  had  been  fol- 
lowed by  brilliant  sunshine. 

Next  morning  at  nine  o'clock  the  Head- 
quarters Staff  set  out.    The  road  wound 


along  the  banks  of  the  Drin,  which  had 
to  be  crossed  twice  by  means  of  pictur- 
esque old  single-span  Turkish  bridges, 
since  destroyed  to  impede  the  Bulgarian 
advance. 

The  first  mistake  made  was  that  of 
transporting  the  sedan  chair  of  Field 
Marshal  Putnik  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
cession. Every  time  it  halted  to  change 
bearers,  which  was  every  fifteen  minutes, 
the  whole  two-mile-long  procession,  fol- 
lowing in  single  file,  had  to  stop  also. 
As  a  result,  instead  of  reaching  Spas 
before  sundown,  we  only  reached  a  vil- 
lage at  the  hase  of  the  mountain  after 
darkness  had  fallen. 

Here  a  long  council  was  held  as  to 
whether  we  should  bivouac  in  the  village 
or  undertake  the  mountain  climb  in  the 
dark.  After  a  discussion  lasting  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour,  during  which  the 
9  of  men  and  animals  stood  shivering 
in  the  freezing  air,  the  latter  course  was 
decided  upon.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  adventures  ever  under- 
taken. A  narrow  path  about  four  feet 
wide,  covered  with  ice  and  snow,  winds 
corkscrew  fashion  up  the  face  of  the 
cliff.  On  the  one  hand  is  a  rocky  wall 
and  on  the  other  a  sheer  drop  into  the 
Drin.  This  road  winds. and  twists  at  all 
sorts  of  angles,  and  it  was  up  this  that 
we  started  in  the  black  darkness,  with 
the  sedan  chair  of  General  Putnik  still 
heading  the  procession.  Every  time  it 
reached  a  corner  it  was  a  matter  of  end- 
less difficulty  to  manoeuvre  it  around. 

On  one  occasion  we  stood  for  thirty- 
five  minutes  in  an  icy  wind,  listening  to 
the  roar  of  the  Drin,  invisible  in  the 
black  gulf  500  feet  below.  Horses 
slipped  and  fell  at  every  instant,  and 
every  now  and  then  one  would  go  crash- 
ing into  the  abyss.  It  was  a  miracle  that 
no  human  lives  were  lost. 

It  was  10  o'clock  when,  tired,  hungry, 
and  half  frozen,  we  reached  bivouac  at 
Spas.  Here  we  found  that,  though  din- 
ner had  been  ready  since  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  it  could  not  be  served  because 
all  the  plates  and  spoons  were  on  the 
pack  animals,  which  had  remained  in  the 
village  below.  Neither  had  the  tents  ar- 
rived, and  as  Spas  contains  only  five  or 
six  peasant  houses,  accommodation  was 


476 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


at  a  premium.  Colonel  Mitrovitch,  head 
of  the  mess,  told  us  he  had  reserved  a 
room  for  us  in  a  farm  house  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  away. 

The  house  really  was  two  hours'  dis- 
tant, over  fields  feet  deep  in  snow.  When 
we  got  there  at  midnight  we  discovered 
that  there  was  already  nearly  a  score  of 
occupants;  but  at  least  we  were  able  to 
sleep  in  some  straw  near  the  fireside,  in- 
stead of  in  the  snow  outside. 

CLIMBING   THROUGH   SNOW 

Next  morning  we  set  out  at  6  so  as  to 
get  ahead  of  the  main  body  of  the  Head- 
quarters Staff.  The  day  was  magnifi- 
cent and  we  slowly  climbed  foot  by  foot 
to  the  cloud-capped  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains. Up  and  up  we  went,  thousands 
and  thousands  of  feet.  Every  few  hun- 
dred yards  we  came  on  bodies  of  men 
frozen  or  starved  to  death.  At  one  point 
there  were  four  in  a  heap.  They  were 
convicts  from  Prisrend  penitentiary  who 
had  been  sent  in  chains  across  the  moun- 
tains. They  had  been  shot  either  for  in- 
subordination or  because  they  were  un- 
able to  proceed.  Two  other  nearly  naked 
bodies  were  evidently  those  of  Serbian 
soldiers  murdered  by  Albanians. 

By  midday  we  reached  the  summit  of 
the  mountain,  a  wind-swept  plateau  sev- 
eral thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  For  fifty  miles  extended  range 
upon  range  of  snow-clad  mountains,  the 
crests  of  which  had  never  been  trodden 
by  the  foot  of  man.  Nothing  could  be 
seen  but  an  endless  series  of  peaks,  glit- 
tering like  diamonds  in  the  brilliant  sun- 
shine. The  scene  was  one  of  indescrib- 
able grandeur  and  desolation. 

DEAD  AND  DYING  SOLDIERS 

After  traversing  the  plateau  we  began 
the  descent,  skirting  the  edge  of  the 
precipices  of  enormous  height  and  tra- 
versing narrow  gorges  running  between 
towering  walls  of  black  basalt.  Every 
few  hundred  yards  we  would  come  on 
corpses  of  Serbian  soldiers,  sometimes 
singly,  sometimes  in  groups.  One  man 
had  evidently  gone  to  sleep  beside  a 
wretched  fire  he  had  been  able  to  light. 
The  heat  of  it  had  melted  the  snow,  and 
the  water  had  flowed  over  his  feet.  In 
the  night  during  his  sleep  this  had  frozen 


and  his  feet  were  imprisoned  in  a  solid 
block  of  ice.  When  I  reached  him  he 
was  still  breathing.  From  time  to  time 
he  moved  feebly,  as  if  trying  to  free  his 
feet  from  their  icy  coverings.  We  were 
powerless  to  aid  him,  he  was  so  far  gone 
that  nothing  could  have  saved  him.  The 
only  kindness  one  could  have  done  him 
would  have  been  to  end  his  sufferings 
with  a  revolver  bullet.  But  human  life  is 
sacred,  and  so  there  was  nothing  to  do 
but  pass  on  and  leave  him  to  breathe  his 
last  in  these  eternal  solitudes. 

On  this  part  of  the  journey  it  was  a 
matter  of  life  and  death  to  reach  the 
end  of  the  etape  and  find  some  shelter. 
If  we  had  been  surprised  by  darkness  in 
the  desolation  of  these  windswept  moun- 
tain gorges,  where  the  narrow  pathway 
ran  alongside  an  abyss,  our  fate  would 
have  been  sealed.  In  addition  to  the 
forces  of  nature  we  had  also  to  reckon 
with  the  wild  and  lawless  Albanian  pop- 
ulation. The  hardy  mountaineers  who 
live  among  these  fastnesses  have  many 
qualities,  but  the  life  of  feud  and  strife 
of  their  savage  clans  does  not  make  for 
the  development  of  respect  for  human 
life. 

We  spent  the  night  in  an  Albanian 
peasant's  hut  in  the  village  of  Fleti,  a 
collection  of  half  a  score  of  houses,  sur- 
rounded, like  most  Albanian  villages,  by 
a  dry  stone  wall.  The  Albanian  popula- 
tion refused  to  accept  our  Serbian  silver 
money,  and  we  were  forced  reluctantly 
to  bring  out  our  small  store  of  ten  and 
twenty  franc  gold  pieces.  In  ordinary 
times  one  of  these  would  represent  a 
small  fortune  to  the  Albanian  moun- 
taineers, but  they  were  evidently  resolved 
to  exploit  the  Serbian  retreat  commer- 
cially to  the  best  of  their  ability. 

KING  PETER  ON   FOOT 

We  started  next  morning  at  dawn. 
Soon  after  midday  we  overtook  King 
Peter  and  his  staff.  Despite  his  76 
years  he  marched  on  foot  with  a  vigor 
a  younger  man  might  have  envied.  Dur- 
ing all  the  four  hours  we  marched  with 
the  Royal  Staff  his  Majesty  never  once 
mounted  his  horse,  which  a  soldier  was 
leading  behind  him.  When  we  stopped 
for  the  night  at  the  village,  Bredeti,  the 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


477 


King  had  a  march  of  ten  hours  to  his 
credit. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  we  came 
across  the  first  gendarmes  of  Essad 
Pasha,  the  ruler  of  Albania,  who  eigh- 
teen months  before  had  driven  the 
Prince  von  Wied,  the  marionette  King 
nominated  by  the  great  powers  at  the 
instigation  of  Germany  and  Austria, 
from  his  throne.  These  gendarmes  had 
been  sent  out  by  their  iron-handed  mas- 
ter to  protect  the  journey  of  King  Peter 
and  his  staff.  They  were  a  picturesque 
lot,  many  of  them  going  barefooted  in 
the  snow,  but  there  was  no  doubt  of  the 
first-class  quality  of  their  rifles  and  re- 
volvers. For  the  most  part  they  wore 
Serbian  uniforms — that  is,  when  they 
wore  any  uniform  at  all — of  which  the 
Nish  Government  had  some  months  be- 
fore made  Essad  Pasha  a  present  of  sev- 
eral thousand. 

The  attitude  of  the  Albanian  popula- 
tion toward  the  Serbs  could  not  be  de- 
scribed as  friendly,  but  at  the  same  time 
they  gave  no  outward  signs  of  hostility. 
They  rarely  saluted  the  Serbian  officers 
and  showed  no  desire  whatever  to  offer 
hospitality.  In  the  case  of  the  members 
of  the  Serbian  Government,  the  King  and 
his  suite  and  the  Headquarters  Staff, 
Essad  Pasha  had  requisitioned  accommo- 
dation in  the  rare  Albanian  villages,  but 
any  one  not  belonging  to  one  of  these 
units  had  every  chance  of  faring  badly. 
All  we  had  to  depend  on  were  the 
"hans"  or  wayside  taverns. 

These  huge,  barnlike  structures  con- 
sist of  nothing  but  four  walls  with  a 
shingle  roof,  the  latter  generally  far 
from  watertight.  Here  men  and  horses 
are  quartered  pell-mell.  Everybody  an- 
nexes as  much  space  as  he  can  and  lights 
a  fire  for  warmth  and  cooking.  As  the 
"  hans  "  have  no  chimneys  and  the  smoke 
is  left  to  find  its  way  through  the  open 
doors  or  through  the  roof,  the  condition 
of  the  atmosphere  may  be  imagined. 

A  MISERABLE  NIGHT 

As  du  Bochet  and  I  had  pushed 
ahead  of  the  Headquarters  Staff  we  had 
naturally  lost  the  advantage  of  being 
billeted  in  the  farmhouses  requisitioned 
by  Essad's  gendarmes.  On  arriving  at 
Bredeti  we  had  therefore  to  claim  the 


hospitality  of  the  local  "  nan."  We  lit 
our  fire  in  the  square  yard  or  two  of 
space  we  had  been  able  to  commandeer, 
but  the  atmosphere  soon  proved  too  much 
for  us.  I  do  not  know  by  what  means 
they  arrive  at  it,  but  the  eyes  and  lungs 
of  the  Serbian  soldiers  seem  smoke-proof. 
They  sit  and  converse  cheerfully  in  a 
smoke  cloud  through  which  you  cannot 
see  a  yard.  As  we  had  not  acquired  the 
smoke  habit,  in  an  hour's  time  we  were 
driven  to  flight.  Blindness  and  suffo- 
cation seemed  the  penalty  of  a  more  pro- 
longed stay. 

We  therefore,  in  spite  of  the  snow  and 
freezing  cold,  fled  to  the  exterior.  Here, 
as  some  protection  against  the  weather, 
we  determined  to  put  up  a  small  tent  we 
carried  among  our  baggage.  It  was 
barely  three  feet  high  and  open  at  one 
end,  and  was,  in  consequence,  but  an  in- 
oifferent  shelter  against  the  inclement 
weather.  However,  having  made  Stanco 
build  a  blazing  fire  near  the  open  end, 
wt  entered  it  and  went  to  sleep. 

Three  hours  later  we  awoke  to  find 
the  wretched  tent  in  a  blaze.  We  strug- 
gled out  with  difficulty  and  managed  to 
save  most  of  our  belongings  from  the 
flames;  but  the  tent  and  sleeping- rugs 
were  gone,  and  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  remain  seated  around  the  camp 
fire  till  the  advent  of  the  dawn  would 
allow  us  to  resume  our  weary  march. 

NERVE-RACKING  TRAVEL 

On  the  next  etape  a  new  experience 
awaited  us.  The  road  ran  for  miles 
through  a  rocky  gorge,  through  which  a 
river  flowed.  The  route  lay  along  the 
bed  of  this,  and  the  only  means  of  travel 
was  to  step  from  one  stone  to  another. 
There  is  nothing  so  nerve-racking  as  to 
have  to  keep  one's  eyes  constantly  glued 
to  the  ground,  where  each  step  presents 
a  new  problem.  Of  course,  every  now 
and  then  one  of  the  stones  would  turn 
under  our  feet,  and  this  meant  a  plunge 
up  to  the  knees  in  the  icy  water  of  the 
stream. 

As  far  as  the  eye  could  see  there  was 
nothing  but  this  rocky  stream  winding 
for  miles  between  towering  basaltic 
cliffs.  The  task  of  transporting  thou- 
sands of  men  and  horses  under  such  con- 


478 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ditions  was  almost  superhuman.  If  the 
Albanians  had  been  openly  hostile  not 
one  man  could  have  come  out  alive.  When 
we  reached  the  village  where  we  stayed 
that  night  we  had  the  greatest  difficulty 
to  obtain  accommodation,  until  it  became 
known  we  were  not  Serbians.  Then  every 
hospitality  was  shown  us,  but  prices  were 
enormous.  The  Albanian,  like  most  peas- 
ants, is  grasping  and  fond  of  money,  but 
once  you  cross  his  threshold  your  person 
and  property  are  sacred.  I  never  had  the 
slightest  fear  once  I  entered  an  Al- 
banian house. 

But  on  the  road  everything  is  possible. 
The  tribes  live  at  war  with  one  another 
and  respect  for  human  life  is  nonexist- 
ent. It  would  have  been  as  much  as  our 
lives  were  worth  to  travel  an  hour  after 
darkness,  but  in  daylight  an  armed  party 
inspires  a  certain  respect. 

The  men  physically  are  probably  the 
handsomest  in  Europe.  I  have  never 
seen  anywhere  such  beautiful  children  as 
those  in  Albania,  and  their  parents  seem 
extremely  fond  of  them,  but  the  little 
people  seem  to  lead  very  serious  lives.  I 
never  by  any  chance  saw  half  a  dozen 
playing  together.  They  sat  around  in 
silence,  looking  at  us  with  wondering 
eyes,  especially  when  du  Bochet  and  I 
spoke  French  together.  Not  one  Alba- 
nian in  a  hundred  knows  how  to  read  or 
write,  or  has  ever  been  more  than  twenty 
miles  from  home.  And  it  was  through 
such  a  country  the  Serbians  had  to 
transport  an  army,  and  that  with  the 
Germans  and  the  Bulgarians  in  close 
pursuit. 

THE  LAST  STAGE 

The  last  stages  of  the  march  were 
probably  the  hardest,  as  fodder  for  the 
animals  and  food  for  the  men  were  prac- 
tically unprocurable.  Money  difficulties 
also  increased  daily,  the  Albanians  re- 
fusing to  accept  Serbian  silver  or  notes 
at  any  rate  of  exchange.  They  would, 
however,  give  food  and  lodgings  for  arti- 
cles of  clothing,  shirts,  underwear,  socks, 
and  boots.  On  the  last  stage  we  had, 
therefore,  to  resort  to  the  primitive  sys- 
tem of  barter,  buy^'Jj  night's  lodging 
with  a  shirt  and  a  meu?'  with  a  pair  of 
socks. 


In  the  mountains  just  before  Puka  I 
discovered  the  first  trace  of  wolves.  The 
carcases  of  dead  horses,  which  were  now 
numbered  by  scores,  showed  signs  of  hav- 
ing been  torn  by  them.  A  part  of  the 
French  Aviation  Corps,  which  was  pre- 
ceding us,  got  lost  in  the  snow  and  dark- 
ness here,  and  had  to  spend  the  night  in 
the  open  without  protection.  A  dozen 
were  frostbitten,  but  there  were  no 
deaths.  After  six  days  we  finally  reached 
the  Drin  again,  now  a  broad  and  swiftly 
flowing  stream. 

Thence  the  march  to  Scutari  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  word  mud — mud  of 
the  deepest  and  most  tenacious  kind, 
sometimes  only  reaching  to  the  ankles, 
sometimes  to  the  knees,  but  it  was  al- 
ways there. 

The  twenty-five  miles  between  the 
Drin  ferry  and  Scutari  represents  phys- 
ical effort  of  no  mean  order.  It  was  the 
finish  for  scores  of  unfortunate  pack 
horses.  During  the  last  two  days  they 
got  practically  no  food.  On  these  days 
we  found  dead  horses  every  hundred 
yards.  When  at  last,  at  4  in  the  after- 
noon, we  came  in  sight  of  the  towers  and 
minarets  of  Scutari  every  one  heaved  a 
sigh  of  relief. 

IN   SIGHT  OF  SCUTARI 

Never,  I  suppose,  since  the  Children  of 
Israel  crossed  the  desert,  was  any 
"  promised  land  "  ever  looked  forward  to 
with  such  yearning  as  that  felt  by  the 
remnants  of  the  Serbian  Nation  for  the 
first  sight  of  Scutari.  During  the  final 
etape,  the  "  Tarabosh,"  the  fez-shaped 
mountain  which  dominates  the  town  and 
lake,  was  for  it  what  the  "cloud  of 
smoke  by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by 
night "  was  for  the  followers  of  Moses. 
The  sight  of  the  score  of  minarets  de- 
noting the  actual  position  of  the  town 
created  the  belief  that  in  an  hour  or  so 
our  long  anabasis  would  be  at  an  end. 
But  this  was  more  or  less  an  optical  il- 
lusion. The  flatness  of  the  plain  makes 
objects  seem  nearer  than  they  really 
are,  and  it  was  a  long  seven  hours' 
tramp  from  our  last  halting  place  till  we 
reached  the  banks  of  the  river  on  the 
other  side  of  which  were  the  outlying 
suburbs  of  the  town. 

Our  final   day's  march  was   not  the 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


479 


least  interesting  one.  After  climbing 
our  last  hill  and  winding  our  way  down 
a  tunnel-like  descent  covered  with  im- 
mense boulders,  we  debouched  on  the 
plain  of  Scutari.  Here  we  found  grassy 
slopes  covered  with  clumps  of  spreading 
trees,  mostly  walnut  and  oak.  The  miser- 
able huts  of  the  mountaineers  had  now 
given  place  to  well-built  houses.  Instead 
of  the  poorly  clad,  half-starved  inhabi- 
tants of  the  hills,  we  now  met  handsome, 
well-clothed  men  and  tall  and  graceful 
women.  We  were  in  the  country  of  the 
Myrdites. 

We  were  again  marching  along  the 
banks  of  the  Drin,  which  is  at  this  point 
a  broad  and  imposing  stream,  pouring  its 
meandering  course  toward  the  Lake  of 
Scutari.  As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach 
there  was  a  succession  of  large,  closely- 
wooded  islands,  canals,  lakes  and  flooded 
prairies  from  which  rose  hundreds  of 
poplar  trees,  bordered  by  immense  banks 
of  sand,  over  which  we  could  see  Ser- 
bian cavalry  moving,  reduced  by  the  dis- 
tance to  little  black  dots. 

AN  ORIENTAL  ATMOSPHERE 

In  the  shops  in  the  villages  we  now 
found  tobacco,  excellent  coffee  served  a 
la  Turque,  and  little  bundles  of  smoked 
fish  from  the  lake.  The  slow  and  soft 
language  of  the  Turks  made  a  curious 
contrast  to  the  harsher  and  more  nasal 
Albanian.  Montenegrin  soldiers,  with 
their  khaki-colored  skullcaps  and  short 
cloaks  a  lTtalienne,  had  now  replaced  the 
truculent-looking  gendarmes  of  Essad 
Pasha,  with  their  belts  full  of  revolvers 
and  their  general  look  of  brigands 
d'opirette.  We  traversed  the  river  in 
large  boats  with  raised  bows,  remind- 
ing one  of  the  gondolas  of  Venice  or 
the  caiques  of  Constantinople.  After  the 
rude  and  rich  Serbia,  the  monotonous 
deserts  of  Macedonia,  and  the  savage 
desolation  of  upper  Albania  we  had  now 
the  Orient,  with  its  curious  charm. 

Our  final  difficulty  was  getting  across 
the  river.  The  ferryman  refused  to 
accept  Serbian  paper  money,  and  all  our 
silver  was  gone.  Fortunately  at  this 
moment  a  Montenegrin  officer  of  gendar- 
merie rode  up  and  to  him  we  appealed. 
He  settled  the  difficulty  in  summary 
fashion   by   a    plentiful   distribution    of 


blows  from  his  heavy  riding  whip  to 
the  men  manning  the  boat.  The  latter, 
it  appeared,  had  orders  to  transport 
every  one  coming  from  Serbia  free  of 
charge,  so  that  their  effort  to  extort 
money  from  us  was  only  a  gentle  attempt 
at  a  "  hold  up." 

Our  first  visit  in  Scutari  was  to  the 
hotel  where  we  knew  the  French  Aviation 
Corps  was  lodged.  Here  we  were  given 
details  of  the  journey  of  the  corps,  which 
had  fared  even  worse  than  ourselves. 
Seventeen  of  their  horses  had  died  en 
route,  so  that  the  250  officers  and  men 
composing  the  party  had  none  too  much 
in  the  way  of  food  during  the  final 
etapes.  A  section  of  the  company  had 
also  lost  its  way  in  the  marshes  outside 
Scutari,  and  only  reached  the  town  after 
tramping  without  stopping  for  over 
twenty  hours.  Twelve  men  had  frost- 
bit'en  feet  and  had  to  go  into  hospital, 
but  all  had  recovered.  At  Scutari  they 
found  the  six  comrades  who  had  come  by 
airplane  with  the  sick  men  from  Pris- 
rend.  The  journey  by  air  had  been  ac- 
complished in  one  and  a  half  hours;  the 
men  on  foot  had  taken  nearly  eight  days. 

OBTAINING  QUARTERS 

After  indulging  in  the  unusual — and 
very  expensive — luxury  of  a  whisky-and- 
soda  we  had  luncheon  with  the  equally 
unaccustomed  luxuries  of  tablecloths  and 
serviettes,  and  then  went  in  search  of 
quarters.  These  were  not  easy  to  find, 
as  the  Serbians  were  now  pouring  by 
thousands  into  the  town.  But  du  Bochet, 
during  his  previous  visit,  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Governor  of  Scutari, 
the  Montenegrin  Voivode  Bozha  Petro- 
vitch.  We  paid  a  visit  to  him  at  his  of- 
ficial residence  and  he  sent  a  non-com- 
missioned officer  with  us  to  requisition  a 
lodging. 

The  latter  found  us  a  room  in  the 
house  of  a  "  notable "  of  the  town,  a 
young  Turkish  Albanian.  It  was  a  typ- 
ical Turkish  edifice  of  the  better  class. 
We  were  given  a  large  room  on  the 
ground  floor.  Around  the  whole  room  ran 
a  low  divan  on  which  we  could  sit  by  day 
and  sleep  by  night.  The  windows,  Turk- 
ish fashion,  were  closely  barred.  Every 
evening  at  8  o'clock  a  little  Turkish  serv- 
ant, always  silent  but  always  smiling,  ar- 


480 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


rived  and,  after  carefully  removing  his 
shoes  as  a  sign  of  respect,  opened  an  im- 
mense cupboard,  from  which  he  took 
mattresses,  pillows,  and  large  and  hand- 
some silk  quilts  embroidered  with  large 
blue  and  yellow  flowers,  with  which  he 
proceeded  to  make  up  our  beds.  Our 
meals  were  sent  to  us  from  the  staff 
headquarters,  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  by  the 
ever-courteous  but  much-harassed  Col- 
onel Mitrovitch. 

FUGITIVES  POURING  IN 

The  convoys  which  had  struggled 
across  the  mountains  were  now  pouring 
in.  There  were  hundreds  of  Serbian 
oxen,  with  magnificent  spreading  horns, 
but  starved  and  lame;  thin-flanked  pack 
horses,  hardly  able  to  drag  themselves 
along  under  their  heavy  loads,  and  cav- 
alry soldiers,  tramping  along  on  foot, 
leading  their  exhausted  mounts. 

Every  barrack  was  full,  all  the  private 
houses  had  been  requisitioned,  and  still 
the  flood  of  fugitives  kept  pouring  into 
the  town  in  a  double  stream,  one  arriving 
by  the  route  we  had  followed,  from 
Lioum-Koula,  and  the  other  by  the  Mon- 
tenegrin road  via  Ipek  and  Andreyevitza. 
The  placid  Turks,  the  tall  and  sinewy 
Albanians  and  the  Myrdite  mountaineers 
in  their  barbaric  costumes  looked  on 
in  silence,  but  one  felt  that  in  them  was 
rising  a  feeling  of  sullen  rage  mixed 
with  fear. 

This  invasion  had  the  same  effect  in 
Scutari  that  it  had  had  everywhere  else. 
Provisions  began  to  run  down  and  in  a 
few  days  there  was  no  more  bread  ob- 
tainable. Taken  completely  by  surprise — 
for  they  had  only  two  days'  warning  of 
the  decision  of  the  Serbians  to  retreat 
into  Albania — the  Montenegrin  Govern- 
ment [which  was  keeping  order  in  that 
part  of  Albania]  had  not  had  time  to 
make  preparations.  Besides,  what  prep- 
aration could  it  have  made?  For  months 
past  Montenegro  herself  had  been  short 
of  provisions.  Time  after  time  the  in- 
habitants of  the  capital  had  been  forced 
to  look  on  helpless  when,  before  their 
very  eyes,  Austrian  torpedo  boats  "held 
up  "  and  took  off  to  the  Bocche  di  Cat- 
taro  the  ships  laden  with  maize  en  route 
for  Antivari. 


BOMBED  BY  THE  AUSTRIANS 

In  these  circumstances  it  may  readily 
be  imagined  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Scutari  were  far  from  hailing  the  Ser- 
bian invasion  with  enthusiasm.  The 
Austrians  must  have  got  wind  of  this, 
for  every  morning  at  10,  with  clocklike 
punctuality,  an  airplane  appeared  over 
the  town  and  began  dropping  bombs. 
The  first  day  a  number  of  people  were 
killed  and  wounded.  On  the  other  visits 
the  casualties  were  fewer,  as  everybody 
sought  cover,  but  the  material  damage 
was  considerable.  The  two  points  at 
which  the  bombs  were  aimed  were  the 
chief  barracks  and  the  Italian  Consulate. 
These  were  about  150  yards  from  each 
other.  As  the  house  I  was  quartered 
in  was  exactly  in  the  centre  of  this  line, 
we  got  full  advantage  of  all  the  bombs 
that  missed.  Fortunately,  there  was  a 
stable  with  thick  walls  and  strongly 
vaulted  roof,  which  was  practically 
bombproof,  in  which  we  could  take  refuge 
and  from  which  we  could  watch  the  ex- 
plosions in  safety.  As  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  war  no  aerial  attacks  had 
been  made  on  Scutari,  the  object  of  the 
new  departure  was  undoubtedly  to  render 
the  Serbians  unpopular  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Scutari,  "  Jonahs  "  whose  pres- 
ence had  brought  misfortune  on  the  city. 

WORK   OF    REORGANIZATION 

As  soon  as  the  Headquarters  Staff  ar- 
rived in  Scutari  it  began,  with  admirable 
energy,  the  work  of  reorganizing  the 
wreck  of  the  Serbian  Army.  It  was 
without  definite  news  of  the  various 
units,  for  the  initiative  regarding  the 
operations  of  the  retreat  into  Albania 
had  been  left  in  the  hands  of  the  indi- 
vidual commanders.  The  first  necessity, 
however,  was  to  collect  provisions  and 
arrange  for  their  distribution.  Then,  as 
the  debris  of  the  army  arrived,  the  men 
were  placed  in  barracks,  and,  when  these 
were  full,  in  camps  and  bivouacs* 

The  guiding  spirit  of  the  Headquarters 
Staff  was  Colonel  Zhivko  Pavlovitch,  an 
energetic  and  indefatigable  Colossus,  the 
Chief  of  Staff  of  Field  Marshal  Putnik. 
His  influence  was  quickly  apparent.  Day 
by  day  the  number  of  bivouacs  on  the 
hills   behind    Scutari    became   more    nu- 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  SERBIAN  ARMY 


481 


merous.  With  the  renaissance  of  order 
the  morale  of  the  troops  improved.  The 
hundreds  of  soldiers  wandering  aimlessly 
about  the  streets  disappeared.  The  di- 
vision of  the  Danube  had,  by  a  miracle 
of  energy,  succeeded  in  bringing  over  the 
mountains,  by  the  Ipek  route,  a  number 
of  batteries  of  field  and  mountain  guns. 
These,  in  the  most  difficult  places,  they 
had  dragged  along  by  ropes. 

The  troops  which  had  marched  by  the 
Dibra-El  Bassan  route  in  the  hope  of 
reaching  Monastir  and  proceeding  thence 
by  rail  to  Saloniki  to  join  the  Allies 
failed  to  reach  the  former  town  before 
the  Bulgarians.  In  forty-eight  hours 
Colonel  Zhivko  Pavlovitch  had  succeeded 
in  getting  in  touch  with  them  and  had 
concentrated  them  around  Kavaya,  Tir- 
ana and  El  Bassan.  These  troops  were 
later  embarked  at  Durazzo  for  Corfu. 

A  few  hours  after  the  entry  of  the 
Serbians  into  Scutari  the  officers  of  the 
British  Adriatic  Mission  arrived  in  the 
town.  The  object  of  this  mission  was 
to  take  measures  for  feeding,  re-equip- 
ping and  re-organizing  the  Serbian  army 
in  Albania.  This  was  also  the  desire  of 
the  Headquarters  Staff.  Unfortunately, 
the  Italian  Government  was  opposed  to 
the  idea.  It  declared  that  it  was  not 
in  a  position  to  assui'e  the  safe  passage 
of  the  transports  with  food,  clothing, 
arms,  &c,  across  the  Adriatic. 

That  this  was  precarious  was  proved 
by  the  action  of  the  Austrian  fleet  at 
Durazzo  and  San  Giovanni  di  Medua, 
when  a  squadron  of  eight  vessels  sud- 
denly appeared  on  Dec.  9  in  those  ports 
and  sank  all  the  shipping,  steamships 
and  sailing  vessels,  then  in  the  roads. 

AUSTRIAN  NAVAL  ATTACK 

When  I  arrived  at  Durazzo  some  days 
afterward,  M.  Gavrilovitch,  the  Serbian 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  in  that  town, 
gave  me  a  description  of  this  incursion, 
which  I  cannot  do  better  than  give  in  his 
own  words: 


I  was  sitting  working  in  my  office, 
[he  told  me,]  when  one  of  my  attaches 
came  in  and  announced  that  a  squadron 
of  warships  was  in  sight.  I  went  out  to 
'the  terrasse  of  the  legation,  whence  I 
had.  a  view  of  the  Adriatic.  With  my 
fieldglass  I  distinguished  a  squadron  of 
eight  ships,  cruisers  and  destroyers, 
steaming  toward  Durazzo.  When  they 
came  nearer  I  could  distinguish  the  Aus- 
trian flag.  As  I  was  convinced  they  were 
going  to  seize  that  town  I  immediately 
got  out  the  archives  of  the  legation,  the 
cipher,  &c,  and  burned  the  whole  in  the 
courtyard.  I  fully  expected  to  sleep  that 
night  in  Ragusa  as  an  Austrian  prisoner. 

Half  an  hour  later  the  warships  arrived 
in  the  roads  and  cast  anchor.  We  ex- 
pected to  see  a  landing  party  put  off 
every  minute,  but  hesitation  appeared  to 
prevail.  The  Austrian  Admiral  was  prob- 
ably doubtful  of  the  forces  at  the  dis- 
posal of  Essad  Pasha  and  the  resistance 
he  might  encounter.  The  ships  lay  there 
inactive  for  two  hours,  and  then  sud- 
denly opened  fire  on  all  the  shipping  In 
the  harbor.  They  sank  two  steamers  and 
i  number  of  sailing  vessels.  You  can 
.  till  see  their  funnels  and  masts  emerg- 
ing from  the  water.  After  that  they 
weighed  anchor  and  went  off  to  San  Gio- 
v.  nni  di  Medua,  where  they  repeated  their 
exploit.  They  then  quietly  returned  to 
the  Bocche  di  Cattaro. 

What  renders  this  affair  so  mysterious 
is  that  Brindisi,  where  scores  of  Italian 
warships  of  all  categories  are  lying,  is 
only  two  and  a  half  hours'  steaming  for 
the  swiftest  Italian  destroyers  under 
forced  draft.  I  crossed  from  Durazzo  to 
Brindisi  a  fortnight  later  on  the  Italian 
destroyer  Ardito,  and  we  covered  the 
distance  in  about  three  hours  with,  I  was 
told,  ten  knots  in  the  period  of  our  full 
speed.  As  the  Italian  Legation  at  Durazzo 
possessed  a  wireless  station  that  was  in 
constant  communiction  with  Brindisi, 
the  Italian  Admiral  there  must  have  had 
news  of  the  approach  of  the  Austrian 
squadron  five  minutes  after  it  appeared 
above  the  line  of  the  horizon.  How,  under 
these  circumstances,  it  was  possible  for 
it  to  cruise  undisturbed  in  the  Adriatic 
for  five  hours  and  bombard  two  Albanian 
harbors  remains  a  dark  and  fearful 
mystery. 


Italy's  Gains  in  Africa 

Enlargement  of  Colonies 


THE  Treaty  of  London  promised  Italy 
"  equitable  compensations  "  in  case 
the  German  colonies  in  that  conti- 
nent came  under  French  and  British  rule. 
Early  in  1920  negotiations  were  in  prog- 
ress to  carry  out  that  promise  of  1915. 
Great  Britain  and  France  are  about  to 
add  generously  to  Italian  possessions  in 
Africa  under  Article  XIII.  of  the  treaty 
in  question,  which  says: 

Should  France  and  Great  Britain  aug- 
ment their  African  colonial  dominions  at 
the  expense  of  Germany,  those  two  powers 
recognize  in  principle  that  Italy  will  be 
entitled  to  claim  some  equitable  compen- 
sations, notably  in  the  regulation  in  her 
favor  of  questions  concerning  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  Italian  colonies  of  Eritrea, 
of  Somaliland,  and  of  Libya,  and  of  the 
neighboring  colonies  of  France  and  Great 
Britain. 

Fronting  on  the  Mediterranean,  the 
Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  these 
three  Italian  colonies  are  destined  to 
play  an  important  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  African  Continent.  Libya  is 
the  largest  and  best  known,  including  the 
ancient  Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica.  The 
former  was  originally  a  Phoenician 
colony  and  the  latter  was  colonized  by 
the  Greeks,  later  coming  under  the 
dominion  of  the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt. 
Tripoli  was  afterward  dependent  on 
Carthage.  Both  provinces  fell  to  the 
Romans,  were  conquered  by  the  Vandals 
in  the  fifth  century,  by  the  Byzantines 
in  the  sixth,  and  the  Arabs  in  the 
seventh,  when  Christianity  was  displaced 
by  Mohammedans,  who  ruled  the  country 
until  the  Spaniards  took  it  in  1510. 
Eighteen  years  later  they  turned  it  over 
to  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  who  were  ex- 
pelled by  the  Turks  in  1553.  Ahmed 
Karamanli  in  1714  founded  an  inde- 
pendent dynasty,  recognizing  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  Porte,  under  which  piracy 
flourished,  tribute  being  paid  by  Euro- 
pean Governments  for  exemption  of  their 
shipping  from  plunder. 

Libya  has  a  special  interest  for  Amer- 
icans because  it  was  the  scene  of  stir- 
ring incidents  in  our  history.     America's 


tribute  to  the  Pasha  for  exemption  from 
piracy  was  $83,000  a  year  and  had  been 
paid  for  five  years  when  the  Tripolitan 
Governor  demanded  an  increase.  War 
followed,  the  United  States  sending  a 
fleet  to  blockade  the  capital.  The  frigate 
Philadelphia,  one  of  the  blockading 
squadron,  was  captured  in  1803,  and  the 
next  year  Stephen  Decatur  led  a  daring 
expedition  into  the  harbor,  burned  the 
vessel,  and  escaped  under  fire.  Peace 
was  made  in  1805,  the  tribute  being 
finally  abolished  for  all  countries — a 
debt  which  Europe  owes  to  America. 

Libya  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  Tunis, 
a  French  protectorate  since  1881;  on  the 
south  by  French  Equatorial  Africa,  on  the 
east  by  Egypt.  The  western  boundary 
runs  southwest  from  the  Mediterranean 
at  a  point  about  ninety  miles  northwest 
of  Tripoli,  taking  in  the  oasis  of  Ghad- 
ames.  There  it  turns  abruptly  at  right 
angles  toward  the  southeast  for  230  miles 
across  the  desert  until  nearly  south  of 
Tripoli,  when  it  again  bends  at  right 
angles  toward  the  southwest  and  includes 
the  oasis  of  Ghat,  an  important  centre 
of  the  caravan  trade  between  Nigeria 
and  the  Mediterranean.  Then  it  turns 
east  and  northeast  to  the  Egyptian 
boundary. 

Direct  communication  for  the  southern 
portions  of  this  region  can  be  obtained 
only  across  French  territory.  To  remedy 
this  France  has  offered  to  cede  all  the 
intervening  territory,  making  the  border 
curve  gently  around  to  a  convenient 
point  on  the  caravan  route.  The  Italian 
Government  has  accepted  this  offer,  but 
still  wants  the  Tibesti  and  Borku  dis- 
tricts south  of  the  Libyan  Desert.  France 
and  Italy  have  also  agreed  upon  a  com- 
mon colonial  railway  policy. 

On  the  other  hand  the  active  and 
powerful  Italian  colonial  party  has  much 
more  extensive  aims.  The  programs 
urged  by  the  Naples  Colonial  Congress 
and  the  Geographical  and  Commercial 
Society  of  Milan  would  cut  the  French 
African  possessions  in  two.    They  would 


ITALY'S  GAINS  IN  AFRICA 


488 


..  T* 


REFER  CNCE. 

Italian  Frontiers 

igtjested  Extensions. 

Sca/e  of  Miles. 

0    100  200  300  400  500 


IT  IS  PROPOSED  THAT  THE  SHADED  PORTIONS  ADJOINING  LIBYA,  ERITREA.  AND 
ITALIAN  SOMALILAND  BE  ANNEXED  TO  THE  ITALIAN  POSSESSIONS  AS  COMPENSATION 
FOR   THE    EX-GERMAN    COLONIES    ACQUIRED    BY    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND    FRANCE 


extend  the  frontier  more  than  600  miles 
south  to  Lake  Chad,  taking  in  the  cara- 
van route  on  both  sides,  and  then  run  the 
boundary  through  Borku  to  the  Egyptian 
frontier  and  north  to  the  Mediterranean, 
annexing  part  of  the  Libyan  Desert  and 
the  whole  oasis  of  Kufra.  .  Their  full 
demands,  if  granted,  would  more  than 
double  the  size  of  Libya,  adding  about 
600,000  square  miles  to  its  present  area 
of  400,000. 

The  British  negotiators,  in  arranging 
the  eastern  frontier,  are  willing  to  cede 
from  Egypt  the  oasis  of  Jarabub,  only 
140  miles  from  the  sea,  which  is  the  most 
sacred  centre  of  the  powerful  Senussi 
sect,  where  its  founder,  the  Sheik  es 
Senussi,  ruled,  and  where  his  tomb  is 
located.  The  British  expect  to  retain 
Kufra,  another  Senussi  stronghold.  Dur- 


ing the  war  the  Senussites  attempted  to 
invade  Egypt,  but  were  driven  back  west. 
The  Italians  are  now  at  peace  with  the 
Senussi  Sheik,  but  think  it  a  matter  of 
prudence  to  hold  Jarabub. 

With  this  territory  in  their  possession 
the  Italians  will  control  the  chief  routes 
between  the  Mediterranean  and  trans- 
Sahara  regions.  One  leads  southwest  to 
Timbuctu  in  the  heart  of  the  Sahara,  the 
great  exchange  market  for  the  products 
of  North  Africa  and  those  of  the  fertile 
districts  south  and  west  of  the  Niger. 
Another  goes  directly  south  to  Lake 
Chad,  which  is  in  the  centre  of  a  great 
game  country,  its  shores  being  divided 
by  treaty  before  the  war  between  the 
British  colony  of  Nigeria,  the  French 
Congo,  and  the  German  Cameroon.  The 
latter  is  now  administered  by  the  Gov- 


484 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ernment  of  French  Equatorial  Africa, 
France  regaining  the  districts  ceded  to 
Germany  in  1911  as  a  result  of  the 
Algeciras  conference,  and  the  rest  by  the 
Government  of  Nigeria.  A  third  im- 
portant route  is  the  old  highway  parallel- 
ing the  coast  from  Tripoli  to  Egypt, 
which  has  been  traversed  by  caravans 
since  the  days  of  the  Romans.  Camels, 
of  course,  are  the  chief  means  of  trans- 
port. 

Next  in  area  to  Libya  is  Italian 
Somaliland,  which  forms  the  eastern  tip 
of  Africa,  facing  the  Indian  Ocean,  and 
is  bounded  by  British  East  Africa, 
Abyssinia,  and  British  Somaliland.  Italy 
seeks  to  enlarge  this  colony  on  the  south 
by  annexing  the  province  of  Jubaland  in 
British  East  Africa.  The  Juba  River 
now  forms  the  boundary  of  the  two 
colonies,  but  Great  Britain  has  offered 
to  cede  about  a  third  of  the  province  con- 
tiguous to  the  right  bank  of  the  Juba. 
This  would  give  Italy  the  port  of  Kis- 
mayu,  about  ten  miles  south  of  the 
mouth  of  that  river.  Its  harbor  is  not 
good,  but  is  far  superior  to  any  in  Italian 
Somaliland. 

The  rock-bound  coast  of  the  latter, 
which  stretches  for  1,200  miles  along  the 
Indian  Ocean,  does  not  contain  a  single 
good  harbor.  The  acquisition  of  Kismayu 
would  mean  much  to  Italy,  and  British 
East  Africa  could  afford  to  part  with 
it,  for  that  province  has  another  harbor 
in  Port  Dunford,  seventy  miles  further 
south.  Italy  has  accepted  the  British 
offer,  which  more  than  doubles  the  value 
of  her  colony.  She  makes  a  reservation 
in  favor  of  a  greater  extension  of  ter- 
ritory in  Jubaland  and  a  clause  relating 
to  railways  similar  to  one  concluded  with 
France. 

On  the  north,  extending  along  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  strait  of  Bab-el-Mandeb,  is  the 
Italian  colony  of  Eritrea.  Between  it 
and  her  sister  colony  are  French  Somali- 
land and  British  Somaliland,  completely 
shutting  off  Abyssinia  from  the  sea. 
Italy  would  like  to  have  both  these 
regions,  so  as  to  join  her  two  colonies. 
In  addition  some  extremists  have  laid 
claim  to  the  Farsan  Islands  in  the  centre 


of  the  Red  Sea  and  part  of  Yemen  on 
the  shore  of  Arabia,  opposite  Eritrea. 
This  claim,  however,  has  no  official  sup- 
port from  the  Italian  Government. 

With  regard  to  Abyssinia,  Italy's  aims 
are  stated  to  be  purely  economic  and  to 
favor  conserving  the  integrity  of  the 
Ethiopian  Empire.  The  independence  of 
Abyssinia  is  also  the  policy  of  France 
and  Great  Britain.  The  three  powers 
concerned,  by  an  agreement  signed  Dec. 
13,  1906,  undertake  to  respect  and  pre- 
serve the  integrity  of  Abyssinia;  to  act 
so  that  industrial  concessions  granted  to 
one  may  not  injure  the  others,  and  to 
abstain  from  intervention  in  Abyssinia's 
internal  affairs. 

France  has  one  port  at  Jibuti,  con- 
nected by  rail  with  Addis  Abeba,  the 
Abyssinian  capital,  while  in  British 
Somaliland  there  are  two  ports,  Zeila 
and  Berbera,  giving  access  to  Abyssinia. 
Neither  power  is  likely  to  surrender  its 
possessions  here  to  Italy,  especially  as 
the  latter  possesses  in  Massowah,  the 
commercial  capital  of  Eritrea,  what  was 
for  centuries  the  chief  port  of  entry  for 
Ethiopia  and  may  again  become  so.  It 
has  been  the  policy  of  the  French  and 
British  to  allow  free  entry  of  goods  for 
Abyssinia,  but  a  discriminating  tax  is 
levied  on  goods  passing  through  Masso- 
wah if  not  imported  from  Italy. 

On  the  east  of  British  Somaliland  a 
small  strip  of  territory  has  been  offered 
to '  Italian  Somaliland,  rectifying  the 
frontier.  On  the  northwest  of  Eritrea 
the  Italians  have  asked  for  part  of  the 
Anglo-Egyptian  Sudan,  including  Tokar, 
Kassala,  and  the  right  bank  of  the 
Atbara,  which  flows  into  the  Nile  at 
Berber.  The  stream,  however,  is  not 
navigable,  and  Kassala  is  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  Morgani  family,  whose  head 
is  the  chief  religious  Sheik  of  the  Sudan ; 
on  his  account  Great  Britain  has  hesi- 
tated to  cede  the  territory.  But  with 
the  accessions  granted  in  Libya  and 
Somaliland,  Italy  will  receive  the  equi- 
table compensations  agreed  to  in  the 
Treaty  of  London  and  have  plenty  of 
opportunity  to  assist  in  the  development 
of  Northern  Africa. 


New  Frontiers  in  West  Africa 

How  France  and  Great  Britain  Have  Divided  Germany's  Lost 
Colonies  Between  Them 


WBEN  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  went 
into  effect  on  Jan.  10,  1920,  the 
new  regime  for  the  former  Ger- 
man colonies  gained  the  necessary  inter- 
national sanctions.  What  was  formerly 
German  Southwest  Africa  became  vir- 
tually a  British  possession  under  control 
of  the  Union  of  South  Africa,  and  the 
vast  empire  of  German  East  Africa  also 
came  under  British  rule.  The  other 
two  German  colonies  in  Africa,  Cameroon 
and  Togoland,  were  divided  between 
Great  Britain  and  France  under  man- 
dates for  the  League  of  Nations — what- 
ever that  may  ultimately  mean.  The 
plan  of  partition  agreed  upon  was 
recently  given  in  detail  by  The  London 
Times,  with  the  maps  here  reproduced. 

The  greater  part  of  Cameroon  falls  to 
France,  including  those  regions  of 
French  Equatorial  Africa  annexed  to  the 
German  colony  as  the  result  of  the 
Agadir  crisis  of  1911.  In  the  discussions 
as  to  the  partition  of  the  country  between 
France  and  Britain  the  only  point  at 
issue  was  the  assignment  of  the  Cameroon 
estuary  with  its  port  of  Duala.  The  his- 
tory of  the  estuary  is  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  British  enterprise,  and  after 
the  conquest  of  Cameroon  Duala  was  at 
first  administered  by  the  British.  But  it 
was  recognized  that  if  France  was  to 
administer  the  bulk  of  the  country  she 
must  also  possess  its  principal  port  of 
entry,  and  this  was  agreed  to  by  the 
British  negotiators. 

France  therefore  gains  the  whole  of 
the  Cameroon  estuary  and  nine-tenths  of 
the  rest  of  the  country,  an  area  consider- 
ably larger  than  France  itself  and  rich 
in  all  "  jungle  "  products.  She  obtains, 
too,  a  means  of  access  to  Central  Africa, 
which,  with  a  bold  railway  policy,  should 
prove  of  great  advantage. 

Britain's  share  of  the  Cameroon  is 
shown  on  the  accompanying  map.  It  con- 
sists of  a  strip  of  territory  extending 
from  the  sea  to  Lake  Chad,  along  the 
border  of  Nigeria,  the  new  frontier  being 


so  drawn  as  to  leave  the  main  road  to 
the  north  in  French  hands.  The  British 
strip  is  widest  at  its  two  ends.  In  the 
north,  by  Lake  Chad,  that  part  of  the 
ancient  Moslem  Sultanate  of  Bornu  which 
Germany  held  is  incorporated  with  Brit- 
ish Bornu. 

More  interest  attaches  to  the  southern 
end  of  the  British  strip,  for  it  includes 
the  whole  of  the  great  Cameroon  Moun- 
tain   (covering  more  than   7,000   square 


THE  SHADED  PORTION  BECOMES  A 
PART  OF  BRITISH  NIGERIA,  WHILE  THE 
REST  OF  CAMEROON  BECOMES  FRENCH 
TERRITORY 

miles),  its  southwest  base  washed  by  the 
Atlantic,  its  summit  13,370  feet  above  the 
sea — the  highest  point  of  West  Africa. 
Called  by  the  natives  the  Mountain  of 
Thunder,  it  is  an  active  volcano,  the  last 
great  eruption  occurring  in  1909.  Its  ex- 
ploration has  been  largely  the  work  of 
Britons. 

The  coast  lands  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Cameroon  were  formerly  British.  As 
long  ago  as  1837  a  native  chief  ceded 
part  of  the  district  to  the  British,  and 
there  in  1848  the  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety established  a  station.     Ten  years 


486 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


later,  on  the  expulsion  of  the  Baptists 
from  Fernando  Po,  Alfred  Saker,  the 
local  head  of  the  mission,  founded  in 
Ambas  Bay  a  settlement  for  freed 
negroes  which  he  named  Victoria,  and 
this  has  grown  into  a  port  of  some  con- 
sequence.    And  for  three  or  four  years 


SHADED  AREA  IS  BRITAIN'S  SHARE  OP 
TOGOLAND,  ADJOINING  THE  BRITISH 
GOLD  COAST.  THE  REST  PRACTICALLY 
BECOMES  A  PART   OF  FRENCH   DAHOMEY 

after  German  sovereignty  had  been 
recognized  in  Cameroon,  Victoria  con- 
tinued under  British  protection.  The 
people,  whose  common  tongue  is  pidgin 
English,  have  never  forgotten  the  British 
connection,  says  The  London  Times,  and 
the  attribution  of  their  country  to  Britain 
is  welcomed  as  a  return  to  the  happier 
days  before  the  arrival  of  the  Germans. 
Togoland  has  a  briefer  history.  Search- 
ing for  a  spot  along  the  Guinea  coast 


where  he  might  plant  the  German  Im- 
perial flag,  Nachtigal  came  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1884  to  that  old  haunt  of  slavers, 
the  Togo  lagoon,  where  Bremen  mer- 
chants had  trading  stations.  It  was  the 
only  spot  between  Cape  Verde  and  the 
Niger  not  claimed  by  some  European 
power,  and  it  was  jammed  in  between 
the  Gold  Coast  and  Dahomey. 

The  Germans  in  consequence  could  only 
obtain  for  their  new  possession  a  coast 
line  of  thirty-two  miles.  They  claimed  a 
vast  hinterland,  but  these  claims  were 
stoutly  resisted  by  France  and  England 
and  suffered  a  great  reduction.  Event- 
ually an  area  about  the  size  of  Ireland 
was  gained,  a  new  port,  Lome,  was 
created,  railways  were  built,  and  a  fair 
trade  was  developed,  though  the  good-will 
of  the  natives  was  never  gained. 

Conquered  by  Anglo-French  forces  in 
the  first  month  of  the  war,  Togoland 
now  formally  passes  into  their  control. 
The  colony  has  been  divided  between 
France  and  Great  Britain  in  the  manner 
shown  on  the  map,  something  less  than  a 
third  falling  to  Britain. 

The  lower  Volta,  part  of  the  eastern 
bank  of  which  was  German,  now  becomes 
wholly  British,  together  with  the  lower 
course  of  the  Oti,  while  in  the  hinterland 
the  new  frontier  gives  to  Britain  that 
part  of  the  once  famous  "  neutral  zone  " 
which,  after  many  disputes,  was  divided 
between  Britain  and  Germany  in  1899. 
The  frontier  now  corresponds  closely 
with  tribal  boundaries. 

The  French  gain  the  whole  of  the  coast 
of  Togoland,  with  the  ports  of  Lome 
(hitherto  provisionally  administered  by 
the  Gold  Coast  Government) ,  Segura,  and 
Little  Popo  (Anecho),  the  existing  rail- 
ways, and  a  new  route  to  the  Niger. 

Togoland  has  a  population  of  some- 
thing over  1,000,000.  The  natives  are,  in 
the  north,  mainly  pastoral;  in  the  south, 
agriculturists  and  keen  traders.  Palm 
kernels,  palm  oil,  and  cocoa  are  the  chief 
exports.  Togoland  already  pays  itfs  way, 
and  its  prosperity  seems  assured. 


Cairo  to  the  Cape  by  Air 

A  Great    British    Enterprise 


CECIL  RHODES'S  imperial  dream  of 
a  Cape-to-Cairo  railway  traversing 
the  whole  length  of  Africa  has  not 
yet  been  realized,  but  with  the  dawn  of 
the  year  1920  the  British  Government, 
through  its  Air  Ministry,  stood  ready  to 
begin  a  regular  aviation  service  from 
Cairo  to  Cape  Town.  The  total  flying 
distance  is  about  5,200  miles,  most  of  it 
over  the  trackless  jungle  of  equatorial 
Africa,  yet  the  official  announcement  of 
the  enterprise  places  the  actual  flying 
time  at  fifty-two  hours,  or,  say,  a  week 
flying  eight  hours  a  day. 

Throughout  the  year  1919  three  Brit- 
ish exploring  parties  were  at  work  sur- 
veying and  preparing  the  route,  building 
aerodromes,  acquiring  landing  fields  from 
local  chiefs — a  year  of  hard  and  danger- 
ous work  of  which  the  world  knew  little 
or  nothing.  Immediately  after  the  armi- 
stice with  Turkey  in  the  Autumn  of  1918 
Sir  J.  M.  Salmond  of  the  Air  Ministry 
seized  the  favorable  opportunity  to  select 
parties  to  survey  possible  air  routes 
across  Africa.  In  December  three 
parties,  each  consisting  of  six  officers 
and  the  necessary  assistants,  went  to 
work,  each  on  a  separate  section  of  the 
route.  The  northern  section,  from  Cairo 
to  Nimule  in  the  Sudan,  about  1,500 
miles,  was  in  charge  of  a  party  under 
Major  Long;  the  central  section,  from 
Nimule  to  Abercorn  in  Rhodesia,  over 
900  miles,  was  surveyed  by  Major  Em- 
mett,  a  well-known  big  game  hunter 
from  India ;  the  southern  stretch  of  2,000 
miles  from  Abercorn  to  Cape  Town  was 
covered  by  a  party  under  Major  Court- 
Treatt,  who  had  previously  traveled 
through  the  Sahara  to  Timbuctu. 

As  a  result  of  a  year's  hard  work  by 
these  pioneers  in  the  African  wilderness, 
the  most  uninviting  region  for  airmen  in 
the  whole  world  is  now  traversed  by  a 
fully  equipped  route,  with  aerodromes  or 
landing  grounds  at  intervals  of  209  miles 
or  less  from  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

The  British  Air  Ministry,  on  Dec.  25, 
1919,  made  known  the  results  of  the  sur- 


vey and  some  of  its  difficulties  in  a  doc- 
ument which  says  in  part: 

The  route  follows  the  Nile  from  Cairo 
to  Wady  Haifa,  thence  the  railway  to 
Shereik,  from  which  place  it  conforms  to 
the  course  of  the  Nile  to  Khartum.  From 
Khartum  the  course  is  to  the  west  of  the 
White  Nile  to  Eleri,  and  then  almost  due 
south  through  the  Uganda  Protectorate 
to  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Victoria. 
Partly  owing  to  the  extremely  disturbed 
nature  of  the  atmosphere  above  the  lake 
the  route  skirts  it  on  the  eastern  side, 
passes  over  what  was  formerly  German 
East  Africa  to  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Tanganyika,  and  thence  across  Northern 
Rhodesia  to  Livingatone,  whence  a  south- 
easterly course  is  followed  to  Bulawayo. 
The  next  town  of  importance  on  the  route 
is  Pretoria,  and  so  by  Johannesburg  and 
Bit  nifontein  across  Cape  Colony  by 
Beaufort  West  to  Cape  Town. 

Th  •  preparation  of  many  of  the  landing 
grounds  has  involved  a  great  deal  of  la- 
bor. In  places  it  has  been  necessary  to 
cut  aerodromes  out  of  dense  jungle,  to 
fell  thousands  of  trees  and  dig  up  their 
roots,  while  the  soil  of  innumerable  ant 
hills  has  had  to  be  removed  by  hand, 
being  carried  in  native  baskets,  as  prac- 
tically no  barrows  or  other  equipment 
were  available.  Moreover,  where  tsetse- 
fly  prevailed  no  cattle  could  be  utilized 
for  cartage  purposes.  In  this  region 
ant  hills  are  often  twenty-five  feet  in 
height  and  between  thirty-five  and  forty- 
five  feet  in  diameter.  As  one  cubic  yard 
of  ant  hill  weighs  about  2,670  pounds, 
some  idea  may  be  gathered  of  the  labor 
necessary  to  clear  the  ground  at  such  a 
place  as,  for  instance,  that  at  N'dola,  in 
Northern  Rhodesia,  where  700  natives 
were  working  from  April  to  August  of 
this  year,  and  roughly  25,000  tons  were 
removed  from  the  ground  cleared.  Blast- 
ing was  tried,  but  was  found  to  be  un- 
suitable. 

Now  that  the  initial  work  of  clearing 
has  been  completed  it  is  not  anticipated 
that  the  cost  of  maintenance  will  be 
heavy.  Native  labor  is  generally  abund- 
ant and  cheap,  and  it  is  estimated  lo- 
cally that  even  in  the  worst  cases,  i.  e., 
those  of  landing  grounds  situated  in  the 
fast-growing  bush  and  forest  country, 
only  small  annual  changes  will  be  in- 
curred. In  practically  every  case  land 
was  provided  free  of  cost  or  at  purely 
iTominal  rent  by  local  administrations, 
who  have  arranged  to  guard  the  stores 
deposited  at  the  aerodromes,  and  to  assist 


488 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


in  keeping  the  aerodromes  and  landing 
grounds  cleared  of  bush. 

In  some  cases  landing  grounds  were  pre- 
pared entirely  by  such  local  authorities. 
For  instance,  at  Serowe,  Chief  Khama  laid 
out  such  a  ground  at  his  own  expense  in 
order  that  his  district  should  be  linked 
up  with  the  route.  He  also  rendered  con- 
siderable assistance  in  preparing  that  at 
Palapwe.  It  has  been  arranged  for  the 
survey  parties  to  return  shortly,  and  the 
intention  is  to  organize  the  route  into  six 
areas,  each  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  a  British  official. 

The  first  portion  of  the  journey  along 
the  Nile  Valley  should  present  no  partic- 


LVicbprutl 

U  IbAbercorrcW 

Broken    ^N** 
Hill 

Bulawou 


ROUTE   OP  THE   NEW   BRITISH   LINE   FOR 

AIRPLANES   OR   DIRIGIBLES   FROM   CAIRO 

TO    CAPE    TOWN 


ular  difficulties  to  air  traffic.  Communi- 
cations by  telegraph,  river,  and  railway 
are  fairly  good,  and  landing  can  be  safe- 
ly effected,  if  necessary,  at  many  places 
apart  from  the  prepared  grounds.  In  the 
central  zone,  however,  difficulties  are 
more  numerous.  Most  of  this  is  covered 
with  dense  bush  and  tropical  forest,  and 
landings  at  other  than  the  prepared 
grounds  will  be  exceedingly  dangerous,  if 
not  impossible.  In  some  parts  there  is  no 
land  transport,  with  the  resultant  diffi- 
culty of  providing  the  necessary  stores  at 
the  aerodromes.    Moreover,  at  some  places 


tsetse  fly  prevents  the  use  of  cattle,  so 
that,  failing  the  provision  of  light  motor 
transport— for  which  special  roads  would 
have  to  be  prepared  over  some  sections- 
native  bearers  will  have  to  be  used  for 
the  carriage  of  stores.  Shortage  of  water 
and  the  frequent  occurrence  of  areas  in- 
fested by  mosquitos  and  white  ants  in- 
crease the  difficulties.  The  fact  that  the 
survey  parties  have,  in  the  face  of  such 
obstacles,  completed  their  work  within 
twelve  months  is  worthy  of  notice. 

For  most  of  the  southern  section,  with 
the  exception  of  Northern  Rhodesia,  con- 
ditions are  considerably  better.  Railway 
and  telegraph  facilities  are  good,  and 
stores  can  be  distributed  without  much 
difficulty.  The  climate,  too,  is  healthful, 
and  forced  landings  could  be  negotiated 
In  many  places  without  serious  danger. 
There  are  wireless  stations  at  various 
points  within  touch  of  the  chain  of 
grounds.  Generally  speaking,  cable  and 
land  line  communications  are  gooa,  with 
the  exception  of  those  across  certain  sec- 
tions, such  as  that  between  Abercorn  and 
N'dola  and  others  in  Central  Africa,  where 
considerable  delay  may  be  experienced. 

In  view  of  the  saving  of  time  which 
will  be  effected  by  the  opening  of  this  air 
route  it  is  of  interest  to  compare  the 
time  hitherto  required  to  complete  the 
journey  overland.  The  distances  and 
method  of  overland  journey,  following  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  suggested  aerial 
route,  are: 

Cairo  to  Khartum  by  rail  and  steamer, 
1,342  miles,  3%  to  4  days. 

Khartum  to  Lake  Albert  by  steamer  and 
ground  transport,  1,411  miles,  21  to  24 
days. 

Lake  Albert  to  Lake  Victoria  by  steamer 
and  ground  transport,  350  miles,  5  to  12 
days. 

Lake  Victoria  and  Lake  Tanganyika  by 
ground  transport,  rail,  and  steamer,  810 
miles,  15  days. 

Abercorn  to  Broken  Hill,  over  a  diffi- 
cult trail,  475  miles,  10  to  15  days. 

Broken  Hill  to  Cape  Town  by  rail,  1,836 
miles,  4%  days. 

("  Ground  ftransport"  may  include  mo- 
tor, horse,  or  bullock  wagon,  or  any  form 
of  local  transport.) 

Thus  the  total  distance  by  previous 
methods  of  communication  is  6,223  miles, 
for  which  59  to  75  days  were  required. 
Against  this  the  total  flying  distance  of 
the  aerial  route  should  not  exceed  5,200 
miles,  as  the  pilot  will  stop  only  at  the 
main  stations.  Taking  100  miles  an  hour 
as  fair  average  flying  speed  under  favor- 
able conditions,  and  when  the  route  has 
become  firmly  established,  only  52  hours' 


CAIRO  TO  THE  CAPE  BY  AIR 


489 


actual   flying   time  will   be   required   to 
traverse  the  entire  continent. 
The    survey   parties    everywhere    met 


with  assistance  and  co-operation  from 
the  various  local  authorities,  who  evinced 
the  utmost  enthusiasm  for  the  project. 


Egypt  and  the  Milner  Mission 

Demands  of  the  Nationalists 


THE  nationalist  movement  in  Egypt, 
like  that  of  Ireland,  aims  at  absolute 
independence  from  British  rule.  In 
the  Spring  of  1919  it  developed  into  open 
revolt,  and  acts  of  violence  continued 
until  General  Allenby  checked  them  by 
firm  military  measures  in  the  Autumn. 
Then  a  British  commission  under  Lord 
Milner  went  to  Cairo  in  November  to 
undertake  a  peaceful  adjustment  with 
the  native  leaders.  The  nationalists, 
however,  adopted  the  policy  of  boycotting 
the  commission,  and  throughout  the  Win- 
ter this  form  of  opposition  continued,  so 
that  Lord  Milner  has  been  able  to  ac- 
complish comparatively  little. 

The  attitude  of  the  nationalists  was « 
explained  by  Dr.  Hafiz  Bey  Afifi,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Egyptian  delegation  that  ad- 
vised the  use  of  the  boycott.  In  an  inter- 
view in  Cairo  he  declared  that  a  protec- 
torate is  an  inferior  and  humiliating 
form  of  government  wholly  incompatible 
with  the  degree  of  civilization  Egypt  has 
reached.  The  nominal  suzerainty  of  Tur- 
key, he  said,  was  but  a  shadow  when 
England  imposed  upon  Egypt  a  de  facto 
as  well  as  de  jure  supremacy  in  the  form 
of  a  protectorate,  and  Egyptians  felt  that 
instead  of  going  forward  they  were  going 
backward.  He  urged  that  the  great  war, 
by  the  victory  of  right  over  might,-  had 
furnished  an  honorable  occasion  for  Brit- 
ish evacuation,  repeatedly  promised  by 
Great  Britain  between  1883  and  1905. 
The  nationalist  movement,  he  declared, 
was  the  spontaneous  expression  of  a 
people  conscious  of  its  dawning  individ- 
uality. Recognition  of  the  protectorate 
by  the  other  allies,  he  argued,  ought  to 
make  it  easier  for  Great  Britain  to  ac- 
knowledge Egypt's  independence,  British 
prestige  having  been  saved  by  her  diplo- 
matic victory. 

A   manifesto  confirming  this  attitude 


was  issued  by  six  Princes  of  the  family 
of  Mohammed  Ali,  the  man  who  founded 
modern  Egypt  early  in  the  last  century. 
In  it  they  say  that  different  classes  of 
the  Egyptian  Nation  have  expressed  their 
desire  for  absolute  independence;  that 
the  nation's  acts  are  inspired  solely  by 
sentiment  and  patriotism,  and  that  the 
signers  of  the  manifesto  are  solidly  with 
them  in  favor  of  the  full  independence  of 
the  country.  Two  generations  of  the 
hou  -e  of  Mohammed  Ali  are  represented 
among  the  Princes  who  signed  the  mani- 
festo. Prince  Kamel-ed-Din,  who  heads 
the  signers,  is  a  son  of  the  late  Sultan 
Hussein  Kamel-,  whom  the  British  made 
Khedive  on  Dec.  19,  1914,  deposing  Abbas 
Hilmi  after  the  latter  had  sided  with 
Turkey  in  the  war  and  fled  from  Egypt. 
Prince  Kamel  renounced  the  succession  in 
October,  1917,  when  his  father  was  on 
his  deathbed,  and  the  right  passed  to 
Sultan  Ahmed  Fuad,  the  present  ruler. 
Prince  Kamel  was  opposed  to  the  policy 
of  his  father,  who  had  been  a  lifelong 
friend  of  the  British.  Another  signer  was 
Prince  Omar  Toussoun,  a  great-grandson 
of  Mohammed  Ali.  He  is  very  wealthy, 
but  was  never  a  supporter  of  British 
control. 

TWO  FORMS  OF  UNREST 

An  Egyptian  banker,  H.  A.  Mackay,  in 
a  letter  to  The  London  Times,  throws  a 
flood  of  light  on  the  situation  when  he 
explains  that  there  are  two  forms  of 
unrest  in  Egypt;  one  industrial,  the  other 
political.  The  former  is  due  to  the  in- 
creasing cost  of  living  and  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  capitalists,  both  Egyptian  and 
European,  toward  their  employes.  Tram- 
way workers,  bank  clerks  and  store 
salesmen  united  to  demand  better  wages 
from  their  employers,  who  were  making 


490 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


vast  fortunes.  The  political  unrest  is  due 
to  fear  of  Western  innovations  and  sus- 
picion of  changes  in  the  Egyptian  Consti- 
tution. Egypt  did  much  toward  securing 
the  British  victory  in  Palestine,  but  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Mackay  got  no  thanks  for 
it.  He  says  it  is  obvious  that  the  Egyp- 
tians are  not  fit  to  govern  their  country 
unaided,  and  not  one  of  thoir  leaders 
has  ever  put  forward  any  scheme  for 
the  future  native  government  of  the 
country. 

Regarding  the  Constitution,  Lord  Al- 
lenby,  after  the  arrival  of  the  Milner 
Commission  in  Cairo,  declared  that  it 
had  not  come  to  inflict  a  Constitution 
upon  Egypt,  but  to  examine  the  views 
of  all  influential  persons  on  what  is  best 
for  the  country.  Everybody  was  invited 
to  present  his  views  freely  and  fully  to 
the  commission,  and  nobody  would  suffer 
in  any  way  from  so  doing.  In  Lord 
Allenby's  opinion  the  situation  at  the 
beginning  of  the  new  year  was  easier; 
time,  tact  and  patience,  he  said,  were  all 
that  was  needed.  Being  charged  with 
the  preservation  of  order,  he  declared  he 
would  maintain  martial  law  until  it  was 
unnecessary.  There  was  no  objection  to 
any  political  opinions  properly  expressed 
and  unaccompanied  by  violence. 

At  the  time  when  the  Milner  Commis- 
sion was  first  projected,  in  May,  1919, 
Earl  Curzon  announced  its  object  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  contended  that, 
owing  to  Egypt's  geographic  position  at 
the  gate  of  Palestine,  the  doorway  of 
Africa  and  the  high  road  to  India,  Great 
Britian  could  not  relinquish  her  control 
with  safety  to  the  empire.  The  work  of 
the  commission  is  merely  preliminary. 
It  is  not  authorized  to  impose  a  Consti- 
tution, and  intends  to  consult  all  parties 


before  forming  an  opinion.  To  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  mission  should  be  de- 
layed until  after  the  signing  of  the  Peace 
Treaty  with  Turkey,  Lord  Curzon  stated 
that,  whatever  terms  were  imposed  upon 
Turkey,  recognition  of  the  protectorate 
would  be  an  inseparable  feature  of  the 
treaty. 

So  the  Milner  Mission  was  formed  and 
went  to  Egypt  in  November.  Meanwhile 
lawlessness,  which  had  been  dormant 
during  the  Summer,  increased;  the  Na- 
tionalists continued  their  propaganda, 
and  their  organ  announced  that  it  was 
useless  for  individuals  to  confer  with  the 
Commissioners.  The  Grand  Mufti,  or  re- 
ligious chief  of  the  Mohammedans  in 
Egypt,  told  Lord  Milner  that  no  Egyptian 
would  enter  into  a  discussion  except  on 
the  basis  of  independence. 

Lord  Milner,  on  Jan.  3,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, stating  that  his  mission  was 
not  intended  to  deprive  the  Egyptian 
people  of  any  rights,  and  asking  all  who 
had  the  good  of  the  country  at  heart  to 
come  forward  and  state  their  views.  His 
appeal  brought  forth  no  satisfactory  re- 
plies, and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Na- 
tionalist spirit  continued  to  grow.  It  is 
supported  by  all  sections  of  the  people. 
Opposition  to  '  British  control  was  in- 
creased by  an  irruption  of  excited  British 
soldiers,  who,  pursuing  some  Egyptian 
students,  entered  the  sacred  precincts  of 
the  mosque  of  El  Azhar  without  removing 
their  shoes  and  armed  with  clubs.  This 
is  the  seat  of  the  great  Turkish  univer- 
sity, and  the  event,  announced  on  Jan.  7, 
hastened  a  demand  by  the  university  au- 
thorities that  Great  Britain  "  recognize 
the  complete  independence  of  a  country 
distinguished  by  a  glorious  heritage  and 
a  peculiar  predominance  in  the  Orient." 


New  Republics  in  the  Caucasus 

Armenia,  Azerbaidjan,  and  Georgia:  Their  Mutual  Relations 
and  Their  Present  Status 


A  MONG  the  most  interesting  of  the 
/\  new  republics  born  from  the 
JL  \.  wreckage  of  the  great  war  are  the 
three  in  the  Transcaucasus  region 
— Georgia,  Azerbaidjan  and  Russian  Ar- 
menia. The  possibility  of  making  this 
mountain  region  a  permanent  barrier 
against  the  military  advance  of  Russian 
Bolshevism  has  focused  the  eyes  of  the 
world  upon  it  at  the  present  juncture. 
The  three  peoples  in  question,  though 
differing  in  race,  language  and  traditions, 
all  broke  away  from  Russia  after  the 
Bolshevist  revolution  of  Nov.  7,  1917. 

At  first  they  tried  uniting  their  for- 
tunes by  organizing  at  Tiflis  a  joint  Par- 
liament or  Seim  of  132  members,  elected 
on  a  basis  of  universal  suffrage,  which, 
on  April  22,  1918,  declared  the  independ- 
ence of  Transcaucasia  under  the  name 
of  Federal  Republic  of  Transcaucasia. 
This  republic,  however,  lasted  barely  five 
weeks,  as  the  three  component  peoples 
soon  developed  conflicting  tendencies. 
The  Tatars  of  Azerbaidjan  were  in  sym- 
pathy with  their  coreligionists,  the  Turks, 
in  the  great  war  which  was  still  raping; 
the  Georgians  were  looking  to  Germany 
for  aid,  while  the  Armenians  throughout 
remained  loyal  to  the  Entente  cause. 
Therefore,  on  May  26,  1918,  the  Seim  de- 
clared the  termination  of  the  Federal  Re- 
public and  laid  down  its  authority.  The 
same  day  Georgia  proclaimed  her  inde- 
pendence, organizing  a  separate  republic, 
with  its  centre  at  Tiflis.  On  May  28, 
1918,  Azerbaidjan  and  the  Armenian  Re- 
public of  the  Caucasus  likewise  declared 
their  independence. 

Boundary  conflicts  began  almost  at 
once  among  the  three  former  partners, 
and  the  limits  of  all  three  still  remain  to 
be  defined  by  the  Entente  powers.  The 
claims  of  each  were  presented  by  duly 
appointed  delegates  to  the  Peace  Con- 
ference at  Paris,  but,  with  the  Turkish 
settlement  still  in  suspense,  no  decision 
was  reached.    All  three  peoples  aspire  to 


complete  national  reunion — that  is,  the 
Armenian  Republic  of  the  Caucasus  de- 
sires to  unite  with  the  still  larger  Ar- 
menia that  formerly  belonged  to  Turkey; 
Caucasian  Azerbaidjan  wishes  to  unite 
with  the  adjoining  Persian  province  of 
the  same  name  and  stock,  while  Georgia 
aspires  to  possession  of  Turkish  Georgia. 
The  most  serious  friction  arose  be- 
tween Armenia  and  Azerbaidjan.  Mutual 
charges  of  territorial  encroachment  were 
followed  by  armed  conflicts,  until  an  im- 
portant agreement  was  reached  at  Tiflis 
on  Nov.  23,  1919,  in  which  the  Prime 
Ministers  of  these  two  States  pledged 
themselves  to  cease  all  hostilities  and  to 
settle  their  differences  by  arbitration. 
About  the  same  time  Georgia  and  Ar- 
menia reached  an  agreement  whereby  the 
former  withdrew  its  restrictions  on  rail- 
way traffic  into  Armenia.  Both  agree- 
ments were  in  part  due  to  the  efforts  of 
Mr.  Wardrop,  the  British  High  Com- 
missioner in  Transcaucasia.  A  small 
force  of  British  and  Indian  troops  occu- 
pied the  Georgian  port  of  Batum  until 
the  middle  of  February,  1920. 

REPUBLIC   OF   AZERBAIDJAN 

Of  the  three  Caucasus  republics  the 
least  widely  known  is  Azerbaidjan.  Oc- 
cupying 94,000  square  kilometers  in 
Eastern  Caucasia,  in  the  "  twilight 
zone "  between  Armenia  and  Russia, 
and  bounded  on  the  south  and  east  by 
Persia  and  the  Caspian  Sea,  Azerbaidjan, 
the  "Land  of  Eternal  Fires"  of  the 
ancient  Persians,  was  independent  for 
many  centuries,  then  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury (from  1825  to  1917)  was  crushed 
under  the  iron  yoke  of  the  Czars.  In  an 
elaborate  statement  presented  to  the 
Peace  Conference  this  young  republic  de- 
clares that  its  natural  boundaries  extend 
all  the  way  across  the  Caucasus  to 
Batum  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  that  its 
population,  under  the  law  of  self-deter- 
mination,    would      amount     to     nearly 


492 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


KUBAN   ./ 

"V    -      ■ 

^\CnJv^V?  u  k  h  u  M'«JT" 

ANAKUA 

)POTl 

S>  E  A 


4* 

^_    HE  AW BLACK UN£  PROPOSED 
^^  BOUNDARY  OF  GEORGIA 
-    DOTTED  /.WE  PROPOSED 
BOUNDARY  OF  AZERBAIDJAN 


MAP  SHOWING  TENTATIVE  BOUNDARIES  OP  GEORGIA,  AZERBAIDJAN,  AND  THE 
ARMENIAN  REPUBLIC  OP  THE  CAUCASUS,  WHICH  IS  ULTIMATELY  TO  BE  UNITED  WITH 
TURKISH  ARMENIA 


5,000,000,  its  territory  to  150,000  square 
kilometers.  Its  spokesmen  also  express 
the  hope  that  the  day  will  come  when  the 
adjoining  province  of  Northwest  Persia 
of  the  same  name,  and  of  practically  the 
same  racial  stock,  will  be  allowed  to  add 
its  2,000,000  inhabitants  to  the  Azerbaid- 
jan   Republic. 

This  part  of  ancient  Azerbaidjan, 
overcome  by  the  pressure  of  circum- 
stances, recognized  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Shahs  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Both  here,  however,  and  in  the  former 
Russian  province,  the  Azerbaidjanians,  a 
people  of  Iranian  stock,  related  to  the 
ancient  Babylonians,  neither  Mongolian 
nor  Semitic,  have  preserved  their  lan- 
guage and  their  national  spirit  despite 
their  taking  of  the  Mohammedan  religion 
and  their  absorption  by  the  Persians, 
Turks  and  Russians;  they  have  always 
and  especially  resented  the  Russian 
Government's  classification  of  them  as 
M  Caucasian  Tatars  "  and  the  unenlight- 
ened public  impression  that  they  are 
Turks. 


REDS  DRIVEN  FROM  BAKU 
After  the  breakup  of  the  Caucasus 
Federation  in  1918  a  Ministry  of  twelve 
members  was  created  by  the  new  Gov- 
ernment of  Azerbaidjan,  located  provi- 
sionally at  Elizabethpol,  and  immediate 
action  was  taken  to  clear  the  capital  and 
great  oil  port,  Baku,  of  the  Russian  Bol- 
sheviki.  Early  in  the  Spring  there  had 
been  clashes  in  Baku  between  the  Bol- 
sheviki  and  the  Azerbaidjanians,  and  on 
March  17  a  four-day  struggle  began 
which  resulted  in  the  killing  of  about 
12,000  persons,  many  of  them  women  and 
children,  and  in  the  total  defeat  of  the 
Caucasians  by  the  Bolsheviki.  According 
to  the  statements  of  the  Azerbaidjan 
representatives,  the  Bolsheviki  were 
helped  to  win  this  victory  by  Armenians, 
eager  to  annihilate  their  old  enemies  and 
to  seize  their  territory.  The  Azerbaidjan 
Government  then  asked  aid  from  Georgia, 
but  vainly,  as  the  latter  country  was 
fully  taken  up  with  the  task  of  driving 
back  the  Bolsheviki  from  its  borders,  so 
the    Elizabethpol    Ministry    appealed   to 


NEW   REPUBLICS  IN   THE  CAUCASUS 


'the  Turks  as  coreligionists;  with  Turkish 
aid  the  Bolshevist  army  advancing  upon 
Elizabethpol  was  driven  back  and  Baku 
Kvas  retaken  after  a  two-months'  siege. 

In  firm  possession  of  the  capital  the 
Azerbaidjan  Government  sent  a  mission 
to  the  Persian  town  of  Engeli  to  invite 
General  Thomson,  the  British  commander 
of  the  allied  troops  in  that  territory,  to 
enter  Baku.  On  Nov.  17,  1918,  the  allied 
forces  entered  the  port;  they  were  re- 
ceived with  great  ceremony  and  public 
acclaim.  Shortly  afterward  General 
Thomson  issued  a  statement  to  the  in- 
habitants assuring  them  of  the  friendly 
intentions  of  the  Allies  and  urging  them 
to  give  their  support  to  the  Azerbaidjan 
Government.  The  British  occupation  of 
Baku  lasted  until  the  end  of  the  year 
1919,  when  the  British  troops  evacuated 
all  the  Caucasus,  leaving  only  a  diplo- 
matic mission  to  represent  British  in- 
terests in  this  region. 

NEW  GOVERNMENT  FORMED 

The  Azerbaidjan  Parliament  was  com- 
posed of  120  members  elected  by  uni- 
versal suffrage,  including  Moslem  women. 
Among  the  Deputies  were  21  Armenians, 
10  Russians,  and  representatives  of  the 
Poles  and  Jews,  as  well  as  of  various 
other  races  within  the  republic.  One  of 
the  tasks  prescribed  for  the  Parliament 
was  to  arrange  for  a  Constituent  As- 
sembly. The  procedure  adopted  was  as 
follows:  The  President  chooses  the  Pre- 
mier, who  in  turn  picks  his  Ministers,  all 
of  whom  are  responsible  to  the  Parlia- 
ment. It  was  provided  that  at  least  one 
Russian  and  one  Armenian  should  be 
members  of  the  Cabinet.  The  national 
budget  for  1919  was  put  at  665,000,000 
rubles,  with  expenditures  and  receipts 
evenly  balanced.  The  principal  source  of 
income  was  expected  to  be  the  taxes  on 
the  output  of  petroleum.  The  Azerbaidjan 
Army  was  estimated  at  50,000  well  drilled 
men. 

REPUBLIC  OF  GEORGIA 

On  the  dissolution  of  the  Caucasus 
Federation,  the  Georgian  National  Coun- 
cil, elected  by  the  National  Assembly, 
adopted  an  Act  of  Independence  at  the 
Geprgian  capital,  Tiflis,  on  May  26, 1918, 
which  read  in  part  as  follows: 


l'.ir  centuries  past  Georgia  has  exi.-> 
as  a  free  and  Independent  State.  Toward 
tl><-  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  being 
hard  pressed  by  enemies  on  every  side, 
she  voluntarily  allied  herself  with  Russia, 
on  condition  that  the  latter  undertook  to 
protect  her  against  her  former  enemies. 
During  the  great  Russian  revolution,  in- 
terior troubles  brought  the  dissolution  of 
the  whole  Russian  military  front,  and  the 
Russian  Army  withdrew  from  Trans- 
caucasia. Thus  left  to  their  own  devices, 
Georgia  and  with  her  the  whole  of 
Transcaucasia  undertook  by  themselves 
the  direction  of  their  country,  and  as  a 
consequence  they  have  begun  to  create  the 
necessary  State  organization.  Owing  to 
pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  them  by 
external  forces,  the  ties  which  united  the 
people  of  Transcaucasia  have  been  severed 
and  political  unity  dissolved.*  The 
present  conditions  imperatively  dictate 
that  Georgia  should  organize  herself  in 
order  to  escape  enslavement  to  foreign 
forces,  and  lay  a  solid  foundation  for  her 
free  development. 

The  act  further  declared  Georgia's 
right  of  independence,  adopted  a  demo- 
cratic form  of  government,  a  policy  of 
strict  neutrality  in  all  international  con- 
flicts, and  the  maintenance  of  friendly 
relations  with  all  nations,  especially  the 
neighboring  peoples  and  States;  equality 
of  civil  and  political  rights  to  all  citizens, 
irrespective  of  nationality  or  religion, 
and  free  opportunity  for  development  to 
all. 

This  Act  of  Independence  was  ratified 
by  the  Constituent  Assembly  of  Georgia 
on  March  12,  1919,  at  its  first  session, 
held  in  Tiflis  that  day.  The  session  was 
attended  by  all  the  Ministry,  the  Patri- 
arch of  Georgia,  and  representatives  of 
all  the  allied  and  many  neutral  Govern- 
ments, including  the  Ukraine,  P< 
Azerbaidjan  and  Armenia.  M.  N. 
Tchkheidze,  former  member  of  the 
Fourth  Duma  of  the  former  Russian  Em- 
pire and  President  of  the  Russian  Duma 


•The  Bolshevik!,  after  initiating  peace  ne- 
gotiations with  Germany,  invited  the  Georg- 
ians to  participate  in  the  discussions  at 
Brest-Litovsk.  The  latter  refused  to  consider 
this,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  constitute 
treachery  toward  the  allied  and  associated 
powers.  In  revenge  for  this  refusal  the  Bol- 
sheviki  ceded  to  Turkey  two  Georgian  prov- 
inces, Batum  and  Ardagha.  Georgia's  rejec- 
tion of  this  cession  and  her  announced  in- 
tention to  resist  the  occupation  of  these  prov- 
by  the  Turks  were  the  main  causes  of 
Georgia's  defection  from  the  Caucasus  Fed- 
eration, as  her  hostile  attitude  toward  Tur- 
key was  unacceptable  to  the  Azerbaijanians, 
co-religionists  of  the  Moslem  invaders. 


494 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


after  the  first  revolution  of  March,  1917, 
till  the  Bolshevist  coup  d'etat,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  All-Russian  National  As- 
sembly at  Moscow  in  the  Summer  of 
1917,  was  unanimously  elected  President 
3f  the  Assembly. 

THE  GEORGIAN  GOVERNMENT 

The  Government  of  the  republic  as 
then  composed  was  as  follows: 

1.  President  of  the  Council— N.   Jordania. 

2.  Vice  President,  Minister  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs and  of  Justice— E.   Gueguetchkori. 

3.  Minister  of  the  Interior,  of  War  and 
Education— N.  Ramishvili. 

Under   Secretary   for  "War— General   Guede- 
vanishvili. 
Chief  of  Ge/ieral  Staff— General  Odishelidze. 

4.  Minister  of  Finance,  Commerce  and  In- 
dustry—C.  Candelaki. 

5.  Minister  of  Agriculture,  of  Ways  of 
Communications  and  of  Labor— H.  Khome- 
riki. 

The  promises  of  the  Act  of  Independ- 
ence were  fulfilled  by  the  act  of  the  new 
Parliament,  and  new  reforms  were  in- 
stituted, including  the  establishment  of 
an  eight-hour  working  day,  the  national- 
ization of  mines  and  forests  and  the 
creation  of  a  Georgian  University,  long 
refused  by  the  Russian  Government. 
Georgian  professors  dispersed  in  various 
universities  of  Russia  returned  to  offer 
their  services  to  their  native  land.  The 
Georgian  University  now  possesses  a 
Faculty  of  thirty-five  professors  and 
1,000  students.  The  People's  University 
of  Tiflis  was  also  reorganized,  and  a 
system  of  extension  teaching  adopted  for 
its  thirty-five  local  branches.  The 
Georgian  Army,  which  had  consisted  of 
200,000  men  mobilized  in  the  Russian 
Army,  was  reorganized  on  an  independ- 
ent basis,  a  national  guard  was  formed 
on  the  principle  of  voluntary  service,  and 
a  regular  army  on  that  of  obligatory 
service,  applicable  to  all  young  men  of 
military  age.  This  system  was  adopted 
temporarily,  pending  the  recognition  of 
Georgia  by  the  great  powers  and  the 
guarantee  of  its  neutrality  under  inter- 
national law.  The  majority  of  Georgians 
belong  to  the  Greek  Catholic  Church. 

PROBLEMS  OF  NEW  STATE 

The  first  serious  problem  of  the 
Georgian  State  was  to  defend  itself 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  Turks. 


Georgia,  being  completely  cut  off  from 
the  Allies  and  defeated  by  Turkey,  which 
had  already  invaded  the  western  district 
of  Ozourgheti,  was  faced  by  an  ultima- 
tum which  threatened  the  occupation  of 
the  whole  country  by  Turkish  forces.  In 
this  critical  position  Georgia  was  com- 
pelled to  accept  the  offer  of  help  which 
came  to  her  from  the  Germans,  who  pro- 
posed to  stop  the  advancing  Turks  and 
to  oblige  them  to  retreat  within  the 
borders  assigned  by  the  treaty  of  Brest- 
Li  tovsk.  This  object,  with  German  aid, 
was  accomplished  at  the  cost  of  heavy 
concessions  to  Germany. 

The  next  problem  was  the  defense  of 
the  new  republic  against  Bolshevism. 
Riots  had  been  fomented  by  soldiers  re- 
turning from  the  Russian  front  and  by 
Turkish-Bolshevist  emissaries,  but  were 
easily  put  down,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
they  found  no  support  among  the  Georg- 
ian people.  Bolshevist  armed  bands, 
which  came  from  the  north  and  endeav- 
ored to  enter  Georgia,  were  also  thrown 
back.  But,  though  herself  resisting  the 
encroachments  of  the  Bolsheviki,  Georgia 
maintained  her  attitude  of  strict  neu- 
trality between  the  former  and  the  anti- 
Bolshevist  forces  of  General  Denikin.  In 
consequence  hostility  arose  between  Den- 
ikin and  the  Georgian  Government,  a 
hostility  based  on  Georgia's  fears  of 
Denikin's  design  to  occupy  and  annex 
Georgia  to  his  domain  and  on  the  atti- 
tude of  Denikin's  military  representa- 
tives in  the  Turko-Georgian  district  of 
Batum,  the  desire  of  whose  inhabitants 
to  ally  themselves  with  the  Christian 
Georgians  was  contested  by  the  Russian 
military  commander  there. 

DEFENSIVE  LEAGUE  WITH 
AZERBAIDJAN 

With  the  crushing  of  Denikin's  power 
the  great  menace  to  independence  in 
Georgia  and  Azerbaidjan  is  that  pre- 
sented by  Bolshevism.  It  was  this  ever- 
growing danger  which  the  delegates  from 
both  republics  emphasized  at  Paris,  urg- 
ing military  assistance  against  the  Rus- 
sian Reds. 

The  community  of  interests  between 
Azerbaidjan  and  Georgia,  in  respect  to 
the  repulse  of  Bolshevism  from  its  bor- 
ders, as  well  as  in  other  respects,  finan- 


NEW  REPUBLICS  IN   THE  CAUCASUS 


cial  and  economic,  linking  the  two  coun- 
tries from  Baku  to  Batum,  has  shown 
itself  repeatedly.  M.  Gobetchia,  the 
Georgian  delegate,  appeared  with  the 
delegate  from  Azerbaidjan  before  the 
Supreme  Council  on  Jan.  19  and  present- 
ed a  strong  plea  for  the  integrity  of  their 
territory  and  its  eventual  defense  against 
attacks  by  the  Bolsheviki.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  M.  Gobetchia  expressed  him- 
self as  follows: 

Any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki to  force  an  entry  into  our  coun- 
tries, which  are  leagued  together  by  ties 
of  strong  friendship,  will  undoubtedly  be 
resisted  to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  Our 
armies  are  not  numerous,  but  they  are 
well-trained.  If  the  Allies  send  the  neces- 
sary supplies,  munitions  and  material  we 
shall  be  able,  with  the  help  of  the  moun- 
tainous country  in  Northern  Georgia, 
where  two  or  three  strategic  points  are 
strongly  held,  to  command  large  areas  and 
to  hold  our  own  against  a  possible  Bol- 
shevist advance. 

To  accomplish  this  purpose  more  ef- 
fectually Azerbaidjan  and  Georgia  had 
negotiated  and  ratified  a  treaty  of  mu- 
tual defense  and  protection  covering  the 
wide  scope  of  "  all  attacks  menacing  the 
independence  or  the  territorial  integrity 
of  one  or  both  of  the  contracting  parties." 
Not  merely  the  Bolsheviki  but  also  the 
Armenians  wei'e  aimed  at  in  the  further 
proviso:  "  If  any  of  the  neighboring 
States  in  the  course  of  hostilities  begun 
in  accordance  with  Paragraph  1,  attack 
either  or  both  of  the  allies  for  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  the  question  of  the  dis- 
puted frontiers  by  means  of  arms,  such 
State  or  States  are  to  be  considered  as 
belligerents."  At  the  time  this  treaty 
was  drawn  Georgia  feared  occupation  by 
the  military  forces  of  Genei-al  Denikin; 
now  only  the  Bolshevist  menace  is  feared. 
Azerbaidjan,  on  her  part,  feared  the  ter- 
ritorial ambitions  of  the  new  Republic  of 
Armenia,  between  which  country  and 
Azerbaidjan  bad  feeling  had  long  existed. 

FRICTION  WITH   ARMENIA 

A  report  received  in  Paris  by  the 
American  Red  Cross  on  Sept.  25,  1919, 
said  that  Colonel  William  Haskell,  High 
Commissioner  in  Armenia  for  the  four 
great  powers,  had  negotiated  with  the 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  Azerbaidjan 
Republic  with  the  view  of  submitting  to 


the  Armenian  Parliament  a  treaty  trans- 
ferring some  Armenian  territory  to 
Azerbaidjan  in  return  for  the  withdrawal 
of  Kurdish  and  Tatar  troops  from  the 
eastern  and  southern  fronts  of  Armenia. 

In  a  statement  issued  on  Sept.  17  by 
the  American  Committee  for  the  Inde- 
pendence of  Armenia,  headed  by  James 
W.  Gerard,  former  Ambassador  to 
Germany,  urging  American  aid  to 
prevent  further  outrages  upon  the 
Armenians,  it  was  asserted  that 
"3,000,000"  Azerbaidjan  Tatars,  tools 
of  the  Turks,"  were  working  hand 
in  hand  with  2,000,000  Georgians  to 
help  the  Russian  Bolsheviki  and  the 
Turks.  In  their  statement  published  in 
Paris  last  Summer,  the  representatives 
of  Azerbaidjan  pointed  out,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  they  had  fought  the  Bolshe- 
viki and  driven  them  from  Baku,  with 
the  aid  of  Turkish  regulars,  and  accused 
the  Armenians  of  playing  the  role  of 
Bolsheviki  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  ter- 
ritory naturally  belonging  to  the  Azer- 
baidjanians.  The  Armenian  territorial 
claims,  it  should  be  stated,  reach  far  into 
Azerbaidjanian  territory,  but  there  have 
been  no  indications  that  these  maximum 
demands  will  be  granted  by  the  great 
powers  when  they  come  to  settle  the 
whole  question  of  Caucasian  boundaries. 

Meanwhile  the  national  aspirations  of 
two  of  these  young  republics  were  grati- 
fied on  Jan.  13,  1920,  when  the  Supreme 
Council,  in  the  name  of  the  allied  Gov- 
ernments, conceded  a  de  facto  recognition 
to  both  Azerbaidjan  and  Georgia. 

REPUBLIC   OF   ARMENIA 

Armenia  before  the  war  consisted  of 
two  distinct  sections — Turkish  Armenia 
and  Russian  Armenia — being  parts,  re- 
spectively, of  the  Ottoman  and  Russian 
Empires.  Since  the  armistice  each  sec- 
tion has  organized  separately  as  a  re- 
public though  both  aim  at  union  as  early 
as  possible.  Turkish  Armenia  at  this 
writing  is  still  in  the  formative  stages, 
but  the  Armenian  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus  is  a  fully  organized  State, 
which  has  its  seat  of  Government  at 
Erivan,  and  which  was  formally  recog- 
nized by  the  United  States  Government 
on  Jan.  26,   1920.     The  republic  as  yet 


496 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


has  no  written  Constitution  and  no  Presi- 
dent, but  its  Ministry  is  as  follows: 

Premier    and    Foreign    Minister— Dr.    Alex- 
ander Khatissian. 

Minister    of    Justice    and    the    Interior— A. 
Gulhandanian. 

Public      Instruction     and     Fine      Arts— N. 
Ahbalian. 

Minister  of  Finance— S.  Araratian. 

Relief  and  Repatriation— A.  Sahakian. 

Minister  of  "War— General  Araratian. 

The  drawing  up  of  a  Constitution  is 
reserved  for  the  future  Constituent  As- 
sembly, which  is  to  be  called  when  both 
portions  of  Armenia  shall  have  joined  in 
one  State.  Pending  that  event  the  Ar- 
menian Republic  of  the  Caucasus  is  op- 
erating under  modern  democratic  meth- 
ods through  an  elected  Parliament  and 
an  Executive  Cabinet,  the  powers  of  the 
President  being  exercised  in  part  by  each 
of  these  bodies. 

NATURE  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT 

The  following  information  regarding 
the  Armenian  Republic  of  the  Caucasus 
was  furnished  to  Current  History  by 
Arshag  Mahdesian,  editor  of  The  New 
Armenian,  New  York: 

"  Severeignty  resides  in  a  Parliament 
of  one  house.  The  Parliament  consists 
of  Deputies  elected  by  the  entire  people. 
The  right  to  vote  and  to  hold  office  is 
common  and  equal  to  all  the  people. 
Every  citizen  of  Armenia  of  full  age  has 
an  equal  right  to  participate  in  all  elec- 
tions, without  regard  to  sex,  race  or  re- 
ligion. The  method  of  voting  is  direct 
and  secret,  and  the  elections  are  based 
on  the  proportional  principle.  The  Par- 
liament now  in  session,  composed  of 
eighty  members,  was  elected  in  June, 
1919,  and  commenced  its  session  in 
August,  1919. 

"  The  Cabinet  is  composed  of  eight 
Ministries:  (1)  Foreign  Affairs,  (2) 
Interior,  including  public  health;  (3) 
Public  Works,  (4)  Posts  and  Telegraphs, 
(5)  Army,  (6)  Finance,  including  com- 
merce and  industry;  (7)  Education,  (8) 
Relief  and  Repatriation,  this  last  being 
of  a  temporary  nature. 

"  The  Prime  Minister  is  at  the  head 
of  the  Government  and  is  the  President 
of  the  Council  of  Ministers.  The  Prime 
Minister  is  elected  by  Parliament.  He 
designates   the   Ministers,    and   presents 


their  names,  as  well  as  the  platform  of 
his  Ministry,  to  the  approval  of  the  Par- 
liament. Approval  of  the  platform  by 
Parliament  acts  also  as  approval  of  the 
proposed  Ministers. 

"  The  Government  (the  Cabinet)  is  re- 
sponsible to  Parliament.  If  Parliament, 
by  a  majority  vote,  should  pass  a  resolu- 
tion of  lack  of  confidence,  the  Cabinet 
must  submit  its  resignation  to  Parlia- 
ment, which  then  commits  the  formation 
of  a  new  Government  to  some  other 
person. 

"  The  present  Prime  Minister  and 
President  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  is 
Dr.  Alexander  Khatissian,  who  for  many 
years  was  the  Mayor  of  Tiflis,  the  cap- 
ital of  Transcaucasia.  The  other  Minis-1 
ters  are  men  of  university  education,  and 
prominent  in  the  public  and  political 
life  of  Transcaucasia. 

"The  language  of  the  republic  is  Ar- 
menian, but  citizens  not  acquainted  with 
this  language  are  permitted  to  use  their 
mother  tongue  or  the  Russian  language. 
All  religions  enjoy  entire  freedom  and 
equal  rights  under  the  republic. 

"  The  system  of  Russian  jurisprudence 
and  administration  of  justice  is  tempo- 
rarily continued  in  force,  except  in  so 
far  as  it  is  modified  or  repealed  by  acts 
of  Parliament  or  is  in  conflict  with  the 
spirit  and  order  of  a  democratic-republi- 
can system  of  government.  During  its 
life  of  fourteen  months  the  Parliament 
has  enacted  a  number  of  special  statutes, 
supplementing  the  body  of  Russian  laws 
in  force  at  the  birth  of  the  republic. 

AN  ARMY  OF  18,000 
"  The  Army  of  the  Armenian  Republic 
of  the  Caucasus  is  formed  on  the  Rus- 
sian system,  and  is  administered  accord- 
ing to  the  regulations  of  the  Russian 
Army.  The  officers  have  been  educated 
in  the  technical  schools  of  Russia,  and 
the  greater  part  of  the  soldiers  have  re- 
ceived their  training  in  the  Russian 
Army.  The  troops,  like  the  people,  re- 
mained unaffected  by  the  Bolshevist 
movements  in  Russia.  Discipline  in  the 
army  is  satisfactory,  and  the  morale  of 
Armenian  soldiers  is  exemplary. 

"  The  army  is  composed  of  all  branches 
of  the  service.  The  number  of  troops 
under  arms  in  July,   1919,  was   18,000. 


NEW  REPUBLICS  IN   THE  CAUCASUS 


497 


The  country  needs  and  has  the  capacity 
of  raising  double  that  number,  but  the 
lack  of  equipment,  arms,  clothing,  food, 
supplies,  &c,  prevents  enlargement  of 
the  army.  Even  the  equipment  of  the 
troops  now  under  arms  is  inadequate, 
and  is  tolerable  only  because  the  Ar- 
menian is  a  hardy  and  sturdy  soldier. 

"  For  political  reasons  military  serv- 
ice is  not  obligatory  upon  Mohammedans; 
this  was  also  true  under  the  former  Rus- 
sian regime.  There  are  no  Mohammedans 
in  the  Armenian  Army. 

"  The  Commander  in  Chief  is  Lieut. 
Gen.  F.  Nazarbekian,  formerly  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  officers  of  the  Russian 
Army,  well  known  for  his  deeds  of  mili- 
tary valor  in  the  Russo-Japanese  war  and 
on  the  Caucasian  front  in  the  late  war. 
Major  Gen.  Araratian,  the  Minister  of 
War,  was  also  one  of  the  learned  and  ex- 
perienced officers  of  the  Russian  Army 
and  is  very  popular  with  the  Armenian 
troops.  The  General  Staff  and  the  com- 
manders of  the  line  are  disciplined  offi- 
cers, many  of  whom  have  high  military 
decorations  from  the  Government  of 
Russia. 

PROBLEMS  OF  FINANCE 

"  The  sources  of  revenue  of  the  re- 
public are  the  direct  and  indirect  taxes 
and  income  from  the  properties  and  en- 
terprises of  the  State  and  from  mo- 
nopolies. Income  taxes  are  now  imposed 
at  lower  rates  than  in  normal  times,  par- 
ticularly on  incomes  from  agricultural 
pursuits.  As  the  country  is  in  great  need 
of  manufactured  articles,  no  duty  is  im- 
posed on  imported  goods. 

"  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  disburse- 
ments the  Armenian  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus  has  been  confronted  with 
extraordinary  disbursements  due  to  the 
existence  of  a  state  of  war  and  the 
ravages  caused  by  the  war.  These  are 
for  the  relief  of  sufferers  and  for  the 
reconstruction  of  the  economic  life  of  the 
people.  Food,  clothing,  and  shelter  must 
be  provided  for  orphans  and  those  unable 
to  work,  the  deported  and  exiled  people 
must  be  repatriated,  ruined  villages  must 
be  rebuilt,  and  seed  and  agricultural 
implements  must  be  furnished  to  the 
despoiled  farmers. 


"  The  average  monthly  gross  income 
of  the  Armenian  Republic  of  the  Cau- 
casus during  the  first  five  months  of 
1919  was  1,950,000  francs;  the  average 
monthly  ordinary  disbursements  in  the 
same  period  also  amounted  to  1,950,000 
francs,  so  that  all  ordinary  expenses 
were  met  by  the  regular  revenues.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  same  period  of 
five  months  the  extraordinary  disburse- 
ments amounted  on  an  average  to  4,650,- 
000  francs  per  month.  These  were  met 
by  the  issuance  of  Transcaucasian  bonds 
of  that  amount.  The  bonds  are  issued 
and  guaranteed  by  the  Armenian,  Geor- 
gian and  Azerbaidjan  Republics.  This 
large  use  of  bonds  caused  a  depreciation 
of  their  rate  of  exchange,  but  there  was 
no  other  available  means  for  meeting 
those  disbursements. 

"  The  people  have  cheerfully  paid  all 
taxes  without  any  compulsory  measures. 
On  June  1,  1919,  90  per  cent,  of  all  taxes 
then  due  had  been  paid.  Taxes  are  im- 
posed only  by  acts  of  Parliament.  No 
money  can  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury 
except  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  ap- 
propriation passed  by  the  Parliament 
upon  estimates  submitted  by  the  Govern- 
ment. There  is  a  Board  of  State  Con- 
trol which  exercises  supervision  over  the 
legality  of  the  acts  and  the  disburse- 
ments of  the  Government.  This  board  is 
under  the  Presidency  of  the  State  Con- 
troller, who  is  elected  by  Parliament  and 
is  accountable  only  to  Parliament  direct. 
All  revenues  must  pass  to  the  State 
Treasury  and  all  disbursements  must  be 
made  through  the  Treasury." 

TERRITORY  AND  PHYSIOGRAPHY 

The  extreme  territorial  claims  of  the 
Armenian  Republic  of  the  Caucasus  in- 
clude the  following  parts  of  Transcau- 
casia, using  the  names  of  the  former 
Russian  administrative  divisions: 

(A)  The  Province  of  Erivan,  in  its  entirety ; 

(B)  The  Province  of  Kars,  excepting  the 
northern  section  of  the  district  of  Ardahan; 

(C)  The  southern  part  of  the  Province  of 
Tiflis,  comprising  the  entire  district  of 
Akhalkalaki  and  4he  southern  section  of  the 
district  of   Borchalou  ; 

(D)  Those  parts  of  the  Province  of  Eliza- 
bethpol  (Gantzag)  comprising  the  southern 
section^of  the  districts  of  Coesak  and  Eliza- 
bethpol,  the  entire  district  of  Zangezur.  and 
the     upland     regions     of     the     dl 


498 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Jivanshir,    Shousha    and    Kariakin    (Jibrail), 
known  as  the  Armenian  Karabagh. 

The  boundaries  of  the  republic  are  not 
definitely  settled.  Certain  outlying  re- 
gions are  involved  in  disputes,  Georgia 
claiming  certain  regions  lying  within  the 
former  province  of  Tiflis,  and  Azerbaid- 
jan  claiming  a  large  portion  of  the 
former  province  of  Elizabethpol.  The 
territory  described  above  contains  67,000 
square  kilometers,  or  about  26,130  square 
miles. 

According  to  Russian  official  statistics, 
the  number  of  people  inhabiting  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Armenian  Republic  of  the 
Caucasus  in  1917  was  approximately  2,- 
159,000,  of  whom  1,293,000,  or  60  per 
cent.,  are  Armenians;  670,000,  or  31  per 
cent.,  are  Mohammedans,  and  73,000,  or 
3  per  cent.,  are  people  of  unclassified  re- 
ligions. 

About  85  per  cent,  of  the  people  in  the 
Armenian  Republic  of  the  Caucasus  are 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  such  as 
the  cultivation  of  grain,  cotton,  garden 
produce,  vines  and  the  breeding  of  cattle 
and  other  animals,  and  the  production  of 
milk.  There  is  also  manufacturing  on  a 
small  scale.  The  mineral  resources  are 
largely  undeveloped.  Large  cities  and 
large  industrial  establishments,  with  few 
exceptions,  do  not  exist.  Armenian  mer- 
cantile and  manufacturing  houses  of  con- 
siderable magnitude  have  their  central 
locations  outside  the  limits  of  Armenia, 
at  Tiflis,  Baku,  Rostov,  Moscow  and  Pe- 
trograd. 

TURKISH    ARMENIA 

The  Armenians  in  the  former  Ottoman 
Empire  are  still  fighting  their  ancient 
enemies,  the  Turks,  and  are  trying  to 
help  themselves,  despite  the  long  delay 
of  America  and  the  Allies  in  solving  their 
problem.  An  Armenian  military  mission, 
headed  by  Captain  Jacques  Pakradooni 


and  the  famous  General  Antranik 
recently  arrived  in  the  United  States 
to  raise  Armenian  troops  here  for  the 
struggle  toward  independence.  The  whole 
question  of  Armenia's  ultimate  fate  re- 
mains to  be  settled.  On  Jan.  8,  1920,  the 
British  Armenia  Committee,  through  Vis- 
count Bryce,  presented  to  the  British 
Government  a  memorandum  in  which  the 
two  main  propositions  are  thus  ex- 
pressed: 

The  committee  ask  that  the  whole  of  ex- 
Ottoman  Armenia  be  finally  and  com- 
pletely separated  from  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire, and  that,  failing  an  American  man- 
date over  the  entire  country,  the  Otto- 
man Armenian  provinces  which  border  on 
the  Erivan  Republic  be  at  once  united 
with  that  republic,  together  with  a  port  on 
the  Black  Sea.  The  Government's  re- 
affirmation of  their  previous  assurances 
gives  the  committee  confidence  that  these 
ends,  which  in  their  opinion  are  the  mini- 
mum demanded  by  considerations  of  hu- 
manity as  well  as  by  the  interests  of  the 
British  Empire,  will  be  attained  in  the 
peace  settlement. 

In  Turkish  Armenia  the  Armenians 
will  be  in  the  minority,  even  after  the 
repatriation  of  the  refugees — because 
the  Turks  have  destroyed  a  million  or 
more  of  the  inhabitants — but  with  the 
union  of  Russian  Armenia  with  Turkish 
Armenia  the  Armenians  will  constitute 
the  majority  population.  Armenia  will 
require  considerable  economic  aid  during 
her  reconstruction  period.  The  Arme- 
nians suffered  terrible  losses  because  of 
their  fidelity  to  the  powers  of  the  En- 
tente, and  they  rendered  considerable 
military  services  to  the  winning  of  the 
war. 

Sentiment  in  the  United  States,  as  in- 
dicated by  the  press,  is  unfavorable  to 
assuming  the  burden  of  a  mandate  over 
Armenia.  The  drift  of  events  is  toward 
inclusion  of  Armenia  in  the  French  or 
Italian  sphere  of  influence. 


The  Partition  of  Turkey 

Secret  Anglo-French-Italian  Agreement  of  1916-17,  Now  Made 
Public,  Divided  Up  the  Near  East 


TURKEY'S  entry  into  the  war  on  the 
side  of  the  Central  Powers  at 
once  opened  up  the  possibility  of 
the  partition  of  that  country 
among  the  Allies  in  case  the  latter  were 
victorious.  This  fact  was  formally  rec- 
ognized in  Ai-ticle  IX.  of  the  secret 
treaty  of  London,  negotiated  with  Italy 
on  April  26,  1915.  But  it  was  not  until 
early  in  1916  that  Great  Britain  and 
France  got  together  to  arrange  their  dif- 
ferences in  the  Levant  and  to  divide  the 
Sultan's  domains  between  themselves  in 
the  event  of  victoiy.  That  they  did  make 
such  a  partition,  and  that  all  Turkey  had 
been  carved  up  and  served  out  two  or 
three  years  before  the  Peace  Conference 
met,  has  only  recently  become  fully 
known  to  the  world.  The  invitation  to 
the  United  States  to  become  involved  in 
the  Near  Eastern  situation  by  accepting 
a  mandate  over  Armenia  takes  on  a  new 
aspect  in  the  light  of  the  map  and  the 
agreements  presented  herewith. 

SYKES-PICOT  AGREEMENT 

The  first  result  of  the  British  and 
French  decision  to  get  together  was  the 
secret  treaty  known  as  the  Sykes-Picot 
agreement,  drafted  in  February  or 
March,  1916,  and  concluded  on  May  9  and 
16  of  that  year.    The  text  is  as  follows: 

The  French  and  British  Governments, 
having  acquired  from  information  at  their 
disposal  the  conviction  that  the  Arab  popu- 
lations of  the  Arab  peninsula,  as  well 
as  of  the  provinces  of  the  Ottoman  Empire, 
are  strongly  opposed  to  Turkish  domination. 
and  that  it  would  be  actually  possible  to 
establish  an  Arab  State,  or  a  confederation, 
both  hostile  to  the  Turkish  Government  and 
favorable  to  the  Entente  powers,  have  opened 
negotiations  and  have  examined  the  ques- 
tion in  common.  As  a  result  of  these  discus- 
sions they  have  agreed  upon  the  following 
principles : 

1.  France  and  Great  Britain  are  prepared 
to  accord  recognition  and  protection  to  an 
independent  Arab  State  or  a  Confederation 
of  Arab  States  in  the  Zones  "  A  "  and  "  B  " 
marked  on  the  annexed  map,  under  the 
suzerainty   of   an   Arab   chief.      In    the   Zone 


"  A  "  France  and  in  the  Zone  "  B  "  Great 
Britain  shall  have  a  right  of  priority  in  re- 
gard to  enterprises  and  local  loans.  In  the 
.Zone  "A"  France  and  in  the  Zone  "B" 
Great  Britain  shall  have  the  exclusive  right 
to  provide  advisers  or  foreign  officials  at  the 
request  of  the  Arab  State  or  Confederation  of 
Arab  States. 

2.  In  the  blue  zone  France  and  in  th^e  red 
zone  Great  Britain  shall  be  authorized  to 
establish  such  administration,  direct  or  indi- 
rect, or  such  control  as  they  desire  or  as  they 
shall  judge  convenient  to  establish  after 
agreement  with  the  State  or  Confederation 
of  Arab  States. 

3.  There  shall  be  established  in  the  brown 
zone  an  international  administration  of  which 
the  form  shall  be  determined  after  consulta- 
tion with  Russia,  and  later  in  agreement 
with  the  other  Allies  and  with  representatives 
of  the  Sherif  of  Mecca. 

4.  There  shall  be  accorded  to  Great  Britain : 

(1)  The  ports  of  Haifa  and  Acre; 

(2)  The  guarantee  of  a  definite  quantity 
of  water  from  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  in 
the  Zone  "  A  "  for  Zone  "  B." 

His  Majesty's  Government  on  its  part  un- 
dertakes never  to  enter  into  negotiations  with 
a  view  to  the  cession  of  Cyprus  to  a  third 
power  without  the  previous  consent  of  the 
French  Government. 

5.  Alexandretta  shall  be  a  free  port  in  so 
far  as  concerns  the  commerce  of  the  British 
Empire,  and  there  shall  be  no  differential 
treatment  in  port  dues,  and  no  special  advan- 
tages shall  be  refused  to  British  ships  or 
merchandise ;  there  shall  be  free  transit  for 
British  merchandise  via  Alexandretta  and  on 
the  railways  traversing  the  blue  zon«, 
whether  such  merchandise  be  destined  for  or 
originate  from  the  red  zone,  Zone  "  B,"  or 
Zone  "  A  "  ;  and  no  differential  treatment, 
direct  or  indirect,  shall  be  established  against 
British  merchandise  on  any  railway,  or 
against  British  merchandise  or  ships  in  any 
port   serving  the   above-mentioned   zones. 

Haifa  shall  be  a  free  port  as  regards  the 
commerce  of  France,  her  colonies,  and  her 
protectorates,  and  there  shall  be  no  differ- 
ential treatment  or  advantage  in  port  dues 
refused  to  French  ships  and  merchandise. 
There  shall  be  free  transit  for  French  mer- 
chandise via  Haifa  and  the  British  railway 
across  the  brown  zone,  whether  such  mer- 
chandise originate  from  or  is  destined  for  the 
blue  zone,  Zone  "  A,"  or  Zone  "  B  "  ;  and 
there  shall  be  no  differential  treatment, 
direct  or  indirect,  against  French  merchan- 
dise on  any  railway  or  against  French  mer- 


500 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


chandise   or   ships   in   any   port    serving   the 
above-mentioned  zones. 

6.  In  the  Zone  "  A  "  the  Bagdad  Railway 
shall  not  be  prolonged  southward  beyond 
Mosul,  and  in  Zone  "  B  "  northward  beyond 
Samara,  until  a  railway  joining  Bagdad  and 
Aleppo  by  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates  has 
been  completed,  and  that  only  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  two  Governments.* 

7.  Great  Britain  shall  have  the  right  to  con- 
struct, administer  and  be  the  sole  proprietor 
of  a  railway  joining  Haifa  to  Zone  "  B." 
Further,  she  shall  have  a  right  in  perpe- 
tuity to  transport  troops  at  any  time  along 
the  railway.  It  is  understood  by  the  two 
Governments  that  this  railway  is  to  facili- 
tate the  junction  of  Bagdad  and  Haifa,  and 
it  is  turther  understood  that  if  technical 
difficulties  or  the  cost  of  maintaining  this 
line  of  junction  in  the  brown  zone  render  its 
construction  impracticable,  the  French  Gov- 
ernment will  agree  to  consider  that  the  line 
may  traverse  the  polygon  Barries-Keis- 
Maril-Silbrad  -  Tel  -  Hotsda  -  Mesuire  before 
reaching  Zone    "  B." 

8.  For  a  period  of  twenty  years  the  Turk- 
ish customs*  tariff  shall  remain  in  force 
throughout  the  blue  and  red  zones  as  well 
as  in  Zones  "  A  "  and  "  B,"  and  no  in- 
crease in  rates  or  alteration  of  ad  valorem 
into  specific  duties  shall  be  made  except  with 
the  consent  of  the  two  powers. 

There  shall  be  no  internal  customs  between 
any  of  the  above-mentioned  zones.  Customs 
duties  leviable  shall  be  levied  at  the  ports  of 
entry,  and  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  zone  for  which  the  goods 
are  destined. 

9.  It  is  understood  that  the  French  Gov- 
ernment will  never  enter  upon  any  negotia- 
tions for  the  cession  of  its  rights  and  will 
never  cede  its  rights  in  the  blue  zone  to  any 
third  power  other  than  the  State  or  Con- 
federation of  Arab  States,  without  the  pre- 
vious consent  of  his  Majesty's  Government, 
which  on  its  part  shall  give  a  similar  assur- 
ance with  regard  to  the  red  zone. 

10.  The  British  and  French  Governments, 
as  protectors  of  the  Arab  State,  agree  not 
to  acquire,  and  will  not  consent  to  a  third 
power  acquiring,  territorial  possessions  in  the 
Arabian  peninsula,  nor  to  construct  a  naval 
base  in  the  islands  off  the  east  coast  of  the 
Red  Sea;  but  this  shall  not  prevent  such 
rectification  of  the  frontier  of  Aden  as  may 
be  considered  necessary  in  view  of  the  re- 
cent aggression  of  the  Turks. 

11.  The  negotiations  with  the  Arabs  in  re- 
gard to  the  frontiers  of  the  Arab  State  or 
Confederation  of  States  shall  proceed  in  the 


♦The  draft  submitted  to  Russia  added  a 
note  to  Article  "VI.:  "This  article  has  been 
included  to  prevent  the  completion  and 
the  organization  of  'the  German  railroad  to 
Bagdad."  The  projected  British  line  up  the 
Euphrates  Valley  was  completed  as  far 
northward  as  Bagdad  on  Jan.  15,  1920,  when 
the  first  train  from  Basra  arrived  there. 


same    way    as    before    in    the    name    of    the 
two  powers. 

12.  It  is  further  understood  that  measures 
for  controlling  the  importation  of  arms  into 
Arab  territory  shall  be  considered  by  the  two 
Governments. 

An  early  draft  of  this  document  was 
submitted  to  the  Russian  Government  at 
Petrograd  on  March  10,  1916,  and  has 
recently  been  found  in  the  archives  there 
and  published* 

The  key  map  so  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  foregoing  agreement  did  not 
become  public  until  it  was  reproduced  by 
The  Manchester  Guardian  on  Jan.  8, 
1920.  In  its  original  form  the  map  showed 
only  the  regions  assigned  to  British  and 
French  influence,  but  later  it  was  further 
elaborated  by  the  addition  of  the  sphere 
allotted  to  Italy.  In  its  later  and  more 
complete  form  it  is  reproduced  in  the 
present  pages. 

THE  ITALIAN  AGREEMENT 

Italy  thus  far  had  no  part  in  this  divis- 
ion of  prospective  spoils,  and  the  fact 
was  soon  reflected  in  the  manner  of 
Baron  Sonnino  toward  the  Allies.  On 
Sept.  30,  1916,  -the  danger  of  this  situa- 
tion was  pointed  out  by  M.  Barrere, 
French  Ambassador  at  Rome,  in  a  letter 
to  M.  Briand,  the  French  Foreign  Min- 
ister. He  said  that  Sonnino  was  in  a 
delicate  situation,  being  attacked  by  the 
whole  opposition  press  because  he  had 
failed  to  secure  for  Italy  a  share  of  Asia 
Minor.  France  and  England  therefore 
took  the  necessary  steps  a  few  months 
later  to  include  Italy  in  the  plan  for  the 
partition  of  Turkey  in  accordance  with  a 
principle  already  admitted  in  the  pact  of 
London.  As  a  result  the  Sykes-Picot 
agreement  was  supplemented  by  another 
equally  secret,  which  assigned  to  Italy  a 
broad  zone  in  the  south  of  Asia  Minor 
and  centring  at  Adalia.  The  text  of  this 
agreement  is  as  follows: 

Memorandum  on  the  result  of  the  negotia- 
tions between  the  Governments  of  France, 
Great  Britain  and  Italy  at  St.  ^Jean  de 
Maurienne  and  of  the  subsequent  conferences 
concerning  Asia  Minor.     [Date  lacking.'] 

Subject  to  the  consent  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment : 

1.  The  Italian  Government  gives  its  assent 
to  the  provisions  contained  in  Articles  1  and  2 
of  the  Franco-British  agreements  of  May  9 
and  16,  1916.     On  their  part  the  French  and 


THE  PARTITION  OF  TURKEY 


.-,((1 


Reproduction  of  the  original  map  attached  to  the  Anglo-French-Italian  agreement 
concerning  the  partition  of  Asia  Mitwr,  as  it  finally  stood  after  Italy  had  entered  the 
secret  pact.  The  shaded  zones  were  to  belong  to  the  nations  indicated  in  the  key  at 
the  top  of  the  map,  and  the  lettered  zemes  were  to  be  further  "  spheres  of  influence  "  for 
the  same  nations.  The  green  zone  referred  to  in  the  treaty  is  the  Italian  zone,  the  red 
is  British,  the  blue  is  French,  and  the  brown  is  international 


British  Governments  recognize  Italy's  rights— 
on  an  identical  basis  as  to  condition?  of  ad- 
ministration and  interest — to  the  green  and 
the  "  C  "  zones  indicated  in  the  map  at- 
tached hereto. 

2.  Italy  undertakes  to  make  of  Smyrna  a 
free  port  in  so  far  as  the  trade  of  France,  her 
colonies  and  her  protectorates,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  British  Empire  and  its  dependencies,  is 
concerned.  Italy  will  enjoy  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  France  and  Great  Britain 
have  reciprocally  guaranteed  each  other  in 
the  ports  of  Alexandretta,  Haifa  and  of  Saint 
Jean  d'Acre  [Akka]  by  Article  5  of  the  agree- 
ments mentioned  heretofore.  Mersina  shall 
be  a  free  port  with  regard  to  the  trade  of 
Italy,  her  colonies  and  her  protectorates,  and 
there  shall  be  no  difference  of  treatment  nor 
any  advantages  in  port  duties  which  may  be 
refused  to  Italian  ships  or  goods.  Italian 
goods  destined  to  or  coming  from  the  Italian 
zone  shall  obtain  free  transit  through  Mersina 
and  on  the  railway  crossing  the  vilayet  of 
Adana.  There  shall  be  no  difference  of  treat- 
ment, direct  or  indirect,  as  against  Italian 
goods  on  any  railway  line  nor  in  any  port 
along  the  Oillcian  coast  and  serving  the 
Italian  zone  at  the  expense  of  Italian  ships 
or  (merchandise. 

3.  The  form  of  the  international  administra- 


tion in  the  brown  zone,  which  forms  the  ob- 
ject of  Article  3  of  the  said  arrangements  of 
May  9  and  16,  1916,  shall  be  decided  in  agree- 
ment with  Italy. 

4.  On  her  part  Italy  adheres  to  the  pro- 
visions concerning  the  ports  of  Haifa  and 
Akka  contained  in  Article  4  of  the  same 
agreements. 

5.  Italy  adheres,  in  so  far  as  the  green  and 
(C)  zones  are  concerned,  to  the  two  para- 
graphs of  Article  8  of  the  Anglo-French 
agreements  referring  to  the  customs  system 
to  be  maintained  in  the  blue  and  red  zones, 
as  well  as  in  the  zones  "A"  and  "  B." 

6.  It  is  understood  that  the  interests  pos- 
sessed by  each  power  in  the  zones  falling  to 
the  lot  of  the  other  powers  shall  be  scrupu- 
lously respected,  but  that  the  powers  con- 
cerned in  such  interests  shall  not  make  use 
of  them   for   political  action. 

7.  The  provisions  contained  in  Articles  10, 
11  and  12  of  the  Anglo-French  agreements 
concerning  the  Arabian  Peninsula  and  the 
Red  Sea  are  considered  as  equally  applicable 
to  Italy  as  if  that  power  were  named  in 
articles  together  with  France  and  Great 
Britain  as  one  of  the  contracting  parties. 

8.  It  is  understood  that,  in  case  it  should 
not  be  possible  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war 
to  secure  to  one  or  more  of  the  said  powers 


502 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  whole  of  the  advantages  contemplated  in 
the  agreements  concluded  by  the  allied  pow- 
ers concerning  the  allotment  to  each  of  them 
of  a  portion  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  the 
maintenance  of  the  Mediterranean  equilibrium 
shall  be  fairly  taken  into  consideration,  in 
conformity  with  Article  9  of  the  Pact  of 
London  of  April  26,  1915,  in  any  change  or 
arrangement  affecting  the  provinces  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  as  a  consequence  of  the  war. 
9.  It  is  understood  that  the  present  memo- 
randum shall  be  communicated  to  the  Rus- 
sian Government  in  order  to  enable  it  to 
express  its  opinion, 

INSTRUCTIONS  TO  M.  PICOT 

Along  with  the  foregoing  secret  agree- 
ments The  Manchester  Guardian  pub- 
lished the  text  of  the  instructions  sent 
by  the  French  Foreign  Minister  to  F. 
Georges  Picot,  the  French  Commissary  in 
Syria  and  Palestine.  M.  Picot  was  to 
have  a  small  contingent  of  troops,  and 
his  mission  was  to  leave  the  French 
trade  mark,  so  to  speak,  alongside  the 
British  trade  mark  throughout  the  newly 
conquered  territory.  The  text  of  this 
document  is  as  follows: 

Paris,  April  2,  1917. 
The  victorious  advance  which  has  taken  the 
British  army  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Pal- 
estine on  the  way  to  Jerusalem  called  for 
some  step  on  the  part  of  the  power  which  has 
always  possessed  a  preponderant  position  in 
the  Ottoman  Empire,  and  whose  special 
rights  in  Armenia  and  Syria  have  just  found 
confirmation  in  the  agreements  recently  con- 
cluded with  England  and  Russia.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  the  republic  has  not  overlooked 
this,  although  intensely  engaged  in  other 
directions  by  the  urgent  duty  of  defending 
the  French  soil.  It  has  therefore  notified  the 
Cabinet  of  St.  James's  of  its  decision  to  dis- 
patch to  the  occupied  territories  a  representa- 
tive, with  a  small  contingent  of  troops,  whose 
functions  shall  be  to  show  the  populations 
the  complete  agreement  existing  between  the 
Allies,  as  well  as  to  establish  the  joint  char- 
acter of  the  action  pursued  in  those  regions. 

Your  designation  as  Commissary  of  the 
republic  in  the  occupied  territories  of  Pales- 
tine and  Syria  and  the  placing  at  your  dis- 
posal of  a  military  contingent  which  shall 
carry  our  flag  are  prompted  by  that  preoc- 
cupation. The  task  intrusted  to  you  is 
thereby  clearly  defined.  You  will  have,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  organize  the  occupied  terri- 
tories so  as  to  insure  to  France  a  situation 
equal  to  that  of  England  in  all  relations  with 
the  native  populations.  On  the  other  hand, 
while  our  troops  will  join  the  English  army 
in  attacking  the  Turks,  you  will  have  to  en- 
deavor, by  all  the  means  for  propaganda 
among  Arabs  which  you  may  possess,  to 
facilitate  the  advance  of  the  allied  forces  by 


creating  diversions  threatening  to  the  enemy 
army,  and  thereby  shaking  its  morale. 

SIGN  OF  PERFECT  AGREEMENT 

The  presence  of  our  flag  side  by  side  with 
that  of  Britain  will  be  a  sign  not  to  be  over- 
looked, which  should  impress  upon  all  the 
perfect  agreement  existing  between  France 
and  England.  "Wherever,  therefore,  occupa- 
tion may  follow  from  the  achievement  of  one 
or  the  other  contingent,  you  will  have  to  see 
that  the  colors  of  both  countries  shall  be  im- 
mediately flown.  In  that  way  will  be  made 
manifest  the  agreement  which  exists  between 
our  allies  and  ourselves  in  this  as  in  all 
other  war  zones,  and  which  has  made  possi- 
ble precisely  in  the  East  the  settlement  of 
questions  hitherto  seemingly  unsolvable. 

Since  you  are  come  to  deliver  the  popula- 
tions of  Palestine  and  Syria  from  the  op- 
pression of  the  Turks  and  to  call  them  to  a 
life  of  liberty,  you  will  have  to  resort  for 
the  organization  of  the  occupied  territories 
exclusively  to  native  elements,  and  respect  as 
fully  as  possible  local  customs  and  traditions. 
For  nothing  could  more  clearly  establish  the 
spirit  in  which  we  intend  to  carry  out  our 
action  than  such  disinterested  conduct.  For 
the  rest,  the  country  will  supply  you  with  all 
the  elements  necessary,  whose  assistance  you 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  enlisting,  always 
striving,  in  making  your  choice,  to  take  into 
account  in  each  particular  case  the  racial  and 
religious  elements  whose  government  will  be 
in  question. 

You  are  to  put  yourself  into  touch  for  that 
purpose  with  the  political  officer  which  the 
Royal  Government  will  have  sent  to  Pales- 
tine, keeping  in  mind  that  there  is  for  the 
time  being  no  question  of  creating  a  final 
situation,  but  merely  of  insuring  the  good 
administration  of  the  conquered  territories 
while  preparing  the  ground,  however,  for 
the  application  of  recent  agreements  upon 
the  conclusion  of  peace.  In  this  respect 
you  will  have  to  distinguish  between  the 
various  regions  affected  by  these  agree- 
ments. "While  it  will  be  right  to  allow  your 
colleague  greater  freedom  of  action  in  the 
Zone  "  B,"  which  is  to  come  one  day  within 
the  English  sphere  of  influence,  he  ought  to 
grant  us  equally  favorable  treatment  in  the 
Zone  "A,"  which  is  to  be  subjected  to  our 
supervision.  Finally,  in  the  coastal  zone, 
which  one  day  will  be  placed  under  our  pro- 
tectorate, your  direction  should  have  a  more 
exclusive  character,  so  as  to  give  the  popu- 
lations clear  intimation  of  the  future  which 
is  in  store  for  them. 

During  the  advance  of  the  French  corps 
you  will  have  to  face  problems  of  a  more 
special  character.  A  long  tradition  has  given 
France  everywhere  in  the  East,  and  espe- 
cially in  Palestine,  a  unique  position  which 
carries,  together  with  certain  privileges,  im- 
perative duties.  The  war  with  Turkey  has 
with  one  stroke  put  an  end  to  the  past. 
You  should  after  your  arrival  at  once  resume 


THE  PARTITION  OF  TURKEY 


tin  interrupted  customs,  and  Insure  the  pro- 
tection of  the  establishments  which  have  al- 
ways been  connected  with  our  country.  You 
should  specially  endeavor  to  secure,  in  so  far 
as  possible,  the  reopening  of  our  schools  and 
of  our  hospitals,  so  that  the  first  result  to 
be  derived  by  the  local  populations  from  the 
advance  of  our  soldiers  shall  be  the  revival 
of  the  civilizing  and  beneficent  work  of 
France  Interrupted  for  a  while  by  the  war. 

POLICY  IN  PALESTINE 

In  entering  Falestine  you  will  come  into 
contact  with  numerous  Jewish  colonies.  It 
is  desirable  to  grant  them  from  the  outset  a 
large  measure  of  protection  and  to  mark 
the  new  situation  by  intrusting  them  with 
the  administration  of  their  communities  and 
with  a  share  in  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try. For  you  are  no  doubt  aware  that  the 
policy  pursued  toward  them  is  destined  to 
create  a  profound  impression,  not  only 
among  their  co-religionists  residing  in  allied 
and  neutral  countries,  but  even  among  those 
living  in  enemy  countries.  It  would  there- 
fore be  in  our  interest  to  Inspire  them  with 
the  greatest  expectations  concerning  that 
which  the  Allies,  intend  to  do  for  them  on 
the  soil  to  which  they  are  attached  by  a 
millennian  past,  and  to  which  some  of  them 
desire  to  return  In  order  to  establish  settle- 
ments. 

However  important  this  part  of  the  task 
intrusted  to  you,  an  altogether  different  sig- 
nificance attaches  to  the  activity  which  you 
will  have  to  develop  among  the  Mohammedan 
Arab  elements  with  a  view  to  inducing  them 
openly  to  declare  in  our  favor.  In  fact,  it 
has  to  facilitate  in  the  most  effective  way 
the  northward  advance  of  the  allied  troops 
and  to  attach  to  us  energetic  populations 
whom  old  sentiments  as  well  as  recent  events 
in  the  East  cause  to  turn  their  eyes  more 
willingly  toward  England.  The  recent  allied, 
operations  against  Turkey,  considered  in  the 
East  as  formidable  failures,  and,  so  far  as 
France  is  concerned,  not  yet  made  good  by 
victories  such  as  those  of  Bagdad  and  Gaza, 
have  seriously  affected  the  prestige  of  our 
country  in  the  eyes  of  these  populations : 
while  opposition  to  the  Christians,  our  old 
prot6g6s,  has  always  caused  Mohammedan 
Arabs  to  regard  us  with  suspicion.  Since 
the  beginning  of  the  war  their  delegates 
have  often  pressed  upon  the  French  repre- 
sentatives the  fact  that  a  unique  oppor- 
tunity was  offered  us  to  appear  in  their 
eyes  as  liberators.  It  Is  Incumbent  upon  u« 
not  to  neglect  It. 

ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THE  ARABS 

Lacking  the  Immediate  dispatch  of  a  some- 
what strong  contingent,  allowing  our  flag  to 
appear  before  the  eyes  as  it  should,  you  must 
endeavor  to  invest  our  present  action  with  all 
the  importance  and  impressiveness  of  which 
it  is  capable.  For  the  rest,  the  agreements 
recently  signed  will  indicate  to  you  in  broad 


lines  the  policy  to  be  followed  toward  th<- 
Arabs.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to  liberate  a 
people  long  subjected  by  the  Turks  and  ren- 
der it  the  privileges  to  which  it  is  entitled. 
Our  action  must  tend  to  restore  its  brilliance 
to  a  civilization  which  has  not  been  without 
greatness,  differing  in  that  from  the  policy  of 
the  rulers  at  Constantinople,  who  persecuted 
the  most  illustrious  of  the  Arabs  and  tried  to 
exclude  their  language  even  from  sacred 
books.  You  are  to  emphasize  these  senti- 
ments in  the  proclamation  which  you  will 
have  to  address  to  them. 

You  will  lay  weight  especially  on  the  point 
that  there  is  no  intention  of  imposing  upon 
them  foreign  Governors,  but  solely  of  assist- 
ing them  to  create  national  institutions  capa- 
ble of  insuring  ordered  government.  For  the 
purpose  of  inducing  the  Arabs  actively  to 
operate  against  the  Turks,  with  a  view  to 
cutting  their  communications  and  disorgan- 
izing their  army,  you  will  have,  moreover, 
various  other  means  at  your  disposal.  You 
will  reward  with  money  the  desertions  they 
may  cause,  and  the  raids  against  railways 
or  lines  of  supply.  You  will  create  bands 
capable  of  harassing  our  enemies  and  of 
k  <i  ng  the  mountain  by  distributing  arms 
and  ammunition  to  the  tribes  which  shall 
have  expressed  sentiments  favorable  to  our 
cause.  You  will  direct  and.  co-ordinate  their 
movements  by  an  intelligent  service,  keeping 
in  close  contact  with  the  Arabs.  Finally,  you 
will  direct  their  aspirations  by  forming  at 
your  headquarters  a  council  composed  of 
delegates  of  the  various  chiefs. 

These  general  lines  once  laid  down,  it  will 
rest  with  you  to  settle  details  of  execution 
and  the  difficulties  which  you  may  have  to 
face.  I  leave  it  to  you,  especially,  to  settle 
with  General  Murray  on  your  arrival  in 
Egypt  the  conditions  under  which  the  troops 
at  your  disposal  are  to  be  employed,  with  a 
view  to  giving  our  co-operation  the  greatest 
possible  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the  popu- 
lations. 

The  task  hereby  intrusted  to  you  is  a  com- 
plement to  the  work  you  carried  out  in  the 
course  of  the  negotiations  with  which  you 
were  charged  last  year  in  London  and  Petro- 
grad.  You  will  have,  therefore,  constantly  to 
refer  to  the  text  of  the  signed  arrangements, 
in  order  to  follow  out  their  spirit  in  every 
circumstance  and  thereby  prepare  the  early 
realization  of  our  agreements.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  republic  relies  upon  your  tact  to 
achieve  this  work  and  harmony  in  the  com- 
mon action  with  our  allies,  as  well  as  upon 
your  energy  to  safeguard  the  interests  with 
the  defense  of  which  you  are  hereby  in- 
trusted. 

A  more  blunt  and  businesslike  memo- 
randum on  the  same  subject  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  French  Ministry  of  Foreign 
Affairs  on  April  10,  1917,  by  Count 
Vitalis,  head  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 


504 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


lie  Works.  It  outlined  some  very  definite 
claims  which  France  ought  to  make  and 
threw  further  light  on  the  intimate  con- 
nection between  foreign  colonial  policy 
and  financial  interests  in  the  minds  of 
the  Allies. 

SMYRNA  GIVEN  TO  ITALY 

The  final  division  of  Asia  Minor 
among  the  Allies  was  arranged  nearly 
five  months  after  the  United  States 
entered  the  war,  yet  our  Government  was 
not  consulted;  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
carefully  prevented  from  learning  what 
was  going  on.  Nor  is  there  any  evidence 
that  the  Kerensky  Government  in  Russia, 
which,  like  ours,  was  an  advocate  of  self- 
determination  of  nationalities,  was  ever 
communicated  with  on  the  subject, 
though  the  document  given  below  con- 
tains a  provision  for  such  action.  The 
most  striking  feature  of  this  further 
elaboration  of  the  secret  treaty  is  that 
it  gives  Smyrna  to  Italy.  At  present  this 
port  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  The 
Italian  Government  claimed  it  at  Ver- 
sailles and  is  claiming  it  now.  The  au- 
thority on  which  it  bases  this  claim  was 
made  public  for  the  first  time  by  a  cor- 
respondent of  The  New  York  Globe  and 
Chicago  Daily  News  on  Feb.  9,  1920.  It 
is  a  letter  from  Arthur  Balfour,  British 
Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  to  the 
French  Government,  and  reads  as  fol- 
lows: 

Foreign  Office,  Aug.  18,  1917,  Sir:— I 
have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  in 
reply  to  a  note  addressed  to  me  on  the 
18th  inst.  by  the  Italian  Ambassador  in 
London,  I  have  officially  notified  his 
Excellency  that  his  Majesty's  Government 
agree  that  the  following  provisions 
embody  the  results  of  the  conversation 
between  the  Governments  of  France, 
Great  Britain,  and  Italy  at  St.  Jean  de 
Maurienne  and  of  subsequent  conferences 
concerning  Asia  Minor. 

I  have  at  the  same  time  informed  Mar- 
quis Imperial!  that  these  provisions  should 
remain  secret. 

"  Subject  to  Russia's  assent. 

"  1.  The  Italian  Government  adheres  to 
the  stipulations  contained  in  Articles  1 
and  2  of  the  Franco-British  agreements 
of  May  9  and  16,  1916.  On  their  side  the 
Governments  of  France  and  of  Great 
Britain  recognize  for  Italy,  under  the 
same  conditions  of  administration  and  of 
interests,   the  green  zones  and   '  C 

"  2.  Italy  pledges  herself  to  make 
Smyrna   a  free  port   as   far   as   concerns 


the  commerce  of  France,  her  colonies  and 
her  protectorates,  and  also  the  commerce 
of  the  British  Empire  and  dependencies. 
Italy  will  enjoy  the  rights  and  privileges 
that  France  and  Great  Britain  have  re- 
ciprocally assured  to  themselves  in  the 
ports  of  Alexandretta,  of  Haifa,  and  of  St. 
Jean  d'Acre,  as  per  Article  5  of  the  said 
provisions.  Mersina  will  be  a  free  port 
as  far  as  concerns  the  commerce  of  Italy, 
her  colonies  and  protectorates,  and  there 
will  be  no  difference  of  treatment  nor 
advantages  in  the  rights  of  port,  which 
are  not  to  be  refused  to  the  navy  or  mer- 
chandise of  Italy.  There  will  be  free 
transit  through  Mersina  and  by  railroad 
across  the  vilayet  of  Adana  for  Italian 
merchandise  bound  to  and  from  the 
Italian  zone.  There  will  be  no  difference 
of  treatment,  direct  or  indirect,  at  the 
expense  of  Italian  merchandise  or  ships 
in  any  port  along  the  coast  of  Galicia, 
in  supplying  the  Italian  zone. 

"  3.  The  form  of  international  adminis- 
tration in  the  brown  zone  mentioned  in 
Article  3  of  the  said  agreements  of  May 
9  and  16,  1916,  will  be  decided  together 
with  Italy. 

"  4.  Italy,  as  far  as  she  is  concerned, 
consents  to  the  dispositions  relative  to  the 
ports  of  Haifa  and  of  Acre  contained  in 
Article  4  of  the  same  provisions. 

"  5.  Concerning  the  green  zone  and 
zone  '  C  Italy  adheres  to  the  two  para- 
graphs of  Article  8  of  the  Franco-British 
agreements  regarding  the  customs  sys- 
tem which  shall  be  maintained  in  the 
blue  and  red  zones,  as  well  as  in  zones 
'A'   and  '  B.' 

"6.  It  is  understood  that  the  interests 
which  each  power  possesses  in  the  zones 
controlled  by  the  other  powers  shall  be 
scrupulously  respected,  but  that  the 
powers  controlling  these  interests  will  not 
use  them  as  means  for  political  action. 

"  7.  The  dispositions  contained'  in  Ar- 
ticles 10,  11  and  12  of  the  Franco-Eng- 
lish agreements,  concerning  the  Arabic 
peninsula  and  the  Red  Sea,  will  be  con- 
sidered as  equally  applicable  to  Italy  as 
if  that  power  were  named  in  these  articles 
with  France  and  Great  Britain  with  the 
title   of   a  contracting   party. 

"8.  It  is  understood  that  if,  at  the 
conclusion  of  peace,  the  advantages  em- 
bodied in  the  agreements  contracted 
among  the  allied  powers  as  to  the  handing 
over  to  each  of  them  a  part  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire  could  not  be  entirely  as- 
sured to  one  or  more  of  the  said  powers, 
then  in  whatever  alterations  or  arrange- 
ment of  provinces  of  the  oltoman 
Empire  made  as  a  consequence  of  the 
war,  the  maintenance  of  the  equilibrium 
in  the  Mediterranean  will  be  given  equit- 
able consideration,  in  conformity  with 
Article  9  of  the  London  agreement  of 
April   26,    1915. 

"9.  It  has  been  agreed  that  the  present 
memorandum  will  be  communicated  to  the 


THE  PARTITION  OF  TURKEY 


Russian  Government,  so  as  to  allow  It  to 
make  known  Its  views." 
I  have  the  honor,  Ac,  BALFOUR. 

This  communication  was  addressed  to 
M.  de  Fleuriau,  French  Charge  d'Affaires 
at  London,  who  transmitted  it  to  Foreigp 
Minister  F.ibot  in  Paris  on  Aug.  24,  1917, 
with  injunctions  as  to  its  secrecy.  The 
memorandum  contained  in  Mr.  Balfour's 
letter  had  been  drawn  up  in  London  on 
Aug.  8,  and  had  already  been  communi- 
cated to  the  Italian  Ambassador  at  Paris. 
On  Aug.  22  M.  Ribot  wrote  to  the  Italian 
Ambassador  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  the  text  and  map  in  question,  and 
adding :  "  I  agree  with  his  Excellency, 
Baron  Sonnino,  on  the  terms  of  the  said 
memorandum,  which  must  remain  secret." 


It  is  along  the  lines  of  these  secret 
agreements  that  events  have  been  mov- 
ing in  Asia  Minor  ever  since  the  war;  in 
fact,  the  subjoined  map  throws  a  flood 
of  clarifying  light  on  the  medley  of  an- 
nexationist activities  in  that  region.  With 
the  additional  element  of  a  Greek  force 
at  Smyrna  edging  its  way  into  the  ter- 
ritory originally  assigned  to  Italy,  the 
whole  situation  is  made  clear;  each  nation 
is  proceeding  to  occupy  as  large  a  por- 
tion as  possible  of  the  region  mapped 
out  for  it  in  the  secret  agreement.  The 
map  likewise  contributes  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  long  delay  in  deciding 
what  is  to  become  of  Anatolian  Armenia 
and  of  the  remnants  of  Turkey. 


Japan  and  China 


China,   Still  Hostile  to   Shantung   Clauses   of   Peace   Treaty, 
Rejects  Japan's  Overtures 

[Period  Ended  Feb.  15,  1920] 


TEE  strained  situation  between 
Japan  and  China  over  the  rights 
acquired  by  the  Japanese  in  Shan- 
tung Peninsula  through  the  peace 
settlement  was  not  relieved  during  Jan- 
uary and  February  by  the  unceasing 
utterances  of  Japanese  publicists  and 
statesmen  insisting  that  it  was  Japan's 
irrevocable  intention  to  restore  Shantung 
in  full  sovereignty  to  China,  and  that 
she  intended  to  retain  only  the  economic 
concessions  which  she  had  taken  over 
from  Germany.  China  continued  its 
determined  boycott  of  all  Japanese  com- 
modities, though  it  entailed  enormous  loss 
to  Japanese  and  Chinese  merchants  alike. 
This  boycott  was  considered  by  the  Japa- 
nese authorities  to  threaten  the  gravest 
economic  consequences. 

The  firmness  of  the  new  attitude  of  the 
Chinese  Government  toward  Japan  was 
brought  into  strong  relief  by  disorders 
at  Fuchow  on  Nov.  16,  in  which  many 
Chinese  were  attacked,  killed  or  wounded 
by  Japanese  residents.  The  Chinese 
Foreign  Ministry  on  Dec.  1  presented  a 
note  to   the  Japanese  Legation  dealing 


with  these  assaults,  and  making  the  fol- 
lowing demands :  That  the  Japanese  Con- 
sul at  Fuchow  be  removed;  that  the 
Japanese  pay  an  indemnity  for  the  loss 
of  all  Chinese  lives  at  this  port  as  the 
result  of  the  attacks,  and  also  pay  the 
cost  of  all  medical  expenses  incurred  by 
the  Chinese  wounded;  that  adequate 
punishment  be  meted  out  to  all  the  Japa- 
nese ringleaders;  and  that  the  Japanese 
Consul  at  Fuchow  make  an  apology  to 
the  Chinese  authorities  of  that  city. 

Meanwhile  it  was  reported  at  Peking 
on  Dec.  2  that  the  whole  of  China  was 
aflame  over  the  Fuchow  incident.  Keen 
resentment  was  expressed  by  the  Chinese 
press  over  the  arrival  of  four  Japanese 
warships  at  Fuchow,  following  the  dis- 
orders. The  Japanese  marines,  after 
landing  and  parading  in  the  Foreign 
Concession,  attempted  to  enter  the  native 
city,  but  were  prevented  by  the  local  au- 
thorities. Charges  were  made  that  the 
Japanese  aggression  at  Fuchow  heralded 
Japan's  intention  to  seize  Fukien,  which 
territory  she  was  said  to  covet  as  much 
as    she   did    Shantung.      Many   protests 


506 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


poured  in  at  Peking,  including  that  of 
seventy-two  guilds  in  Canton,  and  public 
feeling,  reflected  in  the  tone  and  in  the 
demands  of  the  Chinese  Government's 
note  to  Japan,  was  at  white  heat.  A  con- 
ciliatory spirit  was  shown  in  an  official 
announcement  issued  by  the  Japanese 
Legation  at  Peking  on  Dec.  31,  which 
said  that  the  Japanese  warships  sta- 
tioned at  Fuchow  would  be  withdrawn, 
as  order  had  been  restored.  This  note 
continued : 

In  co-relation  with  this  voluntary  step, 
the  Japanese  Government  hopes  the  Chi- 
nese authorities  will  further  exert  their 
utmost  efforts  to  insure  protection  to 
Japanese,  as  well  as  preservation  of  peace 
and  order  throughout  China,  with  a  view 
to  avoiding  a  recurrence  of  such  unpleas- 
ant events. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  presence  of 
the  Japanese  warships  at  Fuchow  the 
economic  boycott  had  been  universally 
intensified.  The  Japanese  announcement 
of  the  ships'  withdrawal,  therefore,  was 
interpreted  in  Chinese  quarters  as  a  proof 
of  the  effectiveness  of  this  boycott,  as 
well  as  of  the  firm  stand  taken  by  the 
Chinese  Government  in  its  official  note, 
and  the  Chinese  attitude  of  hostility 
underwent  no  visible  change. 

JAPANESE  DENIAL 

The  Japanese,  however,  both  in  Japan 
and  abroad,  continued  to  insist  that  their 
intentions  toward  China  were  grossly 
misunderstood.  Viscount  Y.  Uchida,  for 
instance,  in  an  article  called  "  Plain 
Facts  on  Shantung,"  which  appeared  in 
The  Independent  on  Jan.  1,  reiterated 
Japan's  intentions  to  act  in  good  faith 
in  restoring  Shantung  to  China,  and 
added: 

If  the  people  of  America  would  consider 
this  question  in  its  true  light,  if  they 
would  delete  the  specious  argument  of 
the  active  propagandist  in  America,  they 
should  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  safe 
ground  for  assurance  that  for  every  rea- 
son Japan  must  keep  faith  with  her 
friends,  and  that  in  fact  China  will  ben- 
efit by  the  decision  with  regard  to  Shan- 
tung as  reached  by  the  conferees  in  Paris. 
Before  the  ink  was  dry  upon  the  signa- 
tures of  the  representatives  of  the  Em- 
peror of  Japan  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace, 
the  cry  was  raised  against  the  Shantung 
award  in  that  treaty.  A  widespread  and 
suspicious  propaganda  was  built  upon  the 
hypothesis    that   Japan    entered    the    war 


without  a  scintilla  of  the  better  or  higher 
motives  of  her  allies,  solely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  self-aggrandizement,  and  that 
finally  the  representatives  of  the  Emperor 
of  Japan  signed  the  treaty  with  their 
tongues  in  their  cheeks,  intending  to 
.carry  out  their  part  in  letter,  perhaps, 
but  not  in  spirit.  In  other  words,  the 
logical  conclusion  would  be  that  the  Jap- 
anese Government  was  a  treacherous  con- 
spirator against  the  peace  of  the  world  at 
the  very  moment  she  signed  and  ratified 
the  Treaty  of  Peace. 

Impossible !  The  assertion  is  false ;  it 
is  dangerous.  It  is  being  urged  by  press 
agents  for  an  ulterior  purpose,  but  there 
can  be  but  one  fair  conclusion,  based 
upon  all  the  facts.  That  conclusion  was 
reached  by  the  conference  in  Paris, 
namely,  that  Japan  as  one  of  the  five 
main  powers  signatory  will  keep  faith  and 
abide  by  the  treaty  as  she  always  has 
kept  faith  with  other  nations.    *    *    * 

Japan  is  determined  to  restore  Tsing- 
tao  to  China  in  full  sovereignty.  What 
Japan  intends  to  retain  are  only  the  eco- 
nomic privileges  granted  to  Germany, 
which  she  will  share  with  China,  and  she 
has  no  intention  to  hold  or  demand  any 
right  whatsoever  which  is  likely  to  affect 
China's  territorial  sovereignty. 

Japan  is  ready  and  will  not  hesitate  to 
enter  upon  negotiations  with  the  Govern- 
ment of  China  as  to  arrangements  for  the 
restitution  of  Tsing-tao  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble after  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  comes 
into  force. 

In  an  address  delivered  at  the  opening 
of  the  Japanese  Diet  on  Jan.  21  the  Jap- 
anese Premier,  Mr.  Hara,  similarly  in- 
sisted on  Japan's  intention  to  fulfill  ex- 
actly the  clauses  of  the  Peace  Treaty 
affecting  Shantung,  and  further  an- 
nounced that  the  Japanese  Government 
was  already  taking  active  steps  to  trans- 
late this  intention  into  reality.  Kiao- 
Chau  and  Tsing-tao,  he  declared,  would 
be  returned  to  China,  and  the  Shantung 
Railway  would  be  operated  in  union 
with  China,  in  accordance  with  the  terms 
of  the  Chino-Japanese  agreement  of  1918. 

NEGOTIATIONS    BEGUN 

Yukichi  Obata,  the  Japanese  Minister 
to  China,  on  Jan.  19  notified  the  Peking 
Government  that  Japan,  having  suc- 
ceeded to  Germany's  rights  in  Shantung 
on  Jan.  10  in-  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  treaty,  was  ready  to  ne- 
gotiate with  China  at  any  time  for  their 
return,  and  for  the  retrocession  of  the 
leased  territory.  When  arrangements 
were  completed,  it  was  further   stated, 


JAPAN  AND   CHINA 


507 


Japan,  granting  the  existence  of  normal 
conditions,  would  withdraw  her  railroad 
guards  from  Shantung.  The  full  offer, 
given  out  officially  by  the  Tokio  Foreign 
Office  on  Jan.  25,  contained  the  fol- 
lowing provisions: 

1.  The  Japanese  Government  desires  to 
open  negotiations  regarding  the  retroces- 
sion of  Kiao-Chau  Bay  and  other  meas- 
ures with  the  view  of  effecting  a  sincere 
and  speedy  settlement,  and  hopes  that 
the  Chinese  Government  will  make  neces- 
sary preparations. 

2.  With  regard  to  troops  along  the 
Shantung  Railway,  Japan  intends  to 
withdraw  them  as  soon  as  possible,  even 
before  reaching  an  agreement  with  China, 
unless  the  absence  of  other  railway 
guards  affects  the  security  of  communica- 
tions and  the  interests  both  of  Japan  and 
China,  her  partner,  in  which  case  the 
Japanese  will  garrison  the  railway  until 
the  Chinese  Government  has  organized  a 
railway  police  force.  Since,  however, 
Japan  desires  to  withdraw  even  before  a 
Japanese-Chinese  agreement  has  been 
reached,  Japan  hopes  for  the  earliest  or- 
ganization of  Chinese   railway  police. 

CHINA    REFUSES    PARLEY 

An  unexpected  development  arose  when 
the  Chinese  Cabinet,  at  a  meeting  held 
on  Jan.  26,  decided  to  refuse  to  negotiate 
with  Japan  on  the  ground  that  such 
action  would  be  equivalent  to  acceptance 
of  the  Peace  Treaty  with  Germany,  which 
China  had  refused  to  sign.  This  deci- 
sion was  referred  to  the  Foreign  Office. 
Numerous  telegrams  were  received  from 
the  provinces  opposing  any  discussion 
favoring  the  submission  of  the  question 
to  the  League  of  Nations,  and  condemn- 
ing any  action  equivalent  to  recognition 
of  the  German  treaty.  These  telegrams 
were  still  pouring  in  on  Jan.  30;  even  the 
hostile  Canton  Government  had  joined  in 
the  universal  protest  and  appeal.  Prac- 
tically every  district  in  Shantung  had 
telegraphed  the  Government  to  stand  by 
the  original  policy  and  refuse  to  comply 
with  the  wish  for  parley  which  Japan 
had  expressed.  Up  to  the  time  when 
Current  History  went  to  press,  how- 
ever, no  official  refusal  to  negotiate  had 
been  sent  to  the  Japanese  Government  by 
China. 

CHINA  LOAN  CONSORTIUM 

The  obstacles  in  the  way  of  an  inter- 
national  and  interallied  loan  to  China, 


which  was  in  sore  financial  need,  were  at 
least  provisionally  smoothed  away,  and 
discussions  between  the  representatives 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  Japan,  and  the 
United  States  continued.  The  great 
stumbling  block  had  been  Japan's  in- 
sistence on  the  exclusion  of  Southern 
Manchuria  and  Eastern  Inner  Mongolia 
from  the  application  of  the  consortium 
and  the  refusal  of  the  United  States  to 
permit  the  withdrawal  of  any  such 
special  spheres  of  influence  from  the 
scope  of  the  projected  international  loan. 
The  American  attitude  had  been  clearly 
stated  by  the  Washington  Government  on 
Nov.  22,  when  it  maintained  that  all 
legitimate  interests  would  be  conserved 
if  it  were  shown  that  there  was  no  in- 
tention on  the  part  of  the  consortium  to 
encroach  upon  established  industrial  en- 
terprises or  to  compel  the  pooling  of 
e.  isting  Japanese  options  for  their  con- 
tinuation. On  Nov.  29  Mr.  Lansing  sent 
to  the  British  Foreign  Office  an  ex- 
planation of  the  firm  resolution  of  the 
United  States  to  stand  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  "  open  door  "  policy  and 
the  rejection  of  all  claims  for  special 
spheres  of  interest. 

JAPAN  CAUSES  DEADLOCK 

Japan's  refusal  to  waive  her  special 
claims  brought  the  whole  question  to  a 
deadlock,  which  continued  through  the 
Winter,  with  Great  Britain  using  her 
good  offices  to  bring  about  an  under- 
standing between  the  two  opposing  ele- 
ments. The  attempt  of  a  group  of 
Chicago  bankers,  meanwhile,  to  nego- 
tiate a  Chinese  loan  independently 
proved  futile  owing  to  a  dispute  over 
security,  and  the  prospect  of  China's  re- 
ceiving financial  assistance  grew  ever 
fainter,  owing  to  the  inability  of  Japan 
and  the  United  States  to  agree  on  the 
consortium.  On  Feb.  12  Thomas  W. 
Lamont  and  other  American  financiers 
left  New  York  for  a  trip  to  Japan  and 
China  with  the  object  of  persuading 
Japan  to  recede  from  its  present  position 
in  regard  to  our  financing  China. 

Meanwhile,  as  announced  in  Washing- 
ton on  Jan.  29,  the  diplomatic  repre- 
sentatives in  Peking  of  the  four  nations 
involved   had   been   authorized   by  their 


508 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


respective  Governments  to  proceed  with 
negotiations  with  the  Chinese  Foreign 
Office  on  the  question  of  an  emergency 
loan  of  £5,000,000,  normally  about  $25,- 
000,000.  It  was  stated  at  this  time  that 
by  a  series  of  such  emergency  loans,  in- 
stead of  one  large  loan,  China's  pressing 
needs  would  be  satisfied,  and  neither 
Japan  nor  the  United  States  would  be 
compelled  to  abandon  its  official  stand 
regarding  the  "  open  door."  It  was 
understood  that  the  United  States  and 
Japan  would  carry  the  quota  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  in  this  first  emer- 
gency loan,  in  view  of  the  depletion  of 
the  treasury  of  both  of  the  last-named 
countries,  and  that  Italy,  Belgium  and 
Russia  might  be  admitted  to  the  con- 
sortium later  on.  The  completion  of 
negotiations  anticipatory  to  delivering 
the  £5,000,000  of  the  first  loan  was  ex- 
pected within  two  months. 

BRITISH-JAPANESE   ALLIANCE 

The  Anglo- Japanese  alliance  will  ex- 
pire in  July,  1921,  and  the  subject  of  its 
renewal  was  widely  discussed  in  Japan 
during  the  closing  months  of  1919.     Vis- 
count Kato,  who  was  the  Japanese  Am- 
bassador to  the  Court  of  St.  James's  when 
the  alliance  first  originated,  said  in  an 
article  in  the  Jiji  Shimpo  of  Dec.  2: 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  alliance 
has  for  some  twenty  years  had  a  gTeat 
Influence,  both  direct  and  indirect,  on  the 
relations  between  the  two  nations,  and  it 
i    is  not  advisable  that  the  alliance  which 
has  this  great  history  should  be  abolished 
as  a  mere  relic  of  the  past.     It  is  prac- 
ticable  to   continue   the   alliance    if   both 
contracting  powers  desire  it.     Even  if  it 
became  merely  an  agreement  or  a  mutual 
declaration,  it  would  be  better  than  noth- 
ing.    I  believe  it  is  of  vital  necessity  and 
opportune    that    our    Government    should 
lay  great  stress  on  the  question,   and  at 
once    exchange    views    with    the    British 
Government.     Not   only   I  but   the  whole 
nation  uesires  to  know  what  the  Govern- 
ment intends  to  do. 

The  Japanese  press,  as  a  whole,  was 
similarly  in  favor  of  a  renewal  of  the 
alliance.  One  exception  was  the  Niroku, 
which  openly  declared  that  the  Anglo- 
Japanese  combination  was  unnatural, 
and  that  Japan  should  go  to  China  to 
form  a  yellow-race  alliance  as  against 
the  white  races. 

The  discussion  brought  out  a  distinct 


note  of  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
based  on  the  anti-Japanese  utterances  in 
the  Senate  during  the  discussion  of  the 
Shantung  settlement;  this  feeling  had 
been  intensified  by  proposals  of  anti- 
Japanese  legislation  in  California  and  by 
the  discussion  of  Federal  legislation 
against  Japanese  immigration  to  the 
United  States.  New  sparks  were  added 
to  the  fire  by  publication  of  the  Japanese 
budget  estimates,  which  include  exces- 
sively large  sums  for  the  army  and  navy, 
particularly  for  the  latter,  the  United 
States  being  blamed  for  this  new  burden 
on  the  Japanese  Nation.  Various  papers 
have  published  articles  intended  to  show 
that  the  United  States  is  determined  to 
block  Japan's  path  in  various  directions. 
The  most  virulent  article  was  published 
by  the  Osaka  Mainichi,  which  categori- 
cally enumerated  sixteen  points  to  show 
that  the  United  States  had  been  inimical 
to  Japan  ever  since  the  latter  country 
entered  into  relations  with  the  West. 

JAPAN'S  INTERNAL  POLICY 
A  campaign  to  reduce  Government  ex- 
penses and  the  high  cost  of  living  was 
undertaken  by  the  Japanese  Government 
at  the  initiation  of  the  Emperor  toward 
the  end  of  November.  The  annual  cherry 
blossom  and  chrysanthemum  parties  were 
curtailed  of  the  customary  banquets.  The 
cotton  speculators  were  pursued  by  law, 
but  no  effective  result  was  obtained 
either  in  this  case  or  in  that  of  other 
profiteering,  which  had  aroused  a  great 
public  clamor.  The  Tokio  Chamber  of 
Commerce  passed  a  resolution  asking  the 
Government  to  deflate  currency  as  the 
only  effective  measure,  to  remove  re- 
strictions on  the  import  of  certain  useful 
commodities,  and  to  put  an  absolute  em- 
bargo on  necessary  staples  and  material. 
Premier  Hara,  on  the  eve  of  the  formal 
opening  of  the  Diet  on  Dec.  23,  asserted 
that  "  many  problems  exist,  some  of  them 
not  easy  of  solution."  Among  these  he 
cited  extension  of  the  franchise,*  "  the 
eternal  food  problem,"  and  foreign  diplo- 
macy, especially  with  reference  to  China. 
Regarding  the  first,  the  Japanese  Gov- 


*The  Japanese  franchise  has  hitherto  been 
extended  to  male  subjects  of  not  less  than 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  qualified  by  resi- 
dential and  tax-paying  requisites. 


JAPAN  AND  CHINA 


509 


ernment,  he  said,  was  ready  to  meet  the 
will  of  the  people. 

One  aspect  of  foreign  policy  which 
came  into  prominence  at  this  time  was 
Japan's  raising  of  the  question  of  racial 
equality  at  the  Peace  Conference  as  af- 
fecting the  Japanese  right  of  immigra- 
tion to  former  German  islands  in  the 
Pacific  which  had  been  allotted  to  the 
British.  A  delay  asked  by  Baron  Matsui 
in  order  to  consult  his  Government  be- 
fore agreeing  to  the  allocation  plan  was 
granted  by  the  Supreme  Council  on  Dec. 
24.  Regarding  Siberian  policy,  Japan's 
firm  resolve  to  keep  the  Bolshevist 
armies  west  of  Lake  Baikal  was  ex- 
pressed by  Premier  Hara  on  Dec.  26. 
The  Japanese  Premier  on  this  occasion 
specifically  denied  rumors  that  Japan 
was  negotiating  with  the  purpose  of  ac- 
quiring special  territories  in  Mexico,  and 
on  Jan.  22  Viscount  Uchida,  the  Foreign 
Minister,  stated  that  Japanese  immigra- 
tion to  Mexico  was  being  prohibited  in 
accordance  with  an  agreement  with  the 
United  States. 

In  Seoul,  Korea,  on  Dec.  5,  the  Supreme 
Court  confirmed  the  decision  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  convicting  the  Re\.  Eli  Miller 
Mowry,  a  Presbyterian  missionary  from 
Mansfield,  Ohio,  of  sheltering  Korean 
agitators  during  the  suppressed  Korean 
revolt.  He  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine 
of  100  yen  or  go  to  prison  for  twenty 
days,  and  was  given  thirty  days  to  decide 
which  alternative  he  preferred. 

Official  dispatches  received  in  Wash- 
ington on  Feb.  9  announced  the  begin- 
ning of  active  rebellion  in  Korea,  fostered 
by  Russian  Bolsheviki.  A  clash  between 
2,000  Koreans  and  a  Japanese  army  post 
of  700  men  in  Northern  Korea,  the  mes- 
sage said,  had  resulted  in  defeat  of  the 
Japanese,  300  of  whom  were  killed  and 
the  remainder  routed.  Details  of  the 
fight  were  not  reported. 

DEVELOPMENTS  IN  CHINA 

A  new  commercial  relationship  was 
inaugurated  between  China  and  the 
United  States  in  December,  1919,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  Chinese-American  In- 
dustrial Bank,  with  many  branches,  and 
with  Peking  as  the  head  office.  The  un- 
dertaking was  capitalized  at  $10,000,000, 


subscribed  for  equally  by  Chinese  and 
American  groups.  Of  the  directors,  six 
are  Chinese  and  five  are  Americans. 
Among  the  Americans  interested  are  E. 
P.  Bruce,  President  of  the  Pacific  De- 
velopment Company;  G.  F.  Stone,  Presi- 
dent of  Hayden,  Stone  &  Co.,  and  A.  H. 
Wiggins  of  the  Chase  National  Bank, 
New  York.  Among  the  Chinese  group 
are  the  President  of  the  republic,  Hsu 
Shih-chang;  Marshal  Tuan  Chi-jui, 
former  Prime  Minister  Chien  Nun-hsum, 
former  Presidents  Li  Yuan-hung  and 
Feng  Kwo-chang;  also  the  Military 
Governors  of  Kiangsu,  Kiangsi  and 
Hupeh. 

In  a  note  presented  by  the  British  Min- 
ister to  the  Chinese  Government  toward 
the  end  of  December  it  was  recommended 
that  China  discontinue  the  use  of  sycee 
silver  (pure  uncoined  bullion  used  as  cur- 
rency) and  establish  a  uniform  dollar 
standard  of  currency,  with  subsidiary 
silver  and  copper  coins,  in  order  to  over- 
con  m  the  disadvantages  resulting  from 
currency  depreciation  and  the  discredited 
status  of  Chinese  bank  notes.  The 
Chinese  Government  had  considered  these 
recommendations  favorably,  and  was 
planning  the  opening  of  a  central  mint  in 
Shanghai  for  the  free  coinage  of  silver. 
Chow  Tsu-chi,  former  Minister  of  Fi- 
nance, was  appointed  Director  General 
of  Currency  about  the  middle  of  January, 
and  was  charged  to  place  Chinese  ex- 
change on  a  sound  and  uniform  basis. 

A  new  Cabinet  was  formed  at  this  time 
with  General  Chin  Yun-peng,  formerly 
Acting  President,  as  Prime  Minister  and 
Minister  of  War.  The  other  members 
were: 

Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Lou 
Tseng-shiang. 

Minister  of  the  Interior  and  Minister  of 
Commerce  and  Agriculture,  Tien  Wen- 
lioh. 

Minister  of  Finance,  Li  Hsu-ho. 

Minister  of  the  Navy,  Admiral  Sah 
Cheng-ping. 

Minister  of  Justice,  Chu  Shen. 

Minister  of  Communications,  Tseng  Yu- 
chun. 

The  organization  of  a  permanent  Cabi- 
net marked  the  end  of  a  long  period  of 
political  strife  between  factions  in  Pe- 
king and  demonstrated  the  ascendency 
of  Tuan  Chi-jui,  one-time  Premier  and 


510 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


considered  the  most  powerful  politician 
in  North  China.  General  Chin,  according 
to  Far  Eastern  experts,  owed  his  acces- 
sion to  the  permanent  Premiership  to 
Tuan.  With  the  establishment  of  this 
permanent  Cabinet  it  was  believed  that 
the  way  toward  a  resumption  of  negotia- 
tions between  the  warring  Governments 
of  North  and  South  China,  and  the  con- 
clusion of  domestic  peace,  had  been 
definitely  opened. 
Under    orders    of    Yang    Tien-fu,    a 


notorious  outlaw  who,  with  some  5,000 
followers,  had  been  operating  in  the 
Kochin  Mountains,  Dr.  K.  A.  Shelton,  an 
American  missionary,  was  seized  by 
bandits  near  Yunnan-fu  on  Jan.  3  and 
held  for  ransom.  The  American  Lega- 
tion at  Peking  was  instructed  by  the 
Washington  Government  on  Jan.  12  to 
request  the  co-operation  of  the  French 
Consul  at  Yunnan-fu,  and  of  the 
Governor  of  the  Province  of  Yunnan,  in 
efforts  $o  obtain  Dr.  Shelton's  release. 


Japan's  Policy  in  China 

By  MARQUIS  OKUMA* 

[Former  Premier   of   Japan] 


OF  course,  we  cannot  deny  that  Ja- 
pan's policy  in  China  is  likely  to  be 
misunderstood  by  the  United 
States.  The  American  people  are  all  the 
more  disposed  toward  a  misunderstand- 
ing because  of  their  desire  always  to 
sympathize  with  the  weaker  party  to  a 
dispute.  It  has  long  been  a  feature  of 
American  policy  to  oppose  the  strong  in 
favor  of  the  week.  *  *  *  It  is  a  noble 
spirit,  this;  and  we  cannot  find  any  fault 
with  it.  But  what  if  it  may  prove  mis- 
placed ? 

As  all  the  world  knows,  China  is  now 
in  rather  a  bad  state,  having  lost  her 
central  authority  and  thrown  her  people 
into  confusion.  Entertaining  doubts  as 
to  whether  Japan  is  not  trying  to  take 
advantage  of  China's  weakness  and  dis- 
order to  gain  her  own  ends,  and  making 
unjust  demands  on  China,  America,  with 
characteristic  spirit,  is  sympathizing 
with  China  and  not  afraid  to  snub  Japan 
and  ask  her  to  stand  back  a  bit. 

In  addition,  there  is  the  menace  of  un- 
scrupulous merchants  and  traders  in 
China,  who,  in  their  race  for  favors  and 
concessions,  want  to  drive  Japan  out  of 
the  country,  so  that  they  may  have  a  free 
hand.  They  are  jealous  of  her  as  a 
dangerous  rival  in  the  commerce  of 
China.  The  Americans  are  a  fine  people; 
but  all  Americans  are  not  good;  they  all 
do  not  love  justice,  any  more  than  all 


♦From  the  Japanese  Magazine  for  Decem- 
ber, 1919. 


Japanese  do.  Too  many  of  these  are 
operating  in  China,  and  they  engage  in 
propaganda  calculated  to  injure  interna- 
tional relations.  Exaggerated  rumors 
and  insinuations  are  circulated  in  China 
and  sent  back  to  America  and  over  to 
Japan,  and  do  a  lot  of  harm. 

As  for  the  Chinese,  they  know  not 
what  to  make  of  it  all;  and  they  take 
advantage  of  every  small  difficulty  to 
excite  international  interest  and  sus- 
picion, often  making  mountains  out  of 
molehills.  They  go  to  British  and  Ameri- 
can merchants  with  their  complaints  and 
txy  to  induce  them  to  act  against  Japan. 

Japan  certainly  has  no  designs  on  any 
territory  of  China.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
Japan's  main  desire  and  policy  to  pre- 
serve the  territorial  integrity  of  China. 
If  Japan  has  no  desire  to  menace  the  ter- 
ritory of  China  she  just  as  certainly  does 
not  desire  to  see  any  other  country  men- 
ace it.  She  does  not  intend  to  permit 
others  to  do  in  China  what  she  would  not 
do  herself.  This  is  the  duty  of  one  neigh- 
bor to  another,  to  say  the  least. 

While  thus  guarding  the  safety  of  our 
big  neighbor,  for  our  own  sakes  as  well 
as  for  the  sake  of  China,  we  do  not  deem 
it  improper  to  desire  the  economic  and 
commercial  development  of  China,  which 
would  mean  mutual  profit  to  all.  Japan 
has  always  had  this  ambition  for  China, 
but  it  is  only  since  Japan  revealed  her 
greatness  in  the  wars  with  China  and 
Russia  that  western  nations   began   to 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  IN  CHINA 


511 


entertain  suspicions  as  to  our  motives  in 
China.  Recently  the  West  has  been  cast- 
ing jealous  eyes  on  Japan.  The  unduly 
suspicious  West  forgets  the  reason  of 
Japan's  war  with  China  and  now  con- 
nects it  with  some  ulterior  motives  on 
our  part.  Some  even  dare  to  dub  Japan 
a  second  Germany,  ready  to  practice 
atrocities  on  the  weaker  peoples  of  Asia; 
while  the  Chinese,  quick  to  seize  on  these 
slanders,  strive  to  provide  foreigners  with 
further  ground  for  apprehension.  But 
Japan,  being  aware  of  this  disposition, 
should  carefully  guard  her  actions  in 
China,  so  as  to  give  no  ground  for  mis- 
understanding. The  anti-Japanese  prop- 
aganda thus  carried  on  is  very  disad- 
vantageous to  this  country. 

Unlike  the  English  and  Americans, 
Japan  is  not  clever  at  carrying  on  propa- 
ganda in  her  own  defense,  and  certainly 
she  does  not  spend  as  much  money  on  it 
as  they,  which  must  be  put  down  to  our 
inefficient  diplomacy.  Japan  is  no  match 
for  the  West  in  diplomacy.  She  under- 
stands none  of  the  arts  by  which  a  thing 
at  one  time  may  mean  one  thing  and  at 
another  time  another  thing.  At  the 
Portsmouth  conference  Japan  lost  a  great 
deal  just  because  she  would  not  spend 
vast  sums  on  propaganda;  and  at  Ver- 
sailles she  had  the  same  experience.  In 
this  device  China  easily  scored  over 
Japan.  China  not  only  dispatched  men 
of  eloquence  and  learning  to  the  Peace 
Conference,  but  backed  them  up  with  all 
the  usual  forces  for  powerful  propa- 
ganda, while  Japan  was  satisfied  simply 
to  send  gentlemen  to  represent  her.  It  is 
all  very  well  to  be  represented  by  gentle- 
men, but  if  the  gentlemen's  notion  of 
their  duty  is  to  refrai.  from  saying  and 
proclaiming  even  what  they  ought,  it  is 
a  futile  policy.     *     *     * 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  are  some 
Japanese  in  China  who  do  not  behave 
toward  the  Chinese  as  they  ought;  and, 
though  two  wrongs  do  net  make  a  right, 
we  cannot  refrain  from  asking  whether 
all  the  British  and  Americans  in  China 
behave  properly?  As  for  looking  after 
number  one  and  obtaining  the  spoils 
wherever  possible,  the  Japanese  in  China 
have  nothing  on  their  British  and 
American  rivals.     If  Japan  is  misunder- 


stood because  of  her  nationals  in  China, 
how  is  it  the  other  nations  are  not  mis- 
understood in  the  same  way?  Is  this 
due  to  more  careful  propaganda,  or 
what?  Japan  does  not  condone  the  ill- 
behavior  of  any  of  her  people  who  offend 
in  China.  She  constantly  warns  them 
against  besmirching  the  character  of 
their  country  by  ill  deeds.  In  this  mat- 
ter Japan  would  be  greatly  obliged  if  the 
English  and  Americans,  who  are  from 
Christian  countries,  would  show  the  Japa- 
nese a  better  example.  People  of  Chris- 
tian countries  should  be  the  last  to  force 
themselves  on  others.  It  is  Christian,  no 
doubt,  to  recommend  good  things,  but  is 
it  Christian  to  force  others  to  accept 
them? 

No  one  can  wonder  that  all  the  world 
now  has  its  eyes  on  China,  because  China 
has  an  area  as  large  as  all  Europe, 
awaiting  development  of  vast  and 
wealthy  resources.  It  is  right  that  the 
various  nations  of  the  world  should  de- 
sire to  participate  in  developing  China, 
but  there  is  no  need  to  bite  and  devour 
one  another  over  it.  Can  they  not  agree 
to  co-operate  in  assisting  China  and 
bringing  her  into  line  with  modem  prog- 
ress? How  can  Japan,  which  is  not  as 
powerful  as  her  rivals,  be  suspected  of 
trying  to  get  the  lion's  share  of  profit  out 
of  China  ?  And  as  for  her  attempting  to 
play  the  tyrant  in  China,  the  idea  is  too 
absurd  for  honest  consideration! 

With  the  conclusion  of  peace  the 
League  of  Nations  has  been  established, 
and  now  surely  all  international  bicker- 
ings and  feuds  will  be  at  an  end.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  League  will  justify  our 
expectations.  But  suppose  China  should 
take  advantage  of  the  League  to  propose 
something  absurd  or  unreasonable;  it 
would  make  moi'e  trouble  than  peace. 
Japan  has  been  proclaimed  one  of  the 
five  great  powers  fathering  the  League 
of  Nations;  but  Japan  has  no  great 
power.  China  is  always  disposed  to  de- 
spise Japan  as  a  country  with  no  great 
influence  in  the  world.  Thus  she  pre- 
tends to  rely  on  England  and  America, 
who  have  more  power  than  Japan.  What 
China  cannot  forget  is  the  fact  that  for 
long  ages  she  regarded  Japan  as  an  in- 
ferior nation  of  no  great  significance  in 


512 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


the  world.  But  so  long  as  China  is  led 
to  believe,  because  England  and  America 
are  so  powerful,  that  she  can  take  refuge 
under  their  wings  while  defying  and  in- 
sulting Japan,  there  will  be  trouble. 

There  is  no  need  that  the  habits  and 
condition  of  China  should  be  allowed  to 
create  bad  feeling  between  Japan  and 
America.  If  such  a  feeling  is  fomented 
it  is  the  work  of  unscrupulous  persons 
who  are  anxious  to  make  trouble  for  us. 
Any  difference  of  opinion  between 
America  and  Japan  in  regard  to  China 
can  only  lead  to  the  injury  of  all  con- 
cerned, and,  most  of  all,  to  China  herself. 

There  is  really  too  much  of  a  disposi- 
tion in  America  to  agree  with  China  that 
since  Japan  is  a  small  country  of  no  great 
power  she  may  be  ignored  or  despised. 
For  instance,  when  Japan  appeared  in  the 
south  seas  America  was  much  excited, 
and  even  raised  objections,  yet  nothing  at 
all  was  said  when  the  Germans  occupied 
these  islands.    If  it  is  a  crime  for  Japan 


to  be  there,  why  was  it  a  virtue  for  Ger- 
many to  be  there  ?  Thus  Japan  is  left  to 
infer  that  America  did  not  oppose  Ger- 
many because  that  country  was  thought 
to  be  powerful,  but  she  opposes  Japan  be- 
cause she  thinks  Japan  is  not  powerful. 
With  the  labor  movement  producing 
increasing  unrest  in  America,  that  coun- 
try ought  to  have  its  hands  full  in  deal- 
ing with  domestic  problems  for  the  pres- 
ent. Japan,  too,  has  her  social  and  in- 
dustrial problems  to  solve.  The  two 
countries  should  treat  each  other  fairly 
and  squarely  in  all  their  relations,  so  that 
justice  may  inevitably  be  expected  and 
received  on  both  sides.  Revolution  is  in 
the  air,  as  may  be  seen  from  conditions 
in  Russia  and  Germany,  with  echoes  in 
more  settled  lands.  It  therefore  becomes 
even  the  most  powerful  countries  to  look 
to  themselves  and  see  that  their  own  af- 
fairs are  in  order,  seeing  that  even  the 
most  powerful  are  not  exempt  from  the 
dangers  that  threaten  the  present  age! 


To  the  Senate 

By    FRED   W.    BENTLEY 

[The  author  of  this  poem  is  the  fathen  of  Fred  W.  Bentley,  Jr.,  of  Chicago,  the  first 
American  soldier  to  lose  his  life  in  France.  The  poem  was  written  on  Jan.  10,  1920,  the 
day  when  all  the  allied  and  associated  powers,  except  the  United  States,  exchanged  final 
ratifications  at  Paris.  It  was  sent  to  Current  History  by  the  author's  friend,  S.  C.  Herren 
of  Chicago.] 

I   took  from  my  window  the  flag  today, 

The   flag   of    the    bleeding   heart, 

And  folded  it  up  and  laid  it  away, 

While  my  Country  stands  apart. 

I  have  laid  it  away  in  the  black  steel  box, 

With   his  cross   and  record   won, 
While   the   wily   spoilsman   coolly   blocks 

The  road  he  died  upon. 

He  had  volunteered,    and  died,   to   save, 

In   the   Summer   of   Seventeen ; 
But  they   have   dug  him   out   of  his  battle  grave— 

Ah,   the  ghoul   of  war   is   lean ! 

And  I  think  I  see  the  gold-star  eyes. 

And   the   eyes   of  friendly    States, 
Gaze   with    wonder,    distress — surprise, 
As   my    Country   hesitates. 

We  painfully  left  the  flag  in  the  sun 

Till   the   treaties   were   exchanged ; 
That   day    is   here— Peace   has   begun, 

Yet   my    Country   stands    estranged. 

So  we  have  laid  it  away  with  his  childhood  locks, 

(The   blue    star   turned   to   gold,) 
With  the  other  things  in  the  black  steel  box — 

Ah,   the  ghoul  of  war  is  old  ! 
Chicago,  Jan.  10,  1920. 


Bernstorff  on  the  Witness  Stand 

German     ex-Ambassador's     Testimony    on     Why     President 
Wilson's  Peace   Efforts   Failed 


BY  vii-tue  of  Article  34  of  the  new 
German  Constitution  the  Reichs- 
tag passed  a  resolution  on  Aug. 
21,  1919,  creating  "A  Parlia- 
mentary Commission  of  Inquiry  Into  Re- 
sponsibility in  and  for  the  War."  This 
commission  is  divided  into  four  sub- 
committees; the  first  to  deal  with  re- 
sponsibility for  bringing  on  the  war,  the 
second  with  neglect  of  opportunities  to 
end  it  sooner,  the  third  with  acts  of  dis- 
loyalty, and  the  fourth  with  acts  of 
cruelty  or  atrocity  in  the  conduct  of  the 
war.  Only  the  second  of  these  sub-com- 
mittees has  thus  far  held  sittings.  Its 
work  in  examining  prominent  witnesses, 
from  Ludendorff  and  Hindenburg  down 
to  minor  officials,  has  been  summarized 
in  the  news  dispatches;  but  some  of  the 
testimony,  as  printed  verbatim  in  Vor- 
warts  of  Berlin,  deserves  to  be  presented 
to  American  readers  more  fully — notably 
that  of  Count  von  Bernstorff,  former 
German  Ambassador,  giving  his  version 
of  the  inside  of  events  at  Washington 
before  the  entry  of  the  United  States 
into  the  war. 

The  Reichstag  sub-committee,  which  is 
not  empowered  to  punish  anybody,  but 
can  call  witnesses  and  examine  them  on 
oath,  consists  of  seven  members:  War- 
muth  (National  Party),  President,  until 
he  resigned  when  the  majority  insisted 
on  fining  Dr.  Helfferich  for  contempt  of 
court;  Gothein  (Democrat),  Vice  Presi- 
dent and  later  President;  Joos  (Centre), 
Secretary;  Sinzheimer  (Majority  Social- 
ist), Reporter;  Cohn  (Independent 
Socialist) ;  Frau  Pfulf  (Majority  Social- 
ist);  Professor  Schucking  (Democrat). 
The  expert  advisers  include  Dr.  Spahn, 
Dr.  Quarck,  Professor  Bonn,  Professor 
Otto  Hoetsch  and  Professor  Schafer.  All 
parties  are  represented. 

For  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
evidence  it  is  necessary  to  remember 
these  dates:  May  7,  1915,  the  Lusitania 
torpedoed;     Aug.     27,     1916,     Rumania 


enters  the  war;  Dec.  12,  1916,  the  Ger- 
man peace  offer;  Dec.  18,  President  Wil- 
son's peace  note;  Dec.  25,  Germany's 
answer;  Dec.  30,  Entente  answer  to  Ger- 
man peace  offer;  Jan.  9,  1917,  decision  at 
Pless  to  announce  unrestricted  submarine 
warfare;  Jan.  10,  Entente's  answer  to 
Wilson;  Jan.  22,  Wilson's  peace  message 
to  the  United  States  Senate;  Feb.  1,  un- 
restricted submarine  warfare  begins; 
April  5,  1917,  America  declares  war  on 
Germany. 

FIRST  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE 

Count  Bernstorff's  testimony  on  Oct. 
22  and  23,  1919,  as  reported  in  Vorwarts 
and  translated  by  The  Contemporary  Re- 
view of  London,  was  in  part  as  follows: 

Immediately  after  the  outbreak  of  war, 
at  tne  beginning  of  1914.  Wilson  made  his 
first  attempt  at  peace  mediation.  In  Sep- 
tember he  caused  a  second  attempt  to  be 
made,  which  failed  because,  as  I  know,  the 
Entente  never  answered  at  all.  In  August 
Wilson  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  Amer- 
ican people  in  which  he  suggested  that  they 
should  remain  neutral ;  this  was  in  conse- 
quence of  the  state  of  public  excitement  pre- 
vailing, which  was  threatening  the  relations 
of  private  individuals.  In  this  proclamation 
he  already  declared  the  American  people  to 
be  the  sole  people  able  to  end  the  war,  grant- 
ed that  it  stood  out  from  the  quarrel ;  it  was 
the  only  great  power  possessed  of  sufficient 
means  and  influence  to  be  able  to  bring  this 
consummation  about.  Such  was  Wilson's 
policy.  When  the  second  peace  offer  came 
to  nothing,  he  thought  it  necessary  to  show 
a  greater  reserve.  However,  he  sent  Colonel 
House  during  the  Winter  of  1914-15  to  Paris, 
London,  and  Berlin,  which  latter  city  he 
visited  In  March.  He  was  to  prepare  Wil- 
son's peace  mediation.  On  his  return  from 
Berlin  he  said  that  the  moment  was  not  yet 
come.  Nobody  was  as  yet  prepared  to  con- 
sider peace :  but  he  would  later  return  to 
Europe  to  see  whether  anything  could  be 
done. 

Wilson  first  mentioned  peace  to  me  when 
I  had  an  audience  with  him  after  the  Lusi- 
tania affair ;  the  danger  of  war  with  Ger- 
many was  extremely  threatening.  On  that 
occasion  he  said  we  ought  to  make  an  appeal 
to  moral  forces  by  giving  way  about  the  sud 
marine  war,  as  the  war  could  only  finally 
be  decided  by  means  of  a  mutual  understand 


514. 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ing,  and  no  longer  by  the  arbitrament  of 
arms.  If  we  would  agree  to  give  up  the 
submarine  war,  he  for  his  part  would  urge 
on  England  the  giving  up  of  the  starving  of 
Germany,  the  English  Cabinet  would  agree, 
and  he  hoped  that  this  would  be  the  be- 
ginning of  peace  action  on  a  great  scale. 
This  was  on  June  2,   1915. 

After  the  first  exchange  of  telegrams  about 
the  Lusitania,  war  seemed  inevitable.  I 
went  to  Wilson  and  agreed  with  him,  with 
the  object  of  gaining  time,  that  Herr  Meyer- 
Gerhard  should  go  to  Berlin.  Wilson  con- 
sented and  promised  that,  until  this  mission 
should  have  resulted  in  something,  he  would 
defer  all  steps  likely  to  lead  to  a  breach. 
The  exchange  of  notes  about  the  Lusitania 
continued,  but  meanwhile  another  English, 
ship  was  torpedoed  and  it  all  but  came  to 
war  a  second  time.  Our  side  gave  way  by 
admitting  that  passenger  steamers  should  not 
be   torpedoed   without   previous   warning. 

On  Nov.  5  there  followed  a  note  to  Eng- 
land, in  which  the  English  blockade  was  de- 
clared to  be  indefensible.  For  the  third  time 
the  Lusitania  negotiations  brought  us  to  the 
brink  of  war,  as  we  were  asked  to  admit 
that  the  torpedoing  had  been  a  breach  of 
faith.  We  categorically  refused  to  admit 
this  expression.  Finally  Wilson  gave  way. 
He  said  he  would  be  satisfied  with  our  ad- 
mission that  such  reprisals  must  not  inflict 
injury  on  neutrals.  His  declaration  was  al- 
ready drawn  up  and  was  to  be  exchanged, 
when  a  more  intense  submarine  war  was  de- 
clared at  Berlin;  nothing  came  of  this  solu- 
tion. Soon  afterward  the  Sussex  was  tor- 
pedoed. Thereupon  a  permanent  agreement 
was  established;  the  submarine  war  was  to 
be  carried  on  on  the  principles  of  a  cruiser 
war. 

COLONEL  HOUSE'S  ROLE 

In  January,  1916,  House  paid  his  second 
visit  to  Berlin.  On  his  return  he  told  me 
that  the  'hief  opposition  to  peace  was  at 
present  in  Paris;  in  England  he  had  found 
a  certain  wil  ngness.  In  Berlin,  too,  he 
had  been  told:  "We  would  bo  v>ady  to  re- 
spond to  an  American  peace  mediation  at  a 
suitable  opportunity."  The  first  I  heard  of 
the  intentions  of  the  German  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment to  respond  to  Wilson's  wishes  was 
a  telegram  which  Ambassador  Gerard  sent 
to  Washington  after  the  Sussex  affair  had 
been  settled.  This  telegram  stated  that  the 
German  Government  was  now  prepared  to 
accept  peace  mediation  by  Wilson.  I  there- 
upon inquired  from  Berlin  whether  this  was 
correct,  and  was  answered  to/  the  effect  that 
a  certain  amount  of  time  must  be  allowed  to 
lapse  on  account  of  the  state  of  public  opin- 
ion in  Germany,  but,  generally  speaking,  it 
was  desired  to  accept  Wilson's  peace  media- 
tion ;  however,  a  condition  would  be  that 
Wilson  should  first  call  England  to  book. 

It  is  perhaps  a  cause  for  remark  that  I 
should  have  negotiated  about  these  matters 
with    a    private    person    like    Colonel    House. 


It  would  have  been  impossible  to  keep  any 
Washington  negotiations  secret ;  the  White 
House  there  was  besieged  by  journalists. 
Therefore  it  was  Wilson's  wish  that  I  should 
carry  on  these  absolutely  confidential  nego- 
tiations with  his  intimate  friend  House  at 
New  York.  House  told  me  Wilson  no  longer 
had  the  power  to  oblige  England  to  obey 
the  practices  of  international  law ;  American 
trade  was  so  intimately  tied  up  with  the 
Entente  that  Wilson  could  not  possibly  dis- 
turb these  trade  relations  without  evoking  a 
terrific  storm.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was 
in  a  position  to  obtain  a  peace  without  vic- 
tory, and  he  intended*  to  do  so  as  soon  as 
an  opportunity  offered  itself.  But  seeing 
that  such  a  step  would  now  universally  be 
called  pro-German  in  America,  he  could  only 
do  it  when  public  opinion  about  relations 
with  Germany  had  somewhat  calmed  down. 
He  proposed  a  pause,  and  hoped  without 
fail  to  be  able  to  make  a  beginning  of  peace 
mediation  toward  the  end  of  the  Summer. 
Then   Rumania   entered    the   war. 

EFFECT  OF  RUMANIA'S  ENTRY 

The  instructions  communicated  to  the 
Ambassador  on  Aug.  18  were  then  read, 
to  the  effect  that  the  German  Govern- 
ment declared  itself  ready  to  accept 
mediation  by  President  Wilson,  and 
urged  that  definite  encouragement  be 
given  to  such  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
President,  but  stated  that  it  could  not 
as  yet  bind  itself  to  any  kind  of  con- 
crete conditions.  Count  Bernstorff  con- 
tinued : 

After  I  had  communicated  the  gist  of  these 
instructions  to  Colonel  House,  he  told  me 
that  any  mediation  by  Wilson  was  now  im- 
possible, and  must  be  deferred  because,  in 
consequence  of  Rumania's  entry  into  the  war, 
•  the  Entente  was  now  quite  sure  of  victory 
?M  would  therefore  refuse  Wilson.  *  *  * 
I  can  only  repeat  that  Colonel  House  told 
me  Wilson's  peace  mediation  must  be  de- 
ferred because  the  Entente  was  sure  of  its 
victory  now  that  Rumania  had  come  into 
the  war.  This  declaration  of  Colonel  House's, 
even  at  a  later  date,  always  seemed  to  me 
to  be  a  particularly  important  one,  because, 
when  Wilson  did  take  some  real  peace  steps, 
I  believed  he  must  now  be  frankly  persuaded 
that  they  would  be  accepted  by  the  Entente. 
Otherwise  there  would  have  been  no  sense 
in  Wilson's  previous  declaration  that  media- 
tion seemed  to  him  to  have  no  prospect  of 
success.    *    *    * 

In  this  connection  a  memorandum  also 
seems  to  me  important,  written  by  the  Kaiser 
himself,  and  brought  by  Gerard  to  America 
when  he  came  on  leave.  *  *  *  In  my  recol- 
lection this  memorandum  made  the  deepest 
impression  in  America.  It  is  dated  Oct.  9, 
and  was  the  outcome  of  an  interview  which 
Mr.   Gerard  had  with  the  Kaiser  in   Charle- 


BERNSTORFF  ON  THE  WITNESS  STAND 


villi- .     This  memorandum,  which  is  addressed 
to  Geiaul,   runs: 

"  Tour  Excellency  has  informed  the  Kaiser 
a.t  an  interview  at  headquarters  in  Charle- 
ville  that  President  Wilson  would  be  ready 
to  offer  us  his  good  services  to  obtain  peace 
toward  the  end  of  the  Summer.  The  German 
Government  has  no  information  as  to  whether 
the  President  still  entertains  this  idea,  or 
as  to  the  date  at  which  he  will  take  this 
step.  Meanwhile,  the  conduct  of  the  war  has 
assumed  such  a  form  that  the  German  Gov- 
ernment believes  it  to  be  its  duty  to  inform 
your  Excellency  that  it  would  consider  it 
essential  to  hasten  the  President's  proposed 
action  so  that  it  should  not  take  place  too 
late  in  the  year." 

IMPORTANCE  OF  MEMORANDUM 

Dr.  Cohn— In  what  way  did  this  memoran- 
dum make  so  great  an  impression  in  Amer- 
ica? 

Count  Bernstorff— Naturally,  the  American 
public  knew  nothing  of  this  memorandum ; 
but  it  made  a  great  impression  on  the  Amer- 
ican Government  in  this  way :  from  now  on- 
ward a  firm  conviction  grew  up  in  America 
that  the  German  Government  would  be  will- 
ing to  accept  a  peace  mediation  by  Wilson. 
The  Presidential  election  took  place  on  Nov. 
7.  It  took  a  very  long  time  to  establish  the 
final  result.  This  delay  explains  why  Presi- 
dent Wilson  could  not  initiate  his  peace  step 
until  a  considerable  time  had  elapsed.  Later, 
I  learned  the  peace  note  which  Wilson  dis- 
patched on  Dec.  18  had  been  composed  as 
far  back  as  the  middle  of  November,  but  had 
been  thrust  by  Wilson  into  his  writing  table, 
because  another  wave  of  anti-German  feeling 
swept  through  the  country  on  account  of  the 
Belgian  deportations.  Colonel  House  told  me 
that  the  peace  offer  which  was  already 
drawn  up  by  the  middle  of  November  was 
not  sent  off  by  Wilson  because  he  could  not 
be  responsible  for  it  in  the  state  of  public 
feeling.    *    *    * 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— Tour  telegram,  reaching 
here  Dec.  4,  is  also  important.  "  Lansing 
spoke  to  me  with  most  particular  emphasis 
about  the  American  protest  against  the  Bel- 
gian deportations ;  they  are  imperiling  the 
whole  system  of  Belgian  relief.  Thus  the 
temper  of  the  public  is  again  being  poisoned 
just  at  the  moment  when  it  seemed  as 
though  peace  negotiations  might  begin." 
*  *  *  Finally,  there  is  a  private  letter  from 
Secretary  of  State  Jagow  to  you,  dated  Nov. 
20,  saying  that  now,  as  before,  we  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  efforts  toward  peace  of 
President  Wilson ;  of  course,  such  efforts 
must  not  go  as  far  as  concrete  conditions, 
because  these  could  not  be  favorable  to  us. 
To  this  you  answered,  in  a  telegram  of  Nov. 
24,  as  follows:  "Wilson  has  commissioned 
Colonel  House  to  tell  me  in  the  strictest  con- 
fidence that  he  would  undertake  an  effort 
for  peace  as  soon  as  possible,  presumably  be- 
tween now  and  the  New  Tear.  But  mean- 
while he  made  it  a  condition  that  we  should 
discuss  peace  as  little  as  possible,   and  that 


we  should  allow  no  new  submarine  contro- 
versies to  spring  up,  in  order  to  prevent  a 
premature  refusal  by  our  enemies."  So  that 
was  Just  before  our  peace  action  of  Dec. 
12.    *    *    • 

BERLIN'S  ACTION  A  HINDRANCE 

Katzenstein— Did  the  American  Govern- 
ment regard  the  German  peace  offer  of  Dec. 
12  as  a  help  or  a  hindrance  to  its  own 
peace  action? 

Count  Bernstorff— It  was  regarded  as  a 
hindrance.  Colonel  House  was  commissioned 
by  the  President  to  tell  me  so,  because  it 
was  interpreted  as  a  sign  of  weakness  on 
our  side.    *    *    * 

Professor  Bonn— When  did  you  receive  in- 
formation that  peace  action  would  be  under- 
taken from  our  side? 

Count  Bernstorff— The  documents  include 
two  telegrams,  one  dated  Nov.  16. 

Professor  Bonn— So  you  had  no  time  to 
draw  the  attention  of  Berlin  to  the  fact  that 
a  peace  offer  from  us  would  be  felt  as  a 
great  hindrance  to  the  American  step? 

Count  Bernstorff— As  far  as  I  remember  I 
had  not  time  to  telegraph.  *  *  *  It  is  clear 
als  from  other  reports  and  telegrams  of 
min  b  that  the  Americans  always  took  the 
view  that  any  peace  action  could  only  suc- 
ceed at  a  moment  when  Germany  was  strong. 
Thus  I  had  always  to  influence  things  to 
prevent  both  the  home  press  and  my  home 
Government  from  discussing  peace  at  all,  as 
that  would  invariably  be  to  hamper  any  steps 
taken  by  Wilson. 

Katzenstein— Up  till  now  the  opinion  has 
always  been  that  the  German  peace  offers, 
with  their  enumeration  of  German  victories, 
had  frightened  off  the  enemy.  Apparently 
the  American  reception  was  the  exact 
opposite  of  this. 

Count  Bernstorff— I  can  remember  with 
exactness  how,  in  a  conversation  I  had  with 
House,  he  regretted  our  having  taken  any 
action  for  peace.  He  was  afraid  it  would 
interfere  with  Wilson's  efforts.  All  the 
same,  Wilson  would  perhaps  take  other 
steps.    *    *    * 

Dr.  Cohn— Did  you  receive  the  impression 
that  the  Americans  were  annoyed  about  the 
Dec.  12  peace  offer  for  reasons  of  prestige? 

Count  Bernstorff— I  received  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Americans  were  pretty  disap- 
pointed because  it  robbed  them  of  the  chance 
of  taking  the  first  step. 

Professor  Bonn— Colonel  House  told  you 
that  a  German  peace  offer  would  be  taken 
as  a  sign  of  weakness? 

Count  Bernstorff— House  once  told  me  that 
Wilson's  peace  action  was  being  interfered 
with,  because  among  the  Entente  the  idea 
was  that  we  should  not  have  made  this  peace 
offer  had  we  not  stood  in  such  need  of  peace. 
(Excitement.)    •    *    * 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— In  the  course  of  today's 
evidence  we  have  reached  the  date  of  Dec. 
12.  I  now  sum  up  as  the  outcome  of  that 
evidence:  Did  you  interpret  your  instruc- 
tions   as    instructions    to    encourage    or    in- 


516 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


fluence    President   Wilson    or    Colonel   House 
to  undertake  a  peace  action  in  our  favor? 

Count  Bernstorff— Yes.     (Excitement.) 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— Was  Wilson  prepared  to 
take  account  of  these   wishes? 

Count  Bernstorff— Yes. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer — Was  Wilson  prepared, 
within  the  limits  which  were  imposed  on  you, 
to  agree  to  a  peace  conference  on  an  inter- 
national basis,  even  without  concrete  condi- 
tions being  proposed  by  us? 

Count    Bernstorff— Yes.      (Excitement.) 
[From   Vorwarts,    Oct.    22,   morning  edition.] 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  NOTE 

The  President— We  now  come  to  the  period 
beginning  with  the  American  peace  offer. 

Count  Bernstorff— In  spite  of  our  peace 
offer  Wilson  stood  by  his  peace  mediation. 
The  reason  why  the  Wilson  peace  offer 
caused  so  much  excitement  in  America  was 
because  it  followed  directly  on  our  own  offer, 
so  that  color  was  given  to  the  idea  that  we 
had  encouraged  Wilson.  It  was  in  conse- 
quence of  this  that  Wilson  had  stated  in  his 
note  that  his  offer  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  German  offer,  that,  on  the  contrary,  it 
had  been  intentioned  a  long  time  back.  Pub- 
lic opinion  in  America  looked  on  Wilson's 
step  as  absolutely  pro-German.  The  entire 
press  expressed  itself  to  this  effect,  and  the 
feeling   at   Washington   was    the   same. 

I  then  asked  Lansing  in  what  form  he  con- 
ceived further  methods  of  procedure.  I  had 
an  exhaustive  conversation  with  him  on  this 
point.  As  I  now  know  things,  I  believe  that 
there  was  a  contradiction  between  the  Ger- 
man answer  to  Wilson's  note  and  my  reading 
of  it.  At  that  time  I  assumed  that  the  Ger- 
man answer  .conveyed  our  readiness  for  a 
peace  mediation  to  the  extent  of  the  calling 
of  a  conference  which  might  negotiate ;  but  1 
did  not  conceive  that  therewith  an  end  was 
to  be  put  to  the  Wilsonian  peace  action. 
Now  I  am  obliged  to  assume  that  our  answer 
of  Dec.  26  was  intended  completely  to  put 
an  end  to  the  Wilson  peace  mediation.  My 
present  assumptions  are  due  above  all  to  a 
telegram  of  the  Kaiser  to  the  Foreign  Office 
asking  why  I  still  went  on  speaking  about 
Wilson's  peace  mediation,  seeing  that  no  such 
mediation  now   exists. 

The  President— From  what  do  you  infer 
that  the  German  Government  did  not  want 
to  know  anything  of  a  peace  mediation  by 
Wilson?  It  is  stated  quite  expressly  in  the 
Wilson  peace  offer  that  no  peace  is  to  be 
proposed,  that  he  was  not  even  offering 
mediation,  but  that  he  only  wanted  to  take 
soundings.  If  that  was  so,  then  the  German 
Government  was  not  obliged  to  interpret  this 
step  as  an  offer  of  mediation.  How  do  you 
come  to  impute  to  the  German  Government 
an  intention  of  being  averse  to  a  peace  media- 
tion? 

Count  Bernstorff— I  can  only  repeat  that 
my  opinion  at  that  time  was  that  our  note 
of  Dec.  25  implied  no  alteration  in  the  atti- 
tude of  our  Government,  and  that  all  it 
conveyed   was   that   we   did    not   desire    any 


interference  from  Wilson  on  territorial  ques- 
tions ;  but  today  I  am  of  another  opinion. 

The  President— Wilson  did  not  greatly  stress 
communication  of  the  terms  of  peace ;  so 
that  the  German  refusal  to  communicate 
terms  could  not  be  any  hindrance  to  peace? 

Count  Bernstorff— But,  of  course,  Wilson 
believed  that  we  should  in  the  end  communi- 
cate our  terms. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— In  reply  to  the  President, 
I  beg  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
heart  of  the  Wilson  note  of  Dec.  18  to  all 
belligerents  is  the  request  to  communicate 
concrete  terms  of  peace.  In  the  German  note, 
which  was  an  answer  to  this,  there  is  no 
mention  at  all  of  this  request  of  Wilson's 
for  communication  of  peace  terms.  There- 
upon Count  Bernstorff  telegraphed  that 
Lansing  had  begged  him  at  any  rate  to  com- 
municate our  peace  terms  to  him  in  confi- 
dence. 

Count  Bernstorff— That  is  so. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— When  this  request  of 
Lansing's  was  conveyed,  Secretary  of  State 
Zimmermann  answered  on  Jan.  31,*  that  is, 
two  days  before  the  submarine  war,  that 
Count  Bernstorff  was  to  drag  the  matter 
out. 

Count  Bernstorff— I  directly  Inferred  from 
that  answer  that  everything  was  to  remain 
as  before. 

KAISER  RATTLES  THE  SWORD 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— You  mentioned  a  telegram 
from  the  Kaiser.  This  telegram  is  dated 
Jan.  16,  and  addressed  to  Secretary  of  State 
Zimmermann.  It  runs:  "His  Majesty  thanks 
you  for  the  information.  In  regard  to  the 
contents  of  the  telegram,  his  Majesty  ob- 
serves that  he  puts  no  value  at  all  in  Wil- 
son's peace  offer.  If  a  breach  with  America 
is  unavoidable,  it  cannot  be  helped;  we  pro- 
ceed." (Excitement.)  It  is  on  the  basis  of 
this  telegram  and  of  disclosures  now  being 
made  that  you  have  come  to  tne  conclusion 
that  Wilson's  peace  mediation  was  to  be 
thrust  aside  by  us? 

Count   Bernstorff— Undoubtedly.    *    *    * 

Professor  Bonn— Were  the  concrete  peace 
terms  of  Jan.  29t  communicated  to  you? 

Count  Bernstorff— No. 

Professor  Bonn— Were  the  German  peace 
terms  communicated  to  you  not  in  a  concrete 
form? 

Count  Bernstorff— No,  except  for  the  tele- 
gram which  said  that  Belgium  was  not  to  be 
annexed. 

The  President— It  has  always  been  said  the 
peace  terms  were  very  moderate  compared 
with  the  senseless  demands  made  by  the 
Entente.  • 

Count  Bernstorff— They  were  very  moderate. 
In  America  people  asked  why  the  peace  terms 
were  not  published;  I  answered  that  as  they 

♦The  German  text  has  "  Jan.  1,"  which  is 
an  obvious  mistake. 

f There  were  two  sets  of  German  peace 
terms,  those  in  connection  with  the  Dec.  12 
peace  offer,  and  those  formulated  when  the 
unrestricted  submarine  war  was  to  start. 


7JEHNST0RFF  ON  THE  WITNESS  STAND 


517 


were  so  moderate  they  would.  In  contrast 
with  the  enemy,  cause  an  Impression  of 
ness.  Lansing  answered  me  that  he 
was  unable  to  understand  why  we  did  n«  -t 
ask  as  much  as  the  others ;  then  a  middle 
line    compromise   could    be   arranged.    •   •   • 

Dr.  Cohn— When  were  the  Dec.  12  peace 
terms  communicated? 

Count  Bernstorff— At  the  same  time  as  the 
unrestricted   submarine   war   was   declared. 

Dr.  Cohn— Did  Lansing's  statement  about 
the  peace  terms,  that  they  were  too  moderate, 
and  that  there  ought  to  be  a  compromise 
along  a  middle  line,   refer  to  Belgium? 

Count  Bernstorff— No.  An  American  peace 
mediation  which  should  not  include  the 
restoration  of  Belgium  was  wholly  ex- 
cluded. 

DISCREPANCY  IN  PEACE  TERMS 

[Dr.  Sinzheimer  here  proved  that  the  peace 
terms  which  were  communicated  to  President 
Wilson  on  Jan.  28,  and  which  referred  to 
the  peace  offer  of  Dec.  12,  did  not  correspond 
v.ith   the   Foreign   Office   records.] 

Dr.  Cohn— Were  you  informed  on  your  re- 
turn to  Germany  that  the  terms  which  you 
were  to  have  communicated  to  Wilson  were 
other  than  those  which  were  agreed  upon  on 
Dec.    12? 

Count  Bernstorff— This  is  the  very  first  I 
heard  of  that.  In  any  case,  the  peace  terms 
had  no  longer  any  effect,  as  the  same  day 
that  I  got  them  I  also  got  the  declaration 
of  the  unrestricted*  submarine  war,  and  this 
meant  the  breaking  off  of  diplomatic  rela- 
tions. 

Dr.  Cohn— Did  the  .terms  communicated  ap- 
pear  to  -be   moderate? 

Count  Bernstorff— I  considered  them  moder- 
ate. But  I  put  no  further  value  on  them  as 
I  knew  that  diplomatic  relations  must  be 
broken  off.    *    *    • 

The  President— Did«  not  Wilson  always  pass 
as  the  man  who  stood*  for  humanity  and 
justice?  Did  Wilson  express  himself  as  to 
these  purely  human  questions? 

Count  Bernstorff— I  often  discussed  this 
question,  for  example  in  connection  with  the 
Lusltania  and  the  Sussex  affairs.  He  thought 
the  starvation  blockade  illegal. 

Dr.  Sinzlu-imer— Do  you  believe  in  Wilson's 
true   intention  to  mediate  for  peace? 

Count  Bernstorff— Yes. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— Was  it  to  be  a  peace  favor- 
ing the  Entente? 

Count  Bernstorff— On  Jan.  22  Wilson  said 
that  a  peace  without  victory  should  be  con- 
cluded  ;  I  understood  this  to  mean  that  Ger- 
many was  to  retain  her  world  position  un- 
diminished. I  held  Wilson  to  be  an  honest 
broker.  •  *  •  (Questioned  by  Dr.  Sinz- 
heimer) Not  once  did  the  Americans  discuss 
a  peace  with  me  in  which  even  the  smallest 
surrender  of  territory  was  suggested  to 
us.  •  •  •  (Questioned  by  Professor  Bonn) 
My  point  of  view  is  that  Wilson's  peace 
action  of  1018  had  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  his  peace  action  of  1917.  Nor  has  this 
anything  to  do  witli  Wilson's  failure  at  Ver- 


ailles.  These  undertakings  were  quite 
md  no  inference  can  be  made 
from  one  to  the  other.  *  *  *  It  must  al- 
ways be  remembered  that  on  Jan.  31,  1917, 
Wil  un's  whole  attitude  underwent  a  change. 
Until  Jan.  31  Wilson  believed  us  to  be  wish- 
ing for  a  peace  by  agreement ;  after  Jan.  31 
he  was  convinced  we  would  only  accept  the 
so-called  German  peace.  *  *  *  Such  is  the 
psychological  explanation  of  this  change. 
[From  Vorwarts,  Oct.  23,  1919,  morning  and 
evening  editions.] 

GERMAN  PEACE  TERMS  OF  DEC.  12, 
1916 

The  German  peace  terms  were  read  to 
the  sub-committee  by  Dr.  Sinzheimer  in 
his  capacity  as  reporter  to  the  sub-com- 
mittee.   They  were  as  follows: 

Recovery  of  those  parts  of  Upper  Alsace 
occupied  by  France. 

Delimitation  of  a  frontier  securing  Ger- 
many and  Poland,  strategically  and  economic- 
ally, against  Russia. 

Colonial  restitution  in  the  form  of  an  agree- 
ment which  secures  to  Germany  such  colonial 
possessions  as  correspond  with  her  popula- 
tion and  the  importance  of  her  economic 
intei  '?sts. 

Restoration  of  French  territory  occupied 
by  Germany,  with  a  reserve  as  to  strategic 
and  tconomic  frontier  rectifications  and  as 
to   financial   compensations. 

Restoration  of  Belgium  accompanied  by 
definite  guarantees  securing  Germany,  to 
be  agreed  upon  by  negotiation  with  the  Bel- 
gian  Government. 

Adjustment  of  economic  and  financial 
claims  on  the  principle  of  mutual  exchange 
of  territories  conquered  and  restored  at  the 
conclusion  of  peace. 

Compensation  to  German  businesses  and 
German  nationals  for  losses  occasioned  by 
the  war. 

Renunciation  of  all  economic  compacts  and 
measures  which  would  prove  an  obstruction 
to  the  normal  course  of  trade  or  of  com- 
munications after  the  conclusion  of  peace, 
and  conclusion  of  commercial  treaties  on 
these  principles. 

Guarantees  for  the  freedom  of  the  seas. 

The  peace  terms  of  our  allies  were  set  be- 
tween similarly  moderate  limits  in  harmony 
with  our  own  poin?  of  view. 
[From     Vorwarts,     Oct.     24,     1919,     morning 
edition.] 

TESTIMONY   ON   SUBMARINES 

In  sessions  reported  by  Vorwarts  Nov. 
7-12,  1919,  the  failure  of  the  submarines 
was  thrashed  out.  Dr.  Struve',  attacking 
the  Admiralty,  said  that  in  March,  1916, 
there  were  23  submarines  in  commission, 
of  which  11  were  in  the  North  Sea.  In 
January,  1917,  Germany  still  had  only 
20  U-boats  fit  for  use,  though  the  num- 


518 


THE    NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


ber  on  paper  was  152.  Later  the  propor- 
tion was  54  fit  for  service  out  of  208. 
"  When  the  unrestricted  submarine  war- 
fare was  determined  upon,"  said  Dr. 
Struve,  "  Secretary  of  State  von  Capelle 
told  the  Main  Committee  that  we  had  160 
submarines,  *  *  *  but  only  20  were 
fit  for  the  front.  This  contrast  is  so 
great  that  Herr  von  Capelle  ought  to 
have  drawn  attention  to  it." 

Later  the  number  of  submarines  fit 
for  service  rose  to  36,  43,  47,  and  even 
higher  in  the  course  of  1917  and  1918, 
said  Dr.  Struve,  but  under  Herr  von 
Capelle  the  situation  did  not  develop  as 
it  should.  When  the  latter  was  sharply 
criticised  by  members  of  the  Main  Com- 
mittee he  had  declared  that  Germany 
then  had  nearly  400  submarines.  "  This 
figure  was  incorrect,"  said  Dr.  Struve. 
"  Even  counting  in  all  lost  submarines 
and  all  submarines  not  yet  built,  it  was 
never  400,  but  at  most  300."  The  witness 
went  on  to  accuse  the  Admiralty  of  con- 
tinued neglect  of  submarine  building  in 
favor  of  cruiser  building. 

Herr  von  Capelle  appeared  before  the 
committee  to  answer  both  charges — that 
he  had  not  built  enough  submarines  and 
that  he  had  deceived  the  Main  Commit- 
tee.   He  said  in  part: 

I  have  obtained  from  the  Admiralty  the 
latest  figures  relating  t6  the  number  of  sub- 
marines built  during  the  war  and  imme- 
diately before  the  war.  This  Admiralty  re- 
port, which,  is  dated-  May,  1919,  proves  that 
810  submarines  in  all  were  built  during  and 
before  the  war.  Of  these  810,  45  date  from 
the  period  preceding  the  outbreak  of  war. 
One  hundred  and  eighty-six  submarines  were 
placed  by  the  orders  of  Admiral  Tirpitz,  and 
579  were  placed  by  my  orders  during  my 
two  and  a  half  years'  tenure  of  office.  I 
should  think  that  these  figures  tell  their  own 
story. 

After  further  details  on  this  subject 
and  a  review  of  the  delays  in  submarine 
construction  due  to  exchange  of  peace 
notes  with  America,  Herr  von  Capelle 
added : 

I  have  been  reproached  with  having  de- 
ceived- the  Reichstag.  It  is  said  I  gave  the 
number  of.  completed  submarines  as  160, 
concealing  the  fact  that  a  smaller  number 
only  were  in  commission.  The  idea  that  as 
the  number  of  submarines  rises,  the  number 
of  submarines  in  commission  rises,  too,  is 
quite  topsy-turvy.  The  only  thing  that  mat- 
ters is  the  tonnage  figure  of  vessels  sunk ; 
I  made  that  quite  clear  in  the  Reichstag.    It's 


not  my  fault  if  some  gentlemen  have  been 
incapable  of  assimilating  facts  foreign  to 
them.  We  guaranteed  600,000  tons  and 
reached  750,000  in  February.  How  can  it 
then  be  said  that  I  deceived  the  Reichstag? 
I  hope  Dr.  Struve  will  withdraw  this  harsh 
reproach.    *    *    * 

RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  FAILURE 

The  discussion  then  turned  to  the  ques- 
tion why  the  whole  submarine  campaign 
had  failed.  The  nearest  that  the  com- 
mittee came  to  getting  any  definite  state- 
ments on  this  subject  was  in  the  follow- 
ing portion  of  the  proceedings: 

Deputy  Schiicking— Wasn't  it  notorious  that, 
in  spite  of  the  unrestricted  submarine  war, 
these  (English  munition)  transports  crossed 
the  Channel  without  the  slightest  interfer- 
ence? 

Admiral  Koch— No,  not  without  the  slight- 
est interference,  only  at  the  narrowest  point. 
Small  steamers  there  kept  on  carrying  muni- 
tions across  at  night. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— How  was  it  that  the  big 
American  troop  transports  were  not  hin- 
dered? 

Admiral  Koch— Each  submarine  had*  her 
range  and  had  to  take  everything  that  came 
along,  whether  transport  or  not. 

Dr.  Sinzheimer— But  this  is  a  crucial  point. 
Capelle  said  we  need  have  no  fear  of  Amer- 
ican transports ;  they  would  be  a  very  wel- 
come booty  for  the  submarines. 

Deputy  Gothein— One  American  troop  trans- 
port and  one  only  was  sunk.  Surely  this 
contradicts  the  prospects  which  were  opened 
up.  Apart  from  the  climax  of  the  month  of 
April  or  May,,  there  was  a  continual  decline 
of  the  amount  of  tonnage  sunk.  What  is 
the  cause  of  this  failure  of  the  submarines? 

Admiral  Koch— We  are  still  in  ignorance  of 
what  was  the  real  trend  of  affairs.  In  the 
first  place  we  must  consider  the  English 
countermeasures,  their  different  inventions, 
such  as  boats  of  increased  speed,  which 
forced  the  submarines  to  keep  under  water 
all  the  time,  then  the  convoy  system  and 
the  continued  change  of  harbor  for  arrival 
and  departure.  The  submarines  never  slack- 
ened.   *    *    * 

Deputy  Dr.  Cohn  *  *  *  (in  the  Reichstag 
Main  Committee)— Herr  von  Capelle  was  of 
opinion  that  hundreds  of  ships  would  be 
needed  to  bring  an  American  army  over  to 
France,  and  that,  further,  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult for  America  to  put  her  hand  on 
100,000  volunteers,  seeing  that  wai 
thusiasm  had  died  down  in  England.  Again, 
this  army  would  have  to  be  trained  and 
finally  transported.  No  better  booty  could 
be  imagined  for  our  submarines  than  such  a 
transport  fleet.  The  danger  from  America 
amounted  to  zero. 

Admiral  Koch— The  Admiralty  Staff  never 
underestimated  the  military  importance  of 
a  war  with  America. 

Deputy  Dr.  Cohn— Do  you  know  the  figures 


BEKNSTORFF  ON  THE   WITNESS  STAND 


519 


o.     ihe  man  power  transported  by   America? 

Admiral  Koch— No. 

Deputy   Dr.   Conn— The  English  quote  them 
at  l.fcOO.000. 

Admiral      Koch— I     had     estimated      them 
higher. 

Von  Capelle— The  naval  command  was 
throughout  of  opinion  that  the  unrest: 
submarine  war  would  bring  the  war  to  an 
end  within-  five  or  six  months.  This  thought 
ia  like  a  red  thread  drawn  through  all 
memoranda,  statements,  and  even  through 
the  negotiations  in  the  Reichstag  committee. 
What  I  said  about  America  referred  to  this 
limited  period  only,  not  to  what  America 
might  be  able  to  do  in  a  period  of  eighteen 
months  or  two  years.  My  words  have  not 
heen  proved  wrong  for  a  limited  period.  We 
did  not  discuss  in  the  Reichstag  Committee 
what  America  might  be  able  to  do  in  case 
the  war  were  to  last  another  two  years.  Nor 
did  anybody  seriously  consider  such  a  pos- 
sibility. As  regards  the  sinking  of  the 
transports,  I  am  credited  with  saying  that 
not  a  ship  would  get  across.  That  is  not 
true.      If    I    said    that    they    would    require 


roughly  100  boats,  and  where  were  they  to 
hem  considering  the  cry  for  tonnage, 
and  that  there  could  be  no  better  booty  for 
our  submarines  to  hunt  down  on  the  high 
seas,  I  meant  that  out  of  these  100  vessels 
we  should  be  able  to  torpedo  a  great  many. 
Everybody  must  have  thought  the  same.  Only 
the  naval  command  can  answer  the  question 
why   we   never   attained    these   results. 

President  Warmuth— I  will  now  ask  Ad- 
miral Koch  to  tell  us  what  were  the  reasons 
which  justified  the  naval  authorities  in  hold- 
ing the  opinion  that  an  unrestricted  sub- 
marine war  begun  on  Feb.  1  must,  after  a 
period  of  five  months,  force  England  to  sur- 
render. 

Admiral  Koch— We  did  not  get  the  results 
we  had  hoped  for  from  the  submarine  war ; 
but  from  the  purely  technical  point  of  view 
the  results  were,  nevertheless,  greater  than 
we  had  expected.  I  cannot  find  that  the 
work  of  the  navy  in  any  way  failed  to  come 
up  to  standard ;  the  leadership  of,  and  self- 
sacrifice  of,  the  crews  are  beyond  all  ques- 
tion. The  causes  of  the  final  balance  must 
be  sought   elsewhere. 


Austria's  Peace  Offer  in  1917 

Hitherto  Unpublished  Details  of  the  Prince  Sixtus  Episode 
— A  Chapter  of  Secret  Diplomacy 


ONE  of  the  dramatic  moments  of  the 
war  was  that  of  the  lightning- 
swift  and  crushing  reply  of  Pre- 
mier Clemenceau  to  the  charge 
made  by  Count  Czernin,  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Foreign  Minister,  in  an  address 
delivered  in  Vienna  on  April  2,  1918, 
that  France  had  made  peace  overtures  to 
Austria  shortly  before  beginning  the  new 
offensive  in  the  west.  The  net  result  of 
Czernin's  statement,  when  shorn  of 
diplomatic  verbiage,  had  been  to  place 
France  in  the  light  of  having  made  a 
secret  and  unsuccessful  petition  to  the 
enemy  for  peace. 

To  this  charge  Premier  Clemenceau 
made  a  characteristic  and  historic  re- 
joinder: "Count  Czernin  lies!"  There 
followed  a  somewhat  extended  contro- 
versy on  the  subject,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  French  Government  gave  of- 
ficial evidence  of  the  continuous  peace 
intrigues  conducted  by  Austria,  notably 
by  Count  Revertata,  a  personal  friend  of 
Emperor     Charles,     with     Commandant 


Armand  of  the  French  General  Staff,  in 
Switzerland.  Charges  and  counter- 
charges as  to  who  was  the  initiator  in 
these  negotiations  prolonged  the  dispute. 
Finally,  on  April  8,  in  a  reply  to  Count 
Czernin,  M.  Clemenceau  disclosed  the 
fact  that  the  Austrian  Emperor  himself 
had  put  such  overtures  in  writing  on 
March  24,  1917,  in  a  letter  (the  first) 
which  the  French  Premier  gave  out  for 
publication  on  Api-il  12, 1918.  This  letter, 
written  by  Emperor  Charles  to  Prince 
Sixtus  of  Bourbon  on  March  24,  1917, 
proved  conclusively  that  overtures  of 
peace  had  been  made  by  Austria,  not 
by  France — overtures  which  had  never 
been  accepted.  As  a  result  of  this  reve- 
lation the  political  career  of  Count 
Czernin  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  end. 
Before  his  fall  he  obstinately  denied 
the  authenticity  of  this  letter,  and 
on  Dec.  11,  1918,  he  declared  that  he 
would  never  have  concluded  a  separate 
peace,  and  that  such  a  peace  was  a 
physical  impossibility.     In  his  published 


520 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


memoirs  he  treats  this  whole  episode 
with  great  reticence. 

The  Austrian  Emperor,  on  his  part,  at 
once  sent  a  formal  denial  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  these  documents  to  Emperor 
William,  saying  that  the  charges  were 
"  too  low  "  for  refutation,  and  declaring : 
"  My  cannon  in  the  west  will  be  our  best 
reply."  To  this  message  the  German  Em- 
peror sent  a  cordial  expression  of 
thanks,  embodying  assurance  of  his  com- 
plete belief  in  the  Austrian  Emperor's 
repudiation  of  the  French  charges. 

In  the  issue  of  Jan.  3,  1920,  of  the 
French  review,  L'lllustration,  are  pub- 
lished the  positive  and  visible  proofs  of 
the  Austrian  offer,  proofs  which  M. 
Clemenceau  himself,  when,  in  defending 
France,  he  stigmatized  the  false-speak- 
ing of  Count  Czernin,  did  not  possess  in 
their  entirety.  Facsimile  reproductions 
are  given  by  L'lllustration  of  the  two 
letters  written  (in  French)  by  Emperor 
Charles  to  Prince  Sixtus  and  of  the  note 
(in  German)  in  the  handwriting  of 
Count  Czernin,  appended  to  the  second 
imperial  letter,  as  well  as  of  passports 
issued  by  the  French  and  Belgian  Gov- 
ernments to  allow  Prince  Sixtus  to  pro- 
ceed to  Switzerland,  where  the  secret  ne- 
gotiations were  initiated,  and  finally  of 
the  note  verbale  written  by  Prince  Six- 
tus and  read  by  him  to  Jules  Cambon 
on  April  22,  1917.  From  the  accom- 
panying text  explaining  these  repro- 
duced documents  is  extracted  for  Cur- 
rent History  the  following  translation 
and  summary  of  this  historic  episode: 

WHY  SIXTUS  WAS  CHOSEN 

If  the  notes  written  by  Prince  Sixtus 
of  Bourbon-Parma  to  Emperor  Charles 
of  Austria,  and  his  repeated  negotiations 
with  the  highest  representatives  of  the 
French  and  British  Governments  during 
the  year  1917  had  been  crowned  with  suc- 
cess, it  has  been  said,  the  whole  face  of 
Europe  would  have  been  changed.  The 
reasons  which  impelled  Emperor  Charles 
to  select  this  young  Prince  to  act  as  his 
intermediary  in  the  opening  and  con- 
ducting of  negotiations  with  France  and 
later  England  were  by  no  means  remote. 
The  Prince's  personality,  his  family  ties 
with  Austria,  his  love  for  France,  were 
all  factors  in  the  making  of  this  choice. 


Sons  of  the  reigning  Duke  of  Parma, 
who  had  been  dispossessed  of  his  estates 
in  Italy,  Prince  Sixtus  and  his  brother 
Xavier  had  of  their  own  volition  left  Aus- 
tria, where  the  family  had  taken  refuge, 
while  still  mere  youths,  and  had  taken 
up  their  residence  in  France,  which  they 
considered  as  their  fatherland.  When  the 
war  broke  out  they  were  staying  tempo- 
rarily in  Austria.  They  resolved  to  flee 
and  to  regain  France  in  order  to  perform 
their  military  duty.  The  Archduke 
Charles,  their  brother-in-law,  helped  the 
two  brothers  to  escape  by  automobile  be- 
yond the  Austrian  frontier.  Unable  to 
gain  admission  either  to  the  French  or 
British  Army,  they  enlisted  in  the  army 
of  Belgium. 

While  performing  their  military  duties 
in  Belgium,  they  received  in  December, 
1916,  a  letter  from  their  mother,  trans- 
mitted by  diplomatic  channels  from  the 
Duchy  of  Luxemburg.  In  this  letter  the 
Duchess  asked  her  sons  to  come  to  Switz- 
erland, as  she  had  important  mattei's  to 
confide  to  them.  Bearing  the  authoriza- 
tion of  King  Albert  and  a  diplomatic 
passport  of  the  French  Government,  they 
arrived  in  Switzerland  on  Jan.  28,  1917. 
There  Prince  Sixtus  learned  that  his 
brother-in-law,  Emperor  Charles,  wishing 
to  give  peace  to  his  people  and  thus  ful- 
fill his  promises  made  on  his  accession  to 
the  Austrian  throne,  asked  him  to  act  as 
mediator  in  negotiations  with  France, 
first  of  all,  and  later  with  the  Entente. 
A  letter  from  his  sister  Zita,  the  Aus- 
trian Empress,  confirmed  the  Emperor's 
desire  for  peace. 

THE  FIRST  OVERTURES 

The  Prince  declared  at  once  that  he 
could  not  undertake  such  a  mission  with- 
out the  authority  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment, and  without  the  certainty  that  the 
demands  of  France  would  be  fully  met, 
including  the  right  of  France  to  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,  the  neutralization  of  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  complete 
restoration  of  Belgium.  He  then  informed 
the  French  Government  of  the  proposals 
that  had  been  made  to  him,  and  received 
permission  to  continue  the  discussions. 

Meanwhile,  Count  Erdoedy,  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  devoted  servitors  of  Em- 


AUSTRIA'S  PEACE  OFFER  IN  1917 


521 


peror  Charles,  brought  to  Switzerland  a 
note  verbule  dictated  by  Count  Czernin, 
with  an  addendum  of  the  Emperor.  A 
letter  from  the  Empress,  addressed  to 
her  brother,  implored  him  to  make  every 
effort  to  end  the  martyrdom  of  millions 
of  combatants.  Orally  Count  Erdoedy 
described  the  formal  desire  of  the  Em- 
peror to  bring  to  an  end  the  sombre 
drama  that  was  bathing  Europe  in  blood. 

This  meeting  with  Count  Erdoedy  was 
the  object  of  a  memorandum  which 
Prince  Sixtus,  on  his  return  to  Paris, 
read  to  M.  Poincare  on  March  5,  in  the 
first  interview  which  he  had  with  the 
Chief  of  State.  The  President  of  the  re- 
public also  took  cognizance  of  the  Czer- 
nin note  and  of  the  Emperor's  commen- 
taries. The  first  did  not  seem  to  him 
worthy  of  consideration,  but  the  latter 
seemed  to  indicate  in  the  Emperor  a 
sincere  desire  for  peace.  Such  was  also 
the  opinion  of  M.  Briand,  President  of 
the  Council  and  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  whom  M.  Poincare  consulted. 
They  both,  however,  expressed  the  need 
of  receiving  something  more  formal, 
more  explicit,  which  could  be  conveyed 
officially  to  France's  allies. 

At  this  juncture  the  Russian  revolution 
broke  out.  Prince  Sixtus  wrote  to  his 
imperial  brother-in-law  a  letter  in  which 
he  begged  him  to  prove  his  good-will  by 
making  great  concessions.  To  his  letter 
he  joined  a  possible  plan  of  peace.  Both 
letter  and  plan  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Count  Erdoedy,  whom  he  met  again 
in  Geneva.  The  Count,  however,  begged 
Prince  Sixtus  and  his  brother  Xavier  to 
come  at  once  to  Vienna,  where  the  Em- 
peror was  awaiting  them.  The  latter  he 
reported  as  saying:  "  An  hour's  con- 
versation will  accomplish  more  than  ten 
journeys."  Count  Czernin  also  insisted 
on  meeting  the  Prince  personally.  All 
was  ready;  absolute  secrecy  would  be 
maintained;  oixlers  had  been  given  at 
the  frontier  to  eliminate  all  obstacles. 
The  Princes  allowed  themselves  to  be 
persuaded. 

JOURNEY  TO  VIENNA 

This  journey  to  Vienna  (says  the  wri- 
ter in  l'lllustration)  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  pages  of  the  Prince's  notes. 


The  Emperor  appears  to  us  in  his  castle 
of  Laxenburg.  We  hear  him  express, 
with  moving  sincerity,  his  desire  for 
peace.  He  suffers  physically  from  the 
massacres  caused  by  this  war,  which  he 
did  not  initiate,  and  which  his  duty  to 
God  and  man  orders  him  to  terminate. 
The  Empress  joins  him  in  the  same  pa- 
thetic plea.  Suddenly  Count  Czernin  ap- 
pears, embarrassed,  reticent,  displaying 
the  simulated  coldness  and  all  the  con- 
ventional traits  and  maladroitness  of  the 
would-be  diplomat  in  whom  all  is  cal- 
culation, and  who  wishes  to  play  the  role 
of  Machiavelli. 

To  show  his  good-will  the  Emperor 
hands  his  brother-in-law  a  letter  written 
in  his  own  hand — the  same  letter  which 
M.  Clemenceau,  wishing  to  unmask  the 
impudence  of  Count  Czernin,  was  des- 
tined to  publish  on  April  12,  1918. 

Prince  Sixtus,  feeling  that  the  nego- 
tiations had  made  considerable  progi'ess, 
rett  ned  to  Switzerland  on  March  25, 
1917,  and  from  there  went  to  France.  M. 
Poincare,  on  March  31,  received  him  for 
the  third  time.  He  read  the  Emperor's 
letter,  and  also  an  explanatory  note 
drawn  up  by  the  Prince  the  day  before. 

EMPEROR'S  FIRST  LETTER 

The  text  of  the  Emperor's  letter  is 
given  in  translation  herewith: 

(March  24,  1917, 
at  Laxenburg.) 
My  dear  Sixtus: 

The  end  of  the  third  year  of  this  war, 
which  has  brought  so  many  deaths  and 
so  much  sorrow  to  the  world,  approaches. 
All  the  people  of  my  empire  are  united 
more  closely  than  ever  in  the  common 
wish  to  safeguard  the  integrity  of  the 
monarchy,  even  at  the  cost  of  the  great- 
est sacrifices.  Thanks  to  their  partici- 
pation in  the  generous  emulation  of  all 
the  nationalities  of  my  empire,  the  mon- 
archy has  been  able  to  resist  now  going 
on  three  years  the  most  formidable  on- 
slaughts. No  one  can  contest  the  military 
successes  won  by  my  troops,  especially  on 
the  Balkan  front. 

France,  on  her  part,  has  shown  a  splen- 
did power  of  resistance  and  a  magnifi- 
cent spirit.  We  all  unreservedly  admire 
the  traditional  gallantry  of  her  army,  and 
the  spirit  of  sacrifice  of  the  whole  French 
people.  It  is,  therefore,  especially  agree- 
able to  me  to  see  that,  though  tempora- 
rily adversaries,  no  real  divergence  of 
views  or  aspirations  separates  my  empire 
from  France,   and  I  am,   therefore,  justl- 


522 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


fied  in  hoping  that  my  deep  sympathy  for 
France,  joined  to  that  which  prevails 
throughout  all  my  realm,  will  forever  pre- 
clude a  return  to  that  state  of  war  for 
which  I  personally  have  no  responsibility. 
To  this  end  and  in  order  to  demonstrate 
concretely  the  sincerity  of  these  senti- 
ments I  beg  you  to  transmit  secretly  and 
unofficially  to  M.  Poincare,  President  of 
the  French  Republic,  my  assurance  that 
I  will  support  in  every  way  and  by  the 
use  of  all  my  personal  influence  with  my 
allies  the  just  claims  of  France  concern- 
ing Alsace-Lorraine. 

As  for  Belgium,  she  must  be  restored  to 
full  sovereignty  and  retain  all  her  Afri- 
can possessions  without  prejudice  to  the 
reparations  she  may  receive  for  the  losses 
she  has  endured.  Serbia  must  also  be  re- 
stored to  full  sovereignty,  and  as  a  pledge 
of  our  good-will  we  are  ready  to  assure 
her  a  fair  and  natural  outlet  on  the  Adri- 
atic, as  well  as  wide  economic  concessions. 
On  her  part  Austria-Hungary  will  ask  as 
a  fundamental  and  absolute  condition  that 
the  Kingdom  of  Serbia  shall  cease  in  fut- 
ure from  all  relations  with — and  shall  sup- 
press— all  societies  or  groups  whose  politi- 
cal object  tends  to  the  dissolution  of  the 
monarchy,  especially  the  Narodna  Obra- 
na;  that  it  shall  loyally  prohibit  by  all 
means  in  its  power  all  kinds  of  political 
agitation  in  Serbia  or  beyond  its  fron- 
tiers tending  to  the  same  end,  and  that  it 
shall  give  this  assurance  under  the  guar- 
antee of  the  Entente  Powers. 

The  events  that  have  occurred  in  Rus- 
sia compel  me  to  reserve  my  ideas  on  this 
subject  until  the  day  when  a  legal  and 
stable  Government  shall  have  been  estab- 
lished there. 

After  this  explanation  of  my  views  I  will 
ask  you  to  inform  me  in  your  turn,  after 
having  discussed  the  matter  with  these 
two  Powers,  of  the  opinions,  first  of  all, 
of  France  and  England,  so  that  a  basis 
of  agreement  may  be  reached  and  official 
negotiations  may  begin  and  end  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all. 

Hoping  that  by  our  mutual  efforts  we 
may  put  an  end  to  the  sufferings  of  so 
many  million  men  and  so  many  families 
in  sadness  and  anxiety,  I  beg  you  to  re- 
ceive the  expression  of  my  deep  and 
fraternal  affection. 

(Signed)    CHARLES. 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  ITALY 

With  the  concessions  yielded  in  the 
Emperor's  letter  there  remained  only  the 
question  of  Italy  and  that  of  Rumania. 
On  April  6  Jules  Cambon,  delegated  by 
M.  Ribot,  who  had  succeeded  M.  Briand 
as  Premier,  discussed  the  claims  of  these 
two  countries  with  the  Prince.  Subse- 
quently M.  Ribot,  in  a  visit  to  Folkestone, 


explained  the  situation  to  Mr.  Lloyd 
George.  On  his  return  the  Prince  was 
again  summoned,  and  in  the  presence  of 
M.  Poincare  and  M.  Ribot,  the  question 
of  Italy  was  specially  discussed.  M. 
Ribot  stated  that  in  agreement  with 
Lloyd  George  he  held  the  view  that  the 
negotiations'  for  peace  could  no  longer 
be  concealed  from  Italy.  The  Prince 
warned  him  to  be  prudent,  saying  that 
he  would  not  guarantee  the  Emperor's 
life  a  week  if  Berlin  learned  of  the  nego- 
tiations. M.  Ribot  promised  to  present 
the  matter  to  Foreign  Minister  Sonnino 
in  the  light  of  overtures  made  by  the 
Austrian  Embassy  in  Switzerland. 

Meanwhile,  however,  there  occurred 
the  famous  meeting  between  Emperor 
William  and  Emperor  Charles  at  Hom- 
burg.  The  German  press  gave  the  in- 
terview great  publicity,  declaring  that 
there  had  been  perfect  harmony  between 
the  two  monarchs  and  declaring  their 
intention  to  open  negotiations  with  the 
Russian  Revolutionary  Government.  Be- 
lieving that  Emperor  Charles  was  play- 
ing a  double  game,  President  Poincare 
was  very  much  irritated  by  these  re- 
ports. Nevertheless  the  projected  con- 
ference with  Sonnino  was  arranged  at 
St.  Jean-de-Maurienne  on  April  19.  On 
his  way  to  this  conference  Lloyd  George 
saw  Prince  Sixtus  in  Paris.  The  inter- 
view was  most  cordial,  and  the  English 
Premier  showed  plainly  his  eagerness  to 
separate  Austria  from  Germany.  "  We 
have  nothing  against  Austria,"  he  said, 
"  and  France  also  has  no  fundamental 
hostility  toward  her.  To  conquer  Ger- 
many is  our  only  aim.  But  what  will 
Italy  demand?  The  demands  of  our 
allies  are  by  no  means  inconsiderable." 

SONNINO  INFLEXIBLE 

On  April  20  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  on  his 
return  from  the  conference,  with  visible 
regret  informed  the  Prince  that  he  had 
found  Italy  inflexible;  Sonnino  refused 
to  yield  any  of  Italy's  ambitions.  But 
Lloyd  George  urged  the  Prince  ato  con- 
tinue his  efforts  and  to  come  directly  to 
him  in  London  if  there  were  any  new 
developments.  Encouraged  by  the  Brit- 
ish Premier's  attitude,  the  Prince  again 
saw  M.  Cambon  and  read  to  him  the  fol- 
lowing note  verbale: 


AUSTRIA'S  PEACE   OFFER  IN  1917 


523 


I  will  transmit  the  results  of  my  mis- 
sion to  the  Emperor.  I  will  urge  him 
strongly  to  consider  the  friendly  spirit 
shown  him  by  France  and  England.  But 
it  is  for  him  to  decide  what  he  can  and 
should  do. 

My  personal  mission  is  purely  in  the  in- 
terest of  France,  and  only  for  her  ad- 
vantage. It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have 
Insisted  on  having  very  clear  expression!* 
regarding  Alsace-Lorraine,  of  capital  im- 
portance to  us  as  a  tangible  and  irref- 
utable argument  that  Austria  was  acting 
independently  of  Germany.  These  I  ob- 
tained. 

I  understand  how  delicate  and  difficult 
the  Italian  question  is.  I  have  no  knowl- 
edge as  to  how  the  Emperor  may  solve 
it  taking  account  of  the  opinion  and  the 
desires  of  his  country.  The  great  diffi- 
culty will  lie  in  this  direction. 

It  is  a  question  which  depends  on  the 
inner  situation  of  Austria,  which  we  do 
not  know.  I  can  have  no  personal  opin- 
ion on  this  subject  myself. 

Paris,  Quai  de  Bethune,  April  22,  1917. 

In  addition  to  the  presentation  of  this 
note  verbale,  Prince  Sixtus  dispatched  a 
letter  to  Emperor  Charles  urging  him  to 
make  the  most  supreme  concessions  to 
attain  the  end  proposed. 

SECOND  VISIT  TO  VIENNA 
Informed  by  Count  Erdoedy  at  Zug 
that  the  Emperor  again  wished  his  pres- 
ence in  Vienna,  Prince  Sixtus  paid  his 
second  visit  to  the  Castle  of  Laxenburg. 
The  Emperor  showed  himself  extremely 
optimistic;  Italy  had  made  overtures  of 
peace  through  General  Cadoma  on  con- 
dition of  the  cession  to  her  of  the  Italian- 
speaking  Trentino.  The  Emperor  de- 
clared that  he  would  not  treat  directly 
with  Italy,  but  only  through  the  Entente. 
In  regard  to  other  matters  Charles  was 
ready  to  satisfy  all  demands.  Count 
Czemin  also  showed  a  strong  desire  for 
peace,  a  shift  of  attitude  occasioned  by 
the  Emperor's  report  of  a  virtual  rupture 
between  himself  and  Emperor  William 
at  Homburg  after  Charles  had  declared 
that  Austria  could  not  follow  Germany 
after  the  coming  of  Autumn. 

EMPEROR'S  SECOND  LETTER 

Prince  Sixtus  again  departed  for 
Paris,  bearing  a  second  letter  from 
Charles,  dated  May  9,  and  a  note  in  Ger- 
man, written  by  the  hand  of  Czemin. 
Charles's  second  letter  (hitherto  unpub- 
lished) is  here  translated: 


May  9,  1917. 
My  Dear  Sixtus: 

I  note  with  satisfaction  that  France  and 
England  share  my  views  regarding  what 
I  consider  as  the  essential  basis  of  the 
peace  of  Europe.  They  state,  however, 
that  they  will  not  conclude  peace  unless 
Italy  participates  therein.  Italy  has  just 
expressed  her  desire  to  make  peace  with 
the  monarchy  and  has  abandoned  all  the 
inadmissible  aspirations  of  conquest 
which  she  had  hitherto  manifested  re- 
garding the  Slavic  countries  of  the  Adri- 
atic. She  now  reduces  her  demands  to 
the  Italian-speaking  portion  of  the  Tyrol. 
I  have  deferred  examination  of  this  re- 
quest until  I  know  through  you  of  the 
response  of  France  and  England  to  my 
offers  of  peace.  Count  Erdoedy  will 
transmit  to  you  my  own  views  and  those 
of  my  Minister  concerning  these  differ- 
ent points. 

The  harmony  between  the  Monarchy 
and  France  and  England  on  so  many 
essential  points  will,  we  are  convinced, 
make  it  possible  to  overcome  the  last  ob- 
stacles to  an  honorable  peace. 

r  thank  you  for  the  aid  which  you  are 
gi  ing  me  now  in  this  work  of  peace  con- 
ceived by  me  in  the  common  interest  of 
my  country.  This  war  has  imposed  on 
you,  as  you  told  me  on  your  departure, 
the  duty  of  remaining  faithful  to  your 
name  and  the  great  past  of  your  house, 
first  of  all  in  succoring  the  wounded 
heroes  on  the  field  of  battle,  and,  second- 
ly, in  fighting  for  France.  I  have  un- 
derstood the  motives  of  your  action,  and 
although  we  have  been  separated  by 
events  for  which  I  have  no  personal  re- 
sponsibility, my  affection  for  you  has  not 
been  shaken.  With  your  permission  I 
wish  to  reserve  the  privilege  of  communi- 
cating to  France  and  England,  through 
you  as  my  only  intermediary,  my  direct 
and  personal  opinions.  Believe  me,  af- 
fectionately and  fraternally  yours, 

(Signed)     CHARLES. 

COUNT  CZERNINS  NOTE 

The  German  note  written  by  Count 
Czemin  is  given  herewith  in  the  form  in 
which  it  was  translated,  according  to 
L'lllustration,  by  Prince  Sixtus  himself, 
and  as  reproduced  in  the  body  of  L'lllus- 
tration article: 

I.  Austria-Hungary  cannot  consent  to 
any  cession  of  territory  without  compen- 
sation. In  case  of  compensation  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  no  territory  will 
ever  have  for  the  Monarchy  the  value  of 
a  land  watered  by  the  blood  of  its  sol- 
diers. 

II.  Outside  of  this  rectification  of  the 
projected  frontier  the  integrity  of  the 
Monarchy  must,  from  now  on,  be  guaran- 
teed by  the  Entente,    to   that  it  shall  be 


524 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT   HISTORY 


assured  when   the   general  peace   confer- 
ence is  opened. 

III.  As  soon  as  the  two  above-men- 
tioned conditions  (compensation  in  the 
rectification  of  frontier  and  guarantee  of 
the  integrity  of  the  Monarchy)  have  been 
accepted  by  the  Entente,  Austria-Hun- 
gary will  be  able  to  make  a  separate 
peace  with  the  Entente.  Then  only  will  it 
inform  its  allies  of  the  situation. 

IV.  In  all  cases  Austria-Hungary  is 
ready  to  pursue,  as  in  the  past,  negotia- 
tions with  a  view  to  concluding  with  the 
Entente  an  honorable  peace,  and  subse- 
quently to  prepare  the  way  for  a  general 
and  definite  peace. 

NEGOTIATIONS  FAIL 

All  obstacles  to  the  conclusion  of  a 
separate  peace  with  Austria  seemed  to 
have  been  overcome.  Prince  Sixtus 
hoped  to  persuade  M.  Poincare  of 
Charles's  sincerity,  his  belief  in  which 
had  been  shaken  by  the  Homburg  inter- 
view, and  to  overcome  the  incurable 
skepticism  of  M.  Ribot.  But  the  French 
Premier  showed  more  and  more  hesita- 
tion. The  views  of  Rumania,  Italy,  and 
Poland  seemed  to  him  important.  Inter- 
views with  the  King  of  Italy,  King 
George,  and  M.  Poincare  were  suggested. 
Prince  Sixtus  went  to  London.  He  saw 
Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  the  King  of  Eng- 
land. A  meeting  of  the  three  heads  of 
States  was  arranged. 

And  then — silence.  All  negotiations 
were  brought  to  an  abrupt  end.  No  an- 
swer was  made  by  the  Entente  to  the 
Austrian  request  for  peace;  and  the 
speech  of  M.  Ribot  on  Oct.  12,  1917,  by 
its  resolute  and  categorical  refusal  of 
peace  until  victory,  threw  Vienna  again 
into  the  arms  of  Germany.  The  war 
went  on,  Italy  triumphed  over  Austria, 
and  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire  col- 
lapsed; the  rest  is  known.  The  motives 
that  led  the  Entente  statesmen  to  reject 
the  Austrian  peace  offer  still  remain  of- 
ficially unpublished,  but  the  strongest 
implication  was  given  at  the  time  that 
there  was  lacking  a  belief  in  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  Austrian  Emperor's  over- 
tures, and  that  a  suspicion  of  trickery 
lurking  behind  the  offer  existed  in  the 
minds    of    the    Entente    diplomats    con- 


CZERNINS  LATEST  DENIAL 
A  new  chapter  in  the  whole  contro- 
versy was  added  by  Count  Czernin  in  a 
statement  given  by  him  to  the  Vienna 
press  on  Jan.  13,  1920,  in  which,  replying 
to  the  article  in  LTllustration  just  re- 
viewed, he  first  admitted  that  the  oral 
negotiations  with  Prince  Sixtus  had 
taken  place  under  his  responsible  direc- 
tion, but  declared  that  "  their  object  was 
the  preparation  of  a  general  peace  for 
our  entire  group."  He  then  pointed  out 
that  the  French  translation  given  by 
L'lllustration  of  the  aide-memoire  in 
German  written  by  himself,  and  accom- 
panying the  second  letter  of  Emperor 
Charles,  was  incorrect  in  Article  III., 
which  in  the  original  German  read  as 
follows : 

Thirdly,  a  definite  answer  cannot  be 
given  before  the  foregoing  two  points  are 
replied  to,  as  only  then  can  AustHa- 
Hungary  enter  into  pourparlers  with  her 
allies. 

The  statement  further  denied  that  the 
responsible  Austrian  Government  had 
any  intention  of  making  a  separate 
peace,  and  pointed  out  that  the  aide- 
memoire  betrayed  no  such  intention  in 
its  correct  translation.  The  obtaining  of 
tolerable  peace  terms,  said  Count  Czernin, 
would  have  made  it  possible  for  Austria- 
Hungary  to  work  with  more  success  in 
Berlin  for  a  general  peace  settlement. 
Count  Czernin  further  denied  that  during 
his  term  of  office  he  had  ever  received 
a  peace  offer  from  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment, and  also  declared  that  the  respon- 
sible Government  was  absolutely  unaware 
of  any  of  the  Imperial  letters  and  notes 
now  published,  in  proof  of  which  he  re- 
ferred to  his  possession  of  two  docu- 
ments, one  a  record  of  a  conversation 
with  the  Emperor  on  April  10,  1918,  in 
Bucharest,  and  the  second  a  letter  writ- 
ten him  by  the  Emperor  on  April  12, 
1918,  reiterating  Charles's  denials  to  the 
Kaiser  of  ever  having  promised  the 
Allies  in  any  peace  negotiations  the  inde- 
pendence of  Alsace-Lorraine.  Both  of 
these  documents,  declared  Count  Czernin, 
showed  clearly  that  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  the  letters  which 
LTllustration  had  published. 


The  Kaiser's  Letters  to  the  Czar 


German  Emperor's  Portion   of  the   Famous   "Willy-Nicky 
Correspondence  Throws  Light  on  the  War's  Causes 


FOR  twenty  years  preceding  the 
world  war  the  German  Kaiser  and 
the  Russian  Czar  carried  on  a 
private  correspondence,  which,  by 
some  imperial  whim,  was  written  always 
in  English,  and  which  discussed  es- 
pecially such  events  as  the  Boer  war,  the 
Russo-Japanese  war,  Austria's  annexa- 
tion of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  d  the 
German  Emperor's  trips  to  Jerusalem 
and  the  Mediterranean.  The  Czar's  let- 
ters in  reply  to  the  Kaiser  were  left  in 
the  palace  at  Potsdam  when  Wilhelm 
fled  to  Holland,  and  there  they  were  de- 
stroyed— so  it  is  now  stated — by  ex-Em- 
press Augusta  and  Prince  Eitel,  who 
burned  all  papers  before  the  palace  could 
be  searched.  The  Kaiser's  letters,  how- 
ever, seventy-five  in  all,  were  found  in 
the  Czar's  secret  archives  at  Petrograd 
after  the  first  Russian  revolution  in 
1917,  and  have  recently  been  published 
in  full  in  England,  France,  Italy,  Scandi- 
navia, Germany,  and  the  United  States. 
This  series  of  letters,  beginning  in 
November,  1894,  and  ending  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1914,  furnishes  a  new  key  to  the 
mind  and  character  of  the  German  Em- 
peror and  to  the  Hohenzollern  ambitions 
that  led  to  the  war.  M.  Hanotaux, 
former  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  this 
secret  correspondence  contributed  to  the 
suspicion  of  German  policy  which  pre- 
vailed in  European  Chancelleries  in  the 
years  preceding  the  conflict.  The  publi- 
cation of  the  Kaiser's  letters  in  full  now 
throws  new  light  on  the  forces  that  led 
to  the  creation  of  the  Triple  Entente,  as 
well  as  on  the  whole  trend  of  the  Kaiser's 
European  policy,  long  a  matter  of  shrewd 
surmise. 

That  policy,  as  revealed  by  these  let- 
ters, was  one  involving  a  persistent  ef- 
fort to  detach  the  Czar  from  his  French 
allies,  and  to  induce  him  to  mistrust, 
despise   and   hate   them;    to    excite   his 


animus  against  "  perfidious  Albion  ";  to 
persuade  him  to  constitute  himself  the 
champion  of  the  West  against  the  "  Yel- 
low Peril,"  and  to  embroil  him  with  all 
three  of  the  Kaiser's  chief  enemies, 
England,  France  and  Japan,  with  the  in- 
evitable result  of  weakening  Russia  her- 
self and  leaving  the  Kaiser  paramount 
over  land  and  sea.  In  nearly  every  let- 
ter of  the  series  the  Kaiser's  mania  for 
"  sabre-rattling  "  and  his  self-conceived 
mission  as  military  and  political  arbiter 
of  the  affairs  of  Europe  are  apparent. 

ATTACKS   ON    FRANCE 

In  Letter  No.  6  (Sept.  26,  1895),  tak- 
r  some  suggested  reforms  in  French 
Army  organization  as  his  text,  the 
Kaiser  admonishes  his  royal  cousin  on 
the  danger  of  his  association  with  the 
French,  whom  he  characterizes  as 
"  damned  rascals."  In  Letter  No.  18 
(Nov.  9,  1898),  written  from  Damascus, 
he  is  horrified  at  the  ignominious  re- 
treat of  the  French  from  Fashoda,  and 
charges  the  French  Nation,  especially  the 
army,  with  "  co  -uptio- ,  lying  and  dis- 
honor." 

"  One  fine  day,"  he  warns  the  Czar, 
"  you  will  find  yourself,  nolens  volens, 
suddenly  embroiled  in  e  most  horrible 
of  wars  Europe  ever  saw."  This  warn- 
ing proved  to  be  prophetic,  but  not  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  "Laiser  understood  his 
prophecy.  The  hatred  of  the  English,  he 
declares,  is  growing  ever  stronger  in  the 
East. 

In  this  letter  the  German  rapproche- 
ment with  Turkey  is  already  apparent. 
Turkey,  he  declares,  is  not  dead,  but 
very  much  alive.  Discussing  the  Koweit 
incident,  in  which  Sheik  Mabarouk,  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  Sultan  in 
Constantinople,  appealed  to  Great 
Britain  to  support  his  independence,  and 
in  which  a  British  gunboat  commander 
hauled  down  the  Turkish  flag  hoisted 
over  the  recalcitrant  Sheik's  home,  the 


526 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


FACSIMILE   OF   FIRST   AND   LAST   PAGE   OF   ONE   OF   THE    EARLIEST   OF  THE    KAISER'S 
LETTERS    TO    THE    CZAR    IN    THE    "  WILLY- NICKY  "     CORRESPONDENCE 


Kaiser  congratulates  the  Czar  on  the 
arrival  in  this  region  of  the  Russian  war- 
ship Variag,  and  hints  that  Great  Britain 
intended  by  this  action  to  remain  per- 
manently in  Persia,  "  which  would  have 
meant  paramount  rule  of  all  the  trade 
routes  of  Persia  leading  to  the  Gulf,  by 
this  of  Persia  itself,  and  by  that  '  ta-ta ' 
to  your  proposed  establishment  of  Rus- 
sian commerce,  which  is  very  ably  begun 
by  the  conclusion  of  the  '  Zollverein  '  with 
Persia  by  you." 

POLICY  TOWARD  JAPAN 

The  first  example  of  the  Kaiser's 
policy  with  regard  to  Japan  occurs  in 
Letter  4  of  the  series  (April  26,  1895), 
in  which,  referring  to  the  protest  of  Rus- 
sia, France  and  Germany  against  the 
Sino-Japanese  treaty  of  April  24,  which 
forced  Japan  to  give  up  the  Liao-tung 
Peninsula  and  Port  Arthur,  he  expresses 
himself  as  follows: 

I  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  excellent 
way  In  which  you  initiated  the  combined 
action  of  Europe  for  the  sake  of  its  in- 
terests against  Japan.     It  was  high  time 


that  energetic  steps  were  taken  and  will 
make  an  excellent  impression  in  Japan  as 
elsewhere.  *  *  *  I  shall  certainly  do  all 
In  my  power  to  keep  Europe  quiet,  and 
also  guard  the  rear  of  Russia  so  that 
nobody  shall  hamper  your  action  toward 
the  Far  East!  For  that  is  clearly  the 
great  task  of  the  future,  for  Russia  to  cul- 
tivate the  Asian  Continent,  and  to  defend 
Europe  from  the  inroads  of  the  Great 
Yellow  race.  You  have  well  understood 
the  call  of  Providence.  *  *  *  I  hope 
that,  just  as  I  will  gladly  help  you  to  set- 
tle the  question  of  eventual  annexations  of 
portions  of  territory  for  Russia,  you  will 
kindly  see  that  Germany  may  also  be  able 
to  acquire  a  port  somewhere  were  [sic] 
it  does  not  gene  you.* 

In  Letter  No.  5  (July  10,  1895)  the 
Kaiser  again  sounds  this  note  of  a  Chris- 
tian crusade  to  be  headed  by  Russia,  pre- 
destined to  this  end  by  Divine  Providence 
for  "  the  cultivation  of  Asia  and  the  de- 
fense of  the  cross  and  the  old  Christian 
European  culture  against  the  inroads  of 
the  Mongols  and  Buddhism."     He  then 


♦The  annexations  referred  to  eventually  re- 
sulted in  Germany  taking  Kiao-Chau,  Russia 
Port  Arthur,  and  England  Wei-hai-Wei  in 
1898. 


THE  KAISER'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  CZAR 


527 


repeats  and  emphasizes  his  promise  to 
support  Russia  whfle  engaged  in  this 
great  task,  and  to  see  that  she  should 
suffer  no  attack  from  the  rear.  In  this 
connection  he  says: 

It  was  natural  that  if  Russia  was  en- 
gaged in  this  tremendous  work  you  wished 
to  have  Europe  quiet  and  your  back  free; 
and  *  *  *  it  was  natural  and  without 
doubt  that  this  would  be  my  task  and  that 
I  would  let  nobody  try  to  interfere  with 
you  and  attack  from  behind  in  Europe 
during  the  time  you  were  fulfilling  the 
great  mission  which  Heaven  has  shaped 
for  you.  That  was  as  sure  as  Amen  in 
Church. 

A  SYMBOLIC  DRAWING 

In  Letter  No.  6   (Sept.  26,  1895)   the 
Kaiser,  pursuing  ever  this  fixed  idea  of 
the  defense  of  Christianity  against  the 
pagan  forces   of   the   yellow   races,   de- 
scribes a  symbolical  drawing  he  has  made 
which  embodies  this  conception  in  con- 
crete form.     On  this  subject  he  says: 
The    development     of     the     Far    East, 
especially  its   danger  to  Europe  and  our* 
Christian  faith,  has  been  greatly  on  my 
mind  ever  since  we  made  our  first  move 
together  in  Spring.     At  last  jny  thoughts 
developed  into  a  certain  form  and  this  I 
sketched  on  paper.     I  worked  it  out  with 
an     artist— a     first-class     draftsman— and 
after  it  was  finished  had  it  engraved  for 
public    use.    *    *    *    It    shows    the    powers 
of  Europe  represented  by  their  respective 
Genii    called    together   by    the   Archangel 
Michael— sent    from    Heaven— to    unite    in 
resisting. the  inroad  of  Buddhism,  heath- 
enism and  barbarism  for  the  Defense  of 
the  Cross.* 

In  Letter  No.  26  (Sept.  2,  1902)  the 
Kaiser  suggests  the  naval  combination 
of  Russia  and  Germany  with  a  view  of 
curbing  Japanese  ambitions  in  the  East. 
As  evidence  of  this  naval  solidarity  he 
mentions  the  fact  that  the  secret  plans 
of  his  latest  ships  had  been  handed  over 
to  the  Russian  naval  authorities.  An  in- 
teresting sidelight  on  this  alleged  reve- 
lation of  Germany's  naval  secrets  is  con- 
tained in  the  memoirs  of  Grand  Admiral 
von  Tirpitz,  who  states  that  the  "  secret " 
plans  made  over  to  the  Russian  Ad- 
miralty were  not  the  original  plans,  but 
quite  useless  ones,  an  admission  made  to 
counteract  German  criticism.  Referring 
to  the  appointment  of  the  Japanese  Gen- 
eral Yamai  to  train  the  Chinese  Arcny, 
the  Kaiser  says: 

Twenty    to    thirty    millions    of    trained 


Chinese  helped  by  half  a  dozen  Jap.  Divi- 
sions and  led  by  fine  undaunted  Christian- 
hating  Jap.  Officers,  is  a  future  to  be 
contemplated  not  without  anxiety ;  and  not 
impossible.  In  fact  it  is  the  coming  into 
reality  of  the  "  Yellow  Peril  "  which  I 
depicted  some  years  ago,  and  for  which 
engraving  I  was  laughed  at  by  the  greater 
mass  of  the  People. 

In  Letter  No.  29  the  Kaiser  sends  the 
Czar  certain  information  which  he  has 
received  about  the  clandestine  arming  of 
Chinese  forces  by  the  Japanese — infor- 
mation which  he  describes  as  "  signals  " 
from  the  Admiral  of  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Admiral  of  the  Pacific.  In  Letter  No.  30 
(Jan.  3,  1904)  he  further,  and  in  the 
most  emphatic  way,  encourages  the  Czar 
in  the  belief  that  Russia  must  annex 
Korea,  though  the  Russian  note  of  Oct. 
3,  1903,  had  recognized  Japan's  prepon- 
derating interests  in  that  province;  he 
takes  occasion  to  att""k  the  British  press 
for  "fanning  the  flames"  (of  Japanese 
res^tance)  and  expresses  the  hope  (Let- 
ter 31,  Jan.  1,  1904)  that  "the  Japs" 
may  listen  to  reason,  "  notwithstanding 
the  frantic  efforts  of  the  vile  press  of  a 
certain  country"  (England).  In  antici- 
pation of  the  coming  conflict,  finally, 
which  he  himself  has  done  so  much  to 
bring  about,  he  sends  to  the  Czar  (Let- 
ter No.  31)  "confidential  "  plans  of  two 


♦On  a  plateau  of  rock  bathed  in  light  radi- 
ating from  the  Cross  stand  allegorical  figures 
of  the  civilized  nations.  In  the  foreground  is 
France,  shading  her  eyes  with  her  left  hand. 
She  cannot  altogether  believe  in  the  proxim- 
ity of  danger,  but  Germany,  armed  with 
shield  and  sword,  follows  with  attentive  eye 
the  approach  of  calamity.  Russia,  a  beauti- 
ful woman  with  a  wealth  of  hair,  leans  her 
arm  as  if  in  close  friendship  on  the  shoulder 
of  her  martial  companion.  Beside  this  group 
Austria  stands  in  resolute  pose.  She  extends 
her  right  hand  in  an  attitude  of  invitation  as 
if  to  win  the  co-operation  of  still  somewhat 
reluctant  England  in  the  common  task.  *  *  * 
In  front  of  this  martial  group  of  many 
figures  stands  unmailed  the  winged  Arch- 
angel Michael,  holding  in  his  right  hand  a 
•flaming  sword.  At  the  foot  of  the  rocky 
plateau  stands  the  vast  plain  of  civilized 
Europe.  In  the  foreground  is  the  Castle  of 
Hohenzollern,  but  over  these  peaceful  land- 
scapes clouds  of  calamity  are  rolling  up.  The 
path  trodden  by  Asiatic  hordes  in  their  on- 
ward career  is  marked  by  a  sea  of  flame 
proceeding  from  a  burning  city.  Dense 
clouds  of  smoke  twisting  into  the  form  of 
hellish  distorted  faces  ascend  from  the  con- 
flagration. The  threatening  danger  in  the 
form  of  Buddha  is  enthroned  in  this  sombre 
framework.  A  Chinese  dragon,  which  at  the 
same  time  represents  the  demon  of  destruc- 
tion, carries  this  heathen  idol.  In  an  awful 
onset  the  Powers  of  Darkness  draw  nearer  to 
the  banks  of  the  protecting  stream.  Only  a 
little  while  and  that  stream  Is  no  longer  a 
barrier.  (North  German  Gazette:  Berlin 
Correspondent,  Morning  Post,  Nov.  11,  1895.) 


528 


THE   NEW    YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


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FACSIMILE  OF  TWO  PAGES  OF  ONE  OF  THE  KAISER'S   LATER  LETTERS  IN  THE  SERIES 
KNOWN    AS    THE    "  WILLY-NICKY  '*    CORRESPONDENCE 


warships,  the  Rivadavia  and  the  Moreno, 
built  originally  by  England  for  Argen- 
♦'•"a,  and  ultimately  given  to  Japan. 

The  war  between  Russia  and  Japan, 
wliich  the  German  Kaiser  had  done  so 
much  to  foment,  at  last  broke  out;  the 
Japanese  Government  severed  diplomatic 
relations  with  Russia  on  Feb.  5,  1904; 
Admiral  Togo  attacked  the  Russian  fleet 
outside  Port  Arthur  on  Feb.  8,  and  the 
Mikado  formally  declared  war  against 
Russia  on  Feb.  10.  The  day  after  the 
Japanese  declaration  of  war  the  Kaiser 
wrote  the  Czar  a  letter  of  sympathy  on 
his  first  naval  defeat,  congratulating 
him,  however,  on  the  possession  of  a- 
good  conscience — Letter  No.  32  (Feb.  11, 
1904).    In  this  connection  he  says: 

The  outbreak  of  hostilities  has  had  sad 
consequences  for  your  brave  navy, 
which  have  deeply  moved  me !  How  could 
it  be  otherwise,  seeing  that  I  am  a  Rus- 
sian Admiral  and  proud  of  this  rank, 
too !  Evidently  the  serious  events  show 
that  the  warning  news  I*could  send  you 
through  my  ciphers  was  absolutely  cor- 
rect and  that  slnr  <S£ long  the  Japanese 
Government  wap^/^x.itter  earnest  and 
decided  to  have   ,;^_ . . 


In  Letter  No.  33  (March  29,  1904)  the 
Kaiser,  switching  suddenly  from  light 
chatter  about  "  lovely  and  bewitching 
Naples,"  which  he  has  just  visited  in  the 
course  of  the  Mediterranean  cruise,  vir- 
tually demands  the  speedy  conclusion  of 
the  famous  Treaty  of  Commerce  which 
was  to  place  Russia  economically  at  the 
mercy  of  Germany,  suggesting  that  "  a 
promise  of  a  nice  picnic  in  Siberia " 
would  hurry  the  reluctant  Russian  nego- 
tiators. This  scarcely  veiled  ultimatum 
had  its  effect,  and  the  treaty  was  signed 
on  July  28,  1904.  Thus,  at  a  time  when 
Russia  was  plunged  in  war  with  a  for- 
midable opponent,  the  Kaiser  extorted 
concessions  of  the  greatest  economic  ad- 
vantage to  Germany,  and  took  the  first 
step  in  his  project  of  the  commercial  and 
economic  subjugation  of  his  Slavic 
"ally." 

UNDERMINING  FRANCE 

In  Letter  No.  34  (June  6,  1904)  the 
Kaiser  sows  seeds  of  distrust  in  the 
Czar's  mind  regarding  his  ally,  France, 
by  intimating  his  discovery  that  the  rea- 


THE  KAISER'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  CZAR 


529 


son  why  France  had  not  sent  her  fleet 
down  to  keep  Port  Arthur  open  until  the 
Russian  Baltic  fleet  arrived  was  the  ex- 
istence of  an  Anglo-French  agreement, 
which  had  prevented  France  from  mov- 
ing to  aid  Russia.  He  also  seizes  the 
opportunity  to  put  a  spoke  in  the  wheels 
of  England,  in  her  project  of  mediation 
between  Russia  and  Japan,  already  re- 
vealed. This  attempt,  he  declares,  "is 
most  presuming  on  her  part,  seeing  that 
the  war  has  only  just  begun — she  is 
afraid  for  her  money,  and  wants  to  get 
Thibet  cheaply."  He  further  says  that 
he  will  try  to  dissuade  "  Uncle  Bertie  " 
(King  Edward)  from  "  harrassing  "  the 
Czar  with  any  more  such  proposals.  The 
whole  tone  of  this  letter  indicates  his  re- 
luctance to  have  Russia  bring  the  war 
with  Japan  to  a  close. 

In  Letter  No.  35  (Aug.  19,  1904)  the 
Kaiser  discusses  the  course  of  the  war 
with  Japan.  He  admits  the  seriousness 
of  the  situation,  but  assures  the  Czar 
that  he  must  conquer  eventually,  though 
it  will  cost  both  money  and  men.  He 
sketches  a  plan  of  amateur  strategy  for 
the  Czar  to  follow.  By  no  means  averse 
to  weakening  Russia's  naval  power,  he 
strongly  advises  the  Czar  (Oct.  10,  1904) 
to  send  his  Black  Sea  fleet  out  to  meet 
the  Japanese  Navy  in  conjunction  with 
the  Baltic  fleet;  to  prepare  it  secretly, 
and  "  then  at  the  moment  you  think 
right,  calmly  and  proudly  steam  through 
the  Dardanelles."  The  Sultan,  he  de- 
clares, will  offer  no  resistance;  as  to 
England,  he  says: 

I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
England  will  accept  It,  too,  though  the 
press  may  fume  and  rage  and  their  squad- 
rons steam  about  a  little,  as  they  often  do 
in  the  Mediterranean.  But  they  won't 
[sic]  stir  in  earnest  when  they  see  that  the 
rest  of  the  powers  remain  quiet. 

THE    SECRET   TREATY 

In  Letter  No.  36  (Oct.  30,  1904)  the 
Kaiser,  for  the  first  time  in  this  corre- 
spondence, mentions  the  momentous  sub- 
ject of  the  secret  treaty  between  Russia 
and  Germany,  the  ultimate  object  of 
which  was  the  isolation  of  England. 
This  secret  treaty  was  ultimately  signed 
by  the  two  Emperors  at  Bjorko  on  July 
24,  1905.  This  portion  of  the  "Willy- 
Nicky  "     correspondence,     notably     the 


series  of  telegrams  bearing  on  the  secret 
treaty,  was  published  by  The  New  York 
Herald  in  September,  1917.  The  treaty 
was  modified  from  its  original  draft 
form,  to  tone  down  the  obviousness  of 
its  intention  to  isolate  England,  but  even 
as  drawn  it  was  incompatible  with  the 
Franco-Russian  Alliance,  a  fact  which 
explains  the  Kaiser's  eagerness  to  con- 
clude it  before  its  contents  were  revealed 
to  France.  The  treaty  was  not  counter- 
signed by  the  Russian  Foreign  Minister, 
but  only  by  Admiral  Birilev,  Minister  of 
Marine,  who  is  said  to  have  admitted 
that  he  signed  it  at  the  Czar's  request 
without  any  idea  of  its  contents.  The 
Russian  statesman,  Count  Witte,  who 
died  in  March,  1915,  asserted  that  the 
treaty  was  annulled  at  his  instigation. 
It  was  long  believed  that  the  Wilhelm- 
strasse  had  no  share  in  it,  but  in  Letter 
No.  37  the  Kaiser  declares  that  the  work 
of  drafting  this  treaty  was  done  by  him- 
self and  von  Bulow  personally. 

THE   KAISER'S   TELEGRAM 

The  first  conception  of  such  a  secret 
alliance  is  found  in  a  telegram  of  the 
Czar  in  answer  to  one  sent  by  the  Kaiser 
on  Oct.  27,  1904,  the  text  of  which  is 
given  herewith: 

For  some  time  the  English  press  has 
been  threatening  Germany  that  she  must 
on  no  account  allow  coals  to  be  sent  to 
the  Baltic  fleet,  now  on  Its  way  out.  It 
Is  not  impossible  that  the  Japanese  and 
British  Governments  may  launch  joint 
protests  against  our  coaling  your  ships, 
coupled  with  a  summons  to  stop  further 
work.  The  result  aimed  at  by  such  a 
threat  of  war  would  be  the  absolute  im- 
mobility of  your  fleet  and  its  inability 
to  proceed  for  want  of  fuel.  This  new 
danger  would  have  to  be  faced  in  com- 
mon by  Russia  and  Germany  together, 
who  would  both  have  to  remind  your  ally 
France  of  the  obligations  she  took  over 
in  the  treaty  of  the  Dual  Alliance  with 
you  in  the  case  of  a  casus  foederis  arising. 
It  is  out  of  the  question  that  France 
on  such  invitation  would  try  to  shirk  her 
implicit  duty  toward  her  ally.  Though 
Delcasse  is  Anglophile  and  would  be  en- 
raged, he  would  be  wise  enough  to  under- 
stand that  the  British  fleet  is  utterly 
unable  to  save  Paris.  In  this  way  a  pow- 
erful combinatipn  of  the  three  strongest 
Continental  powers  would  be  formed,  to 
attack  which  the  Anglo-Saxons  would 
think  twice.  Before  acting  you  ought  not 
to  forget  to  order  new  ships,  so  as  to  be 


530 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


ready  with  some"  of  them  when  the  war 
is  over.  They  will  be  excellent  persuad- 
ers during  the  peace  negotiations.  Our 
private  firms  would  be  most  glad  to  re- 
ceive contracts. 

THE  CZAR'S  REPLY 
The  Czar  telegraphed  back  on  Oct.  30, 
1904.  In  his  reply,  a  copy  of  which  was 
found  in  the  Petrograd  archives,  he  re- 
ferred indignantly  to  the  famous  Dogger 
Bank  episode,  in  which  Admiral  Rozhdest- 
vensky  had  fired  on  English  trawlers  on 
the  ground  that  enemy  ships  were 
screened  among  them.  The  outcry  caused 
by  this  action  was  finally  appeased  by 
the  Czar's  referring  the  matter  to  The 
Hague  tribunal.  In  his  telegram  the 
Czar  says: 

Of  course,  you  know  the  first  details  of 
the  North  Sea  incident  from  our  Ad- 
miral's telegram.  Naturally,  it  complete- 
ly alters  the  situation.  I  have  no  words 
to  express  my  indignation  with  England's 
conduct.  I  agree  fully  with  your  com- 
plaints about  England's  behavior  concern- 
ing the  coaling  of  our  ships  by  German 
steamers.  Whereas  she  understands  the 
rules  of  keeping  neutrality  in  her  own 
fashion,  it  is  certainly  high  time  to  put 
a  stop  to  this.  The  only  way,  as  you  say, 
would  be  that  Germany,  Russia,  and 
France  should  at  once  unite  upon  arrange- 
ments to  abolish  English  and  Japanese 
arrogance  and  insolence.  Would  you  like 
to  lay  down  and  frame  the  outlines  of 
such  a  treaty?  As  soon  as  it  is  accepted 
by  us  France  is  bound  to  join  her  ally. 

The  Kaiser  replied  to  the  Czar  on  Oct. 
30,  stating  that  he  had  sent  the  draft  of 
the  proposed  treaty  together  with  a  letter 
(No.  37).  In  this  letter  the  Kaiser  dis- 
cusses the  probable  effect  of  the  treaty 
on  America  and  France.  Roosevelt,  he 
declares,  owing  to  the  innate  American 
dislike  to  all  colored  races,  has  no  special 
partiality  for  Japan,  despite  England's 
attempts  to  work  upon  American  feeling 
in  favor  of  Japan;  furthermore,  a 
powerful  Japanese  fleet  is  a  menace  to 
the  Philippines.  England,  he  adds, 
counts  on  France's  remaining  passive, 
the  radical  and  anti-Christian  parties 
favoring  England,  but  being  opposed  to 
war  "  because  a  victorious  General 
would  mean  certain  destruction  to  this 
republic  of  miserable  civilians."  As 
usual,  the  Kaiser  loses  no  opportunity 
to  inspire  the  Czar's  distrust  of  his 
French   ally.     "  I   positively   know,"   he 


says,  "  that  as  far  back  as  December  last 
the  French  Minister  of  Finance,  Bouvier, 
from  his  own  accord  told  the  financial 
agent  of  another  power  that  on  no  ac- 
count whatever  would  France  join  you  in 
a  Russo-Japanese  war,  even  if  England 
should  take  sides  with  Japan."  France's 
attitude,  declares  the  Kaiser,  was  what 
gave  English  policy  "  its  present  un- 
wonted brutal  assurance."  Germany  and 
Russia  must  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder; 
that  consummation  reached,  the  Kaiser 
says,  "  I  expect  to  be  able  to  maintain 
peace  and  you  will  be  left  a  free  and  un- 
disturbed hand  to  deal  with  Japan." 

DRAFTS  OF  TREATY 

The  draft  of  the  treaty  sent  by  the 
Kaiser  to  the  Czar  bore  two  forms.  The 
first  had  three  provisions;  the  later  form 
three  provisions  and  a  secret  article.  In 
the  first  form  the  purpose  of  the  treaty 
is  laid  down  as  being  "  to  localize  as 
much  as  possible  the  Russo-Japanese 
war."  Article  I.  in  both  drafts,  providing 
that  if  either  contracting  party  should 
be  attacked  by  a  European  power  the 
other  party  would  give  support  with  all 
its  land  and  sea  forces,  and  that  France 
would  be  reminded  of  her  duty  as  Rus- 
sia's ally,  is  virtually  identical.  The  same 
applies  to  Article  II.,  which  provides  that 
neither  party  would  make  a  separate 
peace  with  any  common  adversary. 
Article  III.  in  the  first  draft,  however, 
dealing  with  support  in  the  case  of  acts — 
such  as  delivering  coal  to  a  belligerent — 
which  might  give  rise  to  complaints  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  Russo-Japanese 
war,  is  replaced  in  part  by  a  "  secret 
article  "  which  embodies  a  clause  to  the 
effect  that  "  Germany  will  not  associate 
herself  with  any  action  whatsoever  which 
might  imply  hostile  tendencies  toward 
Russia." 

The  meaning  and  interpretation  of 
the  two  drafts  were  explained  by  the 
Kaiser  in  Letter  40  (Nov.  17,  1904);  in 
this  letter  the  psychology  of  the  German 
Emperor  is  brought  out  in  strong  relief; 
his  first  view  that  the  projected  treaty 
could  be  revealed  to  France  was  changed 
with  the  conclusion  of  the  Anglo-French 
agreement,  on  which  the  entente  cor- 
diale  was  based,  which  eventually  be- 
came the  Kaiser's  undoing,  and  on  the 


THE  KAISER'S  LETTERS  TO  THE  CZAR 


531 


Czar's  telegraphing  for  permission  to 
show  the  treaty  to  France,  the  Kaiser 
withheld  his  consent,  hinted  darkly  of 
the  terrible  consequences  that  would  en- 
sue if  the  treaty  became  known,  and 
urged  insistently  (Letter  41,  Dec.  7, 
1904)  that  Russia  should  agree  to  the 
coaling  clause.  To  this  the  Czar  did  not 
agree,  and  the  ma.„er  was  dropped  until 
the  B  jorko  meeting  of  July  24, 1905,  when 
the  treaty,  stripped  of  this  provision, 
was  ultimately  signed  by  th-  two  Em- 
perors.    It  never  became  effective. 

In  Letter  No.  43  (Jan.  2,  1905)  the 
Kaiser,  who  had  prophesied  Russia's  vic- 
tory, offers  his  condolences  over  the  fall 
of  Port  Arthur  and  expr<-  :-\  the  hope 
that  in  rebuilding  the  Russian  fleet  the 


Czar's  advisers  will  not  forget  "  our 
great  films  of  Stettin,  Kiel,  &c."  So  the 
great  Russo-Asiatic  war  drama  which 
the  Kaiser  had  helped  to  stage  was 
brought  to  an  end,  and  the  series  of  let- 
ters in  which  the  German  Machiavelli 
had  revealed  his  persistent  purpose  to 
embroil  his  Russian  cousin  with  the  lat- 
ter's  ally,  France,  and  with  Great  Bi'it- 
ain  and  Japan,  found  here  the  logical 
close  of  its  first  stage.  The  other  let- 
ters of  the  series  deal  with  events  up  to 
the  beginning  of  the  year  that  brought 
with  it  the  world  war,  but  they  merely 
add  new  details  to  the  foregoing  self- 
revelation  of  the  German  Kaiser  and  his 
disquieting  machinations  as  a  secret  dip- 
lomatist. 


The  Rumanian  Minorities  Treaty 

Text  of  Rumania's  Pact  With  the  Allies  Guaranteeing  Liberty 
to  All  Classes  of  Citizens 


WHEN  the  Allies  gave  national  in- 
dependence to  Poland,  Czecho- 
slovakia and  other  new  coun- 
tries, and  when  they  practically 
re-created  Rumania  with  enlarged  boun- 
daries that  included  Transylvania  and  a 
part  of  the  Banat  of  Temesvar,  they  ex- 
acted as  the  price  of  this  service  a 
promise  that  these  countries  would  give 
all  the  privileges  of  individual  freedom 
to  every  citizen  within  their  boundaries, 
regardless  of  race,  religion,  or  language. 
The  promise  took  the  form  of  a  treaty 
with  the  Allies,  which  bound  the  new 
States  to  maintain  the  institutions  of 
modern  political  liberty  under  the  aegis 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  Poland  signed 
such  a  treaty  when  she  signed  the  peace 
with  Germany,  and  Rumania  was  told 
that  she  must  subscribe  to  a  similar  one 
before  she  could  be  allowed  to  sign  the 
Austrian  peace  of  St.  Gei-main.  When 
the  Austrian  Treaty  was  signed  by  the 
other  powers  in  September,  however, 
Rumania  held  back,  both  because  she  re- 
fused to  guarantee  the  rights  of  minori- 
ties and  because  she  was  still  defying  the 
Allies   by   keeping   troops    in    Hungary. 


For  three  months  Rumania  maintained 
this  recalcitrant  attitude;  finally,  on 
Dec.  9,  1919,  after  receiving  an  ulti- 
matum from  the  Paris  Peace  Conference, 
the  Rumanian  delegate,  General  Coanda, 
affixed  his  name  to  the  minorities  treaty 
and  to  that  of  St.  Germain. 

The  full  text  of  the  Rumanian  instru- 
ment promising  equal  rights  to  Jew  and 
Gentile,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  Saxon, 
Czechler  and  Rumanian  is  as  follows: 

TEXT  OF   THE  TREATY 

The  United  States  of  America,  the  British 
Empire,  France,  Italy,  and  Japan,  th.  prin- 
cipal allied  and  associated  powers,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  Rumania  on  tlie  other  hand: 

CQf)CrCd0,  Under  treaties  to  which  the 
principal  allied  and  associated 
powers  are  parties  large  accessions  of  terri- 
tory are  being  and  will  be  made  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Rumania,  and 
tQ6Ct£d£>  Rumania  desires  of  her  own 
free  will  to  give  full  guaran- 
tees of  liberty  and  justice  to  all  inhabitants 
both  of  the  old  Kingdom  of  Rumania  and  of 
the  territory  added  thereto,  to  whatever  race, 
language  or  religion  they  may  belong; 

Have,  after  examining  the  question  to- 
gether agreed  to  conclude  the  present  treaty, 
and  for  this  purpose  have  appointed  as  their 


532 


THE   NEW   YORK   TIMES   CURRENT   HISTORY 


plenipotentiaries  the  following,  reserving  the 
right  of  substituting  others  to  sign  the 
treaty : 

The  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America: 

The  Hon.  Frank  Lyon  Polk,  Under  Secre- 
tary of  State ;  the  Hon.  Henry  White,  former- 
ly Ambassador  Extraordinary  and  Plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  United  States  at  Rome  and 
Paris ;  General  Tasker  H.  Bliss,  Military 
Representative  of  the  United  States  on  the 
Supreme  War  Council ; 

His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  of  the 
British  Dominions  beyond  the  seas,  Emperor 
of  India: 

Sir  Eyre  Crowe,  K.  C.  B.,  K.  C.  M.  G., 
Minister  Plenipotentiary,  Assistant  Under 
Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs ;  and 
for  the  Dominion  of  Canada:  The  Hon.  Sir 
George  Halsey  Perley,  K.  C.  M.  G.,  High 
Commissioner  for  Canada  in  the  United  King- 
dom ;  for  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia : 
The  Right  Hon.  Andrew  Fisher,  High  Com- 
missioner for  Australia  in  the  United  King- 
dom ;  for  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand : 
The  Hon.  Sir  Thomas  Mackenzie,  K.  C.  M.  G., 
High  Commissioner  for  New  Zealand  in  the 
United  Kingdom ;  for  the  Union  of  South 
Africa :     Reginald    Andrew    Blankenberg,    O. 

B.  E.,  Acting  High  Commissioner  for  the 
Union  of  South  Africa  in  the  United  King- 
dom;  for  India:  Sir  Eyre  Crowe,  K.  C.  B., 
K.   C.  M.   G. ; 

The  President  of  the  French  Republic: 
M.  Georges  Clemenceau,  President  of  the 
Council,  Minister  of  War;  Stephen  Pichon, 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs ;  Louis-Lucien 
Klotz,  Minister  of  Finance ;  Andr<§  Tardieu, 
Minister  for  the  Liberated  Regions ;  Jules 
Cambon,    Ambassador    of    France; 

His  Majesty  the  King  of  Italy:  Sir 
Giacomo  de  Martino,  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and   Minister  Plenipotentiary ; 

His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Japan:  K. 
Matsui,  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  of  H.  M.  the  Emperor  of 
Japan  at  Paris ; 

His  Majesty  the  King  of  Rumania :  General 
Constantin  Coanda,  Corps  Commander,  A.  D. 

C.  to  the  King,  formerly  President  of  the 
Council   of    Ministers ; 

Who  have  agreed  as  follows: 

CHAPTER  I. 

ARTICLrE  1— Rumania  undertakes  that  the 
stipulations  contained  in  Articles  2  to  8  of 
this  chapter  shall  be  recognized  as  funda- 
mental laws,  and  that  no  law,  regulation  or 
official  action  shall  conflict  or  interfere 
with  these  stipulations,  nor  shall  any  law, 
regulation  or  official  action  prevail  over 
them. 

article  2— Rumania  undertakes  to  as- 
sure full  and  complete  protection  of  life 
and  liberty  to  all  inhabitants  of  Rumania 
without  distinction  of  birth,  nationality,  lan- 
guage,   race   or  religion. 


All  inhabitants  of  Rumania  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  free  exercise,  whether  public  or 
private,  of  any  creed,  religion  or  belief, 
whose  practices  are  not  inconsistent  with 
public  order  and  public  morals. 

ARTICLE  3— Subject  to  the  special  pro- 
visions of  the  treaties  mentioned  below,  Ru- 
mania admits  and  declares  to  be  Rumanian 
nationals  ipso  facto  and  without  the  re- 
quirement of  any  formality  all  persons  ha- 
bitually resident  at  the  date  of  the  coming 
into  force  of  the  present  treaty  within  the 
whole  territory  of  Rumania,  including  the 
extensions  made  by  the  treaties  of  peace 
with  Austria  and  Hungary,  or  any  other 
extensions  which .  may  hereafter  be  made,  if 
such  persons  are  not  at  that  date  nationals 
of  a  foreign  State  other  than  Austria  or 
Hungary. 

Nevertheless,  Austrian  and  Hungarian  na- 
tionals who  are  over  18  years  of  age  will 
be  entitled  under  the  conditions  contained 
in  the  said  treaties  to  opt  for  any  other 
nationality  which  may  be  open  to  them. 
Option  by  a  husband  will  cover  his  wife 
and  option  by  parents  will  cover  their  chil- 
dren under  18  years   of  age. 

Persons  who  have  exercised  the  above  right 
to  opt  must  within  the  succeeding  twelve 
months  transfer  their  place  of  residence  to 
the  State  for  which  they  have  opted.  They 
will  be  entitled  to  retain  their  immovable 
property  in  Rumanian  territory.  They  may 
carry  with  them  their  movable  property  of 
every  description.  No  export  duties  may  be 
imposed  upon  them  in  connection  with  the 
removal  of  such  property. 

ARTICLE  4— Rumania  admits  and  declares 
to  be  Rumanian  nationals  ipso  facto  and 
without  the  requirement  of  any  formality 
persons  of  Austrian  or  Hungarian  nationality 
who  were  born  in  the  territory  transferred 
to  Rumania  by  the  treaties  of  peace  with 
Austria  and  Hungary,  or  subsequently  trans- 
ferred to  her,  of  parents  habitually  resident 
there,  even  if  at  the  date  of  the  coming  into 
force  of  the  present  treaty  they  are  not  them- 
selves  habitually    resident   there. 

Nevertheless,  within  two  years  after  the 
coming  into  force  of  the  present  treaty,  these 
persons  may  make  a  declaration  before  the 
competent  Rumanian  authorities  in  the  coun- 
try in  which  they  are  resident,  stating  that 
they  abandon  Rumanian  nationality,  and 
they  will  then  cease  to  be  considered  as 
Rumanian  nationals.  In  this  connection  a 
declaration  by  a  husband  will  cover  his  wife, 
and  a  declaration  by  parents  will  cover  their 
children    under    18   years    of   age. 

ARTICLE  5— Rumania  undertakes  to  put 
no  hindrance  in  the  way  of  the  exercise  of 
the  right  which  the  persons  concerned  have, 
under  the  treaties  concluded  or  to  be  con- 
cluded by  the  allied  and  associated  powers 
with  Austria  or  Hungary,  to  choose  whether 
or  not  they  will  acquire  Rumanian  national- 
ity. 

ARTICLE  6— All  persons  born  in  Rumanian 
territory    who    are    not    born     nationals     of 


THE  RUMANIAN  MINORITIES  TREATY 


another  State -shall  Ipso  facto  become  Ru- 
manian nationals. 

ARTICLE  7— Rumania  undertakes  to  recog- 
nize afi  Rumanian  nationals  ipso  facto  and 
without  the  requirement  of  any  formality 
Jews  inhabiting  any  Rumanian  territory, 
who  do  not  possess  another  nationality. 

ARTICLE  8— All  Rumanian  nationals  shall 
be  equal  before  the  law  and  shall  enjoy  the 
same  civil  and  political  rights  without  dis- 
tinction as  to  race,  language  or  religion. 

Differences  of  religion,  creed  or  confession 
shall  not  prejudice  any  Rumanian  national 
in  matters  relating  to  the  enjoyment  of  civil 
or  political  rights,'  as,  for  instance,  admission 
to  public  employments,  functions  and  honors, 
or  the  exercise  of  professions  and  industries. 

No  restriction  shall  be  imposed  on  the  free 
use  by  any  Rumanian  national  of  any  lan- 
guage in  private  intercourse,  in  commerce,  in 
religion,  in  the  press  or  In  publications  of 
any  kind,   or  at  public  meetings. 

Notwithstanding  any  establishment  by  the 
Rumanian  Government  of  an  official  lan- 
guage, adequate  facilities  shall  be  given  to 
Rumanian  nationals  of  non-Rumanian  speech 
for  the  use  of  their  language,  either  orally 
or  in  writing,  before  the  courts. 

ARTICLE  9— Rumanian  nationals  who  be- 
long to  racal,  religious  or  linguistic  minorities 
shall  enjoy  the  same  treatment  and  security 
in  law  and  in  fact  as  the  other  Rumanian 
nationals.  In  particular  they  shall  have  an 
equal  right  to  establish,  manage  and  control 
at  their  own  expense  charitable,  religious  and 
social  Institutions,  schools  and  other  educa- 
tional establishments,  with  the  right  to  use 
their  own  language  and  to  exercise  their 
religion  freely  therein. 

ARTICLE  10— Rumania  will  provide  in  the 
public  educational  system  in  towns  and  dis- 
tricts in  which  a  considerable  proportion  of 
Rumaniannationals  of  other  than  Rumanian 
speech  are  resident  adequate  facilities  for 
insuring  that  in  the  primary  schools  the  in- 
struction shall  be  given  to  the  children  of 
such  Rumanian  nationals  through  the  medium 
of  their  own  language.  This  provision  shall  not 
prevent  the  Rumanian  Government  from 
making  the  teaching  of  the-  Rumanian  lan- 
guage obligatory  in  the  said  schools. 

In  towns  and  districts  where  there  is  -a 
considerable  proportion  of  Rumanian  na- 
tionals belonging  to  racial,  religious  or  lin- 
guistic minorities,  these  minorities  shall  be 
assured  an  equitable  share  in  the  enjoyment 
and  application  of  the  sums  which  may  be 
provided  out  of  public  funds  under  the  State, 
municipal,  or  other  budget,  for  educational, 
religious   or   charitable   purposes. 

ARTICLE  11— Rumania  agrees  to  accord 
to  the  communities  of  the  Saxons  and  Czeck- 
lers  in  Transylvania  local  autonomy  in  regard 
to  scholastic  and  religious  matters,  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  Rumanian  State. 

ARTICLE  12— Rumania  agrees  that  the 
stipulations  in  the  foregoing  articles,  so  far 
as  they  affect  persons  belonging  to  racial, 
religious  or  linguistic  minorities,  constitute 
obligations  of  international  concern  and  shall 


be  placed  under  the  guarantee  of  the  League 
of  Nations.  They  shall  not  be  modified  with- 
out the  assent  of  a  majority  of  the  council 
of  the  League  of  Nations.  The  United  SI 
the  British  Empire,  France,  Italy  and  Japan 
hereby  agree  not  to  withhold  their  assent 
from  any  modification  in  these  articles  which 
is  in  due  form  assented  to  by  a  majority  of 
the  council  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

Rumania  agrees  that  any  member  of  the 
council  of  the  League  of  Nations  shall  have 
the  right  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the 
council  any  infraction,  or  any  danger  of  in- 
fraction, of  any  of  these  obligations,  and 
that  the  council  may  thereupon  take  such 
action  and  give  such  direction  as  it  may 
deem  proper  and  effective  in  the  circum- 
stances. 

Rumania  further  agrees  that  any  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  questions  of  law  or 
fact  arising  out  of  these  articles  between  the 
Rumanian  Government  and  any  one  of  the 
principal  allied  and  associated  powers  or  any 
other  power,  a  member  of  the  council  of  the 
League  of  Nations,  shall  be  held  to  be  a 
dispute  of  an  international  character  under 
Article  14  of  the  covenant  of  the  League  of 
Nations.  Rumania  hereby  consents  that  any 
sue;  dispute  shall,  if  the  other  party  thereto 
demands,  be  referred  to  the  Permanent  Court 
of  International  Justice.  The  decision  of  the 
permanent  court  shall  be  final  and  shall 
have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  an  award 
under  Article   13   of  the   covenant. 

CHAPTER  II. 

ARTICLE  18— Rumania  undertakes  to  make 
no  treaty,  convention  or  arrangement  and  to 
take  no  other  action  which  will  prevent  her 
from  joining  in  any  general  convention  for 
the  equitable  treatment  of  the  commerce  of 
other  States  that  may  be  concluded  ■  under 
the  auspices  of  the  League  of  Nations  within 
five  years  from  the  coming  into  force  of  the 
present  treaty. 

Rumania  also  undertakes  to  extend  to  all 
the  allied  and  associated  powers  any  favors 
or  privileges  in  customs  matters  which  she 
may  grant  during  the  same  period  of  five 
years  to  any  State  with  which  since  August, 
1914,  the  allied  and  associated  powers  have 
been  at  war,  or  to  any  State  which  in  virtue 
of  Article  222  of  the  treaty  with  Austria  has 
special  customs  arrangements  with  such 
States. 

ARTICLE  14— Pending  the  conclusion  of 
the  general  convention  referred  to  above, 
Rumania  undertakes  to  treat  on  the  same 
footing  as  national  vessels  or  vessels  of  the 
most-favored  nation  the  vessels  of  all  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  which  accord 
similar  treatment  to  Rumanian  vessels.  As 
an  exception  from  this  provision,  the  right  of 
Rumania  or  of  any  other  allied  or  associated 
power  to  confine  her  maritime  coasting  trade 
to  national  vessels  Is  expressly  reserved. 

ARTICLE  15— Pending  the  conclusion  under 
the  auspices  of  the  League  of  Nations  of  a 
general  convention  to  secure  and  maintain 
freedom    of   communications    and    of   transit. 


534 


THE   NEW    YORK    TIMES    CURRENT    HISTORY 


Rumania  undertakes  to  accord  freedom  of 
transit  to  persons,  goods,  vessels,  carriages, 
wagons  and  mails  in  transit  to  or  from  any 
allied  or  associated  State  over  Rumanian  ter- 
ritory, including  territorial  waters,  and  to 
treat  them  at  least  as  favorably  as  the  per- 
sons, goods,  vessels,  carriages,  wagons  and 
mails  respectively  of  Rumanian  or  of  any 
other  more-favored  nationality,  origin,  im- 
portation or  ownership,  as  regards  facilities, 
charges,  restrictions,  and  all  other  matters. 

All  charges  imposed  in  Rumania  on  such 
traffic  in  transit  shall  be  reasonable  having 
regard  to  the  conditions  of  the  traffic.  Goods 
in  transit  shall  be  exempt  from  all  customs 
or  other  duties. 

Tariffs  for  transit  across  Rumania  and 
tariffs  between  Rumania  and  any  allied  or 
associated  power  involving  through  tickets 
or  waybills  shall  be  established  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  allied  or  associated  power  con- 
cerned. 

Freedom  of  transit  will  extend  to  postal, 
telegraphic,  and  telephonic  services. 

Provided  that  no  allied  or  associated  power 
can  claim  the  benefit  of  these  provisions  on 
behalf  of  any  part  of  its  territory  in  which 
reciprocal  treatment  is  not  accorded  in  re- 
spect of  the  same  subject  matter. 

If  within  a  period  of  five  years  from  the 
coming  into  force  of  this  treaty  no  general 
convention  as  aforesaid  shall  have  been  con- 
cluded under  the  auspices  of  the  League  of 
Nations,  Rumania  shall  be  at  liberty  at  any 
time  thereafter  to  give  twelve  months*  notice 
to  the  Secretary  General  of  the  League  of 
Nations  to  terminate  the  obligations  of  the 
present   article. 

ARTICLE  16— Pending  the  conclusion  of  a 
general  convention  on  the  international 
regime  of  waterways,  Rumania  undertakes  to 
apply  to  such  portions  of  the  river  system 
of  the  Pruth  as  may  lie  within,  or  form  the 
boundary  of,  her  territory,  the  regime  set 
out  in  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  332  and 
in  Articles  333  to  338  of  the  treaty  of  peace 
with  Germany. 

ARTICLE  17— All  rights  and  privileges  ac- 
corded by  the  foregoing  articles  to  the  allied 
and  associated  powers  shall  be  accorded 
equally  to  all  States  members  of  the  League 
of  Nations. 


The  present  treaty,  in  French,  in  English 
and  in  Italian,  of  which  in  case  of  divergence 
the  French  text  shall  prevail,  shall  be  rati- 
fied. It  shall  come  into  force  at  the  same 
time  as  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Austria. 

The  deposit  of  ratifications  shall  be  made 
at  Paris. 

Powers  of  which  the  seat  of  the  Govern- 
ment is  outside  Europe  will  be  entitled  merely 
to  inform  the  Government  of  the  French  Re- 
public through  their  diplomatic  representa- 
tive at  Paris  that  their  ratification  has  been 
given ;  in  that  case  they  must  transmit  the 
instrument  of  ratification  as  soon  as  possible. 

A  proces-verbal  of  the  deposit  of  ratifica- 
tions will  be  drawn  up.  The  French  Gov- 
ernment will  transmit  to  all  signatory  powers 
a  certified  copy  of  the  proces-verbal  of  the 
deposit  of  ratifications. 

Done  at  Paris,  the  ninth  day  of  December, 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  nineteen,  in 
a  single  copy  which  will  remain  deposited  in 
the  archives  of  the  Government  of  the  French 
Republic,  and  of  which  authenticated  copies 
will  be  transmitted  to  each  of  the  signatory 
powers.  Plenipotentiaries  who  in  consequence 
of  their  temporary  absence  from  Paris  have 
not  signed  the  present  treaty  may  do  so  up  to 
Dec.    20,   1919. 

In  faith  whereof  the  hereinafter-named 
plenipotentiaries,  whose  powers  have  been 
found  in  good  and  due  form,  have  signed  the 
present   treaty. 

(Signed)    FRANK  L.  POLK, 
HENRY  WHITE, 
TASKER  H.  BLISS, 
EYRE  A.  CROWE, 
GEORGE  H.  PERLEY, 
ANDREW  FISHER, 
THOMAS  MACKENZIE, 
R.  A.  BLANKENBERG, 
EYRE  A.  CROWE, 
G.  CLEMENCEAU, 
S.  PICHON, 
L.  L.  KLOTZ, 
ANDRE  TARDIEU, 
JULES  CAMBON, 
G.  DE  MARTINO, 
K.  MATSUI, 
GEN.  C.  COANDA. 


INTERNATIONAL  CARTOONS 
ON  CURRENT  EVENTS 


H- 


llllll  HUM  HUH  I  MM  lit!  I 


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[German-Swiss  Cartoon]  i 


The  New  Spirit  of  the  Times 


—From   Nebclspalter,   Zurich         § 
The  Communist  wraith  is  abroad 

Q'liiMiiMiiiimiiimi niiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii , „ , „„„„ „„ , |ll(( „„i„iiiu7mn"i|g 

535 


ra»- 


[American   Cartoon] 

The  One  Animal  That  Wouldn't  Go  Into  the  Ark 


—From   The  New  York   Tribune 


[■]"■ nniiimmnniiln liiiiiiimiiiiii ii  in  in  hi  in  ii  in  nil iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiniiimminiiniiiiiiiiiiimniiiiiuiiniiiiiiinnnn|«l 

536 


□• 


[American    Cartoon] 


Did  I  Hear  My  Name? 


' — i i    i    m?: 


-From    The   Brooklyn    Eagle 


B"' •■'• '•• iiiiiiiii ■■iiiiinii i miiiiit mm i i „ mmiimi inn i ,,,,  ffi 

537  ' 


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[American  Cartoon] 


Get  the  Fat  One,  Too,  Sam! 


—From    The  Dayton  News 


QJii  in mi ■iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihiii imiiimiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiin 11 iiiiiiimiiiiiiiiimmiiiiiiiimiimiQ 

538 


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[American  Cartoon] 


Your  Uncle's  Troubles 


—From    The    San    Francisco    Chronicle 


£}mmMMMMMMIMMIMMI|MMMM MM , Illlltllll MM I I MMMM MMM M  M  Ml  M  MHIIUHM  M  MM  M  M IM  Q 


539 


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542 


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543 


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544 


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545 


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[Russian  Painting] 

Russia  Crucified 


u- 


— ©    American  Red  Cross 
This   representation    of   Russia's   plight   under   the    Bolsheviki   is   from    a   remarkable 
painting  made  by  one  of  General  Denikin's  soldiers.     It  represents  Russia  as  a  peasant 
woman  bound  to  a  cross  while  scarlet  devils  dance  about  her.     In  the   lower  left-hand 
corner  Tnotzky  is  represented   as  leering  at  her 

54G 


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[American  Cartoon] 


Getting  Through  the  "Needle's  Eye" 


—From  The  Sioux  City  Tribune 


[English   Cartoon] 

The  Gap  in  the  Bridge 


—From  Punch,   London         = 

l^mimmimmi ■■■■  •■■iimiimiii  minimi  mi  mi  111  ii  nun mum iiimiiiiimmmmmmmmiimmimmmimmi uiiiimm  ■■■[•] 

547 


[T|ii iiiiii inn 


""E 


[English  Cartoons] 

Some  Wizard! 


[The  Government's  home-rule  scheme  provides  for  two  Irish  Houses   of  Parliament  and 

a  Joint  Council] 


—From  John  Bull,  London 

Professor  Lloyd  George  (the  Welsh  Wizard) :  "  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  we 
have  here  the  historic  Kilkenny  cats.  I  shall  now  attempt  the  difficult  feat  of 
dispelling  their  natural  enmity  toward  each  other  by  tying  their  tails  together!  " 


Erin's  Harp  to  Date 


—From  Reynolds's  Newspaper,  Londcm 
Lloyd  George  and  Bonar  Law  (designers  of  the  new  Irish  harp) :     "  Well, 
we  don't  know  whether  they'll  accept  it,  but  we  think  they  could  play  some  nice 
harmonious  duets  on  it  if  they'd  only  try  " 


B 


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548 


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[German-Swiss  Cartoon] 

Austria 


"Poor  people!  Actually  dying  of  starvation!  How  can  God  permit  such 
things?  Let  us  buy  whatever  they  have  left  that's  worth  buying.  Out  of  pure 
sympathy.  Then  they  can  at  least  have  a  nice  funeral" 


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—From.    Nebclspaltcr,    Zurich 
"  Oh,  God,  now  they  are  dead !     How  can  the  good  Lord  let  such  things 
happen!     But  isn't  this  a  fine  cross  I  have  bought  them  with  my  profits?     And 
I  still  have  5,000,000  kronen  left.     Isn't  it  terrible!  " 


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[French  Cartoon] 

Peace,  Convalescent 


-From  Le  Pele-MeTe,  Paris 


"  Do  you  think  I  shall  be  sound  and  well  after  I  have  taken  all  these  medicines?  " 
[The  bottles  are  marked  "German  Treaty,"  "Austrian  Treaty,"  "  League  of  Nations,"  &c] 


[Austrian   Cartoon] 

The  Lost  Paradise 


— From  Figaro,   Vienna 

ft,  w„  ^   cartoonist   represents   Austria   as   saying,    "Tour  dream   of  victory  is  past; 

™7t    I  f        fTV  devil-tree'"  the  intimation  being  that  President  Wilson's  Fourteen 
.Points  betrayed  the  Austrian  people] 


Qui  in  iiiiinii  iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii  i  in  ii  i iiiiuii 


•■•■■■I ■■■•Illlllllllililn 


lltlllllllllllllllll I II  I  II  Mill 


IIIIIIIIIIIIMMI 


550 


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[American  Cartoon] 

One  National  Strike  He  Didn't  Plan 


= 


—From   The  New  York   Times 


[Italian  Cartoon] 


Fighting  the  High  Cost  of  Living 


When  the  claws  are  cut  in  one  plact 


—From  II  420,  Florence 
They  grow  in  another 


0 


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a 


[American   Cartoon] 


Direct  to  the  Consumer 


—From   The  Chicago  Daily  Neivs 


[English   Cartoon] 

The  Press  Gang  of  the  Near  Future 


—From   The  Passing   Show,  London         § 

I     <riveTvnn  SnTfi     "  Don't  struggle !     You  won't  come  to  any  harm.     We'll 
5     fimilJ    JaSJ  yea\more  than  y°ure  gating  now.     There  are  only  three  in     § 
=     tamily,  and  you  can  have  every  evening  off!  " 

■3 n"'" ..........„.„.„„.„„ , ,„,„„„ ,„„„„„„.„ , , , lllllllmllg 

552 


H- 


■H 


[English  Poster] 

,4  Pussyfoot"  Nosey  From  Across  the   Sea — Shall  He 

Pro-Boss-Us  ? 


U.S.A. 


An  anti-prohibition  poster  widely  used  in  England  to  combat  the  campaign  of 
American  dry  forces  led  by  "  Pussyfoot  "  Johnson 


The  Argufyingest  Corpse  We 
Ever  Saw! 


[American   Cartoons] 

The  Pace  Is  Getting  Hot! 


Vou'u:  tm*t>' 


—Columbus   Dispatch 


—New  York  Herald 
Senator  Hitchcock's   long  Journey 


f7|niM mil Ill 


nut- 


553 


niiiuii  |>| 


[American   Cartoons] 


Birds  of  a  Feather 


Can't  Serve   Two   Masters 


— Central  Press  Association 


—Milwaukee  Sentinel 


Darn  It,  I'm  Beginning  to 
Believe  It's  So!" 


fa 


—PhiladelpJiia  Public  Ledger 


Kitty,  Kitty — Nice  Kitty" 


f  1 1  1 1  1 1  I  1 1  1 1  1 1  I  T  1  f Ill 


Hinuiiiii  mil till Ml in  iiini  ihiiiiii 

554 


—Brooklyn  Eagle 


■  II1IIIIII IIIIIIMIH IHIIillllipn 


m^mmmm 


D        Current  history  and  forum 

410 

C8 

▼.11 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY 


iii  i ■!"!':■  iii 


■  ■ 


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