Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Y0RKV9LLE ENQUIRER. IS8PED MCMI-WEKHLT. L. M. GRIST'S SONS, Publisher*, r % ^amilg Jletrspayer: ^or th$ promotion of th$ political, ?otfal, Sgri^nltnral and (fommfrcial Jntfrests of th$ Pfoylj. | SINGLE COPT. PI VE CENTS. ESTABLISHED 1855 ~~ YOUK, S. a~fufe IV V DECEMBER~371 >18. ~ X COMMUTATION FOR MOONEY Death Sentence Changed to Lite Imprisonment ?~?- ?? GOV. STLPHtNS MAKtS STATEMENT Celebrated Case Which Has Figured In National as Well at International Affairs?Labor Had Threatened to Strike?President Was Much Concerned. % S.u i.iin?-nt<>. <"al.. Nov. as.?The .s?nU-iii o! Thomas J. Mooney, si-nti need to Im- hniiKcd on December la. for the deaths of ti n persons killed hya bomb xi'l<i>ioii in San Friuietsi o during u ju? Mil' dm ss |>aiad* in July liiltf, was I I lllullteil h> IfliV, Stephens tO-llllfht o imprisonim at lor lit*-. Court action to save Mooney Irom the gallows was exhausted by th< |>riMiiier. tie supreme court of the I'nitid States huviiu: recently docid* <1 it could not review tea.si-. Threats of a national strike in rase the governor <li<l not interfere had l?een made hi various parts of the country and some time ago it was reported that resident Wilson had written the governor to see that Moonej suffered lio in just ice. The trial judge had also n' ! ( ste.i a lo w trial for Mooney. iovernor Stephens' statement announ) tug the coiniiiutatioii said that in considering the case he had had hefoi? him "the una nt appeal of the president of the I'nited States that I grant commutation." 'originally, in January of this par. I received a letter from the president asking me ii it would not lie |tossihle to |mis! fidlie till- execution of MoOtteV until he could he tried upon one of the other imlictinents against him. "Inasmuch as an appeal already had l? en taken to the supreme court of <'a 11 lorn la. which ap|ienl itself acted as a stay of execution, there was at that tiun no occasion for action on my is-irt I take it that the president was not correctly Informed as to the status of the- rase." Statement of the Governor. In explaining why he had not felt ralh il on to art previously, tin- go\ ernor said: "The i as- as presented to th?* ("ali* foriila courts was that murder, without further evidence of motive than the iml*ossiMe t< nets of anarvhlsts, whose s\eipattiles for tin* (Iirmnii cause in the war are well known. Their wild pacifist theories fitted into the wide, spread activities of the kaiser's agents in this country. ",\ number of persons of pronounced anarchistic tendencies were arrested shortly after the explosion and of these Warren K. Hillings was convicted and sentenced to life Imprisonment and Thomas J. Moone.v found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. "So long as avenues of appeal to the courts remained open to Mooney, and he was availing himself thereof, I deemed It improper for executive authority to interfere." The statement reviews the case fully and <|iiotes the two messages from President W'lson In which the action now taken by the governor was suggested. The commutation says the governor reduces the case to the status of that of Warren K. Rillings. "I refuse to recognize this case as in any fashion representing a dash between capital and labor." the governor sntd. an<l ho enarnctonzou ;is th" propaimnda tliat would make Mooney appear as a martyr to the cause of labor. In support of tltis statement. he quotes a letter from Alexander Iterkmnn outlining tfi? plan afterwards adopted for the Mooney campaign. !!< denies that Mooney was a true friend of h?lK>r and characterized his previous record as such that it did not enlist faith in him among law abiding citizens, hut said in conclusion that this particular case had been tieci<led on Its merits. President's Message. The two messages sent b> President Wilson follow: "The White House, "Washington. March 27. litis. "(5ov. William !>. Stephens. "Sacramento. Oil. "With very great r??spect I take the liberty to say to you that if you could siv your way to commute the sentence of Mooney it would nave n mosi u?.n.f< It effect upon certain international affairs which his execution would urea 11 v coin |>licate. "Wooilrow Wilson." ' The White House. "Washington. June 4. 191S. "Hon. William I>. Stephens, "Sacrsintento. i'al. "I hep that you will believe that 1 am moved only by a sense of pub !o duty and of consciousness of the many and complicated interests involved when I a train most respectfully suppest a commutation of the death sentence imposed ujH?n Mooney. I would not venture a pa in to call your attention to this cose did 1 not know the international sipiiltlcancc which attaches to it. "Woodrow Wilson." The povernor said that there were certain features connected with the ease which convinced him that the sentence of death should not be executed, i.w mo* reason and because of the "earnest request" of President Wilson for commutation ho did not believe that the exttvmo penalty should ho paid. Coventor Stephens said ho accepted full ivs|K>nslbility for the wisdom and justification of the aotion." In rcviowlnp the case the povernor said his aotion was taken after a pains-takinp survey of the evidence produced at Moonoy's trial, not because of "certain new developments followinp the conviction." which could not be considered by the state supreme cotirt. to which the case has been appealed he found justification for settinp aside the death sentence. "In arrtvinp at this conclusion." the povernor continued. "I have exercised that caution which must be observed in wvtphinp evidence presented outside of established lepal procedure. By commutation to life imprisonment Moonev's case will be In the same status as that of Warren K. Rlllincs, who was convicted of the same crlnf and received sentence of life imprboment." Moonty's Alleged Crime. Refusal of the United States su pr< me court. November IS. to r?-vlc h'- r.' ?? of han^inj,' imjiosed ujo Thomas J. Mooney, ended court actio in a case that excited internationi interest. The death sentence pass* iif.on him was for the murder of Mr Myrtle Irene Van 1xk> of Meroed, Cal one <>t the ten persons killed by |i?ckwork bomb which exploded o Maiii?t Street in San Francisco dm t.ir i "I'ri |-iiif|n< -s I>:?\" |?arade thi-i July 2?. l'Jlti. Four others were ir la till with him fi?i ten counts of mui !i r hot hi.- case was singled out as a : sic- b> lal-or oiitani/ations ol seven oi.ritrii s. Strikes were urn d in vat on- parts of tin- country, and other w ei hi : i d 111 other countries as la I .Ill's protests. M i .one v 's ap|M'Ul t w.irtline worki rs not to stiike sto|ipe limitation tor a general strike May i'jlk. I'r. sidi-nt Wilson intervened by ask in:* 'iovermir Stephens to olitaiti new trial for Mooney. lie ordered a uiM siim.'it ion l.y a commission whie i eoiuiiieiidi d a n hearinir. Four ol i in- live persons imlicte Were tried for murder. Mooney wa sentenced to lie hunKod May 1". li'l Warn n K. Hillings, a shoe clerk, no< is si r\ iiik' his sentence of life im prisoniin nt, Mrs. IP na Herman Moon ! >*. Mofiiiej'.s wife, and Israel Weill I?rg. an automobile bus driver, war ui'i|iilttc<l oil oik- churge ami now ai at Iil it> on liail on other charges c inurd* r. while K?lwar?l I>. Nolan a tnti > hints! still is waiting trial. Arrest Follows Explosion. Mooik y's alleged activity in a Sa Francisco street ear strike, eharaeti i i/*-d I>> violence, ami his allege*! In dustrial Workers of the World aflili at ions drew suspicion toward him an Ins wife. Th< > w>re arrest id live da> atti i lie- explosion, at tiuerneville, Ca They saiil they had rend in newspap* I that they were wanted and they ha telegraphed the police they would sin ri-ndei themselves. Four of the te counts of murder against Mrs. Moon v. (Pilings. Weinberg and Nolan wer dismissed the state admitted Inahil it> to proceed <>n them. Moom-y's trial opened January 1017. and ended with his convictio Ft hruary 10. Frank ?\ oxinan. a cattlcmtin ? Durkee. i>ri .. the state's chief wit new testjlied in the Moonev trial that It saw the Moomy's. Hillings ami Weill herg drove to the spot where the c> plosion ocetirred and saw Hillings dt posit a suitcase supposed to eontai the bomb. Subsequently Mooney's at toiie.\m el large. I that Oxinan testille falsely against Moniwy and that ti suiicht to imbue I*. K, Kigali of Gray ville. III., to do likewise. The llllnol State Federation of I*abor announce it had similar information. liiga estate to San Francisco and testified si <?\man's trial for attempted suhorna tlon of perjury that Oxman induce him to come here and offered to divid with iiim a portion of a largo rewar offered for Mooney's conviction. (>.\ man was acquitted. It silso was charged that thrrv nth rs. two of them women httd perjnrc tin mselvi s to "railroad" Mooney to th allows t>ut the charges were m pressed. State Court Denies Appeal. Mooney appealed to tin- t'aliforni supreme court for a new trial and li was supported by a "consent" tiled ti the state attorney general. I". S. Webl t'harles M. Kiek? rt. district attorne of San Francisco., wlio prosecuted th bomb murder ease, op|iosed the "con s. nt" as "irregular and vicious" and ..as dism'ssid. Mooney's appeal wa < iiied. M.'ireli 1. IMS. the Slipretn <>urt stipulating it could not eonsid< evidence outside tile record. Mooney ap|M a led to Governor Sb pin lis for a pardon and unanlim Mommy's attorneys applied to the tri; ourt for a writ of "coram nobis" (In fore us. the k'ntr). tin action seldot resorted to whereby suiters under th million law could seek reversal r ludittiienl obtained by fraud. Attoi ta-ys said all other legal means wet \ ha listed except this np|<cnl to th basic law. The application was deni> and the hanging reset for August 2 KMs. Mooney had been in "death row it San Jucntin prison since July 1 . ..i,,-viinii-me court affirnic I 111" I .1 UK , this ih-nial July 22, Hits. just two yvat after the i xplosion, Five years late xaetly two years after his aires Mooney was reprieved to December 1 by Governor Stephens to allow tlrr for him to review the record. Action of the foiled States supreir court. Xovcinhcr IS. closing the Ion court tiirht, was in the form of a ineiti orandum l?y Chief Justice White refui imr a writ of certiorari. Purine the two years worldwide at |h ;iIs were made to labor bodies to at in sup)iort of new trial. Russian rati ieals paraded in I'ctrngrnd and mad a demonstration before the America embassy. The American Federallo of I?ibor. the I/ondon Trade CVunc and other organizations matle ptibll demands for a new trial for Moone Why McAdoo Retired.?"I feel th: I owe it to my obi friends here 1 speak frankly and to say to thei something 1 have never said before said William G. McAdoo. secretary i the treasury and director general < the railroads, who has been on a toi of inspection in the south, at an infoi mal dinner tendered to him at a Oha tatiooca dub last Thursday night. "It was not pleasant u>i mv frankly to the American people as did in my letter to 1 "resident Wilsc and to talk of my personal affairs, bi 1 want to say to you that those reasoi are the exact reasons why I am retii ing from public life. There are r other reasons. 1 have been amused t the theories of politicians and son newspapers. In all the six years have been in ofilcc I can say truthful j that I have yet to lie to the America (people. I have never misrepresent* anything and would not for all the fo tunes of the ages lie to them- If at man owes anything to the nation it to be square and truthful. When pol ticians learn that it pays to be on tl level then they will elevate Amerh ' and politics. Paris has Information to the effe ' that the city of Cologne is placard* with notices signed by the execute , 'committee of the soldiers' associatio offering a reward equivalent to $2( 000 to whoever will k II the kais r it the crown prince in the Xcthcrlanl or bring them back to Germany f sentence by their own people as tl | "arch crimlnala" I PROFITEERS IN REVIEW n 9 d Commercial Sharks Indulged In ,8; General Piracy a . 1 :n PUBLIC ROBBED RIGHT AND LEFT ? ? i; ' Icny With the Soaring Prices of All Kinds of Commodities, the Price of J Labor Was Raised to Keep the ' Wage Earner Satisfied, and the Bur- ^ s den Fell Hardest On People Who j Worked for Salaries and Had Noth- j 'I mg to Sell. I , Ixniis Seibolil in New York World. I Almost from '.he very start of the ^ - European war in August, 1914, the. a pru ts of every commodity began to | ( it soar througnout me woriu. h Great Britain, France, Russia, Bel- ' gium. caught unprepared, were coni<1 polled to teach out into every' quarter ' s of the globe for materials with which " to oppose the progress of the German a armies. i- The neutral countries immediately - contiguous to France and Great Brit aln lirst felt the tremendous pressure upon their economic industrial re'' sources. When these countries?Hoi- 1 ' land, Denmark, Norway, Sweden. l" Spain, Switzerland and Italy?had j been drained, the enemies of Germany reached out over the seas into the ' " prosperous and resourceful United '* States. The effect was that the indus- ( '* tiial institutions of the country, partieul.trly those equipped to make war j *' materials, were expanded several times s their normal capacity and entered up' on an era of prosperity never before 1 ^ enjoyed by them. '' it is still a matter of controversy us to just how much British, French and " Russian money found its way into the coffers of American concerns of this ' character, as well as those engaged in 1 the production of food and other es- I sential supplies, one au'hority places 5 the amount received by the producing 11 element in the United States during 1 tin* thirty-three months before the 1 United States entered the war at $4,- 1 ' SOO.OOG.OOO. 10 Another estimate is that the gross ' amount would more nearly approxi-!' mate $7,000,000,000. In any event the1' war demands or ine countries opposing > Jormany brought to the Unite'l States.1 ! from foreign sources a greater volume ' of business than they had ever before 1 known. 1 s Wages mounted apace with the "un-l< (l usual prices" demanded and received 1 by American concerns for their pro- ' [t duetions. As wages mounted the cost 1 of living began to soar, and profiteer- I (J ing set into full swing. After the Unit- I I,, ed States became a belligerent and ,1 found it necessary to subordinate the 1 .. demands of the civil population to her 1 own and the military necessities of her 1 . Allies, the living wage became the most j ,1 important problem confronting the ' ,, American people. Business concerns 1 ,t engaged in the pioduction of commod- 1 itiis and supplies of every character ' seized upon the opportunity afforded 1 a to embark upon a profiteering course < with unbridled license. f v Clasjes Which Suffer, | i?. The principal victims of these prac- ' y tices were not the wage earners whose ' e im imies were directly affected by war 8 - conditions, but those employed at fix- ' it ed and arbitrary wages which did not 1 s command the premiums paid to those ' e . in ployed in the production of muni- 8 t tions and other war supplies?bookie. epers. shop clerks, insp< ctors, collec- ' - tors and of the greater numb, r of pro- I ' fessional pursuits. ' The stipend of four or five million 1 '* men and women coming within this 8 in. < " classiticaiion nas not cviu?v ie i r-ased during the progress of thi war. Certainly the increases, if any, '* have not b^en commensurate with 0 those paid to war workers. But they have, nevertheless, felt the pinch more acutely than toilers whose services have been at a premium. As foreign pressure began to close in ' on the production resources of the ,! United States the prices for living nes cessitles became much more pronouncr* ed. The neutrals nearest tho belligerent countries were squeezed dry of ^ their last ton of coal and pound of " meat. Them* began to add their clamor for the products of the United lt" States. During the period that the K United States persisted in maintaining its neutrality between the belligerent nations, coal, for instance, sold at $100 a ton in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. In this country prices began ^' to follow the trench of import quotations and coal (hat had been marketed |. at $5 a ton commanded $10 even be" fore the United States entered the conflirt. That which was true of coal was also true of shoes, clothing, metals, and, in fact, provisions of all sorts- Prices charged for these products In the belli lig< rent and neutral countries caughl to between the punches of war were al-| most prohibitive. A pound of beefstake| iii Sweden cost ao high as J12. It has i >f sold for 30 cents in this country dur>t' mg pre-war periods, hut it practically I ir doubled in value as the insatiate de- i r- mends of war became more imperative, t- Shoes cost three times as much in the belligerent and neutral countries as k they cost during peace times, and twice I as much in the United States. The same was true of almost every other "I commodity. is Confronted with its humanitarian r- obligations, the United States contribio uted largely to alleviating the wofully ? tragic condition of the inhabitants of ?e devastated northern France, Belgium. I Poland, Serbia. Armenia and other ly . countries upon which the German arin j niies had seized. Every dollar of food 'd j and materials employed to relieve the r-1 constantly widespreadlng distress nat >>" urally affected arid restricted the prois duotion of the supplies bought with it i- in this country. if Up to the time when the United States entered the war no attempt was made to regulate the prices charged to foreign buyers: only moral pressure was ct brought to curb the rapacity of domes*1 tic dealers Intent upon preying on the kne civil population. One of the first ventures that the id Unit, d States, after its declaration of ls war upon Germany, attempted was to ^ stabilize prices of all products charged | not only to its Allies but to domestic consumers. The enormous task Imposed upon the authoritative government agencies has operated successfully In the case of producers dealing with the government of the IJnltsd States and those associated with It In the war against Germany. Arbitrary prices were fixed for materials bought for military purposes, but'the efforts to curb profiteering at the expense of the civil population of the United States have mainly been of a moral rather than a legal character, with a few exceptions. These exceptions have included coal and foodstuffs, for which fixed prices were established, and to a II m it Art otlcnl the efforts to CUrb prof Ittering in those products have been fairly successful. The fuel and food administrations have had their hands full providing for the demands of war. Their rules for the regulation of prices to domestic consumers, while generally follow?d, have not been rigidly adhered to. The result has been that the practice af extortion in even those materials which had no war value has been universal. The licenses of many dealers in coal end food have been taken from them, there have been fined nominal siirns, a few have been compelled to refund heir ill-gotten gains, and here and here a profiteer more merciless than the average of his fellows, has been jent to Jail. But on the whole the profiteer in an almost endless variety of materials has escaped unscathed. Several hundred persons caught hoarding foodstuffs have been finedThe government's regulations, while reasonable and comprehensive, have left many loopholes for the avaricious, who, conspiring with the more fortunate of his customers, has profited to in unholy extent through expensively nought favoritism. Clothing Men Unchecked. The shoe and clothing dealer escaped unscathed until a few weeks ago, when the war industries board fixed [ rices to apply to shoes. There is absolutely no supervision of clothing, rhe manufacturer of clothing fabrics, [ho wholesale dealer and Jobber in men's, women's and children's clothes, ind, finally, the retailer, have charged 'what the market would stand." Aside from the general laws applyng to extortion, obtaining money unler false pretenses, swindling ^and grand and potty larceny, provided by :he Federal statutes and penal laws of the various states, there is no government agency authorized to deal directy with the clothing problem, nor has tny attempt been made by the department of justice, the war Industries uoard, the Federal trade commioslon, tor any other government agency empowered to Investigate and fix the prices. Congress has passed but one bill renting to profiteering, though there are iow pending two or three measures -stating to this problem. The on$$UW ictually written into the statutes of he United States applied to proflteerng in rents in Washington, D. C. The var demands of the government atxaeted to the national capital probacy 100,000 persons. To house and are for these was a problem that the ;overnment is Just beginning to solve. Until it embarked upon the business >f constructing living quarters for its xomendously swollen population, per10ns who either volunteered or were Irafted into the public service there .vere the victims of most outrageous xtortion practiced by house owners ind lessees of apartments. The one law directed against profleering, therefore, sought in a meaaurt :o protect people of this sort. President Wilson Bounded the nrst lote of warning to profiteers in a porlonal appeal to the citizens of the country on April 15, 1917, nine days lftcr the United States entered the war igainst Germany. Appealing to the producing element to observe extraorlinary efforts to increase the output of ill commodities to meet the demands if war, he said: The course of trade shall be as unhampered as it is possible to make it, md there shall be no unwarranted manipulation of the nation's food supply by those who handle it on its way to the consumer. Let me say to the middlemen of every sort, whether they are handling our foodstuffs or our war materials of manufacture or the products of our mills and factories: The eyes of the country will be especially upon you. This is your opportunity for signal service, efficient and disinterested. The country expects you. as It expects all others, to forego unusual profits, to organize and expedite shipments of supplies of every kind, but especially food, with an eye to the service you are rendering and In the spirit of those who enlist in the ranks, for their people, not themselves. I shall confidently expect you to deserve and win the confidence of the people of every sort and station" Following the president's declaration the functions of various government agencies were employed to prevent profiteering of any kind. The N'ational Louncu 01 L/eiense, 111c reucuu commission, the Food and Fuel administrations. and finally the War Industries board began the work of standardizing the government prices for all materials and supplies covering every variety of product bought for war purposes. Less attention was necessarily puid for the time being to problems of the same character affecting the civil population. After the gigantic task of systematizing the supply and price of all products needed for war purposes, thf Food and Fuel administrations and the Federal Trade commission set about establishing fixed prices for domestic products distributed through the retail agencies to the civil population of the country. These agencies are still engaged in attempting to regulate the same and reduce to a systematic and scientific basis the production and allocation of the necessaries of life upon which the civil population must exist All German soldiers with the exception of the classes of 1898 and 1899, are being discharged as rapidly as possible according to reports reaching the American Third army. These twr classes will be held in service until Field Marshal von Hindenburg sees 111 to discharge them. Demobilization lr Germany Is being carried out as rapidly as the troops reach their headquar ters- Demobilization of the Germar army Is not specifically required by thi terms of the armistice. THE TERRIBLE THIRTIE1H | Ooslaogbts Against German Lines Irresistible HOW AMERICANS ENDED THE WAR Stars and Stripes, Official Organ of the American Expeditionary Forces, Tells of Wild Mix Up In the Fog. | Where Boys From South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee Won Imperishable Glory. Walter Burns of Company D, One Hundred and Fifth Engineers, sends the article below which he clipped from the Stars and Stripes of October ' 10, 1918. The Stars and Stripes is published in France as the official organ I of the American Expeditionary Forces. | . Mr. Burns thinks the article should be I J republished for the benefit of t!.o read- ] era of The Enquirer and we think so too: A week ago yesterday morning, when the darkness melted away into a heavy fog that hid even the opposite hank of the narrow, breast-deep river Selle. hid even the railroad bank paralleling the stream behind which German machine gunners waited, and hid the bluff a kilometer away where the Germans for two days had been digging in, two American divisions that in nine days had fought their way 32 kilometers past the Hlndenburg line found themselves at the zero hour of a new attack. These divisions fighting with the Fourth British Army, had come to an eager hault on the west bank of the Selle, south of Le Cateau, In front of the newly blasted walls of St. Martin Riviere and Molain. Mow artillery was massed in the hills behind them. There was a gun for every 25 yards. They poured down on the opposite valley a tremendous load of shrapnel and high explosive shells, and all night l?efore the going over time the machine guns played on the misty slopes where the enemy lay. When the zero hour came the doughhoys took the riverside towns of St. Martin and Molain in their first rush, and for five kilometers along the Selle marched Into fog?waded the river or crossed on the bridges which the Engineers threw down. For four hours there was fought in that blinding fog on the east slope of the valley of the Selle one of the strangest liattles In which American soldiers In France have yet engaged. In front of the doughboys a battal'nn of t.mks?Americans at the steer 'ng wheels and Americans at the guns ' ?nosed Into the drizzling cloud and 1 'umbered on toward the enemy. In the 1 'orr they loomed large as locomotives. 1 IMIu^motora reared and chugged 1 with a sound. Intensified by the fog terr'fying above all other battle no'ses. 1 ""u'ded by compass and Instinct, they 1 'umbered on and on over the rough ' 'op'-s. while the artillery harrage.llft- ' 'ng and ro'llng ahead on the time ta- ' hie. searched out the Herman lines and ! ontrlbnted terror of its own. Then the Inevitable happened. In ' 'he fog the tanks, the attacking dough- ' ' oys and the Hermans became mixed ' n one confused mnss rushing back and fourth on the lower slopes. All 1 nse of direction was lost. The flare 1 of guns lit the dense mist until the hole slope seemed aflame. Almost by ' he law of gravity prisoners began to ' filter to the edge of the river, to b- ' gathered in by the fresh oncoming ' waves of attackers. The prisoners be- ' "an to come even before the main 'n- ' 'antry attack was launched. One tank, scorning to use a bridge 'or such a stream, plunged into the I Selle at a ford near St. Martin Riviere ' wallowed across and started ahead, i 't could be henrd thundering on, its < guns rattling ceaselessly. Engineers ' laying down a bridge where the tank i crossed had Just started their work i when they were astonished by a doz- I en Hermans appearing specter-like with their hands hold up. They shout- i ed their surrender when the engineers ; dropped their planks and grabbed for their rifles. On Toward tho Slope. The confusion of the blind battle ended with the clearing of the fog, and the Americans pressed on toward the slope. They kept on In spite of machine gun Are which met them from such strongholds at 1'Arbe de Guise, a knoll wooded and banked with redoubts. The advance was steady on 1 the whole front At night the whole ridge was in American hands, and In ArbeGuernon, a crossroads village at the center of the American front, a tank was being used as an outpost Another Instance of the speed of the tank advance was furnished by a captured German marine officer. He had left his machine gun command behind the ridge to go to a telephone post. Returning half an hour later, he was amazed to find his command prisoners and himself squarely In front of the guns of an American tank which had settled down for a rest after cleaning a machine gun nest. During the afternoon American ond * *> LrrwH with ma i 'ItUll'O UVIIIUCU uwu . ...... chine pun Are the advancing lines of a German counter attack, launched to , recapture the northern part of the ridge. In this one day's work the Americans gathered In 1.000 prisoners. Among them were many from a German naval division, which had been thrown Into the front opposite the Americans in the hope of checking the steady advance. Thj impetus of this battle of October 17 was held for two more days. and nightfall of last Saturday found the Americana in front of Catillon. five ! kilometers ahead of their starting place 1 on the Selle?37 kilometers from the place where they had broken the Hin' denburg line two weeks before. The prisoners taken in those two weeks total more than 4,500 including almost > 100 officers. In recognition of the work of the > Americans, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Halg, commander-in-chief of the Britf Ish Armies, has sent to the command, er of the Second American Army corps with the Fourth British Army he following message: | I wish to express to you personally and to all the officers and men serving under you my warm appreciation of the very valuable and gallant service rendered by you throughout the Fourth British Army. Called upon to attack positions of (Treat strength and held by a determined enemy, all ranks of the 27th and 3<'th American Divisions under your ommand displayed an energy, courage and determination in attnek which proved irreslstablc. It does not need me to tell you that in the heavy fighting of the past three creeks you have earned the lasting esteem and admiration of your British omrndes in arms, whose success you have so nobly shared. (Signed) D. Haig. POLITICS iN ENGLAND. Lloyd George Tells Where He Stands On Different Questions. David Lloyd George, the British prime minister. In a speech at Newcastle last Friday, said the victory of the Entente Allies had been due to the :easeless valor of their men and that it would be a lesson to anybody who la the future thought that they, as the Prussian war lords hoped, "could overook this little Island in their reckoning." "We are now approaching the peace conference." the premier continued. The price of victory Is not vengeance lor retribution. It is prevention. "First of all what about those people whom we have received without question for years to our shores; to whom ?-e have given equal rights with our cwn sons and daughters and who ibused that hospitality to betray the land, to plot against security, to spy jpon it and to gain such information is enabled the Prussian war lords to nflict not punishment but damage and njury upon the land that had received :hem as guests? Never again!" Mr. Lloyd George said that the Interests of security and fair play demanded that it should be made perfectly clear that the people who acted n this way merited punishment for :he damage they had inflicted. Question of Indemnities. The second question was the question of indemnities, the premier added. In every court of Justice throughout the world the party which lost has had to bear the cost of the litigation. When lermany defeated France she estabished the principle and there was no loubt that the principle was the right t>nc. Germany must pay the cost of the war up to the limit of her capacity. "But I must use one word of warning." said Mr. Lloyd George. "We have to consider Germany's capacity. What?ver happens Germany is not to be allowed to pay the indemnity by dumpng cheap goods upon us. That is the jnly limit in principle we are laying lown. She must not be allowed to pay for her wanton damage and devastation by dumping cheap goods and wrecking our industries. "There Is a third and last point. Is no one to be made responsible for this war? Somebody has been responsible for a war that has taken the lives of millions of the best young men of Europe. Is not any one to be made responsible for that? If not, all I can jay is that if that is the case there is nne Justice for the poor wretched rriminal and another for kings and smperors." Mr. Lloyd George declared that there were two offenses against the law of nations that had been committed. 'One," he said, "is the crime against humanity in the deliberate plotting of the great war. The other is the outrage upon international law. It Is a rrlnie, a brutal crime, to devastate the lands of another. Whoever did that aught to be rcsponsiDie ror uCrime Against Humanity. "The submarine warfare did not mean only the sinking of ships, but It ivas a crime against humanity in that It sank thousands of harmless merchantmen. In the whole history of tvarfare between nations that had never been sanctioned. It is rank piracy md the pirates must receive the punishment. "I mean to see that the men who did not treat our prisoners with humanity are to be made responsible. I want this countiy to go to court with a clean conscience, and she will do so. There Is not a stain on her record. We will not be afraid to appear before any tribunal. ".Vow these are the things which wo have to investigate. We mean that the investigation shall be an impartial one, a perfectly fair one. We also mean that it shall be a stern one, and that it shall go on to the final reckoning. "We have got so to act now that men in the future who feel tempted to follow the example of the rulers who plunged the world into this war will know what is awaiting them at the end of it. We shall have to see that this terrible war, which has inflicted so much destruction on the world: which has arrested the course of civilization and in many ways put it back; which has left its marks upon the minds, upon the physique and the hearts of myriads in many lands that this generation will not see obliterated?we must see by the action we take now, Just, fearless and relentless, that it is a crime that shall never again be repeated in the history of the world." The premier, in defending the Unionist members of the cabinet, said he would trust those men who for two years had helped him to carry out great and progressive measures until he saw a better reason than he did now for suspecting them. Asked "what u.bout free trade?" the premier added: "I am prepared to examine every problem, to cast aside any prejudices or preconceived ideas and examine hem purely upon the facts as the war has revealed them to us." 1 " 1 Vice Admiral William S. Sims, comnander of the American naval forces n Europe since the United States went *o war, has been selected for promo <on to the rank of admiral when r vacancy occurs th's month by the r" '""rnent of Adm'rnl M. KnleM Two men were kil'ed and a dozen or more wounded at Toledo, Ohio, Thursday. in a battle of railroad police with whisky-runners from Detroit, who were trying to carry liquor into the 'ry state of Michigan. Information has reached Japan to the effect that Admiral Kolchak, the dictator of Siberia, has been assassinated at Omsk. No details are given. MOTOR TRUCK TRANSPORT Nev Means of Great Commercial Development WILL HELP PRODUCER AND CONSUMES War Department Has Available Twenty Thousand Trucks and Plans Are Now Under Consideration to Use These In the Development of Trade That Has Not Heretofore Existed. By Frederic J. Haskin Washington. Nov. 26.?Twenty thousand motor trucks organized into a 1 great national system of trnnsporta- 1 tlon for the hearing of food direct from 1 .\nitTiran larins xu .\ni?Tiran mi nun*. Each motor truck line, connecting [ a city community with the country to he unilcr the joint control of the poo- ' pie whom it serves, and managed by officers whom those people elect. Every bit of food?every egg and ' oyster?guaranteed pure and fresh by 1 the fact that it is shlpjred as United States mail, and must therefore fulfi'l every claim nuide for it by the 1 shipper. Fair prices guaranteed by the fact that each city will have a number of 1 truck lines to draw from, so that ojn-n ' competition will be assured. These are the essentials of a plan which the postofflce department, in 1 co-operation with the bureau of edit- ' cation, is now beginning to put into operation. Both the legislation and ' the physical machinery necessary to : carry out the project are already In existence. Congress has passed a law ' authorizing the postofflce department to establish such a truck parcel post service between the producer and the consumer, and has made an appropri- ' ation for starting the work. The war department has on band 110.000 motor ' trucks, built for war purposes, which ' are to be taken over by the postofflce ' department under Fourth Assistant I'ostmasted (lerernl Blnkeslee to form ' the transport cor|>s for this new sys- 1 tem of focwl distribution. E. J. Ward. 1 who is attached to the bureau of edu- ' cation for the purpose of studying : problems of community organization, 1 left Washington a few days ago to or- ' ganlze the first truck line of the great I system, which will be operated between the national capital and the historic ! town of Oettysburg in southern Penn- 1 svlvanla. Mr. Ward and Mr. Blakeslee, who are the moving spirits of this new gov- 1 ? ? i. ..? .. i rrnnirm nurriu nv-i- ?v ?*-. ?. v... able to the establishment of a rati- 1 road system. Means of conveyance, i roadbeds and terminals are all to be 1 provided for. The trucks, of course. ' will be the means of conveyance. I State roads will take the place of < tracks, and the government will con- I tribute to their support. The terminals, In the beginning at least, will be school houses, in the cities and In he country. These will be the centers ( of community organization, the places at which the produce will be gathered in the country and distributed in the city. The plan of organization. In brief ' -ill be this: Farmers Will Meet. The farmers of each country community will meet at their school house, form an organization with a constitution and by-laws outlined by the government. and will elect a community secretary. This community secretary wi'l very likely be the principal or teacher of the school. He will receive ono-third of his salary from the United States government. That Is. if the otnmunity is now paying the individual $1,000 a year to act as school prlncl|xal, the United States governor nt. will pay him In addition $500 to act as community secretary. His first duty ns secretary will be to receive the roduce?eggs, butter, poultry, vegetables, etc.?brought In by the farmers, list It, together with the prices asked, and send the list to the city. The people of each city community will form an exact similar organization. with a secretary elected and paid In the same way, for thf purpose of buying food. This city community ? * ""-'Jvo (hp renuests of 31'vrcwu J mil iwv*.v .... , tho community people for produce and lint them. When tho system is complete, there will be in each city which forms a huh of tho system a clearing house whore all of these lists will be turned in. Now suppose that the farmers " ouped about a rural school 12 miles from Washington can send in two gross of eggs every week at 61 cents a dozen. The clearing house will already determine which urban community can use those eggs and they will be sent by the community secretary in the country, by parcel post truck, to the city community secretary who can dispose of them. Many Obvious Gains. The advantages of the system are obvious. The produce will be faster. inwpr and above all. waste *.vill be eliminated. Farmers having small amounts of produce are now at a loss how to dispose of them. Much food, especially fruit and vegetables, is allowed to rot for want of a market. Much more because stale In the roundabout progress by which country produce now reaches the city. This system will make a clean sweep of the tributary country of every big American city, gathering up dally everything that the farmers can spare and delivering it directly to the city folk who need it Moreover the proposed system Is in no sense an experiment. It Is now offered to the public as a project which exists only on paper. It is the culmination of a long series of experiments in community organizations, and it has been operated successfully in all its essentials, in at least one community. E. J. Ward who is co-author of the scheme with Mr. Blakeslee, has spent the past 12 years of his life in study ing the problem of organizing American communities for various purposes, first as a private citizen and later as an official of the American government appointed by President Wilson. He effected the community organization in Bridgeport, Conn., which did so much to solve the labor problem in that city at the time of the recent munition factory strike. Long before that he organized the community center moveI ment in Wisconsin. In that state and eisewnei c tui cuui. ? iu uumv w v> rivulze tho people of each community about their local 9choo! house. The idea was for the people to meet in the school house to discuss their various social and economic problems. The movement never developed much vitality because there was no provision for paid community secretaries and hence no practical thin* could be accomplished by those community organizations. Nevertheless, Mr. Ward chin* tenaciously to the idea that the American |?eople could solve many of their problems by effecting such organizations. When the state legislature in Wisconsin refused to make an appropriation for paying community secretaries. he came to Washington and no cvpted an appointment as expert in community organization under the bitreau of education. In Washington Mr. Ward lived in that section of the cit> known as Park Plow He chose it chiefly because it had a large new schoolhouse admirably suited to the pur|?ose of community itrganizat ions and because it had a live ind active citizens' association with a zompctent po-sitient. Mr. Ward ami his fellow citizens of Park View persuaded conpnss to pass t law providing |?ay for community secretaries in the District of Columbia. This enabled tin- community secretary lo devote all his time to community luisiness. Meantime congress had made an appropriation of $10,000 to be used by the postoftlce d? part incut for establish* ing an experimental parcel post truck service to brim; country produce direct from the farm to the city conaimer. Mr. Ward persuaded Mr ItlalO'Slee. who had charge of tlie expenditure of this money to use the Park View organization as the center for this o\|M>riincnt. and a truck line ivas established, which daily brouirht rountry produce from the farms about Washington to the Park View school house. Here the continuity secretary received it and dcstrilnitcd it anyone: I he neighbors. The experiment was proved sue essfttl?how successful mny Ik* most convincingly indicated by tin- sdati ment that tin- citizens of I'ark View are now getting fresh eggs at tit cents i dozen when the regular market price In Washington is S3 cents and oysters it to cents a iiuart, when the market price Is l'i cents. Tiie national system which is now iliout to lie instituted will lie nothing more than nn extension on a national wale of tills plan I>y which the Park View citizens arc heating tin* high cost g [>f living and getting tin* fresh country f produce direct from tin- farms. That / It has great possibilities of develop- y' aunt is obvious. But the po'nt is that / In its essentials It has already proved/ practicable. Tin* only tiling to niar the national system a realm is operation of the various <,oir,,,"'^> In efftyglng their local TO UNSHACKLE COTTON. Congressman Lever Says the Embargo Should Be Lifted At Once. The chairman of the committee on agriculture. Bepresentative la ver. has received numbers of telegrams with respect lo the cotton situation, lie has conferred personnally with the various agencies of the government concerned, and recently addressed a formal communication to these agencies pointing out the critical situation with respect to the marketing of cotton, and ad\ ising that they at once confer to remove tiny restriction upon the nor mal flow or tills proauci in me iuunnels of commerce. "Of course." said Mr. Lever, "it Is understood throughout the country that the so-called price-fixing committee has recommended that r.o price be fixed on cotton, and has adjourned permanently. This fact should bo impressed up producers, many of whom stem to be under the Impression that this committee is still in existence. The coinmlttc Is not in existence, it lues made its recommendation, and that recommendation is emphatically against price-fixings on cotton, so the [?ossiIdlity in that direction is absolutely. "In my opinion, the steps to be taken now. and they should be taki n now. with emphasis on now, should Include a very literal attitude ii|*>n the part of the federal reserve banks In the matter of the rediscount of cotton collateral, the restoration of the through bill of laden, provision for adequate tonnage for cotton and the removal from time to time as promptly as possible, of restrictions upon the exportation of cotton, not inconsistent with the international relationship. When these steps have been taken, backed by a strong holding movement upon the |?ftrt of the farmer, the situation will relieve Itself and prices will promptly reach their normal level." Foch Was Not Demonstrative.?In a dispatch to the London Daily News, H. W. Smith, in Rotterdam, says that from the account of the armistice negotians given to the Vossische Zeltung by a member of the German delegation. it appears that the Germans, before entering the train which conveyed them to the Forest of Compeigne, were taken for a ten-hour motor drive in company with' French officers. "It appears likely," says the narrator. that it was intentionully prolonged in order to drive us all over the devastated province and prepare us by what we saw for what was shortly to be put before us in the way of hatred and revenge in the extremely severe armistice conditions. Silently now and again a Frenchman pointed to h<-aps of ruins and mentioned them by name. 'Behold St. Qu? ntlnl' " When the delegates met the Allied reprvsntativea the greetings were of he coldest. Marshal Foch. it is declared. only showed himself twice, at the opening and at the end of the proceeding. and It was a "discovery" when he announced that there were to be no negotiations. He proceeded to dictate h" conditions. The narrative concludes with this statement: "Immediately before the close of the second and last plenary sitting, we placed with the enemy In the German language our protest against the treaty, but in the end we had to sign." Statesmen of France are considering plans for a great international railroad from Paris to Odessa. ^ I X