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~AE1ARLAST--WEEK PMBABLE DEFENCE OF SALON WE[IU1IS ATACKED TUHS TO 6O TO EUROPE New York Times Expert Says Soldiers of Ottoman Empire are Not the Fighters of Former Days and Will be 'Used by Kaiser Reluctantly Be cause of Deteriorating Influence. Movements of greater importance have prevented a review in these col umns of the last act on the Serbian stage-the withdrawal of the French and British forces from Macedonia to Saloniki. It seems timely, therefore, in order that the subject may be brought up to date, to make brief mention of these last moves in Serbia. When it was evident to the Allies that thy. were not strong enough to take Veles and Uskub and, by open ing the Katchanik Pass, to establish contact with the Serbs retreating from the north, the Franco-British forces found themselves in a very serious predicament. They were left - an isolated force, with both flanks in the air, and against them were great ly superior and ever-increasing num bers. The French held the angle between the Vardar and the Cerna rivers, in which practically all of the French contingent was concentrated. The line extended along the Vardar through Demir Kapu and thence into the Strumitza sector, where It was Joied ,by the British forces, which held the extreme right. The outflanking of this line by the Bulgarian superiority in numbers was an easy-task and the French evacua tion was. begun. All the troops and stores north of Demir Kapu were suc cessfully removed through the gorge of that name and the railroad tunnel near the gorge was blown up. This blocked Bulgailan pursuit from the northwest and forced the Bulgars to make. their principal attack against .the British section of the line in the Strumitza sector. This attack, which cost the British heavily, forced their retirement to a ery shoit line from the station of Strumtza, on the Saloniki railroad, across the line of hills just north of Lake Doiran, to the Greek frontier. Nothing 'was to be gained, however, on this line, and a general retirement -consquently was made to the imme diat. neighborhood of Saloniki. In tamuch as the near future may de -elop an attack on this town, a de script16a of the military elements of theSaloniki position Is timely. Salonikiis situated at the head of small gulf or estuary, not on a "peninsula. Any defending line, there foAe, must be ahnost a full circle, running from a point on the gulf south of Saloniki, completely around , thecity to another point on the op posite side of the gulf. Witle; therefore, it may be used as another Torres Vedras, the mili tary situation will be in* no way simi lar-Lisbon being on a peninsula, the Torres Vedras position was de tended by a very ahoit, straight line running from east to west. It was, thereme held. by a minimum num ber of-troops. The horseshoe shaped drenne line necessary- to guard Sa 1nm1kg. requires a maxhmum number of toops. Although on the coast, Saloniki is ray-the centre of a mountain coun -try-and Is surrounded by a series of hills and ridges varying in height from three thousand to six hundred feet. Where the continuity of the ridges Is broken a-s It is north of the city there is, nevertheless; a continu ous line. of positions all within sup -porting distance of each other from the Palk Mountains to the ridge of Bechike Dagh. 'But this series of.positions is not -'enough,~as ,they are all capable of being flanked by an operation along the Monastir-Saloniki railroad. The line must, therefore, be extended bouth -so that both flanks will be sa'feguarded and will rest on'a.nat 6 ual obstacle-the Gulf of Saloniki. A. series of 'good defensive posi Afons-exist that would permit such an eninof both wings, but it would aka a line considerably over one honauded miles long, nearer one hun *-ded and twenty-five In fact, and the ferces available to the Allies for Salomknskr defense are not sufficiently -gretlo bold It. The line that the Allies elect to hold will, of course, be Sthoroughly intrenched, so .that the -situation on the western front will be duplicated with the Allies playing the vole: of. the Germans. Germany is holding the western line with the minimum number of h. en required' to prevent an advance. All the men -that can possibly be sipared are- needed in other fields, -whereJathe Teutons are much more active. The weitern line is about two hundred miles long and Is held by-approximately one million men, or dfrethousand to the mile on an aver age. This number can not be reduced with safety. It can, therefore, be assumed that If the Allies construct around Saloniki -the most modern and ef ient field works-and none other wili be. safe-at least six hundred thousand men will be necessary to bold the line from the Palik Moun tains to Bechik Dagh with the needed flank extensions. The Allies, of course, have not nor will they have any such number of men in the Saloniki trenches. The maium number that they can ex pest to utilize for this purpose is about ,t'wo-hundred thousand. With this number fixed the only alternative is the selection of a position that can be held with the troops available-a position not more than forty miles long. Otherwise the defense line will be so thin that a break in it is almost sure to come and with it disaster to the allied forces. A line of this length even would be dangerously thin, but it certainly would for defensive pur poses represent the maximum of the allied possibilities. A good defensive line of approxi .mately that length exists, and. though there is a lack of deflniteness inteofficial reports of the exact 'location of the present line, it is in all probability along this shorter series of positions. The mainm elements of this line are. beginning with the most southerly point of th-e :ight wing first, the Kaloron Ridge, which slopes from three thousand feet to water level, K the defense of which can be ably ef fected by the guns of the Allies' war ~ships in the gulf.. North of this ridge, and east of the town of Vasilika, is an eminence known as Suka Dagh, and north of that again Hartak Dagh. These two are each about three thousand feet high, and are the highest points of a more or less continuous ridge that -undulates north from Kaloron to Lake Laugaza. From this lake the ground rises again as we pass north of Saloniki. the line running through the town of Ajvalti to Daudbaba Hill, thence westward across the Vardor River to Remil Hill In the Southern Paiik Mountains, at the foot of which be gins a wide belt of marshy plain. From the southern edge of the plain the line would bend to the gulf across the Kaijani group of hills, the slopes of which are much more grad u1 than any of the other rises men Joned. It must be repeated that this bine is not given as the one which the Ullies at present occupy. It may well e that at present the wings of their ine are not bent back on either side .o the gulf. But it is extremely like ly that, if pressure should be exerted by the Teutons on the line between Pajik Mountain and Bechid Dagh, this line will have to fall back for a shorter line nearer the city, where the flanks can be guarded and where ? more reasonable relation would ex ist between the length of line to be held and the number of troops avail able to hold it. The total failure of the Gallipoli operations, viewed from the stand point of direct results, was fully presented in last week's issue. There is, however, a secondary aspect of the campaign which is certain to inject a new element into future fighting. During all the months of fighting on the peninsula, the British, though accomplishing no positive result, achieved the negative purpose of neu tralizing a large portion of the Turk ish army by keeping it so thoroughly occupied in defending its own capital that it could not be used in other fields. As soon, however, as the bulk of the British forces withdrew from Gallipoli the bulk of the Turkish army was, of course, released, and is now available for use in such quar ters as Berlin may deem advisable. In view of the fact that Turkish forces may soon appear on the battle fields of Europe, particularly of Rus sia and eastern Galicia, it is well to see just what kind of troops the Ger mans are adding to their forces, what their fighting qualities are, and what benefits the Germans will derive from such additions. From the beginning of their his tory, long before they became a na tion, when they were only nomadic tribes, the Turks have been known as fighting men. In the early days about the thirteenth century-the male youth was trained for soldiery from the time he was eight years old with all the thoroughness and sever ity of discipline that marked the early Greek and Roman. For several centuries the Jani zaries were known and feared as the most effective fighting force in Europe. At Kossovo, where the Ser bians were almost annihilated; at Varna, where the Magyars were bad ly defeated, the Janizary element of the Turkish army, made this army an instrument of the greatest terror. In the last quarter of the seven teenth century all of the Balkan peninsula, all of what is now Ruma nia, Southern Russia, and half of Hungary, were in Turkish hands and the Moslem army was before the gates of Vienna. Turkey was then at its zenith, the army had then reached its greatest effectiveness as a fighting organization. From that time-1683, to be exact -there has been a gradual but con sistent decline. Paradoxical as it may seem, it was the very strength of the Janizaries that brought about the decline, as it culminated In 1826 in their destruction u4nder the reign of -Mahmud II. Contact with western Europe caused the introduction into the Turkish army of European dis cipline that had prevailed in the Mid dle Ages. From that time until now the Turks have never distinguished themselves as boldiers. They have been miserably led, it is true; and it must be admitted that under competent leadership they have fought fairly well. But they have no; been the equals of the sol diers either of Western Europe or of their neighbors in the Balkans. In their war with Bulgaria in 1912 their failure at Lule Burgas Is ample proof of the ineffectiveness not only of their leaders but of their soldiery as well. Turkey, it will be remem bered, is made up of a nmber of tribes and the army naturally is com posed of many different races. The Egyptian element as well as the Fel laheen are very poor material, cow ardly and not ashamed of it, loving the army because of the glamour and show but not caring for the fight. The Arabian and Syrian factors are about as bad, anid this may have a distinct bearing on the fighting that will possibly occur on the Sival penin sula. But the Turks of Asia Minor, the Kurds, the Armenians, and the Greeks are greatly superior. It was principally these elements, indeed. whose stubbornness saved Plevna in 1878. The Armenian and Greek ele ments, however, have been so alien ated by.the idiotic policy of the Turk ish government that their loyalty is of very doubtful quality. The net result is that, although the discipline which the German officers have planted in- the Turkis'h military system during the past three years has beyond doubt lengthened their morale to some extent, the Turkish sodiers of to-day are not the soldiers of Kossovo, of Yarna, of the siege of Constantinople, or even of Plevna, but the soldier of Lule Burgas. It is this soldier that the Kaiser will add to his armies. It is a step which lack of num bers \will make necessary. It is cer tainly not a step he would take from choice. It will be a sacrifice of quality for quantity. The addi tion of inferior troops has a pecu liar effect on an army. Theoreti cally it would seem that inferior soldiers carefully interspersed throughout an army of efficients would profit by the example of the majority and in time rise to their plane. Experience, however, has shown the opposite to be true. Putting a few deficients in an army of good fighting men is like putting a few rotten apples in a barrel of sound ones. The latter soon become spotted-the former are never made whole. It is this fact, more than the fact of mere numbers to which we must look when we regard a Teuton army augmented by Turkish regi ments. If Congress appropriates the one million four huindred thousand dol lars that the advisory naval board wants for its experiments it will be loing a good thing for the country. 'ew one million four hundred thou sand dollars will ever return more for its money that this one. Just about this time we can't help but wonder where the big newspapers got their information which recently led them to believe a diplomatic break had to come with Austria. The expenses of the Ford expedi tion amounted to $44.950. and the >ew York World figured it out that his sum is the profits of three days' vork at the Ford factory. Although Justice Hughes says he Iesn't want to run for the presi iency, an exchange observes that no ody is being jailed for contempt. The Swiss plan of universal mili ary training isn't so bad. Look it 1 and you'll agree that the American lan must be modelled upon it. Let's see. wasn't there some fight ~ag once around some places that ounded like Lodz, Kalisch, Konigs 1erg, Warsaw, et al? The Columbus Ledger thinks that ho inventor of the lettuce sandwich r'as not a friend to hungry men. It looks as if the United States is ;ing to try and work uzp an. al CABINET UPHEAVAL CONSCRIPTION CAUSES CRISIS IN ENGLISi POLITICS ASQUITH UNDER FIRE Earl Grey Also Attacked-Lords Cur zon and Northcliffe Lead Dissatis fled Forces-Viscount Haldane Mentioned a Successor, Although Impetuous Lloyd-George Has Big Following. Although Monday was a holiday in England, the members of the British cabinet returned hastily from the scenes of ',eir Christmas festivities for an i. :ant meeting at which were discused the Derby recruiting scheme and conscription and other matters which must be thrashed out when parliament reconvenes. That the proceedings of the cabi net have not been going smoothly is seen in the fact that after a two hours' sitting the council was obliged to adjourn, no decision heving been reached and the discussion having revealed grave difference of opinion. The Times' parliamentary corre spondent asserts that the position is undeniably delicate and may become critical unless handled with firmness and decision. The Daily Mail asserts that Andrew Bonar Law, secretary for the Colo nies, and Lord Kitchener, the war minister, have not yet made their position clear, while A. J. Balfour, first lord of the admiralty, resolutely opposes compulsion, in which he is supported by a majority of the min isters. David Lloyd-George, the Marquis of Lansdowne. Earl Curzon, Sir Fred erick Smith, J. Austen Chamberlain, Walter Hume Long, and the Earl ol Selborne advocate immediate compul sion. Lloyd-George, The Mail adds, be. fore the sitting of the council, made his position clear to Premier Asquith in a message intimating that unless Mr. Asquith's pledge to married meri be kept in the strictest sense he could not continue as a member of the gov ernment. The Morning Post, equally witt The Times and The Daily Mail-al conscriptionist papers-sees the pos sibility of several cabinet resigna tions, or the other alternative, a gen eral election. The Morning Telegraph and The Chronicle, anti-compulsion organs are also apprehensive of a crisis or E general election. The Chronicle edi torially protests against "intrigue. and wire-pullers, who contemplat the desperate and mad expedient o: a general election-a gambler'! plunge, which might entail disas trous consequences," and points ou1 how, by merely withholding its assen1 to the parliament and registratior bills, the House of Lords can mak( elections unavoidable next month since, in the absence of the parlia ment bill, which prolongs its life foi eight months, the present parliamen1 would expire by the effluxion of time at the end of January. Concerning the people who make E comparison with America during the civil war, The Chronicle argues thal Lincoln's action Is not a preceden: because conditions were different Lincoln was distracted by wholesale desertions, while recruiting was stim ulated by extravagant bounties. The Chronicle adds: "Our volun tary army in one year exceeded it num'ber all the men recruited by the federal government In the four years of the war, and that without draft! to force them or bounties to bribe them." Lloyd-George received a great ova tion from the holiday crowd when he arrived at Downing Street for the cabinet meeting. Winston Spencer Churchill return ed to Franco to rejioin his regiment His presence in London had beer commented on in connection with the cabinet crisis. There is a steady growth of the newspaper attacks on the govern ment, the general burden of which is the slowness, the lack of foresigh1 and decision, and the mismanage ment of the Dardanelles enterprises While all newspapers disclaim parti san motives, all the more promineni journals participating in the opposi tion belong to the Conservative party, with the exception of the Manchester Guardian. The newspapers generally hold Premier Asquith responsible for the conduct of affairs. The Lord 'North cliffe group, headed by The Times and The Daily Mail, now as hereto fore the most bitter critics of the Asfuith government, with the sup port of the Morning Post. was .ioined by the Observer, which is the fore most Sunday paper of London, and the Referee, which has a large fol lowing among the masses. David Lloyd-George is the leading candidate advanced for succession, but other prominent Britons, such as Viscount Haldane, former secretary of state for war; Lord Curzon, for mer viceroy of India, were also men tioned. In the pictures No. 1 is Lord Northcliffe; No. 2, Lord Haldane; No. 3, Lord Curzon; No. 4, Lloyd George; No. 5, Asquith. The following copy of a private letter received from London has been supplied to The New York Times by its recipient: "London, December 13. "In its parliamentary notes this morning The London Times said, apropos of the topics that are likely to come before the House of Com mons this week: 'Finally there is the prospect of the surging up of that undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war which formed the chief head of private discussion last week.' "This undercurrent is now running so strong that, in the opinion of not a few good judges. it is likely to transform the stream of public. opinion into a torrent which will sweep away the present cabinet with a demnd for new men and new measures. "I have heard men who are not professed critics of the government. who are not political partisans, whose position and whose intimate knowledge of actual events give them both a sense of responsibility and the opportunity of judgment, declare that a reconstitution at least of the exist ing cabinet is fast becoming an im perative necessity. "Mr. Asquith's great qualities are fully recognized, but it is argued that the training and habit of mind which in peace times made him so excellent a prime minister militate against his value in time of war. How, it is ask ed. can a lawyer whose chief secess in political life has been won by his faculty of bringing about a compro mise between different opinions, and thu saverting the harshness of open conflict, be properly qualified to deal with the cruel realities of war and take the downright, ruthless decisions which war requires. "Lord C'urzon of Kendleston is frc uently spoken of, among those who while, as I have said, admiring Mr. Asquith, still believe there are others who could better fulfill the tasks re :uired of a British premier at this spoch, as the man most fitted to take LIhe succession. To a good many Englshmen Lord Curzon's name is ilmost anathema because, chiefly, of :pa 1aeanr which represents him as having tried to thwart 'Lord Kitchen er in India. "This is a view widely held, but I do not think it is by any manner of means the correct view. In fact, those Englishmen who know their India best generally, I find, believe that Lo-d Curzon's administration of the vice-royalty was an extremely successful one, particularly when it is remembered how young he was when, with his beautiful American wife, he went to the gorgeous east. His power of organization was shown to be great, his zeal was untiring, and his industry knew no bounds. "If he should became premier, it has been said. he would take none of the -week-ends' which are habitual with the present prime minister and which nobody grudges him, but which, according to gossip, have on occasions seriously delayed the trans action of public business of prime importance. Knowing Mr. Asquith, I do not suggest that there can be any truth in the latter statement, but it is significant that such things are said. "But to revert for a moment to Lord Curzon and Lord Kitchener. There is a curious similarity -between the circumstances which led up to Curzon's departure from India and those which preceded Lord Kitchen er's recent visit to the near east. The India office at the time of the dif ferences between Curzon and Kitch ener sided with the former. "Kitchener, however, stated that he would resign unless his policy was acquiesced in; and the government of that day had as great a fear of Lord Kitchener's popularity and the consequences of a public rupture as the present government is understood to entertain. It is the secret de Polichinelle in the inner circles of London life that in several matters the cabinet and Lord Kitchener have been at variance. "In fact, report has it that at times Kitchener has been in the position of the thirteenth juryman of the story, On these occasions he has simply said 'Well, if you don't agree with me, I'll resign,' and his colleagues have accepted the ultimatum with-the best grace possible. I do not mean to say that Mr. Asquith and his colleague do not appreciate all that Lord Kitchener has accomplished, by the magic of his name. "There came a time, however when they arrived at the conclusior that his lordship could be more use fully employed elsewhere, instead ol at the war office. In fact, there wa one post for which he was specially qualified, which nobody could fill bet; ter than he. Egypt and the Sue6 canal are the wasp-waist of the Brit ish empire. "It might almost be said that ' rupture of communications ther would jeopardize the life of the em pire. To Egypt, then, it was arrang ed Kitchener should go, with, in cas the defense of that protectorate wai not enough to absorb all his energies the additional charge of all the Brit ish forces in both the Near and Fai East-surely a glorious enough com mand for any soldier's ambition. Si it was arranged Lord Kitchenei should make his visit of inspection t( Egypt, Gallipoli, and the Balkans. "Along with Mr. Asquith, th4 honor of bearing the brunt of the at tacks which are being made on th< cabinet is shared by Sir Edwarc Grey. For the moment the point oz which public attention is chiefly cen tred is the arrangement entered int< by tho foreign office with two asso ciations of Danish merchants. Th4 exact character of the arrangement ii held secret, Lord Robert Cecil havin refused many pointed demands for it: publication. "It is suggested that the reason foi secrecy is to be found in the circum stance that the foreign office has al lowed its consideration for the in terests of neutrals to interfere witl the blockade of Germany. It is to bi noticed that the main attacks upoi the foreign office on this point arn delivered by men who are known t< be in close touch with the admiralty You will, however, have read all thi details in the cablegrams, and .be sides, the matter is probably not si serious as some of the 'blunders, alleged against the foreign office. " Sir Edward Grey's signature o1 the Declaration of London is held ul against him as 'a deliberate attemp to handicap the British navy.' A well known writer had an article in yes terday's Sunday Times In which hi said: 'Bit by bit, under the pressuri of war, this absurdity (the Declara tion of London) has been abandoned and a few days ago Lord Lansdowni bluntly said that the declaration wa dead. Yet it is clear that Sir Edward Grey and the foreign office are stil hankering for the resuscitation o: this mischievous corpse and are still willing to sell England's power of in juring her enemies in return for some vague promise which would consti tute another scrap of international paper. "It must never be fcreotten that at the beginning of the war the for eign office refused to make cotton contraband, although everybody knew that cotton was an essential element in the manufacture of propulsive powder. It took nine months of war and a vigorous press agitation tc compel tho government to reverse this blunder. But the main energiet of Downing Street seem still to be devoted to creating loopholes for the trade of our enemies.' "Even more serious still 'are the charges of blundering alleged against the foreign office in regard to the Balkan situation. King Constantine has been held up to opprobrium in the British prcss. I have been as sured by a French minister that or the contrary the Greek monarch has been perfectly loyal in all his deal. ings with the Allies, and that, on an impartial survey, when all the cir cumstances arc made known, it will be found that his reluctance to let his country participate in the war, under the conditions in which partici pation was presented to him, was ab solutely justifiable. King Constan tine is a soldier, and apprcciated the military situation with a clearness which the diplomatists entirely fail ed to do." The letter hcre tells of a chance to buy off King Ferdinand of Bulgaris and of the refusal of the Allies on two occasions to accept proffered Greek aid, due to negotiations with Bulgaria and Russia's aversion to Greece participating in the gains at Constantinople. This is oniitted be cause of its excessive length. The letter concludes: "Some of what I have told you forms the well springs from which the undercurrent of dissatisfaction to which The Times correspondent al ludes is flowing. There is more, upon which I can only touch briefly. First and foremost, I wculd place the disapproval with which n~any good judges look upon an expedition which the British government is preparing. "This is describcd by some people as 'an adventure in East Africa,' and is chiefly objected to on the ground that it is part of 'a policy of small packets.' In half a dozen words, Gen. Sir H. L. Smith-Dorrien is going out in command of an expedition whose object is to take possession of Ger man East Africa. "It is supposed to be in course of secret preparation, and I would sug gest you tell nobody in whom you have not implicit confidence about this matter, until, of course, it is made public property officially. [Two days after this letter was written the cables reported this project.]I Still though a 'secret,' it is so widely known and talked about in London that unless the Germans are very badly served by their spies they must be in possession of the sect. "Another point in regard to this expedition. Fairly early in the war it was suggested to the British gov enmnt that an attack on German| CONSCRIPTION IS ALMOST CERTAIN FOR ENGLAND NOW Modified Form of Compulsory Service to be Adopted by Govern ing Cabinet. It Is stated on excellent authority that the British cabinet has virtually decided upon a modified form of con ecription bill to be introduced in the House of Commons. next week, giving the government the necessary power, should it be found needful, to bring in single men and preserve Premier Asquith's pledge to married men. The anti-conscriptionist ministers offered strong opposition and it Is still unknown whether any resigna tions will follow. It is believed, how ever, that this is quite likely. The line of policy upon which a majority of the ministers agree, indi cating that some, at least, of the aitl-conscriptionists section of the cabinet so far waived their principle as to consent to a modified applica tion of force is as follows: First, that the premier's pledge to married men is binding on the whole government. Second, that the pledge should be redeemed forthwith. Third, that the principle of com pulsion should be accepted. Fourth, that the premier should announce this policy at the earliest opportunity after the reassembling of parliament. PAINTER DRINKS ACID In Presence of Friends and Resists All Efforts to Save Him. Albert Lacy, a white painter, aged thirty-five, committed suicide at Anderson Tuesday afternoon by drinking carbolic acid in the presence of several acquaintances. He had asked one of these for carfare to Bel ton and then remarked, "When I swallow this, I won't need- the car fare." He swallowed the contents of the bottle and then resisted strenuously when four men held him so that a doctor could -pour an antidote down his throat. He died within fifteen minutes. Lacey became despondent while talking with the acquaintances, and this is attributed as the cause of his taking his life. He was separated several years ago from his wife. WANT BIG SUBS European Experience Shows Value of New Sized Boat. Sea-going submarines of two thou sand tons displacement probably soon will be sought for the American navy as a result of lessons learned by navy department experts from the Euro pean war and recent manoeuvres of the Atlantic fleet. It is possible, It was learned, that the first five submarines included in the administration's five-year build ing program will approach this size, although the estimates submitted were based on boats of the thirteen hundred ton class. In contrast to this de elopment of a type of giant submersible, naval officers are inclined to believe that the so-called coast defense boats will be standardized at about four hun dred tons displacement. East Africa would be fruitful, and the French government offered to place at the disposal of the British their then- available force in Mada gascar, which was a comparatively large one and for which adequate transports were prcmised by the French. "The offer was declined on the ground that Britain was not ready to undertake such an expedition at that time. There is, of course, a sugges tion that some suech narrow view as caused Russia to object to a Greek advance on Constantinople influenced the British authorities and decided them against French co-operation in German East Africa. Equally, of course, the fact may have been that Britain really was not ready. "This letter is running to an in ordinate length; but I must add something more to Lake it complete. Besides the causes of dissatisfaction mentioned, thei-e is a strong feeling that several members of the coalition cabinet are either inadequate or mis placed in their present posts. Harold Cox sums up this phase as follows: "'The men who constitute this cab inet are many of them fairly well known to their fellow citizens. A few of them are men of first class ability. But the ability of most of them is certainly little above the gen eral average. It may be said without the slightest hesitation that there is not one of the politicians in the pres ent cabinet whoa~ould not be replaced ten times over by men of equal ability in other spheres of life. They are where they are merely from the acci dent that they chose to go into the profession of politics as one of the easiest and most rapid means of securing notoriety and promotion.' "Now, the present dissatisfaction must be differentiated from the cam paign which Lord Northcliffe waged against the cabinet. It is different in many ways, principal among them, perhaps, being that it Is taking a con structive rather than a purely de structive form, and that it is finding an altogether dissimilar kind of ex pression. It Is not being carried on in the public market place, so to speak, nor by shouting and beating of drums. "Lord Northcliffe's papers, of course. sowed the seed broadcast, but the crop has sprung up in many quar ters where The Daily Mdil is ana thema. You may have read The Daily Telegraph's editorial of last Satur day-it was cabled over to America. The D. T., 'one may be sure, would not have printed such an article had it not felt that the discontent it ex pressed was both deep and wide spread, not confined to a particular sect or party, but permeating the whole nation. "How the coalition government will fare, of course, depends largely on what will happen on the war fronts. I am making no predictions. You remember what 31r. Asquith said about remaining at his post until he was convinced somebody could fill it better. "Those weren't his exact words, but they represent the underlying meaning. This, how.3ver, seems cer "England is getting tired of dis covering that every more the govern ment makes seems to have been fore seen by the Germans, and is not dis posed to forgive much more blunder ing, If blundering can be proved.1 Particularly it is not going to stand any political party nonsense. If the politicians can't put politics on one side and devote themselvcs to win ning the war, the English nation will demand that men who arc not polh ticians should be given an oppor-< tunity. I am told by Frenchmen thatt the same feeling obtains in France. One of them predicted: 'We shall 1 have a national assembly (a joint meeting of Senate and Chamber of f Deputies), and out of that will bet born a committee of public safety ifi the country thinks it useful." r Since Germany and Austria have f been pushed into submission by neu-t tral America from some of their war C doctrines, the German press will want C to know whether England and France ~ willyied totheUnitd Satesliie IUSTRIA'S ANSWER' IB OFFICER PUNISHED FOR DE= STRUCTION OF ANCONA s I EDES TO U. S. DEM I t rienna Overlooks Gap in Evidence Presented, Rules That Panic C Aboard Steamer Increased Respon sibility of Commander-Eubscribes to Humanity's Law. Vienna reports that the following E iote, dated December 29, in answer :o the American government's de t nands concerning the sinking of the t [taliah steamer Ancona by an Aus- I rian submarine, has been delivered :o Frederick C. Penfield, the Ameri an ambassador: "In answer to your esteemed note, I .o. 4307, of the 21st instant, the ubscriber has the honor to lay the rollowing most respectfully before is excellency, the an'bassador of the nited States of America, Frederick Zourtland Penfield. "The imperial and royal govern ment agrees thoroughly with the American cabinet that the sacred ,ommandments of humanity must be observed also in war. Just as it has hitherto given at no time and to no person occasion to doubt its respect for these commandments, in like manner also in the whole course of this war, which presents such pic tures of confusion of moral concep tions, has it given numerous proofs of humanitarian sentiments toward enemies as well as to-ward neutral states, and it was not due to this government that it was, a short time ago, not in harmony with the Wash ington government precizely on a question which it (the Austro-Hun garian government), in harmony with the entire public opinion in Austria-Hungary, regarded as prin ipally a question of humanity. Asto Private Ships. "The imperial and royal govern ment can also substantially concur in the principle expressed in the very esteemed note, that private ships, in sofar as they do not flee or offer re sistance, may not be destroyed with out the persons aboard being brought into safety. "The imperial and royal govern ment is very responsive to the assur ance that the federal government lays value upon seeing that the good relations which happily exist between Austria-Hungary and the United States of America are maintained. It reciprocates this assurance most warmly, and is now, as heretofore, concerned to render these relations more hearty, so far as lies in its power. "Guided by the same spirit of Frankness as the government of the union, the imperial and royal gov ernment, although it does not find in the note frequently referred to the answer to all the legitimate questions submitted by it, is willing to com municate to the federal government the result of the investigation which, in accordance with existing depart mental regulations, was begun in and after the receipt of the fleet report on the sinkin" of the Ancona and which was just recently received. Results of Investigation. "The result of this investigation may be summarized as follows: "On November 7, 1915, at 11.40 o'clock in the forenoon, the com mander of the submarine observed in latitude 38.40 north, longitude 10.08 east, in foggy weather, at a distance roundly 3,000 meters and one point to starboard, the outlines of a large Italian steamer. He took it at first for a transport steamer and turned about and fired from his rear gun a warning shot far from the vessel. "Simultaneously he displayed the signal, 'Leave the ship.' The steamner did not stop, but rather turned aside and sought to escape. The command er at first remained stopped for some minutes in ord r to increase the dis tance, since he feared that the steam er had a stern gun and would fire at1 the submarine with it. When the1 distance had reached 4,500 meters1 he had the pursuit taken up with full power and fired from his forward gun at a decreasing distance sixteen shells, among which he observed three hits. Stopped aifter Third Hit. "During the chase the steamer went zigzag "'nd stopped only after the third hit. Thereupon the com mander ceased firing. "During the flight the steamer had a~lready. wvhile at full speed, let some boats with persons in them -fall., which immediately capsized. After stopping, the steamer began launch ing boats. "From a distance of about 2,000 meters the commander saw that six boats were filled and rowed hastily away from the steamer. Another boat was capsized and floated keel uip. The people held onto the hang ing lines and to the capsized boat. "During the further approach of the submarine the commander saw hat a 'great panic reigned aboard a~nd that he had to deal with a pas senger steamer, namely, the Ancona, from Genoa. Therefore he gave the ccupants of the steamer more time :han was required to leave the ship lifeboats. "At least ten lifeboats were still aboard, which would have more than sufficed for. the rescue of the per ons still aboard. One of these boats iung, full of people, half turned out ard on the davits. No Further Move Toward Boats. "Since, however, except for this, I o further move was made to lower f oats, the commander decided -after . lapse of forty-five minutes to tor- 1 edo the ship in such a manner that t would remain a considerable timei float,-in order that on the one hand t :he getting of the people into the Ifeboats should be hastened, and t ;hat on the other adequate oppor unity should remain for rescuing he persons still aboard. Not untilt 1.20 o'clock did it sink, after ae yarallel setting, with the bow first.t "During these further forty-five ninutes, all persons yet aboardc ~ould have been saved without dif-s iculty with the boats still on hand. s "From the fact that this, con-I rary to his expectations, was not I lone, the commander concluded that a he crew, contrary to all steamer's ustomis, had accomplished their ownt escue with the first boats and aban- f loned to passengers entrusted to s heir protection. Weather Good and Sea calm. "The weather at the time of the ncident was good and the sea calm, r o that the lifeboats could have eached the nearest coast without! anger, as indeeA the lifeboats ac-t ually were damaged only by the un-1 killed lowering, but not after they.t ad struck the water.f "The loss of human lives is in the a rst instance by no means ascribable o the sinking of the ship, but, and t a all probability in a much higher a aeasure. to the rapid lowering (hin- c nter Werfen) of the boats during. b ull speed, as well as to the fact that e he crew, concerned only for itself. e id not rescue the passengers of the~ o apsized boats. lI "It is also probably ascribable to 1 hots which hit the fleeing vessel,! 14 ut the death of persons who sank ii .th the seaera Is allo, abne n11, v scribable to the disloyal conduct of he crew. Based on Incorrect Premises. "As appears from the above ad uced state of affairs, the very es eemed note of December 9 is based a many points on incorrect premises. aformation reaching the United itates government that solid shot ras immediately fired toward the teamer is Incorrect: it is incorrect hat the submarine overhauled the teamer during the chase; it is in orrect that only a brief period was iven for getting the people into the 'oats. "On the contrary, an unusually ang period was granted to the An ona for getting passengers in the oats. "Finally, it is incorrect that a tumber of shells were fired at the teamer after it had stopped. "The facts of the case demonstrate urther that the commander of the ubmarine granted the steamer a full orty-five minutes times, that Is, nore than an adequate period to give he persons aboard an opportunity to ake the boats. Then, since the peo de were not all saved, he carried ut the torpedoing in such a manner hat the ship could remain above vater the longest possible time, do ng this with the purpose of making ossible the abandonment of the ves el on boats still in hand. Blames Ancona's Crew. "Since the ship remained a further orty-five minutes above water, he would have accomplished his pur >ose if the crew of the Ancona had iot abandoned the passengers in a nanner contrary to duty. "With full consideration, however, f this conduct of the commandei timed at accomplishing the rescue ol :he crew and passengers, the imperia tid royal marine authoritieg reached :he conclusion that he had omitted t< ake adequately- into consideratior he panic which had broken on1 Lmong the passengers, which render d difficult the taking to boats, anc :he spirit of the regulation that im Perial and royal marine officers shal tail in giving help to nobody in need iot even to an enemy. "Therefore, tie. officer was punish d in accordance with the existin rules for exceeding his instructions "The imperial and royal govern ment, in the face of this state of af lairs, does not hesitate to draw th :orresponding conclusions respecting the indemnification of American citi gens affected by the sinking of th4 prize, but in this regard it makes th4 Eollowing statement: "The investigation into the sinkin of the Ancona could naturally fur nish no essential point to show ii how far a right to an indemnity is t be granted American citizens. Thi imperial and royal government cai not, indeed, even according to thi view of the Washington cabinet, bi held liable for damages which result ed from the undoubtedly justifie< bombardment of the fleeing ship. "It should just as little have t answer for the damages which cam4 to pass before the torpedoing of thi hip, through faulty lowering of life boats or capsizing of lowered boats "The imperial and royal govern ment must assume that the Washing ton government is in a position an' disposed to give it (the Austro-Hun garian government) the required an( certainly not unimportant informa tion in this respect. May Extend Indemnities. "If, however, because of possibli lack of diaterial proofs the particu lar circumstances under which Amer ican citizens suffered damage shoul' not- have become known to the unloi government, the royal government in consideration for the humane1: deeply regrettable incident, and by esire to -proclaim once again it: friendly feeling toward the federa government, would be.gladly willing to disregard this gap in the evidenc and to extend indemnities also t' those damaged whose cause can no be established. "While the imperial and roya government may probably considea the affair of the Ancona as settle< with the foregoing statements, it re serves to itself at this time the righ to bring up for discussion at a late1 period the difficult questions of in :ernational law connected with sub nmaie warfare. "The undersigned has the honor t< request most respectfully that his ex eellency, the ambassador of the Unit ad States of America, will be pleasec :o bring the foregoing to the atten: :ion of the federal government anc :akes advantage of this opportunit: to ren'ew to his excellency an expres ion of his most especial esteem. [Signed] "Burian." Recommendations for Bettering Agriculture. David F. Houston, Secretary o0 grculture, in his annual..eport t< :ongress Indicates a number of im >ortant measures necessary for th< yetterment of agriculture, both or :he production and marketing sides; nd for the conservation of the re ources of the nation. These meas res await the consideration and ac Ion of the congress and Involve: 1. Legislation designed to promoti he better handling and storage o: ~arm products ani the trading on th< asls of fixed grades and standards ncluding a permissive warehousi Act and provision for a market new: ervice to obtain and disseminate ac urate information regarding crol novements and prices. 2. A land mortgage banking aci vhich shall Inject business method: n'o the handling of farm finance and >lace farm securities upon the mar tet in a responsible way. 3. Assistance to communities neal he national forests in road burildint nd similar improvements through lan involving thd advancement of unds for these receipts from the for !sts. This action would promcte local evelopment of agriculture and other esources. 4. Authority to grant water power ermits within the national forest! or fixed periods. Such authority un loubtedly would aid water power Ltlization. 5. The classification of the remain ng public grazing lands to determine heir character and to secure infor nation upon which to base plans for heir future improvement and use. 6. Authority for the sale of lands eeded for local enterprises In cer an localities within the Alasran for sts after examination eand classifica ion by the department, with definite rovision against alienation of those hiefly valuable for -wacr power ites, for the handling of timber re ources, or for other public purposes. 7. More effective control over the roduction of hog cholera serium. To ccomplish this purpose, a definite lan, involving the establishment by he federal government of a station or testing all serum Intended for hipment in interstate commerce is utlined for consideration. 8. Provision for a well balanced nlarged program for agricultural re earch, when normal conditions are estored. 9. The continuance of appropriat ions for the purchase of forest lands i the Appalachian and White Moun ins until areas sufficient to be in uential in prcte :ting thcse regions re acquired. The report also recommends that re present unwise distribution of uthority between the departments of :mmerce and agriculture over fur earing animals in Alaska be correct d, and that ce tain amendments nec nsary to the effective administration the Alaska game law be adopted. addition, suggestions are made for nprovemenlt in the methods of col cting and publishing statistics relat Lg to tha tobaccn cron.-Dunn's -Re AMERICAN MERCIIANT MARINE SECOND IN WORLD IN 1915 j iERMAN FLEET TIEDHF Facts and Figures Given Out In Gov ernment Report Shows Exact Num ber of Ships of .1,000 Tons and Over Now Under the American Flag. Changes in American merchant shipping during the first year of the, war in Europe have had no parallel in extent in our maritime history. The absolute increase in the tonnage of ships under the American flag dur ing that period was 460,741 tons and has never been equaled in American history. During the year 200,000 tons- of American shipping, formerly plying in the domestic trade, obtained amn ployment in the foreign trade. '-,u tonnage and value the merchant siip ping under the American' flag is sur passed only by that under the BritsWra flag, and in tonnage it equals that under any two foreign flags scon. bined, except the British. The effect of the European war and American legislation on' the American merchant marine and the resultant unparalleled changes are set forth in .great detail and discuss ed most interestingly in the ainual report of Eugene Tyler Chamberlain, the commissioner of navigation,(to Secretary Redfield of the department of commerce. - Mr. Chamberlain asserts that-the nearest approach to the fiscal Year 1915, in the importance of the changes in American merchant ship ping, was during .1863 and 1864, when the Confederate cruisers were in operation, and 523,064 tons -of American shipping were sold to for eigners. Pointing out that during the esly days of the war in Europe the Ameri can ship registry act of August, iS, 1914, was passed, Commissioner Chamberlain states that a total.I. 148 vessels of 523,361 gross tons were transferred from foreign-fla to the American flag and register. "The European war,' contides. Mr. Chamberlain in his most ilui nating presentation of the Amerlcan shipping situation, "has create& n opportunity for the development A the merchant marine in foreign tride which this generation at least .isnot likely to see repeated. The mostuef ficient instrumentalities for the prose cution of that trade are ocean stedii . ers of 3,000 gross tons and upwar&. Such ships are economical by cor- m parison with smaller vessels, andlit is by means of larger steamers t the great volume of our bulk e must be carried abroad." To furnish some idea of the gress which has been made under the ship registry act, Commissione Chamberlain presents a tabular study of the number of such ocean steamers' under different flags: This - tabI& shows that on June 30, 1915, thi! number of ocean steamers of 3,000* tons, divided as to size, under various flags, German steamers,--o. course, having no share in the carry ing trade, was as follows: ,Over 10,000 Tons-British, -140; 1American, 14; French, 16; Japanese, 8; Italian, 3; Dutch, 8; Norwegian, 2; German, 42. Total, 233. 7,000 to 10,000' Tons-British, 280; American, 23; French 19; Jap anese, 15; Italian, 19; Dutch, 19 Norwegian, 5; German, 71.' Total 451. 5,000 to 7,000 Tons-British, 558~ American, 104; French, 86; Japns. 55; Italian, 35; Dutch, 61; Norwe gian, 20; German, 159. Total,/1,078-' 4,000 to 5,000 Tons-British, 933' American, 67; French, 48; Japanese, 41; Italian, 52: Dutch, 30; Norwe gian, 47; German, 150. Total, 1,368 3,000 to 4,000 Tons-British, I, 152; American, 97; French, 59; Jap -anese, 106; Italian, 102; Dutch, 71, Norwegian, 42; German, 122. Total, 1,751. Grand total number of ocea'a steamers over 3,000 gross tons-Brit ish, 3,063; American, 315; French, 228; Japanese, 225; Italian, 211, Dutch, 189; Norwegian, 116; Ger man, 544. Total, 4,881. The 544 German steamers are not able to engage in foreign trade be cause of the command of the seas by the British. Eliminating these, the table shows that .the American fleet of steamers of over 3,000 tons, ranks second only to that of' Great Britain, and is about one-tenth the size of the British fleet of ocean steamers of over 3,000 gross tons. Of the 305 large ocean steamner which give the United States second place in foreign trade to-day, 90 wer registered in the ten months from September, 1914, to June, 1915, beased on the principles, Commis sioner Chamberlain says. "which Great Britain has followed for ser eral generations." Commissioner Chamberlain recomn Imends that congress enact legislation to prevent the transfer of any of these vessels back to foreign flags after the war in Europe is over. "Congress, may see fit," says the commissioner. "to consider the ques tion whether the transfer of a ship under the American flag to an alien should not be conditiorned upon the approval of the secretary of com merce. A general transfer back to foreign flags of ships which have been admitted to American registry -under the a~ct of 3 914 is possible under existir.g law after the close of the European war, a'though not anticipated. "To mention only one matter tell ing against such transfer, the enor mous debt burdens incurred by bel-.-A ligerent nations must be met by very heavy taxation, and shipping, of course, will be expected to bear its share. Foreign taxes on shipping as a rule are not ordinarily onerous. Thus, in the last year of peace, the calendar year 1913, the Hamburg American Steamship com~pany paid an income tax of only 1,158,561. marks on a profit from the year's operations of 58.521,7'N marks, its entire property being vaired at 354, 943.555 marks. "The taxes which Ge-mnn ships will pay after the war rey prove to be a heavy burden. The income tax of the Cunardi company fer the same year was only 17,226 rpcunds on a profit balance of 1.12 4,3'91 pounds, its total property being valued at 7, 974,925 pounds. Tlie inl~ome taxes of Great Britain have already during the progress of the war ivnen heavily increased. On thc othcr hand, there is no present reason to look for any material increase in .government taxes on American shiptping in the near future. Othcr advantages which we shall have over belligerent na tions. and even over some of the neu tral powers, will readily present themselves.' Congressman Buchanan has at tempted to avoid arrest by claiming the prerogative of immunity from ar rest, but officials think he can be served with the warrant even in Washington. We'fail to see where the Congressman can be 1-enefitted by a postponement of his cast'. The best immunity he can have is an Equit