The Barnwell people. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1884-1925, December 17, 1914, Image 2
iff ms nuti if cnmir.l
IFPIStS III AIHT' < i
lEASSOIfS BUSINESS
•' r ' —T 1
8»y Trust IieftisUtton and Currency I
pletod—We Should Provide i
^ Adequate Navy—No Use to Become |
i Kxdted Over War.
The full text of the address fol
lows: • 7
tlal part Indeed in framing the pro
visions qf the proposed convention;
and those provisions aro in them-
VfII 61)11’C UCVQiCC I have come to ask you to remedy
WII llllil A MrslslAIIr aDd correct tbMe mistakes and omis-
VTILflUll V WILUlinilL sions. even at this short session of a
x • 'congress which woold certainly seem
to have done all the work that could
reasonably be expected of it. The
time and the circumstances are extra
ordinary. and so must our efforts be
also. „
Conserving Resources.
Fortunately, two great measures,
finely conceived, the one to unlock, i - - — ——
with proper safeguards, the resources , ves ' or m 0 * 4 part admirable,
of the national domain, the other to M* wou,d hardly be consistent with
encourage the use of the navigable the p * rt w * have *h the whole
waters outside that domain for the ? iatt ® r t0 .] et dro P an d go by the
generation of power, hare already , ar<1 48 for K°tten and neglected.
Reforms Have Been About Com-1 Passed the Hoise of Representatives! was r *Ufled in May lart by the Oer-
^nd are ready for immediate consld-1 n ? an S° ye C I ! i;n ® n t and in Augusta by
eratlon and action by the Senate. . Parliament of Great Britain. It
With the deepest earnestness I urge) ™ ar * a a mo I st 4 hopeful and decided ad-
thelr prompt passage. In them both
we turn our backs upon hesitation
and makeshifts and formulate a gen
nine policy of use and ocnservatton,
in the best sense of those words. We
owe the one measure not only to the
that the proposed convention for safe- told, a nation of mep trained to
lx.nt sea awaits its confirmation and arms? Of course we are not ready to
11 flydd in the convention do that; and we shall never be in
itself for its acceptance is the last time of peace so long as we retain
day of the present month. The con- 1 our present political principles and
ference in which this convention oyig-, Institutions. And what is it that it is
5 mated was called by the United suggested we should be prepared to
tates; the representatives of the do? To defend ourselves against at-
nHed States played a very influen- tack? WS
Gentlemen of the Congress:
vance in international civilization.
We should show our earnest goed
fath in a great matter by adding our
own acceptance of it.
Alaskan Coast Survey.
There is another matter of which I
people of that great Western country must make special mention, if I am to
The session upon which you are sreai wesiern country must mak
now entering will be the closing ses-l for whose f . ree and Sevel-[.discharge
my conscience,lest it should
slon of the sixty-third cqnferess, a 0P™ ent - 8ee ®s to me qpr legis- escape your attention. It may seem a
congress, I venture te say, which will I? 1 0n 't 8 80 J, ltt e ; but a l 80 t0 ver X small thing. It affects only a
long be remembered for the g rea j th o people of the national as a whole; single item of appropriation. ,But
body of thoughtful and constructive f n I < l, 1 We “f c ' ear,y ow e the other in many human lines and many great
work which It has done, in loyal re- fu ? .T eDt ® f our ^P^ted promises enterprises hang upon it. It is the
sponse to the thought and needs of , at A’? water power of the country matter of making adequate provision
the country. 1 should like in this ad- 8 1 ? u l n . fa ^ a8 wel1 a8 ln “ am ® be for the survey and charting of our
dress to review the notable record P*! 1 “V. ’k disp08aI of B reat Indus- coasts. It is imediately pressing and
and try to make adequate assessment ‘l e flA h ^ b l a “ raal{ ® ec0 ” 0 . n ? ,cala " d exlf? ® nt ln connection with the im-
of it; but no doubt we stand too near b J®,_ 8 ri,?ht8 l 0 i lu® !P en9e coast llne of A,a8ka - a coast
the work that has been done and are I Tun!® be ‘ ng adequately guarded the line greater than that of the United
ourselves too much part of it to play * h A e \ 1 , nopo J y ,n tbe “ 8e P re * Sta tes themselves, thought it is also
the part of historians toward it ve “ted. To^have begun such meas- very important indeed with regard tb
ures and not completed them would] the older coasts of the continent We
Moreover, our.thoughts are now indeed mar the record of this great can not use our great Alaskan do-
more of the future than of the past, congress very seriously. I hope and main, ships will not ply thither, if
While we have worked at our tasks of con hd en Hy believe that they will be I those coasts and their many hidden
peace the circumstances of the whole coin P* e * e d ' [dangers are not thoroughly surveyed
age have been altered by war. What T1,e ,,l »Ulpi»lnes. and charted. The work is incomplete
we have done for our own land our And There Is another great piece of at almost every point. Ships and lives
own people we did with the best that legislation which awaits and should have . been lost in threading w hat
was in us. whether of character or of receive the sanction of the Senate; I w’ere supposed to be well known main
intelligence, with sober enthusiasm mean the bill which gives a larger channels. We have not provided ade-
and a confidence in the principles up- raea sure of self-government to the quate vessels or adequate machinery
on which we were acting which 8U8-|p eop le of the Philippines. How bet-[for the survey and charting. We
tained us at every step of the difficult | ter > 1° this time of anxious question- have used old vessels that were not
undertaking; but it is done. It has log and perplexed policy, could we big enough or strong enough and
passed from our hands It is now an |ahow our confidence in the principles which were'so nearly unseaworthy
established part of the legislation of of liberty, as the sources as well as [that our inspectors would not have
the country. It usefulness. Its effects the expression of life, how better allowed private owners to send them
will disclose themselves in experience. I cou ld we demonstrate our own self- to sea. This is a matter which, as I
What chiefly strikes us now, as we P OK8ft88 l on an d steadfastness in the have said, seems small, but is In real
look about us during these closing cour8e8 °f Justice and disinterested-1 ity very great Its importance has
days of a year which will be forever ne88 than by thus going calmly for- only to be looked into to be appre-
ward to fulfill our promises to a d-e-1 elated,
pendent people, who will now look
more anxiously than ever to see
w hether we have indeed the .liberal
ity, the unselfishness, the courage',
the faith we have boasted and
Teased. I can not believe that inn ihouId be clear, definite and stead
Senate will let ♦his great measure of 1
constructive justice await the action
of another congress. Its passage
would nobly crown the record of
these two years of memorable labor.
Hut I think that you will agree
with me that this does not complete
memorable in the history of the
world. Is that we face new tasks, have
been facing them these six months,
must face them In the months to
come—face them without partisan
feeling, like men who have forgotten
everything but a common duty and
the fact that me are representatives
of a great people whose thought is
not of us but of what America-oyves
to herself and to all mankind in such
circumstances as these upon which we
look amazed and anxious
Need Our Trade
War has interrupted the means of
trade not only but also the processes
of production. In Europe It is de
stroying men and resources wholesale
and upon a scale unprecedented and
appalling. There is reason to fear
Tfeat the time is near, if it be not al
ready at hand, when several of the
-countries of Europe will find it diffi
cult to do for their people what they
have hitherto been always easily able
to do—many essential and fundamen
tal things. At any r*te, they will
need our help and our manifold ser
vices as they have never needed them
before: and we should be ready, more
fit and ready than we have ever been.
It la of equal consequence that the
nations whom Europe has usually
supplied with innumerable articles of
manufacture and commerce of which
they are in constant need and with
out which their economic develop
ment halts and Hands still can now
get only a small part of what they
formerly Imported and eagerly look
to ua to supply their all but empty
markets. This's particularly true of
our own neighbors, the States, great
and small, of Central and South
America. Their lines of trade have
hitherto run chiefly athwart the seas,
not to our ports but to the ports of
Great Hritain and of the older con-'
inent of Europe
I do not stop to inquire why, or to
make any comment on prf mble
causes. What interests us just now
is not the explanation but the fact,
and our duty and opportunity in the
presence of it. Here are markets
which we must supply, and we must
find the means of action. The Unit
ed States, this great people for whom
we sperfk and act, should be ready, as
never before, t serve itself and man
kind; ready with its resources, its
energies, its forces of production, and
its means of distribution.
It s a very pra.ctical matter, a mat
ter of ways and means. We have the
resources, but '•re we fully ready to
use them? And, if we can make
ready what we have, have we the
means at hand to distribute it? We
are not fully ready; neither have we
the means of distribution.. We are
willing, but we are not fully able.
We have the wish to serve and to
serve greatly, generously; but we are
not prepared as we should be. Wo
are not ready to mobilize our re
sources at once. We are not prepared
to use them immediately and at their
best, without delay and without
waste.
To speak plainly, we have grossly
erred in the way in which we have
stunted and hindered the develop
ment of our merchant marine. And
now, when we need ships, we have
not got them. We have year after
year debated, without end or conclu
sion, the best policy to pursue with
regard to the use of the ores and for
est and water powers of our national
domain In tbe rich states of the West,
when we should have acted; and they
are still locked up: The key Is still
tamed upon them, the door shut fast
at which thousands of vigorous men,
fall of initiative, knock clamorously
for admittance. The water power of
oar navigable streams outside the na
tional domain also, even In the East
ern States, where we have worked
and planned for generations, Is atlll
not used as It might "he, because we
wlH and we won’t; because the laws
have made do not Intelligently
balance encouragement against re
straint We w’thhold by regulation.
Economy in Government
Before I close may I say a few
words upon two topics, much discuss-
I ed out of doors, upon which it is
,7an a nZ rim, P t"'| h,gh,y lmportant tbat our J udgment8
fast?
One of these Is economy in govern
ment expenditures. The duty of econ
lomy is not debatable. It is manifest
and imperative. In the appropriations
we pass we are spending the money
the toll of our duty. How are we to|°* *he great people whose servants we
carry our goods to the empty mar-| art t no * o*”’ own - are trustees
kets of which 1 have spoken if we an d responsible stewards in the
have not the ships? How are we to| 8 P® n d* n K The only thing debatable
build up a great trade if we have not an d upon which we should be careful
the certain and constant means of make our thought and purpose
1 clear is the kind of economy demand
ed of us. 1 assert with the greatest
confidence that the people of the
United States are not jealous of the
amount' their government costs if
rtain
iriatii
transportation upon which all profit
able and useful commerce depends?
And how are we to get the ships if
we wait for the trade to develop with
out them’ To correct the many mis-
takes by which we have discouraged 'hey are sure that tliey get what they
and all but destroyed the merchant n ® e d an d desire for the outlay, that
marine of the country, to retrace the 'he money is being spent for objects
steps by which we have, it seems a i-|o! *hich they approve, and that it is
most deliberately, withdrawn our flag being applied with good business
from the seas, except where, here and 8ense an d management,
there a ship of war is bidden carry it Governments grow piecemeal, both
or some wandering yacht displays it, in their tasks and in the means by
would take a long time and involve which those tasks are to be perform
many detailed Rems of legislation, ed, and very few governments are Gr
and the trade which we ought imme- ganized. I venture to say. as wise and
diately to handle would disappear or experienced business men would or
find other channels while we debated ganize them if they bad a clean sheet
the items. °I paper to write upon. Certainly
Government Ships. the government of the United States
The case is not unlike that w hich M 8 n0 ' J 'hU>k that it U generally
confronted us when our own contt- "K^d that there should be a syste
nent was to be opened up to settle- reorganization and reassem-
ment and industry, and we nHe ded bltn K ‘ tS h" 18 , 80 8eCU ^
longlinesof railway, extended means er efficiency and effect considerable
of transportation prepared before- 8avin K 8 ,n expense. But the amount
hand. If development .»» not to l»d?'“I? 1 J” '
intolerably and wait interminably.
We lavishly subsidized the building of
transcontinental railroads We look
believe though no doubt considerable
in itself, running, it may be. into the
millions, be relatively small,—small.
upon that with regret now, because 1 mean in proportion to the total nee-
K . I oacov*v mitlova rtf tno p^rtT’ornrrtortf It
the subsidies led to many scandals of
which we are ashamed; but we know
that the railroads had to be built, and
if we had it to do over again we
should of course build them, but in
another way. Therefore I propose an
other way of providing the means of
transportation, which must precede.
essary outlays of the government. It
would be thoroughly worth effecting,
as every saving would, great or small.
Our duty is nqi. altered by the scale
of the saving. But my point is that
the people of the United States do not
wish to curtail the activities of this
government; they wish, rather, to en-
not tardily follow, the development lar ^ th «“ : and wlth every eblarBe .-
o four trade with our neighbor states w "h 'he mere growth, indeed
of the country itself, there must
of America It may seem a reversal
of the natural order of things, but it
is tJL\ie, ihgt the routes of trade must
be actually opened—by many ships
and regular sailings^ and moderate
charges—before streams of merchan
dise will flow freely and profitably
through them.
Hence the pending ..shipping bill,
discussed at the last session but as
yet passed by neither House. In my
judgment such legislation is impera
tively needed and can not wisely be
postponed. The government must
open these gates of trade, and open
them wide; open them before it is
altogether profitable to open them, or
altogether reasonable to ask private
capital to open them*at a venture. It
is not a question of the government
monopolizing the field. It should take
action to make it certain that trans
portation at reasonable rates will be
promptly provided, even w’here the
carriage is not at first profitable; and
then, when the carriage has become
.sufficiently profitable to attract and
engage private capital, and engage It
in abundance, the government ought
to withdraw. I very earnestly hope
that the congress will be of this opin
ion. and that both Houses will adbpt
this exceedingly Important bill.
The -great subject of rural credits
still remains to be dealt with, and it
Is a matter of deep regret that the
difficulties of the subject have seem
ed to render it Impossible to romplete
a bill for passage at this session. But
It can nbt be perfected yet, and there
fore there are no other constructive
measures TM' fflgfffTTyTflr WMffl t
will at this time call your attention
to; but I would be negligent of a very
manifest duty were I not to call tbe
come, of course, the inevitable in
crease of expense. The sort of econ
omy we ought to practice may be ef
fected, and ought to be-effected, byt
a careful study and assessment of the
tasks to be performed; and the money
spent ought to be made to yield the
best possible returns in efficiency
achievement! AnS, like goo'd^Stew’
ards, we should so accounU/dr every
dollar of our appropriations as to
make it perfectly evitjem what it was
spent for and ii^tfhat way it was
spent
It is noj^xpenditure but extrava
gance thrftwe should fear being criti
cized for; not paying for the legiti
mate enterprises and undertakings of
a great government whose peopla
command what it should do, but add
ing what will benefit only a few or
pouring money out for what need not
have been undertaken at alj or might
have been postponed or better and
more economically conceived and car
ried out. The nation is not niggard
ly; it is very generous. It will chide
us only If we forget for whom we
pay money out and whose money It is
we pay. These are large and general
standards, but they are not v very dif
ficult of, application to particular
cases.
National Defense.
The other topic I -shall take leave
to mention goes deeper Into the prin
ciples of our national life and policy.
It is the subject of national defense.
It can not be discussed without first
answering some very searching ques-ibeea~oJ
ft said in some -quarters nevwNaf:
toicc—ir
that we are not prepared for war.
What is meant by being prepared? It
It meant that we are not ready upon
have always found means
to do that, and shall find them when
ever It ft necessary without calling
our people away from their necessary
tasks to .Tender compulsory military
service in times of peace,.
Allow me to speak with great
plainness and directness upon this
great matter and to avow my conyic-
jtlons with deep earnestness. I have
tried to know what America ft, what
her people think, what they are,
what they most cherish and hold dear.
I hope that some of their finer pas
sions are In my own heart,:—some of
the great conceptions anil desires
which gave birth to this government
and which has made the voice of this
people a voice of peace and hope and
liberty among the peoples of the
world, and that, speaking my own
thoughts, I shall, at least in part
speak theirs also, however faintly and
adequately, upon thft vital matter.
We are at peace with all the world.
No one spe.'Vc counsel based on fact
or drawn from a just and candid in
terpretation of realities can say that
there is reason to fear that from any
quarter our independence or the in
tegrity of our territory is threatened.
Dread of the power of any other na
tion we are incapable of. We are not
jealous of rivalry in the fields of com
merce or of any ■ other peaoeful
acheivement. We mean tc live our
own lives as we will; but we mean
also to let live. We are". Indeed, a
true friend to all the nations of the
world, because we threaten none,
covet the possessions of none, desire
the overthrow of none. Our friend
ship can be accepted and is accepted
without reservation, because it is of
fered in a spirit and for a purpose
which no one need ever question or
suspect. Therein lies our greatness.
We are the champions of peace and
of concord. And we should be very
jealous of this distinction which we
have sought to earn. Just now we
should be particularly jeaolus of it,
because it is our dearest present hope
that this character and reputation
may presently in God'si providence,
bring ua. an opportunity such as has
seldom been vouchsafed any nation,
the opportunity to counsel and obtain
peace in the world and reconciliation
and a healing settlement of many a
matter that has cooled and interrupt
ed the friendship of nations. This is
the time above all others when we
should wish and resolve to keep our
strength by self-possession, our in
fluence by preserving our ancient
principles of action.
No Big Standing Army.
From the first we have had a clear
and settled policy with regard to mil
itary establishments. We never have
had. and while we retain our present
principles and ideals we never shall
have, a large standing army. If ask
ed, Are yon ready to defend your
selves? we reply. Most assuredly, to
the utmost; and yet we shall not turn
America Into a military camp. ' We
will not ask our young men to spend
the best years of their lives making
soldiers of themselves. There is an
other sort of energy In us. ft will
know how to declare Itself and make
itself effective should occasion arise.
And especially when half the world is
on fire we shall be careful to make
our moral insurance against the
spread of the eonflogration very defi
nite and certain and adequate indeed.
Let us remind ourselves, therefore,
of the only thing we can do or will
do. We roust depend in every time
of national peril. In the future as in
the past, not upon a standing army,
nor yet upon a reserve army, but up
on a citizenry trained and accustomed
to arms. It will be right enough,
right American policy, based upon
our accustomed principles and prac
tices, to provide a system by which
every citizen who will vohinteer for
the training may be made familiar
with the use of modern arms, the
rudiments of drill and manoeuver,
and the maintenance and sanitation
of camps. We should encourage such
training and make it a means of dis
cipline which our young men will
learn to value. vl' is right that we
should provide it not only, but that
we should make it as attractive as
possible, and so induce our young
men to undergo it at such times as
they can command a little freedom
and seek the physical development
they need, for mere health’s sake, If
for nothing more. JSvery means by
which such things can be stimulated
is legimate, and such a method
smacks ofjrue American Ideas. It is
right, that the National Guard of
the States should be developed and
strengthened by every means which is
not inconsistent with our obligations
to our own people or with the estab
lished policy of our government. And
this, not because the time or occa
sion specially calls for such measures,
but because it should be our constant
policy to make'these provisions for
our national peace and safety.
More than this carries with it a
versal of the whole history and char
acter of our policy. More than thft,
proposed at this time, permit me to
say, would mean merely that we had
lost our self-possesion, that we had
been thrown off our balance by a war
with which we have nothing to do,
whose causes can not touch us, whose
very existence affords us opportuni
ties of friendship, and disinterested
service which should make us asham
ed of any thought of hostility or fear
ful preparation for trouble. This Is
assufedly the opportunity for which a
people and & government like outs
were rafted up, the opportunity not
only to speak but actually to embody
and exemplify the counsels of peace
and amity and the lasting concord
which is based on justice and fair
'and generous dealing.
A powerful navy we have always
regarded as our proper and natural
means of defense; and It has always
t wp bftve
»
Dot who shall tell us now what sort
of navy to build? Wa shall take
leave to be strong upon the seas, in
will be bo thought of offease or of
provocation in that. Our ships are
our natural bulwarks When will t le
experts tell us what kind we should
cohstruct—and when will they be
right for ten years together, if the
relative efficiency of craft of different
kinds and uses continues to change
as we have seen It change under our
very eyes In these last few months?
Not Negligent.
But I turn away from the subject.
It is not new. There ft no new need
to discuss it. We shall not alter our
attitude toward it because some
amongst us are nervous and excited.
We shall easily and sensibly agree
upon a policy of defense. The ques
tion has not changed its aspects be
cause the times are not normal. Our
policy will not be for an occasion. It
will be conceived as a permanent and
settled thing, which we will pursue
at all seasons, without haste and af
ter a fa&hion perfectly consistent with
the peace of the world, the abiding
friendship of states, and the unham
pered freedom of all with whom we
deal. £et there be no misconception.
The couaty haa been misinformed.
We have not been negligent of na
tional defense. We are not unmind
ful of the great responsibility resting
upon us. We shall learn and profit
by the lesson of every experience and
every new circumstance; and what is
needed will^je adequately done.
I close, aa I began by reminding
you of the great tasks and duties of
peace which challenge our best pow
ers and invite us to build what will
last, the tasks,do which we can ad
dress ourselves now and at all times
with freehearted zest and with all the
finest gifts of constructive wisdom
we possess. To develop our life and
our resources; to supply our own peo
ple, and the people of the world as
their need arises, from the abundant
plenty of our fields and our marts of
trade; to enrich the commerce of
our own states and of the world with
the products of our mines, our farms,
and our factories, with the creations
o four thought and the fruits of our
character,—this is what will hold our
attention and our enthusiasm stead
ily, now and in the years to come, as
we strive to show in our life as a na
tion what liberty and the inspirations
of an emancipated spirit may do for
men and for societies, for individuals,
for states, and for mankind.
flfiBT IS SIIU ON FOR TIE MS-
: SESSION OF POUND
CAN REMOVE MINES.
attention of tbe Senate to the fact brief notice to pot n nation la the the future as in the past; and there
How Two Ships ('an Drag Ocean Bot
toms for INeMroyer* of HulU.
A means has been devised of re
moving floating bombs and mines,
but it is a difficult process, requiring
two vessels. After a field of maines
hag been located—a treacherous occu
pation at the best—a ship takes one
end of a long steel hawser, while the
other end ft taken by the sister ship,
which makes its way around the field
of mines and drops overboard the
hawser, weighted with a mass of iron,
so that the steep rope may find Its
way to the bottom of the sea.
Having done thft, the two ships
take up their positions far apart and
start their engines, their paths con
verging toward each other and pull
ing away the field of mines. The
dragging of the bombs explodes them,
or brings them to the surface, when
they can be towed to a place where
they are harmless.
POLITICAL GOSSIP.
Australian SyMem to be Advocated—
Other Meaeure* to Come Up.
Several measures concerning elec
tions in South Carolina will be Intro
duced In tbe next general assembly.
If a measure ia passed, It could not go
Into effect before two years. No
candidate would be affected and It
would not be aimed at any one in
politics.
John J McMahan, member of the
Richland delegation, has been a lead
er for primary reform. He will very
probably introduce a measure to pro
vide for the Australian system, which
has worked so well in Charleston
county.
SEA ON LAND.
Heavy M’lnd Drives Ocean on Shore
of Virginia Towms.
Tidewater, Va , Saturday experienc
ed what ft said jto have been the sev
erest northeast .storm and highest
tide since-3 888. In this city the wind
attained a velocity of forty-two miles
an hour antLa number of streets near
the water front were inundated. In
one street row-boats were used to
transport citizens,.
At Fortress Monroe, the high seas
broke over the sod w^ll and the plaza
In front of tho old part of the fort
was inundated Some of the streets
of Hampton also are reported here as
having been flooded.
COTTON REPORT.
Cotton (finning ITior to December
Amounted to i:J«bQ0,l'O5 Rales.
Cotton ginned prior to December 1
amounted to 13,066,105 byes, tne
census bureau announced Tuesday.
Round bales included 36,1&5; sea is
land, 62,991 bales. 7*" »
Ginning by states: Alabama, 1,-
438,389; Arkansas, 840,562; Florida,
72,859.;-Georgia, 2,285,607; Louis
iana, 381,913; Mississiphi. 986,998;
North Carolina, 674,135; Oklahoma,
1,018,287; South Carolina, 1,225,-
467; Tennessee, 291,329; Texas, 3,-
746,694. All other states, 103,865.
Sea island ginning by states: Flor
ida, 27,468 bales; Georgia, 33401;
South Carolina, 2,422.
General Beyers Shot.
Bj-ig, Gen. Christian Beyers, of the
leaders In the South African rebel
lion. has been shot and ft believed to
be dead.
All employees of the Atlantic Coast
Line, whose salaries amount to more
than $200 monthly,'are to receive
cuts varying from ( to 10 per cent.
IN WEST
London Says It Seems Undoubted
That Lodz to In the Hands of the
Teutons—Russian General Report
Prepares People for News of Clt) »
Loss—Paris Reports Advances.
London reports the great battle for
possession of Poland continues. The
front extends along three handred
miles and victory over a part of it, at
least, appears to have fallen to the
Germans, while the Russians are
pressing on Cracow in the south.
That Lodz is in the possession of
the Germans seems undoubted, and a
Russian .report, just issued, apparent
ly ft preparing the public for the news
by referring to the difficulty of de
fending the city, which gives to the
'Russian front an abnormal contour,
and forecasts a reforming of the line.
Details of these mighty battles yet
have to be written. The general fact
that there haa been Tearful slaughter
and intense suffering from the cold
comprises about the total of the in
formation received.
The Germans claim they are pur
suing the Russians south and south
east of Lodz. Several American cor
respondents were with the Russian
army when the battle troke, but noth
ing has been heard from them for
several days. Evidently they are un
der the hand of a strict censorship.
This success of the Germans, large
ly because of what preceded it, is
considered by military experts a real
ly remarkable achievement. I^ss
than a fortnight ago the army to
which this victory has fallen was sur-
runded by Russians and cut its way
out only at the last moment, losing
great numbers of men and many
guns. Yet it was able within a few
days to take the offensive and defeat
the Russians defending Lodi
This was made possible by the net
work of strategic railways on the Ger
man side of the frontier, over which
reinforcement* can bo sent where
they are most needed. The Russians,
on the contrary^ were unable to seqd
fresh, men to stiffen their centre to
meet the Germaq wedge and were
compelled to fall back.
There will be undoubtedly much
more fighting before the campaign in
this district is concluded. Lodi was
won only after hand-to-hand fighting
in the suburbs of the city and the
whole Russian line, from north to
south, is now straightened out and
will contest every foot of ground with
the invaders.
Berlin reports: "In northern Po
land we gained important successes
In prolonged fighting around Lodz by
defeating strong Russian forces sta
tioned to the northwest and to the
southwest of this city
"Ix>dz is in our possession. Details
of the battle giving us Lodz can not
yet be made public because of the ex
tended field in which the battle was
fought. The Russian losses are very
large. An attempt by the Russians
to come to the assistance of their
threatened armies in the north from
northern Poland was foTed by the ac
tivity of the Austro-Hangarl&n and
German troops in the district south
west of Piotrkow." ^
London reports the allied French.
Belgian and British forces, taking ad
vantage of the preoccupation of the
Germans in the east, have begun an
offensive movement in the west. They
are now virtually In possession of the
left bank of tho Yser canal, and in
northern France, particularly in the
neighborhood of LaBassee, where tho
Germans hold a very stronog position,
the Allies are beginning with a heavy
cannonade to feel their way eastward.
British military experts insist that
troops opposing the Russians consist
three-quarters of the best material of
the German army has been held in
the western theatre of the war
throughout the campaign, and that
troops opposing the Russians conosist
principally of second line organiza
tions. .......
Parts reports: In Belgium the
Germans have bombarded Ooste, west
of Nieuport. Near Lenso we have
taken the village of Verdelles.
"Our troops have advanced per
ceptibly in the region of Rouvroye,
Parvillers and l>equesney En San-
twre (department of Somme).
“There ft nothing else to repor^.”
Ijondon reports: King Peter of
Servia, who has been ill for many
months, has assumed command of the
Servian army, and, according to a
Nish report, has checked the advance
pf the Austrians, inflicting heavy loss
es on them.
Apart from the battlefields, the offi
cially announced illness of the Ger
man emperor, in Berlin, from bron
chial catarrh, with fever ft the most
Interesting news of the day. The
emperor’s prolonged activity and re
cent reports of his appearance^Jiave
caused the public to watch with par
ticular interest developments regard
ing his health.
Hill Gets Supplies.
Gen. Benjamin Hill, Carranza’s
commander around Naco, Ariz., Wed
nesday received three field guns and
a carload of ammunition.
Austria Confiscates Oil.
The Austrian empire confiscated
all the oil In the kingdom of Austria
and Hungary. *
*-
Bread for Belgians.
Forty thousand dollars worth of
flour was purchased Friday by the
Ralgiaa relief committee -— —
Sixty Thousand ia Hospital.
Austrian official reports admit that
60.000 wounded are in the Vienna
hospitals.