University of South Carolina Libraries
WILSON SPEAKS FOB ALLIES. LAXSENG ISSUES STATEMENT IMMEDIATELY ON RECEIPT C> DOCUMENT. Siaoe Central Powers Have Been Definitely Told How They May End "War Only One Reply Could be Made to Last Communication?No Lack of Understanding. t Washington, Sept 16.?The United States, as was fully expected, has un conditionally rejected Germany's ' peace feeler. In doing- so the gov * eminent has ,spoken for all the co bcihgerents. Almost immediately after receiving the Austrian, government's note from the minister from Sweden, Mr. Eken ' gren, Secretary , Lansing tonight is sued this formal statement: "I am authorized by the president to state that the following will be the reply of this government to the Aus tro-Hungarian note proposing an un official conference of belligerents: ".The government of the United States feels that there is only one re ply which it can make to the sugges tion Of the . imperial Austro-Hungar ian government. It has repeatedly and with entire candor stated the terms which the United States would consider and can and will entertain '? no proposal for a conference upon a matter concerning which it has made its position and purpose so plain.'" Mr. Lansing's statement was given out within half an hour after he had received the Austrian proposal. It would have been forthcoming almost immediately upon the delivery of the 1 Austrian note had it not been found 'necessary in order to avoid the pos sibility of grave error to make a care - ful comparison between the official ' text and that which was received in " press dispatches last night from Am . sterdam. -Thus emphasis was added to the decimation, if any were needed; the quickness of the reply, indicating the existence of no shadow of doubt in the mind of the administration as to what It should be. As soon as Mr. Lansing's reply can be put into form it will be handed to the Swedish min ister for transmission to Austria, The Swedish legation notified N the State department early in the after noon that it had received the note and that it would be presented as soon as it could be decoded and translated from French. This con sumed several hours and it was not until 6.20 o'clock that Mr. Ekengren appeared. He remained with the . secretary only two minutes. ? - --There is some reason to believe that the secretary acted with this un precedented promptness in a matter j of such great import with the design, . not only to indicate clearly the po sition of the United States govern ment but perhaps to . anticipate and prevent as far as possible newspaper discussion of the Austrian proposition which might convey to the enemy a misleading impression that there was any. considerable element in the Unit ed :Statea willmjg to consider a nego tiated i peace, such as the "non-bind ing" discussions proposed by Ausiria. might develop. ' /:aiso, < it is understood there was a purpose to sound the note which en tente powers might repeat in making their own answers. All these powers had gone on record formally as ac cepting, the conditions of peace laid down by President Wilson as- their own. While no reference to it was made in the reply which the United States government Is making to Austria, it is" known that one of the most ob jectionable features of Baron Bu rian's proposition was *he secrecy suggested for the non-binding con ferences. It was realizing by officials , here that the purpose was to' barter away the rights of various nationali ties in star chamber proceedings that the victims would have no knowledge of .their fate until it was beyond re caH. This system of barter was par ticularly denounced by President Wil son in one of his speeches. That the German people them selves were to be kept in the dark by the' military masters and prevented from having a voice in the peace which was to be imposed upon them was regarded as an assured fact There has been some apprehension in administration circles of a com bination of great financial interests, that know no nationality, and fear the destruction of all wealth and bus iness by the spread of Bolshevik idea? might in some way be behind this movement to bring about a peace and terminate the war bet ore it had been* fought to a clear decision. There is no such 'apprehension of the part of the administration of a cataclysm which will bring down all civilized institutions and instead the general staff has given every assur ance that the war is proceeding to a reasonably early and complete vic tory which will involve the accept ance by the central powers of the only possible terms of peace?name ly, those laid down by President Wil son. "Those terms, referred to in the re ply dictated today to the Austrian note, were clearly set out in Presi dent Wilson's Fourth of July speech at Mount Vernon, as follows: "1. The destruction of every ar bitrary^ power anywhere that can sep arately secretly and of its single chance disturb the peace of the world; or, if it can "not be presently destroyed, at least its reduction to virtual impotence. "2. The settlement of every ques tion, whether of territory, of sover eignty or economic arrangement, of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that set tlement by the people immediately concerned and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of its own exterior influence or mastery. "3. The consent of all nations to be governed in their conduct towards each other by the same principles of honor and of respect for the common law of civilized society that govern the individual citizens of all modern states in the relations with one an REPLY TO HUNS. ANSWER TO PEACE SUGGESTION MADE ON BATTLEFIELD. Point of Attack Made Subject of Wide Speculation by Officers?Believed That Several Simultaneous Drives May be Launched Along Extended Front. The United States has turned its back on the Austro-Hungarian peace proposal. Secretary Lansing, by au thorization of President Wilson, an nounces that the United State? ''can and will entertain no proposal for a conference upon a matter concerning which it has made its position and purpose so plain." The British secre tary of foreign affairs, Mr. Balfour, has also stated, though unofficially, that he was utterly unaN,e to see that such a conference as proposed by Austria could have the desired end, adding: "It is incredible that anything can come of this proposal." While the German newspapers comment on the proposal as if Ger many had no part in it, the Vienna newspap* .s declare emphatically that all of Austria's allies had been in formed of Austria's intention though the action itself was Austro-Hun gary's own. Meanwhile, in the various theatres I of the war the fighting is going on steadily and with added impetus in Macedonia, where the reconstituted Serbian army, coperating with the I French forces, have stormed three [strongly fortified positions and oecu l pied Vetrenik, Dobropolkje and Se kal, considered the most important of the Macedonian front. Farther east on the Doiran-Vardar from the first and second line Bulga rian positions have been captured by the allies ever a ten mile section. This successful operation, according to Mr. Balfour, who announced it at a re ception of the Greek delegation in London, as the prelude to an import ant offensive bringing greater tri umph in which the British and Greek troops would take an equal and glorious part. French troops, in their advance to ward the Chemin-des-Dames have gained two-thirds of a mile on a two and half mile front, where they cap tured an additional 600 prisoners. American and German patrols arc doing the major part of the work or? the Lorraine front, but there are re ports ?f a possible great attack by one side or the other in the Vosges. In that mountainous territory the ar tillery fire has deevloped great in tensity and hostile airplanes have been unusually active. All reports indicate a marked in crease in the work of the airplanes along all the fronts. The German? who quite recently appeared to lack adequate air forces, have now sent augmented forces into the air and there have been numerous engage ments. As an illustration of the se verity of the fighting the British air men on Sunday accounted for 37 German planes, while they themselves reported 16 missing. While the 'Czecho-Slovaks have been courageously and successfully carrying on their war against the Bolsheviki, steps have been taken looking to the organization of a Pol ish division under Polish officers, to wage the fight in Siberia westward to their fatherland as integral units in the American army. It is estimat ed that 100,000 trained men can be made available at once in tlie region of Harbin, Nikolsk and Vladivostok. SPANISH INFLUENZA. Epidemic Breaks Out: in Aviation Camp of Training Station. Great Lakes, 111., Sept. 17.?Ap proximately four thousand men are in quarantine as a result of Spanish influenza breaking out in the avia tion camp of the naval training sta tion here. $3,000,000,000 From War Excess Tax Profits. Washington, Sept. 18.?With les sened hours of discussion and without amendment the house today adopted a general plan and rates in the war revenue bill for taxation. War ex cess tax profits, it is estimated will yield more than three billion dollars revenue. Enlarged Military Program for Next Year. Washington, Sept. 17.?Congress was asked by the war department to day to provide $7,347,727,000 in ad dition to previous estimates for en largement of the American military program for the coming year. other; to the end that all promises and! covenants may be sacredly ob served, no private plots or conspiracy hatched, no selfish injuries wrought with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon the handsome foun dation of a mutual respect for right "4. The establishment of an organ ization of a peace which shall make it certain that the combined power of free nations will check every inva sion of right and serve to make peace and justice the more secure by afford ing a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit and by whicli every international readjustment that can not be amicably agreed upon by the peoples directly concerncl shall be sanctioned." There is some speculation in official circles as to what will be the next step in what is recognized as the irreat Germanic peace offensive. Gen erally it is believed that the German and Austrian military leaders will point to the American reply as an evi dence that they have done everyhins,' possible to bring about peace and thus try to strengthen their people for another winter campaign. But another view is that owing to the in tolerable conditions in Austria-Hun gary, there is more than a possibility of a breaking up of the quadruple alliance; that Austria having gone | through the form of making a peace proposal, which was promptly re jected, has thus cleared the way for her next step, an unconditional sur render on the terms laid down by President Wilson. ? PLOTS A6AINST RUSSIANS. I ? GERMAN TRICKERY EXPOSED IN DOCUMENTS. Sale of Bolshevik!?So-called Govern ment Was Fully Informed of Work of Huns in Ukraine. Washington, Sept. 17.?German! trickery in breaking the Ukraine j away from the bought-and-paid-for Bolshevik government, plots against j loyal Russian soldiers and their lead-j ers to insure complete German sway after che false peace conference : at | Brest-Litovsk and further evidence I of the precautions of the Tutons against Bolshevik preaching in their own ranks are shown in today's in stallment of secret documents from Russia made public by the United States government. Communications written in January disclose that the Bolsheviki were:ful ly informed of what the Germans were doing in the Ukraine, and knew that peace treaties with the Ukraine and Roumania were coming. They also learned, quickly enough that Ger many was disposing of their hopes to see their revolutionary propaganda took on German soil. Notes from the German intelli gence service to Trotzky, the commis sar of foreign affairs, showed first that a Turk with a Russian passport was sent to Petrograd to keep watch over the Russian commander in chief and that a month afterward, late in February, removal of the commander in chief, General Bonch-Brueyick, was demanded. Brunevick, whose continuance in the position was "par ticularly no longer desirable" to the German intelligence service, was ap pointed to command the Petrograd district. Another note from the intelligence service complains that "the agents sent to kill Kaledin, Bokaevsky and Alexieff were cowardly, non-enterpris ing people." This same document shows as long ago as December, 1917, former German prisoners of war were being dressed in Russian uniforms to fight loyal Russian sol diers. The significance of the documents is discussed in notes by Edgar Sis son, who brought the documents out of Russia for the committee on pub lic information. Crermany made its Russian peace with its own puppet government, the misnamed council of people*^ commis sars, the president of which is Vladi mir Ulinaov (Lenin) the foreign minister of which was Leon Trotzky, and the ambassador of which to.Ger many is A. Joffe. Germnay made this peace harder upon the Russian people as punishment to the ambition of its tools in seeking to become too power ful and in hoping for .a iittle~..wh#e not only that Russia would be1 deliv ered over to them, but that they could double-cross their masters by .turning a simulated \German revolution into a real one.: , But their craftiness was a. toy in the hands of rough German. foree; Germany was actually doijble?cros? ing them- by negotiating with ^^R* Ukrainian' Rada at the moment thev dreamed they were tricking Ger many. ' c Germany, however, did not discard the Bolshevik leaders, recognizing their further use in the German world campaign for internal disorganization in the nations with which it wars but confined them to the limited in land province which Great Russia proper has now become. Lenin, according to statements made public as soon as Trotzky's spectacu? lar device of "No Peace?No WairV failed, always was for peace on any German terms. He dominated the situation' thereafter and conceded ev erything that Germany asked. Nor did Trotzky cease to continue to obey the German orders delivered to him both by General Hoffman, at Brest Litovsk and at Petrograd, directly by the Russian division of the German general staff, which was seated in Petrograd itself from November, and which was still there in full opera tion when I left, Monday, March 4. the day that Petrograd received noti fication that peace had been signed at Brest-Litovsk by the Russian and German delegations. Trotzky, - therefore, rests rightly un der the accusation of having staged his theatrical scene as a climax to the Russian disorganization desired by Germany. The actual order he gave was for the -immediate demobilization of the Russian army, leaving the Ger man army unopposed. The actual effect of the work of tbe Bolshevik leaders, moreover, was to enable Germany to combine its form er army of the Russian front with its western army for the launching of its March offensive in France. Such has been the fruition of Russia's German directed Bolshevikism. ? (The documents showing the de tails of the story of Russia's betrayal are omitted f#r lack of space today.) BEHIND THE PRESIDENT. Labor Delegates Propose to Stand by President Wilson's Fourteen Points-. London. Sept. 18.?The American delegates to the inter-allied labor and socialist conference today pre sented proposals that the conference endorse the fourteen points laid down by President Wilson as conditions on which peace may be established. Sick and Wounded Soldiers Returned. Washington. Sept. IS.?It has been announced that during the week end ing September 13th 3.8X4 siek and wounded soldiers returned to the Fluted States. American Casualty List. The Army Casualty list for today contains 273 names divided as fol lows: Killed in action, 74: missing in action, 19; wounded severely, 145; died of wounds, 27; wounded, degree undetermined. 0; died of disease, 1: wounded slightly, 1. George F. Blackman. Heath Springs. S. C. is reported severely wounded. The marine corps easualties num ber 22. Killed in aetion. 3; died of wounds, 3; wounded in action (se verely), 6; missing in action, 10. Building' M ( LIME, LATH, BRICK, CEMENT, SIDINb', CEILING. PLASTER, SHINGLES, FLOORING, MOULDINGS, FIRE CLAY, FIRE BRICK, ROUGH LUMBE ROOFING PAf Booth 6 Mi t GERMAN STRENGTH "REDUCED AFTER ST. MIHIEL OPER ATION. Foe Still Aetive?No Greater Mistake _ Could be Made Than to Consider Enemy Done With. American Headquarters in Lor raine, Sept. 16 (Reuter's)?It prob ably is not an over estimate to as sume that the Americans in obliter ating: the St. Mihiel salient reduced the enemy's strength by the equiva lent of four divisions. The victory of the Americans was due to German inferiority in numbers and a greater inferority in morale. The enemy was so busily occupied in getting out of the salient that he did not have time to remove his dead. The statement coming from the German high command that it is glad to be rid of the salient may be be lieved, but it may be doubted if the command also is glad to have lost 15,000 men, more than 100 guns, an innumerable quantity of machine guns, trench mortars, tons of am munition and telegraph material, as well as railroad equipment, rolling stock, clothing and supplies which either were burned or captured by the Americans. False conclusions must not be 'drawn from the results of the oper ations. To put it briefly, the Ger mans did not fight, and the triflin? damage they did to the French anc Americans proves it. The Germans may have done the wisest thing, since if they had tried to stand their losses would have been increased enormously. The allies had the means to insure, such a re sult and the fact that trie operation required on:y 57 per cent, of the time allotted to it is proof that mucl: more strenuous resistance was ex pected from the enemy. The Germans already have begun to react. The number of enemy air planes has increased greatly and th< allies are striving to drive them off At night the Germans attempt t< bomb the Americans. These thing.1 do not suggest a beaten foe, and it would be the gra\*est mistake U imagine that the Germans are done with. f AMERICANS CONQUER MANY OBSTACLES. Attackers Had to Pass Forest, Thick et and Wire as Well as Men. With the American Army in Lor raine, Sunday, Sept. 15 (By the As sociated Press).?Difficulties almosi unbelievable were overcome by the Franco-American troops who attack ed the Germans on the western flank of the St. Mihiel salient. The heav iest fighting occurred on this flank, as elsewhere along the line of last week's offensive, the Germans re treated with little opposition. Th^ attackers had to storm and pass for ests and thickets which were almost a solid mass of barbed wire. They had to traverse roads cut by many trenches and were opposed not only by men and all the machinery of war but by nature as well. However, they accomplished the almost incred ible feat of breaking through. Be hind them they left torn masses or' wire, ruined roadways and wooded hills belted with concrete forts. FIVE NEGROES HANGED. Five Negroes Hanged at Daybreak at Fort Sam Houston for Participat ing in Riots Last Year. San Antonio, Sept. 17.?Five ne groes, sentenced to death by a court martial for participating in the Houston i'ots of August last year, j were hanged at Fort Sam Houston at daybreak this morning. No civil ians were pHowed to witness the ex ecutions. French Maintain Their Gains. Paris. Sept. is.?The Germans last night launched a violent counter at-! tack against the French on the plat eau northeast of Sancy. seven miles1 northeast of Soissons. The war of- j fice statement says that the attack) was unsuccessful. The French main-I tained their gains. Viscount Mot??no Dead. _ j i Washington. Sept. 18.?Viscount Motono. who resigned the ministry of, foreign affairs of Japan four months? ago died a1 Tokio yesterday from stomach trouble. iterial hay, corn, oats, hulls, tank* PrtlDDL rice whi su iv :r 3er deed, Inc., Si wmmmwmmmmmwmmwmmmmmwmmmMmwmmmwmzmvwa ALLIED SUCCESS IN RUSSIA. AMERICAN, BRITISH AND ! FRENCH IN BATTLE WITH BOLSHEVIKI. Bolshevik Troops Repulsed on Arch angel Front Fled in Panic. Petrograd, Saturday, Sept. 16 (via Amsterdam)?American, British and ? French detachments reported by ! Pravda have met the ?olsheviki i forces in battle on the Archangel I front. Bolshevik troops after initial I success were repulsed bv the British j reinforcements and lied in panic. SERBIANS AND FRENCH ADVANCE Progress Five Miles and Take Many Important Positions and a Number of Prisoners and Guns. London, Sept. 17.?The Serbian and French troops continued the of fensive in Macedonia. They have progressed five miles, according to a Serbian official statement received here. Advancing troops of the al | lies have occupied an important se ! ries of ridges and captured more than three thousand prisoners and 24 guns. Their casualties have been slight. The allies are moving for ward on a front of twelve miles and have taken the village of Grade shnitza, twenty miles east of Mon astic The Jugo-Slav division fight ing with the Serbians and French, has reached Koziak, the most im portant position in the region of the offensive. BRITISH LINES TIGHTEN. Progress Made in St. Quentin Dis j trict. London, Sept. 17.?Last night wit nessed a further closing in of the British lines northwest of St. Quentin it is officially reported today. Ic is said that the British made progress in this area in the direction of Lever guir. QUIET ON AMERICAN FRONT. Little Fighting- Today?Germans Dig ging in Again. With Americans, Lorraine, Mon day Night, Sept. IG.?Today is the quietest on this front since the begin ning of che offensive last Thursday. There is little infantry and only mod erate artillery action. The Germans are apparently digging in behind the Hindenburg lines. HUN AIRPLANES DESTROYED. Two Planes Fall in Forest of Com piegne. Paris, Monday, Sept. f6.?The two German airplanes which participat ed in the raid on the Paris region, Sunday night, and were shot down by anti-aircraft guns, f< 1 in the forest of Compeigne. BULGARS ASSIST GERMANS. Bulgarian Regiments Have Arrived on West Front. Amsterdam. Sept. 17.?Bulgarian regiments have arrived at Maubeuge to cooperate with the Germans on the West front, according to L'Echo Beige. A GERMAN REPORT. Claims Recapture of Heights. Berlin, Sept. 17.?Artillery duel in region of Havrincourt yesterday in creased to great intensity, it is offi cially stated. The Germans recap tured eastern Friend Heights, east of Vauxillon. northwest of Scissons. American Casualty List. The army casualty list given out by the war department today num bers 34 3, divided as follows: Killed in action, 28; missing in action. 1GG: wounded severely, 109; died of wounds. 9; Died from accident and other causes, 7; wounded, degree un determined, 17: wounded slightly. 3. j Prisoners, ?!. Lee I,. Bowman, of I Greenville. S. C. is reported missing in action. Senator Lodge Endorses the Presi dent's Refusal of Peace Offer. Washington. Sept. 17.?Unqualified endorsement of the president's re jection of Austria's peace proposal was given in the senate today by Senator Lodge, Republican ranking minority member of the foreign re lations committee. Senator Lodge said that the president's prompt and curt refusal was right and wise. :in<l he was sure that it met universal ap proval. Stuffs AE, .INGS, FLOUR, EAT BRAN, GAR FEED, IEAT SCRAP, CHICKEN FEED, OYSTER SHELL, SEED OATS AND RYE, COTTON SEED MEAL unter, S. C. POLISH ARMY ORGANIZED. WILL JOIN FIGHT IX RUSSIA. j More Tlian One Hundred Thousand ^ j Trained Militarists Available for i j Important Tasks. * Harbin, Saturday, Sept. 14 (By the j Associated Press).?A movement ex l ceeding perhaps that of the Czecho- , j Slovaks is being organized to form ; a Polish division to fight in Siberia j westward to their oppressed father j land as integral units in the American army. According to conservative es I timates an army of more than 100,000 j trained militarists is immediately available in the regions of Harbin, Xikolsk and Vladivostok. Large corps of railway men also can be utilized if necessary to take over the Chinese Eastern Railroad. The funds to be used in creating the Polish army are to be considered a loan to the Polish people or their govern 1 ment. I It is believed that if the Polish or | ganization is successful the Ukrain ians will begin a similar movement and because of the close relation ship between the Maygars and the Poles it is considered possible that many of the Magyars may be won over to the entente. The Poles declare emphatically they do not intend to participtae in politics and their only desire is .to fight for their own country. The Poles have asked that they be promptly granted recognition by the United States government so that they may aid in opposing the spread of German aggression as well as win their own freedom. Entente allied officials here see three benefits to be derived from the encouragement of. the 'Poles. First, they say it would obviate the necessity of moving ad ditional trops across the Pacific; sec ond, the allied forces now in Siberia could be moved westward to strength en the Murman coast expedition ul timately bringing pressure to bear on the Western front; and third, an army composed of Czecho-Slavs, Poles and Ukrar.ians. would galvanize, ihe Russians in action. ENGLISH AND FRENCH DRIVE* Gen. Haig on Northwest of St. Quen tin 3Iade Successful Operation, and French Simultaneously Attack on the Right. ; With British' Armies in France, Sept. 18.?Gen. Haig's forces this morning attacked the Germans on a considerable front northwest of St. . Quentin. Simultaneously the French ;ji carried ^ut an operation on the right.r? Successful prograss was made on both v fronts. British Advance Two and a-Hali Miles on Fifteen Mile Front. London, Sept. IS, 4.30 P. M.?In an attack northwest of St. Quentin to day the British advanced two and a half to three miles on a fifteen mile front. They have crosed the Hinden burg line at two points, Villorete and Gouzeacourt, and the town of Hargi court has been captured and fifteen hundred prisoners have been taken. FROM LORRAINE FRONT. Germans Will Get Behind Hiudeu burg Line?Entire Artillery of a Division Was Captured. American Army Headquarters in Lorraine, Monday Evening, Sept. 16 (Reuters)?Evidence is accumulat ing that the enemy intends with drawing behind the Hindenburg line in Lorraine if pressed any further. He is burning towns along the Moselle. Prisoners taken report that the en tire artillery of the Thirty-first Di vision was captured in the American operation on this front. Americans Bag Officers. With Americans in Lorraine, 3 P. M. Sept. 17.?The American patrol in a raid early this morn"ng in gen eral movement in region of Hau inont, northwest of Thiascourt. cap tured live non-commissioned officers and killed seven other non-ccmniis sioned olficers. French and Serbian Success in Mac edonia. Sofia. Sunday, Sept. 15?French and Serbian troops in an attack on Bulgarian lines in Macedonia early Sunday morning succeeded after a desperate struggle in occpying Sokol, Dopropolje and Vertrenik positions, It is officially announced.