Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], February 08, 1917, Page 12, Image 12

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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12
In west or in east?
TSRMANI’S warproblem
Leather important factor
disquieting Controversy Between
s Allies’ “Easterners”—Turkey
M a Bone of Contention
[Weekly Review of the War.]
In broad outlines the present sit- j
ation is strikingly like that of a
par ago. Superficially the war ap
ears stagnant; beneatl. the sur
ice we may divine intense ac-
Ivity. The attack on Verdun,
iking in the preliminary bom
krdment, began on February IS,
ot the French had something like a
tenth’s warning from aerial observers
hd the secret service. By this time
(«t year, therefore, definite prepara
nns for a definite attack were well
dvanced; we must assume, then, that
hder the veil of the censorship equal-
I strenuous efforts are being made,
ot merely of a general sort like the
^cumulation of munitions and the
Sliding with forced labor of strategic
iilways. but tending toward a par
eular objective. The chances are.
SO. that these preparations on either
de are tolerably well known to the
sponent, who is not. however, likely
• reveal his knowledge; it is wiser
>t to let an opponent know to what
ttent his plans have been guessed.
5 Not having at their disposal either
lies or aircraft to reveal the move
ents of troops and supply trains and
e intricate patterns of trenches and
kin lines which is gradually traced
>oub positions where preparatory
piework is going on. the outsider can
erely picture the situation in gen
ial terms, leaving much to the imagi
'ttion. The one thing ot which we
.in be reasonably sure is that there
ill be a titanic struggle in the west,
ibis appears certain from the im-
Sense preparations which the allies
IVe been making. If the Germans
i not attack they will, but it is yet
I be seen which side will gain the
itiative.
The great problem at the present
pment, then, and one quite possibly
S’ this time solved for those who
access to secret reports, is i
lether the Germans will strive, as
st year, to anticipate the allies in the
ist, or whether they are now con- I
titrating their forces for a new es
t. the most gigantic yet made, to :
minate Russia. As soon as that
estion can be answered a beginning
n be made at projecting the course
the coming campaign: just now it
sufficient to observe thab the cam
ign is likely to begin earlier if the
mans begin it in the west than if
sy turn to the east, where early
ring is an unfavorable time, and
ve the west to the inibiative of the
ies. who have probably not yet
irned to prepare for attack with such
erity as their opponents.
An Extraordinary Winter
Much depends on the weather, and
is not yet possible to esbimate the
isequences which may flow from the
!t that Europe is having an extra-
Mnary winter, said to be the cold
sifice 1803. Even in southern
ance its rigor has been severe, with
degrees of frost at Cetbe. on the
iditerranean. while at Paris readings
14 degrees Fahrenheit and at Lyons
e degrees have been reported. The
Ine. Marne and Saone are full of
Siting ice. and canals and back
iters are hard frozen, with int'errup
n of water-borne traffic and a con
auent addition to the burden put
on She already overworked railways.
' Austria and Germany like condi
tns are reported, and the severity
the weather is given as the reason
’ the lull in Rumania, though Mack
pen would probably not have
ipped for cold if his armies had not
pountered more serious obstacles.
>e Stiffness of the Russian defense
(the Serebh seems to show that the
Hod of pursuit, which began when
■B Rumanian lines were broken had
Bsed. and that to go farther would
Bolve a new campaign against a
■tre formidable foe.
Bertainly the cold has not been al
■ed to interfere with the fighting
■ut Riga, the significance of which
■ not yet fully developed. Tn part
■ German offensive at the Aa may
■ye been merely a strategic diwrri'c:
■interfere with the reinforcome:/
■the Russian armies in Galicia and
■ttttania. But to be an effective di
■kion it must have the possibility of
■lining more than that. To -omjei
H Russians to modify thrir pho
■"e must be the lively thr. - of a
Kist toward Petrograd. with •he jm
■tant port of Riga as the first ou.
■ive. The menace may ho bluff, or
■lay not: the Russians are »- •
■take lightly a movemem i ■ which
■ German troops are incur: nr t;..-
■ere hardships of a very cold winter,
■lie the cold is less intense ah nr the
■tic than in the interior of Russia.
■ very severe at times, and
■tally so of late. For comp :: ■at i .n
■as made possible active oir.-.-Rn
■ among the lake s and m f-hc- now
■ten solid enough for mon and r
^hass where in a few weeks
■be a morass. It may lie that this
■remen t along the A: . wl.Pe not at
■sent Of prime impof ■
^prepare the way for a comna'gn
K- bv the seizure of needed pe;r
■ipui. The thunderbop >rr ->"c<- <.
■of the clear sky: now ......
■able offensive has boon orac, led
■ operations of a: ■ •
■eatening nature. A general like a
■in*, prefers not to be caught at a
■jdstill; movements ore the best
■ik for an intended blow. Seo. .
■of the question, but a g‘■ -m! mar
MHjH purpose by tnirr w-...
■fits. and the German general st-iff
■ showed a mastery of this • : o The
■arise has come fn the weight and
Bed of the blow when finally
■nehed
nan Offensive Possible on Either
■ Front
■or the present, then, we cannot ex
■e the chance of a German often
■on either front. At the close of
■ last campaign it Is estimated that
■Germans had in tb“ west about
■■millions of men. and on the Rus
■ front not far from 2“', millions
Bview of the Impending Franc..-Brit
|KtEn>Bive. it is not lil . । th
■nsed armv can be materially weak-
Kd. but if the Russians are not
■Wing themselves too formidable. i»
■possible that something like a
■ion men might be rapidly 'rans
■Kd for a brief .campaign in th"
■. and sent back in time for a great
■ftetve against Russia, which could
■mt' uresHed effectively, after a
■w. until the middle of May. That
■rance such a blow is rather looked
^■'.indicated tn recent dispatches.
M there has been speculation as to
■Wloctlve Some have thought that
a blow might be struck through Al
sace, with a turning movement
through Switzerland south of the Jura,
and it is this possibility which has led
to the recall of the Swiss reservists in
this country. Another theory is “hat
an effort may be made to eliminate
Italy after the fashion of Belgium,
Servia and Rumania, and this also
might Involve an invasion of Siwtzer
i land, though it would expose the flank
। of the attack to a counterstroke from
France- Holland also has been grow
ing increasingly nervous, but the
strategic purpose of an invasion ot
Dutch teritory at this time is not so
apparent, and Germany’s supply of,
forced labor is not yet exhausted.
On the whole, conditions point to-1
v.-ard the east as the direction of Ger- i
many’s main effort, but there remains
uncertainty as to how Hindenburg will
utilize the three months before his
full forces will be needed on the Rus
sian front. That the time will not be
wasted may be taken for granted, and
a thrust at Salonica. if that should be
decided upon, would be but a minor
campaign and probably would engross
only a limited number of German bat
talions for a stiffening to Bulgarian,
Turkish and Austro-Hungarian troops.
For the rest we can but set down a
question point.
On the side of the allies there is a
like mixture of fact and possibility. It
may be taken for fact that the “west
erners” have won to the extent that
the principal effort is to be made in
France. Most of the “easterners.” In
deed. have not opposed this decision;
the reasonable ground of their com
plaint is that the principle of concen
tration of forces which is urged in fa
vor of the western front has not been
applied also to the eastern campaign
of the allies. The effort actually made
would have been far more fruitful If
systematically applied for the attain
ment of definite ends. It is no good
crying over spilled milk, but the per
tinent question now is whether pre
cautions have been taken against spill
ing more and after the glaring blun
ders revealed last year it is well to
bo cautious in present expectations.
Between Salonica and Egypt
It is at any rate somewhat dis
quieting to find a new controversy
breaking out, this time between the
advocates of Salonica and the advo
cates of Egypt. As might be expected,
it is among the “westerners” that the
latter finds most support, for many
of these have opposed the Balkan
campaign because of a quite intel
ligible dislike for Salonica as a base.
Even the “easterners” for that mat
ter, have never had much good to
say for Salonica; their contention has
been based rather on the necessity
of frustrating the centro.l powers in
the Balkans as a condition of win
ning the war. For this objective the
“Egyptians.” headed in England by
the military correspondent of the
Times, whose forcible arguments
against Salonica were quoted a few
weeks ago. substitute an attack on
Turkey with Egypt as the base. That
this course was decided upon by the
allies at the conference in Rome is
the general opinion of German mili
tary writers.
If they are right, the sharp meas
ures taken in Greece, which have
been genera’ly regarded as one of the
chief results cf the council at Rome,
point not to an offensive against
Bulgaria but to an effort to make the
situation at Salonica sate by bottling
up the Greek army on the Pelopon
nesus as a preliminary to a greater
campaign elsewhere. It is the German
view that the allies, their designs in
the Balkans having tailed, intend to
console themselves by staking out
their several claims in Turkey—Eng
land in Palestine. France in Syria,
and Italy in Asia Minor near the
islands which it has held ever since
the war in Tripoli in 1912.
In view of the strong support this
plan is getting in the British press it |
cannot be dismissed offhand, though I
the evidence for it does not go much I
beyond the recent movements of the I
Egyptian army toward Jerusalem, and '
the reviving activity of the Indian
army in Mesopotamia. Such a cam- I
paign against Turkey would be en- I
tirely possible if the allies have forces
to spare for it. but before looking
into its military conditions it may be
well to consider what purpose such a
campaign would serve. The most
obvious purpose, of course, is the ter
ritorial one which the German experts
see in it. The allies, from this point
of view, are unwilling to talk peace
because they have nothing in hand
to offset the spoils seized by the I
central powers: when Turkey has I
been carved up the war booty will be ,
more evenly divided, and the entente. ,
pleading a non possumus as to its I
lofty professed war aims, will be
ready to enter a peace congress.
Stranger things have happened, but
a campaign against Turkey would
have considerably more justification
than this. Last summer it wasqdite
possible to contemplate the elimina
tion of Austria-Hungary by a con
certed attack by Italy. Russia, Ru
mania. and the Salonica force. That
chance was lost, and a campaign of
“elimination” can now be directed
only against Bulgaria or Turkey. Till
Rumania became a spent cartridge
Bulgaria was the more pressingly im
portant objective; now there is not a
little to be said, on broad strategic
lines, in favor of concentrating the
secondary forces against the Ottoman
empire. For one thing, while eco
nomically weak, it has a sturdy and
warlike population which under Ger
man drill and generalship provides
armies of steadily increasing worth:
in the campaign against Rumania the
Turks played an important and per
haps the decisive part. With saw
dust cartridges they could do little
against the Bulgars in 1912. but the
Germans see to it that they have
guns that will shoot, and when all
equipped and well led the Turkish
soldery is unsurpassed, as Christen
dom has ample reason to know.
Turks Must Be Fought
Tn one field or another, then, the
Turks must be fought, and plausible
arguments may be advanced for fight
ing them in their own country. Un
like the other central powers. Turkey
has many vulnerable points, and its
position between the Mediterranean,
the Black sea. the Red sea. and the
Persian gulf makes it accessible by
water from several directions. Rus
sia can press an attack effectively
through the Caucasus, as the Grand
Duke Nicholas already has shown,
the raid on Bagdad can at least be
made a lively diversion, from Egypt
England can readily attack Palestine,
and with sea power operations can be
conducted by the French and Italians,
and by the Greeks, for that matter,
if their quarrel with Italy could he
adjusted, with the Mediterranean as
a base. These various attacks would
be concentric, and on account of the
defective communications of Turkey
the advantage in trapsport would lie
with the attacking forces, nor could
troops and artillery be rapidly shifted
by interior lines as is the case in
highly-developed countries like Ger
many and Austria. ■
That such a camp"gn wculd be re
garded with some anxiety in Germany
appears from the tenor of the German
press, and is quite likely on general
principles. In Turkey untold millions
of German capital are precariously in-
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1917
vested; it is to Turkey that the pan-
Germans look for compensation for the
terrific losses of the war. It may or
may not be true that the privilege of
exploiting western Asia would in the
long run make the war a German vic
tory without the annexation of occu
pied territory; it certainly would not
be true that Germany had "won the
war” if Turkey were dismembered, so
that the famous “corridor” led to
nothing. If the plans of the allies
should take this form we may look
for as energetic a response as was
given to the weakly attempted stroke
of the allies in the Balkans. The at
tack on Bagdad failed largely because
the British commanders lacked imag
ination to see how jealously Berlin
would be watching the Bagdad rail
way: a vigorous defense was sure to
be made at the Bagdad end if not on
the lower Tigris. If Turkey is to be
the objective the attack will have to
be solid and well managed if it is not
to share the fate of previous adven
tures in the east.
NAVY’S BIG ROLE
(Continued from Ninth Page)
dertake a big share of the work of
keeping the balance up.
M ould Mean a Different America
The great shipyards in Philadelphia,
across the river in Camden. N. J.,
the great plant at Sparrow’s point
near Baltimore, on which Schwab, ac
cording to newspaper dispatches, plans
to spend $100,000,090; the Fore River
yards in Massachusetts, the Newport
News yards, even the yards on the
Pacific coast and the Great lakes would
have such work to do as they never
had before. The industry would have
to be organized as no American indus
try was ever organized before. Trained
men—graduates, for instance, of the
Massachusetts institute of technol
ogy’s famous naval construction
course—would go at premiums which
would make even the munition experts
of a year or two ago sit up and take
notice.
But then all our industries, all our
food production perhaps, seeing that
we should have to feed most of Eu
rope and do it scientifically, would
have to be organized as nothing in
America was ever organized before.
Probably it wouldn’t all be done to
perfection, and if there were not some
offhand jesting about “muddling
through.” a good many able and too
much responsible individuals would go
crazy.
If America should go into the
war—! Well, it would make a differ
ent America, just as it has made a
different England.
POTATO SHORTAGE
Crop 44 Per Cent Below That of Last
Tear
High prices ot potatoes at the pres
ent time and the likelihood of high
prices for seed potatoes for this com
ing season are clearly shown by the
rollowing article which is taken from
the January monthly crop report pub
lished by the United States depart
ment of agriculture. A decided short
age of marketable potatoes was in
the United States January 1. accord
ing to reports of potato growers and
handlers to the bureau of crop esti
mates. Supplies on hand January 1
lor market in 19 important northern
potato-growing states are estimated to
be about 44 per cent smaller than
& year ago. 65 per cent smaller than
txvo years ago. and 54 per cent small
er than the average holdings on Jan
uary’ 1 of the preceding five years.
If. for the purpose of comparison,
estimates in percentages of marketa
ble stocks of potatoes on hand January
1 be applied to the estimates of total
production, it shows, in the 19 states
included (which produced 61 per cent
of the total 1916 crop and 66 per cent
of the 1915 crop), a total of 59.938.000
bushels on January 1. 1917, compared
with 106.225.009 a year ago. 169.554.-
900 bushels two years ago. and 128,-
941.000 bushels, the average holdings
of the preceding five years on January
1. These figures indicate a scanty
supply of potatoes during the spring
months.
GROW RHUBARB
There are many gardens in Hamp
den county which do not contain hills
of rhubarb. That is a crop that should
be found in every garden, as it pro
duces edible stalks in early spring
when fresh fruits and vegetables are
hard to obtain. This crop will grow
anywhere yet it needs much fertilizer
to produce maximum results. Plants
can be obtained very cheaply almost
any yaer. They should be set about
five feet anart. and the crown of the
plant should be covered about three
inches. One should not pull heavily
from the plants set until they have
grown one or two years and have be
come very strong. Only the larger
stalks should be pulled. All seed stalks
should be promptly removed as soon
as they appear so that the plant food
materials will nourish the root instead
of maturing the seed. It is possible
to force rhubarb in the cellar by dig
ging the roots up in the fall, allowing
them to freeze in the fall, then bring
ing them into the cellar and covering
the clumps with three or four inches
of sandy loan. The plants should be
kept moist and allowed only a little
light.
MT ORCHESTRA
These are my violins—the Mignonettes,
The Lilies-of-the-Valley. the Jasmines
white.
The Roses are my harps: and much de
light
Their odorous chords afford, soothing re
grets
And hitter memories. The Violets.
They are my flutes whose tones both soft
and bright.
Soaring silverly in melodious flight
Weave all the other strains in perfumed
nets:
Each blossom in my garden hath its notes
Whose wondrous music through the sum
mer floats
In sweet and dream-alluring symphonies.
O weary-heart. come share my great con
tent.
Come listen to my orchestra nf scent
Led by the viewless baton of the breeze.
Samcel Mix-turn Peck.
New York City. November 23. 1916.
The year 1916 saw the passing of
David H. King. Jr., pioneer builder of
tall buildings in this country. As 'r.r
back as 1882 he assembled for Darius
O. Mills the nine-story Mills building
on Broad and Wall streets and Ex
change place, New York city. It was
built of granite, brick and stone. The
steel cage system, which made pos
sible the real skyscraper, was first
used in Chicago by Holabird & Roche,
who erected the Home insurance build
ing and introduced in New York city
a year later by Bradford Lee Gilbert,
who erected an 11-story building at
50 Broadway, now part of the site of
the Standard oil company’s Arcade
building.
All will hope that the Copenhagen
Poiltiken is right In tiilnklng that "the
violence of the methods now used
presages that the end is near.”
THE “TERRIBLE TURK”
MUST HAVS PUNISHMENT
PRESENT VIEW AT LONDON
Norman Hapgood Hears German
Food Situation is Very Serious
—Russia a Vital Factor-
Future of Constantinople
Special Correspondence of The Re
publican
LONDON, Saturday. February 3.
By Norman Hapgood
(Copyright, 1917, by Norman Hapgood)
Germany’s repudiation of the Sus
sex agreement will probably prolong
the war by convincing the world that
she must be punished thoroughly, in
order to discredit the oligarchy that
recognizes no laws nor treaties. I have
just received conclusive information
that the food situation in Germany is
very serious, especially in the cities.
The poor are selling their meat tick
ets to the rich, as they have no money
to pay for meat. Doubtless this con
dition induced the submarine decision.
Germany expects to starve England in
from three to six months or lose the
war.
If America enters Germany will
probably decide to feed Belgium her
self. She can do so several months
with the commission food now on
hand, the Belgian crops and by using
up all the live stock. The greatest
sufferer, if diplomatic relations are
broken and the commission retires,
will be northern France where star
vation is inevitable as there are no
crops. The hope for peace by nego
tiation is now vastly diminished and
the most important military and po
litical question of the moment is the
situation in Russia.
For many months after the strug
gle began, we Americans were busy
studying war maps, with little colored
pins stuck in them, especially on the
western front. We not only measured
kilometers, but we dreamed of deci
sive battles like Tours, Poltavia, Hast
ings and Waterloo. Gradually we have
come to believe that machine guns,
trenches and huge numbers have made
such decisive victories improbable, and
that the outcome of the war is to be
determined by one side standing the
strain longer than the other, or by
human reason finding itself, short of
exhaustion, adequate to the task of
making thought accomplish a solu
tion, without waiting for the wearing
and costly settlement of broken re
sistance. A famous German soldier
said in conversation: “This is a most
unsatisfactory war. It will not be set
tled by arms. It will be settled by
the distress of civilian populations:
by the way the people are affected by
Zeppelins, submarines s»nd the block
ade." It will be remembered that
near the beginning Hindenburg said:
“Victory will fall to the side with the
strongest nerves."
Psychology Will Count
The extent to which psychology
may count in the outcome is well il
lustrated by the events of the autumn.
Many military observers believe that
if the Somme offensive had not be
gun when it did. Verdun would have 1
fallen in a few days and France’s i
resisting spirit would have been bro-1
ken; if the bad weather had not come
two months ahead of schedule the
Somme offensive would have prevent
ed the success of the Rumanian drive
and would itself have succeeded
enough to discourage Germany and to
satisfy British feelings, thereby mak
ing it seem an appropriate time to
stop. We are dealing, however, not
with what might have been, but with
the actual. Nobody can possibly tell
how well the Germans can stand the
steady harrowing all winter, followed
by heavy attacks again next spring,
but the desire of the governing class
in England to make the attempt for a
decisive victory is not abated.
The result of this fighting depends
largely upon the degree of diversion
Russia is capable of making, and Rus
sia’s political situation is a mystery
even to those most intimately ac
quainted with Russian affairs. Nobody
knows who selects and dismisses min
isters. or how the government can
be made efficient for sustained offen
sive. short, of a revolution. Russian
politics are a big factor in the calcula
tions of the western government.
Russia Delighted by Rasputin’s
Death
The hardest problem of the peace
settlement is going to be the ar
rangement about the straits of Con
stantinople. Since the death of Ras
putin. the hope for reorganization
and greater efficiency of Russia in
the spring and summer fighting has
become much greater, among those
who know the Russian situation. The
inside information brought here by
men returning from Russia shows
that the popular enthusiasm over the
removal of Rasputin was even great
er than could be guessed by published
reports. When the news came out
strangers shook hands in theaters and
audiences demanded that the orches
tra strike up the national hymn. Peo
ple telephoned congratulations to one
another. Everywhere there was tre
mendous excitement fn the streets.
As I cabled last week, the outburst
against the old system is not connect
ed with political theory. It is the
desire to have supplies reach the army
and the people and to make victory
easier. The men who killed Rasputin
were no radicals, but aristocrats.
If it is in the future going to seem
necessary for individual nations to
have armed forces to protect trade,
then the problem that the world, and
primarily Germany. Russia and Eng
land. face in the near East, is indeed
a hard one. Some Americans are so
well informed about this region, and
the United States has had so much
to do with advancing civilization there,
through missionaries and through
such Institutions as Robert college
and Constantinople college, that it Is
by no means beyond the possibilities
that our country may help in the ulti
mate improvement of the tangled
problem of great trade routes, and
even in the government of this most
critical strategic center. The chance
that the settlement, when It comes,
will be one of reason rather than o'
appetite, and the corollary chance that
the neutrals will be taken to have an
Interest In the arrangements, have un
doubtedly been increased by the world
wide discussions of the president’s re
quest for clarification.
- American Opinion May Count
At first that request was distorted
to an almost unbelievable degree. As
time has passed, however, what the
president really said has penetrated
more and more, and gained an in-
creasing support in England, though
it would be wholly incorrect to sup
pose it has anything like a balance of
opinion in its favor. Since President
Wilson’s address to the Senate, the
situation, without changing essential
features, becomes clearer although tt
dealt only with future arrangements.
The speech greatly cheered those who
cling to the hope of peace before
spring, and was received with regret
by those who believe that it will be
«ces=arv to take Germany out of the
category of dangerous powers, such
as Spain was at one time, and France
at another. The balance of articulate
opinion, at least, is still strongly in
favor of the spring push and of the
principles so solidly and ably stated
by Mr Balfour When I speak of a
decided possibility that American opin
ion may count for much in the final
Balkan. Dardanelles and Asia Minor
solution. I am speaking of a date
probably some considerable distance
away; probably, though no man can
tel!.
As to the straits themselves, out
side of absolute Russian owmership,
which would require a very complete
victory, and which is. moreover, op
posed by a large party in Russia, there
are three general possibilities: (1) Ex
pulsion of the Turk, internationaliza
tion and balanced control; (2) inter
nationalization with Russian respon
sibility predominating; and (3) the
Turk remaining in Constantinople, but
still further shackled, so that inter
nationalization of the future may be a
reality, not the farce it has been In
the past.
The arguments that will decide
whether the control will be more or
less evenly exercised by the powers
or predominantly by Russia, if such
an arrangement is made at all. are
simple. One side believes that if the
government is diffused the Germans
will have the most efficient influence
and will in fact be likely to control.
The other side believes that if Russia
has the principal responsibility she
will herself become a danger, through
some kind of expansive tendency, such,
for example, as becoming dissatisfied
as her trade from Odessa increases,
with the stormy passage across the
Black sea, and seeking in consequence
a land route through Rumania and
Bulgaria. The future tendencies of
Russia, in fact, are a guessing game
that enter into all conclusions on the
arrangements after the war in a de
gree second only to the future tend
encies of Germany. It is not my bus
iness to hazard a personal guess, but
merely to report those which are fer
menting in all the leading countries
in the minds of the kind of men who
will ultimately undertake the huge
task of rearranging Europe if the
allies are able completely to wear down
German resistance.
Neutralization
An idea that, as far as I know, has
not been publicly put forward yet. is
the neutralization of Servia, after her
restoration. It cost Germany a good
deal to treat Belgian neutrality as a
scrap of paper. Any neutralizations
after the war are likely to be support
ed by much stricter and more explicit
treaties. They are likely to be joint
instead of several; in other words,
binding all the other signers to fight
after a breach by one. They are likely
to be signed by the United States.
Holland and the Scandinavian coun
tries, as well as by the Great Powers.
Therefore, if Servia were neutralized
in the manner of Belgium, only by
stronger treaties, it might be much
more dangerous for any country to
violate her, in pursuance of any at
tempt at aggrandizement, than if she
were more of a free agent in interna
tional affairs. This idea has been dis
cussed too little as yet to be tested,
but it will bear watching.
The views of Englishmen about the
relative dangers to the British empire
from German present imperialism and
from Russia's future power differ, of
course, but I think the chances are
that the attitude which will prevail,
and will make peace impossible until
after the spring offensive, is the fol
lowing:-—
“If Russia can expand commercially
through the Dardanelles she will be
under no temptation to expand in any
direction that threatens the British
empire. Trade expansion through the
Dardanelles will bring her into habit
ual relations with countries in which
constitutional government and popu
lar rule prevail, such as Italy. Spain,
Portugal. France. England and the
United States. This contact will en
courage the natural democracy of the
Russian people. What has thrown the
Russian government so much into the
hands of the German ruling class is
precisely the economic dependence on
Germany forced by the policy of iso
lation. Moreover. Russia's big prob
lem in the next century is the prob
lem of increasing her own approach to
unity. Therefore, although prophecy
is always far short of certainty, the
peaceableness of Russia is as probable
as anything that lies in forecast. •
"As to Germany, on the other hand,”
so this prevailing view goes, "the dan
cer will last not only until the nation
is extremely sick of the war. but until
the military caste is in thoroughly bad
repute. It is not in bad repute now.
If it has a chance for pdace. any peace
that would enable it to save its face,
and thereby to continue in existence,
it would eagerly seizs upon such a
peace.”
For the war to end before this class
in Germany is discredited at home
would be looked upon by a decided
majority of the influential class of
Englishmen as the essence of defeat.
The shades of opinion in the laboring
class are subtle and difficult enough
to require a separate article. The
view that rules the state to-day, and
that, lacking some sudden and re
markable change, makes a spring of
fensive a certaintv is that the last
hope of the old system, the old ma
chine. is Hindenburg. He is the ma
chine in excelsls. The credit or dts
, credit of the aristocratic-military ma
chine lies in the balance and depends
on him. All Germany thinks he may
bring the decisive result about which
the nation has been inquiring for over
two years. Neither he nor any other
member of the military oligarchy must
b» a popular idol after the war. If he
fails to be decisively successful, so
obviously that all Germany can see,
then a majority of English statesmen
hope and even expect to see the morale
of the armies go to pieces and the
prestige of the military machine and
the Hohenzollern dynasty collapse.
That is what they are fighting for.
Without that collapse of the system
they put. as Mr Balfour has so well
explained, small faith In terms about
political divisions, or even in plans
for joint guarantees of peace. Since
the repudiation by Germany of the
Sussex agreement there has been a
strong Increase in the determination
to fight to a finish. One difficulty that
stands firmly in the way of new con
sideration of peace by negotiation,
is the belief that Germany profited
by the existence of the Belgian treaty
and the Hague conventions since those
agreements enabled her to catch her
opponents unawares with the invasion
through Belgium and the use of pois
onous gas. That may be used as an
argument to keep her out of the peace ‘
league later on, Every fear about ag-J
gresslon from every other quarter,
every consideration about cost in life
and debt, has to give way to that
fundamental premise—a premise as
strong today in those in power in Brit
ain as it was when Germany invaded
Belgium; the premise that a great na
tion had been led into aggression by its
rulers and that the world could not
again breathe freely until those rulers
no longer had the confidence and af
fection of their people.
It is on this premise In reality,
rather than on any detailed charge
against Germany or on any particular
territorial change supposedly for the
better, that Britain rests her case. It
is still a fight, she says, between two
principles. One is acceptance of the
world’s idea of justice. The other is
ambitious force. To stop, for humani
tarian reasons, before this great ques
tion is settled would be to pay most of
the price without obtaining the only
real security. There is a lively group
of public men who do not accept that
reasoning, and who are active and
able in arguing for peace by negotia
tion. but there are no signs whatever
of their getting into power at present.
There is every sign that the country
will stand behind the present govern
ment’s policy at least until It sees
whether this object can be accom
plished by next spring’s campaign.
Sadly, but unflinchingly, the nation on
the whole is willing to have humanity
pay for this end the probable price,
counting both sides, of another mil
lion deaths or disabling casualties.
HOME ECONOMICS CLUB
In 16 Towns in County Under the
County League—Conference in
This City Saturday
More than 500 girls between the
ages of 10 and 19 are to be enroled
as members of permanent home econo
mics clubs in 16 out of the 23 cities
and towns in the county this year un
der a corps of volunteer leaders en
listed by the Hampden county im
provement league, according to plans
discussed at a meeting of the newly
appointed leaders in the rooms of the
league Saturday afternoon. The clubs
will be organized within the next few
weeks and the three girls in each
town who made the best records in
the club work last year will ne pres
ident, vice-president and secretary,
respectively- The presidents of the
town groups will be directors of a
county group, soon to be organized.
Eventually, it is expected that other
counties throughout New England and
the eastern states will adopt the
scheme and that at an early date it
will thus be possible to organize state
and “Eastern States’* achievement
clubs for both boys and girls In the
various home economics and agricul
tural projects.
Saturday’s conference was prelim
inary to the actual organizing of the
local clubs. Robert P. Trask, county
club leader, outlined the plan. He said
that there were 225 girls in the state
club last year, but that there were
many others who would have gone
through with the work had there been
local leaders and regular club meet
ings in the various towns whereby the
members might have had help and en
couragement. Under ths new scheme,
he said the girls would resolve them
selves into a real club. Committees
will be appointed to arrange interest
ing meetings and to take charge of
the exhibits at the close of the season.
There will be two of these, a local and
a sectional fair, preliminary to the
big Eastern States boys’ and girls’ ex
position in October. The state prizes
and ribbons w’ill be awarded at the lo
cal exhibition, and the program will
include speaking and folk dancing, as
well as the display of sewing, bread,
cake and canning done by the girls.
The women who have volunteered to
be sponsors for the clubs in the towns
and villages where the vrork has al
ready been started are: Brimfield. Mrs
J B. Wetherell; Fairview. Miss Flor
ence Chapin; ^Granville, Miss J. M.
Deans; Hampden, Miss Williams;
Montgomery. Miss Helen Kelso; Rus
sell, Miss Maude Wager and Miss
Grace Smith; Southwick. Mrs Lucia
Holcomb. Miss Taylor. Miss Eastman
and Miss Jordan: Three Rivers and
Palmer. Miss Lizzie Fletcher; Tolland.
Miss Davis; Wilbraham. Mrs J. B.
White; North Wilbraham. Miss Rachel
Cutler; Woronoco. Miss Hazel Bot
tume; Feeding Hills, Miss Custer.
Many of the leaders are school
teachers and the clubs are made up
very largely of girl pupils. Several
schools have enroled every girl with
in the age limits. The school super
intendents are heartily in favor of the
permanent club idea and the parents
are very enthusiastic. There have
been many cases of children who
failed to take any interest whatsoever
in learning to cbok and sew when
urged by their mothers, who nave
been won over by the system of
friendly competition with other girls
in the state contests. Miss Minnie
Price, home-making adviser, explained
the technical points of the work to the
leaders yesterday.
RECORD WEEK'S LAYING
Rhode Island Wyandottes Set New
Mark at Storrs
The end of the 13th week of the
contest at Storrs found the total pro
duction at 22,768 eggs. The number
of eggs laid during the week was
2502, or 315 more than they laid dur
ing the previous week and 67 eggs
less than for the corresponding week
last year.
Ober G. Knight’s white Wyandottes
from Bridgeton, R. 1., were first for
the week with a yield of 59 eggs. This
represents a new high record for the
current competition, the previous
record being 49 eggs in anv one week.
Closely following the winner was a
pen of Reds owned by Jacob E. Jan
sen of North Haven. Ct. They laid
48 eggs. Another pen of Reds owned
by George W. Harris of Westport.
Ct., was third with 47 eggs. Another
pen of Reds and a pen of Leghorns
each laid 46 eggs.
One other mark of increased pro
duction is the number of hens that
laid seven eggs during the week.
Barred Rocks Nos 1, 9. 33. 44; white
Orpington No 533. and white Leg
horn No 932 all made perfect scores
whereas in the previous week only
one hen was able to reach this
standard.
Unsettled weather conditions make
this season of the year interesting
not only in laying contests but more
especially in the general egg markets.
Continued cold weather in the great
producing sections of the middle West
and South will tend to keep down the
supply of eggs In eastern markets and
in consequence the price will remain
at a high level. On the other hand a
decided and prolonged warm spell In
the regions mentioned will certainly
result in an increase in production
and a drop in price. In other words
it is reasonable to suppose that the
egg market during the next few weeks
will be unstable and fluctuating.
One of the most durable wood; is
sycamore. A statue made from it.
now in the museum of Glzeh. at Cairo,
is believed to be nearly 6000 years old.
It is entirely sound and natural in
appearance.
COUNTY LEAGUE DATA
ADVICE TO GARDENERS
VEGETABLES RECOMMENDED
Varieties Planted With Success the
Past Year Are Again Proposed
for 1917
Recommendations to gardeners made
by the Hampden county improvement
league have brought particularly sat
isfactory results. Lasb year the league
prepared with the assistance of promi
nent successful market gardeners of
West Springfield a list of desirable
vegetable varieties to be used for home
gardening and commercial purposes.
There has been found no need for
making changes in last year’s list.
Many in Hampden county tried vege
tables last year that they had never
used before and with few exceptions
report fine results and desire to con
tinue planting the particular new vari
eties. This is the time of year, the
league points out, when all should
send for vegetable catalogs and get
in their order for seeds. The list fol
lows: —
Asparagus, Palmetto. Reading, Giant,
new.
Brans—Black valentine (seed beans for
1917 are very scarce and high. Buy of
your neighbors where possible, use shell
beans for string beans or get almost any
variety available). Round pod kidney
wax. Curries. Pencil pod.
Bush—Fordhook bush lima. Slebart’s
lime short season. French’s (plant thin,
has a runner). Horticultural.
B e et s _Wood ruff's early wonder. Crosby
Egyptian. Detroit dark red cabbages.
Charleston Wakefield. Copenhagen mar
ket. AU seasons, Danish winter ball-head,
improved American savoy. Mammoth rock
red.
Carrots—Short horn. Ely er Ox-heart
carrot. Chantenev. Danvers carrot and for
cattle Intermediate (half long).
Cauliflower—Snowball. Dwarf Erfurt.
Celery—Paris Golden self-blanching
(French stock). Giant Pascal, Winter
Queen, late keeper.
Sweet corn—Golden Bantam, plant little
at a time. Imp. Ely, Cory. Howling Mob.
Squantum.
Cucumbers—White Spine nr Arlington.
Davis Perfect, not prolific but lone.
Dandelion—American, imp. broadleafed.
Dill—Mammoth.
Eggplant—Black Beauty.
Endive—Broadleafed, green curled, at
tractive.
Horse radish—Bohemian.
Kale—Dwarf green furled. Siberian
curled.
Kohlrabi—Large purple Vienna or Ely
white Vienna.
Leeks—American Flag.
Lettuce—Mav King. Cnol Weather. Sal
amander or Tennis Ball. Hanson, curly,
longer to grow.
Muskmelons--Emerald Gem. Osage.
Onions—Cope early onions and onion
sets, same Yellow Danvers, Southport yel
low globe. Southport red.
Parsley—Moss or Triple curled.
Parsnips—lmp. Hollow Crown. Long
Smooth, for spring use, keeps better over
winter.
Peas—First of all. Alaska. Excelsior,
Gratins and Laxton. Telephone for bush.
Poppers— Large bell. Sweet mountain.
Pumpkins—Sugar pumpkin.
Radish—Scarlet globe.
Rhubarb—Linnaeus.
Salsify—Mammoth Sandwich Island.
Spinach—Victoria. Giant round leaf,
come quicker Savoy for full market. New
Zealand spinach.
Squash—Hubbard. either golden or
green. Boston, marrow. Golden Summer
crookneck. Essex Hybrid, good yielder.
po keeper.
Tomatoes-Cha Iks. Jewel. Matchless
Ear Hanna. Dwdrf stone. Beauty.
Turnips—American yellow' rutabaga,
white egg. yellow globe.
PROFITS IN SPRAYING
A Missourian’s Experience and
His Advice to Farmers
Hampden county orchardists who
have sprayed realize without exception
that there are tremendous profits to
be obtained in fruit growing by spray
ing and that for every dollar spent
four or five will come back. This of
course providing the work is properly
done in a thorough way at the proper
time. The following relative to profits
in Missouri orchards can be duplicat
ed in Hampden county if one could
get at the real facts.
W. B. Chapman in southern Missou
ri has this to say of spraying results
the past season: "I have an orchard
of 11 acres, sprayed twice and sold
my apples to bhe people in the coun
try for sll4O. Had I received my
sprayer at the right time I should
have made more, as I have scab and
blotch on my fruit. This is nothing
compared with what some others have
done, but before I sprayed my orchard
I sold S4OO worth a year.”
This is not an exceptional experi
ence by any means, but it is well worth
noting. The fact that one season’s
spraying of 11 acres of orchard in
creased the value of the fruit to the
extent of $740 ought to encourage
every doubtful owner and decide the
question of spraying without further
delay. This experience is especially
given for the benefit of our thousands
of new readers. Ib is past history to
those who have been with us for a
number of years, but we war' to espe
cially impress the importance and
profit of spraying upon those who may
still be undecided.
Seeds, Fertilizers. Silos and Lime
What have you planned for this
year? How many acres are vou seed
ing to grass this spring? Figure 1%
bushels of oats to each acre seeded to
grass. Are you keeping eight cows or
more and have you a silo? If you
have not. you should get an order in
for a silo and plan on planting a suf
ficient area of corn to fill it. Now’s
the time to do it. How about pota
toes? If you haven’t gotten your seed
potatoes yet, better consider the like
lihood of having higher spring prices
and get early. If you do seed down
to grass and have several acres of
corn, oats and potatoes, vou hould
start the crop off by supplying avail
able plant food early in the season.
This means fertilizers. Send to the
Hampden county improvement league
and get a circular of fertilizer formu
las for crops, fruit, berries and vege
tables. You should not forget that
lime is necessary to sweeten the sour
soil to grow clover. Get vour orders
for seed, fertilizers and lime in now.
Make Lime Sulphur at Home
Two years ago L. W. Rice of Wil
braham started making his own lime
sulphur with good results. Last year
several orchardists in Blandford pooled
their orders and employed one of their
men to make their lime sulphur. A
great saving is made In this way. and
It is hoped that other communities
will seriously consider this matter this
year. These sections that have live
steam available will be more success
ful than will others. Onlv the 'highest
grade of caustic lime should be ob
tained, as this seems to be one of the
limiting; factors in the successful
manufacture of lime sulphur
FORESTS AND FORESTRY
TREES, PLANTS AND BIRDS
Some Startling Facts About the
Damage Done by Plant Disease
and Insects and the Good
Done by Birds
Do you know it costs you $7 every
year for loss caused by plant dis
eases and insect pests?
Do you know that counting every
man. woman and child in this coun
try that makes the staggering total
of loss $709,000,000 every year?
Do you know that every time a boy
bills a bird he cuts down one of
Uncle Sam’s soldiers—a soldier that
KW*’* ? ' S? ''
“HE FIGHTS THE BU®9”
Chnrles Lathrop Pack, President of
American Forestry Association
is helping Uncle Sam fight these crop
destroying insects with all the might
of his little bill?
The fate of the forests of the Unit
ed States is at stake and this is the
time to right about faco and fight
the insect pests and plant diseases ac
cording to delegates to the interna
tional forestry conference which was
held in Washington under the auspices
of the American forestry association.
As one of tne first moves to the at
tack on the horde of pests, a resolu
tion was adopted by unanimous vote
of the conference indorsing an abso
lute quarantine against the importa
tion of plants, trees and nursery
stock to take effect “at the earliest
date which may be found economi
cally expedient."
Charles Lathrop Pack, who was
re-elected president of the forestry
association, points a warning in the
report of the department of agricul
ture which says that 193 different
kinds of insects and Uli diseases were
detected on offerings for import dur
ing the year. “The question of white
paper and the cost of other things
common to everyday life are de
pendent upon the forests.** says Mr
Pack. “Your neckties, your socks and
milady’s frocks have almost all of
tern got wood fiber in them. Tree
insects and pests cost the country
$700,909,000 every year, that is $7 per
person per year. Think of it. ’ Look
at Germany' to-day. She is the lead
er on scientific forestry’ and she is
fighting her battles on her forests
which are her mainstay in keeping
life in the individual and the nation.
“Take the high cost of living. Sup
pose the cost of a million or two for
this crop pest or a million or two for
that crop pest could be eliminated?
What would that mean in reducing
the price of breadstuff? The greatest
country’ in the world is beneath our
feet. Maintenance of our forests will
continue it and their destruction will
ruin it for forests affect stream flow,
influence rainfall and prevent the land
from becoming a desert.
“At our annual meeting the dele
gates passed a resolution recognizing
the Boy scouts as a great force for
good in this movement and under the
proper direction they may become one
of the greatest factors in the cause
of forestry. Thus we hope to enlist
step by step young folks of the coun
try in the battle to save the forests.
“AS present the pine blister disease,
■which has such a strong foothold tn
New England and has been found ir.
other states, is the chief object of at
tack of the American forestry asso
ciation. The pines of the continent
are valued at $400,000,000. It is to
prevent them from going the way cf
the chestnut that the association is
fighting from its headquarters, 1410
H street, where P. S. Ridsdale, execu
tive secretary, is in charge. Co
operating with the association are
state organizations and the commit
tee for the suppression of the pine
blister disease of North America.
These organizations sent delegates tn
the international conference as did
many of the governors and provincial
governments of Canada.”
In regard to the extent of the dis
ease Samuel B. Detwiler, forest in
spector of the department pt agricul
ture. says:—
^“Diseased pines have been found in
85 plantations located in nine states
and 18 nurseries in 10 states. Through
out the white pine regions from Maine
to the Hudson and Champlain vallevs
there are large areas where infected
currants and gooseberries, on which
the disease grows, are so widely scat
tered that the term ‘general infection’
only describes them. Most significant
of all. infections of native white pine
have been found: eight in Maine, six
in Massachusetts, seven in New
Hampshire, two in New York and on >
in Connecticut in the vicinity of heavy
currant and gooseberry infections. Be
tween the areas of heavy infection
there are isolated areas of diseased
currants, varying, from one to two
plants to several thousand plants in a
township.
“Outside of the generally infected
area in New England and eastern
New York, pine and currant infec
tions are scattered in central and west
ern New York and New Jersey, and
pine infections in Pennsylvania and
Ohio. In Minnesota and Wisconsin
there are several small areas where
both the pine and the currant stages
of the blister were found this year for
the first time.” .
At the close of the conference Mr
Pack told the delegates how gratified
he was because of the co-operation
of the governors who had sent dele
gates to the meeting. “It is only by
co-operation.” said Mr Pack, “that we
ean win this fight. The governors
responded in fine shape and now pub
lic sentiment must be aroused and the
public made acquainted with this
enormous waste that is going on an
nually. Another big point is that
there were 40 women at our confer
ence. They represented women's
clubs, playground associations and
civic leagues. They came from North
Carolina. Minnesota, New Hampshire.
This widespread interest is a mighty
good sign."