Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], February 22, 1917, Page 2, Image 2

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

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2
SOMEWHAT BRIGHTER OUTLOOK
1 The kaiser may freshly v ociferate his
tmdying purpose to use the submarine
to the limit of frightfulness, but t'.ie
^rorld now scrutinizes his govern
tnent's acts more closely than his im-
Yerlal majesty’s words. There is no
denying the fact that two weeks after
the severance of diplomatic relations
Germany’s Iron will to conquer seems
less and less disposed to clash vio
lently with the purpose of this great
pacifist republic to maintain Its self
lespect by supporting in some meas
** its most elementary rights on the
high seas.
The American sailors captured with
the Yarrowdale have been released;
the American relief commission is not
to be turned out of Belgium after all:
and the American liner Philadelphia
has evidently passed through the pro
hibited Zone of the high seas, with
colors flying, unmolested bv German
submarines. It was a clear defiance
of the Berlin decree of January 31
for the American liner to leave Liver
pool.
The number of large liners passing
safely through the prohibited zone
since the California was sunk in
creases day by day, while the sunken
tonnage to the credit of the Germans
continues to fall far behind the mini
mum speed limit. A dozen cargo car
riers reached New York yesterday
from European countries, many of
them having started on their west
liound voyage after the German decree
was published. The Scandinavian
liners held up on this side of the
ocean will start home with cargoes
now that the British government of
fers to search them for contraband at
Halifax instead of Kirkwall in the
barred zone. In the absence of out
rages of great moment, on the high
seas, against American commerce and
American travelers, the feeling that
the German government is seeking a
way out of Its difficulties with neu
trals, without a square reversal of its
proclaimed course of action, is natu
rally becoming widespread.
That there Is nothing but delusion
in this feeling may be true. A fresh
demonstration of maritime terrorism
in its worst form may soon be made
known. But it is at least obvious that,
if.the president is moving slowly, the
Germans show no haste to make good
their threats in their most abandoned
manifestations.
THE PUBLIC SENTIMENT
First, the overwhelming majority of
the American people still desire most
earnestly to avoid war and hope that
the government will succeed in hon
orably avoiding war.
Second, the American people with
virtual unanimity approve the presi
dent’s action in severing diplomatic
relations with Germany.
Third, the mass of the American
people will approve necessary meas
ures for the protection of American
rights on the high seas, even by the
use of force, if flagrant attacks on
this country’s sovereignty are made
in the lawless sinking of American
ships.
Fourth, Congress will be sustained
by public opinion if it votes to au
thorize the president to take such
measures as circumstances may re
quire, in his judgment, to vindicate
the position the nation has occupied
in breaking -with Germany.
Fifth, a majority of the people
would insist that In upholding Amer
ican rights on the seas, by force if
necessary, this country refrain from
joining the entente.
Sixth, nine-tenths of the people
would be opposed, as the case appears
to-day, to sending American soldiers
to fight in Europe.
Seventh, the bulk of the American
people would prefer measures "short
'of war.” it possible, no entangling
military alliances and the restora
tion of friendly relations with Ger
many as soon as Germany would
make friendly relations possible.
From such studies of public opin
ion. east and west, north and south,
as we have been able to make, the
foregoing conclusions seem to be ap
proximately correct. All the more con
fidence is placed in them in view of
recent speeches by republican leaders
In the House of Representatives. At
tention may be called particularly to
the speech by Mr Lenroot of Wiscon
sin in the House cn Saturday. In which
he said: —
Representing the great American
people here, we will vote to maintain
by force, if need be, our liberties upon
the sea, but that does not mean we
will vote a general declaration of war
against Germany; It does not mean we
will intervene in the European war
and send our men to the trenches of
Europe; it does not mean we are to sit
on and determine the terms of settle
ment of European questions. It
means only that we are going to set
tle our difficulty with Germany by
compelling her to respect our rights
on the sea.
If war must come, it will be a war
upon the sea. destroying every Ger
man submarine that we can and pro
tecting our own ships until such time
as Germany shall cease to l>e an out
law upon the sea. When Germany
shall again respect our rights our
quarrel' with her will be over, and we
will be ready to make peace with her.
regardless of European nations or Eu
ropean quarrels.
I believe the American people -.nd
the Congress will stand for this policy,
and that those who would drag us into
the world war for reasons other than
maintaining our own rights, and those
who are for peace at any price, to
gether constitute a very small minor
ity.
That summarizes the facts of the sit
uation. That is what tlie American
people think. _
A QUESTION FOR CONGRESS
Those of our people who earnestly
desire “an American peace, with honor
‘and without sacrifice of rights,” to
use the language of Dr George W.
Kirchwey. president of the American
peace society, have reason to be
thankful that the president will con
sult Congress before taking any dras
tic or even any unusual steps to safe
guard American light? on the high
seas. In many countries thd executive
is very apt to decide auch questions
rtitbout consultation with the repre-
sentatives of the people, and unnec
essary wars are sometimes the result.
Mr Wilson has already pledged him
self to present the situation to Con
gress especially with reference to the
new aspects it would assume in case
overt acts in unlawful destruction of
American ships and lives should be
committed by the central powers
Now that a situation somewhat dif
ferent from the one anticipated has
been brought about, as the result of
the sharpened U-boat warfare, it may
be quite as necessary that the facts
and the problem should be placed tie
fore Congress without much more de
lay.
‘ In the presidency of Jefferson an
embargo on American commerce was
Imposed by act of Congress, for rea
sons connected with the Napoleonic
■ wars. To-day, without an act of Con
gress, despite the policy of both Con
gress and the executive, our commerce
has begun to suffer much the same
paralysis that would afflict it were an
embargo enforced in accordance with
the law of the land. It is notorious
that this state of affairs is the direct
result of the recent German proclama
tion of unrestricted submarine war
fare against neutral shipping. While
it is inaccurate to say that German
submarines are blockading our At
lantic seaports, the effect of the so
called prohibited zones in European
waters is not essentially different from
an actual blockade of our own coast,
except in the degree that we suffer
from the disturbance of traffic. Amer
ican shipowners continue for the most
part very reluctant to risk their ves
sels against the submarines unless
they are afforded some sort of pro
tection in the exercise of their un
questioned rights. This protection
only the United States government
can give to them, inasmuch as only
the government has the guns avail
able for arming merchantmen for de
fensive purposes.
The question as to the proper course
for the government to pursue under
the present circumstances may be pre
sented to Congress at once, with the
utmost propriety, because, according
to the language of the constitution of
the United States. “Congress shall
‘have power to regulate commerce
■with foreign nations." Germany’s
"overt acts." since February 1, have
in no case assumed the dimensions of
a flagrant attack on American rights,
although the sinking of the American
schooner, Lyman M. Law. off the Sar
dinian coast, by a submarine which
showed no flag, was clearly illegal,
according to the American view, be
cause the cargo was not contraband of
war. If, however, the general effect
of the present U-boat warfare, which
has been denounced unqualifiedly by
all the neutral governments worth
considering in the world, is to force
back the currents of transatlantic
commerce upon our own seaports,
there congesting all the facilities for
traffic and overtaxing the terminals
and the railroad communications with
them for long distances into the in
terior of the country, then surely the
president may appropriately present
the situation to the body which has
constitutional control of the commerce
between the United States and foreign
nations.
It would be an exaggeration to
maintain that the present very ab
normal congestion at our seaports is
due exclusively to the submarine war
fare across the Atlantic. There was
congestion of traffic before February 1,
due to inadequate terminal facilities,
to the freight car shortage, to the rail
road embargoes and finally to the cold
winter weather which has seriously
interfered with the movement of
freight to the seaboard. But Wie tying
up of shipping in our harbors on ac
count of the Berlin decree has made a
bad situation worse. The New York
Journal of Commerce points out, more
over. that not only steamships under
the American flag are being kept in
port, but also those of bhe Holland
:America, the Scandinavian-American
land the Norwegian-American lines "are
! ‘all tied up as completely as if there
‘were an actual blockade of the ports
‘of the United States.” What the own
ers of these foreign neutral liners will
do no one now seems to know: It they
are not kept in the transatlantic serv.
ice the demand for cargo space in ships
of American registry’ must become
much mors pressing and acute.
The president might lawfully exer
cise the executive power to the extent
of permitting American ships to be de
fensively armed with cannon supplied
by the navy, but, in view of the possi
ble German contention that such partic
ipation in the defensive arming of our
merchantmen by the government was
a warlike act directed against German
submarines, the judgment of Congress
should be expressed in joint resolu
tions concerning the proper policy of
the government. In inviting its judg
ment the president would not ask for
a declaration of war, but he would,
of course, be in a position to exercise
his prerogative of leadership in helping
to shape the decision of the two
houses.
VALUE OF “SCRAP OF PAPER"
It is astonishing that Germany
should think so highly of treaties as
to bring pressure to bear upon Mr
Gerard for a reaffirmation of an old
treaty which Prussia has been shooting
full of holes. Agreements must have
some value, or the German govern
ment would not be so eager to get
them made. Count Tisza tells us that
before taking up ruthless submarining
it had got assurances from European
neutrals that, however much they
might be outraged, they would not
retaliate with "warlike activities.”
From Washington it is Intimated that
the United States also was sounded as
to its course. Now we find Germany
resorting to even extraordinary means
to Induce a recalled embassador to sign
a document pledging his country to
a reaffirmation and extension of a
treaty which the German government
evidently thinks useful—in spots. The
parts which are to its disadvantage
it ignores; the parts which are In Ite
favor it expects the United States to
obacjye, and would consider a further
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1917
pledge, even if almost extorted, as a
solid asset. Is la a curious paradox.
This inconsistency, however, can
hardly surprise those who remember
the events at the onset of war. Even
while it was violating its own pledges
by invading Luxemburg and Belgium,
Germany was striving to get from
England a pledge that it would
remain neutral. On what terms
would England bind its hands?
Germany offered almost any terms
except sincere co-operation with Sir
Edward Grey to prevent the war, and
it evidently believed that if England
pledged itself to stand aside it would
keep the pledge. Ab the same moment
Dr von Bethmann-Hollweg was telling
the Reichstag that "necessity knows
‘no law."
Prussian historians have sneered at
the priggish morals of those who con
demn the Prussian hero. Frederick the
■Great, for breaking treaties. The doc
trine thab plighted faith must not
be allowed to interfere with the in
terests of the state has permeated the
official classes. At the same time it Is
recognized that for obher governments
to have honor, to be as good as their
word, to carry out an agreement even
it it proves unfavorable, is a valuable
asset —for Germany. It is likely that
even Realpolitik would be dismayed at
the prospect of a world without honor,
a world in which no one could be
trusted, and in which no treaty had
more value than a scrap of paper.
History is full of broken treaties, but
it is full, too, of denunciations of bad
faith and of laborious apologies for it.
No country has a clean record, yet in
all countries and in almost all times
good faith is held in honor, and in the
retrospect treaty-breakers are un
sparingly condemned even by their
cwn countrymen. The most conscien
tious of nations may be betrayed by
unscupulous politicians, but the real
test comes later; do the people indorse
or repudiate a dishonorable course?
If a tolerable world is to emerge
from the war is must be founded on
confidence, and there is some en
couragement in the fact that Germany
evidently believes that the word of
other countries has value. It may
have doubted the standing of the an
cient breaties between Prussia and the
United States which Germany has been
riddling in practice, but it must have
had confidence that if the old pledges
were renewed and extended the United
States at least would keep its word.
Moreover, bhere is a suggestion that
the disadvantages of bad faith are be
ing realized, in the recent concession
to Holland in the matter of the Bel
gians who had returned from that
country under a specific pledge that
they would not be deported. It may
be coming to be known even in Ger
many that what has estranged the
world is not envy of German kultur.
but indignation at German cynicism
as shown in contempt for good faith
and for the rights of others. It rests
on an instinctive feeling that if the
cynical philosophy which seems to have
permeated the German bureaucracy
were to control the future, the out
look for the world would be dark in
deed.
No country, indeed, is in a
position bo cast the first stone; Ger
many’s disaster lies in having forced
all nations into intense criticism if
not into actual hostility. There is
something fundamentally wrong in a
system which has not only aligned
Germany's enemies, but alienated her
friends and brought despair to her
sons in foreign lands. Whab is wrong
is the theory that the state can do no
wrong; imperfect as international
morals have been, there plainly is
such a thing as international morality,
and a state which not merely occa
sionally bub systematically flouts it
cannot well fit into the family of na
tions. The best result that could be
looked for from the war would be a
new regard for public honor and the
scrapping of the theory that a nation
has no obligations but those of self
inberest.
COUNT VON BERNSTORFF
With the former Gei-man embassa
dor safely out of the country, esti
mates of his service and character
will be offered to the public with
considerably more freedom and frank
ness than would have been advisable
before his departure. It was singular
that the count had much the same
diplomatic mission as his father be
fore him. The elder Bernstorff was
the Prussian embassador at London
when the Franco-Prussian war of
1870-71 broke out. and Great Britain
was the great neutral whose inter
vention it was the determined pur
pose of the Berlin government to pre
vent. The war was so short and Prus
sia’s victory was so crushing that
the present count’s father had little
difficulty in scoring a diplomatic suc
cess at the British capital. But his
task was child's play compared with
that of the son in America more than
a generation later. That the son has
failed in the effort to maintain friend
ly relations between Germany and
the greatest of neutrals must be ad
mitted to be no great discredit to his
diplomatic reputation, for the final
course of the German government
with reference to the United States
seems to have been dictated by su
preme military considerations which
forced the foreign office to sacrifice
its embassador in Washington.
In view of the fact that very much
of Count von Bernstorff’s diplomacy
In this country during the war has
necessarily been hidden from the pub
lic and will not be given complete
publicity perhaps for a generation, It
would be idle to pass judgment upon
him at this time. One can speak only
of surface impressions concerning his
activities. Personally gifted with a
certain deftness in action as well as
with a high degree of intellectual
smartness, Count von Bernstorff came
to us in 1908 with all the highly spe
cialized training of the professional
diplomatist, educated under the eye of
his father and saturated from child
hood with the traditions and the ideals
of She school of diplomacy made cele
brated by Bismarck. In self-possea-
sion, manners, knowledge of the
world and audacity even, he was a fin
ished product. He had. also, Prussian
industry and persistence. Nor was
there lacking a certain suavity and
wit, joined with genuine imperturb
ability of temper in critical mo
ments. calculated to arouse the ad
miration of spectators. One could not
help observing the cleverness with
which he played the game.
It must be remembered that Count
von Bernstorff bore an exceptionally
heavy weight of care on account of
the distance between Berlin and
Washington and the limitations im
posed by war conditions on the com
munications between himself and his
home government. Yet in a corre
sponding degree was he personally re
sponsible for the way in which Ger
man interests were managed in this
country. In a peculiar sense, he
was Germany personified in the re
lations between the two countries and
in a peculiar sense was he in full
control of all other i epresentatives of
Germany, diplomatic or consular, and
unofficial agents and spies, who have
been active not only in the United
States, but throughout North America
in the past 2^ years.
In view’ of the exceptional power
Bernstorff undoubtedly possessed
among German agents and subjects in
this country, it seems impossible to
acquit him of blame for the intrigues
and criminal conspiracies in defiance
of our laws which were traced at one
time or another to German consuls,
or to the military and naval attaches
of the German embassy at Washing
ton. Capt von Papen, who worked as
Bernstorff's lieutenant, had to be arbi
trarily sent home by our government.
Secret documents seized by the secre*
service, now in the possession of the
government, are understood to dis
close nefarious activities on the part
of German agents which in some cases
involved flagrant abuse of our govern
ment's hospitality, and it is incredible
that all this plotting was not indirect
ly encouraged by the German embas
sador. The president never reached
the point of dismissing Count von
Bernstorff as persona non grata—the
fate which deservedly befell Dr Dum
ba. the embassador of Austria-Hun
gary—but the greater success of Bern
storff as compared with Dumba was
due to superior smartness rather than
a higher morality.
It can be said with conviction that
Count von Bernstorff worked inces
santly for peace between Germany and
the United States, but he cannot be
credited with having worked so inde
fatigably for the maintenance of
peace because he loved peace; he
was for peace because peace with
America was advantageous to Ger
many. All the time, however, the
embassador was limited in his secret
activities for his imperial master by
nothing whatever save the necessity
of not being found out in illegitimate
enterprises. Bernstorff was a thorough
going disciple of Bismarck in diplo
macy, that is to say, he was without
moral scruple in attaining his- end
and wholly subServient to the Machia
vellian principle of the main chance
in statecraft. Bernstorff. like his
greater contemporaries in German
diplomacy, Buelow and Bethmann-
Hollweg. was possessed with the Prus
sian doctrine that the supreme inter
ests of the state are paramount to the
dictates of individual morality, and,
consequently, from the Prussian view
point, he has fully earned the iron
cross with the white ribbon, recently
given to him by the kaiser, and all
the other honors that are likely to be
awarded to him after his return home.
That the count carries back with
him the honorary degrees of eight
American universities, is a detail that
affords one, at this moment, merely
a grim sort of amusement.
TRAINING FOR WAR AND WORK
The "dollar-for-dollar" vocational
training bill now goes to the presi
dent for his signature. It would be
well if this Important measure could
be sent back to Congress for changes
which without seriously delaying its
operation would make it fit into a
large scheme of national prepared
ness. As It stands, the bill merely
appropriates money, to the extent of
$28,000,000. to encourage vocational
training in the several states, in pro
portion to what they expend from
state funds. But there is reason to
think that the United States govern
ment might advantageously adopt a
broader policy, and combine military
and vocational training.
It is reported from Washington that
President Wilson, after a careful
study of the situation, has decided
that some system of general military
training is necessary. Secretary Baker
Is for the voluntary principle if
enough recruits can be found. If the
response is inadequate a change of
system will be a matter not of choice,
but of necessity. The president, how
ever. is fearful of any system which
in the course of time would tend to
give the country a military spirit and j
to transform its character as the
Prussian military system has trans
formed Germany in half a century.
It is understood that the administra
tion, in fact, is working at a project
for a system which will combine mili
tary and vocational training in a way
which will give the nation a suffi
cient army reserve, and at the same
time promote industrial efficiency and
help to solve other vexed problems.
There are large possibilities In this
direction. America ought to work out
its own military as well as Its own
educational system, borrowing ideas
from abroad, but adapting them to
our own national conditions. Even if
the emergency should call for special
measures, it should be with the un
derstanding that they are but tem
porary; neither compulsion nor the
raising of a large volunteer army need
commit the nation permanently. In
the same way if the present condi
tions are unfavorable for a large ex
periment in combined vocational and
military training, the present voca
tional bill might be so modified as to
serve its purpose temporarily and open
a way later for the proposed combina
tion.
It is no longer possible to draw a
sharp dividing line between military
training and vocational training. War
is no longer a matter which concerns
soldiers alone, and even the soldiers
need a much more extensive technical
training than formerly, of a kind
which can be turned to account in
civil life. Young men passing
through a three-years’ course, part
vocational, part military, with three
summers in camp, would be better
trained either for war or for peace
than the recruits with six months’
training contemplated in the Senate
bill for universal compulsory military
training. Such a combination may
offer the ideal solution in the long
run, of the two problems of defense
and of vocational training with whole
some but not militarizing discipline. It
would be well if the present voca
tional educational bill without undue
delay-, could be given a slant in that
direction.
GERMANY’S CENSORSHIP
We may discount somewhat the
statement, in the interesting account
of the German censorship which comes
by way of Berne, that “the German
‘government did not awake until long
'after the beginning of the war to the
‘desirability of making a favorable im
‘pression on public opinion in neutral
‘countries.” That would be strange
indeed for a government in which the
Bismarck tradition is still so strong,
and the case really is that in the year
before the war elaborate plans were
made by an association of business
men and officials of the government
for using the foreign press in Ger
many’s interest. Germany has con
stantly complained of being misunder
stood because of its isolation, but as a
matter of fact it has at all times been
able to communicate freely enough
with the neutral world, and at no time
has it spared effort to tell neutrals
what they ought to think. Why. then,
have these efforts failed?
One reason is clearly brought out in
the dispatch from Berne. The censor
ship has gone far to nullify the Ger
man propaganda. On the one hand
neutrals were unable to swallow the
preposterous stuff concocted for them
by official agents and frenzied German
professors. On the other hand neutral
correspondents were not allowed to
send impartial reports which would
have the ring of truth. Whether the
government in recent months was sin
cere in its ostentatious efforts to give
correspondents more chance to gather
news, or whether while giving with
one hand it took back with the other
by forbidding the censors to pass their
reports is a question which perhaps
the correspondents themselves would
not very confidently answer. At all
events Germany lost its best chance
to put its case before the world by its
interdiction upon honest and impartial
reports.
.Yet this is but the outward mani
festation of causes which lie far
deeper. Germany was disqualified for
making a favorable impression on neu
trals by the deeply ingrained con
tempt of German officialdom for pub
lic opinion. In the German official
view public opinion is to be formed,
not by thinking but by telling people
what to think. The official view is
promulgated and well-disciplined Ger
many accepts it, but with western na
tions, used to a free press. th e system
fails. Moreover, the whole German
theory and practice of war, including
the assault on Belgium, the bombing
of cities, the sinking of the Lusitania,
the shooting of Edith Cavell and the
deportation of civilians, was framed
with absolute disregard for what out
siders might think; how could it be
imagined that words would offset
deeds? The German propaganda has
been clumsy enough, but if it had been
far more adroit it could hardly have
conciliated opinion abroad while Ger
many’s conduct was a perpetual af
front to civilization.
Th© German press service has. in
fact, had an impossible task in try
ing to gloss over unspeakable things.
It might as well have shut up shop
and said, as Helfferlch says of subma
rine savagery: ‘‘We considered the
‘matter carefully and have determined.
‘We are certain of success and will
‘not allow that success to be wrested
‘from us by anything or anybody.”
When a nation has resolved on
courses v/hich in the nature of the
case must outrage the sentiment of
the world at large, ‘‘propaganda" is but
adding insult to injury. To win sym
pathy the first requirement is to show
a decent respect to the opinion of
mankind.
THE CUBAN MENACE
The Cuban politicians who have
evidently plotted an armed uprising
against the Menocal government, while
inspired with the partisan rancor
whipped up by the disputed result of
the presidential election, must be thor
oughly aware of the power of inter
vention in Cuban affairs possessed by
the Washington government. They
surely know that no prolonged civil
war. devastating the Island, destroy
ing an immense amount of property
and seriously interfering with this
year's sugar production of which the
world has great need, could be tol
erated by the United States.
Cuba was never so prosperous in its
history as it is to-day. The Euro
pean war driving the beet sugar of
Europe from the world's market, has
increased enormously the price of su
gar everywhere, so that economic dis
tress. which had so much to do with
the Cuban insurrection against Spain
of 20 years ago. is not In the least
operative to-day. There appears to be
no reason for an insurrection, under
present conditions, except the struggle
of rival groups of politicians for the
offices which control the government.
The right and wrong of the dispute
between the conservative and liberal
parties cannot be assessed, tn view of
the limitations of our knowledge. Per
haps most Americans are Indifferent
concerning the precise points In con-
troversy. The gravity of our rela
tions with Europe at this time tends
to make our people impatient with
the Cuban developments and, in no
slight degree perhaps, decidedly irri
table. It would be a handicap to the
United States in facing Germany to
send an expedition to intervene in the
troubles of Cuba and to establish, as
in 1906, a government of occupation.
But the example of the second Roose
velt administration will have to be
followed if the incipient rebellion re
ported in one or two provinces is not
quickly suppressed. The fact that the
fomentors of the uprising probably
prefer American Intervention to the
continued domination of the Menocal
government does not help the situa
tion in the least. Our treaty power of
intervention has its advantages, but
one of its disadvantages is that a de
feated political party sufficiency em
bittered against its rival can always
force American intervention by kick
ing up enough of a row in the Island.
The Cubans were distinctly warned
by the United States government at
the time of the 1906 occupation that
the next intervention would be the
last one. The threat was too clear to
be misunderstood; it meant that the
next time the United States flag had
to be raised over Havana, it would
never be hauled down. Whether Pres
ident Wilson would carry that warn
ing into effect, in case he had to send
United States troops into the island,
no one knows. We should be confident
that no jingoistic aspirations would
control him. Yet the fatuous reck
lessness of the Cuban politicians who
are virtually inviting a third American
intervention within a period of 20years
is painfully apparent. They are im
periling the independence of their
country, as it has never been im
periled before.
AN ATTACK THAT FAILED
The original motive of the several
congressmen who forced the “leak”
inquiry explains the fiasco attending
its conclusion. TJiere was a double
purpose, first, to discredit the presi
dent’s efforts to promote peace in
Europe by pouring upon his peace
note the slime of scandal; second, to
destroy the reputations of certain
high officials of the administration
and. so far as possible, bring under '
suspicion the president himself.
That the real attack was di
rected against Mr Wilson person
ally admits of no doubt. All along,
the vicious insinuation that a vindic
tive partisanship sought to convey to
the understanding of the public was
that the president himself covertly
furnished information to stock jobbers
in order that they could make money
by “short selling” in the market. It
was about as malicious and vile an as
sault on a president of the United
States as the history of this country
affords. Only minds saturated with
the poison of political hate could have
thought it worth -while to push an. in
quiry along these lines and only .such
minds could have welcomed the test!- j
monv of Tom Lawson as an aid in de-;
veloping the truth concerning the con- I
nection of prominent members of the
administration with stock gambling.
It teas quite -within the bounds of
anticipation that a “leak” of some
sort should be found. Two newspaper
correspondents at the capital finally
confessed that they had shamefully
violated the confidence of Secretary
Lansing in sending forecasts of the
peace note to the stock brokers who
employed them. Yet it is wholly un
true to say that the collapse of prices
in the market was due in substantial
measure to the premature disclosure
by the tw’o reporters of the contents
of the peace note. The market had been
preparing for a break for weeks, and
its severe fall on December 21 was
plainly due to Mr Lansing’s “verge of
•war” statement in the forenoon of
that day.
The worst aspect of the “leak” epi
sode. perhaps, is the revelation that a
maladroit partisanship should have
not hesitated to besmirch the gov
ernment's diplomacy, so far as possi
ble, in a great crisis of the war. The
rancors of our domestic politics were
still further embittered by the pas
sionate sympathies aroused in certain
minds by the European struggle, yet
nothing in the circumstances justified
such a reckless attempt to associate In
the eyes of the world an obviously
momentous diplomatic move of the
president with shameful greed in
money-making by the miserable proc
esses of stock gambling.
Already the solemnity of the crisis
through which the nation has been
passing since the peace note of the
president In December must have
made clear to the people and to the
whole world the hollowness of the
outrageous insinuations against those
charged with the responsibilities of
the government; but. if there are any
who still nurse the hope that some
mud will stick where much has been
thrown, they may be left to the solid
enjoyment of the study of the vo
luminous testimony taken by tho
“leak” committee, whenever the
House shall honor itself by authoriz
ing the printing of it.
GOVERNMENT PRICE FIXING
The achievement of ths federal trade
commission In promoting a settlement
of the conflict over prices between the
newsprint paper manufacturers and
the publishers of newspapers and pe
riodicals may not “mark a new era m
American life,” as the official state
ment of the commission express^ it,
yet the commission’s tentative suc
cess ip composing a trade quarrel of
peculiar intensity and bitterness seems
not only to vindicate those who cre
ated It. but also to afford the promise
of beneficial service In the future.
The issue that arose between th
paper makers and the publishers over
the price of “newsprint” was a real
test of the federal trade commission’s
capacity for usefulness. A monopolis
tic manufacturing combination, as the
publishers viewed it. sought to charge
extortionate and even rifinbus prices
for an Indispensable material. Many
of the small newspapers were driven
out of business entirely, while even
the most prosperous ones were obliged
to reduce the number of pages printed
in an issue, and in some cases to In
crease the sale price of papers to the
reading public. Had the course of the
paper manufacturers received no
check, a crisis of the greatest sever
ity would have confronted the news
papers of the country during the pres
ent year.
In asking the federal trade commis
sion to fix the price of newsprint pa
per and in promising to accept the
commission’s judgment as to a fair
scale of prices, the paper manufactur
ers have taken counsel of their own ne
cessities. The commission was not given
by the law the authority to fix the
prices of goods made by trusts or mo
nopolies. in the same sense that the
Interstate commerce commission may
fix railroad rates. In the public dis
cussion of the trust question a few
years ago. it was proposed by some
that a government commission be
given this power, but federal legisla
tion has not yet become so advanced
as a minority of big business men
and economists advised. The new
trade commission established by the
last Congress, however, was given
large powers of investigation into mo
nopolistic charges and practices and,
as is well stated by the commission’s
present spokesman, it “was created to
■provide an expert body for scientific
‘and economic readjustment rather
‘than prosecution, in order that the
‘public might not be compelled to wait
‘and suffer for relief during the slower
■processes of the criminal law.” In
the present case, one sees the develop
ment of these functions in the direc
tion of making the commission an ar
bitral board before which the parties
in controversy may voluntarily ap
pear.
It is true that the paper manufac
turers did not make their proposal
that the commission should fix the
price of newsprint paper until they
were seriously threatened with prose
cution under the federal antitrust laws.
But that fact is of less significance to
the public than the fact that an in
vestigation by the commission had
prepared the way for prosecution, in
case prosecution should be necessary,
and that in the commission can be
found all the machinery required for
effecting an adjustment without ap
pealing to and burdening the courts
with prolonged litigation.
It does not yet appear that the pub
lishers will accept the solution offered
by the manufacturers. Whether they
want prices to be fixed by a govern
ment board remains to be seen. But
if a precedent should now be estab
lished and if this precedent should be
followed in many similar cases here
after, it might be found eventually
that a practical machinery for adjust
ing trade disputes between sellers and
buyers concerning monopolistic prac
tices. short of a system of compulsory
price-fixing by government, had been
worked out.
POTATOES. CABBAGES, ONIONS
The things which lie nearest have
most to do with our peace and com
fort. and hence the question of house
hold supplies fills a large place in
every mind, whether it be that of a
householder or even a boarder. The
one may feel the pinch every day and
tho other once a week, and there is
no let up. The New York Sun's mar
ket expert discovers that the prices
of our common staple vegetables—
potatoes, cabbages and onions—have
reached a point where they are twice
as expensive as they were in civil war
times. There are no substitutes for
these very necessary items of food
that satisfy the household and the
boarders, so that the woman who buys
for her family has to face the diffi
cult problem of figuring out how to
make a dollar go where a quarter Or
a halt sufficed before. Comparing
wholesale prices in New York with
two months ago reveals that pota
toes have gone up 100 per cent, and
the price was high then; onions 366
per cent, cabbages 212% per cent,
beans 300 per cent, beets 100 per cent
and cauliflower 100 per cent. Wash
ington market merchants say that! the
supply of vegetables is so limited and
the demand is so great that the mar
ket cannot be held in check.
Nevertheless tlie market men are
not helping to check the soaring
prices. One of them bough* onions
at $3 a bag and held them until the
price reached sl4 for 100 pounds.
Then he let go, and cleared $500,000
In the process. This may have been
the man who visited West Springfield
market gardeners and sought to se
cure all the onions they had. Per
haps a good many were obtained in
this region, but in at least one in
stance the market gardener felt
morally bound to protect his cus
tomers and declined to give the
precious bulbs to the speculator. At
such a time as this it was painful
to read last week of the burning
of two carloads of onions in a storage
house at South Deerfield. The loss
of SBOOO is less to be mourned bhan
the fact that so many onions were
wasted. That fire was caused by an
overheated oil stove, which had been
introduced to keep* the onions from
freezing during the extreme weather.
Up in Maine, too, the burning of po
tato storehouses came from a similar
cause. In Sho name of our common
humanity let there be more care in
this matter, lest other staple vegeta
bles fail to serve the purpose for
which they were grown.
War in Europe is serving to put
humanity upon reduced rations, and
various things seem to be contributing
to place the people of the United
States tinder stress as regards veg
etables that are rapidly assuming the
character of luxuries. Doctors are
snore and more preaching that we eat
too much, and while folks are slow
to accept the teaching, they should at
least lie ready to use what food they
feel they must have with more care
and les© waste. Serious as any sit
uation may come to be. the American
habit of getting something out of it
keeps pace with it. The manager
of the Bayonne (N. J.) opera house
has achieved an unusual benefit per
formance. It was a “potato matinee”
to help the poor. He presented a
motion picture show, devised especial
ly for children, and everyone who en
tered had to deposit two potatoes at
the ticket office. We are asked to
believe that in this way and from
about 1300 people 70 bushels of tubers
were garnered. Th 6 story is helped
out. however, by the statement that
some of Bayonne’s wealthy inhabitants
produced as much as a quart of pota
toes for a ticket.
IV hen troubles pass beyond the
humorous stage, there is demand for
action. Hence approval of the inquiry
into the cost of foods which the fed-.
eral trade commission is to make at
the direction of President Wilson, If
Congress will provide the funds, for,
of course, the food problem is a na
tional one. state investigations must
be limited in their scope, but inquiry
by the federal board should give a
view of the entire country, with the
possibility of helpful legislation and
regulation applicable to the broad
question without discrimination of any
kind. If there be oppression in this
matter from the trusts, as there surely
is In speculation, let the facts be
known. As the Chicago Herald puts
it:—
Let the trade commission start lit
erally “from the ground up.” Let
it start with th e farmer and find what
production of everything, from eggs
to wheat and cattle, means in terms
of money and labor expenditure. He
doesn’t know, and nobody else knows.
Then let it follow the product to con
sumption. Many people assume high
prices don't start until they reach
some large organization. From the
economic standpoint they are just as
liable to start at the beginning as
anywhere else. Prices cannot be per
manently below the cost of production
under any circumstances. The coun
try is in the mood for an investiga
tion that will be long and deep and
thorough.
NEW YORK POSTMASTERSHIP
New York city’ gets in Congress
man Thomas G. Patten a new post
master as well qualified for the office,
probably, as any successful business
man would be who had not had the
advantage of special training. The
head of a line of steamboats estab
lished by his father, a graduate of
Columbia university and a member of
Congress for several terms, Mr Pat
ten cannot be disposed of as a job
hunting politician simply because he
is a member of the Tammany organ
ization. Yet the case illustrates one*
more the abomination of the political
system of selection in the filling of
postmasterships in this country.
Postmaster Morgan should have
been permitted to hold the office, not
withstanding that he is a republican.
He has been in the postal service of
New York city 45 years, starting as
a letter carrier in 1873. Through suc
cessive promotions he climbed as high
as the assistant postmastership in
1897, and in that office he served
about 10 years. President Roosevelt
made him postmaster and he has now
served as the head of the most im
portant posb-office in America under
the administrations of Presidents
Roosevelt, Taft and Wilson. Owing
to political bickerings engaged in by
Tammany and Senator O’Gorman, Mr
Morgan's successor was not appoint
ed last year, although Mr Mor
gan’s term expired in December.
1915. It was impossible to treat
the postmastership as a political
office without causing a rancor
ous struggle between democrat
ic factions in New York city, and
the president found it expedient to
make no second nomination, after the
office had been declined by State Sen
ator Wagner, until the presidential *
election had taken place.
Mr Morgan's renomtnation would
have been admirable, in view of his
45 years of service in the office. Post
master-General Burleson’s obvious at
tempt to discredit Mr Morgan's ef
ficiency through a special investiga
tion by department inspectors seems
like a cheap maneuver, designed to
meet the argument for Mr Morgan's
retention. If Mr Morgan has not been
a much better postmaster of New
York than Mr Burleson has been a
postmaster-general of the United States
the evidence is very misleading. Here
is a fresh reason for acceptance by
Congress of the Poindexter amend
ment. to the pending postal appropria
tion bill, which would place alt post
masters in the classified service.
RAILWAY EXPANSION
The difficulties in the way of rail
way expansion, particularly in cities
where an enlargement of facilities af
fects private or public interests, are
at present illustrated in a number of
places. In Chicago, where the Illinois
Central is anxious to increase its
trackage, the railroad is told that the f
price It must pay for a franchise is
electrification of its lines and the be
stowal of other expensive conven
iences upon the city. The Baltimore
Sun of Thursday contains an editorial
which asks explicitly what “price” the
city of Baltimore shall put upon the
railway franchises which are sought
by the Pennsylvania railroad for its
proposed extensive improvements. A
downtown passenger station and elec
trification are suggested as the proper
compensation for the right to take
property for railway purposes. “In
‘addition to the greater convenience of
'a downtown station situated in the
‘neighborhood of the city hall, the
‘erection of one in that location would
•greatly stimulate development in the
■heart of the business section, and the
■city authorities should properly take
■cognizance of the fact.”
So says the Sun, seeing an oppor
tunity to enlist the Pennsylvania
railroad and its money in a project
for improving the city. In New York,
where the New York Central has
agreed to remove its tracks from the
street level on the west side and in
crease the facilities for moving .1
freight Into and out nt Manhattan isl
and, the project u blocked by organ- j