New-York tribune. [volume], November 18, 1915, Page 8, Image 8

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First to Laut?the Truth: New??Kditorials
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m TH1 TEIBUNI *A?th absolute safety? for
if sHsoatlafactioo result*, in any case THE
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hack upon request. No red tapi", no quib?
bling. \ve make good promptly if the ?d?
ert i.ser doe? not.
?Another Year of War.
Tlie netting of French arid Hriti-.li war
councils in Paris is mor?? than an evident'?
? i new and better co-ordinated military
operations, it is ?me more authentic sii.ii of
the expectation and purpose of the Franc.
and Britir-h to go on with the war to the
end. As for the Russians, we have the
words of eminent German publicists to
base a belief that there is no sign of weak*
ening in the Slav state, and in addition
there is'- the promis?? in Paris that Rus.-ii
and even Italy will join i" this council
I?resent?.-..
.or those who cling to the Napoleonic
precedent thil new drawing together of the
foes of Germany will lecall that agree?
ment signed by Um fots of Napoleon on
March l>, 1S14, which sealed the doom of
the great Emperor and dashed the ?last
hopes he had cherished of making a sepa?
rate peace with one of his antagonists.
In the militery preparations fore
shadowed'by the Paris conference there '.?
a guarantee of at least another year of
war. Within this time the most sanguine
believer in .".Hied victory by the strategy
of attrition does not expect that German
numbers will decrease to the point where,
decisive victory will be assured, though
many believe that in the late summer their
losses will compel the Austro-Germons to
shorten their lines in the East and par?
haps in the West.
The period of open campaigning of the
old-fashioned sort stopped in the West in
September, l'.?14. It terminated in the
East in August of this year. The Aus
tro-Italian campaign never passed this
point and the Serbian campaign must be
regarded as a minor detail, comparable to
the Napoleonic venture in Spain, which,
after temporary success, proved to ho the
ruin of many imperial reputations and
the graveyard of unnumbered French con?
scripts.
As the situation now stands not one ol
the great nations engaged has suffered
losses buch as would lead it to make peace
on terms now obtainable. Franca, the
greatest sufferer, would become a rataal
of Germany if s-he yielded now. To yield
would be to lots the last hope of regainint*
Alsace-Lorraine, of cleaving the Germans
from the open Belgian frontier, and it
would mean the payment of a huge indem?
nity and the sacrifice of colon-.'' .
For Russia, peace now would mean tho :
end of the dream of Constantinople, the
surrender of Poland and the Courland. For
the Romanoff ?dynasty it would mean the
end, for only victory can now stave off
an revolution. Economically Rus.-ia
would return to German eontrolt and all
that the war has meant in industry, as
well as In netionaliam and religion, v.uui?.
be sacrificed.
\? for England. >he has only begun to
fight. With a population in England. Scot?
land and Wales about tqual to thai of Pru.?
sia, ?England ?Soot leos than 400,000 men in
the hr.?t year. Pruv-ia more than 1,900,000.
At last all Britain and the Empire are
awake to the 1.ature of the German peril
?ad to the realization that the best chance
they Will ever have to cru?h the moot dan*
gcrous rival since Napoleon is in their
own hands.
In Champagne, in Poland, and now in
their drive to the Near East with Egypt as
an objective, the Germans have Struck
?MOWS at the existence of three great na?
tions. They have lieen so far SOOCeesful
that peace now would mean a permam-nt
peril to all these nation?. Therefore not
one of these nations ?tan Of will think of
peace.
What is ?still little understood in Amer?
ica is that the war is a war for existence
foe France and for Great Britain. Ger?
many has challenged the right of France
to exist, of Great Britain to preserve her
world empire. Her statesmen, her writers,
her teachers have proclaimed the doctrine
that Prance mu.-t be ?rushed. Great Rrit?
ain ?limin?t?-?! as a world power, that on
the ruin* of the two national structures
there might rioc a Teutoi ?c world empire
What Germany ha.- been taug! t she has
put in practice. A part, a material part.
of the great project of Kernhardi has been
rwlired Sixteen months of war see G? r
meny supreme from the Bere.ina to the
Aisne and from the Baltic to the Golden
Horn. .** new expedition * already in prep
oration for the thrust at Egypt, and Ger
man agents are buoy stirring up insurrer
I alcutta.
A yta.- from now exhaustion without
defeat me) lestroy the German ambition.
A year Iron, now all the great combatan?.,
may ?be ready to return to'pea?-?- on a basis
that all cun accept. Btlt there is no such
basin ?now. Germany eaa not and will not
consent ?togive '?pall her mightyeoaqoetti
merely for ?peace, t ptace that would bring
a staggering an?! sterile debt Germany'.-'
foes cannot tgrte ". peace whil?- their v?ry
existence j?-. in ?danger.
Not until Germany ha:, conquered or
ST aorld ambitions fade U
felt th? ; ? ? ?pon her own fro.*,".?
hostile armies and of want and misery
Mithin her boundaries is there hope thnt
Germany will consent to return to
Europa of August, I9i*i, and not
i hey arc coinjuered ran Britain, Fran
Ru-'siu atfree to any other conditiot
peacr.
Napoleon at *h?? ienith of hi**? power
ready for peace that left France ?-up
in Europe, but ultimately bis wismiss
In- lia.l invaded and crushed, a?
ninny liai failed to crush her oppon
realize?! that only when France ha?
turned to her old frontiers and the d
<jf woi-I ! empire had been laid in the 1
land ashes (,f defeat could there Ik- a r
', in EurtpC which permitted all natioi
??iijt'.v existen.??'.
The war in Kurope must go ou bee
the Issu? of the ?rar is not a province
principle. In 1871 pss.es wbs possibl?
cause German** BOUgfat only a frontier
, unity. For the los?- t? France of Al
?and Lorraine Europe cared little, bee
' it did not seemingly destroy the halan?
power, Germany. Itaiy und Austria <*
make peace in 1866 beeuUM no m
! " i"-.m question was at ?take.
To-day i to peace is possible because
issus i? the independence of Kurope,am
independence not merely of Belgium
Serbia, but of France, and the exist?
<f the British Empire are imperi
by Cern?an .?tipr?'macy at Constantinr
and Italian safety is destroyed if Aus
remains a German subject-nation, \
Geraten naval power seated on the A
ntic at Trieste, (attaro, and to-nior
at Valona.
The war will tro on because there is
? ?ingle point t?f agreement conceivi
between the contestants. The Cien
tin am of world empire is still within
KaisetV grasp mi any basis of peace t
can to-day be proposed. Spain and Fra
fought for European supremacy. The?,
turn endeavored to reproduce the Hon
System and the Roman sway. They fail
but until their failure was definitive p
manent peace was impossible. German;
t<>-day playing the same nile. There ?
be no peaes until she, too. abandons it.
Nothing is more foolish or more fui
to-day than talk or thought of peace, p
ticularly among neutrals. There can be
peace for men fighting for their lives ur
life is assured. There can be no assurai
of life for France, Russia or Great Briti
until the German dream of world pov
ha.? been destroyed. It took Europe t
?/ears to dispose of the Napoleonic ment
it ?vill take a shorter time to dispose
the German, became it is Napoleon!
with Napoleon left out, but the time i
peace i.? .?till lar in the future.
Fortunately for France and Great Br
ain?for the world, a.? The Tribune belie.
?the peril of complete German success h
been dirposed of. France, Russia a
Great Britain keep the field with growi
power end unshaken will. The blood I
on Germany has begun to tell; the Briti
naval noose has been drawn to suffocatk
I German advance has terminated in t
Fast end the Went; only in the Balkans
there progress still?
All doubt of the outcome of the war a?
military problem has passed. Such tlou
as there might be as to the endurance ai
will of the Allies diminishes in the face
re-rent evidence, of which the Paris co
ference is but one detail. But one, pe
haps two years more of war are seeming
inescapable, for peace is impossible whi
those who rule Germany cling to the belii
that it is within their power to organi
Europe, dominate the lesser peoples ar
build upon the ruins of French, Bri
ish ami Russian empires the structure <
"Deutschland ?ber Alles."
Letting Nature Have Her Way.
A surgeon of Chicago has made
known that he is resolved to let one c
his patienta die. The circumstances ?
the ca-e are sufficiently perplexing to a?
count for the variety of opinions ta
M d upon the wisdom and e.-senti;
justice of this decision, but if the BUI
geon'l own views on the matter are reall
what they are represented to be by the re
porters to whom he seems to have talke
with such wonderful freedom, and eve
eagerness, they suffice in themselves t
justify all the misgivings of his severe?**
critics.
The particular? of the case have no
been published. The surgeon seems t
have been too much occupied in discus.-ir
ethical questions to find time to tell th
world what he wag actually confront*
with. It is to be frathere<l, however, tha
the patient is an infant, and the mail
point is that he is destined to ?lie. thougl
he might be saved by a surgical opera
tion. By what operation we are not told
'ami touching his ailment all we know i
that he came into the world with ceitail
?"physical flaws." which, the surgeon sayi
''would undoubtedly make him an invali?
during his first year." This alone coub
hardly be accepted as a sufficient reasor
for letting the boy die, but the surgeor
has a more potent reason: he thinks tha
if the loy lived he would "probably" ht
defective. On the strength of this prob
lability he decided, according to the ae
counts, to let him ?lie. or. as he puts it, tc
let Nature take her course.
It is difficult, not knowing the condi?
tions, to d?termine exactly what N:iturr
'is drrving at in this interesting case. The
surgeon seems to be satisfied that she is
prepared to correct what she, no less than
he, rectgnizes as it grave blunder. The
child eculd be saved, but ?taring it would
be interfering with Nature, who would be
revenged not on the child alone but pos?
sibly on its offspring. "Defectives," he
'says?aor so the reporters make him say
"are prolific. It would reproduce its
kind, and these initial ?leformities would
be magnified and multiplied."
Thin is remarkabl,?, because it appears
that the mother U a mult?para with
three "line heal'hy children." and that
there II nothing at all to indicate a fumily
taint on her side or the fatherV. [Jpg*
v.hat rea OU lie ?oncltides that the "phys?
ical flaw?" would be multiplied in fnt?ro
gsnerationi bt does not ?ay, but, that por
I haps may be allowed to pass as a minor
(consideration, the principal one being the
probability of inferiority in the child it>elf.
Apart from ell iptcumtions
on the heritability of the flaws, it will
occur to some critics to a-k whether the
surgeon is right in assuming that he is
gntwaraUt only to his own con.-cience,
inasmuch as the ca.ie was "given him to
decide."' It is very true that we cannot
be sun how ?Strong the reasons are for
his decision, but according to the reports
h< :s .-?ting on a probability. 1 ' I
very safe course? Certain forms ??f men?
tal deficiency which seen.e.l hop? les- some
years ago are enormously Improved to-day
when treated with thyroid gland; there
is now reason to believe that others may
in some measure be benefited by neo-tal?
Varean. These probably have no relation
whatever to the particular case under con?
sideration, but they justify a doubt as to
the saffty of suffering ?lectors to decide
whether to let men live or die by what
they conceive to be probabilities. Some of
them might be well guided, but !?. allow
them so much liberty is to extend their
function in a dangerous measure. ?Docton
M yet are neither gods nor executioners.
Museological Ptomaines.
It is rather unfortunate that sand?
wiches and the Mustttn of Natural His?
tory should be linked, though momenta?
rily, in the public ni.'nd, since New York
ers, raised on the Raines law, are only
to., familiar ?with a species of sandwich
whose only proper habitat would be th^
Museum of Natural History. The horrid
thought that such might finally have
found lodgement there will give them all
the more anxiety for the wtllbting of
Commi-.ioner and Mr-, Kingsbury and
Dr. Wile, and will ?excite, too. their pro?
found sympathy in the indisposition of
these distinguished fellow townspeople.
But there may be some comfort in re?
membering that every day sees fresh
demonstrations of the power of sugges?
tion. No one can deny that sandwiches
eaten at the museum are eaten in an un?
pleasantly suggestive environment. Could
this circumstance alone have caused the
illness of the Kingsbtiry?; and Dr. Wile?
It will be Impotsibie to say with any cer?
tainty, of course, until Dr. Haven Emer?
son, the Commissioner of Health, has com?
pleted his analysis of one of the unhappy
sandwiches served at the .Monday even?
ing meeting. But if suggestion is actually
the culprit we may look for a .-peedy re?
covery of tho three invalids.
And in the mean time we may s?.ln<*e
ourselves with Dr. Henry Fairfiehl Os
born's argument against a more serious
cause: "Many of the best known scien?
tific men in the country were at the meet?
ing, and none of them was ill in the morn?
ing." Scientists, as every one knows, are
suggestion proof. If their stomachs had
rebelled we might well have been alarmed.
Liberties of the Picture Dealer.
A well known London firm of picture
dealers, who at one time hail a branch in
this city, endeavored lately to recover
damages of a dealer in Bath for alleged
talse and fraudulent representations in the
sale of certain sketches attributed to Con?
stable. The particulars need not at
present be considered; suffice it that the
purchasers of the sketches depended mainly
for their claim upon the following letter
written by the defendant when a-ked to
give the pedigree of his supposed Con?
stables :
l purchased them about five or six month*
ago from an old la.iy shortly before he
death. She told me that, ?the sketches be?
longed to her father, who ?ras an srtist'l
model, an?! he got them from "Constable."
I purchased from hi r ah..is* seventy B?
eighty, in fact everything in picture line
she had. Some more I am leading OR f
you. The old lady's Dams aros "<??,if?ini";
her husband was an Italian or ?some for?
eigner. The name of her father, "the artist's
model," I forpot to as'-; -.bout.
The buyers found that on the margins
o," several were the word- ".I. Constable.
R. A." or "J. Constable fecit," but after?
ward learne?! that in reality they were
?lone ?by one Warren, and ?having reason
to believe that the story about the ol?l lady
?ailed Golfani was a pare invention, they
proceeded to sue the dealer of Rath. At
the trial the defendant admitted that he
had been told the .?ketches were Warren's,
but that, he said, might mean that they
?samt from Warren's collection. As to
Mrs. Golfani, he confessed that she was an
imaginary person, but he was obliged to
invent her, "knowing how dealers in Lon?
don tried to find out the source of such
things." As to the signatures, it was true
that he had inscribed them himself, but the
skttchte had been offered to him as "very
clever things," anil seeing he himself
thought they were Constable's, the mere
writing of the name arts no violation of his
conviction.
The interesting upshot tras that the jury
disagreed. Apparently the confession of
lying was not regarded by all a impres?
sive. Does this mean that the old princi?
ple of rnrcnt nnptor is unlimited in its
application, or that there is something in
the very nature of picture dealing that
justifies a free cxen i.?e of the imagina?
tion?
John Demenjoz, th. aviator, who hailed
Mi.?.? Liberty while up?*i?ie down in the air,
.njo;.e?l an aspect entirely in keeping wi'h
the times.
e
No lli'prlaal? on Klo h?n ? Mr? r ? ?
Net so long a* the legislative pantry con
tiaaea to satisfy.
The Allies will riot have TurVey for
Thanksgiving, this sear.
Liberia's Neutrality Violated.
,i rom "" ?'...si.'.i?'.i BffaSNaaa I
Alleged violations of I.ib.rian *,?? ,'
hv Genatay, especially *hr..ugh its wir-les*
telegraph systOSB, "r>' Mid to he ?aaaoyiag
France. Protests to the Halted States,
which is regarded an Liberia's patron, may
result. The 1'rnted Sta'.-?. could, of <.o.i?e,
make representations to l.iheiia <>r le'iniany,
or both, in the matter, bot .American j>:?tron-|
ege "f the little African repohlic ii sot -.f
the war ?aoaaibility sort. -he capitsil of I I?
beria is Monrovia, in honor of the AaMRCOO
President, but the Monroe Doctrine apiilies
to this continent only. i
REMEMBER THE LUSITANIA"
Comment of Reader of a Recent
Tribune Editorial.
I To the I. i'.tor of The 1 riburr.
Sir: To the gentleman who wrote the re?
cent editorials on the British mistake snd
the rem? mbrance of the Lusitania. will you
please convey my sincere appreciation? Than
the last one. no article has stirred ray blood
more since the days of the Civil War, because
manifestly it came from a heart, wrung with
the sense of utter helplessness in the hour
??.hen ?'ir country, blindfolded, I sadly fear.
| lu-r way among the hot piough
ghams.
<>f course we are not the people North or
?-until who fought the war to a finish. De?
ll i??. ?lie circumstance that we ?aere all or
us. earlier or later, imported, we were sub
? . >.ll\ ,1 homogeneous people. We are so
BO longer, and I greatly fear that ease, com
'ort, ?urces?! have so developed the pocket
? ? that it 13 really the only one that is
responsive.
It BBsBBSI me to nee one new-paper after
, another Ott those I have been accustomed to
. read joining in a war dance over the protect
to England and the necessity of tnforcing it.
? an not the author of these two articles give
us one which may help to open the eyes of
those of us who are riding for a sure fall"
They Beam to think that it's enough to say,
"Ok, England Brill never go to war with us'"
Which may be true enough; but why need
she? Alieady one sees suggestions in the
daily pr? s* as to ?.chat might be the situation
if we were left to maintain the Monroe Doc?
trine without a friend in the world.
New York. NaT, It, Iflf, READER.
Americanism First.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Siri ht a t?a.h reader of The Tribune
ytj'ir editorials on the pusillunimous attitude
; of the Washington government | President
Wilson i as to the murdering of Americun
eitissng on the high seas console me a little
for being an American whose paternal ances?
tor landed on '.hesj shores prior to 1?', l?.
Where are the statesmen, if we have any,
placing themselves on record as to whether
this Is a nation, with a position among the
i powers of the world, or simply a dumping
'ground for the countries of the world, or for
those who come hero to get what there is
here, but still retain their love and alleg?
iance to th?* land from which they have fled
for the purpose o! enjoying liberty and im?
proving their material condition?
Colonel Roosevelt seems to be the only
Presidential politician i pardon the word pol?
itician, but it expresses my thought) who ha?1
strongly expressed himself on the murdeiing
: highwayman, the (?erman government; and
I an el the opinion that this is a good timt
for the several Republican aspirants for the
no ruination for the Presidency to place them?
selves on record as to their Americanism,
unhyphenated. HENRY C. WEEKS.
Mamaroncck, N. Y., Nov. 15, IMS.
Mr. Wilson's Accomplishment.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: "The New Yori: Worlil" in an edi?
torial in its issue of the ISth instant bus
the following: "All that has been gained in
the way of subjecting German submarine
warfare to th?* rules of international law
has been fi....- ? ?: by President Wilson, but
American diplomacy cannot undertake to do
ths work of the British navy," and as a
heading to the above asks this question:
"Hut What Is the British Navy Doing?"
Will "The World" kindly tell us what the
?'.??m?an navy is doing? What has it done,
and what does it propose doing, Bnd what
has President Wilson done to subject Ger?
man submarir.o warfare to the rules of in?
ternational lav,'.' For answer I would ask
"The New York World" to carefully read the
excellent editorial in The Tribune of the 11th
instant under the head "A Second Lusi?
tania."
"Amencnn diplomacy" as r?J)resenteti b;,
President Wilson "cannot undertake to do
the work" of its own navy, far less inter?
fering with that of the most powerful navy
: the world has ever seen.
MRS. JOHN B. CAMPBELL.
New York, Nov. 13, 1915.
Our Rights as Americans.
To the Editor of Tho Tribune.
Sir: I read with much pleasure your edi?
torial of to-day. "Pitiless Publicity." It was
B message that must strike a note of patriot?
ism in a heart truly American, but perhaps
dulled rind stagnant, due to the "new patriot
i m" established by the present administra?
tion. A man's sense of duty between right
and srrOBg may be prompted by any of many
motives, my idea being that we should un?
hold at any cost the honor of our country
and our rights as Americans, fought for and
given to us by our forefathers, and to be
Milling at all times to tight for, if needs bo,
the cause of justice and righteousness.
JOHN R. BOWMAN, Jr.
Putnam, Conn., Nov. 15, 1915.
i _
Forgotten Ideals.
| To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Pieuse allow me to thank you most
eoHially for your magnificent editorial on
the new patriotism '"Remember the Lual
t h? in" as copied in to-day's "Boston Tran?
script."
lint* can only hope that its meaning, carriel
by the biting and burning words in which you
clothe it, may niter into the placid brains it:
Washington before we have fallen much fur
'.ri r in tho world's esteem.
What becomes of Wilson's loudly trampetrd
idealism that brought him the votes of maty
|.! men, in view of his perpetual disregard
of it in hts political actions ? L. ?". PARKER.
Auburt dale, Ma?s., Nov. 15, 191,",.
Reprint Them!
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: May I congratulate you on your
spien IM editorials entitled "Remember the
Lusitania" and "Pitiless Publicity." I should
be glad if, as was suggested, they could be
published in pamphlet form. I want to send
several copie- to my friends abroad, who are
( beginning to think the United States too ;n
dirTerer.t or too weak to protect the lives of
it? dtissaa. M. e. decourbey.
Bryn Mawr. Penn.. Nov. 15, 1915.
Appreciated.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
vr: Your editorial in this morning's Trib
BBS :? the strongest one that I have reud in
H-.ii-d to our duty in the matter of protee
t "ii to our own people, averting *f_ture dan?
ger, maintaining our national ideals and fur?
ther doing the things that we owe to the
world and civilization. I am bankful for
yon courage in coming out ho plainly.
WILLIAM 0. BUTTON.
Philadelphia, Nov. 15, 1915.
The New Patriotism.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Appreciation is expressed for your
new patriotism editorial ["Remember the
! BSitaala**] reprinted in "The Boston Evening
Transcript" of >ostcrdi?y. A friend tells Be
he mailed a copy to London today, so I am
not slone. LINCOL?N RI?HTER.
Besten, Nov. 16, hmb.
ASSISTANCE.
NOTE TO FOLLOW NOTE
Lusitania Precedent in Our Contro
versy with England.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Germans must have a keen sense o
humor, despite reports to the contrary. Th
lcomments of the German press on Presiden
Wilbon's note to England show- real humoi
1 They express some doubt that our letter
I v. ritir.g President will follow words wit!
_ction if the necessity should arise.
How ridiculous! Of cour, o ?ProsldeOt Wil
son will follow his words with action, but th
action will consist of reaching for anothe
sh-af of paper and penning another liter;?n
masterpiece to England. He may even tel
England that the seizure of another Ameri
can ship will be considered a distinctly dis
courteous act.
If President Wilson had followed his ?.vor?!
to Germany with real action the Ancona out
: rage would not have occurred. Reparatioi
? for the Lusitania victims, whose bodies an
scattered over the sands of the oce;in, wouli
have been made. There would not have beei
any attack made on the Arnbic, but then thi
President would not have gained a diploman?
, "triumph!"
If President Wilson had followed word!
with action -the kind of action that Theo
dore Roosevelt would have taken ha?l he beer
at the helm of the country- Americans woul?
rot be despised in Mexico. Americans woul.
!not have been forced to stand impotently bj
while filthy bands of Mexican outlaws out?
raged their women. American sailors urn
soldiers would not have been slaughtered bj
outlaw bands.
In tho face of the action that has been
'taken with Germany and Mexico does an>
?sane man really believe for one instant that
i England will heed the latest note'.' Downing
Street will probably answer it, but the an?
swers will probably be about as elaeldat?B|
as the German notes on the Lusitania case
were.
Democratic newspapers must have a won?
derful sense of humor when they comment on
the "triumphs" of the administration's for?
eign policy how President Wilson has kept
us out at war. People have n different name
for the man who allows every person to rule
roughshod over him and ?lni>? not retaliate.
?That is just what the Halted States has been
' doing.
May the good Lord deliver us from another
Wilson, v.ho appears to be actuated in every -
thing he does from the political point of
view. liive to us another Roosevelt. Be
nade hi.s mistakes, but any man who does
things makes mistake*. Roosevelt's own pet
term, "mollycoddle," tits the man who does
nothing but trim his sails for the political
wind?.
Of course, the Chicago beef barons haven't
anything to do with t^ie note to England. It
was directed solely by the master mind of
President Woodrow Wilson. Now if he could
! only semi Pociist Hill Rryan along v. i'h
1 it what a load of junk we would get rid of at
one time! But then, it is brutal to wish any?
thing like the perpetual Presidential can.lt
liate on the English. Why not send him to
? he Kaiser to revenge the Lusitania's dead?
E.ekiel and his trumpet might go along, too.
New York. Nov. t'J, lilt, p. p.
Possible Price of Peace.
, To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: We are now haviag a recurrence of
the epidemic of secretly instigated l.v.vl????
ness which swept the country a few months
ago; we are also, la the .sinking of the An?
cona, face to face with another Lusitania
crisis. Where will it all end? When will
it all end?
Cnder the guise of h ??riet neutrality we
have watched and waited in ignominious su
pineness. while within our borders have been
brazenly perpetrated the most flagrant and
insolent violations of our ?latu.? as an im?
partial non-combatant. We have protested,
yes; we shall probably continue to protest.
Of what avail are protests in a situation such
n? -mu eonfroata w?, such ?s bus confronted
si- iaily growing worse laatSOd "f better
since the outbreak of the European war?
The time for "strict accountability" notes
Is past; so 1a the time for toleration of inter*
fBisaos with and destruction of our legiti?
mate industries; of being content with techni?
cal evasions of the questions at issue, or of
Is studied ignoring of our official communica?
tions concerning them; of accepting without
emphatic resentment the inexcusable out?
rages being daily visited upon us; of playing
politics with preparedness. Are we cowards?
At?- ITS "too proud to tight"? What ails us,
anyway?
The pacificist's slogan is "Peace at any
' price!" God forbid. To plunge this country
into war would, indeed, be B calamity. To
itind ourselves suddenly but not without due
I warning, if we would but heed that wl:tch lg
going on around us -rent, by internal dis
BldsiB and. at the same time, attacked from
j without, would be an infinitely greater ca?
lamity. And that is precisely Srhat we BIS
-I", ?line toward; is what will happen to in
unless events take a decided turn for the bet?
ter; which isn't at all likely.
Prating vainly of a great diplomatic tri?
umph, trusting implicity in the efficacy of the
i doctrine of the higher humanity, il almo?'.
?ludicrously childish. With men's passions in
! flamed as they are throughout practically the
I entire world to-day; with strife, pillage,
: rapine, treachery and universal chaos ram?
pant, what right hrive we to expect, to hope
j i ven, that a soft word will turn away the
vrath of warring mankind, or scholarly
phrases stem the tide of a world crisis?
If this be jingoism, then is the writer a
jingo. But it isn't jingoism- -as this coun?
try ??' destined to learn at no remote!v dis?
tant day. HOMER DUNNE.
Yonkers, N. V.. Nov. 11. 1915.
Depopulated Poland.
I To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: One statement made by your Petro?
grad correspondent, M. Tcheikesoff, in his
?article in The Tribune of November !? calls
'for a correction without which it would be
'misleading. He ?ays: "Of the 14.H00.000 in?
habitants of the provinces occupied by the
; Germans. ?',,000,000 have fled before the ad?
vance of the modern Huns." I do not wish
?to dispute his figures, the accuracy of which
I neither he nor any one else is in a position
?to judge, except, perhaps, a few Russian and
?German officials who do not usually vouch?
safe information of any kind to the public.
{?That M. TeheikesofT should have said is tha?.
| these ??,000,000 people fled, not before the ad
I vanee of the modern Huns, but before the
retreat of the Cossacks. It is now fairly welL
known that the Russians laid waste the I
'.?.lio!?? country behind them as they retired,!
burning cities, towns, villages and farms andl
even compelling the wretched peasants to|
burn their crops and pasture to prevent their'
u?" by the German troops. Statements to'
this effect have appeared in The Tribune and
?other American newspapers, as well as in the
English and German press, and may be ac?
cepted as accurate, for they are in full ac?
cord with well known Russian military
methods. It is conceivable that such vast
numbers have fled into the interior of Rus-'
sia, but they were escaping not from the
Huns, but from a desert. When cities of the
size of Brest-Litovsk, with a population of:
.'ill.inn), are burned to the la.st stick, it is'
?vident that the inhabitants must fly el-?-'
where, and it is equally evident that they
would not be permitted to go in the direc?
tion of the German lines.
Of the 8,000,000 who, as M. TeheikesofT
tacitly admits, remained behind in the con?
quered provinces the great majority belong
to the purely Polish and Jewish elements,
and ha?*e welcomed the Huns with open arm?,
regarding them as deliverers.
In these warlike times it is almost im?
possible to hear unbiassed opinions on any
subject connected with the great . onflict, even
from those who, one would think, should be
truly neutral. But it makes one smile to
hear a Cossack talking ot "the Huns."
EDGAR DE HOND.
Perch Lake. N. Y., Nov. 11, 1915.
A Question of Values.
To ?he Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Would you please tell me through
your paper why an American life is so valu
Bbls SB a British ship and so worthies* on
American soil viz., along the Mexican j
border? "COK."
Grahamsville, N. Y., Nov. ?, 1915. I
I INJUSTICE TO WEST POINTER:
Its Graduates Handicapped in Gain
ing Entrance to the Army.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: In regard to the shortage of offlctr
that will exist in our army ir. time of w?
and the function which Wet Petal I I
the regular service, there ?ire several point
that do not seem to have had e? i lid? ration
First, reconls ?rill show that seldom, il ?-'.(i
! lu*e the e.'iilet corps been op to th? nv...mun
i providud lor by law. This i? due to tjri
[ceases. The time of examination? 1- ???
fixed that if a candidate from a gives dis
trict fails in his entrance examinations th?
vacancy which he was to fill must rem.il
open for an entire year. Again, the ls*r:
are ?ucr as to d?courage Sty man vvh?
i wishes to enter the military piefeeaiee fron
doing so through the | th? aci.der.-.y
Vacancies in the officered ranks of thl
army are filled tirst from the gr-?.iustin|
elaee ut West Point; second, from the n
listed men of the army; thud, from c?r*?'i
military schools selected by the War D?
pert-Beat, and, laaily, from siviltss l if'
Now, notice the ?lifTerer.ce in requirement?
The law says la effect te the West Pointer:
"You are being sent te the beet militar?
I school in the world. You will have UM be?!
I system of instruction tin?; can be d-\ised;
sill your education will ?be ?along militar)
! In.? s and will have for its object tS gradu?t?
? you as nearly a perfect oflcor a? it il pos
i sibls to produce. But, in spite of ail thi-,
lour leleas do not consider that you i
I lit to wear shoulder straps Bad take your
1 place among the other otlicers ef the army
I until your full four years are up."
To the enlisted man, however, the state?
ment is different. Although it is conceded
.that the education at West. Point is probably
the best military education to he obtained in
the world, it is by law dtclarcl so *B> BO
fcrior to that obtained in the enlisted ranks
of the army that, while four yean BIS *??
.quired at West Point, only two are I** I
I in the ranks in order to gain a commission.
An illustration taken from my own ex?
perience will show how- this works eut. I
took the entrance examinations aitl a UBS
whom I will designate as A. I BOSSOd and A
?failed. I put in my four years and after a
year's service met A, also an oftVer, at a
man?uvre cs.mp. He hid been ?"omti.vion*.
from the ranks two yeun before i ?rai com?
missioned from West Point, u'.d. n- we we*e
both in the name branch of the service, be
naked me just those two years.
The case of men commissioned from mill*
taiy schools la not so flagrant, but is never
th?le.?s also unjust to West Pointers But
the co-Moissieetag of ci\?linns who h-*e
never had any Military training, but who
have political pull, is criminal.
The answer is naturally to abolish Welt
Point instead of enlarging it, as you have
advocated. It costs the people of the I'mted
States millions of dollars, ar.d t.?k<-.? a great
numb.-r of officers away from their regiments
for administration and educational pu
if Ceagrees feels, as it svidcntlj .loe?, that
two yi-ars la the rooks, or four yeors i" v
run-for-pio:'.! military BChOOl, er the evr
Bise ef their own ju?lgment civ .!
iaae from their own constituents a'.l BfO"
duce officers equal to and therefore entitled
to rank with the grodoot? s ef Stott P? '? u''>'
maintain West Point at all? It i ob
a useless expenditure of money at a time
when government receipts are already f*r
behind the expenditure-.
In view of such discrimination it is not to
be w-or.dere.l at t! ,v We?' P...r.t ? ? SOt ?n
attractive proposition to a man who .! I '
a military career; and I \entutc to >a> that
wire the capacity of the Military Academ?'
doubled the proportion of vacancies would
be VOey much greater than it Is now. Per?
sonally. I am absolutely loyal to West Point,
and deeply appreciative of the spirit of f*?ir
..' laetlee and of the high sense "f
honor which is* inculcated m its graduate?.
Without conceit, I believe our cotnmercisl
standards would be higher and our country
better if hundreds? of thou.-aini? of men *?itl?
West Point ideale were injected into our
civilian life. Rut my advice, under present
conditions, to any man who wishes to ?elect
the military a. his life prufes.ion would
be wiiliou*. ?,u?.?tlon te let West Point ?ion?
uiiil enter Irte BOBSSSlseloaed rank? of 'b*
army tluougli OM Of the other avenues.
J. B. W. GARDINER.
New York, Nov. 13, 1915.