New-York tribune. [volume], May 28, 1918, Image 1

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JXetoffl
Vol. LXXVm No. 26,126
Thai Tribun? Am*n]
I Copyright IMS?
WEH
First to Last?the Truth: News * Editorials - Advertisements
aatbttit?
Shower? to-day and to-morrow ; ?mtet
to-morrow; moderst?, shift*
Ins ?riada.
TUESDAY. MAY 28, 1918
* ? * ?
(mm?mmm$Ut Ortmimr New Tort* **n<* I TlTR-vK C
Germans Drive Allies
_Repulsed With Hi
Back to the Aisne;
?aoy Loss in Flanders
President Demands
New War Tax Now
Wilson Tells Congress Renewed German At?
tack Strengthens His Purpose to Put
Through Bill at This Session; Says
"Politics Is Adjourned"
Es?cutive Would Assess Profiteers,
Swollen Incomes and Luxuries
Attacks Lobbyists Who May Attempt to In?
fluence Legislation; Says Fairness to
Business of Nation Makes Action
Necessary at This Time
(Special Dispatch to Th* Tribune^
WASHINGTON, May 27.?The last lingering doubt as to whether
there would be an additional tax law before the adjournment of Congress
was removed to-day when President Wilson went before a joint session
of the two houses and delivered a message to the American people, giving
his reasons for its necessity.
The business interests of the nation must be relieved of the uncer?
tainty as to how much this year's income and profits would be taxed, the
President said. The people, he insisted, are ready and willing to bear any
burden and undergo am- sacrifice.
The President recommended that Congress turn to war profits and
incomes and luxuries for the additional taxes.
Then he gave this sharp warning to Congress:
"Politics is adjourned."
At the close of his prepared speech the Preste, ?nt referred to the
renewal of the German drive. He had received the r, ews as he left the
White House for the Capitol, and there was a touch cf the dramatic in
his statement to Congress that it strengthened the purpose he tried to
express.
It was announced that public hearings would be held early in June
by the House Ways and Means Committee. Predictions were made that
with the assistance of the Senate Finance Committee the bill would go
before the House in July. I
Aside from the discussion of the necessities for immediate action
1 y the President, there was a warning to the lobbyists, who always flock !
to Washington during the considertaion of any revenue bill.
"If lobbyists hurry to Washington," President Wilson said, "to a,t- i
tempt to turn what you do in the matter of taxation to their protection !
or advantage the light will beat also upon them." j
Making he warning almost a threat, he continued: "There is abundant
fuel for the light in the records of the Treasury with regard to profits of
every sort."
Full Text of Wilson's Address
Urging Passage of Revenue Bill j
The President's address was as follows:
"Gentlemen of the Congress:
"It is with unaffected reluctance that I come to ask you to pro- j
long your session long enough to provide more adequate resources for
the Treasury for the conduct of the war. I have reason to appreciate
as fully as you do how arduous the session has been.
"Your labors have been severe and protracted. You have passed
a long scries of measures which required the debate of many doubtful
quest.ons of judgment and many exceedingly difficult questions of
principle as well as of practice. The summer is upon us, in which
labor and counsel are twice arduous, and are constantly apt to be
impaired by lassitude and fatigue. The elections are at hand, and
we ought, as soon as possible, to go and render an intimate account
of our trusteeship to the people who delegated us to act for them in
the weighty and anxious matters that crowd upon us in these days
of critical choice and action. But we dare not go to the elections
until we have done our duty to the full.
"These are days when duty stands stark and naked, and even with
closed eyes we knew it is there. Excuses are unavailing. We have
either done our duty or we have not. The fact will be as gross and
plain as the duty itself. In such a case lassitude and fatigue seem
negligible enough. The facts are tonic and suffice to freshen the
labor.
"And the facts are these: Additional revenues must manifestly
be privided for. It would be a most unsound policy to raise too large
a proportion of them by loan, and it is evident that the four billions
now provided for by taxation will not of themselves sustain the greatly
enlarged budget to which we must immediately look forward. We
cannot in fairness wait until the end of the fiscal year is at hand
to apprise our people of the taxes they must pay on their earnings
of the present calendar year, whose accountings and expenditures will
then be closed. We cannot get increased taxes unless the country
knows what they are to be and practises the necessary economy to
make them available.
Treasury Must Have Time to Frame Rules
"Definiteness, early definiteness, as to what its tasks ?re to be
is absolutely necessary for the successful administration of the Treas?
ury. It cannot frame fair and workable regulations in haste, and
it must frame its regulations in haste if it is not to know its exact
task until the very eve of its performance. The present tax laws are
marred, moreover, by inequities which ought to be remedied. Indis?
putable facts, every one; and we cannot alter or blink them. To state
them is argument enough. '
"And yet, perhaps, you will permit me to dwell for a moment upon
the situation they disclose. Enormous loans freely spent in the stim?
ulation of industry of almost every sort produce inflations and
extravagances which presently make the whole economic structure
questionable and insecure, and the very basis of credit is cut away.
I Only fair, equitably distributed taxation of the widest incidence
and drawn chiefly from the sources which would be likely to de?
moralize credit by their very abundance can prevent inflation and
I keep ?,ur industrial system free of speculation and waste. We shall
r* naturally turn, therefore, I suppose, to war profits and incomes and
luxuries for the additional taxes.
"But the war profits and incomes upon which the Increased
taxes will be levied will be the profits and incomes of the calendar
year 1918. It would be manifestly unfair to wait until the early
months of 1919 to say what they are to be. It might be difficult,
Continued on Page 8. Column 6
Il-11
From Summit's Mayor
? To the Editor of The Tribune and
100,000,000 Other People.
Sir: The si?gnificant thing, psy?
chologically, about this Hearst mat?
ter is the spontaneous feeling that
has burst out all over the country.
It might be likened to a condition
i when a smoky, smouldering fire sud?
denly, in a new slant of the wind,
flares up into a solid sheet of flame.
For many years resentment
against Hearstism, Hearst methods
i and Hearst sensationalism has been
smoking and smouldering in the
i consciousness of Americans.
Blamed for inciting a state of
i mind that precipitated itself into the
I cowardly assassination of McKinley;
I blamed for inciting discontent with
: honest toil and encouraging the idle
? and unworthy to hope for unearned
reward; blamed for cloaking honest
human trials with a false sentimen?
tality of revolt rather than honest
endeavor of amelioration ; blamed
, for enhancing anything sensational
I into a seeming allurement of de
I sirability?the underlying fire of a
; national resentment has smoked anc
smouldered for years.
Then came insidious propagands
against the war, against the gooc
faith of our allies, against the sin
cerity of our President, against the
wholeheartedness of our nation thai
has now brigaded our brave boy;
with the Tommies of England anc
the poilus of France, facing the mosi
ruthless, bestial foes the world has
ever known ; propaganda seeking t<
divide, to distract, to divert oui
national consciousness from a unite<
front toward the enemy of all tha
men have heretofore deemed decent
honorable and humane in the world
And the underlying fire grew.
Then came suddenly the unspeak
able blundering insult to the Presi
dent and to the whole nation in th
deliberate deletion from the Presi
dent's Memorial Day proclamatio;
of all words cf prayer for victory
distorting it into a mere Hearst-lik
prayer for prurient peace.
The whole country flared int
flame at once.
A Grand Army post in Pougli
keepsie burned every paper tha
contained the malignant mutilation
Mount Vernon passed an ordinance
the little city where I live delete
every Hearst paper out of its cor
fines; communities everywhere ad
ed, and are continuing to act.
In order to intimidate others froi
acting, rather prodigious legi
actions have been begun.
: The solemn farce of chancery pr<
[ ceedings has been instituted agaim
| nie, praying the court that I be ei
i joined from "enticing the citizens <
! Summit, N. J., and vicinity" not 1
| buy "The American" or "The Jou
j nal"! Bless his innocent soul,
couldn't entice the citizens of Sur
; mit and vicinity to buy "The Ame
ican" or "The Journal" with a clul
l I didn't entice any one. Tfieyentici
| themselves, and glory in the dee?
; And an action for damages, f
i $100,000, has been begun against r
; for my malicious misconduct. 1
| assured, 1 am not losing any sie
! over the matter.
There are approximately 10,0
i people in Summit. At $100,000, tl
I means ten dollars' worth of intin
| dation on my part for each ms
; v/oman arid child in the place.
There are approximately one hu
! dred million people in the Unit
i States of America. If I intimide
| them at $10 per head, that will me
! ten times a hundred million, whi
1 is one billion dollars, the amount
the next suit against me.
i Come on, it will be interesting!
? I hereby intimidate the hundr
^million people of the United Stai
; of America to do exactly what t
' ten thousand of Summit did.
Our President asked us to pr
j for the victory of our boys. Hea
; deleted it.
Pray, you Hundred Million; a
| then, Delete Hearst!
I intimidate you, on Memoi
. Day, 1918, not to buy a Hearst nei
paper! In one day the ten th
, sand of Summit did the deed,
?one day do you do likewise!
cost, no effort, no trouble; j
do it!
Come, you Hundred Million.
j you've a boy in France, as I ha
! if you've father, mother, w
? brother, sister, sweetheart, i
; haven't forgotten the Lusitai
\ Continued on last page, Column
i_
Freight Rates
Up 25%; Fares
To 3c a Mile
? McAdoo Announces In
| creases of More Than
$800,000,000 a Year
Commuters to Pay
Ten Per Cent More
Tariff, in Effect in June,
Means Higher Prices for
Commodities
WASHINGTON. May 27.?Examina?
tion to-day of Director General Mc
Adoo's order raising freight rates on a
basis of 25 per cent and passenger
fares to 3 cents a mile and abolishing
all lower intrastate freight and pas
| senger rates, indicated that the aver
: age increase will be higher than 25
j per cent.
i Many changes and readjustments
{ will be made by the railroad adminis
j tration, either on its own initiative
I after receiving suggestions from ship
j pers and state or local authorities, or
| by order of the Interstate Commerce
Commission which has power to re?
view and modify the schedules.
This will not prevent the new rates
from going into effect, however, pas?
senger fares on June 10 and freight
tariffs on June 25, for the commission
to-day gave its approval to the rate
order without hearings. This action
was perfunctory, and is not intended
to cut off later complaints and hear?
ings on them.
State Boards May Suggest
State railroad or rate commissions
have no authority to change the rates,
the railroad administration holds, even
though many provisions of the new
order more than double the charges
for short hauls within states. The Di?
rector General to-day explained in a
telegram to chairmen of state commis?
sions, however, that he will welcome
suggestions for readjustment of rates
on intrastate traffic, and these will be
referred to the Interstate Commerce
Commission for its consideration in
passing on specific complaints. State
commissions also may enter formal
protests direct to the Interstate Com?
merce Commission.
These complaints are expected to re?
sult in hundreds of modifications af?
fecting specific commodities or classes
and rates between eertain communi?
ties, but probably will not reduce to
any great extent the total revenue to
be derived from the sweeping in?
creases, which are. estimated at from
$800,000,000 to $900,000,000.
The additional charges must eventu?
ally be absorbed in higher prices of
commodities, it was noted to-day by
I shippers' interests, and this effect may
j be noticed particularly tor coal, hrick,
j lumber, meats and grain, and for ma
' terials shipped to market only a short
! distance. Analysis of the new sched?
ules showed that for hauls of from
? five to fifty miles, particularly in
i states which have their own intra-state
? classifications, rates will be raised by
varying amounts ranging from 25 to
| 150" per cent.
Will Make New Excursion Rates
Some comfort for summer vacation
! ists was derived from assurances by
?the Railroad Administration that ex?
cursion rates would be reestablished,
' though on a higher basis. The Director
! General's order provided for the dis?
continuance of existing excursion fares,
! and many other lower rates and spe
i cial passenger privileges. Local ex
I cursion fares to summer resorts will
I be raised generally about 20 per cent.
1 Lone distance excursion rates in tne
I Fast will be 10 per cent less than the
| regular 3 cent rate. In the West these
Continued on Page 8, Column 1
Nation Gives
$144,000,000
To Red Cross
New York City Total, With
Reports Incomplete,
Is $33,434,730
Workers Celebrate
End of Great Drive
C. H. Dodge Pays $55,000
for Original of President's
Proclamation
,.
With a spirit of sacrifice declared j
never before to have been recorded in j
the history of the nation, the Second j
Red Cross War Fund Drive in this j
city came to a close last night with a ?
meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria. The !
entire country, it was announced, had
gone over the top with a total, tabu- j
latfid up to midnight, approximating
$144,000,000. New York City con?
tributed the sum of $33,434,720.
This does not include amounts col- ;
lected on the streets and at rallies in j
this city yesterday. The complete to?
tals for the entire country and city
will probably not, be known for several '
days.
Gerhard M. Dahl, chairman of th?!
Atlantic division, comprising New York, i
excluding this city, New Jersey and'
Connecticut, reported a total of $17,- !
724,000. Of this sum the State of New
York contributed $8,943,462. New Jer?
sey turned in $5,520,000 and Connecti-!
cut $3,524,000.
2,000,000 Subscribers Here 1
This city's contributions were turned i
! in by more than 2,000,000 subscribers.
The contributions by boroughs were: !
Manhattan .$30.146,94:1
i Brooklyn . 2,364,200 ?
j Queens . 373,360 '
i Bronx .125,000 ,
Richmond. 225,237
I The announcement of the success
: of the drive by William C. Breed, the
; chairman of the local campaign, who
i presided at the meeting, evoked the :
| greatest enthusiasm from the assem
j hlage, which was composed of the city's
most prominent men and women.
'] "On this occasion," said Mr. Breed.
I "the patriotic spirit of the city seems
to have risen to a height which makes j
us all proud to call ourselves New ;
Yorkers."
Henry P. Davison, chairman of the
Red Cross War Council, followed Mr.
j Breed. He said:
"The spirit of the American people '
I haa been demonstrated by these con
! tributions to the Red Cross in a way |
j which will not only benefit the people '
; themselves, but will thrill all of West- :
i ein Europe. Though the Germans are j
i carrying on their war with unparal- ?
j leled decit and barbarity, we fight ?
| with implements which provide for the
I welfare and uplift of mankind, and so j
! long as there is a God in Heaven we ;
! will win that fight."
Give Cup to Mr. Breed
Before the reports of the captains ;
1 were received, a testimonial cup was ?
' presented to Mr. Breed by the team
, captains in appreciation of his efforts,
?while Mrs. James A. Burden, who is a
i vice-chairman of the campaign, also
j was presented with a cup by Mrs. Au
! gust Belmont on behalf of the women
' workers.
The announcements contained many I
new gifts and surprises.
The house-to-house canvass had pro
I duced for the week a total of $1,015,906.
The 1,000 booths in the city turned
in a week's collection or $495,$56.
i The profitssharing merchants have \
: turned in so far $162,500. The enter- ;
i tainment committee said it had raised
1 a total of $121,988. |
The corporation division contributed
? $12,232,625 for the week.
The team captains turned in yester
; day $3,063,720, making the total for the
? week $13,317,576.
Proclamation Brings $55,000
j The original Red Cross proclamation, (
, with the autograph signature of Presi- i
? dent Wilson, was auctioned off at the i
Continued on Page 5, Column 1
400 Class 2 Draft Men
Will Be Called This Week
?
?
Months before it was expected the
j first call to Class 2 men is to be made
: this week, it was announced yesterday
i at the office of the director of the j
? draft for New York.
The call will be for a limited num
j ber of men of special oualifications, the
j supply of these specialists in Class 1
; being almost exhausted. The total
number to be called is 400, but Class 1
: will be drained of specialists before
j Class 2 is touched. If Classes 1 and
2 do not supply the required number
' even Classes 3K and 3L may be drawn
upon. ,
! All 400 are to be in the army by
i next Saturday. ,
Director of the Draft Conboy re
I ceived a telegram instructing him to
prepare immediately a statement
I showing thv number of men of these
I classes availeble in this district. The
i statement muet be in the hands of the
i adjutant general at Albany by mid
I night to-night.
! Draft officials said that they believed
lew, if any, married men or fathers of,
motherless children would be called.
Class 2 contains married men whose
families are not dependent and skilled i
industrial and farm laborers engaged |
in necessary enterprises. The call, !
j therefore, will affect men who have !
I hitherto been exempt on industrial :
j grounds and who will be more useful ,
? as army workers than as industrial or
I farm workers.
The following specialists are re
? quired: Sixteen boiler inspectors, 62 '
\ airbrake inspectors, 50 barge men, 25
! bricklayers, 100 gunsmiths, 100 hos
i tiers, 30 locomotive inspectors and 17
I veterinarians. ,
j Examination of questionnaires will !
be relied upon to show which men are I
fitted for these positions. Every regis- '
trant was required to state on his ?
questionnaire what trades he was most j
proficient in.
All the local boards in this district I
have been instructed by Director Con-1
boy to make lists of Class 1, Class 2.
Class 3K and Class 3L men who are \
qualified to serve as specialists. These j
i lists are to be sent.to Mr. Conboy at I
once, in order that the men may bel
; notified in time to renort as soldier?
? by the end of this we?.
Teutons Advance Five Miles;
Claim the Chemin des Dames
THE NEW GREAT GERMAN BLOW
The second effort of the Kaiser to win the war in the West, by a
tremendous offensive before America can arrive in force was started
yesterday on the front of about thirty-five miles between Pir.on and
Rheims (indicated by arrows). Berlin claims to have won the heights
of the Chemin des Dames (Ladies' Road) and reached the vicinity of the
Aisne River. The shaded area shows the ground the enemy asserts to
have won.
General Wood
Barred From
Duty at Front
Relieved of Command of!
i
89th Division and Shelved j
in Pacific Post
(Special Dispatch to The Tribune)
WASHINGTON', May 27.??Shelved !
probably for the period of the war, i
Major General Leonard Wood, ranking
officer of the United States army in
point of seniority, to-day was relieved !
of the command of the 89th National
Army Division and assigned as com?
mander of the Western Department at. i
San Francisco by the War Department. !
So Lloyd George s question, "Where >
is General Wood?" which he put to
several Americans last winter, must ;
remain'unanswered.
Since he recently was passed by a i
medical board as physically fit forj
European service, it was thought there j
was no question of his going to France I
in command of a division. His assign- j
ment to "home duties" to-day came as ?
a bombshell to his friends, many of
whom had shared with army officers
the widespread feeling that he would
b-j promoted soon to command an army
corps and be given the higher iank of i
lieutenant general.
Secretary Baker Silent
Officials at the War Department de- j
clined to advance any explanation of j
Wood's assignment.
"I cannot discuss General Wood's
future movements," was all Secretary I
of War Baker would say.
Adjutant General McCain, whose of- ?
fice issued the order relieving Wood ,
of his command and assigning him to
the Department of the West, said that I
announcement should come from the
Secretary's office.
It was learned, however, that it was
first planned to make the announce- I
ment from the headquarters of the
Western Department through Briga?
dier General Charles G. Treat, whom
Wood succeeds. General Treat re?
cently was relieved of his command
with troops and sent to the San Fran?
cisco post. His new assignment has
not been announced.
Politics Seen in Action
Friends of General Wood in Congress
when told of the department's refusal
to permit him to serve with American
forces in France were indignant. The
shelving of the distinguished army offi?
cer generally was attributed to politics.
It has been no secret that General
Wood has been under the displeasure
of the President and Secretary Baker
since the beginning of the war.
Wood was relieved of the post of
Chief of Staff by President Wilson in
1914 and assigned to command the
Eastern Department at New York. He
was disciplined again by President Wil?
son and Secretary Baker a year ago,
when he was transferred from the im?
portant Eastern Department to the
Southeastern Department at Charles?
ton. S. C.
"I'm a soldier, and I go where I am j
sent," General Wood said when he was
sent to the Southeastern command. He
was as much a soldier, refusing to
Continued on Page 6, Column r,
U. S. Soldiers
Repulse Three
German Raids
Enemy Suffers Severe
Losses in Hand-to-Hand
Fighting in Picardy
? Ry The Associated Press)
AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS ON !
THE FRENCH FRONT, May 27. -Three \
German raids were made against the j
American positions in Picardy be- ;
tween 6 and 9 o'clock this morning ?
and were repulsed with heavy losses to
the enemy. The Americans took a '
number of prisoners.
The Germans advanced fifty ???.trong ,
in the centre, 160 on the right and
120 on the left. They were driven off
speedily and left many dead in front j
of the American trenches.
The assaults were preceded by \<io- ,
lent bombardments of the entire '
American line during which it is <?sti- j
mated ten thousand shells, many of ?
them gas shells, were fired by the
enemy.
For a time there was fierce hand-to
hand fighting. The Germans took one
of the Americans prisoners, but the
Americans pursued the enemy and re
captured him.
The bravery of the Americans may ]
be illustrated by the case of a private
whose arm was blown off. Dazed, he
kept on fighting and did not know he
had been injured until a comrade came
to his aid.
WASHINGTON, May 27. General i
Pershings communiqu?, issued to- ?
night by the War Department, makes
no mention of a general renewal of
the German drive, but says after vio- I
lent artillery preparation enemy in- !
fantry to-day penetraied advanced I
American positions in Picardy at two j
points, only to be driven out by coun- ?
ter attacks, in which Americans en- ;
tered the enemy lines.
The communiqu?, dated to-day at ;
Expeditionary Headquarters, follows: >
In Picardy, after violent artillery !
preparation, hostile infantry de- j
tachments succeeded in penetrating !
our advanced positions at two
points. Our troops counter-at?
tacked, completely expelling the i
enemy and entering his lines.
In the Woevre a strong hostile
raiding party was repulsed with
losses in killed and wounded.
In Lorraine hostile gas-shell bom- -
bardments of some intensity oc?
curred. The day was quiet in the ;
other sectors occupied by our troops, j
In the course of air combats this '
morning our aviators shot down a i
hostile machine.
Fires at "U-Boat"
Off Virginia Capes
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.. May 27.
It was learned hc-Te to-night that the
master of a British steamer which
came into port last Wednesday report?
ed that he had fired five shots at a '??
submarine 150 miles off the Virginia <
Capes.
-?
German Divisions Mutiny
(By The Associated Pr?ts)
MOSCOW, May 26.?Two divisions of |
German troops in the Dvinsk region re- ;
fused to obey otders to proceed to the
French front.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria came to
investigate, and many mutineers were j
hanged and dozens condemned to hard ?
labor for life.
Terrifie Artillery, Gas
and Tank Attack Pre?
cedes Charge of
Enemy Masses
Battle Is Raging
On 35-Mile Front
Withdrawal Made in
Perfect Order?Foe
Met Stone Wall
in North
By Arthur S. Draper
I Special Cable to The Tribut'')
LO?NDON, May 27.-?Germany
began her second great offensive to?
day. It was a double blow.
A tremendous thirty-five mile as?
sault from Rheims to the neighbor?
hood of Soissons, in the Champagne,
resulted in gains on the western part
o* the line involved, where the Ger?
mans advanced to a maximum depth
of five miles and reached the vicin?
ity of the Aisne River.
At the same time a new attack on
the southern hill defences of Ypres
proved a costly and disappointing
failure.
At daybreak, after a night of
fierce bombardment, in which gas
shells figured prominently, Luden
dorff struck as he did the morning
cf March 21. Infantry, supported
by tanks, moved forward in masses.
The main blow seems to have
fallen on British divisions recently
inserted by Koch between the
French troops near Berry-au-Bac.
Haig admitted to-night the Brit?
ish on the left had been driven back
to their prepared second line. Heavy
fighting continues.
The French night official state
ment said the ?Allies had fallen back
in good order, killing great numbers
of the enemy, who had reached the
neighborhood of Pont-Arcy, on the
Aisne River, fifteen miles east of
Soissons.
The German War Office to-night
officially announced that the whole
of the ridge on which the Chemin
des Dames lies had been captured
ar.d the troops of the Crown Prince
were fighting along the Aisne River,
a maximum advance of about five
miles.
"Nach Paris'" is the cry of thf
Gtrman hosts who are attacking
o^er the country where Nivelle
launched his powerful but indecisive
blow in April r*. year ago.
Flanders Blow Parried
Simultaneously, Ludendorff struck
again in Flanders, his onslaughts
being made south of Ypre3. ?Accord?
ing to Field Marshal Haig's report
to-night, the Germans advanced
against a front of about six miles,
between Locre and Voormezeele, now
held by French troops, and at first
penetrated the Allied positions in
some, spots. Counter attacks by the
defenders later in the day almost
completely restored the line to its
former position.
The enemy's objectives are clear?
ly defined. In the north Ludendorff
is trying to turn the Ypres posi?
tions, capture Scherpenberg and de?
bouch into the Ypres plains with the
Channel ports as the ultimate goal.
In the south Ludendorff figures
on the element of surprise bringing
him bounteous returns. He cal?
culated that Foch is unprepared for
a shift of the center.of gravity, that
the bulk of the Allied armies ia in
the north and that he can drive his
wedge deep before the poorer com?
munications cf Foch can bring
relief.
Ludendorff lias selected the short?
est route to Paris and he hopes to
unnerve the French by turning the
"Big Bertha" upon the city again.
On April 17 of last year Luden?
dorff began his communique: "One
cf the greatest battles of the
mighty war, and therefore also in
the history of the world, is in prog?
ress on the Aisne." That is the
way he reported Nivelle'* attack on
a t\venty-iivc-:*iile front. Since then
Haig has directed the battle for