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Why We Shout and Ring Our Bells and Blow Our Whistles A THRILL of pride such as Amer? ica has not known since its history began is sweeping the nation. The German drive toward Paris has been deflected to as? sume a Berlinward direction, and Amer? ican soldiers are carrying on brilliantly alongside their French and British al? lies. W'hen newspaper extras blazed forth the news that the Americans had capt? ured twenty towns a spontaneous cele? bration broke out from coast to coast. In New York the bell in the new tower on the City Hall rang for fifteen min? utes by order of the. Borough President. In Boston the bell on Faneuil Hall also rang out the glad news. Whistles were blown in industrial centres. A wave of patriotic feeling reached a new high crest throughout the country. Our hoys there at the bend of the (Marne have made a successful d?but in real European warfare on a big scale. The message of their commander at Gi vray to General Pershing tells the story: "Met Boche on his line of resistance. Sharp fighting. Boche turned tail and ran like hell, pursued by our troops. Hope to have more prisoners." The Americans launched their counter attack after they had been driven back by the Germans against the advice of ihe French commander, who suggested an hour's rest for the troops. But the anonymous American general replied: "We regret being unable on this occasion to follow the counsels of our masters, the French, but the American flag has been forced to retire. This is unendurable and none of our soldiers would understand their not being asked to do whatever is necessary to reestablish a situation which is as humil? iating to us as unacceptable to our coun? try's honor. We are going to counter at Not only did they recover the lost ground, but they took an additional half mile for good measure. And since then they have had the Hun on the defensive when not on the run. "The Huns officially recognize the fact that Uncle Sam is stripped for action," says "The Hudson Observer," enthusi? astically, which adds that "they are no match for our fearless, enthusiastic Yan? kees, whose sole plea when under re? straint i?, 'Oh, hell! let us get at them!' " Moreover, "The Observer" believes that "On to the Rhine!" and ''On to Berlin!" should be their battle cry. It is surely a time for optimism, thinks "The Baltimore Sun," which concludes: "The Hun has found his master. As surely "Come on!?you rat!" ?From The Nashville Tcnnesscan as the sun shines or the ocean tides ebb and flow we shall beat him back with fire and sword to Berlin, like a cringing man-eating tiger to his cage. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, not the Kaiser and his hell? hounds." In another issue the same paper points out: "Optimism may easily outrun the facts. Rut this is the time to 'holler,' and, no mat? ter what happens, we have a right to 'holler' now.'' And "The Cleveland News" decides it's about time to let the American eagle scream; because, it asks? "what is the American eagle going to do when reports keep coming of American sol? diers gaining so many miles of front, hurl? ing the enemy back with such and such losses in killed and captured, taking eigh? teen German guns in one town, signalizing their first great trial by fire with a disas? trous rout of the most highest war lord's picked veterans, attaining their objectives too fast to count, giving the Hessian baby killers merry hell all along the line with the lovely hued bayonet, filling the good old ne passeront-p?s French brother and the good old reliable British brother with new pep and punch and will to kill off Boches, win? ning the greatest victory yet in all our glad young war, and a few other little things like those? "So far as we are concerned, rather than strain his chest to the bursting point the eagle has our cordial permission to let her gol" "The Denver Labor Bulletin" ad? mits that while its editorial headline, "American Yanks Getting the Huns' Goat," "may not be considered a classic in some editorial departments, it ex Presses the American idea held in this office."" And "The New York Evening Post," in more polished English, agrees that? "there is every reason for rejoicing in this country. The American troop? har? again covered themselves with glory. They have ?fcown that they can advance with a dash ?ad brilliancy -which we all hoped for. Their freshness in the war is counting now as w?ll as their dauntless spirit. Unlike our ?Hies, they are not war-worn nor stale. The Pune is ne-? to them, but they have the de? termination to play it for all it is worth. Hence they do not stop -when their object n*s are reached, hut push right on; to hold them in leash is likely to b? the greatest difficulty of their general? and of the French ^wnawjiders. Their coop?ration with ths ??ach ?ad the French with them wa? <*ri d?ntly perfect yesterday, and the surprise attack without preparation worked like a charm. We can hardly overestimate the significance of this flank attack." "The American leaven is working," declares "The Richmond Times-Dis? patch"; and in "The Wilmington News" one reads: "Our troops could not hove made a more brilliant display of their power and bravery at the right hour than these Americans have done. It is a reviving of the whole Allied cause." Moreover, suggests "The Colorado Springs Gazette"? ''the superb physical condition of the Americans and their keenness for the fray gives them an edge over their war-weary allies. Their courage cannot overmatch the dash of the French nor the tenacious valor of the British, but it carries along a physical supremacy which stands out in the news of the fighting like the stories of Canadian brilliancy at Ypres and Vimy Ridge." And "The Indianapolis News" con? cludes that? "it is now abundantly clear that the Ameri can soldier Is a far better man than the German. This has been demonstrated when? ever they have come in contact with each other. The men who, according to Berlin, could not or would not fight have shown themselves tho masters of the Germans at their own game." Perhaps "Tho Rocky Mountain News" sums up the prevailing American atti? tude in the following comment: "As we become convinced of the truth and inevitablencss of the reports from overseas our pride swells almost to the bursting point. Wo are proud of our boys. We glory in their achievements. "It is great to be an American!" Nor is the enthusiasm by any means confined to the United States. "The To? ronto Globe," styled "Canada's National Newspaper," states the case in legal terms : ^ "Foch has served notice that a writ of eviction is about to issue against the Ger? man armies occupying the Valley of the Marne in the region of Ch?teau Thierry. He has a host of husky men at his back who We've seen the French do it, hut we never knew why until now. ?From The Columbus Evening Dispatch will see that the eviction is thoroughly car? ried out." And this paper is further convinced that> "the crisis of the war is past. In the race between von Hindenburg?tho German old man in a hurry?and the transports carry? ing American trodps to Europe the trans? ports have won. The splendidly successful counter stroke of the French and Americans in the region between the Aisne and the Marne is the first important offensive move? ment undertaken by General Foch since he assumed command of tho united armies of the Allies in April after the St. Quentin disaster. . . ?*? "Foch in his counter attack has shown that French brains are quite the equal of German in planning such a surprise, and that French and American troops are dis? tinctly better than German in carrying it out." "The Havana Post" phrases itself vig? orously, thus: "The shot at Lexington?or was it Con? cord??that was heard around the world was as the sound of a pin falling compared to the smack of the wallop that was handed the Hun tn the Marne." The same Cuban newspaper suspects that the German soldiers, and even the civilians behind the lines, are beginning to reckon with Americans as a military factor, because? "it would be too incredibly funny for the Berliners to get their first knowledge of the American participation in the big fighting when the Americans shall march down Un? ter den Linden whistling 'Yankee Doodle' in tnfeir uncultured way, and perhaps giving a playful imitation of the goose step with which the Huns started into Belgium in that, joyous time nearly four years ago." "The New York World" offers this summary of the fighting on the Marne : "Two facts stand out clearly and dis? tinctly as a result of this week's operations. One of them is the complete demonstration of the priceless advantages of a unified com? mand. The other is the final proof of the fighting qualities of the American troops, with all that these qualities imply in rela? tion to the winning of the war." Most, of the newspapers see in the battle the turning of the tide for the Allies. "The tide has turned, and this time there will not be another change," "The New York Globe" declares. And "The Dayton Journal" ventures to assert that "the tide of battle seems to be flow? ing in our direction, with America rid? ing the crest of the waves, doing heroic service to the cause of God and hu? manity." "What will we tell the folks?" ?From The New York Tribune But there are also notes of warning and pleas for caution. "The New York Times," for example, thinks this "no time for optimism.'' Indeed,- according to this paper? "it is unfortunate that a gleam of success turns the heads of many of our people so, and that they see in it the growing dawn of victory and the sunburst of peace. The enemy is less imaginative; whatever his suc? cesses are, whatever advantage he obtains, he continues to plan a military triumph in the west?in the east, he considers that he has won the war. "No optimism could be more foolish than the auto-intoxication of the Americans and their allies when a German thrust is par? ried, a 'drive' checked cr stopped, in Flan? ders, Picardy or the Champagne. "In homely phrase, winning a round?and that is just what General Foch has done in the Soissons sector?may be, and generally is, a very different thing from winning a fight. In this war Germany ha? won most of the rounds so far and shows few, if any, signs of waning skill and strength in the field. . . . "The war can surely be won with our enormous resources and man power anel ma? terial, but not unless we prepare for the ordeal confronting us and give of our best." "The Philadelphia Public Ledger" also warns that overconfidence is a peril: Keeping Up on the Magazines The Filthiness of Kultur BARONESS HUARD contributes to the August number of '.'The American Magazine" more of her reminiscences covering the German occupancy of Ch?teau de Vil liers. "One little thing that I did," she writes, "will show how naive was my estimate of German ideals. "In my desk were innumerable letters - intimate personal ones from my husband and my friends. In rnite of the fact that I prized them very highly I could not take them with me. But in my simplicity I fancied I was protecting them from the in? trusion of strangers when I put this note conspicuously on the desk: " 'I swear that the contents of this desk are purely personal and can be of value to no one but myself. I therefore leave it under the protection of my country's flag.' "Then I took a small silk American flag and shut one end of it into the locked drawer, so that no one could help seeing that it was the Stars and Stripes. Now that I have gained, through bitter experience, a proper estimate of Prussian character, I laugh, a3 those German officers must have laughed, at my trusting confidence in their honorable treatment, either of a woman or of a flag. But I had a great deal to learn about them then." WHEN MME. HUARD returned to what had been her home, she found that the general who had occu? pied it for a time at least was no less a personage than von Kluck. But, she writes, "the honor of having had him as a guest was one I would gladly have relinquished when I found my home, after nine dayt of German occupancy, rendered unfit for decent human beings to live in. "The officers of the German army belong to the nobility of that country. But even if I had not known this fact, the names chalked up on the bedroom doors would have told me who were the men that haM been giving in those rooms. I doubt if any other animals, no matter of what species, could have equalled these exponents of 'Kultur' in the havoc they wrought. "It was not the kind of dirt which might 'inavoidably be brought into a house thus occupied: the mud from roads and fields that sort of thing. It wasn't the natural untidiness of improvised offices, or of rooms not Tred for by servants. It was simply disgusting filth and the d?bris of wantor, malicious destruction. "The house had been systematically looted of everything of value that could be taken away. . . . "Furnishings which could not be removed were deliberately ruined. And this ruin was <accom*"lishcd by methods so revolting that even a self-respecting savage would have been ashamed of them. Why any kind of men, let alone thoae of supposed educa? tion and breeding, should deliberately hav<? made an Augacan stable of a house in which they themselves were living is beyond the comprehension of an 'unkultured' intelli? gence like mine. ??T3LT that is what they did. It was iJ not that they defiled the place as a parting testimonial of their appreciation of its hospitality! It could not have been got into such a state by any hasty effort after they knew that they were going to leave it. They must have lived in the filth they made. "As for my desk, with its na?ve appeal to their chivalry, that must have delighted their peculiar sense of humor. They had hacked and split the wood; and my love let? ters and the photographs of my friends were scattered from end to end of the village street. "There are so many dreadful things for which, nevertheless, one can admit an ex? cuse in the bitter rules and results of war. But certainly no military necessity, no mat? ter how remote, can explain the things which were done in my home. "For instance, if they felt called upon not only to disregard but also to destroy my American flag?in spite of the fact that in September, 1914, this country was absolutely neutral?I might not have seen any excuse for it, but I certainly should not have found the act as incredible as what they did do, For when, in cleaning out the pipes of the bathrooms?as had to be done!?we founo the flag there, I felt that my. home had been occupied, not by the flower of a great na tion, but by strange beasts who were utterlj beyond my comprehension. And I am glac that American men, under that flag, an now fighting the creatures who ?esecratec it so vilely." "Let's Go!" Is Sam my's Motto WITH vigor, humor and insight, a well as vividness, William Slav ens McNutt writes in "Collier's" fo July 27. His subject is an inspirin one: "Under Fire With the Yanks. He observes: ?'The American in the line is keen for a? tion?not only the occasional naturally ac venturous man, but the lot of them. The are, almost without exception, keen for ac? tive, dangerous work. 1 suppose, of course, that statement will be misunderstood?mis? interpreted. "'Oh, do they like war?' some one will say in a shocked voice. 'Is it pos? sible that our boys can like war? Enjoy bloodshed?' "Only a fool or a savage likes war or en? joys bloodshed. The American in the line is neither a fool nor a savage. He hates war and bloodshed as nice, sensitive people who have never seen either can never possi. bly hate the horrors they but sniff from afar. He hates war, but temporarily war is his proper business, and he attends to that business with a nationally characteristic whole-heartedness. He is keen to fight and ever ready with a courageous flippancy to camouflage the suffering and horrors at? tendant upon action. Not long ago I was speaking with an estimable gentleman over here investigating something or other? there seems to be about one investigator in France to every ten soldiers?who was much disturbed because the Y. M. C. A. was put? ting on light amusement in its huts. "'Our boys should be made to realize the seriousness of their situation,' he declared ponderously. 'They have no conception of it. They're facing death every minute of the time they are in the trenches, and they speak lightly of a terrible battle as "a show" and talk of an attack in which many of them may be killed as "putting on a party." They should be made to realize that this is a life-and-death matter!' "I believe if that man went scouting about out in No Man's Land every night, his lifo in one hand and a grenade in the other, he'd get a crawful of realization of the serious? ness of the situation. If he saw his chum pecked off by a sniper or blown to nothing? ness by a shell he might understand?ever more thoroughly than he now does?that it's a life-and-death matter. I can't help won? dering if, under those circumstances, he'c have the grit to grin and carry on, as do th< men he worries about. If the men of the American army refuse to gloom and groai and burden the air with doleful cries ex pressive of their realization of the cbviou! ?let the Boche fret. He has cause! ii A ND SOME critics say that the Ameri ?T"Y. can soldier is reckless. To a cer tain extent he is. His motto is, 'Let's go! When things get hot he'd much rather go ? over the top and get 'em than do down in a dugout and wait, for 'em. He wants to take a chance. A few nights previous a raiding party had started out from the American trenches just behind where. I stooel that morning. The lieutenant leadme th-; party selected twenty men to accompany him. They were to go across No Man's Land, establish contact with the Boche and bring back prisoners. On a trip like that it's better than an even bet that some of the party are not coming back. Don't imag? ine that the men who go out on those trips don't know that. They know it better than any one else. The lieutenant led his men over the top and out through the wire. It was inky black. A man couldn't see his hand held before his face. "They crept through the wire single file, each man with one hand touching the foot of the man crawling in front of him. Out? side the wire they stopped to take tally and make sure that all were present. " 'One,' whispered the lieutenant. 'Two,' said the man immediately behind him. The whispered count went down the line and then back again to the lieutenant, starting with No. 1 at the rear of the line. 'Twenty three,' said the man in back of the lieuten? ant when the count came-back? 'Twenty four,' whispered the lieutenant. 'What's wrong back there? There's only twenty one of us. Try that count over again.' "They tried it over, with the same result. Three men who might have stayed safely be? hind in the trench had surreptitiously added themselves to the raiding party. It was too late to go back, so they aelvanced. A few minutes later they took the count again, and the lieutenant was No. 2o. " 'We're doin' fine, sir,' the man behind the lieutenant whispered, stifling a giggle, 'We got five prisoners a'ready.' "It means something?that spirit. It is i small thing as applied to that particular lit? tle raiding party, but it is typical of the American army. Being typical, it is im portant. The ultimate purpose of the American army is offence. And when tha1 offensive begins the men will go eagerly hunting for trouble, not because they are driven forward by merciless officers, but be cause trouble is temporarily their only busi ness and they are r'arin' to be about it!" "America Is Standing the Test" WE HAVE ended once and for all the delusion that a Demo? cratic nation cannot turn out armies to rank with the best, says a writer in "The New Republic," who continues: "That the men composing our national armies would as individuals display courage and intelligence has never been doubted by Americans who knew America. But in the absence of a military tradition such as our enemies possess, in the lack of an extensivo officer caste trained to war, was it possible for us to organize armies capable of with? standing the shock of German assaults? Our army is beginning to answer this ?ques? tion. It is morally equal to the task before it. When our millions take the field it will be as one of the most formidable of mili? tary organizations. Neither foes nor friends will charge America with lack of virility and fighting spirit. In what per? tains immediately to the armed conflict America is standing tti3 test." But what of those that stand behind the armies, the civilian population? And how are we as a nation living up to the democratic ideals with which we en? tered the war? It is not too early to judge, the writer continues: "Our prophets of evil have been warning us against a wave of mob outrages when the casualtv lists came in. They are com? ing in now, and wner? are the instances of American communities turned into raging beasts? Day by uav the danger grows less that the hcnorable record of our men in the field may be sullied by the cowardly vio? lence of civilian mobs at home. "We entered the war with the most hon? orable object in the world?to overthrow brute force and to vindicate right among nations. But history is replete with wars in which belligerent objectives have under? gone rapid evolution for better or for worse. How does it now stand with the American objective? It is clearer and more widely ac?epted than at any earlier day. Men who at first sneered at a world made safe for democracy now believe in it '.with? out reservation. What the war may still bring forth no man may predict. The recent exhibitions of German strength threaten a long struggle, and the course of v. long war cannot be charted with certainty. But America's faith in the principle of interna? tionalism and her readiness to stake her whole resources upon its realization pres? age that in the field of international policy also America will meet the test of war." ? Taking Over En? emy Property AN ARTICLE by A. Mitchell Palmer, Alien Property Custodian, app ars in the June number of "Munsey's." Al? most every day now one finds in the news columns fresh reports of the death grip on German commerce, which is ever tightening. Mr. Palmer declares: "The business being transacted by the alien property custoelian is beginning to amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, and is steadily increasing. It is not yet possible to state the gross value of the property taken into custody since last Oc? tober, when the office was established, but the total is very large, although it repre? sents only part of the enemy-owned wealth in the United States. It does not include the property of law-abiding resident aliens, which under the present law is not seiza ble. . . . "The test of enemy character of property is solely one of residence, a fact not yet understood by everybody. Nationality cuts no figure in the matter. Within the mean? ing of the act the property of American citizens can be seized if those citizens are residing within the enemy lines, while the property of unnaturalized German citizens residing in this country, if not engaged in any pernicious activity against the gov? ernment of the United States, may not be molested. "All aliens interned by the government are regarded as enemies ami tlu?ir prop? erty is treated accordingly. The purpose is to enable the alien property custoelian to take over and manage the property of alien enemies of large means who have been permanently interned, and to eliminate any possibility of their carrying on, from the internment camps, trading activities which might be inimical to the interests of tht United States. It must be noted, however that this provision does not include in it: scope an alien enemy under arrest in t local jail who has not been transferred te the War Department, nor an alien enemj already released on parole, nor the grea' body of alien enemies subject to regulatior by the President. "The government of the United State! does not intend to interfere with the prop erty of the ordinary resident alien, be h? German or Austrian. The seizure of prop erty is strictly limited in its operation te those who have been found to be danger ous and who have been transferred to th? War Department for permanent detention.' His conclusion is: "It is hardly necessary to say that th? United States government has no inten tion or desire to profit from these foreign owned holdings. It only insists that thes* wealth-producing properties, making thei profits in this country, shall not be utilize? against America, either in the form of ma terial or of money. The trusts are secur and are under the jealous care of th Treasury Department, and, as I. have al ready said, no industrious, peaceable Get man or Austrian resident need have fea that his property will be interfered with* "We in America are an impressionable people. Already you will find innumerable persons reading exaggerated meanings into the reports of the Allied offensive in France.' In the speed and glitter of the American reactions at their first big battle anJ in the blinding sword play of the Foch strategy they see omens of the war's early end. "To become self-satisfied, complacent, dis? interested or careless now is to make the burden heavier for the government, the army and the navy." And in a cautious vein "The Dayton Journal" adds: "It is the furthest from our desires to dampen the ebullient American spirit. It is right and proper that we should rejoice and celebrate. We would be unworthy the friend? ship and love of our boys overseas if we did not. But let us not become too optimistic. Let us bear in mind that this is only the beginning. We this week merely have given the Huns a taste of what they m-ay expect later on. We must be patienta But the prevailing note is unquestion? ably one of rejoicing and fullest confi? dence, which does not permit the soberer considerations, though they arc frequent? ly admitted, to dampen the ardor of this first real American triumph. "The Co? lumbus Dispatch" writes": "Let us be of good cheer, but. not exultant. no matter what betides these next few days. Nothing can happen now to win a victory from us in the end. Not all the Huns that ever lived can conquer now. Our son? have felt the steel of slimy foe, and met the shock of brutish beasts driven by their offi? cers. Some have fallen; many have fallen. But the sacrifices these men of our:, have made will hurl into our ranks a dozen mill? ion more if needs be. The blood that they have shed upon this field will cry to heaven for vengeance from the manhood of tiie na? tion. Myriads will push forward now, from day to day and month to month and \rar to year- until this cursed thing - ? from earth. Money to buy munitions and the eo . our men. Wealth is of no ace.iui be expended to provide for th< safetj ??' greater wealth." And "The St. Louis Post-Dispatch" "Teufel Hunden" on the Marne From T!ie Washington Keening Star sees a realization of the will to victory, which it aptly expresses as f ?Hows: "We do nut expect victory now, hut we see it coming. We are proving 1>\ successes that we can win it." America's Golden Chance WE MAY look forward, when the war is over, to government owner? ship of the merchant marine, with its at? tendant evils of lark of initiative and higher cost of operation, unless the pres? ent seamen's law is repealed, according to a writer in "The Am^icas." He say.; in part: "Perhaps, without regard to the way shipping economies go, the stage will bo set for'nationalization,'of the merchant marine. Nationalization of transportation is in the air all over the world. Denmark ;s said to have definitely decided upon national con? trol of shipping, because it is regarded as so 'affected with the public interest' as to be vital to national welfare, and so logical? ly a matter for national control. In Eng? land it has been all but decided that the railways shall remain in national control, and it is significant that the British Com? mittee on Commercial and Industrial I\>!:cv After the War has devoted a long report on shipping in which it rails attenl on to the dangers of private monopolies and injurious rate making in British ocean lines. "Our government will own the ?reat. ton? nage, and there may be a demand that this shall not be leased to private interests, or sold, but be formed into a world-wide Tint? ed States transport system. A man who is taking a leading part in our present activi? ties a man who is a believer in the su? perior efficiency of well-managed private enterprise for shipping, .is well as other kinds of business ays without any re? serve that if the competitive conditions in international shipping after the war pre elude our bein^ able to operate si ips on an equal basis of costs with our chief com? petitors, the government must nationalize the ships. "The lanjruage test that La Follette put into his seamen's act, now law, was devised so as to let in the scum of Europe and shut out Oriental seamen. The very presence of either acts to inhibit a clean, healthy in? terest on the part of good-blooded Ameri? can boys in the sailorman's caree:-. "Seasoned shipping men who have oper? ated vessels for years continue to affirm that foreign tramp ships, operate! by men who know all the detailed methods of 'pick? ing up* cargo, finding Rood ports ami sar ing voyage by shrewd judgment, will make impossible the private operation of the great tonnage of our ships in the future un? less the present law is flatly repealed and they are allowed to be the judges of the size of crews needed, thiagprages and the contract. . . . They pr^ct government ownership at a loss and the ultimate sale of our ships into foreign hands . . and they declare that government operation will not compete successfully in point of service with certain efficient foreign companies; the government service will lack initiative of ideas, it will be inflexible and uncivil, and the chief purpose of having a merchant marine will be lost. "If the war lasts thirty-six month* long? er there is very little doubt that by the end of that time the people of the United States will own the greatest tonnage of merchant vr^sels owned bv any singla na? tion in the world, and in all probability our tonnage will bo more than half that of tha whole world."