New-York tribune. [volume], September 19, 1920, Page 2, Image 66

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"'"^^n, a YntVAX, ?? tu r i ti m ii b K i y, i y z u
taly's Empty Victory One Reason for Present Unresl
After Three Years of Desperate
Struggle the Nation Has Little
to Show for It
By Frank H. Simonds
OBSCURE as are many of
the details of the latest
Italian disorders, which
have begun fb draw world
attention away from the Polish cam?
paign, it is not less plain that the
whole economic structure of the
Italian monarchy, and its political
edifice as well, is endangered by
disturbances which must, at the
least, recall certain details of the
Russian revolution of three years
ago. Nor is it reassuring to note
that labor in Britain is manifesting
a determination to act violently,
which gives promise of acute indus?
trial crises in the near future in
the British Isles.
The case of Italy is, however, far
more serious than that of Britain,
because Italy has emerged from a
war in which she shared the honors
of the victors, but is stricken with
not a few of the disabilities of the
vanquished. Underlying all else in
the Italian disturbance is the un?
mistakable fact that the war, which
promised so much f.ir Italy, has
proved the gravest disappointment
Hnoe the ri.-e of the Savoy mon?
archy, the final circumstance >>f
which was the entrance of Italian
troops ,into Rome just a half cen?
tury ago.
Political and Feononiical
Politically and economically the
World War has brought to the
Palian pc pic few of the rewards
.vhich were hoped for. In a brief
I'evir if the circumstances and
purposes of Italian participation in
lie !Tcc7:t struggle it may be possi?
ble to set forth the political ami
economic causes of the present up
. eaval.
Italian entrance into the World
War was not, as in the ease of
France. itu:::ia, Belgium and Serbia
in 1011 and the United States in
?017, the result of any direct and
hostile action of Germany or Aus
;ria. On the contrary', at the mo?
ment when the conflict broke Italy
was allied to Austria and Germany,
and when the Italian government
declared its neutrality it was the
policy of Germany at no time to
permit any overt act on the part of
the Central powers which could sup?
ply the Italians with even a pr?te.*:!
for taking up arms. Prince von
Biilow, forme:- Chancellor of the
German Empire and unquestionably
the ablest German statesman, spent
months in Italy striving to persuade
the Italian government to remain
neutral.
Price Not Concealed
The price of Italian neutrality
was not concealed from either the
Germans or their foes. From Aus?
tria Italy demanded tho Trentino,
including Botzen and Meran and
Trieste, with the surrounding Istri
an regions. The demand .was solid?
ly based upon the Latin character of
the inhabitants of all of the regions
claimed, save the Botzen-Meran
fraction of the Trentino. What Ifaly
nought to do was to complete her
unification. In 18?9 ?he had fought
Austria in alliance with France and
had profited from the victory, re?
gaining, through negotiation after
victory and through the splendid au?
dacity of Garibaldi, all of ancient
Italia:; patrimony, save only Rome
and the Province of Venetia.
In 1866 she had again fought Aus?
tria, this time in alliance with Prus
sia, and had acquired all of Venetti
save the eastern .shore of the Adri
atic and the Trentino valleys nortl
of Verona, lour*years later the re
call of French troops from Rome a
'lie outbreak of the Franco-Prussiai
War had enabled Victor Fmmanue
to enter the Eternal City at the boat
of his troops and make it his owi
capita!.
East of the Adriatic
After 1870 there was still the
eastern shore of the Adriatic, with
Trieste and the various Italian set?
tlements along the sea, many of
which had been Venetian and all
of which still possessed magnificent
monuments of ancient Roman oc?
cupations. Between Austria and
Italy the question of Trieste and
the Trentino, of Italia Irredenta,
remained unsettled, and the coming
of the World Wa^| not unnaturally
held out for all Italians the promis?
of one more opportunity to join
with a foreign nation in its wai
upon Austi-ia and acquire, as a rc
! ward, the still unredeemed fractions
i of the Italian race.
But if the Austrian was for the
Italian the hereditary enemy snd the
I question of the Irredenta was an
I other Alsace-Lorraine, Italy felt nc
.corresponding antipathy for the Ger?
man. On the contrary, the Germar
had become a mighty influence ir.
Italian finance and industry. Genos;
was a southern Hamburg or Breni'
en, the homo port of vast Germar
, fleets; the banks of Italy were, manj
of them, merely the subsidiaries o?
fiorman institutions; all througl
Northern Italy, where the industria
life of Italy centers, German in
f'uencc was tremendous, and the
Germans were found everywhere
That the Italians liked the German!
personally was not true, but thai
b:g business in the two countries wa:
closely ahied and that Italy, in man:
ways, was an economic dependent o:
Germany, was clearly the case.
Germans Not Surprised
Italian neutrality angered but die
not much surprise the Germans ii
August, 1014, hut when their ex
pected victory did not arrive and thi
six weeks' timetable to Paris ha*
to. be abandoned, following the do
feat at the Marne, the Germans real
i/.cd that they had not merely t<
reckon with Italy as a neutral, but
a.-, a consequence of the Austro-Ital
i.an issue, to count upon Italy as a:
eventual enemy unless there couli
be some settlement of the issues be
tween Rome and Vienna. On th
other hand, it always was clear tha
if such a settlement could be arrive
at Italian neutrality was assur?e
Moreover, as the British blockacf
grew tighter and tighter the Ital
iar. ports became the chief avenue
of importation for the Germans an
Italian neutrality as important o
the economic as the military side.
Al! the winter of 1914-'15 an
well into the spring Prince vo
Billow fought to hold Italy neutra
Presently Berlin even went to th
length of putting pressure upo
Vienna to make territorial cor
cessions, Vienna, on its side, wit
characteristic sluggishness, d?laye
the debate, and while consenting t
certain sacrifices in the Trentim
but not including Botzen or Merai
steadfastly refused to cede Triest
or any territory beyond the caster
frontier of Italy.
Only a Question of Time
Given tha Italian purposes, tl
determination to complete tho r?
deeming of Italian lands and pei
?des, there then could be no doul
as to where Italy would fight in tl
'' end. But there remained the ques
| tion of when sho should enter. Most
! of her politicians, like Giolitti, the
; heir of Crispi and a frank friend of
: the Germans, opposed precipitate
i entrance. His contention was that
the war would be long and that Italy
would be wiser to wait than to
I plunge in too promptly at the cost of
j prolonged effort. Given the state of
1 Italian finances, the great expenses
I of the Turkish War still recent and
the conquest, of Tripoli still iri
? complete, he reasoned that a long
: war would risk the very stability of
the Italian structure.
But, on the other hand, it was
equally essential for the Italians not
to wait too long. For if either side
won the war while Italy was still
neutral then there was an end of all
hope of regaining Trieste and the
Trentino, and the frank possibility,
if the. Austro-German alliance won,
of some retaliatory attack as a con?
sequence of Italy's failure to stand
with her allies and her subsequent
demand of Austrian territory as the
price of bare neutrality.
Now, in point of fact, it seems un?
mistakable that Italian observers in?
correctly gauged the situation in
the spring of 1915. They placed too
great reliance upon the expectations
of the Anglo-French-Russian alli?
ance and therefore took the fatal
plunge at the precise moment when
Russia was reeling under the defeat
at the Dunajec, which proved to be
the first step in the series of re?
verses which was to lead to the
revolution. As. a consequence, bj?
the summer of 1915 Italy, a new?
comer in the war, discovered that
instead of arriving in time for the
victory march she was actually only
an early arrival at a party which
was just beginning.
; Three Years of War
I As it turned out, the war, for
| Italy, lasted more than three years.
! The defeat and retreat of Russia
i abolished all hope of a swift advance
upon Trieste or up the Adige val?
ley. Italian troops were pinned
down just at the Austrian frontier
and from the outset condemned to
the glorious but not less restricted
advances which carried Cadorna's
troops through Gorizia and within
sight of Trieste, but had no decisive
character. By the opening of the first
winter it became clear that Italy
would have to mako a supreme ef?
fort. It also became equally clear
that a terrific strain was going to
be placed upon the political as well
as the economic framework of Italy.
In the spring of 1916, while the
Germans were hammering at Ver?
dun, the Austrian? suddenly burst
out of the Trentino and Italian soil
was occupied. This invasion was
checked, and the Brusiloff offensive
promptly drew Austrian attention to
the eastward, but the effect of the
blow was to weaken the weight of
tho Italian offensive a few weeks
later. Italy, having taken Gorizia.
used up her resources in ammuni?
tion and in material and lacked the
heavy artillery anil other machinery
necessary to go on.
With 1917 came the total collapse
of Russia. For Italy this had fright
I pREMlER GIOLITTI, whose problem it is to meet the
1 crisis in Italy
ful consequences. Cadorna's army
fought- itself forward to the Bain
zizza Plateau north of Gorizia, and
seemed about to break through the
Austrian front, but instead, German
troops, released by the Russian sur?
render, came south and won the
victory of Caporetto, which was en?
tirely of German planning and due
mainly to German contribution. As
a result of this disaster, with diffi?
culty checked at the Piave, the
tight to take Trieste was trans?
formed into a desperate defense of
Venice. In addition, a wide area of
Venetia was occupied by the enemy
and devastated as a consequence of
Loss of Morale
The disaster of Caporetto had
been the result in the first place of
the break in Italian morale. The war
had now exceeded all the expecta?
tions of the Italian people, and the
defeat of the Russians and the revo?
lution had combined to give every
promise that the war would be long,
even if it were not lost. Suffering in
Italy as a result of the struggle was
becoming very general, and there
was a strong feeling in the Penin?
sula that the French and the British
had been responsible, in part at
least, for Caporetto, because of their
failure to support the Cadorna offen?
sive with men and material at the
moment when it seemed about to win
a decisive victory on the Bainzizza
Plateau.
From Caporetto Italy rallied splen?
didly. The whole nation seemed sud
denly to react, and the resistance at
the Piave had something of the he?
roic character of the French stand
at Verdun. In the summer of 1918
the final Austrian offensive was
broken at the Piave; and Italy a few
weeks later passed to the offensive
and smashed the crumbling Austrian
army forever at Veneto-Victoria. All
of a sudden victory without limit
was achieved, the rewards sought
after too long effort appeared at
last only to be asked for. Unrest
there had been in Italy, sullen and
ever-growing discontent, but for a
moment, in November, 1918, with the
success, the danger at homo seemed
avoided.
But the Paris Conference proved an
even greater disillusionment for the
Italians than the war itself. In
1915 they had signed a treaty with
the French and British at London,
extended by certain private under?
standings afterward which insured
Italian possession of the Trentino
to the Brenner Pass, of the Austrian
shore, with Trieste, to the Julian
Alps, and of all of the northern halt
of Dalmatia, with most of the Adri?
atic islands. Added to this was the
promise of a wide sphere of interest
in Asia Minor, including Smyrna.
Wilson Their Enemy
But no sooner had Mr. Wilson re
turned from his memorable visit ?
Italy than the Italian representa
tive at Paris became aware that tht
President was to prove a determiner
enemy to most of their hopes. FI i ;
fourteen points bore heavily upo?
Italian hopes and claims in the Adri
? atic. He conceded them the Trentino
i\h they claimed it, allowed them Tri
. ste and the Istrian peninsula, but
in the matter of the Dalmatian
i oast, which had been promised them
by the British and French, and of
Fiume, which was Italian in its pop?
ulation, the President was obdurate.
Thus Italy, far from finding her?
self a welcome ally at Pari?, had
inally to choose between withdrawal
and surrender of some of her dear?
est project:;, and, as a result, with
Irew.
.\llies Against Her
But even withdrawal could not
solve the difficulties. Encouraged
by President Wilson's championship
of their rights, which were unde?
niable, the Southern Slavs extended
their claims and sought to enforce
them by arms. Italy was on the
point of a new war with the Jugo?
slavs, and the daring gamble of
1'Annunzio, modeled on the exploit
if Garibaldi and his Thousand,
brought Europe to the edge of a
new struggle while the peace con?
ference was still in session and the
pending war as yet unliquidated. In
addition, Britain and France, Italy's
recent allies, far from standing
with her, accepted President Wil?
son's decisions, advised Italy to yield
and even disclosed their sympathies
with the Southern Slavs in the Adri?
atic and with Italy's Greek rivals
in the .Egean.
In sum, then, by war and by the
j peace which was to close the strug
? gle in such fashion as to make war
| impossible for the future, Italy was
; placed in a position of financial
j weakness almost beyond hope. Her
! debt, heavy enough before the con
! test, had been expanded to colossal
\ proportions. Her own territories
?had been invaded and ravaged; she
had lost more than 500,000 of her
best manhood; she suffered from
lack of food and of fuel as a conse?
quence of the blockade and the sub?
marine depredations.
War's Inevitable Result
Domestic suffering, moreover, in
Italy as elsewhere, had had its po?
litical and economic consequences.
Even during the war there had
been unmistakable menaces from the
direction of the Socialists, strikes at
the moment when munitions were a
matter of life and death, and open
defeatism at the hour when the dis?
aster of Caporetto threatened the
very life of the country. The war
had brought in its train exactly
those circumstances which we now
recognize are inevitable if war be
too long protracted and the strain
upon the population is thus wellnigh
intolerable.
Still, given all these circum?
stances, it was possible that the
peace might in some measure save
Italy from the evil effects of het
long trial. But it was plain, even
before the Paris Conference met, that
the Italian phase of the peace nego?
tiations would have to possess a
brilliant character; that Orlandc
would have to bring home to Rome
some impressive fruits of the con?
test, not alone peace with honor, but
peace with profits which would be
I such as to be unmistakable to every
Italian and impressive enough to
stand comparison with the sacrifices
of the long war.
Rut instead, Orlando, having long
pleaded the Italian case at Paris,
had finally to quit the conference
and, empty-handed, return to his
own country to appeal to his fellow
citizens for their sanction of claims
far inferior to the minimum of ex?
pectation. Italians saw Great Brit?
ain acquire practically all the
German colqnies, take new title to
Egypt and assert unchallenged su?
premacy in the valleys of the Eu?
phrates and the Tigris, as well as
that of the Nile, seize the greater
portion of the German merchant ma?
rine and successfully establish a
claim to 125 per cent of the German
indemnity.
Much Territory for France
As for France, they saw her ac?
quire Alsace-Lorraine in Europe, to?
gether with the ownership of the
Saar mines, under conditions which
at least held out a promise of ulti?
mate annexation. Moreover, to this
was added the occupation of the
Rhine barrier for a period of years,
and the climax was capped by the
Anglo-American-French treaty of
insurance, which has since perished,
but in the days of the conference
seemed a vital fact to French ami
Italians alike. Outside of Europe
France acquired half of Togoland,
almost all of Kamerun, in Africa,
and Syria and Cilicia, in Asia. As
to indemnity, France established her
claim to 55 per cent of Germany's
total war payments.
By contrast, Italy, which had been
j invaded, as Britain had not, discov
? ered that from German indemnity
she waif? to profit by only 8 per cent,
while her claims against Austria
and Hungary automatically fell with
the approximate destruction of these
two kingdoms. If her title to
Trieste and the Trentino was recog?
nized, her claims in the Adriatic
: were impatiently thrust aside by
President Wilson without protest by
her British and French allies. In?
deed, these seemed frankly to sup?
port the President in his champion?
ship of the rival claims of the
Southern Slavs, who, in the case of
the Croatians, Slovenians and Bos?
nians, had been Italy's opponents on
the Carso for three years of des?
perate fighting.
Greeks Given Precedence
In Asia Minor the Greek claim
to Smyrna was held to overbear that
of Italy. In Albania Greek claims
were equally honored, while to
American and Allied opposition to
Italian purposes there was present?
ly added the decisive circumstance
of an Albanian uprising. England
and France had bound themselves
to make compensation if their gains
in Asia or Africa were beyond the
[limits reckoned in 1915 a- n
but the.se concessions took tJTZ
of desert tracts in the Sai^
adjoining Abyssinia.
To establish their claims fo k
Minor the Italians had to ?cJT
new war with the Turks. Tot'
Albania meant a war on the?J5
shore of the Adriatic, ^77
whole o? th" inhabitants of &!
stormy land had taken up .^
against Italian occupation ?
driven the Italian tro-p., to tht
coast. To realize the gains pron?>
by the Anglo-French-Italian T??>
of London a war with the J '
Slavs was necessary, and th;. "*
carried with it the npril. ?
* ? i. -,'? ' ' '"'?s Qs* ti
American hostility, th. possibilit??
the shutting off of American I
and even of British coal. Finally ?1
through the Near East, Italian'*
pirations encountered Greek on
sition, and behind -he Greek"!
Smyrna, at Constantinople, eren
where, was trie substantial formj
John Bull.
Nothing to >how
Thus there was to be found J
answer to the opponents of the n
and the critics of the leaders in]
governmental system response
for the war in the results of fe
struggle. Italy ha i made er.ormoa
sacrifices where she had calcul?t?
upon swift victory and great ?
wards; she ; - '? fnight on heron
soil where she had expected to ?
cupy Austrian provinces. She nor
saw her ul:-*:, bringing home gret
prize-, while not only wore her on
gains inconsiderable by contrast, bi:
many things promised were denied
and her form? r associates andaE?)
appeared as lier most censistatj
opponents in the Adriatic and fe]
-?Egean, in Albania and in Alitl
Minor.
Thus, in the double circumstanee
of war and peace must be food
the underlying explanation of tb
present Italian cris..- There a?
many other causes. There was u
industrial and economic weaknea
when the war came. Italy was on;
just struggling to prosperity a::
national solvency, after escaping till
frightful b?rde is her long siavtrj
under an alien yoke had ?mpoxc
?upon her. When the war broke th-:
was leas* able of all the opponent?
of Germany to endure a !o:ig w.
'and she h;is, in proportion to he
resources, paid most highly and suf?
fered most.
Pari- Conference to Blame
But to understand the presen*
Italian case one must see it whole.
The responsibility is not ir.erei;
Italian, nur are the causes purei'
domestic and economic. The pr?s
tige, the reputa: i >n of the existir!
regime has been wellrrigh oY
stroyed by the attitude of Italy;
allies during and since the war. ?'
?--?he sinks now int > anarchy, k
seems possible but by no mean
likely, the cause must be sought?
the Conference of Paris, in the &
cisions of President Wilson and .'
the actions of < lemenceau and Lloy.
George, who frank y deserted It*-"
whenever it was a choice bet"*?r
offending the representative *
America and abandonim' the Italia:
ally.
Moreover, granted that Italy ?
capes Bolshevism, that shew*?
to keep her economic upheaval with
in th" ii.. its of -; -.. y, there remain
the unmistakable fact that t!u
event-- of peace and war have ?lie?
ated Italy from Prance and fro
Britain ami have, around m M? '
profound w. ntment against &
United ?taies.
May Return to Orinan?
This spirit shows itself to-day?
Italian recognition of the revolu?
tionary government in Russia, "?1
in association with B:itain, In (f i
position to all French policie* WM
claims whenever British and Fren?
views diverge. It may show ?t?J
to-morrow in a n turn to the Ger
man alliance if Germany pull? b?T |
self together and attain becorr.es ??
force in Europe. For it is nnnu-?
takable that the Italians fee! a!*0?'
as keenly as the Ci rrnans that tM
were bet raved in the peace *&'
?nentand, while the Cern?an ?not*1
is without any basis in fact, it*?
no means as easy to dispose oft?
Italian allegation", even if one rec?'
nizea that most of the IuUn Bj
haps \v r? accidental and none
result of ::-? mal. .oler.ee.
And it is not the 1 ast serious*
tor in the Eui -n 'an situation ?**
RUS***
?ar* *?
throe great people?-?tac
the German a.id the Italian
this moment hostile to the *!** \
created at Pans and not un,! j^? .
the remoter future, to drift towa^l
an association which might P
perilous to the peace of the won?* j
(Copyright, 19S0, McC'l** H**
paper Syndicate) ' . *|
s. -
There Is a Feeling That France an
England Reaped Richer Re?
wards Than Their Ally
i.aura and the Law?An Innocent Victim of Justice
By Charles Willis Thompson
//~W T*S ENOUGH to make me
| a bad woman," she wailed
as we came, out of the
courtroom, sho clinging tc
my arm. "I won't be, but-?but I'll
ne\yr feel mean toward them that
are, them that I saw in the court?
room to-day."
?She was a married woman in es?
tate, a woman in years, a child ii:
experience and view of life. Lest
you think I am writing fiction, I will
inform you at the outset that whnl
I am writirg happened on Thursday
afternoon of last week and that il
I wanted to I could give every name
and address. Also, that I have nc
bricks to throw at any official 01
bureau?only at the law, and at th<
law in its most beneficent aspects.
This woman or girl, more girl thai
woman, is married and about to be
come a mother. Her husband i:
serving a sentence?what for it ii
of not the slightest interest to in
quire. With one month cut off fo
good behavior he will be out in abou
live weeks. His wife by that time
if all goes well, v, ill have a chili
three week* old?his child, no on
doubts that?she is a good gin.
She has not, however, any money
wherewith to bring this child into
the world er to keep if going until
.Mike irv',< through with those five
weeks. She has a line and splendid
i'!u m< tiler, who has till she can do
to get along herself. And the im?
minent approach of those two weeks
lias driven Laura nearly mad. She
!;as been to one bureau or court after
.?mother trying to explain her situa?
tion, but she always had had an in
! coherent way of talking, and her
i present difficulties and the peril just
! ahead have increased it to hys?
teria, so that it is no wonder the
, I kindliest official cannot make out
i just what is the trouble.
That is why she asked me to go
along with her on the last lap of
her week-old journey from court to
, court, bureau to bureau. It was her
! last chance. She had finally sue
I ceeded in pinning her hupe of relief
to the Domestic Relations Cour!, arid
all she could tell me about her in
I terview there was that they hail tob!
lier they could do nothing and that
her only chance was to see the
magistrate who had tried her hus?
band and explain the ease to him?
1 or get some lawyer to do it, since
j she could never make the magistrate
'understand. Sho is- clean strain
American?not an immigrant- -but
excitement, hysteria, fear and thesf
all-day pilgrimages and long wait.
had made poor Laura, nevi r verj
clear-spoken, a long way fr?re, that.
She counted up the lawyers sht
knew and found that she didn't knov
any within her means. So she eain?
to me, who am no lawyer, but ?
newspaper man, and I agreed to gi
along as Laura's interpreter. Whe!
I found that the magistrate wn
Ja !ge Ccbb, a true gentleman an
a kindly man, I thought my task wa
lightened con -iderablv.
So it was. >o far as teeing him
was concerned. We waited till he
had disposed of the day's cases in
the Traffic Court, where he had been
sitting all day without even going
out for lunch. He was a tired look?
ing man when he stepped down at
2:30, but he stopped to hear what
we had to say. We made it clear
that poor Laura wanted something
to support her while she was going
through the coming ordeal. Her hus?
band was part owner of a store and
she wanted to get either some of
the .'-lore's earnings or his parole
until the emergency was over, when
he could go back and serve the rest
i f his sentence. The store would
bo there to see that he didn't run
away.
Magistrate Cobb postponed his
lunch. There is something appeal?
ing about the forlovnness of Laura
and the pathetic childishness of her
looks. He first explained to her that
he couldn't io ;; tiling. A month had
been ; 1 lowed Mike for good behavior
and there his power stopped. Then
he told us to sit down while he ex?
plored the Parole Board. Presently
he came back and told us to fro there
ourselves. "The man there will do
everything he can for you." he ex
i/l:77:.i !. "but I'm afraid there i.-n'l
We didn't learn the name cf tht
man there, and the magistrate wai
correct in saying that there wasn't
much hope. "Your husband ieceive<
a definite sentence," explained tht
man there, "and we have no powei
to parole anybody except somebodj
who receives nn indefinite sentence
?ike from one to three years, or some
thing like that. Formerly you coulc
write -'S. O.,' which meant 'subjec
: ? order,' and the judge could isaw
:7i or.ier paroling the man, but thi
law has change i all that."
"But iv.y !?? ! y," broke in Laura
who was litte intere V-.-i in .-?ovf him
but the great shadow hanging over
her; "you know the law can't possi?
bly be so mean as to let me have it
without any money to pay for it
when my husband has money. The
law is good to women. I've seen
those prostitutes hand out a $5 bill I
and go out as bold as you please, and ;
) surely the law will be good to me,
. when I'm a good girl."
"The law can't get you any money
i if your husband was Rockefeller,"
i said the man there. "You say he's
| got a store. Well, when he gets out
l make him pony up out of the pro?
ceeds of the store, and if he don't
go to the Domestic Relations Court."
"Bur can't the Domestic Relations
.Court do anything now'.'" ] asked,
? remembering that Laura had been
there and had been told that it
couldn't. "Can't it issue an order
or get an order issued, compelling
her husband's partner to pay over a
small part of the proceeds to Laura
every week until this thing is over?"
"It can not. She can go to that
court after he gets out if he won't
support her, but it can't got a cent
of the money that is coming to him
from that store, either for him cr
for her."
"But why should the law punish
me'."' screamed Laura. "What have
I done? He's having a goo I enoujrh
time on the island, but why are yon
all so cruel to me? What I'm goin<?
through is awful"
Her voice rose so high that il
broke into convulsive gasps and dis?
appeared.
"I'm sorry, lady," sai i the mai
there, "But it's nobody's fault. Hi
can't support you through a thinf
that is not his fault; and you havt
to go through this trouble throug!
a thing that's not your fault. S<
you see the law's not to blame."
"Isn't it at leas: of interest to th
law to prevent thi? girl and ho
child from bec< ming a charge on th
community?" 1 asked.
The man there laughed. "Sh
won't become a charge on the coir
munity," he replied, "if her hus
band's got that store. If the con
munity has to pay anything out i
will get it back."
"Then," I said, "her husband'
partner can simply go on collectin
both her husband's profits and h'
' own and investing them without giv?
ing her a dollar?"
"Not a cent," was the cheerful
response. "But he next time she
goes over to see her husband she
can get him to give his partner an
order to give her so much a week,
and if her partner wants to he can
do it."
Unfortunately, Laura and I both
knew that partner. "Then," said I,
"the situation is that if a man com?
mits a misdemeanor his partner can
temporarily appropriate his profits,
and lis wife must bear their child
as best she can."
"We-ell," said (lie man there, du
! iously, "she might go to the Lying
in Hospital, or the Sloane, and let
them soak the husband for her care
when he trots out. He'll probably be
busy trying to get a straight ac?
counting from his partner, if the
partner's the kind you say, but one
lawsuit more or less won't matter
to him."
"Then there's no remedy for her?''
? asked.
"Lader ihu law," .-aid the man,
"none. It's unprofessional, but I
don'; mind saying that I'm sorry for
you, .'adv. But you see the law
wasn't built Vi cover cases like
yours."
I didn't look at Laura, at ?east
not more than on.^e. The angui*!:
'?ii her face disturbed me too much
and with it there was a bewilder?
ment, as if she was trying to un
derstand something. 1 heard hei
saying in an inhuman voice
Laura's voice gets like that lately?
"And why, then, :.^ the iaw so goot
7" ? rest itutes v hen it's so hard t
married women?"
"That's another law," said th
man there. "And maybe, if yoi
asked the prostitutes, you'd fini
they didn't think the law was s>
good to them."
I agreed with him internally. Bu
Laura was Rehila, soon to bear an
1 other, and I didn't feel that it was
my place to give her homilies on the
wisdom of the law. I wasn't so
sure of it myself just then.
"Then," I said, "the judge
couldn't issue any kind of order that
would divert at least .?5 of that
store's weekly profits to"
"He could not," said the man;
and, indeed, the judge had told us
so. "Not a cent. The law's there,
and there it stays. If lie could do
that we'd have nothing but liens on
the property of convicts."
On the way up in the subway I
didn't have a word to say. It was
Laura who whs doing all the talk?
ing and it explained that bewildered
look in her face. She wasn't even
talking?the sound poured forth
from her in a shriek.
"But I always thought the law
stood up for women, that it pro?
tected them. And it's the law, that
very law, that strikes me down. It's
not the judge's fault, nor the Do?
mestic Relations, nor the Parole
Board; it's the wicked, wicked law
that I've always thought so good.
And what am I to do when they turn
me loose? Oh, I'll never say a word
against prostitutes, never, never,
Why must a woman starve because
her husband has done something
wrong? I'd never be one of then
poor creatures, but I'd never agair
say a word against them; and it';
so much worse for me than for them
and I've never done harm to any
body. And nobody's to blame; on!}
it's the law. And I've alwayi
thought the law was for us, and ii
this last hour I've found it's wait
ing to jumo down on us are! :io u
dirt. Oh, 1 know the law now, am
I never knew it before. I've ha?
a reverence for it until this hour
The law?the law?I hate it! Oh
how I hate it!"
But I knev, as I said at the be
ginning, that since her deadl;
troubles began, L.\ura had lost eom
of her balance.