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17, rv. STWWaIitttal THE WEATHER: Cloudy Tonight and Friday; May Snow. mmm s NUMBER 10,369. WASHINGTON. THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 6. 1917. PRICE W1THIM PI STRICT OS" COLUMBIA, le. ELSEWHERE. 3. EDITION ! " ' ' Today JR. R. Stocks Jump. Well They May Jump. Public Indignation Will Jump Also. New Haven Eailroad stock jumped nicely yesterday. Sock Island jumped also. Shareholders in these two companies have been robbed in the most artistic manner by railroad "management." Long ago honest, disheartened stockholders sold out. Stocks of these railroads that have been ezpldited, robbed, and gutted by private ownership are suddenly put up in price by the Wall Street gamblers. Do you ask why? Because it is proposed to turn over public money to the railroads, lending them the public's cash, increasing the rate that the public pays, GUARANTEEING PROFIT ON RAS CALLY MISMANAGEMENT. Is this proposition going through as a "war measure?" If it does go through, then any kind of public thieving should thrive in the name of war. The railroads are running at full capacity. Their re ceipts are gigantic. They have shown themselves incompetent and inefficient. U. S. MUNITIONS SHIP RAMMED AND EXPLODES AT HALIFAX; HUNDREDS KILLED AND INJURED Gin SHATTERED BY BUST IS NOW IN FLAMES Why should the public be taxed to lend money to these private railroad owners and their roads, made bankrupt by dishonesty or inefficiency? Why should the public be taxed again to increase the high rate already paid for freight and passengers? And why should the public be taxed to guarantee divi dends on watered stock and on bonds of which the underlying vaiue nas Been stolen? The Government should take over the railroads, of course commandeering them, as the Government has com mandeered ships, human lives, and other things needed. The Government should take the roads and pay at its leisure what they are WORTH not a dollar 'more, regard less of the watered stocks and the watered bonds issued. It is easy to print stocks and bonds. It ought NOT to be easy to make the public pay for the work of the printing press more than the printed paper is worth.. The Government calls a MAN, takes his life and doe3 not guarantee him profit on the business that he is, com-, pelled to leave behind him. The GovernmentymonopoliziBg, as it must and should .do, steel and coal,"will crrpplexnr nrinthoiuds -of Individual manufacturers and perhaps entire industries. But It does not guarantee profits or make loans at public expense to such in dividuals or industries. Why this tender sympathy for RAILROADS, and rail road stocks, and for the very rich men that have bought stocks after dishonest mismanagement had put the prices low? If Congress has money left to spend on sympathy, let the money be given to the thousands of women of New England that were made poor by the thieves that looted the New Haven road. Some of these prosperous thieves are now con spicuous as patriots, riding around in private cars ONE CAR FOR ONE MAN while the little business man can't get a freight car for his product or his coal. Some of these patriot railroad thieves are basking in public favor because they buy Liberty bonds with money stolen from the estates and families of honest men, or because they give a small percentage of their stealing to the Red Cross or the Y. M. C. A. They are conspicuous in Washington; they presume to advise the Government what to do and how to do it. We give them full credit for their cunning and their suc cess, but there ought to be a limit to the success, and there will be a limit. You hear that it is proposed, as a measure of economy, to cut twenty-five millions from the pay of honest servants of the Government, from overworked and underpaid clerks in the departments, from letter carriers, burdened with heavy load of wartime; from mail clerks deprived of rest, ex hausted by long hours. And at the same time comes the official suggestion that railroad incompetency, inefficiency, mismanagement, and dis honesty be rewarded with increased freight and passenger rates, huge Government loans, taken by taxation out of the pockets of heavily taxed citizen, and profits on watered se curities guaranteed by the public. This is, indeed, delightful impertinence. Public servants, faithful, efficient and underpaid, already impoverished by the increased cost of living and the dimin ished value of the dollar, are to have their pay reduced. Incompetent and dishonest railroads are to receive in loans to rebuild their neglected property money taken from the taxpayers' pockets and upon their incompetency, dis honesty and mismanagement the public pocket is to guar antee dividends. If this goes through, the pickpocket and the forger, the slacker and he defaulter should form themselves into an army, march on the Capitol and say, "This is war and we need money; please lend us what we want and guarantee us a profit on our professional activities," The nation should not put a dollar into a railroad unless the nation is permanently TO OWN that railroad. The nation which does not guarantee the honest farmer a profit on his farm or to the honest business man a profit on his business has no right to guarantee any profit to the notori- .(Continued on Page 2, Column 4., ' Scenes About Halifax, and Harbor, Where Munition Ship Exploded This Morning :ll rzrji'ir'rcAT " m,j ji, it ' . j?j At-ifMKSseMKrivsai jH- -p jar Vji PfililHHPi o''j3'e7iSaBMsnPB52s5BsBsBsBsl " sBsBsw'aMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBVsVT't - e- vm.jj2tSv i3&EKE&&L33kM&&&E25EKKU MESSAGE AIDS JEAGtiOVE IN AUSTRIA GENERAL VIEW OF HALIFAX. This view, taken from the top of one of the high buildings, shows the city sloping down to the harbor from the high ground at the back. The latest dispatches say that a great fire is raging over the section of the city shown in this picture. -. PRESIDENT'S By DAVID LAWRENCE. (Copyrlfht, MIT. by New Tork Ermine Post Company.) President Wilson's message to Congress, unlike any previous com munication that Washington has ever known, remains even today as live a topic of discussion as if this were the day of delivery. The more it is studied, the more It Is digested, the more it Is explained In quarters where Information from abroad, not accessible to the public. Is received, the more does the ad dress appear to have been designed, not for Its effect on the American people for their confidence In the President is unswerving but for Its Influence In Europe. To All Belligerents. The United States, In other words, haa sent a communication to all bel ligerents, enemy as well as ally, and therefore. Instead ol employing tne free style of expression, explicit and direct In purpose, the President con fined himself to the Implicit, indirect. but nevertheless powerful force of diplomatic phraseology. viewed as a diplomatic document, there were those familiar with the In ternal situation In the dual monarchy who believed the President's message was a constructive step toward peace, something which, notwithstanding the Inclusion of a formal declaration of war would give new Impetus to the rrowlng peace movement In Austria and Hungary. Anstrlana Want reaee. The peoples of the dual monarchy. all renorts agree, are sick and tired of the war. They have been pressing for peace, but tneir i.erman mentors and their own .militaristic leaders have argued that the entente allies planned a dismemberment of the em pire, and that only national unity aaralnit an Imperialistic foe could save their trade and resources from destruction. Particularly has tne Austrian gov ernment pointed In this respect to the Italian effort to obtain Trieste some thing which the allies by Inference heretofore have been in the position of approving. But Mr. Wilson argues specincaiiy for "assured and unmolested access" (Continued on Page 20 Column 2.) bBbBbBbBbvBbBbhbBbBbesbBbBbyS $ zir IfiUpllH attBfttSB'9aVpaBniB sflLi.lJirSBBBBBfc tJ.'f'sH bbbbbKbbbIBBBSsBBBBBBbIe t tBft tSVuiiBBBBBBBBSBBBBBBBS'.SsBBKBlH BBf-"TMBBBBBT & KSBbI THE HARBOK OF HALIFAX FROM THE CITADEL. , The runs shown were used before the war solely for saluting purposes. They have undoubtedly been replaced by more modern armament. The collision which caused the explosion occurred in the waters here pictured. MOLLIS STREET IN HALIFAX. This is one of the finest streets in the city. According to late dispatches buildings on this street were wrecked and many occupants injured. PAY INCREASE FOR CLERKS ASSURED Connrexs will crant nn ini r.jme in salary to (!ov-rnment clerks. Of this there Is nn rimihr .1 th .Capitol. There Is some question, how ever, or Just what percentage of In crease will be determined on. and the class of employes to be affected. The least they may expect Is a contlnua i.i .. . . nun oi inc scale now in enect o ana 10 per cent. It may he more, but certaml not less. Members of Congress, generally, assert there Is no reason to reduce the salaries allowed last July for one year. On the contiur. tho same conditions prevail today- -except In a greater degree that exiM.-d when an Increase of 5 and II) per cent was authorized. Increase Xeeessary. Congress realizes the Government clerk who receives under Jl.MK) sal ary finds It Increasingly difficult to get along, and that a 5 and 10 per cent raise is hardly adequate. A determined effort will be made In the House to force through the (Continued on Page 3, Column 5.) Means on Stand Says he warned Secretary Daniels of German plot ters in powder works. Tells of first meeting with Mrs. King. YESTERDAY GAINED 8,056 Lines of Advertising (29 Cols.) Over the Corresponding Day (Dec. 6) Last Year. EDGAR D. SHAW. Publuher. COURT UOUSB, Concord, N. C, Dec G. Gsuiton II. Means today took the stand la his own behalf In the trial charging him with the murder of Mrs. MauO A. King. The defendant was pale and his voice was husky as he told of his Urst meeting with Mrs. King. lie devoted considerable time to relating his life story, from his first position as a school teacher In a .ountry school to the time when he beta'ue "financial agent" for Mrs. King, The defendant was entirely confi dent. With apparent pride he ex plained to the Jury his rise In the world. He smiled as he told them In a blase manner of his visits to "all the big cities." He said his salary was 54.250 a year. Ilro(her-ln-Law On Stand. The State attempted to Introduce In evidence the mysterious telegram from Concord advising the New York district attorney to Investigate the death of Mrs. King. The court ruled It out. j. r. Goodman, brother-in-law of the defendant, who was present when the Means New York apartment wai raided, admitted that Assistant Dis iri-i Attorney Dooling, of New York, li.id told them he had a search and seizure warrant. The defense sprang a surprise when tiiey called Ernest nury, a negro chauffeur, who drove the death car. Hury's testimony has never been tufc'n before. Kuroy told of the fatal ride. The only new evidence he offered was that Mrs. King asked for her "little revolver" when the party left the uMinmubile line year I made as much as .-Ii, iiiki." the defendant declared, "In- ,i -inu my writings, for I wrote a, .,e.,i deal." He 'hen proudly told of his literary , efforts. He told of (Continued on'ace 13, Column 1.) ' i in 10 N i TWO HUNDRED BODIES M ffSf llD TORONTO, Ontario, Dec 6. A private- mes sage received here from G. T. Bell, of the Grand Trunk railway, in Montreal, says 200 bodies have been located in the North street station at Halifax. A British cruiser crashed into an. American muni tions ship and caused the terrific explosion in Halifax, according to information received here by cable officials. LONDON, Dec. 0. Twenty-five enemy aeroplanes made five slmul taneous bombing attacks on Kent and London early today. Lord French an nounced. Two of Ave or six machines which penetrated defenses and bombarded the central city were forced to land and their crews were taken alive. The planes also flew over Kent, dropping bombs. This Is the first air raid over Lon don since October 20. Twenty-seven persona were killed ana ntty-three Injured on that occasion. It Is also the first raid In which machines penetrated London's defen ses, since It was authoritatively an nounced that England proposed to adopt an "eye for eye and tooth for tooth" policy of reprisal, dropping bomb for bomb over German towns. TEUTONS SEND TROOPS TO DEATH IN FIERCEST DRIVE TO PIERCE ITALIAN LINES ROME. Dec. a The crucial test of the third and most powerful enemy drive on the Italian front may be forthcoming today, according to early reports received from the Aslago pla teau and Verona. with characteristic disregard for life, with thousands of fresh troops and with Increased artillery Are, the enemy has begun tne most vicious and tho most terrific offensive yet known In the history of the fighting in Italy. Desperate over the failure of the first drive directed at Venice, on the lower l'lave, and over the similar re sult of the second drive In the moun talnoua regions of tne upper Plava, (Continued oa Page S, Column, X.) AMHERST, Nova Scotia, Dec. 6. Scores are dead, hundreds are injured, hundreds of buildings are destroyed, and a large section of the city is in flames as the result of a collision between an American munitions steamer and an other ship in the narrows of Halifax harbor near the suburb of Richmond today. The explosion blew both vessels to pieces, demolishing i docks and damaging other ships, messages here declared. . Crews of both vessels were killed instantly, according. to reports received here. Warehouses along the water front. were partially demolished. Firemen were called from Aa No Definite Estimate of Casualties. Reports received here could give no definite estimai of the number killed and injured. The report of the blast was heard in Truro. A few min,- tracks, partially destroyed allthe buildings from the Queen's hotel on Hollis street to the North street station, smashed the station roof, and is believed to have buried scores in the blazing debris. The repor of the blast was heard in Truro . A few min utes later a wire was received asking that nurses, doctors, firemen and food be immediately rushed to the stricken city. Communication With Halifax Bad. Communication with Halifax is very irregular. For a time all wires into the city were lost. Efforts are now being made to get more information. One of the last messages to come through declared the loss of life was appalling. Richmond, near where the collision occurred, is directly across the bay from Halifax. Reports here said the Amer ican munitions vessel was rammed broadside, scattering death and destruction broadcast. Doctors Being Rushed to Scene. TirCKO, N. S., Dec. G Forty or fifty persons are dead in the Halifax munitions explosion, according to frag mentary reports received here this afternoon. There is no estimnte of tho number of injured. Doctors and nurses, fire-figliting equipment and supplies (Continued on Page 3,. Column 2.) -I -J I 3 4