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THEAGE-HERALB K. W. BAKRETT.Mltoi Entered at the Birmingham, Ala., postoffice as second class matter under ^ act of Congress March 3, 1879. Dally and Sunday Age-Herald.... 18.00 Daily and Sunday, per month.70 Dally and Sunday, three months.. 2.00 Weekly Age-Herald, per anuum.. .60 Sunday Age-Herald. 2.00 George McMasters, O. E. Young and W. D. Brumbeioe are the only authorized traveling representatives of The Age Herald iu its circulation department. No communication will be published without Its author's name. Rejected manuscript will not be returned unless Stamps are enclosed tor that purpose. Remittances can be made at current rate of exchange. The Age-Herald will not be responsible for money sent through the mails. Address, THE AGE-HERALD, Birmingham, Ala. Washington bureau, 207 Hibbs build ing. European bureau, 6 Henrietta street. Covent Garden, London. Eastern business office, Rooms 48 to B0, Inclusive, Trithine building, New York city; western business office. Tribune building, Chicago. The S. C. Beckwith Special Agency, agents for eign advertising. TELEPHONE Bell (private exchange connecting all departments) Main 4900. Though It be honest. It In never good to bring bad news. —Antony and Cleopatra. C I The South's Great Strides The south sometimes has been re ferred to as a backward section as compared with other sections of the country, but the fact is that in most respects it has made rema?'kable prog ress. In material wealth its progress has been phenomenal. In 1860 the total capital invested in manufactures in the United States . was $916,436,000, and the manufac tured products of the United States j were valued at $1,763,078,000. In | 1910 the capital invested in manufac- j tures in the eleven states that formed the Southern Confederacy amounted to $1,797,231,000, and the value of j manufactured products amounted to $1,803,934,000. In 1880 the railroad mileage of the II states that formed the Confederacy was 17,351. In 1915 the mileage was 69,014. In 1880 the products of agri culture of these 11 states totaled in value $547,567,000. Last year the total value was $2,336,168,000. In 1880 the south mined 1,031,954 tons of ccal and 188,514 tons of iron ore. Last year it mined 38,330,000 tons of coal and 6,294,000 tons of ore. What the United States government sets down as the true property vulue of the 11 southern states referred to •was $4,165,000,000 in 1880 and $16, 611,000,000 in 1910. These are only a few of the figures pertaining to the south’s material activities, but they are sufficient to show what this section has been do ing. As the Baltimore Manufacturers' Record, in presenting and analyzing ! the statistics, says: "The advance of the whole south, including Kentucky, Maryland, Mis souri, Oklahoma and West Virginia, is one of the marvels of the past 25 or 30 years. That of the particular 11 states' is, considering the back ground, largely responsible for the larger showing.” But as great as have been the strides of the south within the past three or four decades it will appear Small when compared with the prog ress during the next 30 or 40 years. The present decade will witrtess a large advance and after crop diversifi cation has taken a firm hold the south’s progress will be all the more rapid. The tide of capital and population is now turning southward as never ' before. The census of 1920 will show prodigious gains in the south and the 9 census of 1930 will be, it can be imagined, nothing short of a revela tion. Price of Contentment Here’s the story of a man who, al though he has never seen Wall street ^ and perhaps has scarcely ever heard of it, knows by thrilling experience the hazard of dealing with bulls and •' bears. Incidentally this paradoxical little story points out the lesson that dan ger is not always so imminent as it i may seem—in short, it rather goes to I show that the darkest hour is just be 1 fore dawn. A But to get back to the story— 1 The name of the man who figures herein, according to a report recently carried by the wires of a well known press association, is Sam Baugh, and he is boss of a blacksmith shop at Knight’s Ferry, Ore. Blacksmith Baugh, so the story goes, went to a farm owned by Post master John Collins of Knight’s Ferry, the purpose of his visit to the farm being to put a ring in the nose of a vicious bull owned by the postmaster. The idea was to restrain the beast by attaching a rope to the ring and then tying him to a post. Nobody except Blacksmith Baugh would undertakt the job. About the time the ring ceremony started, the bull gave an ominous bel low. Simultaneous therewith the blacksmith fled, and fleeing, he spied a cavern tunnelled into the side of a steep hill. Into it he delved. Postmaster Collins, from safety vantage point in a near by barn loft, was amazed to see the blacksmith emerge from the cavern almost im mediately after he had entered it. "The bull's still after you, Sam! Why in blazes didn’t you stay in the cave?” he shouted. "Because I’d rather be gored by one bull thap to be eaten by a whole fami ly of bears—and if you don’t think there’s a whole family of ’em in there, just go in and see,” exclaimed the blacksmith. The blacksmith eventually con quered the bull without suffering in jury, and the silver lining he sees to the cloud is the fact that while in the past he has often bemoaned the fate that set him working over grimy anvil, he is now thankful that he doesn’t have to make a living ringing bull noses. It was a hazardous job—but it brought contentment. How much good might result if more of us could be summoned to con quer a wild bull. Wouldn’t it. by comparison, tend to make us satisfied with our present lot? Large Majority for the Bond Issue Birmingham’s floating indebted ness of $1,260,000 is to be funded in 80-year 5 per cent bonds. This was the verdict of the people in the elec tion held yesterday on the bond issue proposition. While there had been some active opposition to the bonds a large ma jority of those who voted took the proper business-like view of the situa tion. Had the proposed bond issue been defeated Birmingham would have been in a bad fix indeed; but since the election turned out all right there is no use in dwelling on what might have been. This bond issue gives Birmingham the temporary relief that has been pressing. The bonds were voted for in two amounts—$760,000 to pay for the city’s floating debt already due and $500,000 to meet the deficit that will occur on the first of October. The ratification of the bond propo sition not only takes a burden off the city authorities, but citizens who al ways have the welfare of Birming ham at heart will rejoice that the matter of temporary relief is now duly provided for. The next problem of concern to Bir mingham relates to permanent relief —the tax rate, an equalization of taxes and a municipal budget. The meas ures embodying these questions are pending in the legislature and should be acted upon as promptly as possible at the July session. Now that Bir mingham is over its floating debt worry the commissioners will be able to give undisturbed thought to city administration. . This has grown to be a great city and when plans for needed permanent relief are finally adopted it will stride forward faster than ever. In the meantime let us make the best of what we have and work steadfastly to build up. i:g-i J :.*■ i Larger Army Needed Few Secretaries of War have taken so great an interest in the regular army or revealed a broader grasp of the national defense question as Lind iley M. Garrison, the present Secre tary. Ever since he has been at the head of the war department he has given close stfidy to the military situation; and seeing this country’s lack of pre paredness he urged the last Congress to increase the numerical strength of the army. Butrins insistence was un availing. The Sixty-fourth Congress will find it absolutely necessary to do some thing in the direction of improving the regular establishment. A com plete reorganization may be in order. As to a moderate increase there can be no question. Secretary Garrison is very much in earnest and never loses an opportunity of arousing pub lic interest in military affairs. He is opposed to what is known in Europe as militarism, but like all pa triotic and broad-visioned Americans he realizes fully the growing demand for a larger standing army. In ad dressing the Democratic Club *of Westchester County, New York, re cently, Secretary Garrison did not say how large the army should be, but he spoke with emphasis of the need of a considerable increase. The en listed strength of the United States army is about S5,000 men, but only about half of them are on duty on the mainland. Mr. Garrison stated that not more than 35,000 regulars were available for mobilisation. It is understood that officers of the war college have prepared an army reorganization plan which will be laid before Congress next winter, and it --T opinion will be decidedly in favor of legislation along lines recommended by Mr. Garrison. Jn Birmingham the saloons were closed yesterday because there was an election, the banks will be closed to day because it is the anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birthday, and busi ness will be partially suspended to morrow in order to give baseball a boost. According to press dispatches, former President Taft has already reduced his weight by 60 pounds. If Taft had taken anti-fat prior to the last presidential con vention in Chicago there might have been room enough for him and Roosevelt, too, in the republican party. We fail to see the glory in the ac tion of that French soldier who shot his wite because she desired to re main by his side. As a matter of fact “his honor rooted in dishonor stood," as A. Tennyson would have us ex press it. A Washington exchange makes the very interesting statement that in the Capital City chickens are so tame that they’ll feed out of one's hands. There will soon be a masculine exodus from all other cities of the union. The Gadsden Evening Journal, in promoting a “Made in Etowah" cam paign, has no reference, it is possible, to the excellent “dew drop" which is be ing at present distilled in the dales of that county. The wisdom of our prohibition legis lators is apparent when It Is recalled that their measures premit a man to receive annually more liquor than the average individual consumption in the United States. By forcing the suffragettes to con tinue wearing their stockings, the may or of Boston proves that he sympa thises with the manufacturers in the current garter strike. Rumblings throughout the state in dicate that the people are getting very Hred of the petty hazing which the leg islature is attempting to administer to Governor Henderson. If the prohibition lobby had or dained that Alabama in reality be dry, one or more nstute politicians would have been without a means of liveli hood. A white man puts a negro out of busi ness in Havana, and several white wom en participate in an election which makes a negro an alderman in Chi cago. And now Kansas, as the home state of tlie champion pugilist of the world, has claim to fame other than that oi the boss bootlegging state of the union. We wonder what Bryan and Hob son will do when Wilson is renom inated and tlie platform, as usual, con tains no reference to prohibition. Perhaps other sufferers will follow the example of Senator White and threaten to tell the legislature on the Southeastern TaiffTf association. Witnesses tell the recess committees that the insurance laws are inadequate. They have certainly failed to prevent periodical increases in rates. Italy is willing for a certain consid eration to remain out of the war. But in that attitude it is displaying no con sideration for itB soldiers. To the average prohibttionist. it is quite mete that Governor Henderson be punished for having permitted the peo ple to elect him. If she whispers, “Take me out to the I ball game,’’ hesitate. Along with every body else, Friend Wife will be there. There was evidently a false ring in her speech when the Boston suf fragette orator dropped her teeth. The Sultan oft repairs to his harem in order that he might not hear the explosion of the British shells. In the years to come, few men will boast that their ancestors were mem bers of the present legislature. The flurry on Wall street is another indication that shears are being pre pared for spring lambs. German sailors admit by their action that the United States has the safest harbors in the w'orld. We can endure April despite the fact that it brings among us again the Chautauqua lecturer. The co-operation of the legislature with Governor Henderson is desirable and Improbable. Dr. Anna Shawr is not the only indi vidual who is disgusted with the pro hibition party. We have never liked that familiar advertisement, “Chickens dressed or undressed.” The only men who make money dur ing hard times are B. Sunday and J. Willard. .. ■■■.«. . . , When rosy lips are puckered it’s al ways "to h- with the germ the ory.” It is not always love to which a man’s fancy turns in the spring. Just to keep abreast of the times, why not call it the watermobile? Maybe those sun spots mark Jack John son's late place In the sun. An exchange spells Mr. Comer’s idio syncrasy, “ido-sin-crazy.” Sunday fights hell every day in the week. It is now time to swat the fly. MORE DIVERSIFICATION From the^, Gadsden ^Evening Journal. Benzol,'a substance said to be capable of yielding 4000 products, is to be pro duced In Birmingham. That's diversified manufacturing. IN HOTEL LOBBIES In Alabama and Georgia “Wiwiin the past few weeks there has ! been great improvement in business in agricultural territory in Alabama and Ge< rgia,” said Hugh M Brown, the wrell known shoe factory agent, who has just returned to Birmingham after an absence of several weeks. “I waa in south Alabama and from there went over into Georgia, j visited towns large and small in nearly every part of that state. Merchants who were very much depressed last fail are now buoyant. In fact the business situation in both Alabama and Georgia, from ray point of view, is very encouraging, in deed. 1 leave in a. few' days for an ex tended trip through Alabama, and I feel sure of old-time success in making sales." Kirkwood Day “Wednesday will be Rickwood day In Birmingham," remarked a fan. “and a badge lettered ‘20,000 or Bust,’ is con spicuous on the breast of the Birmingham booster. "This city is going after tne opening day attendance trophy in earnest, and I would not be at all surprised if the 20,000 mark were reached at tomorrow’s game. Bimingham hud the largest attendance of any Southern league city last season, and there is no reason why it should not maintain Its lead this year. It is true that New Orleans has a new ball park and interest is being aroused to the boiling point among the fans of that city, but the New Orleans game takes place Tues day. and when the Birmingham people learn the number in attendance at that game it is safe to say that if need be an extraordinary effort will be made to surpass that record. "Birmingham Is getting the habit of securing what it goes after, and each successful effort along this line stimulates civic spirit to even a higher pitch. The bond issue was carried by a great ma jority, and attending the baseball game Wednesday might be viewed as a fitting celebration by those most Interested in the matter: certainly ample opportunity for exuberant expression will be afforded at" Rickwood." A Hotel Joke A friend in New York writes this to The Age-Herald: "The cashier of the Hotel Martinique was amused as well as puzzled at the signature affixed to one of the restaurant checks. The name and room number did not correspond, and when the mat ter was brought to the attention of the lady occupying the room mentioned, she was greatly surprised, but w'as forced to admit that the handw'riting was her own. “She laughingly explained that she had bad a misunderstanding with the waiter, regarding chicken a la king, and when the check was presented for her signa ture, her mind was still on the suhject, and she absent-mindedly wrote across the face of the check, Mrs. Thicken, Room .’ ” Seasonable Salad on Flaking "The fishing stories coming in to The Age-Herald are very seasonable,’’ said a disciple of Sir Isaac Walton, "and are as refreshing as spring salad, aft er a winter’s diet. "I remember an experience or two r had with two novices—amateurs for luck at poker or fishing is an adag: with those in either game. “Val Kolb, the dispenser of passes tor fishing at No. 7,’ had never tried his luck up to this experience I am going to relate. 1 fixed his tackle, hooked the minnow—(always to one side, it should he. of the upper part of the mouth)—and selected the most likely spot in ‘No. 7’ for a catch. It was a bluff of shelving rock, deep water at its foot and the hill very steep at his back. I told him when he had a strike to give a snatch, hook his fish and take his time to land him. I went on around the pond out of sight and was gone about a half hour, but with no luck. Thinking I d see how’ Kolb was getting along I went to him and asked, ‘What luck?' He replied, ‘I caught one but he finned me.’ Surprised, I said, ‘Ho\v could that hap pen?’ ‘Well, when I got a bite,’ saia Kolb, ‘I give him a yank over my shoulder; he fell away up there on the hill; or was jumping and floun dering around and looked like he’d get back In the water. I jumped on top ot him and held him down and stuck a fin in my hand.’ 1 said, ‘Gee! he ought to have stuck you for that.’" Much Inferior Fruit Offered "There is much indifferent and rather inferior fruit being offered," said a house holder. "I myself prefer good fruit, even at higher prices, than most of the offer ings. "Some of the fruit stands are selling bananas not w'orth 6 cents per dozen at 15 cents. Then I bought some so-called winesap apples at 10 cents per dozen that are just what we used to call, 'hog feed from the orchard.’ Much of the Florida fruit has either been frozen or chilled as it is flat and sappy tasting. “Of course, there is some nice fruit to be had, but if the buyer is not a judge he is likely to arrive at home with a bag containing stuff that will make him ‘cuss.’ I've had some very choice bananas during the past week; then I’ve also had Borne that the fellow who sold them to me should have been made to eat, peeling and all." The Cotton Situation A prominent cotton brokerage house of New York, in Its Saturday’s review, says in part: "Acreage was the most widely discussed topic of conversation in trade circles dur ing the week owing no doubt to the fact that a number of statistical bureaus pub lished preliminary estimates. One of the best known of these gives a decrease in acreage of between 18 and 20 per cent and in fertilizers from 38 to 40 per cent. This is about in line with the estimate made by the Journal of Commerce and may be considered important only to the extent of its being confirmatory of the correctness of recent general estimates, rather than as shedding any new light on the subject. It goes without saying that when the census bureau finds it necessary Jo postpone the date of its pre liminary acreage estimate from June to July because of the expected Insufficient data, calculations made this early in the season are purely a matter of guesswork. However, it is not improbable that the present general estimates will prove to be about right. "There is no doubt that tne advance which has taken place has been due in a great measure to the antlciapted reduc tion in acreage, and it is, therefore, a question now as to how fully this has been reflected in the price. Statistical Influences are no longer the strong sup porting factor that they have been. Ex ports are beginning to show a decided falling off, and this is quite natural when a review is made of the present condition of foreign stocks. Great Britain now has approximately 1,800,000 bales as compared with 1.340,000 bales at this tim a year ago. Total European stocks a this time are estimated at approximated 3.000,000 bales against 2.390,000 bales ii 1914. It will be recalled by readers o these advices that for sometime pas stress has been laid upon the small Euro pean supplies as one of the basically bull j ish factors In the situation, and it is be ! i ause of this that we unhesitatinglj | suggested the probability of increasinf I exports at a time when our foreign ship inents of the staple usually were retro grading. This condition, however, is now ' hanged. European supplies are abov* normal and it is reasonable to expect t decided falling off in foreign demand un less the textile situation shows market improvement. There is no indication o! this at the moment,” ALABAMA PRESS Anniston Star: If the worat comes tc the worst in Russia, we suppose all th< gcueials will sc: a thave and sell theh whiskers to stuff American pillows. . Huntsville Times. The suggestion tha< a lady member bo given a seat on the oils board of education ia a good one and i« worthy of favorable consideration. N< one Is in closer touch with the school lif* of this age than are the women teachert .of the country. Birmingham has just wisely added a lady member to Its board of education. L#et Huntsville strengther its able board by a similar step. Tuscaloosa News: We would be almosj willing to bet that there are by actua count more generals in Mexico than there are in the combined armies of France Germany, Austria Russia, and Great Britain. Dothan Eagle: Women are the bravest creatures in the world or they could i?oi stand all the ridicule shot at them for wearing the freakish clothes of 'the pres ent. Gadsden Evening Journal: Birmingham has just lost a stove works through Are. Well, she can worry through the summer without stoves. Enterprise Journal: Advertiser head line says: “Germany Refuses Request for Shipment of Potash.” Or, well, lot them have Perlmutter, too, then. Talladega Daily Home: The National Pecan Growers’ association is going to meet in Albany, Ga. It is to be hoped they will have a cracking good time. Dothan Eagle: There are too many ex perimenters in business. That’s why so many failures, people trying to run a busi ness who have no qualifications for it. Andalusia Star: Not having any -da tives to make money or a reputation for us we'll have to do the work ourselves. Cullman Tribune: He who stoops down and lifts up his fallen brother from the mire and place him on his feet and whis per sweet counsel in his ear and bid him go and lead a better life, is truly a bene factor to the race. GOSSIP IN LONDON From the Philadelphia Evening Tele graph. The Petit Parisian states that the Presi dent of the republic lias received the fol lowing letter from England: "Sir: I hope you will not mind my writing to you, for I do not know anyone else who would give me the information I want. 1 am at a secondary school, and in my class we have formed a society for the amuse ment and help of wounded soldiers. Our school itself is being used as a hospital for wounded French and Belgians. We should like very much to know the names and addresses of some very lonely French soldiers who have got no relations to write to them. We know a little French, and If you will be so kind as to send us the ad dresses of a dozen of these poor soldiers we would write to them.—Yours sincerely, G. M." G. Osborne Troop, late of Montreal, Felbrldge Vicarage, East Grlnstead, writes to the Bohdon Times: Sir: It may given an impetus to recruit ing In England to know of the loyalty and devotion of some of the pioneers in west ern Canada. Bishop Robins, of Athabas ca, tells of three men whom he had met at Athabasca Banding, who were on their way to enlist. One of these had tramped 500 miles; another 1000 miles, without a companion, and had had to throw away his blankets In order to struggle through. The third had come 1600 miles from Fort Good Hope, and hud had but a single dog to assist him In carrying his supplies. My own daughter writes me from Banff, the well known resort in the Rocky moun tains, that she has been appointed Red Cross secretary, and had never been so busy in her life. Even Italians and China men were eager to help in forwarding supplies. Banff has a resident population of not more than 2000, yet 68 men were just leaving to join one of the Canadian contingents. Th* unity of the Empire Is a mighty spiritual force, if rightly di rected toward "the eternal goal.” HARK! HARK! THE FORD! From the Emporia Gazette. There are In the 1’nited States at this minute 1,7S4£70 automobiles, most of which are in Emporia running as Jitneys. It is no trouble to catch a Jitney In this town Many people catch them before they've been exposed, as near as they can tell. LUKE M'M kk SAYS From the Cincinnati Enquirer. When you see a man kicking a stray dog you can bet that he is the kind of follow whose wife and children hate to see him come home at night. A woman can paint her face and be decent But a man seldom gives her the benefit of the doubt when he sees the paint. A man never realizes what a hig boob he is until his wife makes him go shop ping with her and takes him Into the ladles' underwear department of a big store. Appearances may be deceitful. But a man would rather take a chance on a pretty girl than on a homely one. A woman can be narrow-minded and still have a hard time squeezing Into a Morris chair when she wants to sit down. . One half the world owes money that it can't pay. And the other half lia-s money out that it can't collect. A man can have a reputation down town of being the beet natured fellow in the world. But, somehow or other, his wlfo never guesses It. A good scare often helps a ntnn more than good advice. A man will marry a woman who has been divorced three or four times and then will have nerve enough to kick when he Is asked to wear second-hand clothes or eat warmed-over food. Before some women get their wedding gowns worn under the arms they are ready to be measured for their divorce suits. ■» A man never thinks of protecting hli hair until he realizes that he hasn't enough of It to take Rs own part. ! A DECLINE IN FADISM Loulsville t-'ourler-Journal. I iftE Stat® »f Washington, having I blundered into the recall, refer X endum and initiative. Is now do ing what it can to retrace its steps. Hence forth it will be illegal to hawk and peddle these petitions from street to street and door to door like onions or flch. Those who wisli to sign them must go to a, reg istration office, and, since this implies a certain deQniteness of purpose and a cer tain amount of physical exertion, it is faiNy safe to predict that they will usually go unsigned.”—The Argonaut. How have the mighty fallen! The in itiative, the referendum and the recall were the nostrums that were to cure all the evils of misgovernment. Instead, as the Argonaut proceeds to show, they have, where they have been tried, done a mis chief alike to public spirit and to individ ual morality which it will take a decade to undo. They have created a new and at the same time a most profitable crime. This was no less than that of reformatory for gery. They loosed a swarm of political canvassers with fountain pens to earn fe lonious commissions by copying names out of the directory and calling them signa tures. The resort to these quackeries were followed by a crop of ugly scandals, looked upon, however, only as eccentrici ties inseparable from the system. No one was ever punished for these for geries. That 20 or 30 “signatures’’ should be In the same handwlrting, that they 3hould include the names of dead men and children, was assumed to be incidental to j the trade. Yet it took 10 years for the people to get on to it. It fell in with female suffrage. Inevi-| tably the women were prune to It and took to it. Indeed, it seemed a peculiarly con genial and safe feminine peccadillo. Hap pily. at last, it is going by the board. It had its origin in the uplift literature which began to irradiate the magazines 10 or 12 years ago. That, too, is going, if not quite gone, by the board. Of it the Ar gonaut truly says: “There has come a very marked change in the tone and character of American periodical literature. Generally speaking, the business is not what it was, and par ticularly speaking, the matter given to the public is very far from what it was. Muckraking has gone out of fashion. The public, which once clamored Jjur it, now" w'ill have none of it. What wqts onc*> called by the fine names of courage and enterprise is now characterized by other and less pleasant phrases. Following the muckraking period came the vogue of the so-called nonpartisan magazine writer, who was invariably a muck raker in dis guise and usually a socialist. These self styled nonpartisan writers played lustily for a time upon the public credulity, and for a time they w^re taken at their word. There were those who believed Lincoln Steffens. Charles Edward Russell and the rest of the tribe as serious-minded pa triots. Now it is coming universally to be understood that these writers are just sensationalists uf the new kind, without Intellectual, moral or other foundations. Every man-jack of them is to the extent of his ability an iconoclast. They teach that the constitution i^ an outworn in strument; that every prosperous man Is a thief; that everbody and everything but ‘the people' are wrong. They always leflne ‘the people’ as themselves.” -——-------------------•« NO BITTERNESS NOW From the Baltimore Sun. TTE current press comments on the 60th anniversary of Dee’s surrender at Appomattox illustrate how little sectional .bitterness remains in the Ameri can heart of today. Here and there we find a northern “irreconciliable” who still talks of “treason” and “traitors,” and hero and there we find an “unrecon structed” southerner who still hates the; “Yankee hordes” who invaded his section, but they are so few and far between that they have become human curidSTties, who are interesting rather as relics than as representatives of any existing feeling outside of themselves. And yet when lye compare the sentiment and the situation 50 years ago with the sentiment and the situation of today we may well marvel at the contrast. Grant showed himself at Appomattox to be nearly half a century in advance of his own section, which, while containing many chivalric and gen erous people, might not, a.s a whole, have been able to reach the height of the union commander's magnanimity had he not boldly led the way. Grant was greater at Appomattox than at any other period in his career, and his generosity proved the highest form of wisdom and states manship. Yet even he would have been amazed could he have foreseen the change which 50 years were to bring about in the relations of the sections—the south at Appomattox in 1865 overrun and helpless, without a real representative in the federal government, and apparehtly with not a right left out of all the rights it had claimed; and the south of 1916, directing and guiding the “nation” which was born of the travail of w:ar, as the late Charles Francis Adams declared in his Civil War lectures in this city last year. Then it was a conquered Confed eracy; now' it is the predominating po litical influence in the government. As the New York World points out, “the 60th anniversary of Appomattox finds the United States again with a southern-born President,” with “a. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was a soldier in the Confederate army,” with a Secretary of the Navy and a Postmaster General who are from states that seceded in 1861, and with a Congressional leadership that comes from states included in the Con federacy or from states more or less in sympathy with it. This is indeed a striking transforma tion, a change which none of the actors at Appomattox could have anticipated. And no one except a few survivals of the war period challenges or criticizes it. But this is not the greatest change that has occurred since 18G5. The great est change of all is in the southern at titude toward old constitutional theories. The soul of the New York Sun is filled with melancholy as it notes this fact, anrl it asks bitterly: “Amid the proud and mournful memories of this anniver sary does the south realize, prosperous and great and ever greater as the grows, how far she is from the old landmarks of democracy? A new south indeed!’’ Yea, verily, politically. But why? Be cause she has recognized the facts estab lished at Appomattox. “The extinction of the great politicaKdoctrine” of states’ rights in the south is not a thing of re cent date, and it was not the w’ork of the south. It was the logical and in evitable consequence of the triumph of the opposing doctrine. Why should the south be reproached for accepting the results of the war? A new national condition as well as a new governmental practice was born of that conflict, and all we cat* do today Js to save as much from the wreck of former theories as we can for ap plication to present-day issues. We join with our New York contemporary in re gretting the “extinction" of many con stitutional safeguards and the weakening of many barriers to precipitate legis tion, but if w'e arc to go back to 1 first causes we must go back to Ap mattox and the political forces that r* . dered Appomattox possible. The soi has not been the leader in these changes, and she is simply going with the rest of the country In yielding to the Im pulses of the new' national life. In every other way she has changed far less than other sections; she is still closer to the old ideals and standards than many other parts of the country, and she is not to be held responsible for results W'hlch are due to the theory of government that was established by force 50 years ago. .MORE PEACE RUMORS From the Louisville Courier-Journal. , IT is not necessary to accept unreserv edly reports of peace overtures on the part of Turkey and Austria in order to attach significance to their cir culation. Both countries have officially denied that they are contemplating any such separata negotiations with Russia, and there is an end of the matter—offi cially. Nevertheless, the reports persist and there is nothing in the premises to render them in the least incredible. But aside from the persistent survival ot peace talk, taken In conjunction with the political situation and the internal con ditions of both Austria and Turkey, sug gests pregnant reflections as to Indicated developments of tile not necessarily dis tant future. Austria is going from bad to worse. Her defense of Przemysl, it becomes more end more apparent, was the last stub born stand that she is capable ot mak ing against the Russian advance. Despite Vienna reports of her able defensive work in the Carpathians, the conviction grows that tiie situation in the passes is becoming .desperate for her and that the plains of Hungary will soon be flooded with Russian troops. The rushing of German re-enforcements to that quarter and the postponement of the spring ad vance in the west must be accepted as evidence ot the seriousness with which the situation is regarded. Add to that the announcement that the Russian force which besieged Prezcmysl—estimated at 150,000—is now operating to advantage at the gateway of northern Hungary and the military situation of the dual mon archy takes on a serious aspect. Starva tion and pestilence are raging among army and civilians, and mobs demanding peace are besieging the war office in Vienna. Turkey entered the war without enthu siasm; she has done her part dutifully, but—If reports are to be credited—without spirit. Certainly In Constantinople there has never been anything approaching an excited war spirit; all reports agree that whatever may be the feeling among the Turkish soldlerB, the civilian population has no soul In the affair and will be heartily glad when it is at an end. The frustrated gesture of the Turkish troops the other day to surrender the forts at the Dardanelles cannot be dismissed as wholly unimportant because ineffective. Turkey's fate, politically, once the allies are victorious, is scaled. That stands out with conspicuous certainty among all the uncertainties surrounding the final readjustment. There is no reason to be lieve that Turkey le blind to this; It will not be surprising to learn that she Is unwilling to suffer longer in a war in which she has no interest. That this per suasion is beginning to circulate In the streets of Constantinople has bean indl* ) cated on more than one occasion during recent weeks; taken in conjunction with certain disaffections among the spidery it emerges as a. factor of some moment. No one acquainted with military campaigns will disparage yie impor tance of morale as a determining fac tor. It is there that armies are de feated in their ranks as frequently as they are overcome by superior forces. From tiiis arises the significance that must be attached to these repeated re ports of peace inclinations on the part ’ of the weaker vessels In the Germanic alliance. As for Germany herself, she is' as yet free from any i/nputatton on this score. But her spirit alone will not be sufficient to sustain the crum bling morale of two peoples who tee their own respective, unhappy destinies just ahead, over which the stronger ally has no control. In the event of defeat, which looms nearer and nearer, they must go their separate ways— Austria to dismemberment, Turkoyoto shrinkage within Asia. Germany— whatever her own fate may be—will be powerless to mitigate one white the lot of these two. It would be the part of dullness to suppose that this state of affairs will have no effect on the actual conduct of these two weaker allies of Germany once the tide is set definitely against I hem. With the passing of Germany’s power to aid them will pass also their willingness to inarch with Germany to the end. In such situations the prompt ings of Instinct advise “every fellow for himself." These persistent rumors of peace overtures and disaffectlons are just the sort of symptoms that may be expected to proceed the disintegra tion of morale in the alliance prior to the actual breaking down and final deteat. Germany will not save the Sit uation by such expedients as sending reinforcements to weak spots as in the case of the Carapthlans, or by discip linary threats, as in the case of Turk ish disaffection at the Dardanelles. Neither emergency troops nor tyranny will rehabilitate the dissolving morale of armies that are looking into tha face of certain defeat and into a future that is without hope$ THE HOAD TO HOMELAND By George V. Hobart. There’s a big road In the city That they call the Great White Way, Where the bright lights—staring white lights— Turn the night time into day; But you’re lonely when you walk it. For you want once more to find In the shadows, in the darkness, / That old road ydu left behind. < It’s the old road back to Homeland; It’s the outcast’s only goal, Where the ever-cruel white lights Throw no shadows on your soul. It's the old road back to childhood. It's the road you want to roam, With the stars above to guide you— It's the road to Home, Sweet Home!