New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, No. 1, July 1918

by Various

Inhuman Treatment of Civilian Women and Men at Internment Camps

A correspondent of The London Telegraph who spent three years in captivity in Austria has told of the horrible brutalities and cruelties suffered by interned aliens in that country. He states that there are both stations and camps for the interned prisoners, but the former are employed to exploit the captives; they are more livable than the horrible camps, but to live at a station one is charged three to ten times more for food and lodging than the current rates for citizens, and the prisoners suffer greatly for want of food and decent sanitation.

He describes the experiences of prisoners at a place called Illmau, in lower Austria, as typical of Austrian methods. A party of Englishmen were taken there shortly after they had been arrested in Vienna. They were marched along for about twenty kilometers, carrying their bags or packages. It was very cold, below freezing point, and when at last they arrived at Illmau at dark they were pushed into a kind of cellar, three or four steps below the level of the ground. A soldier locked them in, telling them they could go there and die. It was a place with no windows—only a small hole in floor. The floor, bare earth, was wet and muddy, water trickling down the walls. For every two men was one straw sack, also damp, of course, and they were so closely packed that they could not lie straight.

During the day it was so dark that they could not see each other's faces. In the morning they were told that, if they wanted to wash, they might go to the pump from which they also got their drinking water. This pump stood in the middle of a manure heap, and could only be reached by wading knee deep through the liquid pool surrounding the manure heap. The quality of the drinking water can be rather imagined than described. The treatment was most rough; the only argument a guard ever used was the butt end of his rifle—if not the bayonet. Not many words were wasted on the "Schweine - Engländer," (Swine - English.)

One day some high officials came to inspect Illmau, and after they had seen the above-ground portion, the Englishmen, who were shut up in their cellar, could hear them asking if no one was shut up in the cellars, as by rights they ought to inspect the cellars, too. But the guard officer assured them on his solemn word of honor that the cellars were empty. And those who were there did not dare to call out—they knew what their punishment would be—"stringing up" at least. This is an old punishment, where the wrists are fettered behind the back, a cord attached and passed through a ring in the wall over the prisoner's head. This cord is then pulled tight, till the man is forced right on to his toes. He is then kept so for about an hour, or till he faints. This was often done at Illmau.

After the Englishmen had been in their wet cellar for a week, and were nearly all ill with the terrible cold, they were told they could go into an upstairs room. These rooms were occupied by Serbs and Poles, nearly all very ill with consumption and very dirty. Each man received a blanket of a kind of checked pattern. When these blankets were hung up in the yard to air it was impossible to recognize their pattern—they were all a crawling mass. The room into which the Englishmen were put was so full that when they lay down at night they were almost one on the top of the other. The consumptives were always expectorating, and "sanitary arrangements" were unknown.

Drosendorf was a camp where, especially during the first months, prisoners endured the greatest hardships. They slept in sheds, in stables, sometimes on wet straw, sometimes without, and were treated as brutally as in other camps. "Here were also some women," says the correspondent, "and a lady I knew personally. When the latter was brought there with other prisoners, male and female, after walking for miles, they were shut into a large room—men and women together. There the 'sanitary arrangements' consisted of a large pail put down in the middle of the room. This lady was kept in this room with the men for some days, and not allowed to leave it. In this camp at present there are principally Russians, and rarely a day passes that a death does not occur from starvation. Here, as also in the large camp of Katzenau, the rations are as follows:

Breakfast.—Tea made of a mixture of dried birch and strawberry leaves, and sixty grams (about two ounces) of bread.

Midday.—Soup made of turnips, or potatoes boiled and served in the water they are boiled in, (no salt or fat,) and another sixty grams of bread.

Evening.—Same as breakfast. At some places the same vessels are used for washing the floors and for boiling the soup.

Estergom in Hungary was at the beginning a much dreaded place. It is surrounded on three sides by the Danube and barbed wire on the fourth. At the beginning there were over 30,000 prisoners—men, women, and children—there, but not sufficient accommodation, so many spent the nights out of doors in the rain and endless mud. Some lived in tents. Of course striking a match in the dark was strictly forbidden, and when once some one did strike one, the guards rushed in, striking about them blindly with their fixed bayonets. Once one unfortunate Scotchman was attacked very badly with dysentery in the middle of the night, and came out to ask the guard to take him to a doctor. The guard simply ordered him to go back to the tent and be quiet. When the sick man begged again, the guard knocked him down with the butt end of his rifle.

One camp, which was even lately mentioned as a disgrace in the Austrian Parliament, is Thalerhof, near Graz, the capital of Styria. Here they kept principally their own refugees from Galicia.

The London Telegraph correspondent writes of Thalerhof:

"One Polish lady who had been there for eight months is now in Raabs. She was taken away from her own house in Galicia in the clothes she stood in, allowed to take nothing with her. Eventually she reached Thalerhof. Through her sufferings there the poor woman is so broken down that it is almost impossible to get her to speak of what she has been through. A little she told me. When they—she and other ladies, priests, peasants, men of all classes—were brought to Thalerhof, the ladies (not the peasant women) were told they must come and bathe. It was many degrees below freezing point, but they were taken to a shed, open all round, down the middle of which a long row of troughs half filled with dirty water was arranged. The water had already been used by soldiers for washing their clothes. Then they were ordered to undress.

"The soldiers with fixed bayonets surrounded these ladies, while they completely undressed in the open, and forced them to bathe in the troughs, threatening them with fixed bayonets all the time and torturing them with coarse jokes. The low-class women were left quiet, not forced to bathe like this. After the bath was over they were shut up in a room crowded with people full of vermin. The ladies were always chosen for the dirty work—never the peasant women, just as the priests were set to clear up the 'sanitary arrangements,' which there consisted of a long open ditch with a board along one side of it.

CIVILIANS KIDNAPPED

"At the beginning they had a cruel way of arresting people. They would march them off as they stood, not letting them communicate with wives or friends or relatives. I know of one lady who for about two months did not know where her husband was, while he knew just as little about her. Two Serbian ladies, mother and daughter, who had also been at Salzerbad, had been staying at a little watering place in Dalmatia, where they had gone for many years. One evening, when they were only dressed in cotton dressing gowns, they were asked by an official to come down to a steamer lying at the wharf. Only for a few minutes, he said; there were just a few questions to be asked. So they went just as they were, and went on the boat with several others; some one began to ask them questions, when, to their horror, they noticed the ship was moving. They were taken right away, as they were. At every port they stopped and brought in others in the same way.

"In Fiume they landed, were handcuffed two and two, and marched through the streets to the prison. There the daughter and her 65-year-old mother, who had been also handcuffed, spent the night in a cell, with only two upright chairs in it. Next day they and all the other prisoners collected up to then were packed into third-class carriages, packed as close as they would go, and in each compartment two soldiers, fully accoutred, with fixed bayonets, and smoking like chimneys. Although it was hot Summer, all the windows were kept shut. In this way they were brought to Marburg—a journey of some four or five hours in ordinary time—but they took two days for it. All this time they had nothing to eat. People came to the train selling things; but, as all their money had been taken away from them on the boat, they could get nothing. In Marburg they were put in the prison, and kept there for eight months."

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Abuses in German Prison Camps

Examples of Heartless Treatment

Quartermaster Sergeant T. Duggan of the First Coldstream Guards, who was at the prison camp at Schneidemühl (Posen) from 1914 to March, 1918, described the horrors at that camp as follows:

Prisoners of all nationalities, Russians, French, British, and Belgians, were kept there, the majority being Russians. At the beginning they lived in holes in the ground without any covering whatever. Quartermaster Sergeant Duggan showed me a photograph illustrating this condition of things, which lasted for some time, it being a month before the prisoners had any covering over their heads. The food was so bad that the British could never eat it.

About December, 1914, a typhus epidemic began. It continued for four or five months. Schneidemühl has one camp divided into three inclosures, the whole camp containing about 40,000 prisoners. The daily average of deaths was certainly not under thirty. Another photograph was shown to me depicting a long procession of coffins during the epidemic. A gigantic German carrying a rifle headed the procession, which was mainly composed of unfortunate Russian prisoners. Anything more pathetic cannot be imagined. Photographs were also shown me of the actual funeral service and place of interment. These photographs showed many being buried at one time in one long trench. After the interment, where the bodies were deposited four deep, one above another, the Germans made mounds surmounted by crosses, intimating that only two persons were buried beneath each mound.

It is impossible to estimate now how many were buried altogether, but many thousands died from this typhus epidemic. When the epidemic broke out a terrible condition of affairs quickly ensued, and it was not until it had been raging for a fortnight that Russian doctors arrived on the scene. Some of the patients were then first sent to hospital. The camp's condition, even after the doctors' arrival, was perfectly awful.

A British merchant Captain, who was released in May from internment in a German camp, asserted under oath that after his ship was torpedoed he was locked up for twenty-four hours in the U-boat for refusing to answer questions. On the following day he was searched, and for still refusing to answer was sentenced to be shot on reaching port, or before if he should cause any annoyance. One of the principal officers called him a liar and an English swine.

Some days later the submarine put into Heligoland, and the Captain was transferred to an underground cell ashore. Later, after scanty and bad food had made him ill, he was marched with other prisoners from merchant ships to a camp. Kept naked in intense cold for three hours while his clothes were being searched, German officers stood about laughing. His garments were returned to him wet, and he was put in barracks, where his only covering was verminous blankets.

In another compound the conditions were better, but the food uneatable. The prisoners were skeletons in rags. If they fell down from weakness they were kicked and clubbed, beaten with the flat of swords, and kept standing at attention in freezing weather. They had to fight like wild beasts for food that a dog would refuse. Funerals were a daily occurrence.

Transferred to Brandenburg, where he lived five and a half months, the fare was such that, by the time his own parcels of food arrived, he had lost twenty-eight pounds in weight. Twenty degrees of frost have been registered on the inside wall of the barrack in the mornings, and in Summer the heat was intolerable and the flies and mosquitos very trying. Sanitation was almost nil; 850 Russians died at that camp earlier in the war, and several were burned to death there shortly before the Captain arrived.

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Rebuilding Disabled Soldiers

Wonderful Work That Italy Is Doing to Render Maimed Men Self-Supporting

By PROFESSOR RICCARDO GALEAZZI

[Lieutenant Colonel Italian Royal Medical Corps]

Professor Galeazzi is at the head of the Milan Institute for the After-Care of Disabled Soldiers. The article herewith presented is published by Current History Magazine by arrangement with The London Chronicle.

Our idea is that the future prospects of a disabled soldier must not be built upon his assurance of obtaining a pension, but upon the rebuilding of him physically, and the retraining of him technically, to take up a self-supporting position in life.

Therefore, there must be no scrapping of the broken soldier. When we bring him from the battlefield, and find that a limb or limbs have to be amputated, the soldier thus wounded is placed in a special category, and we cannot discharge him from the army until every care has been taken to rebuild him physically, morally, and professionally. Then, having given him his limbs and his re-education gratuitously, we also give him gratuitously whatever implements or machinery may be necessary for him to practice his new trade. Not until then do we put him on his new road of life.

The organization for the different stages of this treatment is interesting. In Italy each army corps has its special province or district. And each of those geographical sections has a complete organization for the care of the disabled. There is the surgical hospital, the orthopedic institute, and the school for retraining the soldier in whatever trade he may be capable of following.

When the amputation wound is sufficiently healed in the surgical hospital, we give the soldier a month's leave, fitting him with a temporary limb for use during that time. When the month is out—that is, before he has had time to get into lazy habits at home or suffer from the effects of misdirected sympathy—he must enter the school for the re-education disabled. To this school is also attached the orthopedic institution. Here he has his definite set of limbs fitted. A plaster cast is taken and each limb is made with particular individual care; and during the first weeks of its use the soldier is under the constant supervision of the doctors, so that they can alter the artificial limbs according as any defects become manifest.

I may also say, for it is an important point, that the limbs made for the common soldier are the same as those made for the Colonel, and the one gets them gratis just as the other does. Not only that, but we have a National Institute whose duty is to take care of these limbs, renew them and alter them free of cost, as long as the soldier lives.

What are the limbs like? Well, for instance, even where a man has lost both hands, we have fitted artificial ones which enable him to write with pen or pencil, to use knife and fork, to button his clothes, and to shave with a safety razor. Thus we get rid of the constant depression from which a soldier would otherwise suffer were he to feel dependent upon some friend for every hand's turn in his daily life.

One of the great sources of success in applying these limbs is the special Italian system, the theory of which was laid down by Vanghetti, of making the amputation so that the muscles from the living part of the arm can be attached in such a way to the artificial limb as to get an organic muscular connection. Thus the natural muscles of the living arm actually can be got to work the artificial fingers or leg, as the case may be. I have made several of these connections full success. And the system is now becoming almost the rule all over the country. It is a special Italian invention, though some of the German professors want to claim the credit for it.

The most important feature, however, of our Italian system is the insistence on retraining. If the soldier's disablement does not allow him to follow his ordinary calling in life, and if he be not of independent means, he is absolutely bound to spend at least a month or six weeks in the training school. There he is asked to choose a trade or calling in keeping with his physical ability. We keep him for at least about six weeks, and show him the whole system in working order. Of course, if he cannot be persuaded, we must allow him to go home, for, after all, we are a free country. But when he remains he is put through a thorough course of training.

During these first weeks in the school the new limbs are fitted, for the school works in connection with the orthopedic institute. In the school we teach the illiterate peasants to read and write. We teach all sorts of designing and drawing, all commercial subjects, all the artisan trades, and also technical farming. Generally we give preference to these trades that can be practiced at home; and we do not encourage largely such trades as would call for work in large factories. In the case of farmers or farm laborers, who are too seriously injured to undertake the heavy work in the fields, we teach them the finer technique of vine culture, wine making, cheese making, &c.

And it generally happens that these disabled men return to life better fitted for their work than they were before the war.

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Sneezing Powder in Gas Attacks

A report from a correspondent on the Picardy front, dated May 6, 1918, described how the Germans launched a heavy gas attack against the Americans, sending over within a short period 15,000 shells, containing chiefly mustard gas. This attack was notable for a new German device, which is described as follows:

The Germans introduced gas warfare, forcing modern soldiers to wear gas masks. Now after the use of masks has proved an effective weapon against gas they are using a new weapon to force the allied soldiers to take off masks that they may be easily killed by lethal phosgine and diphosgine gases.

The weapon is nothing more or less than sneezing powder fired in high explosive shells. This powder percolates through mask respirators and brings on sneezing spells which lead the men to take off their masks and to receive the full effect of lethal gases. It has been used against the Americans. The method in use is to fire a number of sneezing powder shells just before a gas attack or to scatter them along among lethal gas shells.

The German now uses his gases in four methods: First, clouds, which depend on a favorable wind; second, projectors, also depending on the wind; third, long-range artillery gas shells, and, fourth, hand grenades. Deadly gases, such as phosgine and diphosgine, are used in short-range guns, while neutralization gas, intended only to prevent activities of allied soldiers far back of the lines, is used at long range. Mustard gas is much used in this way. The latest perfection in the use of lethal gases is to fire twelve or more mortars shooting large-calibre shells at the same time by an electrical arrangement, thus producing great concentration.

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Russia Under Many Masters

A Month's Events Amid the Chaos Produced by Bolshevist Misrule and German Invasion

The State Department at Washington on May 16, 1918, published the text of a protest to Germany made by the Russian Government on April 26. The document opened with the following statement: "The Russian Government has taken every measure possible strictly to fulfill the Brest- Litovsk treaty from the Russian side, and in this way to secure for our people the chief aim of this treaty—a state of peace. But in reality no such state of peace exists." The message then enumerated the grievances of the Russians. It pointed out that by advancing upon Kursk and Voronezh the German and Ukrainian troops infringed the Russo-Ukrainian frontier line, "which was one-sidedly established by the Ukrainian Rada itself, and officially made known to us by the German Government." At the same time, the protest said, Russian military property in Finland was being seized by the White Guards, operating in agreement with German detachments and under instruction from the German staff.

The document also called attention to the fact that, although the Soviet authorities had declared their readiness to open peace negotiations with the Ukrainian Central Rada, neither the Ukrainian Government, "which is now directed by Germany," nor the Berlin Government itself, had given any answer to the Russian offer. "Owing to such circumstances," the message declared, "the Soviet Government considers itself compelled to mobilize all necessary forces in order to secure the freedom and independence of the Russian Republic, which is now menaced beyond the limits established by the Brest-Litovsk treaty." The document concluded by reiterating the complete readiness of the Russian people to fulfill the conditions of the Brest-Litovsk pact, and by demanding the German Government should formulate the new demands, "in the name of which it directs Ukrainian, Finnish, and German troops against the Russian Soviet Government."

GERMAN PROMISES

In response to this protest, Berlin, on May 13, advised the Soviet Government through the Russian Ambassador in Berlin, that Germany would stop the invasion of Russian territory, and that it would observe the Brest-Litovsk treaty and restore the rights of Russians residing in Germany. In spite of this assurance, however, the advance of the German Army in Great Russia did not cease. According to a Moscow dispatch, dated May 25, the Germans occupied the district town of Valuyki, in the Government of Voronezh, which is Great Russian territory, and made further advances. The occupation was preceded by a battle which lasted four days. The Teutons also continued their operations in the Don region, where a battle occurred near Bataisk, and in the Caucasus. They mined the Strait of Kerch, or Yenikal, known to the ancients as the Cymmerian Bosporus, which is the only passage from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov. German airships appeared over Novorossysk, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, and their submarines entered its port. This was done apparently to intimidate the Transcaucasian Government, which refused to cede Novorossysk to Turkey. About the same time Bolshevist detachments crossed the Caspian, attacked the Turks and recaptured the port of Baku. Another battle was won by the Russians over the Turco-German troops in the Kars district of Transcaucasia on May 24. The enemy retreated along the Ardahan road, massacring the population as they went.

Early in June the Germans made a further advance in the south, namely, in the Roslav region and in the district of Rylsk, Government of Kursk. They advanced from the Rostov Railway toward Voronezh and captured Roventki. They also made an attempt to cut the Tsaratsyk Railway near the Kumyigar River. On June 10 the Germans started a new movement eastward along a front sixty miles wide, between Valyiki, captured previously, and Zhukovo.

BLACK SEA FLEET

A large part of the Russian Black Sea fleet fell into the hands of the Germans when they captured Sebastopol, but two large ships and two destroyers escaped. A telegram to the Berliner Tageblatt, dated May 12, said that the majority of the captured vessels had been so neglected that only two battleships were in good condition. One dreadnought and four cruisers had previously been captured at Odessa. On June 6, the Moscow Government offered to surrender the Black Sea fleet to Germany on the following conditions: 1. The ships to be restored after the war is over. 2. Germany to refrain from using the vessels. 3. Invasion of Russia to stop.

According to a memorandum sent on May 21 by Foreign Minister Tchitcherin to the Bolshevist Ambassador Joffe in Berlin, Russian merchantmen and even a hospital ship were attacked by the Germans in the Black Sea, and the menace of German attack constituted a serious obstacle to navigation in the Baltic and Arctic.

On June 6, Germany delivered an ultimatum to the Soviet Government, demanding the return of the remainder of the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Novorossysk to Sebastopol, as a condition for the cessation of hostilities on the part of the Central Powers. The Commissary for Foreign Affairs expressed himself in favor of acceding to the demand, and Lenine ordered the surrender of the ships.

The Soviet Government had no illusions as to the stability of the Brest-Litovsk peace, but in its opinion the time for a new clash with the Central Powers was not yet ripe. Consequently, in the of German aggression, it pursued a policy of preserving this "bad peace" by all manner of concessions and compromises.

The tasks which the Soviet Government were facing were outlined by Nikolai Lenine in several speeches made before the Central Executive Committee of the Councils, in the middle of May. His words were to the effect that war was threatening the Soviet Republic from many quarters. Either of the belligerent groups of imperialistic powers might, in his opinion, at any moment attack Russia. The ambitions of Skoropadsky and of the new Caucasian Government, which was under the influence of German militarism, was regarded as another source of danger. "We shall do the little we can," said Lenine, "all that diplomacy can do to put off the moment of attack. * * * We shall not defend the secret agreements which we have published to the world; we shall not defend a 'Great Power,' for there is nothing of Russia left but Great Russia, and no national interests, because for us the interests of the world's socialism stand higher than national interests. We stand for the defense of the socialistic fatherland."

Lenine professed belief that this defense was facilitated by the profound schism which divided the capitalistic Governments, by the fact that "the German bandits" were pitted against "the English bandits," and that there were economic rivalries between the American bourgeoisie and the Japanese bourgeoisie. "The situation is," said Lenine, "that the stormy waves of imperialistic reaction, which seem ready any moment to drown the little island of the Soviet Socialist Republic, are broken one against another." It was his intention to take full advantage of this situation, and to keep Russia out of the war for as long a time as possible, with a view to curing her economic wounds and building up her military power for the coming clash with world capitalism. Economic recuperation, in the largest sense of the word, was thus declared to be the immediate problem of the revolution. The expropriation of capital became a matter of secondary importance in comparison with the task of consolidating the gains of the proletariat and putting them to good use. "We have accomplished two tasks," said Lenine in concluding his speech before the Central Executive Committee on May 16. "We have seized the power, and we have divided it among all Russia. We point to the realization of the third and most difficult task, namely, the disciplining of the proletariat to such a degree that every corner of Russia shall be permeated thereby."

NO PEACE WITH UKRAINE

The Bolshevist Government made efforts to come to terms with the Ukraine, and also with Finland. In the middle of May a Russian peace delegation arrived in Kiev. Germany appointed Baron Mumm von Schwarzenstein, Ambassador to the Ukraine, as its representative to the peace conferences, with almost dictatorial powers, especially in questions relating to boundaries. The efforts of the Soviet Government to make peace with the Ukraine remained ineffectual. The delegates were unable to agree regarding the frontier line. Repatriation of Ukrainians living in Great Russia was another stumbling block. The removal of property by repatriated Ukrainians, it was objected, would conflict with the Soviet regulation allowing only small sums of money to be exported from Russia. Besides, said the Bolsheviki, this would give propertied Russians a simple means of escape from the Soviet Republic.

According to a London dispatch, dated June 7, Germany was responsible for the delay in the negotiations. The German command at Kiev was reported to have declared Russo-Ukrainian peace inopportune before all important points in the Ukraine were occupied.

It was reported on June 10 that Germany and Russia had entered into an agreement under which Finland ceded to Russia the fortresses of Ino and Raivola, with the understanding that they were not to be fortified, while Russia surrendered to Finland a part of the Murman Peninsula, with an outlet to the ocean, thus bringing German influence to Russia's arctic ports and to the railroads connecting them with the interior of the country.

INTERNAL CONDITIONS

Upon the whole, conditions in Russia showed no signs of improvement. Famine existed in Petrograd and in other, particularly urban, districts of Great Russia, while civil war was still raging in Siberia and in some parts of European Russia. According to information made public by the State Department at Washington on May 21, cholera broke out in Astrakhan and in the Caspian Sea region. Observers of Russian life also noted the growing moral laxity of the population and its complete indifference to public affairs.

Reports from Eastern and Central Russia indicated that in many districts less than half the usual acreage was plowed. This was attributed to the shortage of seed, horses, and implements. Even where seed was available the peasants, uncertain of the disposition of the land and the crops, did not plant extensively. Breadstuffs were scarce even in grain centres, and prices were very high. The attitude of the farmers to the city people continued to be one of distrust and hostility, and the exodus of the city dwellers into the country continued.

A recent article in Maxim Gorky's daily Novaia Zhizn (New Life) speaks of the conditions prevailing in the Russian village in the following terms:

All those who have studied the Russian village of our days clearly perceive that the process of demoralization and decay is going on there with remarkable speed. The peasants have taken away the land from its owners, divided it among themselves, and destroyed the agricultural implements. And they are getting ready to engage in a bloody internecine struggle for the division of the booty. In certain districts the population has consumed the entire grain supply, including the seed. In other districts the peasants are hiding their grain underground, for fear of being forced to share it with starving neighbors. This situation cannot fail to lead to chaos, destruction, and murder.

The article gives also a glimpse of what is going on in the remnants of the Russian Army:

There are numerous reports to the effect that the soldiers are dividing among themselves the military property of the country and committing unspeakable acts of violence. Wild rumors are current about the troops returning from Asia Minor. It is said that they have brought with them into the Crimea a large number of "white slaves" and that there is in Theodosia a veritable slave market. The supply is so great that the price has fallen from 100 or 150 rubles to 15 or 30 rubles apiece.

RUSSIA A MADHOUSE

A terrible picture of the chaos in Russia is given by an educated woman in Petrograd, the daughter of a Russian diplomat formerly in Washington, and the widow of an officer in the Russian Army. To a former classmate in the United States she wrote:

It was bad enough before the March revolution, when our unhappy, half-witted Emperor, under the influence of his German wife, seemed to do everything possible to make people lose patience. But now we have a thousand anonymous potentates, the top ones paid by Germany, and the lower ones lured into supporting them by money, money, and money.

The present Government has abolished all laws, all courts, the police, land ownership, all private real estate in towns, all distinction of castes and grades in the army and navy. They have seized all the banks, are opening all the private safes, and confiscating all gold and silver found therein, though it had never been said before that it was criminal to have it. Of course, everything they "decree" is so mad that it is quite sure not to last forever, but the chaos they make will take centuries to forget. The country is going back to a savage state. And we will not live to wait for better times.

All Russia is suffocating—every day brings new surprises that show that there is but one way out of it—the grave. On the ground of liberty they abolish all laws, Judges, attorneys, and substitute for it "people's courts of justice," with only soldiers, workmen or peasants, often quite illiterate and always without the slightest knowledge of court proceedings, taking the places of the former judiciary.

On the same ground they abolish all police, let loose all the criminals from the prisons, arm them, constituting from their number, together with workmen, deserters and hooligans, a "red guard," and fill the prisons to their utmost with all those who crave for order and will not work together with them toward the total ruin of the country.

On the pretense of equality they abolish all grades in the army and navy and make all posts elective by the simple soldiers. In most places it is understood as complete extermination, lynching of the officers, who, for being better educated, are under suspicion of being "counter-revolutionary." The highest posts are occupied by elected soldiers who very often can hardly sign their names, and the former officers are made simple soldiers, with a soldier's pay of $3.50 a month, and ordered to the lowest tasks, cleaning of the barracks, cooking food, taking care of the horses.

Our great country could only exist when all the wheels of the Government were working in harmony. Now everything is a perfect chaos. Everybody was willing to throw over the Czaristic Government, but not in order to change it for this one, of loot, anarchy, and treason toward our allies! Ah, the shame, the disgrace, and the folly of it!

LOOTING AND DESTROYING

The army, which now consists of young boys, (the regular one is long ago killed,) without any sense of duty, morals, and discipline, see their acquired "freedom" in the freedom to go home when they want to. And so all the trains, all the stations, are attacked and destroyed by this horde of savages, who kill engineers, if it seems to them the train goes too slowly, who martyrize the railway agents who tell them of the impossibility of starting their train, for there is another one coming toward them on the same track. As this human flood goes home without any organization, everything is looted and destroyed.

Some months ago I was believing myself to be quite well off. I have a house in Petrograd. Last Spring I was offered $125,000 for it, but was advised not to sell and go over to America to have my little girl become a happy American school girl. Now—I have on hand about $2,000 and no other resources; the house, like other private property, is being confiscated, the revenue going to the Government, that is to say, to the private pockets of the usurpers. The Government bonds annulated (repudiated)—and even if I had more money—believe me—there is nothing to buy.

Life in Petrograd is horrible—all the criminals, all the workmen, and demoralized soldiers rob the few cars that still bring some kind of products. In the very heart of the city, in daytime, you have your clothes taken off your back literally. Just think that there is no police, nobody to call for help, for those who would like to help have had their firearms confiscated, even the officers, even the highest Generals. All the soldiers, &c., are armed them to come into your private lodging and, under the pretense of "perquisition," take away all your money and valuables.

Our money is not accepted anywhere abroad. Russia is bankrupt, so that it is impossible to escape. All my friends and relatives are in the same awful position. Everybody lives on his last money, even those who were quite rich. Their money was in Government or private bonds, and, as they are declared void, where will you get money from? My poor mind cannot grasp the whole thing; it is too great a madness. My only chance to save my little girl's life and my own would be to get away from here and go to the United States. Here, if we do not die in the next months, we will be slaves, regular slaves, of our lowest classes.

RAILROAD SITUATION

Some light was shed on the railroad situation in Russia by the report made on June 2 to the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets by the Assistant Commissioner of Railroads. The percentage of disabled locomotives, he stated, was about 30, that of crippled cars being higher. In 1917 Russia had 560,000 cars and upward of 20,000 locomotives. The Germans seized a large number of cars and locomotives. Nevertheless, there was no scarcity of rolling stock, for the mileage had been reduced from 45,000 to 35,000. The general conclusion of the report was that the situation had slightly improved, especially in Siberia.

On April 22, Leon Trotzky made a report to the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets on the newly organized Russian Army. He defended the employment of officers of the old army on the ground that they were just as valuable as the military property taken over by the Soviet Government, and pointed out the eventual necessity of conscription. According to a London dispatch, dated June 8, the Soviet Government decided to introduce conscription. "One of the most promising things," said a Bolshevist diplomat in an interview on June 5, "is the steady growth of the new Red army. Its discipline already is better than that of the old one. Its members have so far been recruited from town and factory workers. * * * We take measures to provide for military training in villages and towns and all necessary steps toward raising the fighting capacity of our new army, which already is by no means negligible."

BOLSHEVIKI AND THE JEWS

A statement bearing on the situation of the Russian Jews under the Bolshevist régime was issued by the celebrated Russian jurist and former Senator, Oscar Grusenberg, and made public on June 10. The document follows:

Those who think that the Jews are at present ruling Russia are profoundly mistaken. The new laws, or rather administrative regulations, which the Bolsheviki have promulgated, have hurt the Jewish population more than other citizens, for the Bolshevist legislation has ruined the commerce and industry of the country.

After the Bolshevist insurrection we lived through events similar to those of October, 1905. In October, 1917, pogroms occurred in 200 Jewish towns and hamlets.

The tragedy of the Jews in Russia is heart-breaking. The united Russian Jewry, counting upward of 6,000,000, exists no longer. With the secession of the Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland, the number of Jews in Russia is reduced to a million and a half. The situation of the Jews in the Ukraine, and particularly in Poland and Lithuania, under German domination, is very sad. The Jews have lost in this war, in killed and wounded, the majority of their youth. A great many Jewish soldiers are pining in prison camps, others are locked up in jails on slanderous charges of treason.

The Jews are almost the only nationality in Russia which, by every means available, is seeking to arrest the process of splitting up the Russian Empire, and which works for the reunion of the portions that have seceded.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian Jews were ruined at the moment when the Bolsheviki took over the Governmental power. The population visited its wrath on the Jews, because some of the Bolshevist leaders are or are said to be Jews. But the Russian Empire has been demoralized, not by the Jews, but by the old régime. Russia lacks great leaders with heroic characters, who know how to act in an hour of distress. This made possible the triumph of men like Lenine and Trotzky.

The Jewish leaders of the Bolsheviki are themselves a product of the old régime. Czarism persecuted and exiled them. Education they were forced to seek abroad, and there, in foreign lands, they lost all connection with and love for Judaism and Russia. Every country is to them but a railroad station. It is these former Jews and present Bolshevists that are responsible for the appalling misery which has befallen the Russian Jews.

ANTI-BOLSHEVIST MOVEMENTS

An official French dispatch received in Washington on May 16 asserted that the opposition to the Soviet régime was growing stronger. On June 2 a Russian wireless message announced the discovery of a vast counter-revolutionary conspiracy, with ramifications throughout the country. Moscow was declared in a state of siege, a large number of persons were arrested, and stringent measures were taken to restrain the press. Boris Savinkov, Chief of the War Department under Kerensky, and Prince Kropotkin, the famous revolutionist and writer, were reported to have taken part in the conspiracy. A week later a Moscow dispatch reported that factory workers were boycotting Soviet delegates, that some provincial towns elected anti-Bolshevist Deputies to the Soviets, and that a general political strike appeared imminent.

In the middle of May the Central Committee of the Russian Social Revolutionary Party addressed to the National Council of the French Socialist Party and to the Parliamentary Socialist group the following message:

The Bolshevist Government, which exists but by the grace of our German masters, assumes, under the pressure of Germany's Ambassador, a provoking attitude toward the allied powers, and particularly toward France, addressing to them insulting ultimatums which are in striking contrast with the servile docility they manifest in executing the orders of German imperialism. The Russian Social Revolutionary Party sends its socialist greetings to the French section of the Labor International, and protests against the spirit of the foreign policy of the present dictators of Russia.

The Social Revolutionary Party declares at the same time that the newly formed Communist group, formerly Bolsheviki, must on all accounts be excluded from the International for having called upon the most elementary principles of democracy to resuscitate forms of despotism and violence. They have betrayed the cause of international socialism by an infamous separate peace with the crowned despots of Central Europe, transforming Russia, disarmed, humiliated, and crushed, into an administrative supply house destined to sustain the German offensive in the west.

The Social Revolutionary Party expresses the hope that all the national sections of the Labor International will determine their attitude as regards the Bolshevist usurpers, taking into consideration this declaration of our party, which itself has the right to speak for all Russian labor, having held an absolute majority in the Constitutional Convention, whose powers will be resuscitated in spite of the sanguinary repressions made by the usurpers of power. We beg our French comrades to send this declaration to the Socialist parties of the allied countries.

FIGHTING IN SIBERIA

Armed opposition to the Soviet Government was confined chiefly to Eastern Siberia. In the first week of June clashes occurred in Transbaikalia between the Government troops and the anti-Bolshevist forces led by General Semenoff. The Soviet troops were apparently mastering the situation. It was reported that they included armed Teuton prisoners, and that General Semenoff was expecting Japanese reinforcements. The other leaders of anti-Bolshevist forces, Admiral Kolchak, Colonel Orloff, and General Kalmakoff, co-operated in protecting the railways and massed their troops, which include Russians and Chinese, for an offensive. The Soviet Government repeatedly protested to China against the assistance it had given to General Semenoff, requesting that the Chinese Government should either close the Manchurian frontier to the General's forces or permit the Bolshevist troops to cross into Manchuria and subdue the rebel. On May 25 Ambassador Francis published a statement from Secretary Lansing to the effect that American Consuls had given no aid to General Semenoff, or any other anti-Bolshevist leader. The message contained an assurance of "the friendly purposes of the United States toward Russia, which will remain unaltered so long as Russia does not willingly accept autocratic domination by the Central Powers."

Late in May a new Government appeared the south of Russia. It claimed to represent the regions of Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, and Northern Caucasus, and was emphatically Bolshevist in its orientation. It was headed by a dictator, General Krasnoff, who had served under Kerensky up to the fall of the Provisional Government. His manifesto declared that the Don Government was a sovereign State, at war with the Soviet Republic, and on friendly terms with the Ukraine. This manifesto contained the following statement: "Yesterday's foreign foes, the Austro-Germans, have entered our territory in alliance with us to fight against the Red Guard and for the establishment of order on the Don."

Another anti-Bolshevist Government was formed, early in June, in Eastern Siberia. The new State, which proclaimed itself an independent republic, purported to include the entire territory stretching from Lake Baikal to the Pacific, as well as the district of Irkutsk and the Island of Sakhalin, comprising a population of 2,500,000.

Violent clashes occurred between the Soviet forces and the Czechoslovak troops, which had joined the Russian Army to fight for the allied cause. The Czechoslovaks defeated the Soviet army, which was trying to enforce Trotzky's order to disarm them, seized the railway stations at Penza, on the Volga, in an effort to force their way to Vladivostok, and penetrated into the Ural region.

DISMEMBERING RUSSIA

During the month under record Germany made further steps in pursuance of her policy of subjugating the membra disjecta of the former Russian imperium.

On May 13 it was reported that Berlin planned to turn Lithuania into a "semi-federal" German State. The next day Emperor William issued a proclamation declaring Lithuania a free and independent State, on the basis of the action of the Lithuanian Landsrat, which, on Dec. 12, 1917, had announced "the restoration of Lithuania as an independent State, allied to the German Empire by an eternal, steadfast alliance, and by conventions chiefly regarding military matters, traffic, customs, and coinage, and solicited the help of the German Empire." The declaration assumed that Lithuania would "participate in the war burdens of Germany, which secured her liberation." According to information made public by the State Department at Washington, the Germans were forcing the Lithuanian peasants to work for the landowners at a starvation wage and were taking stringent measures against city workers.

Similar conditions prevailed in Livonia. A message sent on May 21 by Tchitcherin to Ambassador Joffe stated that the Germans had created a reign of terror there, persecuting labor and assisting the Barons in suppressing their political adversaries.

In the Ukraine the Germans disarmed the troops of the overthrown Rada and backed Skoropadsky's dictatorial régime with bayonets. Sporadic uprisings of peasants against the Teutons continued. In the Province of Kiev the Germans used gas bombs against several revolted villages, and whole communities were asphyxiated. Revolts also broke out in the Governments of Podolia and Poltava. Resistance was offered mainly in connection with German food requisitioning. It was reported that the Germans had twelve army corps in the Ukraine. In the middle of May the Central Powers granted a loan of 4,000,000 marks to the Ukraine.

GERMAN ATROCITIES

The German atrocities in White Russia are thus described in a Russian Government dispatch received in London on May 14:

In the Bobrinsk district entire villages have been set afire and plundered. In the village of Buda a Uhlan patrol extorted a contribution of several thousand rubles, and, when the peasants had paid part of it and were unable to pay more, the Uhlans surrounded the village and bombarded it.

In other villages peasants, women, and children who endeavored to escape from fires were pursued by Uhlans and cut to pieces with swords or flogged with whips. In one village an old Jew was first flogged and then hanged in the presence of all the villagers. Most savage acts were perpetrated in Jewish villages. All persons suspected of belonging to the Bolsheviki and those in military uniforms were immediately shot.

In Finland the Germans helped the White Guards to suppress the revolution, and strengthened their grip on the country. Some of the captured Red Guards were shot—7,000 were reported executed on June 6—others were to appear before twenty-one specially created courts. The reprisals of the White Guards were directed particularly against the Russians in Finland. A Russian wireless, dated May 14, contained the following statements: "Even 12-year-old children have been shot. At Viborg one witness saw 200 corpses, mainly Russian officers and mere schoolboys. According to other witnesses, more than 600 persons were executed in two days." The German headquarters in Finland estimated the number of persons massacred at 70,000. The Finnish High Court of Justice ordered the arrest of all Socialist members of the Finnish Diet. In contravention of the Brest-Litovsk treaty, the German commander demanded the control of the Russian war supplies at Helsingfors, which were valued at 150,000,000 rubles.

On June 12 the Finnish Government introduced into the Diet a bill providing for the establishment of a monarchic form of government in Finland. The Finnish King, who is to be a hereditary ruler, shall be invested with broad powers regarding treaties with foreign States, and shall have the absolute veto in several important matters.

The new Finnish Government is emphatically pro-German. This was illustrated by the membership of the new Cabinet formed by Paaskivi. There were signs, however, that anti-German sentiment was developing among the masses of the people. General Mannerheim, Commander of the White Guard, resigned late in May, apparently as a protest against the Germanization of the Finnish Army. This army is now commanded by German officers. The Germans also took over the control of the Finnish Military College, and undertook to organize the Finnish coast fleet. They are constructing two railways in Northern Finland.

In the middle of May the White Russian Republic was proclaimed with the consent of Germany. The new Government seemed to favor a union with Lithuania, under the military protectorate of Germany. On June 4 it was reported that the new republic had been recognized by the Ukraine.

Early in May the Tartar National Council met at Bakhchisaray, Crimea, and issued a statement protesting against the entrance of the Austro-German troops into the Crimea. The council declared that the Crimea, whose population is 70 per cent. Tartar, intends to maintain its complete independence till conditions in Russia grow more settled.

According to a London dispatch, dated June 7, fierce fighting was going on between the troops of the Caucasian Government and the Turks. These are reported to have massacred 10,000 Armenians in a fortnight. The Government had ordered the mobilization of all men between the ages of 19 and 42.

ALLIED INTERVENTION

The subject of allied military intervention in Russia for the purpose of freeing the country from German domination attracted a great deal of attention in June. The allied Governments did not define their attitude toward this matter, but it seemed certain that the United States did not favor sending an interallied military expedition into Russia. Japan refrained from any action in this direction. The only measure it took was to enter into an agreement with China for the protection of the general peace in the Orient from possible German and Bolshevist aggression. The principal clauses of the military treaty between China and Japan, signed May 16, 1918, are in substance as follows:

The two Governments, with a view to warding off the danger constituted for them by the penetration of German influence toward the eastern frontier of Russia, have decided to regulate their conduct in regard to the enemy by placing themselves in agreement on a footing of perfect equality, and in according each other mutual aid in that region where their common action is to be exercised.

The Chinese authorities will facilitate the task of the Japanese authorities, who will be enabled to conduct the transport of troops and establish in the occupied territories works which shall be removed at the conclusion of military operations, and, moreover, undertake to supply war material and munitions, as well as engineers and a medical staff and other necessary specialists.

The Japanese must in return respect Chinese sovereignty and local customs, and will evacuate Chinese territory as soon as the operations are terminated. The agreement will automatically cease to be valid as soon as the state of war between the two contracting parties and the Central Powers is terminated.

One article of the agreement provides that Chinese troops may be employed outside the national territory, and another stipulates that the two Governments shall come to an understanding with the Chinese Eastern Railway Company if this railway should have to be used during the course of the operations.

RUSSIAN OPINION

In Russia proper the Soviet authorities and radical public opinion opposed foreign intervention of any kind. Late in May the official Bolshevist organ printed an article asserting that Russia desired from the Allies no help intended to drag her back into the war, but that Russia would appreciate in the highest degree any assistance toward the improvement of transportation and communication facilities and the rehabilitation of her economic life." Even the moderate press found foreign military intervention undesirable. The Moscow Prizyv, the official organ of the Social Revolutionaries, however, declared editorially that "the intervention of the Allies alone can give us the real military strength and indispensable support for thrusting back the yoke of the German, and for reconstituting Russia." On June 11, Boris Bakhmeteff, the Russian Ambassador at Washington, transmitted to the State Department a resolution adopted by the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democrats, (also known as Cadets,) the Russian Liberal Party. The resolution pointed out that the Cadet Party did not recognize the Brest peace, and looked to the Allies for the amelioration of Russian conditions. The statement emphatically denied the assertion that the Russian democracy was opposed to allied aid. It insisted, however, that the success of the action would depend upon "the support of national feeling in Russia." The resolution concluded: "It is further imperative for Russian public opinion to receive assurances that the expedition will be co-ordinated with the inviolability of the rights and interests of Russia, and that the actions of all the Allies on Russian territory will be performed under international control."

SENATOR KING'S RESOLUTION

On June 10 a resolution favoring intervention in Russia was offered in the Senate by Senator King of Utah. It was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The full text of the resolution follows:

Whereas, The people of Russia after centuries of political servitude are finally about to realize their aspirations for liberty and the constitution of a federal republic; and,

Whereas, The innate sense of justice, desire for public order, and the community life of the Russian people promise a sound moral basis for the institutions of liberty and the equal rights of men under the law as incorporated in a republican form of government; and,

Whereas, It is the traditional policy and the interest of the United States of America to promote and protect the progress of liberty and the principles of democracy as incorporated in republican institutions; and,

Whereas, The people and the Government of the United States hailed with great and sincere good-will the prospects for the establishment of these principles in the great domains of Russia for the permanent welfare, political dignity, and beneficence of the Russian people; and,

Whereas, The Imperial Government of Germany, by intrigues and propaganda, and in perfidious violation of the pretended peace with Russia, designs to destroy the Government of Russia and the unity and nationality of the Russian people, and for this purpose is attempting to separate Russia into small vassal States in order to more effectually bring the people, territory, and resources of Russia within the German power; and,

Whereas, In the pursuit of this perfidious purpose, Germany is now subjecting Russia to industrial and economic servitude, and is attempting to recruit troops from among the people of Russia to replenish her depleted armies, and to promote her felonious purpose in the world; and,

Whereas, The Russian people desire to establish a republican form of Government and are in sympathy with the cause of the United States of America and of the Allies, and would welcome assistance in neutralizing German intrigue and propaganda, and in repelling the intrusion of German power; and,

Whereas, German troops are now operating in Russia and are making advances, with a view to taking possession of Russian territory, including Siberia, and subjecting the same to political domination and industrial servitude; and,

Whereas, The cause of the Allies and the principles for which they wage war are thus placed in jeopardy; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate of the United States that a commission be sent to Russia to co-operate with the American Ambassador and other representatives of our Government to overcome and neutralize German propaganda in Russia and to aid in Russia's economic, industrial, and political freedom; and be it

Further Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate of the United States that a military expedition be organized and sent by the United States of America, in conjunction with the Allies, including Japan and China, to co-operate with the armies of the Russian people to repel the advance of German arms and to expel from Russia German military power and establish therein the authority of the people and Government of Russia.

The policy of the Washington Government in June remained one of nonintervention in Russia, but there was a strongly representative and widely increasing public opinion that the United States should join with Japan, China, and the Allies to aid Russia and prevent further German penetration. This sentiment was especially outspoken and vigorous in the West and on the Pacific slope, where previously anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese prejudices had predominated.

INTERVENTION URGED

A Supreme Council was held at Tokio June 7, attended by Prince Fushimi, Field Marshals Yamagata and Terauchi, (the Premier,) and Lieut. Gen. Oshima, the Minister of War. A joint conference of the Field Marshals and the Admirals was summoned for June 10.

The Entente Governments of Europe were declared in a Tokio dispatch dated June 15 to be bringing increasing influence to bear to induce Japan to intervene in Russia. Among the several French officers who arrived in Tokio to consult with the General Staff was Major Pichon, who was head of the French military mission to Russia, and whose recall was demanded by the Bolsheviki. Major Pichon was reported to be striving for intervention in Siberia as a military necessity with the same energy that he opposed Rumania's entrance into the war as an ill-advised step. Major Pichon formerly was Military Attaché at Bucharest. The partisans of intervention were finding support from A. I. Konovaloff, formerly Minister of Trade and Industry in the Russian Provincial Government, and especially from Jules Destrée, who was appointed Belgian Minister to Petrograd in August, 1917. M. Destrée, who is a Socialist, arrived in Japan after vainly seeking to return to Europe across Finland.

"It is urgently imperative for the defense of the interests of the Entente that there shall be a liberation of the Russian people from Germanic domination," M. Destrée declared. "The Trans-Siberian Railroad is the only remaining communication with the outside world, and this could be destroyed at any time by the German prisoners, of whom there are 20,000 under arms in Siberia. I saw armed Germans at every station, ostensibly allies of the Bolsheviki. The destruction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad would mean the complete abandonment of Russia to the Teutons."

CZECHS IN SIBERIA

It was reported on June 15 that the Czechoslovak troops operating against the Russian Soviet Government in Siberia and the Ural region continued their successes. During the 9th and 10th of June, having occupied Samara, they advanced rapidly toward Ouffa.

On the Siberian railroad from Theliabinsk to Tomsk (a distance of 1,250 miles) all the towns were reported to be in the hands of the Czechoslovaks. Omsk was occupied on June 8 by a united force of Slavs and Cossack peasants under command of Colonel Ivanoff, the Soviet forces having retired from Omsk and Tunen.

The new Siberian Government established the Omsk-Nicholaevsk region notified the Soviet Government at Moscow of the abolition of the government of soldiers and deputies in Siberia and of the creation of the new Provisional Government. The notification stated that the Siberian Government, which is joined by Commander Ivanoff in the forwarding of communication, does not intend to work for the separation of Siberia from Russia, and is ready to negotiate for a supply of provisions to the northern district of Russia.

Should the Council of Commissioners at Moscow, however, attempt to re-establish the Soviet power in Siberia, it was declared, the Siberian Government would resist and would discontinue the sending of bread grains to Northern Russia.

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Letters From Trotzky and From Kerensky's War Minister

Two letters from Russian officials, very different in contents but both of historical significance, were brought to the outside world by Herman Bernstein, who had been sent to Petrograd by The New York Herald. One is a confidential letter from Trotzky to Lenine, written at Brest-Litovsk at the end of the peace conference, as follows:

It is impossible to sign their peace. They have already agreed with fictitious Governments of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, and others concerning territorial concessions, military and customs treaties, in view of self-determination. These provinces, according to the German interpretation, are already independent German States, and as independent States have already concluded territorial and other agreements with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Today I put these questions squarely and received a reply leaving no room for misunderstandings. Everything was stenographed. Tomorrow we shall present the same questions in writing. We cannot sign their peace.

My plan is this: We announce the termination of the war and demobilization without signing any peace. We declare we cannot participate in the looting war of the Allies nor a looting peace. Poland's, Lithuania's, Courland's fate we place upon the responsibility of the German working people. The Germans will be unable to attack us after we declare the war ended. At any rate, it would be very difficult for Germany to attack us because of her internal conditions. The Scheidemannists adopted a formal resolution to break with a Government that makes annexationist demands of the Russian revolution. The Berliner Tageblatt and the Vossische Zeitung demand an understanding with Russia by all means; Centrists favor an agreement. Internal strife is demoralizing the Government, a bitter controversy is raging in the press about the struggle on the western front; we declare that we end the war, but do not sign peace.

They will be unable to make an offensive against us. Verteidigungskrieg. If they attack us our position will be no worse than now, when they have the opportunity to declare us agents of England and Wilson, after his speech and comments on attack. I must have your decision. We could well drag negotiations one, two, three, or four days; afterward they must be broken off. I see no other solution than that proposed.

I clasp your hand.

Your TROTZKY.

Answer by direct wire: "I agree to your plan" or "I do not agree."

This letter is in accordance with the published circumstances. Trotzky apparently endeavored to persuade Lenine that if Russia should declare the war at an end, while refusing to sign a formal peace, the Germans would not attack. They, on the contrary, attacked at once, and Trotzky collapsed. History must determine whether he was honestly mistaken or was merely seeking a means of "saving his face," while acting in the German interest.

FROM BORIS SAVINKOV

The other letter is by Boris Savinkov, Kerensky's Minister of War, and for many years a leader in the terrorist wing of the Social Revolutionary Party. It was published last April in the Russky Viedomosti. The Lenine Government promptly suppressed it and confiscated the paper, but Mr. Bernstein succeeded in smuggling a copy out of Russia. It reads as follows:

We are vibrating with indignation at the Bolshevist decrees and their ignominious peace. We feel ourselves humiliated and disgraced. We are mercilessly handed over "Kamerad" to any one. Nevertheless, we are doing nothing, because we do not even venture to say, "God be praised, it was not we but our neighbor who was shot." Yet we shall never forget that Lenine, Nathanson and company arrived in Russia via Berlin. The German Government helped them. The gift demands a gift in return. Lenine and his satellites have repaid Germany handsomely, first through the subsidized journal Pravda, next by the naked front, then by Brest-Litovsk, and finally by an incredible peace.

What have they done with my Russia? It is necessary to be a fanatic or a paid agent to be able seriously to maintain that the international proletariat would help us. Only criminals and lunatics could base a political computation upon such support when Lenine and his co-adjutors entirely destroyed Russia's former means and power. The Germans lifted the mailed fist and Lenine instantly gave way, but others commenced howling about the necessity to defend the fatherland, not only my Russia, but the newly invented fatherland. Who can believe the men who destroyed the army and declared that the idea of fatherland is a prejudice? Who can believe that they would defend Russia? They are impotent. Nor do I believe that they are sincere. The Soviet admitted that the declaration of Lenine was right that we Russians ought to put up with the loss of Finland, Esthonia, Livonia, Courland, White Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and part of the Caucasus districts. The rights of Russia exist no longer. There are only separated towns and villages, economically dependent upon foreigners. The position of Russia is like that of Poland after the partition. Has not William realized his dream? Have not the People's Commissaries deserved the Iron Cross?

The Bolsheviki have served Germany and serve Germany still. It is no secret that Russia is covered with a net of German organizations, and that the Russians who are wishing for the restoration of the monarchy are working hand in hand with the Germans. It is no secret that many Russians dream of the day on which the Germans will enter Petrograd and German policemen appear in the Nevsky Prospekt. They prefer the devil himself to the Bolsheviki. What have they done with my Russia?

The Bolsheviki are our national misfortune, but Russia must be saved, not by our enemies, not by German bayonets, but by ourselves. We Russians must again be masters of Russia. It must never be said that we are weak without the imperial assistance of William and are unable to organize a State. It was not to reach this goal that we sacrificed streams of Russian blood throughout three years, nor was it in order to follow the program of the Bolsheviki or to stretch out our hand toward the enemy. As sure as it is treason against Russia to compromise with the Bolsheviki, so sure is the agreement with Germany under which we are now living worse treason against Russia. We must not forget that the Russian Nation does not die. Sooner or later it will dawn upon the people of Russia what my Russia ought to be, and the treason will never be pardoned. It is an aberration to believe that Nicholas will be able to return. But when will my Russia stand forth again vigorous and free? I only know one thing. I learned when young: Through work and fight thou shalt win thy right. We must work and fight against the Germans and the Bolsheviki.

After the revolution of March, 1917, had achieved what terrorism had been powerless to accomplish, M. Savinkov threw himself heart and soul into the task of saving the army. He realized more clearly than did any of his revolutionary associates, Kerensky included, that a surrender to the Germans with the Socialists in power would inevitably compromise the Socialist cause in Russia. As Chief Commissioner of the Coalition Government with the armies of the southwestern front he strongly supported General Korniloff in taking stern measures to restore discipline. Kerensky quarreled with Savinkov because the latter, becoming Minister of War, continued to support General Korniloff. Savinkov is a comparatively young man, of great determination and resource. He is well known as a writer.

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Growth of the Jugoslav Movement

Project for a South Slavic State, Aided by the Czechs, Threatens to Disrupt Austria-Hungary

Of the many internal troubles tending toward the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the one that has grown most rapidly in the last year is the Jugoslav movement—the movement for an independent State to be known as Jugoslavia, and to include all the Southern Slavic provinces of Austria-Hungary, as well as Serbia and Montenegro in the Balkans. This project assumed a new phase in May, 1918, when it received the active support of the millions of Czechs in Bohemia, Austria's northwest border province. The Czech demand for a free Bohemia and Jugoslavia helped to precipitate a political crisis at Vienna, which Emperor Charles met by summarily suppressing Parliament. All indications pointed to the existence of a united effort of the Slavs, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Croatians, and Italians to throw off the Teutonic yoke, completely dismembering the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The only session of the Reichsrat that has been held in Austria-Hungary since the war began was opened on May 31, 1917, and closed abruptly by imperial order on May 4, 1918. Throughout that period the Slavic Deputies in the lower house showed increasing hostility to the war methods and plans of the Teutonic minority which rules the empire. The house consisted of 516 members, of whom only 233 were Germans. The dominant nationality has for years managed to keep its control of the Reichsrat through alliance with the Poles, who hold 80 or 90 seats, but in the Spring of 1918 the Poles broke away from the Germans, and suddenly the Government discovered that it was in a minority and that its war budgets were in serious danger of being defeated. Then it resorted to the drastic measure of adjourning Parliament under threat of force.

Already the Czechs, Slovaks, and Jugoslavs been working together in Parliament, generally getting the support of the Ruthenians (Ukrainians) and the Italians. In the closing months of 1917 this tendency was accentuated, when the Polish leaders came into closer alliance with the Czecho-Slovaks and Jugoslavs. This was cemented by a congress of Czech Deputies, held in Prague on Jan. 6, 1918, which adopted unanimously the declaration given below. The document was at first suppressed by the Austro-Hungarian censor, and the few publications that got hold of it were not allowed to leave the country.

THE CZECH DECLARATION

Despite this attempt at suppression the text of the document reached the outside world through the Czecho-Slovak National Council. It is as follows:

In the fourth year of this terrible war, which has already cost the nations numberless sacrifices in blood and treasure, the first peace efforts have been inaugurated. We, the Czech members of the Austrian Reichsrat, which, through the verdicts of incompetent military tribunals, has been deprived of a number of its Slav Deputies and Czech Deputies to the dissolved and as yet unsummoned Diet of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and to the equally unsummoned Diets of Moravia and Silesia, recognize the declarations of the Czech Deputies in the Reichsrat, and deem it our duty emphatically to declare, in the name of the Czech Nation and of its oppressed and forcibly silenced Slovak branch of Hungary, our attitude toward the reconstruction of international relations.

When the Czech Deputies of our regenerated nation expressed themselves during the Franco-Prussian war on the international European problems they solemnly declared in their memorandum of Dec. 8, 1870, that "all nations, great or small, have an equal right to self-determination, and their complete equality should always be respected. Only from the recognition of the equality of all nations and from mutual respect of the right of self-determination can come true equality and fraternity, a general peace and true humanity."

SHADED AREA SHOWS THE PROJECTED STATE OF JUGOSLAVIA, INCLUDING SERBIA, MONTENEGRO, AND SLAVIC PORTIONS OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

We, the Deputies of the Czech Nation, true even today to these principles of our ancestors, have, therefore, greeted with joy the fact that all States based upon democratic principles, whether they are belligerent or neutral, now accept with us the right of nations to free self-determination as a guarantee of a general and lasting peace.

Also the new Russia accepted the principle of self-determination of nations during its attempts for a general peace as a fundamental condition of peace. The nations were freely to determine their fate and decide whether they want to live in an independent State of their own or whether they choose to form one State in common with other nations.

DEMANDS INDEPENDENCE

On the other hand, the Austro-Hungarian delegate declared, in the name of the Quadruple Alliance, that the question of the self-determination of those nations which have not hitherto enjoyed political independence should be solved in a constitutional manner within the existing State. In view of this declaration we deem it our duty to declare, in the name of the Czecho-Slovak Nation, that this point of view of the Austro-Hungarian representative is not our point of view. On the contrary, we have in all our declarations and proposals opposed this solution, because we know, from our own numberless bitter experiences, that it means nothing but the negation of the principle of self-determination. We indignantly express our regret that our nation was deprived of its political independence and of the right of self-determination, and that by means of artificial electoral statutes we were left to the mercy of the German minority and of the Government of the centralized German bureaucracy.

Our brother Slovaks became the victims of Magyar brutality and of unspeakable violence in a State which, notwithstanding all its apparent constitutional liberties, remains the darkest corner of Europe, and in which the non-Magyars, who form the majority of the population, are ruthlessly oppressed by the ruling minority, extirpated, denationalized from childhood, unrepresented in Parliament and civil service, deprived of public schools, as well as of all private educational institutions.

The Constitution, to which the Austro-Hungarian representative refers, falsified even the justice of the general suffrage by an artificial creation of an over-representation of the German minority in the Reichsrat, and its utter uselessness for the liberty of nations was clearly demonstrated during the three years of unscrupulous military absolutism during this war. Every reference to this Constitution, therefore, means, in reality, only a repudiation of the right of self-determination for the non-German nations of Austria who are at the mercy of the Germans; and it means an especially cruel insult and injury to the non-Magyar nations in Hungary, where the Constitution is nothing but a means of shameful domination by the oligarchy of a few Magyar aristocratic families, as was again proved by the recent electoral reform proposal.

Austria-Hungary Sketch Map Showing Slavic Populations in Threatened Revolt

THE SLAVS IN ALL PARTS OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, SINCE THE SIGNING OF THE BREST-LITOVSK TREATY, HAVE DEVELOPED AN ORGANIZED OPPOSITION TO THE RULE OF THE GERMAN MINORITY AT VIENNA. IN THE NORTHWEST THE CZECHS OF BOHEMIA AND THE SLOVAKS OF MORAVIA, CONSTITUTING THE CZECHOSLOVAK MOVEMENT, HAVE TAKEN PART IN SERIOUS RIOTS AT PRAGUE AND ELSEWHERE ON BEHALF OF INDEPENDENCE. THE POLES AND RUTHENIANS OF GALICIA AND BUKOWINA ARE SUPPORTING THEM POLITICALLY. IN THE SOUTHWEST THE SLOVENES, CROATS, AND SERBIANS HAVE DEVELOPED A STRONG JUGOSLAV MOVEMENT, DEMANDING THE CREATION OF A NEW STATE HEADED BY THE KING OF SERBIA. THIS MOVEMENT RECENTLY GAINED THE SUPPORT OF THE ITALIANS BOTH IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY AND IN ITALY.

SELF-DETERMINATION

Our nation longs with all the democracies of the world for a general and lasting peace. But our nation is fully aware that no peace can be permanent except a peace which will abolish old injustice, brutal force, and the predominance of arms, as well as the predominance of States and nations over other nations, and which will assure a free development to all nations, great or small, and which will liberate especially those nations which still are suffering under foreign domination. That is why it is necessary that this right of free national development and to self-determination of nations, great or small, to whatever State they may belong, should become the foundation of future international right, a guarantee of peace, and of a friendly co-operation of nations, as well as a great ideal which will liberate humanity from the terrible horrors of a world war.

We, deputies of the Czech nation, declare that a peace which would not bring our nation full liberty could not be and would not mean a peace to us, but only a beginning of a new, desperate, and continuous struggle for our political independence, in which our nation would strain to the utmost its material and moral forces. And in that uncompromising struggle it would never relax until its aim had been achieved. Our nation asks for independence on the ground of its historic rights, and is imbued with the fervent desire to contribute toward the new development of humanity on the basis of liberty and fraternity in a free competition with other free nations which our nation hopes to accomplish in a sovereign, equal, democratic, and socially just State of its own, built upon the equality of all its citizens within the historic boundaries of the Bohemian lands and of Slovakia, guaranteeing full and equal national rights to all minorities.

Guided by these principles, we solemnly protest against the rejection of the right of self-determination at the peace negotiations, and demand that, in the sense of this right, all nations, including, therefore, also the Czecho-Slovaks, be guaranteed participation and full freedom of defending their rights at the Peace Conference.

WAGRAM GATHERING

On March 2 a gathering of Jugoslavs met at Zagrub (Wagram) which included the Jugoslav Deputies of the Reichsrat, practically the entire membership of the Croatian Sabor, (the Legislature which exercises a limited amount of local autonomy,) and other representatives of the nation. According to the Hrvatska Drzhava, extracts from whose accounts have been translated by the Serbian Press Bureau in Geneva, they contained the following statement:

After having discussed the general political and national situation the assembly has agreed on the necessity of a concentration of all parties and groups which, from the point of view of national self-government, demand the creation of a national and independent States of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs founded on the principle of democracy.

The language of this passage parallels the Declaration of Corfu, by which exiled leaders of the Jugoslav movement demanded the union of the Jugoslav territories in Austria-Hungary with Serbia and Montenegro into one kingdom under the Karageorgevitch dynasty. Austrian papers at once became agitated because there was no reference to the carrying out of this aim within the framework of the Hapsburg Empire. The fact that many, if not most, of those present were known to be in accord with the Declaration of Corfu, and the suspicion that practically all of them favored it at heart, caused many protests against the "introduction of the policy of Belgrade" in the Viennese press.

The matter was further complicated by the activity of the police in the affair, they having broken up the first session of the assembly and posted a guard around the hall. Demonstrations of the students against this, which seem to have gone no further than parading up and down the streets singing Slavic national songs, were broken up by the police with the utmost violence, and many were arrested.

This did not prevent a large gathering, principally of students, at the station the next day to bid farewell to Dr. Koroshetz, leader of the Jugoslav Club in the Reichsrat. Dr. Koroshetz is taking the lead in the organization of a Jugoslav National Council of some twenty-four members, whose aims are euphemistically described for the present as "to arrange the tactics of the general Jugoslav policy."

The economic conditions which contribute to the revolutionary ferment in the Jugoslav countries were set forth in a speech in the Reichsrat in the course of a budget discussion just before this assembly by Dr. Matko Leginja, Deputy from Istria and Vice Chairman of the Jugoslav Club. He quoted the appeal from an Istrian commune which ended:

We beg, ask, and demand bread, peace, and the return of our brethren, fathers, and sons to console us, to see that our fields are worked properly, and that there should be some one with us to close the eyes of the dying parents.

Of many instances of starvation which he gave was one of a parish in which in 1912 there were 67 births and 23 deaths. In 1917 there were 23 births and 68 deaths, without counting those who died in military service.

CONFERENCE AT ROME

The significance of the whole movement was deepened by the Conference of Oppressed Austrian Nationalities held at Rome on April 10, when a full understanding with Italy was reached. The territorial and other questions at issue between the Italians and Jugoslavs were settled, and the Poles joined the other delegates in the demand for a complete overthrow of the present Austrian Empire, declaring that the future of Poland lay in a firm alliance with the reconstituted nations of the Czecho-Slovaks, the Jugoslavs, and the Rumanians. The text of the formal declaration then adopted, is as follows:

1. Every people proclaims it to be its right to determine its own nationality and national unity and complete independence.

2. Every people knows that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy is an instrument of German domination, and a fundamental obstacle to the realization of its rights to free development and self-government.

3. The Congress recognizes the necessity of fighting against the common oppressors.

The representatives of the Jugoslavs agree:

That the unity and independence of the Jugoslav Nation is considered of vital importance by Italy.

That the deliverance of the Adriatic Sea and its defense from any enemy is of capital interest to the two peoples.

That territorial controversies will be amicably settled on the principle of nationality, and in such a manner as not to injure the vital interests of the two nations; interests which will be taken into account at the peace conferences.

The Polish delegates added their declaration that they considered Germany to be Poland's chief enemy, and that they believed the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be indispensable for the obtaining of their independence from Germany.

ITALY'S ACTIVE HELP

As a result of this important conference, a separate section was established by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to look after the propaganda in favor of the Allies in the Austro-Hungarian countries and in their armies. The Austrian Premier, Dr. von Seidler, stated in his last speech before the adjourning of the Reichsrat that the Austro-Hungarian Government was fully aware of this propaganda and had taken measures to combat it. A Slovene paper, the Slovenic, commented as follows:

The German newspapers have begun at the same time to call the attention of the Jugoslavs to Italian imperialistic aims and to show all at once great devotion to our country, which, they say, is menaced by the Italian peril. With a special affection for our people, an affection never known before, they urge us to beware of our Italian neighbors, enumerating all the points of the London understanding with regard to our territory.

In publishing this agreement the Grazer Tagblatt, that ultra national German organ, wished to give us a political lesson of which they might have saved themselves the trouble. It was superfluous, if for no other reason, because it came from German nationalists, whose counsels we can never follow.

The Austrian Government and the German newspapers are troubling themselves in vain as to how to circumvent the Italian propaganda. It would be of more importance if they would take care to improve their system of government, the oppression and injustice of which only help the work of the propaganda. (Further thirty lines censored.)

PROTEST IN REICHSRAT

The Czecho-Slovak Deputies in the Reichsrat introduced a motion on April which was suppressed by the Vienna censorship. In the name of the Slovak Parliamentary Union, the motion, introduced by Deputy Kalinov, demanded that the Reichsrat refuse to sanction the imperial ordinance of May 1, 1915, which extended the age of service in the Landsturm from 43 to 50 years. The arguments presented in support of this demand, as summarized by a Berne correspondent of the Paris Temps, constitute a protest of all the Czecho-Slovak nations:

1. Against the war.

2. Against the militarism which, directed by the absolute will of the monarch, has enchained the free will of nations.

3. Against the military tyranny that has installed itself in Bohemia, and which is militarizing every stratum of society.

4. Against the spirit and tendencies of the army leaders, who have made of the army an instrument of Germanization and Magyarization.

5. Against absolutism, because the law has been interpreted in an unconstitutional manner, without the consent of the Reichsrat.

6. Against the dual system and the will for annexation, against peace based on violence, and, still more emphatically, against the shameful exploitation of Czecho-Slovak territory through requisitions and incessant contributions.

The Czecho-Slovak Deputies added:

An attempt is being made to starve our country, which was the granary of the whole Hapsburg Monarchy, and whose population, alike in villages and cities, is now suffering atrociously from famine and misery.

Our declaration is, above all, a unanimous manifestation of the collective will of the nation. It proves:

That the Czecho-Slovak Nation is firmly resolved to dispose henceforth of its own life and goods and children by the sole agency of its freely elected representatives.

That our nation and, first and foremost, our women demand a general and just peace, which alone can bring liberty and independence to the nation, and which alone can cause justice to reign in the whole world.

That we wish henceforth to live our own life in a State of our own, as a member of a society of free nations, a society that will solve without violence the questions that arise between peoples, depending upon a friendly understanding, and thus bringing happiness to liberated humanity.

When the Austro-Hungarian Government under Premier von Seidler found itself confronted by a hostile Slavic majority in the Reichsrat, threatening the defeat of its war budgets, Emperor Charles empowered the Premier to "adjourn Parliament forthwith and inaugurate measures to render impossible the resumption of its activities." This was done on May 4. The Parliament had been composed of 233 Germans, 108 Czechs, 92 Poles, 33 Ruthenians, 42 Jugoslavs, and 19 Italians. The Germans had considerably less than a majority.

In another respect the suppression of Parliament was viewed as a concession to the Magyars. Those holding reign in Hungary since 1867 had been resentful at the claims of the Czechs and the Jugoslavs, fearing that the Government would be forced to make some concessions to them. If the project of unity were realized Hungary would be reduced to about half of its present size. On several occasions the Magyars had called on the Government at Vienna to suppress the Parliamentary agitation, threatening to form a separate Hungarian army and impose restrictions on the exportation of foodstuffs.

The Government, in a public statement, ascribed its action to the food crisis, which was very acute, adding: "The Government will devote its entire strength to the economic problem and will try to create conditions required to enable the population to hold out."

THE PREMIER'S ADMISSION

A Vienna dispatch stated that the Premier, addressing a conference of party leaders, had demanded that the Parliamentary sittings be postponed, and added that, unless they took this step, the Government would prevent the sessions by force. In the debate that followed he had admitted the existence of many problems which must receive consideration, especially that of the agitation for a South Slavic State, but had added:

Discussion of this problem, however, is impossible at present, because it concerns not only Austria but also Hungary and Bosnia. But one thing is certain—if such a State were created it could be only under the sceptre of his Majesty, as a component part of the monarchy. It could not include those parts of Austrian territory which border on the Adriatic and are closely connected with districts where the German language is spoken. But national aspirations exist also in these districts, and it is only natural that the national wishes of the Southern Slavs be duly considered.

In the course of discussion of the question of revising the Constitution on the basis of national autonomy, Premier von Seidler announced that in Bohemia the Government would speedily issue regulations providing for the appointment of administrators for districts inhabited by distinct nationalities. After sounding a warning against inciting nationalities against one another, he said:

Our entire military and political situation has reached a climax. The next few months will bring a big decision. I am firmly convinced the decision on the battlefield will be in favor of Austria and her allies. Our economic, especially our food, conditions are very serious, but they are not at all desperate. To hold on now to a final happy decision is the vital question for the State. It therefore is necessary that, unhampered by Parliamentary confusion, the Government be left in a position to devote all its strength to these tasks.

FOOD SHORTAGE

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was at that time facing a dozen different crises, all aggravated by the problem of food. Even the racial animosities, always threatening to overturn the unstable rule of the German and Magyar minority over the Slavic majority, was inflamed into bitterness by sectional jealousies over food distribution. These crises reached a culmination in the decision of the Government to prorogue Parliament.

What straits the empire had reached were partially revealed by the Premier's speech to the party leaders, and also by the German official statement that all food supplies from the Ukraine during the month of May would be given to Austria-Hungary, on account of its greater need. Still more significant was Dr. von Seidler's admission, made public on May 4, that Austria was unable to feed the populations of North Tyrol and Northern Bohemia, and that he had, therefore, consented that the former be attached for provisioning purposes to Bavaria, and the latter to Saxony. This concession, the dispatch added, had been wrung from him by leaders of the German parties after a conference lasting six hours. It meant that for food supply purposes these portions of Austria were being annexed to Germany. The Austrian Government yielded with the greatest reluctance, realizing that the political consequences might be far-reaching. It was pointed out that this would accentuate the feud between the German and non-German races in Austria-Hungary, since the provinces affected are German-speaking, and would strengthen the agitation for the incorporation of Austria into a German federation.

The meeting of the German and Austrian Emperors at the German Great Headquarters on May 12 did not tend to allay fears of this nature. Though the results of the meeting remained secret, the belief was expressed in many quarters that it had constituted a formal acknowledgment of the subservient relations of Austria-Hungary toward the German Empire.

MARTIAL LAW IN PRAGUE

Shortly after the beginning of the war the Hungarian authorities suppressed the Slovak press almost in its entirety. Thus the Slovaks came to depend upon the Czech newspapers of Bohemia for their political and other information. On May 5 the Hungarian Government issued an order forbidding Czech newspapers from Bohemia and Moravia to circulate in Slovakia.

The whole Czech and Slovak population, indeed, was seething with hostility to the Imperial Government and its war policies. Prague, the capital of Bohemia, had become a centre for leaders of the Czecho-Slovaks, Jugoslavs, and Poles in their agitation for independence. Demonstrations of an anti-German character became frequent, and Czechs and Jugoslavs paraded the streets shouting "Long live Wilson, Clemenceau, and Lloyd George!" The manifestations against the Austrian State began afresh on the evening of May 17, when the police made arrests, and culminated on May 20, when the Government declared Prague under martial law. All political meetings were prohibited, and the police issued a proclamation announcing that any further disorders would be met with violent measures.

One of the events that had aroused popular hostility was the suppression of the Czech newspaper Narodni Listi. The last copy of this paper contained the text of the oath taken at Prague by the Czecho-Slovak, Jugoslav, and Polish journalists, as follows:

Gathered at Prague while the world war has made necessary a new reorganization of the world on the basis of a higher authority given to the people, we proclaim that we shall remain in the front line of battle for the freedom of peoples, that we shall fight together in favor of each other's interests, that we shall repulse together any despotic measure, and that we shall denounce together the oppression of the Austrian State.

We want to promote together the confidence of our people in the achievement of their aspirations, to encourage them to express their will more positively.

We raise our right hand and solemnly swear that we shall give all that we own, all our strength, all our possessions, for the liberation of our people and for the achievement of the political unity of the Czecho-Slovak people, the political unity of the Jugoslavs, and the political unity of the Polish people.

RIOTS IN WENSEL SQUARE

The disorders leading to the declaring of martial law were described by the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger a few days later in these terms:

The chief demonstration in the new outbreak occurred in Wensel Square in Prague on May 20. The demonstration was a big one and reached such pitch that in the evening the police had to interfere. The Czechs sang their patriotic hymn with its additional anti-German verses and raised cheers for President Wilson and Professor Masaryk, the Bohemian delegate now in the United States. Although Wensel Square was thereafter barred to the demonstrators by the police, the demonstrations were repeated at 10 o'clock at night, and not until midnight did the mounted and foot police succeed in restoring order.

Another account gave other details:

At the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Czech National Theatre speeches violently attacking Germany were delivered, and the renewal of the alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was denounced. Several deputies addressed the crowd, urging resistance to the end and the sacrifice of wealth and blood for Bohemia. The theatre was then closed and rioting occurred in the streets outside. The Jugoslavs who had participated in the Bohemian festivities were ordered to leave the city. Crowds singing patriotic songs accompanied them to the railway station.

In the next week about 800 Czechs were arrested at Prague and other Bohemian cities on a charge of seditious conspiracy.

REVOLT IN AUSTRIAN ARMY

Riots and disorders in Bohemia continued to increase during the following weeks. Crowds at Chozen, exasperated by police brutality, set fire to barracks and to the City Hall, where the mounted police were lodged. Eight of the officers were burned to death. At Kolin the people pulled down the Austrian and raised the Bohemian flag. Public buildings were burned at Tabor and in other Bohemian towns, also at Olmutz, Moravia. At Prague the offices of two German newspapers were sacked. The Neue Freie Presse of Vienna declared: "Only the tenacity and union of those who desire the preservation of the State can make the monarchy survive this great crisis."

Mutinies among the Slavic troops in the Austrian Army also assumed serious proportions. A Vienna dispatch to the Berliner Tageblatt on May 3 gave the following details:

The troubles began in the Slovene Battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment at Judenbourg. The German officers were killed, after which the troops gave themselves up to acts of anarchy. In time they were driven into the mountains, where they finally were disarmed after a combat.

The Czechs of Pilsen, stationed at Fumberg, also revolted. The rising was put down by the sword. Part of the rebels, having succeeded in passing the frontier, took refuge in the mountains of Saxony, where they were made prisoner by the Germans.

A third case of serious revolt took place at Funkirchen, where a Serbian regiment from Austria revolted and massacred the officers. The exact details of these revolts are difficult to obtain. It appears, however, the instigators were Austrian soldiers returned from the prisoners' camps in Russia.

GERRYMANDERING BOHEMIA

On May 22 the Austro-Hungarian Government issued a decree dividing Bohemia into twelve districts, under a system giving new administrative and electoral advantages to the Germanic population. The German minority in the Imperial Parliament had been about to be completely isolated by a union of the Czechs, Slovaks, Jugoslavs, Ruthenians, and Poles. The electoral redistribution sought to avoid this by reducing the Czech strength in the Reichsrat at Vienna as well as in the Bohemian Diet. An official French bulletin dated May 22 said:

The law bulletin of the Austrian Empire publishes a decree according to which the district Governments which were so long demanded by the Germans are established in Bohemia. The twelve district Captains who are nominated will represent the Statthalter of Prague in each district and will have the same powers.

The boundaries of the districts are fixed, so far as possible, according to the national grouping. In the words of the decree, "the aim is to take the first steps toward the re-establishment of order in Bohemia." This decree foreruns undoubtedly a policy of repression, the first act of which tends to dismember Bohemia by granting to the German elements the guarantees or, better, the privileges which they demand.

Up to the present, Bohemia comprised thirteen districts, only two of which had a majority of German population, according to statistics from Vienna. In four of the districts there are hardly any Germans. The new plan aims at creating in each of the twelve new districts a German minority and to grant to this minority, however small it may be, considerable advantages in the administrative and electoral domains.

This method is meant to bring about as a first result a considerable increase in the number of German deputies in the Diet to the prejudice of the Czechs, who until now have held the majority of the seats. It is clear that this device of the Pan Germans is bound to arouse the most violent opposition on the part of the Czechs.

A dispatch printed in all the Wagram papers calls attention to the fact that martial law has been proclaimed in several districts of Bohemia because in certain regions serious riots have occurred. More than 150 persons have been put in prison. The estate of Prince Furstenberg was ransacked. Riots occurred at Marsch, Ostrau, Pilsen, and Nachod. The Czech press expresses itself very violently. The Vetcher writes:

"The Government is trying in vain to present its reform under bright colors, but it is evident at first sight, in fact, that nothing but the dismembering of Bohemia is under way. The Ministerial decree is preparing the parceling out of our fatherland and the foundation of a German province made of our own flesh."

The Narodni Listi, which was suppressed by the censorship as guilty of "criminal dealings," has written:

"It is in vain that threats are hurled at us to divert us from the line of conduct which we have decided to follow according to our proclamation. It is in vain that the sessions of Parliament are adjourned. Our indignation will not be less in June (the Austrian Chamber is to resume its sittings on June 19) and our opponents will have the opportunity of realizing it. The chart which, according to von Seidler, is to be granted to us will not change our resolution: 'We shall fight on without any consideration, with compromise, for the defense of the Czech State.'

"This evidently shows the attitude of all the nationalities crushed by the Germans and the Magyars in the Dual Monarchy. The movement was not entirely unexpected, but it is possible that the fact of threatening them with a pitiless repression has advanced it and made it more formidable.

"Emperor Charles is away from Vienna, and on his return he will find political conditions which the food situation will make even more distressing. Once more the frightfulness of German methods, so dear to the Germans, will bear its fruit by arousing rebellion of the people oppressed."

AUSTRIAN OFFICIAL VIEW

An official Austrian note, referring to the decree, said:

Certain events, which were a danger to the safety of the State and presented even a character of high treason, took place during the first days of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the founding of the National Bohemian Theatre, and led the authorities to take repressive measures.

Swiss commentators explain that this alludes to a note from the police posted in Prague, which declared that mob gatherings and processions would be dispersed by force if necessary. Jugoslav guests, who had come to Prague to participate in the celebration, were obliged leave the city, and the newspaper Narodni Listi was suspended because the Austrian authorities declared: "The manner in which this paper is worded tends to arouse sympathy in favor of the Entente States."

Accounts of the great gathering at Prague, which caused the Austrian Government to declare martial law, stated that the city was adorned with the Czech colors and the Slav tricolor flag. The Czech press expressed regret at the absence of Russians and great satisfaction at the presence of Poles. It was reported that the Ruthenians of Eastern Galicia were prevented by the authorities from attending.

The festival was organized by the recently formed Independence Party of Dr. Kramarcz, and the ceremonies consisted generally of a glorification of the union of the Slavic peoples.

WEAKENING NATIONALISM

It is stated by American sympathizers of the Czechs that the new decree is intended also to weaken the Bohemian national movement by decentralizing the forces of the nation and partly to prepare for the possible establishment of a province of "German Bohemia," such as has been talked of in case the national movement is so strong as to force the Austrian Government to try to compromise on some sort of federalization.

The Czecho-Slovak Nation, which has declared its demands for unity and complete independence, includes the Slovaks in the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Czechs, now divided among Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, three of the seventeen crown lands of Austria.

There has been much reference in German-Austrian papers recently to the possible establishment of a German Bohemia, to include the districts with the largest German population. Any rearrangement on this basis would be beset with obstacles, for the Czecho-Slovaks refuse to consent to any partition and the Germans demand not only the border districts for their German Bohemia, but the City of Prague itself.

It was recently reported that in April the Pope, acting through the Papal Nuncio at the request of the Vienna Government, had caused the arrest of Dr. Yeglitch, Prince Archbishop of Laibach, on account of his activities in behalf of the Jugoslav movement. Dr. Yeglitch was the head of the Slovene Catholic party in Parliament, and his arrest produced an outburst of indignation in Croatia and Slovenia. A Vatican dispatch later declared the report of the Pope's connection with the matter to be entirely without foundation.

BOHEMIANS IN ITALY'S ARMY

Troops from Bohemia began joining the Italian Army in April to fight against Austria. The first detachments of this Czecho-Slovak army, which is being formed in many centres out of the one-time subjects of Emperor Karl, have taken up their positions in various parts of the Italian line. They wear the Italian uniform, with certain distinctive signs. The effect upon their fellow-Slavs who are still fighting under the Austrian colors is a subject of considerable interest on both sides. The new position of affairs is being assiduously explained to them by airplane propaganda, and committees of their own race are accredited to and working with the Italian high command. G. Ward Price, a British correspondent, telegraphed from Italian headquarters on May 1:

One night recently some of the Czechs fighting with the Italians were in the front line at a place where the Austrian battalion holding the trenches opposite consisted largely of their fellow-countrymen. After some preliminary conversation by megaphone one of the allied Czechs crawled out to the other lines and urged his compatriots to come over to our side, where they would be treated not as prisoners or deserters but as friends. The Austrian Czechs replied that they would willingly do so, but that the line behind their own was held by Hungarians, who would almost certainly see them moving out of the trench and open fire on them with machine guns.

The allied Czech brought this message in to his friends, whereupon the Italian guns were asked to put down a barrage between the Austrian front trenches and their support line, driving the Hungarians to cover and isolating them from the Czechs, of whom some were thus able to cross over in safety to our side.

RACIAL DIVISIONS IN HUNGARY

Hungary in no less degree than Bohemia presents a problem of racial antipathies which has been a cause of serious unrest for centuries; aggravated by the present worldwide aspiration for independent nationalism it has thrown the country into turmoil and given a strong impetus to a revolutionary movement by the non-Magyar inhabitants. In a recent issue of The New Europe, D. Draghicescu, in discussing the situation in Hungary, gives the following facts regarding its racial divisions:

Hungary is a country of 22,000,000 souls, of whom approximately 9,000,000 are Magyars and 13,000,000 non-Magyars, belonging to four or five different races. The Magyars have always insisted upon the fact that in Hungary they form by themselves a block of 9,000,000, while the other nationalities, taken altogether, are but 13,000,000, and that each of these, taken separately, constitute beside the Magyars a negligible minority. Naturally, if the 9,000,000 Magyars lived dispersed in all the provinces of Hungary, mingled with other nationalities in the proportion of 9 to 13, or 41 per cent., or if in each or in the majority of these provinces they formed a majority over the non-Magyars, or even an overwhelming majority over the most important of these nationalities, nothing could be done; the racial question in Hungary should not and would not arise. In that case, no doubt, the Hungarian State would properly bear the impress of the most numerous race, and would be, in fact, a national Magyar State, and the minority races would necessarily be sacrificed, even although their blood-brothers across the frontier might form powerful and prosperous States, (Rumania, Serbia, &c.) However objectionable might be the measures taken by the Magyars against these nationalities, they would, in such conditions, be up to a certain point excusable. It is impossible to create a strong and workable State and to insure peace and prosperity in a country so heterogeneous and containing an imbroglio of peoples each facing in its own direction and gravitating toward other neighboring States.

EACH RACE ISOLATED

He states that the Magyars, however, have never allowed it to be understood how the various races have been distributed in the kingdom, and he elucidates this as follows:

Hungary consists of several provinces, each of which is inhabited by a separate nationality, homogeneous and compact. Of these provinces one of the most important beyond question is the Hungarian Pousta, situated on the banks of the Theiss and the middle Danube, and inhabited by 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 Magyars. The remaining 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 Magyars are scattered over the other provinces, forming the ruling caste and providing officials, magistrates, and police. Their business is to dominate the nationalities of these provinces and bend them under the yoke of the Magyars.

In these other provinces each race is at home, and is as compact and homogeneous as the Magyars in the Pousta. Transylvania, for example, with the neighboring plains of the Banat, of Chrishana and Mamaramuresh is peopled by 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 Rumanians, among whom there are to be found here and there small bodies of Magyars. The Southern Slavs in their turn dwell in compact masses of between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 in the southern part of Hungary; and there are at least 2,000,000 Slovaks in the north, who also form a compact group. The Magyars are determined that the 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 of the Hungarian Pousta shall rule the 13,000,000 of non-Magyars in Transylvania, Jugoslavia, and Slovakia, and that these nationalities shall disappear, losing their language and individuality and adopting those of the Magyar people. It is nothing less than national suicide which the Magyars demand from these races, and, since this is refused, the jingoes of Budapest, enjoying carte blanche from the Emperor and the European powers, have for sixty years been carrying out a veritable campaign of murder against the non-Magyar races of Hungary.

TRANSYLVANIA'S CASE

The problem is intensified by the fact that the Serbs and Rumanians of Hungary see 5,000,000 of their brother Serbs and 7,500,000 of their brother Rumanians across their frontiers in Serbia and in Rumania under separate sovereignties of their own people. Mr. Draghicescu continues as follows:

Doubtless, if Transylvania and Jugoslavia were merely isolated provinces without affinity or resemblance to neighboring States, as is, for example, the case of Ireland in the United Kingdom, we should admit that, however great might be the majority of these races over the Magyars, the racial question would not and could not arise. It would in that case be merely a question of domestic politics and administration without international interest. But this is far from being the case in Transylvania, for instance, where the Rumanian population touches upon three sides the Rumanians of the kingdom, and where it has no contact with the Magyars, except on one-third of its racial frontier. Moreover, assuming the Magyars to have a certain superficial claim to ascendency in Hungary, where they are 41 per cent. of the whole population, this claim cannot be admitted in Transylvania, where they are but 15 per cent. to 18 per cent. In Jugoslavia the proportion of Magyars is even smaller. Now, if we imagine the reunion of Transylvania to Rumania to be an accomplished fact, the proportion of races in Greater Rumania would be 92 per cent. Rumanians to 8 per cent. Magyars; for if to the 7,500,000 Rumanians of the kingdom there are added 4,500,000 Rumanians of Hungary among whom there live scattered bodies of Magyars to the number approximately of 1,000,000, we shall have 12,000,000 Rumanians to 1,000,000 Magyars.

In this case, in place of the crying injustice of a 15 per cent. Magyar population seeking to dominate and exterminate a Rumanian population of 60 per cent., we should have a liberal State in which the Rumanians would constitute 93 per cent. and the Magyars between 6 and 7 per cent. In Jugoslavia the same process would give similar results. It is impossible for Serbs and Rumanians to be indifferent to the fate of their kinsmen threatened with Magyarization. If they desire to save their captive brethren, if they desire to liberate them and unite with them, it is not because they are themselves impelled by a spirit of conquest and inspired by a reprehensible imperialism. In them such aims would be absurd. They are roused against the Magyars by legitimate fears for their own fate and liberty in the future. If the Rumanians and Serbs of Hungary were finally Magyarized it would be a proof that the Serb and Rumanian Nations were ephemeral and might easily disappear without harm to any one. Once the resistance of the Serbs and Rumanians of Hungary was broken, the fate of the Serbian and Rumanian Kingdoms would be sealed. The Magyars, with the help of their German allies and masters, would soon overcome the Serbs and Rumanians in the free kingdoms, exposed as these would be to the treacherous onslaughts of Bulgaria.

Therefore, the true terms and proportions of this question may be stated as follows: It is a war of life or death between 9,000,000 Magyars and some 25,000,000 Slavs and Latins. The former are vigorously upheld by the Germans and the Bulgars. And the others? Surely they should have for allies all who desire that Germany and her vassals should not destroy the liberties of the world.

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Supreme War Council Favors Free Poland and Jugoslavia

The session of the Supreme War Council of the allied Governments, held at Versailles on June 4, 1918, was attended by the Premiers of Great Britain, France, and Italy. At the close of its deliberations it issued the following statement:

The Supreme War Council held its sixth session under circumstances of great gravity for the alliance of free peoples. The German Government, relieved of all pressure on the eastern front by the collapse of the Russian armies and people, has concentrated all its effort in the west. It is now seeking to gain a decision in Europe by a series of desperate and costly assaults upon the allied armies before the United States can bring its full strength effectively to bear.

The advantage it possesses in its strategic position and superior railway facilities has enabled the enemy command to gain some initial successes. It will undoubtedly renew its attacks and the allied nations still may be exposed to critical days.

After a review of the whole position, the Supreme War Council is convinced that the Allies, bearing the trials of the forthcoming campaign with the same fortitude as they have ever exhibited in defense of the right, will baffle the enemy's purpose and in due course bring him to defeat. Everything possible is being done to sustain and support the armies in the field. The arrangements for unity of command have greatly improved the position of the allied armies and are working smoothly and with success. The Supreme War Council has complete confidence in General Foch. It regards with pride and admiration the valor of the allied troops.

Thanks to the prompt and cordial co-operation of the President of the United States, the arrangements which were set on foot more than two months ago for the transporting and brigading of American troops will make it impossible for the enemy to gain victory by wearing out the allied reserve before he has exhausted his own.

The Supreme War Council is confident of the ultimate result, and the allied peoples are resolute not to sacrifice a single one of the free nations of the world to the despotism of Berlin. Their armies are displaying the same steadfast courage which has enabled them on many previous occasions to defeat a German onset. They have only to endure with faith and patience to the end to make victory for freedom secure. The free peoples and their magnificent soldiers will save civilization.

The scene in the Coliseum at Rome on April 7, 1918, when the Italian official celebration of the anniversary of America's entry into the war took place
(Photo Audigier)

The third anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania May 7, 1915. Three large graves at Queenstown, Ireland, where 178 of the victims were buried
(British Official Photo from Underwood)

A supplemental official statement announced that the following declarations had been unanimously agreed to by the Premiers of the three nations:

The creation of a united, independent Polish State, with free access to the sea, constitutes one of the conditions of a solid and just peace and the rule of right in Europe.

The Allies have noted with satisfaction the declaration of the American Secretary of State, to which they adhere, expressing the greatest sympathy with the national aspirations of the Czechs and Jugoslavs for freedom.

AMERICA AND JUGOSLAVS

The American declaration referred to above was made public by Secretary Lansing on May 29 in these words:

The Secretary of State desires to announce that the proceedings of the Congress of Oppressed Races of Austria-Hungary, which was held in Rome in April, have been followed with great interest by the Government of the United States, and that the nationalistic aspirations of the Czecho-Slovacs and the Jugoslavs for freedom have the earnest sympathy of this Government.

Secretary Lansing's declaration was greeted with enthusiasm by Jugoslavs in both Europe and America. Premier Pashitch of Serbia a few days later communicated to the American Chargé d'Affaires at Corfu his profound appreciation of the action of the United States. Another result was a formal offer of military service by Jugoslavs residing in this country. The offer was made to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on June 5 by Don Niko Grskovich and John J. Grgurevich, acting as spokesmen for their fellow-Slavs. They explained that the Slovenians, Croats, and other South Slavs in the United States were intensely hostile to the German-Austrian cause, and were eager to cast their lot with the Allies, but because they were technically subjects of the Austrian Crown they occupied the status of enemy aliens and were unable to join the army.

"If Congress will enact a law taking this stigma from our people 50,000 enlistments in the American Army will be the immediate result," Mr. Grskovich told the committee. "Ultimately, nearly 500,000 of our people will be found fighting under the American flag."

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Rumania's Thralldom

Subjection of the Nation to German Tyranny Under a Supplementary Economic Treaty

Current History Magazine for June contained the text of the main treaty imposed on Rumania by Germany, known as the Peace of Bucharest. On May 10 it was announced that a "legal and political supplementary agreement" had been exacted, which completed the economic subjection of the country. The main clauses of this treaty follow:

Clause I.—This provides for the resumption of Consular relations and the admission of Consuls. The treaty demands that a further Consular treaty shall be concluded as soon as possible, and stipulates for the indemnification of all damage suffered during the war by Consular officials or done to Consular buildings.

Clause II.—This clause says that Rumania renounces indemnifications and damages caused on Rumanian territory as the result of German military measures, including all requisitions and contributions. Amounts which Germany has already paid for damages of the nature just described will be refunded by Rumania in so far as these have not been refunded from the country's means, or paid in the newly issued notes of the Banca Generale of Rumania, (note issue department.)

Within six months after the ratification of the peace treaty Rumania will redeem out of her own means (with notes of the Rumanian National Bank or other legal means of payment) the notes issued by the Banca Generale, on the order of the occupation administration, and will not put them into circulation again, so that the balances and deposits which are held by the German Reichsbank for the covering of the same may become free.

Until redemption, the notes of the Banca Generate shall be recognized as legal tender. After the ratification of the peace treaty such notes shall no longer be issued.

Another article, under the same clause, provides that Rumania shall indemnify the Germans for all damages suffered by them on Rumanian territory as the result of the military measures of one of the belligerent powers. This stipulation also applies to the losses which the Germans have suffered as participants, and especially as shareholders, of undertakings situated in Rumanian territory. Immediately after the ratification of the treaty a commission shall meet in Bucharest to fix the amount of such losses. The contracting parties will each appoint a third of the members, and the President of the Swiss Federal Council will be asked to designate neutral personages to make up the other third, which is to include the Chairman.

Rumania will also indemnify neutral nations for damage which has been caused them on Rumanian territory as a result of German military measures, and which must be made good according to the principles of international law.

Clause III.—This clause stipulates for the restoration of treaties and agreements between the contracting parties which were in force before the war, except for those cases in which the peace treaty provides otherwise, and in cases where such instruments are undenouncable for a certain period. This period is prolonged by the period of the duration of the war.

The contracting parties reserve until after the conclusion of a general peace the fixing of their attitude toward separate and collective treaties of a political character.

Clause IV.—This contains prescriptions governing the restoration of ordinary relations between debtor and creditor. It says, too, that each contracting party will, immediately after the ratification of the treaty, resume the payment of its obligations, particularly the public debt service, to subjects of the other party.

Restoration and compensation for concessions and privileges in land and other rights are also dealt with.

Clause V.—This deals with compensation for damage suffered during or immediately before the outbreak of war by civilian subjects of the respective parties in life, health, liberties, or property through acts contrary to international law.

Germans who were in the Rumanian public service before the war, and who were dismissed as enemy foreigners, shall, on their request, be restored to equal rank and equal salary, or, if this is impracticable, they shall be given fair compensation.

Clause VI.—This clause says that the respective prisoners of war shall be sent home in so far as they, with the assent of the State concerned, do not desire to remain in its territory or to proceed to another country. The exchange of prisoners is to follow as soon as possible, at definite times to be further agreed upon.

The expenditure of each party for prisoners of war belonging to the other party up to April 1, 1918, will be calculated on the basis of an average rate of 2,000 marks (£100) for each officer in Germany, and 1,000 for all other prisoners in Germany, and 2,500 (£100) and 1,250 lei respectively for prisoners in Rumania. Immediately on the ratification of the treaty a commission composed of three members of each party is to meet in Bucharest to arrange details and to supervise the carrying out of the agreement.

Interned civilians will also be gratuitously sent home as soon as possible, in so far as they do not wish to remain in the country of their internment or go elsewhere.

Clause VII.—This relates to the right of subjects of the contracting parties to return to the country of their origin without suffering prejudice.

Clause VIII.—This stipulates an amnesty for offenses committed by prisoners of war, interned men, and certain others. It incidentally stipulates that Rumania shall grant an amnesty to its subjects for their political conduct or military conduct based upon political grounds during the war.

Clause IX.—This provides that captured river craft, merchant ships, and cargoes shall be returned, or, if no longer in existence, be paid for, and compensation shall also be paid for the period they were in the captor's possession. Here, too, a commission will be appointed.

Clause X.—This stipulates that various rights shall be accorded to German churches and schools in Rumania.

Clause XI.—This says: "Rumania, after having obtained the assent of the Rumanian National Bank, agrees that the balances and deposits of the National Bank now at the German Reichsbank shall remain in the Reichsbank's charge for five years (and if Rumania falls behind with an installment, for ten years) as a security for Rumania's Public Debt Service, as regards the subjects of Germany; and may also, if necessary, be drawn on to pay interest and redeem drawn bonds."

The representatives of the contracting parties will meet in Berlin within four weeks after the signature of the treaty to make further arrangements regarding the fulfillment and further guaranteeing of Rumania's financial obligations.

Clause XII.—This provides that the respective representatives shall meet in Berlin within four months after the ratification of this treaty, further to supplement it.

CONTROL OF OIL FIELDS

Under the petroleum agreement between the Central Powers and Rumania, the Central Powers' controlling company, the Oil Lands Leasing Company, is endowed with exclusive rights of the most far-reaching character for thirty years, with the right of prolongation for two subsequent periods of thirty years, making ninety in all.

Up to one-quarter of the foundation shares will be offered to the Rumanian Government with the right of transfer to private interests, but Germany and Austria-Hungary insure their control by the creation of preference shares with a fifty-fold voting right, and these shares are exclusively at their disposal.

A State trading monopoly in oil in Rumania is also provided for, the exercise of the monopoly to be intrusted to a company that is to be formed by a financial group designated by the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments.

All kinds of privileges are stipulated for the Oil Lands Leasing Company, the position of which is most carefully hedged around.

The parties are agreed by the terms of Article IV. of the foregoing agreement that immediately after the ratification of the peace treaty the Rumanian Government will enter into negotiations with the Governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary regarding the manner in which Rumania's surplus oil and oil products can be placed at the disposal of Germany and Austria-Hungary without endangering the vital interests of Rumania in respect of the country's industries and its own needs. The provisions of Article IV.,therefore, only enter into force should no other understanding have been arrived at before Dec. 1, 1918.

COST OF RUMANIA'S PEACE

A correspondent who was at Jassy for years and left there only a few days before the peace treaty was signed thus writes of Rumania's hard fate:

"What is the balance sheet of Rumania after eighteen months' hard struggle? Before August, 1916, she had absolute economic freedom and could sell her harvests to any one she pleased at any price she wanted. In 1915 and 1916 the Rumanian exporters sold wheat to Germany and Austria at from 10s. to 12s. a bushel. The Austro-German importers had to pay, besides, a heavy export tax in gold to the Rumanian Government. Now Germany has secured for herself and her allies practically the whole Rumanian harvest for years to come, at a price which she is going to fix, and in such conditions that 'no diplomatic intervention should be necessary in the future for securing the grain necessary for the allied Central Powers.'

"Rumania had in Europe, after Russia, the richest oil fields and the greatest production of oil. The fields were in American, German, and English hands, but the Rumanian Government had full control of the production and drew very large benefits. When the war broke out in 1914 the Rumanian Government at once prohibited the export of petrol and heavy oils to Germany. The German companies tried hard to send the much-needed petrol to their countries, but succeeded in smuggling only a small quantity through at enormous cost. After a year the production of petrol increased so much that the Government was compelled to allow the export of a small quantity, asking Germany in exchange to agree that Rumania should receive a certain quantity of goods the export of which was prohibited in Germany. The Germans will not forget that they had to pay for the petrol at the rate of about $200 a ton."

GERMAN OIL MONOPOLY

"Since November, 1916, the Rumanian oil industry has been destroyed. In the last ten days before the Germans penetrated into the rich Prahova Valley the British mission under Lieut. Col. Norton Griffiths destroyed everything—wells, tanks, refineries were burned, smashed to pieces, or blown up, so that even now, after a year and a half, the Germans have not been able to reconstruct them. According to statements made by German prisoners in November last, none of obstructed wells had been put in order again. The German engineers have worked hard, boring new wells, but have not succeeded in getting more than 10 to 15 per cent. of the normal production. However, although the refineries and wells have been destroyed, the oil fields exist, and I think that not even 50 per cent. of them have yet been worked in Rumania. The Germans know this, and the clause in the peace treaty that they should have the control and monopoly of the oil fields for ninety-nine years will make them the real owners and entirely independent of the American market. These two assets—the corn and the oil—on which the whole wealth of the Rumanian Kingdom was based, are thus under direct German control."

"Furthermore, Rumania has suffered much during the war. Towns and villages have been destroyed, and nearly the entire stock of railway carriages, vans, and locomotives has been lost. The productive capacity of the country has been enormously diminished. About 60 per cent. of the horned cattle and more than 70 per cent. of the horses have gone. Famine and disease have made ravages among the rural population, nobody having paid any attention to them. I have seen villages of 300 to 500 inhabitants reduced to 40. All the rest died from spotted typhus or other scourges. This shows how reduced are the means of national recovery after peace is signed. The financial situation is probably worse than the economic. At the outbreak of the war the budget amounted to 500,000,000 lei, ($100,000,000,) while the national debt was about 1,500,000,000 lei, ($300,000,000.) A few weeks before I left Jassy the Minister of Finance told me that the debt had increased to about $1,250,000,000. In the period from August, 1916, to February, 1918, the revenue had been very greatly reduced. As the military situation was always critical and the Government had decided twice, before the Russian disaster, to move to Russia, everybody who had a little money kept it at home and did not invest it in Government securities. Therefore only a small amount had been raised in Rumania by loans; the greatest part of the money had to be obtained from abroad, mainly from England, but also from France and the United States, at a rate of 4 to 5 per cent. Thus the interest which Rumania had to pay on her national debt represented about $62,500,000, or more than three-quarters of her budget in the pre-war days."

VON KUEHLMANN'S EXPLANATION

Dr. von Kühlmann, the German Foreign Secretary, who forced the treaty, in an address before the Berlin Chamber of Commerce May 24, explained the advantages which the peace of Bucharest had brought to Germany. He said:

Two points must be taken into consideration: First, guaranteeing Rumanian agricultural and petroleum production as urgently necessary for the carrying on of the war by the Central Powers and for the transition period; and, secondly, the important rôle which Rumania has to fill in providing a thoroughfare to the East, especially as she dominates the lower course of the Danube.

It is here that there comes into effect the International Danube Delta Committee, upon which only States on the banks of the Danube can be represented. Only if the States agree to it will the countries lying on the Black Sea be able to come into it. Therefore, it is especially important for the German seaboard traffic that we have been able to secure sites for dockyards.

Along with the Danube, the importance of the Rumanian railways must be considered, especially the Bucharest-Czernavoda-Constanza line, over which Germany must have control. It has been agreed with Bulgaria that this railway to Constanza, which is to be made a free port with grain silos and petroleum tanks, is to be leased to a German company for ninety-nine years.

The cable between Constantinople and Constanza played an important rôle before the war. This cable is to be developed to the utmost and secured from enemy control.

Alluding to the agreement by which Germany had secured the Rumanian harvest of 1918-19, and the far-reaching option upon the entire Rumanian harvest for the next seven years, Dr. von Kühlmann said:

One can look forward to the whole food question with a certain amount of confidence. * * * Formal war indemnities were not demanded by Germany, but the numerous privileges we secured are equivalent, in the opinion of experts, to anything which would have been yielded by indemnities. When, some day, the damage caused by the U-boat warfare shall have been made good by newly-built ships, the sea route from Constanza will regain its importance. Whether traffic on the Danube will be able to compete with it is a question of the distant future. For the present we shall have to rely on the Danube.

MODEL PEACE TERMS

Discussing this treaty on June 1, the Nachrichten of Munich declared:

The peace concluded with Rumania should serve as a model for the general peace terms to be concluded by the Central Powers. Germany has found a method of making conquered countries share her enormous war burdens without actually inflicting a crushing war indemnity. This method consists in enforcing on them a stipulation for preferential treatment to be accorded to Germany over a long period, so that Germany may be fully supplied with goods she needs. In this way Rumania will furnish the Central Powers with wheat and petroleum on advantageous terms for ninety years. A similar happy solution must also be adopted in all peace treaties to be conducted in the future.

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ARMENIA'S SUFFERINGS IN A NEW PHASE

Turkish Invasion of the Caucasus Under the Brest Treaty—Struggle of the Georgians

By the terms of the Brest-Litovsk treaty the Bolshevist Government of Russia gave up to Turkey the districts of Batum, Kars, and Erivan, comprising the southwestern portion of the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. This region includes the Russian part of the former Kingdom of Armenia, with Turkish Armenia adjoining it on the south. It is inhabited largely by Armenians and by that other ancient people, the Georgians, between whom and the Turks there has been an age-long and deadly feud. Hundreds of thousands of Armenian refugees from Turkish persecution in Asia Minor had taken refuge here under the Russian flag in the last three years, especially after the first Petrograd revolution gave promise of liberty under a republic. Now Georgians and Armenians alike find themselves betrayed into the hands of their Turkish enemies.

Soon after the signing of the treaty on March 3, 1918, the Turks sent armed forces to take possession of the three districts named. They met with resistance both from the Armenians and from the Georgians, but neither of the betrayed nationalities had an army competent to cope with the enemy. The result was a new reign of terror, similar to that of the atrocities that ensued.

PROTEST OF ARMENIANS

The Armenian National Council on April 14 addressed the following protest to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the President of the Reichstag:

The Armenian National Council, as the supreme body for the expression of the will of the Armenian people, is addressing you in connection with the tragic state of things in Armenia. Armenia is flooded with blood and, only recently saved from centuries of slavery, is again condemned to fresh sufferings. Following upon the withdrawal of the Russian troops, Turkish troops have already invaded the undefended country and are not only killing every Turkish Armenian but also every Russian in Armenia.

In spite of the terms of the peace treaty, which recognizes the right of self-determination for these Caucasian regions, the Turkish Army is advancing toward Kars and Ardahan, destroying the country and killing the Christian population. The responsibility for the future destiny of the Armenians lies entirely with Germany, because it was Germany's insistence that resulted in the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the Armenian regions, and at the moment it rests with Germany to prevent the habitual excesses of the Turkish troops, increased by revengefulness and anger.

It is hard to believe that a civilized State like Germany, which has the means for preventing the excesses of her ally, will permit the Brest-Litovsk treaty to be used by the German people, who have been involved in war against their own will, as a means for the creation of incalculable sufferings.

The National Council firmly believes that you will undertake the necessary measures, which depend solely upon you, to influence the Turkish authorities with a view to saving the Armenian people from fresh horrors.

POLICY OF ANNIHILATION

To this protest the Bolshevist Government of Russia added the following:

The offensive of the Turkish troops and detachments on the Caucasian front has been followed by the murder of the whole Armenian population. The peaceful population of women and children have been killed without mercy and their property has been plundered and burned.

The peace treaty, which we were forced to sign at Brest-Litovsk, left the determination of the future destiny of the people of the provinces of Ardahan, Kars, and Batum to themselves. The events which have taken place in these provinces testify that the old policy of the annihilation of the Armenian people is still to be applied.

On the Turkish front the advantage of the war was on the side of Russia, and Russia was forced to give up Ardahan, Kars, and Batum only because Germany was the ally of Turkey. The responsibility for all the horrors which the Armenian population is now suffering in those regions already occupied by the Turkish troops lies, therefore, with the German Government, which directly helped Turkey to secure these regions.

The People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs protests against such abuse of the right of self-determination of the population of these provinces, and expresses the hope and insists on the necessity of immediate and energetic intervention on the part of Germany in the Caucasus, with a view to stopping further murders and the annihilation of the peaceful population, such as has taken place in Ardahan.

The Armenians and Georgians fought the advancing Turks, but their efforts were in vain; on April 17 Batum fell to the Turks, and the Ottoman troops were said to have a firm grip on these and other portions of the Caucasus.

STORY OF THE GEORGIANS

The rugged mountain region between the Black and Caspian Seas, known as the Caucasus, covers 180,603 square miles consists of 14 provinces. The population in 1914 was 11,735,100, of whom 87 per cent. were illiterate; there are no less than 46 distinct nationalities among the inhabitants, chief of which are the Georgians and Armenians. The Georgians were the only nationality to maintain their independence up to the end of the eighteenth century. Georgia existed as a State long before the Christian era; Alexander the Great conquered the country. In 1080 the Kingdom of Georgia was established by David III. Peter the Great of Russia, recognizing its importance, entered into an alliance with the kingdom, and in 1721 Russian and Georgian troops penetrated to Baku, the rich industrial district bordering on the Caspian Sea. King Heraklius II., who reigned during the middle and end of the eighteenth century, received high praise from Catherine the Great and Frederick the Great for his military prowess and intellect, and in 1768 Russia and Georgia took joint action against the Turks.

In 1783 the Turks and Persians invaded Georgia, and Russia again concluded a treaty of protection, in which Georgia's independence was guaranteed. In 1801 Russia violated this treaty by annexing Georgia as a Russian province. The people revolted, but the uprising was unsuccessful. The Georgian mountaineers, however, never became reconciled to Russian dominion, and in connection with the Circassians carried on guerrilla warfare for forty years. In 1864 they were finally defeated and given the choice of submitting or emigrating to Turkey. Only 90,000 submitted and 418,000 emigrated to Turkey.

The jubilee of 100 years' alliance between the Kingdom of Georgia and Russia was celebrated in Tiflis, Sept. 26, 1901. At that time Czar Nicholas II. issued a manifesto acknowledging the loyalty of the Georgian people, who "voluntarily placed the kingdom under our protection," expressing imperial thanks to the Georgian Nation, and extending the promise of "my special attention and care for this brave nation, which is united with us by common ties of religion." This in face of the further fact that in 1811 the independence of the Georgian Church, which had existed since the year 542, was abolished by the Russians and only six Bishoprics out of twenty-eight were allowed to remain, while more than $350,000,000 of church property was confiscated!

RUSSIAN CAUCASUS REGION, INCLUDING GEORGIA AND RUSSIAN ARMENIA, PARTS OF WHICH WERE HANDED OVER TO THE TURKS BY THE TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK

PROGRESS AMONG GEORGIANS

D. Ghambashidze, in a recent statement regarding the Georgian Nation, alludes to the progress made in the second half of the nineteenth century as follows:

The number of daily papers and weeklies in 1913 was twenty-four, and the number of books published in the same year on various subjects was about 240, amounting to 460,000 copies. It must also be remembered that 75 per cent. of the total population can read and write, and there are many schools and libraries. Eighty-five per cent. of the total population is composed of peasantry, whose chief occupation is very intensive agriculture, tobacco, wine, cotton, and silk being included in their products. The co-operative movement is also very strong in Georgia, there being about 400 co-operative societies, nearly 70 per cent. of the peasants being members.

During the last eight centuries the nobility of Georgia has devoted its attention chiefly to military occupations. There were about 5,700 officers in the Russian Army, among whom may be mentioned the very distinguished Generals, Princes Bagration, Amilakhvari, Tchavachavadze, Orbelliani, and Amiradjebi. Prince Imeretinski has acted as Governor General of Poland, and through his wise rule won great respect among the Poles. He was instrumental in obtaining the permission of the Emperor for the erection of a monument to the great Polish poet Mickevits in Warsaw. General Kazbek was commander of the fortress of Vladivostok and General Orbelliani was Commander in Chief of the Russian troops stationed in Finland.

Among the Georgian Bishops the most celebrated was Bishop Gabriel, whose famous sermons have been translated into English by the Rev. Dr. Malan, one-time Vicar of Oxford. There were also a great many Georgian professors at various Russian universities, among them the celebrated physiologist, Professor Tarhanov; the philologist, Professor D. Tchubinov, and Petriev, the late Dean of Odessa University. Distinguished Georgians like Prince Tchavachavadze and Eristov were members of the Russian House of Lords, while Mr. Tsereteli, the celebrated Georgian Deputy in the Duma, acted as one of the leaders during the present revolution.

The Armenian Nation also goes far back into ancient history. Six centuries before Christ the texts engraved on the rocks by King Darius mentioned Armenia by its present name. During centuries immediately before and after the beginning of the Christian era Armenia was an independent kingdom occupying the region between Mesopotamia and the valleys south of the Caucasus Mountains. This kingdom became Christian about the same time as the Roman Empire, and since then the Armenian Church has not ceased to be independent, not only of the Eastern, Greek, and Slavic Churches, but also of the Roman Church.

ARMENIA, SCENE OF EARLIER TURKISH ATROCITIES

Professor Meillet of the Collège de France, Paris, states that there has been an Armenian literature since the fifth century of our era, and that the old Armenian writings are more original and interesting than the ancient Slavic literatures, which date from several centuries later. Historians of art agree that in architecture, from the fifth to the ninth century, the Armenians were creators of new forms. Professor Meillet adds that at a time when the very name of Franco did not yet exist, and when the French language had not been differentiated literature of its own.

At the period of the Crusades the Armenians founded a kingdom in Cilicia and aided the Crusaders. Since the last of the Crusades there have been no independent Armenians. Mussulman, Persian, and Turkish States have dominated their former country. In the nineteenth century the Caucasus portion was taken by Russia. But the Armenian Nation had its own customs, language, literature, and church, and all these it has kept. It had the will to live, and in spite of its subjugation it has lived.

SUCCESSFUL EMIGRANTS

Armenians, hindered by persecution from tilling their lands, emigrated to other countries, where they developed eminent qualities. Industrious farmers, attached to their native land, they have yet known how, under necessity, to adapt themselves to all the professions of the modern world. Thus they came to fill a large place in Constantinople, in Egypt, in Transylvania, in Poland, and more recently in Baku, in the whole basin of the Mediterranean, and even in America. Everywhere they have made useful citizens; it was an Armenian, Althen, who introduced the cultivation of madder in Southern France. In their own country, where they had preserved a patriarchal system, most of them remained farmers.

The Armenian Church, which has not ceased to be autonomous, is the most democratic of the ancient Christian Churches; it is the only one in which laymen take part with the priests in the election of the head of the Church, the Catholicos, who lives in the Convent of Etchmiadzin, in Russian Armenia.

In the nineteenth century, though possessing no intellectual centre of their own, the Armenians found means for giving a modern literature to Russian Armenia and another to Turkish Armenia. Occupying a part of Asia that is a natural passageway between the Orient and the Occident, says Professor Meillet, they have been, since the fifth century, carriers of European civilization. Their vanguard position has made of them the martyrs of Western culture. Their success and their European character made them odious to their Turkish masters, who were less industrious than they. By the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 Turkey pledged herself to introduce reforms and ameliorations in Armenia, and to protect these people from attacks by the Kurds and Circassians; but the pledge was never kept. After the massacres at Sassun in 1894 Europe made a more imperious demand for reforms; Sultan Abdul Hamid promised them—and immediately ordered the great massacres of 1895 and 1896, which won for him the name of the Red Sultan.

UNDER THE YOUNG TURKS

The Young Turk revolution promised to improve the lot of the Armenians by instituting liberty in the Ottoman Empire; in reality the Young Turks desired only to make a unified empire of which they should be masters; they tried to "Turkify" all the races under them by persecuting those who wished to keep their own character; in 1909 they caused the Armenians at Adana to be massacred.

When the Young Turk Government allied itself with the Central Empires, learning organization from the Germans, it organized the destruction of the Armenians in 1915 on scientific lines. It ordered the deportation of these people from land which they had occupied for more than 2,000 years, and, after massacring the men and seizing the young women, it caused the rest of the women and the children to perish of hunger, thirst, and fatigue along the highways into which they had been driven; it sent them to die in the deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were thus destroyed. When the victorious Russian troops entered Erzerum and Trebizond they found only a few dozens of Armenians out of the tens of thousands who had inhabited those cities. The German authorities knew of these massacres; they made no protest.

In Syria the Christian population was destroyed by other methods; all the food was taken away, and then the district was isolated and the entrance of new food supplies forbidden. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians died of hunger. Germany knew of this crime; it did not protest.

EXTERMINATING A RACE

The great war gave the Young Turk leaders their long-desired opportunity to crush the Armenians. Henry Morgenthau, the United States Ambassador at Constantinople at that time, says in a recent statement:

During the Spring of 1915 they evolved their plan to destroy the Armenian race. They criticised their ancestors for neglecting to destroy or convert the Christian races to Mohammedanism at the time when they first subjugated them. Now, as four of the great powers were at war with them and the two others were their allies, they thought the time opportune to make good the oversight of their ancestors in the fifteenth century. They drafted the able-bodied Armenians into the army without, however, giving them arms; they used them simply to build roads or do similar work. Then, under the pretext of searching the houses for arms, they pillaged the belongings of the villagers. * * * The final and worst measure was the wholesale deportation of the entire population from their homes and their exile to the desert, with all the accompanying horrors on the way. * * * The facts contained in the reports received at the embassy from absolutely trustworthy eyewitnesses surpass the most beastly and diabolical cruelties ever perpetrated or imagined in the history of the world.

BARBAROUS TORTURES

Many of these horrors were told in detail in the monumental report of Viscount Bryce, portions of which were published in Current History Magazine, November, 1916. To these may be added a statement made to Mr. Morgenthau personally by an eyewitness—a German missionary!—and put into writing at the American Embassy in Constantinople, which reads in part as follows:

It was that very afternoon that I received the first terrible reports, but I did not fully believe them. A few millers and bakers, whose services were needed by the Government, had remained, and they received the news first. The men had all been tied together and shot outside of the town. The women and children were taken to the neighboring villages, placed in houses by the hundreds, and either burned alive or thrown into the river. (Our buildings being in the main quarter of the town we could receive the news quite promptly.) Furthermore, one could see women and children pass by with blood streaming down, weeping. * * * Who can describe such pictures? Add to all this the sight of burning houses and the smell of many burning corpses.

Within a week everything was nearly over. The officers boasted now of their bravery, that they had succeeded in exterminating the whole Armenian race. Three weeks later when we left Moush, the villages were still burning. Nothing that belonged to the Armenians, either in the city or the villages, was allowed to remain. In Moush alone there were 25,000 Armenians; besides, Moush had 300 villages with a large Armenian population.

We left for Mezreh. The soldiers who accompanied us showed us with pride where and how and how many women and children they had killed.

We were very pleased to see upon our arrival at Harpoot that the orphanages were full. This was, however, all that could be said. Mamuret-ul-Aziz has become the cemetery of all the Armenians; all the Armenians from the various vilayets were sent there, and those who had not died on the way came there simply to find their graves.

Another terrible thing in Mamuret-ul-Aziz were the tortures to which the people had been subjected for two months, and they had generally treated so harshly the families of the better class. Feet, hands, chests were nailed to a piece of wood; nails of fingers and toes were torn out; beards and eyebrows pulled out; feet were hammered with nails, as they do with horses; others were hung with their feet up and heads down over closets. * * * Oh! How one could wish that all these facts were not true! In order that people outside might not hear the screams of agony of the poor victims, men stood around the prison wherein these atrocities were committed, with drums and whistles.

On July 1 the first 2,000 were dispatched from Harpoot. They were soldiers, and it was rumored that they would build roads. People became frightened. Whereupon the Vali called the German missionary, Mr. ——, and begged him to quiet the people; he was so very sorry that they all had such fears, &c. They had hardly been away for a day when they were all killed in a mountain pass. They were bound together, and when the Kurds and soldiers started to shoot at them some managed to escape in the dark. The next day another 2,000 were sent in the direction of Diarbekr. Among those deported were several of our orphans (boys) who had been working for the Government all the year round. Even the wives of the Kurds came with their knives and murdered the Armenians. Some of the latter succeeded in fleeing. When the Government heard that some Armenians had managed to escape they left those who were to be deported without food for two days in order that they would be too weak to be able to flee.

All the high Catholic Armenians, together with their Archbishop, were murdered. Up to now there still remained a number of tradesmen whom the Government needed and therefore had not deported; now these, too, were ordered to leave, and were murdered.

TOTAL NUMBER MURDERED

The total Armenian population in the Turkish Empire in 1912 numbered between 1,600,000 and 2,000,000. Of these 182,000 escaped to the Russian Caucasus, where now again they have been placed in peril of extermination at the hands of the Turks. About 4,200 escaped into Egypt, while 150,000 still remain in Constantinople. To these figures must be added the relatively small number of survivors still in hiding or scattered in distant provinces. Mr. Morgenthau concludes that 1,000,000 Armenians were harried out of their homes in Asia Minor, that the murdered number between 600,000 and 800,000. The remainder, in pitiful want of the barest necessities of life, hold out their hands to the Christian fellowship of America for aid.

In how far was the German Government responsible for the murder and deportation of the Armenians in Turkey? Mr. Morgenthau, summing up the story of his own fruitless efforts to get Baron Wangenheim, the German Ambassador, to intervene in their behalf, says: "Let me say most emphatically, the German Government could have prevented it." Now again it is the German Government that has handed over the Armenian refugees in the Russian Caucasus to the tender mercy of the Turks.

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President Wilson's Addresses