About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 1917)
The Atlanta Semi-Weekly Journal VOLUME XIV JUDGE SPEER RULES AGAINST WATSON ON SECOMASS RATE He Denies Injunction Sought by Publisher in Effort to Force Thomson Postmaster to Accept Jeffersonian SAVANNAH. Ga.. Sept. I.—Copies of the opinion of Judge Errory Speer, of the United States court of the southern district of Georgia, in tne effort of the Jeffersonian Publishing company of Thomson, Ga.. have been received in Savannah. The decision, which was ren dered at Lake Fairfield. N. C-. denies the injunction sought by the Jeffer sonian Publishing company to compel the postmaster at Thomson to accept the Jeffersonian under the second-class mailing privileges. Judge Speer’s de cision. which is about 1.500 words in length, quotes frequently from the col umns of the Jeffersonian to show its purpose is to obstruct the recruiting or enlistment of men in the service of the United States. The decision In full follows: FULL DECISION The bill before vhe court was brought originally to enjoin the postmaster at Thomson. Ga.. from withdrawing the second-class mail ing privileges of •’The Jeffersonian." Thb action complained of had been taken by the postmaster in obedi ence to an order of the Honorable A. B Burleson, as postmaster gener al. Appreciating the weighty effect of determination by the postmaster general of any material and relevant questions of fact arising in the ad ministration of the statutes of con gress relating to his department, a preliminary Injunction was with held. A rule was, however, granted, calling upon the respondent to show cause why the injunction sought should not be granted. At the hear ing. it became apparent that the postmaster general nad forbidden "The Jeffersonian” of the 16th Inst, all admittance to the malla This, upon the ground that it was dis tinctly unmallable. By suitable amendment, the legality of this con* elusion was challeged. The court being of opinion that the plaintiff was entitled to specific information not only of those features of "The Jeffersonia" Issued on the 16th Inst.. * held unmal’able, but also those in past issues deemed so unmailable as to Induce the conclusion by the attorney general that the publica tion was not a newspaper tn the meaning of the law conferring the second-class privilege, directed that the respondent should 'file specifica tions of all such matter. This has been accordingly done, and thus the question Is presented, do the facte and the determination of the post master general demand or justify a court of the United States in the Interference here sought, with an administrative branch of govern ment? In the affidavit of the postmaster general, after the specification re- • quired by the court of the passages da "The * Jeffersonian" held by him to be unmallable. there appears the following statement: "Deponent further says that in ■JHs judgment, tn their entirely, the issues (of The Jeffersonian’) evince a, purpose and Intent on the part of the publisher to willfully make or •oenvey false reports or false state ments with Intent to interfere with tbe operation and success of the military or naval forces of the United States, to willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment serv ice of the United. States to the in jury of the service. • • • and ihat the circulation of such matter Is causing antagonism and resist ance among the people to the con duct ot the war with respect to en listments. execution of the draft and the sale of bonds to raise reve nue to carry on the war." The postmaster general further states under the sanction of his oath that he is advised and believes that there is an organised propa ganda which has Inflamed a large body of people to such aS extent that it constitutes In effect the ad vocacy of treason, insurrection and forcible resistance to the laws of the’ United States. Upon such In formation, he states that this has been actually threatened, and that prominent' among the publications thus engaged Is the Jeffersonian; that the matter it produces to this end in contemplation of the espion age act, is non-mailable. After due and thorough consideration, depo nent so decided, but prior to his ruling that the issue of June 28. 1817. was non-mailable, the paper was submitted to the attorney gen eral of the United States, and de ponent was advised by the attorney general that the paper waa in vio lation of section 3 of title 1 of the espionage act. For the same reason and because It contained matter of the same non-mailable description, the post master general, after examination, caused the postmaster at Thomson to be advised that the issue of Au gust 16 was also unmallable. Thus It will be seen that the cotfrt is ad vised of the concurretn opinion of two members of the cabinet, the chief of the postoffice department and the chief of the law depart ment of the government, in justifi cation of the action of which plain tiff complains. The supreme measure of legisla tion enacted by congress for the successful prosecution of the great •■ar In which the country is en gaged. termed the espionage act in title 1. section 5. declares that “Whoever, when the United States is at war. shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to Interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the sub cess of its enemies; and whqpver. when the United States is at war. shall willfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal of duty In the (Continued on Page 3, Column 4.J Tobacco Habit Banished In 4* to 72 hour-,. No eraving for tobacco tn. any form after <~»mpleting treatment. €o» tains no habit forming drugs, satisfactory re suits guaranteed in every case. Write Newell rhanuacal Co.. Dept. 5. St. Louis. Mo., for FREE Booklet. ’ TOBACCO REDEEMER’’ and positive proof.—(Advt.> Full Associated Press Service DISLOYALTY IN AMERICA DENOUNCED BY WILSON IN SCATHING LANGUAGE In Message to Samuel Gom persi Wilson Gives Hearty Approval to Alliance for Labor and Democracy WASHINGTON’, Sept. 3.—Hearty ap proval of the conference of the Ameri can Alliance for Labor and Democracy to be held at Minneapolis next Tuesday and the task It will undertake of sup pressing disloyalty has been given by President Wilson In a letter to Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor and chairman eff the alliance. The letter, made public here, denounces those who seek to ignore America's grievance against Germany and Insist “that a nation whose citizens have been fouly murdered under their own flag, whose neighbors have been Invited to join in making conquest of its territory and whose patience In pressing the claims of justice and humanity has been met with the most shameful pol icy of truculertce and treachery, does not know its own mind and has no come preheusible reason for defending It self.” "While our soldiers and sailors are doing their manful work to hold back reaction in its most brutal and aggres sive form.” the president wrote, "we must oppose at home the organized and Individual efforts of those dangerous elements who hide disloyalty behind a screen of specious and evasive phrases.” The letter follows; "My Dear Mr. Gompers: “I am sure that you understand that my inability to accept the Invitation to address the Minneapolis conference of the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy is due only to official neces sity, and not in any degree to lack of appreciation ak the importance of the occasion. The cause you and your fel low patriots uphold is one with the cause we are defending with arms. CONFERENCE PRAISED. "While our soldiers and sailors are doing their manful work to hold back reaction in its most brutal and aggres sive form, we must oppose at home tbs organized and Individual efforts of those dangerous elements who hide dlsloyalty behlnd a screen of specious and evasive phrases. • “I have read with real pride the natfies of the men and women who are to tak*e part In the Minneapolis confer ence. Not one but has a record of de voted service to fundamental democ racy; not one but has fought the long, hard fight for equal Justice, braving ev ery bitterness that the humblest life might know a larger measure of hap piness. "With all my heart I want them to feel that their devotion to country is in no wise a betrayal of principle, and that In serving America today they are serving their cause no less faithfully than In. the past. I. myself.- have had sympathy with the fears of the workers of the United States; for the tendency of war is toward reaction, and too of ten military necessities have been made an excuse for the destruction of labor iously erected industrial and social standards. "These fears, happily, have proved to be baseless. With quickened sym pathies snd appreciation, with a new sense of the Invasive and insidious dan gers of oppression, our people hsve not only held every inch of ground that has been won by years of struggle, but have added to the gain of the tewentieth century along every line of human bet terment Questions of wages and hours of labor and industrial readjustments have found a solution which gives to the toilers a new dignity and a new sense of social and economic security. I beg you to feel that my support has not been lacking and that the govern ment has not failed at any point in granting every just request advanced by you and your associates in the name of the American worker. AMERICAN BATTLE LINE. “No one wno is not blind can fall to see that the battle line of democracy for America stretches today from the fields of Flanders to every house and workshop where tolling, upward-striv ing men and women are counting the treasures of right and justice and lib erty which are being threatened by our present enemies. “It has not been a matter of sur prise to me that the leaders in certain groups have sought to ignore our griev ances against the men who have equal ly misled the German people. Their in sistence that a nation whose rights have been grossly violated, whose citizens have been foully murdered under their own flag, whose neighbors have been invited to join In making conquest of its territory, whose patience In press ing the claims of justice and humanity has been met with the most shameful policy of truculence and treachery, their insistence that a nation so outrag ed does not know its own mind, that it has not comprehensible reason for de fending itself, or for joining with all Its might in maintaining a free future for itself and its ideals. Is of a peace with their deafness to the oft-repeated statement of our national purposes. “Is U, perhaps, that these forces of antagonism have not yet learned to know the voice of that America we love and serve? It may well be that those among ns who stand ready to forward the plans of aggression bred in secret do not understand the language of de mocracy when It proclaims the purposes of war in terms of a peace for the peo ples that shall be untroubled by those to whom men are but the pawns In their struggle for power and gain. END OF BLOOD AND IRON. "But true Americans, those who toil here for home and «he hope of better things, whose lifted eyes have caught the vision of a liberated world, have said that of the policy of blood, and Iron there shall be an end and that equal justice which is the heart of de mocracy shall rule in its stead. "May not those who toil and those who have made common cause of the larger hope for the masses of mankind take renewed heart as they think of these days when America has taken its stand for the rights of humanity and the fellowship of social and internation al justice? 'Sincerely yours, "WOODROW WILSON.” Among the speakers at the conference will be Samuel Gompers, John Hall, president of the Minnesota Stat 6 Fed eration of Labor; Charles Edward Rus sell, John H. Walker, president Illinois State Federation of Labor; Frank P. RULERS OF GEBNIW BACKED By PEOPLE, TEUTONPAPERS SM Press of Berlin and Vienna Censure Wilson’s Reply to Pope, Asserting He Does Not Know German. People AMSTERDAM. Sept. 3.—The Vienna Nleue Frei Presse, commenting on President Wilson’s note, says: "Even an unprejudiced perusal must lead to the conclusion that President Wilson’s reply is the most partisan presentation imaginable, that lacks all justice; is filled with malignity and prejudice aganst Germany and shows that Presdent Wilson has no inkling of Germany’s political institutions or the character of the German people. "President Wllaon appears to know nothing either of the isolation policy or that France is at least as militarist as Germany. He has not read that in the Soukhomlinoff trial the clearest proof that has been given that the war was unchained by the military caste of Russia, even against the czar’s will. He does not know and does not want to know that by disregard of the Lon don and Paris declarations. Great Bri tain is responsible for the entire mis fortune at sea.” The paper further terms the note "nonsensical,” adding: "For even if it were assumed that Germany had striv en after world domination, no one will understand why the slaughter must continue, despite the frustration of the alleged plan of domination.” It sees in -the concluding words of the note the only ray of hope and de clares: “Even the American people could not offer a better guarantee of treaties than the agreement between the Ger man parliament and government exhib ited by the reichstag resolution and the chancellor’s acceptance thereof.” The Vienna Fremdenblat declares: ’The contents of Wilson’3 reply are as unparalleled as the tone of the note. In a most humiliating and offensive manner terms are dictat ed to the German people, the fulfill ment of which would constitute the most humiliating intervention in the most primitive rights of the German na tion. If Germany lay prostrate, her army destroyed and fleet hors de com bat, no more .degrading terms could be proposed by the president of the United States. ‘The fact has been made clear that by rights of self-destruction the en tente understanding nothing but their own determination of the fate of hos tile peoples, President Wilson simply declares the resolve to force his will on the German people. He sets up an European Monroe doctrine and claims for himself the right to remodel state forms ton our continent, according to his pleasure. Europe shall become a dependency of America. "It having been made clear that the resistance of the central powers can no more be broken by the force of arms than by a starvation war, the attempt is made by enemies to Implant the metastasis germ in the peoples of the centra] powers. The reichstag peace resolution does not satisfy Mr. Wil son. He requires a peace resolution: he would like to transform Germany Into the condition in which Russia now it. thanks to its joining the western powers. "The German people, however, will give a fitting answer to this unsought benefactor, and every one who has re tained clear judgment will recognize that the freedom Mr. Wilson preaches is nothing but subjection to Ameri ca’s dictation.” H5WI,!!lTPIII[l TO 11. 5. IN INCOME TMES Georgia Pays $1,218,831 in Corporation Tax and $611,- 777 in Individual Tax WASHINGTON, Sept. B.—lndividuals and corporations paid the government 3369,681,228 in income taxes during the past fiscal year, the preliminary report of Commissioner of Internal Revenue Osborne shows, the. sum being almost equally divided between corporations and individuals. The exact returns show corporations 3179,572,888; individ uals. 3180,108,340. New York, as expected, remained far in the lead of all other states with pay ment of 346,566,952 in corporation taxes, and 381,495,783 in individual in comes. Southern states made returns as follows: State Corporation Individual Income Tax Incomf Tax Alabama., ..3 887.906.92 3 200,385.29 Arkansas.. .. 306,310.84 179,413.47 Florida .. .. 327.655.04 305,879.91 Georgia .. 1.218,381.39 611,777.89 Kentucky .. . 1,252,485.55 393.271.63 Louisiana .. 1,269,121.11 813,542.12 Maryland. .. 1,401,954.27 1,947,336.47 Mississippi . . 246.829.3 S 197,456.70 N. Carolina . 1,213,609.13 551.189.51 S. Carolina .. 498,116.17 81,874.28 Tennessee .. 942,090.87 438,684.27 Texas .. .. 2.611,153.93 2,781,779.69 Virginia .. . 1,837,125.64 621,507.06 Walsh, Governor Burnquist, of Minne sota; John Spargo, John Lind. Rose Pastor Stokes, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, William English Walling, Hugh Frayne, New York, eastern representative of the American Federation of Labor; Frank E. Wolfe. W. J. Ghent, Prof. Max Fred erick Meyer, professor of psychology at the University of Missouri; A. M. Si mons, editor of a Socialist weekly, who has resigned from the Socialist party, Winfield R. Gaylord, first socialist state senator elected in Wisconsin who has resigned from the party. ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1917. OUR BOYHOOD AMBITION —BY WEBSTER f” - _ -—-A-Z-ZZ 7 — ~~ I i'm MG* BE AO / Tur'f-TtE -tum-tum ' ■ JB ~ ( ME’VER. more to /■— - £) * / PHRT - LtT-Tuu ( -7 > ) ArtN« roomie / mW'*'* 4 “■— 'T' ( MY SwEST- / g? —L2ZLL22 £E<Sl*TEE2iriO I . riOHCHA LANCE I WOt/ ' A. Q- ...JT U IT MUST I f £ OJT 111 |7 —( TAtEAixcM x He's a 5 71 n /n-LZS/SyffaZ U'hil hehne T \ /humin 7/, | i A CALLito UKT I L FLy » I -■ ——7/ :== <W. —CZZSFjr-r—' |stickt n he's got / f/. THAV POLE SPJKCS ON,S f Golly! ißettha) L J g he'* PtZZIEK'N J /( th a S Y/ I Act GE tout! J WHAT IM | fA LJ \ I CT ) ® S ) WHGM I GROW? YA \ Y H.L.MEHCkEw \ '• \ WAHTEpnoBE \ A LINE MAM / VAt' Anp hang fpiom \aZMlJw\ / Telephone Poles ,M F/ ' M6v POSTURES (Copyright. 1917. by H. T. Webster.) SUITE SUCCEEDS ARNOW IS GAME COMMISSIONER Governor Names Muscogee Man to Succeed Present In cumbent, Effective Oct, 1 Governor Dorsey Monday announced the appointment of Sam J. Slate, of Mus cogee county, as state game and fish commissioner to succeed Charles S. Ar now, an appointee of Governor Harris, whose term of office expired September 1, after a service of two years. Mr. Slate will enter upon his new du ties October 1, Mr. Arnow having been given until that date to get his office in shape to be turned over to his succes sor. The new commissioner has been a resi dent of Georgia for twenty years, having come here from his native state, Virgin ia, where he first was interested in the game and fish industry. He is one of the managers of the Cor bitt Motor company, and is a prominent traveling man, being chairman of the good roads and public Utilities commtitee of the Georgia T. P. A. For many years he has lived in Muscogee county, near Columbus. Mr. Slate was very active in the cam paign of Mr. Dorsey for governor. Slate Well Qualified For' His New Position (Special Dispatch to The Journal.) COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 3. —Sam J. Slate, aged 44 years, has represented the Corbitt Motor Truck company, of Hen derson, N. C., In Georgia, Alabama and Florida for the past seven years. He has been a resident of Muscogee county for the past twelve years, and married a Columbus girl, Miss Wattle Yonge, and has three children. Mr. Slate is a prominent member of Post C, T. P- A., and state chairman of the good roads committee of the Geor gia division. He is a Virginian by birth, and is quite familiar with affairs of the office, by reason of his long residence in the tidewater section. Mr. Slate was in charge of organiza tion of the Dorsey campaign, and has been active in politics for a number of years, although he has never held pub lic office before, and has never been an applicant for office. Anti-Conscription Riot Is Quelled by Montreal Police With Revolvers MONTREAL, Sept. 3.—Two more ar rests had been made today as a result of antl-conscriptlonists attempting to force their way into a pawn shop to secure guns displayed in the windows. The antis smashed the plate glasses with their guns, but the police were quickly on the scene and managed to get most of the weapons back. The crowd was in an ugly mood and threat ened to shoot the officers, who were forced to draw their revolvers to hold their two prisoners. Reinforcements from the nearby police stations soon scattered the erod’d. Important revelations are expected from a thrilling fight in the vicinity of Lachute, a small place about 30 miles from Montreal, in which a young des perado was wounded by the <>olice in a running gun fight and ended his life by blowing out his brains. Three companions of the dead man are hiding in the bush, and the police expect to round them up quickly. It is thought they may be connected with the Montreal outbreaks. Anti-conscription banners are barred from the labor parade here today. S XILIED WHEN GEORGIA TRAIN CRASHES INTO ONTO Car and Victims Carried Near ly 300 Yards on Pilot of Engine (Special Dispatch to The Journal.) GREENSBORO, Ga., Sept. 3.—Three persons were instantly killed Sunday afternoon, when -passenger train No. 5 on Georgia road hit a Ford car at Swords, twelve miles west of Greensboro. Two other occupants of the car died here Sun day night. The dead: WILLIAM STRICKLAND. EDWARD STRICKLAND, ten years old. CLIFFORD MOORE. CARL STRICKLAND. HOMER MAULDIN. William. Strickland and his son, Ed ward, and Clifford Moore were killed outright. Carl Strickland and Homer Mauldin passed away Sunday night. Engineer Joe Hogan was at the throt tle of the Georgia train. The automo bile was hit about fifty yards west of the Swords depot. The latter obstruct ed theh driver’s view. The engine hit the auto broadside. Mauldin was driv ing the car when the accident occured. Spectators of the terible accident say that Engineer Hogan blew his w r histle for the crossing. The bodies of the dead and injured were carried to Madi son on the train which hit the auto. The top of Moore’s head wis knocked off. The little city of Swords and the en tire community are cast in gloom over the terrible tragedy. William Strickland and his two sons were buried in Greensboro cemetery this morning. Clifford Moore was buY ied at Swords. He was about seventeen years of age, and moved to Greene coun ty several years ago with his father, R. S. Moore, and brother, W’llliam Moore, coming from Walton county. Homer Mauldin leaves a wife and two small children. His funeral occurred at Woodville. The auto and victims of the accident were carried nearly 300 yards on the pilot of the engine. The engine pilot and auto were demolished. Th’ose killed outright, as well as the' two injured, were carried to Madison by ' the death train. Two Limited Trains Held Up by Derailment Two limited trains between New York and New Orleans were delayed several hours Sunday about 60 miles south of Atlanta on the West Point route by the . derailment of a box car on a freight train. The two limited trains passed i the wreck Anally by going into a siding after a wrecking crew had done its work. Aroused Brother From Sleep to Kill Him, Is Story of Pike Tragedy ( Special Dispatch to The Journal.) WILLIAMSON, Sept. 3.—T. Q. Irvin,, of near Hollonville, Pike county, shot| and killed his brother, Clarence, at an | early hour this morning. He is said to have gone to his home and called him from bed. Bad feeling is alleged to have existed I between the brothers since the death of their father last fall, the winding up the estate being responsible. GOV. LOWDEN OH JOB AHO PACIFISTS ARE OUIET No Further Efforts to Meet Expected but Delegates Are Still Present CHICAGO. Sept. 3.—Governor Low den arrived here today to take personal charge of the situation arising out of the conflict of authority between him self and Mayor Thompson, with whose aid the People’s Council of America for Democracy and Terms of Peace was able to hold a meeting here yesterday after i: had been interdicted by the governor. Mayor Thompson was believed to be at Lake Geneva, Wis. “So far as I can learn there is no pros pect of another meeting of the pacifists,” said Chief Shuettler. "Apparently they concluded their work yesterday." The Seventh Illnois infantry, which was called out last night by General Carter, commanding the central depart ment, United States army, was back on routine duty today. General Carter per mitted them to return to their homes late last night. A body calling itself "the American Liberty league,” said to be composed of women and affiliated with the so-called people’s council, met at a hotel this afternoon, under the leadership of Mis* Crystal Eastman and resolved to go to Washington to "picket” the celebration of conscription day there September 4. The picketing, it was said, would con sist in the display of banners. The conference was made possible through orders of Mayor Thompson, is sued in defiance of Governor Lowden. The governor had interrupted Satur day’s preliminary meeting by ordering the Chicago police to disperse the pa cifists. Thompson was at his Lake Forest home at the time. He was pain ed with what he regarded as unwar ranted assumption of his own rights. He not only countermanded Lowden’s orders of yesterday, but directed Po lice Chief Schuettler to afford the con ference every protection. ARRIVED TOO LATE. With the mayor and police on their side, the pacifists began their confer ence. which had been barred from Min- ' nesota, North Dakota. Wisconsin, Utah an<Mllinois, at 2:30. The governor was apprised of this. There were no state troops in Chicago, and at 3 o’clock he ordered four companies of the Ninth i Illinois infantry, stationed in Spring field, to this city. They arrived at 9:20, but the meeting had adjourned a.t 6:50. Several of the pacifists "checked out” j at the Fort Dearborn hotel when they : learned of the troops’ arrival. It waS said they had left the city. A majo*ity of the delegates, however, were still < here, and it was believed an attempt would be made to hold another public I meeting. Such a meeting couM only i be called by the council's executive committee. It was announced that this call “may never be issued.” Author-; ities took the attitude that this an nouncement was “for public consump tion,” however, anti were on the alert for any trouble that may develop. Mayor Thompson faces trouble from several directions. The state council of defense believes he is guilty of crim inal negligence in overridng Lowden’s orders and intends to call a special meeting at which charges will be for mally preferred. State’s Attorney Hoyne says if such charges are made he will prosecute them vigorously. The governor and Attorney General Brundage are known to have discussed Thompson’s act, though neither would make a statement. NUMBER 96. TAKING OF RIGA MAY FORCE IBKFEB OF CIPITILTOMOSCOW German Occupation of Petro grad Probable, but May Be Blessing in Disguise for the Russian People WASHINGTON, Sept. 3.—Abandon ment of Riga in the face of the new German drive into Russia, and even the evacuation of Petrograd itself, have been forecast as possibilities in confidential advices to the American government dur- the last two weeks. Such a develop ment is not regarded with so much alarm as might be supposed. With Riga abandoned, and German oc cupation of Petrograd in prospect, the seat of the Russian govern ment undoubtedly will be mo red to Mos cow. Much as they may regret seeing th® Russian capital occupied by a Ger man army, forceful, thinking men of Russia, working to set up a government, may regard it as a blessing in disguise. There are many advantages In moving the Russian capital to Moscow. It is the center of the conservative group, and commands the sentimental—almost a religious—regard of the Russian popu lace as the ancient capital of the old em pire, surrounded with traditions of Rus sia’s greatness, the triumphs of Alexan der, Catherine and Peter the Great. Furthermore, some Russians of the new government are said to think that a German occupation of Riga, and even Pe trograd, might be a wholesome object lesson for the radical element, which has been hampering the new government, and that an experience under the mili tary heel of Germany might convince them of the need of supporting the gov ernment as now constituted to their fatherland for the Russians. As a military achievement, capture of Riga and Petrograd amounts to almost nothing. With support of the German fleet in the Baltic, a German army can take Riga almost without an effort. Be tween Riga and Petrograd are many miles of swamp wastes, but admittedly , the German army could traverse them, although not easily. Von Hindenburg has been credited with having declared he could take Pe trograd any time he decided to do so, and having added that there was little military advantage to be gained other than taking possession of the ammunl-' tlon factories. At any rate, a German army placed in Riga and Petrograd now will soon have its rear cut off by Ice, for all water communications will cut off. Thosq who are not disposed to regard the ex tension of the German lines further into Russia as being of a military gain to Germany, recalling the old adage that King Winter was too muth for Napo leon, point out that Germany only takes on her already burdened establishment the task of caring for an army frozen in far from base. The chief object would seem to be the effect on the political situation in Rus sia Russians Abandon Riga Before German Advance PETROGRAD, Sept. 3.—The Russians have abandoned Riga, the war office an nounces. Rigd is approximately 350 miles dis tant from Petrograd on the Baltic sea. For the past three weeas there have been indications of a powerful German drive centering here—at tne point near est to Petrograd of the fighting fronts. A week ago German destroyers, mine sweepers and other naval vessels with hydroplanes, entered the Gulf of Riga, while the German artillery fire on land increased to a considerable volume. The enemy troops struck across the Dvina river southeast of Riga, moving for ward on approximately a twenty mils front. Strong resistance was offered this ad vance, but the enemy pressure was too strong. Some Russian detachments voluntar ily left their positions, the war office reports, and are retiring towards the I north. v The threatening situation. The state ment says: "On the left bank of the river Dvina, to the west of Riga our troops toward ' the morning of Sunday retired to the I line of Bilderlingshof, Medem and Dah lef?. “In the direction of Uxkull, on the north bank of the Dvina, in the course of Saturday aZd Sunday, the Germans conducted stubborn attacks, chiefly on the front in Shtal-Melmuger- Skrihto-Lausin and the confluence ot I the river Oger. Toward Sunday even i ing they succeeded in penetrating our positions on the river Jaegel, in the re gion of Melmuger and Skrihto. "Some of the detachments voluntarily left their positions and are retiring to the north. Efforts to restore the posi tion by counter attacks gave no defi nite result. In view of the threaten ing situation created in the Riga region the order has been given for the abandonment of this region.” The present German offensive is the fourth against Riga. In 1915 General Hindenburg was held in check for months by General Ruszky, despite a tremendously powerful drive. Two previous attempts, both spasmodic, but nevertheless attempted by strong forces, were repelled. Abandonment of Riga has been fore cast for the past month. It was along this front, according to reports, that the most complete demoralization of Russian troops was discovered. Pejrograd official reports of even the past week mentioned the desertion from the fighting front of 4 whole units of Russian troops. Keernsky centered his efforts two back to restore fighting this particular part of the line. Norway Urged to Seize Private Stocks of Food COPENHAGEN, Sept. 2.—The Chris tiana Social Democraten asserts that Norway has provisions, for only one month and that the import prospects are very gloomy. The paper demands that the government seize all private stocks and take over the control of imports and food distribution.
