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THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
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SEMI-WEEKLY JOVKNAL, Atlanta, tia.
Georgia's Productiveness.
In the course of a meaty discussion of the
war’s incentive to greater production in the
South, particularly the production of foodstuffs,
the Waycross Journal-Herald observes:
"The farmer who thought he would have
to raise his own potatoes this season or go
without potatoes, has produced more than
he needs for home consumption, and has sold
his surplus at such prices that he has more
ready cash in his pocket today than he has
ever had before. By working to keep the
wolf away from his own door, the farmer
has had revealed to him this same eternal
truth that greater production than consump
tion brings wealth, and is now on his way to
wealth, because next year he will not only
raise more potatoes than this year, but he
will be looking around for something else
that he can raise and sell for real money.”
Nowhere is this- encouraging condition of af
fairs more manifest than in Georgia. For a num
ber of years preceding the war our farmers, at
least the progressive and thrifty amongst them,
were raising foodstuffs in steadily increasing
quantities, and the States prosperity was grow
ing apace. But it was not until the war thrust
upon them the patriotic duty and downright ne
cessity of keeping the larder supplied that the
possibilities and the profitableness of food pro
duction were truly appreciated. Georgia will buy
less corn and meat and other staples abroad this
year than ever before, and in consequence will be
worth'more than ever, both to herself and to the
country.
The Kaiser's Cupboard.
Just how low is the German larder, and to
what extremes of hunger will the Kaiser’s subjects
go to shield him a while longer from just and in
evitable retribution? The rationing of the civilian
population under the Government card-allowance
system is nearing the limit of resourcefulness and
fortitude, if we may judge from the following bit
of grim humor recently published in a German
newspaper, under the caption. "Instructions to
puxzled cooks:” *
“Take the butter card, stew it down with
the meat card, and add the egg card. In a
separate saucepan cook the potato and veg
etable cards together, and when done add
these to the stew. For dessert warm up the
potato card, add the milk card, sweeten with
sugar card, and bake with it the bread and
biscuit cards. Then wash your hands with the
soap card and wipe them dry with the table
linen voucher.”
It is true, as one observer remarks, that “a
people who can print this kind of humor and laugh
over it are not yet in dire straits.” One doubts,
however that many millions or many thqusands of
the German people laughed very uproariously over
this Hohenzollern “joke.” A sardonic smile, or a
stoical one. is as far. we fancy, as most of them
got. no matter how stanch their loyalty or how
keen their normal sense of the ludrlcrous. If the
German army is being duly nourished, the people
‘are not: and six or eight months of the American
embargo on shipments to the neutrals adjoining
: Germany will cut a big gap in the army’s food
supply.
Hindenburg and Ludendorff and the rest of
the Kaiser’s crew see plainly enough the gaunt
shadow of the coming wolf. No wonder they are
' so desperately eager for an inconclusive peace. But
having gone thus far. in their heinous adventure,
they will not turn back. They will fight on until
they are conquered and crushed, from without or
from wlthiy. We cannot depend on hunger In
Germany to win the war, thopgh we can safely
count It as an effective ally.
The Odds on the Western Front.
Trustworthy estimates of the relative man
power of the Central Empires and the Allies In
dicate that regardless of what happens in Russia
there is scant likelihood of the Kaiser's being able
to transfer from the Eastern to the Western front
enough troops for anything more th?.n defensive
tactics. Germany is supposed to have under arms
about five and a half million men, of whom prob
ably five million are available for the battle front.
The greater part of this force is already massed
against the Allied line In the West—as much as
two-thirds, some competent reviewers calculate;
at least three million, it is commonly believed.
Pitted against these three million Germans are
between two and a half and three million French,
and something like two million British—figures
which give us. as the New York Evening Post ob
serves. "the usually accepted ratio of five to three
for the Allied preponderance in the West." Even
if Russia should be eliminated altogether as a war
factor and the Kaiser thus enabled to concentrate
all his available strength in the West, he still could
not match the Entente forces, to say nothing of
the Americans, man for man.
But these estimates, while confirming the as
sumption that we have seen the last of German
offensives, also point to the necessity of a still
greater preponderance of Allied man-power on the
Western front before the Teuton defense can be
crushed and Kaiserism sent packing forever. The
THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, GA., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1917.
x rench and British gains since last spring, though
seemingly slight and slow bulk large in the aggre
gate; so large indeed as to suggest that a far
reaching if not almost decisive German retreat
would have come this year, had it not been for
the Russian collapse. The fact remains, however,
that despite heavy losses and much yielding of
ground and a weakened morale the numerically
inferior forces of the Kaiser are still holding their
Western lines. That they are able to do so argues
no superiority on the part of the German soldier,
for as a matter of fact he lacks the finer qualities
of the French and English, but simply illustrates
anew the tremendous difficulty of breaking through
strongly defended positions in trench warfare.
The Germans strove for seven months, with unex
ampled sacrifices, to pass Verdun, but all in vain.
The Allies, however, have demonstrated not
only that they can withstand the mightiest and
fiercest of German onsets, but also that in time
they can smash the stoutest of German defenses.
But to make all the all-decisive stroke, or rather
series of strokes, they must have forces augmented
considerably beyond their present numbers, if
they are to win without prolonging the war well
beyond the next two years. At the present junc
ture Prussianlsm stands balked but not defeated,
as President Wilson aptly expressed it. It is the
glorious privilege of America to pour the decisive
weight into the scales of war and strike the con
clusive blow for freedom’s and humanity’s cause.
In Less Than Six Mcnths.
Some idea of the increase in America’s sea
strength since our entry Into the war may be gath
ered from Secretary Daniel’s recent statement that
the navy now has in commission three times as
many ships as it had six months ago. Equally
striking is the fact that the enlisted men and ma
rines, exclusive of the Naval Reserve and lesser
units, now number approximately one hundred and
seventy-two thousand, which exceeds by some
twenty thousand men the personnel of the British
navy at the beginning of the war. "At that time,”
notes the New York Evening Post, “the British
naval strength was composed of four hundred and
seventy-eight fighting units, while last November
our own navy comprised one hundred and sixty
units, or exactly one-third the British strength.”
From this it is logically inferred that to em
ploy a personnel much larger than England’s was
in 1914 indicates a fleet as great, though perhaps
not yet altogether as powerful, as was the Brit
ish fleet at the war’s outbreak. This record, of
course, takes no account of the dreadnaughts and
battle cruisers which were provided, for in the five
year building program adopted last year; the ad
dition of these, as they are completed, will make
the American fleet incomparably mo’e formidable.
The navy’s present personnel, all units included,
numbers two hundred and thirty-three thousand,
one hundred and seventeen.
’No less remarkable are the energy and en
thusiasm with which the Nation's land forces have
been recruited. Within less than six months after
entering the war the United States has raised
more than a million men. The Regular Army
was brought up to its maximum war strength of
three hundred thousand within about four months
after the declaration of hostilities, the average
daily enlistments numbering thirteen hundred.
Early in August the National Guard, now approx
imately three hundred and fifty thousand strong,
was taken into Federal service. Thus a force of
six hundred and fifty thousand men, all of them
volunteers, w’as under arms before the mustering
of the National Army under the Selective Service
act fairly began. That army, the units of which
are now rapidly forming, adds six hundred and
eighty thousand men to the colors, making the
total more than one million, three hundred thou
sand. And beyond these, not many months future
ward, stands the second National Army of five
hundred thousand or more.
The significance of this achievement is the bet
ter appreciated when it is remembered that as
recently as January, 1916, our Regular Army num
bered fewer than ninety thousand men, while the
National Guard prefigured but faintly its present
magnificent strength. The year 191 G saw far
reaching progress in the way of preparedness leg
islation and a considerable addition to the fighting
ranks, under the stimulus of the border trouble.
But by far th® greater portion of our present land
strength, that already under arms and that now
being mustered, has been organized since the
spring of the current year. Army and navy to
gether. we now have, either in service or training,
upwards of one and a half million men. And that
isn’t a bad beginning.
The Haunting Shadow of the Bear.
Realizing that a united and freshly militant
Russia could overwhelm his Eastern front, the
Kaiser grows more and more anxious to make an
advantageous truce before that darkening menace
materializes. He has seen his latest designs against
the young democracy crumble away. Despite all
that German Intrigue could do to foment mutiny
in the Russian ranks and to rend the country with
civil war, the situation at Petrograd and in the
army and amongst the masses of the people up
pears more reassuring today than for months
past.
The promptness and ease with which the Korni
loff revolt, if so quixotic an adventure may be called
a revolt, was put down has added greatly to the
prestige and stability of the Kerensky regime.
Furthermore, the proclamation of a republic and
the definite assurance of an early election through
which the people can directly voice their will has
done much to abate political unrest, even amongst
the more radical elements. Thus at a time when
the Kaiser hoped to see Russia torn with revolu
tion and lapsing into anarchy, she faces a new day,
still weak and beset with dangers but still true
to herself and to the Allied cause, still capable
of making her way back to the battle’s midst and
dealing a decisive blow.
If Russia did no more than keep several mil
lion Teutons engaged on the Eastern front, she
still would be an important factor in Germany’s
defeat. But she blds fair to do much more, with
unstinted American aid in reorganizing her im
mense resources and bringing her giant strength
into effective action. What a season may bring
forth in that vast and bewildering nation of pe
culiar genius and peculiar perils, no one can say
with assurance. But it is altogether safe to say
that the Kaiser finds from his present outlook
scant comfort in watching the Russian recupera
tion.
INITIATIVE
By H. Addington Bruce
INITIATIVE is the ability to reason out a
course of action, foresee its consequences and
act decisively. It is one of the basic elements
in business success.
Without initiative a business man need never
hope to travel far. However great his mental
power, unless he possesses the faculty of inde
pendent and energetic action he will always be
among the laggards in the business world.
And many men are sadly short in initiative.
Many appreciate its absence in themselves, lamept
it, and dolefully state their belief that they ate
necessarily handicapped forever.
“I was born this way,” they may say, “and I
must make the best of it. I can not be otherwise
than as nature intended.”
They forget that it is possible to cultivate any
human quality. Though their initiatory ability at
present may be small they can always increase it
if they will.
In order to increase it they should, in the first
place, take steps to develop themselves physically.
Initiative presupposes energy, and energy goes
hand in hand with physical fitness.
Let a man systematically upbuild his strength,
quicken his circulation, and stimulate his nervous
system through exercise in the open air, and it
stands to reason that he will feel far more inclined
“to do things” than he would if physically infe
rior.
At the same time, the exercise he takes,
through its beneficent action on his nerves, circu
lation, and general physique, will tend to increase
in him Jeelings of self-confidence.
Which is most fortunate, since self-confidence
is one of the essential elements in initiative. The
man who distrusts his own powers will always be
slow to act, will always hesitate about coming to
decisions and striking odt for himself.
He will be a follower of some other leader. He
will never be his own leader and the leader of
other people.
Still, helpful though physical training is to a
man deficient in initiative, it is not of itself
enough. There must also be mental training.
For habits of timidity and doubt have to be
overcome. And ability to think quickly, accurately
and with penetrating imagination needs to be de
veloped.
Every time the deficient one finds himself con
fronted with a business problem he should make
it a point to try to see quickly the consequences
of the possible solution open to him.
He should not “h’m” and “ha” and “I wonder
this” and “I wonder that.” Rapidly he should re
view before his mind’s eye the various courses
of action he can take.
From among these let him promptly select one
and take it.
No matter if he selects unwisely. He has at
least begun the process of emancipating himself
from the thrall of indecision and mental inertia.
Next time, having profited from the experience
of his mistake, he will be in a position to foresee
consequences hiore clearly. Whereas if he had not
acted at all he would have learned nothing, would
have gained nothing.
All men of great power of initiative have made
mistakes. This is inevitable. But, as their his
tory of ultimate success eloquently testifies, out of
mistakes they have grown in wisdom.
And the man who fears to act lest he act
faultily is manifestly a man who will never give
himself a real change to grow in wisdom —or to
grow in the power to act.
(Copyright, 1917, by The Associated Newspapers.)
SIN PER SE
By Dr. Frank Crane
Susannah Wesley, mother of John, was, from
all accounts, a remarkable woman. She had a
dozen or so children, and sense to match.
One day, for instance, a neighbor, amazed at
the quiet patience of Mrs. Wesley, asked: “Why
do you tell that child the same thing over twenty
times?”
“Because,” answered she, “nineteen is not
enough.”
But it is another saying of the great Susannah
upon which we now design to animadvert. To wit,
namely, a sentence from one of her letters to her
son John. Like a great many other young people
John wanted to know exactly w’hat Sin is. His
mother told him, and in these words:
"Would you judge of the lawfulness or unlaw
fulness of pleasure, take this rule: Whatever weak
ens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your
conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off
your relish for spiritual things—whatever in
creases the authority of the body over the mind—
that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may
seem in itself.”
I do not know that I have seen anywhere, In
or out of the books on theology and ethics, a bet
ter and a more understandable definition of sin.
Everybody wants to know' what is right and
what is wrong, the lax as well as the virtuous; and
much of the wrongdoing of the world arises from
confusion of min’d. Sin lies not all in the warped
will.
And if everybody would lay Susannah’s words
to heart, and. to use a phrase of John’s, “read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the same,
'twould save us from many a moral muddle.
And if you can't master it all, or possibly don’t
approve of it all, just take a part of it, those
words, “whatever increases the authority of the
body over the mind, that thing to you is sin.”
I think it was Amlel —or w’as it Joubert?—
who said that all culture consisted in transferring
our pleasures from the body over to the mind,
so that the arts and sciences are the handmaids
of religion.
But the chief excellence of this excellent wom
an’s dictum is her emphasis upon the fact that sir
is personal. It lies not in the infraction of any
code or rules, but in our inward cowardice and
moral flabbiness, in our disloyalty to our own con
viction, in our refusal, for whatever reason, to fol
low our sense of Ought.
If a man simply does what seems right to him
he will win past all the creeds in Christendom.
There is no sin Per Se; only Per Me.
(Copyright, 1917, by Frank Crane.)
«.
GEORGIA’S PATRIOTIC PRESS
THE TRADE MARK OF TREASON.
. (Athens Herald)
“I had rather have my son go to Heaven in
France than go to hell in America,” was the reply
of a Dallas (Texas) father to one of the tribe of
w'hispering traitors who ask: “Why should we send
our bbys to fight in a foreign land?”
If Germany should win the war in France she
will lose little time in transporting her own pe
culiar variety of hell .to America.. Herr Zimmer
mann’s little note, that got lost," shows she has
been doing her best to bless us with kultur even
under the restricted circumstances so long imposed
by the British navy and our allies who have been
holding the western front.
Men who have invested their most precious pos
sessions—their sons—in this war naturally are not
choice in their words when they reply to the in
sinuations of the traitors who begin “I approve of
everything the president has done, but —.” These
phrases are the trade mark of treason—no true
American has time for such talk.
QUIPS AND QUIDDITIES
Messrs. Grab & Wincase, the noted firm of law
yers, were busy and the head clerk was nearly run
off his feet. A portly lady sailed into the office
and demanded to see Mr. Wincase.
The clerk replied breathlessly:
“’Tend to you directly, ma’am. Take a chair.”
The plump one raised a lorgnette and glared.
“Do you know who you are addressing, young
man? I am Lady Slitherspoon.”
“A thousand pardons!” said the clerk, still
more hurriedly. “Take two chairs, I beg of you.”
STYLES IN THE ARMY—By Frederic J. Haskin
WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 17. —Since Amer
ican troops have gone to France and a
large portion of the male population at
home has gone into khaki, many changes have been
suggested in the army uniform. General Hugh L.
Scott, chief of staff of the army, is in favor of
changing the present upstanding collar to the rolled
type worn by French and British soldiers. From
France comes the recommendation that the army
overcoat be shortened from ankle to knee length
in order to facilitite the movements of men in the
trenches; while in this country there is much ob
jection to the leather puttees.
• • *
Puttees are very nice to look at, and for field
duty there is nothing better, but officers not on
field duty find them exceedinlgy uncomfortable.
They are clumsy and stiff when worn indoors, and
so heating that they produce skin eruptions. A
shorter overcoat, also, presents no difficulties, for
it, too, means less material, but the rolled’collar is
a different matter. It cannot be substituted quite
so easily.
• * *
Indeed, at first, the collar suggestion was dis
missed as absolutely impracticable. Already thou
sands of men had bought uniforms with upstand
ing collars, and it was unreasonably the war de
partment said, to expect those men to turn right
around and buy new uniforms merely for the sake
of rolled collars. Yet if one man wore one, every
other man must wear one. The other day, how
ever, a new light was shed on the collar situation
when a New York merchant appeared In the secre
tary’s of war’s office with a typical American com
bination device which, when attached to the army
uniform, provided it with both an upstanding and
a rolled collar. When one is in use, the other is
folded back out of sight.
* • •
These are not the only changes that have been
suggested tn the uniform. There have been hun
dreds. For awhile they came so thick and fast,
and there was so much quarreling and discussion
over them that Secretary Baker was compelled to
remind the officers that the duty of the army was
to win the war and not to complain about its
clothes. And, to settle the matter, he announced
that there would be no changes in the uniform
during the period of the war.
• * •
Since then, the secretary appears to have modi
fied this order to read, "unless any important
recommendations are received from General Persh
ing.” So iriis now up to Pershing. If he decides
in favor of the rolled collar, the short coat and
the elimination of puttees, the army will get them
—not before.
• • •
Every time the subject of a change of uniform
comes up at the war department, a couple of an
cient and valuable volumes are dragged out of a
safe on the top floor and carefully consulted. These
volumes contain the history of the American army
uniform from the days of its Infancy when it was
but a pink or green cockade worn in the hat to
the time of the Spanish-American war when the
dignified splendor of its dark blue coat with black
silk frogs was changed to khaki.
• • •
It is a mortifying and at the same time a pre
cious fact that the sons of the Revolution had no
official uniforms. It was all they could do to ob
tain ordinary clothes, and sometimes even these
were painfully lacking, as everyone who has ever
heard of Valley Forge knows. Before 1775, the
various states provided uniforms for their few
soldiers, which were usually the red coats and hats
of the British army, but naturally at the outbreak
of the revolution these were immediately discard
ed. In the volumes at the war department one
finds the following interesting provision dated
1776:
“As the Continental army have, unfortunately,
no uniforms, and consequently many inconven
iences arise from not being able always to distin
guish the commissioned officers from the noncom
missioned, and the noncommissioned from the pri
vates. it is desired that some badges of distinction
may be immediately provided; for Instance, that
the field officers may have red or pink-colored cock
ades in their hats, the captains yellow or buff, and
the subalterns green; The sergeants may be dis
tinguished by an epaulette or stripe of red cloth
sewed upon their right shoulders, the corporals
by one of green.”
In another place one finds that “The General”
—meaning Washington, of course—recommends
COTTON AND THE EMBARGO—By Ralph Smith
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19.—1 tis difficult, as a
rule, to arouse and sustain interest in a
subject with which the people rub elbows
every day. If this were not true, it would be
hardly worth while to write anything about cot
ton —a subject that is near to the interest of every
Georgian. It is all wrong to suppose, as many
people do suppose, that only politicians and farmers
have concern with cotton. Every man, womaij and
child in Georgia has concern with cotton, whether
they know it or not. First or last, it is their
bread and meat. While all of them should know
it and feel an interest in it. there is doubt whether
half of them know that cotton has been placed
on the list of embargoed exports by the United
States government.
• * •
Those who know about the embargo have been
alarmed out of all proportions as to the probable
affect of the action, the wisdom and justice of
which is not to be questioned. The people have
been misled by unfair mill men and unscrupulous
market manipulators, moved by motives so obvious
that one marvels at the gullibility of the public.
The recent depression in the price of cotton
has been due solely to the methods of the unfair
and unpatriotic mill men and the unscrupulous
market manipulators. Instead of operating to
reduce the price of cotton, the government em
bargo on the sta'ple invited attention to a condi
tion that should have elevated the price of cotton
to a figure more nearly representing its real value
as represented by the law of supply and demand.
A careful study of the cotton situation —statis-
tics of production and consumption covering a pe
riod of years—furnishes convincing proof that this
year’s crop should, and will bring a price far in
excess of the figures at which it is quoted today,
unless the farmers are frightened into selling by
the methods of the men who must buy their
product. The available supply of cotton, as com
puted by government crop experts, is far less than
the assured demand, measured by the require
ments of the world, and the farmer who sells at
the current price will lament his action.
The export aministrative board, charged, as its
name indicates, with the duty of regulating ex
ports of American products and commodities dur
ing the war, has placed an embargo on cotton, not
to restrict or retard its movement, but to see that
none of it reaches the enemy.
The action places no restrictions or limitations
upon the quanitity of cotton that may be shipped
to our allies. Neutral markets only are effected.
That is to say, there are restrictions on the cotton
that may be shipped to Holland. Denmark, ’Nor
way, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain—restrictions that
make it certain none of the cotton they receive will
find its way into Germany or Austria or Turkey or
Bulgaria.
Market manipulators and unfair mill men. bent
upon bearing down the price of cotton for selfish
motives, accepted the embargo order as a means
of circulating minisformation and untruths as to
the quantity of cotton that w-ould be shut out of
the neutral markets. By showing that a vast lot
of cotton could not reach neutral mills, the selfish
interests created the mistaken belief of a cotton
surplusage, thereby depressing the price at a time
when the farmers were beginning to market their
crops.
As a matter of fact, less than 600,000 bales of
cotton went to the neutrals last year, and of this
number 366,262 bales went to Spain, a country
that Indian boots, or leggings, be provided for the
soldiers, instead of stockings; and in still another
place it is mentioned that “the General has hopes
of prevailing with the Continental congress to
give each man a hunting shirt.”
As usual, the Continental congress was inspired
by good intentions, but lacked the money to carry
them out. They passed a resolution to prowid®
clothing for the soldiers out of their own wages,
and to dye that clothing browm. but apparently the
resolution fell through. Doubtless the soldiers
preferred to buy their own clothes. Soon after this
the Continental congress evidently got hold of
some money somewhere, because its clothes pro
visions became much more generous and effective.
It dealt not with details such as hunting shirts and
leggings, but provided whole outfits at a time,
consisting of two linen hunting shirts, two pairs
of overalls, a leathern or woolen waistcoat with
sleeves, one pair of breeches, a hat or leathern cap,
two shirts, two pair of hose and two pair of shoes.
• • *
Later, in 1777, there Is mention of an artillery
uniform of dark blue, trimmed and buttonholed
with yellow silk, but apparently this belonged to
only a fortunate few who were able to afford it out
of their own pockets. When the gaily clad British
surrendered at Yorktown they marched between
lines of Americans tattered and unkempt, clothed
largely in rags and enthusiasm. v
The war won, congress decided to retain one
regiment of infantry and two companies of artil
lery in case of an emregency, and these were
clothed as befitted their station. The infantryman
wore a dark blue uniform with white facings and a
white lining, a black cocked hat, with a white
binding and black plume, white worsted shoulder
knots—silver in the case of officers—and a white
cross belt. His coat was trimmed with white but
tons. and he wore black gaiters and an impressive
black stock. The artilleryman also wore a dark
blue uniform, but trimmed with red and yellow
where the infantryman’s was white. His epau
lettes were of yellow worsted and gold in the case
of officers, while his hat was the most unusual that
ever made its appearance in American history. It
was a brass helmet covered with long white horse
hair that fell about the head and almost concealed
the features.
When the nation again went to war with Great
Britain, in 1812, riflemen for the first time wore
uniforms of gray Instead of dark blue favored ever
since the Revolution. This was doubtless because
the British blockade along our coasts prevented
the importation of blue cloth from Europe. How
ever, gray became very popular in this branch of
the service, was worn for years after the war, and
is still won by West Point today.
The regular officer’s uniform of this period,
though, was a dark blue single-breasted coat, em
broidered in front, reaching to the waist and taper
ing into long tails at the back, ornamented with
yellow buttons and a black leather waist .belt:
white or buff riding breeches, with four buttons on
the knee and gilt knee buckles, and a plain cocked
hat without plume or feather. This was the most
ornamental period of our military history. Gold
lace, gold eqaulettes and gold -sword hilts were the
fashion in some branches of the service; hats of all
shapes, sizes, colors and feathers were worn in oth
ers, and boots were made with an absolute reck
lessness as to leather which would shock the boot
manufacturers of today.
Needless to say. with all these brilliant gar
ments. the American soldier of 1812 was an excel
lent target for any enemy, who couldn’t help see
ing him, but inasmuch as the enemy was usually
just as brilllantlv arrayed, the chances were about
even. This tendency for picturesque and con
spicuous dress continued up until a very recent
period of our history. Tn 1821, the war depart
ment announced that dark blue was the national
color and should thereafter be worn both by offi
cers and enlisted men, unless special orders were
given to the contrary, but this did not prevent thet
liberal use of reds and yellows for trimming.
Crimson sashes that could be seen a mile off were
especially popular.
Not until the Mexican war did the American
army uniform become more comfortable than orna
mental, and this was only while the actual military
campaigns lasted. It was dark blue, with a short
shell jacket very similar to the khaki one in use
today; the trousers were loose and fell over the
boots, and the caps were of the visor type, made
of leather and fastening with a strap which came
under the chin.
not contiguous to our enemies and* therefore not
affected by the embargo.
• • •
Holland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden im
ported, last year, only 233,000 bales of American
cotton, and Switzerland received about 50,000
bales. Thus, it appears, all of the neutral coun
tries in any way affected by the embargo used
fewer than 300,000 bales of cotton last year. How
unfair, illogical and deceptive becomes the argu
ment of the cotton bears, in the face of these
facts!
It is a matter of common knowledge among
Informed persons in Washington that the action of
the exports administrative board respecting the
movement of cotton to neutral countries simply
relieves the British government of the duty of con
irolling cotton movements to these nations. In
lune, 1915, the British government assumed con
;rol of cotton shipments to the neutrals contiguous
:o the Central Powers, and since that time no
American cotton has reached either Germany nor
Austria.
The world today is consuming far more cotton
than it is producing, and this fact, among others,
was clearly developed by Senator Hoke Smith, in
his discussion of the cotton situation in the senate /
the other day. *Hls remarks on this score are
quoted herewith:
"Mr. President, since the war began, in
spite of the large crop which we raised in
1914, the world has consumed 1,500,000 more
bales of lint cotton than the world has pro
duced. Last year the world consumed nearly
2,000,000 bales more than the world’s pro
duction. The surplus cotton that existed be
fore the war began has been practically wiped
out. Last year 13,690,000 bales of cotton
raised in the United States were consumed.
American consumption of cotton has enor
mously increased. The German and Austrian
consumption of cotton was by their mills, and
the product they manufactureded was only in
part consumed in those countries. At first the
loss of those markets was a great blow to the
cotton producer; but American mills and other
mills, Japanese and Spanish mills, have reach- .
ed out for the trade formerly belonging to
Germany, and they now consume much more
cotton than they did before the war began and'
have taken the place as a market for at least
half of the cotton consumed by German and
Austrian mills.
“Last year, as I said, the world consumed
13,690,000 bales of cotton raised in the United
-* States; our allies consumed 5,223,371 bales,
and the United States alone consumed 7,684.-
813 bales, so that our allies and the United
States consumed last year 13.000,000 bales.
The agricultural department’s estimate for
this year's crop is 12,499,000 bales. The
United States and our allies consumed last,
year 500.000 more bales of cotton raised in
the United States than this year’s crop will he,
and other friendly neutrals consumed more
than 500,000 additional bales. So that. Mr.
President, if we should stop every bale of cot
ton going to the neutrals contiguous to Ger
many and Austria still the supply this year
would fall 700,000 bales below last year's con
sumption: and, as T stated, the consumption of
the past four years has consumed a million
and a half more bales than the world has pro
duced.”
